Magi Saga 2: Shadows of Darkness (3 page)

- Columbia.

Diego Alverez passed the envelope to the man stood on the other side of his huge ornate oak desk with its gold plated pens and priceless ornaments. The paper envelope bulged with cash that nearly fell out of it.

‘Make sure this reaches Governor Diaz tonight. The address on the letter. Go.’

The man left the room as quick as he could, no doubt thankful to be out of Diego’s presence. The last man to skim off the top of these bribes lay sprawled on the floor next to where the man had just been standing. The dead man’s head sat on the desk. Diego liked scaring his enforcers, reminding them who was boss.

‘Clean that up,’ he said to the two other men in the room, his two closest and most loyal guards.

A short time later Diego entered his private office, and stopped dead, looking at the figure on the other side of the room.

The man wore combat trousers and looked like a scruffy Jamican, but Diego knew him to be some sort of Voodoo Priest, he’d seen the curses this man could cast. Immediately on recognising him, Deigo dropped to his knees.

‘Master Deon, I had no idea you were here, had I known…’

‘Quiet, tell me, has the bribe been made? What about the sacrifices?’

Deon stood before Marcus, head bowed in deference to his superiority. A short distance beyond, he could see Nymira talking with others of Marcus’ Coven, one of Nymira’s inner circle of Nomadic Covens in the central American area that she controlled which included Mexico, Columbia, Jamaica, Haiti and more.

‘Speak Deon mon, we don’t have all day,’ Marcus snapped.

‘Baal Marcus, of course. The Sacrifices are being made ready, they will be delivered in a few days, the Bribe is on its way to the Governor, we have some new FBI Agents under our control, and the Assassins are in place and ready to take out the Cartel Leaders if needed, the Drug war will continue unabated, you have my word.’

Death Sentence

The Pit Club, Manhattan

May 8th

‘What do you plan on doing now mon?’ Ekua asked, contempt in his Jamaican accented voice as he addressed Lucian.

Lucian sat at the head of the large wooden oval table, the padded office chair he sat in creaked slightly as he shifted his position. He leant back, feigning a relaxed attitude as he eyed his Coven mate through the haze of cannabis smoke that hung in the air. Ekua lent forward, arms on the table, hands clasped as he stared at Lucian. Ekua’s bright eyes bore into Lucian, waiting for his answer, no doubt to try and pull him down a peg or two in front of the rest of the Coven.

No love was lost between them, and it had been that way since Lucian had taken control of this Coven many years ago.

Lucian’s gaze passed over the other faces at the table, known as The Harbingers of Darkness the rest of his Coven waited for his answer.

‘If you’re thinkin’ I’m gonna just roll over for these Legacy fucks Ekua, you couldn’t be more wrong. We following up on some leads to get some local help, the delivery will happen, don’t you worry.’ Lucian added some sarcasm into those last few words, feeling annoyed at Ekua’s latest barb. ‘So, any other business?’ Lucian asked as he looked round the table.

The dimly lit room had only one light right above the table that seeped through the mist and haze, lighting the seven other people in here with an ominous glow.

Next to him on either side sat his two most loyal supporters, Raal and Lex. Raal sat to his right, his black robes almost disappearing into the gloom, his arms crossed, his tattooed face neutral. He rarely spoke at these meetings, preferring to listen and watch.

Lex, to his left, sat forward, listening intently to everything that happened. As usual, her large leather bound note book sat open in front of her, its pages covered in her handwriting. She often took notes or referred back to this book during these meetings. Whereas Raal played the role of the strong silent type, Lex took a far more active role in these meetings, speaking often and making sure the meeting didn’t move off topic too much. Lex acted as an executive manager for The Pit Club which this meeting room sat beneath.

The Club itself had a public manager, one of the Initiated that the Harbingers used for their day to day needs. These mundane humans who could not use magic but knew of its existence, and of the Magi hidden in the world about them worked for the Coven, usually in managerial roles within the Club. They made sure the Club ran smoothly and allowed the Magi that employed them to go about their business. Lex acted as the main point of contact for the Initiated when they needed to talk to the Magi in the Harbingers Coven.

Tattooed in Dark Script, the language of the Archons, from head to toe, Lex certainly made an impression. She lifted her head to look over the other faces that sat at the table, waiting to see if anyone would speak. Beyond the pitch black skinned Ekua, sat Bull, Noah and Shaun, and all of them shook their heads or made gestures to indicate they had nothing further to say.

Bull wasn’t terribly bright anyway, and rarely said much at these meetings unless it related to his pack of rabid Scion dogs down in the basement. Shaun and Noah, both of whom were Scion’s, also remained silent.

Sat between Lex and Shaun, Aneurin seemed to be ignoring Lucian’s question and reading something on the glowing screen of his tablet, Lucian looked at him for a moment, waiting to see if he had anything to add.

Aneurin couldn’t have been more opposite to the looks of Raal or Ekua, being relatively small and thin looking, but Aneurin’s strengths lay in other areas rather than in his fighting ability.

Lucian waited another few seconds, but with no motion from Aneurin, he took a breath and went to speak.

Only to be silenced by one raised finger from Aneurin. Lucian paused and waited, until his Coven mate looked up, a look of slight concern on his face.

Lucian scowled at Aneurin, he did not like being silenced like that, and the moment Aneurin looked at Lucian, he knew he’d made an error.

‘Apologies for the slight Baal Lucian,’ he said meekly, using the Nomad honorific for master or leader, ‘but I believe you will be interested in this.’

‘Go on,’ Luician said, withholding judgement until he knew why Aneurin had been so presumptuous.

‘I’ve just had word from Washington, it seems that we have Arcadian visitors in Manhattan. Three Magi have moved from Europe to New York intending to settle here in the city.’

Lucian raised his eyebrows and promptly forgot the momentary loss of respect that Aneurin had displayed a few seconds before.

It had been a while since the last Arcadian had tried to move into New York, and after he and Nymira had made such an example of the last lot, he had hoped that there would be no further attempts for a good long while.

New York had been Nomad territory since he had been an apprentice, and now that he had risen to lead the Nomad Coven in this city, he had worked hard to solidify that position.

True, the Arcadians had tried many times over the years to either make dents in his territory, or to take it over entirely, but with Nymira behind him, every attempt had failed. The Arcadians had little stomach for the Mortal body count that always accompanied such a fight, and that alone had often ended these incursions, but there had always been the threat of Nymira to back him up as well. An Arch Master Nomad was not to be trifled with, something that many an Arcadian had discovered to their cost.

Arcadians, he thought with disgust, they never seemed to give up, it made him sick to think of their sentimental love for the Riven masses of the world. One day the Archons would teach them the true meaning of their abilities, their birth right as leaders and masters of humanity.

In the meantime though, he would need to bring that lesson to them himself, and it sounded like his latest students had just arrived in New York.

‘And who are the lucky Magi this time?’ he asked.

‘Their names are Amanda-Jane Page,’

‘Hah, sounds like some hippy bouzen obeah girl to me mon.’ Lucian scoffed.

‘Indeed Baal, then there’s Elizabeth Fox and Gentle Water,’ Aneurin finished.

‘Gentle Water? I’ve heard of this fuck, he’s a Legacy Magus right?’

‘I believe so, yes,’ said Aneurin.

‘Fuck, well I ain’t wasting time while they think they can walk in here, into my city like I’m some kind of qwenga! Find out where they are, it’s time I teach them a lesson.’

‘Like you have with Yoh?’ Ekua said, just loud enough for all to hear.

‘Fuck you.’ Said Lucian as he stood up, not even looking at his Coven mate.

Ekua knew that Yoh had been a constant source of frustration for him, as the one Arcadian Magi that had evaded Lucian’s justice in New York. But he had grown used to Ekua’s snide remarks about Yoh. Ekua couldn’t find Yoh either, so he was in no place to talk.

‘I’ll be in my quarters contacting our master, as soon as you know more about them and where they are, I want to know.’

Lucian noticed movement to one side and saw Ekua sit back in his chair and smile to himself, Lucian didn’t need to read his mind to know what his Coven mate must be thinking. Lucian knew for that fact that if Ekua ran this Coven, he would be contacting their master, Nymira with this news as well. Ekua no doubt thought that Lucian was about to run crying to his mommy, but the fact that Ekua never voiced this opinion spoke volumes about how Ekua knew that to be very thin ice.

Lucian ignored the hidden criticism from Ekua, one day the time would come and he would get his just deserts as well.

In the meantime, he knew what he needed to do and left the room as the meeting broke up.  Striding along the dim corridor he passed through some double doors into his private apartment.

The space spread out before him in a very open plan design with each area or space running into each other, sometimes with furniture or screens to provide some delineation between one area and the next.

Lucian liked his private space to be sparse, minimalist, with modern furniture and muted colours, something that people found strange in a man like him.

Lucian stood a good 6 foot tall, his skin a deep dark Jamaican brown with strong defined features. His complexion had a slightly worn feel to it that spoke of the years of experience he had. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and although he was much older and could, if he chose, look much younger, he liked the way he looked, he felt he hit a fine balance between handsome and experienced that fit his position well.

Lucian wore his black hair in long dreads that spilled over his shoulders and down his back. Jewelry and trinkets attached to his dreads caught the light as he moved while his dark sleeveless coat and trousers stood in stark contrast to the décor of his home. He also wore a pair of black wrap around shades that he never seemed to be without, even in the dark.

Closing the door behind him, he took one step into the room before realizing he wasn’t alone in here.

He stopped dead and kept still and silent weighing up the feeling and what he should do while at the same time fuelling his Aegis with power.

‘Don’t bother,’ came a feminine voice from around the corner in his seating area, ‘I came to talk, not to fight,’

Lucian knew that voice anywhere. He relaxed slightly, but not too much, the last time they had met she had ripped through his mind to find god knows what and caused all sorts of trouble in the process.

Stepping forward he moved into view of the intruder.

Yasmin sat in the middle of his couch, legs crossed, arms spread wide over the back of the seat looking like she owned the place.

She wore her usual shiny black once piece catsuit that covered everything apart from her head. Lucian knew from previous encounters that the garment had been created magically to fit her perfectly, hugging her every curve, while also acting like impenetrable armour.

At her neck, rather than it ending in a straight line, like any other collar would, it looked like it might be liquid with runnels of black ichor running up her neck into her jaw and hair line.

Yasmin wore her hair loose and combed back away from her face, letting it fall about her head in waves of dark brown and black with the occasional purple highlight catching the dim light.

Lucian thought she was a good, if severe, looking woman. She had strong definition in her face, her cheek bones sharp and proud, her eyes piercing and cruel.

Those eyes of hers followed him into the room, watching him like a cat studies its prey before the kill.

Lucian looked at her, then eyed his apartment before returning his gaze back to her.

‘You left a back door somewhere?’ He said, referring to the Aegis, the Magical shield that protected the Club stopping unwanted Magi from teleporting in. Most Aegises placed around buildings had back doors woven into them by their creators, in order to let those in the know through the barrier as if it wasn’t there. Somehow, Yasmin had done exactly that here.

‘If this is going to be a regular thing, should I have a bed made up?’

‘Cute.’ She said, in her unaccented clipped tone.

Lucian sighed. ‘Okay Yasmin, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?’ He said, putting emphasis on the “this”.

‘Straight down to business? No chit chat?’ She said, cocking her head to one side, her voice now playful.

‘Fuck you Yasmin, I haven’t time for your shit, tell me why you’re here so we can both get on with our day. I got things to do mon.’

All hints of playfulness dropped from her face as she looked at him in silence, her eyes boring deep into his, and he immediately regretted his little outburst. Yasmin, like his master Nymira, ranked as a powerful Arch Magus. Most people had never met her, but the stories and legends about her were very well known having been retold and embellished for hundreds of years.

All Nomads paid their allegiance to one of the Archons, they struck deals with them that granted them power, they rose faster through the levels of ability with Magic, becoming more powerful much quicker than an Arcadian did, they were granted boons and deals, powers and abilities or knowledge, given to them by the Archons in return for their service and their immortal soul, their Anima Mundi that, upon their death, would not pass into Sheol, the land of the dead, but instead into the Abyss, where it fed the Archons.

All Nomads that is, apart from Yasmin. Legend had it that somehow, Yasmin beat the Archons at their own game, made deals and bargains that gave her access to power from several of the Archons, but without giving up her Soul to them.

It took a singular mind, a brilliance that few possessed to deal with the devil and win, but somehow Yasmin, so it was said, had done it.

Today, to most Magi who had never met her, they believed her to be nothing more than an elaborate fiction, she had become something of a boogyman, something that mentors scared their apprentices with. They would tell them stories of her exploits, of how they knew Magi that knew other Magi that knew victims of hers. The stories would become elaborate and terrifying, but few knew if they were real.

Lucian had heard of these stories, but he also knew that the woman herself was quite real, and very dangerous.