Page 79 of Serpent and Shadow

“But shouldn’t he be?” the first voice asked, apparently immune to the warning underlying the other’s words. “Look what happened last time––”

The owner of that other, more arrogant voice barely seemed to hear him.

“It is my understanding that the Dark King would like to use tonight’s operation as a training exercise.”

I practically heard him smile, right before he continued in that melodic lilt.

“…It’s meant to be a message of course, too, and not only to the Magus Imperius and his lapdogs. Our Master fully intends to demonstrate who, exactly, controls England now, and just how much power he wields. We will let the rest of them know, too: the Ethnarch, the other regions, and the Traitor King included, just how little resistance we will tolerate.”

“So it begins tonight?” that third, more cautious voice asked. “It will be war?”

The mage didn’t sound particularly happy about the prospect.

The next voice did.

“Of course it is war,” a fourth, female voice scoffed.

Something about that voice sounded disturbingly familiar.

The witch went on, her tone flippant.

“It was always going to be a war, Ramses,” she said. “Why drag things out? The last thing our Master needs is to give those greedy, slovenly fools time to grow a spine, or to ferret out the true loyalists in their ranks. Trust me, there is already talk of spies, and not only on our side. They will be looking already in the halls of the Magus Imperius and the Palace of Lions. I know the Praecuri are looking.”

“Are they?” the first voice asked, alarmed again. “Actively? Since when, sister?”

The witch’s voice sharpened. “I told you this weeks ago, fool. Orrin knew, well before we’d finished planning tonight’s attack. I told everyone we have to be more cautious with the information fed to us through various channels––”

The second voice cut them off.

“The point is,” he purred in satisfaction. “Malefic would like to unify our people quickly, now that we have the numbers and the magic. He would at least like to unite all the royals, as many as can be united before the great day, and as bloodlessly as possible. As he has said, time and again, he would save as much Magical blood as possible prior to his Ascension, and the battle against the unnatural world that will follow.”

His voice grew a touch more warning.

“That is what we prepare for, brothers and sisters: our Dark King’s Ascension and our race’s rebirth through the Great Ritual. Everything must be done to ready ourselves for these holy events. Everything else is mere preparation or distraction from this.”

“But how soon will these holy events actually occur?” another voice grumbled.

The second voice grew a harder note.

“Sooner than you think,” he spat coldly. “We cannot wait, brother, even if it were desirable, which it is not. I don’t know if you saw the latest news from Ireland, but an entire herd of dragons has grown mortally sick. In other herds, the females are refusing to reproduce. Even more worrisome is the recent survey of magical levels conducted by the Biological and Alchemical Foundation of Moscow, utilizing children born in the last ten to fifteen years. The results are harrowing, to say the least. If we do not stop them, the humans will destroy our entire world… and us along with them. Or worse, they’ll turn us into mindless beasts, like them.”

I heard murmurs of agreement among the others walking, followed by a somber silence.

I felt my jaw clench as that silence deepened.

Despite the anxiety still running through me, making it difficult to think, most of what I felt was frustration. While listening to them, I’d thought, if I couldn’t get to Bones today, maybe I could at least gather intelligence that might help others stop Malefic.

I’d understood most of what was said, but the specifics were lacking. Assuming I could get out of here, what could I even tell Forsooth and the others?

That Dark Cathedral meant to attack human Earth?

Everyone knew that.

That they had spies in the regular armed forces, the Palace of the Lions, the Magus Imperius’s offices, probably the military, but I had no idea who any of those plants were, or the exact areas they’d infiltrated?

They knew all of that, too.

It might be news to them that Dark Cathedral intended to unite the Magical world prior to attacking Earth, but I had my doubts it would surprise Forsooth. Staging their attack over a number of months struck me as logical. Malefic made no secret of his dislike of the current systems of government, particularly how much the King deferred to the Ethnarch and the Magus Imperius. He’d also made it clear he wanted a world led by the strongest sorcerers in Magique, and that he wanted those sorcerers ranked by their power and magic.