Dark Magic Ch. 06

Really short scene of action at the end of the story. I didn't think that a big one fit well within the story line here.

A lot of other kinds of action though, and some plot development which (I guess) needs to be done ; ).

For those of you disappointed in the relationship between Celeste and Brian, I want to tell you right now that this is not a love story. So do not count it against me when it doesn't turn out to be one. I warned you.

For the rest who are enjoying the story and the (hopefully) hot sex scenes, thank you for your support and don't forget to comment...

*****

We were near the water, and as a result the air was humid and hot, its effect doubled after the recent downpour of rain. Now that the sun was out it was making up for lost time, beating down on us as we picked our way across long-forgotten dirt roads that skirted the perimeters of the myriad of small towns that had built up around the prosperity of Nycene over the years.

Approaching the city from the north, we intended to avoid the main traffic that moved in from the west. Our other reason for taking the long, roundabout route was that Maverick claimed the most easily accessible opening to the underground was just north of one of the three waterways that surrounded the island city of Nycene. Only the poor lived north of the city, which meant the King's guard's presence would would be thinner, allowing us to slip into the underground undetected.

"Tell me again how you know where this entrance is," I asked of Maverick, who was walking alongside me. We had abandoned the horses soon after leaving the inn that morning, deciding it would be easier to come the rest of the way on foot. To lighten our load, the only pack I carried was the small one that contained The Source and enough food to tide us over if we got hungry. We either reached the Great Library that night or died trying.

"I am much older than you might think," the Summoned answered. He was wearing his light leather armor and sword. "I've learned a lot about Nycene through years and years of experience."

It was late afternoon and in the distance I could make out the smoke of chimneys and hear the cry of gulls as they flew overhead looking for food. We were getting very close now, and my stomach knotted with anxiety. No good memories lay within the walls of Nycene. And if I wasn't careful, it was where I would meet my end.

We crested the grassy hill we had been scaling, and were greeted by the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of wooden structures spreading haphazardly across the land until they butted up against the river far in the distance. Dirty smoke rolled lazily from the chimneys of the hastily built homes, dirtying the air. Muddy roads crisscrossed between the buildings, teeming with people, carts, and animals, all trading or selling or stealing whatever goods they could to each other.

Across the water, almost too far to make out, were the walls of Nycene. Built by the King to keep out his enemies, and his people, they almost obscured the hazy outlines of the Ancient towers beyond it, which rose high into the sky, nearly touching the clouds. Marvels of Ancient architecture, the techniques used to build them lost to history long ago.

"This place is disgusting," Celeste said, wrinkling her nose at the smell of fish, sewage, and animals.

"Humans in general are disgusting," Maverick observed and began walking down the grassy hill toward the slums, "Luckily we won't have to go too far into the heart of this place. The entrance to the underground is nearby."

We followed the Summoned as he cut a path toward the western edge of the slums. There would be no guards around, so I was not worried about being spotted by them, but I still convinced that Maverick would draw unneeded attention to himself from the townspeople.

But as we approached the first of the shanties at the edge of the complex, I was shocked to discover that no one heeded us any mind; as if we did not exist. Some of the poor citizens gave us dull, defeated glances, but then immediately turned away. No comments on the huge, grey skinned, red eyed Summoned that was shouldering his way through rapidly crowding streets.

There had to be a reason why no one was staring. Had to...then the realization hit me like an arrow, piercing my heart with icy fear.

"Maverick!" I shouted, grabbing him roughly by the upper arm, "Are you using magic?"

He shrugged, "Yes."

"Stop! The state mages, they'll be on us in seconds," my voice nearly squeaked with fear. I knew it was already too late. The wards around the city would be buzzing with activity, and an Investigator was surely already on the way...

"Ha!" Maverick boomed, "You think I can't mask my magic from those hacks? You insult me."

"No," I hissed, "I don't think you can. In fact, I know you can't." True, most state mages were hacks, but Maverick was missing a vital piece of information.

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

Celeste was looking around nervously as Maverick and I faced off among the oblivious crowd.

"Because," I said, "My master designed the wards that surround the city. Trust me when I say they can see right through your castings whether or not you're a summoned. Now stop!"

But it was too late. Just as Maverick's face fell with sudden uncertainty, a crack resounded across the air, followed by the scream of frightened people as they scrambled to get out of the way of the terror that had just materialized in the street close by.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit..." I chanted and did a mental inventory of all the runes at my disposal, knowing none would be sufficient against what was coming without proper preparation.

The street had emptied of townspeople within seconds, leaving only Maverick, Celeste, and I alone in the mud when the Investigator rounded the corner.

It was tall. Taller than Maverick by at least a foot, and thin. It wore hooded black robes that covered its entire body and face. In one of its hands it carried a thick chain of silver which dragged along the ground as it stalked toward us. The chain could be used to bind any creature capable of casting and doubled as a dangerous weapon.

Created by the state mages by special order of the first King of Nycene, the Investigators are the state mage's personal henchmen. Whenever they get a whiff of magic inside the limits of Nycene, they send the Investigators to, well, investigate. That's why private mages usually refrained from using magic near Nycene. Because if an Investigator figured that anything illegal had taken place, it would act as judge, jury, and executioner on the behalf of the King.

"Summoner," the Investigator hissed at me, "Dark mage. Private treasure hunter. Anarchist. By the power vested in me by the State Mage Association and the King of Nycene, I sentence you to death."

It knew me. It knew what Maverick was. It was all over before it began. The creature raised a robed hand up and out toward me, preparing to cast. I stood like a fool, frozen with fear. My master had faced an Investigator when...

A wall of white fire sprang up between us and the Investigator. The creature let out an unearthly screech as a strong pair of hands grabbed my shoulders from behind and dragged me away.

"Come, master!" Maverick shouted, "This way."

I turned, stumbled, picked myself up, and ran after the Summoned, Celeste close at my side. We turned a corner, and then another. I knew the Investigator was closing in on us. Fire would not stop it. Nothing short of a King's official pardon would keep an Investigator off your tail once it had found you guilty of a crime.

"How much further until the underground entrance?" Celeste asked breathlessly.

"Close," Maverick assured, turning a sharp corner which made me slip in the mud as I tried to keep up.

Celeste helped me up and we continued on. I noticed we were in a tight alley. Maverick's shoulders were barely thin enough to fit through the opening. The alley ended in a blank stone wall. Unusual in the shanty town of mostly wooden structures, but still a dead end as far as I could tell. What had Maverick been thinking?

Risking a glance behind me, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the light at the entrance of the alley obliterated by the dark shape of the Investigator.

"Guilty!" it shrieked and raised its hand.

"Maverick!" I yelled, certain we were done for.

Suddenly the Summoned slid to a stop in front of us. He stood to the side and gestured Celeste and I past him. "The entrance is through the stone wall," I hissed, "It's a scripted doorway. I'll hold off this creature."

"Kill it," I said as I hurried away, dragging Celeste along, "It won't stop unless you kill it."

I turned away from him then and ran the rest of the way to the stone wall. There was a flash of light behind me, but I ignored it, concentrating instead of locating the rune that would open the door to the underground tunnels. I was regaining my composure. There had been a reason I had designed the summoning rune and that reason was times like this. Maverick would do his best to protect me.

"What's a scripted doorway?" Celeste asked worriedly as the sound of Maverick's sword being drawn reached our ears.

"One that exists only through the presence of a rune," I explained, my trained eyes frantically roaming over the rough stone surface, searching for the etching. "There!" I breathed excitedly when I located the symbol.

Metal clanged against metal and Maverick grunted in pain while the Investigator hissed with fury. I touched the tip of my finger to the rune and muttered the unlocking casting, not worrying about being flagged, seeing how an Investigator was already attacking us. There was an audible click and then a scraping sound as a door-sized portion of the stone wall swung toward us, revealing a dark, cool opening.

Musty air rushed out of the opening, ruffling our clothing. I cast the light orb and directed it forward. Once cast, it would no longer alert the state mages, but I told myself that another casting would surely bring another Investigator, so resolved to make the orb my last one.

"Definitely Ancient," Celeste said. The steps that led down into the earth were made out of rusted metal. Running along the wall of the steps was a metal bar that appeared to be used for support. Beyond the light of the orb it was dark.

"Go," I told Celeste, "Maverick will meet us inside."

She hurried down the steps and I followed. The door shut behind us with a thud and we were alone.

With the glow of the orb, I was able to see the bottom of the steps about one hundred feet below us. They ended at a stone floor that stretched ahead under an arched ceiling to another set of steps. The walls of the hall were tiled with colored squares that were falling off in most places, but generally intact. Surprising, considering how old they were by now.

We followed this path and went down the second set of steps. These ended in a larger room. Across this room from us were sets of stairs that led upward. In the middle of the space was a thick column that had once displayed something, but whatever it had been was faded with the centuries. Along the left wall was a row of metal boxes. Ancient technology I had no doubt. We ignored those and instead turned right, toward the row of short columns that formed a barrier between the room and yet another set of steps. These were wide, with multiple metal support bars running at regular intervals, and made of the same stone as the floor.

"Obviously a place the Ancients used a lot," I mentioned to Celeste as we descended these steps, "They went through a lot of trouble to make it spacious and well-decorated."

"Strange people," Celeste said, "Who would want to build such a place under the ground?"

At the bottom of the steps we came into a long corridor. In front of us was a ledge, and when we stepped to the edge, we saw that it came to a stop before a wide channel in the ground with beams of metal laid out on the bottom. Turning right, we noticed that the channel continued out of the space we were in and into a dark tunnel. It did the same toward the left.

"What do you think went in that channel?" Celeste asked, "Boats?"

"Maybe," I frowned. I didn't have a clue. But we had clearly reached the underground tunnels that Maverick had mentioned.

There was a loud thud behind us, which echoed of the high, domed ceilings of the underground area. I held my breath as heavy footsteps descended the multiple levels of steps, convinced that it was Maverick, but afraid all the same.

"Sliced off its head and burned the body," Maverick boomed from the top of the steps to where Celeste and I stood, "It won't be telling any stories to the state mages. And by the time they send another one after all the casting I did up there, we'll be long gone."

"Thank you," I said with a sigh of relief, "How bad was the damage?"

"Not bad," Maverick shrugged, coming closer. He had a nasty burn mark around his neck from where the Investigator's silver chain had undoubtably landed, and his armor was sooty in places from smoke, but other than that he looked alight.

"Your neck," Celeste said gently, "Does it hurt?"

"Pain does not bother me," Maverick said, "Only death, which I narrowly escaped." He looked around with a satisfied grunt. "This will take us under the river and into a more complex system of tunnels. One of these tunnels runs directly under the Great Library. We'll be there soon after nightfall."

"What ran through these channels?" I asked the Summoned as I followed him down into one.

"I don't know," Maverick admitted, leading the way toward the mouth of the left tunnel, "These were out of use by the time I was around to see them. All I know is that they were used for transportation."

We entered the tunnel and began walking, following the gently sloping walls for what felt like a very long time, speaking little. I was still rattled by my encounter with the Investigator. Very few mages escaped their judgement, and I knew for certain I would not have if not for Maverick. I was eternally grateful for the circumstances that had led me to summoning him, however unfortunate they had been.

After a while the tunnel ended in an area much like the one we had come from, with steps leading up and out.

"We are under Nycene proper, we have to be careful of wards now," Maverick announced, "You can sense them, right?" he asked me. I nodded.

We continued following tunnels for hours, stopping at every 'station' as the Summoned called the areas which led back above ground so he could sense for the presence of wards. At one point we stopped following the tunnel we had been since before the river and turned down another one, heading east.

In the middle of this particular tunnel Maverick suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, and held out his arms to prevent Celeste and I from advancing any further. I could sense it too. A simple enough ward that would alert the casters of anything that passed through it. It would have been easy to dispel if that level of casting would not have also brought fresh Investigators down upon us.

"What now?" I asked and Maverick frowned.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "This is the only way to the Great Library. We're beneath the Three Towers now. I guess the state mages figured this ward was the only one they needed to keep anyone out of the area. If we go through it, we're done. If we dispel it, we're done. If we go above ground..."

"Done," Celeste nodded, "They'll be looking for us now...,"

I set down the pack with The Source and fished out some food for Celeste and I. It had been hours since I had last eaten and the hunger was clouding my thinking.

There had to be a way through, I just hadn't seen it yet. No way was I coming this far just to be turned around by a ward that any novice mage could cast. It was a simple rune. One of the first taught when learning about wards.

I finished my light snack and walked toward the damp walls of the tunnel. If I could find the rune that was creating the ward, I could corrupt it and turn it off. But the chances of the state mages placing it anywhere that someone could easily get to were next to impossible. The ward would be tied to a rune buried in the rock somewhere or one on the other side of the perimeter. If only I could use magic...

"I have an idea," I said, and fished out the rune etcher I kept stored in my treasure pack at all times, "If I can confuse the ward for a second or two, we can slip by unnoticed."

"Confuse it how?" Celeste asked.

"With another rune," I answered, going back to the wall, "If this ward uses the same rune to draw its power as the one I draw, then it will momentarily try to draw its power from mine. Magic isn't intelligent. It's energy. It follows the path of least resistance. So if I give it a source that's close by, it'll choose that one over the original."

"But won't that just shift the point of origin, rather than turn the ward off?" Celeste countered. I was impressed by her handle on the properties of magic.

"Yes," I nodded, and began to draw the rune, "But I'm going to add something extra. An off switch. It will make the rune temporary, and when it runs out of power, the ward will switch back to it's original point of origin. That will leave us a second or two to get past the ward before it turns back on."

"Doesn't that count as using magic?" Celeste asked.

I shook my head, and stood back to examine what I had just drawn. Only one line until it would be ready. "I'm not doing a casting," I explained, "None of my energy will be expended, which means no alarms. Just the jumping from one rune to another and back again. It's how magic motors work. Or would work, if they were made properly."

"That is smart thinking, master," Maverick said with a rare grin, "Ready when you are."

"When I finish the rune, Maverick and I will be able to sense the ward's movements," I explained to Celeste, "When I say go, you go as fast as you can and as far as you can. Understood?"

The nymph nodded and I picked up my pack. With a deep breath I drew the point of my etcher across the stone, finishing the rune. The ward faltered, and then shifted, drawing its power from my rune. Quickly I joined the others, waiting for the right moment when my rune's power would cease and the ward would turn itself off as it sought it's original point.

It came sooner than I thought, mere seconds after I had finished drawing it. "GO!" I shouted as I sensed the ward disappearing and we all three ran forward as fast as we could go. Maverick and I were outpaced by Celeste easily, our weight and builds holding us back.

"Stop," I said after we had ran for about a minute, "It should be reactivated by now. Let's wait and see if my plan worked." I was sure it had, but nerves still raced through my body like fire.

We all stood perfectly still, listening for any indication that the state mages had been alerted to our presence. No one speaking, hardly breathing.

After five minutes I let out an uneasy breath and cracked a grin, "Looks like we're in the clear."

Celeste hugged me and laughed, "Genius!"

Maverick clapped me on the back and I blushed with modest embarrassment. "It's just simple principles of magic," I shrugged, "Apparently the state mages don't expect to be outsmarted." It was luck. The King probably didn't view the underground as a viable means of entering the city, so had only ordered minimal protection. Any other place and I would not have been able to thwart the ward so easily.

"Come on," the Summoned said, "This way. We're almost there."

The Great Library is sixty stories tall, with the top ten stories used to house the librarians that live there. When we came into the tower from an underground passage Maverick knew an interestingly lot about, we were able to move up the floors with unimpeded ease.