Magic Hunted

by Caethes Faron

  I sat back and logged out of the game. “That should do it.”

  “So now we just wait?” Nicole asked.

  “We can prepare. I want you to stay next to Millhook. If Mikael and Sadie decide to attack, just get out of the way, and Millhook will port you. Same goes for you, Alex. I’ll stay behind and fight them off and port when I’m sure you guys are safe. If we have to leave here, we’ll meet back at Nicole’s apartment. I’m hoping it won’t come to violence. If I end up having to kill them, I’ll also be killing our one chance to find out what was in Scotland.”

  “It won’t come to that,” Nicole said.

  I remembered something I said back at the Armory. “It’s hard to believe killing has come so easily to me. I can remember telling Casper and Mikael less than a year ago that I couldn’t imagine how someone could kill someone else.”

  “You were only doing what you had to,” Alex said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Listen to Furball. The times you’ve killed, it’s been ’cause you had to.”

  It was still part of my new identity I hadn’t completely come to terms with. I knew it had to be done on occasion, and I didn’t regret my actions, but it was a lot to take in. “Well I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

  I conjured some more paper and magically transcribed my thoughts, making a perfect match to the papers with the CCS files on them.

  “What’s that?” Nicole asked.

  “Just a little extra insurance, should we need it. Some more proof, if you will, that the Directorate killed their parents. If I’m willing to kill, I’m willing to manufacture evidence.”

  “What now?” Nicole asked.

  “We wait.” The air in the room thickened with expectation, and I focused entirely on Alex, drawing strength from the confidence I saw in his eyes.

  “We wait,” he said with a nod.

  Six

  A little more than half an hour later, a knock sounded on the door. The silent tension in the room had grown so thick that I jumped at the sudden intrusion. Alex stood at the same time I did.

  “I’ll get it. They’re expecting me,” I said as I went to the door.

  I peered out the peephole and saw only Sadie. The smart move would be to have Mikael hiding, ready to step in when needed. I opened the door. Sadie looked more stressed than she had the last time I’d seen her. The events of the last months had aged her. Her eyes lacked any sort of spark or life. They were just dull orbs looking out at me as if they only did so because they had to.

  “Sadie,” I said and nodded at her. “Where’s Mikael?” I looked from side to side down the hall and could see no trace of him. Reaching out with my magic didn’t yield anything either.

  “He’s not with me. I can tell you more inside.”

  I gestured for her to come in. Alex was still standing from before, but now Millhook and Nicole stood as well. Millhook inched closer to Nicole, within easy touching distance.

  Sadie surveyed the room. “I see you have your friends here to protect you. Afraid I’d kill you for killing my sister?”

  “I didn’t kill your sister.” This wasn’t getting off to a great start.

  “But you’re the reason she’s dead.”

  “No, Casper’s the reason she’s dead. Casper’s done nothing but lie to all of us, and his lies have gotten more than one person killed.”

  Sadie sighed. “Why did you summon me here? You’re not stupid enough to log in to the game again unless you wanted to be tracked.”

  “Then why’d you come?”

  “I’m seeking the same thing I’m sure you are: knowledge. Tracing Meglana’s work is a full-time job. You know more about it than anyone.”

  It didn’t seem like she planned on forcing my cooperation. This entire exchange felt off. “What makes you think I’d help you? You work for the Directorate.”

  “Ah, yes, and you’re a CCS agent. I was quite shocked when I found that out.” Nothing about her stance showed surprise, just weariness.

  “How did you know?”

  “Your aunt. She had quite a few colorful things to say.” Sadie shifted her weight, as if she didn’t want to say what came next. “I suppose you want to know what I found in Scotland. That’s the only reason you’d call me. We got word that the CCS had my imprint. I assume that’s where you got it. How frustrating for you that I got there before you did. Now I’m the only one who knows what was in that cave. Everyone wants to know what I found there, which means I’m untouchable. There’s nothing you can do to me. I, on the other hand, could, say, kill this human friend of yours if you don’t help me.”

  My magic surged, but despite her words, Sadie didn’t activate her wand. At this point, it was a threat. Last time she’d seen me, I’d been unable to control my power. While she must know the CCS had trained me, she didn’t know how adept I had become. “So you think if you killed one of my friends, I’d help you?”

  “You seem to think that after killing my sister I’d help you. I don’t see the difference.”

  “The difference is, I didn’t kill Analise. Sibelius did.” Thankfully, Alex showed no reaction to the lie. “The only reason she was even in that situation was because of Casper. The difference is, I’m on the right side of this issue. Do you even know what it is you’re searching for? What it is that has Marguerite so obsessed?”

  Sadie’s eyes flitted to my talisman and then back to my eyes. “Yes, I know.”

  “You didn’t know before. When I was at the Armory, you had no idea my talisman contained a sorcerer’s magic. You genuinely wanted to know where it came from, which means you didn’t know its provenance. Are you really telling me you’re comfortable with mages having the ability to kill sorcerers for their magic? I know you don’t like the sorcerers, I don’t blame you because of what you’ve been told, but you’ve been basing your life on a lie. Sorcerers didn’t kill your parents. The Directorate did.”

  Anger flared in Sadie’s eyes and she drew her wand. “Don’t mention my parents.”

  I held up my hands to try to calm her. “They were working for the CCS, feeding them information. The Directorate found out and had them killed. They made it look like a car accident. I found the CCS file on it. It’s all there.” I pointed to the stack of papers on the bed. “That’s a copy of the file on your parents.”

  “And why would I believe anything the CCS says? They’re the ones who are content to let the sorcerers get away with humiliating us, with limiting our power. If the CCS and the sorcerers have their way, we wouldn’t be allowed to travel here to Earth. We wouldn’t be able to find artifacts and talismans left from previous generations who have come here. We wouldn’t be able to find latent mages in Earth’s population. Thousands of our brothers and sisters would go without ever learning of their power and their true nature.” Her voice had changed, the passion of her conviction had reentered it. This was the Sadie I knew. The contrast with her earlier demeanor was telling.

  “Like I said, I don’t blame you. I agree, the sorcerers shouldn’t have any dealings in the internal affairs of mages. But does that really mean we should start killing them? You know better than that, Sadie. Your parents did too. You might not believe the CCS file, but the news here on Earth reported on your parents’ death. Did you know that?” Sadie and Mikael hadn’t been on Earth when their parents died. There’d be no reason for them to care about Earth news. They would have taken the Directorate’s word about their parents’ assassination. “You can look at the newspaper article for yourself. A random stranger called it in and gave an interview at the scene. That person, John Ipswitch, was a Directorate operative. He said the car actually had a mind of its own and wanted to crash into a telephone pole. What does that sound like to you? He called it in to 911 and the local news station to make sure it got reported, to make sure the CCS knew that the Directorate had killed your parents. The Directorate wanted the CCS to know what happens to informants. Everything Casper told you a
bout your parents is a lie. They wouldn’t have wanted this.”

  “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think I know they wouldn’t approve of killing a sorcerer for their magic? When so much as touching another mage’s wand or talisman is such a grave offense? They spent their entire lives working in the Directorate. They wouldn’t approve of the direction this has taken, but they wouldn’t have spoken to the CCS either.”

  “You can take a look at the evidence for yourself. Read the newspaper article. Keep the CCS report. The CCS has no reason to lie in their internal files. If they did lie, it’d just undermine the work they were doing.”

  “Let me see.”

  I handed her the doctored papers from the CCS report and pointed to Nicole’s open laptop where the newspaper article was up in the Internet browser. Sadie glanced at it all then looked at the newspaper article. She reached out and touched the screen where a picture of her parents’ mangled vehicle was displayed. “They spent so much time working. I didn’t want to believe that it was towards this.”

  “It wasn’t, Sadie. Your parents were good people. They were trying to do what they felt was best. I’m asking for your help to continue their work. We need to know what was in that cave in Scotland. We need to prevent this kind of power getting into the hands of Marguerite. You know this isn’t the way.”

  “I know, but there’s not much I can do about it. You see this?” She lifted up her right foot and wiggled it in order to jangle an anklet she was wearing. “This is a tracking device put on by Marguerite. Mikael and I started to figure out what was going on. He saw what was going on near the Cushing Sea, what Marguerite was attempting to do. It was hideous, a complete affront to our work. Killing is one thing, sometimes it is necessary for the greater good, but killing someone for their magic? It made us sick. So I went to Scotland and retrieved what was in the cave. We had already been piecing things together, the lies Casper told, the things we were being asked to do. When Marguerite came, I tried to make her believe that I hadn’t been there, but she knew better.”

  “How did you find the cave without Meglana’s notes?”

  “Your mother left more than one set of notes. There weren’t any direct clues or anything like that, but I pieced things together. I have logs and journals from Casper. After he and Analise died, Mikael and I had a lot of time on our hands to look through things. We found every single mention of your mother in all of the records at the Armory. That gave us a decent idea of where she’d been. I had her imprint, so I went looking. It wasn’t easy, but I found it. She had mentioned to Casper that she spent time in Scotland. I pieced together a few other clues and found it.”

  “And you gave it to Marguerite?” Alex asked. I had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room besides me and Sadie.

  “Not by choice. She’s holding Mikael. She’s using this tracker to make sure I don’t go anywhere that she doesn’t know about, so I can’t sneak the next clue past her. If I don’t do what she wants and figure out this puzzle, she’s going to kill Mikael.”

  “So Marguerite’s at the Armory right now?” The thought of her so close made me anxious to confront her.

  “No, she’s doing her own work independently, and she wants me to do the same. Since my knowledge is in magical objects and Mikael’s is in history, she decided to take him hostage. So you see, I can’t help you. I’ve already lost one sibling; I won’t lose my last one. And if you think I’m not above killing you if it means saving him, you’re wrong.”

  “There’s no need for anyone to die, Sadie. I promise you, if you help me, I’ll return the favor. I swear to you, I won’t let Marguerite hurt Mikael. I promise I’ll help you, but I can only do that if I know what was in Scotland.”

  “So if you’re willing to help me, tell me what you know.”

  This was exasperating, but I asked a lot of her. I couldn’t blame her for wanting the same thing I did. “We know nothing. The clues led us to the cave in Scotland, but Millhook got there after you did. There was nothing. Without knowing what was in there, we’re at a dead end. And since you showed up here today and indulged this conversation for this long, I’m guessing you’re at a dead end too. So what will it hurt to let me know what was there? Marguerite already has a head start. And she’s working with the same information I am, so we’re already at a disadvantage.”

  “Marguerite isn’t having any luck. The cave was filled with nonsense.”

  I stepped closer to her, trying to show her my sincerity. “I can make sense out of nonsense. Tell me what was there.”

  Sadie stared past me as if she were thinking through her options. When she focused back on me, there was a new determination in her eyes. “Make a blood vow with me. If I’m going to help you, I need assurances that Mikael will live, that you won’t take this knowledge and run, leaving me and my brother to deal with the consequences. I want you to swear on Elustria’s magic that you won’t let Mikael die, otherwise your life is forfeit. If you don’t, I’m telling Marguerite the truth about why I was here. I’ll tell her about Nicole. Your friend can’t go to Elustria. She’s stuck here on Earth with virtually no protection from a mage who may wish her harm.”

  Blood vows were serious business. They were magically binding and persisted through death. If I entered into one with Sadie, there would be no escaping the consequences. But I’d rather gamble with my life than Nicole’s. If I succeeded in defeating Marguerite, then Mikael’s life would be safe. If I failed, then my death was the least of our worries.

  “Very well.” I held up my hand to make the vow.

  “Wait, Kat, you can’t do that.” Alex grabbed my arm, confusion and anger in his face.

  “This is the only way for us to get what we need. If I don’t do this, we don’t stand a chance.” I pulled my arm free and used my magic to cut my hand until a trickle of blood emerged. Sadie did the same and grabbed my hand with hers, mixing the blood. “I swear on Elustria’s magic that if Marguerite kills Mikael or causes his death, my life will be forfeit.”

  “And I swear on Elustria’s magic that I will tell you everything I know about what was in the cave in Scotland.”

  “I seal your vow with my blood.”

  “I seal your vow with my blood,” Sadie said, completing the process. We let go of each other’s hands and Nicole handed us washcloths to clean the blood.

  When Sadie was done wiping the blood from her hand, she used her wand to incinerate the cloth, ensuring she didn’t leave any of her blood behind. She faced me and kept her end of the vow.

  “All that was in the cave was a small vial with a note. There was some light orange liquid in the vial, just a little bit, about this size.” She held up her thumb and forefinger about two inches apart. “And the note said, ‘This is the key to my success. If you can formulate it, all my riches shall be yours. It may seem impossible to one less than my heir, but anything is possible in a world where mermaids don’t cry and dragons melt castle pinnacles. In such a world, the key to all my knowledge may be found.’ I’ve been trying to figure out what that means, but I can’t come up with anything.”

  “Are you sure that’s exactly what it said?” It sounded like the kind of cryptic bullshit my mother was fond of, but success hinged on the exact wording.

  “Yes. I’ve gone over it a thousand times trying to figure out what it means. Now I have to go. Marguerite may figure out I was meeting with you, which means you’re not safe here. You have to leave.” The weariness came back to Sadie’s features, but I noticed now that it hid her panic.

  Seven

  The door closed behind Sadie. I couldn’t believe I’d just entered a blood vow. All I could think was that I had to agree to whatever it takes. But wasn’t that the problem with my mother? With every step I took on this journey, I seemed to become more and more like her.

  “How could you have been so foolish?” Alex ran his hand through his hair as he paced in frustration.

  “Aye, I have to agree with Furball on this one. Vow
s are messy business. There’s always trickery involved, mark my words.” Millhook wagged his finger at me.

  I didn’t know how to answer them, especially since I already felt supremely stupid for having done it. Contacting Sadie had been a Hail Mary. I certainly didn’t expect what happened. Who would’ve thought two true believers would begin questioning? Nothing Sadie could’ve said or done would’ve shocked me more. “Well, I’m sorry I don’t have your superior reasoning abilities. It was the only way we were going to get the information we needed. I didn’t have a choice.”

  Alex stopped his pacing and turned to face me. “No, there’s where you’re wrong. You did have a choice. The choice was to walk away and let the mages handle this.”

  “I’m not having this argument with you again, Alex.” We both knew where the other stood. Nothing was going to change that. “Sadie wouldn’t have proposed a vow unless she had to.”

  “Or maybe this is all part of Marguerite’s plan. Did you ever think of that?” Alex asked.

  No, actually, I hadn’t. My mind raced over the possibilities. The CCS had taught me to separate panic from my thought process. Sure, there were a million and one things that Marguerite could be thinking, but applying reason drastically narrowed the possibilities. “If Marguerite wanted Sadie to bind me with a vow, she would have chosen a vow that better helped her.”

  “Maybe Marguerite can’t figure out the clue and needs you to do it.”

  “Sure, but the vow didn’t say anything about the clue. I could technically fulfill it without ever solving the riddle.”

  “But she knew you would,” Alex said.

  He was right, but this wasn’t helping. “I was always going to have to solve the clue.”

  “And now you’re having to do it with a magical binding placed on you.”