Caina reacted with blinding speed, and I was a half second behind her.
We raised our pistols at Sulzer and started shooting.
But the Archon woman was faster. Her hand snapped up, and she cast a Shield spell. A dome of grayish-white light appeared before her, large enough to cover both her and Sulzer. Our bullets struck the Shield and ricocheted off it in sprays of sparks. The Archon woman’s other hand came up, fire blazing to life around her fingers. I dropped one hand from the grip of my pistol and cast a Shield spell of my own. The Archon hurled a sphere of fire at us, and I raised a Shield of blue-white light charged with the power of elemental ice.
The fireball hit my Shield, and both spells canceled each other out. I staggered a bit before I recovered my balance. The Archon had hit hard, and she had a lot of raw magical strength to fuel her spells, even before her Dark One augmented her power.
I started another spell, and Caina circled to the side, partly so we wouldn’t be standing next to each other if the Archon threw a fireball, and partly so she could get around the angle of the Archon’s Shield to get a shot at Sulzer.
“Wait!” said Sulzer. “Wait a second!”
The Archon woman looked at him with a scowl, but she hesitated.
“Who the hell are you?” said Sulzer. “Maybe we can come to an accommodation.”
“Yeah?” I said. “Tell me. All your pet undead. Did you murder them yourself, or have you been stealing corpses?”
“We killed them ourselves, of course. There were so many dead humans in this miserable sty of a city after the battle,” said the Archon woman, her beautiful voice dripping with contempt. “Who will miss a few more?”
“Now, now, Kalmythria,” said Sulzer. “Let’s not be hasty. Perhaps our guests have some mutual interests with us.”
“They do not,” snarled Kalmythria. “The woman is the one who attacked us in the parking ramp. I recognize the aura of her spells. A human should not have such magical power.”
“Yeah, well, I’m super special,” I said.
“Interesting,” said Sulzer, staring at me. “You’re a woman.”
“Thanks for that exciting news.”
“Which means you’re not part of the Wizard’s Legion,” said Sulzer. “Which means you’re an independent operator. Or you’re one of Connor’s leftover lieutenants. Either way, we might be able to come to a deal.”
His logic was sound – I wasn’t part of the Wizard’s Legion, and I had been coerced into working with Nicholas – but I definitely wasn’t an independent operator. Yet if I could keep him talking, I might be able to get into a better position. The problem was that Caina and I were surrounded by the motionless corpses lying on the ground. I didn’t know how long it would take Sulzer to activate them, but he might be able to just snap his fingers. If that happened, Caina and I were dead. There was no way we could get clear of that many gun-toting undead before a bullet struck home.
But if I could just get a little further back…
“All right,” I said, taking a long step back. Caina glanced at me and followed suit, keeping her gun trained on Sulzer. “Let’s talk. I’ll start. I think I can guess what happened here, yeah? You saw which way the wind was blowing and decided to support the Rebels. Sent them money and supplies, probably helped them move armaments through Expedited Wheels and a few other companies. Kalmythria here was assigned to help you, maybe keep an eye on you. You met Vastarion at Venomhold, and he gave you that book and taught you a little necromancy. Except it all went bad. Connor got himself killed, and Venomhold burned, and all the Archons died in the Mage Fall.”
“There have been setbacks in the last few months,” agreed Sulzer. Kalmythria glared at me. “But a man must be adaptable.”
“True,” I said, taking another step back. “But this doesn’t seem like adaptation, it seems like suicide. The smart thing to do would be to burn all your assets connected with the Rebels and hole up someplace quiet. A Congressman practicing necromancy with his Archon girlfriend?” Kalmythria definitely scowled at that. “It seems suicidal. Someone’s going to notice.”
“I should point out that Kalmythria and I are not together,” said Sulzer with smooth charm. “The Elves regard having carnal relations with a human as uncouth.”
“Don’t care,” I said. “So, yeah, we might be willing to work with you...but you seem to have a death wish. Someone’s going to notice all the undead at some point, and you wouldn’t survive that. So why make them?”
“Tell them nothing,” said Kalmythria, which was good advice.
“Why not?” said Sulzer. He smiled at me, and I retreated another step. “See, this conversation is either going to end with us becoming business partners or with your deaths. Either way, there’s no harm in talking. And the reason I’m doing this is that the world has changed.”
“What?” I said.
“The Day of Return,” said Sulzer. “You did see it on the news, right? The Archons were annihilated in the Mage Fall. The Great Gate in Milwaukee now permanently joins Earth and Kalvarion. The attention of the High Queen and the nobles is going to be divided between two worlds. A lot of Elves and humans are going to migrate to Kalvarion. There’s a rumor that the High Queen is going to break up Homeland Security and let local counties elect sheriffs again, as they did in pre-Conquest times. And in all this chaos and change...a clever man can find opportunities. A piece of the pie to grab and keep.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but Caina nodded.
“Ah,” she said. “That’s why you have deeds for all those properties in Bogotá. You’re going to go there with your undead and carve out a little fiefdom for yourself.”
Sulzer smiled. “Have you ever heard of a man named William Walker?”
“Can’t say as I have,” I said.
“An American historical figure,” said Sulzer. “He lived about a century and a half before the Conquest. Walker gathered a private military force, and he conquered and ruled the country of Nicaragua for about a year. I’m going to do the same thing, but far more successfully. Walker didn’t have magic.” He gestured at the undead. “He didn’t have my loyal friends here. The authorities in South America aren’t equipped to deal with someone like me, and I can cut a deal with the local Elven nobles. They’ll be distracted by the thought of returning to Kalvarion anyway.”
“And what do you get out of this?” said Caina to Kalmythria.
“The Revolution has failed,” spat Kalmythria. “The High Queen has triumphed utterly, and the hag can now govern both Earth and Kalvarion as she pleases. I must make what accommodation I can for my own security.”
“I thought Elves hated necromancy,” I said. “Why are you hanging out with a necromancer?”
Kalmythria spat upon the floor. “Necromancy is a filthy abomination and a perversion.” She shrugged. “But if a human monkey wishes to use it...well, I have no objection.”
“I’m afraid Kalmythria and I must disagree on this point,” said Sulzer with a genial smile. “Necromancy is...marvelous. And it’s so easy. I had a little magical ability, not strong enough to force me to join the Wizard’s Legion as a young man. I had a difficult time making even the simplest of spells work. But this!” He gestured at his undead, a fond smile on his face. “Necromancy is so simple. Humans, in general, seem to have a natural talent for it. I started a year ago, and already I have progressed far. Soon I’ll be able to raise a small army.”
“So why do you want to talk to us?” said Caina, and we both retreated another step.
“I’m going to have to leave the US fairly soon,” said Sulzer. “When I do, I must abandon many of my properties and businesses. But it would be useful to hand them over to someone who...understands business, let’s say. Someone who might make a useful partner at some point.”
“Someone like us?” said Caina.
“Perhaps,” said Sulzer. “You’re not with Homeland Security or the Inquisition, I’m sure of it. Else you’d have shown up with a tactical team and maybe some men from the Wizard’s Legion. Why don’t we put down the guns and talk for a bit? Perhaps we can come to a...mutually satisfactory accommodation.”
I glanced at Caina, and she nodded. It seemed like a good idea. If we could get Sulzer talking, maybe gain his trust, then he would give us the rope we needed to hang him. Then again, he might try to make us lower our guard so he could strike.
“I’m not opposed to talking,” I said, “but I think the guns should stay right where they are for now, don’t you?” I took another step back, and so did Caina. We were past most of the undead, and if Sulzer woke them up and sent them after us, I would have at least a few seconds to cast a spell before they attacked. “Help inspire trust and all that.”
“If you like,” said Sulzer, his amusement plain. “Now. How would you like to be rich? We...”
Kalmythria went rigid, her eyes digging into me as purple fire blazed around her fingers, her lips pulling back from her white teeth in a snarl.
“Her,” hissed Kalmythria. “Her!”
“What?” said Sulzer. “You know her?”
“I didn’t recognize her in the red dress,” snarled Kalmythria.
“Yeah, it is a nice dress, isn’t it?” I said, and I started gathering power for a spell. “I really think it flatters my hips, you know?”
“She is the Worldburner,” said Kalmythria. “She is the one who helped the accursed Morvilind work the Mage Fall.”
Caina’s eyes widened a little. Guess she hadn’t known that, but not many people did.
“What?” said Sulzer.
“Use your eyes, fool,” said Kalmythria. “She is the one who killed Connor and destroyed Venomhold!”
Sulzer squinted at me, and then his eyes went wide as he realized his mistake.
“Shit!” he bellowed. “Arise! Arise and defend me!”
As one, every single undead corpse in the room began to stand up. Caina started shooting at Sulzer again, but Kalmythria got her Shield spell up in time to deflect the bullets.
But I was already casting my spell, and I thrust out my hand. A curtain of white mist rose up, cutting the room in half, and it hardened into a foot-thick wall of glittering gray ice, hard as granite. At least it started out as hard as granite. The heat and humidity would weaken it soon, and I had no doubt Kalmythria possessed the magical strength to punch through the wall. But for the moment, Sulzer, Kalmythria, and twenty-four of the undead were sealed off from us.
Six of the creatures were on our side of the ice wall, and they leaped to their feet.
Caina reacted with quicksilver speed, putting a bullet through the forehead of one, and then another. A third swung to take aim at her, yanking a pistol from its coat, but her valikon assembled itself out of shards of silver light in her right hand. The silvery sword sliced through the undead man’s coat and dress shirt, and I heard a sizzle. Smoke rose from the gash, and the undead man collapsed to the floor, the necromantic spells on him shattered by the power of her valikon.
There were still three creatures on their feet, and I cast my next spell. A thumb-sized sphere of fire leaped from my hand and darted forward. It struck the nearest undead man in the temple and burrowed a tunnel through his skull. The undead collapsed, and I did the same thing to the remaining two corpses.
They fell motionless to the floor, and I ran to Caina’s side.
“We need to get out of here,” whispered Caina, reloading her pistol.
“No, we can take them,” I said. “Listen to me. When the wall comes down, go after Sulzer. I’ll deal with the undead and Kalmythria.”
“How?” said Caina, frowning. “There are too many of them.”
I smirked. “You can see through Mask spells, but they can’t. Get ready.” I started casting my spell, silver light burning around my hands, and I saw a flare of fire behind the ice wall. “Here they come.”
The ice wall shattered beneath the force of Kalmythria’s fire, and the undead charged forward, pistols raised.
But I had already cast the Splinter Mask spell.
The air shivered, and ten perfect illusionary duplicates of me appeared around the undead. I just had time to note that the red dress did indeed make me look good (especially from the back) and then I sent my illusionary duplicates charging forward. Some of my duplicates fired pistols, others cast spells.
Whatever Sulzer and Kalmythria had been expecting, it hadn’t been that, and they reacted badly. Sulzer screamed a command, and the undead started shooting at the illusionary doubles, which did no good. Caina darted forward, slashing her valikon, and I focused on Kalmythria and started another spell as I held the Splinter Mask in place.
###
Caina hadn’t expected Nadia to create ten illusionary duplicates of herself, each one capable of independent action, but she seized the opportunity nonetheless. Sulzer and Kalmythria and the undead focused on the illusionary doubles, sending bullets and spells their way, and Caina charged into the chaos. She slashed at the nearest corpse, and her valikon flashed with white fire as it shattered the necromantic magic binding the creature. The undead corpse went limp at once and collapsed to the floor.
Nadia cast the illusion spell again, and another ten duplicates of her charged into the battle. Caina could see the flows of power that maintained the illusions, saw that they were constructions of magical force and nothing more. But Sulzer and Kalmythria could not see that, and it seemed that the undead could not as well.
Caina hurried towards Sulzer, her valikon in her right hand and her pistol in her left. She couldn’t get much force behind a single-handed blow of the valikon, but with the sword’s powers, that hardly mattered. Simply breaking the skin of the undead creatures was enough to shatter the necromantic spells, and Caina cut down ten of the creatures in rapid succession, leaving their corpses motionless upon the floor. As she did, Nadia and Kalmythria fought, spells snarling back and forth between them, sparks spraying from Nadia’s Shield spells.
Then her path was clear to Sulzer himself.
Caina cut down one more undead and then sprinted at the Congressman.
But he was faster than she anticipated, and he whirled, bringing up a pistol. Caina threw herself to the side, and she saw the muzzle flash of Sulzer’s weapon. She rolled to one knee, bringing up her own gun, and started shooting. Her aim was wide, but it didn’t matter. Sulzer stepped back, calling magic, and worked his own Shield spell. It was smaller and more ragged than the one that Kalmythria had called, but it did the job. Caina’s bullets pinged into the Shield and deflected into the walls and the floor.
Sulzer snarled and began another spell, ghostly green fire dancing around his fingers as he called necromantic magic, and rage pulsed through Caina. She hated necromancers, loathed them more than anything. She ran towards Sulzer, still shooting, until her gun clicked empty. Sulzer made no effort to dodge, trusting in his Shield spell to protect him from anything she might do to him.
His surprise was total when her valikon plunged through his Shield and sank into his chest.
Sulzer let out a strangled groan, his eyes going wide. Caina ripped her valikon free, slashed it across his throat, and kicked him in the stomach. Sulzer toppled over, wheezing, choking on his own lifeblood.
Caina looked up just in time to see the flow of power swirl around Kalmythria, saw it gather into a killing blast of elemental lightning. She didn’t have enough time to attack or dodge, and likely the spell would follow her if she ran.
She started to attack anyway, and then a spike of ice the size of Caina’s leg slammed into Kalmythria’s chest. The ice spike hurled the Archon backward, her golden eyes popping wide with surprise. She hit the wall and slumped to the floor, dead, the shard of ice jutting from her chest.
Caina looked around for another enemy, but all the undead had collapsed when she had killed Sulzer. The remaining illusionary duplicates of Nadia vanished, and the real Nadia Moran walked forward, breathing hard, a bit of sweat staining the neckline of her red dress.
“Thanks,” said Caina. “She would have had me. That’s twice now you saved my life.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Nadia. “I really don’t like Archons.”
###
I looked over the corpses and cast the spell to sense the presence of magic. It was a wasted effort – the necromantic spell on the undead had ended when Caina had killed Sulzer. Kalmythria was dead as well. A Dark One could heal a remarkable amount of injury in its host, but Kalmythria’s Dark One wasn’t strong enough to heal the total destruction of her heart. The Dark One had been banished back to the Void, and Kalmythria was dead.
“What now?” I said, looking at Sulzer’s corpse. The High Queen hadn’t wanted me to kill him, but she had also said she would understand if he happened to get killed in the process. I really hoped that she had meant it because I was going to have to explain his death to her.
“Now we need to get Homeland Security in here,” said Caina, crossing to one of the windows. She pulled aside the blackout curtain and looked at the street. “And the easiest way to do that is to start a fire.”
I frowned. “You want to burn down the building? What would that accomplish? It would destroy all the evidence.”
Caina shook her head. “No, we’ll pull the fire alarm. When everyone is fleeing the building, we’ll make an anonymous call to Homeland Security that we saw some orcish mercenaries hiding out on the top floor of the building. They’ll storm up here and see Kalmythria and the book, and they’ll draw their own conclusions.” She smashed the window with the hilt of her valikon. “But to make the report of fire realistic, we’ll need an actual fire. You want to set...let's see...that dumpster on fire?”
I looked out the window. I could see into the alley where I had chased Caina on the night we had met, and I saw the club’s dumpster. It was full to overflowing and setting it on fire with a spell would be easy. It also shouldn’t threaten any of the surrounding buildings.
“Yeah, sure,” I said, and I cast the fireball spell. The sphere of fire hurtled downward and landed amid the overflowing trash, and at once it caught flame.
“All right,” said Caina. “Let’s go pull the fire alarm and make some phone calls.”
###
A half-hour later, Caina stood with Nadia on the roof of the parking ramp, watching the display outside the Cattleman’s Pride.
They had pulled the fire alarm, and the patrons and employees of the club had evacuated themselves with remarkable speed and orderliness. Likely they remembered the chaos of the Rebel attack two months ago. As that happened, Nadia made an anonymous phone call to Homeland Security, claiming to have seen orcish mercenaries hiding in the top floor of the Cattleman’s Pride.
“Here they come,” said Nadia.
A pair of fire trucks had pulled up to the curb, lights flashing, and the firemen dealt with the dumpster. But four Homeland Security vans screeched to a halt in front of the club, and heavily armed and armored officers began to emerge from the vehicles. Caina had seen Homeland Security in operation enough to know that they would do a floor by floor sweep to check for any orcish mercenaries and Archons.
“They’re going to be in for a nasty surprise once they find Sulzer,” said Caina.
“That’s the point,” said Nadia. “We should probably get the hell out of here before one of them has the bright idea to check the parking ramp.”
“Agreed,” said Caina.
They returned to the car, and Caina drove away, Nadia riding in the passenger seat.
“Where should I drop you off?” said Caina.
“Back at the House of Agabyzus,” said Nadia. “I can get a cab home from there.” Likely she did not want to give Caina her home address. “Then I’ll have to report to my boss.”
“Thanks for your help,” said Caina. “I would have been killed a couple of times if you hadn’t been there.”
“Well,” said Nadia with a sigh. “Thanks for not killing me when you had the chance. I wouldn’t have enjoyed that.” She hesitated and then scribbled a note on a piece of paper. “My phone number. If you run into trouble again.”
“Thank you, Nadia,” said Caina, taking the paper.
A few moments later, they reached the House of Agabyzus, now closed for the night, and Caina pulled over so Nadia could get out.
“Be seeing you around,” said Nadia.
Caina said farewell and drove off, heading for the Ghost Securities facility in Queens.
“Yes,” she said to herself. “Maybe sooner than you think.”
***