Author: Benedict Jacka
Category: Science
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/benedict-jacka/page,18,482328-fallen.html
I should have listened to Vari, I thought. When he said they wanted me, he wasn’t kidding.
Things had started well. I’d gated out of the Hollow without being detected, and the futures in which the Council attacked our shadow realm had quickly faded. Vari and Luna had gotten away without picking up any tails, and by contacting them through the dreamstone, I was able to confirm that they weren’t being pursued. I took a gate stone to New Zealand and set about trying to lose my pursuers.
It had worked . . . at first. By scanning ahead, I could tell in advance when the Council teams were going to be dropping in on my location, and be gone long before they arrived. For three hours I hopped around the world, gating from point to point, always one jump ahead. Somewhere around the fourth hour, though, things changed. The futures came apart and re-formed, and the Council’s response times began to shrink. I didn’t know what they’d started doing differently, but it was effective. Each time I would gate, I’d have less of a lead before they’d start to narrow down my position.
The last time I’d been on the run like this, I’d managed to keep ahead of the Council forces for a full month. But that time, I’d been running from Levistus and his personal troops. This time it was the whole Council, and it was frightening how persistent they were. They just didn’t stop, and they could keep this up forever.
Right now, the problem I was facing was gate stones. Without the ability to cast my own gate spells as an elemental mage could, I had to rely on focuses to travel. But each gate stone worked for only one place, and each time the Council tracked me to one of those locations, that gate stone became effectively useless. I’ve stockpiled a lot of gate stones over the years, but I only had so many with me, and right now more than half of the ones I was carrying were to locations that had been already compromised. Normally a gate stone being compromised isn’t a big deal, since your enemies can’t realistically camp out at a gate destination for days on end just on the off chance you decide to show up. Unfortunately, the Council did have the manpower to camp at all my gate destinations just on the off chance I decided to show up. Which was the reason that I was hiding in this skyscraper in New York.
I rummaged left-handed in my pocket and pulled out two gate stones, staring down at them. Both were about the size of a finger joint; one was river rock, worn smooth, while the other was cut and treated brick. Two left. I’d started with seven. I didn’t want to go down to one, but I couldn’t stall forever . . .
Movement in the futures caught my attention, and I realised the question had become academic. I looked around; the service room didn’t have a lock, but there was a wedge on a shelf. I shoved it under the door and waited.
Footsteps sounded from out in the corridor, coming closer. From the futures where I opened the door, I could see that it was a man in his thirties, clean-shaven with brown hair. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but something about him gave me the feeling of a cop or investigator. His footsteps slowed as he approached my position, coming to a stop. “Receiving,” he said. His accent was American. I could imagine him standing out there, looking from side to side as he spoke into his mike.
A moment’s silence, then he spoke again. “Nothing.” The door was thin and I could hear the man clearly. He was standing less than ten feet away. “We have any eyes?”
Pause.
“Thought the Brits were searching ground floor up.”
Pause.
“Well, how do they know he’s here, then?”
Another pause. I couldn’t hear what the person on the other end was saying to the man, but it didn’t make him happy. “Confirm, moving to tenth floor.” His voice dropped to a mutter. “Don’t know why we’re cleaning up their shit . . .” His footsteps approached, stopping outside.
I held my breath, keeping very still. The handle rattled. My left hand was closed around my stun focus. This guy wasn’t a mage, but he could still raise the alarm. I’d have to take him out in one move.
The handle rattled again, but the wedge held. Then the footsteps were moving away, down the corridor and towards the lift.
I waited twenty seconds, then very quietly reached down to remove the wedge, opened the door, and slipped out, closing it behind me. From around the corner, I could hear the man talking on his radio again. I turned the other way and moved to the stairs, my footsteps quick and soft. Once I’d made it out onto the stairwell, I breathed a little easier.
As I went up the stairs, I reached out through the dreamstone. Luna. Situation?
There was a little resistance, but not much. Distance didn’t seem to be as much of a barrier to the dreamstone with all the practice I’d been putting in. All good, Luna said. It looks like the mansion’s settling down for the night.
Onyx and Pyre still there?
Haven’t seen them leave.
I reached the fourteenth floor and opened the stairwell door quietly, stepping through into a corridor just like the one below. Any problems with Kyle?
He and Vari were arguing a bit, but they seem to be getting on better now. Are you safe?
Getting hunted, I said. I looked down the corridor, wondering where to hide. There was a service room on this level too, but I didn’t want to pull the same trick too many times. The apartments seemed like better choices. You and Vari have had enough time to get a feel for the area. What do you think?
If it were just about making it in, I’d say no problem, Luna answered. These guys are pretty amateur hour. It’s what happens once we reach the statue that I’m worried about.
You’ve got the cube?
Oh yeah. But you remember how long it took to open last time? It was what, three minutes? That’s going to feel like a freaking month when we’re trying to hold them off.
I checked to see which apartments were empty and which were occupied. A row of three along the left side showed no response in the futures where I banged on the door. They also had balconies looking out onto the Hudson River, giving me an emergency exit. How soon can we move?
We’ve been watching the lights start to go off, Luna said. These guys stay up late though. Kyle thinks we should wait another few hours.
I stopped in front of the apartment I’d chosen. Okay.
Can you stay ahead of the Keepers that long?
I’ll just have to, won’t I? I reached for my lockpicks. We should . . . I trailed off, my heart sinking. Oh shit.
Alex? What’s wrong?
Sometimes it’s the little things that screw you up. I’ve been picking locks for years, and it’s something that I’ve come to take for granted; if there’s a locked door, then unless it’s something really fancy, I can get through with a minute’s work. Lockpicking is straightforward: you apply tension with a wrench, then use a pick on the pins.
Which takes two hands.
Problem, I said. Give me a sec. I searched through hundreds and then thousands of futures, looking for ones in which I picked the lock. I didn’t even come close. There was no way I was getting through that door.
Change of plan. I turned back towards the stairwell, and—
—shit. My thoughts raced. Stairwell would draw pursuit. Lift was suicide. All that left was the service room. I ran down the corridor and slipped inside. Again I wedged the door and waited.
One minute passed. Two. I heard the sound of an opening door, along with echoes from the stairwell. The door closed. Footsteps came down the corridor, slowed, stopped.
Silence. I held perfectly still.
“I know you’re there, Alex,” a voice said from outside. It was a woman this time, and British instead of American.
Caldera.
“You coming out?” Caldera said. “Or we doing this the hard way again?”
I skimmed through the futures, looking for ones in which I was able to get away undetected. It wasn’t happening. So much for the gate stones. I reached out through my dreamstone. S
tarbreeze. Are you there?
Hi!
I need you to come pick me up.
Mmmmm . . . Starbreeze said. In a sec.
Starbreeze! It’s important!
More footsteps sounded in the corridor, followed by the sound of a handle rattling. “Come on, Alex,” Caldera said. “We need to know what Drakh’s up to.”
Leaves are funny, Starbreeze said. Look how they move.
Please, Starbreeze. I’m in danger.
Fine . . .
The futures shifted, Starbreeze appearing in them. When she’d appear was another question. “So let me guess,” Caldera said from outside. There was another rattle of a handle, closer this time. I could imagine her out there, looking up and down the corridor as she checked the doors one by one. “Drakh grabbed you and now you’re on the run. You’re hoping to stay ahead of him and the Council as well. Sound right?”
I didn’t move. Like most earth mages, Caldera can sense vibrations in the ground. It’s pretty good for spotting people, but it doesn’t work if they hold still. I’d seen her do this before, making noise to spook targets into running.
“It’s not going to work,” Caldera said. “The Council aren’t going to stop. They’re going to bring you in, it’s just a matter of when.” There was the sound of another handle. She was maybe two doors down now. “They think you were working with Drakh, by the way. You and your aide. That snatch and grab convinced them. But it’s not true, is it? You’d never help him. I know you well enough for that. You can still help stop him.”
I felt a flash of anger. I’d watched Caldera take this line in interrogations so many times. Hey, I know you’re not really a bad guy. My bosses think so, but I know you’re not like that. You didn’t really mean to hurt that other guy, right? I mean, he started it, and it wasn’t like you were trying to kill him. Why don’t you tell me your side? Maybe I can help you. Now I was the one on the receiving end.
For years now, I’d been a Keeper and a Council official. Back in the old days, I’d hated people like that. It had taken me less than two days to remember why.
Another handle rattle. “You aren’t going to win a fight, Alex,” Caldera said. “I mean, you tried that last time and I’m pretty sure you remember how that ended.”
I didn’t answer. Looking through the futures, Starbreeze was ten seconds to two minutes away. Just a little longer.
More footsteps. Caldera was right outside the door now. I saw the handle turn, rattle. The wedge held and the handle returned to horizontal. “I guess you’re still thinking you can get out of this somehow,” Caldera said through the door. “Outsmart everyone and get away. It’s what you always do, right?” She paused. “Know the problem with that? You’re not as smart as you think you are.”
The lock on the door splintered as the door broke open, slamming against the wall. Caldera lowered her leg, recovering from her kick; her eyes locked onto me as we stared at each other from less than ten feet away.
“A lot of people have been telling me that,” I said, my voice tight and angry. “But I do learn from my mistakes.”
“Just stay—” Caldera began, then whipped her head around.
Starbreeze zipped into the room, gave Caldera a frown, then reached out and turned me into air. Caldera’s eyes went wide and she shouted into her communicator. “Elemental! Seal the building! Seal—!”
Starbreeze sent us both flying past Caldera, down the corridor, out the window, and upwards. I don’t like her, she announced.
I’m not surprised.
We soared up into the evening sky, the lights and cars and skyscrapers of Manhattan shrinking below us. The mainland was a looming mass lit up in the sunset, while Long Island stretched off to the other side. A clear sky arced above us, the evening sun fading from yellow to blue to dusky purple. At a few thousand feet, Starbreeze levelled off and zipped away into the east.
I reached out through the dreamstone. Luna.
You’re okay?
You know how Kyle wanted to wait a few hours?
Yeah.
Change of plan, I said. You’ve got twenty minutes.
The American coast was disappearing behind us, fading into the sunset. Above, the stars were twinkling in the clear sky, growing brighter minute by minute. It was hard to judge our speed over the ocean, but the sun was setting behind us so quickly that I could actually see it sinking below the horizon. Starbreeze is fast.
I felt Luna sigh. So much for waiting for them all to go to sleep. At least you got out.
Yeah, but now they know about Starbreeze, I said. Next time they’d be ready. I want to move within five minutes of landing. Be ready.
Will do.
I let the connection lapse and relaxed, floating on the air. There was no reason to worry anymore. I’d made my choice; now it was just a matter of seeing how it would play out.
Caldera had been wrong. I knew the ways in which this night could end, and none of them involved me being brought in by the Council. In a few hours, I’d be more powerful than I’d ever been, or I’d be dead. One way or another, my old life was over.
Starbreeze sped on over the Atlantic, carrying me towards my fate.
chapter 10
Starbreeze took me in a soaring dive down through the summer night and towards the darkened countryside below. I had one glimpse of the lights from Onyx’s mansion, then they were obscured by the trees and Starbreeze set me down next to Variam, Luna, and Kyle. Vari had called up a small flame, and its light illuminated their faces in flickering orange. Starbreeze turned me back to flesh and blood, then saw the flame and forgot all about me, leaning in to stare in fascination.
Kyle looked up at the sky, then back at Starbreeze. “There’s something you don’t see every day.”
“What’s the count?” I asked Vari.
“Three out, four in,” Variam said. “Assuming there hasn’t been any gating, we’re looking at twenty to twenty-five combatants.”
“And six noncombatants who are Onyx and Pyre’s slaves,” Kyle said sharply. “Make sure you don’t do that Keeper thing where you shoot anything that moves, all right?”
“We don’t want any shooting at all until we’ve reached the storeroom,” I said. “If we meet any single targets, we’ll try to subdue them quietly. Kyle, you said you had some sedatives in your box of tricks, so keep them handy. You’ll be on point with me. Vari, you’re the heavy artillery. Once the alarm’s raised, we’ll be depending on you for cover fire. Luna, you’re our way in with that cube, and you can do the most while staying subtle. If Kyle and I run into trouble, do what you can.” I looked around. “Any questions?”
“How long until the Council crashes the party?” Luna asked.
I’d been checking that on the flight here. “We have twenty minutes clear, another ten minutes safeish but getting risky. Anything past that, we’re playing Russian roulette.”
Variam pointed. “I think your Plan B is trying to set herself on fire.”
I turned. Starbreeze was swiping her finger through Variam’s light spell with apparent fascination, the air of her body making the flame flicker.
“Starbreeze?” I said. “Starbreeze.”
“Hmm?”
“We’re going into a bubble realm,” I said. “Luna, show her the cube.”
Luna took out a cube of deep red crystal. Points of light sparkled from deep within as it caught the reflections of Variam’s flame and threw them back. “Ooh,” Starbreeze said in fascination. She floated over, studying the cube with her chin in her hands.
“It’s the same one we used all those years ago,” I said. “You recognise it?”
“Hmm . . .” Starbreeze said, then shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the cube. “No.”
“Okay, you remember that bubble realm we went to back then?”
“No.”
“It wa
s the one with the fateweaver. You remember the fateweaver?”
“No.”
“I nearly got possessed and you and Luna saved me. Do you remember that?”
“No,” Starbreeze said cheerfully. “What are we doing again?”
Luna covered her eyes. “Oh God.”
“This is our Plan B?” Variam asked.
I ignored Variam. “We’re about to go into the house over there. Once we do, we’ll need you to stay ready in case we call. If we call, we’ll need you to get us out. Okay?”
Starbreeze stared into the cube.
“Starbreeze!”
“Hmm?” Starbreeze looked up. “Were you talking?”
“We’re so screwed,” Luna said.
“If this is how you guys run your ops,” Kyle said, “I’m starting to seriously wonder how you’re still alive.”
I gave up. Starbreeze would come when I needed her, or she wouldn’t. “Let’s go. Kyle, you’re on point.”
* * *
We approached the mansion under the cover of darkness. Lit windows cast a scattering of light down over the grounds, bright rectangles against the black. It was past midnight and there were many more darkened windows than lit ones, but it only took one to raise the alarm. Kyle led us to an outbuilding near the mansion’s west corner. It was too dark to see our footing; my divination showed me where to step, but the others were less quiet and I tensed at every crack and rustle.
The door to the outbuilding creaked as Kyle eased it open. How many people know this route? I asked him through the dreamstone.
I felt Kyle start. It’s freaky when you do that.
Quieter than a radio.
Kyle recovered himself. His thoughts had a distinct feel to them, organised and focused. They reminded me of Variam’s, but with an undercurrent of anger, banked and smouldering. A few of them know. Not many.
The inside of the building was cramped, filled with rusting garden tools. Metal clanked softly as Kyle cleared a path, then there was the scrape of another opening door. There was a click and a dim glow as Kyle switched on a torch; by its light I saw him start down a flight of steps into darkness. Futures of a brighter glow sprang up, and I reached out through the dreamstone. Don’t use a light spell, Vari.