Claimed by Shadow

and I mean nothing. Twenty of our best mages hammered at it for the better part of a morning, hit it with everything they had, but it didn't so much as waver. Then old Marsden-he used to lead the council-brought out the runes. He decided to cast Thurisaz. I'll never forget that, not long as I live.”

'What happened?' I prompted.

'If you didn't know Marsden, it may be hard for you to get a visual on this, but picture the oldest, scrawniest, least threatening man you've ever seen. His magic was still strong at that point-he didn't step down until a few years ago- but he was old. His hands shook and he almost always had food spilled down the front of him because he couldn't see worth a damn. He kept running into things but he wouldn't wear his glasses or use charms to enhance his vision. He kept saying he didn't need them; then he'd try to shake hands with coat racks. He looked like he ought to be in a retirement home, unless you crossed him. Then you found out why he led the council for seven decades.”

'Mac!”

'Right, right. Well, Marsden cast Thurisaz on himself, and the next thing any of us knew, he was gone and there was this huge-and I mean huge-ogre standing in his place. It was so tall it had to hunch over to fit in the room, and the council chamber has ceilings almost twenty feet tall! It snatched up the council table, which was made of old oak and weighed God knows what, and hurled it the length of the chamber. When it bounced off the ward without doing any damage, the thing let out a bellow that deafened me for a good ten minutes, then charged. The ward had been set up to protect a small vase, and so far, not so much as a petal of any of the flowers had been disturbed. Less than a minute after Thurisaz was cast, the ward was down and the vase was dust.”

'How… amazing.' I had raided the Senate hoping for weapons; it looked like I'd finally lucked out and found some. Knowing Tony's penchant for nasty surprises, I was going to need them.

'Yes, well, that part was all right, but then we had a rampaging ogre on our hands, didn't we? And we couldn't kill it without also killing the head of the council. Not that any of us was keen to take on that thing. We ran over each other getting out the door, then hied away like frightened rabbits. We reassembled outside and argued for almost an hour over what to do once it destroyed the wards guarding the chamber and got loose. Then old Marsden came wandering out and finally bothered to mention that the spell only lasts an hour.”

'What do the other runes do?' I asked. 'Is there a book or something?”

He glanced at Pritkin. 'Would Nick have anything? I don't know the individual powers, just the basic legend.”

Pritkin ignored him. 'How many do you have?' he asked me. The question was quiet, but a pulse was throbbing at his temple.

I hesitated, but if I wanted to find out what these things did, I'd have to give up some information. 'Three.”

'Good God.' Mac dropped his etching tool. A small tornado carved on his right bicep started whirling even more enthusiastically.

'Describe them.' Pritkin was looking pretty intense, but he wasn't gob smacked like his friend.

'I already did.”

'The symbols!' he said impatiently. 'Which runes are they?”

Mac broke in. 'If you draw them I can-”

I cut him off with a frown. They might think I was a dumb blonde, but come on. I was a clairvoyant-did they really think I didn't know my runes? 'Hagalaz, Jera and Dagaz.”

'I'm on it.' Mac jumped up and went into the next room and I heard him pick up the phone. It crossed my mind that he could be calling for backup, but I doubted it. They didn't know where the weapons were yet, and nobody would think that I'd drag stuff like that around in my bag. Come to think of it, I wasn't so thrilled with the idea now, either.

'Where did you get them?' Pritkin demanded.

I couldn't think of a reason not to tell him. 'Same place I got the Graeae. The Senate.”

'They didn't simply hand them over.”

'Not exactly.' I decided to change the subject. 'Um, you wouldn't happen to know how I get the ladies back in their box, would you?' I had been wondering how to figure out the spell needed to trap Myra in their place. It would be very convenient if Pritkin would simply give it to me.

'Tell me about the runes.' Damn, but he was single-minded.

“Tell me about the Graeae and I'll think about it.”

'They are required to work for you for a year and a day after their release, or until they have saved your life. Then they will be free to terrorize mankind again.”

I glared at him. “That's not what I asked. And I didn't let them out on purpose, you know!”

'You shouldn't have been able to do it at all! That is a very complex spell. How did you learn it?”

I decided not to mention that all I'd done was pick up the orb. Pritkin thought me enough of a danger already; no need to add to the impression. And maybe it didn't mean anything. The box could have been defective-there was no telling how long they'd been in there. Of course, if it wasn't working right, I couldn't use it on Myra. I wondered whether there was a way to test it.

'Well?' He was obviously not the patient type.

'Do you know the spell to put them back or not?”

'Yes.' That was it, that's all I got.

'So maybe we can work out a trade. You give it to me, and perhaps I'll tell you where the weapons are.”

'You'll tell me anyway,' he countered. 'You won't get near your vampire without me, so you'll never get a chance to use them. And even my assistance may not be enough. We need every advantage.”

Mac returned before I could think up a good comeback. 'Nick is very curious why I want to know, but I think I put him off.' He consulted a scribbled note in his hand. 'He says that two were purchased at auction from Donovan's back in 1872. The Circle was outbid by an anonymous bidder who paid a king's ransom for them. No one's heard from them since.' He looked at me. 'I'd really like to know where you found them.”

'She didn't find them; she stole them. From the Senate,' Pritkin said.

Mac whistled. 'I want to hear that story.”

'Maybe later,' I said, hoping he'd get on with it.

'All right, but I'm going to hold you to that.' He consulted his notes again. 'This is composed mainly of hearsay, but Nick knows his rune lore, so it's likely as good as we'll get. Hagalaz cast upright causes a massive hailstorm that attacks everything in the vicinity except the caster and whomever he chooses to protect-I assume that means whoever is within his shields, although Nick wasn't sure. Cast inverted, it calms even the fiercest of storms.”

I brightened. That could prove useful. Mac read a few lines silently and cleared his throat. He glanced at me. 'Er, Jera is… well, it's said to be, that is to say-”

'It's a fertility stone,' I said, hoping to move him along. 'Stands for a time of plenty and a good harvest.”

'Yes, quite. It is believed to cause… er, to aid in, rather, some believe that-”

Pritkin snatched the paper from him and read over the paragraph that seemed to be giving Mac so much trouble. 'It was advertised as an aid to virility, something like a magical version of Viagra,' he summarized, shooting Mac a withering glance. 'Is that it? No other properties?”

Mac looked sheepish. 'Nick didn't know. All he had to go on was the auctioneer's description, and those are known for being phrased to elicit the best possible bids. It may have other properties, but if so they weren't listed. But it was enchanted at a time when thrones ran through family lines. Ensuring the succession would have been seen as equally, if not more, important than any weapon. And having the power to take fertility away from your opponents would be a great asset, throwing their lands into turmoil and civil war at the death of each king, and giving you a chance to invade in the chaos.”

Pritkin frowned. 'Perhaps, but it is of little use to us. And the last? Dagaz?”

'A breakthrough,' I murmured. 'A new beginning.' I could really use one of those.

Mac nodded. 'Traditionally, yes, that's the meaning. But how it is interpreted in the case of battle runes…' He shrugged. 'Nick doesn't know.”

'Then what is his best guess?' Pritkin asked it before I could.

'He doesn't have one.' Mac threw up his hands at our expressions. 'Don't shoot the messenger! It wasn't purchased with the others-in fact, no one has heard of it ever being up for sale. So there's not a lot to go