ONE
New York City
Winter - 1925
Sid
A blast of frigid air cut through the streets.
I held onto her small hand, as she looked up at me through the fat flakes that had just begun falling. With a small smile I realized, like everything else in my life, that timing was essential, and the context was decisive.
I looked down at my chronograph.
Any moment now.
We were several blocks away from our destination, but I knew we had been followed. The Directorate would have picked up on the same anomaly I was tracking when I first arrived on this plane.
They would send a triad to investigate, they would pick up on her signature and I would be waiting to convince them it was a bad idea to apprehend and kill a child.
They would refuse to listen to reason. Refuse to walk away. They would insist what the Directorate always insists.
Darkmages die.
It would be the worst and last day of their lives.
“Are they coming?” she asked in a small voice. “The bad men?”
I nodded, but refrained from turning around. There was no time for that, no time for fear.
No time at all.
“Yes, but I’m here now, we need to get you safe,” I said, feeling anything but sure of myself. There were so many variables, tangents, and timelines. All of them jockeying for position, vying for preeminence.
This entire origin point in time was in flux.
“No time like the present,” I said, sensing their energies coalesce around us. “Stay close.”
The three mages materialized around us as we walked in the night. One in front and two behind, a typical triad formation.
They all wore the usual attire that distinguished the Mage Directorate from every other mage. Black combat armor, with their red sword in a crown insignia emblazoned over the left side of their chest.
Their black and red helms covered their faces, obscuring identities and providing a method of keeping the mage’s identities hidden.
In their hands they held black and red neural batons, weapons designed to disrupt a mages’ brain function by interrupting the central nervous system with burst of energy, rendering the target mage ineffective and unable to form words, much less cast.
It was clear they were not anticipating much of a threat, these three were low-level mages, probably the lowest in the Directorate.
It was a mistake they would never repeat after tonight.
“No powers,” I said under my breath as I gently squeezed her hand to get her attention. “Understand?”
“Yes,” she said examining the mage in front of us. There was no fear in her eyes, only a certain inevitability that the outcome had been decided. “You will stop them.”
It wasn’t a question, but a foregone conclusion.
I nodded and whispered a word of power unknown to the three mages around us. The subtle shift of power in the air around us went unnoticed, as expected.
“Give us the girl,” the mage standing before us demanded. “Cooperate and you will be shown mercy.”
“Really?” I said. “The mercy of a swift death?”
“More than a traitor like you deserves,” said one of the mages behind us. “She’s a darkmage and you’re protecting her.”
“Darkmages die,” said the other mage behind us. “Everyone knows this…except you, it seems.”
“Darkmages die,” repeated the mage standing in front of us. The streets around us were strangely deserted as I glanced around. “I promise her death will be painless. I can’t say the same for you.”
“How merciful of you,” I said, glancing down at the young girl next to me. “I’m sorry to inform you that she’s not mine to give to you and I will have to refuse your request tonight. However, I do have a counter offer.”
“A counter—?” the lead mage sputtered clearly not accustomed to rebellion. “Do you know who you are speaking to?”
“The Mage Directorate,” I said. “From the looks of you three, a triad tasked with bringing in low-level renegade mages. You never expected to encounter a darkmage tonight, am I right?”
From the silence and the look of uncertainty on the lead’s face, I knew I was right. I almost pitied them, until I remembered that they were prepared to erase and kill the young child holding my hand.
My pity quickly transformed into a seething, barely controlled fury.
“Comply or we will end you where you stand,” the lead mage said. “There is no escape. Do the right thing.”
“End?” I said, keeping my rage in check. “You will end me? How sanitized. Why don’t you call it what it is…murder. An unjustified, unprovoked, killing.”
“We’re following our orders,” he said. “You are in violation of statute one, section one. Failure to comply and we will respond with deadly force.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” I asked. “Do you know who I am?”
“I know all I need to know,” the lead mage replied. “A traitor who would stand against the Directorate to defend a darkmage. You’re scum, lower than scum, for protecting that abomination.”
“I’ve been called worse,” I said as they activated their batons. I glanced at her again. “Stay next to me.”
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