Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (ereader iphone .TXT) 📗

Magnus scratched at his beard. His eyes were someplace else, lost in thought. He probably won't tell me, but I've got to know.

"How'd you manage to glean the location of the home of the faeries?"

"I bargained."

At that, Magnus pursed his lips, making it clear he had said all he was going to on the matter. I relented; I probably didn't want to know anyway. I left the gods of this world to their own devices. But in showing me all this, there had to be some point. As amazing as it was, Magnus didn't strike me as the type who showed off on principle. I was here for a reason.

"So why don't you tell me why we're here?"

Aliria spoke from the doorway. "How much are you going to reveal to the boy?"

His eyes flicked to Aliria, and a warning flashed in them. A tint of anger that was gone as soon as it came. So quick, if I hadn't been looking, I'd have missed it.

"As much as he is willing to listen. My payment for the burden I've caused him." He turned to me. "Are you sure you want to know? I owe you a debt, but this is a poor payment. I can send you home with enough money to live in luxury for the next seventy years, if that would be preferable."

Hell yes, that would be preferable, but I don’t get a choice in this. "Tell me."

Magnus let out a breath, long and slow through his nostrils. Not the answer he was expecting, but he would honor my wish even if it wasn't my godsdamn wish at all.

He moved back to the table, stretching his arm over it. Fingers splayed out in all directions as he conjured magic from out of nowhere. In an instant, a spell formed in his hand. No Script circle or incantation, Magnus bypassed the laws of magic and just willed his spell into existence.

I don't get how he's doing it, but worry about that another time. The better question is what the hell is that spell he cast?

It wasn't a spell I was familiar with, and I'd seen most of them. A shimmering wave appeared over the map, like the heat that rose off buildings on a hot summer day. It drifted over the table and condensed into a small circle the size of a dinner plate made of pure glass. I peered over to get a better look at it.

Magnus noticed my interest and decided to demonstrate the function of the spell. He brought the glass lower over the map. Right over Castle Gloom-Harbor. From within the circle, every single detail of my castle was clear, as if I were standing directly in front of it. Magnus manipulated the spell to circle around the castle, showing it from all angles. Light and movement on the ramparts of the castle drew my attention. Several men-at-arms were patrolling around the castle, torches in hand. Was this in real-time?

I shot my head up to stare at Magnus; he was already looking at me with a wide smile on his face. He had anticipated my question and had the answer at the ready.

"Yes, you are seeing your home as it is right now."

Not possible...illusion magic or some other explanation.

"There’s no spell that can do that!"

With a flick of his wrist, Magnus canceled the spell. It fizzled out with a pop, and he backed away from the table, walking over to his desk and pulled out a large roll of parchment. He rolled it out and beckoned me over.

"For you and the rest of the players, you'd be correct. It's a little creation of mine."

"You can't create—" I shut my mouth. I was getting really tired of Magnus shattering my worldview.

Magnus kept doing things and showing me impossible things, breaking the rules of the game that we'd been living with for thirty years. Over and over again, he was crumbling all the beliefs I'd come to know as fact.

"So, tell me, how can you create spells, something that's impossible or the rest of us?"

A hint of a grin turned the corners of Magnus's lips. "I helped design and program the Ouroboros Project; as such, I gave myself a few perks."

I leaned against the table and blew out a short breath. "So that's how you can do so many incredible things. You're cheating the system."

His face darkened as I accused him; a fire raged in his eyes before he composed himself. "It's insulting to call someone a cheater, though I understand how you came to that conclusion. But no, I am not, nor can I cheat the system. I may have given myself a few advantages, but not even I can cheat the A.I."

Bah, I don't know whether to believe him or not, but I guess it doesn't matter. He can do these things, and I can’t. It’s that simple.

He picked up a couple of paperweights and sat them at the corners of the parchment. "Player-created spells cost a tremendous amount of mana to use, and it's not something I'm capable of anymore, regardless, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

I went over to the side of the desk to look at what he'd unfurled. It was another map, though not half as detailed, and it was mostly unfamiliar to me. I recognized the Isle of Nexus, but there were other landmasses entirely new for me on this map, including a continent that was well over double the size of Nexus. It was labeled “Summervale” in rough scribble.

I pointed at the unfamiliar location. “What’s this? I've never heard of it?"

Magnus ran one hand through his shaggy length of hair, his fingers gliding through his golden hair while his other hand drummed in a staccato rhythm on the parchment. He wasn't looking