Mad Toffad's Keep

by Zack Finley

The plotters bribed other king's guard either to look the other way or to handle a variety of assignments not directly associated with the assassination.

  Inoa said they only caught the traitor after she went over everyone in the king's keep to check for hidden mages. She began to suspect the perpetrators of these attacks discovered a way to use imposters to infiltrate an organization. Introducing an imposter who resembled the original would be easy. Healers had excellent techniques for modifying faces derived from dealing with battle injuries. Being able to access someone's memories well enough to pull off a successful replacement was a new twist.

  While Inoa wanted to understand how they accomplished this feat, after deciding this was what happened, finding the imposter was trivial. She just had to find the mundane in the king's service with the mind of a mage. Once she was on the right track, it took mere minutes for her and a covert team to take him into custody.

  From her experience reading the Augun assassins, she was very familiar with the designs of the imposter's protection wards. In less than two hours all of the mages assigned to destroy Klee were in custody or dead.

  To avoid betrayal, Inoa prescreened everyone sent on the raids. She equipped the mages with high-end stun spells, and the guild provided them with valuable power boosting amulets. As insurance, the guild also provided two high-end enchanted stunners for mundanes on the team. The rest of the takedown group carried enchanted crossbows and swords.

  The squads trusted to bring down the assassins knew the king wanted prisoners to question. They also knew it was important to either disable or kill the mages before they could send any messages.

  Two mages died from enchanted crossbow bolts through the throat during a shootout with a crew of cutthroats and pirates on the docks. There was no way to know whether the mages got off a message or not. Inoa hoped if they did, no one would associate the message to the takedown of the whole assassination plot.

  Inoa believed those mages thought the king's guard was conducting a random dockside raid and would have expected to escape easily. If they messaged anyone, it was probably their Klee leader, who was already unconscious and blocked by Inoa at the time of the raid.

  We swarmed Inoa with congratulations on her success. Through our four-way bond, the strongest emotion she felt was relief. She was also exhausted.

  She shared more good news; the Augun King's Guard recovered the entire Augun treasury intact. Her interrogation of Arbos, the Augun plot leader, identified the ship in the Augun harbor where the plotters were accumulating their most valuable loot.

  Argon and I killed the mage assigned to guard the ship when we stormed the Augun keep. Since only Arbos and that dead mage knew where the loot was being stored, the five mages who got away must have decided not to risk looking for it.

  The new Augun King's Guard Commander Lt. Valso led the successful assault on the ship while I was unconscious. The mercenaries guarding the ship yielded quickly. Mind probes revealed they just hired on with the wrong people. They hadn't seen the mage who hired them since the day we raided the keep.

  Inoa learned the ship received a lot of deliveries during the weeks following the assassination. The mercenaries were angry the ship had no crew, which forced them into manual labor, unloading the carts and stowing the goods on board the ship. They believed the mage was the ship's captain and he was always yelling at them and making them restack and strap down the various crates. They believed such manual labor was beneath them.

  They became a lot more careful after one soldier dropped a crate and it broke open. Nobody remembered what was in the crate or what happened, but the soldier hadn't been seen since.

  The asset recovery was very good news for King Rufix and for the people of Augun. It couldn't put things right, but at least he could buy some of the food and supplies needed to avert famine.

  As we embraced Tobron and Inoa on our way out the door, we had a lot to be grateful for. We made a difference.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 3

  My chest and shoulder had healed completely by the time we got ready for bed. My lung almost filled the available cavity, though it showed signs of further healing when probed. Since I wasn't sure it would stop growing when it reached its proper size, I decided to wait on healing it further until Alba could examine me.

  While this wasn't the first night Argon and I slept together since my injury, it was the first time we slept together in our own bed. I wasn't surprised Allo felt the need to wedge between us before we drifted off to sleep. I forgave the little scamp. We were back to being friends.

  The visit with Tobron and Inoa had been great, but I was exhausted.

  Argon was adamant about getting the all-clear from Alba before taxing my heart. She also made it clear she intended to jump my bones the moment I was declared fit for duty.

  She enfolded me with the same soothing technique she used earlier this afternoon. I allowed myself to relax in her arms and drift off to sleep.

  A feeling of helplessness woke me up. I spotted the mage too late; the magic spear was already on the way, headed straight toward me. "No," I screamed as Argon materialized right in the path of the spear.

  I was moving in slow motion. The spear was moving at the speed of a freight train. I wasn't going to get there in time. I needed to push her out of the path of the spear, but my feet were encased in thick mud. I was running out of time.

  I screamed again as the spear pierced her breast and emerged out of her back. Her eyes condemned me as she collapsed to the ground. I had failed.

  As I sank into the pool of despair, Argon shook me awake; flooding me with her essence and taking away my fears. Argon's voice echoed within me “this was just a dream.” She saw what I saw, knew what I knew.

  I sensed the moment her comfort began to change as she embraced my manhood with her warm silky sheath and began a slow sensual stroke, commanding all of my attention.

  She used her force magic to support much of her weight, but we were still skin to skin. I also felt tendrils of her flesh magic monitoring my health. Tonight, was about mutual comfort as we faced how close we came to losing it all.

  Argon adjusted the pace and tempo needed to bring us both to a tender release.

  I clutched her to me, collapsed her force magic and rolled her onto her back. I was still erect within her and claimed her mouth with my own. I was no longer on my sick bed, and I needed her even more now to ease what we almost lost.

  Argon responded with a ferocity which matched my own. My driving beat found a ready partner. Her mouth and tongue mirrored my thrusts as we drove each other to the next edge.

  "So much for my good intentions," she messaged, squeezing my manhood within her. The intense sensation caused me to collapse on her and shudder uncontrollably. Happy and the Boys went into shock.

  I had been willing to wait before sharing intimacy, not because I wanted to but because I respected my healer, Alba. I failed to account for the Argon factor.

  "I see you fixed your friskies," she teased, nibbling along my jaw and stroking my back with one hand. "It is probably a good thing."

  She nudged me to her side and nestled into my left shoulder.

  "Tobron showed me the trick to control their fertility." I shared the process with her, and she showed me what she did to control hers.

  Jaloan fertility was determined by both partners. The male controlled whether his sperm was fertile and the female controlled her eggs.

  I hadn't known this, and my little friskies had been trying to procreate the species until I reprogrammed them this evening. Argon and I were both reluctant to bring younglings into the world until we had a safer place to raise them.

  I broached the subject with Tobron during a moment Inoa and Argon were talking mind magic. He was understanding, and I was surprised how easy it was to turn on and off. He warned me even when Argon and I were ready, there was no guarantee we would be immediately successful. He confessed it took them more than a year of constant practice to concei
ve their first twins.

  Good information to know but kind of weird, too, especially since I knew Cleon was one of those twins. Cleon was older than I was.

  Argon burrowed closer and reminded me we both needed sleep.

  As if on cue Allo reappeared. Finding no easy way to insinuate herself between us she stopped trying and just lay in the crevice where Argon's body met mine.

  Good thing she wasn’t very heavy.

  When I woke up, Argon was already showered and dressed. She had a cup of chee and a thorough wet kiss to greet me with. Before I could act on any lewd intentions, she reminded me we needed to get to the hospital.

  I knew she'd already monitored my vitals before waking me, but I did it again, anyway. I sent a low-intensity pulse of healing through my body to see any areas which needed active healing. The only area still needing attention was my lung. I boosted it and headed to the shower.

  Argon was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping chee and reading a book on enchantments. I came up behind her, nuzzled her neck and slipped my hands inside her shirt to caress her breasts.

  I had all of her attention. And, she had all of mine. She dropped the book on the table, turned around and slipped into my arms.

  We both knew we needed to leave, but it felt good to play around. When I pulled her pelvis tightly against me, it went beyond playing around.

  I took a deep breath and slid my hands from gripping her taut, muscular buns to a more neutral location on her back. She responded in kind. The kiss which began as a fierce declaration of need shifted to a more playful promise for the future.

  We separated, reluctantly, disappointing Happy and the Boys who were revved up to play.

  My chee was still warm in its magic cup. Argon handed me one of the tasteless energy bars to go with it. I was a little peckish after Tobron's cooking and ate it to keep up my strength.

  Argon handed me a set of body armor. My old armor had done little to save me from the magic spear. We needed to reassess our vulnerabilities based on what that showed us. Argon explained she borrowed this set from Cleon to buy time to find a more permanent replacement.

  I contemplated protesting the armor but reconsidered and put the set on like a good boy. As we did last night, we rechecked our combat spell set before teleporting out.

  We landed in a different location at the hospital than I expected. Argon messaged this was where we should 'port in if we were visiting Alba and didn't want the hospital's full attention.

  There was still a small contingent of Klee King's Guard at the hospital, but fewer now King Rufix was back in Augun.

  Alba messaged us to have some chee and make ourselves comfortable as she was running a bit late.

  Argon and I sat together on the couch, our hands ‘twined together. Argon handed me the text I was reading the day before while she concentrated on her own book.

  She was amused at my reaction and aimed a wisp of air to caress the sensitive area of my opposite ear.

  That action completed derailed my nascent irritation, and I chuckled. Argon had a point; you never knew when you might pick up some insight which would save your life.

  Alba breezed in a few moments later, exuding satisfaction with the way her last patient responded to her healing magic. We hoped the patient was on the mend and made it clear we sanctioned any delay.

  She wasted no time and began to scan me. She scanned me again before expressing her surprise. "How have you healed so much, so rapidly?"

  I invited her to be my copilot as I demonstrated my new healing technique. Being able to identify where healing was being effective was revolutionary, at least in our small circle of mages.

  I demonstrated the continuous spell sequence I used on my organs to repair them. We discussed ways the technique could be triggered by a series of layered spells, similar to the way Argon and I launched multiple simultaneous attacks in combat.

  I confirmed I had scrutinized my circulatory system. I pulsed the circulatory system in my chest. Alba saw for herself it was healthy. I couldn't find a weakened blood vessel. I confessed Argon and I gave it a significant stress test last night.

  Alba was working up to being furious we'd risked my life, but her ire collapsed in the face of logic and our shared contrition.

  "We meant to wait, but he had a horrible nightmare," Argon said. "I monitored him very closely. We'd have fixed anything that broke within seconds."

  I put on my best hangdog expression, although I needed to check how it looked with my Jaloan face.

  "I probably wouldn't have waited either," Alba confessed. "After my examination and your little stress test, I'll have to give you a clean bill of health. I'd tell you to take it easy for a while, but we know that isn't going to happen."

  Her voice changed, and this message came directly through our mental connection, "Please be more careful, you were dead when you came in. I didn't think we could bring you back. Treat your survival as the miracle it is. You can't count on a second one." She hugged us both, wiped the tears from her eyes and left to try out my new technique on her patients.

  "Let's get some breakfast," I said.

  I polished off two breakfasts at my favorite food stand in the Klee market. It wasn't a good place for a serious discussion. We spent the time eating and monitoring the minds and conversations evolving around us.

  I was very impressed everything seemed so normal. No hidden fears about an attempted coup or assassination plot. Just another quiet day at the market.

  People were talking about the raids on the docks. Everyone was pleased the king's guard killed or captured the group of thugs. There were rumors the thugs were heavily armed pirates planning a series of raids on shipping along the river. Everyone assumed the king's guard got lucky or someone tipped them off. No one mourned the pirates.

  There was less support for the crackdown on the more bribable members of the king's guard. Most of those arrested were known to be on the take. Many market goers were unhappy because the arrests meant bribing any member of the king's guard would be a bad idea for at least a few months. The general feeling was it would be harder to find a flexible member of the king's guard even after some time passed.

  It sounded like Klee was about to experience an extended period of lawfulness.

  We 'ported home for the discussion I knew my mate was dreading.

  The first order of business was a quick after-action assessment about how I got injured and the immediate aftermath.

  Argon decided not to communicate this in words. Instead, she showed me.

  Argon materialized to the nightmare of seeing me being impaled by a metal shaft. She recognized I was incapacitated and triggered our deadman's teleport to the lobby of Klee hospital.

  She messaged Tobron who sent out the alert to Alba, Cleon, and Inoa.

  She kept spamming her prepared "heal them" spells on me as Alba arrived to help.

  I was hemorrhaging so rapidly they were worried I would bleed out before they could fix enough of the ruptured blood vessels to make a difference. To that end, they left the enchanted shaft in my chest wall to limit the bleeding.

  Argon became desperate and conjured a supply of my blood into their transfusion bottles, which they poured into me slightly faster than it leaked out.

  They were both tapping out their flesh magic supply and pulled me out of unconsciousness to begin triggering my "heal me" spells. Argon helped me trigger the spells and Alba began directing the healing magic generated by the spells to keep the blood inside me. She temporarily closed several of the largest bleeders until they could be reconnected. Alba knew if she didn't stop the bleeding immediately there was no need to worry about future cell damage.

  She was making good progress when they realized the spear's dispel enchantment was interfering with their repairs. After beating their collective heads against the wall, they determined it had to be removed. They feared pulling out the spear might cause more damage. Alba worried they wouldn’t have enough healing magic to repair what the
y found.

  Alba called Cleon to remove it. They were apprehensive the spear's enchantment would make it impossible to detach cleanly from my flesh. He crafted a combined teleport and force spell to grab it and rematerialize with it at the Klee armory. Argon worked with him to insinuate a sheath of her force magic to surround the spear and press against my flesh. They hoped her force shield would keep the pressure on the damaged areas until they could either be blocked or healed.

  Once those preparations were complete Alba and Argon had both recovered a bit of healing magic, and other healers were now on site to assist.

  Cleon grabbed the spear and teleported away. He reappeared moments later, without the spear but by all hell broke loose in the operating area.

  I was lucky Argon built up a supply of fresh blood because I needed it. The spear had kept a tear in my heart from breaching. When the spear left, the tear became a large gusher. Only Alba's extreme skill as a magical surgeon allowed her to stop my heart from beating and then reconnect and heal the torn bits of my heart in time to prevent brain damage.