abnormals underground 01 - one to five, page 21
“So Leon's body got stolen,” I said. “That reminded me of--”
“Marissa's magic,” Xavier filled in. “Thoreau's favorite Dark Mage. They're so bad that even we War Mages don't want much to do with them. They're human like us, but they have a long history of dealing with demons and Shadow Wraiths. The nature of their magic makes them turn, well, pretty bad.”
“I figured.” I checked to make sure we were still alone on the balcony. Check. “Why would Marissa want to steal Leon's body? What would Thoreau want with it?”
Xavier let go of my face and the tingles stopped. I just wished I knew what he was thinking about me. I had seen nothing but mixed signals so far. One moment, he was turning me away and the next he was pulling me closer.
We had to cooperate if we were going to get our parents back. I couldn't let myself get too caught up in this. My father was still sleeping in the Infernal Dimension.
“The bodies of War Mages still have all their power inside of them,” Xavier said. “It's why we're always buried in hidden tombs, like Leon would have been. Only the Elder War Mages know where these tombs are. The power in our bodies is that dangerous. We are never, ever cremated. It would wipe out everyone at the funeral ceremony and for miles around unless they were shielded with magic.”
It sounded horrible. “So War Magic is like, in your cells?” I asked.
Xavier nodded. “It's just like any other kind of energy. That's why rest and food replenish my magic. Anyway, it looks like Marissa transposed Leon's body to her location. And since she works with Thoreau, that means he has Leon's body as well.”
“Marissa can transpose anyone to her?” I asked.
“I'm not an expert on Dark Magic,” Xavier said, “but I think she can transpose people and objects to her if she has a sample of them. A piece of hair, skin, blood—whatever. Allunna could have provided her and Thoreau with some of Leon's hair or something, easily. She was the double agent for who knows how long.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “We fought her, Xavier. You think she got a sample of us? And Allunna took the swords with my blood to Thoreau.” More than once, people had used my blood to locate me. Trish and Elsina had created that amulet and found me that way, even though it had saved us at the apartments.
“If Marissa still had any samples of us, we would be back with Thoreau by now,” Xavier said. “Thoreau used your blood for something else so all the other demons on Cumberland could find you. He must not have any left. But this isn't much better. It's hard to extract a War Mage's power from their body, but there are legends that some really powerful beings can do it. If Thoreau's not one, I don't know who is.”
“What's he going to do with Leon's power?” I asked. “War Magic can kill demons.”
“I don't know,” Xavier said. “I can't see him fighting other demons with it unless he doesn't want them competing with them. What if he wants to experiment with that power and see if he can gain a resistance to it? Thoreau's been known to run experiments through the centuries. Ever heard of that baron that killed little kids in his fortress all the time? That was probably Thoreau.”
“No,” I said. I could imagine him doing those things with those fiery eyes of his.
“There's a reason he wants Leon's body,” Xavier said. “Everyone knows that someone like him getting a hold of a War Mage's body is very bad news. There's so much power inside of it. It's more than you can imagine, especially since Leon's a Lovelli. It's like how it would be if some terrorists stole nuclear weapons. Did you notice that everyone's getting ready to get out of here? They're scared Thoreau is going to attack.”
“How do we do that?” I followed Xavier to the stairs. The smells were all dissipating by the minute but it was no relief. Going after Leon's body would mean fights. Lots and lots of fights we might not survive.
But I hadn't fought in a few days or even swung my sword. The killer instinct was building up again and I was also getting hungry. I'd have to stop by and ask Trish for food before we left. A fight might do me good. I thought of Thorne, my martial arts instructor. I hadn't seen him in a few days, either, but he lived on the surface. He only came to the Underground sometimes.
“The body could be in the ATC building,” Xavier said, “but Thoreau knows we expect that and that there's going to be a push to get it back before he can extract the magic. Leon was old. He had a lot of power. He was probably the most powerful War Mage in the world and the power in his cells might be enough to destroy us all.”
Chapter Four
By time we got to the bottom of the stairs, Xavier and I were running so fast we almost toppled Janine over.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We might all die,” I said. “Thoreau took Leon's body and it's like a nuclear bomb with all the magic still in it. I've seen his magic. You don't want to be on the receiving end of it.”
Janine's eyes got huge as I took her arm and pulled her along. But she followed on her own and I let go.
“So the bodies of Abnormals are dangerous?” Janine asked. “I should tell that to my mother. She thinks—never mind. How are we going to find out where it went?”
I gave Janine the rundown while we made our way down the hall. Several of the Elder War Mages passed us, shuffling as fast as they could in the other direction. There would be no hanging out in the gilded underground mansion today, drinking tea. There was only planning for the worst.
“War Mages' bodies are dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands,” Xavier said, grinning at me for a split second. “I think Thoreau had his death planned the whole time. He never meant to let Allunna live. She served her purpose to him and that was it.”
The underground streets were bustling with anxiety and panic. Wooden wagons rolled past and Abnormals and Normals alike had backpacks slung over their backs, bags of luggage, and anything they could carry. People hung on corners, talking about places they could hide on the surface. I caught one woman in a green robe talking about leaving Cumberland and going to live with her Normal brother. We passed Frankincense but Xavier didn't hesitate there or even look in the direction of his home. I realized he was taking us to Elsina's hole in the wall.
Her literal hole in the wall.
We passed street after street. People were packing up the stuff in their alcoves and wagons with squeaky wheels moved down corridors and out of sight. Even the candles looked more sinister now, especially the skull lights with the green ones. I spotted Les down one street, talking with another burly werewolf man. He had a sack over his shoulder and hanging down his back, bulging with his belongings. The air smelled of fear and adrenaline. No one was taking any chances.
Janine tugged on my sleeve and I stopped next to an alcove that a Normal man was packing things in. “My mom,” Janine said. “I have to find her and warn her. She won't let any of these people talk to her.”
“Go ahead,” I said. “Do you know the way?” I was beginning to memorize the layout of this underground city.
“I think I do. You're going to see the fortune telling lady, right?”
“The Seer Mage,” Xavier corrected. “Yes. Where are you going to go?”
“I think my second cousin will take us in,” Janine said. “Mom doesn't know he got bit by a werewolf and I don't want to put that on him, but I can't think of anything else in the area. His name is Dwayne Eastman if you're looking for me.”
Janine ran off into the dim light, making a row of skull candles flicker. They were burning lower. Magic was beginning to abandon this place. The Mages were leaving and with them, their power.
The Underground had never felt so desolate.
We made our way to the corridor that led to Trish's infirmary, but it was empty. Trish's metal table and broken vanity were out along with the medical tools on the table, but Trish herself was missing. Only a few candles burned on the floor in a loose formation. The blue chalk symbols were gone from around the table. Someone had swept them up or no one had been bound to a War Mage for a while. I might have been the last. The illegal move—Binding Xavier and I before I passed the impossible test Leon had set up for me—had gotten Xavier temporarily banned from the Underground. Now that Leon was gone, he could stay here again, but he hadn't told me how it had gone with the rest of his family so far. They were the ones I hadn't met yet.
“Trish?” Xavier called. Then he shrugged and faced me. “I wonder where she is. She might be off looking for me right now. She must expect me to do something stupid like search for Leon's body.”
“Aren't the other War Mages going to do that?” I asked.
Xavier laughed. “You should see how the Elders meet and come up with plans. Everyone has to agree with a decision or a plan or they start all over again. It just wastes time. It's about their egos more than anything. They'll never get this done before Thoreau gets whatever it is he wants. You know how Normal politics work? Or should I say, don't work?”
“Oh,” I said. “I get it.”
“Exactly,” Xavier said.
“Is that why everyone's leaving?” I asked. “I can't blame them. Politics are the scariest things out there.”
“War Mages can be corrupt,” Xavier said. “I'm saying that and I am one.”
I thought about the gilded buildings and the protection that only kept that area safe. “That's pretty bad,” I said, turning out of Trish's room and back into the nearby corridor. “Elsina? Are you out here?”
I sniffed the air. It was clearing out. There weren't many Abnormals in this part of the Underground. I had a feeling this was the slum area since everyone was living in alcoves.
But one scent rose above the others.
A woodsy scent that marked anyone with magic.
“She's out here somewhere,” I said.
Xavier and I found Elsina deep in her alcove, sobbing to herself and packing her trinkets into a large leather bag.
“You're crying,” he said to her, stepping over her peddling table and entering her space. “That's not good. What did you see?”
Elsina sobbed again and threw a necklace into the bag. Her stuff was everywhere on the floor, scattered around like she was in a panic. It wasn't a good sign.
“I had a vision,” she said.
She looked very small in her blue robe. Very small, and poor. I had thought that she just set up shop here to sell magical trinkets to anyone who passed by, but when I looked around the alcove I spotted a sleeping bag, a bucket of water, and a Styrofoam cooler that smelled like old food. Elsina lived like a homeless person in the sewer with no one to keep her company. No one, except for Xavier.
I would be asking him a lot of questions later.
Elsina hugged Xavier and her gray hair spilled out and toppled around the shoulders of her robe. Her hands were very wrinkled and arthritic. She wasn't as old as Leon had been but she was getting there. She had the hands of someone who had seen a lot.
“Oh, Xavier,” she said. “I always love it when you come and see me. You need to leave. I saw fire last night. Demons' flames, and purple flames. They consumed everyone down here. There were screams of the dying.”
He shot me a look.
“Leon's body was stolen,” Xavier told her, picking each word with care. “We think Thoreau has it.”
Elsina gripped him and stared him in the eye. Her eyes were as blue as ever, like a much younger woman's. They looked like the ocean, like her magic. “Then we are doomed.”
She was a Seer Mage. That meant her dreams were probably more than just dreams. I looked up and down the corridor to make sure no fire was racing towards us. I wanted to go find Janine and pull her out of here before that happened.
Xavier cleared his throat. “How long away is this?”
“A week,” Elsina said. “My visions always come from a week away.” She stuffed another trinket into her bag. “If he takes Leon's body to the Dark Council, they will be able to extract...” she muttered something again as she turned and buried her face in Xavier's leather coat. She smelled of adrenaline, like every other frightened person down here.
“What's this Dark Council?” I asked. “And how do we find them?”
Elsina lifted her head and stood up all the way. She was taller than I'd expected, at least one head over me. “It is suicide to go after them. People do not speak about them much and until now, I thought they may not be real even though I've had dreams. They are said to be five of the most dangerous, most powerful beings in the world. Together, they are supposed to have the power to extract magic from cells, among other impossible things like raising the dead. If Thoreau took Leon's body, they must exist. If they did not, the body would be useless to him. That is why there is panic.”
“What kind of beings make up this Council?” Xavier asked.
“No one knows for sure,” Elsina said. “Thoreau himself may be one of them. He is old enough. Powerful enough.”
“Does this Council have to do with this Dark Pentagram thing?” I asked. “I keep seeing this theme of five coming up again and again.”
Elsina paused. “I do not know,” she says. “My visions don't let me see everything. I can't control them. There are more powerful things than me out there and they have the power to block my Sight when it comes to their greatest secrets.”
Xavier wasn't done. “Do you know where we can find them? I believe your visions. You saw me falling off that ladder when I was eight.”
“Did it happen?” I asked.
Xavier faced me. He frowned. “I thought she was joking. But...it happened and I broke my arm. Trish had to fix me up.”
Xavier had known Elsina for longer than I thought. With a family like his, I could see why he got out of his house and hung out here. But why hadn't he helped them?
“I do not know where the Dark Council meets,” Elsina thought. “They have powerful wards that keep them secret. Only those associated with them would know. I do think that it would take some time to extract Leon's power from his cells.”
“Are you sure this burning thing is going to happen a week from now?” I asked. “And you saw purple flames?” That was Leon's magic, all right.
“It was War Magic,” Elsina said, training those very blue eyes on me. “There were people here.”
“But everyone's leaving,” Xavier said. “That doesn't make sense if this is supposed to happen a week from now.”
“Will it?” I asked, panic rising. “Thoreau could strike right now if he wanted.”
“Extracting magic is something that would take a lot of effort and probably time,” Xavier said. “Things like that are never easy. I don't know of anyone who's done it. I believe that Elsina's right about it being a week from now. Everyone's leaving, but we don't know if they'll still be gone in a week.”
“Thoreau would want that,” Elsina said. “He would want to wait until a good time to strike. He is not a stupid mayor. You must find a way to locate this Dark Council. The only way to do that, I believe, would be to ask someone who is close to Thoreau.”
Xavier faced me. “We don't know anyone like that.”
“Great,” I said. “The only people I can think of would be Allunna or Marissa, but neither of them are going to talk to us. Wait. Is there a way to talk to the dead?”
* * * * *
We found Janine and her mother packing what few things they had once we got to Janine's little apartment. I realized Janine was living in a place way better than the slums and so was I. Maybe this was the middle class section of the Underground and the people in the slums were squatters.
Janine and her mom were the last people left in the area once Xavier and I got there. We had passed through the market and through lingering food smells, but the vendors were all gone and the booths empty. Even the lanterns were close to burning out in that giant room. The pubs and bars were vacated. I had only spotted one Normal bartender wiping up a table in a hurry on the way here.
“Oh. Good,” Janine said, facing me. “I wasn't sure I was going to find you through the streets. They're getting dark.” Her mother was in the back room, packing, so that was fortunate.
I had forgotten how much better I could see in the dark compared to Janine and Xavier. It was true that the candles were all getting low. I would be leading them out of here. I imagined a bunch of Abnormals escaping to the surface and scattering around the city until things seemed to die down and the Underground looked like it might be safe to return to. Then Thoreau would descend upon them when they all came back home. He would destroy his competition, his resistance to the ATC, unless Xavier and I stopped him.
I hoped Janine took a long time to get ready, because I wasn't looking forward to going to a bad part of Cumberland to meet Elsina's distant cousin who liked to dabble in necromancy.
Yes. Elsina had a distant cousin, Mack, who was a Dark Mage due to intermarriage in her family. Xavier had explained to me that different kinds of Mages could marry each other, just like they could marry Normals, even though they usually kept with their own type. Their children went one way or the other so there were no hybrids.
The guy was supposed to be a loner, not with the Underground or Thoreau, and Elsina had wished us luck in meeting with him. It was the only way we'd be able to speak with Allunna or anyone else who had died.
If she even wanted to talk to us, but it was our only hope.
Janine didn't take as long as I'd hoped. I felt the paper with the Mack's address on it, making sure it was still in my pocket. Mack lived in a junkyard and managed the place. That sounded like the perfect place to talk to the dead.
“I'm done,” Janine said, standing in her doorway with a suitcase. “I just have to wait for my mom. I talked her into going to live with my second cousin. Dwayne Eastman. Remember that.”
“That's good,” I said. “I don't think you want to come on this next mission. Xavier and I have seen Dark Mages. They're not fun.”
“They've been known to sacrifice people,” Xavier said.
“Really?” she asked. “I know this isn't like me, but I think I'll bow out of this one. Mom and I need to figure things out. But you had better come and visit. I might be Normal but I want to be your best friend.”
_preview.jpg)
