In a Bottle... Ch. 08

One final gunshot rang out and the man crumpled to the floor. The gun clattered away. Alan's ears were ringing.

"Jeff!" A voice broke the silence in the room before it even had the chance to settle in.

Alan looked up to find a woman who appeared to be only a few years older than him scurrying across the room to the body which lay at his feet. He felt a heavy weight settle into his gut as he resigned himself to another fight. Of course there were more magi. She must have heard the gunfire and come to investigate.

"Oh, Jeffrey..." she pled helplessly, falling to her knees and cradling his face between her palms. "What have you done?"

The woman seemed oblivious to his presence for the time being. She wore a simple dress with a print of fall leaves and wept over the body, her tears falling to mix with the blood oozing from the top of his skull. Alan began wondering if this person was even with the magi.

He didn't let his guard down just yet. As innocent as she appeared, she obviously knew this man--and he hadn't been shy about using his magic. He glanced at the gun on the floor where it had fallen. Looking down he also noticed that his oculus had fallen out of his shirt and was swaying gently by its chain. While she was distracted, Alan cautiously tucked it back into the neck of his shirt, scooped up the discarded gun, and retreated a few steps. The woman looked up at his movement, sweeping her auburn hair out of her eyes. He could see the hate raging behind the thin film of her tears.

"What have you done?" she repeated, the tone of her voice dropping low as she addressed him directly.

"I was only protecting myself," Alan reasoned sternly. "This isn't even my gun. He is wearing the holster. See for yourself! He tried to kill me!"

But the woman wasn't listening to his words. It was obvious by her expression that she couldn't care less and was more than willing to finish the job. She stood and Alan caught a hint of a shimmer that was barely noticeable after the flamboyant shimmers that had come from the mage who was now slowly stiffening on the floor. Alan glanced around, unsure of what her magic had done until he felt something unusual. His hand, which had been holding the gun a moment before, was now only gripping the air. He looked down to confirm what he was feeling. His hand was empty.

"In that case," she said and lifted the gun, now dangerously present in her grasp. "All the more fitting that you die by the same weapon that ended his life."

This time Alan dove to the side without hesitation as she pulled the trigger. A dissatisfying click from the chamber announced that it was empty. He landed with a grunt and pain lanced through his shoulder.

Alan pushed aside any ideas of trying to reason with her and renewed his illusions of invisibility and silence, hoping that they would hide him better from her than they had from his last adversary.

This woman was definitely one of the magi, and she was certainly trying to kill him. He reminded himself of his promise to the Master Genie that he would help stop the magi. He prepared himself for the possibility that he may have to kill several more people to stay alive and fulfill that promise.

"Where are your bullets at, love?" she asked the corpse, kneeling to pat down the front of his jacket. She let out a frustrated sigh when she came up empty-handed. She scanned the room, searching for Alan.

Alan forced himself to stand up in spite of the throbbing pain in his shoulder. It was better to keep moving just in case she could track his shimmer like the last mage.

A moment later a wolf appeared from nowhere with its nose close to the ground as it sniffed along in his direction. It raised its head and looked directly at him. A growl rumbled to life in its throat.

"Lucas, kill," the woman ordered.

Alan--not wanting to wrestle with a full-grown wolf--crafted an illusion with the hope that his magic would be as effective on animals as it was on humans. The wolf surged forward. Alan was faster. He swept his arm out and a cage of thick iron bars burst forth from the ground and ensnared the animal. He continued to move, trying to keep his distance from the wolf and its master.

The wolf's head abruptly crashed into the bars and it yelped as Alan focused on the pain of the impact, making the illusion as real as he could. The bars slammed shut all around the canine, and it snarled in frustration. Alan held onto his enchantments tightly through the fatigue and pain, knowing that one slip now could be the end. He just needed to hold onto his focus until he could deal with this mage.

She glared in the direction the wolf had darted, where Alan had been a moment ago. That was when Alan caught sight of her shimmer again--a faint spiraling waver in the air around her eyes, like they were giving off intense heat. If he hadn't already been looking at her face, he would have missed it. She was using her magic again.

A black woman appeared beside her this time. She wore a sports bra and yoga pants and was covered in a sheen of sweat. She had an athletic build and a svelte body that Alan would have found attractive under different circumstances. She looked around, momentarily confused.

"Oh, Kay, it's you. I wish you would warn me before- Kay? What's wrong?" Her eyes followed the grim, poignant stare of the first woman, settling upon the body on the floor lying in a fresh pool of blood. "Oh, no."

"There's another mage hiding here somewhere. He killed Jeff," she said in a flat tone. Her voice caught in her throat as she spoke his name, betraying her emotion. "We need to flush him out. Can you help me?"

The dark-skinned woman shifted uncomfortably and looked around the room, her sharp eyes seeking out any signs of his whereabouts. They paused for a moment on the caged wolf. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter.

"I know of him. He had genies. Eneros died trying to acquire them from him. There's too much residual signature in here--I can't tell..." she trailed off.

Alan watched as she lifted her palms upward and a gout of flame sprang to life in front of her. At her direction it continued to grow in size and intensity until it was a roiling pillar of fire. When she appeared satisfied, she unleashed her destructive force. Alan watched as it cut a wide swath across the room, igniting everything in its path. Behind it, it left charred black marks across the floor and a trail of soot along the ceiling.

"Careful!" Key admonished. "Jeffrey spent more time locating some of these relics than we spent on the last few containment chambers! He wouldn't want us to destroy the library!"

The black mage adjusted her conflagration, causing it to pitch violently to the side in order to avoid one of the tables stacked high with books. This caused it to unexpectedly veer directly towards Alan. He ran in a semi-circle around the inferno, half expecting it to jerk in another direction and catch him off guard. He gave the fire a wide berth and--once he was a safe distance away--began to craft a spell of his own.

He focused on the wolf that was contained in his illusory cage and replicated it to the best of his ability, all the way down to what he thought it should smell like. Alan's wolf walked into the room and growled before charging at the black mage.

"There!" She shouted, throwing up an arm to defend herself while pointing at Alan with the other.

Three things happened then: Alan focused on the pain of ripping flesh as his wolf finished its pounce and tore into the forearm of the black woman; a snarl of snakes appeared on the ground around him; and a ball of fire shot from the finger she was pointing at him.

Alan nearly stepped on one of the striped brown adders littering the floor as he avoided the fire being flung in his direction. Another barrage of fireballs closely followed the first. Fortunately, thanks to his invisibility enchantment, she couldn't aim well enough to anticipate him dodging.

"Ahhh! Get this thing off of me!" Yelled the destruction mage, distracted long enough to quit shooting fire at Alan.

"I can't. That's not Lucas!" Kay answered her confused companion. She pointed to the caged wolf. "That is Lucas!"

Alan looked away for a moment to check his footing and when he looked back his illusory cage was empty. The wolf stood beside its master once more. It snarled at him, completely ignoring his pseudo-wolf. One of the nearby snakes coiled up and hissed at him, preparing to defend itself.

Alan jumped back a step. Could the snakes see him? He held a hand up to his face and looked at it. No, his illusion was still active. Those snakes must have had another sense that they rely upon heavily, like the wolf tracking his scent. That first mage was clever.

He was in over his head. He needed to escape before more magi showed up. He had hoped to get the drop on them, coming in here cloaked with invisibility. Now he was dodging fire and more-than-likely deadly venomous snakes. If the next mage could cancel his enchantments or control his mind or heaven knows what else... It was time to go.

As several of the wooden tables crackled and popped in the fire around him, Alan backed away from the hissing snakes, trying not to aggravate the others behind him, but there were so many. He was as careful as possible with his footing.

The black mage still wrestled with Alan's wolf as the real one charged him again. He modified the previous illusion of his cage to move it so it again ensnared the wolf. No sooner had the cage latched closed around the animal than it was standing by the mage once more. With a howl of fury, it was off again.

Alan was almost to the stairs. Another ten feet or so of sidestepping the snakes and he would be free. He had to alter his plan and craft a new enchantment. Releasing the cage of iron from existence, he envisioned a tar pit in the path of the wolf. As it quickly closed the distance Alan thrust his palm upwards and the unsuspecting wolf plunged neck-deep into a black sticky mass.

The wolf was immediately summoned back to the mage but it was too late. The animal tried to run at him a fourth time, but its paws were weighted down by thick tendrils of tar that stuck to the concrete like an adhesive. Even taking two or three steps took tremendous effort. It tried to shake itself off, but the tar refused to release its hold.

Alan turned and dashed the last few steps to the stairs. An adder sunk its fangs into his calf, causing him to stumble.

Alan swore, no sound escaping past his enchantment of silence. How could they see him? He kicked the serpent off of his leg, but not before the mage in the dress saw it wiggling around in mid-air.

"The stairs!" she shouted, and bolted after him.

The second mage continued to struggle with Alan's illusion, blasting gouts of fire at the wolf as she rolled around on the floor with it.

Limping down the stairs, Alan's mind recalled an interesting concept from geometry class that he had learned long ago. He had never forgotten about the idea of a Mobius strip--the only truly single dimensional object, a Mobius strip had one side that wrapped around and connected to itself so that it continued on infinitely. He hoped it would save him here.

He took a shallow breath and focused upon his magic again, this time warping space with illusions. He used his idea to wrap the bottom of the staircase around so that it resembled the top creating one giant loop. It took minimal effort and seemed like the perfect idea for a maze to buy him some time.

Alan got to the bottom of the stairs just as he finished his illusion. He headed for the front door, all of his energy now devoted to keeping his illusions intact: His shroud of invisibility, his shroud of silence, the wolf attacking the black mage with its gnashing fangs, the Mobius staircase, and the sticky black tar. Any more illusions and he would have difficulty keeping them all straight.

Kay rushed down the stairs right behind Alan and ran right into his trap. She circled around down the stairs searching for him as he limped through the main lobby. She couldn't see him, but caught a glimpse of his signature when he finished the illusion of the infinite staircase. She got to the bottom, went around one more set of steps, and then looked out over the railing again and realized she was at the top again. She kept running down even faster, taking the steps two at a time until she reached the bottom a second time. When she came to find herself at the top of the stairs once again she realized what had happened.

Looking over the edge she didn't see any sign of him. She closed her eyes and tapped into her magic one more time.

Alan had passed the desk and was halfway to the door when suddenly his face smacked right into a pane of glass. He hadn't been going that fast because his leg was on fire from the snakebite, but it had still been hard enough to hurt.

Rubbing his nose, he looked around. There hadn't been any glass here when he came in. Now it seemed to be on either side of him. He looked up and noticed that there was a roof made of glass as well. It was an entire glass cage. The mage... she must have done this.

Alan looked behind him to check on her. She was still on the stairs. Unable to bypass his illusion, she must have summoned this giant cage as a last resort to force a stalemate. Now she was stuck and so was he. She was shouting something. He could barely hear her through the walls.

"No! ...nitra... away from the stairs! ...spell on th... I can find a way down, I'll-"

He turned away when he caught himself trying to read her lips. He realized that rather than straining to hear her he should be focusing his attention on escaping his own predicament. At least she still couldn't see what he was doing. He tapped on the glass, testing it. He needed to break out without cutting himself before they found a way to counter his illusions.

The door was less than twenty feet away. If this stupid cage wasn't here he could be outside in ten seconds. He was angry with himself for letting things get so dire.

Alan pounded against the thick glass. The resounding echo bounced around the walls like a disembodied voice laughing at the futility of his situation. He reared back to kick the glass hard when a cascade of water hit him from above like a firehose, pinning him to the ground. The glass box filled quicker than he thought possible and in just a few seconds he found himself fully submerged and having to hold his breath.

Alan panicked and resumed his attempts to kick a hole through the glass, but moving under the water was like dragging sandbags behind his limbs. He beat against the glass, burning through the oxygen in his lungs until they felt like they would explode from the pressure. He fought against his body's instinct to exhale as long as he could, knowing he needed the precious air.

A few more strikes from his balled up fists and his strength finally gave way--the air escaping in one long stream of bubbles. Renewed adrenaline surged through him and his mind rejoiced. It felt great to breathe again and he took in a great gulp of... water.

He felt himself letting go of his magic as he choked on the water. The illusion of the wolf unraveled. He let his enchantments of invisibility and silence slip through his fingers. He began to get light-headed, but hung on as tightly as he could to the illusion of the endless staircase. It truly was his last defense.

In its detached euphoric state, Alan's mind flashed to Eneros and the blast of razor sharp air that he had used to cut an entire car in half. Hardly realizing what he was doing, he mimicked the spell, drawing heavily on the magic around him. Once more he channeled the Earth's magic. A brilliant heat flared up from his chest and he struck out with his fist, unleashing the knife of hardened air at the glass. His vision went dark around the edges as though he had fallen into a deep hole and was being swallowed up.

The water in front of him actually parted for a moment as the shockwave ripped through it and into the wall. The glass cracked in a thick vertical line before it spider-webbed outwards and the pressure of ten thousand gallons of water rushed forward to exit the hole, tearing the entire wall out in a giant wave that carried Alan halfway across the room.

He coughed up as much water as he could before he stood and trudged groggily towards the front door. He pushed it open with the last of his strength. Just as the darkness consumed his vision completely he felt himself falling forward into a waiting pair of arms.

- - -

Alan opened his eyes and blinked a few times, waiting for them to focus. A sharp stabbing pain tore through his left arm making him cringe. That's right, the gunshot wound.

[Your body is damaged.] A voice he would remember for the rest of his life floated across the room. [It is quite painful. Will you allow me to help you?]

"If you can," Alan replied. He lifted his head to get a bearing on his surroundings. He was laying on the floor of a warehouse. They must not be too far from the hideout of the magi. He shifted a little, being mindful of his shoulder, and the ground crackled and snapped beneath him. He had been sleeping on a bed of bubble wrap. 'Awesome,' he thought to himself. 'Hey, at least it's better than the concrete floor.'

The Master Genie came to stand beside him, the soft blue glow following it. Its shimmer wasn't as strong as it had been on the beach. Back then it had been almost like a thick hazy fog, now it just seemed to obscure the edges of the genie. Alan noted that where there had been a jagged hole for an eye socket before was now a subtle core giving off a weak white glow.

"I feel like I could sleep for a week," Alan commented. "How am I not dead yet?"

[You had already bled a substantial amount. I generated more blood for you while you were unconscious so that you would survive. Replicating something that already exists is the easiest form of evocation magic. There was also a toxin in your blood that would have stopped your heart soon. I only used as much magic as was required to save your life. Now that I have your permission to continue, are you ready?]

"Yeah."

No sooner had the word left his mouth than Alan felt the most unsettling feeling as his bone knitted itself back together. He had been sure that it was broken but that confirmed it. It didn't hurt exactly, but it wasn't pleasant either. It just felt...weird.

[That should speed the healing process considerably,] it said, rubbing its own shoulder.

"You can still feel what I feel?" Alan said, suddenly realizing the obvious as he tested his shoulder. He glanced down reflexively at the oculus as it rubbed against a blister on his chest.

He pulled the collar of his shirt down for further inspection and found that he had a whole series of blisters surrounded by what looked like a bad sunburn.

"What is this thing doing to me?" Alan demanded.

[That appears to be a side effect to having sensitive human skin such a short distance away from the oculus. I had to intervene to save your life. It is a mild burn,] the genie said bending down to take a better look.

Alan remembered the intense moment where time had seemed to slow down. A lot of things were starting to come together from the jumbled mess inside his head.

"So that... weird time lag," he said, making a gesture with his hands. "That was you?"

[Yes, I knew that the temporal mage would not be able to counter my distortion. It was the best course of action.]

"Temporal mage?" Alan realized finally what had happened as the final pieces fit into place. "So he wasn't just predicting the future. He was changing it."

[In a way, yes. The future had already happened for him. He was reversing time for a split second to react.] The Master Genie continued to watch him with its one good eye. [I could not create a rift for you without being present so instead I momentarily distorted time for all beings, slowing it down so you could save yourself.]