Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (44 page)

“I beg your pardon,
girl?”

“I-I…I…uh…I heard about
people disappearing from Deimos and other places! They were estranged from
their parents and wanted to learn magecraft! Did they come here!?”

“
Zettai! What are
you doing!?
” Nolien hissed.

“No need to shout,
girl. Yes, they came here. I teach souls brave enough to enter this Fog Cloud
the true secrets of magecraft; not that rubbish Dengel Dopes spread around.”

Zettai laughed
nervously. “Oh well, so, if I enter the Fog cloud, will you teach me?”

He extended his hand to
Zettai.

“Little Mage, I’m
impressed by your desire to learn and your fearlessness in the face of
overwhelming power. Come with me and I will give you power that does not rely
on this Cloud. You will be the greatest mage in this country, after me.”

Bright eyed and with a
broad smile, she took her place at his side. He watched the other children
retreat and debated whether or not he should pursue them. It was brief. His
nephew could snap out of his funk at any moment and, without his own Bladicraft,
he could not win such a fight. The boy would have to return eventually for his
student and, in the meantime, he had a new apprentice.

He put his arm around
her and said, “Let us go, my little mage. I have much to show you.”

The Mana Cloud of Mount
Helios hosted an alien landscape. The mountain's cliffs and caves had long
since been transformed into bizarre shapes of semi-living rock. The footfalls
of golems were ever-present and random patches of ground bore carnivorous
grass, algae, and trees that snapped up nearby life forms. Monsters more
powerful than anything a civilian would see in their lifetime flew, walked, and
slithered in the shadows of the Fog. All of this was shrouded by the Fog
itself. Zettai was soon lost and clutched her protective mask to her mouth.
Mr.15 ripped it away.

“Breathe deeply, my
little mage. All around you is the essence of power and you can never control
power if you fear it.” He took a deep breath himself and the glow of his eyes
shined through his mask. “That is your first lesson.”

Throwing caution to the
wind, Zettai took a third breath of the Fog. This one was deeper than either of
the previous with Basilard. It filled her lungs and soul to full capacity. Her
eyes shined, her aura flared, and she threw up her hands in excitement.

“Hahahaha! This is
wonderful!”

“That’s the spirit!
This is power; this is life! Breathe it in and harness it!”

From out of the Fog
stepped a seven-foot and bipedal lizard. The three heads on its neck and
stomach licked their five jaws in anticipation of the coming meal. Its right
arm stretched twice its length to grab Mr.15 by the waist while the razors on
its withered left clashed repeatedly. Zettai gasped.

The Bladi man crushed
its wrist in his own right hand and then dashed forward to plunge his left
through its chest. He ripped out something resembling a water-stained book and
the monster withered into jerky.

“This is the second
lesson: Power is to be controlled. Once controlled, it must be directed to
greatest effect.” He bit off a piece of the monster's heart and offered it to
her. “This applies both to combat and to consumption.”

Hesitantly, she
accepted the sticky, slimy, still beating thing and nibbled it. The taste was
horrendous, but the meat was so invigorating that she took a bigger bite and
continued until it was gone. Mr.15 looked upon the young girl smeared with
blood and gorging herself on raw meat and smiled.

The pair continued up
the mountain. There were twisting paths that shifted beneath their feet and
thin crevices that droned of the lives they witnessed and ended. Zettai plugged
her ears with her fingers, but Mr.15 pulled them out.

“Lesson three: See everything,
hear everything, and experience everything. Never shy away from the deepest
darkness, nor the most horrible sounds, nor the possibility of grievous harm to
mind, body, or soul. Only the boldest push the limits and only the bravest
achieve greatness.”

At last, he stopped at
a large mound of rock. It stretched out for twenty feet in all directions.
Algae spread over it like a green-orange net. He placed his hand over a
protrusion and said, “We have arrived at the door to the future.”

To Zettai's surprise
and amazement, a spell diagram activated under Mr.15's hand. It glowed and its
many inner circles rotated as he unlocked the entrance. The door slid open
soundlessly.

“You wonder how I use
magic, do you not?”

Zettai nodded.

“Spirit and Blood.
Through my spirit, I control immediate reality and, through my blood, I bypass
that which seeks to control me. Come along now. You must meet those with whom you
will live for the foreseeable future.”

Inside was a similarly
foggy maze of corridors. Fog was the only decoration. The walls were bare and
so were the rooms she peeked into. Compared to the outside, it was dull.
Suddenly, she tripped over something.

Looking back, she
realized it was a human face down in the Fog. She nudged the woman five times
before provoking a response: a snarl from a non-human throat and a swipe from
partially formed claws on one hand. She stepped back and tripped over someone else.
The man flipped over and hissed at her, reptilian eyes wide. Zettai scrambled
to her feet and clung to Mr.15’s pants leg.

“These are my
customers. Please don't disturb them.”

“Customers?”

“I accept payment in
life energy.” Mr.15's left hand glowed with ethereal black light. “Days to
decades in exchange for safe passage to and from this safe and pleasurable
haven.”

“Then I bet you put
Eric somewhere nasty, right?”

“I did indeed. Do you
mind?”

Zettai crossed her arms
and looked away. “No. He was going to abandon me. I’m glad he’s here. I want to
show him that I found a better teacher.”

Mr.15 laughed and
ruffled her hair. “You can see him later.”

“Really!? I mean, do I
have to?”

“Yes, in the
laboratory, as I determine how Otherworlders mana mutate.”

“Ah…that’s a…um…a waste
of research material.”

“How so, my little
mage?”

“Um…he has this skull
thing…in Dengel’s Lair…it has lots of stuff about this ‘blessed with
monstrosity’ thing. Only he can bring it back. And he has darkness stuff too,
so….”

Mr.15 laughed again and
she trailed off.

“Very well. I’ll allow
you to visit him as a reward for good behavior.” 

He led her through more
corridors and they encountered more customers. All of them sniffed Zettai but
backed off when they noticed Mr.15. As dangerous as they were, none of them
compared to him. The more monstrous they were, the less likely they were to
realize this, and the greater the odds that he would kill them. He did so
without pity. At last, he stopped at a door bigger and grander than any other. Turning
around, he handed Zettai a red choker decorated with a black rose.

“Before we go any
further, you must swear to me that you will be my loyal apprentice and heir
until your death or I say otherwise.”

Zettai gulped. This guy
scared her more every minute, but it was the only way she could save Eric. As
soon as she found him, she could free him, and then he would get them both out
of here. They could walk out the door, perfectly invisible, just like he did
when he saved her at the gallows. All she had to do was play along until then. She
put on the choker.

“I-I swear.”

Mr.15 snapped the
choker in place. A column of ethereal black light encompassed her and a burning
sensation ran up and down her body, centering on her neck. It was hauntingly
similar to the noose she had worn two week before.

“You are free to betray
me, if you wish, but know that it will cause your immediate death.”

Ignoring her shock, he
turned back to the stone and placed his hand on it. A section of runes and
magic arrays lit up on contact and a full minute passed before the door slid
open. Inside was an immaculate laboratory.

To either side,
cabinets were carved into the stone, and between them were two aisles. Along
the length of both were vials of liquids and solids of many textures and
smells. Zettai examined all of them with delight. Many of them possessed blood,
but others the glowing green liquid she recognized as Mana Juice. Some of them contained
flesh and others sinew and still more dirt, which she assumed was saturated by the
Fog. It was a frightful place, but she was too fascinated to care.

“Your interest pleases
me, my little mage.”

“Does this stuff have
to do with mana mutation?”

“That, and other
things. I am the leading expert on many subjects, including mana mutation. The
elves may have more advanced technology, but their methodology is ancient and
primitive. Only my research and my methods will lead to reliable and effective
treatment.”

“What do you do?”

“Control of the body
through blood and control of the spirit through mana. You will help me do this,
and it will be the greatest magical achievement of the modern era. Come and
see.”

 He took her hand and
guided her to the far end of laboratory. Here, a cauldron simmered over a black
fire. Inside was a bubbling red-black liquid. A light radiated from it like
Mana Juice. The smells of iron, sulfur, sage, dirt, and more wafted up and into
the lab. They made Zettai gag.

“What the abyss is in
here?”

“My masterpiece in
process. I have been exiled from the degenerate Bladi clan and my birthright
has been sealed. However, it is not impotent. All I have to do is figure out
how to release it.”

Mr.15 plucked a syringe
from a tray and plunged it inside, filling it to the rim. When it was full, he
snapped his fingers and a trio of clones walked in behind Zettai. They made her
nervous. Anyone standing behind her made her nervous, but these gave her a
sense of impending doom.

“You gain my knowledge
and so become an extension of my mind.”

The boys grabbed her
arms. She expected this and avoided them momentarily, even pulling out of their
grip, but the two of them together held her in place. The girl tilted Zettai’s
head to the side to expose her neck. Between all three of them, she struggled
in vain.

“For that reason, you
must become an extension of my body.”

 Mr.15 placed the
syringe against her neck.

“To the rebirth of the
Bladi Clan! As the founder was given new life, so do I, the new founder, grant
you new life. May your blood forever run strong and your heart never falter.”

He injected the potion
into her neck and fire gushed into her veins. Her skin bleached from the point
of impact outward. She thrashed and screamed, but the trio held her still.

“I promised you power
independent of this Cloud, did I not? Once my blood has replaced your own, you
will possess power held by a chosen few; less than 0.0001 percent of the
world's population.”

Blood flowed from her
eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, and all the while, she screamed.

“Children, take her to
her room and dress her appropriately for her new role.”

“Yes, Father.”

They dragged the
tormented girl out of the lab. Mr.15 cast her from his mind and returned to
work. In addition to mana mutation treatment and unlocking of his curse, there
were other projects. The simulacrum for someone in Najica, made in the same
fashion as the student clones, for one. Then there were designer poisons for
interested parties in Façade, Death Rose chokers for troublesome women in
Anich, and the Bottled Fog he hoped to finish. There was a market for that
everywhere.

“Hmm…I wonder if that
shadow has woken up yet?”

Eric was bound to a
chair. His wrists and ankles were shackled to the chair legs as well as his
arms and legs. A magic canceling collar was locked on his neck and a thick gag
tied between his teeth. Four floodlights shined on him from four directions.
There was not a single shadow in the room.

“Wake up, my little
shadow. I wish to speak with you.”

The first thing Eric noticed
was a groggy feeling preventing him from truly waking up. The second thing he
noticed was that his neck was cold and his mouth was stuffed and dry. His
wrists and ankles were stiff and immobile.
So this is what Kasile felt
like...

He breathed through his
nose and high concentrations of mana flowed into him. It revived him. He hadn't
tasted mana like this since he was in Roalt and it made him more alert than
he'd felt in two weeks. Then he opened his eyes and saw Mr.15. At once, he
tried to disappear, but the floodlights shredded his Dark Veil immediately.

“I see you appreciate
the lights I've provided you,” Mr.15 said affably. “These are not mere mana-powered
lamps but genuine light-elemental energy. Your pesky darkness will not work in
here.”

Eric tried, but the
darkness was out of reach. Even if his mana wasn’t trapped by the collar, he
wouldn’t be able to hide his pinkie, let alone his whole body.

“One for each crime
against me.” Mr.15 stood at Eric's upper left corner. “The first is for
capturing Dark Staff: the traitorous bitch sold me out to the Bloody Daggers.”
He stepped to the upper right corner. “The second is for having the gall to
invade my lair.” He stepped to the lower right. “The third is for learning
under that despicable child, Basilard.” He stepped to the lower left. “The
fourth is for attacking my precious children. A prison of light for a creature of
shadow. What do you think?”

Eric couldn’t reply,
but Mr.15 acted as though he had.

“Yes, it was difficult preparing this room,
but given that you are a special guest, it was the least I could do. You will
remain here until I finish discussing business with your superior, at which
point, I will give you to Nulso. You may or may not be alive at that point.”