The Realm

We reached the holding cells beneath the castle easily enough, avoiding detection as we slipped through the thin security. Though a majority of the guards were only human, with their weak weapons of guns, I had an uneasy premonition at the lack of defense. But with an arrogance to do any sorcerie proud, I ignored it and we continued on our way. However, in deference to my instincts, I did casually stick several small explosives to the stone walls as we went—just in case.

They were only a security measure; I wasn’t really expecting to have to resort to them. Our objective was simple: make our way down to the holding cells of House Carden, retrieve a very valuable captive there, and get the hell out. Simple, with little room for error. We’d be out and free within an hour so long as everything went as planned.

****

Things were going anyway but planned.

In fact, I had half a mind that perhaps the fates were simply bored and had decided to play a sadistic game with us—at our expense.

The moment we had stepped out of the containment cell, we found ourselves right in the middle of a godsdamn ambush. We had been blinded by a flurry of spells thrown at us simultaneously, like fireworks being lit at the same time. Akira had acted quickly, throwing up a shield to surround us immediately. We were exceedingly lucky that they hadn’t been anything more powerful than simple hexed focuses.

Conall had used the momentary confusion to shift into the enormous white wolf that was his other form. I had blasted through the nearest guards’ minds, tearing them to shreds, while Ronin quickly planted blades into the others’ throats. They were all dead before the smoke cleared, but already we could hear the rumble of more on the way. We were forced to split up, with me carrying the precious captive.

I forced myself to bring my focus back to the present.

The air was thick with dark grey smoke and the confused, frightened voices of the human guards. I could feel the static of electricity from their communication devices as they called for more help.

Though they mostly used their main weapons of weak guns, they also had an alarmingly immense supply of spells and hexes with them, many unfamiliar to me. It annoyed me to be so uninformed and ill prepared.

Pulling my mask tighter against my face, I readjusted my grip on the bundle of wool in my arms, slowly counted to three as the smoke bombs I’d released went off, and then sprinted across the wide hallway. Winding through the throngs of guards with inhuman speed and stealth, I had my hand upon the gleaming doorknob of the door when a shot from a human’s gun rang out. Pain blossomed in my left arm where the bullet tore through.

I shouldered my way through the door and cast a shield on it to prevent pursuit. It would take a few minutes for the humans to find a witch strong enough to break through it and I planned on being far from this room when that happened. We were in House Carden’s massive library, the solid oak bookcases that stretched floor to ceiling, wall to wall, nearly sagging with the weight of books. Leather sofas and chairs were scattered before an enormous fireplace that I could have easily stood in without bending over. Small steps led up to a raised, circular platform that held half a dozen desks with lamps.

I didn’t notice until a moment later that we were not alone; a lone man was bent over an enormous tome that was practically falling apart at the spine, reading by the dim light produced by a single lit lamp. The only other observation I was able to make before I threw him across the room with magick was that his attire was similar to my own: completely black and non-descript, with the addition of a long cloak that tangled with his limbs as he sailed through the air, head over heels. I assumed he was here with as much invitation as me, but he posed a threat to the valuable bundle in my arms and right now, she was my top priority.

He hit the far wall and bookcase, dislodging the top shelves and sending dozens of weighty books down upon him. I winced in sympathy but it was short living.

*Ashe! Ashe, are you there?* Ronin’s voice called in my mind. From the feel of the magick, it seemed Akira was using her telepathy for communication. They must have made it outside of the barrier.

*Yeah. You guys made it out?*

*Kind of.* The connection was growing weaker, his voice high and thin. *We’re on the roof of the western tower, but we’re having some difficulty……—ing down. There were more sorcerie than we had anticipated.*

*Conall?*

*Last I saw him, he was playing fetch with a bunch of guards……—ink he’s out, though. Where are—?*

*Library! I’ll be on the roof soon!* I mind-yelled before the connection was lost.

As I quickly scanned the room for any signs of the escape route, the bundle I carried stirred and impatiently threw off the top layer of blanket.

“Cover up! What the hell is wrong with you?” I knew that it probably wasn’t wise to speak to the daughter of a powerful House in such a manner, but the spelled blanket was all that stood between her and a stray bullet or hex, never mind the fact we were in a semi-empty room with a shield between us and the guards.

“Well I can’t breathe! I think that takes precedence over all else. It wouldn’t do you much good for me to be returned suffocated and dead,” was the muffled response.

I gritted my teeth and prayed for the patience to deal with children.

“It would do me better to return your dead, suffocated body than pieces of your body to your father. Do you wish to be blown up?”

“There hasn’t been a single attempt to blow either of us up since we escaped from the cell rooms! I think I’m relatively safe for now.”

Eight-year-old Lady Caylan, daughter of House Lewen, finally managed to free the front of her face from the thick blanket, and did so with an overly dramatic gasp. Amber eyes glared back up at me in childish defiance.

As I opened my mouth to chastise her, a loud pop sounded from the door. A moment later, there was a brief and intense sensation in my mind of the shield I’d placed at the door being shattered. I winced as the connection was broken and lost with more force than a witch was capable of.

Son of a bitch, another sorcerie.

There was a small explosion as the door was blown away, flashes of bright light blinding me. I could feel currents of powerful magick prickling along my skin as I turned my back to the door, desperate to shield the girl, if only in vain.

Inanely, I thought briefly, See? I was right about the blanket after all!

I felt the spells blaze along my back, the heat scorching the back of my neck, but none made contact. I opened my eyes (when had I closed them?) in surprise. Across from and slightly above me, the man I’d thrown earlier was crouched upon the banister of the platform, arm extended, his fingertips alight with magick; he was projecting a shield around me.

With my mind, I reached for something, anything. The best object I could find in the rooms were the couches in front of the fireplace. They’d have to do.

I hurled them behind me at my attackers, making contact. Startled yelps sounded from the men; projectile couches were probably not what they were expecting.

As I turned, drawing a fistful of needles from a sheath in my right boot, the group of (slightly crushed) guardsmen burst into blue flame. The acrid stench of burning hair and flesh assaulted my nose as screams filled the room. A writhing figure arose from the fiery mass and I took careful aim. A flick of my wrist and he went down silently, a gleaming needle in his throat. The blue flames were intensely hot; the others were soon finished as well, reduced to charred bones and ash in moments.

By gods, I must learn that spell.

I turned back to the man warily as a sense of unease pricked at my mind. There was something…off about him, something I couldn’t quite pinpoint. He wore a mask from the nose down, similar to mine, but he’d pulled off his hood, revealing black hair that fell into eyes that glowed sapphire, the irises and whites swallowed in blue from his magick.

I blinked. Sapphire? Déjà vu hit hard, the sense of being here, seeing this, seeing him. My vision blurred momentarily as the breath in my lungs stilled.

“There’s no time for that now. There will be more coming as we speak, and we must be gone from here.” He was by my side, pulling at my elbow, before I ever saw him move.

“Shit,” I cursed, angry that he’d gotten so close without my noticing. The sense of disorientation faded. And how did he know—?

Caylan stirred tentatively in my arms and I quickly set her down. My left arm had grown numb, both from holding her so long and from the bullet still lodged inside.

She stood with the blanket draped around her still. “Is it safe to come out now?”

“What happened to being ‘relatively safe now’?” I teased her.

With a flourish befitting royalty, she threw off the blanket with a huff. Her white blonde hair was tangled and long damp strands stuck to her forehead, yet she was able to muster an indignant glare any royal would envy. She opened her mouth to retort but the man stopped her with his own exasperated reply.

“Am I mistaken in that you are trying to escape and you are, in fact, wishing to be caught? We need to leave now.”

His words were further emphasized by shouts coming from the hallway and the rising undercurrent of magick in the air. I swore.

“I wasn’t aware that they had so many sorcerie on hand,” I said, picking up Caylan once again, leaving the blanket. She wrapped her legs tightly around my waist, arms around my shoulders, careful not to hinder my movements. I was beginning to like this kid more and more.

I surveyed the room, desperately trying to find an alternate escape route. My gaze fell upon the spacious fireplace and his eyes met mine. He nodded once to our unspoken agreement and began clearing out the fireplace of wood and metal screens. I shrugged off the small pack I wore across my back, undoing the straps and reaching in.

“This really isn’t the time for a snack,” the man said impatiently, dusting off his hands.

I smirked and withdrew a small glass orb the size of my fist. Smoke swirled inside, it’s color ever-changing. One moment it would be coils of violet, the next, puffs of green and gold. It was a rather nasty hex I’d concocted myself. I gently touched it with my aura and the colors flared brilliantly.

I dumped the rest of the bag’s contents out on the floor. Thick pentagonal black disks slid across the hardwood floor, small blue lights flicking on and off. I threw a few up on the platform and throughout the room to increase the radius of the explosion. And I had thought there would be no need for explosives. Silly me.

One slid in front of the hole that had replaced the door and a booted foot made contact with it. There was a thud and a startled yell as the guard slipped on the disk and hit the floor. There were a few laughs from his fellow guards as they stepped through the hole into the room.

“Ah, shit,” was my eloquent reply before throwing myself to my right, into the fireplace. Ash and dust sifted down on me as I hit the blackened brick. The man jumped in after me, gunshots sounding in the room. The fireplace was deep; at least 5 feet in. He spread his cloak out around us all, as if it were a blanket.

I struck the orb violently with my aura to activate it and tossed the hex over his shoulder back into the room, glimpsing the trademark vermillion of House Carden’s guardsmen. The orb shattered, releasing thick tendrils of smoke to coil around the men but not before they were able to get a few more shots off. The man jerked as the bullets made contact but made no other indication that it hurt.

The hex took effect almost immediately. One by one, the men slumped to the floor, blood pouring from their eyes and mouths, limbs twitching. I smiled, pleased at it’s effectiveness. That one’s a keeper.

“Hope you can fly,” I said, only half-joking, as I held up a small round disk, similar to the ones I’d scattered in the library.

“As a matter of fact…” he said with a smile. He wrapped his arms around me and Caylan and launched himself upwards. I managed to activate the detonator and drop it back down the chimney before clutching him in startled panic.

The red brick blurred all around us and I felt vaguely nauseous, but I kept my eyes open and trained on the fast approaching chimney opening above us. I squinted, focusing my magick on the small opening, and it blew off, sending a shower of mortar and dust down on us. Pain pricked at my temple at the burst of magick but I waved it away.

The cold night air was a welcome relief from the stifling brick vent as we rocketed out, free. I had a moment of panic when I realized we were at least 30 feet above the roof (oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, how do we get down?) but all was well as he gently lowered us to the slightly slanted clay tiles.

Just what the hell was he?