Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 3

Hi!

I just returned from vacation and put in some extra time for this chapter. I'm supposed to unpack and do other stuff, but I thought what the heck, I'm doing this... ;-)

I promise, a longer update will follow next week, as I'll work on the next chapters during the week! Anybody, any idea what the Raven's up to? 

Have a great week.

Lara

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Chapter 3

A small flap-flap of wings in the distance. Feathers gliding through the air, soft and smooth. I jerked, stared at Medici. I knew what he was doing.

I opened my senses, tasting the magic on the tip of my tongue. Ravens were coming in like dark fog rolling into the city. A bigger swarm than I anticipated and yet the birds seemed insignificant and unobtrusive, transparent against the night sky.

A human would be blind to the sight. Sometimes the eye only sees what we want it to see. Not so I. I was more aware of the birds than I liked.

Medici's eyes were still closed, but from time to time they fluttered and I would catch a glimpse of white. Was he sifting through all the ravens' minds at once? How much power did it take to control the whole swarm of birds?

Medici had forced me through dark magic, countless times – too many for me to feel comfortable. Wrong, on more than one level. And still. I couldn't pretend and lie to myself. I wanted what he had, wanted to use dark magic without him having to pull me back, keep me in check. Because this was how it worked every time I tried to use it.

Performing magic was different now. With the first taste of dark magic, came a new awareness. A second layer of reality I wasn't aware of had been pulled into existence. And sometimes it looked more real to me than anything else.

Black magic built up around me like tidal waves flooding the shoreline, chipping away defenses I built. I stared at the rogues. If I could just harness the power and control it, I wouldn't need all those magical trinkets. I'd be free to roam the city and-

I stopped myself; shook my head, as if the motion was enough to shake away the unwanted tangle of thoughts weighing me down. When exactly did I start thinking like a rogue?

Dangerous in more than one way. You don't mess with dark magic. I wasn't going to mess with it, at least if and when I had a choice.

"Tell me why we are here, Raphael," I said.

Medici's eyes jerked open. He pulled me back, deeper into the shadows where we couldn't be seen, but remained silent.

I listened for sound, waited for motion, something happening on the street. It was midnight, the stillest hour in this part of town. If we went Southwest a few blocks, we'd be in the middle of the Crimson District where color and sound reared up into a heavy blast concert.

Here? Not a soul. The night was quiet, the only thing in motion the light traffic down Hamilton Street. Everyone in this part of town had gone home, leaving the buildings to rot and sit alone in the dark.

The rogues fell into complete motionlessness, became one with the rooftop and the useless junk around us. And then? We waited.

* * *

Medici stirred beside me. Portals opened in quick-beat succession, cracks swelling into fissures the sizes of doors. Reality distorted, the world of the in-between mingling with the space around us. Rogues winked out of existence around us like dying candles.

That was the last reading I got before the floor gave way. A small warning that came too late for me to prepare myself properly. Medici had opened a portal, and in we went.

The travel was violent. Not because of the Raven's lack of skill. I was pretty sure he travelled without the slightest scratch on his mental armor. Me? Not so much. By the time we stepped out of the portal I felt like puking. I would have stumbled, hadn't it been for Medici's grip on my arm.

"Next time, breathe through it. Take it willingly, and it won't hurt. Concentrate on the spot you're aiming for," Medici said softly against my ear.

I blinked against dizzying darkness, saw the harsh glow of flash-lights bouncing up and down cold concrete walls. Empty cartridge boxes and blanket-cloaked lumps that looked like silent ghosts in a cemetery of machinery. Big, artless windows to my left and-

I stilled. We weren't in the building we, or at least I, had been watching from the rooftop. We were in the warehouse right beside it.

"Move," Medici whispered behind me, shoving me forward.

My feet moved on their own, as if triggered by a command a trained dog would obey without hesitation. The sound of my footsteps became one with the muffled noise of a small army of rogues in motion. We crept along the walls towards the back of the building.

The rogues moved in silence, communicating with signs and small gestures that spoke of well-trained efficiency – things that carried a familiar ring and were starting to make sense to me.

Staring at their backs, I had a small epiphany. I was slowly, but surely, beginning to understand how and where they learned to move as they did. If I stayed any longer, would I truly become what Medici though I already was?

The dark witch in front of me came to an abrupt halt – as did the rest of the rogues. I turned around. Machinery of some sort. We were in what looked like a factory hall. The rogues were still and silent, all of them facing a blank wall in front of us, staring at it. Medici walked past me and knelt down in front of the wall. He raised his hand, palm out in front of him, breathing deeply.

No one told me why we were coming, but maybe I already knew. I went into second sight, dove right into the multi-layered dimensions around us. Auras snapped into place, red with black spots – the tainted color-reading of the rogues I knew too well. I scanned the scene, dug deeper and plunged into what lay hidden underneath, searching for spells and remains of magic, and saw ... nothing.

What exactly was Medici doing? Why kneel in front of that wall? I stared at him fixedly. Something nagged at me, something I should have figured out but didn't.

Medici was still kneeling, breathing deeply. He was still in black slacks and his wrinkled dark shirt, the outfit complete with combat boots. No jacket. He moved, carefully drawing something out of his trousers pocket. My eyes went to his left hand.

He was holding a golden cuff. My cuff!

I bristled. They took the cuff from me the day Medici 'coerced' me into following him. At first I thought they were going to keep it from me, seeing as I might use the magic stored in it and escape. How wrong I was. I knew what Medici wanted to do. He was going to use the power I stored in the cuff for his own purposes.