The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 35. Chapter 35 - The Demifae

Before the attack on the Dusty Oyster, a large group of Demifae leadership and officers had been gathered together at their headquarters.

“Abernathy is dead,” Gilnik declared. “We have no choice. He has moved up our timetable, and we need to act much sooner than we were expecting. My crew has been gathering intel on the center where Abernathy bungled the attack and all his men were slaughtered. We will be the ones to take it out. Shifts have gotten too bold of late, and they need to be reminded they are abominations.” He looked around at the others. “You all know what we’re attempting. Go get ready.”

The group left Gilnik alone in the large meeting chamber. When they were gone, he placed his bag onto the tabletop, removed his spell notebook, and began flipping through it. He had spent countless hours preparing, and although he had intended to work on the spell longer, Abernathy forced his hand. Gilnik knew that what he was planning needed to happen soon.

“This better work,” he growled at the pages in front of him. Gilnik could not determine the distance that the effect of the magic would stretch before its powers dissipated. He knew the other leaders agreed that his calculations were correct, but spells were always unpredictable, and nothing to the scale he was planning had ever been attempted. It was going to require the largest gathering of Demifae master-level mystics ever assembled to accomplish it.

Gilnik rose from his seat at the table and called out, “Send in an acolyte!”

A young man entered. “Yes, sir?”

“Help me carry these things to the roof.” Gilnik waved at several boxes on the floor by the door. He had brought everything he needed for the casting from his apothecary, and the other Demifae leaders were in several specific locations around the city, preparing their own required ingredients.

The magic Gilnik proposed had been discussed and analyzed by many other powerful mystics, and when the Demifae leaders eventually agreed that the spell was sound, they set their plan in motion. They had intended to practice it on a smaller region, but now that the Shifts of Teshon City were on high alert from Abernathy’s brash actions, Gilnik knew there was no way to attempt what he was planning without raising a major alarm.

People everywhere knew about the attack on the Shifton Youth Outreach Center, and also about the three Shifts who had been murdered in the streets. The Demifae of Teshon City were under severe scrutiny by the citizens who opposed them, and Gilnik knew his fellow enhanced mystics had fallen from their once lofty position, but his spell would change everything.

However, Gilnik was loath to admit to himself who he needed. He did not want her help, and he did not want to bring her into the city. He needed the witch; Gilnik needed his older sister.

Few Demifae were as adept as the witch, but fewer still were as psychotic. Gilnik’s sister’s abilities were far more advanced because of the lengths she was willing to go. Most Demifae only used the bodies of Shifts to perform their spells, but the witch had sacrificed humans and even several fellow Demifae to advance her craft. Her practices had gotten her banished from Teshon City, but Gilnik knew the witch preferred her life in the woods, and she had a few devout followers who often ran errands for her into the city. Gilnik considered trying to find one of them in town to get her, but he did not think she would come unless he went himself, and he needed her.

“I’m ready, sir,” the acolyte stated, pulling Gilnik from his thoughts. The man’s arms were loaded with the boxes.

Gilnik grabbed his notebook and bag, and the two men headed to the building’s rooftop. The acolyte left as Gilnik set up the space for the casting. He prepared a place for himself and his abominable sister. He descended from the roof and headed out of the city.

The sun was high and the air was warm, but Gilnik’s spirit grew darker and colder as he approached the outskirts of town and Bloodwater Crossing. He hesitated, but he knew there was no one stronger than his sister, and he looked back at the city before fording the Lonely River and continuing on his journey. He made the short way up the Pinewood Path and turned toward the ruins of Ilin. He was armed with several weapons and Demifae charms, and he could have fought back against any would-be thieves, but he encountered no highway robbers patrolling the trail.

Gilnik made his way beyond the ruins, and he began the trackless trudge through the forest. He paused again when the vibrant flowers that surrounded his sister’s hut became visible through the trees ahead of him. Steeling himself, Gilnik proceeded to the narrow path that led toward the front door of the cottage. As he walked beneath the pole with bones attached to it, which arched above him, he brought his fingertips to the single human skull. It had been his mother’s.

The witch spotted Gilnik before he reached her front porch.

“Well, hi there, baby brother,” she called out, stepping into the frame of one of her front windows. She did not look happy about his arrival. “Come to see the witch, have you?”

“Hello, Thiina,” Gilnik replied, trying not to sound too dejected.

His sister was smirking at him, and he did not like her smugness. There was only one reason why he was there; she knew it, and she shoved it in his face. “What does the witch’s baby brother need from her?” She brought one hand to the hilt of a dagger hanging from her belt. Her smirk became a snarl.

Gilnik ground his teeth and said in as calm a voice as he could muster, “I would appreciate your assistance casting a powerful spell, sister.”

“And what do you offer in exchange for my magic?”

The implication that it was her magic which was necessary for the spell infuriated Gilnik, even though it was true, but he forced his rage down. “Well Thiina, I was hoping you’d do it for family.” He indicated himself.

“But baby brother,” the witch cooed in an icy voice, “we haven’t seen each other in years,” and she repeated, “years. Tell you what, you can owe me a favor.”

Gilnik hated the idea of that. “No, no, I…”

It was too late, and he knew it when his sister interrupted him, in a squeaky voice that she only used when she was feeling very angry, “I want a favor, and I want it when I want it.” The witch sneered at him.

Gilnik wished to leave her presence and her little shack. “Very well, a favor it is.” He forced a smile that did not make it to his eyes.

“Good,” Thinna hissed. “So when are we doing this casting?”

Gilnik focused on the task at hand. “Soon,” he replied, “I’ve made preparations, and other master alchemists are gathering what they need.”

“We probably won’t require them,” Thiina replied dismissively.

Gilnik removed his spell notebook from his bag and extended it to her.

She snatched it through the open window and disappeared inside. The witch had not invited him in, and he did not want to enter.

“Thiina,” Gilnik called out, “can you make sense of what…”

“Of course I can!” she snapped.

Gilnik fell silent and waited.

It was more than fifteen quiet minutes before Thiina reappeared. She was not nearly as wrathful as when her brother had arrived. “I see why we need the others,” she stated flatly. “Are you expecting me to come with you right now?”

“That would be good,” Gilnik replied. He had hoped the plan detailed out in his notebook would entice her, and it had worked.

“Do the ones who banished me know you’ve come to bring me back?”

Gilnik nodded. “They understand that your presence is vital.”

Thiina continued to flip through the pages. “This won’t turn out the way you expect,” she stated without looking at him. “Your spell is accurate, but your end prediction can’t possibly take into account the variability of what might happen with how many of us will be involved. This casting is advanced. How did you come up with it?” She was genuinely curious.

“Will you come help me cast it? I could explain on the way back to town.”

Thiina nodded. “Let me collect a few things. Do you want to come in?” she asked, and she disappeared from the window again.

He did not want to enter, but he stepped up to the front of her house and opened the door.

“Help yourself to a golabulite,” the witch offered, waving at the corpse of her apprentice in the next room. The dead woman’s shirt twitched with the squirming creatures concealed beneath it.

“No, thank you,” Gilnik replied, trying not to sound repulsed. He was grateful that golabulites managed to prevent a corpse from stinking, but he had always hated that his sister liked to grow the vile things. During their childhood, Thiina used the dead bodies of animals she would find in the forest for her golabulite nurseries.

She glared at him and insisted in a sinister tone, “Have one.”

Gilnik scrunched up his face. “I’d really rather not.”

“You’re pathetic.” Thiina turned from him and grabbed an empty bag.

Gilnik clenched his hands into fists, but then he was distracted by something he saw that he recognized but could not make sense of. On Thiina’s main table, the setup for an elaborate spell was spread out, and he asked, “What were you doing?”

Thiina turned away from her packing and stared at her brother. She was not smiling. “I was preparing to cast a ring of protection around my home to prevent unwelcomed guests from approaching.”

Gilnik knew that casting spells on humans was considered standard magic for Demifae, but casting spells over animals, plants, and inanimate objects was impossible for most. He also knew that his sister was one of the few mystics who was highly skilled in the practice, and he was amazed that she was able to spread a ring of protection around her home; he knew he did not possess the skill to perform that level of spell.

Gilnik looked away from her and mumbled, “Glad I arrived before you finished.” Then he saw one of the items on the table. The appearance of the thing felt familiar, and yet it unnerved him. He could not tell what it was, and he asked, “What’s the thing at the center?”

“Dead man’s penis,” she replied in a brighter tone than Gilnik thought was appropriate, but he held his tongue as Thiina continued. “It’s been flayed and soaked in piniodaza for eighteen hours before I laid it out in the sun and dried it for three days. Where did I get a dead man’s penis you ask?” she added, even though Gilnik had not asked. He could not deny that he was curious and terrified. “One of my nurses who lives in Teshon and occasionally makes deliveries for me, managed to procure it. A fresh corpse had been brought into the medical center where she was working, and she snipped its penis right off!” Thiina sounded almost giddy at the retelling. “You should have seen the condition my assistant delivered it to me. She had the penis in a padded glass box that was like a tiny coffin, and there was a little red ribbon tied around the cockhead!” The witch giggled.

Gilnik was staring at her, his jaw sagging, but he managed to focus back on the mangled and dried appendage. It was a hideous thing, and he could now tell that indeed it had recently been an intact penis. He looked away again. “Maybe I’ll just wait for you out front.”

“Won’t be two strikes of a scorpion’s stinger!” she replied.

Gilnik was happy to be out of there. He stepped down onto the path, stood beneath the arch of bones, and touched his mother’s skull again. The witch exited her house, and Gilnik turned back to her. Thiina was dressed in an outfit that he considered ridiculous, and she looked half-mad to him, but he did not say a word about her appearance.

She was wearing a buttoned shirt, but none of the buttons were fastened, and her sternum and stomach were showing. She was in pants with several pockets that bulged with hidden items, and in one of her hands she held a large bag stuffed with whatever else she required for the spell. “You can carry this. It’s a bit heavy.” She handed him the bag, and as she moved, one of her breasts momentarily became visible.

Gilnik had always been uncomfortable with nudity, his sibling’s nudity doubly so, and he flinched at the sight of his sister’s nipple.

Thiina saw his expression and snarled, “Oh, grow up, you tadpole!” She thrust the bag’s strap into her brother’s hand and shoved her way past him along the path that led away from her house.

Much about the brother and sister’s personalities contrasted greatly. Gilnik struggled with learning, beyond what his books and tutors had taught him over the years, but Thiina had always been able to master complex spells, even early in her Demifae training. She was soon writing charms and potion recipes from scratch, developing mystical means to accomplish a variety of tasks or manifestations through her own spells. Gilnik had finally written his own charm after years, and it was unquestionably advanced, but he did not admit to his sister how long it took him to develop it. It had taken him the past eighteen months. Thiina possessed an almost second nature-like comprehension of magic. She experimented and pushed the boundaries of Demifae capabilities, but Gilnik’s creativity in casting had always been very limited.

Thiina was also much freer in some ways than her brother. She was comfortable being naked around anyone. He did not like being naked on his own, never mind with others. His sister often took for herself whatever she wanted, and she had no qualms about making demands of others. Gilnik was less confrontational and usually only felt confident punching down. He knew his sister would challenge anyone.

“Tell me,” she demanded as they made their way past the ruins of Ilin, “how did you come up with that spell?”

Gilnik chose his words carefully. “It took me… a while. I knew what I wanted to achieve, but it has only ever been done on a small scale as…”

“Yes, yes,” Thiina interrupted, waving away his excessive details, “as treatment for insomnia,” she finished for him. “I know. Get on with it.”

He tried not to scowl at her. I’m going to kill Thiina when this is done, he thought to himself, but he said aloud, “I combined it with the principal of our enhancement castings.”

“Oh, over a group,” Thiina said, with realization starting to come to her, “but how are you going to involve so many Demifae? Your notes call for far more mystics than can be part of a spell-octagonal.”

“That part was inspired by layer castings,” Gilnik replied, but Thiina did not understand, so he explained quickly. “Only a single mystic is required for a single casting with a single mantis gland, and many Demifae can be enhanced, but the reason almost no Demifae gets a second enhancement, is because it takes eight Demifae in an octagonal to cast a secondary enhancement spell.”

“I can cast one on my own,” the witch declared in a haughty tone.

“That’s why we need you,” Gilnik replied as nice-sounding as he could through his gritted teeth.

His sister’s abilities had always been like an entire octet of Demifae working together. Very few were capable of anything close to Thiina’s magic, and Gilnik suspected her powers were what made her insane. He was not certain she was insane, but he knew his sister was not normal.

“Well,” he continued, “I designed the casting as a spell-octagonal layered on top of a spell-octagonal, and all of it is funneled up through a syphon charm. Eight separate octagonals have been positioned precisely throughout the city, forming a larger octagonal. Eight Demifae will be casting the same spell in unison from each position. Their spells will channel through an upper octagonal, where the eight mystics involved will be casting the same eight spells already being cast by the eight Demifae in the eight lower octagonals. You and I will be at the top, funneling all the energy through the syphon.”

Thiina glanced at Gilnik with a crooked look. “I don’t know if it’ll work. Your planning is good, but this is very complex, and I have my doubts that you have enough mystics or that they are up to the task.”

Gilnik did not have the same worry. “They’ll manage,” he replied with as much confidence as he could muster.

Sixty-four mystics were prepared and positioned in the eight base level spell-octagonals. The upper eight mystics who would be focusing the spells from the eight lower octagonals were the best alchemists in the city. Gilnik knew they could handle the magical load of thaumic energy. With his sister at the top, and him supporting her, Gilnik was confident the casting would work. There was just no way to determine how far its effects would reach.

Bloodwater Crossing was ahead, and the siblings forded the Lonely River in silence.

When they entered Teshon City, Thiina ordered, “Take me to the elevated position. I do not wish to remain here any longer than is necessary.”

“The others are ready,” Gilnik replied.

“We shall see.”

As Gilnik led Thiina into the Demifae headquarters, he paused at a nondescript door and pulled it open. A large contingent of soldiers was in the room, arming themselves with clubs and swords.

“It’s time,” Gilnik stated. “Go destroy that filthy Shift café, the Dusty Oyster.”

“Yes, sir!” several of the men replied in unison, and the group left.

They were low-ranking Demifae soldiers, and Gilnik suspected some of them would not return. However, he did not expect what he learned later, the horrific devastation that was wrought against them.

Gilnik brought Thiina to the roof and showed her his setup.

She eyed it doubtfully, kicked off her boots, and snatched her bag out of her brother’s hand. “Leave me. Tell the others to begin.”

Gilnik did not like the idea of that. He wanted to be part of the casting, and he was not sure his sister could handle it all on her own. He began to protest. “I don’t think that’s a good…”

“Be gone!”

Thiina threw off her unbuttoned shirt, standing in front of her uncomfortable brother with her breasts exposed, and Gilnik cringed as she also thrust her trousers and undergarments to her ankles, kicking the crumpled fabric away from her. She knew well his discomfort with nudity.

Now Gilnik did not want to remain with her another, but he hesitated when Thiina pulled a large bowl out of her bag and placed it in between her feet. To Gilnik’s disgust, she squatted down and began urinating into the bowl while glaring at him. The witch’s piss was splashing and splattering out onto her feet. Gilnik churned in revulsion and descended from the room into the headquarters.

Thiina watched her brother leave, smiling with malice. She let out a relieved sigh as she finished urinating, and she stood.

While reading through her brother’s spell notebook, Thiina had acknowledged a part of his equation that he was either ignorant of, or was ignoring, or had consciously chosen not to mention. Thiina had realized while still in her cabin that every one of the Demifae beneath her would perish in the casting. It was plainly there in Gilnik’s calculations; the lifeforces of the casters would be drained to power the spell. The notes did not say the Demifae would be drained entirely and would inevitably sacrifice their lives, but Thiina considered that her brother might simply have not been privy to the inevitable end results. She did not care about her fellow Demifae, and she greatly desired to cast the spell her brother had concocted. Thiina knew the power behind it would be immense, and she wanted it flowing through her.

She removed from her bag a sack filled with ground human bone dust, and she poured it into the bowl of her urine. Using her fingers to incorporate the two ingredients, the witch made a paste and smeared it onto the roof in a large thin spot. Thiina stood at the center of it, and it felt tacky beneath her feet. She turned to the four cardinal positions and bowed to each. Then she began.

From the clump of clothes that were her discarded trousers, the witch grabbed the small knife, still attached to her belt, and she unsheathed it. She pressed her fingertip against the point and hissed a harsh breath as her skin split and blood began to flow. Using it like red paint, she smeared a circle on her forehead, and she streaked an eight-pointed star onto her bare chest.

Something like static electricity felt like it began to prickle up her limbs. The drips of blood from her finger stopped falling down to the rooftop, and instead, they began floating up into the sky as a thin trail of crimson droplets. The casting was underway! To Thinna’s rapturous delight, the staticy sensation became a raging flow of magical energies that was like lightning. She moaned in an ecstasy of power as the spell surged out from her. It spread over the city in all directions like the most terrible smothering blanket.

Thiina could not determine how far the effects expanded, nor could she guess how many were affected, but in an instant, it was over. The casting was complete, and she knew there were now many dying Demifae, but she weighed their sacrifices as worthy. Thiina let out a laugh like a hyena, as over the mountains to the west, the sun began to set.

Every single Shift in Teshon City, any person with an active photonova gland, all of them were hit by the overwhelming power of the spell. The charm, at its most basic level, was meant to ease those who suffered from insomnia, but it now sent every Shift into a coma. Throughout all of Teshon City, Shifts were plunged into unconsciousness.

There were, however, three Biological Shifts whose photonova glands were not what they had been born with, and the trio was unaffected by the spell✪