Authors: Andrew Ball
interference treaty with him."
"A treaty?"
"Summoning them here is dangerous just
by the nature of the fact that we’re something
they could consume for energy, but the treaty
regulates what they can and can’t do while
under our stewardship. It’s about as stable as
anything else in the magical world, but we
have the right to destroy any rogue demons
that don’t obey its edicts. Not that the threat
of death stops all of them."
"So you can just call them here as
servants whenever you want?"
"Not exactly."
"What do they get in exchange?"
Eleanor paused. "Why are you so
interested?"
"Knowledge is half the battle," Daniel
said.
"Has the lord moved?"
"Still where he was. Can’t feel him?"
She looked back ahead. "It feels more
like an oppressive fog than anything I can
pinpoint. Your sight is formidable."
They didn’t speak for a minute, each lost
in their own thoughts. Rachel’s fingers itched
to hold Daniel’s hand. He caught her eye.
His look said everything. They had to keep
their closeness secret. Daniel was in a bad
enough position as it was.
"How have you been hiding from us?"
Rothschild asked.
Daniel gave him a look. "And I should
tell you because…?"
"Daniel," Eleanor warned.
"Didn’t you pry what you needed out of
Jack?"
"He wasn’t talkative," Eleanor said.
"None of the ones we’ve captured have been.
The Dawn doesn’t stoop to torture."
Daniel looked away. "Where is he?"
"Imprisoned in Hell," Rothschild
answered, "where he belongs."
Rachel couldn’t see Daniel’s face, but
she knew how he felt. He’d been hurt by that.
"You were telling us about your
powers?" Eleanor prompted.
"Klide magic," Daniel said. "Part of
Xik’s contract. He told me it’s the major
reason they’ve kept up with the Vorid. I’ll
show you." Daniel frowned in concentration.
"Ok. Try to sense me."
Rachel switched her sight to the blurry
world of her scrying sense. Eleanor and the
rest of the column were bright white outlines
marching down the street, but Daniel was
gone. His spiritual presence had erased
itself.
"Incredible," Eleanor said.
"That would be something worth
harnessing," Rothschild said. "How does it
work?"
Daniel shrugged. "All my powers are
intuitive. I push, and it happens. I push
harder and more happens. That’s it. Hiding’s
the same. I just imagine wrapping myself up.
But it gets harder to use a lot of magic and
stay very hidden at the same time. There are
layers of stealth. It’s like a balancing act."
Daniel glanced between them. "Your magic
seems complicated to me. All the commands
and words and gestures, and the sigils—
forget it. The sigil I make to move around is
the most I can do, and it still gives me a
headache."
"Where would you have learned sigil
magic?" Rothschild asked.
Rachel tensed up, but Daniel was ready
for the question. "I was in Boston for a
while. Hiding made it easy to spy on the real
mages. I tried copying what they did." Daniel
gestured at Eleanor. "That’s why she knows
me. We were at the same college."
"What he says is true," Eleanor said.
Rothschild nodded, satisfied. Rachel
sighed.
They were at the edge of the square. The
black pillars soared up alongside man-made
towers. Far above that sat the fortress, big
enough that it felt like a roof blocking part of
the sky.
Daniel adjusted his helmet with a hand
and hefted his shield. "How long until the
helicopters get here?"
Rothschild placed a finger on his
earpiece. "Under five minutes."
"Alright." Daniel gripped his bat.
They’d offered him the steel mace favored
by some of the Dawn magicians, but
apparently he’d grown fond of his
improvised club. "I’ll try to pin him down
with a big attack, force him to block. That’s
when you attack."
"Understood," Eleanor said.
Daniel walked forward. They followed
him a short while longer, then let him tramp
forward alone. He seemed relaxed. Rachel
didn’t know how he did it. She felt about
ready to scream.
The lord slipped out from behind a
pillar. The five black scythes floated just
behind it. Its head tilted curiously as it
watched Daniel approach.
They all flinched. Daniel stopped and
looked up at the Vorid. Rachel and Eleanor
exchanged a glance. There was only one
thing it could be.
"Was that you?" Daniel called. He was
close enough that they could still hear him.
The voice was pervasive, everywhere at
once, almost as if it was in her head.
was.>
"I didn’t know Vorid knew English."
irrelevant.> The lord drifted down until it
was only a few yards from Daniel.
waited for your return. Let us treat.>
Daniel was balanced on the edge of his
toes. "Treat. Right."
Its lips didn’t move when it spoke. It
had to be some sort of spell.
not given lightly.>
Daniel looked back at them, gave them
all a big wink, then turned back. Rachel tried
not to look mortified. She didn’t think she
did a good job of it, but everyone else
wasn’t doing much better.
"Alright then," Daniel said, "what’s
up?"
so-called allies.> The lord mentioned it as if
eavesdropping on a conversation a mile
away wasn’t anything special.
following your progress throughout this
battle, Daniel Fitzgerald. I have not stopped
you because you did not need to be
stopped.>
"Maybe you thought you couldn’t stop
me," Daniel said.
you know it to be true. But I had another
idea.>
"And what was that?"
indeed, despite consideration that goes far
beyond anything they deserve—your fellows
rebuff and reject you. You are threatened for
the crime of daring to change your life for the
better. For helping your kin, you are an
outcast.> The lord gently waved a hand.
and exile you?>
"I wouldn’t expect you to understand."
Obligation. Your family needs your
protection. I submit to you that they would be
much more safe if you joined me.>
"Run that by me one more time?"
You have single-handedly slaughtered many
of my forces. Amongst my people, this isn’t
something to fear. It is something to be
commended. We do not share the human idea
of mortality. Those you have killed live on
inside of you. In putting that force to good
use, you honor their lives, and make them
that much greater.>
"Is that what you’re doing for the
overseers you just killed?"
made the request, but they answered. They
knew they could not defeat you, so they gave
their souls to me.>
Rachel’s eyes widened. The lord didn’t
take their souls? Were they insane?
The Vorid are not one race. We are a
collective. My own race is but one splinter
of a greater whole spread throughout the
multiverse, and I merely the one chosen to
conduct the invasion of your world. You
shall be the first human Vorid.>
"No thanks. I’m no one’s bitch."
The Vorid lord laughed low and deep.
Rachel’s spine shivered.
me out?>
"You’re full of it. Your king would suck
out my soul in a heartbeat."
said.
lifetimes distant. For the time being, we must
stay scattered. Warriors such as myself, such
as you, are needed to absorb those worlds. In
the long years until the end, we are
respected. We are rewarded. Your place
would be one of reverence; your powers are
useful and deadly. You wouldn’t be the first
to join the winning side, and certainly not the
last.>
"So I guess my brother just gets sucked
into an extractor then?"
went very still. Rachel felt a slight
nervousness.
benefits of your favor and protection. You
will live like you’ve never dreamed. In
exchange, you can fight for us. For our
cause.> The lord spread its arms.
you struggle for these dirty streets? These
primitive buildings? Peers that scorn you
even as you save their lives?
multiverse,> the lord continued.
Unification, a rebirth, is the solution of
zealous fools. Yet despite these claims,
they’ve produced no alternative answer.
They cannot stop the black death of entropy.
And even if they could, what would such a
resolution accomplish? They’d rather hold
everything in stasis. They cling to the
present, freezing all that is or could be into a
silent sterility. Is that what life is? Silent?
Unmoving? No. I must cast a spell to
produce my dome of magic, to force life to
become such. On its own, life is growth. Life
is change.
together this universe not out of hatred, nor in
joy, but because it is our sacred duty. All
things must end, but they do not have to end
in darkness. Our souls will bring forward a
light to restart the cycle of worlds. We shall
become the stars of a new multiverse in
years beyond our comprehension. The
explosion of the multiverse ignited the
expansion of every individual universe. It
happened before—and it must happen again.
But it won’t, unless we make it.>
During its long speech, the Vorid had
turned its face up to the sky. It looked back to
Daniel.
Daniel Fitzgerald. But we are still vital cogs
of righteousness powering the machine of the
future. Fight with me for that cause. Do not
live as a warrior cursed by your own people.
Live as a champion lauded by mine. What
say you?>
Daniel jabbed his bat into the ground. It
stuck in the asphalt. He raised his hand.
"High-five on it."
"Human tradition," Daniel said. "Slap
your hand to mine. It’s a symbol of trust. I’ll
join the Vorid."
Rachel’s mind reeled. Daniel, sell them
all out? Betray them? Betray her?
"This is what we get for leniency?!"
Rothschild roared. Flames leapt up around
him.
"Wait," Eleanor said.
"I won’t stand here and -"
"Shut up!" Eleanor shouted. She
watched the scene carefully.
Rachel realized she’d picked up on
something. Daniel had managed to jerk her
chain more than once. A trick? It would be
just like him.
Rothschild opened his mouth to reply,
but closed it again when he saw the lord had
reached Daniel. Their feet were all nailed to
the ground. They stared as the lord raised its
hand. It swept its palm at Daniel’s.
"Psych." Daniel slipped his hand out of
the way. The lord, expecting contact,
wobbled forward, off-balance.
A glowing bar of light swung forward.
A blast of air roared over them. The bat was
slapped flat against the lord’s shield. The
black barrier crackled and began to bend
inward under the force of Daniel’s strike.
But it held.
The swords flew forward. Daniel was
forced to jump away. The five scythes trailed
him as he leapt around the square in a wide
arc.
Rachel couldn’t believe he’d do
something so ridiculously childish to a Vorid
lord. But then, it had probably never high-
fived anyone. She realized she was grinning.
They all heard the helicopters. The fleet
hovered high behind them, 56 in total, armed
to the teeth with a mix of modern firepower
and magic. Several more dragons came in
under the choppers and roosted on the roofs
of the square. The lord was completely
focused on Daniel. He’d certainly made
himself a distraction.
After leading the swords on a chase
around the streets, Daniel dived back toward
the lord. The lord raised both its hands; a
sigil glowed under its feet. The swords
teleported back to its side.