The Raven's Doctor
1
Amos Kessler looked at his creation, smiled, and wiped the blood from his lips. It had taken a toll on his body, but he was ready. Soon he would perform the final rites. Then he could leave the pain behind forever.
Kessler had contracted some unknown disease in the Middle East. No doctor knew what it was. They all agreed that he only had a limited time left to live. Kessler had thrown himself into his studies with what time he had before making his greatest discovery among the artifacts he had collected.
Kessler had gathered clay and loose stone to his work area. He read the charts, said the things which bound reality. The conglomeration moved on its own before fading back to stillness. It was what he needed until he could find a way to get a new human body, or a cure for his illness.
He ignored the idea that he had been cursed.
He knew about curses, worked with them, countered them when he had to. He rejected the idea that he had been cursed without knowing it. That was impossible for him to miss.
Kessler studied his creation, glad to be doing something. He didn't want to die without a chance. It was a temporary cure at best. If he could transfer to a body, then he would be able to go back to his research.
He thought about the irony of that for a little moment, feeling dizzy.
The very work that had doomed him to an early death was the tool he was using to try and save his life.
Kessler shaped the rough stone with his fingers, whispering words to command the stone into the shape he wanted. He smiled slightly as the rock took on his appearance. It wasn't perfect, but his effigy could almost pass as him in a dim light. Napkins covered with dirt and blood fell into the trash can near his work bench before he was done for the night.
He took a step back, admiring his work now that he was at a stopping point. The stone face seemed to smile at him, enjoying its new features. Arms and legs went into a bland torso. Drawn lines suggested a suit of clothes on the hard skin.
Tomorrow he would take a vial of strength and draw the complicated sigils he needed to finish the task ahead. That would take at least the day, maybe part of the night. If he needed to rest after all that was done, he planned to work his spell the day after as soon as he could. He didn't know if he had enough strength of will to carry on if he waited much longer than that.
It would be a relief not to spit up any more blood.
2
Lee Venture shelved the last book with a sigh of relief. Things had been hectic at Harvard for the last two weeks, and she had to put in more time to keep the library straight. Students didn't care about putting things back the right way.
Lee wondered what she was doing there at the university sometimes. She helped people, but she preferred to walk the aisles alone. Her spell work could get her money to live on if she wanted to use it like that. She didn't have to be there at the library.
Maybe it was just the constant whine for the last few days. When things settled down again, she might not feel this stressed and depressed. Books normally cheered her just looking at them.
Lee closed the library, ushering the last student out. It was late, and all she could think of was returning to her little apartment and fixing a small meal before diving into a book. The problem was she didn't want to call a cab to get to her place off campus.
Of course as the Crimson Raven, she didn't need to wait. She could fly home under her own power.
Lee checked to make sure the building was empty, activated the wards she put in place to protect the library when she wasn't there, and changed clothes. Shadowy wings changed her basic business suit into the dark red dress and cloak she wore while performing magic. A spelled shadow masked her face to protect her identity.
Some of the people she dealt with as the Crimson Raven could not be allowed to find out where she lived.
The woman in red raised her hands, letting a shadow spread around her into a giant black bird. It flapped its wings and carried her through the roof and out over the city. She should fly more often. She felt relaxed as she cut through the air with the speed of a hawk.
She spotted her place while still a mile away. The spell bird gifted her with incredible vision in the night sky. She turned looping over the outskirts of Boston, thinking about doing anything but returning home. Surely there was someone out there who needed aid.
The Crimson Raven glided along, rationalizing her impulse to act as anything but the boredom she knew it was. She saw a cloud of dust with her bird vision. A flap of her wings carried her toward the distraction.
She hoped it was something she could sink her teeth into. Maybe that would shake off the doldrums.
The sorcereress soared along inside her magic bird.
3
Dr. Yung Long dusted the shelves of his shop deep in the bowels of Chinatown in San Francisco. He kept it immaculate so that he could sell the fake artifacts to tourists. Naturally he had neighbors who wanted things, but the kinds of things they wanted weren't what you allowed anybody to have without supervision.
The bell over the front door rang. Dr. Long looked at that glass, thinking he was seeing trouble coming down the central aisle of his store. He went behind the counter, hiding the dust brush out of sight.
"What can I do for you?" Dr. Long studied his customer intently as he waited for her to speak.
Dark hair, large brown eyes, maybe thirty, lined face, a simple dress and small hat. Her purse was scratched and used. Her shoes looked many times repaired. He expected her not to buy anything. She wanted personal assistance.
"Dr. Long?" The lady looked around the souvenir shop, puzzlement on her face. "I was told you could help me."
"What kind of help do you need?" Dr. Long stepped back from the counter to free his hands. He had protected Chinatown for twenty years since settling there before the war. Anyone could have given this woman his name for any reason. It paid to be cautious.
"My friend has vanished." The woman looked around, probably thinking this was a bad idea. "I was told you were an expert in finding people."
"I know a few things I could do." Dr. Long tried to be placid. "Why don't you tell me about your problem? Then I'll be able to suggest some things."
"My friend, Amos, locked himself in his rooms for a week. He said he was busy with some private project. I checked on him yesterday. He was gone. There was a pile of rocks in his room. He didn't leave a note behind. I tried everywhere I could think to look for him. A friend said you could help me." The woman's voice remained shaky, but she didn't stumble for words.
"What is this friend's Amos's last name?" Dr. Long frowned, thinking he knew an Amos in the circles he moved in.
"Kessler. His name is Amos Kessler. He's a sculptor." The lady seemed relieved not to be rejected out of hand.
"Let me have the address." Dr. Long handed over a pad and pen. "I'll look into it with my small amount of skills. I won't promise anything."
The visitor quickly wrote the address down with a deft hand. She wrote a phone number down under the address.
"Please call me when you find out what's going on." The woman tried to smile. "I shouldn't be worried, but I am. Amos has not been himself since he visited the doctor's. He won't tell what's going on. This has added fuel to the flame."
"I understand." Dr. Long glanced at the pad. "What's your name, miss?"
"Mary Kiley," said the woman. "Thank you for helping me."
"Don't thank me yet." The doctor bowed as he ushered his visitor out of the shop. "I haven't succeeded."
"I know you will."
4
Doctor Long knew that the first place to look for something was where that thing usually was. Looking for a person was the same thing. You went to where that person lived, then where he worked, then to places around those places until you found out something. It seemed easy, but involved hours of footwork for a normal detective.
Luckily Dr. Long had some tricks to shorten his efforts.
Dr. Long took a trolley over to the neighborhood where Kessler lived. He searched until he found the address. He straightened his tie as he looked at the house.
Kessler's place was square, well groomed, and surrounded by rocks of various types. They bordered the sidewalk as if daring trespassers to step on the lawn.
Dr. Long smiled as he ran his finger in the air. The symbol he inscribed revealed a net laying over the yard. Thieves were in for a surprise if they attacked this house.
Dr. Long decided the front door was the weak link in the net.
He walked up the front walk to the porch. The net pulsed to tell security to get ready. One hand knocked on the door. After all, Miss Kiley could be wrong. Kessler could be inside the house and just didn't want to talk to her. Maybe she hounded him with romantic advances he was not interested in. No one moved in the house.
Dr. Long knocked on the door again, but drew on the door with the index finger on his other hand. The net would think he was a legitimate visitor until he decided to head around the side of the house to bust out a window, or try to force the back door. His symbols cut the net, unlocked the door, and moved the wooden barrier out of the way.
Let's see what clues you left me, Mr. Kessler.
Dr. Long stepped inside the house, shutting the door behind him. One glance told him that Kessler had been gone at least a few days. A few strides, looking, and some thought made the doctor decide to find a work room. The rest of the house seemed unused. If he was a sculptor, his crafting area should have some of his personality.
Dr. Long searched the house, found nothing. He saw a shed in the back yard from a kitchen window. It had the same type of protection as the house. The magician walked out the back door, crossed the yard to the shed's locked door. He paused as two tall columns on either side of the entry seemed to take an interest in his movement. One letter cut their spellwork before they decided to come to life and do something to him.
A second of work unlocked the padlock on the shed. A pull showed a table equipped with a rack for tools, vises, hammers of different weights, a fan, and overhead lights. Goggles sat on a hook next to the door. Shavings littered the floor.
Dr. Long stepped inside the shed, examined the litter on the wooden floor, looked around at the tools. A mirror hung over the work table.
A frown crossed the doctor's face as he looked at the evidence one more time.
Kessler had definitely left for parts unknown. A deeper look might tell him the whys and the wheres. This could be worse than he had thought when he agreed to look into things.
5
The Crimson Raven frowned as she sailed across the sky, buoyed up by her shadow wings. She had hoped for a flight home, but it looked like someone had smashed into one of the museums that littered Boston. She dropped down opposite the cloud of dust so she could have a clear view of whatever was going before she took action.
The Crimson Raven held her gloved hands in front of her masked face. She let a silhouette of wings form between her fingers. A vision appeared in that conjured window, showing her inside of the damaged building. She frowned at what she saw.
A stone man in an overcoat walked the halls, reading a list in a gray hand. He seemed unconcerned at the alarms he had set off punching a hole in the outside wall. He seemed to be making his way toward the Egyptian wing.
The Crimson Raven expanded her window, forcing a bridge from where she stood to where the stone man walked. It was her job to deal with threats, and this qualified until she could figure out what was going on. She stepped through the window, cloak beating like wings as she appeared on the tiled floor.
"I think the museum is closed." The Raven held her power at the ready. She didn't like to fight, but these criminal types always wanted to try to get away from her.
"I don't have time." The stone man kept walking, barely glancing at the woman in hooded cloak and dress. "Bother someone else."
"I said stop." The Raven brought gloved hands together. A flock of birds burst from her finger tips, circling the stone man angrily. "Don't make me hurt you."
"I don't have time." The stone man flung his hand over his shoulder. Daggers exploded at the heroine as he kept walking. She threw herself behind a shielding display case. The dark birds she had already summoned dove on the creature, slicing into his coat and skin before breaking apart into nothing.
He didn't miss a step, overcoat hanging in ribbons.
I need something stronger.
The Crimson Raven stood up. She spread her cloak out wide, giving it a flap with her hands. Large bird talons reached out in fiery brilliance. The claws wrapped around her enemy, lifting him off the ground. He looked around, his head swiveling completely on his neck.
"I thought I told you not to bother me."
The stone man pressed against the spell. He slowly pushed the grasping claws away, finally getting enough room to slip out of the energy. His face stayed motionless even as he exerted the effort.
The Raven let the spell fade, surprised by the sheer will her enemy possessed. She had thought it a simple construct on first sight. Now she realized it was a human mind in a strange body.
If she could separate the two, that would stop the walking rock. She knew that was easier said than done.
The stone man pointed at the Crimson Raven. A cloud of dust formed a screen between them. She couldn't hear his heavy foot steps anymore. The wizardess knew better than to dive into that cloud without knowing what was inside.
The Raven sliced the air with her hand. A large wing appeared, flapping with tremendous force. The cloud of dust cleared out of her path. A stone wall remained to block her passage by filling the space from ceiling to floor, wall to wall.
It was a good thing she hadn't gone into the dust cloud. She would have been locked in stone.
The bird lady pressed a portal against the wall. She passed through, looking for the stone man. Surely he didn't think this would stop her.
Amos Kessler strode the halls, ignoring the sound of his own heavy steps. He didn't have much time before that woman tried to stop him. He didn't know where she had came from, and wanted to finish his business before she became more of a threat to him.
He didn't think his stone magic would match well against those birds she called on.
Kessler saw what he wanted sitting in a display case on its own. Most of the exhibits were grouped together to line one wall, and work their way back to the end of the chamber and then back along the opposite side. A few individual cases stood on their own in the middle of the floor. The one he wanted was on its own, and at the back of the hall. Internal light made it stand out in the gloomy room.
Excitement pulled him forward to the glass case. This could be what he was looking for. If it was a cure, he could shed this bulky second skin for his own shape once again. It was a chance to be human and live again.
He smashed open the glass cover. His stone fingers wrapped around the papyrus, coating them with solid rock to protect them for travel. It was no use to steal the writings if he destroyed them traveling.
"Put that back."
Kessler looked over his shoulder. The bird shaper stood in front of the exit, energy like wings beating around her hands. He didn't blame her for being furious, but his renewal was more important.
"Goodbye." Kessler breathed dust in the air again, hoping to stall her long enough for him to return to his home.
The stone man concentrated. He sank into the tile floor, spreading out into a flat sheet that covered several yards around him. The sheet contracted. The woman in the red dress and cloak stepped through the stopgap as the last of it vanished like water in a drain. She looked around, but shook her head at having to admit defeat.
Kessler slid between the substances that made up the layers of the Earth. It was exhausting since he had been diagnosed, but necessary if he wanted to elude the long arm of justice. His home in San Francisco would give him some sanctuary until he had a chance to decipher the spells he had captured.
Then he could build his cure to take away the disease waiting on him to come back.
He erupted out of the ground within sight of the Bay. He could see the bridge in the distance. It felt good to walk the hills of home after his close call. Stone feet started for his house as the stress of his journey bit at his head until he had covered several blocks.
At least he hadn't passed out like he had the first time he had tried to put his movement spell in operation. It had been embarrassing to wake up in the company of pigeons thinking he was a statue.
Kessler moved to alleys when he felt more like he thought he should. There was no need to cause an uproar at his appearance if he could avoid it. He imagined the bird woman would try to track him down eventually. Why make it easier for her to do that?
The stone man reached his house. He frowned at it. Someone had been inside looking for him. He could tell by looking at it. A quick search at his shop said the intruder had gotten in there too. He turned away to look for somewhere else to hide until he was done.
6
Dr. Yung Long smelled the Boston air as he stepped off his plane, and preferred San Francisco before he walked two paces. Still he had a job to do. He might as well get on with it.
Dr. Long passed through the terminal. It took him a while to find a cab who would take him into town. The frustrated doctor had to show the man a vision of what would happen if he didn't. That was enough to change his mind.
News of a break in had attracted his attention. It was the sort of thing he expected to happen after finding Kessler's workshop. The sculptor had engaged in some form of wizardry at some point. The evidence was right there for any practitioner to see if they happened to look.
Long paid the driver off, telling him to wait at the foot of the museum steps if he knew what was good for him. He headed up to the main doors, checking the place out.
The doctor frowned at the trail left for him as he examined the building with his vision spell. Two forms of magic were present, and in conflict from the look of things. Maybe Kessler had run into someone who tried to stop him.
Long frowned at the police tape in front of a stone wall. A hole had been knocked into it by a nearby jackhammer. Police and men in suits were everywhere. He thought about waiting until the place was closed before he stepped through the hole.
Dr. Long followed his mystical trail to the Egyptian wing. Kessler had obviously been the one who had been shaping the stone. Heavy footprints marred the carpet. That was something that the magician expected to find when he arrived on the scene.
He hadn't expected to find the short battle, but realized that someone must have been attracted by Kessler's flamboyant entrance.
Why hadn't he walked through the walls?
Dr. Long paused at the scene of the crime. The smashed display case and card said it all. The magician noted a figurative hole in the floor. That must have been the stone magician's exit.
"Excuse me." One of the suits had finally spotted Dr. Long looking at the empty display case. "This is closed to the public."
"I was wondering if you happened to have a picture of this Rod of Anubis that was on display."
Dr. Long ignored the implied move out of the damaged area so the police can do their jobs.
He had a job to do too.
"Excuse me?" The suit looked around at the others who were slowly taking notice of the confrontation.
"You say excuse me a lot." Dr. Long frowned at the man. "Do you have a picture, please?"
The man looked around, then handed over a black and white picture of the item. The lack of color didn't do the artifact justice. Dr. Long pulled out his magnifying glass, looking over the picture to make sure he was right. It was hard to tell with the lack of contrast.
"This is bad." Dr. Long handed the picture back, put his glass away. "The Rod of Anubis has a bad reputation."
"What do you know about this?" Another man in a suit came forward, badge gleaming under the lights.
"I know that the Rod of Anubis supposedly takes life from one to give to another." Dr. Long looked around. "The problem is you have to keep using it to stay alive."
The suits ushered Dr. Long out of the Egyptian wing with a variety of comments. He ignored the haranguing. He knew what Kessler was looking for now, which gave him a clue where the sculptor would strike next.
The rod was useless on its own. It needed two other components before the operator could even use its most basic function. After that, supposedly Anubis would take an interest and help you along as long as your goals and his coincided.
Dr. Long looked around. His cab still waited on the curb. That was a stroke of good fortune. He needed to do some research and that meant going to some of the local places to check on things. The cabbie might know of the best places in Boston.
"Do you know of any extensive libraries I can use?" Dr. Long settled in the back seat.
"There's plenty." The cab driver kept his head straight ahead. What he had seen earlier reminded him that not all tourists could be faced. "I guess the best is the one at Yale, or Harvard."
"Take me to Harvard, please." Dr. Long settled back as the cab pulled away. Kessler probably already knew where the other two artifacts were. There was no telling how long he would take before he struck again.
From the looks of things, he couldn't just slide in anywhere he wanted. That implied that he had to have seen the place first before he could use the tunneling magic Dr. Long had observed.
That limited his options, but not enough.
The trip to the school passed quicker than Dr. Long would have thought. He looked around at the surrounding campus buildings. Students strolled around, books in their arms, looking for their futures for the most part.
"Thank you." Dr. Long paid the driver, with a considerable tip on top of it. "Please return here at closing time and pick me up. I may need to go back to the airport."
The cabbie looked at the wad of money. He smiled.
"It'll be my pleasure."
The doctor watched the cabbie pull away before he turned and headed for the door of the library. He didn't know what to expect, but hopefully his skill would point him toward something relevant he could use in his search. Then he could use that to lay a trap for Kessler before he assembled his unnatural machine.
The doctor entered the building, looking around as he headed for the aisles of books. The librarian seemed familiar to him somehow. He must have seen her somewhere else. He didn't stop to ponder the instant of recognition. Research had to be done.
Long placed an elementary search spell on his hand as he went into the books. It led him to several books from different places. His fingers flipped through the pages, showing him various pictures and confirming what he already knew.
The Rod of Anubis needed the Mask and Gauntlet of Anubis to operate.
The books didn't tell him where the two items currently were.
Dr. Long decided to head for the newspaper stacks and see what they could tell him.
If the objects had turned up, maybe there was a story to highlight that.
7
Lee Venture frowned as she watched the Asian wander through her library. She knew most of the students that attended the school. After all, they had to use the library occasionally to write their papers. And this man looking through her books was not any that she knew.
Lee held her hand in front of her eye, peering through the fingers as they spread like a wing on the side of her head. A small spark of energy danced between the digits. The stranger's aura appeared twisted to her viewing. Strange script danced around him as he moved to the newspaper morgue at the back of the room.
Lee let the aura read fade away, considering what she should do next. An open battle in the middle of a crowd of innocents was out of the question. She certainly couldn't allow the books to be damaged. Maybe she should first see what he was doing, then think of some way to counter him.
"Can I help you, sir?" Lee put on her professional face. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"I just need some information." The man peered at Lee, a puzzled expression on his face. "Have we met before? I'm sure I have seen your face somewhere."
"I doubt it." Lee saw the confusion, wondering if he had seen her as the Crimson Raven, and trying to make that connection. "What exactly are you looking for? Maybe I can help you with that."
"An artifact was stolen from a museum here in town." The Asian seemed to have put his doubt aside as he went back to his reason for being in the library. "I'm looking for any mention of the other pieces of the collection in case the thief goes after them."
"The Rod of Anubis." Lee smiled. "I heard that something had happened to it."
Why didn't I think to look for any other piece that could be a target? Lee put aside any more berating as she considered what the visitor wanted.
"We do have some historical society magazines here." Lee pointed to a shelf of drawers beside the newspaper holders. "They might have exactly what you're looking for."
The visitor nodded. He went to the drawers and ran his hand over the handles until he found one he evidently liked better than the rest. He pulled it open, and pulled out a covered magazine.
"Do you need anything else?" Lee looked at the cover of the magazine so she could read it later when the strange man was gone.
"A little privacy please." The Oriental placed the magazine on the table, staring at her until she left.
Lee went back to the main desk, checking in books to be put back on the shelves. She kept an eye on the stranger, watching him scan the magazine pages. She wondered what his connection to the theft could be.
He seemed normal compared to the obsessive monomaniacs she had dealt with in earlier encounters with the magic community.
The stranger placed the magazine back in the drawer, and left the library. He looked like he had found something about the artifacts. He didn't seem happy about it.
Lee waited until he was gone, using a spy to make sure he was out of the vicinity before she pulled the magazine herself. She flipped through it until she found the story in question. Two more objects were associated with the Rod.
She should have looked for this herself. She mentally kicked herself. Obviously that strange visitor was trying to find out where the Rod had been taken, either for himself or somebody else.
Lee decided that she needed to catch up with the oriental and find out what he knew about the situation. Maybe he knew who was behind that golem she had encountered last night.
Lee looked around. The library was crowded. It would take forever to clear the building so she could catch up with that man. She had to use her magic.
Lee spread her arms at the front desk. Shadowy wings turned into a roc of black fire. It filled the building before breaking down into smaller birds that carried out their instructions. The students vanished, books and papers packed away and sent with them. Library resources were returned to their shelves. And everyone and thing remembered they had been at the library until shortly before it closed, and the place closed on time.
That should take care of things for a while until she talked to her walking clue.
Lee wrapped herself in her crimson mantle, as she closed the building down with another wave of her hand and a bird messenger. She walked through the wall, taking to the air on shadowy wings. Her falcon eyes spotted a cab heading away from the campus, away from Cambridge to Boston proper.
That must be her man.
8
Amos Kessler walked the streets of San Francisco, letting the concrete guide his feet. Someone had been in his studio. He didn't know who, but he expected his housekeeper, Mary Kiley, knew what was going on.
He didn't know exactly where she lived to talk to her.
Still he had means he could use to find her.
One of those methods was the concrete sidewalk that lined city blocks. Concentration allowed him to pick out which were her steps echoing along the mixed sand, stone, and water. He followed the small imprints along until he came to a house in the middle of a block. He gazed at it for a moment.
Time to talk to Mary.
Kessler walked up the wooden steps, not liking the way the narrow porch creaked under his increased weight. He knocked on the door, controlling his stone hand so he didn't knock it down. Being a walking rock was bad, but there was no need to draw more notice than he had to.
No answer.
He knocked again, a little louder. He looked around. No one was on the street. Lights were on up and down the hill, but no one stuck their head out to see what was going on.
The door cracked open. Mary's face appeared. A quizzical look said she didn't recognize him in his new body.
"Can I help you?" Her voice betrayed a little fear at his ominous appearance.
"It's me, Mary." Kessler pushed the door open, moving the lady's weight without effort before she could try to close it. "Somebody broke into my house and workshop. I want to know what you know."
"Mr. Kessler?" Mary stepped back, hands wringing themselves together. "You've changed. I didn't recognize you."
"So you do know what I'm asking about." Kessler traced the guilt running over her face.
"I asked Dr. Long to find you." Mary looked up at the stone man. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"Long?" Kessler's rough features reassembled themselves into a frown. "Long of Chinatown?"
"Yes." Mary looked around her neat home. "He has a very good reputation."
"He has an excellent reputation." Kessler stepped closer. "Excellent for meddling. I can't afford meddling."
"I don't understand." Mary realized that the stone man was uncomfortably close. She took a step back.
"I'm engaged in some sensitive business." Kessler stepped closer, keeping her within inches of him. "It's not the type of thing I want Long of Chinatown to be involved in."
"I didn't think it would be a problem." Mary tried to step back again, watched as the stone man stepped with her. "I was worried. You have been so out of sorts after talking to the doctors. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"It's a big problem, Mary." Kessler seized her shoulders in his bigger hands. "I want you to call him off. Tell him his services are no longer needed."
"You're hurting me." Mary tried to squirm free. "Please let go."
"Tell him to stop looking, Mary." Kessler released his grip. "I have a lot of work to do that I do not want anyone interfering with if I am to finish."
"I'll go by his shop right now." Mary grabbed her purse. "I'll do it right away."
"Do not tell him about my transformation." Kessler turned, treading carefully across the floor boards. "I don't want to talk to you about this again."
He vanished into the night.
9
Crimson Raven dropped down over the cab rolling through the city streets, wrapped in her bird spell. A simple spell showed her the man she wanted to talk to was the passenger in the back. She needed to stop the car gently.
The lady mystic flapped her wing. A tiny piece broke off, becoming a smaller bird that dropped on the hood of the car. The automobile slowed to a stop. She heard the driver curse, wondering what had happened.
The Raven dropped down in the road beside the cab, letting her form resume her normal cloaked and hooded form. She smiled at the two men, holding a sleeping black dove under her long cape.
"How do you do, gentleman?"
The Oriental stepped out of the cab, leaning on the roof. He frowned for a few seconds. Then he pointed at her.
"I know you." He frowned. "You were at the library we just left."
"I was wondering why you were so curious about a robbery I tried to prevent." The Crimson Raven felt something radiate around this man. "Especially since I know we have never met."
The Oriental frowned even deeper. Facts became evident with a little thought.
"I don't think we should be talking in the street like this." He looked around. "Shall we meet in a more congenial setting for our conversation?"
"I know a place." The Raven released her spell on the engine. It roared to life. "Do you have a name?"
"I am Yung Long." The stranger bowed slightly. "What may I call you?"
"This is the Crimson Raven." The cabbie had to lean out his window to speak. "She's famous."
"Not in California." Dr. Long rapped on the cab's roof. "Where would you like to meet?"
"There is a pub close to downtown known as Sam's." The Crimson Raven smiled under her hood. "I'll be waiting for you."
"You heard the lady, slowpoke." Dr. Long settled back in his seat. "Drive on."
"I want an autograph." The cabbie dug around for a scrap of paper and a pencil. "This might be my only chance."
"Here." The Crimson Raven wrote her name on the door with her finger, then pressed a seal over it to hold it. When the bird silhouette faded away, her signature glowed on the yellow door. "It'll stay on as long as you own the door."
"Wait until I show the guys." The driver grinned.
"It will go well with the knuckle sandwich I am about to give you." Dr. Long's voice was a whip crack.
"Don't be nasty." The cabbie looked over his shoulder. "I don't have to take you anywhere."
"I'll see you at Sam's." The Crimson Raven spread her wings, taking on her bird shadow. She vanished into the night sky.
The lady mystic soared above the city, floating gently until she saw her destination. She descended on the rectangular building at the end of a dark alley away from the main streets of Boston. She formed a flock to change her appearance and clothes from both the Crimson Raven and Lee Venture.
This Yung Long seemed like a magician himself. The disguise wouldn't throw him off for long. He had already connected her public face of the Raven with Lee Venture. She might have to abandon it if things didn't work out.
Long arrived a few minutes later. He seemed out of sorts as he walked into the saloon, looking around. Lee, wearing something out of an old movie and a face to match, waved a gloved hand to attract his attention. She had secured a table next to the back wall away from the rest of the patrons eating, drinking and generally going about their business.
"Miss Raven." Long paused a moment to look around before sitting down.
"Mr. Long." Lee nodded, smiling.
"Doctor Long." He smiled, taking a deep breath. Lee nodded again. "I'm sorry. It appears that I have come to Boston too late to do any good here. My only hope is to catch up with my quarry at the Gauntlet of Anubis."
"Why don't you tell me about your involvement in this, Doctor?" Lee gestured at the waitress. "Perhaps I can help you."
Doctor Long started with Mary Kiley and her concern for her employer, his exploration of Kessler's property, and signs that Kessler had worked some type of ritual in his workshop. He paused once to order tea and a ham sandwich when the waitress arrived.
Lee told her story of encountering the stone man at the museum. She gave a fair description of the powers she had seen arrayed during the robbery.
"He turned himself into stone." Dr. Long sat back, finishing his sandwich. "Why do that when he already had control over stone already? He is a famous sculptor in California."
"We could ask him when we catch up to him."
Dr. Long and the Crimson Raven left the pub, walking down the alley. Lee was happy her new acquaintance didn't ask any personal questions of her. That would tread into territory she didn't want to talk about.
"I still have the cabbie under hire." Dr. Long looked around once they reached the sidewalk. "I wonder where he is. He was supposed to wait."
"Cab drivers have to eat also." The Raven dismissed her disguise, assuming her normal adventuring apparel.
"I feel like we don't have much time before Kessler makes his move." Dr. Long looked around again. "There he is. The Gauntlet is in New Orleans. The swampy land may hinder this teleportation that he can do. We can't count on that."
"Don't worry." The Raven hid her smile as they walked along. "If we can use the cab, I'm sure we will get there right on time to stop him."
"Really?" Dr. Long raised an eyebrow. "Teleport the whole cab, are we?"
"Not exactly." The Crimson Raven blushed. "I don't have enough power for that. Still I know a trick or two that can help us out."
"You really want to get even with Kessler." Dr. Long paused by the familiar cab with the crimson raven signature. His driver was regaling other cab drivers with his brush with fame. He tapped his foot.
"I don't think so." The Crimson Raven's face hid in shadow. "I was appointed to look after things here in Boston. It's part of my responsibility that he doesn't get away with whatever he is planning. Until you appeared, I had no idea how to go about it."
"If I had any sense, I would leave this to you." Dr. Long drew himself up. "Unfortunately I was hired to find him, and find out what is going on. Once money has been exchanged, you have to do the best you can do."
"So you are just as responsible as I am." The Crimson Raven tried not to smile.
"Hard work is to be valued in the doing." Dr. Long seemed about to get their driver, when the man approached with his friends. He was smiling in his new fame. "Something more people should learn."
"The guys wanted to meet you, Miss Raven." The cabbie glowed in his new glory. "They didn't believe me when I said you were on a date with a weird Chinaman."
"It was a business meeting." Dr. Long smiled, eyes glittering. "We were discussing the best way to turn someone into a frog."
"I'm pleased to see all of you." The Raven smiled. She had never thought anyone had heard of her at all. "Dr. Long and I are trying to capture the man who broke into the museum last night. If you don't mind, we should be going."
"Where to, Ma'am?" The driver quickly got behind the wheel.
"New Orleans." The Crimson Raven got in the back seat on the passenger side. "We'll have to look for the exact address when we get there."
"That's a long way off." The driver looked over his shoulder.
"We're taking a short cut." Dr. Long got in behind the cabbie.
The driver's eyebrows climbed his forehead.
"What's your name?," The Raven asked.
"Marty Cohen, ma'am," the driver said.
"I'll need you to drive, and stay as straight ahead as possible without turning no matter what you see." The Crimson Raven smiled under her half-face mask. "You'll have a story to tell your friends when we get back."
"I can do that."
Marty pulled away from the curb, waving at his friends as he passed them. He noticed the black energy filling the road in front of his car. It looked like a giant bird with its wings spread. Then they passed through and he was driving on nothing, swirling lights passing by on either side. He passed a truck like nothing he had ever seen before. He saw another bird ahead, aimed for it.
Marty blinked and he was on a strange street, rolling quietly. His stomach told him what it thought of the ride.
"Good job, driver." Dr. Long looked out his window. "It looks like we're heading in the right direction."
"That was a wild ride." Marty wiped the sweat off his face.
10
Marty Cohen pulled to a stop in front of an old house, marveling at the ugly looking trees in the spacious front yard. Some bird was calling in the night time as he rolled down his window.
"That was some trip, Miss Raven." Marty stepped out of the car, walking around to open the door for her.
"We don't know how long this will take." The Crimson Raven allowed herself to be helped out. "We're going to need you to wait for us."
"Not here." Dr. Long got out of the car and walked around to stand beside them. "If he sees you here, he might do something to you."
"Bad guy, huh?" Marty knew some of the stories that went around about the Crimson Raven. "Don't worry. I'll get out of the way."
"We hope that'll he'll attack again tonight and we can stop him." The Raven looked up at the old mansion. "I'll make sure you get home."
"And you will be paid." Dr. Long started toward the door. "We'll let you know if things work out."
"I have to say this has been the most interesting night I have spent in a while." Marty checked his watch. "I have to call my wife. Let me find a phone and do that while you take care of your business."
Marty got back in his cab and drove off.
"Do you really think he will attack again tonight?" The Raven passed them through the door.
"Yes." Dr. Long led the way through the house. "He seems desperate enough from what I saw in his workshop."
"Shouldn't there be a security guard?" The Crimson Raven held her hand up in front of her face, fingers extended in a wing. Glowing energy showed her the rest of the house. "He's in the kitchen."
"There should be more than one." Dr. Long looked around. "We should find places to hide. I can't imagine it will be long before Kessler shows up."
The Crimson Raven nodded. She waved a hand, wrapping herself in shadow. A flat patch of darkness glided across the floor, vanishing among the display cases.
Dr. Long wrote on his hand, and suit. He faded into a fog as the letters took affect. The cloud thinned out, covering the ceiling of the entrance hall in a few moments.
All they could do now was wait.
The two security guards made their rounds. One appeared for a few minutes before heading to the back of the building. His comrade appeared a few minutes later. They were regular as clockwork.
At about midnight, a figure stepped out of the floor. An overcoat wrapped around the blocky outline of the man as he thumped across the floor. A spare featured face turned this way and that. He looked at the signs, headed down the hall toward where his prize was under glass.
Two pieces to add to what he already had, then he could start his incantation for the cure.
It would be good to be normal again.
11
Kessler ran into one of the guards on his way to the Gauntlet of Anubis. That was bad for the man, as he went for his gun. The stone intruder pointed a finger. Stone shards sliced into the watchman, dropping him to the floor.
"No!" The Crimson Raven burst from shadow, a flock of demon birds attacking in her rage.
Kessler flung a dust cloud in front of him. The flock entered. Explosions thundered through the hall. The cloud cleared, showing a shattered stone wall.
Kessler moved to his left, hurling a cloud of his darts at the heroine. He figured the cloaked woman had followed him from Boston. That meant he had to hurry and complete his tasks if he wanted to heal himself.
The Crimson Raven raised her hands, calling forth a shield of black energy. She expanded it into spreading wings. The javelins struck, froze in place, then dropped to the floor when the wings folded.
"Give up, or suffer." The Raven's anger called forth memories of devastating spells and the will to use them. "I won't ask you again."
"I can't let you stop me." Kessler pointed at the guard on the floor. "I have a hostage. Get out of my way, or I'll have to kill him."
The Crimson Raven glared at the stone man. There was only one thing she could do. The mystic waved for him to pass so she could step by to the guard. Something had to be done for him if he was still alive.
"I knew you would see reason." Kessler kept his hand pointed in the guard's general direction as he started for the display case.
"I don't think so." Dr. Long wrote a glowing symbol on the air. Thunder rolled in the confined space.
Kessler planted his feet, expanding his arm through the sleeve of his coat. Something smashed against his shield. He skidded across the floor. That was fine. It was in the direction he wanted to go.
His other arm swept through the display case. His hand hooked around the beaded glove on a stand in a spray of glass. The stone man clutched his prize to his chest, eyes glowing.
Kessler knew he couldn't win a fight with two magicians intent on stopping him. It was best he made his escape as fast as he could.
Kessler ran forward two steps. Then he was a cloud of fast moving shrapnel aimed right at the two heroes and the wounded guard. Solid forces interposed between the sudden sandblasting, and the magicians. Then the storm was over.
"He got away." Dr. Long started for the door.
"Wait." The Crimson Raven bent over the wounded guard. "This man needs help. You're a doctor. Besides he's gone by now."
Dr. Long inspected the guard, frowning at the spikes plunging through to the other side of his body. None of the three wounds looked fatal, but loss of blood and shock could be. The Raven was right. He had to let the stone man go if he wanted to save this man's life.
Long wrote on each of the stone spikes. They fell out of the ghastly wounds they had created. Blood, stopped by the spears, gushed from the holes in the guard's body. The magician wrote a symbol on the man's forehead. The wounds closed, knitting themselves together faster than any industrial loom worked on threads. He made another symbol to give the guard a little more energy, enough to allow him to feel almost normal when he woke up.
"What happened to the other guard?" The Raven looked around. "We made enough noise to attract him from wherever he is."
"I had to put him asleep." Dr. Long looked at the mess they had made of the room. "That's why I was late. He wouldn't let me pass."
"What now?"
"We do whatever we can to catch up and stop him before he gets the last piece." Dr. Long frowned. "We need to clean up this mess too. There's no point in leaving anything behind that can be traced back to us before we meet our enemy again."
12
Dr. Yung Long unlocked the door of his shop. The Crimson Raven followed him inside. She had a feeling the things on display were happier now that their owner was home.
"Nice place you have here." The Raven looked around. "Dealing antiques a sideline?"
"It is support for my other activities." Long went to the back of the store. "The tax people want to know how I live if I don't have a means of living."
"I guess fighting magical menaces wouldn't get a lot of sympathy." The Raven smiled as she followed him.
"Better to cut your own hand off than let the IRS get involved in your affairs." Dr. Long had a kitchen off the back room. He put a tea kettle on to boil.
"Do you really think Kessler will strike tonight?" The Raven settled in a chair, pushing her hood back from her masked face.
"I don't see why not." Dr. Long pulled two cups out of a cabinet. "He seems intent on using the three pieces together."
The front door bell rang. Dr. Long raised his eyebrow. He didn't expect any visitors.
Dr. Long walked into the front room as the Crimson Raven drew up her hood and stepped into shadow. She heard him talking, decided that it must be a customer. He came back into the little area with a woman.
Tears had covered the visitor's face for some time if the Raven was any judge.
"Would you like some tea with us, Miss Kiley?" Dr. Long took down another cup.
"Us?" Mary Kiley looked around. "I don't see anyone else."
"He means me, Miss Kiley." The Crimson Raven appeared, her disguise disappearing with a flick of a finger. "I'm the Crimson Raven."
The maid put her hand to her chest, staring. Dr. Long had a reputation, but seeing it in action was something else.
"Please sit down." Dr. Long poured the hot water into the cups and added tea bags. He placed them on wooden coasters on the table. "What brings you to my shop, Miss Kiley?"
"Amos came to my house." Miss Kiley refused offered sugar for her tea. "He told me to tell you to stop looking for him. He's changed, Dr. Long. He's not human anymore."
"That is the crux of our problem trying to deal with him." Dr. Long sipped his tea, staring at the ceiling. "This stone body is very strong, and can do many things."
"Amos doesn't seem too concerned about consequences." The Crimson Raven stirred her tea, but did not drink. "It's almost as if he's on borrowed time."
"The transformation could be temporary." Dr. Long focused his gaze on Mary Kiley. "He visited your house to ask you to tell me to lay off?"
"Yes." The maid shuddered in her seat. "I didn't recognize him at first."
"Would you mind waiting here until we return?" Dr. Long stood up. "Hopefully everything will be resolved when we return."
"You won't hurt him, will you?" Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble."
"You didn't." The Raven patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll make sure things turn out all right if Amos wants our help."
"First we have to talk to him." Dr. Long frowned. "He might not like that. What he has done may not be countered. We will do what we can to help him. That's the best I can promise."
Mary nodded. She should have said something to Amos about her feelings for him. He changed into a monster on the outside. She knew he couldn't be a monster on the inside. That would be too much to bear.
The Crimson Raven turned and left the kitchen, face hidden by the hood of her cloak. She waited for Dr. Long to appear, before crossing the room to the front door. She stood on the sidewalk, glancing around at the unfamiliar skyline.
"Tangled webs." Dr. Long locked the front of his shop again, making sure the close sign was visible.
"It's obvious he returned home." The Raven bit her lip slightly. "Why tell Mary to get you to stop except he hadn't put you the detective together with the you the magician he might have heard about?"
"Let's see if the great man is at home."
The Raven nodded.
Dr. Long and the Crimson Raven looked at Kessler's house, noting the lights that were on. They stood across the street, using a tree for cover.
"Someone's home." The Raven looked up and down the street. "I wonder if he is expecting us."
"He already has two of the three pieces he needs for his purposes." Dr. Long fiddled with sunglasses on his face. "The lights might be on to say that he is at home when he is doing his next deed."
"So we don't know unless we go over and take a look." The Raven rubbed her thumbs across her fingers like a safecracker getting ready to work.
"Maybe we'll catch him while he is trying to get ready for whatever he needs the items for." Dr. Long started across the street, looking both ways as he stepped off the sidewalk.
"Let's take a look to see if he is at home first." The lady mystic held her hand up to her eye. She inspected the house and shop in back as she walked across the yard. "He's not here."
"That's a handy trick." Dr. Long went to the shop, opening the hut with a writing of his finger.
"What are we looking for?" The Raven went to one of the work tables, rubbing a gloved finger over the top.
"We need to know where he will show up." Dr. Long inspected the room. "Then we need to set a trap he can't break out of with that stone body of his."
"He seems to be invulnerable unless we're willing to just go all out." The cloaked woman let her cloak drop around her. "We might kill him if we do that."
"You're right." Dr. Long stood in the center of the room. "We need to trap him in an area where he can't use his stone body to counter us."
"That's unlikely." The Raven frowned.
"If we can cut him off from the Earth, he won't be able to vanish inside the ground like he has been doing." Dr. Long crouched and began writing on the floor with his fingertip. "If we can cut off his primary escape method, we can buy time for a solution."
"Lot of ifs in those statements." The Raven noted the expenditure of power, wondering about the method involved. "I agree with the assessment."
"I have an idea, but I don't know how well it will work." Dr. Long examined his diagram before standing up. "He has proven skilled with his artificial body, and more dangerous than I had thought."
"What method do you use to harness your spells?" The Raven held her hand up, using the half wing to examine the diagram on the floor. "I haven't seen anything like it."
"I was apprenticed in writing." Dr. Long flexed his fingers. "We can't shape energy like others do. We literally write the magic down."
"Advantages and disadvantages." The Raven dropped her viewing. "So we let him walk into your drawing and try to take the things of Anubis away. Sounds easy."
"It always does." Dr. Long smiled slightly. "I think we better make ourselves scarce."
The Crimson Raven extended her cloak like wings. She pulled the doctor between spaces, using the shadow inside her cape as a door. The world was transparent to the two magicians as they waited for their quarry to return to his lair.
A showdown was the only way to stop him once and for all.
13
Amos Kessler arrived at his house with the last piece he needed. As soon as he had everything in the perfect position, he would be rid of his disease for good. Then he could be human again.
The sculptor headed for his workshop. Once he was done, he would return the things he stole. Then he could go back to molding stone into what he saw in his mind's eye. Everything would be just as they used to be.
Kessler opened the door to his shed. Something felt wrong. Someone had been in his studio again. He looked around. He couldn't see anything out of place. The stone man stepped inside, wondering what was going on.
His place had been disturbed again. He could feel it. Someone had walked in again.
It had to be Long. The Chinaman must still be pushing even after he had asked his maid to tell him to back off. In a few minutes, it wouldn't matter. The ritual would remove all evidence of his current state, and he could mail the rod, gauntlet, and headpiece back to where they belonged.
No one would be the wiser.
An Oriental man in a black suit and sunglasses and a white woman in a hooded cape and long dress stepped out of thin air. The man did something to the air in front of him. The floor opened up under Kessler. Blue sky glared at him as he fell through into some other place.
Kessler flapped his arms, floating among clouds moving without a wind. He clutched the ornaments in a bulky hand as he tried to figure out what to do.
The pair that had stranded him appeared in the sky, floating just like he was. They obviously wanted the clothing accessories he had taken. He couldn't let them have those back.
Kessler flung his stone spears as a distraction, hoping to keep them back while he tried to reach out for home. His missiles exploded against shields of letters and dark feathers. He was at a disadvantage as long as they could fly and he couldn't.
Black birds streaked for the stone man, clawing at him with talons and beak. He extruded a cloud of dust that engulfed his body in a featureless orb. The sphere fell into the unknown wind and began to travel in the currents pulling the clouds along the featureless blue. The birds pecked at the globe, chipping away at it angrily.
The Oriental wrote on the air, creating a carpet to act as a platform. He and the bird lady stood on the stage as it slid behind the escaping sphere.
Kessler had dealt with the woman in the cape at two of his robberies. He should have expected someone with her powers would track him down. He should have tried to kill her. The man had to be Long of Chinatown.
Kessler pushed his protective sphere out in a spray of shrapnel. The sharp spines sliced through the Raven's birds, cutting them apart. He looked around as he drifted on the bottom of the egg. He spotted a flying carpet closing in on him.
Kessler breathed dust in the flowing sky, placing chunks of rock into orbit around his conveyance as the dust blew back in the direction his platform was going. Mobile shields should hold off his pursuers until he located the Earth and returned there with his prizes.
The Crimson Raven flew into the air, cape floating like wings around her. She streaked ahead to pass the rock renegade. The lady mystic paused, releasing her birds with a wave of her hands. The circling rocks battled the black flock as Kessler paused to look for somewhere to hide.
He needed time to think.
Kessler breathed out more of his dust, hoping to catch his female enemy in its grip. If he took her, he could turn and face Long. It might buy enough time for him to get away to establish a link back to the real world.
The Raven swept a bird shield in place to block the dust. She had been caught flatfooted once. That was enough.
Dust and shield collided. The cloud flattened out into a thin shell, then floated away in the unearthly current.
The Raven changed her shield into a bird's foot, striking like an eagle. Kessler brought his hands up, generating a wall of instant stone. The talons wrapped around the wall, crushing it with a single closing on its appendages. The sculptor slid to the rear of his platform, shaking his head.
The Raven flew at her prey, hoping to put an end to this. She created another talon, wrapping it around Kessler, lifting him in the air. He flexed his arms, breaking free of the grip with a shrug. He landed on the platform, slinging stones with a wave of his hand. The mystic raised her arm, blocking the projectiles with another shield.
Dr. Long landed on the platform, taking Kessler by surprise. He seized a hand and wrote on it with a fingertip before the sculptor could break his grip. The stone man tried to shrug the hero away. His arm didn't move.
"I think your criminal spree is over." Dr. Long dusted off his jacket with his hand. "Let's get you home so you can think about what your future will bring."
"What future?" Kessler could have screamed. "I'm dying."
"You're not dead yet."
epilogue
The Crimson Raven and Dr. Long sat at his kitchen table. They each had a cup of tea, and a plate of cookies sat between them. A folded newspaper reported the return of the artifacts on its visible page.
"A job well done." Dr. Long smiled, sipping his tea. "It was a pleasure working with you."
"Do you think we did the right thing with Kessler?" The Raven's hood hid her face in shadow. "He might do the same thing the next time he's desperate."
"Reaching in and getting rid of his cancer should have removed that motive." Dr. Long placed his cup on the table. "The problem is stone is a part of what he can do. We would have to cut out everything that makes him who he is to remove it. I'm not prepared to do that."
"I guess I can see your point." The Raven looked up. "He did hurt one of the guards but you did a crackerjack job erasing that as if it never happened. Everything is back where it belongs, and the world will never know."
"Don't misunderstand." Dr. Long went to the kettle on the stove and poured more water in his cup to steep another tea bag. "I don't like the fact that we are allowing him to retain his freedom. Other than executing him out of hand, or doing so much brain work that it amounts to the same thing, exile was our other option. How long would he have been there before he rediscovered his link and returned? It was the best we could do."
"You will keep an eye on him." The Raven stood.
"Don't worry." Dr. Long stirred his tea with a spoon. "Someone I know will keep an eye on him for the rest of his life."
"Then I have to get back to Boston." The Raven's smile split the somberness she carried with her. "It was a pleasure working with you."
"The pleasure was all mine." Dr. Long smiled again. "If you have need of me, I'll be here."
The Crimson Raven drew her bird shadow around her, riding it into the air. She passed through the buildings, heading up over the city. She caught a current and vanished in a distorted line of blackness.
Dr. Long put her cup in the sink to wash later. It had been a long three days. He was going to nap for a while, then open his shop and try to scam tourists with his souvenirs. He put a cover on the cookie dish, drank the rest of the tea in his cup, put it down in the sink next to the Raven's. He turned the stove off before heading upstairs to his sleeping quarters.
A nap would do him good.
Pulling the tumors out, and reducing Kessler back to a man had been the easy part.
The sculptor would have to do the hard part and rebuild himself in his own eyes and in those of the woman who loved him. That was like a sculpture. You started with something and worked at it until you had something else you could look at and say this is finished.
Dr. Long smiled. He had done what he could to help Mary Kiley. The rest was in her capable hands. If she needed help again, he had no doubt she would return to Chinatown and find him. And he would help her. It was a profession that he liked.
Dr. Long entered his bedroom, dropped on the pallette of blankets on the floor. He closed the store up with a ward, and sank into a blissful slumber, dreaming of red birds.