Taken

chapter 13

. . And silence.

I was in a small windowless room that smelt of dust. I spun, checking for danger, but the futures ahead of me were silent and still. I was alone.

There were no lights but somehow I could still see. The place was lit with a weird kind of shadowy illumination that wasn’t light or darkness but something in between. I scanned but couldn’t sense the presence of Luna and Variam or anyone else. I opened the door and stepped out into a corridor. Like the room it was lit up in the same strange half-light, and looking down the hall I could see old darkened tables and animal heads mounted on the walls.

I was in Fountain Reach. . except I wasn’t. The air was too still, the corridors too quiet. I’d never been comfortable in Fountain Reach, but this place felt utterly dead; it was hard to imagine anything living here. And yet at the same time it felt oddly familiar, as though I’d seen it before.

As I stood in the corridor I felt a weird shivering sensation. Just for an instant it felt as though there were someone else in the corridor walking straight through me-and then it was gone. I drew back, focusing my senses, and to my surprise found I could sense the presence of other people, very faintly. As I watched their shadowy outlines flitted through a wall and were gone.

I remembered the sense I’d had in Fountain Reach of something watching me, and realised that now I was doing the same thing. I was invisible to these people, as though I were hidden in the walls, peeking out through the cracks into the world of light and life.

This was where Vitus Aubuchon had gone. He’d created another place within Fountain Reach, a shadow reality where nobody else could go but from where he could look out. . and draw people in. As I realised that, I noticed something else: My divination magic wasn’t damped and fuzzy anymore. Experimentally I tried looking a few minutes into the future and found that I could. The wards only blocked the other Fountain Reach, not this one. Vitus had designed Fountain Reach to cloud the senses of anyone coming here, but he’d left it so that he could see clearly himself.

I scanned ahead through the futures, searching for movement. I found Luna first, some distance away but on the same floor. Variam was next, moving towards Luna, and Lyle was nearby too. The spell had scattered us, splitting us up around this other Fountain Reach. But as I looked further, something else caught my attention. There was someone who wasn’t here yet. . but she’d be arriving in the next couple of minutes and she was someone I did not want near Luna or Variam.

I turned away from Luna and began walking quickly down the corridor, searching through the futures in my head to narrow down the entry point. My footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, loud in the silence. The colours looked odd in this place, washed out and grey, and the air tasted dead and stale. I noticed my route would pass near a window and took a moment to look outside.

The view outside was. . strange. Just like inside, everything was illuminated in a weird half-light, but there wasn’t any ground. Where the grounds of Fountain Reach should have been was a greyish mist and the sky above was covered in dark cloud. Looking farther into the distance, both mist and cloud faded away within a few hundred feet, meeting in blackness. Somehow I had the feeling that getting out of here on foot wasn’t an option.

Our new visitor would be arriving in only a couple of minutes, and I hurried down a narrow disused corridor towards the small door at the end. I reached the door, opened it, and paused. Behind the door was only a blank wall.

Interesting. I closed the door, stood behind it, and waited.

One minute later, I felt a tingle of magic and there was the sound of a key turning in a lock. The door swung open-but this time it opened into a small old room, which seemed to flame with brilliant colour. This was the real world, not the half-real copy I was in. A beautiful woman in a cream-coloured suit walked in quickly, letting the door swing shut behind her without looking back.

She sensed me before she’d gone two steps, but too late. Before she could turn I had my left hand tangled in her hair and pulling her head up while my right hand held a knife against her throat. “Crystal,” I said into her ear. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Crystal held quite still. Without moving the knife I took the item from her unresisting hand, then held it up where I could see it. It was a small iron key and it radiated magic. “A focus,” I said. “So Vitus gave you a way to get in and out of this place on your own, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish,” Crystal said without turning her head, “but this is not a good way to go about it.” Despite the knife to her throat, her voice was steady.

“First things first,” I said, dropping the key into my pocket. “Please don’t try any attacks. No matter how fast you think you are, I promise you you’re not as fast as a muscle twitch. Now how about you lead me to where Vitus Aubuchon has been taking the kids?”

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”

I let myself think about the fact that if Crystal was going to be uncooperative it would be faster just to slit her throat and find Vitus’s lair myself.

“Oh, Vitus Aubuchon,” Crystal said hurriedly. “You’re looking for his sanctum?”

“Yes I am. Start walking.”

Crystal did. I matched pace with her, keeping the knife pressed against her throat and keeping my divination focused on the short-term chances of her trying anything. As long as I kept the knife there, they were very low. I’d spent enough time around Crystal to get a fairly good handle on her personality and I’d pegged her as the cautious type. I didn’t think she’d try to attack on her own, not as long as she thought she could get out of this some other way. “What is this place?” I said.

“I don’t actually know the details-”

I let myself think of cutting Crystal’s throat again.

Crystal changed gears quickly. “-it’s a shadow realm of Fountain Reach. It’s a copy, slightly out of phase with reality. The wards link the copy with the original.”

“And that key is a focus that lets you go between the two, right?”

“. . Yes. But it’s not easy to use, you have to-”

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“Please don’t tell Vitus I let you know any of this,” Crystal said. She sounded afraid, fearful. “He’ll kill me.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ll help you. I’ll take you to him. Is that all right?”

“That’s great. Down these stairs?”

“Yes. . Could you take the knife away?”

“I don’t think so.” I started down the stairs, keeping the knife to Crystal’s throat.

“Look, I didn’t have any choice,” Crystal said anxiously. “He brought me here the first time. If I didn’t help him he was going to-”

“He was going to do what?” I said. “Vitus can’t do anything outside this house. In fact, I don’t think he can even leave this house. So what exactly was stopping you from walking away as soon as you got out that first time?”

“There are-things he can do,” Crystal said with a little catch in her voice. “You don’t understand. He’s-”

“Oh, spare me the bullshit,” I said. “I’m not as gullible as Lyle. If you’re going to lie at least make it interesting.”

Crystal was silent for five seconds and when she spoke again the pretence of fear was gone from her voice; it was precise and cool. “I’m going to enjoy watching Vitus kill you.”

“You know, that might be the first honest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Following Crystal’s lead, I turned down another hallway; we were descending towards the lower regions of Fountain Reach. “While we’re on this truthful streak, why don’t you tell me why you signed up with Vitus?”

“Why should I?”

“Because you’re hoping to kill me before we leave, so where’s the harm?”

“That’s an interesting perspective.”

“Okay, let’s try another question. How long has Anne got before Vitus kills her?”

“That is the question, isn’t it?” Crystal said calmly. “Let’s just say that if I were you I wouldn’t wait around.”

A flash of anger went through me but I kept my voice level. “You’re very funny.”

Crystal suddenly came to a stop. We’d reached an intersection, corridors stretching away in all four directions into darkness. When Crystal spoke, her voice was suddenly high and frightened again. “No, please don’t hurt me! I’ll do whatever you say!”

I growled. “Stop that.” I was watching Crystal’s future actions closely and I could sense she was coiled, ready to strike. “I told you-”

The attack came from behind: a chaotic surge of fear and emotion and confusion that scrambled my thoughts. Crystal reacted instantly, ducking away from the knife as she struck at me with a wave of agony. But I’d had an instant’s warning and I was already moving, my instincts sending me diving to one side around the corner and out of line of sight while my conscious mind struggled to catch up. The backwash of Crystal’s spell sent pain up and down my nerves but a moment later I had my back pressed up against the wall.

“Lyle!” I heard Crystal gasp as I collected my thoughts. “You made it!”

Anger drove out the aftereffects of Lyle’s spell. “Lyle, you idiot!” I shouted around the corner. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Look, Alex,” Lyle called back. “Just put the knife down and we can talk about this.”

“Your psycho girlfriend is the one I need the knife to protect me from!” I shouted. “Along with all the apprentices she’s-”

Crystal moved in fast. I saw her coming, knew she was about to attack, and turned and ran. I might have been able to take Crystal one on one, but not with Lyle helping her. I sprinted down the hallway and ducked into a side passage a moment before Crystal made it around the corner. Crystal tried to chase me, but I was faster than she was and those heels didn’t do much to help her running speed. It didn’t take long before she gave up and went back towards Lyle, whom I could dimly hear calling in the distance.

I slowed to a jog, searching through the futures ahead as I mapped out a route to meet up with Variam and Luna. All the time I’d been interrogating Crystal she must have been talking telepathically with Lyle, convincing him that I was the bad guy and that she needed his help and directing him in to intercept us. And she’d done it while keeping up a second conversation with me and while reading my thoughts, all at the same time. I’d underestimated her.

I intercepted Variam and Luna at a landing leading off into a T junction. “Variam, Luna,” I called softly around the corner. “It’s me.”

“Alex?” Luna asked. She sounded relieved.

“Wait,” Variam said sharply. “Come out where we can see you.”

Luna was about to protest, but I stepped out with a shake of my head. “It’s all right.” I held my hands up for Variam to see; he was in the shadows around the corner, where he thought I couldn’t see him. “Okay?”

Variam studied me suspiciously for a moment, then nodded. “It’s him.”

Luna, Variam, and I gathered on the landing and I gave them a quick once-over. “You two okay?”

“We’re fine, we met up a couple of minutes ago,” Luna said. “Are you all right?”

I led Luna and Variam in the direction they’d come from and as I did I caught them up on my brief encounter with Lyle and Crystal. “Lyle’s working with her?” Luna said indignantly.

“Much as I’d love to blame this on him, probably not. I think Crystal’s using him as a patsy.”

“You’re keeping tabs on them, right?”

I nodded. “We’re about two minutes ahead of them. Crystal had to spin Lyle a story and it looks like it slowed them down.”

“Is Anne okay?” Variam asked.

“I think so.”

“What do you mean, you think so?”

“I think so.”

“Is she alive or hurt or in trouble or what?”

“Look, Variam, I’m navigating us a path, monitoring Crystal, watching for danger, and talking to you guys all at the same time. I’m a little-”

Fountain Reach shook. It was only a slight tremor but it was enough to make us stop in our tracks. Dust trickled from the ceiling and somewhere in my head I felt the ripple of a psychic scream, scraping along my nerves and making my hair stand on end.

“What was that?” Luna said.

“Trouble,” I said with a sinking heart. “Don’t slow down!”

The corridor ahead came to an end in a crooked door. Variam shoved it open to reveal a wide, dark space. There was a ceiling above but it was cracked and bumpy. Skeletal bushes rose before us, long dead. I led us in and mud squelched under our feet; the floor was earth, not wood or stone. “Where are we?” Luna asked quietly, glancing from side to side.

“Hedgemaze,” I said. I’d already mapped the route and led Variam and Luna through at a fast walk. “But Crystal called the whole place a ‘shadow realm.’”

Variam looked over with a frown. “We’re in a shadow realm?”

“You know what one is?”

“Yeah, but this isn’t really the time,” Variam said. “Someone else just came in, right?”

The hedgemaze must have been quite a sight once. Now it was a petrified ruin, the dead wood fading into the darkness as we wound our way towards the centre.

“Onyx,” I said. I’d been searching ahead and the futures where we ran into him were very hard to miss.

“How did he get in?” Luna said.

“From the sound of it I think he figured out how we got here and did a repeat performance.” Probably he’d shot up the house the same way Variam had. This wasn’t looking good-I’d been ready to deal with Vitus, but not Crystal and Onyx as well.

“Are we going to get to Anne first?” Variam said.

“Yeah, but not by much.” I glanced through the futures in which we turned back. Crystal was still pursuing with Lyle trailing after, Onyx was behind them both but catching up fast, and I still couldn’t pick Vitus out of the tangle. “Okay, this is going to get messy real fast. Vitus is up ahead and he wants Anne, but he’ll be going after us second. Crystal wants to silence us, make sure we don’t get out to spread the story. Lyle probably has no idea what’s going on, so he’s sticking next to Crystal. And Onyx. . my guess is he’s here to kill everyone. Vitus, Crystal, me, and anyone who doesn’t get out of the way fast enough.”

“What’s the plan?” Luna asked.

“There isn’t one,” I said.

Luna and Variam looked at each other. I realised they were waiting for me to tell them what to do and felt a flash of frustration. Couldn’t they tell I was making this up as I went along?

But they were looking to me to lead them, and even if I didn’t know what I was doing I had to act as though I did. I tried to think of what would put Luna and Variam at the least risk. “All right,” I said. “I’ll go in and get Anne. You two hold the entrance as long as you can, then fall back. If we get separated work your way out of the maze back to the top floor of the house to the long corridor where we entered. I’ll meet you there and we can get out.”

“I’m going with-” Variam started to say.

“No,” I said instantly. “Look, if these guys all attack us at once we’re finished. Our only chance is to hold them as far away as we can. If we can keep them busy with each other, we can get away in the confusion. Crystal’s key will get us out if we can make it to the door.”

A shape loomed out of the darkness ahead of us and a moment later the skeletal bushes opened up into a clearing. Before us was a small building, its foundations sunk into the ancient mud and its upper level reaching up into the shadows. We’d reached the centre of the hedgemaze.

There was only one way in: a crosshatched metal door, stiff from long disuse. “Hold this door until you’re in danger and then get out,” I said as I got to work on it. “Try to delay Crystal long enough for Onyx to catch up, but if you can’t, or once the fighting gets serious, run.” The door scraped open and I turned to look at Luna and Variam. “Got it?”

Luna looked around nervously at the dead clearing. “Okay.”

“Fine,” Variam said. “But if you’re not back in five minutes, I’m going after-”

“If I’m not back in five minutes it probably means Anne and I are both dead. In that case, get out. There’s a second way out through the hedgemaze around the back.”

Variam scowled. Luna was watching the clearing. There was maybe thirty feet of muddy ground between the edge of the hedgemaze and the building, and the air was ominously silent. With my divination I could sense Crystal hurrying closer with Onyx on her heels. If Luna and Variam hid inside the door they’d have some cover, but not much.

“Alex?” Luna said. The clearing was quiet, but I knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. “Hurry, okay?”

I walked into the darkness.

* * *

The inside of the building was cramped and decaying. Pieces of wall crunched under my feet and I had to turn sideways to squeeze through the single corridor, yet somehow as I picked my way through the debris I knew this little old building was the heart of Fountain Reach. All the space and luxury outside were just for show. The corridor bent around, then inward.

The room within was lined floor to ceiling with cracked grey tiles, and it stank. The air was heavy with a kind of sickly rich coppery smell that made me hold my breath. My foot slipped underneath me as I took the first step in, and I put my hand against the wall to steady myself. The tiles were cold. The place seemed to be darker than outside and only as my eyes adjusted did I start to make out the features of the room: the bathtub in the corner, the counters along one side, and the metal table in the centre. Lying on the metal table was a body.

As soon as I saw that I rushed to the table, my shoes skidding on the floor. The body on the table was Anne, and as I saw her my heart sank. Her head was hanging back off the edge of the table, and her throat had been messily cut open. “Oh no,” I whispered under my breath. I touched Anne’s skin to find that it was cool. I looked into the futures in which I put my ear to her chest and listened and couldn’t find anything. I’ve seen people with cut throats and I knew Anne’s wound had to be fatal, but I still clung to a sliver of hope. I’d seen her survive lethal wounds before. There were straps holding Anne to the table and I started pulling them open. “Come on,” I whispered to myself. “Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead. .” The straps were sticky, but I was able to get them off. “Anne, if you can hear me, now would be-”

Anne sat up with a gasp and I nearly jumped out of my skin. She looked blindly from left to right in a panic and I caught her. “Easy! It’s okay, you’re safe.”

Anne clutched at my arm. “Where is he?” Her voice was raspy but recovering and the ugly slash across her throat was healing as I watched, new skin growing across the wound with a flicker of green light.

“He’s not here,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “We’re. .” I trailed off. Anne was staring past me and as I turned I saw that she was looking at the bathtub. Something flickered on my precognition and I suddenly realised what I’d slipped on earlier. The floor was covered in patches of that dark, sticky liquid and it was spread all over the room. . and filling the bathtub. And it was there that the smell was coming from.

“Oh,” I said quietly.

The liquid in the bathtub stirred, dark ripples spreading and lapping at the edge. Something broke the surface, rivulets of blood trickling from the head as it turned slowly to face us. For a moment it held itself motionless and then the rest of the creature rose slowly and steadily out of the bath, coming fully into view as streams of blood splashed off the shoulders to splatter on the floor. It was a human body, wasted and twisted and skin pale from lack of light, but with pieces missing. The muscles were spaced unevenly around the spindly frame, too strong in places and too weak in others, and the arms were longer than they should have been, hanging below the knees. For all that, though, it could almost have passed as a man except for the face. There were no eyes in the sockets, only a pair of gaping black voids. The mouth opened, toothless, to let loose a hissing, sighing breath.

The creature that had once been Vitus Aubuchon stared sightlessly at us.

I moved first, half-dragging Anne in a rush for the door, but fast as I was Vitus was faster. There was a weird twisting, warping sensation and suddenly Vitus was standing blocking the exit, his breath making a cloud in the air as I backpedalled frantically.

There was one other exit, a doorway leading deeper into the building. I made a snap decision and bolted for it. Anne had found her feet again and followed me, and as we ran I heard a weird rasping, grating sound from behind us. Vitus Aubuchon was laughing.

We burst into the next room only to skid to a halt, and as I looked around I felt my mouth go dry. The walls were lined with alcoves, each about three feet wide by three feet deep, and they were all filled with human remains. The older alcoves contained bones, neatly piled on top of each other with the skull placed on top, rows and rows of them each with the skulls grinning emptily outward. The newer bodies were. . fresher. Most were desiccated and dark but the closest alcove, on the far right, contained what looked like the huddled form of a girl, black hair covering her face. But for an odd shapelessness she might have been alive. There were dozens of alcoves, hundreds. Most were full, but there was space for more-a lot more. At the far end was a furnace but otherwise there was nothing else in the room. . including doors. We’d come to a dead end.

From behind I could hear the dragging feet of Vitus drawing closer. I searched frantically through the futures, trying to find a way Anne and I could get out safely. I didn’t find one. It was getting harder and harder not to panic and I had to clamp down on my feelings as I tried to figure out what to do.

“Alex,” Anne whispered, and I could hear the fear in her voice.

“Can you do anything to stop him?” I said.

Anne hesitated for just an instant, then I saw something flash across her face and she nodded. “If I get close.”

I sized Anne up. She still looked wobbly on her feet, though at least she’d repaired the gaping wound to her throat. But while her eyes were afraid, they were steady. “Do it,” I said. “I’ll draw him in.” And let’s pray it works.

Anne drew back to the corner of the room nearest to the door; she was weaving some kind of spell about herself but it wasn’t doing anything that I could see. A moment later a shadow fell over the doorway as Vitus Aubuchon stepped in.

I stood facing Vitus, weight on the balls of my feet, tense and ready to jump. I was maybe thirty feet from him, between the alcoves filled with the bodies of those who’d died here in Fountain Reach. Anne was to Vitus’s right, less than half the distance away, but his sightless eyes were locked on me. I looked back into those empty sockets and felt a thrill of pure terror.

The energies of a spell swirled around Vitus and I threw myself right. The space I’d been in warped and shrank, the air seeming to ripple. It looked like nothing but I’d seen what would have happened if that had caught me. I came to a stop next to the alcoves; Vitus’s head turned to track me and the same spell flashed out again.

The blast radius was wider this time and I only just made it out. Two of the skeletons and an iron partition were caught in the spell and there was a crunching, snapping sound as they were crushed into fragments, the space around them crumpling like a paper bag. Splinters rattled on the floor as Vitus gave a hissing sound and advanced towards me.

Anne moved the instant Vitus’s back was to her. Vitus was just about to cast a third spell when Anne’s hand touched his shoulder.

And in that moment I finally understood why life mages are feared.

Anne ripped Vitus Aubuchon’s life out of his body like tearing a page out of a notebook. It was over so fast I literally didn’t see it. There was a green flash and then Vitus’s body was toppling, dead before it hit the ground.

I looked down at Vitus, then up at Anne, eyes wide. Anne was staring down at Vitus’s body. There was something in her eyes I’d never seen before and for just a moment I felt a chill, and then it was gone and she only looked pale and tired. “We should go,” Anne said.

Vitus’s body was starting to dissolve, the misshapen form turning black and breaking away into ash and dust. I picked my way around it to meet up with Anne. “Why didn’t he see you?”

“He can’t see,” Anne said. “He senses life, so I masked mine. . We need to go!”

We hurried back into the room with the table and the bathtub, now silent and still once more. “That was what you were doing before?” I asked.

“I played dead.” Anne’s face looked drawn but at least she didn’t seem hurt anymore. “After he. .”

I gave the room a last glance, shuddered, and was about to leave when I stopped. There had been a stir of movement from the bathtub. As I watched, a ripple spread across the dark surface, followed by another. “Anne?” I asked carefully. “He’s going to stay dead, right?”

Anne shook her head.

The ripples were increasing, and as I looked into the future I saw that in a few seconds something was going to break the surface. I ran for the door.

* * *

“ I thought you killed him!” I shouted to Anne as we ran down the corridor.

“It doesn’t stick!” Anne shouted back. “Fountain Reach keeps him alive; it’s what it was made to do. As long as he’s in this house, he can’t die!”

I swore under my breath. “So he can teleport, he can bend space, and he’s immortal. Wonderful.”

In the time we’d been inside the entrance to the building had become a battlefield. The doorway was open and ragged now, the door a pile of scrap metal, and Variam and Luna were crouched on either side with gashes torn in the walls around them. Outside, the dark hedgemaze was lit up with flickering orange light; several of the dead bushes were on fire. Both Variam and Luna turned towards us as we approached and Luna’s eyes lit up. “Anne!”

“You’re okay?” Variam demanded.

I grabbed Anne and pulled her to one side. An instant later a salvo of force blades came scything in from outside, carving through brick and metal. They cut through the outer wall, went over the heads of Luna and Variam and past me and Anne, cut through the inner wall on the other side, and kept right on going. Variam swore. “So I’m guessing Onyx is here,” I said.

“So’s Crystal!” Luna said. She sounded shaken, but she was holding steady. “It’s crazy out there, I don’t know who’s fighting who-”

“Can’t make it across that ground,” Variam said. “We need to go back the way you came.”

“That’s worse!” Anne said.

“She’s right,” I said. “We’ll be caught between them and Vitus.” I pulled a condenser marble from my pocket. “Variam, when I give the word put a wall of fire down parallel to the front wall thirty feet out. Then run. Go right, head for the far side of the maze, and don’t stop.”

Variam nodded and from outside I heard the thunderclap of force magic. I leant out and threw the condenser through the doorway and out into the clearing, ahead and to the left. It shattered and mist sprang up. “Now!” I called to Variam.

Orange light wreathed Variam’s hands, and with a roar a wall of fire flared into life, lighting up the dark hedgemaze in leaping flame. It cut halfway through the mist and ignited the dead wood of the maze to the left and right, blocking off vision. Luna was out the door first with the rest of us right behind her.

Heat pulsed from the wall of flame ahead. The comforting grey cloud of the mist hung to my left, inviting me to enter, but I’d told the others to go right and that was where I ran. Normally when I create these mist clouds I run into them, using my magic to pick out a path where others would be blind. But I’d done it a few too many times lately and I knew that was exactly what Onyx would be expecting. Onyx couldn’t see through the wall of fire but he could see the mist cloud, and I heard the hiss as a spray of force blades cut through it. A moment later we’d put the building between us and Onyx, and as we ran back into the hedgemaze I felt the familiar warp-and-twist of Vitus’s teleport spell. I couldn’t see where Vitus landed and I didn’t stop to check. We were back in the maze and safe. . at least for now.

We hurried through the maze, my divination magic picking us out a path. From behind I could sense the flash of attack spells as the battle continued. “Who’s winning?” Variam called from behind me.

“Don’t care!”

“They’re all still there,” Anne called. “Vitus, Crystal, Lyle, and Onyx.”

The door at the far end took us back into the mansion. The sounds of battle had faded into an eerie silence and once more Fountain Reach seemed to be watching and waiting. I led us towards the exit, abandoning stealth in favour of getting us out as fast as possible.

As I approached the door by which Crystal had entered, I felt a presence ahead of me. “Alex,” Anne whispered. “It’s-”

“Crystal,” I said. “I know. You guys stay back.”

“Screw that-” Variam began.

“You’ll stay the hell back,” I said sharply. “Crystal is not stupid. If she’s there she’s got something planned. You and Luna stay ready. Vitus is still around and we know he’s after Anne.”

Luna nodded. Variam looked frustrated but didn’t argue. I walked around the corner.

The corridor was narrow and led to the same small door. Without the key in my pocket I knew that door would open onto nothing but a blank wall, but with that key it would take us out of here. Crystal was standing halfway down the corridor, blocking my path. The weird half-light of this place blended with the yellow shades of her hair and clothes, turning her into a pale figure in the shadows. She watched me silently. I could tell she was holding herself ready, but I didn’t know for what.

I hesitated an instant, then started walking towards her. “Not bringing your friends?” Crystal asked softly.

I didn’t answer. I’d closed half the distance to Crystal, my knife ready in its sheath. Crystal watched me take two more steps, then shrugged slightly. “As you like.”

From behind me I felt a surge of magic as Vitus Aubuchon teleported into the middle of Anne, Variam, and Luna. And at the same instant Crystal drove into my mind with all her power, trying to seize control.

She was horribly strong. I’d been ready for her, but even so I was almost overwhelmed in those first few seconds. It felt like an enormous weight bearing down on my thoughts, crushing me. I staggered back but the pressure didn’t let up; if anything it grew stronger. Desperately I tried to force Crystal away, stopping her from getting any further in.

Dimly I could sense that a furious battle was going on next to me. Vitus’s horrible form was blocking the hallway: He’d trapped Anne in a prison of twisted space and was attacking Variam, trying to crush him. Variam was dodging from side to side, a snarl on his face, while Luna’s whip curled around Vitus, the silver mist soaking in. But I couldn’t spare any attention; if I took my concentration off Crystal for even a second I knew she’d have me. I could feel tendrils snaking into my thoughts, trying to seize control, and I pushed back with all of my might.

“Coming here was a very poor choice on your part,” Crystal said calmly. She didn’t even sound out of breath.

I didn’t answer. I focused on trying to hold Crystal back, drive her out of my mind. It was unbelievably difficult, like trying to push a car uphill, and in a sudden flash of understanding I knew that this was how all those missing apprentices had been brought here. “Just so you know,” Crystal said, “I’m going to make you kill Luna and Variam with your own hands.” She tilted her head. “How does it feel to know that you’ve failed completely?”

I felt a flare of white-hot anger and threw myself at Crystal’s mental pressure, hammering at it. And it shifted. It was only a tiny, tiny shift, but I’d managed to push Crystal back just a fraction and all of a sudden I knew she wasn’t invulnerable. “I don’t know,” I managed to say. “You tell me.”

I took a step forward. It felt like wading through deep water but the first one was the hardest. I took a second step and then a third, and with each one I shoved Crystal a little further back. I saw a flash of surprise in Crystal’s eyes, followed by concentration. The mental pressure redoubled and my progress halted.

Crystal and I stared at each other across the corridor. Neither of us moved but we fought as surely as if we wrestled on the floor. “Vitus is going to kill them,” Crystal said. “I hope you know that.”

I could still hear the sounds of battle behind me but I didn’t let myself think of whether Crystal was right. “You think you’re the first mage to try to possess me?” I said. I took all my anger and all my fear for Luna and Anne and Variam and threw it at Crystal, forcing her back. I took a step forward. “You think you’ll be the one to break my will? I’ve beaten a mind mage who was stronger than you’ll ever be.” Another push; another step. “I’ve had enchantresses bewitch me and elemental mages burn me. I’ve stood against one of the most powerful battle-mages in this country and watched him die. I’ve faced Light mages and Dark, constructs and assassins, elementals and dragons, and I’m still here.” Another step. “You think you’ll be the one to take me down? You think you’re going to succeed when they couldn’t?” Another step. “Not you. Not today!”

And I felt Crystal’s domination spell shatter, the force of her will scattering away and leaving my mind clear. Crystal staggered back and I moved forward, my hand going to the hilt of my knife. “Lyle!” Crystal shouted. “Help!”

Lyle burst in from a side door and I swore. “No!” I shouted, stopping him just before he could launch an attack. “We’re on the same side, damn it!”

“Put your weapon down, Alex!” Lyle shouted. He was standing near Crystal protectively, ready to strike.

“Lyle, I don’t know what Crystal has been telling you but I promise you it’s wrong. She’s the one who’s been bringing those apprentices here. It’s her house, for God’s sake! You seriously think she’s just an innocent victim here?”

Lyle shifted uneasily and I knew that whatever story Crystal had spun, it hadn’t convinced him completely. “Look, we’re just trying to get out of here,” Lyle said. Now that I got a better look at him I could see that he looked dishevelled and rattled but he didn’t seem to be hurt. “You’ve got the key, right? Just give it to us. Please?” His tone was pleading.

Crystal was standing motionless but I knew she was speaking with Lyle, even if I couldn’t hear her. I bit my lip in frustration. Crystal was right there. . but if I made a move to attack, Lyle would too, and I couldn’t fight them both. I couldn’t hear the sounds of battle from behind anymore and that filled me with dread. I needed to get back there fast. “You want the key?” I said. “Take it.” I pulled Crystal’s key out of my pocket and threw it to Lyle.

Lyle caught it and stopped. He seemed to be at a loss. Crystal looked taken aback too; whatever she’d been expecting me to do, it hadn’t been that. “What are you waiting for?” I asked Lyle. “Open it and go find the Keepers. Unless you want to stay here?”

The words broke Lyle’s paralysis and he hurried past Crystal to the door, inserting the key. I felt a flash of magic as it turned in the lock and then the door opened, spilling a wash of brilliant light into the corridor. “Crystal!” Lyle called from the doorway.

“Come on, Crystal,” I said. “Let’s go see what the Keepers say.”

Crystal looked at me, then darted for the door.

I sprang after her but Crystal had thought and acted in an instant and I hadn’t had any warning. Crystal made it through the door and swung it closed behind her. I had just a fleeting image of Crystal’s lips curling in a slight smile, then the door slammed shut, leaving me in darkness.

A second later my hand closed on the handle and I yanked the door open to see a blank wall. I felt for the keyhole and swore. Crystal had taken the key with her. I stood there, staring at the wall, then turned back to where I’d seen Luna and the others and ran.

* * *

By the time I got there it was all over. Variam was propped up against the wall, blood on his clothes; his right arm had been horribly mangled and was hanging limp by his side. Anne was kneeling next to him, her face lit up by a soft green glow and filled with concentration as she worked her hands around Variam’s injured shoulder. Luna was leaning against the other wall; her face was white and she was shaking. But Vitus Aubuchon’s body was on the floor, blackened and decaying into nothingness.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Where’s Crystal?” Variam said.

“Gone,” I said. “She locked the door behind her.”

Variam looked at me, then away. “Um,” Luna said. “Is there another way out?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I was trying very hard to think.

“Alex, we can’t survive another attack,” Anne said. She didn’t look up from where she was working on Variam, and her voice was calm.

I didn’t know what to do but I knew we couldn’t stay here. “We’ve got about five minutes until Vitus comes back,” I said. “And Onyx is on his way too. Let’s move.”

With Anne supporting him Variam made it to his feet and we started walking. I picked a direction away from Onyx that I thought would give us the most cover. “Okay,” I said. “If anyone has any ideas, now would be a good time.”

Anne gave me a quick glance and shook her head. “Can we get out?” Luna asked.

“I’m not sure there is an out,” I said.

“Gate magic,” Variam said.

I looked at Variam. “Can you get out of a shadow realm with that?”

Variam gave a small nod. He was badly hurt and I could tell the adrenaline rush that had got him through the battle was wearing off; it was an effort for him to talk. “Harder, but yeah.”

Luna looked at me. “That other place we went to from the British Museum. Deleo got out of there with a gate, didn’t she?”

“Your stone. .” Anne said.

I thought quickly. Gate stones didn’t work inside the real Fountain Reach; the wards blocked them. But the wards didn’t cover this Fountain Reach. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I couldn’t think of a better plan. “Let’s try it.”

We came into what seemed like this Fountain Reach’s copy of the duelling hall. It was higher and narrower than the one in our reality, with an arched ceiling and pillars along each wall. I picked out a side room that looked defensible and headed in.

Once we were inside Anne helped Variam down on a chair and I pulled the gate stone from my pocket. The focus was dark in the shadows, the rune barely visible. “Anne,” I said, holding it out. “Do you think you can work it on your own?”

Anne looked at it for a second, then nodded. I placed it into her hand. “Get going. I’ll buy you as much time as I can.”

“Wait,” Luna said. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. This is what I do. Just get that gate open.”

Luna’s eyes flashed. I knew she was scared but even so she wanted to fight. “I’m not leaving without-”

“That was an order, not a request,” I said flatly. “Stay here.”

“We won’t leave without you,” Anne said. She was clasping the stone in one hand and her eyes were steady.

I nodded and walked out into the duelling hall.

* * *

Onyx strode in one minute later. The darkness seemed to follow him as he moved, and his eyes were black slits. I knew he’d been fighting both Vitus and Crystal but he didn’t look so much as scratched. His eyes flicked from left to right, coming to rest on me.

“Looks like you’re getting your duel after all, Onyx,” I said. I was standing on one of the pistes.

“Nowhere to run?” Onyx asked. He walked into the room and stopped, turned slightly side-on to me, his hands ready by his sides.

“You wanted a traditional duel,” I said. “Bring it.”

Onyx tilted his head and studied me for a moment.

I was moving before Onyx threw his spell and the force blade hit the spot where I’d been standing a moment ago. Chips of wood went skittering across the floor as I ducked behind a pillar. “Run and hide,” Onyx said contemptuously, walking forward. He kicked one of the wooden splinters, sending it clattering into the corner. “What does Morden want with a coward like you?”

“Speaking of Morden,” I said, taking care not to poke my head out, “didn’t he tell you to work with me?”

Onyx just laughed. He started to circle the pillar at a leisurely speed, not taking his eyes off my hiding place. I moved to match him, keeping the pillar between us. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting rid of Vitus?” I asked.

“Vitus isn’t going anywhere,” Onyx said. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Yeah, I bet you have,” I said. “Remember our chat in the basement? As soon I saw that look in your eyes I knew what you were planning. I’ve seen it before.”

“Talk, talk, talk,” Onyx said. He was circling to a position where if I kept trying to keep the pillar between me and him I’d come up against a table. “Let’s see what you got.”

Just before Onyx could trap me I moved sideways and back. A second later Onyx came around the edge to see nothing but empty space. “What I figured,” Onyx said.

“You know,” I said from behind a second pillar, “Morden’s going to be quite upset if you miss Vitus because you were busy with me.”

“Morden’s not here,” Onyx said, and I could tell he was smiling. He started walking towards my new hiding place, following the sound of my voice. “You’re supposed to know everything, right? Know why I’m going to kill you?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do.”

“Yeah?” Onyx said. I could feel him lining up another spell. “Why?”

“Because you’re a murderous, egocentric asshole,” I said. “Because nobody beats you and walks away, even if you were the one who started the fight. You’re too aggressive to quit and too stupid to call it even. You’re just going to keep coming back over and over again until you’re dead.”

Onyx stopped, and I could tell he wasn’t smiling anymore. “Okay,” he said after a pause. “Enough talk.”

The plane of force was about the size and shape of an industrial saw blade, and it went through the base of the pillar in a spray of debris. I’d already gone flat and felt the breeze of the thing as it cleared my hair by six inches or so. The second force blade went through the top of the pillar. Cut at both ends, the pillar toppled and hit the floor with a shattering crash as I rolled out of the way and came to my feet. Onyx came into view a second later. . and I hit him in the face with a staff.

This version of Fountain Reach didn’t have focus weapons, but I’d spotted the six-foot metal pole before Onyx had entered and I’d been letting him back me towards it. I didn’t know what it was made of but it was light and strong. Onyx was caught off balance-he’d obviously been expecting me to keep running, not close in-and I hit him with enough power to crack his skull.

Unfortunately it didn’t do the least bit of damage. The force shield around Onyx absorbed the blow effortlessly. It did make him flinch though, and the blast he’d been preparing went wide, tearing a chunk out of the wall. I pressed Onyx, striking again and again and pushing him out into the centre of the hall.

I felt the flicker of a spell and a swordlike plane of force appeared in Onyx’s right hand. To normal eyes it would have been invisible but to my mage’s sight it was a razor-thin line of smoky glass, and Onyx brought it around in a wide arc that would have ended somewhere in my rib cage. Letting that happen didn’t strike me as a good idea so I knocked the force blade up and over my head before landing the end of the staff in Onyx’s body, driving him back another step.

We fought in the shadows of the duelling hall, staff against sword. The inertial planes of the force magic made only a dull clack-clack against the metal pole and the loudest noise echoing around the dark room was our footsteps. The force weapon was sharp enough to cut the staff like paper but I kept parrying the flat of the blade, turning the edge away. As blow after blow got through Onyx’s guard it became clear that in terms of skill I had the edge on him. Onyx was fast-very fast-but speed alone isn’t a match for technique. The problem was that hitting him wasn’t actually doing anything. The invisible shield of force around Onyx had enough raw inertia to stop anything short of high-level battle-magic or a military heavy weapon, and my staff couldn’t even scratch it. It was Vitus Aubuchon all over again. I couldn’t kill Onyx but he could kill me.

I could feel the stirrings of magic in the room behind me, life and fire weaving together, and I knew Anne and Variam were trying to use my gate stone. They’d done the smart thing and stayed hidden, and from a glance through the futures it looked like they were starting to get it to work-

But I’d taken my focus off Onyx for an instant, and against someone as deadly as the Dark Chosen that was simply too long. My next attack was a fraction too slow and Onyx was able to get his blade in the way and this time the force blade met the staff edge-on. There was a faint shinnng! as one foot of staff went whirring off into the darkness, my next strike fell short, and Onyx’s blade flashed out at me.

I had my staff in place to parry, but it didn’t do much good. Onyx’s blade barely slowed down as it went through the metal and my backwards leap wasn’t quite fast enough. I felt a sharp horizontal sting across my chest and upper arm, then I was out of range and Onyx was bringing up his other hand, ready to throw another spell at me.

I dropped into a crouch, holding still. Onyx had been about to hurl a force lance, but as he saw that I was ready he stopped, standing side-on with his left arm up, palm flat. His eyes were fixed on me with flat concentration and I knew what he was thinking. He was trying to figure out how he could get me with that spell without me dodging out of the way. “Try it,” I said.

Onyx didn’t answer and I knew he was through with words. My chest and arm hurt and I could feel blood trickling down my skin, but I could still move and right now that was all that mattered. “You know,” I said, “before you go back to trying to hit me, there’s something I need to tell you. Actually, two things.”

Onyx’s eyes tracked me, ready to release the spell. I knew he’d fire the instant I moved. “First thing is we’ve been fighting for a few minutes now,” I said. “The second is that force magic of yours is really easy to detect from a distance.”

Onyx frowned slightly.

Behind Onyx, Vitus Aubuchon teleported into the duelling hall.

Onyx spun snake-quick and the force lance flashed out, but it curved away from Vitus, its path distorting. From behind I felt the flare of a gate spell and I heard Luna’s shout. “Alex!”

I turned and ran. I covered the distance in seconds and I had one last fleeting glimpse of Vitus, re-formed and whole again, those ghastly empty eye sockets locked on Onyx and one hand grasping towards him. The space around Onyx was warping, trying to compress inwards, and Onyx was crouched in a snarl, the force shield flickering and trying to maintain its shape as the two magics clashed. Then I was through the door. Where I’d left Anne and Luna and Variam an oval gateway was hanging in the air, its edges flickering green to match the light around Anne’s hands. Variam was already through and within that oval I could see the natural darkness of our own world.

Luna and Anne had only been waiting for me and as they saw me they darted through the gate one after the other. I knew the gate was about to close and I put my head down and sprinted.

It was very, very close. Anne’s grip on the spell faltered when I had ten feet to go and I turned the last three steps into a running jump. I went sailing through the gate, hit Anne along the way, and felt the spell snap behind me. We both went into the table and chairs in the middle of the room and hit the floor in a crash of furniture.

The light of the gate stone had extinguished with Anne’s spell and we were left in pitch-darkness, the only sound the noises of everyone checking to make sure they were in one piece. But it was natural darkness, not the strange half-light of that other place, and while it was cold it was the fresh cold of winter. I could smell dust and spiderwebs but the air was clean.

Orange light flared, illuminating Variam’s face as he held an orb of magelight above his head. He looked battered and weary but he was still in one piece and his eyes were alert as he looked around. In the glow we could see the tiles and table and chairs of the kitchen of my farmhouse in Wales. Outside was the darkness of a winter evening, and looking around I could see Luna and Anne. We were safe.

“Okay,” Luna said, breaking the silence with a sigh. “I do not want to do that again.”

“You and me both.” I pulled myself to my feet, wincing, and gave Anne a hand up. “You okay?”

Anne looked at my hand in surprise for a second, then smiled and took it. “I’m okay.” She brushed herself off, looking around. “I guess we’re back again?”

“Is it over?” Luna asked.

“No one’s going to follow us,” I said. I’d been looking into the futures of our staying in the house and they were all blessedly quiet. “It’s over.”

“What about Vitus?” Variam asked. He’d propped himself up against the wall, his shattered arm still hanging limp.

“You are not worrying about Vitus,” I said. “You’re going to bed to let Anne work on you. And you’re staying there until you’ve had a chance to rest.”

Variam tried to look indignant. “I’m-”

“You’re going to bed,” Anne said firmly. “Right now.”

Variam seemed about to argue, then looked at Anne and changed his mind. He allowed himself to be led off grumbling. Luna watched Anne and Variam go, then shook her head. “What’s the order, oh master?”

“You can get a fire started,” I said. “This place is bloody freezing. And while you do that I’m going to try and figure out who I should tell this whole crazy story to first.”

Luna opened up the stove and sniffed at it, sneezed, then looked dubiously at the basket of firewood. I’d just taken out my phone and was deciding which number to dial when I paused. “Ah, damn.”

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.

I looked towards where Anne and Variam had vanished. “I just remembered I never restocked the kitchen.”