Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling (47 page)

Vito smiled triumphantly at the Artefact in his hands.

Inquisitor de Luca

Congratulations on retrieving the Artefact from the apprentice Witches. Please be advised I am in Paris and will meet you at the Gare de Bercy train station where we have an Inquisitorial Car to ourselves. Please make all haste.

Mary Damask

Boarding Action

Paris, France.

Half an hour later

Amanda checked herself in the mirror one last time before breakfast. After what had ended up being quite a fun night at the ball, Amanda found herself rising a little later this morning then she might otherwise have been. She had banished the hangover into nothing more than a memory with her Magic and started to get up. Showered and dressed, she checked herself in the mirror.

She had chosen to wear a dull green top, an above the knee flared black skirt, black tights and knee length black velvet boots with a block heel. She kept her hair loose today, and as she finished up her last check, the Mirror came to life, the face moving as it spoke.

‘Amanda, Gentle Water requests your presence in the entrance hall to the house.’

Amanda looked up, a little startled. ‘I didn’t know you could pass on messages?’

The face winked.

Amanda smiled and left the room, heading along the corridor, and down the stairs. As the lobby came into view she saw Gentle Water waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Royston stood there, and so did Raven, looking tired and stressed. Two young girls, perhaps about fourteen years old stood amongst the Magi, holding onto each other and looking terrified.

They were wearing jeans and tops that looked like they had been worn for days. They were grubby and there was an unwashed smell in the air. They were pleading with the three men.

‘We have to go and get him, we have to save him, we can’t leave him with them…’

They all looked up at Amanda as she descended the stairs, almost as if she might be the answer to their questions, but she didn’t have a clue what was happening.

‘What’s the craic?’ she asked as she arrived at the bottom step, next to Gentle Water.

‘It’s the mission I was on,’ said Raven. ‘I believe you know of the Artefact from the Tomb in Egypt?’

‘We went there yesterday.’

‘Well, it ended up in the hands of Fran and Liz here, along with their two friends Stephan and Ben.’

Liz sobbed at the mention of Bens name, Fran held her close.

‘Nate, one of Yasmin’s apprentices tried to get it from them, killing all their parents and Ben in the process.’

‘My god!’ Amanda gasped, she looked again at the two girls, clearly they were sisters, twins maybe, and saw the sadness and horror behind their eyes.

Amanda crossed the room and stood before them, putting her arms around them. ‘Come here, come here,’ she said softly, the girls started to cry, hugging Amanda. ‘Hey it’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll help you. Don’t worry.’ As they sobbed in her arms, she looked over at Raven, ‘Have they eaten anything?’

‘Very little,’ he said.

‘Well, let’s get them to the kitchen, you can continue after we have given them something to eat.’

‘But Stephan, we have to go after him, they’ll kill him.’

Amanda didn’t know what they were talking about, but these girls needed some food and comforting. ‘Yes, I know, but you need to eat, we’re going nowhere until you eat,’ she said, taking the girls through to the kitchen where food was summoned, and as they ate Raven told the others his story from finding the bodies in the houses to their encounter with the Inquisition in Paris.

She had felt simple wonder and amazement when she had first arrived at the Mansion, discovering all the new things and new people. Gentle Water had spoken to her many times of some of the horrors that filled the lives of the Magi, but it had always seemed somewhat remote, distant and separate from her. But seeing these girls and hearing their plight, she suddenly felt much closer to it all, but she also felt a kind of exhilaration, as here she had a chance to help someone, to do something right and good. She felt that she could also relate to their feelings somewhat, after all, it wasn’t all that long ago that she had lost her friends, and seeing the desperation in the girls faces made her want only to help them.

‘So the Inquisition has Stephan and the book and no doubt will be taking them to the Vatican. They can’t Port there with the book, so they’ll be going via mundane transport.’ She looked up at the three men stood before her, ‘Is there any way for us to find them?’

‘In theory, yes, we’re looking into it now,’ said Royston.

‘I guess it might take some time?’ she asked.

‘It might.’

‘Then I’ll get these girls cleaned up so I will.’

With a little bit of persuasion, Amanda finally got the girls to have a shower and Magically cleaned their clothes for them. It was half an hour later when they went to the basement room where Ekkehardt Möller kept his Lab and she found people hard at work tracing the Inquisition team. Royston walked over to Amanda and the girls and asked if they were feeling better. The girls nodded and thanked Royston.

‘So, are we any closer to finding them?’ Amanda asked.

‘We think so, Ekkehardt is doing some conventional research and computer hacking while a few of the rest are helping Magically.’

As Amanda watched, she saw Ekkehardt finding trains and other vehicles that would suit what the Inquisition was doing and passing the details on to one of the other Magi to Scry it and see if the Inquisitors were there. Ten minutes passed before there seemed to be a little bit of excitement happening. Leaving the twins in the chairs they had sat in, Amanda walked over to where Royston, Gentle Water, Raven and Ekkehardt were standing, over a Map.

‘Have you found something?’

‘We think so,’ said Raven. ‘There’s a train, heading along this line, about here,’ Raven traced the line on the map, ‘which has a whole car shielded by an Aegis. It all fits, it started from Paris, it’s heading to Rome, the times are about right, and the tactics of the Inquisition are recognisable. We think it’s them.’

‘Then what are we still doing here then?’ she asked.

Amanda turned to the twins and waved them over.

‘Did you find him?’ Liz said urgently as she stepped up to the table.

‘We think so. If we’re right, he’s on a train heading for Rome,’ said Amanda.

‘So, come on, let’s go,’ said Fran quickly.

‘Are you sure you want to go? This could be dangerous.’

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to go,’ said Royston, his voice urging caution.

Amanda knew that Royston was just thinking of the twins safety, but she knew without looking how that would have gone down with the twins. Amanda was only a few years older than the girls and felt that she could relate to them and their situation a little better than some of the older Magi here. She knew they would want to be a part of this mission and be there to save their friend. After losing their parents and Ben just a few days ago, she was willing to bet that this current crisis served to focus their minds and keep them from dwelling on the horrors they had seen.

‘What?’ said the Twins as one, clearly horrified.

‘Why not, he’s our friend,’ said Liz.

‘If it was your friend, you’d want to go,’ said Fran.

‘That may well be true, but we can protect you better here,’ argued Royston.

‘We don’t need protecting,’ said a defiant Fran with a frown. ‘We want to help.’

‘What do the rest of you think?’ Royston asked the others, looking for back up.

‘There is risk if they go,’ said Gentle Water, glancing at Amanda as he spoke, Amanda looking back and knowing he was seeing some parallels between their situation and Amanda’s after Georgina had died. ‘But they are already involved’.

‘They might also come in useful when it comes to dealing with Stephan, when we find him,’ Raven said.

Amanda looked round at Royston, smiling inside at the way Gentle Water and Raven were backing her on this. ‘OK so, how about, Gentle Water, Raven and I go, and we take the girls as well. Raven can hang back and look after them while us two,’ she motioned to herself and Gentle Water, ‘take the lead. What do you think?’ She said to Raven.

‘Sounds like a plan to me,’ he answered with a half-smile.

‘Okay,’ said Royston, resigned to the groups decision, ‘but I don’t like it. Bring them back safely.’

‘We will. Now, how do we get to the train?’ Amanda asked. ‘Not all of us can Teleport.’

The twins looked at each other, frowning slightly. Amanda could feel the confusion they were feeling as they listened.

Israel Roth, who had sat quietly in the corner so far, stood up and walked forward. ‘That’s where I come in. Are you about ready?’

They checked their things and finally all stood together. The girls asked Amanda what was going to happen, but knowing time was short, she just asked them to trust her and enjoy the ride.

‘We’re ready,’ said Amanda once everyone was finished checking their stuff.

‘One moment then please, I just need to find somewhere to place you,’ he said, and closed his eyes. Amanda could feel the powerful Magic surging through the Master Magus, until a few seconds later he opened his eyes. ‘And off you go!’

There was a surge of energy, and the brief disorientation that Amanda had felt a few times before whenever she had been Ported, and they suddenly found themselves stood in one of the end sections of a carriage where the passengers embarked or disembarked from the train. It was empty, but there were people in the two carriages on either side of them.

The two girls, clearly shocked by the Porting, stood there wide eyed and open mouthed, shocked at what had just happened. Amanda gave them a smile and a wink.

'Yee haa!' Fran whooped, the excitement of this little magical feat thrilling her and overcoming the fear she had been feeling if only for a moment.

Liz smiled too, happy that her sister was having a moment of joy.

Amanda smiled, before looking back towards her two Magi companions. She had felt excitement back at the mansion as they had tracked this train and the kidnappers down. But now the feeling changed, they were onboard the train, probably just a few carriages away from a group of people who would likely try to kill them. Things were getting a little more serious.

‘Any Magi in that group of Inquisitors will have felt that,’ said Raven. ‘They’ll send someone to check it out, standard procedure.’

‘Okay so,’ Amanda said, ‘that means we have very little time to lose.’

Vito looked on as Mary, sitting across from him, the golden book open on the table before her, traced her fingers over the carved text. Her bob of dark hair hung about her face as she studied the book closely, she hadn’t spoken to Vito for a good ten minutes now. Vito took this as a good sign and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

The boy had been no trouble at all during the entire journey since Vito first took the book from him in Paris. He sat tied to the chair a short distance away, staring at his feet.

Vito relaxed into his chair again and closed his eyes. This had been a rewarding but exhausting hunt with the past few days being really quite dangerous, Vito couldn’t wait to be back in Rome and take a few days off, if Mary would let him.

He was more than a little surprised to find Mary waiting for them in the Train Station in Paris after he had retrieved the book. He knew she was quite a hands-on Grand Inquisitor, unlike most of them who pretty much stayed within the walls of the Vatican. Mary was an exception to the rule, in more ways than one being the only female Grand Inquisitor, and often went out into the field with her Knights, but this was the first time she had joined up with Vito, and he found it a little disconcerting.

As he sat there and ruminated over things, he felt a burst of dark energy not too far away wash over him.

He sat up and, holding his cross on the chain about his neck, focused his divine soul. The flare of energy faded, but it had been there a moment ago. He looked to his left and saw that Mary had stopped reading the book and was also concentrating.

‘You felt that too?’ he asked her.

‘By His grace, yes,’ she said, and closed the book. She stood up and concentrated for a second more before she turned to the group of Crusader Knights that were with them, a mix of hers and Vito’s. ‘You three, go and check out the other carriages. We have company.’

Vito could see that a few of the Knights had picked up on the energy burst themselves, they were members of God’s chosen few, working their way up the ranks to full Inquisitor status. Mary had picked three of the ones with the Gift of God out from the group and sent them up through the train to check things out. They were in the rear most carriage, so there was only one way they could come at them from, which was but a minor comfort.

Vito didn’t feel quite so happy or home free any more.

In first class, Yasmin sat with her knees crossed at the dining table, sipping on her vintage champagne. Leaning back in the chair in her dark suit with its plunging neckline and graceful cut, her dark hair swept back from her beautiful but severe face. Nate, sitting opposite her thought she looked like she was enjoying the ride so far, he felt tense though, he wanted nothing more than to charge down that central isle and unleash hell.

Nate also knew she would be punishing him later on for failing to get the Artefact from a weakling Arcadian Magi such a Raven, this probably wasn't helping his mood. Yasmin no doubt knew this and he felt sure that she had been making him sit here on purpose, making him squirm, knowing he wanted to redeem himself in her eyes.