Heinz could see the lights of Sao Paolo straight ahead. The flight had taken less than a day, which was fast for a dirigible, he had to admit, but possibly still too slow for his friend. Acquaintance. Ally. Whatever she was.
Compated to the tightly packed jet planes that dominated the skies in the times before the Cataclysm, the elongated balloon was a luxury ride. He had expected something far less comfortable, an experience more akin to boats in a storm, but the the technology had advanced in leaps and bounds after the polluting air travel had been banned. It felt absolutely ridiculous that these majestic vessels had been all but abandoned in the first place.
Cassandra's vehicle wasn't the biggest of dirigibles, of course, he knew that the really enormous ones were close to the size of small cruisers, but it was still like traveling in a rather nice sailboat. There was the fore where he was standing right now, a woodpanelled room with large windows in the front, couches and low tables. Behind, lied the four small cabins for the travelers, and beyond them the combined kitchen and dining space in the aft. In the middle, a set of ladders led down to a half-dome that housed the bridge of the dirigible, and where his companion was at the moment. There was enough autopilot to let the pilot off the hook for most parts of a long journey, like when crossing the ocean, but approaching the continent meant more traffic and potential collisions.
The height they flew at wasn't as high as the commercial airlines of old, but high enough to avoid any manmade constructions, and the enormous Brazilian metropolis was just a small pool of pins of light. Yet, unless Azucena had stayed put, searching for her would be like looking for needle who is trying to hide in a haystack that's actively trying to kill you.
Of course, a damn dirigible wasn't the most innocuous method of travel either. He supposed they could have left it somewhere on the edges of the city, but getting to the Rack and Lantern from there would take hours. As he saw it, speed rather than stealth was their best bet at this point. Quick entry and exit before the assault wizards were none the wiser. He also hoped watching the airspace wasn't their top priority as escape via atmosphere was a rather unlikely outcome.
"I'm taking us in now," said Cassandra's booming voice from the announcement tube. The digirible was fully electric with tons of modern equipment, but for reasons unknown but somewhat understandable to Heinz, the builders had chosen to go beyond old school wherever they could have. Hence the steampunk aesthetic, phonetic pipes and vacuum tubes.
The cityscape was quickly turning into a maze of roofs and building tops, as they descendeded closer to the sprawling urban forest. It was rather weird, Heinz thought, how something that seemed like a distant painting without real perspective not minutes ago, was not an all-emcompassing environment that surrounded them, and what had just a moment before moved at a snail's pace now flew past faster than his eyes could focus. Talk about speed blindness, he mused.
He eyed the landscape around him. High rise buildings, as they flew past the coast and into the commercial centre. This was a forbidden area for his kind, as computers often tended to get funny when someone with magic was around. The ones they used in chatrooms were old and generally resistible to sudden memory corruptions – at worst, they would crash, or corrupt a cat picture someone had previously downloaded – but even in this post-capitalist age, finance was a big kids' game where a single bit gone awry could start a wave that crashed a whole city.
And in the old days, there were very powerful people who knew about the Corrupted, and the Corrupted themselves knew that causing that sort of trouble was not what one would consider a "smart move." So there was a quiet agreement that they would stay away of certain places, just out of politeness. Although Heinz could only speculate if crashing the economy before the late 2020s could have actually saved everyone from a good deal of, well, death and misery.
The buildings were getting shorter and much less flashy. They were closing in their destination.
"Can I direct your attention to our right," echoes the metallic voice from the phonetic tubes.
He looked and saw the flames. That… that was where the safehouse was. Had they accidentally taken in someone who was still smoldering? He picked up the tube with a small cone in the end and spoke into it: "I see it, it's the safehouse, I think."
"Should we take a look?"
Heinz winced. He hated these kinds of dilemmas. If there indeed was someone there… it would be cruel to leave them on their own. But they shouldn't waste any time before getting Azucena, either.
Unless…
"I'll bet you a spirit animal Azucena is going to be involved in that," Cassandra said, having apparently read his mind.
"You don't have a spirit animal!"
"Yet."
"I don't have a spirit animal."
"Not after this is over, no."
Heinz had a strange love-hate relationship with Cassandra's humour. It was, on the other hand, endearingly out there, but in many ways, exceedingly stupid. It was like the Schrödinger's humour. Though, that is not how that old allegory actually worked.
Gritting his teeth, he said: "let's go check out the fire."
The ship started immediately heavily steering left and Heinz had to grab the railing to stay upright. "You could have warned me!" he yelled.
"Your call, so I thought you knew," she said, and the dirigible started leaning forward as she took it closer to the ground. Heinz almost crashed into the window.
"Ok, maybe that was a bit unexpected, but hold on tight."
"I'm holding to dear life, I can tell you that!"
It must have been quite a sight. An airship size of a large ship suddenly filling the night sky and plunging towards the ground. He couldn't tell how fast, since he had his eyes closed. Even though he trusted Cassandra's abilities – where had she learned to fly this thing anyway? – he decided it was not in his best interest to actually see how she handled the air vehicle once famous for spontaneously combusting.
After what felt like hours of trembling, loss of balance and general swell of the sea, the ship stopped. Heinz fell to the ground.
"We're here. And not a moment too late, look!" Cassandra's voice announced.
Looking was not something he was, uh, looking forward to, but he opened his eyes nevertheless. It took a moment for his vision to come to focus again. They were floating maybe ten or twenty meters above the ground over a street next a flaming building. On the ground he saw several characters. Azucena, for one, and a child, for whatever reason, two women, a man and a person under what looked like a extinguishing blanket. "She has quite an entourage," he said to the tube.
"It's not her Scooby gang I'm talking about, look to the street."
There was a black van. Oh, shit.
"I'm going down," Cassandra said, and before he had time to react, he already heard the hatch on the bottom of the vessel swing open.
I guess it's time for some more action, he thought and ran out of the room. Or, rather, tried to, as his legs gave in immediately after he had gotten up. The struggled up, leaned against the bench on the side and sat down to catch his breath. In moments like these, he wondered how he, out of all people, had been part of the group that took down the Necromancer, when these days he would get mortally exhausted from a biking trip.
As the sounds of battle from below intensified, he forced himself up, and, one step at a time, dragged himself down to the bridge. Rope ladders hung from the hatch at the bottom and he shuddered. Cassandra had taken the ship as low as possible, but it was still at least ten meters to the ground. While Heinz didn't really have a fear of heights, he had a healthy sense of self-preservation. Nevertheless, someone, somewhere had somehow designated him as a hero, and his friends were in trouble, so he took a deep breath and put his leg on the first ladder.
"No, no!" shouted Cassandra over an explosion. "Don't come down, we need you to fly us off!"
"What?!I can't fly this thing!"
"I said the same few weeks ago!"
"What?!"
"I've marked everything with tape! It's really not that complicated!"
He climbed back up.
"Pull the rope that says 'Emergency Exit'!"
Heinz looked around the cabin. In the front was the pilot's seat, surrounded by a console filled with levers, buttons and vintage style meters around a wheel that wouldn't look out of place in an old pirate movie. Between that and the hatch there were couple of seats with belts and various lockers and almost right above him hung a small rope with a paper note taped on it.
"Emergency Exit."
Heinz could only trust his friend, so he pulled the rope. Something below the floor opened. He could hear multiple things hit the ground and then explode.
Gas grenades! Emergency exit, indeed!
Smoke filled the ground, and Heinz lost the track of the others, but he could soon see the rope ladder shake. Guessing that was his cue, he scuttled to the controls and sat down.
Let's see what these levers do. Cassandra had indeed helpfully labelled everything, although some of the labels could have been clearer, like "Some equaliser?" and "Hope I won't need this!" He saw a handle that said "Pull this first" and did as instructed. He could hear the engines come alive. So far, so good!
The first person to emerge from the hatch was a boy. Maybe ten years old? What was he doing here? The next were two young women he had never seen before, and after them a man who looked like he hit the gym much than he hit the books. Who are all these people? Do they think this is a Lufthansa flight? The man pulled up a woman, covered only by very few bits of burnt clothing, but completely intact herself. She must be the one who had been smouldering. Behind her, the first familiar face.
"Hit it!" Azucena screamed.
Heinz raised his hand with thumb up. He pulled the lever that said "elevation" and the the dirigible plunged down. Cassandra flew through the opening and hit the floor when he quickly pushed back the lever.
"It's ok," she said through gritted teeth. "I made that mistake the first time too."
The cabin trembled as a force of magic hit it from below. He really hoped nothing broke. He pushed the lever and the ship started quickly ascending. He also pushed the stick on the ground that said "Thrust" and the vessel started rapidly advancing. Two more blasts hit the bottom and then stopped.
Two facts occurred to him. One, the ship's weakest point was not the cabin, it was the balloon. Two, they could have easily exploded the air inside. The assault wizards were not amateurs, they knew these things too. So…
"Why are they not taking us down?" he asked.
"They want the boy alive," Azucena replied quickly.
The boy? He looked like a normal kid, maybe dressed in clothing a size too large for him, and perhaps intended for women.
"What do they want him for? They seem to be a little out of his league."
"He can predict the future," Azucena said.
But that was utterly ridiculous.
* * *
The cabins were small, only a few squares meters in size, but quite luxurious with their shiny wooden panelling, brass finish and intricately designed etchings. The cot could barely fit both her and Fernanda, but was soft and comfortable. Azucena had to admit Cassandra had outdone herself this time. She had not asked where the pyromancer had acquired such an exquisite vessel, but if she did, she doubted she would like the answer. Cassandra had always been quite of a loose cannon. Although the Brit was usually pretty tightlipped about her past before meeting their current – team? group? coven? – it was relatively well known that she had started her years as a Corrupted working as an assassin. According to some, she had even been a hired gun before getting infected with magic.
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After the defeat of the Necromancer, she had calmed down a bit, but clearly not settled. A private dirigible was not something you just went and bought or ordered, not even with the windfall money Azucena had, and especially not one with this much style. Something like this could one be owned by one of the Shadow Monarchs.
"Thaaat was a nice nap," Fernanda said, sitting up on the bed and stretching her arms. The cat mimicked her.
"I still don't understand why we had to bring the cat," Azucena said. She understood just fine.
"Miss Penguin does not appreciate your apprehension about her," Fernanda said.
"Miss Penguin? That's what were calling her?"
"She looks like a little furry penguin, doesn't she? It was weird the the guys at the safe house didn't name her." Fernanda scratched the cat under the grin and she purred.
"Not much into pets, those guys, I guess." Azucena doubted that Cassandra was super happy to have a sharp-clawed furball onboard her shiny new ship either. She doubted she would be all too happy when the truth about the boy, now sleeping on the upper bed of the cabin, came out, either. Not that someone like her wouldn't have plenty of use for a seer of her own, but the risks were too high. She was certain it didn't stop at the assault wizards, there was something much bigger behind them. But what`?
Someone knocked on the door. Cassandra, assuming from the fact that she waited a whole two seconds before coming in.
"Oh, you're up, great!" the ship's owner said peppily. "We're having a meeting at the front."
"Should I wake him up?" Azucena asked and motioned towards Luca.
Cassandra's face grew serious in an instant. "No, I think it's better he's not part of this… negotiation."
Azucena nodded. So, it's better he doesn't have a say in a meeting deciding his fate. Not that he would.
Fernanda got up after Cassandra had left and they walked to the front of the gondola together. The bow had ample space for all the six people currently convened: everyone except Luca and Anna – who was still sleeping off her initial contact with magic.
"First of all," the de facto captain started immediately. "I'm not all too keen on having a potential smolderer on my airship." She was standing in the middle of the room, while others sat on the couches, save for Azucena and Fernanda who had just arrived. Everyone eyed each other.
Azucena assumed she was the one everyone thought was responsible for the Corrupted newcomer. She took a deep breath. "I know, and I'm not happy about it either," she said, and paused for a brief moment. "Yet, I fail to see any viable alternatives." The faces of the others showed her they agreed. "As I see it, we're all fugitives now," she continued. "With the assault wizards at our tails – not to mention whatever powerful yet completely unknown entity is hiring them."
Heinz nodded eagerly. "We need more information before we make any drastic decisions."
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Oh, wow, the scholar wants to do some research, what a surprise."
The forementioned scholar ignored her comment, looked Azucena straight in the eyes and said: "Starting with what you know, and why the hell you didn't mention any of this before?"
The grin on the pyromancer's face said more than enough, but Azucena had also come somewhat prepared. Ever since she had sent the SOS, she had known this discussion would lie in her immediate future. She had gone through it in her head several times. Yet, she still had no real answers.
"I'm sorry," she said, and sat down, hands under her legs. She was looking at the floor. "I didn't know what to say. It was all so unbelievable."
"Can you, maybe," Heinz sighed, "start with why he is so important to whoever is after us."
Azucena nodded. "He can see the future."
As she had expected, everyone was silent. Fernanda and Laura, of course, knew very well what Luca's powers were. Whether guy, whatever his name was, had enough knowledge about limitations of magic, was uncertain. Heinz and Cassanda, however, knew exactly how ridiculous it sounded. Not waiting for them to make the usual objections, she just continued: "I know how insane that sounds, and that's probably why I felt like I should keep it to myself. At least until I learned some more. The truth is, I didn't know anyone was after him, until the attack. I had my doubts, of course –"
"It's my fault," Fernanda interjected. "I wanted to throw a party. That's how they found us."
"Oh, come on, it wasn't just you," Laura said. "We all wanted that. It was Anna's idea, anyway."
Cassandra raised her eyebrow. "The girl who got infected?"
Azucena, Fernanda and Laura all nodded in unison.
"Do we know who from?" Heinz asked.
"José fucking Ignasio," Laura spat. "Fucking being the operative word here, of course."
"Who?" That was Cassandra. They hadn't had much time discuss names before this.
"The apprentice," Azucena said quietly. She was still looking down, but could easily imagine the shock on the two other mages' faces.
But before they could say a word, Laura chimed in. "She wanted to go to the safe house from the bar. I think it was her intention from the start to do that. Fuck that guy, I mean," she paused for a second, and added: "I mean that in so many ways."
Fernanda chuckled, and even Azucena couldn't help but smile.
"So, she actually wanted magic?" Heinz's voice was accusatory. He clearly implied that Azucena should have picked up on that. She might have, too, if it hadn't been for, well, everything.
"I'm really sick of everyone always shitting on people who want a piece after learning that bloody magic exists," Cassandra in a sudden pout of anger. "Yes, we know what a curse it can be, but you really, really need to go through it to know. It's like… meth or smoking or something else stupid. No one these days is so fucking stupid they wouldn't know the risks. It's only after actually going through that particular hell that you can, like, actually internalise the torture it is. And it's not even some bloody stupid drug, it's the actual fucking magic! It transforms your life, and often for the better." She dared anyone to object. "I fucking said it. It can make so many lives better," she said. "And we don't know where she is coming from, do we?"
"Germany," Fernanda said, cheerily.
Azucena finally looked up. Instead of looking upset, or angry, Heinz was thoughtful. Even ruminating. Laura was looking guilty. Did she also share the other woman's desire of arcane power? Of course she did. Who wouldn't at this point? She and Fernanda were already caught in the web of wizards and fireballs, yet utterly defenseless. Did Fernanda feel the same way? If she did, she didn't show it, at least.
"Can we get back to the boy?" Heinz said after a long silence. "After we decide on his fate, we can see what the best course of action for the girl is."
"Woman," Azucena said without thinking. "She's a young woman, not some girl."
"Right, and as one, responsible for her own actions. But the boy? What do you mean he sees the future? Cryptic messages?"
"If he was a Nostradamian, I would have mention it, wouldn't I?" There was, indeed, a nearly mythical group of Corrupted called the Nostradamians, who claimed to see the future. But their worked through prophecies so vague they could mean anything. Whether they actually had any ability to see the future was debated, but the consensus was that they were just some group of whackoes that had long since left the pages of history. If they had ever even existed. Suffice to say, Luca was not one of them. "It can be small stuff, like predicting dice and cards –"
"That's nothing more than a party trick", Cassandra shrugged.
"He always knew how we were going to escape," Laura said, "and helped the apprentice guy foil our plans."
Before the others could voice any other objections, Azucena continued: "And we won the fucking lottery. Is that a party trick?"
Heinz and Cassandra looked at each other. They were, again, silent for a long time, until Azucena said: "Yeah, I couldn't explain it either."
"I need to –" Heinz started, and then corrected himself, "I mean, can I test his abilities?"
Azucena looked at Fernanda. She shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that."
"Then," the scholar said, "I propose we see what we can glean of him first, and then make out plans."
"I can't just fly around aimlessly," Cassandra protested.
Azucena stood up. "We go to Chile."
Cassandra's mouth went O-shaped. Heinz blinked. "A-are you sure?" the German asked.
Azucena nodded. "There's safety there, and facilities to care for Anna."
"Ok, I'm sorry, but after seeing this reaction, you need to tell me about Chile. Preferably before we're there," Fernanda said.
Azucena sighed. She had the right to know. "I will, soon."
* * *
The fire had already been put out by the time Eduardo arrived at the scene. The tactical team had, once again, let their quarry escape. He had to do something about that. His superiors would expect there to be consequences for such repeated failures, although this time, in the assault wizards' defence, the boy's retinue had received unexpected backup.
He eyed through the report once more, and made mental notes what to ask about. Deciding an appropriate punishment for the repeated failures – one that was severe enough for the Grand Master to approve, and simultaneously lax enough that they did not lose the services of the group – was one thing, but there was another, more lucrative venue of investigation: the survivor left behind. He had not been interrogated yet, as per Eduardo's instructions. He wanted to do it himself.
After making sure he had memorised everything of importance, he opened the limousine's door and got out. There was a smell of acrid smoke in the air and the street was wet from the water used to put down the fire. He was immediately met by the representative of the tactical squad. The woman looked shattered.
"I am sorry for our failure, sir," she said. She was in her fifties with a strand of gray heir in her otherwise black curly mane. A good ten centimeteres taller than Eduardo and with a wide frame, he felt dwarfed by her presence. But if he knew something, it was that size mattered little in his business, and it was all about power and presentation. "We could have taken down the airship, but with your explicit instruction not to bring any harm to the boy… It would have been too risky."
"You do understand, it was your failure to let the boy enter the vehicle in the first place?"
And there she was, suddenly half his size. "Yes, sir."
Eduardo waved his hand dismissively. "Enough of that, I will decide on the repercussions in good time. Now, take me to our captive," he said.
"Yes, sir," the lady said again, and led them into a building next to the burned… what did they call it? Safe house? The neighbouring facility was a private clinic that had been seized as their base of operations. Their prisoner was in one of the operating rooms, tied to the table. That was, appropriate. Even with their recent failures, Eduardo could appreciate their initiative.
The man on the table looked local, or at least hispanic. His lean build was covered in simple cargo pants and a black t-shirt, his short hair messy and bearing evidence of overuse of gels. He was, Eduardo appraised, in his late twenties or early thirties. "Well, hello there," he said to the captive.
"Finally, someone talks to me," the man groaned. "Can you untie me?"
"Tsk, tsk. Let's not go ahead of ourselves. There is much we need to discuss, first."
The man had the audacity to roll his eyes. "I am not your enemy!" he protested.
"I shall be the judge of that."
"You're the Red Fist, aren't you?" the man said, to Eduardo's surprise. How this this insignificant man know of their organisation? "Yeah, I figured as much," the man tied to the bed continued, no doubt seeing the surprise on Eduardo's face. "The Necromancer told us about you."
"The Necromancer?" Eduardo laughed. The Necromancer. He knew all about the man, the greatest scourge the ever befall the earth, or at least after times immemorial. The Red Fist had extensive information about the dark mage who had, according to some, attempted to takeover the world. Such a crude approach, but it had almost worked. He'd had, of course, the backing of the richest men – and they were indeed all men – of the world. Back in the days when such oligarchs had existed. If their organisation so deemed, people like them would exist again, but the truth was the fools had outlived their usefulness and turned out to be antagonistic to the Red Fist's goals.
He also knew of the apprentices, but had never bothered to look up their identities. Yet here was one, right in front of him.
"Now that you've had your fun, can we get to the part where you untie me, and we can get to planning on how I get my vengeance and you – I assume – want the boy back."
Eduardo had to give it to the man, he had a certain self-assurance. After letting him stew a little bit longer, he finally untied the straps. "Eduardo," he said, offering his hand.
The apprentice took his hand and shook firmly. "José Ignasio."
What a conceited name, Eduardo though. "Now, tell me what you know about the boy."
"I found him wandering near the mall," José Ignasio said. "Unharmed, but quite confused. I took him in… really, just to have company and he didn't seem afraid of the skeletons. It wasn't until a few days later, when we were playing some stupid board game, that I learned of his ability."
"His… ability?"
"Yeah, the prescience. That's why you want him, right?"
Prescience? Interesting! Eduardo nodded and gestured the man to continue.
"He helped with that, warning me if and how the girls would try to escape. It worked well until that one bitch appeared. I'm telling you – we apprentices of the Necromancer are not people to be triffled with – but she – she was experienced. I'm telling you, she knows her shit."
"I have come to the same conclusion. The tactical squad had failed twice and now she's accompanied by at least one other Corrupted who is, according to my report, at least as proficient as she is. It may be mere assault wizards will not suffice in the future. But that is a problem for later. For now, we will have to locate them and with that airship, I'm afraid it will be much harder than previously."
"That, I can help you with," the apprentice grinned. "I gave magic to one of them."
Eduardo smiled. "Then, it appears I do not have to kill you just yet."