Michael Scott - The Magician

Josh felt the crackle of parchment under his T-shirt. What would happen to him if they knew he had the two missing pages? Would they still Awaken him?

At the mention of the Codex, the Elder’s head snapped toward Dee, eyes blazing, wisps of red smoke drifting from the slit in the helm.

“The prophecy is almost fulfilled,” Dee continued quickly. “Soon we will make the Final Summoning. Soon we will free the Lost Elders and return them to their rightful place as rulers of the world. Soon we will return the world to the paradise it once was.”

With the sound of grinding stone, Mars swung his legs off the plinth and turned so that he was sitting facing the boy. Josh noticed that every movement sent tiny flakes of what looked like stone skin onto the ground.

Dee’s voice rose almost to a shout. “And the first prophecy of the Codex has come to pass. We have found the two that are one. We have found the twins of legend.” He waved a hand toward Josh. “This humani possesses an aura of pure gold; his twin sister’s aura is unblemished silver.”

Mars tilted his head to look at Josh again and then stretched out a gloved hand. It was still a foot and a half away from the boy’s shoulder when his aura bloomed silently around him, the bright glow lighting up the interior of the chamber, turning the polished bone walls golden, sending Phobos and Deimos scuttling for shelter in the deepest shadows behind the plinth. The dry air was suddenly rich with the scent of orange.

Squinting against the glow given off by his own skin, feeling the hair on his head standing up, crackling with static, Josh watched in awe as the hardened crust began to fall away from Mars’s fingertips to reveal deeply tanned, muscled flesh beneath. The god’s own aura flared, outlining the statue in a thick purple-red mist and his healthy skin started to glow an angry red as tiny sparks curled off the aura and stuck to his flesh, quickly cooling and coating it in a gray-white stonelike scab. Josh frowned; it looked as if the god’s aura was hardening into a thick shell around him, slowly turning him to stone again.

“The girl’s powers have been Awakened,” Dee continued, his voice echoing in the chamber. “The boy’s have not. If we are to succeed, if we are to bring back the Elders, this boy’s powers must be Awakened. Mars Ultor, will you Awaken the boy?”

The god planted his tall broadsword on the ground, the point sinking easily into the bone floor, wrapped both hands around the hilt and leaned forward to look at Josh.

Show no fear and don’t panic. Josh straightened and stood tall, then stared directly into the narrow rectangular opening in the stone helm. For the space of a single heartbeat, he thought he caught a flash of brilliantly bright blue eyes in the shadows, before they turned red and glowing again. Josh’s aura faded to a dull glow and the two satyrs immediately crept forward, climbing onto the plinth to peer around the god at the boy. The hunger in their eyes was unmistakable now.

“Twins.”

It took Josh a moment to realize that Mars had spoken. The god’s voice was surprisingly soft and sounded incredibly weary. “Twins?” The question in his voice was unmistakable.

“Y-yes,” Josh stammered. “I have a twin sister, Sophie.”

“I had twin boys once…a long time ago,” Mars said, his voice lost and distant. The red glow inside his helm faded and blue eyes blinked again. “Good boys, fine boys,” he added, and Josh was unsure whom he was speaking to. “Who is the elder?” he asked. “You or your sister?”

“Sophie,” Josh said, lips curling in a sudden smile at the thought of his sister. “But only by twenty-eight seconds.”

“And do you love your sister?” Mars asked.

Taken by surprise, Josh said, “Yes…well, I mean, yes, of course I do. She’s my twin.”

Mars nodded. “Romulus, my younger boy, said that too. He swore to me that he loved his brother, Remus. And then he killed him.”

The bone chamber fell deathly silent.

Looking into the helmet, Josh saw Mars Ultor’s eyes turn blue and wet, and he felt his own eyes fill with tears in sympathy. Then the god’s tears hissed to steam as his eyes blazed red again. “I had Awakened my sons’ auras, gave them access to powers and abilities beyond those of the humani. All their senses and emotions were heightened…including the emotions of hate, fear and love.” He paused, and then added, “They had been close-so close-until I Awakened their senses. That destroyed them.” There was another, longer pause. “Perhaps it would be better if I did not Awaken you. For your own sake and the sake of your sister.”

Josh blinked in surprise and looked over his shoulder at Dee and Machiavelli. The Italian’s face was impassive, but Dee looked as stunned as Josh felt. Was Mars refusing to Awaken him?

“Lord Mars,” the Magician began, “the boy must be Awakened…”

“It will be his choice,” Mars said mildly.

“I demand-”

The glow within the god’s helm turned incandescent. “ You demand!”

“In my master’s name, of course,” Dee said quickly. “My master demands-”

“Your master can make no demands of me, Magician,” Mars whispered. “And if you speak again,” he added, “I will loose my companions on you.” Phobos and Deimos clambered over the god’s shoulders to peer at Dee. They were both drooling. “It is a terrible death.” He looked back at Josh. “This is your choice and yours alone. I can Awaken your powers. I can make you powerful. Dangerously powerful.” Red eyes blazed brightly, the centers burning yellow hot. “Is this what you want?”

“Yes,” Josh said without hesitation.

“There is a price, for everything has a price.”

“I’ll pay it,” Josh said immediately, though he had no idea what that payment might be.

Mars nodded his great head, stone cracking and grinding. “A good response, the correct response. Asking me about the price would have been a mistake.”

Phobos and Deimos cackled in what Josh assumed was a laugh, and he immediately knew that others had paid the price for trying to negotiate with the Sleeping God.

“There will come a time when I will remind you that you are in debt to me.” The god looked over Josh’s head. “Who will mentor the boy?”

“I will,” Dee and Machiavelli said simultaneously.

Josh turned to look at the two immortals, surprised by their response. Of the two, he thought he would prefer to be mentored by Machiavelli.

“Magician, he is yours,” Mars said after a moment’s consideration. “I can read your intent and your motives clearly. You intend to use the boy to bring back the Elders; I have no doubt of that. But you…,” he added, his head swiveling to look at Machiavelli. “I cannot read your aura; I do not know what you want. Perhaps because you have not yet decided.”

Rocks snapped and creaked as the god stood. He was at least seven feet tall, his helmeted head almost brushing the ceiling. “Kneel,” he said to Josh, who folded to his knees. Mars tugged his huge sword free from the floor and spun it until it was directly in front of the boy’s face. Josh went crosseyed looking at the blade. It was so close that he could see where the edge was chipped and pitted and was able to make out the faintest trace of a spiraling pattern down the center of the sword.

“What are your clan name and your parents’ names?”

Josh’s mouth was so dry he could barely speak. “The clan name? Oh, the family name is Newman. My father is Richard and my mother is Sara.” He had a sudden memory of Hekate asking Sophie the same questions. It had been only a couple of days ago, and yet it felt like a lifetime.

The timbre of the god’s voice changed, becoming stronger, loud enough for Josh to feel the vibrations in his bones. “Josh, son of Richard and Sara of the Clan Newman, of the race humani, I will grant you an Awakening. You have acknowledged that this is no gift and there will be a price to pay. If you do not pay it, I will destroy you and everything you hold dear.”