by N. P. Martin
After making a few complicated movements with my hands held just in front of the door, the door itself opened.
Well, at least he hasn't changed the Locking Spell since the last time I was here.
Before stepping inside, I wrenched off my boots and left them outside, walking inside the Sanctum in socks that were long overdue for a change. I had expected to see Sanaka standing in the hallway, having sensed my arrival as he always did. But he was nowhere to be seen. Which was strange. For Sanaka, greeting a visitor at the door wasn't optional, it was mandatory. The honorable thing to do.
Frowning, I traipsed across the polished wood floor in the wide hallway, glancing around for signs of my mentor. "Sanaka?" I called out but got no reply.
But then I heard voices coming from a room down the hallway to the left. I stood and listened for a moment, surprised that anyone else was there. Virtually no one visited Sanaka, except me, and that's exactly how he liked things to be. Yet going by the noise he was clearly entertaining someone.
Then I heard a laugh. A deep, rollicking laughter, allowed to come forth with carefree abandon like the person it was coming from had not a worry in the world. There was only one person I knew who laughed like that.
"Ray? What the fuck?" I shook my head as I walked down the hallway towards the room where Ray and Sanaka where. The sound of Sanaka laughing made me stop and freeze on the spot.
What dark magick is this? I thought to myself. Sanaka never laughs. Unless...
"You're drunk?" I said to Sanaka as I walked into the room to find both him and my uncle lying on the floor on top of a pile of cushions like a couple of drunken teenagers. "And Ray? What the hell are you doing here?"
Ray finished drinking from a clear glass bottle full of clearer liquid that I assumed was sake. "Why, I've come to visit my old friend, Sanaka," he said waving the bottle around and nodding his head, Sanaka nodding his as well as if to back up what he was saying. "And I think the better question is, what the hell are you doing here? Don't you have a demon to appease or something?"
They both burst into laughter, and I stood there shaking my head at them, feeling like a father come home to find his two teenage sons drunk as skunks. "I'm glad you both find my misfortune funny," I said, which promoted more uproarious laughter.
"Other people's misfortune and pain are always funny," Sanaka said. "Why do you think I was so hard on you when you lived under this roof? You kept me entertained."
I pursed my lips and stood staring at Sanaka. Take a breath, Creed, I thought. He's drunk. They both are.
And stoned as well, going by the presence of Ray's pipe on the floor and the thick layer of smoke stratifying the air in the room. "I'm just going to go ahead and pretend you didn't say that."
"He's just messing with you, boy," Ray said. "Here. Come and have a drink with us. You could probably use one. Being a demon's bitch is thirsty work I hear."
More raucous laughter filled the room as Sanaka leaned over and slapped Ray on the knee. "Real mature, guys," I said. "Why don't you's high five each other while you's are at."
And of course, that's what they did, nearly collapsing into each other as they slapped palms, sparks of wayward magick leaking out of their hands.
Jesus, I thought. So much for getting help. These two look like they couldn't even stand up never mind perform a damn Location Spell.
Still, I couldn't help but smile at them both. Sanaka especially, who I had seen drunk exactly two times since I had known him. Trust Ray to lead the old Mage astray.
"So tell us, apprentice of mine," Sanaka said as he did his best to focus on me with his dark brown eyes, his long grayish hair falling into his face, which he made a half-assed attempt to brush aside. "Why do you need our help? Have you lost your soul again?" He laughed once more, and Ray tittered away beside him as he drank more of the Saki from the bottle.
I shook my head. "Firstly, I'm technically not your apprentice anymore. I stopped being that some time ago."
"Ohhhhhhhhh," Ray said. "Backtalk. I like it."
"He thinks he is a Master Mage now," Sanaka said to Ray as if I wasn't in the room. "Yet, he still needs my help."
God, this is impossible, I thought. I might as well come back later when hopefully one or both of them had sobered up enough to help me. "I'll come back later," I said. "When you've stopped being a couple of teenagers."
"Oh, God," Ray said exasperatedly. "Get a grip, August. Just because we've been drinking this superbly smooth and potent sake all day, doesn't mean we won't be able to help you. The old guy's are just having a little fun, that's all. I don't come around often. Here." He held out the bottle. "Have a drink and tell us what's up."
Sighing, I took the bottle from Ray and took a drink. The sake was like firewater, and it burned the hell out of my throat. "Jesus," I said. "You's have been drinking this all day? This shit would burn a hole in your stomach."
"Or put some hairs on that chest of yours," Ray said.
"I have enough hairs on my chest," I said, drinking again despite feeling like my tongue was melting like chewing gum in hot sunlight.
"Needs some on his balls, though," Sanaka said, bursting into laughter at the same time as Ray.
I couldn't help smiling this time. "You two...Jesus..."
"Look at him, Tetsuo," Ray said with a lop-sided grin on his face. "Look at the fine specimen he has become. Aren't you proud of your former student, Tetsuo?"
I stood shaking my head, vaguely embarrassed now as I took another swig from the bottle, the sake like lit fuel trailing down into my stomach. I was aware of Sanaka staring at me as he tried to keep his head still but couldn't.
"Best student I ever had," the old Japanese Mage said.
"The only student you've ever had," Ray pointed out.
"I know," Sanaka said.
They started laughing again.
"That's because no one else was mad enough to apprentice under you," I said, refusing to take the slagging lying down.
"No!" Sanaka barked, suddenly very serious as he held up a finger. "The only one worthy of my time."
Our eyes met for a second, and he nodded, then he stuck his hand out for the bottle, which I passed over to him. "Thanks," I said. "I guess."
"Take the compliment, August," Ray said. "They don't come around often."
They didn't come around at all actually. Maybe Sanaka should have gotten drunk more often. Although looking at the state of him, I thought, Maybe not.
"Right," my uncle said, grabbing Sanaka's arm. "Let's get up and help the boy. Show him how real magick is done, eh?"
Sanaka nodded and put the bottle down on the floor. They both tried to get up at the same time, leaning on each there as they did. They got barely halfway up before collapsing back down into the cushions again, falling into fits of laughter as they did so.
Once again, I shook my head.
This might take a while, I thought.
It took some time, but I finally managed to wrangle Ray and Sanaka to their feet and move them out of the room and into a different room at the other side of the Sanctum. Along the way, I had to wrestle with Ray to stop him from entering rooms that were doorways to different dimensions. "I want to go to the Amazonian Dimension," he said loudly. "Tetsuo, you need the see the women there. Statuesque goddesses all of them..."
"I know," Sanaka said.
Ray elbowed him. "You dirty dog..."
They both started laughing, holding onto each other as I moved them along.
Ten minutes later (yes, ten) I finally ushered the two drunks into the Map Room. It was a huge room, every wall lined with wooden shelves and pigeon holes containing thousands of rolled up maps that not only charted Earth but also many other worlds and dimensions in the known universe. Ray let go of Sanaka as they entered the room, my uncle's eyes lighting up as he gazed at all the maps, then went to the large table in the center of the room, holding onto it as if to keep himself from falling over. "The Avexus Nebula," he proclaimed as he looked over
the map that was opened out on the table. "A wondrous place indeed. I've been there many times. They make the most amazing wine--"
"And medicine," Sanaka said.
"Medicine?" I said frowning.
Sanaka nodded. "I need more than magick to maintain this body."
"Aye, indeed," Ray said. "Give it another few decades, August. You'll see what we mean."
"I'm sure I will," I said, already searching for a map of Blackham, finding it a moment later rolled up on one of the shelves. I removed the map of the Nebulas Dimension that was on the table and unrolled the Blackham map instead. "Right. Baal wants me to find a witch named Margot Celeste. She's apparently in or around Blackham somewhere. When I tried my own Location Spell, I was blocked by her magick. The map I was using burnt to a crisp in fact."
Ray raised his bushy eyebrows. "Really? She's got chops this witch. You might have your hands full with her."
"He hopes," Sanaka said, sniggering like a naughty schoolboy.
"Nonsense," Ray said, coming over and putting his arm around me. "He's committed this one. Foolish boy."
I sighed and shook my head. "So are we going to do this spell or not? I'd like to honor my deal with Baal as soon as possible so that I can get back to my life again. If that's alright with you two, that is."
"You worry too much, August," Ray said going back to the table, with Sanaka joining him a moment later. "You should learn to let go and go with the flow."
"Right. Maybe I'll get sloshed on sake and see how it goes."
Ray shook his head at my sarcasm but said nothing.
Standing by the long table, still unsteady on his feet, Sanaka rubbed his hands together as if warming up for the spell. Ray joined him, a small penknife in his hand now, which he used to make a slice in the palm of his right hand. He passed the knife to Sanaka who made a cut on his own palm. Then the two of them hovered their fists over the center of the map and allowed a few drops of blood to drip down onto the paper. When they both opened their palms again, their cuts had healed.
"Do you need me?" I asked.
"Just watch and learn, son," Ray replied. "Watch and learn."
Shaking my head, I stood at one end of the table and watched as Ray and Sanaka held their hands over the small pool of blood on the map as they both repeated the words to the Location Spell. Hopefully, their combined power would get a result. I doubted the witch's magick was that strong that it could resist the magick of two Master Mages (or even one of them for that matter). If the witch's magick did resist, I'd be screwed because there would be no way to find her otherwise.
As before when I did the spell myself, the blood on the map tried to spread out in all directions, but Sanaka and Ray managed to contain it, not letting the witch's magick mess up the spell. Ray closed his eyes for a moment as he poured more concentration into the spell. When he opened his eyes again, a smile appeared on his face, and he looked at Sanaka, who smiled back.
I smiled as well when I saw the thin line of blood begin to trickle its way from the center of the map, running in a rivulet in a westerly direction. It was exciting watching the line of blood wind its way across the map as I wondered where it was going to end up. My guess was outside the city, but we would see. A few times, the line of blood tried to double back, but the combined magick of the two Master Mages held it in check and prevented the witch's magick from leading us astray.
This battle of wills and magick went on for a few minutes until the line of blood entered into Morgan County on the map and eventually stopped altogether. "There's your witch," Ray said, finally relaxing along with Sanaka. "Red Branch Falls, Morgan County."
"Red Branch Falls," I said, relieved to have finally pinpointed the witch's location. "That's hundreds of acres of woodland."
"She's in there somewhere," Ray said, retrieving the bottle of sake from one of the shelves behind him. "I'm sure you can work your magick when you get there."
I nodded, wondering how I was going to find the witch in all that woodland. A whole army could hide out there and not be found. "Alright, I suppose I'd better get cracking then. Thanks you two."
"Good luck," Sanaka said. "You might need it."
Frowning I said, "Why? Did you sense something?"
"Only that the witch's magick is strong. As is her resolve not to be found. She will have sensed us searching for her. Now she knows someone will be coming."
"Yes," Ray said. "Be careful, August. Not all witches are as nice as your mother was. I find most of them to have chips the size of Everest on their shoulders. Great in bed, though. Wildcats. I could tell you some stories..."
I held a hand up to stop him. "Don't bother. Save the stories for when I'm gone."
Ray chuckled to himself, and Sanaka smiled knowingly. "I hope you have more of this delicious sake, Tetsuo."
"Plenty," Sanaka said, although he looked like he had had enough already. He didn't have the capacity for it that Ray had. No one did, in fact.
After enduring a few more drunken jibes from Ray, I left them to it. "Try not to fall into any dangerous dimensions after I go," I told them. "One wild goose chase is enough."
And with that, I left to prepare for my trip to the wilds of Morgan County.
8
Division
A black SUV was parked on the street outside the Sanctum. The windows were all blacked out, so it was impossible to see who was inside. Though as I parked the Lincoln behind the SUV, I noticed the government plates on the vehicle and deducted that I was getting a visit from a member or members of the Division, the secret government department charged with policing and investigating the occult underground and supernatural community. Before I had even got out of the car, the doors of the SUV opened, and two men got out, both dressed in dark suits, both with guns in their hands. One of the men then opened the back door on the passenger side and out stepped another, taller man. I shook my head when I saw who it was.
Bloody Brentwood, I thought. I don't have time to deal with him right now.
I had a witch to track down after all, and a demon to appease.
And a girlfriend to save, don't forget.
How could I forget?
"Brentwood," I said as I got out of the car, in a tone that I hoped would make clear to the Division boss that I didn't have time to stop and chat.
"Creed," Brentwood said, standing military straight in his suit and dark overcoat, looking every inch the government agent that he was. "I need to speak with you. It's urgent."
"Isn't it always?" I breezed past him and walked up the steps to the Sanctum, making a few hand movements by the front door to open it.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't," he shot back, still offended by my lack of concern for his problems, not to mention the little respect I had for his authority. As I said before, I didn't always agree with Brentwood's methods, and I found his incessant pushiness annoying. His rules and regulations didn't apply to me, nor did I live by his military code, so that tended to make him view me as some dangerous outlaw that had to be watched carefully. In my darker moments, I sometimes wondered if Leona wasn't just a plant, that she was just pretending to be my girlfriend in order to keep a close eye on me at her bosses behest. Not that I believed that (although I wouldn't have put it past Brentwood to do such a thing), but the thought did cross my mind occasionally. Usually when Leona refused me sex on the grounds of needing her sleep, or sometimes when she didn't laugh at my jokes or other times when she and Brentwood would talk from a distance and look over at me as they did so as if Leona was briefing him on what I had been up to. Moments of fleeting insecurity. Nothing more.
"Alright," I said. "Come inside. Tell me what's so urgent. Although I'll warn you now, whatever it is, it will have to wait. I have more urgent matters to take care of."
I didn't wait for his response and went inside the Sanctum to the living room where I stood waiting on him. Blaez was lying in the corner of the room by the bookshelves, sniffing the air as if to identify the person coming in behind
me. Blaez already knew who Brentwood was, so once the wolf got the scent, he settled back down again and idly stared in my direction as if he couldn't wait to see me squirm in Brentwood's presence.
Brentwood himself entered the living room like a tall, dark shadow, his mahogany skin starkly contrasted against his white collar. As always, he wore his usual expression of mild disdain as if everything offended him all of the time. Including me. Of course. "This place is still as creepy as the last time I was in it," he said, looking around the room, his eyes going to the ceiling and the books which floated up there like giant moths.
"I hope you didn't come here just to slag off my Sanctum, Brentwood." I folded my arms across my chest and stood like I wasn't in the mood for any shit. Which I wasn't. "Does this little list have anything to do with the case Leona is working on in New York?" I almost threw a sarcastic thanks at him for sending Leona there in the first place, but he just would have retaliated with one of his fuck you stares, so I didn't bother.
"No, it isn't." He jammed his hands into his coat pockets. "A few days ago, the Division got word that a certain book had fallen into the hands of a fringe group, a cult almost, called the Scientists of the Arcane. You ever heard of them?"
I nodded. "I think so. A bunch of alchemist types, right? Like to run experiments that combine magick with science?"
"Yes. Harmless experiments up until now mostly. We had an eye on them, as we do on all of the fringe groups in this city."
"So what's changed?"
"The Scientists have managed to get their hands on a book called the Dark Codex, which I'm sure you've heard off."
I had. The book was famous in the occult underground because it supposedly allowed whoever read it to untangle the mysteries of the universe, and to tap into powers that no one should be able to tap into, powers that would be a handful even for a god. There was talk of a few such books in existence, but they were mostly a myth, born of people's desire to gain control over the universe itself and to tap into knowledge that would make the bearer of such knowledge a god. It was the highest form of magick, but no more than a lofty ideal for the most part. In all of my time spent searching for books and ancient arcane texts, I had never come across a book like the Dark Codex, which handily contained instructions to wield the ultimate form of magick in one convenient place. "Are you saying a bunch of scientists has managed to get their hands on the Dark Codex? How do you know this? That book is just a myth."