Doorways to Infinity (48 page)

“This room will be our rendezvous point,” Eric said as he clipped a couple of grenades to his belt. “Everybody should have a compass and a flashlight, so if you get lost in the building, keep heading south and look for Jamie’s little sun.” He glanced up at the glowing ball. “But if you’re still lost, don’t panic. Jamie can find if you’re wearing your locket with the wood chip.”

“And keep twirling your pendants!” Fred said. “Don’t go around any corners without doing that. If any guards are there, they’ll be too stunned to shoot.”

Eric stuck his flashlight into a fitting on the barrel of his shotgun and Terry did the same, then they both stepped out through the archway into the hall, Eric pointing his weapon to the left and Terry to the right. “Clear,” Terry said.

Their plan was to search the vast building in teams. Bryce and Melanie would go with Eric and Terry to inspect the main floor while Rollie and Nova went with Carl and John Paul to check the extensive cellars. Fred would stay with Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley and hunt for the three witches, while Jamie would comb the upper levels, working solo, since he would be translocating and moving too quickly to stay with a group.

Eric’s team gathered and left, followed by Carl’s, leaving Jamie alone in the cold storage room. He stared at the ceiling, trying to decide the best way to get to the second floor.
Translocate or portal?
Translocating could be dangerous if he didn’t rematerialize in an open space, and the glow of a portal would give his presence away if someone were nearby.

His decision was made easier when Rollie reappeared in the archway. “Hey, there’s a stairwell down this way.”

Jamie trailed him out into the dim hall and down to where it made a ninety-degree left turn at the base of a set of stairs. “Good luck,” Rollie whispered and went to rejoin his group.

Jamie summoned his will and cloaked himself with his invisibility shield, then floated up the steps like a specter, touching nothing, silent, his heart rate rising as he went.

He reached the top and found it to be completely dark. With his shield still around him, he formed another glowing ball and translocated it several feet away, where it hung in the air, illuminating an empty hallway, its floor covered in dust and the corners laced with cobwebs like a haunted mansion.
They must not use this part of the monastery
. There were four doors along the corridor, and he paused at each one, dropped his shield for a moment and ramped up his magic senses, listening for heartbeats inside, but detected none. He moved on.

The hall made a sharp turn at the end, revealing a longer row of wooden doorways, all cobweb-covered, with rusted hinges and handles, and silent as the ones before.
Must’ve been the monks’ quarters
. The place resembled a tomb, holding nothing but the ghosts of long-dead pious men and spiders, eternally weaving funeral shrouds.

He followed the twisting, turning corridor, keeping the glowing ball ahead of him, and he passed more neglected doors and a few small, open chambers, all empty, all quiet.

After about ten minutes of fruitless searching, he stopped and put his hands on his hips.
This is taking too long. There’s a faster way
. He dropped his shield, closed his eyes, and increased his magic hearing to maximum, listening for heartbeats, footsteps, or a distant conversation. Anything to lead him to Phillip Cage.

Boom. Boom. Muffled gunshots. Jamie cringed and held his breath for a moment.
Sounds like a shotgun. Hope it’s one of ours
. He heard another, and caught his breath again and waited, still as stone, but there was only silence.

Then, faint and distant, footsteps, but only one set. They seemed to be coming from somewhere near the heart of the monastery, so Jamie raised his shield again and sprinted in that direction, dashing around corners and down the convoluted passageways, past other empty, dark rooms and barrel-vaulted chambers. He paused every minute or so and listened again, and soon he detected more movement, only louder.
I’m getting close
.

He ran until he found himself in a long hallway that had windows on one side, allowing faint moonlight to enter. He extinguished his little sun and waited for his eyes to adjust, peering down the length of the corridor.

At the far end, he spied a male figure under a window, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, his arms draped over his knees and his head down, facing Jamie’s way. Jamie’s heart leaped.
Is that him? Phillip Cage?

Jamie crept closer with his invisibility shield still surrounding him, eyes focused on the man on the floor. It was difficult to see his face in the weak light, with his chin low to his chest and his features in deep shadow, but it could’ve been Cage. It was hard to tell if he was even alive, he was so still.
Maybe he got shot and died right there
.
That would be too easy
.

Jamie took a few more steps and paused, watching, listening. He looked down at his feet and saw that he stood over two parallel lines of white powder striped across the floor, disturbed by his footprints. Tiny flakes floated in the air around him.

The man on the floor looked up and grinned.

It’s a trap!
Jamie realized.

Everything went black.

Jamie became aware, sitting at a weathered wooden table inside of a circular room with stone walls. “This looks familiar,” he muttered. Then he noticed someone sitting across from him, an old man, with long gray hair and beard, wearing a dark robe and an amused smile. Eddan the Sorcerer.

“What the….” Jamie spluttered. “How are you here, I mean, where am I? Is this your tower? I thought it was destroyed. What is going on?”

Eddan rested one elbow on the table and raised his index finger. “You are unconscious. I believe I am what you’d call a construct, or an avatar.”

“But how? I mean….” Jamie pushed one hand through his hair. “You’re dead!”

“I believe you have created me from your vast store of my memories, which you have organized contiguously to help you in this time of dire need.”

“What? So…you’re not real?”

“Not exactly. But you are in danger, and you do not have much time, so we should not extend this line of conversation.” He leaned forward and pointed his bony finger at Jamie. “You have been overcome by a witch’s spell, and I believe you are locked in a closed compartment, like a closet or a chest. If you focus very hard on your senses, as I have done, you will be able to confirm this.”

“Can’t I just wake up?”

“Not without outside intervention, but you must escape soon or you will run out of air and suffocate.”

“Hold on.” Jamie closed his eyes and concentrated, and he could vaguely hear his breathing, and it sounded like he was in a tight space, almost like a clothes closet. He blinked and nodded. “I think you’re right. If Cage did this, why didn’t he just kill me?”

“He probably wants to interrogate you, first. You were using magic in his presence. He will want to know how.”

“That makes sense. So what am I going to do?”

“You cannot summon your will while you are unconscious, therefore you cannot use your power to escape. You need to contact Fred and get her to help you counteract the witch’s magic that has hexed you.”

“How am I going to do that if I’m unconscious?”

“Through your special bond. Her dream talking skills may be able to aid you.”

“But we both have to be asleep, and she has to find me, not the other way around. It’s not my power that does it.”

“I know, but it is your bond that makes it so easy.”

“But so what? Even if I can contact her, how will she be able to help me?”

“She is with Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley. I believe that Fred can join her magic with theirs and nullify the witch’s powder that has poisoned you.”

“Poisoned.” Jamie tightened his mouth. “Morbid way to put it.”

“It will kill you soon if we do not hurry.”

“Are you sure we can do this? I’ve never heard of anybody doing anything like this before.”

“It is unique, but I think it is possible. You are a special sorcerer, Jamie Sikes. I have never known another like you. And Fred is a special witch. Together, you are something extraordinary, and your bond is strong, stronger than you even realize. That is why I think you can perform this task.” He shook his finger urgently at Jamie. “But your time grows short.”

“So how does this work?”

“Send your thoughts out to Fred and find her.”

“Uh…okay. I’ll try.” Jamie closed his eyes again and released his mind, letting it flow away from him in all directions like an expanding vapor, imagining that he was only asleep, not unconscious, and would soon be with Fred, lying in a dream meadow with her, or on her couch in her dream living room, his head in her lap and her beautiful face smiling softly at him.
Fred,
he called.
Fred, can you hear me?

It wasn’t long before he heard her voice. “Huh? Jamie?”

“Yes. It’s me, and I need your help.”

“How are you talking to me? We’re not asleep.”

“I know. I’m unconscious because I got hexed by Cage’s witch powder. I think I’m about to suffocate in a trunk or something, and I don’t know where I am.”

“What?” Her voice rose in pitch. “That’s awful! What are we going to do? I’ve got to get everybody organized to search for you and—“

“I don’t think I have time, but we have a plan.”

“We? Who’s with you?”

“Eddan. He’s helping me.”

“Eddan? How can that be? He’s dead.”

“I know it sounds weird, but I’ll have to explain it later because I’m in a hurry. He thinks you can help me counter the spell that’s affecting me if you join up with Momma Sue and Mrs. Malley and send your magic into me through our special link.”

“That’s a wild idea. Hold on.” Jamie heard some indistinct muttering, then Fred returned. “They said they’ve never tried anything like that, but it might be possible.” He heard a few more moments of muttering before Fred came back. “Momma Sue said to stay relaxed and focused on me, and we’ll try to send our combined thoughts into you and see what’s going on. Are you ready?”

“Yes.” He nodded to himself. “And Fred? If this doesn’t work, I want you to remember that I love you, and…I’ll always be with you in some small way, and—”

“Hush. I know you love me, but we need to get to work now. Calm down and focus.”

With little air left, Jamie slowed his breathing and centered his mind on his connection with Fred, and nothing else. Soon, he felt something, a tingling of magic, seeping into him, slowly but steadily. After several long seconds, Fred said, “Mrs. Malley said she recognizes the spell. We’re going to try to deactivate the ingredients of the powder that are in your bloodstream and your brain. Hold on, and be perfectly still.”

Jamie waited and the tingling inside his body intensified. He began to feel warmer and warmer, until his skin felt hot, and he imagined he was glowing like one of his miniature suns. “Fred, I think it’s working.”

“Hush.”

He had the sensation of rising, swimming to the surface of a deep lake, slowly at first, then faster and faster. He thought of Eddan at the last moment, and Jamie wanted to say goodbye and regretted not asking him the questions that had bothered him for so many years.
Why didn’t you help the people of Rivershire during the plague? Why are there no other powerful sorcerers on Earth? Why did you choose my parents when you were selling the house?

He could hear his breathing now, distinctly, and he smelled the strong scent of cedar. “Fred, I’m waking up!”

He opened his eyes to pitch-black darkness. He was lying on his back on something soft, like blankets, in a tightly closed space. He raised one hand and his fingertips met wood, slightly rough as if unfinished, inches from his face.
I think I’m in a cedar chest
. He put both palms against the lid and pushed with all of his strength, but it didn’t budge.
To heck with that
. He summoned his will and commanded, “Open!”

The lid exploded away from him, shards and splinters flying upward to the ceiling, some bits falling back onto him so that he had to cover his face with one arm. When the deluge of wooden shrapnel ended, he sat up, brushed himself off, and got his bearings.

He was in a modest little room. A single oil lantern burned on a nearby desk. Next to it was a chair, covered with clothing. A wardrobe stood against the far wall, and coats hung from pegs by the open door.

Jamie bared his teeth and growled, “Cage,” and he climbed out of the chest and stood up straight, eyes narrowed and his jaw tight. “I’m coming for you.” He ramped up his magic hearing and listened, and off in the distance, he heard a set of footsteps again.

He erected his invisibility shield and dashed out into the hall, which was lit by a single electric bulb hanging from the ceiling. Jamie glanced at the floor, checking for more witch’s powder, and decided not to risk continuing on foot. He levitated and flew down the passageway, then slowed and turned at the end, following it to where he knew the footsteps had come from.

He zoomed onward, considering what he would do to Phillip Cage once he caught him.
Nothing pleasant
.
He’s going to need a barrel full of healing potion when I’m through with him
. Jamie was furious that Cage had nearly killed him, and Jamie’s anger pushed him ahead ever faster, streaking recklessly through the dusky passages of the monastery.

He passed more empty corridors and chambers, and when he encountered closed doors blocking his way, he blasted them open and flew through them without hesitating, his shield protecting him from the debris. When he neared the center of the sprawling building, he came upon a large, vaulted hall that must’ve been a chapel at one time, and on the wall was an open door, with light spilling out of it like a beacon.

Jamie flew to it and slowed at the entrance, then peered inside. It was a small room, and in the far corner was a man kneeling on the floor with his back to Jamie, hastily stuffing clothes into a duffle bag. Jamie hovered in the doorway, and the man seemed to sense his presence and turned his head.

It was Phillip Cage.