Consensus Breaking (The Auran Chronicles Book 2) (17 page)

Seb raced to wakefulness and sat bolt upright on the hard, cell bed. The faint hold of sleep vanished instantly, his
sense
flaring to life.

Who was that? They were Aware, certainly, but their aura was blurry, as if interference was preventing him getting a firm echo. He stood from the bed and walked to the door. His
sense
didn’t reveal anything aside from the fact that someone was inside the police station, someone with powers like his.

He tilted his head and channelled Avatari. He closed his eyes, allowing his ears to absorb a range of wavelengths far in excess of that of a normal human. A barrage of noise came back. He twitched, gritting his jaw against the painful racket as he filtered out the excess.

That’s better.

In the reception, a door opened. Someone, light of foot, walked up to the front desk. He
sensed
a change in the desk sergeant. Not fear, but something else.

Arousal.

‘Can I help you, miss…?’

‘Sarah, you can call me Sarah,’ came the response, a demure voice, almost a purr.

Seb smiled.

Sylph.

‘Right, of course,’ said the officer, flustered now. Something subtle pulled at the Weave, nothing overt. ‘How can I help you, Sarah?’

‘Is it just you here, all on your lonesome?’ Sylph said, her voice laced with seductive intent.

‘I - yes - well, no. There are others here, obviously, but just me on the front desk.’

‘Poor you,’ she said. ‘Don’t you get lonely out here, all by yourself?’

‘It’s…er…not as bad as you’d think,’ he replied.

Poor guy, his aura was all over the place. Whatever trick Sylph was pulling had him enthralled.

‘I’m here to see a friend, can I go in?’

‘Someone who works here?’

‘No, a prisoner. Seb Wilkinson.’

The officer’s aura dulled slightly. ‘Sorry, miss, no visitors.’

‘Ah, sorry, my mistake, silly me,’ Sylph giggled. ‘The cells are down there, aren’t they?’

‘Yes, bu --’

The pull on the Weave became a yank. What was she doing? He couldn’t determine the Script, not from where he was, but it was an effect he hadn’t felt before. He paused, listening intently.

‘Thank you, officer. Are these the keys?’

‘Yes.’

‘Take a nap, I won’t be long.’

There was a dull thud as the officer’s head hit the desk. Seb stepped back with a smile, shaking his head as he heard footsteps stop at the door. The key turned, the door unlocked and swung open.

‘Hello, stranger,’ Sylph said.

‘Nice trick you pulled there, what is that?’ he said, trying to ignore the revealing garb she was in.

‘Something for the Night Sister’s to know, and you to dream about,’ she said with a smile. ‘And stop with the ogling. As soon as we’re out of here this stuff is coming off.’

‘Really?’

Sylph laughed. ‘Sadly for you, you won’t be getting a show. Now let’s get out of here. The effect won’t last long.’

He hurried out after Sylph. There were others in the building still, even at this hour. Many of them were only feet away, but their auras were dim, fatigued. They made their way into the reception where the officer was still unconscious on the desk, snoring loudly.

‘Will he be okay?’ Seb said as they walked past.

‘He’ll be fine. He won’t remember a thing.’

‘He’ll be in trouble.’

‘Not our problem. Although if -’

Seb’s
sense
rang in his mind.

The double doors to the station opened, and two officers stepped through, one holding a soon-to-be resident by one arm.

‘What the h -’

Sylph was a blur. She struck out, cracking the officer on the throat with the edge of her hand, silencing him in an instant. He was sagging to his knees when she launched herself at the other, who to his credit had the presence of mind to backpedal. At the same time the handcuffed man fell forwards and Sylph slammed into him instead, the pair of them crashing into the wall.

The remaining officer fumbled for something on his belt, some kind of weapon. Seb lunged forwards, the Consensus pressing heavily against him. The officer pulled the Taser from his belt, the weapon fizzing to life. Seb caught him by the wrist, and with strength fuelled by Avatari, he forced the officer to press his own weapon into his side as it discharged. Seb stepped back as the officer convulsed on the floor.

Sylph rushed passed and pulled him by the arm.

‘We need to go!’

The station door opened out onto a busy road. Cars zipped past at speed, and the heavy rain made visibility poor.

‘Where to? Is there a Way nearby?’

‘Not far. Follow me.’

Seb followed as Sylph raced down the hill towards a busy junction. Cars spun round the roundabout at speed, one honking when they were cut up by another driver that ploughed on without even noticing, only infuriating the other driver more. Across the road a cobbled square containing a cluster of shops gathered around an old war memorial. Beyond that a narrow lane continued down the hill towards a church.

A church.

Seb
sensed
out, the Way crackling back at him from somewhere around the old building.

‘What is it with Ways and old buildings?’ he said as they hurried across the road.

‘I think it’s to do with the fact that churches are a natural hub of Weave energy. The collective will at such places is always high. The magi tapped into this, creating the Ways.’

‘Someone’s been paying attention in class,’ he said, smiling.

‘Not all of us get the luxury of going out and purging the Unaware.’

Sylph walked on several steps before noticing that Seb had stopped. She turned round.

‘What’s up?’

‘I don’t enjoy it.’

‘What?’

‘The purging. It’s wrong. It’s why I was in there in the first place.’

Sylph studied him for a moment, her brow furrowed as if she were contemplating something.

‘What is it?’ he said.

‘I was just deciding.’

‘Deciding what?’

‘Whether you were telling the truth or not.’

‘And?’

‘Lying was never one of your strong suits.’

‘You say it like it’s a bad thing.’

‘In certain situations.’ She turned back and resumed her march towards the church. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ she said as a flurry of sirens erupted from the police station car park.

‘Time to run!’

They pelted down the narrow lane. With it being dark and the rain providing a shield of water, the Consensus was weak at best. Aside from a couple of random pulses of awareness they were able to imbue their speed with the Weave, and they reached the bottom of the lane just as a patrol car started racing down towards them.

‘They’re onto us,’ Seb said.

He
sensed
the church. The tingling energy that emanated from the Way was coming from somewhere behind the building. He ran into the churchyard alongside Sylph, who he saw had pulled out a silenced handgun from inside her bag.

‘Really?’ he said, grabbing her arm.

‘We can’t get caught. They can’t remember us. You know what exposure to our kind can do.’

Seb didn’t debate the matter further. The car was racing towards them at high speed. They darted into the yard and flitted between gravestones as they made their way to the exit. The car screeched to a halt and four police officers spilled out, their torches casting probing beams into the yard.

‘Over here!’ Sylph hissed, stopping by a moss-covered tomb.

‘It’s closed?’ Seb crouched alongside her as he ran his hands across the cold stone.

Here lies Thomas Ackerwell. Born March 1842. Died well, December 1865.

‘
Shit! It allowed me in from the other side. I’ve never used this one before. Can you open it?’

Through imbued eyes Seb scanned the stone. He ran his fingers over the rough stone at the same time. Up above, the sound of an engine filled the air, along with the familiar whir of helicopter blades.

‘That for us?’ he said, not taking his eyes off the stone.
It must be here somewhere, it must be!

‘I guess so. It’s not every day someone breaks out of the police station and takes out two coppers at the same time.’

The officers were moving through the grounds at pace now. Two more had joined the first four, and they converged in a wide V shape.

It was only a matter of seconds before they were found.

‘Seb!’ Sylph hissed, raising the pistol so that it rested against the side of the gravestone.

‘There is Runic Script here but it’s faded. I can see most of it, but the final bit is worn away.’

‘Well can’t you guess what it says? Isn’t it obvious?’

‘It’s not like English, it doesn’t make a sentence. I need to think about it.’

‘You’ve ten seconds before I need to do something.’

Seb took a deep breath. He called the Script he could see, the runes forming bright white characters in his mind’s eye as they channelled the Weave. Only the last remained, its full structure eradicated by years of exposure to wind and rain. He ran the library through his mind, trying to find something similar. Was it that? No. He cast that one back. He scanned through the others at pace. Come on! Come on!

‘Too late.’

He was almost there. He didn’t move as Sylph left his side. Two officers froze as she appeared before them.

‘
Don’t kill them!’

‘
Just open the damned door!’

There! He found the rune. It had to be that one; it matched every aspect of the faded one he could feel on the stone. He called it, the rune flaring to life. The full Script activated and the Way opened up before him.

‘
Done it!’

‘Put your hands behind your head and take a step back.’

The voice came from behind him. How had he been so stupid? He didn’t need to look behind to know there was more than one there. He’d been so focused on unlocking the gate that he let his own defences slip.

Fool.

‘
We can’t get caught,’ Sylph
pulsed into his mind.

‘
Agreed. But no one has to die, either.’

‘The sheol?’

‘The sheol aren’t here. I’d be able to sense them if they were. Just do enough to get us out of here, understood?’

‘Spoilsport.’

‘Sylph!’

A pause.

‘Sylph!’

‘
Okay!’

One officer held back, some kind of weapon aimed at Seb. The other released some cuffs and approached him from behind.
Easy now
, he told himself. He channelled what he could, the Consensus still weak. Darkness and the weather were their friends tonight.

The officer stood behind him. At the same time two more rounded on Sylph. He met her eyes across the churchyard.

‘
Now!’
he pulsed.

Seb didn’t pause to see what Sylph would do. She was more than capable of taking on half-a-dozen trained soldiers. He just needed to look after himself. As the officer’s hand took his wrist he spun at speed, twisting his own arm and gripping the officer’s arm, pushing it back, forcing the man to yell in pain. The other raised his weapon but couldn’t get a shot in without risk of hitting his colleague. Instead, he dropped to one side and lunged forwards, just as Seb drove an imbued palm into the officer directly in front of him that sent the man tumbling into a heap on the grass. The other officer was on him almost straight away, discarding his taser in favour of a baton that he swung at Seb’s legs. Seb hopped over the strike and smashed an elbow into the side of the officer’s head. The stunned man dropped to his knees. Seb placed a hand on the officer’s neck and sent a quick jolt through his spine. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

‘Sylph?’

He hadn’t been concerned, not for Sylph anyway. He frowned as she sauntered over, leaving four downed officers behind her. All would live, but all carried with them injuries of various severity, including broken bones.

‘Was that necessary?’ he said as he put one foot inside the Way.

‘I don’t have the luxury of your little parlour tricks,’ she said, stepping in before him. ‘And besides, they’re alive, aren’t they?’

With a sc
owl he followed Sylph into the portal, the Way sealing behind them.

‘This is kind of like old times,’ Seb said. They trudged down an eerily quiet cobbled street, their footsteps echoing all around the underground passage as they moved.

‘Yeah it is, I guess. It’s nice not to have the sheol on our backs though, this time.’

‘Almost dull,’ Seb grinned.

‘Really?’ Sylph said, one eyebrow raised, ‘I doubt that somehow.’

‘Perhaps.’

Moments passed. The silence was comfortable, not easy, like it was with Cade, but not a struggle either. Still, Seb had many questions that didn’t sit quietly.

‘So what is it you actually do with the Night Sisters?’

‘This and that. Espionage, infiltration, that kind of thing.’

‘Assassinations?’ Seb said, thinking back to the way she dispatched the police officers in the graveyard.

‘If required.’

‘You like that?’

Sylph stopped. ‘Don’t do that, Seb.’

‘What?’

‘Get on your high horse again. You’re quick to judge others where in reality we’re just trying to make the best of what we’ve been given.’

‘Have you been talking to Cade?’

‘On occasion. He’s been busy.’

Seb sighed. ‘So he tells me.’

‘And to answer your question. No, I don’t like that. I don’t enjoy taking a life. We only do it if we have to, but it’s never easy.’

‘It’s not just sheol then?’

‘Where are the sheol? They’ve all sodded off haven’t they? No, there are other factions out there. Enemies of our kind, or would be, if they were allowed to flourish.’

‘Sounds very cloak and dagger.’

‘Apt.’

‘So you going tell me?’

‘I can’t, I’m sorry.’

‘Figured.’

They walked on further, emerging into a small square. In the centre stood an old well, worn and crumbled by time. Cobbled roads led off in two directions.

‘These places are just amazing. I’m still puzzled by them now. Why build this?’ he waved at the square. ‘What purpose did it serve if it’s all in a Way?’

Sylph smiled. ‘This is the Seb I like. The one who’s amazed by what he sees, not constantly angry about everything he encounters.’ She paused, noticing the change in Seb’s expression. ‘What is it?’

‘I don’t know. When you say angry, is that something recently?’

‘What, you?’

‘Yeah.’

Sylph paused, a finger pressed against her chin. ‘I don’t know. A few months. From what I’ve heard you started becoming a grumpy bastard pretty much as soon as we found the First.’

Had it been that long? He thought back over the previous months. His training with the sheol simulacrum and the pleasure he took from their destruction. Was it pleasure? Surely that was to be expected. They were the enemy after all. But no, there was something else, he knew that now. He enjoyed it. He’d enjoyed watching the life drain from them.

And then there was the incident with Grim. Grim was going to kill that family. Seb disagreed - who wouldn’t? But afterwards, the way they’d gone at each other. That wasn’t normal.

And now Grim was most likely dead.

What the hell was happening?

‘Seb?’ Sylph said.

‘What?’

‘You’ve got that gormless expression that men excel at, plus your mouth’s been drooling for a good minute.’

Seb laughed. It felt good. He sat down on the well.

‘Something
has
been wrong with me,’ he said.

‘How so?’

He told her of his thoughts, of the slowly building tension that had grown in him ever since they’d found the Family. How he’d argued with Cade and nearly killed Grim. He felt good to let it out, to share the burden with someone else. It was at this moment that he realised how alone he’d actually become.

‘And then it just went away, when you were fighting Grim?’

‘Fighting? I was going to kill him. I’d never felt such…such
relish
. I wanted to see him dead. I wanted to see his brains on the floor. I-I…’ he looked at his hands as he flexed them.

Sylph put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, his eyes glistening in the dark.

‘But you didn’t,’ she whispered.

‘It was like a light had been turned on in my head. Something went, and I mean
something
. I physically felt it leave, I’m sure of it.’

‘What, some kind of effect?’

Seb shrugged. ‘I hadn’t thought of it properly until now, but yeah, maybe.’

‘And that means Grim was probably under the same effect, too?’

‘I guess so,’ Seb stood. ‘Not as bad as me, though. What happened to him, anyway?’

The way Sylph glanced away made him feel uneasy.

‘Sylph?’

‘He didn’t make it. He burned himself out.’

‘No way.’

Sylph shrugged past him. ‘You’re lucky it wasn’t you, too.’

***

They’d been walking for what felt like hours. Seb had lowered his Avatari ages ago, the ache of muscle more preferable to the pain of a burned mind. Now though his thighs were starting to throb and his feet ached. He leant against a stone arch and flexed his neck.

‘Come on, almost there now,’ Sylph said.

‘You said that two hours ago.’

‘Don’t exaggerate, Seb. And besides, I thought you magi were supposed to be fit?’

‘Fit, yes. Olympians? No. Come on, Sylph. Where are we going?’

Sylph stopped at a junction of two cobbled streets. One curved off further into the darkness, the other seemed to go a short way before stopping against a massive stone wall. She crouched now, feeling her hands across the smooth stone.

‘What are you looking for?’ Seb trudged up behind her and peered down the road.
Sense
revealed nothing, but it was the only route on. ‘We going or what?’

‘I’m sure this is the place. I’ve never come here from this route before. I just need to be sure that’s all.’

‘Sure about what?’

‘That I don’t get us both killed.’

‘What the hell?’

‘Here it is.’

Seb peered over as Sylph scrubbed away the moss on the floor. What the hell was she looking at? He activated Avatari and extended his visual spectrum. Slipping into ultraviolet it appeared - a strange rune he’d never seen before.

‘What’s that?’

Sylph glanced up. ‘Nosey.’ She stood up and walked down into the gloomy street with the dead end. Where was she going?

Seb followed her down. His
sense
didn’t reveal anything untoward. There was no Weave effect in place here. But as he approached something began itching at the periphery of his awareness. Avatari didn’t help - aside from himself and Sylph there was nothing else there. So what was it?

Sylph was approaching the wall at the end, but she was walking strangely, as if balancing on an unseen rope. One painfully slow step followed another, each movement measured to a high precision. Seb hurried to catch up.

‘Sylph, what are you doing?’

Sylph shot a look back. Her mouth fell open. ‘Stop!’

He froze.

‘What is it?’

‘Look down.’

He didn’t see it at first, but as his focus adjusted he saw a razor-thin wire stretched across the passage, his leg just about pressing against it.

‘What’s that?’

‘Insurance. Don’t move.’

He obeyed. Sylph turned and carried on rummaging in the shadows. Something clicked, and the wire fell slack.

‘Come on, it’s safe now.’

Sylph stepped
through
the wall. Seb followed. His head was aching from Weave use, so he dropped his connection, reducing him to just his normal human senses. It was a frightening and exhilarating experience at the same time. He kept pace with Sylph. She powered on down the passage as it followed a decline that made Seb’s ears pop.

‘Why do I not think we’re back at the Family?’ he said.

‘No shit, Sherlock. You’ll see better for yourself. Just don’t panic or anything, okay?’

When someone says don’t panic, it generally means there’s something to panic
about.
He swallowed down whatever fear tried to bubble up and carried on. He’d made it ten paces before something moved in the shadows on either side.

‘What’s that?’

He stopped and peered into the shadows. Two yellow, cat-like eyes stared back at him. The owner of the eyes held some kind of crossbow aimed directly at his heart. The silver bolt was coated in a dark resin. A quick glance over his shoulder showed another person hidden in a similar alcove staring back at him.

‘Are these Brotherhood?’ he said as Sylph pulled him along.

‘I told you, just keep cool. It’ll be easier that way.’

The road abruptly ended, spilling onto a large plaza that at first glance seemed as big as the Nexus itself. The cobbled ground extended in all directions. Around the periphery of the chamber assorted buildings of various size and shape had been built into the walls, often forced into extreme angles to fit the structure of the chamber. High above, a massive glowing gem, bound in chain, hung from the ceiling, casting a soothing purple light across the populace.

The populace.

There must’ve been tens, if not hundreds, of people in the plaza. As Seb dared open his
sense
just a small amount, allowing sensation to flow back into his mind, he detected a vast mix of Aware gathered amongst the chamber. Most were weak or newly Aware, barely touching the Weave. But there was also power down there, too. Strange echoes, new to him, but with powers that made them stand out amongst the rest. All of them milled about in groups of varying size, some idly talking together, others gathered at stalls or buildings conversing over various goods and wares.

What the hell was this place?

‘Mage!’

The cry, uttered from somewhere in the plaza, shocked him out of his silent meanderings.

‘Oh, shit.’ Sylph murmured.

A human male stormed out from a crowd that suddenly parted before him. As he approached, the group reformed, creating a circle around the three of them.

‘What the hell have you done, Sylph?’

The man was a member of the Brotherhood. Or at least,
was
a member. He had grey hair, cut to a fuzz. His face was covered in scars. The man’s yellow eyes blazed in Seb’s direction, and for a moment Seb didn’t notice the girl that clung to the brother’s leg. When he did, he crouched and smiled.

‘Hey there, my name’s Seb, what’s yours?’

The blow knocked Seb clean off his feet. He channelled Avatari just in time, and managed to roll with the impact, coming to his knees in a slight skid. He spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and launched himself forwards, Avatari flowing, subduing the pain in his shoulder. The warrior hastily pushed the girl to one side before readying himself for the attack.

‘Hold!’

Seb froze. The voice was familiar, dispelling the anger in an instant. He was just a foot away from the grey-haired warrior, his energy focused into his balled fists. He glanced left.

‘Cade!’

‘Causing trouble as always?’ Cade strode forward, flanked by two other Brotherhood warriors. He held out a hand in greeting which Seb took gratefully. ‘Morgan, this is Seb, the one I told you about,’ Cade said to the older warrior.

‘I figured that now. What’s he doing here?’ Morgan shot a look at Sylph. ‘She had no right!’

Sylph rounded on Morgan. ‘
She
had every right. I’m as much a part of this as anyone else, am I not?’

‘Not without running it past Gough, or Cade! Stupid girl. This boy could bring all of this crashing down!’

‘That’s enough. Both of you,’ Cade said. He looked at Sylph first. ‘Sylph, Morgan is right. There’s a right time and place for this. I’d approached Seb already. Why did you choose to do it now?’

Sylph had turned a bright red. Her eyes were narrow and her lips pursed. ‘He’s ready. He pretty much said it to me.’

‘That’s not enough and you know it.’

‘Yeah, well, sometimes we just need to act. None of this waiting around bollocks.’

‘I think you need some time out, Sylph. Wouldn’t you agree?’

She opened her mouth but the glare from Cade silenced her in a heartbeat. She huffed and stormed off, vanishing into the crowd.

‘Morgan, I’ll take it from here, okay?’ Cade said.

The warrior grunted, pivoted and marched away. The little girl lingered and peeked at Seb from behind the warrior’s legs as she hurried with him. Seb smiled and waved. The girl blushed and vanished.

‘Cute kid,’ Seb said as Cade came to his side.