Shadow of Hope(Book 2)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

January 18, 2017

I whistled out a tune as I carried a stack of books into the library and set them on desk, before stepping back to wait for the Librarian, Wong. I had only been there a moment when I noticed a green glow toward the back of the room. Moving around the shelves, I glanced around to find Stephen standing next to a table with a book in front of him, his hand outstretched as he conjured a spell over it. I frowned in confusion before ducking back around the shelf as Wong and Mordo appeared and started to yell at him.

" We do not tamper with natural law. We defend it." Wong told him, putting the book he was using back on the shelf, before Mordu asked. " How did you even do that? Where did you learn the litany of spells required to even understand it?"

" I've got a photographic memory. That's how I got my M.D and Ph.D. at the same time." He explained.

" What you just did... takes more than a good memory. You were born for the mystic arts." Mordo told him. 

" And yet my hands still shake."

" For now, yes." Wong said

" Not forever?" He questioned.

" We're not profits." Mordo said.

" When are you gonna start telling me what we are?" Stephen asked, and they shared a look before they moved toward the pedestal a few feet away. I followed quietly behind, staying behind the shelves and out of sight as I listened. " While heroes like the Avengers protect the world from physical dangers... " Wong began, " We sorcerers safeguard it against more mystical threats. The Ancient One is the latest in a long line of Sorcerers Supreme... going back thousands of years to the father of the mystic arts... the mighty Agamotto." Above them an image of earth appeared. " The same sorcerer who created the eye you so recklessly borrowed." Wong gave Stephen a look, but he pretended not to notice. " Agomotto built three Sanctums in places of power... where great cities now stand."

" That door leads to the Hong Kong Sanctum." Wong continued, pointed to the doors around them. " That door to the New York Sanctum. That one to the London Sanctum. Together the Sanctums generate a protective shield around our world." 

" The Sanctums protect the world... and we sorcerers...protect the Sanctums." Mordu explained, as lines connecting the three sanctums appeared on the globe above them, three protective seals formed over each. " From what?" Stephen asked.

" Other dimensional beings that threaten our Universe."

" Like Dormammu." Stephen stated.

" Where did you learn that name?" Mordu questioned.

" I just read it in The Book of Cagliostro. Why?" Stephen asked, and again they shared a look before Wong rotated a piece of the pedestal, causing the lights on the globe to go out as a piece melted away. " Dormammu dwells in the Dark Dimension. Beyond time. He is the cosmic conqueror... the destroyer of worlds. A being of infinite power and endless hunger... on a quest to invade every universe and bring all worlds into his Dark Dimension. And he hungers for Earth most of all."

" The pages that Kaecilius stole."

" A ritual to contact Dormammu and draw power from the Dark Dimension." Wong told him, Stephen looked around, clearly done with all this. " I came to heal my hands. Not fight in some mystical war."  I had to agree with him, but even knowing all this, I understood why someone couldn't just walk away.

An alarm bell went off from somewhere, and Wong glanced up. " London." He said before one of the doors opened and someone fell.

Mordo cried out in alarm as a shockwave went out, throwing Stephen backward and I teleported over knocking him through one of the doors just as the ceiling collapsed. " Wong? Mordo?" Stephen called out, scrambling back to his feet while I just lie on the ground for a moment trying to recover. " Alice, are you alright?" He said, and I nodded. 

" Yeah." I coughed, using the wall to pull myself up." Where are we?" I called out as he moved away where we had come in, stumbling as he made his way toward the door leading outside. I looked around as I sat down on the stairs, before dropping my head into my hands with a groan just as Stephen returned with his answer. " New York." He said, and I looked up wide eyed.

I was home?

I stayed on the stairs while Stephen searched the building, but at the sound footsteps I teleported up onto the balcony above, ducking around a corner just as guy with a relic appeared. I was just about to go down to talk to him, when the door moved in on itself, and Kaecilius stepped through with two of his zealots. They quickly outnumbered him and were just about to kill him when Stephen jumped over the railing, revealing his presence.

" How long have you been at Kamar-Taj, Mister..." He trailed off, not knowing his name.

" Doctor." Stephen corrected, and he frowned. " Mister Doctor?"

Were we not in such a dangerous situation I might have laughed.

" It's Strange." He told him, and Kaecilius agreed with a shrug. " Maybe. Who I am to judge?" He stabbed the Master of the Sanctum in the stomach before running up the wall toward Stephen. They disappeared down one of the hallways, and I frowned listening as several crashes and thuds soon followed, before I raced up the stairs looking for something that could help.

Come on. Come on. There has to be something.

I ran through the room in a panic, hurriedly searching before coming to a stop in front of a glass case where a floating red cloak was. It seemed to wave at me and I smiled slightly waving back, before ducking around a pillar just as Stephen came upstairs with Kaecilius right behind him. There was a scuffle and a loud crash before Stephen flew through the glass case holding the cloak. We made eye contact for a moment before I teleported behind Kaecilius, smacked him over the head with a piece of debris, and then teleported back to the other side of the room.

" Who else is here?" He questioned looking at Stephen, who shrugged in response before Kaecilius swung at him, only to find his attack blocked.

Stephen attempted to crawl away while he was distracted, but Kaecilius grabbed him by the back of his shirt pulling him back up, again finding his attack blocked. He kneed him in the stomach as he threw Stephen to the floor, kicking him backward over a railing and down the stairs. There was a blur of red and I grinned as Stephen rose back up with the cloak and attempted to pull Kaecilius toward him. 

A new struggle started between Stephen and the cloak, and I shook my head in exasperation before teleporting back to Kamar-Taj for help.