THE MAGICIAN
The Magician
Chapter Three
The sun hung low, a molten disk
sinking into the horizon. Central Park shimmered in the golden glow; every
blade of grass bathed in the tender warmth of summer. People picnicked on plaid
blankets, joggers traced the winding paths, and the air pulsed with laughter
and idle conversation.
Tall trees stood like silent
sentinels, their leaves whispering with the breeze. Vendors manned their carts,
filling the air with the scent of grilled hot dogs, candied nuts, and sweet
powdered donuts. A rainbow—fragile yet vivid—arched across the sky, its colors
spilling from yellow into violet, pink into deep blue.
Then, without warning, the air
rippled.
In the heart of the park, a ring of
fire ignited from nothing—blazing, whirling, wild. The crowd didn’t notice;
they laughed, fed pigeons, took selfies. Out of the infernal vortex stepped
Damian and Loise, emerging from the motel-room illusion into the sunlight.
Damian paused, letting the warmth
soak into his skin. “What? How did we end up in Central Park?”
“I opened a portal,” Loise replied
flatly, her oak-and-graphite wand lowering as the fiery ring began to shrink. “Von
Namos.”
The flames collapsed with a sound
like a thunderclap.
As they walked, Damian noticed how
no one looked their way. “Can they see us?” he asked, almost like a child
testing the rules of a game.
“No. I’ve placed a glamour. We’re
invisible here.”
They strolled under canopies of
green, the shade cool and laced with the scent of pine and yelk. On a bench,
they sat beside an elderly couple deep in conversation about Italy—the food,
the weather, the coastline they longed to see again. The couple never glanced
at them.
Damian turned to Loise. “So… what
was so important you couldn’t tell me in the motel?”
“I fear we’re being watched,” she
said. “Daemons hate sunlight. Here, we’re safe. And it’s about… your sister,
Clara.”
Damian’s breath caught. “I haven’t
seen her since she was taken from us.”
“She’s in Limbo,” Loise said
quietly. “And we have to fetch her.”
“Limbo? You mean hell?”
“No. It’s a middle world between
Hell and Earth.” She stood abruptly. “I’ll explain on the way. Valesta von
Namos!”
A new portal erupted before them,
its ring of fire shimmering like molten glass. Damian stepped through
cautiously—and the world changed.
Limbo
Twilight pressed down like a
physical weight. The air was thick with sulfur and acid, every breath a slow
burn in the lungs. Vast pits of fire pulsed across the desolate land, their
glow carving jagged shadows across black stone.
Mist coiled around Damian’s legs,
curling higher with each step, until shapes moved within it—shadows gliding
just beyond focus. Sounds were muffled here, as if the world were wrapped in
damp cloth. Time felt broken, each second dragging into eternity.
Souls wandered without aim, their
faces blank, their movements puppet-like. Above, enormous bats with ember-red
eyes swept through the dark. Damian flinched as one swooped low, but Loise
didn’t break stride.
“They can’t hurt you,” she murmured.
They approached a throne of skulls,
towering over the wasteland. Upon it sat a scarlet-skinned daemon-woman,
crowned in curved black horns, draped in black leather, her giant moonlit sword
resting against the steps. Damian felt his strength ebb under its glow.
“Damian,” Loise said, her voice
taut, “meet the Dark Child—Queen Regent of Limbo, Sorceress Supreme of the
underworld… and your sister, Clara Osborne.”
Damian dropped to his knees. “My
God.”
Clara rose, descending the throne’s
steps with measured grace. With a snap of her fingers, her demonic form melted
away, leaving the woman he remembered. She embraced him briefly before stepping
back, her eyes hard.
“You want my help?” she said, her
voice cold with irony. “Aren’t you the reason I’m here? Stuck for eternity?”
“That’s the past—” Loise began.
“Silence!” Clara’s shout cracked the
air. “You struck a bargain with Asmodeus and I was the bargaining chip!”
Loise’s face tightened with regret.
“I’m sorry. But a dark force is coming—Trigon has been awakened.”
“Trigon?” Damian asked.
“A myth,” Clara said. “A children’s
tale to scare fledglings.”
“He’s real,” Loise said sharply. “If
we don’t act now, Earth will fall.”
Clara tilted her head. “Earth? You
mean the place where you robbed me of my childhood?” Her voice dropped,
dangerous and measured. “I’ll help… on one condition. When it’s over, you take
my place here.”
Loise hesitated, then nodded.
A slow, predatory smile spread
across Clara’s lips. “Then let’s go home.”
The portal roared to life, spilling
smoke and fire into the shadowed air.
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