The Fox and The Wolf: A Tale of Modern Magic

Chapter 13 - The Law of Three

Once Cicero and Jackie had a chance to catch their breath and recover from the flight over the three mages found a place to sit, where the magical geometry of the room demanded three chairs facing one another. Here they began to plan in earnest.

"I could disable his brain-stem if I could get him to look me in the eye," offered Aubrey.

"Which will never happen," added Cicero.

"I need a strong connection to the Earth to work Body magic on another life form. It's very difficult this deep in the city," said Jackie.

"Whereas I know his true name," said Cicero. "I can affect him with Soul magic easily. I could painlessly snuff out his life force."

"I don't like it," said Jackie. "I've never condoned your use of necromancy."

"What's your alternative plan?" asked Cicero.

Jackie made a face.

"He's right Jackie," said Aubrey. "It's our best chance. We can counter his puissance reserves with the Tower, so if the three of us channel one spell together it should be enough to overwhelm him. Realistically we'll only get one shot so we need to make sure we use a spell that's going to work."

"Is killing him with any other kind of magic really better?" asked Cicero. "Killing is killing."

"I suppose you're right," conceded Jackie. "we have to do what we have to do."

"Then it's agreed," said Aubrey. "I'll see to it that the two of you are attuned to the Tower, and then Cicero can explain the spell to us. As soon as Simon comes near us we hit him with it. Together."

"This still feels wrong," said Jackie. "The Tower is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"We don't have any other choice," said Cicero.

* * *

Aubrey called together the Tower Council so that she could disband it.

"I think my objections here should be obvious," said Merelda Evergreen, "but I would feel better if I articulated them anyway. If there is a threat to the city that requires the full power of the Tower then this council should be the ones to wield it. I don't know who these two strangers are and I don't trust them. Frankly I'm insulted that you would choose them over us."

"Why wouldn't you want us here if this Simon Isengrim is such a threat?" asked Baxter LaRue, the other member of their trinity. "Together we're the three strongest mages in the city."

"It needs to be the three of us, Cicero, Jackie and I, because Simon is our monster. We created him. We have to be the ones to put this right. And if what we're going to attempt fails then there's nothing having any additional mages around could help."

"So you want us to just run and hide?" sneered Baxter. "I agree with Merelda this is insulting."

"No," said Aubrey. "I want you to survive. There is a very good chance that this plan will still end with the three of us dead and Simon in command of the Tower. If my friends and I fail I want you to form the nucleus of a resistance against Simon. I can't afford to put all my eggs in one basket right now."

"That's ridiculous," said Merelda. "How could one wizard how you this scared?"

"Look, I wish I had time to make you understand,' said Aubrey. "I've put a lot of trust in the two of you. Now I'm asking you to trust me. If this works we'll restore your control over your portion of the Tower when we're finished. If it doesn't work it won't really matter."

Baxter looked at Merelda and shrugged. She relented.

"Although, I trust you," said Merelda. "This is a dangerous proposition. Are you sure these two are worthy?"

"If the Tower has taught us anything, it's that no one is worthy," said Aubrey.

There wasn't time for proper ritual. The two other archmages simply relinquished their hold over their third of the CN Tower, and Cicero and Jackie were waiting right there to take on the resulting slack. With neither side resisting the other it was a relatively simple process. The only thing that made it dangerous was the immense weight of the power involved.

Even just a third of the power was soul warping. Both Cicero and Jackie could feel the empty pools inside of themselves filling with puissance and then spilling over. The fought to hold as much of the power inside of themselves as they could. It poured and poured, overflowing their capacity to hold it and flooding their souls with power. 

They both began to show signs of physical strain. Jackie's nose began to bleed spontaneously. Their eyes glowed. Smoke poured from their mouths.

"They're not capable," said Merelda, "it's too much for them we need to stop this!"

"No," said Aubrey.

Light poured in torrents from their eyes, ears, mouth and nose even in the relative brightness of the Arcane Sanctum. Still more power flowed into the two mages.

Cicero threw up a little bit of blood. He spat it out. Both he and Jackie had still managed to keep their footing. The pain was beginning to subside. They were both getting used to bearing their share of the load. Their entire bodies were alight with faerie fire.

The took the energy into themselves. They could both feel the presence of the other two. It was calming.

Cicero shook his head. It still throbbed in pain but it was manageable. 

"Okay, ready," he said, wiping away blood. "Next step: the two of you need to learn some death magic."

"Some what?" asked Baxter.

* * *

Cicero demonstrated the basics of the spell, which both Aubrey and Jackie were more than capable of picking up in a short about of time. It wasn't difficult when one had the kind of fundamental magic education that both women had. It was just that snuffing out someone's life force was the kind of black magic neither of them ever thought she would want to learn.

It was obvious that Cicero would need to act as the focus. He would cast the actual spell. Aubrey and Jackie would stand in places of power, creating a mystic triangle between the three of them, and feed puissance into Cicero's spell by mimicking it. All three knew Simon's true name, after all he was their friend, and the power this gave them over him made him a valid target for their Soul magic.

The three mages stood on the observation deck, looking out over the city with preternatural senses, waiting for any signs of Simon's arrive. That's all that there was left to do: wait.