Read Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling Online
Authors: Andrew Dobell
Tags: #Speculative Fiction, #Science Fiction
Epilogue 1
Question
No Where
August
Kez moved over the black stone floor, as if gliding rather than walking, her movements looking nothing like a typical walk. As she moved the ‘tak, tak, tak’ sound of whatever she used to walk on emanated from under her voluminous ragged cloak. You could barely see the cave like walls of the huge room she walked through, only a few places in the space had any light to them. Of course, this being Yasmin’s Sepulchre, her Coven House, it looked just how Yasmin wanted it to look.
Ahead of Kez still a short walk away, a series of low steps rose from the floor up to a platform with a large maybe fifty foot high stained glass window at the back of it that glowed with light. The pattern on the window moved and shifted, as if the lead had a life of its own. The coloured glass changed and moved about giving the room a strange look that never stayed the same.
The silhouette of Yasmin stood before that window, her back to Kez as she looked upon the patterns the window created.
Off to Kez’s left a spotlight picked out a stone alter with a naked blonde woman strapped to it, she struggled silently in her bonds until she noticed Kez and then stopped and watched her.
Kez peered at the woman, recognising her as Angel, a Nomad from Europe that had been keeping tabs on Yasmin and even had an informant in the ranks of Magi that worked for Yasmin. They’d known about Angel for a while, choosing to watch her and see who her contacts were in Yasmin’s organisation. Things it seemed to Kez had come to a head. Kez noted the hundreds of small wounds across Angels body that Yasmin had cut into her with the various implements on or next to the alter. Yasmin had been indulging herself again.
Kez reached the bottom of the steps and stopped, waiting for her master to acknowledge her.
‘Yes Kez, you may speak,’ said Yasmin without turning round.
‘Nate has been punished as you have asked and is keen to prove himself to you once more.’
‘Of course, thank you my sweet.’
Kez bowed and straightened up once more. She stayed stood where she was though as she had a question. She wasn’t sure why Yasmin had returned without the Artefact that she had spent so much time and effort hunting for when it had been right there in her grasp, ready for her to take. Coordinating the surveillance of Vito as he hunted down the Artefact to the Children in London had been a long and time consuming task. They’d got ahead of the game by sending Nate in to kill their families and force the hand of the Disciples, which in turn revealed the resources that Grand Inquisitor Damask had committed to the endeavour. That’s when Yasmin herself had chosen to step in and retrieve the Artefact from the train, only for her to walk away at the last moment. After such a commitment of time and effort, why had Yasmin done that?
Kez felt conflicted though, she knew that asking personal questions of her master could be a dangerous thing to do, and had led to punishments in the past. But she felt she needed to ask this of her.
Yasmin noticed that Kez still stood there and turned her head to look down at her.
‘You have more to ask?’ Yasmin said.
‘I do. I have a question, if I may be so bold.’
‘Of course Kez, anything,’ she said as she turned more fully to Kez and started to make her way down the steps.
‘Yasmin! Yasmin, listen to me, I had no idea…’ Shouted Angel from across the room, until Kez noticed the flare of Essentia from her master and Angels torso, from neck to groin split open. Her internal organs stretched out from her body to hang in mid-air above her while still connected to her and still functioning.
Angels scream ripped from her body in a blood curdling wail.
As Kez watched, the organs collapsed back into Angels body which sealed itself up again as if nothing had happened and Angel fell silent once more, breathing hard and fast.
‘Your question Kez?’ Yasmin said as she walked through the chamber away from the window and towards one of the tunnels that led out from this room.
‘Yes, of course,’ Kez said. She wasn’t shocked by that display of power by Yasmin, she’d seen much worse, but it did serve as a reminder about how Yasmin treated those she didn’t like or disagreed with, or, in Angels case, if you interrupted her. ‘I was wondering why you left the Artefact in the hands of the Legacy Coven when you could have taken it quite easily?’
Yasmin led Kez through a short cave like tunnel and through an ornate door into a lavishly appointed room with wood panelling, a roaring fire, antique furniture and book shelves lined with hundreds, maybe thousands of books.
‘Because my priorities changed, that’s why. The Golden book became a secondary concern. The details of this are known only to me for the time being, and are not something you should concern yourself with; instead, you should simply trust that I know what I’m doing.’ Yasmin turned to Kez, facing her for the first time since entering this room, her expression one that would not allow dissent in the ranks. ‘Is that understood?’ she said.
Kez knew when Yasmin was serious about something, and looked to the floor, ‘Of course my Baal.’
‘Then you may leave Kez, I will call you if I need you again tonight.’
Epilogue 2
Apprentice
Donegal, Ireland
September
Gentle Water looked out the window of the cottage at Amanda, she stood barefoot on the far side of the garden next to the fence enjoying the sunshine in her floaty summer dress, the wind picking at her crimson hair.
She had handled herself well, and Gentle Water felt proud of her. So far, everything had gone well and Amanda had taken the first steps along a very long path to her destiny.
Gentle Water knew the Prophesy of Helene by heart, he’d interpreted it in his own way of course, and had the benefit of his Mentor’s insight.
According to her, and those close to her, they were sure who this Prophesy talked about, and looking out through that window at Amanda now, he felt just as confident in that conclusion.
He gazed out at his apprentice for a moment longer before snapping himself out of it. Thinking about those things could be dangerous, so he locked the thoughts away again and headed to the door. It did look lovely out there.
The air still felt warm, although autumn would soon be here. These past few days had been very pleasant, but Amanda knew it wouldn’t last, it never did in Ireland, so they needed to make the most of it while they could.
She leant against the inside of the cottage’s fence, looking over her lawn to where Liz sat alone on a chair near the building. It had been a little over a month now since the train, and Liz still hardly spoke, but given what she went through over those few days, losing basically everyone who ever meant anything to her, Amanda wasn’t surprised about that. What she had been surprised about had been how resilient Liz turned out to be for such a young person. She might be mourning, but she wasn’t really depressed or suicidal and she found no sign of a lasting mental trauma there.
Some movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Amanda turned to see Gentle Water approaching her, walking slowly through the grass, taking his time.
The wind cooled the air down a bit today and caught Amanda’s hair, pulling it about her head in crimson waves as she waited for her mentor to reach her.
Gentle Water crossed the last few meters to her and leaned up against the fence next to her.
‘How is she today?’ he asked.
‘She’s okay, as well as can be expected I suppose.’
‘Has she spoken much?’
‘Not really, again, nothing out of the ordinary. It’ll take time, what she went through was way worse than what I went through. I can sympathise to a point, and I have some idea of what she’s feeling, but it’s worse for her then it was for me.’
Gentle Water nodded.
‘She’ll come to us and speak to us when she’s ready and not before. You can’t force these things. To be honest, I think she’s doing just grand, all things considered,’ she said.
‘I agree. But what about you, are you coping okay by taking her on as your apprentice? That’s quite a mission you’ve set yourself,’ he replied.
‘I know, but she clearly can use Magic and she needs to know how to control it. It helped me when I was in mourning, and I hope it will help her too. I think it will, it’ll give her something to focus on.’
‘And is she progressing well?’
‘She’s only just started. I’m taking it very slowly and seeing what she can do, she’s doing fine.’
‘Good, and speaking of training, will you be ready for your next lesson today?’
‘Of course, it’s no bother, I can handle teaching and being taught at the same time.’
Gentle Water simply nodded.
Amanda took hold of the cross bar of the fence and hauled herself up onto it so she sat on the fence, the cool breeze catching her skirt and hair.
‘Those were a crazy few days over there in Paris hey,’ she said.
‘Yes, they were.’
‘How’s Raven by the way?’
‘He’s fine, he is in Paris I think.’
‘Have they figured out what that golden book does yet?’ she asked.
‘Yes, it takes a Mundane person and, if used correctly, it can turn them into a Magi, it strengthens their connection to Essentia so that they can use Magic. It’s useless on Magi though, does nothing for us.’
‘So what’s going to happen to it now?’
‘To the best of my knowledge it’s already been destroyed.’
Amanda thought that was a shame, it was an impressive artefact, but she could understand the Legacy’s point of view. Something like that could be a great recruiting tool. She understood why the Inquisitors and the Nomads were so keen to get hold of it now. But in theory, it was out of their reach at this point.
Amanda looked back over the grounds of her cottage and beyond it, out over the hills and into the blue sky. The world had been opened up to her these last few months, her horizons broadened to such a massive degree by the things she had learnt. It was a huge wide world out there filled with possibility and Magic. She couldn’t help but wonder what the future might hold for her, what wonders and adventures, and no doubt dangers awaited her.
‘So, GW, what’s next on the agenda for a young Magi such as myself?’
Gentle Water looked sideways at her for a moment, and a slight knowing smile crossed his lips as he gazed at her. He looked away again as he replied.
‘More then you could ever dream.’
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Andrew Dobell.
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SHADOWS OF DARKNESS: THE MAGI SAGA, BOOK 2
The Magi Saga
This is book 1 in the 9 book series, The Magi Saga.
Book 3 – Black Dawn – Coming Soon.
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8
Book 9
Andrew Dobell is a Photographer, Illustrator and Author who lives in Surrey with his wife Louise and 3 children. Epic Calling is his first Novel, and is the first book in what is planned as a 9 part series for the main story.
There are already 2 short stories written within the Magi Saga world as well, with more to follow.
Book 2, Shadows of Darkness is available to order now.
You can see more of Andrew’s work at
www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk