There were already several inches of magical snow when the cops showed up.
It was the feds, I knew as much from the small spells impacting the drifts around me. No one else even bothered with the spellwork, but the Spellswords seemed to eschew guns with the same zeal as any self-taught magician. I probably would’ve even wanted to join them if I’d known they’d existed before I got on the black lists.
The government had never been a huge fan of my ‘trade’, but that hadn’t discouraged me from plying it every chance I got. Chicago had always been filled with criminals and vagabonds after all, and after I’d lifted the veil it only became more obvious.
“I’ve already got this under control!” I shouted towards the rafters between explosions. “No help needed, thank you!”
Normally I was pretty good about getting in and out before they came to clean up, but I’d gotten a little too involved in it this time, so I hadn’t noticed the wards they’d been placing around the warehouse.
Couldn’t they see that I was helping in the long run? Could they not see the potential merchandising the city could do if they didn’t keep mind wiping everyone around?
“Under control?” A deep voice boomed from the other end of the floor, the accented voice of my original opponent. “You’re two steps from hell, Ryder!”
Valdovich, the russian magician I’d tracked to this warehouse, didn’t even seem to notice, nor care about, the dozens of federal agents assaulting his makeshift lab, his wards catching and negating every spell that happened his way. Which, seeing as he had an army of activated magical golems fighting the agents, wasn’t that many.
I dodged to cover behind a nearby shipping crate as the self-proclaimed supervillain launched another flurry of sharpened icicles towards me, coming to my feet as they buried themselves into the snow beside me. I could’ve let them break upon my wards of course, but it somehow felt better to avoid them. Added more flair, I suppose.
I’d already fought this particular foe twice before in an attempt to foil his plans, which were to simply subjugate Chicago with his golem army, and the chemistry was definitely there for a longstanding rivalry if I said so myself. Hopefully, the federal agents wouldn’t manage to kill him in their raid, and I could visit him in prison. If I didn't get caught as well, that is.
Though really, I wasn’t sure why they bothered, since despite their magical animation, golems weren’t especially resistant to bullets. Or tank rounds. I just had to chalk it up to the government being a bit of a killjoy.
I suppressed a sigh as I felt a wand tip appear at the base of my neck.
“Stand down, vigilante.” The agent said. “Drop the wand. You’re under arrest for-”
Instead of listening, I jumped again to my left as one of my exterior wards was smashed into shards, throwing a simple blast of snow into the agent’s chest to send him out of harm's way. Moments later the shipping container was crushed under an enormous snowball, and it continued back, crushing cars, crates, and golems in its path. I had to wince as it smashed against the back wall, shooting a massive crack up the wall and forcing a dozen soulless killing machines into an early retirement.
I quickly checked the vial in my coat pocket as I got up, making sure the potion there was still intact. Gideon had cooked it up in a hurry this morning, and though I was loath to use something so experimental, the thought of it blowing up next to my stomach was a bigger worry. Even now, it made me glad that he’d managed to solidify the other potions he normally gave me.
“A little too much power, Vlad!” I cupped my hands to my mouth to shout over the din of clanking automatons and blasting spells. “You could’ve killed someone with that!”
“I’m afraid that’s the idea.” He seemed to say a few words under his breath, and all the closest golems set their focus onto me.
I flung my hands apart as another golem approached, and the air cracked with ice and snow as the ceramic body shattered. Then I spun around with a flick of my wand and a soft spoken spell, the resulting icy blade flying through the air to cut another in half.
It had been a long year. Ever since my roommate Gideon and I had found that grimoire my life had been filled with these sorts of things, but I didn’t regret it. That book had been filled with hundreds of spells, theories, recipes, and mysteries that we hadn’t even had time to comprehend yet. Who could’ve known that all this had existed underneath our noses all this time, that magical markets had websites and that invisible wyrms trolled people on twitter?
My only complaint was that you couldn’t cast a fireball, only spells of ice and snow.
The agent who I’d saved now finally recovered and scrambled to his feet, stepping over the broken body of a war golem to shake his fist towards Valdovich far in the back.
“Under arrest for conspiracy to reveal the hidden world! And attempted murder!” He cried. Right afterwards, he brought his right hand to his mouth, and a loud whistle broke through the air.
All around the warehouse, I could feel additional feds begin to throw spells through now open windows and skylights into the golem army’s midst, in a quantity that actually broke the wards cast upon them. As they focused and destroyed entire segments of the army, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in their efficiency.
Of course the government always had to ruin it.
I quickly surveyed the chaos unfolding around me. They looked like they’d be able to handle the army well enough, and the other warehouses should shut down when this one was taken, so any more help on my side was probably unneeded. Dangerous even, for if I got caught now I wasn’t sure even Gideon would be able to save me from whatever wards they’d throw over me. The best course of action was probably just to burst through the wall and sprint towards a ley line to teleport home.
The only problem being: that plan was also the most boring. What was the point in having a budding arch nemesis if you skipped the climactic fight after all?
Making sure I still had the ‘teleportation’ potion Gideon gave me, I leapt into the air. My feet found purchase on a hastily summoned bridge of ice as I ran towards the back of the warehouse where Valdy lorded, additional shields of snow appearing around me whenever I saw another golem take aim at me with a poorly thrown rock
There was one good thing about the feds showing up after all. If they hadn’t I would’ve been forced to slowly advance through the horde to keep up a good directional shield, but now I could just leap over all of them, since only a handful turned towards me with all the chaos.
Or perhaps I would’ve just brought down the building on them, but for liability reasons I had never planned on doing that.
As I ran through the air, I fumbled open another pack I had on my thigh, this one full of glowing, marble-like spheres. Picking out a few differently coloured ones, I quickly popped them in my mouth, ignoring the sour flavour.
I jumped off at the end, landing squarely in front of the crime boss with a flourish. Behind him a huge circular window let in the late summer moon, casting a dim blue tint upon the scene. The platform upon which we stood was long, probably originally destined for some rural concert, now converted into a magical control centre with countless screens showing footage from security cameras around the city. It seemed as if he were planning on watching it all go down from here.
“Ryder, Ryder, Ryder!” Valdovich threw his hands to the side, as if meeting an old mate. “It seems you finally found some friends!”
The man was older and heavyset, obviously used to some standard of luxury. His clothes were fashionable and well tailored, and a heavy oak staff lay in his right hand between five glowing magical rings.
“Come on, you can’t blame me for this.” I gestured to the army behind me as magical explosions ripped through the golem’s ranks. “I don’t work with anyone.”
That wasn’t quite true, as I normally used a plethora of potions sourced from my roommate Gideon, but I did go in by myself. I could only imagine how limiting it would be having to worry about my collateral damage harming a friend.
The cops had gotten closer and closer each and every time I’d appeared to fight this guy, but I wasn’t sure if it was connected to me or not. Were they just closing in on the crimelord at the same time, or were they tracking me?
“If only you’d allowed me until tomorrow.” The man growled. “It would’ve been over in a morning! But now…now the city will wake up to a bloodbath.”
He crept forward as he talked, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a control panel with dozens of magical switches begin to flicker.
“You know, they make it look like I’m not even needed sometimes.” I said, running through my backup plans internally.
“I’ll simply crush them and rebuild. This is one army among many.”
As I’d only been in practice for a year or so, my actual magical skill wasn’t amazing. Better than most perhaps, if only because of the sheer number of duels I’d packed into that year, but inferior to someone who’d practised all their life. Against someone with as much experience as Vlad, I’d normally be crushed like an ant, and that wasn’t even counting the power rings he’d collected and built. And in several battles before, that was exactly what happened.
But he didn’t have a Gideon on his side.
The candies finally took their effect, and a new power flowed through my veins. The world became sharper and faster, and I felt my limbs lose the awkwardness I hadn’t been aware of before. As I looked over my nemesis, I even thought I could see a new colour I’d never seen.
“As if any of you could stop me! You, who’ve…”
He trailed off as I rushed towards him unexpectedly. The last few times we’d fought I’d been defeated through magical contest and forced to flee, but I’d prepared some things for just this occasion. It had meant training a new spell, but it was one I was sure would hard counter a mage such as the crime boss.
After all, why would anyone just continue to use a strategy which didn’t work?
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
A couple weak wards popped up in front of me as I rushed forward, but they were of the wrong type, tuned towards fast projectiles and magical energy, so I passed right through. Soon enough, I was right in front of him.
I raised my arm, and cast fist.
There was a horrible crack as the bones in his shoulder broke under the blow and my arm continued forward. Even I was put off by the power of it, and though I tried to pull back at the last moment, my hand still came back covered in blood. The man himself flew backwards as he’d been hit by a battering ram, and he stayed on the ground where he landed.
Immediately I stepped back in horror at what I’d done as blood gushed from the remains of his shoulder.
What the fuck Gideon?
How the hell had you made a solidified potion so powerful? It was only supposed to injure him, not blow straight through! If I had aimed a little to the left, I probably would've killed him instantly…
I lunged forward and called to mind the few healing spells I knew as I inspected the huge bleeding hole in his shoulder. I couldn’t just let him die after all, not when we had such a beautiful rivalry ahead of us, but I wasn’t sure I knew the right things to save him in time.
“I’m sorry, God I’m sorry.” I murmured as I worked. His head turned towards me in confusion. “I’m still kind of new at this whole hero business.”
I cast for maybe two minutes attempting to get the bleeding to stop, but even that was enough time for the ambushed golems to dwindle in number and for the potion’s effect over me to end. By the time the hole had closed to something survivable, I could feel a couple wands being lowered at the back of my head. Quietly, I removed Vlad’s magical rings and withdrew Gideon’s potion from my coat pocket.
Turning around, I saw four different officers in long coats staring down at me.
“He’s alive for now.” I remained crouched near the ground, and quickly put the rings onto my right hand. “You’re welcome.”
“Ryder, you’re under arrest for vigilantism, assault, and conspiracy to expose the hidden world.” The closest fed said. He looked to be the same one that’d almost been crushed by that snowball earlier, and he didn’t look very happy at all.
“That’s a superhero name by the way.” I tried, calling to mind a few spells that would help me escape.
“I’m sure, Ryder Fletcher, current undergraduate of the University of Chicago. Roommate of Gideon Valdstock.” He said immediately. “Bring down your wards.”
There was a quick flash as he counterspelled a snowball I attempted to throw, and my wand flew across the stage.
That was only a part of my plan however, and by the time they could see through the casted snow I’d already ripped Vlad’s staff out of his hands and pointed it at them, summoning forth a colossal wind with the power of the rings I stole.
The air became thick with snow and ice, and my lungs began to burn with the sudden chill as everyone was forced back and thrown into disarray. I directed more winds to surround and obstruct and other agents lying wait, and yet more to break the window behind me. Then, I jumped up and began sprinting up a staircase of summoned ice towards freedom.
Only to have a summoned swooping snowbird crash into my side, sending me flying back through the open air. We tumbled through the air together for a second before I got my bearings, and I quickly brought my fists down upon its beak, dispersing it with another blast of wind.
I landed on my feet again, the snapped staff in hand, but the others were faster. Before I could even breathe another word the staff flew out of my hands and I was standing there surrounded by a half dozen other mages.
“Please take off the rings and put your hands on your head.” The agent said.
Whelp. This was a prime example as to why I hated the government. Wouldn’t it be a better story if I stole off into the night? They had no sense of what made a good narrative.
Them knowing my full name and Gideon’s as well didn’t bode well for our immediate future, but thankfully Gideon had accounted for this exact scenario, even if he had needed to brew up an experimental liquid potion for the occasion.
I slowly lifted my hands into the air, but when they crossed my chin I popped the cork on the vial, letting the sour potion fall into my mouth.
The rings on my hand glowed with an unusual power.
“Maybe next time.” I grinned as the lights of spellcasting burst into existence before me, but the potion was faster. After only a moment, darkness overcame me, faster than any spell could fly.
…
As it turned out, teleportation came with a killer headache.
It felt as though that snowbird were still with me, slamming its beak against my skull. Even as I sat up, my body threatened to rip in two.
Eventually it subsided enough for me to open my eyes, and I finally saw that I was laying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. It was large by my college standards, and well decorated with wooden furniture and expensive etchings. The bed was the size of a double and the mattress comfortable enough, though I could feel the stiff quills underneath. A large mirror and chair lay against one of the walls, its surface shining with some silvery sheen. Curtains covered the bay windows on the far end of the room, and the door was heavyset and shut. Strangely, everything seemed to be just a bit too tall for my liking, as if I’d been put in the room of a basketball player.
Somewhat unusually, a small dragon the size of a house cat lay upon the comforter at the end of the bed, clad in scales of blue and shimmering ivory. Six long whiskers extruded from its fearsome muzzle, and two folded wings lay upon its back. Its tail was long and sharp, like a knife on a rope.
Dragons on Earth had been just about extinct, but there were still a few left roaming Canada and North Europe. Personally I’d never seen one of the creatures, and especially not one of their vaunted young, but it was similar enough to the crude reconstructions magicians sometimes summoned that I wasn’t too surprised at the sight.
Now that I thought about it, Gideon hadn’t explained to me just what the potion would actually do. How had it decided where to teleport, in any case?
Suddenly a thought came to mind and I searched around for my equipment, finding that my enchanted clothes, backup wands, and all of my notes had been shorn from me, and lay nowhere in sight. Along with about two hundred dollars.
“God damn… woah what?”
The voice that came out of my throat was not my own, but one more strangely pitched and timbred.
Immediately my hands flew to my neck, then over my face, and I thought I could feel something structured differently than I was used to.
Had my Adam’s apple always been so high?
I leapt up from the bed and dashed over to the mirror, only to find a completely unfamiliar face staring back at me.
Large blue eyes gazing back at me from a pretty and symmetrical face, and long, light hair flowed down to the small of my back. In the dim light, I could almost swear that it was silver.
Though I couldn’t be exactly sure, I had the feeling that I was shorter as well, and my arms were much more slender and hairless. I was dressed in a long white gown unlike any I owned, and even the many calluses I had worked up from countless hours of spell training and duelling had disappeared into nothing, as if it had never happened. It seems the expression ‘I know it like the back of my hand.’ had suddenly flipped in meaning for me. Even more importantly, my best friend was nowhere in sight.
“You know, I dream of some weird shit sometimes.” I said to myself. “But this has to be one of the better ones.”
That was the only explanation I had for anything, that it was a fever-induced dream. A strangely lucid dream of course, but a dream nonetheless. How else would you explain waking up as a girl after imbibing some strange potion?
As I looked over myself again, I had to approve of my subconscious’s choices. Apparently it knew myself better than I did. Maybe I’d have to ask Gideon for a few more of those potions for more ‘recreational’ uses.
Might as well see what else I’d dreamed up. Maybe I could even fly.
I flipped around in a circle towards the window, but found my sense of balance more lacking than I would’ve imagined, so soon enough I was lying on my back on the floor rubbing a sore knee. Only, there was one element more surprising than my balance.
“OW.” I cradled my poor, aching knee. “Ow ow ow…”
I focused on my knee as it felt as though a hammer had fallen against it.
Why the hell had that actually hurt? Was I not free from the agony of life even in my sleep?
“GOD.” I continued to writhe, rolling against the base of the window in my pain.
I laid there for a bit, slowly feeling through everything again and realising things I had missed in my haste before. Things like the grain of the floorboards and the dust on the wall, not to mention even small details like the diminutive fly sitting on the top of the wardrobe.
Wasn’t this a little too realistic for a dream?
Feeling a foreboding compulsion, I stepped up to the windows and spread the curtains, letting the dusk of the moonlight into the room.
Dim miles spread out before me, countless green valleys and rivers marking their passage. Countless towering peaks pierced the deep stormclouds above like so many teeth, many so high that I couldn’t witness the precipices. Their slopes were filled with forests of snow and mist that gently rolled off their cliffs into the valleys below, masking much of the land under their veil.
Before all that however, I could see the city.
Dozens of rooftops in the Italian style took up the view closer, though the entirety of this city was seemingly built up onto the side of the mountain. From the high ledge on which the house hung I could see innumerable buildings covering the mountain upon which we sat, so closely packed that the streets were hidden from sight. On outstretched cliffs and peninsulas of rock huge precipitous towers of grey stone could be seen, bright blue lights shining in their windows through the shroud of night.
But that was not the most surprising sight, for in the sky hung two glittering moons of white, both full and bright in the dark canvas of the sky. Stars twinkled in an array of blues, reds, and whites, making up strange and unique constellations to lord over the sky.
There was no way I was dreaming.
I wouldn’t, couldn’t even, think of such a land. Because this was definitely not Earth.
Did I misread the effect?
The thought resounded through my skull like a fading echo, but somehow the origin was at once clear to me.
I slowly turned towards the drake, and saw that it had stirred upon the bed. As I gazed upon it it turned its head from side to side.
…
“...”
What, can you hear my thoughts or something? A sense of sarcasm travelled with it, along with a tinge of worry.
I simply nodded.
The drake nodded back, almost as if to say ‘Of course you can’ before it lifted itself from the bed and jumped to the floor. I stepped aside as it waddled towards the window. Pushing the window out with a small grunt, it stepped onto the sill and looked back at me once more.
A freezing wind blew in from outside.
Well, good night then.
It flapped its wings unsteadily, as if it weren’t used to flight, before lifting itself off the ground and out the window. As soon as I got over my shock and realised what was happening, I leapt over and grabbed onto one of its little legs.
“Wait!”
We struggled against each other for a second in a miniature tug of war. Despite the size difference between us, I was only barely able to make headway against the tiny drake when I pulled with all my might.
Let go!
As we fought, I saw the drake breath in deeply and forcibly exhale at my arms, as if it expected to expel fire or ice, but nothing came out but a chill wind.
Hah.
What kind of sad drake couldn’t even breathe ice?
My smirk came perhaps too soon, because immediately afterwards it lunged forward in an attack it could actually do, and clamped its jaws down upon my hand.
“SHIT!”
I flung my hand back towards the bed like a whip, launching the drake forwards like a wet bean bag, and leaving a nice row of bite marks on my right hand. As soon as it landed it leapt back to its feet, back arched like an angry cat and with tail flicking to and fro.
“Stop, stop!” I put my hands ahead to placate him before he lunged again. “It’s me, Ryder!”
Wait, what?
I sighed in relief as he backed down.
Were you forced to drink it as well?
I chuckled as I forced the window shut again as I remembered the scene.
“The feds are a little more competent than imagined.”
They came for me as well back at the lab. Then this must mean that...
“Something went wrong with the potion?” I cut him off. “Yeah, you think so?”
To be honest, I hadn’t expected it to work completely correctly anyway, given the rushed timeframe of Gideon’s tests, but for it all to go so far off track…
Well, that was unusual for Gideon.
I was going to accuse you of blowing our cover. He said with a glare. They knew your full name. How did that happen?
“No idea.” Maybe I should’ve worn a mask to my fights. “Do you think you might’ve...”
Messed up the recipe? Maybe, but I think not. If I had done that we would’ve died in agony back when we drank them. No, it must’ve worked as intended.
“I’m not normally one to judge.” I eyed his scales. “But if this is intended you’re into some kinky shit.”
Not as I intended. As the grimoire intended. Gideon huffed. The description was far more literal than I thought.
I threw my hand to my head and sighed as I realised what he meant.
“You can’t mean it.”
I translated it as ‘change your surroundings’, which made perfect sense with the description, but I suppose… Gideon paced upon the bed. ...that it also would’ve made sense as ‘Change your reality’. It’s not as though the grimoire is easy to understand.
It finally happened.
After all this time, the event that both of us dreaded came to pass.
“We got genied.”
The dragon bowed its head in shame.
We got genied.