The Great Northern War (The Portal Wars Saga Book 2)

by Wisher, James E

  The view expanded as Otto pulled back. He flew around a nearby tree but came up empty again. There was nowhere else nearby to hide.

  He flew high enough to see the entire village. Father and the others were only a minute or so away from the wagon.

  A hint of movement on the baker’s roof caught his eye. A closer look revealed a bearded man armed with a crossbow hiding behind the chimney.

  In a moment Father and Stephan would step into view.

  Otto formed a hand out of ether and pulled the bolt out of the crossbow, gently, so it would look like it slipped. He would have bound the man in place but feared him falling and breaking his neck.

  Next he connected his voice to the ether and flew down by his father’s ear. “He’s on the bakery roof and armed with a crossbow.”

  Father stopped and barked orders Otto couldn’t hear.

  Otto dissolved his ethereal senses and returned full awareness to his body. “Hans, let’s check out the wagon. Father and his men will capture the spy.”

  Hans nodded and Otto led the way to the tinker’s wagon, being careful to avoid the bakery and the many shouts coming from that part of the village. They reached the wagon without incident and without being seen, at least as far as Otto could tell.

  The wagon looked exactly the same to his physical eyes as it did to his magical sight. The canvas was a little rattier up close, but other than that he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

  “Someone check under the seat.” Otto climbed up into the back of the wagon. There was a faint noise coming from somewhere. “Do you hear that, Hans?”

  “I hear something, my lord.”

  Otto pulled his dagger and started tapping the floor. It sounded hollow under the center board.

  He backed out of the way and said, “Pull that board loose.”

  Two of the squad knelt and jammed their own daggers into the cracks between the boards. A little wiggling and prying and they soon had it loose. There was a small opening underneath and inside were three cages holding a trio of black birds.

  Otto pulled one out for a closer look. “Do these animals look familiar to you?”

  Hans eyed the birds and nodded. “They look just like the ones we found back in the city. This guy’s a spy for sure.”

  “Indeed.” Otto frowned and asked, “What did you ever do with that bird we took from the rookery?”

  “We kinda made it the squad mascot. I asked a couple of the guards back at the barracks to feed it while we were gone,” Han said.

  “You know if it gets out of its cage it’ll fly straight back to Straken,” Otto said. Since they were at war now, he could think of a way to use that. “Keep this one but don’t get attached. I’ve got a job for it for later.”

  Hans took the cage and handed it off to one of his men. Otto zapped the rest of the birds just to be sure and they set to work searching. Ten minutes later when Father and a bleeding but still breathing tinker showed up, Otto had found three hidden compartments. The contents were rather disappointing: writing materials, some gold and silver coins, and a nice selection of weapons.

  Otto climbed down out of the wagon. “Congratulations on capturing your first Straken spy.”

  “No thanks to you,” Stephan said.

  “I could have let him shoot you with the crossbow,” Otto said. “Don’t think I didn’t consider it. Only the fear that I’d end up as Father’s heir stopped me.”

  “Enough, both of you,” Father said. “I’m going to question him at once. Do you want to sit in?”

  “Yes, thank you. Hans, keep searching. Tear the wagon completely apart if you have to.”

  Hans nodded and got back to work. Otto fell in behind his father and brother and they set out for the castle. As they walked, Otto darted a few looks at the injured spy. The blood was coming from a deep gash in the man’s side. His rib bones were visible and only the efforts of two soldiers kept him upright.

  He certainly looked the part of a poor traveling tinker. If Otto hadn’t found all the hidden items in his wagon, he would have doubted the information he got from the bandit yesterday was accurate.

  “You’ve taken my command to get close to the new king to heart,” Father said.

  “Not really. Wolfric is a good man and a good friend. Our friendship was more his doing than mine. It’s an honor to serve as his advisor.” It was also a handy way to steer him in the direction that would make Otto’s dream of becoming the next Arcane Lord a reality, but he saw no reason to tell his father that last part.

  When they reached the castle, Father dismissed all the soldiers save those half carrying the prisoner. They made the short walk to the basement torture chamber. Three braziers filled the room with ruddy light.

  Someone had already set the coals to heating and put a trio of irons in them. On the right-hand wall hung a dozen different blades in various shapes and sizes. In the center sat a rack fixed with a heavy winch and thick, leather restraints. The almost-black stains on the wood gave silent testimony to Father’s frequent use of the room.

  “Strip him and strap him down,” Father said.

  The spy’s rags were ripped away and thrown in a corner. While the soldiers were strapping him to the rack, Father selected a glowing iron rod that ended in a wide, flat stamp. As soon as he was secured, Father slapped the iron to the spy’s wound.

  He screamed as the hot metal seared the injury shut. At least now he wouldn’t bleed to death. Otto left his father to do his thing. If experience was any indicator, he’d torture the spy for a while before asking any actual questions. Otto wanted a closer look at his clothes.

  He conjured a light and started with the man’s bloody shirt. It was slashed and soaked through, nothing written on the inside or outside. He tossed it aside and moved on to the cheap canvas pants. The prisoner let out a few more screams but Otto ignored them. Before his time in the capital, he would have cringed and fled as fast as he could. But now the man’s pain meant nothing to him. Whether that was an improvement or not he wasn’t ready to say.

  A blade of ether slashed both pant legs so he could look at the inside. Not encouraging. As he was about to toss them aside, Otto noticed the cuff was folded up and sewed shut. Not unusual if your hand-me-downs were too big, but his gut said to check them anyway.

  Using magic to pick threads was tricky, but he treated it like a control test and in short order had the threads loose. When he unfolded them, a small, tightly folded piece of paper fell out.

  Unfolding that without tearing it was nearly as tricky as picking out the threads, but he eventually managed to get the four-inch square smooth. In a crisp, neat hand someone had written orders for his followers should anything happen to him. The bandits must have known to look in his cuff.

  The instructions indicated the next contact was based in a town called Grunewald and that the bandits could get new orders there. Otto didn’t recognize the name of the town, but he doubted he’d have any trouble finding it.

  Chapter 16

  The spy finally expired after what Otto suspected was the longest three hours of his life. If Father understood the concept of mercy, he showed no sign of it during the interrogation. In the end, the spy told them everything, the location of all the camps in Shenk Barony, his orders from Straken, everything.

  When he was finished, Father led the way outside. The clean, fresh air was a welcome change from the stink of blood and burnt flesh. Other than the soldiers manning the walls, Otto, Stephan, and their father were alone. Sergeant Hans and his squad should have finished up by now, but they might have decided against returning to the castle. Otto would have to find them when he was done.

  “What will you do now?” Father asked.

  “That depends,” Otto said. “Will you need assistance dealing with the bandits?”

  Father snorted at the suggestion.

  “In that case, I’ll leave at first light to find the next link in the chain. Are you familiar with the town of Grunewald?”

  Father sh
ook his head. “Never heard of it, though it sounds like the sort of name they’d use in the south.”

  Hopefully not too far south. Otto had more pressing business than running all over the kingdom hunting spies.

  “Will you be joining us for dinner?” Father asked.

  The invitation surprised Otto and he took a moment to answer. Mostly it came down to whether having to tolerate Griswalda was outweighed by getting to see Mother and sneaking a little magic show in for the kids. In the end he decided it was. “I’ll be there.”

  Father nodded once and he and Stephan stomped off toward the keep. Otto turned for the gate. The same pair as when he arrived was on duty and Otto asked, “Have you seen my squad?”

  “No, my lord,” the older guard said.

  Maybe they were still searching the wagon. When the portcullis was high enough, Otto ducked under and headed east. It didn’t take long to make the trip and sure enough he found Hans and the others seated around the covered wagon, a stack of papers between them.

  “Find something?” Otto asked.

  They started to stand but he waved them back.

  “I’m not sure what we found, Lord Shenk,” Hans said. “These are all records of where the tinker visited and did business. I can’t decide if they’re real and he kept them as a cover, or if there’s some kind of code.”

  “Do any of them mention the town of Grunewald?”

  “Not that I’ve seen,” Hans said.

  “I’ve got one,” a young man named Lute said. He held out the paper and Otto started reading.

  About six months ago, the spy had visited Grunewald, repaired a tea pot, and sold three frying pans. Looked like he stayed one night before moving on. Interesting. Otto handed the paper back.

  “I want you to sort those by town. Everything in Shenk Barony in one pile and everything out of it in another.”

  “Of course, my lord,” Hans said. “May I ask why?”

  “I think this guy was more than the commander of a local group of bandits. I think he was a messenger between the Straken spies. The fact that he was in Grunewald and the town was mentioned on a hidden note as the location of another spy can’t be a coincidence. Anywhere else he visited is potentially a target. Oh, and where’s that bird? It’s time to send Straken a message.”

  The cage was resting on the ground behind the wagon. Cord got it and handed it to Otto. He set the cage down and collected a blank scrap of paper from the pile. Switching his vision to the ether, Otto set to work charging the paper with fire magic. When it nearly glowed in his magical vision, he rolled it up and set a thread across the edge as a trigger.

  “Get the bird out.”

  Hans gently pulled the black pigeon out of its cage and held it while Otto slipped the paper in a small leather holder attached to its leg.

  “Let it go.”

  With a rush of wings, the pigeon took off and headed directly north. Otto grinned as it disappeared from sight. With any luck the Lady in Red collected her own messages. If she did, this would be the last one she collected.

  Hans and the men were looking at him but asked no questions. “I need to make a couple stops then I’m joining my family for dinner. When you finish, head back to the castle. You can find bunks and food in the barracks.”

  Hans saluted and Otto took his leave. As soon as he was out of sight, he became one with the ether and shifted to Lord Karonin’s tower. Her green-tinged face filled the mirror that was the top floor’s sole decoration. She looked exactly the same every time he saw her, same high cheekbones, same dark hair floating around her face, same cold, emotionless eyes. He shouldn’t be surprised. The dead didn’t age any more than immortal spellcasters did.

  “I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon, Apprentice.”

  Otto bowed. “Master, I was hoping you could help me with something. I need a way to see beyond the mile or so I can extend my sight through the ether. Do you know a way?”

  “My, but you do have an appetite for secrets. Of course there’s a way. There’s a way to do almost anything if you know how to shape the ether properly. Farseeing requires something extra. In the armory you may have noticed a clear crystal ball sitting on a pillow.”

  Otto thought back. He’d been so focused on all the wondrous things he couldn’t actually remember a crystal ball. Still, if it was there, he’d find it. “What purpose does it serve?”

  “If you connect it to the ether, you can use it like a window to anywhere you can imagine. The view will be warped by the crystal, so you can’t see details like you could by extending your own sight, but for observing troop movements, or the comings and goings of a town, it works wonderfully.”

  “What’s the process for connecting it to the ether?” Otto asked.

  “It’s complicated. Go to the armory and fetch it. You can make your first attempt with my guidance. I doubt you could get it on your own.”

  He wasn’t about to turn down the chance to learn directly from his master. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter 17

  The Lady in Red paced in front of her office door. The general of the southern army was late in making contact and she hadn’t heard from several of her agents in over a week. The lack of information was making her nervous. It wasn’t doing anything to improve Uther’s mood either. The king was snarling more than usual, though happily not at her. Still, his temper was making the entire castle staff uneasy. The keeper of the pigeon coop was due to make his report anytime now. She wished he’d hurry up.

  She stopped and turned to make another trip around her favorite worrying spot. Before her foot came down an explosion shook the castle. She staggered but caught herself. What in the world could that have been?

  The noise sounded like it had come from the eastern wing of the castle near the coop.

  She hurried down the hall anxious to find out what was going on. Nervous servants looked at her as she passed but she had no time to waste. She rounded the corner and found herself staring at open air. The pigeon coop was gone. The door and frame that led to it were a mangled mess of wood and shattered stone. A catapult stone making a square impact on the castle wouldn’t have done that much damage.

  She moved closer, testing each step to make sure the floor wasn’t going to collapse underneath her. She made it to the entrance and peered around what was left of the room. The stone was blackened and all the birds were dead. A charred body was smashed up against the wall. Only magic could have done this.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  She turned to find Uther stomping his way down the hall toward her. The king’s face was red and he kept his hand on the hilt of his sword as though expecting to find someone to fight.

  “We received a message, Majesty,” she said. “It seems the wizards of Garenland have entered the war.”

  Uther brushed past her and peered into the ruined room. “You think magic did this?”

  “I can’t think of anything else that might have. It appears the rumors are true. The new king really has given his wizards the freedom to use their magic offensively.”

  “That boy is a fool. Taking the wizards off their leash will lead to his destruction.” Uther turned to face her. “I’ve always believed that the only good wizard is a dead one. This just reminds me why. We’ll need to set up new lines of communication. Can you handle it?”

  “Of course I can, but anything I devise will be far slower than the pigeons. We’ll probably need to use relay riders.”

  “Do whatever you must. And get this mess cleaned up.” Uther stomped off back the way he’d come leaving her to handle the details the same way he always did. Not that she minded. The more he relied on her, the safer she was.

  Chapter 18

  Dinner with his family went better than Otto feared it might, mostly because Griswalda pled sick and ate in her room. It was a kindness he hadn’t expected, though he assumed it was because she couldn’t stand looking at him.

  Well, the feeling was mutual and he was
happy not to have to deal with her. Stephan was on his best behavior and even Father was in a good mood now that he knew where to find the bandits. No doubt he would find hours of entertainment with those unfortunate fellows in the torture chamber. Not that Otto had much sympathy for bandits, especially ones that threw in with Garenland’s enemies.

  He’d barely made it home in time since it took hours to learn how to make the crystal ball work and, even now, he couldn’t get a clear image through the blasted thing. Still, it was good enough to find bandit camps and that was all he needed. All in all, Otto couldn’t complain about his day back home.

  But he had to get back to work. He left early the next morning to avoid goodbyes, pausing only long enough to leave a letter for his mother. He would have liked to give her a final hug, but that would have meant dealing with Father, Stephan, and heaven only knew who else. No, a note was definitely the way to say his goodbyes.

  Outside, he found Sergeant Hans and his men up and getting their mounts ready. Otto had found a map with Grunewald marked on it. It was well to the south, but the roads were clear this time of year and it shouldn’t take the men more than a week to make the ride, probably less.

  As soon as Hans spotted him approaching, he saluted fist to heart. “Morning, Lord Shenk.”

  “Hans. I trust you have all the supplies you need?”

  “The quartermaster was most generous, even trading the wagon for a fine gelding.” Hans’s forehead crinkled. “Are you not going with us, my lord?”

  “No, I’ll join you when you arrive.” Otto took a rune-marked coin from his pocket and handed it to Hans. “When you reach Grunewald, get rooms at an inn, set this in a large open space on the floor, and tap it hard with your dagger hilt like you did before. I’ll sense it and come join you. Just make sure you stay at least six feet from the coin until I arrive. I’m not sure what will happen to you if the ethereal energy hits you and I don’t want to find out.”