Shadow Magic (Darkling Mage 1)

Odessa pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “Unlikely. The shrikes were grunts, just minions. Your abilities are different. Stranger. More connected, I think, to the Eldest themselves.”

“You’re a Scion. You know more than the rest of us. What are the Eldest?” Maybe Odessa could tell me something the others hadn’t.

“Well,” Odessa said, folding her hands together. “You know about the entities. What Thea said was not untrue. The Eldest are the first among all. Ravenous, mindless beings that are not of this earth or this reality. And we’re only better off for it.”

“So where are they?”

“I can’t say. A different dimension, somewhere beyond the stars. These things are so ancient that they predate mankind entirely. But their power reaches so far that even with Thea’s rift closed, we have no guarantee of safety. The Eldest are primal, terrible, immense. They existed before us, and so will they remain when we’re dead and gone.”

We, Odessa said, which at least clued me in to how she was, in fact, human. That made one of us. It still offered no answer to what I was, or what I had become. I scratched at my chest absently and went back to packing.

“But yes. That’s something to worry about another day. Whatever it is, Mr. Graves, I have every confidence that you know what you’re doing now that you intend to leave the Lorica.”

What a strange thing to say, I thought. I turned to her, unsure of how to respond. Odessa’s eyes gleamed with dark understanding. We were alone in that room, yet it still felt as though she wanted to keep things subtle – in case someone was watching, or listening.

“I have every confidence that you’ll find the right answers,” she said.

It was as if she knew exactly what I had planned, somehow, which was odd, because even I wasn’t sure what I was going to do myself. I only nodded, and when she extended a hand to shake goodbye, I accepted. Her hand was warm – human – and she didn’t recoil when her fingers met my palm. At least I knew I was still human, too.

Odessa left me to finish packing, but a rapping at the doorway just seconds after she departed tugged at my attention. It was Herald.

“So,” he said. “You’re really going.”

“I really am.” I shrugged. “Guess I’m not really cut out to be a Hound after all.”

Herald scoffed and folded his arms. “You know that isn’t true. You’re going to keep in touch, right? We still get to hang out and stuff.”

I frowned. “Don’t be stupid. Of course we can. I’ve got your number and everything.”

Herald nodded. He watched me for a bit in silence, then cleared his throat, nodding at my things. “You sure you’ve got everything?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Um, yes. I think so.”

“Good thing I had a spare backpack to lend you from the archives, then.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at him with a puzzled expression. “Good thing.”

I was grateful for the loaner, sure. Probably one of the most practical magical objects I’d ever seen at the Gallery, this backpack that could carry far more than its size should realistically allow. I kept dumping stuff in and it just kept taking it all, never bulging or growing in size. Herald told me that the bag was actually an opening to a pocket dimension. It really saved me the hassle of packing all of my stuff into boxes.

“Just be sure to return it once you’ve moved in and settled. I’ll get flayed if we don’t get it back.” He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “Checked it out especially for you.”

I chuckled. “Appreciate it. And yeah, I’ll be sure to bring it back.”

“Empty,” he said. “Totally empty. Be sure you don’t leave anything in there.”

My forehead creased again. Herald was being weird about this, but he was doing me such a solid with this whole magical bag thing that I didn’t want to be an ass about it. I said nothing and slung the backpack’s straps over my shoulders. Oh, and that was the best part, too. The bag never got heavy. For all anyone knew, all I had in it were some clothes and some books. Someone could look at me a

nd think I was just a college kid going to his next class, and not some dude hauling around an entire apartment’s worth of crap. Man, I love magic.

“Looks like you’re sorted then,” Herald said. He waited for me to walk up to the door, then stuck a hand out.

“Aww, come on, a handshake?” I tugged on his hand, pulling him in for a hug, squeezing until I got a chortle out of him. “I’ll see you around, buddy.”

Herald smoothed down the creases I made in his waistcoat, then, walking backwards, smiled tightly and gave me a half-hearted salute as he headed back to the Gallery.

I plodded out into the main corridor, sneakers looking pedestrian as always against the lush carpet. I took in the paneled walls that gleamed so much I could almost make out my reflection in them. I watched as sheaves of paper flew like birds across the halls in the galleries below, because sure, email existed, and so did network servers, but this? This was all about style. I found myself sighing. I was going to miss this place.

Someone to my left cleared his throat in a, well, I could only describe it as a douchey way. This, I wasn’t sure I was going to miss. Without turning, I greeted my intruder.