Cursed av-2 Page 26

  I peered out cautiously from a pile of debris that had been a workbench. Cinder was standing in Belthas’s circle, the lecterns melted and broken at his feet. I didn’t dare stick my head out to get a look at Belthas but I knew he was a little way back.

  “You were a fool to come here.” Belthas didn’t sound out of breath. “You and Deleo couldn’t defeat me together. What did you expect to do alone?”

  Cinder didn’t answer. Flame smouldered around his hands. “I can kill you through that circle,” Belthas said calmly. “It’ll just take longer.” I heard the crunch of rubble as he moved around closer to me. “But I think I’d rather finish this quickly.”

  Belthas drew level with the doors to the storeroom and I saw what he was going to do. Rachel was still lying unconscious on the bed, visible through the dust and smoke. Belthas lifted a hand towards her and blue light gathered around him.

  Cinder got between Belthas and Rachel just as Belthas fired. The ice snuffed out Cinder’s shield with a crack and he went spinning to the floor.

  But to break Cinder’s shield Belthas had needed to draw on his full power, and just for an instant, he wasn’t focused on me. I came around the bench at a dead run, my left hand holding the gun, my right reaching into my pocket. Belthas spun, a shield coming up.

  A gun’s no use against a battle-mage who knows it’s there-but it can make a good distraction. The shield was between Belthas and my left side, and as I hit the ice, feeling the deadly cold freeze my body, my right hand came out of my pocket holding the dragon’s fang. As Belthas lifted his hand for the spell that would kill me, I spun off the shield and as my fingertips brushed Belthas I shouted the command word.

  It was nothing like the gate spells that mages use. A normal gate opens up a similarity between two points in space, forming a portal you can step through. It takes time. This didn’t. One minute we were in the shattered remnants of Belthas’s sanctum, dust and smoke filling the air, the next we were in an vast cavern.

  And there was silence.

  Belthas’s shield and the dragon’s fang had disappeared. I stood toe to toe with Belthas, my fingers still resting against his arm. For an instant we stared into each other’s eyes.

  Then Belthas hit me with an ice hammer the size of a door.

  I twisted to soften the impact but there was no way to dodge this one. If the blow had hit me square on it would have broken my ribs. Instead it only smashed the breath from my lungs, lifted me off my feet, and slammed me down on the rock ten feet away.

  Belthas walked forward as I struggled to breathe, stopping with his hand aimed towards me. I looked up to see a deadly blue-white glow hovering on his palm. His voice could have been pleasant, if you didn’t meet his eyes. “Explain. Quickly.”

  I couldn’t speak. I fought for breath, trying to make my lungs work. “Verus,” Belthas said when I didn’t answer. “I have had a long and frustrating day.” He sounded calm but I could hear the tightly controlled anger beneath the surface. “Thanks to you, I am going to have to rebuild my plans from the ground up. Now on top of that, you appear to have transported me from my sanctum. So if you do not explain exactly where we are and how you broke through my gate ward, I am going to kill you.”

  I looked up at Belthas and started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. I knew Belthas wasn’t kidding, that I was literally seconds away from death. But somehow it was so funny I couldn’t stop.

  Belthas just waited and I could feel cold hatred radiating from him. He wasn’t planning to let me live no matter what I told him. I tried to speak, but between laughing and the pain in my ribs, I couldn’t manage it. Only after a few deep breaths was I able to get the words out. “No one … ever believes me.”

  The glow around Belthas’s hand brightened and he sighted on my head. “Last chance.”

  “Doesn’t matter … how many times.” I stopped laughing and met Belthas’s eyes. “Look behind you.”

  I’m pretty good at telling when someone’s lying to me. I guess Belthas was the same. Something in my face must have told him I wasn’t bluffing.

  He turned around.

  The dragon was staring down at Belthas. It made me think of a mountain looking down on an insect.

  I’ll give Belthas credit: He didn’t freeze. I saw the blood drain from his face but his reaction was instant. His hands came up to cast a spell.

  The dragon flicked Belthas with one claw.

  Human bodies are tough. But they’ve got their limits. When a body is struck by something the size of a city block moving at the speed of a freight train, the results are … hard to convey. Broken, torn, or even shattered doesn’t describe it. The best word I can come up with is shred-ded.

  Drops of blood splashed my face. The dragon and I watched as the bits scattered over a square mile of cavern. It took about ten seconds for the pieces to finish hitting the ground. Then the dragon turned its massive head, looking down at me with diamond eyes.

  “Um,” I said once I’d caught my breath. “Any chance I could have another one of those things?”

  chapter 12

  It was two weeks later.

  “How much longer?” I muttered out of the side of my mouth.

  “Shh,” Sonder whispered.

  “Did she stop to do her hair or what?”

  “Shh!”

  We were standing in a high, arched hall, the walls russet and gold. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and rows of stylised lamps were mounted on the walls, filling every inch of the room with light. About twenty people were scattered around, talking quietly. The acoustics of the hall made them hard to hear, but Sonder and I were up on the stage and anything we said would be amplified.

  But I’d been waiting nearly an hour and was getting restless. “Do these things always take this long?” I whispered.

  “Alex, can’t you please be quiet?” Sonder pleaded. He was wearing brown-and-cream ceremonial robes. “You’re not supposed to talk till the ceremony starts.”

  I thought about asking why but decided it wasn’t really fair. At least the outfit Arachne had made for me was as comfortable as ever. She’d gone for a black design with slashes of midnight blue, and while it made me feel like a giant bat, I had to admit it looked good. Off to one side, Talisid was speaking quietly with Ilmarin. Talisid had agreed to preside and find a second, and had arranged the venue too. Before I could open my mouth again, the doors at the far end swung open and two people walked in.

  The girl on the right looked twenty or so, with black shoulder-length hair and odd reddish-brown eyes. We’d met only once, though I’d gotten a good feeling from her; she had a gentle manner I found appealing. Sonder had known her through some of his old classes. Her name was Anne.

  Luna walked a little behind and to the side. Her robe was done to Council standards but Arachne had somehow made it look better than any apprentice robe ought to. It was pure white with green highlights that set off Luna’s pale skin, and the conversation died away as heads turned to watch the girls. Anne led Luna up the steps and the room fell silent as Talisid stepped forward. “Who comes before us?”

  Anne and Luna came to a stop. “One who seeks knowledge,” Anne said in a soft voice.

  “How does she approach?”

  “In darkness, unknowing of the Light; in humility, knowing of her ignorance; and in faith, that she might become what she is not.”

  “Then let her step forward.”

  Luna did so and Anne moved to one side. “Approach and state your name,” Talisid said.

  “Luna Mancuso,” Luna said. I knew she must be nervous but her voice was steady.

  “Luna Mancuso,” Talisid said. “Do you swear before this Council to accept the guidance of a master? Do you swear to serve without doubt, to obey without question, and to endure without surrender? And do you swear to serve your master, and through him the Council and the Light, in all ways and in all things until such day that you may take your place among us as a journeyman mage?”

  “I do so swear,�
� Luna said. Amazingly, she didn’t choke on the obey part.

  “Then I ask of this Council,” Talisid said. “Is there one among us willing to take on this charge?”

  That was my cue. “I am willing,” I said, stepping forward.

  “And what do you extend?”

  “To teach her in lore and magic; to protect her from others and herself; to aid and sustain her whatever may come; and to take responsibility for her deeds for good or ill.”

  “The offer of Mage Verus is accepted,” Talisid said. “I stand witness.”

  “I stand witness,” Ilmarin said.

  “Then it is agreed,” Talisid said. “This Council is adjourned.”

  With the ceremony done, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed. Luna was approached by other mages and before long she was at the centre of a loose crowd of people. “I didn’t expect this many,” I said.

  “It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise,” Talisid said. We were standing a little way to the side, watching from a distance, each of us holding a glass of wine. “You’re acquiring something of a reputation.”

  “Really?”

  “I didn’t say it was a good reputation,” Talisid said dryly. “You’re now suspected of having a hand in the disappearance of two separate Light mages. With good reason, I might add.”

  “I could say they started it.”

  “Somehow I don’t think that would help very much.”

  Luna was talking with Ilmarin, with Sonder hovering nearby. The silver mist of Luna’s curse was more tightly concentrated than before, surrounding Luna in a radius of one arm’s length rather than two. The practice I’d made her put in seemed to have paid off. “They seem more interested in her, anyway.”

  “Verus,” Talisid said. “It’s nothing to do with interest. Belthas had a well-deserved reputation as one of the most dangerous battle-mages in the country. That you had a disagreement with him is not a secret. People are expecting him to finish what he started. When he doesn’t return …”

  I watched the crowd, not answering. “Ah, I’m sorry,” Talisid said. “Let me correct myself. If he doesn’t return … then a great many people are going to become very interested in you.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  “I expect some will be quite impressed,” Talisid said. “Possibly not for the reasons you’d like. But either way, you’re going to be quite famous. And your apprentice as well.”

  I looked at Talisid sharply. He met my gaze, eyes calm. “You should probably spend some time considering the subject. I suspect that in the next-oh, let’s say two months or so-you’ll be approached by quite a few people with propositions for you. If I were you, I’d think carefully about how to respond.”

  “And what about you, Talisid?” I said. “What do you get out of all this?”

  Talisid looked back at me for a second, then smiled slightly. “Perhaps some day I’ll be able to tell you. Good night, Verus.”

  I watched Talisid go.

  It took the best part of an hour before Luna and Sonder could disengage themselves and make their way over to me. As Luna got out of range of the other mages, I saw her slump a little. “Whew,” Luna said as she reached me. “Alex, can you back off? This is hard.”

  “I saw,” I said, keeping a safe distance. As Luna relaxed her control, the silver mist of her curse spread out again to its usual range. “Good job.”

  “You thought I’d get the lines wrong, didn’t you?”

  “I was starting to wonder if you’d even show up.”

  “You’d be slow too if you had to do your clothes and hair without anyone else touching them.”

  “Was everything okay with Anne?” Sonder asked.

  Luna shook her head. “It was fine. She didn’t even ask why.” She gave me a half smile. “Didn’t invite Cinder?”

  I laughed. Cinder had been as good as his word back on that night. Despite his injuries he’d brought Sonder and Luna back to London after I’d gone and even dropped them off at my shop. Then he’d taken Rachel with him, still unconscious, and vanished into the darkness. “Is it going to be okay?” Sonder said seriously. “I mean, none of the others are going to be coming after us, right?”

  I shook my head. “Belthas is gone. His men don’t have any reason to come for us anymore. Same goes for Meredith. She was only in it for herself.”

  “What about Levistus?” Luna said quietly.

  Sonder glanced around, nervous, but no one was within earshot. The gathering was starting to break up, mages strolling towards the doors. “He was the one behind Belthas, right?” Luna said. “I mean, this is twice we’ve messed up his plans. He’s not going to be happy, is he?”

  I nodded. “We can’t do anything about him. Not directly.” I smiled slightly. “But look on the bright side. Every time he’s taken a shot at us, it’s turned out badly for him. Maybe he’ll think twice before trying it again.”

  Sonder looked around to see that the hall was all but empty. “Should we …?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let’s not keep her waiting.”

  We travelled across London and onto the darkness of the Heath. A particularly stupid pair of muggers tried to squeeze some money out of us. That didn’t work out so well for them. After the brief interlude, we made our way to Arachne’s lair.

  Walking back into Arachne’s cavern felt like coming home. The walls were covered with colours again, hangings and tapestries and rugs making a background of red and green and blue, while the furniture was as piled with clothes as it had ever been. The chairs and couches damaged in the attack had been replaced, and the blast marks on the floor had been cleaned away. Only in the side tunnel to the storerooms was there any sign of violence: Although the rubble had been cleared, there was a blackened gash in the roof where Garrick’s mines had brought it down.

  It was the first time I’d been back inside. The dragon had given me another tooth-but one that had worked differently. When I used it on Arachne, she’d been transported, but I hadn’t. There’d been no way for me to know where she’d gone or if she was even alive. I’d had no choice but to leave, and when I next returned, the entrance to her lair had been sealed. I’d managed to talk to Arachne only once since then and I hadn’t seen her. I hoped she was all right.

  The three of us moved a little way inside and then stopped. “Arachne?” Luna called. “Are you there?”

  There was a moment’s silence-and then with a rustle, Arachne appeared from the tunnel, cobalt-blue highlights shining off her black body. “Luna, Alex!” Arachne called. “There you are! And who’s this?”

  “Um, I’m Sonder.” Sonder gave an awkward little bow. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Of course, Alex has told me about everything you’ve done. And Luna, I hear I should be congratulating you?”

  We clustered around Arachne and I reached out to stroke one of her legs. She looked as healthy and well as she’d ever been and I found myself smiling. Somehow, it felt as though everything was right again.

  We stayed late that night. Arachne’s a charming host once you get over her appearance and it didn’t take her any time at all to put Sonder at his ease. It was the first time all of us had been in one place and able to relax and I’d forgotten how nice it felt. Luna was the focus of the evening, wanting to know everything she could about what being an apprentice would be like, and both Sonder and Arachne had a lot to tell her. Arachne’s seen whole generations of apprentices grow up and Sonder himself had only been a journeyman for less than a year. Oddly, I had almost as much to learn as Luna. I’d never seen much of the Light mage’s apprenticeship system-and the apprenticeship system I had seen was one that I was absolutely not going to inflict upon her. Luna wasn’t the only one who was going to need to learn some new tricks.

  It was after midnight when Sonder started yawning, with Luna following a little way behind. After the third set of yawns I spoke up. “All right, kids. Time for bed.”

  “Really?” Sonder said. He sounded disappointed; he’d been
in the middle of quizzing Arachne about some obscure historical period I’d barely heard of.

  “In a bit,” Luna said.

  “No,” I said firmly. “We’re meeting Talisid to pick up your materials tomorrow morning. Off with you.”

  Luna gave me a quick look, then got to her feet. “Thanks, Arachne.”

  “You’re welcome, dear. Congratulations again.”

  “Alex?” Sonder said. “You’re not coming?”

  “I’ve got a few things to finish up. You and Luna go back together, okay?”

  “Okay!”

  “Good-bye,” Luna said to Arachne. “Night, Alex.”

  The two of them walked away down the corridor. I leant back on the couch, listening to their footsteps as they faded away, waiting until I heard the distant rumble of the entrance opening and then closing again.

  “She acts more like it now,” Arachne said.

  I smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

  “It’s good you worked things out.”

  I glanced around the walls. “You did a good job cleaning the place up.” My eyes wandered to the jagged roof of the side tunnel. “How many bodies were there?”

  “Three.” Arachne’s tone of voice suggested it was an ordinary question.

  “You didn’t find a fourth?” I nodded at the tunnel. “Under the rubble down there?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Just wondering.” So no trace of Garrick, and if Arachne hadn’t found his body, I was pretty sure he wasn’t dead. Probably he’d set up an escape route ahead of time. He’d always struck me as the type to plan ahead. “You’re okay?”