by D G Palmer
‘It seems that everything that we believed about the Shade was wrong. We always thought they were mindless creatures. That they did nothing but feed on people’s Essence,’ Eric said in recollection.
‘I don’t get it,’ admitted Finn. ‘What makes you think that isn’t the case? Daniel told me that this world has no magic, no Mage Assembly, no Mage Academy so people here would not have developed huge amounts of Essence.’
‘That’s true.’
‘So why come here? If I’m hungry, the last place I’m going to is somewhere with little food.’
‘Exactly, you wouldn’t. Unless you had to, unless you were told to, unless you were following someone’s command.’
‘But that still doesn’t answer the question, why? What’s so special about this place?’
Daniel had heard enough. He had listened to all the talk; why is the creature here? Who sent it? ‘It doesn’t matter! What about Sharon and David?’ He pushed two paper cuttings forward, one about a five-year-old girl missing from St John’s Wood, the other about another five-year-old, a boy from Great Portland Street. ‘And now this nine-year-old girl from Swiss Cottage. We’re the only ones that know what’s really going on, the only ones that can do anything about it and what are we doing? Sitting around and talking. I’ve been inside a Shade, the bleak nothingness within them. Slowly being drained of your Essence. It’s no place for a child. We’re up against the clock here, they may be dead already, but if we waste any more time, then they will be for sure.’
The silence that followed his embittered speech made Daniels cheeks warm. It wasn’t until that moment that he realised it was easier for him to defend strangers than it was to stand up for himself, by how carried away with emotion he had become, as he got things off his chest about the whole situation.
However, he needn’t have felt embarrassed. The pride in Eric’s face said as much and Finn beamed at Daniel too.
‘That’s us told, Finn,’ Eric said as he squeezed Daniels shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, son, we’ll save those kids and the others. We just need a plan.’
‘Well, I kind of have a plan - of sorts,’ revealed Daniel. ‘It’s actually quite simple to be honest. Do you remember how it came after me in the forest, Finn?’ She nodded and Daniel continued. ‘Basically, we have to offer it something more irresistible than anything around, namely me.’ He glanced at their faces, tried to gage what they thought.
‘That’s the Daniel I know,’ smiled Finn, ‘brave and courageous. I told you Daniel, you’re you wherever you are.’
Eric looked concerned. ‘You’re happy to be the bait?’
‘Not really,’ Daniel admitted, ‘But I know that it can’t really work any other way. Neither of you have the levels of Essence to pull it off.’
Eric nodded. ‘The disappearances seem to be around central London so we should probably head there.’ After seeing that everyone was in agreement, he moved to a display cabinet that Daniel knew had been in the family before he was born. ‘When I made this,’ Eric began, ‘I never thought that I would be the one to open it again. I had left instructions, with a lawyer, about it, if anything were to happen to me, so you could open it, Daniel. Inside is your legacy.’
Daniels eyebrows creased. He was more baffled than ever. He had driven his cars toys into it plenty of times as a kid and at no time had he ever had so much as an inkling to suggest that it was anything more than a cabinet to display his parents favourite crystals.
Next to him Finn was beside herself with excitement. ‘Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! I know what it is! It has to be! There’s nothing else it could be!’
Eric reached over the top of the display cabinet and pressed a hidden depression. There was a ‘click’ sound and the glass shelving front unit eased forward. He pulled it forward some more, exposing the hidden hinges that allowed him to swing the unit aside.
Finn shouted and almost gave Daniel a heart attack. ‘I knew it!’
Inside was the golden armour Eric wore as commander of the Athanatoi, dust and time had not touched it as it gleamed as if it had just been made.
Hanging in front of the armour was two-handed, double-edged sword. The hilt was something to behold. Its golden pommel was intricately etched. Red leather wrapped the grip. Its gold cross guard was finely detailed to resemble the spread wings of a dragon. The ricasso or blade grip was wrapped in the same red leather as the hand grip and the long silver blade itself was fullered and glinted brightly under the light, also seemingly untouched by rust or grime.
‘The Dragon Claymore,’ Finn breathed reverently. Her mouth fell open and she stared at the blade with an unblinking, fixed gaze. The sword was just as big of a legend as Eric was and she imagined it in action, slicing this way and that, dispatching foe after foe.
Taking the sword down from where it hung, Eric gripped the hilt and held it close. ‘Hello, old friend,’ he whispered.
Daniel had to admit, with that amazing sword in his hands, his dad cut an impressive figure. The man, who he had known to be a construction foreman all his life, was gone. This was the first time he had been in the presence of Eric Mondragon, the hero, the legend.
And it was rather daunting.
Chapter Seventeen
Sayyidah looked on intensely with her dark eyes. She was barely conscious when he had cast the Spell of Transferral on her, after her defeat, and had only caught quick glimpses of him performing the conjuration. Some of it she recognised, having performed the ritual herself to steal the magic from another, something she had never confessed to Gydion.
Being familiar with the components of the original spell allowed the Egyptian to spot some of the changes Gydion had applied. She watched his lips move as he soundlessly recited his incantations, and reflected how pointless she thought the spell to be; why steal someone’s magic only to imprison it, when you could have it for yourself?
As Gydion performed the necessary gestures for the ritual, a large diameter circle appeared on the ground around him, then a second smaller one within the first. Finally, runic lettering slowly wrote themselves inside the circles. When they were complete, they flared with bright magical power and a mystic gust blew throughout the cavern, fluttering the robes of the two mages, at which point Gydion thrust the stone towards Sayyidah and the purple energy held within it was sent slithering through the air like a serpent until it penetrated the chest of its rightful owner, who gladly welcomed it. Sayyidah’s three meridians glowed, one by one, as they once more had magical energy flowing between them.
Although Gydion had been true to his word and only returned the Personal, Planetary and Realmic essence pertaining to water and earth spells, Sayyidah was ecstatic to be partially whole once more. It was like welcoming back an old lover, for in truth that’s what it was; she loved nothing more than her magic and she was desperate to feel it now.
The Egyptian began to cast a spell and she couldn’t help but smile broadly as she noticed Gydion adopt a defensive stance.
He had several spells prepared and ready in his mind just in case Sayyidah did try a foolish attack but he was relieved when she was suddenly propelled into the air by a watery vortex.
She just needed to let off some steam, Gydion thought. Understandable really, considering she has been without for so long. I would no doubt feel the same as her.
He observed her go from spell to spell and was a little surprised to see her do it so effortlessly. To be a master of the mystic arts involved continuous study, even an Archmage must reinforce his knowledge regularly. Sayyidah had been without such texts for decades, so seeing her go through the chants, gestures and movements with such perfection came as quite a shock to the on looking mage.
One minute she was making it rain, then hail then a freezing blizzard. Finally satisfied that her water spells were still up to par she decided to try her hand at a few earth spells; Boulder, Rock Shower, Golem all performed perfectly.
‘That was impressive,’ Gydion smiled as Sayyidah sauntered proudly ov
er to where he stood.
Perhaps too impressive, Sayyidah thought, hoping she had not shown her hand to early.
‘To think that you still perfectly recall all those spells...’
‘Almost as if they never left me,’ she said happily, then seeing Gydion about to press her further on the subject she cut him off. ‘Now, shall we open the secrets of the book?’
He took a moment to think things through again. He was almost certain that things were not as they seemed but he had to play along and hoped that the throbbing in his head didn’t impede him too much if indeed he had to implement his precautionary plans.
‘Very well,’ Gydion finally replied as he held out the Book of Secrets before him in both hands. His estranged wife took hold of the other end of the book and whilst looking into his eyes told him to begin.
They recited their spells, Gydion calling on the powers of fire and air, Sayyidah that of water and earth, all the while concentrating on diverting each element down either side of their body.
It wasn’t long before the book responded to their elemental touches and began to draw the energy into itself before redirecting it in four coloured beams, red, white, blue and brown, towards the obsidian rock.
The elemental streams of magic swirled around one another, coalesced and separated until they struck the mass. Gydion was expecting it to explode at the impact, but instead it began to melt and become a black oozing puddle.
As the rock receded, it became apparent to the curious Archmage that something was inside. He soon concluded that it wasn’t something but someone when two arms were revealed, then legs, torso and finally a head.
Although the ooze was still prevalent on the being Gydion could see that it was a male almost seven feet in height and stood with his hands clenched in front of his thighs in a strong defiant pose.
Then he opened his eyes, as black as a moonless night. ‘Finally, Baelthorn is free!’
Gydion looked on in awe and trepidation as he realised that once more, Sayyidah was outplaying him. ‘Goddess preserve us,’ he whispered.
Gydion glared at Sayyidah with disdain. He had allowed his affection for her to cloud his judgement and she had used that knowledge to her advantage. She had tempted him with her story about the Book of Secrets being the key to unimaginable power. She had manipulated him into battling the Keeper, so that she might retrieve the tome by murdering the innocent man. Perhaps the book did have such mysteries, but what she failed to tell him was that it was also the key to releasing the fallen god, Baelthorn.
‘Free! Free at last!’ roared Baelthorn. ‘You do not know how it feels to have the full use of my faculties once more and to be able to return to my true form after all these millennia.
Gydion could sense the power radiating from the huge dark-haired man that stood before him. Suddenly, the man transformed and, in his place, stood a magnificent black dragon. Its immense size filled most of the cavern; spikes ran down from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, which was the same length as that of its body and gently thumped the ground, its overlapping armoured scales were so dark that light seemed to be absorbed by them and when Baelthorn spread his vast leathery wings and flapped them several times, the gusts it created buffeted Gydion who had to cast a spell to strengthen his body against the winds so as not to appear weak before the dragon god. He wished, however, he could find a similar spell to calm his pounding heart.
Chapter Eighteen
It was early evening; rush hour and Oxford Circus was as busy as always. The area had a long and somewhat checkered history; from being part of a Roman road, to being the former capital punishment site of prisoners from the notorious Newgate Prison, now demolished. From attracting street traders, confidence tricksters and ladies of the night to being the home of the UK’s first department stores, Oxford Street and Oxford Circus had established itself as the busiest shopping street in Europe.
Now it was to be the site of a confrontation the likes of which no London street had witnessed before.
Daniel, Finn and Eric arrived on the famous street and moved within the Niketown foyer, off the street, where it was quieter, so that they might go over their plan one last time. Although it was a simple strategy, go to a populated area and attract the Essence vampire, it wasn’t without its elements of risk and it also revealed another dilemma.
‘We’ve been so focused on destroying this Shade that we’ve all forgotten a very important detail,’ said Eric.
Finn glanced at the hero as she excitedly checked her guns, eager to get them firing again. ‘What’s that?’
‘We can’t fight the Shade here. We can’t use our abilities in public view or expose them to magic,’ Eric said as he clutched the wrapped-up dragon claymore. ‘We need to lure it to somewhere less crowded.’
‘This plan is getting crappier by the minute.’
‘It was your plan, son.’
‘Don’t remind me,’ he sighed. ‘I think I know a place, though. The Brewer Street underground carpark. Once we sight the Shade, I’ll make my way there.’
‘You think you can outrun it?’ Finn was concerned about this new twist in the plan.
Daniel shrugged. ‘No idea. But I’m good at running so I’ll treat it like my other bully. More importantly, you two need to keep up. You can’t be too far behind because as soon as I get to the carpark, I need it to swallow me and not just drain me then and there. Don’t forget that this needs to be a two-pronged attack.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll be there,’ his father reassured.
‘Of course, we will! Eric and Finn, the new legendary duo, have got your back!’ She kissed Daniel on the cheek and whispered, ‘For luck, not that you’ll need it.’
The trio stepped back out into Oxford Circus and waited.
OFF OXFORD STREET WEST, not far from the Double Tree hotel, was Bryanston Street. Inside the multi-storey carpark, on that street, was a white ford transit van. None of the staff knew how long it had been parked, it just kind of appeared there one day. Nor did they know who owned it, but its fees seemed to be covered indefinitely. They assumed that someone must have been attending to it, however, because it never appeared to have a speck of dust on it. So, the staff no longer payed it any mind.
Even if they were to watch the van on their CCTV nothing out of the ordinary would appear on their monitors. At that moment it was bouncing and rocking with ever more vigour, yet through the security cams all seemed passive, neither did they pick up the light that was shining through the gaps of the van.
Just as suddenly as all the activity with the van begun it stopped.
The door at the back opened and a female with a feline appearance pounced out. Sleek red fur with black and white stripes covered her whole body. She had pointed ears and large green eyes with slit pupils and her teeth were sharp with pronounced canines. Her ears twitched and her tail gently swayed as she sniffed the air, her superior senses to took stock of her surroundings.
‘It’s all clear,’ she said over her shoulder in a language not of this world. She was satisfied that no one was nearby.
The next being to emerge from the van was some 8 feet tall with equine hind legs, the heel bones of which extended beyond the hock joint and were exposed. ‘Another dreary realm? What joy,’ he said.
‘Do not worry, Borion,’ a boy child with sallow skin and sunken cheeks said as he jumped down from the vehicle. ‘It will be a quick operation as always, will it not, Ferin?’
‘That is up to you, little one,’ Ferin replied. The final person to exit the vehicle stood tall and had the air of command about him. His white hair was pulled back and tied into a single long braid. He stroked his long white goatee as he surveyed the area, his eyes blinked with four lids. ‘Can you feel our target, Jostin?’
The boy closed his eyes a moment to concentrate. ‘Yes, I can. Not far from here, maybe less than a Cuton.’
‘Music to my ears,’ Borion smiled.
‘Mine too,’ Katrin said as her tail caressed
his cheek.
Ferin looked at his comrades. Looked at his band of refugees, his family. They had been through a lot together and they would go through a lot more. Starting with the elimination of their target. ‘Let us begin.’
The four travellers stood in a circle. Ferin put his right fist into the middle followed by Borion, Katrin and Jostin. He then bit into the index finger of his left hand until a drop of his indigo blood appeared at which point, he touched the back of each fist with it before putting the finger to his forehead.
For the next part of the ritual they had performed so many times before, the group’s leader closed his eyes and spoke some words of magic. A third eye opened on his forehead where he had placed his bloodied fingerprint. Ferin continued to chant as he reopened his eyes. All three took on an ice-blue colour. The same colour suddenly pulsed through his veins, from his forehead down his right arm and into his fist. From there it spread up the arm of the three that touched his and into their foreheads, opening a third eye on each.
The ceremony was complete. They now each had a portion of Ferin’s magic.
‘Let’s make a move,’ Ferin commanded. One by one they began to imbue an artefact, which they each wore on their left wrist, with arcane energies. Once completed they all began to vanish, to camouflage and meld into the environment.
ONE THING THAT WAS reliable about the weather in London, was that the weather in London was unreliable. The rain poured down relentlessly. Daniel was soaked through and he cursed his lot as he looked over at his dad and Finn, still standing in the Niketown entrance. They had been joined by several other people, all desperate to shelter from the rain.
Finn mouthed “I’m sorry” at her bedraggled friend.
‘If I could, I’d get him an umbrella,’ said Eric with regret.
‘I know,’ Finn replied, ‘but since we don’t know where the Shade will pop up it would be too dangerous because an umbrella would block his view. I’m sure Daniel knows that too. I still feel sorry for him though. I wish this creature would hurry up.’