Consensus Breaking (The Auran Chronicles Book 2) (20 page)

He bent down and pulled the carpet back. The metal was familiar, a strange colour, like a swirl of rainbow mixed in with steel. As he reached down towards the thread he tried to call upon Avatari to find a matching memory, but strangely nothing would come.

He’d seen it before.

‘Seb, what are you doing?’ Sylph hissed, coming up behind him.

‘Look at this,’ he stepped back, holding up the metallic rope.

Sylph turned white.

‘What, what is it?’

She looked at him, her eyes wide with horror. ‘You don’t remember it, do you?’

‘What are you on about?’

‘That metal. It’s special. It suppresses Weave affinity, but only when it’s joined into an unbroken circle. Marek used one on you, a much smaller version.’

Then it came to him. Marek. The void ring. The rogue mage had wrapped it round Seb’s neck when he’d been captured. It disconnected an Aware from the Weave whilst the collar was being worn.

‘Oh, God.’

Seb stood, straining to see over the crowd. He opened his mouth, summoning the breath to shout, and the necessary Weave energy to pulse to all the gathered magi.

Then Sedaris pulled up two ends of the metal rope, one in each hand.

No!

Seb pulsed, the word like a mental scream that pierced all the minds of the magi. At the same time Sedaris put the two ends of the rope together.

And the Weave vanished.

The crowd exploded into uproar, mage upon mage experiencing the blind panic of being severed from their source of power. They turned to each other, some stunned with shock, others openly terrified, looking for some kind of explanation.

Sedaris gave it to them.

The stage beyond the round table vanished as a series of green vortices popped into existence. Figures stepped through, clad in black cloth, their faces obscured by blue masks. In their hands they held staffs similar to the magi, but theirs ended in a dagger-like point.

Seb recognised the garb instantly. He’d studied them after Enzo had mentioned them in their last session.

‘The Ninth Family. What the hell is going on?’

The answer came a second later.

The Ninth magi, at least a score of them, spread out in a line. Behind them came others, Unaware, but soldiers, clad in black armour, automatic weapons aimed at the panicked throng before them.

They didn’t have a chance.

Shouts of alarm turned to screams of panic as the Ninth magi raised their hands and unleashed a barrage of blue fire into the mass. At the same time the soldiers opened fire. Without their defences the nearest magi were defenceless, and they were cut down without mercy. The air filled with the screams of the dying, mixing with the stench of melting flesh. At one point Seb caught sight of Anna. She stood out amongst the magi as she pushed her way forwards in panic. At one point it seemed like she might get free of the mob, allowing a clear run up the steps to freedom.

A mage of the Ninth had seen her. He’d thrown his spear-tipped staff in her direction. The last thing Seb saw of his coterie-leader was her eyes widening in shock as she toppled forward, the staff protruding from her back.

‘Seb!’

Sylph’s shout shocked him back into awareness. The panic had reached the rafters where Seb, Sylph and the lowest level acolytes had gathered. As the screams and sounds of gunfire reached them, a stampede ensued, and the acolytes began streaming towards the exits.

‘We need to get out of here.’

‘What about those down there?’

‘We can’t help them, not right now.’ Sylph was looking at him, her eyes having taken on the rigid stare of someone entering shock. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her to look into his eyes.

‘Listen. Save who you can, they’ll need you. They’re only kids, most of them,’ he said. ‘But don’t leave by the front. Those vans out there…I just have a bad feeling. Take them down the south fire exit, it leads out onto the wastelands behind Domus.’

‘Where can I take them?’

He tried to think, his mind frustratingly slow without Avatari. Where could they go? Think dammit, think!

Then an idea.

‘Stay above ground. Join Queen’s highway. Take them back into the city.’

‘What? Right into the Unaware? They’ll be defenceless.’

‘The Ninth won’t be able to follow, the Consensus will be too strong there. Take them, call Cade. Take them back to Sanctuary.’

‘What? Gough won’t allow -’

‘Screw Gough! He wanted me to make a decision, didn’t he? Well, this is it. Take us, what’s left, and I’ll come. But we cannot turn them away, not now.’

Sylph didn’t argue any further. He pushed her forwards and bundled her out of the door behind the fleeing acolytes. As he reached the exit he risked a last look back.

It was hell on earth.

The auditorium was a bloodbath. The nearest magi, mainly Archmagi and elites from the various families, had been consumed immediately. Charred husks littered the floor, scorched into oblivion by the Ninth’s magi, who’d stayed outside of the massive Void Ring. Those who’d survived the initial assault were left lying on the floor, groaning and bleeding out from bullet wounds. Beyond those, at the edge of the inner circle, some still survived, huddled under the bodies of their brethren, some trying to use the empty rows of seats for cover as they ran towards the fire exits. But without the Weave they were sitting ducks, they wouldn’t make it out alive.

And through it all stood Sedaris, standing behind his podium. For a brief second Seb caught his eye, and in that moment between heartbeats, he remembered.

A creature reaching out, probing his mind, smashing the box that contained the message.

Marek’s master.

Then someone was running towards him. A horror covered in blood and burned down one side. They filled his vision, obscuring Sedaris behind them.

Barach.

‘Seb! Come on!’ the elite roared.

The shout shook him out of his paralysis. He followed as Barach burst out of the auditorium, right behind those magi that had made it out already, Sylph amongst them.

Armoured figures, dressed in black, stared back at them as they slid to a halt.

‘Oh God, Seb,’ Sylph whispered.

The soldiers opened fire. The first row of fleeing magi was mowed down in a hail of bullets. Those that didn’t fall scattered and ran to either side, seeking any kind of escape.

Seb had stood, stunned into inaction, when he first saw the soldiers before them. Then someone had barrelled into him from behind and knocked him to the floor. A second later the guns had erupted, and someone had fallen across him.

‘Sylph!’ he tried to shout, but his voice was muffled by the body on his chest.

Sylph!
He pulsed.

No response.

Wait.

He could pulse.

He
sensed
. Sylph was alive, hurrying down the fire escape, a handful of magi with her.

He could
sense.
The Weave was back.

Barach sensed it too. Seb felt a massive burst of Weave energy. He glanced to one side as the First’s Battlemaster burst out from behind cover, his face creased in fury. Barach raised both hands, and then the building shook as he blasted a wave of force that knocked the row of soldiers over. Barach shimmered and vanished, reappearing amongst those Ninth soldiers still standing. His staff had appeared in his hand and he blazed amongst them, cutting them down at speed before they could even react.

Seb shoved the body off him and
blurred
behind a pillar. Only a handful of magi were struggling out now, those who managed to make it through the doors would be free of the Void Ring, but most didn’t make it that far. Behind him, Barach was dispatching the remainder of the soldiers. The elite was badly wounded, anger alone spurring him on. Seb could see the erratic flares in his aura as his Weave connection dimmed. His strikes slowed as he weakened. And from inside the auditorium, Seb could feel them coming, the Ninth magi, ascending the rows towards the higher exits.

‘Barach!’

The elite slew the final soldier and slumped against the wall. Seb
blurred
over and hooked him over his shoulder.

‘No, wait,’ Barach slurred.

‘We need to get out of here!’

‘I said, wait!’

Barach shoved him back. He dropped to the floor, next to one of the Ninth soldiers. He hadn’t quite passed yet. Blood bubbled from his mouth. Barach yanked off the man’s visor.

‘Barach!’ Seb hissed. The magi were coming. Only yards away.

Barach ignored him. He batted the soldier’s feeble hand away and pinned him to the floor by the throat. Barach placed his other hand over the soldier’s eyes. The Weave wailed as Barach channelled a powerful Script. The man bucked and thrashed. Blood seeped down his cheeks from under Barach’s hands. A moment later he fell still, and Barach stood. He looked at Seb.

‘Let’s get the hell out of here.’

They hurried to the fire exit. Barach went first, but he was slow, feeling his way down the rail for support. Seb hesitated, just long enough for Barach to reach a turn in the stairwell, before turning back, closing the door behind him before the Barach even noticed.

Seb ran back across the room. He had to buy time for the others to escape. A pair of Ninth magi emerged from the auditorium to his left, and from the main stairs that led down to the main lobby, more soldiers appeared, slowing to a stop when they saw their comrades bloodied and broken on the floor. They saw Seb a second later. Several guns rose as one.

Seb’s mind raced at the speed of light. The stairwell beyond was blocked, and no doubt other soldiers lurked down that way. He’d barred the fire exit, hoping to buy time for Sylph and others. There was no escape. No…

Wait. Through the windows, beyond the soldiers. A building. Directly across the way from Domus. A hundred yards of air between that and the room in which he stood.

There was no time to think. Seb lunged out as a soldier came within a foot of him. He chopped at the man’s throat, and as he began to sag, Seb struck with both fists, Novo burning through him. The man flew backwards, straight into another pair of soldiers that went down under the impact.

Seb
blurred
once. Right into the face of another soldier. The men must’ve been Aware, or at least aware of the Weave, as the Consensus didn’t push back. Seb battered a gun away before kicking out, the soldier smashing through a glass partition.

Seb
blurred
again, and again. Each leap took him to another soldier, the whole sequence lasting no longer than a few seconds. By the time it was over ten soldiers lay on the floor, wounded or worse. The rest spun about, trying to catch sight of the mirage that had streaked through their number.

Seb faced the massive windows that looked down over the city. From this side he could see over the walls of the compound, back into the realms of the Unaware. He couldn’t make it there, not now. But he could make it across to the building opposite.

Maybe.

Seb channelled. His mind was aching now, the exertions of recent moments catching up. He summoned another burst of energy, readying for his next action. When the energy was maxed out, he called the Script to mind.

A Ninth mage materialised before him.

‘Trying to go somewhere, mageling?’ the mage said.

He acted on impulse. He brought his hands up, calling a Script to
push
the mage back, but it came a second too late. The mage thrust out, palm open, a blast of force sending Seb crashing through a set of closed doors into a meeting room next to the auditorium. He focused his shield just before he landed, cushioning him from the worst of the impact, and vaulted up, the pain receding instantly.

‘Your Archmage is angry,’ the mage said as she stepped through the door. ‘You allowed several of your magi to escape.’

Seb took a fighting stance. He channelled, calming his nerves, flooding his
sense
. The world slowed as he became hyper-aware of his surroundings.

‘Who the hell are you?’ he said, a feeble attempt to buy time.

The mage stopped and tilted her head. ‘A new dawn,’ she said, after a moment.

The mage
blurred
and she was in Seb’s face. He
sensed
the movement a split second before it occurred and blasted out with a wall of force that staggered her. He followed up with a flurry of blows into the mage’s chest, but she was too fast and
blurred
again, ducking down and then jabbing out with her staff, cracking Seb in the jaw and causing him to stagger him backwards towards the window. Before Seb could shake off the daze she
blurred
again. Seb was too slow and could only stand there as the mage drove her forehead into his face. Pain exploded and blood splattered the floor.

‘I didn’t think it would be this easy,’ she said. She turned to one side and brought the staff back for a killing blow.