The Four Nations Tournament

by James E. Wisher

  “If you want to save a walk, the elevators are working again,” the commander said.

  “Thanks for the heads up.” Conryu walked over to the elevator bank and hit the call button. He selected the lobby and started down.

  It took less than a minute to reach the ground floor. The door chimed and slid open. Conryu let out a sigh of relief when he spotted the Ministry director all by herself. He’d half feared to find Malice waiting with her. Conryu wasn’t sure if he could’ve spoken to the woman without lashing out. He stepped out of the elevator and walked over.

  “You wanted to speak to me, Director Simpson?” Conryu said.

  “Jemma, please.” She held out her hand and Conryu gave it a gentle shake. “First, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done here. Without your intervention things might’ve ended up much worse.”

  “I was happy to help. Is Mr. Kane and his wife okay? I never saw what happened to everyone else that was at the stadium.”

  “Everyone’s fine. The terrorists didn’t last long when the three teams outside of the competition grounds worked together to bring them down. The whole fight lasted about three minutes.”

  Some of Conryu’s tension eased. Maria would be so relieved. “I’m glad to hear it. How are things in the rest of the city?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Our wizards are having a hard time dealing with so many attackers spread out all over the city. I was hoping you’d agree to lend us a hand in some of the heavier areas of fighting.”

  That was exactly what he expected her to say. Normally somebody asking him for something when he barely knew them would’ve annoyed Conryu, but under the circumstances he was glad to help.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “They hit us in three main locations besides the hotel. The Ministry, Parliament, and in the skies above the city. If you can take out the dragon manes and knock out the heaviest clumps of fighting, it’ll free up my people to hunt down any stragglers.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Conryu said. “Will you remain here or should I report in somewhere else?”

  “I’ll be here. Until the Ministry is cleared, we’re going to use the hotel for a temporary base of operations. We’ll be bringing any survivors here as well.”

  “Okay, I’ll return as soon as I can.”

  Conryu marched out of the lobby, cast a flight spell, and leapt into the air. He didn’t want to use Reaper’s Cloak if he could avoid it, but he didn’t know another way to handle the dragon manes quickly.

  “Prime, is there an easy way to take out those dragons?”

  “I assume you’re seeking a lethal solution.”

  “Unless you know how to tame the creatures, I can’t imagine another option that might work.”

  “No, Master, I’m afraid I don’t. They aren’t natural beasts and have no real place in the ecosystem.”

  “Then I guess lethal it is. What do you have?”

  A faint tingle formed in the back of Conryu’s mind and a moment later the words to a spell appeared. It was called Reaper’s Touch and it basically mimicked what he did when wearing the cloak. Conryu frowned. He hated relying on the Reaper’s power, but under the circumstances there was no real choice.

  Less than a mile from the hotel he spotted the first of the dragon manes. It circled a damaged high-rise and breathed fire on it. A trio of Ministry wizards blasted away at it with lightning and ice to no effect. Conryu stopped, gathered himself, and chanted. “Hand of bone, touch of death, reach out and claim the life of my enemy, Reaper’s Touch!”

  A shadowy black hand flew out and slid into the dragon mane. It went rigid, glided for a few feet, and started to fall.

  Conryu couldn’t let the body hit anything. It had to weigh six tons. He focused on it and cast, “Shatter!”

  The corpse crumbled to dust in an instant. One of the Ministry wizards flew over and said, “Thanks.”

  “No problem, Jemma sent me to lend you guys a hand. Have you seen the second one?”

  “Damn thing flew east about five minutes ago. Haven’t seen it since.”

  He hated to let one of the monsters get away, but didn’t have time to hunt it down right now. “She said I was supposed to help out at the Ministry building and Parliament. How are things going there?”

  “Afraid I haven’t a clue, we’ve been pretty busy up here.”

  Looked like he was going in blind. “Fair enough. Can you point me towards Parliament?”

  She gave him directions to both locations and Conryu got going. It was a fairly simple matter for him to use some of his more powerful spells to turn the tide at both locations the same as he had at the hotel. Half an hour later, he was on his way back.

  He landed and strode into the lobby. Jemma didn’t even give him a chance to sit down.

  “We have another problem,” she said.

  Seemed like there was always another problem. “What’s wrong now?” he asked.

  “I just got word that the team transporting some elf artifacts to the museum was attacked and an item stolen.”

  Conryu tensed. “By a woman in a mask?”

  “That’s right, how did you know?”

  “Call it a hunch.” Damn the Society! They were using the chaos to steal another artifact. “What did she take?”

  “That’s the weird thing, all she took was a broken artifact.”

  The knot in Conryu’s stomach felt like an elephant. Lady Wolf had taken a broken artifact from the czar’s collection. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

  “Two of our wizards pursued her—there was an enchantment on the item that allowed them to track it—but we haven’t heard from them in a while. Given the chaos in the city I’m not too surprised—”

  “What was their last known location?” He needed to get his hands on the thief and make her tell him what they were up to. Conryu felt like he was constantly half a step behind the Society and he was sick of it.

  She rattled off an address. “It’s in the slums. I know we’re not supposed to call it that, the proper term is economically challenged neighborhood, but it’s a slum. Will you be able to find it okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a guide.”

  He opened a Hell portal and when Cerberus appeared told the demon dog the address. It was time to hunt.

  The wind picked up as Father Salvador and his assistant worked their way down the street. He reached up to scratch the blistered skin on his cheek and his finger came back covered in dead skin. He’d gotten used to the pain; it hadn’t lessened so much as become a part of him. He thought no more of it than he did his hand or foot.

  The faint scuff marks they’d been following, assuming they even came from the witch, were now so smeared and vague he believed Jeremiah acted more on hope than tracking skill.

  Or perhaps divine providence guided their path. It was God’s will they find and destroy the witch. Perhaps he guided them on their mission. Yes, no other explanation made sense. His faith was being rewarded.

  At least there were no people to hinder his search. The scum that lived in this wretched part of earth had either fled or locked themselves out of sight. Prudent decisions on their part. His allies were less than particular about who they firebombed. Though they did seem to prefer burning things of great value. That rendered this area far down on their target list.

  They rounded a bend and Jeremiah placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him behind the building they’d just passed.

  “Look, Father.” He pointed into the sky.

  Salvador squinted. Two wizards in red robes he’d come to recognize as belonging to the Ministry circled above the block across the street. He raised his rifle partway then lowered it. Perhaps God had sent these hounds to guide him to his prey. How sweet it would be to have the heathens lead him to the one he sought. Surely the Almighty would appreciate the joke. He motioned Jeremiah further out of the way and settled in to see what happened.

  The wait wasn’t lengthy. The wizards dropp
ed out of the sky and landed in front of the closed door of a small warehouse across the street. Nothing about the place struck Salvador as extraordinary. What did the wizards know that he didn’t?

  “What should we do, Father?”

  “You should be silent.”

  He returned his attention to the wizards. They stood outside the door and put their heads together. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, he wished his faith granted him some of the gifts the wizards enjoyed. Right now he would have given much to hear what they were discussing.

  They appeared to reach a consensus. One stepped back while the other grasped the handle. She shoved the door open.

  An explosion sent the door flying into the wizards. They sprawled on the ground with the shards of the door covering them.

  Salvador knew a sign when he saw one. Raising his rifle, he charged across the street. His first shot scattered one wizard’s brains all over the ground. A quick reload and he gave the second woman the same treatment.

  He panted with a combination of exertion and divine exultation. Two fewer wizards now blighted the world with their presence. The one he really needed to kill still remained. Judging from the trap, she had to be inside. At last he would finish his prey and rejoin the greater battle.

  Salvador slammed a third bullet into the chamber of his rifle and stepped into the warehouse.

  Conryu stepped out of his portal across the street from the address Jemma had given him. It never ceased to amaze him how Cerberus knew exactly where to go. He was tempted to ask Prime how it worked, but he feared the scholomantic might tell him.

  “Sense anything?”

  “There are people everywhere, but I only detect three in the building across the street.”

  Conryu glanced up and down the empty block. Everywhere must mean inside. The area was so empty he expected a tumbleweed to go rolling past any minute.

  “That must be Jemma’s people and the Society wizard.”

  Prime flexed his cover. “There are three people, but I can’t tell you who they are.”

  “Well, let’s go take a look.”

  Conryu was barely halfway across the street when he spotted the two bodies. They wore the robes of Ministry wizards. He dashed over to help, but when he arrived found that their heads had both been blown to smithereens. It looked more like the damage of a bullet than a spell.

  “Prime, is there any magic around them?”

  “Dark magic, Master. I suspect someone has gotten their hands on some Death’s Head bullets.”

  “Death’s Head bullets?”

  “Bullets enchanted to penetrate magical defenses. Be cautious, Master, Diamond Skin won’t protect you from them.”

  Terrific. One more complication to add to the list. Did regular people feel like this when they had to deal with the various spells available to wizards? Well, just because his defensive spells wouldn’t protect him from enchanted bullets was no reason to cancel any of them and give regular bullets a chance to hurt him.

  Conryu put a finger to his lips and kneed the door open. The landing was charred from where a spell had detonated. He paused and listened. Farther into the junk-strewn building people were moving around.

  He glanced up at the ceiling. It would be a lot easier to see anyone up there. The problem was he couldn’t fly with an earth magic spell running. He debated for a moment whether it would be safer to stay on the ground or go into the air.

  Finally, he released the protective spell and cast a flying spell. If their bullets could penetrate it anyway better to see them coming. He flew silently up into the rafters and immediately spotted two men working their way through the garbage. One of them carried a long rifle and the other had a submachine gun. Both wore black uniforms, Blessed Army then. They hadn’t noticed Conryu yet so he let them do the searching for him.

  They kicked over boxes and poked their noses in everything. For the better part of five minutes they looked high and low for the Society wizard. Finally they hurled a pair of pallets off to one side and there she was, passed out on the filthy mattress, her shoulder soaked with dried blood.

  Conryu had never seen a member of the Society in such poor shape. Usually they were these arrogant, powerful women who looked down on him. This one wasn’t in any shape to look down on anyone. For half a second he felt a little bad for her, but it didn’t last.

  The man with a long rifle raised his weapon and took aim at the unconscious woman.

  Conryu descended and gathered his will. “Shatter.”

  Both men’s weapons disintegrated. The moment he landed he renewed his defensive spell.

  They turned to face him. The elder man, his face and chest horribly burned, said, “So you are the male wizard. I have heard of you. Are you allied with this wretch?”

  Conryu offered a humorless laugh. “Hardly, but I have some questions for her and if you kill her, I’ll have to resort to spells I don’t especially enjoy casting. Is there any chance I can convince you to surrender?”

  The younger man drew long daggers from sheathes at his waist.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  He charged and Conryu stepped right into him, driving his fist into the man’s gut and doubling him over. A quick shove sent him sprawling to the floor.

  Conryu cast, “Deepest cold, bind and hold, Ice Bind!”

  Two inches of clear ice covered him and locked him in position. He turned his attention to the last man and found him running as fast as possible toward the door.

  “Gust!” Winds screamed, picked the soldier up, and slammed him into the far wall where he slumped to the ground.

  Finally. With those nuisances dealt with he could interrogate his prisoner in peace.

  A boom shook the warehouse as a portal appeared. A woman in green robes wearing a dragon mask stepped out. It was the one that came to talk to him at Kincade Manor.

  “I told you we’d see each other again,” Lady Dragon said.

  “So you did. I don’t suppose this is where you explain your evil plot?”

  She held out her hand and a crimson rod appeared. “No, I’m afraid not.”

  Lady Tiger never would’ve imagined she’d be glad to see Conryu Koda, but when he landed and distracted Father Salvador from shooting her, she couldn’t have been more relieved. She’d faked being unconscious in hopes that he might take her prisoner instead of simply shooting her. When the rifle went up, she recognized her hope as a vain one. And then like a guardian angel, the Society’s greatest enemy floated to the ground and saved her.

  She used the distraction and the last speck of power in her to send a message to the Society requesting assistance. Oh, and how that galled her. The other Hierarchs would never let her live it down, but at least she might live. If those were her choices then reputation be damned.

  Now Lady Dragon faced off against Conryu and the warehouse practically vibrated with their combined magical power. They exchanged words, she couldn’t make out what they said, but a moment later they shot into the air and blasted through the roof.

  Lady Tiger groaned. She’d survive for a few more minutes. Nearby a wind portal opened and Lady Wolf emerged. Her sister Hierarch walked over and looked down at her. Though the mask hid it, Lady Tiger pictured the sneer of contempt twisting Lady Wolf’s lips.

  She shook her head. “Pathetic. Did you complete your mission?”

  “I did.”

  “Good. If Lady Dragon hadn’t ordered it otherwise, I’d leave you here as just reward for your incompetence. She still seems to think we need you in order to complete the mission, so it’s fallen to me to carry you to safety. Hold still.”

  Lady Wolf cast a spell and a disk of energy appeared under Lady Tiger. It lifted her off the filthy mattress. She choked off a scream when the movement jarred her shoulder. In moments she would be safe at the Society’s headquarters. Lady Bear had a gift for light magic and her healing would see Lady Tiger well in short order.

  Lady Wolf gestured and the makeshift gurney drifted alo
ng behind her. They passed through the portal and Lady Tiger lost consciousness for real.

  Conryu faced Lady Dragon in the skies above the London slum. Fire crackled around the red scepter she carried. He didn’t recognize the artifact, but it didn’t take a genius to know it served a similar purpose to the Death Stick. The only question was, how much did the item magnify her power? He guessed a lot. You didn’t get to run an outfit like the Society without a great deal of power backing you up.

  “I’ve been looking forward to testing your strength myself,” Lady Dragon said. “You’ve caused us a great deal of trouble, but that all ends now.”

  “You think it’ll be that easy?” He didn’t really care about her answer, he just wanted to give Prime a chance to get as far away as their connection allowed. He wasn’t completely confident in his ability to protect the scholomantic, even with their shared Cloak of Darkness.

  “Let’s find out.” Lady Dragon flourished the scepter and a river of flame rushed toward Conryu.

  He threw up a hand and shouted, “Break!”

  His spell blew away a chunk of the flames, but they kept coming. Relying on nothing but instinct and willpower, he transformed the sphere of dark magic into a wall. It blocked every drop of flame and when he sensed the torrent had ended, he lowered it.

  “Is that the best you’ve got?” he asked.

  He sensed her smiling behind the mask. “I’m just getting warmed up.”

  The two opponents circled. Lady Dragon attacked with fire and lightning. Conryu countered with Dispel and blasts of ice. Neither of them landed a solid strike.

  The first hint of a backlash headache was forming behind Conryu’s eyes when a fireball twice the size of his head came roaring in.

  He hollowed it out with a Dispel and flew through the gap. On the other side Lady Dragon panted and leaned with her hands on her knees. Looked like he wasn’t the only one getting low on power. He’d been fighting all afternoon. What was her excuse?

  If he pushed hard, maybe he could end this now. Sensing his need, Prime sent power rushing down their link. His headache vanished and he cast, “Shroud of all things ending. Cowl of nightmares born. Dark wrap that looks upon all things’ doom, Reaper’s Cloak!”