Page 37 of The Study of Magic
“We should set fire to this place,” Janco suggested. “Give it a good cleanse.”
The ground floor had housed Reyad’s rooms, labs, and office, which had already been searched and cleared. The room of horrors, used by both men, was located at the end of the hallway. The floor above had been Mogkan’s domain.
Ari and Janco climbed the stairs to Mogkan’s suite, while Valek continued down the corridor. Blood and other bodily fluids had soaked into the stone floor, permanently staining it. Ari and Janco had fought ten guards in this narrow space to reach the victims. Janco had been skewered with a sword, but due to their efforts, Fourth Magician Irys Jewelrose had been able to get through and steal Mogkan’s extra power source from him. It had been the turning point. Without their valiant efforts, Mogkan would have won. Brazell would be the new commander and Valek would be dead. He yanked his thoughts away from listing who else would be dead.
Instead, he focused on the now empty room where the children had been chained to the floor. Children wasn’t exactly the right term. There had been some older teens and a few young adults. However, all the victims had been tortured until nothing remained but a shell. Rendered mindless, they ate and breathed and their hearts beat, but nothing else. Now freed, they would be cared for until they died.
With dread dragging at his heels, Valek entered. The metal drain in the center of the ground reflected the lantern light. The floor had been cleaned and scoured; the chains removed. The painted lines, linking each person, had faded with the scrubbing, but the design was still visible. The scent of cleaning fluid mixed with a fetid odor of feces. Bile rolled in his stomach. A heavy presence pushed on his shoulders and squeezed his chest. Magic?
He spun in a slow circle, seeking a direction. Was there a magician nearby or was it just a lingering residue? Irys had said the power generated by the victims had been immense. They had been arranged so they formed a shape similar to a wagon wheel to augment their power. They all had the ability to use magic, but Mogkan stole their will and had siphoned their energy. He had tried to do the same to Yelena, but her will had been stronger.
A pang of longing and worry brushed his heart. He hoped her strength and intelligence would keep her safe in Sitia. Logically, he knew she could protect herself. After all, she survived this horror, she could survive anything. But the heart tended to ignore logic and his arms ached to hold her.
Not able to pinpoint the source of his unease, Valek searched for a hidden door or a loose brick that might indicate a hiding place. Nothing. He checked twice and then bolted.
He joined Ari and Janco in the living room of Mogkan’s apartment. “Find anything?”
“Nothing significant yet,” Ari said. “You?”
“I found the desire to kill Mogkan again. He died too quick.”
“Agreed.”
“I almost lost the contents of my stomach.” Janco handed him a book. “I read his journal. It details what he and Reyad did to those poor children and rates them by effectiveness. Let me save you from some nightmares, there’s no information we can use.”
They worked in sickened silence for the next few hours. Valek was about to call a fresh air break, and suggest they go cuddle some puppies, when Ari pulled a ledger from a hidden drawer in Mogkan’s desk.
Valek scanned the pages. Excitement built and rushed through his veins. “It’s an account of everything regarding the Criollo factory. This is what I hoped to find.”
“Does it mention Alea?” Ari asked.
“Yes. She’s on top of a list with an asterisk next to her name, indicating she is the leader of Mogkan’s Beta Team. The rest of the members are also named along with their abilities.”
“Magical abilities?” Janco looked queasy.
“Yes. There’s seven magicians total and Alea. Her skills are not listed, unless she doesn’t have any. She was the one who distributed the Criollo after Mogkan died.”
“That leaves one magician for each general,” Janco said.
“Looks like we were right about Mogkan targeting the generals. I guess he was worried they wouldn’t accept him as the new commander.”
“But why is the Beta Team still going through with the plan?” Ari asked.
Good question. “Perhaps the team believes they can use the recent upheaval with the Commander and Brazell to turn the generals against me. With me out of the way, the team has a better chance of assassinating the Commander. With the generals on Beta Team’s side, they won’t protest the coup or send their soldiers to attack the team.”
“If we didn’t encounter that caravan, we might have never known about the danger,” Janco said. “Talk about luck.”
“Or good timing.” Ari’s broad face creased in concentration. “Word will eventually get to Alea and the others that we know about the Criollo. Do you think they’ll give up? Go back to Sitia?”
“It’s possible,” Valek said. “But I’d rather they stay in Ixia so I can kill them. Seven less problems in the world.”
Janco glanced at Valek’s face and took a step back. “We have their names. Can we arrest them?”
Valek handed him the book. “Do you recognize any of the names?”
Janco flipped through the pages. “Uh. No. But this list…” He shuddered, then read aloud, “The ability to move objects, the ability to read minds, the ability to set fires…and it seems they all can do some kind of freaky mental communication with each other. That’s just…unfair! How are we supposed to fight them?”
“If they’re going to proceed with their plans, then we have the element of surprise.”
