Death Incarnate: Aegis of Merlin Book 7 (The Aegis of Merlin) Page 7

  It felt like a chunk of ice in her hand and weighed more than a simple, unadorned band should. The ring wasn’t shiny like onyx, instead it seemed to absorb the light, devouring it like a leech would blood.

  Jemma hated the thing, but it gave her dark magic a boost and today she suspected she’d need every speck of power at her disposal. Her left hand went numb when she slid it on. In a day the rest of her arm would follow. A day after that it would stop her heart. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.

  “Reveal the way through infinite darkness. Open the path. Hell Portal!” When the black disk appeared she stepped through.

  The borderlands were as empty and miserable as ever. Black, black, and more black. The ring’s chill grew more intense. Damn thing always liked it here.

  “Jericho!”

  A minute later a foot-tall pudgy humanoid with bat wings and pincers instead of hands came flapping up. Her demonic agent hadn’t gotten any prettier over the years.

  “Figured you’d be coming,” the imp said. “The borderlands have been practically crawling with wizards today.”

  “Anyone you know?”

  “A couple. Twins with a nasty talent with magical poisons and one straight-up necromancer. I steered well clear of them.”

  “Good thinking and thanks for the warning. I need to reach the palace.”

  “The wards—”

  “I know. As close as you can.”

  “Okay.” Jericho zipped away and Jemma willed herself after him. The imp stopped almost no time later. “This is as close as I can go. Good luck, Master.”

  “I’ll need it. Stay safe, Jericho.”

  Her agent vanished and Jemma raised her hands. “Open the—”

  Nausea and pain washed over her. Her mind blanked for an instant at the shock.

  She forced it to clear then spun. A figure in black separated herself from the darkness. Mad eyes bore into Jemma.

  She didn’t recognize her attacker, but the woman must have been skilled to so completely hide her presence.

  Jemma thrust her numb hand out. “Rot and ruin, Entropic Blast!”

  Intense cold burned her finger as the ring enhanced her spell. A seething black and green sphere shot out toward her opponent.

  Before the attack reached her the enemy wizard cast, “Darkness Shield!”

  A wall of pure black appeared and negated the sphere, using up its own energy in the process.

  The wizard cackled. “I knew the Ministry would send a powerful wizard to protect the king. It was only a matter of time. To think I’d run into the Ministry head herself. Morgana will reward me well for your head.”

  “Who are you?” Jemma asked. She needed to hurry, but this woman was strong and the more information she had the better her chances of winning the battle.

  “Lady Raven, at your service. Though you can simply think of me as your… Executioner! Dark Blade of Destruction!”

  Lady Raven lunged toward her.

  Jemma had just time enough to copy her and conjure a spell sword of her own to block.

  The Infernal weapons locked and Jemma pushed hard, fighting for advantage.

  Lady Raven bared her teeth in a maniacal smile, her face only inches from Jemma’s.

  Drawing on all her strength, Jemma thrust Lady Raven back. Her hand-to-hand combat training was a long time ago, but her body remembered what to do.

  A good thing too. She blocked a savage slice to her head then a thrust to her midsection.

  The blows came fast and furious, leaving her no chance to riposte.

  Her sword arm felt like someone had tied a boat anchor to it. She really needed to start attending the Ministry calisthenics class.

  Assuming she survived.

  Lady Raven panted and the flurry of blows slowed.

  The black blade missed her face by inches and Lady Raven took a fraction of a second longer to recover.

  Jemma didn’t hesitate. She thrust her free hand out and cast, “Gust!”

  A powerful burst of wind slammed into Lady Raven and sent her flying.

  That wouldn’t buy Jemma much time, but fortunately she didn’t need much. She cast her portal spell and emerged five blocks from the palace in a smoke-filled street.

  “Damn it!” She’d hoped to get closer, but she lost track of her location during the fight.

  No matter. Five blocks wouldn’t take long to cover. At least the streets were empty. People must have already fled to the shelters. On one hand that made it easier for the defenders to fight without worrying about collateral damage. On the other if the enemy wanted to kill innocent people, they’d all be in one place.

  Jemma shook her head and ran. There was too much going on that she didn’t understand. Right now she needed to reach the palace and make sure His Majesty was safe and well. She’d figure the rest out afterwards.

  Kai appeared in the tunnel for the tenth time since the Chosen…No, since Conryu disappeared through the portal. The area remained as cold, dark, and empty as she remembered. She didn’t know how the magic prevented her from following, or why she couldn’t find him from her place in the borderlands.

  She’d even worked up courage enough to approach Cerberus and ask if he knew where to find Conryu. The giant beast had simply whined in the most pitiful way. She took that to mean he didn’t know where to find his master either. After that sad encounter she’d simply determined to wait in the area of the tunnel where he disappeared in the hope that he’d reappear when he was ready.

  At least the little silver ring he’d given her offered no indication that anything was wrong. She clung to that fact like a stranded climber to a safety rope. He had to be okay. A wizard as powerful as Conryu should be able to handle anything he encountered. At least that’s what she told herself.

  The ground rattled, sending dust raining down on her. It couldn’t be the train, this section of tunnel was out of use. She chewed her lip and debated remaining at her post or going to investigate. A few minutes wouldn’t make much difference.

  In the blink of an eye she moved from the tunnel to a dark alley directly above. People ran screaming through the streets. Some of them bore wounds, though none serious.

  Further down the street a woman in a green jumpsuit strutted down the center line. She gestured and a parked car went flying into the side of a building. Another motion and chunks of the street ripped free and went spinning into the fleeing crowd.

  Several people fell to the ground, moaning and writhing in pain. The rest of the crowd ignored them and ran on.

  Whatever was going on was none of Kai’s business. Her duty was to return to her post and wait for the Chosen’s return. That’s what her teacher would say. Conryu would say that if she could help, then she should.

  The wizard in green drew ever closer to the injured people.

  When he returned Kai would have to tell Conryu what was happening in the city. He would ask if she helped and Kai would have to answer him honestly, honor demanded no less. If she did nothing he would look at her with disappointment and shake his head.

  The wizard was only a few steps away now, a nasty smile twisting her lips.

  Conryu would say nothing to chastise her, but that look would land like a physical blow. In fact, she would prefer that he strike her than hold her in contempt. The mere thought of his poor regard twisted her stomach.

  She stepped into the borderland, emerged an instant later behind the wizard, and sliced her head off. The body collapsed at her feet.

  Kai bent down. The injured pair were a man and woman. “If you can rise you must do so. Get somewhere safe. I will follow and protect you.”

  The man gritted his teeth and struggled to stand. The woman stared at Kai with more fear than thanks. She didn’t mind. People had looked at her with fear for most of her life. He changed that. Conryu looked on her as a trusted friend.

  She would make him proud. When the Chosen returned Kai would look in his eyes and say she helped.

  Jemma ran down the marble
-tiled halls of the palace toward the entrance to the safe room. She’d lucked out that the first guard she reached outside had recognized her and let her in without a huge argument. She didn’t have time for that kind of foolishness, not today.

  Finally she reached the broom closet. Inside, cleaning supplies had been thrown to one side to expose the back wall. She grimaced. Someone should have remained behind to clean up after the king and his guards passed through. This mess made it far too obvious that there was something special about this room.

  It probably didn’t matter anyway. She tapped a section of the back wall which slid up revealing a number pad. Her ten-digit access code flashed and the hidden door snapped up out of her way. A short hall led to an elevator not on any of the palace blueprints. She entered and rode down to the subbasement that housed the safe room.

  No chime announced her arrival. The doors opened revealing a room filled with computers. One wall was covered with monitors all of which displayed scenes of chaos. The city burned. It looked even worse than last summer. Jemma wouldn’t have believed such a thing was possible if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

  “Are we cursed?” a soft sad voice asked.

  Jemma took a knee as King Patric rose from behind his screen of bodyguards.

  “Has my kingdom not suffered enough? Three attacks in less than two years. Why, Jemma?”

  “Your Majesty, I have few answers to offer you. Outside the Four Nations we are not well loved. This attack has nothing to do with that.” She summarized her conversation with Malice. “It seems the prisoners want revenge. Since we sent a third of them to the Lonely Rock it’s no surprise they moved to attack us first.”

  “So this is what comes of our refusal to execute them.” The king’s bushy eyebrows drew together as he scowled. “Perhaps the zealots aren’t as far wrong as we first believed when they burn their wizards at the stake. No offense.”

  Since she was speaking to the king, Jemma choked back a retort about what the wizards might do if they were threatened with fire and death.

  “None taken, Majesty. If I might trouble you for the use of a communications terminal, my second is overseeing the battle and I need to check in.”

  The king waved her off and slumped back in his chair. He looked every bit of his sixty years just then. It was a relief that the princes were both safe and out of the country.

  She crossed the room to a comms station and sat. Marsha should have her earpiece in place so she typed in her frequency and slipped the headphones on.

  “Marsha, come in.”

  A long moment of silence then, “I hear you, Director. Is everything secure at the palace?”

  Jemma let out a breath. “Yeah, all good here. Give me a status report.”

  “We’re getting our asses kicked. I’ve lost ten so far, seven permanently. Did they only lock up powerful wizards on the Rock?”

  In fact that’s exactly what the nations did. Only powerful wizards deemed beyond rehabilitation ended up there. The system had worked well for centuries. Who would have imagined things would turn out like this?

  “We’re spread too thin,” Marsha said. “We’d have a better chance if we backed each other up. If I do that, then we’ll need to write off whole sections of the city.”

  Marsha summed it up perfectly. Two shitty options, no question. Jemma needed to make the call and make it now.

  There was no help for it. “Focusing on protecting the civilians. Keep our people in groups of at least three. That should provide adequate strength.”

  “Understood. Do we have a plan for a counterattack?”

  “Not yet. I’m going to try and secure some reinforcements. Hold the line as best you can without taking crazy risks. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

  Jemma disconnected and punched in a number. Ten seconds later Malice’s harsh voice asked, “How are you faring?”

  “Badly. We need support.”

  “We already lost a naval battle group. For now we’re focused on preparing our own defenses. I have nothing to offer you.” Malice disconnected.

  Jemma yanked her headset off and threw it at the terminal. The Republic of Australia refused to send anyone for fear of weakening their own defenses, and the Empire of the Rising Sun was still debating. So much for the Four Nations mutual defense agreement. Looked like they were on their own.

  Morgana yawned and willed her dragon to blast another building. If you spent enough time on it, anything became boring, even destroying a city. She and her followers had been blasting London to bits for most of the day. Lots of people were dead, especially Ministry wizards, which made her happy. She had many more cities to level in the Kingdom before she made her way across the ocean to the Alliance. The time had come to finish up and move on.

  A nudge of her knee sent the dragon soaring toward the palace. Morgana sent a mental command to her followers to pull back then raised her scepter. She focused her will and power gathered in the tip.

  Below, the palace showed some damage. A smashed tower here, the outer wall crumbled in two places. Still, it had held up well, so far anyway. She’d fix that.

  When the air around her scepter crackled with energy she leveled it at the center of the palace. “Apocalypse!”

  The explosion leveled the palace and everything within ten blocks. The mushroom cloud billowed up, carrying debris and bodies far above the city.

  It was a good final strike. A proper exclamation point.

  The wizards gathered around her, eager for their next target. Morgana did a quick count. A few were missing, but not many. She’d thought the Ministry might do better.

  “Mistress?” One of the Society members flew up. Morgana didn’t recall the woman’s name.

  “What?”

  “With your permission I’d like to remain behind and secure the city. I’m sure plenty of threats survived the battle.”

  “Good idea. If anyone else wishes to join you I can spare five.”

  She bowed and drifted away as four others separated themselves from the group. It was good to see her subordinates showing initiative. When she ruled the world it wouldn’t be possible to oversee every detail. She’d need capable, reasonably independent officers to deal with the day-to-day matters. This one might be of use later on. Their leader appeared to have lost her focus now that Morgana had assumed control.

  The wizards staying behind descended to the street while Morgana turned her dragon north. There was a world of targets out there. She needed to pick the next one.

  Jemma stumbled when the earthquake struck. All the monitors in the safe room went blank. Pebbles fell from the ceiling, clattering off desks and peoples’ heads. Techs muttered amongst themselves, trying to figure out what had happened.

  “Damn it!” The king threw his headset down and glared at the snowy monitor.

  He’d been in the middle of a conversation with the president of the North American Alliance basically begging for help. Not that any of them would be so brash as to put it that way.

  “Someone get those monitors up and running!” he commanded.

  Techs scrambled, fiddling with wires and adjusting settings. Jemma feared something more drastic than a loose wire had happened.

  She caught the eye of the chief of security and nodded toward the elevator. They each picked their way over and when he’d joined her Jemma said, “I need to get up there and have a look around. Secure the door behind me.”

  “Yes, Director.” He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. “What happened?”

  “That’s what I need to find out. I fear it was nothing good.”

  “Yeah.” He punched his security code into the door and it slid open revealing a passage choked with rubble.

  “I’m not getting out that way.” They let the door shut. “Let’s check the escape tunnel. That was warded and reinforced. Hopefully it’s clear.”

  “Hopefully.”

  Jemma led the way across the room to a section of blank wall. The emerg
ency escape tunnel could only be accessed by a wizard and a male security officer working together. She chanted and the illusion of the wall vanished, revealing a heavy steel door held shut by a two-inch-thick steel bar enchanted to kill any woman that touched it. The chief slid aside the heavy bar and shoved the door open.

  The tunnel beyond was dark, but light from the safe room revealed a clear path. Jemma sighed. “Thank goodness.”

  “Are we evacuating?” the chief asked.

  “Not unless you know somewhere safer to take the king.”

  He shook his head.

  “Me neither. Everyone stay put for now. I’ll scout out the situation and see if I can find more help. I should be back in a couple hours. Lock the door behind me. Today’s security code is four one four, right?”

  “Yeah. Are you sure you don’t want to take a squad of my guys with you?”

  “I appreciate your concern, but if I run into anything I can’t handle on my own, two security officers won’t make a difference.”

  “Right. Good luck.”

  “I’ll take all I can get.” Jemma conjured a light and started down the tunnel. Behind her the door clanged shut. It sounded so final.

  She put the safe room out of her mind and focused on the passage ahead of her. The tunnel was clear for as far as her light reached. Whatever caused the earthquake hadn’t harmed the reinforced concrete. The quake had severed the power to the lights hanging every fifteen feet. They should have put them on the same backup system as the safe room.

  In the grand scheme of things lights didn’t even make it on her top hundred list of problems. She walked on for another ten minutes before reaching the end of the tunnel. A matching door kept the exit sealed, though it lacked the death ward of the entrance.

  She yanked the bar aside and shoved. The late afternoon light hit her right in the eyes. Jemma shaded her eyes with her hand. Morgana had leveled half the city. It looked even worse than she’d feared. It would take years to rebuild.

  In the sky no sign of the dragon or enemy wizards remained. Seemed they’d had enough fun for today. She needed to find Marsha and gather their forces. Then they’d have to search for survivors.