Fated

‘Oh, right.’ Sonder seemed to relax. ‘Well, you see, the statue is the focal point for a Mobius spell. It’s one of the techniques that was lost during the post-war period, but one of the Alicaern manuscripts has a good description. A Mobius spell takes the section of space it enchants and gives it a half-twist to bring it out of phase with reality. The ends of the enclosed space collapse inwards and join with each other to form a spatial bubble. Now, obviously, the natural result of that would be that the bubble would drift away, and of course once that happens there’s no way to reestablish a link, so you need a focus to anchor it to our physical universe. Once it’s been set up, there’s no way to find the bubble from anywhere in the universe except via the focus. We’ve actually discovered Mobius focuses before, but this is the first time …’

As Sonder kept talking, I watched him out of the corner of my eye. Now I took a closer look I could see he was actually twenty or so; he just looked younger. He didn’t look like an apprentice, though – I pegged him as a new journeyman, still fresh out from under a master’s supervision. The ones outside had been less green. But were they tough enough?

There’s a reason Dark mages are feared. It’s not because their magic is any more powerful than its less evil counterpart, it’s because of the people who use it. Life as a Dark mage is savage and brutal, an endless war for status and power with shifting alliances and betrayals. The infighting is the reason Dark mages can’t unite; they’re actually far more dangerous to each other than anyone else, though it’s hard to remember that when one of them’s after you.

But the same infighting that weakens Dark mages as a group is also what makes them so deadly as individuals. Dark mages who survive to adulthood are the toughest and most ruthless people in the world. Light mages, on the other hand, live in a society where getting places is mostly about political skill, and most of the mages I’d met in the restaurant would have gotten on the team through having the right connections. Don’t get me wrong, politics among Light mages can be rough, but they play by rules. Dark mages don’t.

If Deleo, Cinder and Khazad decided they really wanted to get in here, I knew who I’d put my money on.

‘… so while there’s no way to test it, in theory there’s no actual reason why the gateway aspect of the focus would decay over time,’ Sonder was saying. He paused, seeming to realise that I’d been quiet. ‘Um, Mr Verus?’

‘Just Alex is fine,’ I said. ‘So what you’re saying is that this statue is the only door in, and it’s locked.’

Sonder hesitated. ‘Well, I suppose you could put it like that.’

‘If it’s locked, what’s the key?’

‘Well, that’s what the team’s been working on. The senior members are pretty sure it just needs the right type of key item placed into the statue’s hand. Unfortunately, um, there have been a few issues fabricating one.’

‘Hm.’ I gave Sonder a look. ‘Exactly how many times have they tried?’

‘Uh …’ Sonder scratched his head. ‘I’m not actually sure. I wasn’t allowed here until a few days ago.’

‘And how come there isn’t anyone else around?’

‘Ah, well … there were more when I arrived, but after they told me to try to figure out a way to get it open, they left. They told me to keep them up to date.’

‘Ah,’ I said. In other words, no one had the faintest clue how to open the thing. That was why Lyle had approached me on Friday – it was because the investigation team had tried literally everything else. I wondered how many times they’d set the lightning elemental off, and how many people had been killed or wounded before the mages had wised up and started keeping their distance. That was why everyone else was on the other side of the museum: they didn’t want to be in range if we became the next ones to trip the switch.

‘You studied under an academic mage, right?’ I asked Sonder. ‘What did you specialise in? Magical theory?’

Sonder blinked. ‘History, actually.’

‘Do you know who this is a statue of?’

Sonder paused. ‘You really want to know?’

I nodded and Sonder seemed to light up. ‘Wow. That’s … You know, you’re the first one who’s ever asked me that.’

‘Let me guess,’ I said, as I walked around the statue, studying it. ‘The mages on the team just wanted to know if you could open it.’