Fated fury, p.6
Fated Fury, page 6
NINE
I could hear the strain in his voice.
It was nearly impossible to detect, but I had spent most of my life listening to his voice, studying it for inflections and nuances. He had trained me to be the best, even better than he was.
He was nervous for me, probably more nervous than I was. To be honest, I felt I was more than ready. I had nearly perfected my ice mage cover, masking the null aspects of my energy signature. Not even Fen could tell I was a darkmage.
My power had not fully manifested, but I knew it would soon. Until then, I could use ice like any other ice mage. Stasis would be another thing entirely.
If I unleashed that power, I would be discovered immediately. Stasis wasn’t subtle. It was all about destruction and devastation. There was a reason darkmages were feared. A darkmage wielded more power than any mage from any of the other disciplines because darkmages drew their power directly from the energy around them, tapping into the source.
If my power manifested without a teacher to help me control it, the Directorate would find and erase me. In order to control my stasis ability, I needed a darkmage instructor.
Fen wasn’t a darkmage.
I absentmindedly ran a finger along the edge of my ring. The dark energy inside of it hummed at my touch, resonating with the power within.
Eventually, I knew I would need an actual darkmage when my power did manifest. I would need instruction and guidance, things Fen couldn’t show me. Manifesting while I was in the Directorate would be a problem.
A problem that could get me killed.
The only saving grace was that darkmage power and ice mage abilities were close in energy signature. It was theorized that ice mages were simply unmanifested darkmages. No one had proven that theory, but ice mages were rare and distrusted.
I glanced down at the ring between my fingers.
The ring was my failsafe to prevent noticeable outward demonstrations of my stasis power, but I didn’t know how effective it would be if I lost control and let my hair turn completely, or something worse, like a spontaneous blast of dark magic. If that happened, it was all over.
They would exterminate me on sight.
The Directorate Enforcers would crush me before I had a chance to react. I had to trust my failsafes and hope I could deal with my stasis ability when it happened. It made no sense to worry about things I couldn’t control.
Fen’s words came back to me: Don’t let the things you can’t control, control you.
I took a moment to catch my breath as I left our home. There was always a moment of hesitation before I stepped outside. We were currently living at 41 Commerce Street, on the corner of Commerce and Barrow Streets, in a converted townhouse.
All three floors belonged to us, with the ground floor and second floor for living, and the third floor for training. I opened the door and immediately felt the aura of power from the wards around the house envelope me, masking my energy signature.
The ring acted as an extension of the mask. I could travel several blocks away and still maintain the mask. If I went too far from the house, I risked breaking the connection and being exposed.
In essence, the ring hid me in plain sight. Fen said it was important for me to get out and move in the world, but not to be noticed.
That was his explanation for sending me on these short runs to several locations. I always had the feeling he was shadowing me to make sure I didn’t get lost.
I never once caught him following me, but I always felt he was close by.
I had no idea how he expected me to infiltrate the Mage Directorate. Even with my ice mage disguise, the Directorate Apprentice initiation process was grueling and extremely selective.
It was true, he had trained me in subterfuge, combat, tactics, and how to mask my ability, but as I had kept demonstrating over and over, holding that mask in the face of danger was proving to be an impossible challenge.
There was no way I could pass the entrance selection process, not without giving away my true identity. I needed another way in or this plan was over before it began.
I shook my head as I let the plan run through my mind.
It was impossible.
“Difficult, not impossible,” I said to myself as I walked the few blocks back to Patricia’s deli. “Practice, Val. That’s how it’s going to happen. Unending grinding and mind-numbing practice.”
I had walked for several blocks before a surge of power stopped me suddenly. I felt the surge of energy before I saw it.
My heart raced as the power grew closer.
Mages. There were mages close by. I sensed the energy and felt for its source. These weren’t just any mages. I recognized the power, and fear gripped me.
Directorate Mages.
I had only sensed this type of power once before, when I was a child. I looked around, but saw nothing. What did surprise me was that I saw no one on the streets around me. The street was empty.
I grabbed my ring and fed power into it, just enough to activate my mask, but not enough to attract attention from any wandering Directorate Mages.
“That’s odd,” I muttered to myself as I kept looking around. “I know it’s early, but these streets are rarely this empty.”
The surge of power increased behind me.
I dashed to the nearest wall and squeezed my body flat against it the way Fen had trained me so many times.
I managed to turn in time to see the fireball blaze past my face. The intensity of the fireball surprised me. Even though I had sensed it, I wasn’t prepared for the heat that nearly insta-tanned my face.
I followed the bright orange-red fireball with my gaze.
It crashed into an unknown man, detonating with a loud thwump as all the oxygen in the immediate area around him was consumed.
It had been so fast I hadn’t had time to think. I merely reacted. I pushed off the wall, bracing myself for the charred body that surely remained of the target.
Once the flames dissipated, the man stepped forward, dusting himself off. He looked unharmed. In fact, he looked angry as red energy formed around his hands.
“What was that, Michael?” the man said. “Since when do you use warning shots?”
“Bleed me dry,” I hissed under my breath as a Directorate mage closed on the man who had thrown up a shield to deflect the fireball. “He’s still alive.”
“Surrender,” the Directorate mage ordered, and I turned at his voice. It was short, stocky and dangerous from the morning Enforcer Patrols. “That was just meant to get your attention. Reinforcements are on their way. This is futile, Eric.”
Short, stocky, and dangerous was named Michael. He looked beyond livid. Whoever this Eric was, he had done something to anger him to a homicidal level.
“Surrender?” Eric said. “You must be delusional. Tell me, did you really need to kill the changeling? Or were you just letting your sadistic side out for a little air?”
“Does it matter?” Michael answered. “He went rogue, and you know the rules. Rogue changelings get the same treatment as darkmages. They get dead.”
I was liking Michael less by the second.
“Of course it matters,” Eric shot back, looking at a third Directorate mage who joined them. “Tell him, Xander. Tell him that changeling wasn’t a threat. He didn’t deserve to die.”
Xander—tall, dark, and handsome—had just come around the corner, and my heart seized for a second as I took him in. He was still gorgeous, but his eyes held a dangerous glint. I had never sensed their energy signatures before. Whatever was going on was serious. They weren’t patrolling. This energy signature meant they were ready for battle.
I needed to get off this street.
“For all we know, he could have been assisting the darkmage,” Michael said. “Aiding and abetting a darkmage incurs the same consequence as if he had been a darkmage.”
“A convenient lie,” Eric said. “Is this what we’ve become? Murderers for the Directorate?”
Xander remained silent, but looked away, his expression a mixture of pain and anger. My brain nearly checked out as I got a better look at his chiseled jaw and well-proportioned features.
He’s dangerous. He’s Directorate.
I reminded myself and got myself under control.
They all wore the black and red uniform of Directorate Enforcers—a red shirt and black tie under a black business suit, reinforced with sigils of protection with a solid red band of symbols along one arm. Their faces were uncovered, which surprised me. Directorate Mages on official business usually wore helms that covered the top half of their faces— a sort of half-mask to hide their identities.
Maybe these Enforcers were from a different division. I didn’t entirely recognize the uniform, but I recognized the colors.
The colors, red and black, meant they were from the Igneous discipline. Most of the Directorate Enforcers were from the same discipline.
Fen once told me it was one of the strongest and most feared of the disciplines. The Directorate preferred practitioners from the Igneous discipline because they made the most effective and deadly Enforcers.
That explained the fireball.
Xander looked at Michael, the Directorate Enforcer who had attacked, and shook his head.
“The changeling is alive,” Xander said. “He barely managed to get away, along with the darkmage, but they weren’t together.”
“The changeling means nothing, but the darkmage—he got away?” Michael asked, his expression irritated. “No matter, I’ll find him. I’ll find them both.”
“He won’t get far, not with that wound you gave him,” Xander said. “The changeling is a lost cause. We’ll never find it once it reaches a populated area. It will blend in and disappear.”
“Damn it. You let him get away,” Michael said as he turned to face Xander, the anger clear in his eyes. “I’ll hunt it and the darkmage down, once I deal with this traitor. No one escapes the Directorate.”
“Michael,” Xander said, “why don’t we take this back to the Directorate HQ? This situation is getting out of control and the aversion runes you cast won’t work indefinitely. We’ll have normals on the streets soon.”
“They don’t need to last indefinitely,” Michael said, taking a breath and regaining his composure. “They only need to work long enough for me to deal with him.”
Michael turned to glare at Eric.
I took a step back, closer to the wall.
Xander glanced at me and subtly shook his head.
How did he see me? He actually saw me?
I was worried by the fact that my mask had failed and that he had actually noticed me. If they discovered I was a darkmage, I was dead.
I couldn’t believe he could see me clearly. If my mask was working properly, I should have blended into the background of the street and been overlooked.
Either this Xander was stronger than the average Enforcer, or my mask wasn’t as strong as I thought.
Either way this was bad news.
“Michael, if you unleash another one of your blasts in this street, you could hurt someone,” Xander said. “Someone innocent, like her.”
Xander pointed at me.
“No one is innocent,” Michael answered, glancing at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Haven’t you learned that by now? If she gets caught in my blast, I’m not the one to blame.” He motioned to Eric with his chin. “That falls on him. He was the one who led us down this street. Besides, she’s a normal.”
He said that last part with a tone that meant I was expendable.
“That doesn’t justify her death,” Xander said. “We can’t just go around murdering people, just because they’re normal.”
“Are you insane?” Michael asked. “That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s what it sounded like,” Xander said, an edge to his voice. “What did you mean? Exactly.”
“She’s a normal, meaning just obscure her sight and cloud her memory.” He waved a hand in my direction. “She won’t see or remember anything,” Michael explained. “However, you know we can’t have witnesses to magical activity.”
“I’m aware,” Xander replied. “The Directorate has enough bad PR as it is. We don’t need to add to it.”
“Exactly. If you don’t obscure her, she goes from innocent bystander to collateral damage.” He turned to Eric. “Either way, it’s not my problem; her blood will be on your hands, Eric. I’m just following orders.”
“Said every coward of a killer in history,” Eric scoffed. “That how you dress it up so you can sleep at night? You’re just following orders?”
“Unlike you, I’m not confused, Eric,” Michael snarled. “I took an oath, we all did. We all swore to uphold that oath on pain of death, or did you forget?”
“I didn’t forget.”
“Then what is the issue? Either Xander obscures and clouds her, or she has to be removed permanently,” Michael answered. “This is SOP. Are you upset because of a dead changeling? Seriously?” He turned to Xander. “Xander? Can you do it or not?”
“She didn’t ask to be in the middle of this,” Xander said with a nod. “I can obscure her. I got it.”
“Make sure it takes,” Michael answered without even glancing at me. “Don’t forget the memory cloud.”
“It’ll work,” Xander said. “Just give me a minute.”
Xander stepped close to me and gestured, releasing some golden runic symbols into the air. I could barely focus on the symbols as my vision was locked on his face.
Wake the hell up, you’re in danger!
The symbols slowly descended on me, blurring my vision for a few seconds, before everything became clear again. He gestured again, and a darker set of symbols floated over to where I stood, buzzing in my head as they impacted me.
I had an idea what the symbols were meant to do, but I felt the power of my ring hum on my chest. Whatever was supposed to happen, my ring had blocked the effect of the casts. I could see everything clearly and my memory was intact.
“Done?” Michael asked. “Did it work?”
“As far as I can tell, yes,” Xander said, looking deep into my eyes as he placed a hand on either side of my face and pulled me close to peer into my eyes. We were nearly close enough to kiss. “The obscuring is in place and the memory cloud will take effect in a few minutes. She won’t remember or be able to see anything important.”
“I hope so, for her sake, Xan,” Michael answered. “You can’t save everyone. I would hate to have to cleanse her, but rules are rules. We have our orders.”
“And you’re just following orders, is that it?” Eric said from behind a shield of energy. “Always the good little soldier. You’re just a pawn like all the others. Have you ever stopped to consider why the Pentarch wants darkmages dead?”
I realized Enforcer Michael was somewhat unstable in a dangerously homicidal way. He didn’t care about anyone who wasn’t a mage, and even then, he only cared for those who seemed to believe as he did.
He seemed to be the leader of this group, and as the leader, he was used to being listened to and having his orders followed without question.
This was getting worse by the moment.
If I tried to leave, there was a good chance he would lash out and hit me with one of those fireballs. If I stayed, the chances of getting caught up in this mage battle increased by the second.
“I have,” Michael said after a pause. “It’s because darkmages are a threat to everything we stand for. They corrupt everything and everyone they touch with their lies and deceptions. The way they corrupted you.”
The dormant rage inside of me reared its head, but I kept it under control. According to them, I was a normal—I wouldn’t know about darkmages, or the Directorate hunting and killing us just because we were different.
“You’re wrong,” Eric countered, surprising me. It took all the strength of will I possessed to keep my expression neutral. He was an Enforcer, but he believed darkmages deserved a chance. He had just sentenced himself to death. “Darkmages are not evil. They’re people just like us, with hopes and dreams. They only want to be able to live in peace, left alone to live their lives. They pose us no threat. Darkmages—”
“No,” Michael said, his voice a blade of finality, cutting him off. “Darkmages die, everyone knows this. I know this. You know this. It has been this way since the Directorate was created.”
I felt the subtle increase in power around me. All three of these mages were gathering power into themselves. The air in the street all around us was becoming charged with energy.
I looked around and ducked back into one of the nearby doorways to present the smallest target possible. This was going to be a magical battle in broad daylight. They were either monumentally stupid, insane, or both. Once they got started, it would attract all kinds of attention.
None of it good.
It didn’t matter what kind of aversion runes were in place, a magical battle in the heart of the Village in the middle of the morning would get noticed by the Directorate and the population of the neighborhood.
That’s when things would really get ugly.
I needed to be gone before that happened.
TEN
“Of course I know this,” Eric snapped. “I wanted…I needed to know why? Why do darkmages die? Why can’t the Directorate answer that simple question? What are they so scared of? Have you ever met or spoken to a darkmage?”
“Darkmages are a danger not only to themselves, but to society as we know it, and to the entire Directorate,” Michael said. “Speak to them? Are you insane? What for? They are a blight on society, worthy only of extermination.”
“I’ve spoken to them,” Eric said, lowering his voice. “They’re people, not monsters.”
Michael turned his face away.
“Look at me,” Eric continued. “Do I look tainted? Look at me. It’s still me, your Directorate brother. We trained together, fought together, and now, because I spoke to a darkmage, I’m corrupted? Am I evil? The Pentarch are wrong. You know they’re wrong.”
