Fists of Justice (Schooled in Magic #12)

“IT IS WOMEN WHO LURE MEN FROM THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. IT IS WOMEN WHO MAKE MEN DOUBT.”

Emily lifted her eyebrows. Justice wasn’t human. Why would it embrace a misogynist attitude? Janus hadn’t struck her as particularly misogynistic – she’d met far more unpleasant people in the past, when women had been second-class at best, property at worst. Perhaps the doctrines Janus had used to shape Justice were twisting the entity, now that it was thinking for itself. Or perhaps it was merely grasping at straws to keep her arguments from forcing it to question itself.

“And if a woman says something,” she said, “does that make it automatically wrong?”

Justice said nothing. Emily watched, wondering just how far the entity could question itself before it had an existential crisis. If it was Justice, it should remember everything; if it wasn’t Justice, then how did it know it was doing the right thing? She had no idea just how advanced – how intelligent – Justice’s spell matrix had become, but it might figure out a way to justify its memory gaps to itself.

Marian screamed, again. Her fingers twitched. Emily looked down at her. The bonds were made of something that looked like plastic, but couldn’t be. There was no plastic on the Nameless World…she tested one and discovered it was practically unbreakable. Breaking the altar itself might be quicker, if she wanted to get Marian away from Justice. But the entity was connected to her.

“And if you can’t answer that question,” she said, carefully resting her fingers on Marian’s chest, “how do you know you’re a god?”

Justice howled in rage – and doubt. Marian screamed…Emily hesitated, then thrust her mind into the spellware linking Marian to Justice. It was strange, an elaborate mixture of advanced spells and crude incantations that should never have held together for more than a few seconds, but they worked. Marian twisted, trying to push Emily away, as Emily forced her way up the link. Justice was powerful, but vulnerable. She could see his weaknesses now, see all the places where the spellwork was fraying…

He’s trying to evolve, she thought, numbly. And it’s working.

She was tempted to watch, even though she knew she shouldn’t. It was very much like Whitehall’s wards, but they’d had nearly a thousand years to grow. And they had an unlimited power source to draw on. Justice was evolving so rapidly that he might not make it out of the temple before he collapsed, even if he did manage to drain everyone else. She took a moment of grim relief in knowing that Janus’s madness probably wouldn’t get any further, then reached for the matrix. Here, inside his core, Justice was defenseless. The pressure on her mind was gone.

Goodbye, she thought.

Marian screamed. A hand caught her and yanked her back. Emily recoiled, her mind struggling to cope with the sudden transition. Her legs buckled…someone was holding her, holding her back. She tried to kick out, but her body was weak…

“You’ll kill her,” Caleb said.

Emily’s head spun. Caleb had grabbed her…was he a Fist? Had Justice overwhelmed his mind? Or…she looked at him and knew the truth. He was terrified for his sister…Marian was screaming in pain…pain Emily had caused.

“Let go of me,” she snapped. Something was trickling down her nose. It took her a moment to realize it was blood. “I have to stop him.”

“You’ll kill her,” Caleb shouted. “Let her go!”

Emily stared at him. “I won’t kill her,” she said, although she wasn’t sure if that was actually true or not. Justice might drain Marian completely before Emily managed to stop him…coming to think of it, if he did she’d lose her chance to reach inside his defenses. “Let go of me.”

Caleb held her, tightly. She’d always known he was stronger than her, physically, but it had never mattered before. Now, she didn’t have the strength to resist. Her body felt weak and frail. She tried to knock her head back to strike his nose, but it didn’t have any effect at all. Frustration bubbled up within her, mingled with rage and terror. Caleb wouldn’t save anyone, not even his sister. They were all doomed…

She fell forward, suddenly. Caleb gasped in pain. Emily managed to turn, just in time to see Frieda clinging to Caleb’s back. As Frieda’s hands clawed at his throat, Caleb stumbled back, trying to stop her before it was too late. Emily stared at them for a long moment, then forced herself back to Marian. She’d just have to hope that Frieda could distract Caleb long enough to let her finish the job.

I’m sorry, she thought. She knew Caleb would never forgive her for risking his sister, even if Marian had betrayed them. He’d do whatever it took to stop her. I’m so sorry.

Justice loomed over Marian, his dark eyes growing larger. “I AM JUSTICE. AND I SHALL JUDGE YOU ALL.”

“This girl is an innocent,” Emily said. “And you are killing her.”

“SHE CAME TO ME OF HER OWN FREE WILL,” Justice informed her. The entity didn’t seem to notice – or care – when Emily touched Marian’s chest again. “SHE IS MINE.”

“You cannot explain the gaps in your memory,” Emily said. If she could distract it for a few more seconds, she might just be able to put an end to it. “Can you…?”

“THEY ARE OF NO CONCERN. I AM JUSTICE.”

He’s decided to deal with the problem by ignoring it, Emily thought, as she reached for the threads. How very human.

“No,” Caleb shouted. “Emily, stop!”

Emily ignored him as she plunged her mind back into the maelstrom. Justice was growing ever more powerful, yet his spellwork was simplifying as she watched. Maybe he could make it out of the temple after all. He would become a god-king, she realized, if he managed to gain more power. And he would be unchallengeable. No sword could harm him, no spell could hurt him…his followers would spend the rest of eternity under the rule of an utterly inhuman entity. A computer ruler could hardly be worse.

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