Chapter 108 A Discovery
TOM
The fae magic burns through me. I'm maintaining defensive wards while fighting. Dual-tasking that's killing me slowly.
Left hand: holding magical barrier protecting our east flank. Thirty wolves behind it staying alive because of my concentration.
Right hand: throwing fae-blessed daggers at vampire hunters. Silver and cold iron. They die screaming.
I'm exhausted. The magic battle with Professor Fell three days ago nearly killed me. I shouldn't be fighting. Should be recovering.
But everyone's fighting. Everyone's dying. Can't sit out.
A vampire charges through my barrier. Impossible. My wards are Seelie-crafted. Nothing should penetrate.
I kill him with a dagger to the eye socket. But the breach is concerning.
My wards shouldn't fail.
I examine the magical structure while dodging gunfire. The barrier is intact. Not broken. Not weakened.
But something's interfering. External force pressing against my magic.
I expand my senses. Fae-touched can see magic like others see light. Threads of power. Weavings of reality. Patterns in chaos.
What I see makes my blood freeze.
The Hermetic Order mages aren't just maintaining containment barriers. They're building something underneath the battlefield.
Massive spell. Intricate. Multi-layered. Growing stronger every minute.
And it's not targeted at the wolves. It's targeted at everyone.
Both sides.
A trap spell. Designed to activate when the battle reaches peak chaos. Maximum combatants in one location. Minimum ability to escape.
Mass capture. Not mass execution.
"Fuck," I breathe.
This isn't extermination. It's harvest. Large-scale specimen collection.
I try to count the mages. Hermetic Order has ten on the perimeter. All of them feeding power into this spell. Building it collaboratively.
When it activates, everyone on the battlefield gets trapped. Wolves, vampires, fae, dragons. Everyone becomes Hermetic Order property.
Living experimental subjects.
I need to warn Callum. Need to get everyone to retreat before the spell completes.
I scan the battlefield. Callum's a hundred yards away. Fighting Cormac. Both covered in blood. Both ignoring everything else.
Can't reach him through combat. Too much chaos between us.
I grab the nearest fighter. Young wolf named Peter. "We need to retreat NOW. It's a trap!"
"What?" He's not listening. Too focused on the vampire he's fighting.
"The Hermetic Order. They're building mass capture spell. We need to evacuate before it activates."
"Can't retreat. We're winning." He stakes the vampire. Keeps moving.
Winning. We're not winning. We're dying. Seventy-eight dead in forty minutes according to Silas's count.
That's not winning. That's mutual slaughter.
Which is exactly what the Hermetic Order wants. Maximum casualties equals maximum specimens.
I try another fighter. Valentina. She's closer. Shooting vampires with precision.
"Valentina! Listen!"
She glances at me. "What?"
"Hermetic Order is building trap spell. Underneath the battlefield. It'll capture everyone when it activates."
"When does it activate?"
"Don't know. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours. But we need to retreat before it completes."
She kills another vampire. "Can you break it?"
"Not alone. Too big. Too many mages feeding it. I'd need ten fae to counter ten Hermetic mages."
"We have thirty fae warriors."
"Fighting vampires. Not doing magical counterwork." I throw another dagger. Dragon dies. "I need them to stop fighting and start breaking the spell."
"How do I convince them?"
"You don't. I do. But someone needs to cover me while I coordinate."
Valentina nods. "I'll get you to the fae commander. You convince him. We break the spell before it activates."
We move together. Fighting through the battlefield. She shoots. I stab. Slow progress through chaos.
A Hermetic Order mage sees us approaching. Realizes I'm detecting his spell.
He redirects power. Not to the trap spell. To a direct attack.
Lightning bolt. Magical. Pure energy. Coming at me.
I counter with fae wind. Deflecting. The lightning arcs away. Hits a building. Explosion.
The mage attacks again. Fire this time. Spreading fast.
I pull water from air. Fae trick. Ancient magic. Douses the flames.
"Keep moving!" Valentina shouts.
We're halfway to the fae commander. Silver-hair. Leading the Seelie warriors. Cutting through vampires with supernatural grace.
Another mage attacks. Ice shards. Hundreds of them. Coming from three directions.
Can't counter everything. Too many angles.
Valentina shoots the mage. Silver bullet. He goes down. Ice shards dissolve.
We reach Silver-hair. The fae commander sees us coming. Recognizes me.
"Tom Cracksman. Magnus's debt-holder ally."
"I need your warriors. For magical counterwork. Not combat."
"Explain quickly. We're busy." Silver-hair beheads a vampire without looking.
"Hermetic Order is building mass capture spell. Underneath battlefield. Will trap everyone when complete. I need fae help to break it before activation."
"How many?"
"All thirty. This spell is massive. Ten human mages collaborated. Need overwhelming counter-force."
Silver-hair considers. Three seconds. Decides.
"Warriors! Disengage from physical combat! Magical priority! Follow Tom Cracksman's lead!"
The thirty fae warriors stop fighting vampires. Turn toward me.
"What do we do?" asks one.
"Form circle. Channel through me. I'll direct the counter-spell at the Hermetic trap's foundation. When I give signal, release everything simultaneously."
They form circle. Beautiful. Perfect. Instant coordination.
I'm at the center. Thirty fae channeling power through me. It's agony. Like being struck by lightning while drinking molten metal.
But necessary.
I can see the Hermetic spell now. Clearly. Massive web underneath the battlefield. Covering three city blocks. Waiting to spring shut.
The foundation. There. Anchored to four points. Break those anchors, the whole spell collapses.
"Target these locations," I tell the fae. Give them coordinates. "Four anchor points. Seven warriors per point. Two reserve."
They split. Moving to positions. Still channeling through me. The magical strain is crushing.
"On my mark," I gasp. "Three. Two. One. Now!"
Thirty fae release power simultaneously. Directed through me. Focused on the four anchor points.
The Hermetic spell shatters. Explosive magical backlash. Every mage on the perimeter screams. Blood from ears, nose, eyes.
The trap spell collapses. Fragments. Disappears.
I collapse too. The magical strain too much. Nose bleeding. Vision blurring.
But the spell's broken. Everyone's safe. For now.
Valentina catches me. "You did it."
"We did it." I can barely speak. "But Hermetic Order will try again. They want specimens. This was just first attempt."
"Then we stop them again."
"Maybe." I'm fading. Magic exhaustion pulling me under. "Or maybe we retreat while we can. Before they build trap we can't break."
The battlefield continues around us. Wolves dying. Vampires dying. Fae dying.
But at least they're not getting captured. Not becoming experimental subjects.
Small victory. Temporary. But victory.
"We need to retreat NOW," I tell Valentina. "It's a trap!"
She looks at the carnage. The bodies. The blood.
"I'll try to convince Callum. But he's fighting Cormac. Won't stop until one of them is dead."
"Then everyone dies. Hermetic Order captures whoever's left standing."
"I know. But knowing doesn't change him." She's crying. "He's too far gone. This is personal now. Brother versus brother. World doesn't exist beyond that fight."
I pass out. Can't help anymore. Magic exhaustion claiming me.
My last thought: we broke one trap. But Hermetic Order has resources. Time. Determination.
They'll try again.
And next time, we might not stop them.