Shadow Mage Read online

  Now she paused again, and her eyes went wide. Japhlet, too, was glancing around nervously, and some of the other wind mages had stopped their work.

  None of the ambassadors seemed to notice, seemingly taking it in stride and assuming it was all part of working the magic.

  What’s wrong? Finn wondered.

  Eirene stood in the middle of her half-finished demonstration, massaging her breastbone.

  She can’t be having a problem with the shadow already. They’d met yesterday, just to make absolutely sure she was ready.

  Finn saw that steely look come into Eirene’s eyes. That look that said, Get out of my way, I’m doing this. For a brief moment he wondered if that was the right call, or if he should step in, but no, Eirene knew what she was doing. She was one of the best students here. Hell, she kept Isabelle, if not completely in check, at least somewhere close to sanity.

  Eirene made a movement with her arms and the wind currents around her swelled, picking up the packages and neatly siphoning them into different layers of air where they whizzed off into separate receptacles they’d set up around the room.

  The Baron lifted his hands to clap. “Oh wonder—”

  There was a flash of light and Eirene shrieked and fell to the ground. The air itself had split apart and something with many legs and teeth was crawling out.

  Frewin and Nate drew their weapons; the Baron yelped and scrambled under a table. Finn reached for the shadow stone in his pocket, held it up, but it had no effect.

  Something was screaming. Like an echo from far away.

  Blue talons and tentacles of wind and water, shot through with veins of iron, unwrapped themselves from the tear in the world. Eirene was back on her feet, struggling against it, but it batted her aside. She was thrown into the wall, her head smacking hard against the stone, and she collapsed. Japhlet was instantly at her side, putting herself between Eirene and the creature; she raised a thick shield of air between them, her face white.

  What the—Finn sent a bolt of flame at it, but the fire only absorbed into the creature.

  Mages screamed and ran for the exits as the creature swelled. It reached out with its tentacles, gripped this ceiling, and pushed. With a crash, the top of the tower was lifted off its base.

  Finn lifted his hands helplessly as stones rained down around him. He narrowly dodged a chunk of ceiling as it crashed down, punching right through the floor. Shit, shit, shit.

  Screams were coming from inside the top of the tower. He saw what looked horrifyingly like a body fall from one of the windows, plummeting towards the ground. His stomach lurched and he ran to the edge, saw more and more people falling out, but they slowed before they reached the ground, catching themselves with air cushions. For the first time ever, Finn found himself suddenly glad for Isabelle’s tendencies to throw new wind mages out of high windows.

  The creature lifted the broken top of the tower higher, still screaming. It shook it like a dog with a small animal in its mouth. Like it was trying to break the neck of something small and helpless before it devoured it. It pulled back, lifting the tower even higher, about to hurl it down towards the gardens below.

  Suddenly Isabelle was there, her white hair loose, hovering in front of it, right in the path of the tower. The creature hurled it towards her, and without missing a beat, she lifted her hands. The tower smashed into her, sending her backwards, towards the ground.

  “Isabelle!” Finn cried, helplessly. But the tower slowed, coming to a stop inches above the treetops. It righted itself, moving out away from the Table, heading for the ground. And there behind it was Isabelle. She didn’t even look as the piece of tower settled onto the plains below, instead she leaned forward, propelling herself upwards towards the creature, its tentacles lashing the desks and tables, sending experiments and people flying everywhere.

  One of the tentacles caught Finn in the stomach, and before he even had a chance to reach out and grab something, he was swept into the air, his arms windmilling, the terrified screaming in his ears now his own.

  He hit an invisible barrier and hung, suspended, sinking very slowly through air that felt so viscous and swampy and hot it was like being underwater. With difficulty, he sucked in a thick, hot breath, and saw the other guests—and some students—caught in this same thick current, slowly descending to the ground.

  Isabelle was rocketing up towards the creature, a look of grim concentration, and… enjoyment on her face. It launched itself for her but hit another invisible barrier between them. Isabelle made a gesture, and the thing blasted backwards, past the ruined tower, nearly a quarter mile away onto the plains. She hurtled after it, the air shuddering in her wake. It had sprouted great, steely wings, with ice shards pushing up through it, and had lifted off, was winging back towards the table, its many eyes burning with black flames. Isabelle sped towards it, coming to meet it, pushing it back.

  She can’t keep this up much longer. She has to be close to her limit. The stone. She needs the stone. Shaking, Finn tried to recover himself, forced his legs to work, and ran for her.

  Sweet, Isabelle thought, hovering over the trees and watching the monster crash to the ground and skid to a stop, ripping a hole in the forest as it went.

  A stab of pain went through her chest. She’d have to stop hovering soon. Not yet, though.

  The thing gave a reverberating scream, picked itself up, and streaked towards her, shooting fire and shards of ice. Its bones were twisted metal, its flesh currents of air and water. It kept dissolving and reforming but seemed intent on destroying both her and the Table.

  She cracked her neck, watching it approach. She had probably ten seconds before it got there. Five, four, three… She lifted her hands and blasted it back again, as far as she could, which was around a mile. The wind sputtered, the shadow kicking back into her. Can’t keep this up much longer. The thing was already streaking back towards her.

  The air rippled behind her. She glanced back and saw Eirene, a bloody smear across her face.

  “A barrier?” Eirene asked.

  Another ripple of air, and Japhlet soared in, her glasses askew and her ashen face grim. Then another and another. A good thing, too, because her magic was nearly spent. If she pushed it any farther there were going to be shadow-related consequences.

  “Great.” She turned to the others. “Did you all hear Eirene? We’re setting up a temporary barrier. All the way around the Table.”

  Someone else back at the Table must have had the same idea, because rocks were popping out of the ground, lifting up to form a wall. Well, it’s nice that they want to help. That’s not going to stop whatever this thing is, though.

  The wind mages spread out, encircling the Table. Isabelle could see crowds of people on the battlements, watching.

  Not bad, she thought, watching her students as they compressed the air into a thick wall.

  The creature slammed into it, and the air shuddered as it was thrown back. It shook itself, giving a roar of pain, and threw itself into the barrier again.

  Isabelle and the other mages watched for several minutes as the thing hurled itself tirelessly, again and again, at the wall of air. It seemed to be holding. For now.

  “Japhlet,” she called. “You take first watch. Any sign that the wall is weakening, you come get us. We’ll send a replacement for you in an hour, all right?”

  Japhlet nodded curtly, her glasses flashing, her gaze focused on the creature. Whatever it was.

  Isabelle, followed by the other mages, rocketed back to the Table. It seemed that every mage who lived there was out on the battlements, staring with open mouths at the ruined tower. As soon as she landed, Finn was by her side, his face horror-stricken. He pressed the shadow stone to her, and she felt instant relief from the dark pressure in her chest.

  Finn wrapped an arm around Isabelle, and she leaned against him, kissing him on the cheek. “What the hell was that?” she asked.

  He shook his head, his lips white. He had no idea, but he th
ought he understood now what had happened to Merriny.

  He kept his arm locked around her waist and led her to the central platform, where he had stood only a week or so ago, addressing the crowd as the ambassadors arrived. The crowd fell silent as he climbed the steps.

  He saw the Baron, Frewin, and Artair clustered together. Artair was covered in something that looked like regurgitated pastry. Frewin’s face was dark, all traces of humor gone. The Baron sat, white and shaking, looking down at his own clasped hands.

  Finn scanned the crowd. Most of the students were crying and hugging one another. They could all hear the reverberations as the creature threw itself against the wall.

  Finn swallowed. “We have constructed a barrier. I am going to find out exactly what happened. I am going to do that right now.” His chest constricted. “I’m also going to call back all the mages out in the field.” He took a deep breath. It’s only temporary. We’ll figure this out. "In the meantime, no one is to use magic. For any reason. Is that understood?”

  People stared at him blankly.

  “Is that understood?”

  A few nods.

  “We don’t know why this happened, but I promise you we will know by tonight. Raise your hand if you understand that you are not to use magic until we understand what this was.”

  A few hands went up, then more, as people elbowed their neighbors.

  “For now, I want everyone to stay together while I investigate this. Go to the dining hall. Make sure everyone is there.”

  No one moved.

  “Now. Everyone go there now.”

  They started to move, and he looked at Isabelle, searching her face.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, Finn, I’m fine. Want me to come with you?”

  He kissed her. “No. I… I need to go see Morthil. He’s the only one who might know what these are.”

  26

  Finn

  After the mages had left, the gardens were quiet except for the distant cries of the monster.

  Finn slipped the key out of his pocket, gripped it tightly until it glowed red-hot, then inserted it in the lock he had made nearly ten years earlier. How had time gone so quickly? Had it really been ten years?

  The door felt like it. It groaned as he tugged it open, revealing the darkened passageway beyond. He remembered like it was yesterday, running up through that tunnel with Kel, the blood running down his cheek from his missing eye. The full weight of what he had agreed to hadn’t sunk in then. Maybe it was really only sinking in now.

  He swallowed and stepped inside, closing the door and locking it behind him.

  He rubbed his upper arms, then remembered he was a fire mage and held out a hand, cupping a ball of flame. It roared to life, illuminating the bare walls, and he began his descent.

  The tunnel corkscrewed down and down through the Table, the air growing colder. When he arrived at the door, it was exactly as he remembered it. Jade green, with runes carved above it. The language of the Ael, he knew now.

  Without pausing, afraid his courage would fail, Finn pushed the door open. This one swung smoothly on silent hinges. The room beyond was dark, the fragments of bones and skeletons on the floor cast long, twisted shadows in the light of his ball of flame.

  In the center, beneath the high domed ceiling, was the pool. Dark and broken.

  He found the thread at the edge, pulled it end over end, drawing the copper out. As the single piece of copper lifted clear of the water, electric blue light lanced across the surface, and the pool suddenly glowed turquoise. Finn gripped the piece of copper, staring into the water at that tiny pinprick of red light he could see far down in the depths.

  “Well, if it isn’t the fire mage.” A voice issued from the pool, sending waves rippling across its surface. “Couldn’t stay away?”

  Some force reached out of the pool, wrapped itself around him, and pulled him in. The copper fell from his hand, clattering to the ground.

  He closed his mouth as the water hit his face, but instantly it was gone. He was dry and standing in a vast throne room. Red carpet and gold filigree everywhere. The ceiling was so high it was lost in shadow.

  An enormous throne dominated the room, perched at the top of what looked like fifty golden steps. He couldn’t see Morthil’s face, only his hands, with the long black nails tapping on the arm rests. The rest of him was in shadow.

  “And what can I do for you, little fire mage? You’ve been trying to get out of our bargain, I see.”

  Finn ignored this. “There was a… a monster… that appeared.”

  “Ah, yes.” There was a smile in his tone.

  “We called it, when we did magic, didn’t we?”

  Morthil’s fingers paused. “Yes, you did.”

  “How do we keep this from happening? And… how do we get rid of the one we have?”

  “Does it really matter?” Morthil asked, the relish clear in his voice. “You have very little time left. Then I’ll be there, and I can take care of them, I assure you.”

  “Of course it matters. The whole bargain was so that I could create a world where mages and non-mages could live together. They can’t very well do that if mages are summoning horrific monsters every time they use magic.”

  Morthil paused. Something heated in Finn’s left arm.

  “The Oath Stone disagrees, little mage. It seems to think, and I agree, that our deal was for the shadow stone, and for the books. Nothing at all about you actually achieving your goals. I’m not such a fool as to make my happiness reliant on that.”

  “All right, well, if it truly doesn’t matter, then it doesn’t matter if you tell me the answer, does it?”

  A single black nail tapped thoughtfully. “You make an interesting point, but I want more.”

  “What?”

  “Send me your sister. My sister. I would like to meet her.”

  “No.”

  The burned hands spread wide. “I mean her no harm. She does not have to stay. I simply want a visit.”

  “I can’t agree to that.”

  “Then don’t agree. Simply ask her.”

  Finn chewed the inside of his cheek. He could ask. She could say no. “All right. I’ll ask.”

  The warmth was back in Morthil’s voice. “Wonderful. I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you. Let you have a little more fun.”

  27

  Kel

  Kel was just putting away the last vial in her workshop when Finn came in. He looked pale.

  “Hey Kel, do you have a minute?”

  She placed the vial in line with the others and turned, wiping her hands on the cloth hanging over her shoulder. She was more than tired. Every night she dreamed of that shattered place and woke up gasping.

  Also, Illiam kept leaving her flowers, or following her and trying to talk to her. It was exhausting.

  “What is it?” She sat at the table, and he sat across from her.

  He looked down for a moment, then folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward.

  “I went to talk to Morthil.”

  Her eyebrows lifted.

  “To ask him what to do about the… about whatever is happening.”

  She waited for him to continue.

  “He told me, and I… I think I know what to do now.”

  He looked down again.

  “You don’t have to anything you don’t want to, Kel.” His one good eye finally met hers. “But, he… he wants to meet you.”

  Kel’s mind flashed to those brief moments she’d seen him before, when she’d realized her father had betrayed her, was sacrificing her to save Morthil. The half-brother she’d never known she had.

  “Why?”

  “You don’t have to go. I just… I said that I would ask. It was what he wanted. In exchange for the… information.”

  “Why does he want to meet me?” She looked down at her nails, turned her hand over and ran a vine finger across her palm.

  “I don’t know. You really don’t hav
e to go, though. You don’t even have to think about it.”

  She shrugged. “It’s OK. I’ll think about it.”

  “You really don’t have to,” Finn said again, then paused. “There’s another thing I wanted to ask you. Morthil told me a… a way to get rid of the monster. He says it came because of the extra magic we’ve been doing here. He said it’s some kind of… twisted incarnation of it.”

  “Of the shadow?”

  “No… of all the types concentrated and mixed together. But we can get rid of it. All we have to do is siphon off the magic.”

  Kel bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as Finn went on.

  “I’m wondering if you will help. He said I need one of each type of mage, and I was hoping you would be the naturalist mage, but also kind of… help the rest of us in case we need it.”

  “How do you know he was telling the truth?” Had he used another oath stone?

  “I don’t, but it’s the only thing we have to try right now. And, that’s kind of another reason I want you there. In case something goes wrong.”

  Kel wondered if the thing was alive, if this would hurt it. It already seemed in pain. Something flickered in the back of her memory at that thought, but she couldn’t quite think what it was.

  “Of course I’ll help, Finn.”

  His features relaxed, relieved.

  “Thank you, thank you so much, Kel. We’re so close. If I can just fix this…”

  She frowned. “Finn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What are you… what are you planning on doing?”

  “I’ll explain when we get there.”

  “No, I mean… with Morthil. With… the bargain.”

  “I’ve got a plan.”

  “What plan?”

  “I’d rather not say.”

  Kel knew what that meant. She straightened her back. “I’m not a kid anymore, Finn. And I don’t want to lose you. Isabelle doesn’t want to lose you.”

  He looked down. “This is more important than me.”