Obsidian Alcatraz: An Evalyce Novella

by J. Aislynn d' Merricksson

  The bloody tableau before them was even less pleasant that the one they'd processed just days before. Bits of gore spattered the walls of the mine tunnel in a fine paste, unrecognizable as anything once human or even living save for the rich iron scent that even Cadi could smell.

  “Are we even sure this is human…” Cadi muttered.

  “Yes…” Rolf croaked, a faintly queasy look upon his face. “Something else there too… Something I can't place…”

  The only reason the Magister had walked into the mine without shielding first was to make precisely such a judgment call. Cadi felt sorry for the young wolf, glad that her own sense of smell was not nearly so exquisite.

  “Whatever… whomever… it was… it looks like they just… vaporized. It takes strong magick to do such and there is no residue of magick,” Rolf said.

  “Explosives?” Cadi asked.

  “No bitter scent.”

  “Could you still smell it under all this?” Cadi asked, though she already knew the answer. The wolves' had an exceptional sense of smell, far better than that of most people and Cadi could sense for herself that there was no hint of magick in the area. Rolf nodded.

  “The miners use a vaporizer to clear the tunnels.”

  “Would have been cleaner, had that been the case and again, no magick,” Rolf pointed out.

  “Well then, let's get to work.” Cadi said.

  For some time the pair carefully processed the messy scene deep in the Jerachi East Ward mines. Viktor was out, questioning the miners who worked this sector. He joined them after a time, with no encouraging news, but the pair gratefully turned from their work to hear what the Magister had learned. His ears twitched back in an odd flick as he walked up and Cadi frowned, a stray thought wandering through her mind in a detached sort of way before disappearing.

  “Night shift guard, Jerrol, came on duty at dusk. He called in no strange activity. The gate guards report no one entering the premises after Jerrol. However, Captain Kellin, the one in charge of the East Ward mines, tells me they opened up a whole new section yesterday. Quite the interesting find. Man-made ruins sealed within solid rock, impossible as that might be. Seems they found a whole lode of an as yet unidentified mage metal in the new section. Kellin's willing to guide us there. The sooner we clear his mines, the sooner the miners can get back to work.”

  Viktor helped them finish processing the scene, then Viktor had one of the Crows bring Captain Kellin in. The big miner led them through the mines to the Labyrinth entrance. The Magisters pushed the doors shut again, studying them. Viktor frowned as he puzzled out the inscription. He turned back to Kellin.

  “Do you know what this says?” he asked.

  “Aye, that I do,” Kellin replied.

  The wolf's frown deepened. “And yet you opened it?”

  “No signs of life. We checked. No signs of magick either. I have sent word to Cryshal regarding our find of Ekkitaros ruins and to both Cryshal and Libernaath of our new ore find. I put our economic interests first. This find will be a great windfall for our city. A very great one. A brand-new mage-metal? I don't think I need to remind you, we could use the revenue, Magister.”

  Cadi sighed. The Captain was right. Such a discovery would be a great asset to the failing skycity. Things were getting worse and each day found new atrocities for the Magisters and the Crows. Cadi's current assignment was a prime example of that. “Will you lead us in, Captain?” she asked. “We should still check things out.”

  Kellin grunted and motioned for them to follow. Bobbing magelights surrounded the Magisters, though the Captain used only his miner's lamp. True to the mining chief's words, the Labyrinth held nothing except an abundance of the dark blue mage metal. It grew thick in the tunnels. Not too far in, the corridor was almost completely blocked. Even Cadi, the slimmest of the group, couldn't fit through the narrow gap. Surely a killer strong enough to overpower the guard couldn't have fit through either. Cadi whistled softly.

  “There's a ton of this stuff here.”

  “Aye. So there is. Like I said, Magister, it's a windfall. The closest thing to it is serrysllym. For all we know, its properties could be greater than the serrysllym. Tenger and Jerry are processing the samples we took last night,” Kellin paused a moment, frowning. “Are we done here, Magisters? My men and I have lost half a day's work.”

  “We're done, Captain. You're free to resume your operations, if you find anything unusual, anything at all, please let us know.” Viktor said. The burly miner nodded to the elder Dashmari.

  “Thank you, Magister. We'll be sure to do that,” Kellin rumbled.

  * * *

  “What do you think happened back there, Cadi?” Rolf asked. “I've never seen anything like that. The guard, if it was the guard, was completely disintegrated.”

  “I've never seen anything like it either. I think it'd have to be the guard, with no one else having entered the complex last night. We'll know as soon as the samples have been processed,” Cadi replied.

  “We know now.”

  Both Magisters turned to find Viktor entering the office they all shared. The elder Dashmari held a data-pad in his hand. He held it out to them. Cadi took it and scrolled over the information.

  “It was the guard. DNA confirms it. No evidence of magick nor traces of the miners' vaporizing equipment found, which Rolf and I already knew. But what's this…,” Cadi frowned over the display, puzzling at the readings.

  “Some of the trace you collected shows as being similar to bovine, but with significant mutations.”

  “Cattle?” Rolf asked. “Why would traces of cattle be at our crime scene? There are no cattle on Jericho.” Cattle only existed on the far continent of Barsyn, far across the Aryth Ocean and the Shadow Sea.

  “Nor many places that use bovine leather, but this was no ordinary cow,” Viktor said.

  “Wait… what was it the inscription said on the doors in the mine? Herein dwells the Bull of Minos, the Great Devourer. Open not the Labyrinth's Gates, lest misfortune befall Jericho's children once more. Bull of Minos… is someone trying to bring the threat to life..?” Cadi's voice trailed off.

  “But the only ones who know of the inscription are the miners. We know their equipment wasn't used,” Rolf said.

  “And they all have verifiable alibis,” Viktor said. “They all checked out.”

  “What if they did let something out?” Cadi asked.

  “Perhaps it was unwise to have opened the doors, but Kellin had his team check for magick and check for life. There's no telling how long the maze had been sealed. And it's full of mage-metal. If something had still been alive within, it would have to be smaller than even you, Cadi, to have gotten through,” Viktor rumbled. Cadi nodded.

  “True. The maze is cluttered with the new mage metal. It just seems an odd coincidence that the inscription should mention a bull and then we find traces of bovine at our crime scene. I've found most 'coincidences' rarely are… and what of the mutations?”

  “Well, that is something we can't solve today. It's been a long day. Let's get some rest. I'll be working nights for the next few days. Levett will be working with you two,” Viktor said. Cadi and Rolf nodded. It wasn't unusual for the Dashmari to switch his working hours. He did so every few weeks, give or take.

  “What do you think of all this? Is it possible that there was something alive down there?” Cadi asked the firecrow perched on her shoulder.

  “I checked, my dear. There was nothing alive down there, but there was a taint to the air. A blood-taint. Sacrificial magick was done there once.”

  “We didn't find any traces of magick,” Cadi said.

  “That doesn't surprise me. It was the magick of the world I came from. Something I haven't come across in this realm before, but I remember it. The central chamber of the sealed section reeked of it. It is good you cannot taste the remnants of such magick,” Loki said.

  “But that magick was not in the murder scene?”

  “Not that I cou
ld tell. The psychic scent from the inner chamber had filled the mine though. I suppose it is possible that it could have been hiding a newer scent, though your people know nothing of the magick of the world I came from. Many different magick-workers have held my prison-stone and none used the magick of the old world,” Loki said.

  “Tell me about the world you came from?” Cadi asked in a drowsy voice, before taking another sip of her fury wine. She held the glass up so that her companion could dip his beak in. The pair were back at Cadi's home. Dinner was done and they sat snugged before a fire in the hearth-room. Loki reeped thoughtfully.

  “Where to begin…”

  “What were the people like?”

  “What were they like… what were they like…? They relied more on technology. Just technology… not the science-magick of the Argosian nation. No… no… They had forgotten the old ways of magick. Scoffed at it, scorned it mostly. There is a balance to this world that is gratifying. You know how to live with the land and the magick, rather than contaminating it.

  “Most of the humans of the world I came from had all but forgotten the Great Ones, the deities of their ancestors. Oh, there were a few that remembered who we were, who paid a homage to the Great Ones. Some even to me,” Loki said, a wryness to his voice.

  “But most… they had forgotten. They worshiped one they called God, they elevated one of us above all the rest. There was little room left for contemplation of the rest of us.”

  “But… were the gods not tied to the lands, as they are here? Was there no pride in knowing who you belonged to?” Cadi asked. It was a fascinating concept for her, something completely alien and a little frightening. Here, all lands had their own deities and all of the deities got along, none better than the others. And all things- the land, the people, the deities-, all things were born of the One, which was revered, but not worshiped exclusively.

  “Yes… we were tied to the lands, mostly, but we were also tied to the people and travel was so easy by then that people from all lands mingled quite freely. The people had lost their pride though, in belonging to the Allfather, or to Lord Lugh, or to Ares or any of a thousand others. And some… didn't forget, but invaders took their pride from them. They were punished for keeping to their Great Ones. The believers of the one God… well… they couldn't even get along either. There were three major groups. One went out of their way to destroy belief in any deity but their own. Pride in the Great Ones diminished greatly.

  “It seems… that is why those humans from the other world lost the love of the land. They lost their way… Then came Ragnarok, the Sundering … Things changed… and that world is no more.”

  “That seems a rather sad way to live… cut off from the land… with no tolerance and respect for another's customs and beliefs. To be cut off from a close connection with the land's patrons. Not that we have the latter here… not Jericho…” Cadi's voice trailed off and she grew quiet, staring into the flickering fire. Cadi had been born in Kymru and she still retained the ties to the patrons of her homeland, but she'd often felt a measure of sadness for those born Jerachi. Port Jericho had no patron deity, a fact oft said to be the cause of the utter lawlessness surrounding the skycity. It was a transient population of mercenaries, thieves, and grifters mixed with those who ran the gambling dens, the distilleries and the infamous Firefly Alley. This was a place you came to to be forgotten.

  Cadi had settled here because she'd wanted to make a difference. It took every ounce of skill that the Magisters could muster to keep things on the skycity stable. They fought an uphill battle every step of the way. Cadi sighed. Jericho was what it was. No use being unhappy over things one could not change. The pair sat quietly for a while longer, before Cadi finally retired to bed. After his charge was safely asleep, Loki disappeared, off to hunt for clues that might help the Magister.

  * * *

  There was another hunter abroad that night. A pair of emberlight eyes watched from the shadows of a side-street in Firefly Alley. A low snort, unheard over the hustle and bustle of the rowdy crowd. The hunter drank in the energy of the pleasure district like a rich wine. Scents of despair and hopelessness set the wet nose to quivering in anticipation, but activity was still high. The time was not yet right. The hunter watched and waited, full of patience.

  Midnight passed to early morning before the pleasure houses began to close for the day. The crowd thinned until there were few people on the streets. Here and there, drunken patrons were passed out on the streets themselves, obviously visitors to the skycity. No sane Jerachi citizen would be caught in such a dangerous position. As the house lights began to wink out, other hunters crept forward, eager to take advantage of the carelessness of the hapless tourists.

  A scruffy boy, one of Jericho's many orphans, darted forward to rifle the pockets of one of the bodies littering the streets. Orphans such as this boy were taken in by one of the territorial thief clans or mercenary groups if they were lucky. The more unlucky of them might end up as denizens of Firefly itself. His thieving complete, the scruffy boy moved on to his next victim, bringing him closer to the watcher in the alley. The boy looked fearfully over his shoulder as he moved from incoherent body to incoherent body. He passed before the opening to the opposite alley and yelped as a hand darted out and grabbed his arm.

  “Turn it over, rat,” a voice growled.

  “No, Tomas! I need this! They'll kick me out if I can't earn my keep,” the boy protested, struggling weakly. Another boy, stocky and muscular, though only a few years older, slunk from the shadows, twisting the younger boy's arm painfully.

  “Not my problem, rat. Turn it over or you won't have to worry about earning your keep.”

  With another whimper, the boy turned over the spoils of his night's work. Tomas smirked, shoving the boy back down the street the way he'd come. The watcher's eyes remained on the older boy, Tomas, as he swaggered away. Mist gathered, muffling heavy footsteps. Slipping from shadow to shadow, accompanied by the mists' gauzy concealment, the hunter followed the over-confident bully down the street.

  Eventually, Tomas turned down another long alley, to the satisfaction of his hungry stalker. The hunter increased its pace, drawing closer. Tomas' movements grew more agitated, his fear building and filling the hunter's nose like a rich bouquet… Tomas glanced back over his shoulder several times, but saw nothing more than the thick, gathering fog common to Jericho's nights and early mornings. Jericho's magnaberms, the lucavite-rich areas responsible for keeping the skycity aloft, kept it above the Aryth Ocean and the vortex-field drew up copious amounts of water vapor.

  Heart thudding, Tomas threw caution to the wind and began to run down the dark alleyway. He only managed a few paces. Ravenous, driven to frenzy by the lad's growing fear, the hunter lunged from the mist.

  Firefly Alley, South Ward, Port Jericho, Year of the Jade Bull, 2114 CE

  “Another one?” Cadi asked with a yawn. It was so early in the morning the sun was only now thinking of rising. She and her partners had been summoned to Firefly Alley, in South Ward where they had been confronted with a scene much akin to the one they had processed yesterday. A fine layer of gore was spattered across a patch of alley, accompanied by a littering of coins, pouches and other trinkets purloined from unlucky tourists. That the stolen items still remained at the scene said a good deal about the superstition with which even the harsh denizens of Jericho held the bizarre crime. Nothing remotely 'human' was left. Cadi wished she had Loki's guidance, but her new guardian had been gone for most of the night. She didn't know where he had gone or when he would be back, but she wished he could tell her if the same residue of old magick was present at this scene as well.

  “Well, at least we have one possible witness,” Viktor said. “He's with Malitha, the Mistress of Bella Luna. A street waif, scared half out of his mind. It was the Mistress who called the Crows.” The Dashmari led the pair back up the alley, now cordoned off by vigilant Crows who were keeping well away from the grisly remains. They walked ar
ound the corner and came to the door of Bella Luna, one of the pleasure houses whose walls bordered the alley. A handsome man, who could have been a bodyguard or could have been a firefly himself, greeted the Magisters, escorting them inside with wary watchfulness. He guided them to a back room, where a beautiful raven-haired woman and a scruffy boy wrapped in a blanket waited. The boy looked haunted and ill. He flinched away as Cadi knelt down to his level.

  “It's okay, lad,” she said soothingly. “It's okay. My name is Cadi. What's your name?”

  “Eban, Lady Magister,” he said fearfully.

  “You have no need to be afraid of me, Eban. We need your help. Can you tell me what you saw?”

  Eban shrank back, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself. His voice shook when he spoke again.

  “It took Tomas… it came out of the fog and snatched him away.”

  “Who is Tomas?” Cadi asked.

  “I was working… Tomas threatened me… he took my stuff.” Eban looked miserable. “If I come back empty-handed, I'll be in trouble..,” he whimpered.

  “What took Tomas, Eban?” Rolf asked, kneeling down beside Cadi. Eban's eyes flicked nervously to the young Dashmari before returning to Cadi.

  “I don't know… it was big, but the fog concealed it. I was following Tomas. I hoped to get my stuff back… but then the creature came from the fog and snatched him away. He didn't even have time to make a noise. It just took him and then… they were both gone…and… and… then there was just blood everywhere, but no Tomas..,” Eban lapsed into shuddering sobs and Malitha stepped forward to comfort him.

  “Stefan heard the young one screaming in the alley. When he saw the mess, we called the Crows.”

  “Against my better judgment,” the man growled. “We can take care of our own.” Stefan lounged in the doorway, still watchful. Cadi regarded him for a long moment. He flashed her a feral smile that promised many things and the Magister realized that he was both a guard and a firefly. Some mercenaries earned income turning tricks in the pleasure quarter when not on a job. Their pay was a place to live and to keep all of the money they made in working for a house. Most of the mercenaries who lived and worked such had grown up within the Alley.