Magi Rebirth: (The Magi Saga Book 7) - EBOOK

From the Jaws of Defeat…
Manhattan, New York

Mary Damask, leader of the Inquisition and ruthless killer of Liz’s friends and family, glared at her from atop the pile of rubble.
She was an intimidating sight, in her grey vest top, combat trousers, walking boots, and keen-looking Crusader sword that glowed with infused Magical energy. The wind caught her severe bob-cut black hair as she skidded down the slope, staring at Liz with a hatred and ferocity that scared her.
Liz took a step back and glanced to her left, through the chaos of the fight that was all around her and looked longingly at the lifeless body of her mentor, Amanda.
She lay on her stomach. Her face was turned toward Liz and her eyes were open, but there was no life there.
Amanda was dead.
To Liz, the blood pooling onto the dusty concrete beneath her looked like something from a nightmare.
She couldn’t quite wrap her head around the idea that her mentor and best friend was gone. It just didn’t seem real to her. Surely, this couldn’t be the end of Amanda. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. It should be Yasmin on the ground now, she thought, looking at the figure standing above Amanda.
In her fitted black outfit, Yasmin looked more like she was coated in black treacle than wearing a bodysuit. The way it broke into runnels of liquid seeping up her neck and down over her hands only reinforced the idea.
The glowing, sickly-green orb that was attached to her chest, held in place by strands of the viscus black goo that covered her, was new though. The glow from the orb underlit her angular face as she looked down at Amanda with unrestrained glee before she lifted the large kukri dagger in front of her face and marvelled at its blood-covered blade.
Amanda’s blood.
Yasmin held the dagger aloft and sticking her tongue out, licked some of the blood from the blade.
The action made Liz shiver with disgust. Movement on the left side of where Yasmin stood caught Liz’s attention, and she saw Israel step over towards Yasmin, the Essentia around him flaring and sparking as he worked his Magic and threw blasts of the energy at the Nomad. It caught her off guard and snapped her attention away from Amanda.
Liz felt a moment of relief knowing that Yasmin, at least for the time being, wouldn’t be doing anything else to her mentor’s body. Liz was desperate to get to Amanda and maybe save her. The Magic that she or one of the more powerful people here could bring to bear might be enough to revive her. Liz knew it was possible. She knew that Amanda could be saved, she was sure of it, if she could only get her out of here soon.
If they waited too long, a resurrection would just get messy and controversial in the eyes of the Magi Council.
Liz turned her head at the sound of approaching footsteps and looked back towards Mary who was approaching with her sword raised.
Liz gripped her blade a little bit tighter and stepped back to give herself room to fight. Taking a breath, she focused herself and looked up at the woman who had caused her so much pain and heartache. She didn’t see an Inquisitor. She didn’t see a Magus. She only saw a murderer, someone who killed in cold blood for misguided reasons. Liz had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Mary had been one of the people at the top of her list she wanted revenge on. The other, Nate, she’d lost sight of, but he was around here somewhere.
Well, one thing at a time, she thought and focused on Mary, who rushed towards her, her blade swinging.
“I will have my vengeance,” Mary shouted.
Liz raised her weapon and blocked, the metal of the swords ringing out as they struck each other. “Not if I have mine first,” Liz growled at her.
Mary moved fast, going on the offensive and swinging her sword in again and again, only for Liz’s Essentia-charged weapon to fend her off each time. Mary was fast and skilled and was giving Liz something of a hard time.
Concentrating, Liz called on her Magic, gathered as much of the energy around her as she could and sent it lancing over at Mary in a spike of power that hammered into her Aegis.
Mary faltered under the new assault. The hesitation was just what Liz was after and she took the opportunity to step in and swing her blade at the Inquisitor, going on the offensive for the first time.
Mary saw the swing and lifted her blade to fend it off.
She wasn’t looking at what Liz was doing, though, and missed the Essentia kick Liz delivered that slipped in under her defences and caught her in the stomach.
“Umph,” Mary grunted as her Aegis sparked and flickered. Liz’s Multitasking mind unleashed another Essentia Strike and burnt a hole in Mary’s Aegis, causing it to suddenly fall, surprising Liz with how fragile it was.
Mary’s blade slipped, and the cold steel Liz wielded bit into the Inquisitor’s arm. Mary yelped and jumped back, a look of shock on her face, which swiftly turned into rage. Rushing in, the finesse Mary had shown moments before faded away as her anger got the better of her. The lunge was clumsy, and Mary broadcast her intentions far too early, allowing Liz to duck left. Dodging the swing easily, Liz timed her attack for just the right moment and cut upward, slashing her sword across Mary’s body, bypassing her defences and biting deep into her torso.
Liz spun as Mary staggered past, clutching her side as dark blood seeped into her vest top.
“No. No, this can’t be…” Mary exclaimed.
“You’re out of your league,” Liz taunted. “I’m not the defenceless little girl you met back on that train.”
“You’re still a whore of Satan,” Mary spat.
Liz couldn’t suppress a chuckle at that.
“Believe what you like, but I’ve been waiting and preparing for this moment for a very long time.”
“You can’t kill me. You’re too weak,” Mary mocked her.
Liz shook her head. “If you say so,” she answered as Mary lifted her sword with a grunt of effort, using the last of her strength. It was a slow and predictable swing. Liz batted it away and stepped closer, plunging her blade into Mary’s stomach.
It was surprising how easily it sank into her, Liz thought as Mary gagged slightly, her eyes opening wide as shock played over her face.
“How’s that for weak?” Liz asked.
Mary’s eyes swam as her body reacted to being skewered by a four-foot-long steel blade. She looked up into Liz’s face as she gagged and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Mary suddenly spat a gob of blood at Liz that slapped onto her cheek.
“Godforsaken bitch,” Mary cursed as Liz pulled her face back in surprise.
“Goodbye,” Liz said, her voice deadpan as she ripped her sword out sideways, slicing Mary’s stomach open. Mary dropped to her knees, looking at nothing, before pitching forward, her abdomen bulging open as her insides fell out.
Israel’s voice sounded loud and clear through the Link to the group. ~We need to get out of here, they’re too strong. We’ll die here if we stay.~
~I’m not leaving Amanda,~ Liz answered through the Link.
~She’s dead,~ Israel answered her.
~We can save her, I’m not leaving her,~ Liz answered, her tone resolute.
~I’ll help you,~ Maria said.
Liz sent an affirmative response back through to Maria as she turned her back on Mary and made her way through the fight until Nate stepped out before her, his blades slick with Stella’s blood.
“Going somewhere?” Nate asked.
“Yes, through you,” she answered, her words laced with threat as she glanced at the blood of Yoh’s assistant on his blades. He would pay for killing her.
Essentia flared as he swung his machete. Liz parried as his Magic crunched into her Aegis. She hit back with an Essentia bolt of her own that dented his Magical Shield.
“We’ll see about that,” he answered.
“We will,” said a voice to Liz’s right as another blast of Essentia followed by a snap of lightning hit Nate with an almighty bang. Liz glanced right to see Maria had stepped away from the fight with Anastasia. She’d left that particular Nomad to Sabine, who seemed to be more than capable of defending herself.
Liz had seen Anastasia a few times recently. She was a member of Yasmin’s Black Knights Coven, and a deadly Magus.
Nate staggered back from Maria’s attack, distracted, and gave Liz an opening. She lunged in, going to stab him as she had with Mary, but he was quicker than Mary and saw it coming, batting her blade away.
Maria hit Nate again with several more Essentia Strikes that lanced into his Aegis, wearing it down.
Liz swung her blade at Nate’s neck, only to be blocked. Liz’s next swing slipped past Nate’s defences and slashed his chest. His Aegis sparked as the Magical blade bit through the shield for a moment and cut him.
Nate reacted with surprise while Maria hit him with everything she had as if she’d been building up to this round of Magical attacks. Nate’s Aegis couldn’t take the onslaught. It buckled, before collapsing around the Nomad.
Essentia flared out from him, but Maria countered it and stifled his Magic as he tried to Port away.
Liz rushed in, taking advantage of his momentary distraction and brought her sword down as hard as she could onto his head. Her blade sliced into his skull and buried itself a good three inches deep, stopping partway down his forehead.
He stood there quivering for a moment, the signals from his brain going haywire until his eyes started to close and his body went limp. Liz planted her foot onto his chest and yanked her sword out of his head as he fell with blood pouring down his face.
She looked up at Maria, who looked a touch shocked by Liz’s actions.
“Brutal,” Maria said, blinking.
“Amanda,” Liz said, not wanting to think too hard about what she had just done. Just the idea of it made her sick. Best to focus on something else. She wanted to get to her mentor and save her from a similar fate.
Looking up, the fighting had shifted, and Aaron was now in the way, fighting one of Yasmin’s Knights, who she thought she’d heard referred to as Scralex, a name she recognised from some of Amanda’s stories.
Maria’s Flux Magic surged and wrapped around them as they Ported the short distance to Amanda’s body.
Liz looked up and saw Israel still fighting Yasmin, though Horlack was standing beside him and helping now.
Closer to them, Gentle Water and Balor were in a pitched battle with Kez, while Sabine, Maya, Tabitha, and Aaron were elsewhere in their own fights.
“Amanda,” Liz said as she crouched down beside her inert body, her mentor’s deep burgundy hair spilt over the ground around her head like a fiery crown. Liz reached out to gingerly touch Amanda’s back, but then she noticed that she’d placed her knee down into the pool of blood that was still steadily growing from under Amanda, and pulled back slightly.
“Oh, jeez,” Liz said, grimacing. Looking back at Amanda and the oozing wound in the middle of her back, Liz used her Aetheric Sight to look for any life signs but saw nothing.
Liz worked her Magic and reached out to the wound that cut through Amanda’s chest. Muscles had been severed, her left lung punctured, and her heart had been cut almost entirely in two before the blade had burst out through her chest.
Concentrating, she knitted the wound back together, healing the damage that had been done. Within a couple of seconds, her body was as good as new.
But she was still dead.
Movement and rapid footsteps caught her attention and Liz looked up. It was Gentle Water. He skidded to a stop, kneeling on the opposite side of Amanda and reached for Liz’s hand.
“She is dead, Liz. Amanda is gone,” he said, his voice soft, yet filled with urgency. “We need to go, yes?”
“We can save her,” Liz answered. “You can save her.”
“Liz, it not that…”
“She’s coming with us, end of story,” Liz cut in, her tone final.
“I agree, I’m not leaving her here,” Maria added.
Liz couldn’t deny that she had hoped that healing the wound might do something. She’d hoped that it might heal her enough to get her breathing again, but it hadn’t. Could she try doing some kind of resuscitation maybe? Do some mouth to mouth and chest compressions?
She took hold of Amanda’s far shoulder and rolled her over, bringing her face into view, her eyes open and lifeless.
Her stomach lurched as the reality hit Liz again. Was this it for her?
A roar from Horlack made Liz look up to see the Scion soar through the air and land with a crunch nearby. Essentia and green mist flared around Yasmin and hit Israel, smashing his weakened Aegis to bits. Her Magic lashed out once more and took hold of him, before ripping him apart.
Israel, or what was left of him, fell to the rubble with several heavy wet thuds, leaving nothing between Yasmin and where they crouched over Amanda.
“We have to go,” Maria said.
“I was just going to say…” Liz said and reached her hands under Amanda’s body.
Gentle Water stood up in front of them and blocked the path Yasmin had to Liz and Maria. Liz felt her stomach flip as she understood what Gentle Water was doing.
Would she lose him today, as well?
A scream to Liz’s left drew her attention. Scralex’s Magic ripped into a defenceless Aaron and tore open his body, ending his life.
~Magi, we are leaving,~ Maria called through the Link as she concentrated and worked her Magic.
Looking past Gentle Water, Yasmin’s Magic bloomed and rushed in towards him. A dark shape rose just beyond Gentle Water, rushing into the path of the Magic as Horlack tried to block it.
Gentle Water staggered back as some of the green mist from Yasmin hit him in the face. He yelled in pain and held his hands to his face as Maria’s Flux Magic wrapped around everyone. Liz’s last view of the battlefield outside Amanda’s Brownstone was of the green mist disintegrating Horlack’s body from the waist up. His dark, hulking torso flew apart like ash caught in the wind as the scene changed and they were suddenly no longer on Earth. They were on the main open rear deck of the Arkady as it hung thousands of miles above Earth.
Liz stood, holding Amanda’s body in her arms. Maria was beside her, her Flux Magic fading. Liz looked around to see Balor, Gentle Water, Sabine, Maya, and Tabitha, while the corpses of Israel, Stella, and Aaron lay motionless on the floor at their feet.
Liz felt sick looking at them. Israel had been ripped into bits, Aaron was torn apart, and Stella’s head lay two feet away from her neck.
Looking at Amanda, motionless in her arms, Liz could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as the emotion of what had just happened began to overtake her.
Maria approached, fresh tears already rolling down her cheeks as she helped Liz lower Amanda to the floor.
Footsteps rang out on the wooden decking. Liz looked up to see Mercy, Shaun, Vanessa, Matt, and Howie run out from inside the ship and onto the rear deck. They stopped and looked over the scene before them and the defeat written large on everyone’s faces.
“Holy shit,” Mercy muttered under her breath.