The ebony ray lanced out and struck the orb. It resisted for an instant before crumbling to gravel. Conryu grinned and thrust a fist into the air. “Yes!”
Mrs. Lenore’s shoulders slumped. “I thought I had you for half a second there. Congratulations, you two can officially handle anything you’ll encounter in the final.”
Kelsie went and joined a circle while he settled in to study. Prime’s telepathic voice appeared in his head. You could have destroyed that orb on your own. That girl is unnecessary. The scholomantic sounded the same whether it spoke out loud or mentally.
Conryu still had to mutter, but he could keep his voice low enough so the others didn’t hear, not that they’d be apt to, given their chanting. “I suspected as much, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t run down my partner.”
Prime’s disdain came clearly through their link, but the scholomantic refrained from further comment. They spent the next hour and a half in mental conversation. He got comfortable with a handful of new words before everyone left him to wait for Mrs. Umbra.
She tapped her way in five minutes later. “I trust you two have been practicing the summoning spell?”
“Yeah, we can manage about fifty yards now. But I’ve been worried lately about what will happen if Lucifer senses Prime passing through the gate and grabs him.”
“The transition over such a short distance is instantaneous. It would be like trying to pluck a bullet out of midair with your bare hands.”
“I get that, but I’d feel a lot better if we removed this stupid brand from my arm.”
She sat on the edge of Mrs. Lenore’s desk. “As would I, but I haven’t come up with any way of doing it.”
“What if I just forced Lucifer to take it off himself? After all he put it there.”
“That’s a bold plan, but I fear you’re not strong enough even knowing the domination spell.” She tapped the head of the Death Stick on her palm. “But maybe if I teach you how to use this.”
Despite the cold Conryu and Mrs. Umbra left the nice warm school and walked down to the beach. She informed him there was no way he was starting his practice inside since she didn’t want him bringing the building down on them when he screwed up. Which he would, since everyone screwed up their first time using a magical artifact to enhance their casting.
They stopped at the edge of the frozen lake. He couldn’t stop his teeth from chattering so he didn’t know how he’d cast a spell. Mrs. Umbra took pity on him and hissed a fire spell. Warmth rushed into him and he sighed.
“So what do you want me to do first?”
“I want you to listen while I explain how this works. The Death Stick allows a dark-aligned wizard to channel twice as much energy as they’d be able to otherwise. You understand the implications for you?”
Conryu shook his head. He didn’t fully understand what all the numbers they used to describe power levels meant. He used magic more instinctively than intellectually.
“I’ll use myself as an example. If I were to take the wizard’s test again I’d pull around 3,000 as a base and 6,000 in dark magic. If I channel through the Death Stick that dark magic number goes up to 12,000, making me one of the most powerful dark magic users in the world.”
“Wow.”
“I’m not saying that to impress you.” He flinched at her angry tone. “I need you to understand. My maximum power is a hair lower than your base. If you use the Death Stick your dark magic potential approaches 50,000, four times greater than mine.”
“Sure, that’s a lot, but the numbers don’t mean anything to me. They’re just words.”
“Let me put it this way. If you cast Dispel with the Death Stick you could probably negate every spell and ward on campus.”
Conryu’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. Seriously?”
“Seriously. That’s why we’re going to proceed with great caution. Any spell you cast will be directed out over the lake and away from the school. You want to try it?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. If he wanted to force Lucifer to remove the brand he needed to figure this out. “Let’s do it.”
She handed him the Death Stick and the handle vibrated in his grip. When he told her, Mrs. Umbra said, “It’s responding to your magical potential. The vibration’s in your mind not your hand. Don’t worry, it’s a good sign. The artifact has accepted you as a viable user. That’s the first step.”
“Right, okay. What would have happened if it rejected me?”
“Nothing. You would have felt no vibration and when you cast it wouldn’t have enhanced your spell. The Death Stick only responds to those with a dark magic potential over 5,000. Now, we’re going to start with a spell you’re familiar with.” She pointed out over the lake toward the island. “I want you to cover the island in Cloak of Darkness.”
The island had to be over a mile long. He’d only ever covered himself and Prime in the cloak. “The whole thing?”
“Yes. Remember, don’t think you can, know you can.”
Right, he had to believe it was possible to have any hope of getting the spell to work. He took a breath and settled himself. When he spoke the first word of the spell it felt like someone had breached a dam. Power unlike anything he’d ever imagined rushed into him.
He focused through the rush and finished the spell, waving the Death Stick towards the island as he did so. Liquid darkness fell across three-quarters of the island before the last of the energy left him. He felt hollowed out. He’d never experienced anything like it.
When he described it to Mrs. Umbra she nodded. “That’s not uncommon when using an artifact. Wait until you cast a spell without it for the first time. It’ll feel like the most pitiful thing ever. Don’t worry, it’s only because of the proportion. You’re not any weaker.”
He looked out over the mostly covered island. “I couldn’t cover the whole thing.”
She laughed. “I didn’t think you could. In fact I doubted you’d manage half, so this is better than I expected. With time and practice you’ll be able to draw out the Death Stick’s full potential.”
Conryu recalled the massive power and shook his head. “That wasn’t full strength?”
Mrs. Umbra’s face crinkled when she smiled. “You only tapped a little over half your maximum. When you reach one hundred percent I doubt you’ll have any trouble convincing Lucifer to remove your brand.”
Conryu watched as Crystal adjusted the runes covering the piston and cylinder. Her earth magic created oil with no trouble, just way too much. He wasn’t concerned though. If there was one thing working on Blinky had taught him, it was to expect to make adjustments. They’d been working on the engine every Sunday for six weeks now.
Sonja had inscribed a steel cylinder with fire magic to replace the spark plug. Once Crystal fixed the lubrication problem he’d reassemble the motor and see if it worked or if they’d made a bomb.
“So what are you guys studying now?” Sonja asked. The two of them were keeping their distance so Crystal could better focus.
“Nothing but Infernal in my regular class, but Mrs. Umbra is teaching me how to use the Death Stick.”
She perked up at that. “Third year my class got to try the Ashen Scepter, but I didn’t have a strong enough potential to make it work. Actually only one girl in my class succeeded in awakening it and she’s a prodigy. Like you I guess.”
Conryu laughed at that. He was no more a prodigy than he was a duck. “Is this the girl you couldn’t beat at the team tryouts?”
“Yeah. Her fire magic potential is the strongest in a hundred years so I don’t feel bad about it.”
He nodded. “It was pure chance I was born with enough power to wield the artifact. Mrs. Umbra says only someone with dark magic potential over 5,000 can use it. I’ve still only managed to draw out about three-quarters of its full strength.”
Sonja patted his knee. “Just keep at it. If anyone can master it, you can.”
“Thanks.” The little fire wizard’s vote of confide
nce meant a lot to him. It surprised Conryu how much he’d come to value Sonja after such a short time knowing her. Maybe it was because she acted more like a middle-schooler sometimes than she did a twenty-two-year-old that made him protective of her.
“I think I have it,” Crystal said.
Sonja sprinted over to the workbench and he joined her a moment later. Conryu ran his finger down the piston. There was just a thin sheen covering it. When he checked the fit in the cylinder it slid in and out without any friction.
“What do you think?” Sonja was bouncing in place.
“I think when I finish putting it back together we can test it.”
“Yes!” Sonja jumped up and spun around.
An hour later the engine was reassembled and sitting upright in the cradle he’d built for it. “So how do we start this thing?” he asked.
Sonja hopped up on a stool to get a better look. “See that big rune beside the fire cylinder?”
“Yeah.”
“When you touch it a link will be created between you and the engine. Your magic will power it the same way you maintain a spell like seeing, though this will drain you faster than such a basic spell.”
“That’s it?” It sounded too simple.
“That’s it. Bear in mind that what seems like no big deal for you would exhaust me in half an hour. That’s why a magic engine really isn’t practical for most people. A non-wizard couldn’t even use it.”
“Cool.” He touched the rune.
A little jolt ran through him and the engine fired. The piston cycled and turned the drive shaft. He let it run for half a minute. It looked like Sonja had it set for about a hundred rpm. Nowhere near enough to make it useful, but enough to prove the concept. As a nice bonus it didn’t blow up and kill them all.
“How do I switch it off?”
“Touch the rune again.”
Conryu did so and the engine shut off. A little tingle passed through him as the link vanished. “I’d call that a successful test. You know what we need to do now?”
Sonja’s smile had her face stretched tight. “What?”
“Build something for it to run. Maybe a go cart or dirt bike.”
“I vote go cart.” Sonja was waving her arms around. “All of us can ride in that.”
“If you guys think I’m getting in anything powered by an experimental magic engine you’re both nuts,” Crystal said.
Sonja and Conryu shared a look. “So a two-seater?” he asked.
She grinned and they bumped fists.
Conryu bounded down the stairs and into his room. He’d left Prime in the library and now he was going to try and summon him. He’d managed the spell over shorter distances, but the library was right at the outer limit of their link. If this worked he could summon Prime from anywhere.
He cleared his mind and focused on the tether that connected him to the scholomantic. He pictured it as a black thread running from his chest to Prime’s spine. When he had the link fully visualized he took a breath.
Before he spoke the first word of the spell someone knocked. Conryu blew out a sigh. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He sent a thought of patience to Prime and opened the door. Maria was waiting outside and hanging her head.
“Hey, what’s up?”
She slipped past him and sat on the edge of his bed. When she finally looked up he took a step back. A full beard covered her face.
“Holy shit! What happened to you?”
She sniffed back a tear. “In alchemy club I reversed the order of two ingredients and the potion blew up in my face. You can see the results.”
“Yeah. What are you going to do about it?”
Maria gave him the most pathetically hopeful look. “I thought maybe you could use dark magic to negate the potion’s effect.”
Conryu winced. Maria was highly sensitive to dark magic so if she was willing to have him use it on her she must have been desperate. The problem was he had no idea if Dispel would work on something like this and if he used breaking he might blow her head off. Delicate magic was in no way his strong suit.
“Maybe we should ask Mrs. Lenore. Having me blast you willy-nilly with dark magic might not be the best idea.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm before he could take a step toward the door. “Bad enough the alchemy class knows I screwed up the potion, but no one knows about the beard but you. I took off as soon as I felt it start growing.”
He understood how she wouldn’t want anyone to know about this. He snapped his fingers. “I bet Prime will know what to do. I was just about to try summoning him. Hang on.”
Conryu moved as far from Maria as the room would permit and repeated the visualization process. When he was ready he chanted, “Come to me through darkest paths, Familiar Summons!”
A black disk appeared in the air and Prime emerged through it before it shut. “Well done, Master. Even that terrifying witch will be impressed with this.”
“Thanks, but we have a more pressing problem.”
Prime flew over and studied Maria from head to toe. “This was caused by a misfired potion, yes?”
She nodded.
“It can’t be dispelled by dark magic. You either need to use the correct counter-potion or wait for the effects to end. It shouldn’t last more than a week.”
“A week!”
Prime flew around behind him. “At most. It might only last three or four days.”
“Why can’t we dispel it?” Conryu asked.
Prime peeked over his shoulder at the still-fuming Maria. “Potion magic works by infusing power into a person’s entire body. It’s not just a matter of zapping her face. You’d have to remove every trace of the magic from her entire body without damaging her cells. No offense, Master, but you still lack sufficient control for such a delicate operation.”
He couldn’t argue with that. While his control had improved he would never dare anything that delicate, especially on Maria, with her low tolerance for dark magic. “Maybe there’s another option.”
Maria perked up. “Anything.”
Conryu ducked into his bathroom and returned with his disposable razor. “You could shave.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Shave? That’s your brilliant idea?”
“I didn’t say it was brilliant, but there’s a long tradition of using these to remove facial hair. It has to be safer than me blasting you in the face with dark magic.”
She crossed the room and took the razor from him. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try.”
Five minutes later she emerged, clean shaven, from the bathroom. “How do I look?”
“Gorgeous. How’s it feel?”
“The skin’s a little sensitive, but other than that not bad.”
“Cool. You can keep the razor if you want.”
“Thanks, but I have a pack in my room.”
An image of Maria shaving her legs in the shower popped unbidden into his head. He sighed and shook it off. “I forgot to tell you. We got the engine running.”
“That was fast. I thought it would take you longer to figure out how to replicate all the mechanical issues.”
“We simplified everything so all that was left was basically the cylinder, piston, and drive shaft. Next week we’re going to start working on a go cart.”
She smiled. “If you were half as enthusiastic about magic as you were about your toys, you’d be the greatest wizard since—”
“Don’t say it.”
“Merlin.”
Conryu couldn’t stop pacing as he waited for Mrs. Umbra to arrive. Three days ago he’d managed to cover the entire island in Cloak of Darkness and she pronounced him ready to confront Lucifer. He’d been eager at the time, but now that the moment was here, fear had replaced excitement.
After another ten trips up and down the aisle he stopped and sat on the nearest desk. He needed to follow the advice he always gave Kelsie. Slow breaths. Focus on the goal. He knew what he was capable of when using the Death Stick. He’d pop in to Hel
l, force Lucifer to remove the brand, and be back before he knew it.
Right. That’s why he hadn’t mentioned anything to Maria over dinner last night. At least her beard had stopped growing. Thinking about those soft, smooth cheeks covered in thick, bristly hair brought a smile to his face and eased his nerves.
It was easy for him to think of Maria as perfect when it came to schoolwork so it was heartening that even she made an occasional mistake. Not that she saw it that way, but with a perfectionist you had to make allowances.
When Mrs. Umbra finally arrived he’d calmed down enough to think he had a chance of succeeding. A frown made her wrinkles deepen. “Are you certain you want to go through with this? The risks are tremendous.”
“I know, but the risk of doing nothing and then having to travel by dark portal… I don’t know. As long as I know he’s just waiting on the other side for me to arrive makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. I need to do this as much to get it off my mind as anything else.”
She nodded and held the Death Stick out to him. “I understand. I’ll prepare the circle, you work on strengthening your link to the artifact.”
Conryu focused all his attention on the Death Stick. What had once been a vibration when he first picked it up had now evolved into an almost electric current running between them. It approached the intensity of his connection to Prime.
While Mrs. Umbra drew on the floor he did the visualization exercises she’d taught him. Over and over again he imagined the enhanced domination spell overwhelming Lucifer and forcing him to obey.
Sometime later he was brought back to reality when Mrs. Umbra said. “We’re ready.”
He opened his eyes and studied the spell circle she’d drawn. It was different than before, simpler. When he commented on it she said, “It’s a simple portal containment spell. You’re not going to form a contract after all.”
“Right, so is there some way for me to retreat if this doesn’t work?” When he’d gone to form a contract with Cerberus he couldn’t return unless he succeeded. That was pressure he didn’t need while dealing with Lucifer.
The Chimera Jar: The Aegis of Merlin Book 3 Page 11