Eternal Magic

by C. N. Crawford

  Bael raised his sword and boomed, “If you are a demon, surrender yourself, and I will show you mercy. If you are oneiroi, I ask you this: join us and fight for your freedom. It is time to take back your rightful place on this planet. It’s time for you to stop living as slaves.”

  A cheer erupted in the hall, the oneiroi raising their fists. When Ursula looked at the demons, she found their eyes burning with anger. And yet, each one knelt, their fists held together as they allowed themselves to be manacled.

  But Ursula’s gaze moved back to Hothgar, his body spilling blood onto the floor. An ancient demon like him wouldn’t die easily. When she noticed his leg twitch, she ran to him, her sword drawn. She stood over his prone body, his blood staining the marble. His legs lay shattered and one of his arms had been torn clean off, but her gaze homed in on the slow rise and fall of his chest.

  “Bitch,” he growled when he saw Ursula.

  A burst of dark shadow magic from Hothgar’s body knocked Ursula backward, and she slammed down hard on the floor. Reeling from the impact, she leapt up again, finding Hothgar standing over her. The wings. To make him mortal, she needed to go for the wings.

  “I will have my vengeance,” Hothgar roared, his downy wings spreading out behind him. “Nyxobas’s magic will destroy you.”

  A dark battle fury surged in Ursula’s blood, and she lunged swiftly behind Hothgar. Over his wings, her gaze met Bael’s. He’d had the same idea, and together they brought down their swords hard through Hothgar’s wings. Blood sprayed over Ursula, and Hothgar’s back arched. He shrieked toward the ceiling, then fell to his knees.

  Ursula raised her sword. “Hothgar is defeated.”

  The crowd cheered, and a small group of oneiroi grabbed hold of Hothgar, dragging him away as his blood streaked the floor. He was shrieking at her, at Bael, at everyone around him. But his wings now lay as dusty, gossamer scraps on the floor, and he was no longer a threat.

  A heavy hand pressed on her shoulder. “To the winner go the spoils,” Lucius’s voice rumbled in her ear.

  Is he talking about the wings? She could hardly think clearly over the wild, excited cheers of the oneiroi.

  Ursula met Bael’s gaze. “What happens to the wings?”

  He looked surprised. “The wings are Hothgar’s.”

  “So you’re not going to use them?”

  Bael inhaled sharply, his lip curling with disgust. “Each lord’s wings are given to him by Nyxobas himself. Hothgar’s wings are powerful, but only the wings Nyxobas gave me himself will ever touch my skin.”

  At the gaping hole in Hothgar’s manor, Ursula was just preparing to whistle for Sotz when a woman’s scream ripped through the air. She whirled, her gaze landing on a balcony above them. A pair of oneiroi were pulling a woman with long blonde hair onto a balcony.

  “Help!” she shrieked, then elbowed one of the oneiroi in the face. Freeing herself, she ran to the balcony, peering over the ledge.

  “Ursula? Is that you?” Hothgar’s wife—an enormous woman with platinum braids Ursula knew as The Viking—turned and punched an oneiroi coming up behind her. “Don’t touch me. I’m with Ursula.”

  “It’s okay,” Ursula shouted. “I know her.”

  As some of the oneiroi streamed back out through the gap in the manor, Hothgar’s wife joined Ursula and Bael on the atrium floor.

  Her platinum braids draped over her long black gown. “Where is my husband?”

  Ursula cleared her throat. “Alive, but we took his wings. He’s imprisoned.”

  The Viking snorted. “Serves him right. This is a man who animated dolls to worship his manhood. How can I help?”

  Ursula shook her head. “We don’t need help, but thank you. If I heal his wounds using magic, Hothgar will never get his wings back. He’ll live, but he’ll no longer be Sword of Nyxobas.”

  And with a quick glance at Bael, Ursula set off to heal the man who’d called her bitch.

  Chapter 43

  Flanked by Lucius and Bael, Ursula stared up at Abrax’s manor. Behind them, the hastily constructed army camped out, waiting for their next command.

  Abrax’s black monolith towered over them, its windows replaced with an undulating black magic that shimmered in the sunlight. It had been three days since the attack on Hothgar’s manor, and the forces of two more lords had joined their alliance. But it seemed attacking the manor of a demigod wasn’t as easy as an attack on the manor of a regular lord. Nyxobas’s magic flowed in Abrax’s veins, and he was no ordinary shadow demon.

  So far, the shimmering magic had repelled every attack, even Lucius’s fire. Worse, Abrax’s soldiers launched black magic missiles at them if they came too close.

  Lucius stood by her side, arms folded and red hair gleaming in the sunlight. “Maybe we can distract them long enough to tear a hole.”

  Bael squinted in the sunlight. “Abrax’s manor is well fortified, but if we focus our forces on a single point, maybe we could break through.”

  Ursula looked between the two men. “That’s just what he wants us to do. He’ll tear our army to pieces.”

  Bael shook his head. “That’s the only way inside. The crater will run with blood, but we’ll breach his walls.”

  “The cost is too high,” said Ursula. Her fingers tightened into fists as she racked her brain for another way. “Bael, do you know if all the manors in the cliff have a secret entrance like yours?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Abrax has a tunnel in his manor that leads to a room constructed entirely of shadow crystal. But there was a second tunnel that Abrax had blocked. Do you think that could lead to the mushroom forest?”

  “It’s possible,” said Bael. “We can certainly look.” He held his fingers to his lips and unleashed an ear-piercing whistle.

  From the bright lunar sky, two bats swooped lower, landing between Bael and Ursula.

  Ursula hopped onto Sotz’s back and whispered in his ear. He scrambled forward, then launched himself off the edge of the cliff. Two strong beats of his wings sent them rising into the thin lunar air, and Bael soared into the sky behind her.

  A deep thrumming rumbled through her gut, like the sound of distant thunder. In his dragon form, Lucius soared next to them. His red scales gleamed with the promise of fire, but it was the small person perched on his neck that caught Ursula’s eye. Cera smiled over at them.

  Ursula’s stomach tightened. That’s…unexpected.

  Bael turned in the air, soaring for a crevasse in the cliff face, and Ursula flew in after them.

  Darkness enveloped them, until the glow of the mushroom forest drew the world back into focus. Ahead of her, Bael banked hard, directing his bat along the cavern wall. They skimmed above the mushroom caps, and Ursula caught a few glimpses of the carnivorous caterpillars that lived among them. She shivered, remembering the sharpness of their teeth.

  “There!” shouted Cera, pointing to the wall of the cave.

  Ursula followed Cera’s outstretched finger to a pitch-black rock high on the cavern wall. Using her knees, Ursula directed Sotz in a tight turn, to just above the rock. Close up, it looked nearly identical to the one in Bael’s manor. But unlike the other obsidian stone, no path led to the rock. It sat perched alone on a terrifyingly narrow ledge that overlooked the cliff.

  “I think this might be it,” Ursula called out.

  As Sotz cut back for another pass, Bael leapt from his bat, landing effortlessly on the narrow ledge. Sotz banked his wings, and Ursula soared lower. They glided toward Bael, and her stomach fluttered at the idea of landing on the tiny ledge.

  “Jump!” shouted Bael.

  With her heart in her throat, Ursula leapt. Her stomach plummeted, until Bael’s powerful arms wrapped around her, catching her on the cliff’s edge.

  “Nice jump,” he said quietly.

  “Thanks.” Ursula’s pulse was racing out of control.

  Wings thumped the air as Cera and Lucius approached, then Cera leapt through the air
onto the narrow ledge. Grinning, she landed on the ledge next to Bael, dirt clouding around her feet. As she stood, Lucius circled around, heading toward them. Ursula tensed. There was no way a dragon would fit on the ledge.

  She backed up against the cliff wall, staring at Lucius as he transformed in midair. His massive wings shrank, scales receding. Red hair erupted again from his scalp. He landed next to Cera with a heavy thunk.

  “So is this it?” he asked, without blinking an eye.

  Bael heaved his body against the boulder. Shadow magic shimmered, and it rolled to the side, revealing the dark mouth of a tunnel. Bael muttered in Angelic, and a glowing orb appeared above them.

  His footsteps crunched over the path, and the others followed him. Ursula drew Honjo as she walked, staring at the amber light that glowed over runes and glyphs inscribed in the walls. An ancient oneiroi tunnel. In here, the air seemed to coat her tongue with a stale dust.

  They walked for ten minutes in the darkness, with the orb light wavering over the walls. In here, Ursula found herself relaxing, as if she were at home. The darkness and the narrowness of the corridor felt almost protective. She was tracing her fingers along one of the carved glyphs when she nearly bumped into Bael’s back.

  He’d stopped, now staring at something in front of them.

  “What is it?” asked Ursula.

  “A cave-in, I think.” With a flick of his wrist, he directed the orb higher. Its dim light illuminated a jumble of enormous rocks and stone that blocked their path, crammed up to the tunnel’s ceiling.

  “Can we dig through it?” asked Ursula.

  Bael’s brow furrowed. “We have no idea how deep it goes.”

  Lucius stepped into the light. “I can dig through. No problem.”

  Ursula waved at the narrow walls. “There’s hardly any room for you to transform. What if you used Excalibur to melt the rocks?”

  Luciius scratched his cheek. “Excalibur doesn’t work that way for me. It allows me to breathe fire, but I can’t turn it into a flaming sword.”

  “I can do that,” said Ursula.

  Lucius took a step back, gripping his hilt protectively. “No.”

  Cera nudged him gently. “You can trust her, Lucius. Let her try it.”

  Lucius’s frown deepened, giving him the appearance of a petulant, overgrown child. “The sword is mine.”

  “Lucius,” said Cera more sharply. “We’re in a confined tunnel. She’s not exactly going anywhere.”

  Lucius sighed as he slowly drew Excalibur from its sheath. He turned it so the pommel faced her, handing it over.

  Ursula lifted the ancient blade, and its power seemed to hum through her blood. She closed her eyes, exhaling. It felt good to hold Excalibur again.

  In the dim light of the tunnel, the steel seemed to shimmer with an internal light. Imagine how it would feel to wield this in battle. She would be an avenging goddess. Flame would bloom from the blade in an endless stream as she carved enemies into burning piles of limbs. She found herself smiling at the blade, turning it over in her hands.

  Lucius cleared his throat. “You said you could melt the rocks.”

  “Right, of course. I wasn’t just…having disturbing and violent fantasies, if that’s what you think.” Ursula motioned for Bael to step aside, and she walked up to the rock. Closing her eyes, she summoned Emerazel’s fire, and it burned through her limbs, her bones. She felt the delicious lick of flames moving along her arms, snaking down to the sword’s hilt. The steel sucked hungrily, drawing Emerazel’s fire from her as if it were quenching an insatiable thirst. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at ten feet of incandescent sword billowing out before her. The scent of burning hair filled the air around her as her eyebrows singed from the heat.

  She pressed forward, pointing the blade at the wall of rubble. She cut the blade through the rock, and Excalibur sliced through the stone like a hot razor through butter. She cut the blade sharply, over and over, melting rock, clearing the way.

  At last, molten rock slid down toward her feet, and a new tunnel appeared in front of her.

  “Good,” said Lucius from behind her. “You’ve cleared the way. Now return my sword.”

  Ursula turned, fire still licking along Excalibur. The blade hummed in her hands, hot and lethal. The Lady of the Lake had been right. This blade could defeat Abrax, and she didn’t want to give it up.

  “Put the sword down,” said Lucius, his eyes blazing. “I won’t ask you again.”

  Ursula stared at Lucius, with his broad shoulders and shock of red hair that looked like a lit match. There was something about him that pissed her off.

  “Ursula!” Cera cried, her eyes flashing. “Give him the sword back. You promised to return it.” Dodging Excalibur’s flames, Cera thrust the hilt of Honjo at Ursula. “This is your sword. Honjo, remember? If you give us Excalibur, I’ll give you Honjo.”

  Ursula curled her lip in a snarl. It was true—she had promised to return the blade, and she wasn’t going to slaughter everyone in here to keep it. She sucked in a sharp breath, letting the flames die down. Excalibur went cold, and Ursula lowered the blade to the floor.

  It had hardly touched the stone before Lucius snatched it back. Without looking at her, he began inspecting the blade.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “But it belongs with me.”

  Lucius didn’t answer as he ran a finger along the edge of the sword, checking for nicks.

  Cera thrust Honjo into Ursula’s hand. “That was good work.”

  In the narrow tunnel, Bael pushed past her, his light illuminating the space. With the rubble cleared, the tunnel seemed to continue on until it reached an intersection with another passage.

  “Bael.” Ursula stepped in beside him. “I know this place. That tunnel leads to Abrax’s manor.”

  Bael’s eyes gleamed in the dim light. “Good. Then our new goal is to break open one of his walls. Are you up for it, Lucius?”

  The dragon nodded. “As long as there’s enough room for me to transform, I’ll happily tear this manor apart.”

  Their footfalls echoed off the tunnel walls. When they reached the intersecting tunnel, Bael extinguished his light. They crept into the new tunnel, treading lightly on the rough gravel.

  Bael and Lucius slid through the opening into Abrax’s manor first, moving swiftly ahead of Ursula. She paused for a moment at the opening, gazing into the dark space. When her eyes adjusted, she could see the scaffolding that still stood around the entrance to the tunnel. Within the atrium, she could see that a metallic barrier covered the windows.

  Her stomach dropped. Within the atrium, there was no sign of either Bael or Lucius.

  Something is wrong.

  She started to call a warning to Cera, but inky magic entangled her limbs, snaking around her arms and legs like boa constrictors. Abrax stepped out from the shadows in a corner of the room. Oh, balls.

  His hands were in his pockets, a stupid smirk on his face. “Well, fancy running into you again.”

  Ursula struggled against the bonds of magic, trying to maintain a grip on her sword. Her limbs were completely immobilized. “What’s going on?”

  His footfalls clacked over the marble floor. “Did you think I would leave the rear entrance guarded only by a pile of stone? I’m the son of Nyxobas. I’m a demigod. I’m not an idiot. Wards screamed in my quarters as soon as you stepped into the tunnel.” Abrax prowled closer, his icy eyes shining with a wicked glee. “You must be wondering what happened to your big strong friends.”

  Grabbing her by her collar, he lifted her so she faced the opposite wall. Two bodies lay on the floor.

  Ursula’s blood roared in her ears. “Did you kill them?” Her own voice sounded strangely distant.

  “Not yet. What would be the fun in killing them without an audience?”

  He nodded into the atrium, and a pair of golems stepped out of the shadows. Rage and panic surged in Ursula’s chest, and she tried to jerk her limbs against the bonds of s
hadow magic. But all she could do was stare on as the silent automatons advanced on Bael and Lucius.

  “Don’t worry. They’re not going to die just yet.” Abrax lifted his chin. “Bring them to me,” he commanded the golems.

  The golems dragged Lucius and Bael over the floor, their bodies wrapped in shadow magic, limbs struggling against the constraints. Despite the immense power of these men, Abrax’s bonds held tight.

  Abrax flicked his fingers, and the golems began to kick Bael’s and Lucius’s supine bodies.

  “Stop it, you talon-handed fuckstick,” Ursula shouted.

  Abrax lifted a hand, signaling that the beating should stop. “Manners, my dear. A follower of Nyxobas is never uncouth.” He paused, cocking his head like a bird. “But of course you are all vile, debased creatures.” He crossed to Bael and jabbed at his ribs with his toe. “This one allows his servants to call him by name.” He moved to Lucius. “And this one beds the oneiroi. Vile.”

  Lucius’s eyes flashed with rage, but he couldn’t speak with the shadow bonds clamped over his mouth.

  Ursula’s eyes strained as she scanned the shadows. Where is Cera?

  Abrax’s pale gaze turned on her. “So which one should I kill first?”

  “N-no,” Ursula sputtered. “No.”

  “No?” Abrax parroted. “That’s not an answer to my question, I’m afraid.”

  “Don’t kill them.”

  “Silly Ursula! That wasn’t an option. I am going to kill them. You get to choose who dies first. Those are your options.”

  Ursula stared mutely. She wasn’t going to play his game.

  Abrax sighed, as though the whole situation were taxing for him. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” He drew a long, thin blade from a sheath on his hip. A wave of horror slammed into Ursula, and she opened her mouth in a silent scream as Abrax drove it into Bael’s shoulder.

  “Stop!” shouted Ursula.

  Abrax drew out the blade. Blood gleamed on the steel. “But the fun is only just getting started.”

  Ursula’s heart slammed against her ribs. “What do you want?” Her voice echoed off the ceiling.