A Prison of Worlds (The Chained Worlds Chronicles Book 1) (13 page)

“What
if two mages put these things up at the same time?” the officer asked.

“It
is first come, first serve.  The magic's locked to the first caster for as long
as they have the power to maintain the spell.  Ritual magic tends to last
longer and be more efficient so it's great to defend your home with.”  I
couldn't touch my magic reserves while I was within the area either.  I don't
use them for much yet, except parlor tricks, but it was a stifling feeling.  “If
two casters both have smaller versions of these things up almost all they can
do is throw dirty looks at one another.  Fireballs are stopped cold at the
boundary.”

“Almost?”

“Some
spells cause physical effects.  If you take away the magic you still have
something coming at you.  All in all it’s a great defense, especially combined
with a shield circle.”  I gestured at the glowing blue energy barrier in front
of us.  “Magic objects still work but if they have secondary magical effects
they are shut down.”

“So
this won't affect us at all I suppose,” Mat said as he digested the explanation.

“Not
unless you have some mages hidden away somewhere,” I chuckled.  I had searched
the city pretty well.  All it had was a few natural mystics that could do a few
minor enchantments.  Well until Jin had started sending his students here. 
Hmm, and I guess I completely missed Mr. Zombie man.  I was starting to wonder
if I knew this city at all.

“Nope,
you're all we have,” he said a bit grimly.  I looked at him, startled.  If they
counted me as a mage they were going to be pretty surprised when a real one
showed up, throwing spells around.

“Hmm,”
I muttered noncommittally.   “The really bad news is that I would really be
shocked if the circle master didn't have a surprise in place when his shield
ran down.  When this thing goes down,” I tapped the shield's surface again,
eliciting a wince from the police.  “I would bet there's something triggered to
go off.”

“A
bomb,” Mat asked tensely.

“Could
be.  Could be something magical.  I can't tell with the dampening circle in
place.”

“Is
there any way to tell?”

I
looked intently at the shield.  If it was for purely physical effects I may be
able to astral project a short distance to see what was inside.  It was a long
shot though.  Most psionic and magic shields stopped astral travel.  The astral
plane was just too closely tied to the physical plane.  It almost didn't count
as another dimension.  I hadn't tried it in a long time due to the discomfort
and hazards inherent in it, but the rune branded on my chest may not count that
as real dimensional travel, just as it didn't impede too much my use of psionic
teleportation much, limited as that was.  The last thing I wanted was to peek
outside my body in my astral form only to have it yanked to the rune's anchor
in the city.

I
slowly shook my head.  “Sorry, there's nothing I can think of offhand that
would be able to peek inside.”

Mat
looked at me confused.  “What do you mean peek inside?  We can already see
inside, except for the buildings he was holing up in.”

I
looked back at him blankly in turn and cursed under breathe.  I ran into it
pretty rarely but there's a down side to being able to see invisible objects
and magic.  They appear rather solid to you and often you aren't aware that
other, less gifted people may see through them.  “Okay maybe there is something
I can do.  I'll need a minute.”

Mat
just shrugged.  Apparently, if I could help he wasn't in a hurry.  I looked
around noticed a bench off by the wall, next to the remnants of an overturned
waste drum.  Walking over to it I sat down and assumed the thinker position
while entering a light meditative state.  I could have just sat down in the
lotus position, but I dreaded having to clean my pants off after sitting on the
remnants of undead flesh that lay scattered on the floor.  It also lacked a bit
of dignity.

Concentrating,
I worked to suppress my higher mental sensitivity.  I had spent years honing my
mental prowess and it went against the grain but at the moment it was hindering
me.  I imagined it as closing off certain doors in my head and almost winced as
I felt the world around me get smaller.  On the bright side, the oppressive
background noise of the city that drove away the human psychics almost
vanished.

After
about five minutes I was done and stood up to walk over to the barrier.  The
change in my senses was not physical but it put me off my stride enough that I
almost felt unsteady as I approached it.  The barrier still glowed a faint blue
due my heritage but now it was transparent enough to clearly see the details
inside.  I assume the people around me didn't even see the barrier at all but
didn't feel like advertising my limitations. 

On
the other side I saw rows and rows of circles, each several yards wide, etched
into the concrete floor.  Lines connected them in some pattern that would
probably make sense one day if I gained more proficiency in this type of
magic.  My instinctive sense told me that each of these circles unleashed waves
of fire and necrotic energies that would simply stop ones heart if it overcame
a person's innate defenses.  Considering how that mess was layered it would be
like waves of magic beating on a sandy shore.  Once activated they would go off
in rapid order.  If a person withstood the first, the second or even the sixth,
the twentieth would probably finish off the person.  I felt a chill down my
spine as I looked over the field of death.  I am pretty resistant to hostile
magic but I really wouldn't want to be here when this was triggered.

“The
man that did this was a really vindictive bastard.” I said to myself.  I wasn't
really talking to Mat but he responded anyway.

“How
so,” he asked warily.

“When
this shield goes down... whether you blast it or just wait... this entire area
is going to be filled with fire and death.”

“What
do you mean 'and death',” Mat asked tensely.

I
looked at him, thinking of how to explain to someone that didn't know anything
about magic.  “This area will be flooded with death magic.  Enough to make your
heart stop,” an idea occurred to me.  “Or it could make you wither and die.  I
am not sure exactly what that much necrotic power would do to a person.”

“So
it's all one big death trap.  Will the explosion take down the ceiling?”

I
winced; if the ceiling came down I wouldn't be able to study the circles. 
Doubtless, the circle master had taken his books when he abandoned his lair but
if I could examine those circles, perhaps capture some psychic impressions on
what the creator was doing when he made them, I might someday be able to
recreate them.  The death and fire circles were a bit overkill for home
defense, but they would be fascinating to learn.  The real gems would be the
shield and portal circle.  With that, I may be able to get out of this
dimension.

“It's
not quite like that.  I don't think there will be an explosion.” I gestured
with wide sweeping motions.  “It will just fill this area with fire... and
death of course.”  Death magic doesn't have any concussive force, you just drop
dead.

“So
this cavern isn't going to collapse?”

“Well,
it’s going to get really hot in here, you may want to talk to an engineer and
see if the supports will survive.”

“Well
how hot is that?” Mat elaborated.

I
looked at him annoyed.  How the hell would I know?  Did he think I had walked
into a death trap before with a thermometer?  “I don't know, I would guess it
would depend on how much power he pushed into this.  Considering all this is on
a node it’s going to be hotter than hell.”

The
police looked really unhappy.  Mat turned to his companions and started talking
tech speak.  I tuned him out and looked at the circles again.  They should be
okay after the trigger.  Their power would be exhausted but I should be able to
examine them.  The circles should be immune to their own effects.  I hoped.

“Okay,
we'll put in electronic surveillance and evacuate the buildings above us,” Mat
finished emphatically, making me start and breaking my reverie.  I nodded
absently, that would be the smart thing to do.  I gave a last look at the
circles before slowly turning away.  “Thank you for your help Professor.  Let's
get you back home.”

I
gave him a frown as I headed out.  I had told him to call me Derek and he still
called me by that title the bibliophiles had given me.  What's the point in
making up an identity if no one is going to use it?

,
pleased that he was still alive.  He seemed like a decent chap, perhaps a bit
on the nervous side, but that would keep him alive.  “Glad that worked out, Mat. 
Conrad mentioned that it didn't end perfectly though.  Call me Derek.” I
offered in return.

“No,
that bastard enclosed the entire area in a big dome.  Didn't even see him in
there, but the shifters swear they smelled and heard a living person in there
before it went up.”

We
exchanged some small talk as the police cruiser flew through the town.  No
missiles popped out at us, and I actually was able to ignore my gnawing envy
enough to enjoy the scenery.  Mat had obviously requisitioned another vehicle
since the holes and rips I had made in the cushions and door were not present.

Within
a few minutes, we landed.  The first thing I noticed was that four police
floaters were parked on the ground, and nearby a sewer cover was covered in
holographic barriers and had an access ladder coming from it.  I paused at the
sight.

“Yeah,”
Mat sighed, his voice mirroring the dismay I felt.  “This is the closest
surface access we can get.  Fortunately, this area of the sewers is relatively
dry.”

Covering
my nose, I approached the opening.  The smell coming out of it was bad but I
suppose it could have been worse.  I was extremely grateful I lacked the
extreme senses that most bestial shape changers had.  “I'm surprised the shifters
didn't pass out.”

“Some
did get a bit sick, but it's really not that bad deeper in.  I don't know where
it's coming from, but there's fresh air in there where the shield is.” Mat
sounded chipper about that.  I frowned; I had a bad feeling about that.

“Well,
let's get down there and see what's going on,” I muttered, trying to recapture
my earlier cheer.  I failed.

It
really wasn't so bad.  I repeated that to myself like a mantra.  Still, the ground
was only slightly spongy from material that had long ago decayed, so much that
it was almost soil rather than fresher biological material.  It had enough left
of its origins to stink up the tunnel, despite my attempts at positive thinking. 
Detachable light globes dotted the sides of the tunnel, put there, I suppose,
by the human police that couldn't see in the dark.

Mat
and I walked in complete silence.  I assumed he didn't want to open his mouth
and let more fumes in than he had to.  I was examining the walls for scratches
and trying to see if the ground, churned by dozens of footsteps, would reveal
anything I didn't already know.  It didn't.

It
was only a few hundred feet to the area the police had barricaded.  I could see
the damage on the columns and walls where supernatural creatures had been
pitted against others.  Pockmarks where guns had gone off and small bits of
unidentifiable giblets of flesh I didn't want to think too much about also
decorated the landscape.  In short, the area where the tunnel opened out into
the vast underground room resembled a warzone.

Four
officers were standing at the entrance.  It looked like some semi-mobile
barrier, borrowed from the army, had been set up to give the police cover if
anything were to happen.  My attention was grabbed by the shimmering blue wall
of mystic energy that almost completely filled the chamber.  The surface was
only barely translucent so it was difficult to tell, but it seemed to be
vaguely dome-shaped from floor to ceiling, and I may have been able to see
objects on the inside.

Ignoring
the muffled whispers of warning from the police, I walked up and put my hand on
the shield and opened my senses.  I could tell we were on a pretty decent node,
and this construct was sucking in most of that energy.  I could also sense the
dimensional barriers had been recently breached.  Probably sometime in the night. 
The air was not as fresh as Mat said it would be, which had some unfortunate
implications.  There was also a constricting sense to this place, as if an
oppressive pressure pushed on me from all sides.

“You
want the good news, bad news, or the really bad news?” I flashed Mat a smile as
I said this.  He didn't smile back; I think he remembered my last batch of bad
news.

“Give
me the good news, unless there's something I have to know now,” he said
nervously.

“Well,”
I tapped on the shield, causing a small spray of sparks to shoot out.  “This
shield will probably go down in about two days.  You could bring it down faster
if you brought in some heavy weapons from the army, but you'd likely have the
ceiling fall on you first unless you used their more focused weapons.  Maybe if
they had a big ass laser cannon you could get through the sewers.  I can feel
the ebb in the energy and it’s not being replenished as fast as it’s consumed.”