Magi Descent: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (The Magi Saga Book 6) - PAPERBACK

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Intruder Alert
The Atoll

“Wow, that is incredible, Amanda-san,” Yoh exclaimed. She could hear the amazement in his voice. He seemed a little incredulous, but she felt sure he actually believed her. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he hadn’t, though. The story was certainly an incredible one.
“I know. It’s kind of unbelievable, but I assure you, it’s true. Gentle Water, Trevelyan, and Maya will all be able to confirm it.”
“Oh, I believe you, it’s just… It’s a lot to take in, you know?”
Amanda nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I know it’s been like five minutes for you. One moment I was standing right there, and then I was gone. Only to float from the sky five minutes later on my new boat,” she said, pointing over to her trimaran-shaped Aetheric Craft floating a distance offshore, and looking like a state-of-the-art luxury yacht.
“That was certainly something of a shock, that’s for sure. I had no idea you had such a thing.”
“Well, I didn’t when I disappeared, but I do now.”
“And you made it?”
“Yeah, you know, Magically, of course.”
“Of course. So, who else doesn’t know the truth?”
“Well, it’s probably easier to say who does. Gentle Water, Raven, Balor-”
“Balor?” Yoh interrupted. “He knows?”
“He does. As does most of the Legacy. So, Royston, Maria, Israel, Aaron. Also Maya, Trevelyan, Stephen Bathory, Count Saint Germain. Um, I think that’s it.”
“So, Liz doesn’t know. Also Shaun, Vanessa, Howie. That Matt Walker you brought in yesterday… Well, yesterday for me, anyway,” he said, shaking his head. “How long ago was that for you?”
“Oh, over one thousand, two hundred and sixty years. I mean, I remember it, but it’s a little hazy. It was a long time ago.”
They were sitting on some rocks on the beach of the atoll, their bare feet resting in a pool that was being fed by the gently lapping sea through the gap in the rocks.
The water here was crystal clear and a beautiful shade of azure and green. It was lovely and warm under the baking sun.
Amanda was aware that her fair Irish complexion probably made her look like some kind of ghost next to Yoh’s lovely colour. She didn’t mind, though.
It was nice to finally be back in the world she grew up in, a world she understood, and she was looking forward to finally telling Liz and the others the truth.
She smiled to herself, only to have a pulse of Essentia flow into her mind.
It was an alert from the Aegis at her Brownstone in New York, and for a moment, it caught her off guard. She’d not set those Magical alerts. That had been done by her younger-self. But then, they were both the same person, and the younger version of herself had now been whisked away back in time by the Weaver, leaving only her here. She guessed the alerts just automatically switched over as if they were the same person.
She pondered that for a second or so, before coming back around to realising that this Essentia Pulse was an alert. Someone had destroyed the Aegis around her home
She looked at Yoh.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, reading her concerned expression.
“Looks like there’s an attack happening in New York.” She reached out to the controls of the Arkady with her mind and instructed it to move into an orbit above New York.
“You ready?” Amanda asked as the Aetheric Craft lifted out of the sea and started to rise into the air, its two outrigger hulls transforming into something more like wings.
“Yes, Amanda–san. I take it we’re Porting into danger?”
“I would assume so,” she answered, feeling sure that it would be the only reason the Aegis would send out such a warning.
She’d set the Aegis centuries ago, though, so she couldn’t be entirely sure what she’d done.
With a working of Magic, Amanda Ported herself and Yoh from the atoll into the entrance hall of her Brownstone in Manhattan.
Or, at least, she tried to Port them both into the lobby. Instead, they found themselves in the alleyway behind her house, outside a hastily-erected Aegis.
“We’re in the alley?” Yoh remarked.
“Someone stopped us from Porting into the house,” Amanda said, as she concentrated and drove a powerful spike of Essentia into the Magical shield, cracking it like an egg. Amanda Ported them both again through the crack, this time appearing in the entrance hall.
She didn’t have time to marvel at the unfamiliar but welcome feeling of being back home. Instead, she found herself looking at Nymira, the Nomad Voodoo Queen who was standing in her front hallway wearing a long dark cloak of leather and fur. Her dreadlocks cascaded over her shoulders like black mamba snakes as she turned to look at Amanda. She’d painted a white skull over her face, its contrast against her dark skin giving her a gruesome look.
Nymira’s piercingly intense eyes regarded Amanda as a smile grew over her face. Amanda glanced down at Liz, who was sitting up against the wall and looking over at Amanda with hope and desperation.
With her Aegis already pumped full of Essentia and her mind split using the Multitasking effect, she regarded Nymira with her Magic ready.
There were five other Nomads standing behind the Voodoo Queen, and they were all drawing Essentia into them.
“Ah, there you are. I was just asking this bouzin here where you might be. Looks like you arrived just in the nick of time.”
“Your fight is with me,” Amanda said.
“Is it?” Nymira asked turning to face her, revealing the lithe body that had been hidden by the cloak. It was covered in human and animal bones that had been strapped to her figure, while a loin cloth made from finger bones hung from her crotch. Two circular metal pasties did the same over her nipples. It was a bizarre look that made Amanda blink with incredulity. But then, when you were as powerful as Nymira was, few people were going to argue with how you dressed.
Amanda took a step forward. “It is.”
“Not going to run away from me this time, then? Not going to have your Scion friend save your skinny ass?” Nymira’s companions laughed.
“Nah. I thought I’d just kick your arse myself, if that’s okay with you?”
“Oh child, how naive of you,” Nymira replied with mirth, much to the amusement of her companions.
Amanda had heard enough and unleashed a flurry of Magical attacks at the Arch Magus before her. Essentia Strikes mixed with furious blasts of lightning flew from Amanda as she raised her hands. Amanda smashed Nymira back into the wall, sending a couple of her coven mates sprawling to the floor.
“Get up, get behind me,” Amanda said to Liz, who moved quickly, looking at Amanda in awe.
One of Nymira’s coven mates, a woman in long robes with braided hair, rushed towards Amanda, Essentia lashing out.
“You dare to insult the Voodoo Queen?”
Amanda hit her with a blast of Kinetic energy and Essentia that slammed her into the sidewall and destroyed her Aegis as the woman hit the floor in a heap.
“Yeah, I dare,” Amanda replied.
Nymira rose to her feet and launched an attack on Amanda that hit her Aegis like a battering ram, but her shield held.
Essentia blasts rushed out of Amanda and smashed into the Voodoo Queen’s Aegis. Nymira was pouring Essentia into it to bolster her defences, but Amanda noticed the shield flicker under the assault. She’d hurt her.
Amanda smiled. “Naive, am I?”
“Tear her apart,” Nymira roared.
“Gladly,” one of them answered.
The other four Magi Amanda had yet to attack strode forward, Magic crackling around their hands and shields. Magic lashed out from them, whipping across Amanda’s Aegis. It tore a layer of protection from her, but she wasn’t worried.
She had one of her Multitasking minds repairing her Aegis the whole time, keeping her defences running as she targeted the strongest of these fellow Nomads and ripped into him with a ferocity that left him wide-eyed with surprise. Her Magic lanced into him and reduced his Aegis to tatters in moments before she reached through with a Kinetic force and smashed his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
Behind her, Liz had recovered from Nymira’s attack. “What some help?” she asked.
Liz threw Magic at one of the weaker Nomads, bolstering Amanda’s attack. Yoh shot forward, sprinting at superhuman speed and attacked another. Raking at the man with his claws, he ripped holes in the man’s Aegis and slashed the Nomad’s soft flesh beneath.
The remaining coven mate backed off, looking scared as Nymira surged forward once more, throwing another round of Magical blasts at Amanda that hit her Aegis, damaging it further.
“You’re mistaken if you think you can win this,” Nymira taunted.
Her Aegis held as Amanda returned the attack, blasting Nymira again. This time the Nomad’s Aegis flickered and tore open, no longer able to resist Amanda’s attacks.
“We’ll see,” Amanda replied.
Magic swept in from two of Nymira’s female companions.
Amanda turned and blasted them with Essentia Strikes, before hitting the woman with the braid with a lightning bolt that flashed between them. She fell to the floor, lifeless.
The Aegis of the blonde girl resisted Amanda’s Magic slightly better, but not by much as Amanda followed it up with a Kinetic hit that had her tripping over the man Amanda had knocked out a short time before.
Essentia flared to Amanda’s right, and Nymira Ported out. “Damn it,” Amanda cursed.
The blonde threw another dagger of Essentia that dug into Amanda’s Aegis. She lashed out on instinct, furious at herself for not stopping Nymira from Porting away and slammed the Nomad against the far wall. She dropped lifeless to the floor, her Aegis torn to bits.
Looking up, Yoh stood over his opponent, his claws dripping with blood and the Nomad he’d fought, dead.
Nearby, Liz smashed her Essentia-laced fist into the last Nomad’s face. The woman dropped to the floor, leaking blood onto Amanda’s carpet as Liz caught her breath, her hands crackling with energy.
Amanda smiled. Her apprentice had handled herself well.
“Holy shit,” Liz gasped between breaths. “That was intense.”
“Are you okay?” Amanda asked. She could see with her Magical sight that Liz was fine physically, apart from a few bruises, but it never hurts to ask.
“I’m fine. You?”
“Just grand,” Amanda replied.
“Good,” Liz replied, and looked up. “You totally kicked her arse, Mandy. How the bloody hell did you do that?”
“Ah, well, that’s a long story.”
“She’s like, an Arch Magus, right?” Liz asked, referring to Nymira.
“Yeah, to be sure. Look, I have a lot to tell you, but not right now. I need to find Nymira and finish this before she goes after anyone else.
“Do you know where she might be, Amanda-san?” Yoh asked.
“I have a rough idea, but I’m hoping that one of these pair will know more,” she said, talking about the two Nomads that were still alive.
Amanda regarded them both. One of them was the girl Liz had fought, the other was the one Amanda had chosen to attack first. He was a bald man with a few tattoos and he’d undoubtedly been the most powerful of Nymira’s crew.
Amanda walked over to the man, his Aegis long since gone, and reached out with her Magic into his unconscious mind. She searched for any knowledge of Nymira’s possible whereabouts and followed his lead on which of these places was most likely to be correct.
It was somewhere in Haiti from the looks of things, which fit with what Amanda knew of the Voodoo Queen. She also found out what she needed to do to pass through the Aegis that protected the place they were Porting into.
She looked up at her friends and saw Gentle Water walk through from the back of the house. Amanda smiled and stood, before walking over to him and giving him a hug. He looked a little surprised.
“Everything alright, Amanda?” he asked.
Shaun also appeared just behind Gentle Water, leaning out of the door from the basement. “What the hell is… oh, wow,” he said on seeing the carnage. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, everything’s grand, don’t worry, and I’m fine.”
“So, has the younger…” Gentle Water began.
“Yes,” Amanda said, not wanting to get into an in-depth conversation right now. “But we can talk about that later, I have something… Well, someone to deal with first.”
“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Shaun said. “You seem to have it under control.”
“Thanks, Shaun,” Amanda said as he disappeared through the basement door.
“I’ll help,” Gentle Water said.
Amanda nodded. “Okay, you take Liz and Yoh, I’ll bring these ejit’s,” Amanda said, waving at the bodies on the floor. “We’re going here,” she said and sent Gentle Water the location of where they were Porting. “Let’s find this Voodoo Queen and deal with her once and for all.”
She reached out with her mind and wrapped the defeated Nomads up in her Magic before bringing her will to bear and Porting them and herself down to the island in the Gulf of Mexico.