The People v. Eleanor Warwick
Maelstrom

The field of blue towers over Henry.

He runs his fingers near the barrier, but mindfully avoids touching it. The magic used to create the wall feels strange. It’s like a tapestry of pieced together scraps. Some of the energies feel old, the remnants of a wizard long dead. Other strands are fresh and youthful.

Glancing up to the Academy beyond, he reaches out with his energies, but feels nothing. It’s as if the school is a graveyard. Surely, Cassandra is within, he deduces, but the field is obstructing his probes.

Another hand foolishly reaches for the wall. It pulls up short when Henry seizes the wrist. He looks to Marvin with critical eyes. “Don’t make me regret bringing you.”

Marvin retracts his hand upon its release. “Sorry.” Fidgeting with his too-small pants, Marvin steps back from the barrier and looks into the spooky sky. “You guys are gonna be able to stop this right?”

“I avoid making promises, Marvin, but rest assured that we’re going to do everything we can.”

With an unconvinced nod, Marvin begins to pace. Henry doesn’t let him see the uncertainty in his eyes. The girl is good at this sort of thing, he tells himself. He fails to put his fears to rest. Eleanor’s track record notwithstanding, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.

The success or failure of Crane’s ritual is irrelevant. Either way, House Warwick is not even going to be a memory. He can’t begin to imagine where that would leave him, but he would just as soon never find out.

Headlights shined on them as the Hornet pulls up alongside Henry’s Mercedes. Eleanor steps out and stares up at the massive barrier. She slowly approaches as Grey and Jessie exit the vehicle. “What are we looking at, Henry?”

“Well, it’s recently constructed. It’s a combination of various magics. Not terribly strong, but it’ll still take some doing to bypass.”

“Probably designed to alert her to any intrusions rather than prevent them.”

“Seems likely.”

Eleanor narrows her eyes as she scans the grounds. “You feel that?”

“I do,” Henry answers with a nod. “There’s something strange in the air.”

“We don’t have much time. We’ll split the barricade together, but you’ll have to hold it open while we pass through.”

The metallic clicks a gun being loaded draws Henry’s attention. He looks Grey over until she meets his eyes, at which time he looks back to his protege. “Living dangerously, aren’t we, girl?”

“It’ll be fine. Let’s get this thing open.”

Jessie leans against the Hornet as the wizards approached the blue wall. Digging through her pockets, she curses as Marvin joins her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m out of cigarettes.”

“Oh.” Marvin reaches into his pocket and retrieves a pack of smokes. “These were on your nightstand.”

With a huge sigh of relief, Jessie takes the pack. “You’re a lifesaver.” Flipping open the box, she finds one lone cigarette. Jessie plucks it out and fires up her lighter.

“One for the road, huh?”

Marvin’s question halts the flame before it reaches the tip of the cigarette. Hazel eyes glances up to him. The fear on his face is obvious.

As far as he’s concerned, her coming back from the Academy is not a foregone conclusion. She supposes she shouldn’t consider it one either, but psychologically she has to. Extinguishing the lighter, Jessie takes the smoke from her lips. “I think I’ll save it for afterward.”

She flashes Marvin a confident smile. The one he returns is less so. Tucking the cigarette in her jacket pocket. She takes his hand. “Hey. I’ll be back. Count on it. This bitch has no idea what she’s got coming.”

Only slightly assured, Marvin pulls her in for a hug.

“For fuck’s sake,” she mutters.

Eleanor and Henry begin to ply their magic. Facing each other, the wizards carefully move their hands close to the wall. Small crackles leap off the barrier to their fingers. Focusing, they pull back, opening the field like a theater curtain. Parting the construct as far as needed, Eleanor glances over her shoulder. “All right, ladies. Let’s move.”

Grey, adjusting the grip on her gun, bends down as she slips through the gap. The shorter Jessie simply walks through. Eleanor sets her feet and pulls back with all her might.

Opening the gap as far as they can, Henry holds his side back as Eleanor dives past the barrier. As soon as she releases, the wall quickly seals itself, only slightly delayed by Henry’s efforts.

She narrowly makes it through the opening before it slams shut. Rising and dusting off her sleeves, Eleanor looks to her mentor on the other side. “We’ll be back in a few.”

Henry nods, a grim expression on his face. “Watch yourself, girl.”

Returning the nod, Eleanor turns and leads the way toward Arkshire.

The swirling torrent isn’t getting any smaller.

Henderson isn’t going to point that out to Cassandra. He’s confident she knows what she’s doing. The stench of blood pervades the cavern as she smears Joseph’s ichor onto the runes she etched in the floor. Her preparations complete, Cassandra sits in front of the torrent. She closes her eyes, oblivious to the world. Fighting boredom, Henderson ejects and reinserts the magazine of his 9mm over and over.

Suddenly, her eyes spring open. She rises and turns to the agent. Jamming his magazine back in, Henderson stands ready for instruction.

Cassandra approaches the torrent and lifts her hand. As she focuses, the Tempus Stone emerges from the center of the spinning column. Clutching the rock, a burst of blue light washes over the chamber.

Temporarily struggling to control the even greater power within, Cassandra’s eyes flash blue before returning to their natural brown.

“She’s here,” she finally says.

Leading the way through the double doors, Eleanor walks into the ornate foyer.

Arkshire hasn’t changed much in the years since her last visit here. The air of elitist pomposity hasn’t dissipated. The insignia is the same. They clearly still impart the flawed mentality that power is the most important thing one can have.

“This is a fuckin’ school?” Jessie asks.

“Yes. Let’s just say it has an impressive budget.”

“I’ve heard of this place,” Grey says as she pans around, gun at the ready, “but never enough to figure out what exactly went on here.”

“I’ll tell you about it later. We have to find Cassandra before she starts the ritual.”

“I haven’t.”

The trio look up to see the copper-haired wizard step out onto the balcony above.

Grey promptly aims and fires three quick shots. Blue light consumes each bullet before they reached their target.

“Don’t waste your bullets.” Eleanor advises.

Cassandra stares down with contempt. A slight sneer edges her face when her eyes met Jessie’s.

The hellblood glares back. “Surprise, bitch.”

“Cassandra.” She snaps her gaze to Eleanor. “There’s still time to stop this.”

“Your continued attempts to feign innocence are becoming patronizing. You will not dissuade me. I have everything I need to restore my House. All I have to do now is get rid of you.” Raising the Stone into the air, Cassandra summons rippling waves of magic that dance around the rock.

Jessie growls viciously. “I am so damn sick of that fuckin’ thing! I’m gonna come up there and shove it down your throat!” The hellblood heads for the stairs, but stops when she feels a tremor in the marble floor. Wrinkling her nose, Eleanor reaches out with her arcane senses. There is something building beneath them. Something powerful. Something destructive.

A crack suddenly splits in the hard surface. Blue light pours through. Glancing up to the balcony, Eleanor locks eyes with Cassandra. A blue tint shimmers in her normally dark orbs.

More cracks spread quickly through the floor like it’s glass. The center of the split caves in. The owl insignia plummets down into a swirling whirlpool of azure fire and disintegrates instantly.

“The stairs!” Eleanor shouts as the floor begins to fall away beneath them.

Jessie, not far from the staircase already, dashes up the incline. The vortex sucks in a large chunk of marble, separating Grey from her temporary allies. Stumbling backward, the agent can only watch as the floor under the staircase nearest her drops into the blue maelstrom.

It pulls the bottom of the stairs in after it, ripping the incline from its anchor and dragging the entire staircase into the growing chasm. Grey backs against the wall as she quickly runs out of floor to stand on.

She stares down into the maelstrom with wide eyes. The churning blue vortex mesmerizes her. The brilliant color fades as it funneled down into a pitch-black core.

The second staircase has its base yanked out from under it just as Eleanor reaches its bottom steps. Bracing herself against the banister, she looks across the room to Grey.

She presses against the wall on a quickly vanishing piece of marble. Reaching out with her magic, Eleanor seizes a hunk of the floor as it separates. She struggles to focus as the stairs buckle beneath her. Maneuvering the slab partway between the agent and the hallway connected to the foyer, Eleanor grabs the wrist of her extended arm, bracing herself against the pull of the whirlpool.

“Grey!” she shouts. “Hallway!”

Fighting to keep her dark hair out of her face as it whips about, Grey eyes the floating platform before looking to Eleanor with suspicion.

“Trust me!”

Hesitating a moment, Grey holsters her Glock and leap from her shrinking perch. She lands on Eleanor’s stone raft with a stumble. Dropping to a knee for stability, she sees her escape route.

Unfortunately, it’s a distance away that she is not at all comfortable trying to jump. Slowing rising, she takes several deep breaths, trying to muster the nerve to make the vault.

Eleanor glances up to see Cassandra glaring down at Grey as she attempts to flee. Dual streams of energy emerge from the Stone and flow down her arm like slithering snakes. They cross her shoulders and climb her right arm. The twins meet in the palm of her hand and merge into a shifting sphere.

“Jump, Grey!” she exclaims. “Now!”

Cassandra hurls the ball down just as Grey pushes off the floating rock as hard as she can. The sphere misses her by inches as it obliterates the marble.

Grey feels like she hangs in the air for a long time. As the doorway grows closer, she swears she isn’t going to make it. It isn’t until she strikes the floor that she realizes she has. Her legs dangle out over the swirling pit until she scrambles into the hall.

With a scowl, Cassandra watches the agent escape. No matter, she thinks. She’s not a threat.

After recoiling from the bursting marble, Eleanor turns to head up the stairs as Jessie charges up toward the balcony. Eleanor takes one step before the base of the incline is ripped away. Her footing gone, Eleanor is swept toward the vortex.

A desperate grab for the splintered banister finds purchase. She grips the post as tightly as she can manage, but the pull of the maelstrom is powerful. Her hold is quickly failing her.

The lurch and rattle of the stairs prompts Jessie to glance over her shoulder as she rushed for the balcony. Stopping in her tracks, she sprints back down the steps. The suction of the whirlpool is so strong, the strap of Eleanor’s satchel is rigid as the bag hangs behind her. Gritting her teeth, Eleanor fights futilely against the pull. Just as her fingers slip from the banister, Jessie’s unnaturally powerful grip seizes her wrist.

“Hang on, Warwick!” she shouts, pulling her close. Eleanor throws an arm around her neck as Jessie drags her back onto the staircase.

Cassandra watches in annoyance. More energy flows from the Tempus and collects in her palm. Flinging the sphere into the top on the incline, she unleashes an explosive burst of magic. The stairs’ supports finally give, and it plummet into the vortex.

Jessie roars in aggravation as the flight falls away from the wall. Throwing Eleanor onto her back, the hellblood charges up the dropping stairs. Reaching the top, she summons all her demonic might and leaps for their lives.

Cassandra observes the stairs drop with no delight. Lowering the Stone, she allows the maelstrom to dissipate. Looking over the deep chasm that used to be an elaborate foyer, she scans for any signs of survivors.

Satisfied, she turns and steps away from the balcony. Henderson waits patiently beyond the doorway off the platform. Cassandra stops in front of him but does not spare him a look. “Grey escaped into the east hallway. Deal with her.”

Blue light flickers in his eyes. With a nod, he hurries off to carry out her order.

Small rocks trickle down the side of the massive pit.

Dropping her spell, Eleanor allows herself and Jessie to reappear. She hangs off the hellblood’s back as Jessie clings to the side of the chasm, her powerful nails digging into the rock.

“Well, that was a fuckin’ blast,” she grumbles.

“We’re alive. Hard to complain about that. Let’s just get out of this hole.”

Blowing her bangs out of her face, Jessie scales the craggy wall with urgency. Eleanor glances around as she dangles from her neck. “This is kind of awkward. I wish I could do more than just hang here.”

“You do have magic, you know.”

Eleanor considers it for a second. “Well…I should probably rest. We still have to- .”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jessie interrupts, continuing the climb.

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