by Daniel Ruth
I was about to go back to the bookcase, when I got a glimpse of something that stopped me cold. One page was covered with Baron's report, but I could make out the Chinese closing signature. Jin had signed it.
I barely stopped myself from floating through the door again as I regained my focus. I looked at the covered page and back at the bookcase, and shrugged. Oh well, the city’s two most powerful beings were connected. As bad as that was, I now had an opportunity I had been waiting all year for.
I walked slowly towards the bookcase. Just like I could use psionic energy to teleport myself short distances, I could also teleport things that had been in extensive contact with my aura to my hand and, though more difficult, teleport objects away from me. The astral plane is not truly a separate dimension. It is so intertwined with the physical world that it may be better described as the next layer of the physical dimension. Each of the dimensions has its own astral plane, but I was damned if I knew if they interconnected. I doubted it, but I had always been wary of exploring it too far. It’s really not meant for those that have bodies. Nevertheless, with enough effort it is possible to manipulate the other realm from its opposite. It's just really difficult. I looked at the shelves of books and I swear my mouth dripped ghostly saliva. That was worth a lot of effort.
I moved until my technically insubstantial body was pressed up against the books. It took a little bit of contortion, but I was able to stretch out and contact as many of the books as possible. I won't go into details about my positioning, because I have no doubts in my mind that I looked thoroughly absurd. I didn't care at that moment. I gave over all my attention to where I wanted to send the books and flooded the volumes with my energies while pushing them through space.
It felt like my head was exploding and at the same time my ghostly body had sprung a leak. My life force rushed out, giving me the illusion that I was being propelled back out of the room and through the door, across the circle chamber and tumbling through the wall. I attempted to gather my focus, but after all the energy I had expelled, it was impossible to round up enough to convince myself that I had a physical presence and I shouldn't be able to be sucked through the intervening space to my personal anchor, located in that tiny out of the way alley that I had done my best to avoid for a year.
The scenery flew by in a blur, everything blending together. The very fact I saw shades of light and dark and colors mixed in the fog should have proved that I had finally been drawn back to the surface. I could have attempted to stop my travel to my own personal magnetic north but by then I was tired and dazed and barely cognizant of anything.
I have no idea how long it was before it finally registered that the world had stopped moving. I was drifting on top of the rune that tied me to this place. I was so tired and strung out that I may have been in danger of spreading out until my consciousness was completely snuffed out, except for that same anchor that would not allow me to let go. It tied me to one point much like a kite blowing in the wind but unable to move.
This was a mixed blessing, as I was held to the rune in an almost comatose state. Too tired to move and unable to let go. Those with physical bodies are not welcome inhabitants of this plane, and I would not be getting any more energy from rest without my physical shell to provide safe harbor. So I floated in a single disembodied point of view and endured.
I must have zoned out because when the world started to register again I was back in my physical body. While I suppose I should have been grateful, I also had a migraine that would not allow me to think of anything else, and there were people nearby that wouldn't shut up.
“You’re fortunate I haven't let the police pick you up already,” a familiar deep voice was growling. “I am giving you miles of leeway but I need something to tell the mayor when it’s reported that a civilian detective and the Professor were walking around the crime scene, and then said detective was seen carrying the other like a sack of potatoes all over the city.”
“You'll know as soon as the Professor wakes up,” Jeremy's voice drifted to my ears, setting off renewed explosions of pain.
“Why do I have to wait for him to wake up in the first place?” the other asked. At this point, I was able to identify the voice. Conrad.
“Either shut up or shoot me,” I groaned. Shooting was sounding good, except it wouldn't kill me and the jarring would probably just cause more pain. I moved my arm over my eyes which helped keep the light out and felt around with my other hand. The unnaturally smooth surface of the rune was underneath me, and the alley wall was next to me. I struggled to push myself up against the wall.
“Well, he seems to be awake, if not happy about it,” my friend offered. “How about we give him a few minutes to get himself together?”
“Fine,” the large shifter grunted. A moment later, I heard their footsteps recede and heard their faint voices, apparently from the entrance.
“How did you guys even know we were there? Derek said your sensors would be useless. Did you set up a string of tin cans we didn't notice?”
“Believe it or not that was one of the things they suggested. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and we settled for surveillance.”
“I'm pretty sure I would have noticed someone following us.”
“Not on you! Until now, I didn't realize the Professor and his flunky needed a keeper. The surveillance was on sewer entrance. That plus an older system allowed us some minimum coverage.”
“Flunky? That's a bit harsh,” Jeremy trailed off. I imagine it was hard to argue too vigorously about the description. After all, I did hire him to do a lot of my work.
“I like to think of Jeremy as a subcontractor,” I croaked out. My spirit was slowly synching to my body again and the pain was slowly fading away. The exhaustion was still there though. I was drained even more thoroughly than I had been the night before. I hadn't even thought that was possible.
“Are you ready to talk about your blatant disregard for a crime scene?”
“Any chance you could wait until I can recover a bit and maybe get something to drink,” I asked hopefully.
“No. I may be in charge of the new division but considering how high profile this is getting I still have to explain why our technical expert was walking around ground zero without an escort.”
Wobbling to my feet I swayed over to the two men. I wasn't feeling up to, much but I really wanted to get out of the damn alley. Just being there made me claustrophobic. Once I reached them I leaned against the building and gathered my strength.
“Conrad, I got some good news and some bad news,” I said with as much cheer as I could gather.
“Ah, Christ on a crutch. Not again,” the armored shifter shook his head in exasperation.
“Yes! Again,” I stated loudly and then winced at my own volume. “I went in the lair in astral form to look around...”
“And was there a reason you didn't do this before? Like when I actually had Cromwell escort you there?”
“Astral projection can be pretty dangerous,” at least for me these days. “I needed time to prepare and considering the risks, I wanted to be with someone I knew and could trust in a not so normal situation.”
Conrad looked between Jeremy and me before he gave a grudging nod. “Fine, any reason why you didn't ask for an escort once you had your flun... subcontractor?”
I stood there a moment and looked at Jeremy, then back at Conrad. Shrugging, I said, “I got nothing. Didn't even think of it.”
The shifter sighed. “Fine. What did you find out?”
“Well, I explored the area pretty closely. My original guess was right about the circles being linked together and set to go off when the ley line tap gets low enough to let the barrier down.” Conrad nodded, he knew about this part. “Now that I have had a chance to see the circles closer I am pretty sure that Baron Samedi is not the circle mage.”
“What the...”
“Yes, the artistry is completely different. It’s obviously done by a different hand than w
hat we saw in the house over by the Blight.”
“So all those warnings you gave us about a circle mage...”
“I was describing the worst case, which at that time was assuming the zombie master knew more magic than animating the dead.”
“But there was another mage there,” interjected Jeremy.
“Yes, who knew my worst case could get worse,” I added flippantly. I was starting to feel human again. Which was not so great considering I wasn't actually human. “We were lucky that my advice happened to still be applicable. It turns out that the portal circle was for another dimension. Which means that we have at least two magic users from another dimension coming in.”
“Pretty small for an invasion,” Jeremy interjected. I had been leading up to this so I was a little disappointed that he had sprung that one.
“Yeah, a bit small but I saw a side room with correspondence still visible. They were mostly reports and...”
“A group of just two people wouldn't be writing reports,” Conrad put in his own two cents.
“Geez hold your horses,” I pouted slightly. “Yes. Two people would not bother with reports. Also, some of the reports seemed to be from other people. From the mage's home dimension.”
“What did they say,” my curious friend asked, cutting off what was likely a similar question from Conrad.
“They seemed to be status reports from home. Apparently it’s pretty ugly over there with raging ley lines and demonic portals.”
“Raging ley lines?” Conrad asked, obviously not wanting to hear the answer.
“Um, not really an official term but if the world’s magical energy reaches a certain level it tends to flow into ley lines. Like rivers after a big storm. They gets swelled and very visible. After a certain critical point, ugly and somewhat random things happen on them. Portals to hell, rain of frogs, tornadoes. Things like that.”
“Doesn't sound like they were trying to escape it though. Why set up a petty crime ring if you are just trying to escape your world?” Conrad asked.
“And if it’s just escape, why have the report?” Jeremy chimed in.
“Oh, the crime ring seems to have been Baron's side thing. The reports never mentioned them. I imagine his superiors still don't know exactly what brought you down on them. Assuming they were his superiors. It can sometimes be tricky to figure the politics of a cabal.”
They looked at me blankly for a moment. “What's a cabal?” my detective subcontractor asked.
I stared back at them. “You know, a gathering of mages. The good old boys magic user club. Usually dark mages, but could be whatever. Also known as covens, though that’s more of a Wicca thing.”
“Wicca?” Jeremy asked curiously.
“Dead religion as far as I can tell. It’s not relevant. What matters is that there were two on this side, but there were more involved.”
“But involved in what? If Baron Samedi was running his own operation, what were they actually here for,” Conrad muttered.
“I can't be sure. I didn't see anything more than a signature, but I did see a letter signed by Jin.” This statement had a gratifying impact. After a few minutes, the silent started to feel a bit awkward.
“Son of a... I thought Jin just wanted to summon a demon,” the officer trailed off.
“Demon lord. I am pretty sure he has the ability to summon minor demons already. The vampires are complaining about minor pests that may actually be minor demons.”
“Things just keep getting more confusing,” Jeremy complained.
“Probably going to get worse before it gets better,” I nodded wisely and maybe a teeny bit pretentiously. Jeremy elbowed me in the gut. It actually staggered me in my weakened state. “So, think it was worth breaching police protocol?”
“Fine. You’re a hero. Let's go to the station so we can get a statement.”
I coughed uncomfortably. “Well, I am pretty beat. Anyway we could do this later?”
“No. I really think we need to do this now,” Conrad deadpanned. Maybe I should have sprung this on him later. After I rested.
“Officer Conrad would it be alright if I sent a detailed report you as soon as I got Derek home,” my friend offered. Conrad had started to vigorously shake his head when he continued. “I think you know the effect the Professor has around technology. Due to his research into magic, he can be kind of damaging to it very much like the older vampires are. Do you really want him around your shiny new facility?”
I could see the conflicting emotions cross the burly shifter's face. Annoyance was the big one, followed by a bit of anger, then finally exasperation and acceptance. Conrad himself was a supernatural and I am willing to bet that if he projected a bit he could short out a machine or two. Come to think of it if the new supernatural branch was going to be populated by shifters and vampires then the facility better have military grade equipment or they would be catching criminals with stone knives and slingshots.
“So be it. I will come around in an hour for the report. Have it ready or we'll be taking a trip.” With that ominous warning, he turned and headed away. I looked around and saw Jeremy's vehicle and started heading towards it.
We got up right next to the craft before Jeremy paused and faced me. “So are you going to fill me in on why you tried to bury me in a pile of books?” He had a small grin of amusement on his face as he gestured towards his back seat. My own expression was doubtless even more gleeful as I peered through his window at his rear seat and realized it was covered in stacks of books.
Chapter 13
“Come on! He's going to want more details than just that,” Jeremy's exasperated exclamation echoed faintly in my ears. I grunted in reply as I sat in my favorite reading chair and leafed through the next book. I was going a bit slower than usual for several reasons. The first was a very annoying detective that would not shut up and let me get into the proper frame of mind. I was trying to ignore him, but he was the embodiment of persistence.
The second reason was the nature of the reading material. In a way, I felt I was jumping in the deep end. These tomes I had snuck out of the mage's lair were not simple primers for novices. Nor were they intended to lead an initiate from lower level examples to higher magics. Each and every text assumes a minimum competency in the subject and stated the methodology in the fewest words possible. My previous studies had given me a very shaky foundation in the subject as there seemed to be a dearth of subject matter experts in this world... or at least in the city.
This left me puzzling over the somewhat arcane symbols and directions trying to fit them into my world view. Oftentimes I paused, to let my somewhat instinctive understanding of magic fill in the gaps. Some of it was slowly drawing out ancestral memories as well, but it wasn't anywhere near as easy as my mostly ignored alchemy skill sets.
Still it was deeply satisfying if much painstaking than I was used to. I was making progress that I had almost given up hope for over the long year I had been here. It would have been going a little faster if I had been able to concentrate a bit more.
“Come on Jeremy, there isn't anymore,” I almost whined. I kept enough control so there was no overt begging, however I was close. “There isn't any more to tell. I walked around the matrix a couple of times and then found the lab.” Oh, wait, that was an interesting use alchemical materials used to draw the circles. I could see how that would reinforce the circle’s effect; perhaps the two differing magics even caused a reverberation effect, creating a synergy. That would partially explain the magnitude of the effects considering the relatively minor energy requirements.
“I can give this to him as a report, but he's just going to come back and ask for more detail,” he said, still pacing to and fro in front of my chair. As far as I was concerned, as long as Conrad left me alone for a day I was ahead of the game.
“Jeremy,” I sighed, as I actually looked up from the book. “This is really important, these give me a new insight on Jin. I may be able to figure out what he has in mind.�
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“Wait a minute. I thought you said Jin was a spell caster. Even I can see from the pictures that these books are about circles and wards.” Oh crud, he was paying attention when I was going on about that. What a time to learn that he didn't just tune me out when I waxed philosophical.
“There's some circles here that should allow me to negate certain magics. I think I can adapt these to give us a bit of protection when we storm his lair.” While this was true, to some extent, I doubted I could master it in time to be useful. It was actually a very useful circle, I think that if I activated it on a convergence of ley lines during the solstice or equinox it may be powerful enough to temporarily suppress my runic curses. Again not useful in the short term but very much desirable in the long term. “And there are a few books on spell magic that I haven't gotten to.” I wasn't very much in a hurry to get to it either considering how long it would take to decipher anything from those books. At least with circles and wards I had some clue how it worked and I could build on my admittedly imperfect knowledge. Verbal spell magic was something I had only seen other people do at home. I would be entirely relying on my intuition to figure anything out. I wasn't ruling it out, but it was on the backburner for the moment until I had mined out my current cache of more easily accessible arcane secrets.
My friend glared at me. “Fine, I'll send the report. Don't do anything to blow up the communicator until I turn it off again.” I absently nodded, my attention already fixating back on the tomes. Wow, a lot of these compounds called out for dragon’s blood and powdered bone. Ugh, the blood was easily found, but bone sounded really painful. I winced as I thought of the tooth I had recently lost. It grew back soon enough, but it hurt like a... wait a minute. Unicorn horn? Where the heck am I going to get that in this dimension? Did this writer actually kill a unicorn every few circles? I was pretty sure removing the horn killed it. I would either have to substitute another material or use the weakened circle version.