The Raven's Shadow: The Aegis of Merlin Book 4 Read online

  “I know. Just give me a minute to get my wind back.”

  He closed his eyes and took slow, deep breaths, trying in vain to ignore the rank odor. It felt like the filth coated his tongue and the back of his throat. After a minute or two he started down the tunnel. Hopefully he’d find a manhole, along with the strength to open it.

  Terra and the others joined Sho in the hall outside the conference room. She stepped over the body of the nearest guard and eyed the door. “Reveal.”

  No wards glowed in her enhanced vision. Maybe her initial impression had been correct and the advisors from Central were just ordinary liars. And maybe pigs could fly. Shizuku put her hands on Lin’s and Sho’s shoulders and murmured in Angelic. Both men lit up as the light magic shield sprang into place around them. Shizuku repeated the spell on herself.

  She should cast a protective spell of her own, but fire magic wasn’t subtle like light magic. If they marched in there and she was wearing a cloak of flames it might lead to a fight and right now Terra was more interested in talking.

  Lin drew his pistol, but held it at his side out of sight. Shizuku nodded and Terra pushed the door open. The conference room was dark save for the light from a computer screen. The mayor sat in front of it, watching the feed from three different news channels. Terra flicked the light switch, but nothing happened.

  Beside him the fake female advisor rested her hand on his back and whispered in his ear. A faint aura of magic leaked from between her fingers.

  “She’s a wizard,” Terra said.

  “Where’s the guy?” Lin asked.

  Shizuku raised her hands. “Let there be Light!”

  Bright white orbs flew to every corner of the room. In the far corner a massively muscled creature in the tattered remains of a suit was hunched over a pair of mangled, partially consumed bodies. Bits of flesh dangled from its fangs. It was a demon of some sort and radiated dark magic.

  Terra swallowed the lump in her throat. Whatever it was, it looked strong. When she’d led the group here she hadn’t expected to confront a demon and a wizard.

  The woman left the mayor’s side and turned to face them. “You were told to remain in the executive office. Your services are not needed here.”

  Her words held the power of magic. They washed over Terra like a wave trying to force her out of the room. She clenched her jaw and focused her will. No one could control her unless she allowed it. After a few seconds that felt more like hours the spell faded and her mind cleared.

  “You are strong willed, stronger than this weakling at least.” She gave the mayor a casual swat across the back of the head. “Pity for you. If you had submitted this would have gone much easier for you.”

  Dark magic burst from the advisor. Maggie Chin vanished and a bat-winged female demon appeared. Exquisitely feminine with tiny horns on her forehead and a long, twitching tail, the succubus was stunning. Terra’s heart raced and she wasn’t even into that sort of thing.

  Delicate white fingers grew six-inch black talons. From its place in the corner the second demon roared.

  “Lin, you’re with me. Shizuku, you and Sho handle the big one.”

  “Flames swirl and roar. Guard me from all enemies, Fire Armor!” Flames surrounded Terra from head to foot. It would take a potent attack to break her defense.

  To her left a lightning bolt cracked. She spared the others a quick glance. Sho was racing to close with the demon while Shizuku blasted it with a second bolt.

  They were on their own for now. The succubus sauntered around the table, hips swaying from side to side, only strategically placed black flames covering her nakedness.

  “Are you certain you wouldn’t rather surrender your will to me? I’m a generous mistress. I promise I won’t even kill you when this business is settled.”

  “All things burn to ash, Inferno Blast!” Terra threw her hand forward and a torrent of flames streaked toward the demon.

  A dark aura sprang up at once around her, parting the fire, and keeping it from burning her. Lin fired two shots, but both bullets exploded before impact.

  “You’ll have to do better than that.” The succubus flicked her wrist and a black blade streaked toward Terra.

  Lin tackled her and the blade flew over their heads. “We’re out of our league,” he whispered into her ear.

  Terra was quickly coming to that conclusion as well, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. From the floor she chanted, “Flood the world with flames, Fire Surge!”

  A rush of flames, twice as powerful as her first spell, poured from her cupped hands. They plowed into the succubus’s dark barrier and forced the demon back one step, then another.

  For half a second she imagined the spell might penetrate, then the flames guttered and died. Beyond them the demon remained unharmed.

  “That was better.” The succubus raised her hand and a ball of black energy gathered.

  Lin raised his pistol and put three rounds into the ebony sphere. The dark magic devoured the bullets like they were nothing. If that spell hit them it would do exactly the same thing.

  Sho had heard the reports of his son’s battles with demons and other magical threats, but until this moment he hadn’t fully appreciated what that meant. His roundhouse kick struck the red-skinned monster in the side of the jaw with enough force to break the neck of a normal man. The demon didn’t flinch.

  It opened its mouth so wide Sho thought its head might split in half. He jerked his leg back before the demon had a chance to bite his foot off. Sho ducked two slashes from taloned hands big enough to rip him in half.

  He danced back and a third lightning bolt struck the demon in the chest. The red skin darkened, but beyond that the attack had no effect. He darted in again, landing a dozen machine-gun punches before leaping clear to avoid a backhand.

  It was like punching a concrete pillar and every bit as effective. Only the demon’s relative lack of speed kept Sho alive. His son had fought creatures like this and won. He had a whole new respect for what Conryu’s magic could do.

  Shizuku sent a lance of white energy crashing into the demon’s chest, doing every bit as little damage as she had with the lightning. The demon took a step toward them and Sho took a step back.

  This was pointless. If he pounded that thing until his fists broke it wouldn’t accomplish anything. As a warrior Sho feared nothing, but he knew when he was in a fight he couldn’t win and this was it.

  He risked a glance over at the government wizard and Lin. They were lying on the floor with the female demon standing over them. The creature had a ball of energy in its hand.

  An idea popped into his head. A foolish, desperate idea, but if ever there was a time for foolish desperation this was it. He sprinted across the room toward the female demon, ignoring Shizuku’s confused look as he went past.

  He’d covered most of the distance before the creature noticed him. It swung his way, doing half his work for him. He leapt and kicked at its head, missing intentionally.

  The instant he landed Sho spun and kicked the wrist above the black ball, knocking it away from Lin and toward the other demon. He so startled the female that she released the ball.

  It streaked toward her hulking companion, exploding on impact. The conference room shook. In the chaos Sho grabbed Lin and Terra and pulled them to their feet.

  “We need to go,” he said.

  Terra nodded and muttered something in one of those nonsense languages the wizards used. A wall of fire sprang up between them and the demons. Shizuku had already reached the doors and was motioning for them to hurry as they ran.

  The group darted out into the hall and Terra led them back toward the stairwell. Inside, they went down instead of up.

  “We need to return for Orin and Maria,” Shizuku said.

  “No, we need to lead the demons away from them, not back.” Terra took the steps two at a time.

  “Would that blast have killed the male?” Sho couldn’t imagine anything surviving an impact like t
hat, but he also wouldn’t have believed it could live through three lightning strikes, so he had little confidence in his theory.

  “No, that orb was pure dark magic. It might have stunned the demon, but it wouldn’t have done any real damage.” Terra pulled up at the third-floor platform. “We need some extra firepower.”

  Kelsie really wanted to move around, but she didn’t dare leave the car lest she draw unwanted attention. Conryu had been gone fifteen minutes already. Given that no time passed when he was in Hell that meant he’d been trying to deal with the box and its protections all this while. It had only taken him five minutes to handle the first one. Something must have gone wrong.

  Had she made a mistake, not to insist on going with him? No, she knew what she was capable of and her feeble magic wouldn’t even be enough to stop a single shadow beast. And Jonny couldn’t do magic at all. If they’d gone they’d have only slowed him down. Nonetheless she wished she knew what was happening.

  “Do you think he’s okay?” Jonny asked, speaking her thoughts out loud.

  “Conryu’s the strongest wizard ever. If he can’t handle this no one can.” God, she wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

  “He’s only one man. No matter how strong he is, Conryu doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head.”

  “He has Prime and Cerberus. I’m worried too, but we have to trust that he’ll be okay.”

  Jonny twisted around and looked at her. “I swore to myself after that business at the carnival, when he put himself in danger to protect everyone, that if it ever happened again I wouldn’t run. That I’d stand beside him and fight. Now here I am, just like last time, useless and waiting. What kind of friend am I that I let him face this alone?”

  “The same kind as me, I suppose. While I wish with all my heart I could help, I know I can’t. And neither can you. It isn’t a matter of not caring, it’s about knowing your limitations.”

  The car phone rang and Jonny spun back around. An icon of a handset was flashing on the screen. He touched it. “Conryu?”

  “Yeah.” He sounded so weak. “I’m at Seventh and Maple. There’s a little cafe.”

  “Got it. We’re on our way.” The line went dead and Jonny shook his head. “He sounded worse than last time.”

  “Must have been a harder fight. That can’t be a surprise after he destroyed the first box.” Kelsie glanced at the time. Twelve hours to go.

  Jonny pulled out and made his way through the busy streets. She wasn’t familiar with Sentinel City, but Jonny seemed to know right where he was going. Five minutes later she spotted the cafe and Conryu, sitting slumped at one of the tables. He looked asleep.

  Jonny double-parked right across from him, leapt out, and helped him back to the car. Several cars behind them honked, but they paid no attention. Conryu fell into the back seat beside her, Prime clutched in his grasp.

  When he blinked and looked up at her his eyes were so red she expected blood to run down his cheeks. And what in heaven’s name did he have on his clothes? The stink filled the car. Jonny got in behind the wheel and took off.

  “Was it bad?” Kelsie adjusted his head so it rested on her lap. She murmured the cleaning spell in hopes of getting whatever the mess was off him.

  “Demons, shadow beasts, and this weird zombie thing that almost took my head off. It’s good you two didn’t try and come with me. It was all I could do to protect myself.”

  “Where we headed?” Jonny asked.

  “Nowhere for a while.” Conryu tried to sit up but she pulled him back down. “Find a parking lot or something. I need to rest for a couple hours.”

  “One port in the storm coming up.”

  “Is two hours going to be enough?” Kelsie stroked his hair. The spell had cleaned the worst of the crud off his clothes and the seat. The mess now sat in a pile on the floor.

  “We have three boxes to go. I don’t dare take any longer.”

  Prime worked himself free from Conryu’s grasp. “If you keep this pace up you’ll kill yourself, Master. You need at least six hours’ rest or a direct infusion of life energy.”

  “Six hours is out of the question,” Conryu said. “What about the second one?”

  “There’s a spell, it’s actually a variation of Reaper’s Gale, that drains your target’s life force, but instead of dissipating it draws it into your body. It’s another one you’ll need to be careful with. Drain too much and your target dies.”

  “Great, show me. I don’t know if I’ll use it, but it never hurts to be prepared. I need a spell that will make it easier to kill those zombie things too.”

  While Conryu studied the book Kelsie studied him. He looked pale and weak, but the determination in his gaze never wavered. She knew he wouldn’t give up while he had breath in his body. She’d make sure he kept breathing, even if it killed her.

  6

  Reaction

  Lady Raven snapped her fingers and the image on her viewing mirror vanished. She understood everything now. It was clear from the moment he stepped out of the dark portal. Conryu was somehow tracing the path her boxes took through Hell.

  How was he doing it? She knew of no spell that created such an effect. Regardless, he was doing it and in the process slowly destroying years of work along with her hopes for a long life as a Hierarch in the Society.

  The defenses she’d put in place at the last location were the strongest possible given the time she had. She’d increased the number of shadow beasts at the remaining locations, but refused to sacrifice any more of her Faceless Ones. Galling as it was, she had to admit mere shadow beasts wouldn’t be enough to hold the abomination off.

  Lady Raven reached for her mask. If the mission was to succeed she needed to ask for help.

  With her mask in place she stepped into the circle and cast the calling spell. The others had to be waiting near their own casting chambers. With the time of activation so close they’d want to be available in case of emergencies.

  Well, this certainly qualified as one. It took less than a minute for the room to go hazy. The first to appear was Lady Wolf. Lady Tiger and Lady Dragon appeared shortly after that.

  “What has happened?” Lady Dragon asked.

  “The abomination has interfered and destroyed two of the artifacts.”

  The weight of Lady Dragon’s regard pressed down on her. The anger and disappointment in her gaze burned Lady Raven’s skin.

  “I thought you put protections in place,” Lady Wolf said.

  “I did and I increased them after his first success.” Lady Raven took a deep breath. “They were inadequate. I acknowledge that. If the mission is to have any hope of success I’ll need help.”

  “We have no magic to offer you.” Lady Dragon slapped the Scepter of Morgana against her palm.

  “What about our other agents in the city? They were supposed to be helping capture the abomination.”

  “Yes, well, you’re not our only disappointment today. Rennet has also been a spectacular failure with regards to capturing him. Apparently the police can’t arrest someone they can’t find.”

  Lady Raven couldn’t suppress a faint smile. “If you can put me in contact with her I believe I can solve both our problems. And if I may add, perhaps elimination would be better than capture.”

  “Approved.” Lady Dragon rattled off a phone number. “You can reach Rennet at that number. Be certain to tell her this is the last chance for both of you.”

  The Hierarchs vanished and Lady Raven found herself back in her casting chamber. She took off her mask and scrambled to reach her cellphone before she forgot the number Lady Dragon gave. Somehow she doubted it would be repeated if she asked.

  Maria sat beside her father and stared at the laptop screen. He’d tapped into the building security cameras, allowing them to watch the others confront the imposters. Her heart had skipped a beat when the woman turned into a demon. Everyone had fought bravely, but in the end they’d been forced to flee.

  Dad tapped a key,
opening multiple windows in the screen. One showed Mom and her companions running down the stairwell, another stayed on the conference room. The male demon shook off the effects of his partner’s blast and went after them. It crushed one of the unconscious guards’ heads before turning down the stairs. Maria shuddered and looked away.

  “Clever Terra,” Dad muttered.

  Maria looked back. “What’s she doing?”

  “Terra led them to the magical artifact storage room. There are plenty of things in there that will give them an edge over that monster.”

  “What’s the other one doing?” Maria pointed at the window showing the conference room. The female demon had moved toward the door and stepped out into the hall.

  Dad tapped another key and the view shifted. The demon headed for the stairs, but turned up instead of down.

  “Uh-oh. Looks like we’re going to have company.” Dad closed the lid on the laptop and handed it to her. “Time to make ourselves scarce.”

  “Where are we going to go?” Maria’s heart raced. She didn’t know a single spell that would even make that thing blink if it came to a fight.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Dad walked over to the left side of his office and groped around a blank section of wall. There was a click and a secret door slid aside. “Come on.”

  She slipped in ahead of him and a light came on overhead. A narrow corridor extended as far as she could see behind the wall. Dad joined her and secured the door.

  “I didn’t know this was here.”

  “Only the station chief knows about it. The old chief told me when I took over. No one has ever used it since the building was constructed. It was a fine tradition I had hoped to follow. These passages run all through the building. The idea was to have a way to escape and counterattack if the Department was ever assaulted.”

  “I don’t know about counterattacking, but escape sounds good.”

  He took her hand and squeezed.

  Out in the office an explosion was followed by crunching footsteps. Dad held a finger to his lips and nodded his head toward the far end of the passage. Maria tiptoed away from the door.