by Nichols, TJ
“I’m sure Usi has told you that I have shown him blood magic. She even helped with his training in that area.” Saka kept all concern off his face, but he didn’t like the focus on what he was teaching Angus.
“But are you rebalancing while he is here? Your tent has been quiet of late.”
Saka was silent for a moment. He couldn’t lie. Wouldn’t. “Not as much as before because I have learned something interesting.”
“And what could be more interesting than returning stolen magic to Arlyxia?” Miniti smiled, but her too-wide mouth made the innocent gesture sinister.
Saka could hear the excitement in Usi’s breathing. It hummed around her. She thought she was going to walk away as head mage.
“That when humans come here frequently to rebalance, the magic wants to leave their bodies. They come to want, even crave the release, but now I must be cautious with Angus until he learns to control the flow, or he will unwittingly surrender his soul to Demonside.” Usi opened her mouth, but Saka held up his hand. “If he is dead, he is no use at all.” He didn’t want to think about a world where Angus was dead. No amount of magic would heal that wound. It would leave a scar he’d wear for life. “If he can control how much he gives, he is useful. He and the other trainees return with fresh magic and information about the happenings in their world. Coupled with what we learn from the few who are connected to other warlocks, be they underground or college, it gives us a better idea about ways to defend ourselves.”
Miniti leaned back. “He joined in after the planting.”
“Yes. He likes to be part of the tribe.”
“Yet he is not, nor is he demon.”
“I know. We both know.”
It was clear that Miniti wasn’t happy with the answers he’d given. Did she want him displaced? “Your affection for him makes you blind to his flaws.”
“And aside from being human, what are they? That he willingly returns to rebalance and learn our ways? That he is actively trying to bring down the Warlock College that seeks to destroy all demons? Who here has no flaws? Mages are supposed to see them and work to fix them. Yes, I am close to him. I was close to my mentor too. There is a bond—”
“He is a warlock,” Miniti said. “He controls you.”
“And I have the same amount of control over him. Perhaps if more mages volunteered to make the connection with a warlock, we might have been able to stop the drying before it started. Instead we turned away. We have to accept that responsibility.” Many claimed that teaching humans wasn’t part of being a mage. But teaching was their responsibility. It didn’t matter who they taught.
“Now we have trainees instead. People who have no loyalty or ties to Demonside,” Miniti said.
“They chose to be here. They trust us.” The trainees could be rounded up and killed to rebalance, but if the demons did that, there would be no working with the humans at all. “If we don’t work with the humans, then we will be at war with them. Few remember the war, but from the stories told, I do not think a repeat would serve us well. We need rebalancers.”
As he said it, he realized the weight of the words. There might be people who had no interest in magic, but who would be willing to rebalance. They could come to Demonside to experience the demon way of life, and magic would drain from them. If a human couple had sex in Demonside, would they both rebalance? It was an idea worth discussing with other mages.
“Then why are the trainees not rebalancing?” Miniti tilted her head.
“I do not follow every part of their training. It could be that they are learning.” He paused for a moment. “How would you choose to rebalance if you had to? Soul is out. They did not come here to die. That leaves sex or blood. They are raised with different values.”
Miniti considered him for a moment. “It did not take Angus long to decide.”
“I did not give him long to decide.” Saka had pushed Angus because he wanted to know what the warlocks’ limits were. His life and usefulness were at risk.
No one spoke. Usi fidgeted. Saka tried to project calm and remain motionless. He would not let it get under his skin.
“I cannot deny that you have been a good head mage. You have never flinched from your duties.” Yet there was doubt in Miniti’s voice. “But some of your ideas of late? I question if you are thinking of the tribe or of your own status.”
Saka almost laughed. “I never sought to become head mage. I have always put the tribe first—the greater tribe, meaning the whole of Demonside.”
And he meant even those demons he’d never heard of before Angus mentioned them—the feathered ones and the others that must live out across the sands. Arlyxia was far greater than he ever thought. If he focused on one small fraction of the tribe, he would limit ideas and possible solutions. What were other mages working on? Was the rest of Demonside so ill? And if it wasn’t, could they walk until they found a place that offered a better life?
He’d been making telestones and leaving them when they moved on. Lox and Becha were doing the same, as were a couple of the others he trusted. Maybe a network of stones would have a greater reach. He hadn’t yet tried to make contact because his fear held him back. It was a flaw he needed to address.
Miniti looked at Usi. “You raised this grievance. I find nothing to act on.”
Saka released a small, silent sigh of relief. Miniti was unwilling to oust him. That didn’t mean Usi couldn’t directly challenge him. But would she? He regretted ever inviting her into his tent to show Angus the use of pain and magic.
Usi’s face hardened. Her annoyance shimmered off her, and she turned to face him. “I challenge you for the right to be head mage.”
Saka held her gaze. “Be sure that is what you want. If you lose, you will lose status. You are challenging me without the backing of our leader and creating unnecessary friction within the tribe.” Yet it was Usi who had accused him of acting improperly by not putting the tribe first.
Usi nodded. “I am not an apprentice who needs reminding.”
She was acting like one.
“Very well. I accept.” He could’ve refused, but Usi would have held that over him, and he couldn’t be seen as weak.
“If you lose, Mage Saka, you will become Usi’s for three days and nights, as is traditional, but Saka will be the second mage. Usi, if you lose, you will be Saka’s for the same period, and you will no longer be his second. That honor will fall to Tapo or Wek. Do you still wish to proceed?” Miniti’s words were formal. A challenge was not undertaken lightly.
Saka watched Usi as she hesitated for just a moment. “Saka led the way for the trainees to come. He shies away from conflict, and without his human, he is weak.”
“The death of demons in a war will only strengthen the warlocks and do more damage to us. You voted to give this a chance, and the year is not yet up. Take my place as head mage if this trial fails. But give this way a chance. Let us fight smart.” He touched the scar on his chest. “Let us not rush in again.”
But Usi had challenged him and discussed everything with Miniti. Saka didn’t know if he could work with her, and he certainly couldn’t trust her. He wanted to fight her, to see her humiliated, and to show everyone that she wasn’t worthy of being a mage.
The tribe wouldn’t see the battle. That would be done in private. But they would see the result. If he won, he wouldn’t want her servitude for the three days and nights.
Usi looked at him with naked hate. She couldn’t work with him either. While their relationship had been tense at times, he’d thought they at least had a common goal. But he was wrong. He’d misjudged her ambition.
“Saving Arlyxia doesn’t involve saving humans. Or are you scared to fight without yours by your side?”
Usi was dangerously close to revealing what had happened the night Guda was killed. Had she already told? Surely she wouldn’t break her oaths.
“I am not afraid to fight you.”
But if he lost, he wasn’t sure he could stay with his tr
ibe and be her second.
Chapter Twenty
Snow was two feet thick on the ground. The tiny snowdemon Angus had made with Terrance was buried up to its neck, and its twig horns had fallen off while he was away. He felt much the same way. Soon he’d be buried beneath the expectations of the underground and the mages of Demonside. He wasn’t moving fast enough to help anyone.
Least of all himself.
If he couldn’t save himself, how could he save Terrance? He had no idea how to solve that problem, but he had brought Terrance a present—not that he was allowed to see him until after whatever the underground had planned.
For the first time, Norah, Lizzie, and he were to join an underground mission. Apparently the other trainees were also involved. He hadn’t seen them since they’d been split up. Part of him wished they’d all been able to stay at Lifeblood. But he loved seeing different parts of Demonside, even if he did hate the walking, and he wouldn’t change his memories of the crop growing for anything. He’d woken up in Saka’s arms in the dappled light of ynn shrubs. Their narrow leaves had formed a canopy that took the sting out of the sun’s heat. All that growth in one night and from one ritual…. It was amazing.
“We leave in ten minutes.” The warlock—or was he a wizard?—called out.
It would be a relief to get out of the house. The dampeners were like too-tight bandages, and all he could think about was the pressure on his skin. Lizzie and Norah hadn’t noticed it, though they had realized they couldn’t perform magic in the house. But magic could still be gathered. It just couldn’t be transformed into something else.
He was ready and itching to leave. They were all dressed in dark colors, and they had been warned to stay with their underground leader, Syg. But they didn’t know the plan.
Even when they got in the car, they weren’t told where they were going. Nervous energy bounced off all of them. Could that be used the way pain and lust were? Angus didn’t know, and it wasn’t the time to try, but he made sure to gather. In Demonside his skin would take on a faint glow. There would be static in the air. In Humanside he used the mark Saka had carved on his chest to bind the magic to him.
The college had told them that magic couldn’t be stored. But that was a lie. Saka could store it in the orbs until he was ready to release it, and, according to his father, the college had been storing magic to weaponize it.
He could hold on to more magic and for longer if he let the scar on his chest heat.
The scar was burning and uncomfortable, but he’d rather have the pain than be unprepared for what would happen next. His trust in the underground had been shattered the moment they took Terrance. They could be leading the trainees to their death, but Angus had to act as though he were loyal and obedient. If he didn’t, Terrance would suffer.
The car pulled into the parking lot of a suburban mall. He’d paid close attention to the drive so he would know where he was staying. The underground didn’t feel it necessary to tell them where they were living. They’d have everything they needed while they were there—except their freedom.
“Are we going to do some early Solstice shopping?” Norah asked with only the faintest touch of sarcasm.
Syg turned to look at her. “No. A demon is being brought here by the college.”
It took Angus a moment to realize what that meant. Everyone in the car knew that the demons couldn’t open the void from their side. Screw being polite and obedient. “The college is going to open the void. Here?”
Syg gave him a look that said the other guard had talked too much, and now everyone knew what kind of warlock Angus was. Angus had heard tales of magic users who could turn their foes into rats or fish. Was that possible? The tips of his fingers tingled with the temptation to try.
He could transform Syg, take the car, and flee.
But there was nowhere to go. The college wanted him, and the underground had said all known wizards were being watched, or worse, arrested by the college. He could drive until they reached the border, but they wouldn’t make it across no man’s land to the Nations. And people who fled into the Mayan Empire were used as temple fodder, sacrificed to the demons, apparently. Or was that misinformation too?
“We are to capture the demon so the college can’t kill it for its magic,” Syg said without answering Angus’s question.
“Capture how?” Lizzie asked.
“You don’t need to worry. You just have to help herd it. Any more questions? We’re on a time limit.”
“Why not just open the void and send it home?” Angus said, determined not to let Syg dodge him so easily. That was the most obvious course of action. It was what should be done.
Syg’s smile was cold and calculating. “You open the void, and your friend loses his fingers. His rugby career will be over before it starts. That would be a real shame.”
Angus’s gut squeezed tight. That wasn’t a warning. That was a threat.
Syg got out of the car, and they all followed like obedient sheep, ready for the abattoir. Lizzie gave his arm a squeeze, but didn’t say anything.
Across the parking lot, Jim and three other trainees moved closer to the entrance. Where was the other group? Where were the underground warlocks or wizards, the people who knew what they were doing and who’d had years of training?
The tension crawled up his spine and lodged at the base of his skull in a knot of headache-inducing worry. “Where are we herding the demon to?”
Syg gave a small nod to his left, but there was no clear destination.
Lizzie slowed. “I’m not sure about this.” Her voice was so soft Angus almost didn’t catch her words.
Angus nodded and said louder, “And how do we herd it?”
It wasn’t going to be something small. When the college arranged a demon breakthrough as proof that demons were dangerous and needed to be controlled, they always got something big. He’d seen some of the big animals in Demonside, but never up close.
“I’m sure you’ve learned something while across the void and not just how to suck the magic out of your demon’s di—”
The void tore open, snatching away his words and flipping over several vehicles. The power that rippled from the tear was more than Angus had ever seen or felt. The breach rippled over his skin in a cold wash, and the goose flesh on his skin was almost painful.
Norah swore and stepped back.
“If you run, the college will hunt you down. You’ll be locked up and forgotten about,” Syg warned.
And if they fled to Demonside, no one would ever open the void to bring them home.
It wasn’t one demon that came through, but four brilliant, shimmery blue scarlips. They weren’t big, but they weren’t happy or semitamed with blood the way Terrance’s demon had been. They were wild and angry. Their venom-filled tails arched over their heads, ready to strike. They prowled forward and made an odd grating sound as they communicated to each other.
They weren’t nearly far enough away. A few yards and a half dozen cars were all that separated them from the scarlips. Terrance would know what to do. Somehow he’d convinced Aqua not to kill him.
The void closed, the scarlips fanned out, and humans who were just out shopping started to scream. Someone yelled that the underground had done it.
Angus didn’t know enough about scarlips. He’d been so busy studying magic that he hadn’t learned about the creatures that lived in Demonside.
One scarlips attacked the nearest person to it. Screams and the scent of blood filled the air. They had to do something before the college showed up, before the underground called the mission a failure and left them to vanish into the prisons of Vinland. Panic made his heart beat fast and his mind work more slowly.
If the scarlips spread out, they would kill until they were captured. Then they would be sacrificed in a ritual for their magic. Angus was able to appreciate their lethal beauty, having seen Terrance’s demon up close, but he couldn’t leave them to kill innocent bystanders.
Jim and h
is group ran toward the scarlips and shouted as though they hoped to scare them. The scarlips just looked annoyed, tails high and that grating noise getting louder.
“I’m going to draw them that way.” Angus pointed to the left, where they’d been told to herd them.
“How?” Lizzie frowned.
Terrance had used his blood. All Angus had to do was run and hope the scarlips followed him… and didn’t catch him. Angus produced a small knife. He never went anywhere without it anymore. Fear would give his blood a spike.
Lizzie grabbed his coat as though she could stop him. “They’ll kill you.”
He shrugged out of his coat and kicked off his shoes. He didn’t need the extra weight, and he was used to being barefoot in Demonside. The cold bit into his feet, his socks getting soggy immediately.
“I’ll open the void before that happens.” He hoped he sounded confident, but he didn’t know if he could outrun a scarlips while he was bleeding.
“What do you want me to do?” Lizzie dropped his coat.
“Make a magical wall or something to keep them on track. Norah?”
Norah’s face was pale—she was a scholar, not a fighter—but she nodded.
Angus ran. He felt Lizzie’s wall go up, and wished he could see it, so when he thought he had enough of a lead, he turned and jogged backward. The scarlips were watching him, ears forward and tails vibrating.
He swallowed hard. He’d only get one chance to get it right or screw it up. “Come and get me!”
He sliced down his arm and lifted it high. The cut was just the right depth to bleed freely but do no damage. Usi would be so pleased that her lesson was saving human lives.
He knew the moment they scented his blood. They lifted their muzzles, and the noise increased. Crimson stained the mouth of one, but it left the body it had been feeding on to watch him. Angus had delicious magical blood, which was no doubt infinitely tastier than regular old blood. He hoped so anyway.
Some of the other trainees realized what Lizzie and Norah were doing, and added their magic to herd the scarlips.