Cloak Games: Rebel Fist (18 page)

“You would have tried, and you would have died,” said Nora from the front. “He is too powerful and he is as cunning as the devil himself. Not even the Firstborn will cross Morvilind. If he had known that Nadia worked for Morvilind, he never would have sent us.”

“We are here now,” said Corvus.

I frowned. “So you had no idea I worked for Morvilind?”

“None,” said Corvus. “It should have been obvious in hindsight. A magic-using thief? Yet Morvilind almost always coerced men into becoming his agents. He’s been at this for centuries, almost since the Conquest. As far as I know, he’s only picked one or two women.”

“The first day I met Morvilind,” I said, my voice distant with the memory, “he said that he would have preferred to recruit Russell, but Russell had frostfever and I was immune to it.” 

“That matches what I have learned of his patterns,” said Corvus. “I would not have expected him to coerce a woman into his service, and certainly not one so…”

His mouth snapped shut, and Nora laughed.

“So what?” I said. “So young? So short? So smart-mouthed?”

“The last one certainly seems to be true,” said Corvus.

I wondered what he had meant to say, and decided not to push it. 

“If you didn’t think I was working for Morvilind,” I said, “then who did you think it was?”

“I thought,” said Corvus, “that you had been coerced by a cult of the Dark Ones.” 

“What?” I said. “That’s ridiculous. I had never even heard of the Dark Ones before we found that Void Codex in Paul McCade’s dumb little temple…”

“Cults of the Dark Ones have operated that way before,” said Corvus. “If they wish to secure the services of a talented individual, they will commonly kidnap a relative or a loved one, or obtain some other method of blackmail. Given how secretive you were, I suspected you were in thrall to a Dark One cult. The Shadow Hunters have opposed the servants of the Dark Ones since our founding…”

“Ah,” I said. “You thought I could lead you to a Dark One cult.” 

“That was the plan,” said Corvus. 

I shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you. Guess that was your question, huh?”

“No,” said Corvus. “The question was something else.”

“Well, you had better ask it now,” I said. “I’m probably going to die in the next five hours. If I somehow live through this, Morvilind is going to kill me.”

“Why?” said Corvus.

I scoffed. “Haven’t you been paying attention? He said he would kill me if I ever told anyone about him. You know about me. Nora knows about me. Russell and James and Lucy figured out the truth by now.” 

“I’m certainly not going to tell anyone,” said Nora. “A girl needs to know how to keep a confidence. What about you, Riordan?” 

“No,” said Corvus. “Morvilind is less concerned about secrecy and more about betrayal. You didn’t betray him, Miss Moran. If he decided that you had betrayed him, he would have killed you already. He took a vial of heart’s blood from you, did he not?” I nodded. “The man is cruel and cold, but logical. If you had betrayed him, he would have killed you from a distance and given the matter no further thought. It’s not your fault the Archons decided to attack Milwaukee today.”

I couldn’t claim to know Kaethran Morvilind well. But I had been observing him for over three-quarters of my life, and I knew how he usually acted, how he usually responded to things. Corvus’s logic rang true. 

“He’s going to kill me anyway,” I said in a quiet voice, watching Morvilind’s van. “Assuming we somehow don’t get killed today, he’ll find a reason to do it.” I raked a hand through my hair. It felt sweaty and in need of a wash. “Six more years. That’s how many more cure spells Russell has. Six more years…I just have to hang on for six more years. Somehow.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

“Anyway,” I said. “Um…thanks for saving me from the anthrophages. And Russell. I don’t care what happens to me, but if the anthrophages killed him because of something stupid I did…”

“If we are victorious,” said Corvus, “I will teach you a spell. The anthrophages possess low-level telepathy, and have been tracking you through the telepathic spoor you leave behind.”

“Telepathic spoor?” I said. “That sounds ridiculous. I’ve never heard of it.” 

“Nevertheless, it is real,” said Corvus, “and as unique as a fingerprint or a strand of DNA. Certain creatures of the Shadowlands can sense it, and the anthrophages are one of them. That is how they have been following you. I can teach you a spell that will block the spoor for twenty-four hours. You will have to cast the spell every day, but if you do so consistently, it will make it much, much harder for the anthrophages to track you.” 

“Thank you,” I said. “Anyway, you had better ask your question now. We might not live through this, and God knows what else might try to kill me.” 

“No,” said Corvus. “Our deal was that you would answer the question once your brother was safe. Your brother is still not safe.”

“For God’s sake,” I said without rancor. “Are you always this pedantic?”

“Oh, he is,” said Nora. “But the sun will burn out before that man doesn’t keep his word.”

“All right,” I said. “Fine.”

“If it would make you feel better,” said Corvus, pulling another pair of handguns from the case, “I cannot in good conscience let the High Queen murder two million people. Should you require a baser motive, I hate Lord Morvilind as much as you do…and the thought of keeping you alive to spite him pleases me immensely.” 

“Hey, you know what?” I said. “It pleases me, too.” 

“We shall have to be cautious,” said Corvus. “Whatever this Cruciform Eye is, I suspect Morvilind is quite willing to sacrifice you in order to obtain it.” 

“Yes,” I said. I held out a hand.

He looked at the gun. “Do you know how to use one of these?”

“Really?” I said. Corvus snorted and handed over the handgun and several extra clips. I pocked them, making sure the gun’s safety was on. 

Unlike Corvus, at the moment I didn’t care if I survived or not. If I didn’t get the Cruciform Eye for Morvilind, Russell was going to die. Morvilind, in his usual cruel, logical way, had simplified the world down to two possible choices. Either I succeeded and Russell lived, or I failed and Russell died. 

I would do whatever it took, even accept the help of the Shadow Hunters.

And if stealing the Cruciform Eye saved the rest of Milwaukee’s population…well, it was just their lucky day, wasn’t it?

Chapter 10: Full Throttle

From a distance I thought the Ducal Mall was burning. 

Fire seemed to blaze from its windows as Nora pulled into the eastern parking lot. The parking lot was a wreck, with burned-out cars and debris scattered everywhere, and Nora eased the van forward, avoiding the patches of broken glass. I saw quite a few corpses scattered among the wrecked cars, shoppers gunned down as they tried to flee the mall. 

Damn the Archons. Damn the Rebels. And damn the High Queen for being willing to nuke the city rather than save it. 

As we drew nearer, I realized something about the fire.

It was outside the mall.

A huge ringed of fire encircled the entire Ducal Mall, ringing the vast structure. The flames were about thirty or forty feet tall, changing in height as they flickered, and I wondered how the hell the Archons had managed that. Then I worked the spell to sense the presence of magical force. 

The flames were magical. The ring of fire surrounding the mall was a single immense spell of magical power. 

“Elemental fire,” said Corvus. “The Archon wizards must be maintaining it from within.” 

“Swell,” I muttered. “Maybe we can steal a helicopter and come in from the rooftop.”

“Bad idea, dear,” said Nora. “Spotted a Rebel with a surface-to-air missile launcher up there.” I remembered the Homeland Security helicopter I had seen shot down a few hours ago. “The best you’d be able to manage is a crash landing.” 

“We might not have to,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I…have a spell to resist elemental force. I think I can hold it long enough to get through the wall of fire.”

“Really,” said Corvus. “I assume you learned it from someone other than Morvilind?”

“Yep,” I said. “Please don’t mention it to him. I haven’t yet.” 

“Your secret shall be safe with us,” said Corvus.

Morvilind’s van stopped a hundred yards from the wall of flame, and the mercenaries started emerging from the vehicle. Nora parked the van, and we climbed out. I had traded my AK-47 for a pair of .45 semiautomatic pistols secured in hip holsters that Corvus had given me, and each Shadow Hunter was carrying a small arsenal. The AK-47 was a useful gun, but it was damned big, and the pistols were quicker and lighter. 

Given that I wanted to sneak into the mall and rob the Rebels, smaller and lighter was a good idea. 

I looked at the wall of flames with dismay. “Maybe Lord Morvilind can dispel it.” 

“Your spell will not work?” said Corvus, glancing back at me.

“It will,” I said dubiously, “but that is a lot of damned elemental fire.” I had been practicing the spell to resist elemental forces that the Knight of Grayhold had taught me, and I had gotten better with it. I thought I could deflect, say, one of Corvus’s lightning globes, or maybe one of the fireballs that the Archons had been dumb enough to use against Morvilind. Something like that curtain of fire would be much harder. I didn’t know if I could hold it back for more than a few seconds, and as we drew closer, I realized that the wall of flame was at least as thick as it was tall. 

Maybe Morvilind could wave his hand and dispel the thing. 

The mercenaries, some of whom I recognized from my training, spread themselves into a perimeter around Morvilind’s van. All of them carried M-99 carbines, the weapons fitted with laser sights and other enhancements not included in the stock model of the gun. Morvilind himself emerged from the van, brushing some dust from the sleeve of his gold-trimmed black robe. He ignored us and walked a few steps forward, gazing at the wall of flames. 

“Interesting,” he said at last. “The remainder of the Archons are displaying a measure of competence.” 

“Can you dispel the wall of flames?” said Corvus.

“Of course,” said Morvilind. “However, that will immediately draw the attention of the Archon wizards, and I suspect that a few Rebel wizards are inside as well.” He glanced at Corvus. “Your natural enemy, I presume.” He turned back to the mall. “Given the artillerymen upon the roof, an aerial assault would be unwise.” 

“Maybe we could enter through the Shadowlands?” I said, swallowing at the thought. “Open a rift way here, and then open another from the Shadowlands that would reach the mall?”

“The Archons have layered the building in wards,” said Morvilind. “Any rift way that attempts to open within the circumference of the wards will instead redirect itself to a specific location in the Shadowlands. Likely one of the more unpleasant demesnes.”

“Then how are we getting inside?” said Corvus.

Morvilind lifted his hands, and blue light flared around his fingers. Symbols of azure fire appeared around him, orbiting him like comets around a sun, and three concentric rings of flame shimmered on the asphalt, shaping themselves into more symbols. Even without casting the spell to sense magic, I could tell that he was drawing a lot of magical power. 

“I will distract the Archons,” said Morvilind, his voice vibrating with arcane force. “That may prove sufficient to disrupt the wall of flame, or it may not. You shall have to find your own way into the mall. I will remain here until one hour before midnight. If you have not returned by then, I shall assume you are dead and depart Milwaukee to avoid the nuclear blast.”

Great. That meant I had three and a half hours left. 

“What if we encounter any Archons?” I said. 

“Our blades can deal with them,” said Corvus.

“Yeah,” I said, “but the Archons might have guns, and a gun beats a sword every time.” 

“Your pistols,” said Morvilind. “They are .45s?” I nodded. “Vladimir!”

One of Morvilind’s mercenaries stepped forward, a grim-faced, muscular Russian man who had taught me nearly everything I knew about firearms. I didn’t have any fond memories of the man, since he had used to slap me across the side of my head whenever I made a mistake. I glared at him, which he returned with an impassive stare. He handed me two .45 clips, and gave two each to both Corvus and Nora. 

“These clips contain bullets forged from the ore of the Shadowlands,” said Morvilind. “They are quite valuable, so do not squander them. Elves are immune to bullets forged from the metal of Earth, but the Archons will have no such protections from these bullets.”

“Only eighteen shots each?” said Corvus.

“I suggest you do not miss,” said Morvilind. 

I gazed at the clips in my hand, feeling the heft and weight of the cool metal. For a moment I visualized sliding the clip into the gun, pointing it at Morvilind’s head, and squeezing the trigger. Yet I knew better. Morvilind would not have given me a weapon unless he was certain that I could not harm him with it, and if I was stupid enough to try, my death would be both painful and protracted. 

“Such useful counsel,” said Corvus, tucking the clips into his tactical vest. 

“Your approval fills me with joy, Shadow Hunter,” said Morvilind. “Go, and return with the Cruciform Eye. I shall distract the Archons.”

He lifted his right hand and made a hooking motion, and the night suddenly blazed bright as the noon sun. A bolt of blue-white lightning screamed out of the black sky and hurtled towards the mall. It struck an invisible barrier four or five yards above the roof and shattered in a brilliant flash and a spray of blue-white sparks, and for a moment a shimmering dome of translucent light covered the building. A gale of hot wind blew through the parking lot, and I staggered back a step. 

“We should go,” said Corvus. “I do not want to be standing anywhere near Lord Morvilind when the Archons counterattack.” 

I nodded and followed Corvus and Nora as they jogged away, moving along the circumference of the mall. A moment later the parking lot lit up with harsh blue-white light once more as Morvilind struck again, followed a heartbeat later by a blast of fiery light. The Archon wizards counterattacked with fire, and I saw a firestorm sweeping the parking lot behind us, several cars exploding as the elemental fire reached their gas tanks.