Consensus Breaking (The Auran Chronicles Book 2) by M. S. Dobing Page B

expecting you.’
    ‘No, Archmage, I suspect you were not.’
    Sonika lumbered forwards, the action jerky, uncoordinated, as if she were suffering from some kind of muscle condition. The actions were clumsy, but her eyes were something different. They remained locked on Sedaris, an almost malevolent glint in them as she moved ever closer.
    ‘Elite Sonika, I suggest you stop right there.’
    Sonika did not stop. She edged around the leather sofa. She was crossing the carpet now, only a few yards away from Sedaris.
    ‘Sonika,’ Sedaris said. He raised a hand. The staff hanging over the fire flew out of its casing and landed with a dull slap in Sedaris’ palm. The Archmage raised the weapon, point facing towards Sonika. A purple crackle of energy rippled up and down the shaft.
    ‘This is your final warning. I do not know what has happened to you, but you are clearly not yourself. I will not tell you again. Stand down.’
    ‘I was right, you are a worthy vessel,’ Sonika said.
    ‘You are no mage,’ Sedaris said, clarity hitting him out of the blue. ‘Begone, sheol!’
    Sedaris’ staff flashed. Sonika rose off the ground and slammed into the far wall. Paintings fell to the floor.
    ‘Is she alive in there, fiend?’ Sedaris approached Sonika, the possessed mage now resting on one knee, head bowed. Sedaris took another step forward. Sonika’s head rose. Black eyes stared back.
    ‘A worthy vessel indeed!’ Sonika said.
    She lunged forward, Avatari propelling her at speed. Sedaris shimmered and vanished, Sonika flying right past, crashing into the bar, sending bottles crashing to the floor. Sedaris reappeared behind her.
    ‘You soil my domain with your presence! How dare you enter here?’
    Sedaris threw his staff to one side and lifted the stunned Sonika off the ground with one hand, his grip tightening around the mage’s neck. Sonika opened her eyes in that moment, and Sedaris froze.
    The black eyes had gone.
    ‘So easy, so very easy,’ came the whisper, like stone on stone.
    From behind him.
    Sedaris dropped Sonika and spun, bringing his hands up, the Weave channelling through him. Alarm bells were ringing in his mind. He’d been foolish, overconfident. As his eyes locked upon the shadow, on the thing that pulsed a Weave energy utterly alien to him, Sedaris felt fear for the first time in decades.
    ‘No!’
    Sedaris’ shield rose, but not before the shadow leapt forward. His hands were immaterial to the entity, the thing a construct devoid of physical dimensions. Sedaris drew a breath, and the thing vanished inside him, inhaled like a gas of darkness. For a brief fleeting moment Sedaris’ mind flailed in panic, drowning in the shadow that surrounded it. His hands scratched at his face, drawing red lines of blood. He screamed, the noise guttural, like a feral beast. At the periphery of his sense he heard shouts. Someone banging. His last conscious act was to try and leave his body, to Weave-walk to safety, but the shadow had too firm a hold, and the soul that had once been Sedaris was banished into oblivion.
    ***
    Barach had teleported to the corridor outside of Sedaris’ private chamber as soon as he’d sensed the concern from the guards outside. No one could read inside the chamber, the wards protecting it were too powerful, but the guards’ concern for the screams and shouts coming from within were palpable. They were banging at the door when he materialised behind them.
    ‘What the hell is going on?’
    ‘It’s the Archmage, sir! The door’s locked. We heard shouts. Something breaking. Sonika’s in there!’
    ‘Sonika?’ Barach slowed for a moment. The last time he’d seen her was when he’d left her in the hospital, recovering from the episode at Haven. What was she doing up here? The thought vanished in a second. Those questions could come later.
    ‘Stand aside!’ he shouted.
    The guards drifted apart, pistols drawn, aimed at the door. Barach strode forwards, channelled , and then blasted