Hard Magic (54 page)

They were surrounded by solid walls and away from the heaving bags. “Probably.” Dan pulled the .45 from his belt.

“About damn time,” Heinrich answered as a Luger appeared from inside his coat.

They reached the last door, both of them automatically taking up positions on either side. They’d worked together for a long time. There was a round glass window, and when he risked a glance through, he could see a strange device crackling with electricity sitting in the middle of a table.
That’s it.
There were a bunch of men in long black coats surrounding it. He tried the latch.
Locked.

Heinrich nodded, knowing what to do. He Faded, but as he did so, two Shadow Guard appeared, took the Geo-Tel between them, and Traveled it away.

***

Faye woke up, groaning. She felt nauseous.

“Hold still, you lost a lot of blood,” Francis told her. She looked down. Her pant leg had been torn off, and her calf had been wrapped in a bandage. It really hurt.

There was more gunfire. She checked her head map. The
Tokugawa
was in chaos. Grimnoir and pirates were spread all over the big ship. The pirates were headed this way, being chased by Imperium. Some of her friends were in the middle of the ship, looking for the big, evil, magic superbomb, but it had just Traveled to the very bottom.

She was having a hard time seeing down there. At first she thought it was because of the blood loss making her silly-headed, but then she realized that the black fogginess came from the Chairman. His Power was so big that everything around it was cast in shadow, but the big, evil, magic superbomb was dragging so much Power up out of the middle of the world that it illuminated even him. Somehow she knew they only had minutes. The illumination showed that a couple of her friends were down there, surrounded by Iron Guards.

But there was something else. The Power wasn’t just being attracted to Tesla’s invention. There was another spot in the middle of the ship. It was glowing too. She concentrated harder, trying to figure out what was going on, and that’s when she realized
exactly
what was happening.

She smacked her hands onto both sides of Francis’ face. “We’ve got to get everyone out of here fast as we can!” She let go and tried to get up.

“Stay still, you’re in no shape to move.”

“No, you don’t understand. It isn’t what anyone thought it was! Everyone is wrong! The Chairman is wrong! We’ve got to
go
. I’ve got to bring everyone onto the
Tempest
.”

“What? Don’t move. You’re still bleeding from—‘

“Aarrggh! You are
such
a boy! You know I see the world different than everybody else. Listen, do you trust me or not?”

Francis was perplexed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Then get a bucket and fill it with nails and broken glass and anything else you can use to stab people with your brain, and get that blimp in the air. We’ve only got minutes.”

He nodded. She could see it in his eyes. He didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, but God bless him, Francis actually trusted her. She kissed him on the cheek and Traveled before she could see his reaction.

***

Chairman Okubo Tokugawa was sitting cross-legged on a simple mat, watching the brothers curiously. Jane was standing a few feet away in a white kimono, flanked between two robed Iron Guards. “Sullivan?” she asked in surprise.

“You okay, Jane?” he asked. She nodded. She sure didn’t look okay. Poor thing was scared to death. “Don’t worry. Dan’s here. We’ll get you home.”

The Chairman spoke. “Rise, First Iron Guard.” Madi jumped to his feet with superhuman speed.

“Sir, Grimnoir threaten the Geo-Tel,” Madi said quickly, much more worried about that than the bullets lodged in his chest.

The Chairman nodded politely, as if to say,
tell me something I don’t already know, stupid
. “I am aware. I have been watching. I dispatched Shadow Guards to retrieve it. They will Travel back here shortly.”

“Well, if it ain’t Mr. Fancy-Pants,” Sullivan said. “What’re you doing down here? Hiding?”

The Chairman studied him carefully. He was wearing a simple, comfortable robe, and his feet were bare. “As I said, I have been watching. This is a most interesting time for me, Mr. Sullivan. If I so desired I could send my personal bodyguard up and your friends would be dead in seconds, or perhaps I could just destroy you all myself.”

“Then why don’t you, big shot?”

“Because I am
bored
,” he answered truthfully. “I have been alive for a very long time. I have lived for over a hundred years. I was born the youngest son of a minor samurai lord. My home was destroyed in a revolution, my family put to the sword, and I became ronin. I had seen my share of conflict by the time the Power came to me. Together we learned how magic could interact with mankind. Since that day I have traveled the world. I have learned its secrets. I have seen the heights and depths of magic. I have been to every land. Spoken every tongue. Learned everything. Fought every war. Led men into battle and killed legions with my own hands. I’ve lain with ten thousand women and sired a thousand sons. I sculpt nations as other men sculpt clay. I have traveled beyond our world and seen the others. I have spoken with the Power face to face as we speak now. I have seen the terrible being the Power fled from and I have protected our world from it in battle beyond your mortal comprehension. There is nothing truly new to me.”

Sullivan could sense he was telling the truth. If the Chairman was anything, he was perfectly straightforward. “So, we’re an interesting diversion?”

“Yes. I could kill you all with a thought. The Geo-Tel was never in danger. My plan will be fulfilled.” As he said, that two black-clad ninjas Traveled in, holding a strange device between them. It sparked and buzzed with energy and Sullivan could feel the magic in the room distort toward it. “It was only a matter of time. But you and your people
interest
me, Mr. Sullivan. Your strengths, your flaws, your hates, your desires, your loves and dreams. You are one of the most powerful natural Actives ever born. Your young Traveling friend is even stronger, though she does not realize it yet. We should stand as one, united for what is to come, yet instead you will fight me to the end. Such purity of struggle is bitter, yet beautiful in its way. I wrote a poem about it. Would you like to hear it?”

“I’d rather slit my own wrists.”

“Fair enough.” The Chairman turned back to Madi. “I am disappointed in you, First Iron Guard. Were it not for my preparation, the Geo-Tel would have been lost to the Grimnoir. And not only that, but it would have been lost to the forces of a man that you had thought you’d killed.”

Madi bowed deeply. “Forgive me, Chairman. I can make it right.”

Sullivan was surprised just how much genuine devotion there was in his brother’s words. At least he’d finally found something that he could truly love.

“Very well. How much longer until the firing?” the Chairman asked absently.

A man in a long black coat answered. “Approximately ten minutes, sir.”

The Chairman nodded. “Very well, First Iron Guard Madi. You may redeem yourself.”

Madi bowed his head quickly, then moved to the side, shrugging out of his robe. All he was wearing now was a pair of very baggy black pants. Madi’s torso was covered in kanji scars. Nearly every inch of him had been burned, and every one of those made him more dangerous. He shouted something in Japanese, and a moment later another Iron Guard hurried forward with two swords, one made of wood, and one made of killing steel.

Sullivan knew what was happening. He removed the tattered remains of his coat and canvas vest and tossed the rags on the floor.

Madi smiled. “Let’s go then, little brother.” He picked up the steel katana, swinging it back and forth so quickly that the air whistled, then he tossed it gently through the air. Sullivan caught it by the hilt. Madi grinned as he took up the wooden sword, testing its balance. “I’m literally
thirteen
times the man you are. Figure I’d keep it fair.”

The Chairman nodded, appreciating this act of chivalry. Jane looked like she was about to puke. The Geo-Tel was steaming along behind five Iron Guards and two ninjas. The Chairman saw where Sullivan’s eyes had wandered, and he shook his head softly. “I would not allow you to stop me . . . but I will not meddle in your family business. Carry on.”

Madi was limbering up. His body was thick with muscle. Sullivan had seen him tear through hard men like they were nothing, and that was before he had been magically augmented and trained. Sullivan held up the unfamiliar sword. “I don’t exactly know how to use one of these things . . .”

“You’ll figure it out pretty quick,” Madi said. “You always was the
smart
one.”

“Not always,” he muttered. Sullivan was the youngest. Jimmy had been the smart one growing up, until he’d been struck with a bad fever that had nearly killed him and had left his mind feeble. After their daddy had died, he’d stepped up, trying to take care of his mother and his dimwit brother, while the oldest, Matthew, had done nothing but cause trouble. He’d been a bully, a thief, a jerk, and was only happy when everyone else had been scared of him. Sullivan watched the light reflect down the razor edge of the sword. “Hell, we should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“That’s the spirit,” Madi said.

Sullivan raised the sword. “I’m gonna cut you in half.”

Madi grinned savagely. “Reckon you could try that and see how it works out for ya.”

“Begin,” the Chairman ordered.

They met in the middle. The Iron Guards formed a circle around them. Sullivan swung as fast as he could, the blade driven by his vast strength. Madi moved out of the way easily. He cracked Sullivan hard on the shoulder with the wooden sword. “Try harder,” he said.

“Go to hell,” Sullivan snarled, hurling his Power, trying to make Madi fall toward him. Their magic clashed, neutralizing each other’s forces. The swords met, and then they were face to ruined face, and Sullivan was staring into that dead white eye. Madi grabbed him by the arm and used some movement to duck and hurl Sullivan over his hip. He hit the ground hard, but was already coming up when the wooden sword nailed him in the ribs. He gasped.

They went back and forth. Every time he tried his Power, Madi came back with an equal amount. The Iron Guard was stronger, faster, and had more skill. The wooden sword swept in low and hit him in the leg, and even with his long-magically-hardened bones, he felt the fracture. Distracted, he wasn’t as fast, and Madi’s Power dropped him backwards where he hit the floor and skidded away. On his knees, he swung the sword, but Madi easily leapt over it, and drove the wooden weapon
through
his shoulder.

Sullivan screamed, and Madi used one foot to shove him off the end of the wooden sword. Blood sprayed freely. He tried to rise, but Madi kicked him in the face. He rolled onto his back, and drove the sword upward, feeling it pierce flesh.

Madi paused, looking at the sword driven into his ribs. He stepped back as it slid cleanly out. “Nice shot, Jake.” Then he shattered the wooden sword over Jake’s skull.

Sullivan was crawling away, blood pouring out of his shoulder and head. The scar on his chest was channeling Healing magic, but not near fast enough to keep up with this. Madi tossed the broken hilt away and it clattered across the floor. “You idiot! You fucking idiot. I told you. I told you. I’m the strongest there is. I beat you with a bokken! You ain’t done yet. Get up! Get
UP!
”

He rose, shaking. Madi punched him across the room. He collided with two Iron Guards, taking them all down in a heap.

Madi wasn’t satisfied. He needed more. He looked to the Chairman, who was sitting there, showing no emotion. “This ain’t good enough.” Madi ran toward Jane, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her across the room. She cried out in pain. “Fix him! Now, damn it. I ain’t done yet!”

Sullivan crawled off the Iron Guards. Madi shoved Jane down next to him. He could feel the warmth of her hands on his head. The hole in his shoulder closed. Somehow he knew that his skull was visible through the top of his head, but the skin pulled together and the blood quit flowing. He got back to his feet and picked up the sword.

Jane scrambled away. “Thanks,” Sullivan said, tasting nothing but coppery blood.

Madi was pacing back and forth, unarmed, but deadly anyway. He saw his brother standing. “Again!”

They clashed. Sullivan feinted with the sword, and as Madi moved away from it, his boot collided with the Iron Guard’s knee. It was like kicking a railroad tie. Madi punched him in the chest, breaking his sternum, then uppercut him so hard that he thought his face was going to come off. Sullivan landed on his back, but reversed gravity, and dropped himself into the air. He lashed out with the sword and caught Madi through the chest with the tip. Sullivan landed on his feet, and pushed the blade in deeper. Madi roared and grabbed onto the steel even as it sliced through his hands.

They were face to face again, with a foot of sword sticking out Madi’s back. “You still don’t get it. I’m the strongest there is!” Sullivan’s nose broke as Madi’s forehead slammed into it. Down was now up, and Sullivan fell ten feet into the air before the Power tapered off. He used his magic to cushion his fall, but by the time he hit the floor on hands and knees, Madi had already dragged the bloody sword from his torso. His brother raised it in both hands and bellowed. “Strongest THERE IS!” The sword cleaved through Sullivan’s back, through one lung, out his chest, and dug deep into the floor. It was a brutal killing blow. Blood erupted like a geyser.

Sullivan fell facedown in a pool of his own blood.

Failure.
He could see the Geo-Tel sparking, the Chairman watching curiously. All he could hear was a buzzing noise. As his vision darkened, he saw Madi’s legs pass in those swishy samurai pants, and then he saw Jane being dragged across the floor by her hair again. Madi was screaming something, and then he felt the burn as his wounds were stretched tight and flesh was welded together again.