Twisted Magics (Terra Chronicles Book 1)

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Twisted Magics (Terra Chronicles Book 1) Page 20

by J. C. Jackson


  “Check it out and come along the southern building, we’ll meet up with you.”

  I relayed the information to Silver. The call came through for an all clear on the offices and that team was heading for the cathedral’s north-side entrance.

  Confirming whose grave was disturbed, Silver set off at a pace that forced me to jog to keep up - I was not able to read the name on the stone. Not in this light and from the distance he kept from it.

  Feeling a stitch starting in my side, I was not sure if I should be cursing being short or because I was not in as good of shape as everyone else. The sun also chose at that moment to break the horizon and I had to squint until my eyes adjusted.

  We met up with Savanas and Rathal, then the latter split off to head for the south-side entrance. Savanas led us around to the front of the building. I took a moment to look out over the water - it lapped lazily at the shore. It was so peaceful and quiet. Even the clouds had cleared allowing the sun to shine radiantly as it rose.

  The cathedral stood tall - it was mostly white, the spire at the front of the building held a giant golden sun at the top. It was designed the same as Silver’s necklace. Another sun, in stained glass, sat on the front well above the entrance. This building must have at least three floors. It was both grand and intimidating at the same time.

  Before we set foot on the stone stairs, I heard Rathal through the ear piece, “Gods preserve us.”

  Brad and Darius echoed his sentiment, though it sounded like hushed prayers under Brad’s breath that followed. The three stated they saw none of the targets inside. Retanei was silent.

  Savanas rushed forward, the large, heavy doors doing little to slow her down. In the vestibule, she leveled a look at the two of us and said, “I’m going in first. I will call for you. Do not enter before I tell you to.” She could not have known what was in there, but she knew her people. It told me more than I wanted to know.

  I put my bag down, needing to be free of the weight. It gave me a moment to rest.

  The look on Savanas’ face as she peeked through the heavy wooden doors told me even more. I never imagined there would be anything that could make Savanas pale instantly. The smell of blood and death quickly wafted through the crack and assaulted my senses.

  I also sensed heavy arcane usage inside. There must have been another barrier on the doors. All of it together turned my stomach and I found myself kneeling in the vestibule, trying to breathe and hold back the urge to vomit. Silver knelt next to me and rubbed my back.

  I thought we already talked about not touching me.

  “Ket?” Savanas let the door close and I felt relief. “What’s going on in there we can’t see?”

  Taking a few lung fulls of air first, I managed to press the button on my ear piece so the others could hear. I said, “There’s a lot of arcane usage. Without seeing it, I couldn’t tell you exactly what, but it’s dark. Similar to the necromancer’s spells.”

  “Oh, honey, you don’t want to know how dark,” Darius said, his voice was hushed.

  Silver moved on my statement and threw open the doors, stepping fully into the cathedral’s main chamber. Savanas cursed at him from where she darted to the side.

  I was once again assaulted by the darkness emanating, feeling more of the effects than previously, but now had a visual to try and push my limits further. Silver took up most of the doorway, but not enough to block it completely.

  My eyes were set on the pews where people lay - the life having been stolen from them, their blood coating the light wood and white marble floor. It was carnage.

  Suddenly I was breathing fast, but it felt like I was not getting any air and the room was starting to spin. Closing my eyes, I huddled down closer to the floor, putting my head between my knees. I was supposed to be a professional - I have seen plenty of gory crime scene photos. Why was this so much different?

  Part of my mind told me it was because I was never actually there. I could not smell the blood and death, taste the air upon which it rode, hear the screams of those who died…

  Picking up my head, the room swam, but I forced myself to focus. I said, “It’s the same.” It came out as a whisper. Unwillingly, I soaked up the raw, twisted arcane energy and felt a level of filth like never before. It added to the difficulty of trying to keep tight control.

  Savanas was next to me. I heard her telling me to stay here and that Rathal was on his way.

  Grabbing her arm before she could go anywhere, I pulled myself up, remembering what Archmage Maewon had told me about necromancy.

  I told her, “You’re going to need both of us.” Gritting my teeth, I strode forward as steady as I could. This madness needed to end.

  I could feel the power surging through me. I struggled to focus and hold it. Silver looked back at me and I nodded, letting some of the excess flash as pure arcane energy in my hands. The quick burn off helped me regain a measure of control.

  His look though was of barely contained rage. I should have asked for more detail on how exposure affected him.

  Necromancy was the darkest sides of both the arcane and the divine twisted together. Neither of us could delve into the other side of the puzzle without potentially losing ourselves to the madness that Archmage Maewon spoke of. It did not mean we could not work together.

  Standing beside Silver, I took notice of a casket at the altar. It was clean and open, but I could not see inside. I could sense a source of arcane power now that I was standing past the doors. I said, “He’s here.”

  “There’s more than one. Both are twisted. Let us end this.” Since I could not pick up on the second presence, my guess is that they were solely a divine caster. I hoped we were not dealing with more than two.

  Rathal arrived, out of breath, and Savanas ordered him to call for backup. I followed Silver, who was picking a path down the center between the pews, trying not to step in the blood attempting to paint the floor red.

  The light of dawn came through the stained glass, painting the white walls in color. It was beautiful, contrasting sharply with the death and dark arcane energy.

  I heard the doors shut behind me and took note of Savanas and Big Black heading down toward the door on the south side of the building. Brad and Darius each slid inside and moved in opposite directions along the north wall. I heard the door at the back open and close again.

  As we approached the altar, Silver stopped and bowed to the large sun statue hanging at the back.

  As soon as I took the couple of steps up to the altar, I could see inside of the casket. It was as I feared, the dark-haired woman looked to have been deceased for a while. I guessed this was Maria by the anger on Silver’s face.

  Time buried had started to decay the corpse. She wore a circlet and armor almost identical to Silver’s. A sword was held in her hands, the blade pointed toward her feet. A familiar looking shield once likely rested on top, but looked like it had shifted in the casket.

  The spells used were similar to the Waking Dawn, but this time the energy was being gathered. Thin, black tubes were flowing into Maria from the congregation - they pulsed with energy. Looking back at those that had gathered for the morning celebration, I saw a spell I feared I researched. Before they were only visible in Silver’s aura, but black tendrils marred the walls and up over the second and third floor balconies at the back. This building must be soaked in the same aura as Silver’s somehow.

  The tendrils held the parishioners in place. It was a variation on a combat spell to ensnare one’s opponents in a certain radius. I vaguely remembered fulfilling the request for locating such a spell, but it had been several years ago at least.

  “Ah, James, we have guests.” That voice sent a shiver through my spine. My head whipped back around and I was not sure what I felt. Fear? Anger? Blood lust? I held myself back from reacting.

  Behind me, I heard swords draw and a couple of firearms being brought to the ready, but I dared not turn around to look. Brad, who stopped on his way to the altar seem
ed unsure who to direct his aim at.

  Brown and James emerged from a side room off of the altar along with several other Humans. Brown was surrounded by a magical bubble. The unidentified men were all wielding blades of varying length - many of them still dripping with blood. Most of them wore a gun on their hip as well.

  “Sir, why are you taking part in this madness? Why would you aid this evil?!” Silver asked, sounding more betrayed than angry. He directed his attention toward the man clad in similar armor to his own. Why was Silver directing his attention at his mentor instead of Brown? Was he the bigger threat?

  I realized I knew little to nothing about a paladin’s abilities. While I saw the Archmage as the biggest threat, I could be wrong.

  James strode forward, with an elated expression. Blood liberally coated his armor and dripped down his sword. He said wistfully, “Soon my beloved will return to me.”

  Silver stood between me and his mentor. Big Black growled. Shaking, I pulled my gun.

  Perhaps not the most intelligent thing, but this was an Archmage I was facing. In an arcane battle, I was not going to win. If I could get him to drop the bubble…

  The paladins were ignoring me. Brown was not. The others with him seem to be picking their targets. “Initially I had not wanted your friends involved, but you brought this upon them by continuing to interfere. And who am I to turn down more power?”

  Gritting my teeth against the pain and suffering around me, I struggled to keep my focus. I said, “I don’t take orders from you. The Arcane College has labeled you a rogue mage.”

  “Please, what can a little fairy girl like you do? You, a mere Researcher, who can barely keep your control in here,” Brown scoffed at me and walked toward his sacrifices, extending his arms. “Isn’t this just beautiful. All of this for love. But you wouldn’t be able to comprehend that.”

  Fairy… I wondered how much about me he knew or if he was only repeating the racial slur.

  The men with him were grinning and spreading out to try and surround those of us at the altar. A few headed for the rest of the team but stopped before they stepped off the raised platform.

  I could feel the anger rolling off of Silver. He directed toward James, “Sir! You would kill all those here for your own selfish desires? Even Maria would not…”

  “Don’t say her name! You have no right to address my beloved that way!” James yelled and launched himself at Silver who easily blocked the enraged attack. “This one is mine!”

  Then chaos erupted and the other men attacked. I found myself being dragged back, behind the casket. Gunshots rang out and the couple heading for Savanas and I dropped. Big Black was attacking a third and Artemis appeared in a streak of gray to assist.

  The casket sat upon what looked like a heavy, sturdy stone block. Savanas forced me to crouch down on the far side from the paladins fighting it out. She said, “Tell me you’ve got something we can use.”

  The move turned me to face toward the doors we had entered. Rathal’s fat arrow had become a lance and he was taking on two more along the south-side wall. Brad and Darius were trying to aim to take down the remaining four, but were not able to get clear shots as the men were using the pews for cover.

  I closed my eyes for a moment to clear the images and focus on Savanas’ words. I frantically searched the area with my own power to gather more information about the spells going on and felt hopeless.

  Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know enough about Brown’s bubble yet to shatter it, but I wouldn’t recommend shooting it - the kinetic energy could make it stronger. If you can give me some time…”

  My head hurt and it was getting more difficult to focus. This was far stronger than the spell used at the Waking Dawn. The voices I heard before screaming in pain and anger faded against the pounding. I also stopped hearing the voices in my ear. My grip on the gun was lax.

  “I’ll come up with something if you can give me some time,” I said.

  Savanas tugged on my ear and smirked, twirling her blades as she got up. “This could be interesting.” The longer blade was in her right hand.

  Holding the gun in my left hand, I picked up one of the black tubes with my right. It pulsed with dark energy. It did not feel like pure arcane, but without Silver, I could not tell if it was mixed with divine. The energy flowed from the parishioners to the casket. There was a small set of tubes with energy flowing out of the casket into Brown’s bubble. They were almost hidden among the others.

  I tried to ignore the fight going on between Silver and James, but with sparks flying from their strikes, calling it difficult was an understatement. I pushed the sounds of the others out as well, including the occasional “thwap” of an arrow hitting home. Knowing Retanei was also in the fight helped. Part of my mind had been concerned the ones Darius and Brad were fighting might try to take a shot at me.

  James shouted, “She always had a soft spot for you, didn’t she, Silver? Well, you can take her place!” It was one of many insults James was spouting. The two paladins got dangerously close. I quickly dropped the tube and scrambled to hide. Then I noticed where my friend was as I caught a flash of black and silver-white on the top balcony.

  I took a moment to figure out where everyone was in case I needed to run. James fought like a crazed man. Silver’s movements were full of passion, but calculated. I was glad someone was able to keep their head about them.

  Rathal, on the other hand, looked like a man possessed. I watched as he thrust his lance through one man’s chest and then swung it with the dying body still attached into the other.

  Arrows stuck out of two more bodies lying in the middle aisle. Retanei lent her aide to Brad and Darius. Brad was in close combat with one of the men while Darius kept trying to get the other in his sights. Big Black and Artemis finished with their opponent and were trying to help Savanas.

  I was useless here - I could not help any of them. I did not even know what I was looking for. I had a gun in my hand and…

  Why was I here? Why was I useless? This was not my first fight, despite what the others may think. It was not the first time my life, and the lives of others, had been on the line.

  But I was not that person anymore, was I? I put that behind me decades ago. I was not the scared little girl acting on instinct. The myth had become just that.

  “Oh, please, like your little toys could hurt me,” Brown said, bored. It shook me out of my moment of self-doubt.

  Brown did not move as Savanas launched a series of attacks. It looked like she was dancing with the two blades. Something was not right about his lack of action, but the pounding in my head and my barely controlled power made it difficult to focus.

  A gunshot sounded out again. Another of the enemy was down. Darius turned his attention forward, though he was at the far back of the cathedral. I looked at him, scared.

  Then Brown ordered, “Ketayl, stand.”

  A wave of magic hit me, and I recognized it as a command spell. It broke over me like water.

  The paladins had moved to the far side of alter, still fighting fiercely, so I took the chance to stand up. I needed to see what was going on.

  “Eliminate this woman,” Brown said and pointed at Savanas.

  Brown must not have known that his command spell broke. My panic gave way to confusion.

  “Damn, that’s hot,” Savanas said, turning her pocket to empty it. My Arcane College pin fell out, glowing. She looked in my direction with worry.

  Even the paladins slowed. Brad had his opponent in a headlock and held him there as he watched. I caught Darius out of the corner of my eye raising his weapon, unsure where to point it.

  Brown did not seem interested in the actions of the others. My pin reached out to me again, but it could not find me - I was too far away.

  Savanas kept her attention between Brown and myself, unsure where to direct her blades. Her voice warned, “Don’t do it, Ket. Don’t do it.” Her expression showed she would fight only if she absolutely had to
. Big Black growled at her side, teeth bared. Artemis whined at me.

  “I GAVE YOU AN ORDER!” Brown roared.

  Everything cleared as time slowed. Arcane power zoomed around me, pushing the limits of my capacity. I felt my hair lift off the back of my neck as if picked up by an unfelt wind.

  It had become clear - the Archmage needed Maria as a valve to slow down the energy he was collecting. Overloading the bubble was an idea I could run with.

  I summoned pure arcane energy to my hands, channeling them into the gun I was gripping. The iridescent colors swam wildly in anticipation as I struggled with the combining spell I had created.

  Bring my gun to bear on Brown, I fought through the overpowering energy to tell him: “You. Don’t. Control. Me.”

  Before I fully registered the movement, I fired. Time still had not regained its normal pace - I caught the ejected casing twirling lazily through the air out of the corner of my eye. Brown had a look of disbelief on his face, which was changing to anger when he figured out I was aimed at him. Savanas had brought her swords up to deflect - a shocked look on her face. Brad was barely in view, his opponent down and had started running for Savanas.

  The overload of energy caused it to crack and threaten to shatter. I burnt out the arcane side of his spell. I could also smell the melting metal and feel the heat in my hands and reflexively let go of the gun. The added kinetic delivery had the effect I was hoping for. Unfortunately I was only able to use it once. Part of my mind noted I infused the bullet with too much raw arcane energy, damaging the gun.

  “Defend me!” Brown cried as time returned to normal. I could tell he was scrambling to find the power to reinforce his bubble. It was his turn to panic.

  James immediately complied, knocking Silver back with brute force and taking a stance to engage whoever attacked first.

  Big Black took the momentary distraction to launch himself at James, but the paladin was faster and cut down the big dog mid-flight. Artemis let out a howl and would have attacked if Savanas had not grabbed her.

 

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