Consensus Breaking (The Auran Chronicles Book 2) (29 page)

Seb raced down and past him and began gathering his things.

‘We have to go Caleb. Cade and the others. They’re in trouble.’

‘Trouble, where? What have you seen?

‘Some place called Osgog. They need me. I need to go.’

‘Osgog. It’s the home of the Ninth family,’ Caleb said.

‘That’s the other magi. The one’s who attacked Domus. Sedaris, or whatever he is, is working with them.’

‘How do you know all this?’ Caleb had begun to collect his things too, moving with a speed that hadn’t seemed possible even a day earlier.

‘You know Sanctuary? It’s their leader. Gough.’

‘A mage?’

‘No, not really. He’s got some abilities, more than I thought, actually.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Basically what we already know. Cade and the others have gone to Osgog to destroy some kind of portal.’

Caleb’s mouth fell open. ‘The Manyway?’

Seb stopped. ‘You know it?’

‘Before I died I visited all the Families at some point, even the Ninth. The Manyway is an open-ended Way, the end point is controlled by the originator, but it’s been dormant for centuries.’

‘Well, sounds like it’s been activated again. Sedaris is planning to use it to bring the sheol here from the Void.’

‘Danu, be merciful,’ Caleb whispered.

‘I need to get there.’

‘Sure, but it’ll take a few hours. The nearest Way--’

‘I don’t have hours. I need to get there now. Cade and Sylph are in danger.’

‘Seb, I’m sorry about Cade, but what can we do? We can’t get there, not in the time you need anyway.’

Seb turned back to face the old man. ‘We can.’

‘How?’

‘The same way I got here.’

‘What? Teleport?’ Caleb followed him round the room, ‘How? You don’t even know how you did it the first time. You did it by accident, didn’t you?’

‘I did, but…’

‘…But what?’

What had he done? He paced the room, racking his mind.
Teleport
. He’d seen Anna and the others do it, but they’d just been in close proximity. They had to see the location.

No, that’s not what the Script said. It needed a location. You didn’t need to see it. The magi thought that but it’s not what it meant.

It got him to Skelwith, didn’t it?

All he needed was the location.

Osgog. Siberia. He’d not been before; he didn’t have a clue where it was.

But Caleb had.

‘What?’ Caleb shrank back. ‘I’ve seen that look before.’

‘You said you’d been to Osgog before.’

‘Sort of. There’s a village at the bottom of the valley. That’s as far as I could go.’

‘But you remember the place?’

‘Oh yeah, there’s a great pub there. Real spit and sawdust place. As a rule, non-Russians aren’t allowed in the area, but I had a few old friends there who liked having me across.’

‘Okay. I need you to call that place to mind. I want you to think of it, really vividly. Imagine every detail - the smell, the sounds, the taste. Everything you can.’

‘What are you thinking?’

What was he thinking? Would this even work? He didn’t have a Script for what he was about to attempt, but the logic made sense, at least to him. He needed the location. He hadn’t been there. Caleb had.

He just needed access to the memory.

‘Close your eyes, Caleb.’

‘Seb, are you -’

‘Just do it, please.’

Caleb sighed and closed his eyes. Seb took a step closer. He placed his hands on each side of the old man’s temple.

‘Relax.’

‘You almost sound as if you know what you’re doing.’

‘I do. Sort of.’

Seb called a combination of Novo and Sentio. He linked with Caleb, but the effort was tough, the old man’s mind almost as closed as the Unaware. Seb pushed harder, forcing his will over the inherent resistance in Caleb’s subconscious, the link that all observers had to the Consensus, to reality.

‘You okay, Caleb?’

‘Yes, it just feels…weird.’

‘I’ll try and be quick. Are you thinking of that pub?’

‘I am. We’re outside, in an alley. I used to go there for a crafty smoke. Seemed less conspicuous there.’

‘Good thinking.’

Seb pushed forward. There was a last ounce of resistance before he popped through, and a wave of memories washed over him. He cast each away in the blink of an eye, the images not matching what Caleb had described.

‘Are you concentrating on the memory?’ he said.

‘Oh yes, I can almost taste the vodka.’

‘Right, keep on that. I’m just filtering through your twenty-first birthday.’

‘Ah yes, a good night, I think. You’ll have to let me know what happened then, I can’t remember it at all.’

‘You don’t want to know.’

An image came up, more prominent from the rest. Seb held it in his mind’s eye.

‘Dark place. Smells of manure?’

‘I prefer it as
smells of nature
.’

‘There’s a bunch of bins out back. A sign flickering, some kind of goat on it?’

‘A ram. A black ram.’

‘That’s it.’

‘Okay, hold that memory.’

Seb pulled the Script from his library.
Teleport
hovered in his mind, awaiting the call, awaiting a location.

‘Are you ready?’

‘What? What’re you doing?’

‘I can’t leave you here, it’s not safe.’

‘Where you’re intending to go isn’t exactly the most welcoming of places, either.’

‘You’re coming with me.’

‘It doesn’t look like I have a choice.’

‘Please, Caleb, I don’t want to lose you again.’

Caleb sighed, defeated. Seb took hold of his hand.

‘Ready, Caleb?’

‘Let’s just get this over with.’

Seb closed his eyes. He took the memory and fed it into the waiting Script.

Here goes nothing.

The Drain vanished in a swirl of silver light.

The group had rested for an hour before entering the final Way. The change in climate was obvious almost immediately as they crossed into the new chamber. The air temperature had dropped significantly, and a harsh wind had buffeted them as they’d made their way upwards to the surface.

They’d emerged from the Way in a small wood of Cedar trees, throwing back a feeble barrier of bracken that covered the entrance from the Unaware. From there, Barach had thrown a faint shield across them all, protecting them from the worst of the elements.

They trudged out of the wood, immediately joining a narrow path that ascended a slope which vanished into a low-lying fog. Beyond the fog, the Putoran Mountains loomed.

Conversation had quickly died as the gradient had increased. The path narrowed, and they fell into single file with Sylph at the front, her keen
sense
keeping them away from danger. As they ascended Cade glanced down into the valley below. A cluster of twinkling lights stood amongst the barren snow-covered plains. Beyond that, at the edge of the valley, and curled up at the base of the mountains, was another cluster of buildings.

Osgog.

They followed the path for another three hours. Over time the path itself vanished, dwindling into nothing more than a loose collection of gravel just over a metre wide, with the cliff-face on one side and a sheer drop on the other. For those with skills like the Brotherhood the route was challenging, for the Unaware it would’ve been lethal.

Cade breathed a sigh of relief when the path widened again. His brain was hurting from the near-constant concentration he’d maintained in order to stop himself toppling to his death. Sylph appeared back out of the fog, skipping back down the path towards them. Her cheeks were red with the cold.

She was grinning from ear to ear.

‘I’m hoping this is good news, Sylph,’ Cade said.

‘We’re here. This must be the place Barach meant.’

‘Let me see.’

Barach marched up ahead, Cade quick to follow.

Up ahead the path ended on a small, level area nestled against the mountainside. It allowed the group some much needed shelter from the elements and they took the opportunity. Dmitri started a fire and four of the brothers huddled around it. Cade, Barach, Sylph and Roxie trudged away from the fire towards the narrow, pointing platform that jutted out into the fog.

‘Over here,’ Sylph said, standing at the point where the platform began.

‘What?’ Cade stopped, looking around. ‘Where?’

Sylph looked along the platform. It was two-feet wide at its broadest point, with the end hidden in the fog and looking considerably narrower. Cade’s eyes widened.

‘Out there?’

‘You’ll be fine. Just edge along. Just don’t look down.’

Cade shook his head and stepped forwards as Sylph moved back to safety. Even with his enhanced agility, walking on the platform felt like suicide. The wind raged, buffeting him as he edged along. As he reached the end he dropped to a crouch as he looked down, waiting for the fog to clear.

When the wind died down the fog seemed to go with it. The opaque cloud vanished, revealing a collection of grey buildings at the mountain’s base, surrounded by a large, wire fence. Immediately below Cade, and at the back of the complex, loomed the three massive cooling towers they’d seen in Barach’s vision. The middle one was positioned directly opposite the edge of the platform, the gaping hole at the top much larger than it had appeared in the vision.

That was their way in.

Great.

Cade rose and edged back to safety.

‘What do you think?’ Sylph said.

‘This is the only way?’ Cade addressed his question at Barach, whom until this point had been stood with his arms folded, eyes staring into the fog below.

‘The only way we can get in without being detected. Any other way and Sedaris will be on us before we can say “hi”.’

‘I guess that settles it.’ Cade turned to Sylph. ‘Get the others. I want to be over there straight after nightfall.’

***

‘It can’t be done, it surely can’t be done,’ Roxie said.

‘Barach. The floor is yours.’

The mage stepped forwards and squatted amongst the group.

‘There’re two guards on the top of the tower. Both with sniper rifles and probably infrared scopes. They won’t be looking up, they won’t expect an attack from this angle, but nonetheless we must strike quickly before they raise the alarm.’

‘And magi?’ Cade said.

‘There’s just one on the surface, in the central security tower. We need to take him out before we can go underground. There will also be some in the main hall of Osgog, which is embedded directly into this mountain. You can’t see it from here, but once on the tower you should be able to see the steps that lead up to it.’

‘But we don’t need to go there?’ Dmitri said.

‘No,’ Barach replied, although there was a slight pause that Cade picked up on. ‘The catacombs are directly underneath this entire plateau. The tower will let us bypass having to go through Osgog itself. If we’re quick, we can be in there and at the Manyway before they know what’s hit them.’

‘And the sheol? Should we expect any?’ Cade said. ‘These are sheol worshippers, are they not?’

‘None in the main buildings that I can recall. Although I’d expect there to be some in the catacombs, so be ready with phosphorous when we get there.’

‘Right, so what’s your plan?’ Roxie said.

‘Sylph, you’re up first,’ Barach said. ‘But first, I need to prepare our escape.’

‘What do you mean?’ Cade said.

Barach squatted on the floor and took out a small object wrapped in cloth. He placed it on the snow and opened it up, revealing a dull, green gem.

‘This is, or shall I say, will be, a Home Stone.’

‘Bound to where?’

‘Here.’

‘Couldn’t you have bound back to Sanctuary? Or the Croft?’

‘A proper Home Stone takes several days and lots of energy to construct. With one such as that you can bind it to any location. As you’re aware, I didn’t have the time nor the power to produce such a construct. This is a somewhat cruder version that will only work over a short distance.’

‘It’s better than having to escape on foot.’

‘Exactly.’

Barach closed his eyes. He muttered something under his breath. Strange, glowing runes appeared in the air above the stone, hovering like fireflies. They sank quickly, lowering into the stone and vanishing into its depths. When the last rune had vanished, Barach gathered the now glowing stone and put it back inside his jacket.

‘That will do. When we need to, we smash it on the floor, and get the hell out of there.’ He turned to Sylph. ‘Now, Sylph, are you ready?’

‘What? Across there? You got some kind of cannon to launch me with?’

‘Sort of. It’s called blurring. It will get you across to the walkway at the top.’

Sylph’s mouth fell agape. ‘Blurring? That far? Are you mad?’

‘Trust me. Once you reappear you need to be quick. You’ll have the element of surprise. Use it. We don’t want any of their magi picking us up.’

‘Come on, Sylph,’ Cade said, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘He’s got nothing to gain by watching us plummet to our deaths.’

‘Wow, Cade, you’re really excelling on the inspirational speeches.’

Sylph walked to within a foot of the edge of the platform’s edge. The wind howled around her, throwing swirls of numbing snow that bit into exposed flesh.

‘You ready?’ Barach shouted.

Sylph took out her twin daggers. She nodded. ‘Do it.’

Barach didn’t even nod. The group watched in amazement as Sylph seemingly vanished. Something shimmered on the tower walkway. Cade watched through his binoculars as a shadow moved along the gantry. One guard fell. Then another. He lowered the binoculars.

‘She’s done it.’

‘She’s good.’ Barach looked back. ‘Now the rest of us. I’ll come last. Keep yourselves low, you’ll be exposed for a few moments to a mage’s
sense
before I can bring up the shield again.

‘Okay, everyone,’ Cade said. ‘This is it. You know your roles. Whatever happens, we
must
destroy that portal. Understood?’

A mixture of murmurs and nods came back by way of response.

‘Good.’ He turned to Barach as he readied the poison-tipped crossbow by his side. ‘Send me over.’

***

From a balcony carved into the side of the Putoran mountains, Archmage Sedaris looked out beyond the grim, cold-war-era factory that served as the exposed layer of Osgog, and stared out across the snow-covered plains.

It was almost there. The Ninth had sent squads of magi and soldiers through the captured Junction at Domus through to the respective Family headquarters. Kranor and the sheol-magi had gone too, providing some much needed
persuasion
should any of the Ninth suddenly have a change in loyalties. Some resistance was expected, no Family would’ve left their prized assets completely undefended, but all their best magi had died at the Commune. Only a handful of adepts and Unaware soldiers would remain to cause any challenge. If he were just sending normal soldiers, then he wouldn’t have had as much confidence. But with groups of Ninth magi supplemented by Kranor, the resistance would surely crumble, and quickly.

Then the Spoke Stones would be his.

He allowed himself a distant
sense
again, seeking the assurance of his kin. The echo came almost instantly. An army of sheol, the Horde itself. They were near, oh so near. If he reached out, he could almost touch them through the Void.

Not long now.

He began to turn away, intending to go back and check the Manyway. The Ninth had placed guards there, but all the same he wanted to check that Archmage Tarmyr was keeping a tight rein on things. Tarmyr played the sycophant perfectly, but he was a fool if he felt that Sedaris couldn’t see through his feeble shields. Tarmyr, to his credit, was a typical follower of Nazgath, which meant he had already made plans to assassinate Sedaris as soon as the Stones were recovered. Ambitious? Yes. But it would be his undoing. Sedaris had already decided to end his life as soon as his forces had returned successfully from their missions. Doing something sooner would risk a revolt, and he couldn’t afford that until he had absolute power.

He was looking towards the shadowy door that descended down into the depths of Osgog when he felt it. A faint tug on his
sense
, barely perceptible. He turned back, looking up towards the jagged peak that hung directly over the compound.

Was something there? He focused his
sense
, narrowing on the snow-obscured peak where he detected the disturbance.

‘Archmage Sedaris?’

Sedaris’ concentration broke, his
sense
briefly scattering to the wind. He whirled round to find Alexei, Tarmyr’s son and Battlemaster.

‘What is it?’ He yelled.

Alexei shrank back. ‘I thought you’d like to know, Archmage Sedaris, the first teams have reported in. The Seventh and Fourth have both fallen. The assault teams are on their way back with the Stones.’

Sedaris allowed the anger to dissipate, a smile forming on his face. ‘Thank you, Alexei. That is good news.’

Alexei nodded and ducked back into the stairway. Sedaris spun and refocused his
sense.

Whatever it was had gone.

***

Barach was the last to appear on the gantry. He materialised just short of the rail and fell heavily. Cade lunged forward and pulled him the rest of the way. Barach dropped to his knees with a clang before standing.

‘You okay?’ Cade said.

‘Fine. Sedaris just took a spot of sightseeing. I had to
blur
before I had chance to get my bearings.’

‘Did he see you?’

‘No. We’d know about it if he had.’ Barach glanced at the rest of the team. ‘We all ready?’

‘You don’t need to check with me. Let me deal with my team and you do what you need to do.’

Before Barach could respond Cade turned his back on the mage. ‘Dmitri, Roxie, remember, just keep our exit clear. We should able to use the Home Stone, but just in case someone falls with the stone, then we’ll have to get out on foot.
But
- don’t get yourselves killed. If it gets too hot, just get the hell out of here, understood?’

The two Brotherhood warriors nodded in silence. Without a further word they dropped over the edge of the rail, vanishing into the swirls of fog and snow.

‘They up to this?’ Barach said as he climbed the ladder to the lip of the tower. He flung his legs over and peered down into the gloom.

‘They’ll get it done. We just to need to deliver our side. You good?’