Death Magic

by Holly Hook

  Janine and I obeyed while Mack watched with a look of real concern on his face.

  "What's Shadow Sickness?" I asked.

  Xavier groaned and kept his eyes shut on the couch. He sank into the old cushions among potato chip crumbs and loose change. He turned over as if he were thrust into some nightmare. I hated seeing him like that. I wanted to shake him back to his senses, but I had the feeling there was no coming back from it this time.

  He had gone over an edge.

  "Did a Shadow Wraith touch Xavier?" Mack asked.

  "No," I said. "We haven't even seen any Shadow Wraiths since we jumped from the ATC building and none of them touched us."

  "Are you sure?" Mack asked. "This looks like Shadow Sickness to me."

  "Well, his old battle partner got turned into one," I said. "I don't know if it has anything to do with this, but that was months ago and then we got Bound illegally. It's a long story. There's a little bit of his old mark right under his new one."

  Mack gave me a knowing look and grabbed Xavier's arm, turning it over to reveal the twin crossed swords. Our mark was as strong as ever but the faint one was still there, barely visible unless I really looked.

  "I think I see it," Mack said. Then he let go of Xavier's arm and faced me. His expression was serious. Deadly.

  A horrible memory roared into my mind: a kind-looking doctor with the same look on his face, telling my parents that I was Turning as I lay there in a hospital bed with a wounded neck, not understanding what Turning meant...I hadn't realized the memory was even still there until now.

  "We Dark Mages know some things about Shadow Wraiths," Mack said. "Our magic is closely aligned with them, after all. It's well known that when a Shadow Wraith touches someone other than a demon or a Dark Mage, the victim turns into one in only a few days, even though some people can hold out for up to a week. What interests me is the fact that your friend here--"

  "Battle partner," I corrected, grasping my sword tighter.

  "--seems to still be Bound to someone who already got turned into a Shadow Wraith. The link is faded, but it's not gone. His old battle partner is still affecting him and probably has been since she got turned."

  Xavier's moods.

  The way they were unpredictable.

  Shadow Wraiths were supposed to be dead souls, full of pain and anguish and terror. Even being around one took away your will to survive. I knew. I had pushed one out of a window once, narrowly avoiding a fate worse than death.

  And if he was still Bound to one, even a little...

  "So what does that mean?" I asked.

  Mack paced around the room, hands behind his back. He looked more sophisticated than you'd expect. I backed away to stand by Janine while Xavier groaned again and turned over, burying his face into the couch. I was worried he was going to suffocate but he continued to breathe.

  "It seems he's been suffering from a long, drawn-out Shadow Sickness," Mack said. "It's well known that all battle partners affect each other. This is a strange case, so I'm just guessing here. If his old battle partner's already a Shadow Wraith, it's very possible that she's going to drag Xavier into that state with her. It seems like he's resisted it for a while, but maybe visiting Gobekli Tepe put him over the edge and drained the rest of his strength. After all, it's the place where my Lady meets with other powerful entities. Her magic is strong there."

  I raised my sword and pointed it at Mack's chest. I was shaking. My blade trembled with me. "What exactly are you saying?" I asked.

  Mack held his hands up with calm. "No matter what happened, it looks like your partner's finally gone into full Shadow Sickness," Mack said with that deadly look that I would hate forever. "He has maybe a few more days in which he'll linger in this state, and then he's going to become one of them as well."

  Chapter Eight

  "Excuse me?" I jabbed the sword at Mack, not to hit him, but to express the torment inside. "He's going to turn into one of those things?"

  "Lower the sword, please," Mack said. "I'm only telling you what I think might happen. But please, sit down."

  "I'm not sitting down!" I yelled. It was no wonder Xavier didn't want to tell me about this. There was no known cure for it if I remembered right. "My battle partner is about to turn into some shadowy thing that Thoreau and Dark Mages like to employ and you're all calm like this?"

  "Did he only just enter this state?" Mack asked.

  "It happened right outside the junkyard," Janine said. "He was moody before that, but not like this."

  "Then he will hold out for at least a few more days," Mack said. "I know that they say there's no cure, but if you listen to me, you might find that we have a common goal."

  I lowered the sword slowly until it rested at my side.

  "Excuse me? There's a way to reverse this?"

  Mack gestured to the kitchen table. I wanted to kneel next to Xavier and comfort him, but he turned over again and covered his face. Everything about his body language warned me to stay away.

  "I'm sorry, Alyssa," he said, words long and drawn out. "I thought getting Bound to you would stop this. It didn't."

  I took a step back. "That's why you did the illegal binding?"

  He didn't respond for almost a full minute. "Trish thought it might help me after what happened with Lisa," he said. "Just leave me alone!"

  He yelled with so much force that I backed away. "Okay," I said, turning to Mack. "What's this common goal?"

  He pulled back a chair and Janine and I sat down, as much as I wanted to get up and hurt something. "Let me explain a few things," Mack said. "You've heard me refer to my Lady. It is said that the magic of Dark Mages is even more ancient than other types of magic. My Lady granted Dark Magic to a few Normals far, far back in our history and it's been passed through families ever since. She is also the ruler of the Shadow Wraiths, who carry her essence."

  "Who's My Lady?" I asked, cringing.

  Mack leaned across the table and stared at us in turn with those black flecked eyes. "Death."

  Janine and I remained silent while Xavier groaned on the couch again.

  "What? Death is like, a person?" Janine asked.

  "People think Death is a guy with a black robe and a scythe," Mack told her. "She's not even a guy. Few know the secret, but I'm giving it to you. Death is an entity as old as the world itself. She's probably the oldest Abnormal since she's always been here. She's the closest thing I can think of to an actual deity."

  "And she meets with the Dark Council. That's what you're saying?" I asked. All the hunger I had vanished as I thought about that.

  "She does, from what the legends say," Mack said. "Of course, I've never met her. Most Dark Mages never get the privilege of meeting her, since she only emerges once every hundred years for a Dark Council party. She should be awake right now. I believe their official meeting is in a few more weeks."

  I shuddered. If she was one of the missing Dark Council members, that would mean I was supposedly related to her. Right? That was what Thoreau had said.

  "I've done some poking around with my black mirror," Mack continued, "talking to Allunna while she was still dead. Alyssa, you have the best chance of finding my Lady. It's her magic that curses me to live the life of a hermit and her magic that makes me want to hurt and take from people." He glared at Janine for a second as if to make his point. "I want my Dark Magic removed so that I can live as a Normal. If you ask her nicely, she may remove Xavier's Shadow Sickness as well. This is my task for you."

  I rose from the table. "I'm supposed to go and ask Death to make you Normal?"

  "Do you want Xavier to turn into a Shadow Wraith?" Mack asked with that horrible, cold calm. "He will, for certain, if you do not do this. Allunna told me that you have a valuable bloodline that just might be traced back to my Lady. Maybe she'll be partial to you. And besides, you promised me a task when I opened up that window for you. This is it."

  I closed my eyes and thought of that pure darkness that drifted over Xavier
and I right outside the ruins, blotting out the stars.

  That must have been her.

  Mack's Lady.

  I had a piece of that creature inside of me. That must have been what Thoreau was trying to wake up inside of me with the Shadow Wraiths. I had the feeling that if one touched me, or if Xavier turned, that I wouldn't actually turn into a Wraith. Instead, the horrible piece from Death would awaken inside of me and make me, what? Maybe I'd end up turning my enemies into Shadow Wraiths when I stabbed them or maybe it would be an equal chance between burning and turning.

  "You don't understand," I said. "I think Thoreau wants me to meet her. It'll do something to me and then he's going to use me to end the world."

  "I don't care about the world," Mack said. "What have they ever done for me? I live in a junkyard because I have to."

  "You will care if you become Normal," I said. It was the Dark Mage talking here. Dark magic made people hermits at the best and pure evil at the worst.

  "Not all Normals hate Abnormals," Janine said. "I don't even like that name. I think it's derogatory."

  "There are worse names for us," Mack said, glaring at her again. Then he turned that anger on me. "Remember our deal. I would put a condition on you if you fail, but I don't have to. The condition you need is on the couch."

  "I'm not leaving Xavier here," I said. "We have to get him to the Underground. I want people who care about him to be nearby while I go and do this."

  Janine looked at me with wide eyes. "You're going to go after Death?"

  "What choice do I have?" I asked. "Come on. Let's get him home."

  * * * * *

  It was not easy dragging Xavier back home.

  First, Janine and I had to get on either side of him. He hadn't improved at all so he was still dragging his feet. Even getting him off the couch was an adventure.

  Then we had to get him into the sewer and I had to keep my face out of the setting sun the entire time.

  "Alyssa. Just leave me," Xavier begged as I pushed him over the sewer ladder, hoping he'd climb down on his own.

  "I'm going to cure you," I said.

  "Don't. Meeting Death will be bad for you."

  "I know. But I'm still going to cure you."

  We eventually got Xavier to climb down the ladder on his own. He was unfocused but he had heard the conversation between me and Mack. Once at the bottom of the ladder, he staggered and kneeled on the catwalk.

  "Not now," I ordered. "Up. You have to try to walk. The faster we get you home, the faster we get you better."

  "There's no point," he said.

  "Look," I said, lifting his chin and forcing him to face me. "I know everything seems horrible and it is horrible, but you have to help us. You're not physically weak right now." He still smelled as strong as ever, not empty like he had back at the ruins when I found him.

  "Fine!" Xavier snapped, getting up. "I'll walk on my own."

  "Sheesh," Janine said.

  "Leave him alone," I told her. "He can't help it." I felt horrible for all the times I called him out on his moods. Now that I knew what they were, I'd never do it again.

  Xavier walked, snapping the directions at us until we came to a tunnel that branched off and down from the one we were in. "This goes to the Underground," he said. "We'll let my family see what's happening to me and then we can go on our pointless mission."

  I held back a sigh. This would be temporary. It would have to be temporary.

  "At least we know Leon's alive," I said, "and his energy isn't about to sweep through the Underground." It was the one perk of seeing Allunna back in the airport.

  I let Xavier lead us down into the tunnel and to a steel door, which he blasted down with a magenta charge. It landed with a loud clang and Xavier stepped through, not caring about what he'd done or who could see it. I had to put the door back up when we stepped through into an even darker tunnel, one so dark that my gray vision snapped into place.

  "We need Trish," I said.

  She would kill me.

  I hadn't done this to Xavier--the Shadow Wraiths had--but she would find a way to make this my fault. I couldn't let that stop me now. Xavier needed to get to her.

  Even if it was just to say some final goodbyes.

  We came to a ladder that led into the real Underground. I had never used this one before but Xavier stood there while Janine and I descended first. We landed somewhere in an underground alley between a pub and a butcher shop. Both were open and meat smells overtook everything. A lantern hung inside the bar and a few people were enjoying some golden-colored drinks. They were a greenish couple with dark green hair, pointed ears, and perfect smooth skin.

  Pixies.

  Like Xavier's old battle partner, Lisa, had been.

  Xavier landed beside us as he jumped off the ladder. "So people have come back after the scare," he said. "Stupid. Nowhere's safe. There's nowhere to go."

  "We know Leon's alive," I said. "Allunna wouldn't have been standing in the airport if he wasn't and Thoreau wouldn't be landing at the airport probably right now." That meant no energy would go screaming through here--unless Thoreau found another dead War Mage.

  And if we took out the Elder who was working with him...

  Xavier first. "Come on," I said, gripping his arm with force.

  "Let go of me."

  "You're going to Trish," I said. "If it makes you happy, she's going to kill me, too."

  Xavier went back into full-on despair halfway through the tunnels. He was walking fine with us one minute, fists clenched like he wanted to punch everything in sight, but then he sighed and slumped against the wall, right next to a skull candle that was spewing green flames.

  "Xavier," I said. I was losing my patience. The longer he stalled like this, the less time we'd have to fix him.

  “I can't help it,” he said, struggling to stand again. I knew the pain wasn't physical. It was so much worse. I had only gotten a taste of what Shadow Wraiths could do to you. Xavier was getting the full dose. Would be feel like this after he turned into a Shadow Wraith, too, and be this way for the rest of eternity?

  I wouldn't let that happen. I wouldn't think like that.

  “Come on,” Janine said. “You can get up and get to the finish line. You know, I always thought you oozed hotness and I don't want that to stop. Alyssa wouldn't like that too much.”

  “Stop hitting on him,” I said, slapping Janine on the arm. But I was glad to have her sense of humor.

  Xavier managed a little smile. “Of course I ooze hotness,” he said. “All the ladies love me.”

  “That's what I want to see,” I said, taking his arm to steady him. “Keep fighting, Xavier. There could be a way to fix this but I need all the time I can get.”

  “I got it,” he said. Already, his weak smile was fading.

  We turned down the underground street labeled Frankincense with its old wooden sign and Janine and I kept both of Xavier's arms in our grips. I didn't let any feelings of jealousy crawl over me, even though Janine kept hitting on Xavier. I knew she was just trying to cheer him up and do her best to help. I knew what I would do. I would leave Janine with Xavier while I went out to look for the cure. If anyone could stave off someone turning into a Shadow Wraith, it was her.

  As good of a fighter as Xavier was, he was useless in this state. I couldn't have him fall down and turn into a mess in the middle of battle.

  I would be on my own.

  At last, the underground apartments got larger around us and I knew that we were getting close to Xavier's home. There weren't many people down here. Not everyone had obeyed the Elder War Mages' orders to return to the Underground. Maybe some people knew there was something fishy. Maybe others had gotten caught by the ATC and our numbers were just plain down. Either way, it was scary—especially since I wasn't sure that Leon wouldn't die very soon and leave his body for Thoreau to take the energy out of. The blast of War Magic could surge through the underground at any moment, killing us all.

  B
ut Thoreau didn't want to kill me and Xavier.

  We were too valuable. As long as Xavier was down here, the Underground might be protected. I had to make sure that the traitor Elder knew that if he was still here.

  We turned left at the next corner. By now, the ceilings were high and the glass mosaics stretched overhead, making it look like real stars were winking down at us. I knew it was an illusion, done by different kinds of Mages.

  Xavier's home was at the end of the street. The lion statues were still there, flanking the steps that led up to the wooden double doors. The marble pillars held up an awning with flowering vines cascading down it. This place was so bright and wealthy compared to the Underground. I had seen people living in alcoves and holes in the wall, like Elsina, Xavier's surrogate grandmother.

  “Not here,” Xavier said. He groaned. “Not my ego-filled family, please.”

  “You need to be here,” I said. “We're going to call Trish and the others.”

  I knocked on the door. Janine and I had both been here before.

  It was Nora, the Lovellis' maid, who answered as usual. At first she smiled at the sight of us, but then it dropped off her face when she saw the sad state Xavier was in.

  “What happened to him?” she asked.

  I told her. Nora backed away to allow us entry.

  It didn't take long to get Xavier lying down in the guest room, on a plain bed above dark purple, royal carpet. We were in a room next to the painting of Leon and Allunna, the one where Leon was much younger and Allunna had her hand on his chest from behind. It was the painting that got Janine speculating about things every time and it was a horrible reminder of how we had screwed everything up. I wished the Lovelli family would take it off the wall, but they would never allow any shame to get in the way. Leon wasn't the shameful one. Xavier was the scapegoat.

  “Oh,” Xavier groaned as he flopped onto the guest bed.

  Nora stood in the doorway. “I'll let the family know,” she said, and hurried off.

  Now that he was lying down, Xavier sank into the bed and put the pillow over his face. “My aunt's going to kill me,” he said.