‘I can’t feel anything yet,’ Nava said as they entered the club proper. It was actually referred to as a nightclub, though, like the first one, it was only open on Saturday nights. It was a bit dimmer and the atmosphere was different, but the layout of the place was more or less the same as its partner establishment. Nava could see people looking their way, but the presence of Kyle apparently shielded them from pick-up artists here.
Courtney had come decked out in an off-the-shoulder, long-sleeved top and a very mini miniskirt. All in black, which matched Kyle who was wearing dark jeans, a nanomesh T-shirt which did nothing to hide his physique and a fairly expensive-looking faux leather jacket. Nava suspected that this bad boy image was responsible for the lack of suitors and wanted to kiss him. Courtney might have objected and it just was not Nava’s style, so Kyle remained unkissed.
‘We’ll keep prowling for a while and then see if it’s at the place on the Estate,’ Courtney said. ‘We could miss it at any of them, but you’re the best detector we have, unless you have any clones.’
‘Sorry, I’m unique.’
‘Yeah, I’d worked that out. Kyle, would you get us some drinks? We’ll mingle and try to spot anyone doing anything odd, I guess.’
Nava had to wonder how they were going to do that considering that the light in the club was ‘moody.’ She had excellent night vision and it was still dim as far as she was concerned. The Harbinger could have translated itself into physical form in here and, so long as it ducked, you would have had trouble spotting it. Well, she would know when it was nearby. Did it get some similar feeling when it got close to her or was it one-way? She suspected it knew that she could sense it after the incident in Anton Landon’s apartment, but could it feel her nearby?
Well, maybe tonight was the night to find out.
~~~
‘What time is it?’ Mitsuko asked. They had been hanging around for a while now with no sign of the Harbinger showing up. Conversation was beginning to lull. They had discussed men, politics, the latest fashion trends, whether alcohol was a worthwhile purchase, and the chances of any of the school’s teams doing well in the summer war games. ‘I’m going to start asking for ideas for the theme of the summer dance next and we don’t want to go there.’
‘That’s months away,’ Courtney said.
‘It’s closer than the war games.’
‘A valid point. It’s coming up to twenty-two hundred. An hour before midnight. Maybe we should try the Estate.’
‘We may have missed it,’ Kyle said.
‘Yes, but we can’t give up yet.’
Kyle shrugged. ‘Agreed. I was just trying to be realistic. This was something of a long– Nava?’
Nava had pulled herself up straighter and was looking around the room. ‘It’s here. It’s–’ She stopped in the middle of speaking and turned around as she felt something. There was a pressure on her mind, as though someone was squeezing her brain. Her fists clenched as she fought back against the force, and then it was gone and she turned to look behind her.
The Harbinger was staggering away from her as though stunned. It came to a stop maybe two metres away, obviously dazed and standing in a tall man with dyed blonde hair and very dark skin. The contrast between the blue of the alien and the dark-brown skin of the man and the confusion of limbs and heads created a monstrous pseudo-creature, a surrealist’s depiction of twisted life.
‘Nava?’ Mitsuko asked, obviously worried.
‘It’s there,’ Nava replied, pointing. ‘I think it tried to possess me and it… It’s stunned. I’m going to do it.’ Improvised spells were a standard of sorcery. Cantrips were, technically, improvised spells so simple that the magician could do them in their sleep, but you could temporarily work harder spells if you understood what was required. The Ascend spell that Rochester and Lambert had defined for her definitely fell into the latter category. It took real mental gymnastics to force the thought processes necessary to cast it, but Nava did it.
‘Wait,’ Mitsuko said.
‘No,’ Nava replied. And then her clothes were falling to the floor as she vanished out from inside them.
‘But– Damn it!’
‘She’ll be okay,’ Kyle said.
‘We can’t know that.’
Kyle once again shrugged. ‘Something tells me that she’s quite capable of taking that thing on. There’s something very dark about that girl. If I met her on a battlefield, I’d be running away screaming.’
Mitsuko frowned, unsure how to respond. It was not as though he was wrong…
~~~
To Nava, the experience of ascending to another plane of existence was somewhat different. The world around her faded. The colours became muted, almost to a monochrome, but the light seemed to get brighter as though there was light coming from a different source. Or maybe she was not seeing her surroundings with her eyes and the light really did not matter. There was something a little weird about the entire environment. Nothing looked entirely right, almost like she was looking at two-dimensional objects which turned to keep themselves facing her. It was like being in a video game where the graphics were amazing, but just a little out of step.
Her clothes fell through her, leaving her standing there in the nude. Her first thought on the matter was that Rochester had never mentioned that feature. Her second thought was that it might explain why the Harbinger wore no clothes.
‘But– Damn it!’ Mitsuko said. Her voice sounded like it was on the other side of a wall, muted and a little hollow.
Nava cast her Push spell on herself. The Harbinger was shaking off its stun, regaining its senses.
‘She’ll be okay,’ Kyle said.
Stepping forward as the murderer’s eyes refocused, Nava drove the heel of her hand into its chest. The creature was tossed back six metres, through
