Hello-hello, my dears))) new chap finally)))!))
Now Samui san is my great, cool beta! hehhe))))
And, please, comment)) we will be glad to hear how our tandem is doing so far))) we try to make text better and better)))
Also if you have any question about the universe and can't find answers to them in the 2 part (Some explanation or a Brief description of the universe "Ashes") feel free to ask. I'll be happy to give you answers andexplanations).
Let me know what you think)))
Chapter 8
The streets of London met them with extraordinary energy for this time of the day. The threat of rain had caused people to recall their urgent matters, and now people walked, ran, and jostled, all heading somewhere in a hurry, forming an endless live stream that twisted, filling the city with life.
Cobbled pavements merged into asphalt road, which in turn ended in dusty off-road intersections. High-rise buildings were sided with wooden houses and stone masonry. Bicycles, cars, horse-drawn carriages and single riders raced past with the hubbub and noise.
For the first time in a long time, John was enjoying a stroll. He no longer needed to rely on his cane and stop once in a while to give respite to his overworked leg. There was no more need to pay attention to the magical Vortices once again, they were no longer an insurmountable obstacle. He felt like he could go anywhere without stopping, without a goal, just because he could.
While following Holmes, John could not help but notice how the Londeners parted in front of the dark mage. People unconsciously rushed in all directions to avoid being touched accidentally by the folds of his dark coat. Looking at the straight back in front of him, John ruefully mused about what surprises he should expect from their sudden partnership, which had begun so strangely. He could not help but think of how lonely the dark wizard must be.
Holmes was too powerful to need anybody's help, so he barely gained anything with the contract. John, of course, admitted the possibility that what the mage needed was an ordinary Guide (1). Although that was very hard to believe. But maybe, it was a very small chance, Holmes just got tired of being lonely. He did not give the impression of a person who had many friends. John winced involuntarily. Sherlock Holmes gave the impression of a man who did not have friends at all, and he strongly suspected that this was an absolute fact. Especially when one considered all that he had learned about the strange mage during their brief acquaintance.
Suddenly stopping near the curb, the dark mage theatrically waved his hand, and as if from thin air a gig immediately appeared. The driver raised his hat and politely inquired:
Where to, gentlemen?
Northumberland Street, and quickly.
Sherlock, called John. It would be really nice if you had explained some things to me.
Even while he had been too busy with his own problems, John knew from newspapers and gossip about the hype around the strange sacrifices that had rocked London. If he had made the right conclusions, the Ministry had now resorted to the help of a one-of-a-kind consulting dark mage with the investigation of these mysterious murders. In confirmation of his thoughts Holmes leaned toward him, so close that his breath caressed John s ear:
We have four murders, in which the victims are in no way related to each other. Not through social status, nor their level of power or by their division in the classes. There are no traces and no clues, but these ordinary mages have been murdered and completely drained of magic. The Ministry thinks that all the cases are sacrifices. And while they are at an impasse, they have finally decided to contact me. They should have done so after the first murder.
The unspoken "idiots" hung in the air.
When the cab suddenly stopped, John was surprised to see a quiet, unremarkable street. Holmes caught him firmly by the elbow and confidently led him somewhere past the unremarkable buildings. What impudence was the only thing John was able to think in response to such manhandling; he even did not try throwing Holmes s arm off as they were already standing near a neat gate hidden by overgrown wild grapevines, while a hedge concealed solid brickwork.
John had already mentally prepared himself for the view of a usual enchanted house. But his expectations were far from the truth; he was really unpleasantly surprised by the ill, oppressive atmosphere that had infected a once beautiful garden. It was like a grim omen hanging in the air.
Shabby walls, boarded shutters and almost faded spells of protection told John one obvious thing: the house was not watched. Perhaps it had been uninhabited for a long time now; it was strange for a property that, although not in the heart of London was still in a good area, to be so neglected.
It was too quiet and serene, almost like the calm before a storm. Way too quiet for the silence to seem natural.
Hopefully, there will no unpleasant surprises, grumbled John. No pixies or basilisks or, Merlin forbid, ghouls.
Oh, only agents of the Ministry, Holmes assured him and lifted the wraith (2). The air was immediately filled with the sounds of voices; people in the ministerial uniform rushed past, not paying any attention to them. With colored splashes spilled magic spread around, caused by a wide variety of spells. They merged surprisingly easily into the working area, as if the presence of the two civilian magicians below the wraith was something taken for granted.
Holmes! Outsiders are not allowed here, hissed a dark-skinned witch taking a step toward them and blocking the road. Her aura was painted with angry scarlet splashes that started to give John a headache. He wanted to close his eyes to stop the ugly glare from piercing his eyes.
I have an invitation from Gregson.
Who is this? the witch nodded toward John with suspicion. Her curls bounced in a funny way, ruining the impression of the severity in her tone.
My partner, John Watson. John, this is Sally Donovan.
Partner? Where did you get a partner? No sane mage would agree to work with you.
Would it be better if I just waited ... John really did not want to attract any attention from the Ministry.
No , Holmes was adamant. He put his hand on John s lower back and confidently pushed John towards the opened door, where they were met with the next obstacle in the form of a disgruntled agent in a protective suit.
Ah, Anderson, it s you again.
This is a crime scene, said the unhappy looking mage whose light green aura was filled with scarlet ripples, like the aura of agent Donovan, although to a lesser degree. I do not want it to be trampled by outsiders.
We will not be long, Holmes assured the cold, unfriendly agent.
It was surprisingly quiet inside the house. Dust swirled in the corners, intricately interwoven with cobwebs. Everything screamed of desolation and despair. John involuntarily froze in the middle of the hallway listening to the old house. It gave him the impression that it was keeping an eye on another outsider that had violated its privacy.
Holmes shook hands with a tall blond man with watery blue eyes and introduced him to John as Commissioner Gregson, whose envoy and brief note had summoned the dark mage.
A wide spiral staircase ended with another abandoned half-empty room. The dusty cabinets were filled with sloppy rows of ingredients for potions; and in some the faded lines of the names could be still read. The root of an aspen, crushed snakes teeth, dried milkweed flowers and fern - someone's long-abandoned life had been gathering dust on the shelves before it was so unceremoniously invaded by outsiders. John inadvertently delayed the moment when he had to look at the body of a woman in pink coat sprawled on the floor. During his lifetime he had seen more than enough of deaths: horrible, absurd, unjust, fast and slow. But only a few times in his entire practice had he needed to face a ritual murder.
John once again looked around carefully. Apart from an empty shell that was once a living breathing person, he did not see anything special. The crime scene did not seem like a place of sacrifice. The walls and floor sported a randomly drawn pentagrams: conscription, abduction eyes, and pointing damage. Unfinished runes, cast spells stuck in a vacuum, sealing magic in a static condition everything here was unfinished and kind of sloppy. John did not see any system or sequence, as if someone had very methodically mussed up any traces. And more importantly, there were no ethereal reverberations.
What do you think, Mr. Holmes? The first to break the silence was Commissioner Gregson.
John?
I . I would say that it was not a sacrifice in the sense in which we are accustomed to understand. The act of Sacrifice always has some kind of a clear goal. Each type has a distinct order of ritual actions. The power that is liberated by the ritual force, depending on experience and the degree of preparedness of the conductive magician, can be used in many ways. It is most commonly used first to summon, secondly, to strengthen the abilities, thirdly, very rarely - for sealing (3)
Slowly, trying not to touch anything, John walked around the room in a circle.
Here there is nothing, just a chaotic set of unrelated spells and rituals. And at the same time, a witch completely drained of her power. I'm certainly no expert, but most of all it looks like a strange ritual of sealing. I do not know what was in the previous three cases, but if the pattern is similar, then this is most likely the clumsy attempts of a dropout, who was very lucky not to get caught.
Very good!.. Look at her clothes. No signs of a struggle, no blood traces. No sign that she was kidnapped and held somewhere. Bright clothing that is out of place in this weather. Whenever our victim was abducted, she had left the house for at least two or three days before the murder. So she is not from London.
Now the pose. The head faces the south. Palms pressed to the floor, but there was nothing there and below them. There are no runes, charms, or amulets, only scattered useless herbs. She was wearing a wedding ring; the ring finger of her left hand has a band of skin that is lighter than the rest of the hand. Silver earrings are not touched, as well as her other accessories, but only a ring was taken. This is not a murder out of jealousy, meaning that the killer was attracted by gold.
Extraordinary, John could not help but admire Holmes s train of deductions.
And your final conclusion, Mr. Holmes? The commissioner sighed tiredly and prepared notes for the official entry of the verdict.
You are looking for a middle-aged mage, I do not dismiss the possibility that it could be a very strong witch, but it is unlikely. Height - around my partner s according to the nature and location of the runes on the walls. Magical powers uncertain, but the most pronounced ability that can be identified is the ability to make illusions. This is how he lures in his victims, of course. When there is a very powerful artifact absorbing power, and at the same time masking his presence. The murderer is almost impossible to predict, but he still made a mistake by taking the victim s gold ring. I need a detailed list of the possessions of the first three victims and access to your files. I have no doubt that such crimes have already occurred 200 to 250 years ago.
Incredible.
Do you know that you say it out loud?
Sorry.
No, everything is fine . Where is her purse?
There were no personal belongings, Commissioner Gregson looked a bit confused.
There should be a purse!
The darkness around Holmes went burgundy with splashes and started swirling. John suppressed the involuntary desire to follow the example of the Commissioner and take a few steps back. No longer paying any attention to them, the dark mage ran out of the room. His hurried footsteps reverberated through the empty floors, then there was the sound of a door slamming downstairs; and the house again fell back into cautious silence.
John decided to stay, taking advantage of the fact that the Commissioner was distracted and seemed to have forgotten his presence.
He had a vague feeling that he was missing something. John carefully knelt down and bent to the floor, gently blowing away dried verbena that was spilled around the head of the dead woman. Light particles rose into the air and hovered briefly as a golden shimmer, only to drift back back down onto their original locations. It . It was interesting, those were the words that Holmes would definitely have used if he had observed this little demonstration.
John did not think that their murderer would have purposely scattered verbena, if he had known that one of its properties was sealing and keeping traces of magical creatures, and that these effects lasted for some time. He knew about these properties, because in the desert it was one of the easiest ways to check whether or not the sand elves were stealing their sweet supplies. He had learned about this attribute of verbena and a few other herbs from a merchant in one of his tours, and remembered them even to this day. However John did not know what magical creature would leave such a trail.
(1) The Guide - any sufficiently powerful mage who can take some of the power of another magician, and redirect it into another spell. The effectiveness of the guide depends on the compatibility of the mages.
(2) Here this is used as an analogue of the yellow police tape at a crime scene.
(3) Sealing, as the name suggests, is the ritual with which you can seal strength in a certain subject, which needs to be strong enough not to fall to pieces from contact with elemental magic. The subject, as a minimum, must be enchanted.
