The Keeper and The Dragons Ch. 20

Chapter 20

Centralmarket, Oldtown

Elisabeth glared at the two women who stood in the doorway of her suite of rooms. She vaguely recognized the woman with the red hair. The Sabina Coven's enforcer.

"What's going on? Did my sisters send you? Look, I don't care what the aunties want. I can't go back now. I've got a problem to fix. A really serious one."

The two women looked at each other, bewilderment evident in their expressions.

The tall red-haired one who looked vaguely familiar tried to interrupt. "Look, you misunderstand. We just need your..."

Something about the blond woman was different. Elisabeth pushed up her glasses and peered at her. "You're a shifter, aren't you? Gosh, I've never met one of you. It's an honor. Does it hurt when you shift? I imagine it does. In the movies, all that bone realignment looks painful. Take Jacob Black, for example..."

"Not as painful as this," The Shifter woman muttered.

Elisabeth took a breath. "Wait, now I remember you. You're Katherine Keenan, Sabina's enforcer. Why would the Aunties send you of all people after me? That's a puzzle for sure..."

The tall red head calmly reached into her big handbag, grabbed the ornate orb and dangled it in front of her. Elisabeth's attention instantly fixed on it.

Her breathless barrage of questions stalled.

"Attend me," she snapped.

Nevermore flew out from wherever it was hiding and Buttons came out from underneath the bed and leapt into her arms.

Together, the three stared at the egg-shaped orb.

The two visitors stared at her.

"Sweet mother save us, Mistress Katherine. Where did you get this?"

"We retrieved it from the bodies of a were-hyena clan. We need you to unlock the wards so we can find the owner. You can, can't you? From what I remember in school, the Law of Contagion holds true for a while. We need to know where it came from."

Elisabeth was careful not to touch it. "It's a filthy, wicked thing. Are you sure you want to unlock it?"

Came the thought from the raven. "Fledgling, it smells like the hex."

"Yes, it does."

"Tell me Katherine, what do you know about druidic spell-craft?"

Katherine gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"

"The druids derived spells from the old magic that the daemon-folk from Niflheimr Realm practice. The books call it the blood magic of the old gods. It's forbidden and has unexpected aftereffects, so the covens forbid its study. The Red Queens would instantly show up at the doorstep of the coven that crossed the line and used it. You can recognize it right away because the aura of the magic glows purple in the aether. It smells of blood and brimstone—as does this artifact."

Niamh spoke up. "Wait, you mean demons are real? Like demons from hell?"

"No, daemons from Niflheimr. It's one of the four realms. Like Earth is one, so is Alfheim, the land of the Sidhe."

"What's the fourth?"

"Annwfn. Not much is known about that place. Some say that was where the legends of angels originated."

"Okay. Does that mean you can't help us find where this came from?"

"Oh no, I can tell you that for sure. I just wanted to say that this artifact is of Daoine Sidhe manufacture but some being has altered or shielded it with druidic spell-craft. I can sense that there's some awful stuff in there."

The dragon sisters swept into the room and interrupted the conversation.

"I see you have guests, Mistress Van Horn." Guang eyed the two women suspiciously. "Did you complete the task I set? What did you find?"

"You know I didn't," Elisabeth said, her voice tart. "Mistress, when were you going to tell me about how a demonic hex got inside your bank? The self-same hex that ensnared your harmonizer. She's still trapped in there. I can still hear her screams."

The dragon woman gave a slow blink. A nictating membrane slid across her yellow eyes that had sudden flickers of fire in the depths.

"You are as good as advertised, witch."

"Mistress, you have bigger problems than you know. The thing is mushrooming. It was crafted so that the more it devours—the bigger it grows—the hungrier it gets. It is only a matter of time before it envelops the entire bank. Give it enough time. It will take the entire city."

"Can you end it?" The dragon woman's voice was calm, but Elisabeth could sense the desperation that lurked underneath.

"I don't know is the truthful answer. But these two may provide a clue to the player who set it."

The elder sister turned her attention to the two visitors.

"Introduce me to your friends." She made a slight signal. Her sister left the room to return with a tea cart laden with snacks.

Elisabeth gestured to Katherine. "Mistress, let me introduce Katherine Keenan. She is a 12th circle spell-crafter from the Sabina Coven in Emory. She is one of their enforcers. Katherine, please meet Guang Pang, eldest of the Dragon Banker's daughters." Elisabeth's gaze shifted to Niamh. "I've not given Mistress Katherine a chance to introduce my other guest."

Katherine spoke up formally, "Mistress, this is Niamh Harpe. She is an enforcer for the Were-kin Council. She and I are partners, charged with investigating a series of murders in Northmarket."

"I see. You must be Selwyn's granddaughter. He sent word he was sending someone. You two are no doubt responsible for the recent event in the Shambles. Formidable. The Ebonflayer Clan are, or I guess I should say were extremely dangerous. They won't be mourned. Why are you here?"

Niamh looked at Katherine. At her answering nod, she held up the Orb.

The Dragon gave no reaction except a slight widening of her amber eyes and a tightening of her mouth. She made a motion with one delicate hand, which Niamh interpreted as a request for the tale of its discovery. After another glance at Katheryn, she launched into a concise explanation of the events in the Shambles.

The elegant banker sat in silence for a long minute, digesting the story.

She gestured to her sister, who stood silently by the door.

"Daiyu, please seek Ironwood and ask him to attend to me."

The emerald clad sister nodded and left.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door and the handsome wood elf, who she had last seen at her home in Fremont, entered the room. His eyes widened at the sight of Katherine and Niamh.

The banker issued instructions and the wood elf left. Elisabeth cursed to herself one more time that she didn't speak alfar.

"I have sent him across the thinning to Alfheim. We need to involve the Daoine. This is far bigger than I suspected. Now what can you tell me about the hex in my bank?"

"You have bad trouble. The hex is an archaic form of daemonic blood magic. Our covens forbid blood magic, not because it's evil, but because hominid minds can't control it well. Your hex is an example of why it's forbidden. It's unbelievably complex, and it's out of control. If I hadn't taken steps to protect myself and my companions, it would have captured us like it did your harmonizer. I have no hope of unraveling it without access to the source spell."

"What kind of source spell?"

"A spell of this magnitude is almost impossible to cast..." Elisabeth felt a sudden thrill of panic as a thought struck her. She looked at Katherine with fearful eyes.

"What?"

"Katherine, in your studies, have you heard of the Grey Grimoire?"

"That's a myth. There is no such thing."

Niamh was looking at them with impatience. "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with the Orb?"

Elisabeth answered, her voice slipping into lecture form, "The Grey Grimoire is said to have been written by a medieval monk. Which is ridiculous, of course, that implies he conceived it. No human mind could have created it. If that mythical monk wrote it, it was because he was possessed by some entity that dictated it to him, no doubt destroying him in the process. The aunties all say that it's a myth, but I've always thought it might be real. Too many stories about it in the old books."

"Wait, is that what the Druid was looking for when he confronted Lan three months ago?'"

"Maybe," Katheryn answered. "It would be like the old man to have something like that tucked away in Keeper House instead of destroying it."

"Oh, it's probably indestructible,' Elisabeth said. "It's so old that it's probably self-aware. It would take steps to protect itself."

The Dragon interrupted the history lesson. "The ripper is a lead. Mistress Elisabeth, can you determine who has handled it?"

"Sure." She took a piece of thick white sidewalk chalk and rapidly drew a large, perfect circle on the floor. She added a smaller pentagram inside it. She sat; knees folded into a lotus pose in the circle just outside the pentagram. She called Buttons to attend to her. The cat languidly walked over and curled up on her lap.

"Mistress Harpe, please place the device inside the pentagram. Be careful not to step on the chalk." While the others watched. She petted the cat and started a slow, monotonous chant.

An angry purple flared inside the pentagram as the wards protecting the object tripped and dissipated.

The others stepped back quickly.

Elisabeth's magic surrounded the object and phantom images emerged of snarling hyena faces. Then came one by one, three horrific murders. Two female humans and one young dwarven girl.

She had an odd thought it looked like a slasher movie, but this was not fiction but reality.

The raven's cold dispassionate thoughts sounded in her head, "—too deep and you will share the pain of the victims."

She nodded. Even from a distance could vaguely sense the victims' terror. She swallowed several times, trying to control her nausea and the sight and smell of all the blood.

"Nevermore, send this to the others. The sooner we get this, the sooner we can get out of this disgusting thing."

To the others, scenes began to emerge and roll backward like a rewinding movie. The final scene showed a squat brown-haired woman receiving the Orb from a small female goblin.

"HOLD!" The dragon woman's voice broke through her concentration. "That brown-haired woman is the Hyena Queen and I know the other female very well."

Elisabeth gratefully withdrew her attention from the web of energy. She looked up at the three women who gazed stone faced back at her.

"That was the worst thing I've ever felt in my life," she quavered. She felt fresh nausea. "This is evil. I was just skimming and I could feel the victims' terror.

Katherine stepped over and placed a hand on her forehead, muttered a cantrip and she suddenly felt calmer.

"Thank you." Elisabeth muttered. Her grand adventure didn't seem so much like fun anymore.

The Dragon Woman looked unmoved by the scenes she had just witnessed. "The female who gave the ripper to the Ebonflayer Queen was Aqui, the niece of a goblin called Goldeneyes."

"I know of her," Niamh spoke up. "That's good work Elisabeth. We'll leave you to your work, then."

"Not so fast. I'm afraid I have to come with you."

"You have work here," the Dragon's daughter snapped. "We have a bargain, you and I."

"I know we do, Mistress. I always keep my word, but I won't be able to untangle the hex that is holding your bank hostage until I get to the Grimoire holding the root spell. The magic that corrupted the Orb is the same magic as your hex. Demonic blood magic. I need to be there to recognize it when they stumble on it."

Fledgling, you are going to get us all killed.

The orc butler entered with an announcement, "Mistress, a visitor has arrived."

The dragon lady nodded, "Please, bide awhile if you would while I see to this."

Unbeknownst to all, the shard had completed its exploration of the twists and turns of the beings' intelligence. It was well satisfied it had found a suitable host at last.