‘Yeah, that’s a tough balance to achieve,’ Liz said, agreeing with her host. As a Magus, you were under constant threat from the other factions. And if it wasn’t the Magi who were after you, it was probably one of the Scions. These bloodlines of mutated humans, who had been turned into Vampires and Were-Creatures and worse were just as bad as the Magi were, and they often served with the Nomads given that they were originally created by the Nomad’s dark gods, the Archons.
Living as a Magus meant that you had to constantly be on your guard, and fortifying your house or apartment was pretty much a necessity. Still, you had to fit in with the world around you so it couldn’t be too obvious.
Luckily, with their Magic, the Magi had ways and means to make their homes near impossible to get into, especially if you wanted to get in quickly and you didn’t have the authorization. There were ways around that of course, such as knowing the backdoor code, but short of mind reading, they were difficult to get a hold of.
There was a knock on the door then and in walked a young woman that made Liz do a double take. Liz was about as straight as you could be, she had no interest in other girls, unlike her mentor, but wow, this girl was stunning, if a little over the top.
She was blonde, typically thought Liz, with bouncing curly locks that surrounded a gorgeous and striking face with cheekbones to die for. Liz felt a touch of jealousy over those.
Even in the mild temperature of this house, Liz didn’t feel terribly warm, even with her jeggings, boots and fitted turtleneck jumper. But this girl looked like she was dressed for a summer's day on the beach with her strappy low cut top that she was practically bursting out of and the tiny mini skirt she wore.
She did have tights on, a minor concession to the winter weather she supposed. Liz looked away, she didn’t understand girls that dressed this way, it only served to sexualise them and promote the idea that they were objects to be leered at. Liz did her best to ignore her and focus on her cup of tea, enjoying another mouthful of the refreshing taste.
As the girl walked up to Anna’s desk, though, Liz couldn’t help but notice that the blonde glanced down at her and did her own double take.
The blonde continued to stare at Liz for slightly longer than felt comfortable, forcing Liz to look up and acknowledge this bouncing blonde and her braless boobs.
‘You’re…’
Liz emerged from behind her cup of tea with a smile and offered her hand, ‘Liz Fox, nice to meet you,’ she said.
‘Holy shit! Oh, err, sorry. Ahem. Excuse my language but, it’s really you?’
Liz nodded with a self-conscious smile. ‘Yeah, it’s me,’ she said, glancing at her hand that was still being offered but as yet had not been accepted.
The girl looked at Liz’s hand and then back at Liz. ‘Oh, sorry,’ she said as she took it and shook it a little too vigorously, nearly spilling Liz’s tea.
‘Oooh, careful,’ Liz said, doing her best to keep her drink steady.
‘Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’m just a little excited, I had no idea you were here. Wow, I have so many questions for you. Is Amanda here?’ she said, looking around the room.
‘Aah, no, just me I’m afraid,’ she said, smiling. Liz glanced at those huge boobs again. They suddenly reminded her of her mentor's figure… Had this girl… No, surely not. ‘And you are?’
‘Jenna, nice to meet you, if I’d known I’d have dressed for the occasion,’ she said, looking a little self-conscious about her appearance for a moment.
‘Don’t worry about it, this wasn’t a planned visit.’
‘Oh, so you two don’t…’ Jenna said, looking between Liz and Anna.
‘No, no. Richard bumped into Liz while out on an errand and Liz kindly came back to meet us all.’
‘Ah,’ Jenna frowned, looking a little confused. ‘That’s why I came to see you actually, I got an alert from one of my GPS trackers,’ she said and picked her glasses up that had been hanging off the front of her low-cut top and put them on. She had her Laptop under one arm and placed it on the desk, opening it up. ‘Richard’s tracker has stopped suddenly. I have his last location, but I’m not powerful enough to scry there, and my locating effect is not picking him up. I’m not sure where he is.’
‘You track your Coven members?’ Liz asked.
‘Jenna here is our resident tech expert,’ Anna said. ‘She takes the safety of the Coven very seriously.’
Liz felt surprised, looking at Jenna she would never have pegged her as a computer nerd, she looked much more like some kind of surfer girl or the leader of the hockey team or something. The world was full of surprises she guessed.
‘I have given all the members of the Coven a tracker, this is mine,’ she said, pointing to a ring on her finger. ‘This way I know where everyone is and I get an alert when the tracker doesn’t transmit, like Richards.’
‘Okay, where was he when the tracker last transmitted?’ Anna asked.
Jenna pulled up a map on the computer. ‘Here,’ she said.
Liz sensed the Magic as Anna scryed the area, sending her senses out and looking to see if Richard was still there.
Liz watched as a look of concern spread over Anna’s face, until a few seconds later when she opened her eyes again and focused on the room.
‘It was an underpass, he’s not there, but there was some blood on the ground, it looked fresh as well. I don’t like this. Okay, you say you can’t locate him, let me have a go, she said and reached for a nice looking pen on her desk. She guessed it was probably a gift from Richard and would serve as a Sympathetic link to him, allowing her to channel her Magic and try and locate him.
She closed her eyes again, and Liz felt the Essentia blossom once more about the Magi.
Anna quickly opened her eyes again, sitting forward with a look of horror on her face. ‘Aaah, crap, I found him, I think, I don’t know, he’s hurt. We have to go now. He’s not far from here.’
‘Is he okay, where is he,’ Jenna said, desperation leaking into her voice.
‘He’s in an old warehouse, and, I don’t know, he’s hurt, I know that,’ she said.
‘I’m coming with you,’ Jenna said.
‘Me too,’ Liz agreed. For some reason, she felt slightly responsible for this. She wasn’t sure why, but having just been introduced to these guys, and seeing one of them now in trouble, she knew she couldn’t just leave. She had to try and help them somehow.
Anna looked at her as she pulled on her coat. ‘Are you sure, there’s no need, really, we can handle this.’
‘I’m coming,’ Liz said, making sure her tone was severe enough to convey her seriousness as she stood up and pulled on her own jacket.
‘The more the merrier,’ Anna said and led them from the room. Jenna picked up a tiny jacket from the hallway as Anna led them outside and unlocked one of the cars that stood in the driveway. Liz jumped in the back. She was the guest after all.
Anna sped out of the driveway and gunned the engine as they pulled out onto the street.
‘Will Callie and Rory be okay?’ Jenna asked.
‘Don’t see why not,’ Anna said as she concentrated on the road ahead.
Anna had been right, the warehouse was not far from their place, and it only took them a little over ten minutes to get there. They parked up on an industrial estate next to a large disused building. No one was around as it was well after working hours now, and there was little in the way of light here. When the car lights went out, Liz realised how dark it really was out here.
‘Lead the way,’ Liz said to Anna who was looking a little more worried now. But she nodded and walked towards a nearby door that had a sturdy looking chain threaded through the handle, secured with a chunky padlock. With a small working of Magic, the chain broke and clattered to the floor, allowing the door to be opened with a shriek of metal from the rusted hinges.
Liz looked around them into the darkness, her vision was now expanded into spectrums of light not usually visible to the human eye. She could see e
verything she could have wanted as clear as day, including heat signatures if she needed.
No one was about, and everything remained quiet. Turning back, Liz followed Jenna inside, who was close on the heels of Anna. A few steps into the building and Liz couldn’t help but notice the loud clicking from the footsteps of Jenna. She screwed up her face in consternation at the ridiculous heels that the girl wore. They’re a broken ankle waiting to happen, she thought.
Liz used a minor working of Magic to dampen the sound they were making, applying it to the whole group so as not to single Jenna out too much.
Anna led them upstairs and through a series of decaying offices until they exited through to the other side and onto a wide open area on the first floor.
There, in the middle of it, slumped on a chair, unmoving, was Richard. Liz looked at his bruised and bloodied form and didn’t need to use her magic to know he was clearly dead.
She used it anyway, though, just to confirm Richard’s condition.
Jenna ran forward and dropped to her knees next to him, sobbing while Liz and Anna both took a more cautious approach and looked all about them. Liz looked for anything indicating there might be other Magi here or for any hint of a trap. But there was nothing.
Liz relaxed a little and watched Anna walk over to Jenna. Anna put her hand around Jenna’s shoulders as she crouched down next to her, whispering words of comfort. Liz stayed back but looked at Richard. He’d been beaten up, tortured. This had been systematic and done with purpose.
She also noticed a phone with a pink case on the floor nearby. The screen had been smashed. Liz walked over and picked it up, tapping the power button. Surprisingly it still worked and appeared to be without any security measures to stop anyone getting into it.
Liz opened up the messages and checked the most recent one which was listed as “Brother”.
As she expected, this must have been Ellie’s phone, and she could see the latest message from Ellie, or whoever had been using this phone, summoning Richard to come and help her.
‘He was lured here and tortured,’ Liz said, ‘any idea why, and by who?’
Anna looked up. ‘No, I mean, other than the usual suspects that all Arcadians have.’
‘Nomads,’ Liz said to herself. This just felt like the work of some Nomads to her rather than the Inquisition. There was none of the usual religious paraphernalia around that would point to an Inquisitorial mission. They always liked to broadcast their operations so, she doubted it would be them. No, this felt much more like something some Nomads would do, but why? What did Richard know that would be of value to some Nomads, and why leave him here where he would be found? He wouldn’t have been found by any Riven, though, this place was abandoned, and the lack of graffiti in here told Liz that it wasn’t as yet being visited by any kids or anything. So, he’d been left here for his Coven to find, and they had to know that they would find him.
‘This was done for us, for you I mean. You were supposed to find him, to come here. But the Nomads aren’t here, so why?’ Liz mused aloud.
‘We’re very close to the Coven house here,’ Anna said.
‘The Coven House!’ Liz exclaimed.
‘That’s why they tortured him. They wanted to get into the house. They lured me here because I was the most likely to come out, and the strongest and now they can get in the house, and get to Callie and Rory,’ Anna said. ‘Shit, let’s get back. Jenna, come on, we can come back for him later, we need to leave, Callie and Rory are in danger.’
‘But, I can’t leave him here, I can’t…’
Anna grabbed her by the shoulders and forced Jenna to look at her. ‘We’ll come back, I promise, but right now our friends need us.’
‘Right, you’re right, okay, I’m coming,’ she said, touching Richards cold cheek one last time. Liz raced out with them, helping Jenna along and getting into the back seat with her.
Seconds later they were speeding along the roads, dodging around cars and trying to get back as quick as they could. Half way back, Anna’s phone buzzed. Pressing a button on the steering wheel, the sound came through the car's speakers as she answered it.
‘Anna!’ shouted a female voice that Liz didn’t recognise.
‘Callie, are you okay?’
‘Where are you? We’re under attack here, shit, get back as quick as…’ The call clicked off.
‘Callie? Callie!’ Anna shouted before hitting the wheel in frustration with her fist.
Liz stayed quiet, there was nothing she could say that would make the situation better. Anna needed to concentrate on the road anyway and get them back to their house as quick as they could. The minutes that it actually took seemed like hours. Every car that got in the way appeared to be driving at twenty miles an hour, causing ever more frustration for Anna as she did her best to get them home quickly without endangering too many other road users.
Eventually, Anna brought the car skidding into the grounds of the Coven house, stopping short of the building itself. Liz noted the front door had been knocked off its hinges.
She hated being right sometimes.
Invasion
‘Let’s go,’ Anna called from the front seat.
Liz’s Aegis had been boosted up as far as she was able so that as she jumped from the car, the air around her practically crackled with Magical energy.
She’d struggled with the seat belt briefly before getting out which put her behind the other two women as they all ran for the house. Liz briefly marvelled at Jenna’s ability to run in those heels, now that was impressive.
They clattered through the doorway, stepping over the debris of the ruined door, noting the chaos and destruction that had been wrought in here.
Over the shoulder of Jenna and Anna, Liz spotted three figures, all of them in street clothing wearing hoodies. Two men and a woman from what she could see. One of the men was a huge guy with a military looking haircut, while the other had a more lean build with a mop of greasy looking hair. The girl had the full tracksuit look with her hood up, and her mousey hair falling about her poorly cared for skin.
She also spotted another figure kneeling on the floor before them, looking beaten and covered in his own blood. He looked about ready to drop. She guessed this was Rory, one of the other two members of Anna’s Coven. Where was Callie Liz thought?
‘Let him go,’ Anna yelled at the trio as she stalked up the hallway.
The three Nomads smiled at them. ‘Or what,’ said the big guy.
The thin guy just laughed while the girl gave them one of the evilest looking smiles Liz had seen in a while.
Anna hesitated but looked ready to fight.
The Nomad girl must have taken that as a direct challenge as she ran at Anna with a scream, pulling out a knife from the back of her track suit.
Anna stepped forward to meet her, Essentia building and then flaring as their respective Aegises connected. Anna twisted, probably hoping to evade much of the girls attack, but she held onto Anna and pulled her sideways so that they both fell into the room to Liz’s right with yells from both of them.
Right behind the girl, the thinner man came leaping forward throwing Magical attacks at Jenna who threw her energy into her shield and defended against them well. Liz smiled, she could hold her own for the moment, she guessed, which left Liz with an opportunity to maybe save Rory.
Liz ducked left into Anna’s office, knowing there was another door in there that led around to where the bigger man stood next to Rory.
She moved quickly, ducking through the door and crossing the next room without trouble making her way to the door opposite which stood open.
Sneaking through, she spotted Rory and the bigger Nomad right away, but crucially, the Nomad had not seen her.
Liz moved silently between the furniture to give herself a clear run at him before speeding up into a sprint. A few meters out from the Nomad he must have heard or sensed her and turned to look at Liz with a look of shock and hate. Liz adjusted her run and stepped to t
he wall, running up it with a magical shifting of gravity. Her change of tactic caught him by surprise as she launched at him and kicked at his face with an Essentia charged foot that cracked his Aegis and connected with a sickening crack that sent him flying backwards.
Liz landed next to the big man and summoned all the Essentia she could at that moment and funnelled it into a single hit as the man attempted to get his hands beneath him and pick himself up. The punch connected cleanly and smashed through his Aegis with Essentia to spare before channelling the rest of it into his head.
He fell back with a yell, dropped his knife and put both hands to his ruined cheek.
Liz spotted the knife and lunged for it with her right hand, grabbing it from the floor as the Nomad caught her left arm with one of his huge hands.
‘Don’t run away from me,’ he growled, mistakenly taking her lunge away from him as a sign of her wanting to escape.
‘Wouldn’t think of it,’ she answered and used his own pull against him to throw herself on top of him and slam his knife into his temple.
The man tensed and then went limp as Liz pushed herself up from him. It wasn’t the first man she’d ever killed fighting Nomads, but that was probably the most up close and personal kill she’d ever done.
She turned to look at Rory. He’d slumped to the floor, so she stepped up to him and checked on him with a quick scan of Magic. He was alive. A little bruised with a couple of broken bones, but he’d live.
Yelps from up the corridor caught Liz’s attention as she heard the sounds of fighting down there.
‘Argh, get off me you freak, fuck, argh.’ It was Jenna, and it sounded like she was struggling a bit. Liz stood and strode off down the corridor, passing the room with Anna and the female Nomad in. They were still fighting and looked fairly evenly matched from her quick glance. Reaching the door on the right, following the sounds of Jenna’s struggle, Liz looked in to see the smaller Nomad man had somehow managed to get Jenna into a bear hug. He stood behind her his arms wrapped around her, his hands pawing at her body as Jenna twisted and struggled, even going in for a bite on his arm at one point.
Uprising: The Magi Saga (Tales of the Magi Saga Book 1) Page 4