Chapter 39

If O’Connor hadn’t spoken up to taunt me, I’d have had no warning at all. I lunged forward, feeling his meaty fingers just graze my hair. I pivoted around, sword again at the ready.

“Ozzie? O’Connor?” O’Connor was thinner and paler than I’d seen him before, the color almost gone from once-ruddy cheeks. The familiar leftover jumpsuit hung loosely over his form.

“Sorry it has to be like this, kid,” said the American.

“That’s my sword, you little thief!” shouted Ozzie. He looked like his normal, tan, half-barbarian self.

I took a step back, keeping an eye on both men’s hands. “That’s rich coming from you, you slavedriver! I found my clothes in your back closet.”

“So those were yours.” Ozzie turned his annoyed gaze on O’Connor. “You told us she wasn’t a wizard!”

“I did, didn’t I?” O’Connor clutched at his head, one eye squeezed shut. “Hm, it seems like he… I… damn this is confusing to talk about. Seems like that was before O’Connor was completely broken. Tried to protect her with some bullshit story about her being an actress.”

“I thought that sounded weak,” said Ozzie. “I can’t see the Wizard Corps letting some actress go along on a secret mission like that, no matter how idiotic they are. How could you let O’Connor fool us like that? You were planted in his mind as soon as we got ahold of him!”

“He’s got a strong will,” said the man himself. “I’m going over his memories now, and he had months of training in fighting off magical interrogation. He kept any thought of Rose separated.”

“Explains why I didn’t know that my… his… Albert’s little sister was on the island,” said the thing wearing Albert’s skin.

I took another step back, sheathing my sword. If they wanted to argue with themselves, I’d use the time to prepare a spell.

“If you’d let me see her, I could’ve told you that much,” said Albert, struggling uselessly against his bonds.

Perhaps not so uselessly; he still had a weather affinity, and my hair stood on end as the atmosphere in the room shifted.

“Svalinn’s Mercy!” The red, floating energy shield popped into place just in time to block a bolt of lightning. That had always been Albert’s specialty.

O’Connor and Ozzie took advantage of my distraction to charge forward, and I noticed their footfalls were completely silent. So that’s what “Albert” meant about the sound of the coffin opening!

I didn’t want to fight O’Connor; it sounded like he was just as much a prisoner in his mind as I’d been.

Ozzie, though? Oh, that monster had it coming. I drove the flat side of the smoking energy barrier into his face with a thought. It shattered into so much magic dust, but not before flooring the cult leader. O’Connor’s sound-deadening affinity robbed me of the sound of him slamming into the ground, but his pained grunt was enough.

“Magic Bolt!” O’Connor’s spell slammed into my gut. The runes of my enchanted uniform flared to life, making the cloth as hard as steel plate, but that didn’t make the impact any less painful.

I doubled over as my vision swam, though I managed to stay upright. Get up, get up, get up! I had three hostile wizards standing against me, and they weren’t going to wait for me to recover from my blow.

My eyes refocused just in time to see O’Connor’s bare foot racing towards my face. I raised my arm, the runes in my sleeve activating to protect me from most of the impact. Still, I had been off balance, and the kick knocked me onto my back.

“Stand back, I’ll get her in one bolt,” declared Albert, his head poking up over the workbench.

Thanks for telling me your plan! I set Stormbringer free, and a powerful wind whipped around the lab. All of the loose tools and pieces sang through the air overhead, forcing both of my attackers to duck.

I crawled underneath one of the workbenches to wait out the mayhem, knowing that I’d be safe from Albert’s lightning as long as I kept the atmosphere disturbed. I couldn’t affect a storm that was already under someone else’s control, but the reverse was also true!

“Son of a bitch!” shouted O’Connor. “Slow Barrier!”

Blast, that’d keep them safe from the worst of my localized whirlwind. At least they wouldn’t be able to move out of the way.

“Come on, she’s still my little sister! The failure who can’t control her magic to save her life. No way in Hell she can beat all of us.”

Is that what Albert really thinks of me? Or is that the programming talking? Either way, that had hurt as much as O’Connor’s Magic Bolt.

“Who are you trying to convince?” I called out.

“That little bitch,” moaned Ozzie. “After everything I gave her. There’s no gratitude anymore.”

“Gratitude? You brainwashed me!”

“I opened your mind as all were opened,” he said. “Thanks for telling me where you were! Ruhspont!”

Ruhspont? I cursed as I desperately shuffled out of the way of that demonic spell. A glob of acid hit the table where I’d been hiding, eating it away in a heartbeat, the spatters pockmarking into the concrete. I had assumed they had wanted me alive, but maybe I’d been wrong.

I sprang to my feet, fingers already curled. “Svalinn’s Mercy!” I poured extra energy into the barrier, making it tall enough to cover me head to toe.

“Firbolg!” shouted Ozzie, though his Fireball only succeeded in lighting some of the debris caught in O’Connor’s Slow Barrier.

“Don’t let your temper get the better of you,” said O’Connor, placing a hand on Ozzie’s shoulder. “There’s a better way.”

“Please, enlighten me,” groused Ozzie.

“Gladly,” said O’Connor, sounding like his old self for a moment. The next words out of his mouth shattered that illusion, though. He shifted around, leveling his hand at Zack. “Girly, you’d better stop that little whirlwind and come quietly. I know how sweet you are on that Zakariah boy, and he won’t take a Magic Bolt half as well as you or Yanus did.”

I froze in place.

“You think we didn’t know about that?” asked O’Connor. “Those two sang once the Master got ahold of ‘em.”

“I don’t know how I feel about you threatening my mate like that,” said Albert, sounding uncertain.

“Don’t let them, Albert! I know you’re in there! Fight!”

“I…” Albert trailed off.

“The bonds of the outside world don’t exist here,” said Ozzie with a solemnity that sounded well-rehearsed. “All are one in the Master’s embrace.”

“You always said it was the sea, you liar,” I shouted.

“There’s the truth for the initiated, and the truth for the masses,” replied Ozzie.

“Either way,” said O’Connor in a surprisingly genial voice, “that navy-boy’s going to be zero in his embrace if Rose doesn’t give up on three. One. Two.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing Stormbringer to heel even as it tried to respond to my turmoil. I stilled the wind and banished my protective barrier. A shower of debris fell down on all sides of us, though I kept my eyes fixed right on O’Connor. “Alright, I give.”

O’Connor nodded. “I knew I could count on you. I’ve always been able to.”

***************

I sat in the center of the despoiled lab, tied to a chair and my hands shackled together. I had given up struggling against my shackles. The Holy Brotherhood had clapped me in the same sorts of fabricata bonds before; they were too strong to break normally, and they’d feed my own magic right back at me if I tried to cast a spell or use my affinity.

It didn’t mean I hadn’t tried, though. Virgil and Zack still needed me.

“It’s strange,” said Albert, awkwardly scratching at himself, pity shining in his eyes. “I didn’t think I’d be so bothered.”

“Me either,” said O’Connor. The sarcastic American paced back and forth. “I feel the Master’s presence, but something in me is being noisy.”

“Sorry to be such a burden,” I said.

“I think it’s because there are too many of us awake at once,” said Albert. “We’re being stretched thin.”

“You’re dismissed, then,” said Ozzie, waving them away. “I have her under control.”

I couldn’t say that I disagreed with him, as much as I wanted to. We were soon alone, the two men crawling back into their tombs. As soon as they did, Ozzie visibly relaxed.

“And to think,” said Ozzie, running his hand along my cheek. “I was going to waste a wizard like you on Kumar! I have to give it to Harold and Albert; they must have had iron wills if they could keep secrets from me after they’d been inducted. Virgil and Zack went down swinging, too. How do you inspire such loyalty?”

I snapped at his fingers, just missing them with my teeth. I got a slap from the cult leader in return, knocking me to the ground.

“It must be your charm and poise,” he continued, inspecting his hand. “They are both one with the Master, now. There will be no more surprises.”

“You keep talking about the Master,” I said, trying to sound confident, even tied and prone. “Where is he hiding?”

“I’d watch your mouth if I were you,” Ozzie replied, sauntering back into view. His eyes were bright red again, and I averted my gaze, in case he felt like hypnotizing me again. “How did you break my conditioning? I’m surprised I had to give you a second dose.”

“I’ve always been stubborn,” I said. No sense giving him anything to work with.

“That much is painfully obvious,” he said. “No worries; I know how to deal with rebels like you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” I said. “I smashed your ugly little pagan mask.”

He started at that. “Wait, you what?”

I barked a harsh laugh at him. “You thought I was going to leave that alone?”

“Do you know how long that took me to make?” His eyes glowed a brighter red.

Who has red eyes?

I was about to say something smart when Ozzie began to distort before me. He hadn’t changed; he was still a sunburnt, older man, his well-defined swimmer’s body on display, since he only wore a pair of tattered jeans. At least, that’s what I knew I should see, but it was like his shape had melted.

The question had only occurred to me before when he was ensorcelling me, but his blue eyes were now piercing red. Seriously, who has red eyes? Besides…

Once you see the trick of a disguise fabricata, it all begins to fall apart. His bald head proved to be anything but, with curly, blond locks flower to his shoulders and imposing, coiled ram’s horns making him look a full head taller. The tan gave way to red, matching the furious shade of his eyes.

“Devil!”

“What?” He blinked twice, looking oddly bashful. “You weren’t kidding about your will. Congratulations, my dear.” He had me and my chair back upright with a single, powerful heave. “Now I can stop holding back.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I snarled. “You enslaved all of those poor people and killed God knows how many more.”

“You leave out what I did to you,” he said, nonchalantly. “That’s so human of you, to pretend you’re enraged on their behalf, when we both know you’re angry for yourself. We devils are much more straightforward; this is all about me.”

“You don’t know me at all,” I spat.

“True enough! You introduced yourself as Rose, and I as Ozzie. We were both truthful, but we each left something out.” He took a step back, bowing theatrically. “I have you at a disadvantage, though. Thanks to your boy, Zack, I now know you’re Rose Cooper, sister of Albert Cooper, Wizard Cadet and mistress of Stormbringer. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He waited. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me my name? It’s only polite.”

A gob of my saliva struck him straight on the cheek.

“How positively ladylike,” he said. “The Enemy really did make you in his pitiful image, you glorified chimp! No matter; I have manners enough for the both of us. I am Ozymandias, son of Tartaran the Horrible, the Master of Haven and all the Spratlys, and present in all of my children on this island.” His toothy leer made me quake, despite myself. “I wasn’t lying when I said all are one in me. You’ll see what that means soon enough.”