God of Magic 6

by Logan Jacobs

  “Wow,” I remarked, and Merlin chirped his agreement.

  I felt a pinch on my arm and I kicked myself into gear. I walked across the quad on a path that avoided any big crowds or people who moved too quickly without watching. It took some fancy footwork, but we made it to the Tower doors without revealing Imogen’s presence. Two young ladies were coming out as we arrived, and I swept the door open for them with a bow. They giggled and batted their eyelashes at me, and I grinned back. I held the door long enough to let Imogen slip inside, and then I stepped into the lobby for potentially the last time ever.

  I was happy to see that Lain was on duty again as I stopped at the desk. I didn’t see any obvious injuries after his encounter with the Warren girls, though he looked like he could use a good nap.

  “You’re alive,” I declared.

  “Ugh,” he complained. “Don’t remind me. Maderel’s been giving me a hard time since he had to release me from that stupid bubble, and Fogarty heaped a whole lot of extra homework on me.”

  “But you didn’t cause the problem,” I protested.

  “That’s what I said,” Lain agreed. “But they both told me I was too nice. Maderel even said that I had to learn how to say no.”

  “That’s no good,” I commiserated.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Lain sighed. “Their detention ends tomorrow. What if they’re still arguing?”

  “Maybe if you found a nice ladona woman to watch your back,” I offered. I felt another pinch on my arm, but I stayed where I was.

  “Huh,” Lain said. I could tell he was running through the class rosters in his brain, no doubt looking for a ladona he could charm into being his shield.

  “Well, I’ll let you think about it,” I said as I moved towards the stairs.

  “Sure, thanks,” Lain replied. “Oh, but Maderel’s not in.”

  “I know,” I explained. “He’s at the city council meeting, and I’m supposed to be there, too. I just need to pick up a book in the library.”

  “Oh, okay,” Lain replied. He waved me up the stairs as another visitor stepped up to the desk.

  Classes were all in full swing, so we only passed three people on the stairs, and one in the hallway. I caught a glimpse of Madame Valora in her office, but she was deeply engrossed in the book she was reading. I doubt she would have noticed an elephant in the hallway, much less a student.

  Maderel’s door was locked, and after a quick check for alarms and booby traps, I popped the lock with my mana. I stepped into the room, and waited for what felt like an appropriate amount of time before I closed the door and relocked it. Imogen appeared as she slipped the invisibility cloak from her shoulders and handed it to me.

  “I can’t believe you told that boy to find a ladona to protect him,” she whispered, though I could hear the humor in her voice.

  “Why?” I replied. “The ladona I know has always done an excellent job of protecting my back.”

  “Maybe he should find an orc then,” Imogen pointed out.

  “Not so many of those enrolled at the Academy,” I laughed quietly. “Ladonas are just as capable.”

  “But it’s not like he could start a family with one,” Imogen scoffed. “He isn’t you with your magical sperm.”

  “Magical sperm?” I almost laughed.

  “How else do you explain what’s growing in Lavinia?” The thief shrugged. “It’s actually rather amazing.”

  “Does that mean you are interested?” I chucked.

  “Well, I guess we could use that couch, or the desk. We’ll have to be quick though.” She smirked as she pointed around the office.

  “I always take a long time,” I was laughing quietly now, but I also wondered how serious she was.

  “Then we’ll have to do it later,” she snickered, and then she winked at me.

  “All work and no play,” I said as I opened up my mana. I carefully looked around the room, but I didn’t see any new spells.

  “The stairs to the basement are behind the desk,” I said as I pointed towards the wall. Imogen crossed the room and studied the hidden door. I watched as she ran her fingers across the surface in a gentle back and forth motion. Her mana glowed strongly in a line from her chest to her arm, and when her fingers trailed across the edge of the door, I saw her mana bloom for a moment.

  “You found it,” I said as she stood back. She nodded as she continued to trace the outline of the door. Merlin hopped from my shoulders and ambled over to Imogen’s side to watch.

  “Can you see it?” she asked the puca.

  Merlin cocked his head to one side, then sniffed around the floor. I wasn’t sure if he was looking for the door or a piece of food.

  “It’s well done,” Imogen said as she turned towards me. “One of the best I’ve ever seen. Are you sure you can open it if we need to use it?”

  “I can,” I replied. “I just hope you’re right about where it will lead us.”

  “Let’s get the Shodra,” she urged.

  I turned my attention to the painting, and with great patience, began peeling back the layers of protection that Maderel had cast. Bit by bit, the code fell away, and when I was done, all I could see was an ordinary painting of a horse. I nodded to Imogen, who slowly lifted the painting from the wall.

  With the painting removed, the wall behind it began to glow. Nothing big and dramatic, just a faint bit of light that reminded me of some of the rocks we used to play with in science class. In daylight, they looked like any other rock, but under a black light, they would glow purple and red.

  “Is it safe to touch?” Imogen asked.

  “There aren’t any more spells,” I replied as I examined it.

  Imogen stepped forward and studied the wall without touching it. She nodded a few times, and then pulled a small pouch from her belt. After another intense examination, she pulled two small tools from the pouch and set to work. Merlin and I retreated to Maderel’s desk, where I kept the puca occupied with the small rubber ball.

  Fifteen minutes later, I heard a faint click and a panel slowly opened. Imogen nodded to me, and I looked inside the small room that had been revealed. There was barely enough room for a man to fit inside. Most of the space was taken up with a large apothecary cabinet, and I could see another round of protection spells on each drawer and hidey-hole, though these weren’t nearly as complex as the one we’d just gone through.

  “Damn,” Imogen muttered. “It’s protected, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” I sighed. “But these spells shouldn’t take as long.”

  Imogen returned to Maderel’s desk while I set to work on the cabinet. The work went much more quickly this time, and I could feel the Shodra. It was almost like they were calling out to me. When I had removed the final rune, I signaled to Imogen.

  “The Shodra are in this drawer and this shelf,” I told her as I pointed to two spots on the cabinet.

  She nodded and set to work on the locks. They were intricate devices that would have taken me a while to open, even with my mana. But I heard the lock pop on the drawer only a few minutes later, and Imogen pulled it open. She handed me the stone and the knife, which I quickly tucked into my pack, while she turned her attention to the locked shelf.

  While Imogen worked, I used my mana to reach out to some of the other drawers. I was curious as to what other items Maderel had tucked away in his secret cabinet. I could feel power here and the type of magical devices that would leave most mages frothing at the mouth. But next to the Shodra, they felt like useless trinkets.

  The second lock soon gave way, and Imogen handed me the chalice and the candle. She then reset the locks on the cabinet and replaced the panel. I returned the picture to its spot on the wall, and then quickly added a few protection spells. It wouldn’t fool Maderel if he really looked at it, but I hoped it would it least survive a quick glance. Every second that passed would let us get further away from the city and to safety.

  “What do you think?” I asked. “Front stairs
or secret stairs?”

  “The boy at the desk will be expecting you to return that way,” she pointed out.

  “True,” I agreed.

  I pulled the invisibility cloak from my pack and handed it to Imogen. She had just pulled the hood up when someone rattled the doorknob to Maderel’s office.

  “Get under here,” Imogen hissed. She pulled me against her body and somehow stretched the cloak over both of us. Merlin changed into a mouse and scuttled under Maderel’s desk.

  The doorknob rattled again and this time the door opened. A halfling with a massive keyring stood just on the other side. Maderel’s corporate secretary stood behind him.

  “Told you, there’s no one in here,” the halfling declared.

  “Someone triggered one of the spells,” the secretary replied.

  “Probably just a mouse or such,” the halfling insisted. “They’re all over the old part of the Tower.”

  “It wouldn’t react to a mouse,” the secretary explained. She pushed the halfling aside and stepped into the room. She glared around the room, and for a moment, I thought she could see us despite the cloak.

  “There’s no one here,” the halfling repeated.

  The secretary turned her glower on the halfling. He shrugged and jangled his key ring. The secretary opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say was drowned out by a commotion in the hall. I saw several professors run by, followed moments later by a group of panicky students.

  “What is going on?” the secretary demanded as she grabbed one of the students by the arm.

  “Something happened at city hall,” the student replied. “Someone said the dark mages were back.”

  “Ridiculous,” the secretary proclaimed. Another group of students ran by in the opposite direction, trailed by a wheezing dwarf.

  “I better go check on how much bleach we have left,” the halfling sighed. He jangled the keys again and started to close the door.

  “Ridiculous,” the secretary repeated as she scooted into the hallway. “I need to inform the High Mage --”

  The rest of the secretary’s statement was cut off as the halfling firmly closed the door. I could still hear people in the hallway, though most seemed to be less panicked now. Loud voices called back and forth, and I realized that people were probably standing around in groups just outside the door.

  “Back door it is,” I whispered to Imogen.

  I felt her nod against me and then we stepped apart. She pulled the hood down on the cloak and glanced around the room. It was disconcerting to see her head floating in midair without a body attached.

  “Obviously we missed something,” she said.

  “Doesn’t matter now,” I replied. “We need to get out of the Tower before the secretary can send for Maderel.”

  I moved over to the hidden stairwell and quickly removed the seals. I tried not to set off any more alarms, but we were pressed for time now. With the magic dispersed, Imogen quickly opened the panel.

  There was indeed a staircase hidden here. It looked ancient. The gray stone steps had noticeable dips where centuries of feet had worn down the granite. There were no handrails, and no way to stop yourself from plummeting to the bottom if you took a misstep. It was hard to tell how far down the stairs went because the curve was so tight.

  Imogen pulled one of Lena’s glow sticks out from somewhere and held it up. It helped, but just barely. Merlin, back in cat form, sniffed the air, then started down the steps.

  “Go ahead,” I told the ladona. “I need to put the door back.”

  She nodded and started after the puca. I set the panel back in place behind me, and threw up as many of the seals and spells that I could remember. Then I followed the glow from Imogen’s stick as she moved down the stairs.

  It felt like an eternity before my feet finally landed on something other than a step. I realized I was at the bottom and breathed a sigh of relief. Wherever we were, it was just as dark and dank as the stairwell, but at least it was flat. I could see the glow stick moving slowly forward.

  “Imogen,” I called softly.

  “Hang on,” she called back. “I’m just checking where we are. Stay there.”

  I heard the ladona walk into something, and a couple of juicy curse words. Merlin chirped in reply, drawing another crude comment from the thief.

  I could hear her moving stuff around now, and then she stopped and held the glow stick up higher. It looked like she was standing near a wall, but I couldn’t see much else.

  “There’s a door here,” she called out. “But it looks like it’s been sealed for a while.”

  “Stay there, and I’ll come to you,” I replied as I started forward. I had one hand in my pack, trying to find another glow stick, and the other one held straight out in front of me in the hope that I would feel any obstacles before I tripped over them.

  “The path should be clear,” the ladona said, as if she’d read my mind. “But there’s some old office furniture on the right hand side that you’ll have to navigate around.”

  “Found it,” I noted as my shin hit something that felt like a desk. I leaned over, and carefully felt my way around the rest of the pile.

  “It doesn’t look like it’s been moved in ages,” Imogen commented when I finally joined her.

  “There are some spells, but they’re really old,” I replied as I studied the exit she’d found. “I can remove them easily enough, but will this thing still move?”

  “You might have to make it move,” she said.

  “Here we go,” I warned her as I started unwinding the spells. When I was done, I tried pushing on the door, but nothing happened. Imogen studied the edges, and then pulled on one of the stones. There was a creaking noise, followed by the sound of a stone slowly grinding into motion. The door started to open, then stopped.

  There was enough room for Merlin to slip through, but neither Imogen nor I could fit. She looked at me, and then stepped back. I summoned my mana shield, and wedged it between the door and the edge of the wall. I willed the shield to expand, and the door slowly creaked open. When it was wide enough for us to pass through, I dropped the shield. Imogen jumped through as if afraid the door would slam shut on her. I followed behind her, and drew the door closed behind me.

  “I would have told you if it was unsafe,” I assured her.

  “Sorry,” she replied. “But I’ve learned not to trust magic too much.”

  She was in the lead again as we made our way through what looked to be the remnants of an old file storage room. Boxes of paper were scattered around, some in neat stacks, others left at random places on the floor. A thick layer of dust covered everything, and I pulled the edge of my cloak over my nose and mouth just so I wouldn’t start coughing.

  We reached a normal door, and Imogen cracked it open. I could just see what looked like mage light on the other side. At a signal from Imogen, Merlin shifted into mouse form and darted outside. He was back a few minutes later, this time in his cat shape. He gave a meow, and Imogen opened the door.

  We were still in the basement, but this part was in use. I could see an assortment of cleaning tools scattered around the room, and a large chalkboard with the day’s schedule. Imogen glided towards the stairs I could just see at the far end of the room, with Merlin at her side.

  We sent Merlin up the stairs first, then darted up as quickly as we dared. At the top of the stairs stood another door, and Imogen cracked it open again. Merlin, once again disguised as a mouse, darted out. He was back in a flash, still in mouse form and squeaking in distress.

  “Who’s out there?” I asked the puca.

  I saw the door suddenly start to glow with mana, and I pulled Imogen to the side just before it exploded.

  “Shit,” Imogen cursed. I yanked the hood of the invisibility cloak over her head, and signaled for her to stay.

  “Come out,” an angry voice demanded. It was Maderel’s secretary.

  I stuck my head around the door just long enough to spot the woman
and the two mages that stood on either side of her. I had never seen either of them before, and they weren’t in Academy robes. I didn’t have the chance to observe anything else because the secretary was summoning her mana.

  Her blue mana.

  “Damn it,” I swore. “You’re a manipulator.”

  “Return the Shodra,” she demanded. She raised her hand, and I automatically closed my fist around her flow. Or I thought I had. Her mana still flowed, and she gave me a nasty smile.

  “Oh, we learned how to defeat that trick early in our training,” she remarked. I noticed one of the other manipulators had somehow redirected my response. I was now stopping the flow of water in a nearby pipe.

  The secretary finally released her mana, and I sprang to the side again. The impact of her magic as it crashed into the wall behind me rumbled like a small earthquake. Dust fell from the ceiling and bottles of cleaning fluid fell to the floor.

  Merlin suddenly shifted into hound form, and ran straight at the mages, baying like a rabid dog. The mages looked startled for a moment, and Merlin leapt towards the secretary. She fell backwards, one arm raised protectively in front of her face. Merlin would have had her if one of the other mages hadn’t stepped in front of her.

  Merlin and the other mage tumbled to the ground. I could hear Merlin’s deep-throated growls, but the mage was fighting back. Cracks of light filled the air, and Merlin yelped as one nasty strike hit him across his haunches. I threw a shield over Merlin, only to see it dissipate as the secretary threw up a counter strike.

  “Get the Shodra,” the secretary commanded as she threw another bolt of mana in my direction. I ducked down low and followed in the puca’s footsteps. I charged forward as her lightning strike singed the top of my hair, my mana blade at the ready.

  She threw up her own mana shield, and I hit it with a sickening thud. I staggered back, then struck at the shield with my knife. I could see a large gash where I drove the blade through, but it held. The secretary growled at me, then signaled to the second mage.

  He started to form a ball with his mana, and I could only imagine what kind of damage it would do. I was stuck between the two manipulators, and I wasn’t sure my own mana shield would be enough to fend off the both of them.