by Guy Antibes
“It is not the time for that, although the day may come should you survive to live among my subjects,” Akkora said. “I was worried about you.”
“Why worry about me? I’m one of those inconsequential citizens without alliances, family, or friends. I don’t worship you, and I don’t even know how,” Jack said. He was getting a bit tired of all the tips about treating people he didn’t know.
“Ah, but you are, let us say, a friend, a close friend, actually. I have come to warn you about your training in Yomomai. The Pearl Mist academy employs certain techniques to improve the reliability of its warriors.”
Jack sighed. “Mind control?”
“Not quite, but it deadens emotion. They use a rod similar to your energy rods. Within the spell is a spell to ignore what you value, the humanity of others. I love all my subjects and understand how you feel. Unfortunately, there are few I can really touch. It is the way with all of us. I will teach you a spell that will counter theirs. You can imbue the spell in energy rods of your own. I dare not do much, but I will do this for you. Be wary of all kinds of tricks, from friends and foes, alike.”
She reached forward and touched Jack’s forehead. An unfamiliar feeling filled him. It was like an emotion in Masukaian. Something he couldn’t describe, even in his thoughts.
The courtyard turned dark, and Jack woke in darkness. He felt the rough texture and resilience of the reed mat underneath him. The food was still cold, but Jack relit his light and finished it all. He was very hungry.
Jack thought about his dream. He remembered everything in detail, even the spell that Akkora had placed in his mind, but Jack chuckled to himself. He had created charms that protected Tanner and Helen back in Corand. They didn’t need Akkora’s help, as appreciated as it would have been if the dream had been real.
He went back to sleep, and after a dreamless slumber, he awoke to feel very refreshed. Jack narrowed his eyes. He grabbed his knife and used its shiny finish to look at his forehead and groaned.
A white smudge that looked like a cloud was in the center of his brow. He tried to wipe it off, somehow knowing it wouldn’t. With another sigh, he looked in his things and found a headband that many Masukaians wore. He remembered Akkora’s visit so clearly because it wasn’t a dream, after all.
He wrapped it around his forehead and left his room, locking it behind him this time, in search of food. Jack found Helen and Tanner talking with their heads together.
Tanner lifted an eyebrow. “A fashion statement?” he said.
“That is exactly what it is,” Jack said. “It is to remind me of something I learned.”
“It has something to do with friends and foes?” Helen asked.
“And family,” Jack said. “You are my family, you know.” He felt a bit sugary saying such a thing, but in his mind, it was true enough.
“Oh, Jack,” Tanner said, sarcastically.
Helen patted Jack on the shoulder. “I understand why you would do such a thing. For your information, Tanner is more like you than he would admit.”
“We are both men, of course,” Tanner said, keeping the discussion light.
“Indeed,” Jack said. “I’m no longer a teenager.”
“Oh, when was your birthday?”
“A few months ago.”
Helen now patted him on the head. “You should have told us.”
“I don’t know your birthdays, so I didn’t want to call attention to myself,” Jack said.
“Like now?” Tanner smiled and folded his arms. “Aren’t we family, now?”
Jack adjusted his headband. “What is your birthday?” he asked.
“I don’t tell people that!” Tanner said defensively.
“Right. Now you know how I felt. I just didn’t want you calling me a teenager, again. I’m still younger than you both, and that will never change.”
“Other things will change, but that won’t,” Helen said.
Namori joined them. The table only sat four so Grigar got to eat his breakfast with Okiku and the driver.
“What is with the headband?” Namori said.
“It has to do with his quest,” Helen said. “It symbolizes his dedication.”
“Something I dreamed up last night,” Jack said. “By the way, thanks to whoever left a tray in my room.”
Namori looked over her shoulder at Okiku. “You can thank her. She was a bit guilty for how she treated you yesterday. I don’t know what it was, but she felt a delivered meal was sufficient recompense.”
“More than enough,” Jack said, smiling.
Three days later, they waited in a long, long line to enter the capital of Yomomai. Jack was a bit fidgety, as was Helen, Tanner, and Grigar. This was all new to them, but Okiku didn’t seem fazed by the wait or by what they would face in the capital.
“Just hand them your ranking cards,” Okiku said. “I will take care of the rest.”
Jack nodded and sighed, but he didn’t like relying on the wizardess. When the party finally reached the gates of the city, the Imperial Guards asked them for their cards.
“What is your business in the city,” the guard asked. “We generally don’t let—”
“You may arrest them now,” Okiku said. “These are four foreigners who stole their ranking cards.”
“A capital offense! We will remove them. Give me your name and address in Yomomai so we can send you your reward,” the guard said.
Jack began to struggle, but more guards poured into the gate and subdued all four of them. More guards wrapped them in chains and led them away. He looked back at Namori who appeared as confused as Jack felt.
“Why?” Jack asked Okiku.
The woman smiled. “Why not?”
Chapter Twelve
~
J ack looked up at the grate that let a shaft of light into their cell. He and Grigar had just teleported out of their chains. The guards locked them up in a small prison not far from the gate.
“I don’t know if I can pick these locks,” Jack said. “We don’t have those in Corand.”
“We already know that,” Helen said through gritted teeth. She shook her chains at him.
The warded box was still around his neck, but they had taken away his Serpent’s Orb copy. That was what he hoped would melt the chains. Jack looked around for something he could use and spotted a metal spoon on their metal food trays.
“I’ll try to make an object of power,” Jack said.
He grabbed the spoon and used one of the eating sticks to scratch a line down the middle of the spoon. That would have to do. He didn’t know if the metal would last, but they didn’t have any alternative. Ceramic would have been better.
As he imbued the spoon, he clutched Eldora’s box. He swayed on his feet and became so weak his legs gave way, but the spell was now part of the spoon.
“A few moments to regain some power,” Jack said. He endured more cursing from Helen, and now Tanner joined in.
“You aren’t very patient,” Grigar said. “Give the boy some time to recover. Do you realize how unique this is? He has just created an object of power.”
Helen shook her head, pressing her lips together. “It isn’t like we haven’t seen this before.”
Jack had Tanner spread his legs as much as he could before he tried the spell. The liquid fire of the Jack’s copy of the Serpent’s Orb dribbled onto the chain and sizzled on the stone-paved floor. It took three tries, but the metal finally softened enough so Jack and Tanner could pull the link apart.
“Let it cool, first,” Grigar said, chiding an impatient Tanner.
“Oh,” Jack said. He used his blue-cuffed bracer to coat the hot links with ice. Steam rose and made the sliver of light brighten up when it reached it.
Tanner and Jack worked the chain, so he was able to leave them behind.
“Ladies last,” Tanner said.
Helen glared at him. “Especially in Masukai.”
Jack repeated the spell. It took a few more tries, but soon, the four of them were out of
their chains.
“You can teleport us out, now,” Helen said.
“Not now,” Tanner said. “We need to wait for dark. There will be fewer guards about, and we will need the cover to escape this prison.”
Grigar sighed and sat on the low cot. It didn’t have a mattress but a tight netting of stinky rope that served to support a prisoner’s body. “This has all been so tedious.”
All the exertion made Jack hot and irritable. Helen hadn’t even thanked him for getting her out of the chains. He took the headband off and used it to wipe off his sweaty face.
“What is that?” Grigar asked.
Jack looked at him. “What?”
He pointed to Jack’s forehead.
Jack sighed. “It—”
Tanner laughed. “Who was it? Akkora?”
Grigar looked lost. “A priestess you met at the inn where we stayed? I wondered about your wearing a headband all of a sudden.”
“No,” Jack said, “Akkora, the goddess. It seems they like to visit me from time to time. I was going to tell you about it when we reached the Pearl Mist academy. Now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Tell us the entire story?” Tanner asked impatiently.
Jack told them of the visitation and the warnings.
“I don’t believe this,” Grigar said. “I thought your Eldora and Grishel stories were there to liven up your account.”
Jack removed his bracers. “More souvenirs.”
Grigar examined all three gods-given marks. “They are like tattoos, and I can even make out a faint sense of power.”
“I’m not happy about the one in the middle of my forehead,” Jack said.
“You can always cut your hair into bangs,” Helen said, smirking.
“I haven’t seen a single Masukaian wearing bangs. Have you?” Jack said.
Helen shrugged but smiled at Tanner, who didn’t give Jack any sympathy either.
“Don’t get me wrong, Jack,” Tanner said. “I believe you had a visitation. I believe the white cloud of mist on your forehead is from the goddess Akkora, and I will take to heart the fact that the Pearl Mist people will try to cloud our minds. Helen can agree that happens.”
“I can,” Helen said, losing her mocking expression. “At least the mark is the size of a fingernail and doesn’t cover your forehead.” She pursed her lips to restrain a smile, but that didn’t keep Tanner from laughing, and Jack was disappointed that Grigar joined in with a chuckle.
“I haven’t met Takia or Alderach yet,” Jack said to Grigar. “It’s not like I’m close friends.”
“Didn’t you say she called you a close friend?” Grigar said.
“I did?” Jack said. He pounded a fist on his thigh.
“You did, and now I’m a little thirsty.” He took a small metal bowl from his food tray and held it out to Jack, who filled it with water.
“Eldora did a nice job with that,” Grigar said smacking his lips. “It tastes heavenly.”
Helen smiled. “I think we’ve used that joke before,” she said.
Jack tried his best to ignore the three of them and rested on his rope mattress to recover from his work.
“You can wake up now,” Tanner said, shaking Jack.
The tiny skylight was dark. It seemed late, although Jack didn’t know how long he slept. The others didn’t since Helen had been the first to stir.
Jack put his ear to the door and didn’t hear any voices. All was quiet in their little prison. He tied the headband around his forehead and teleported to the other side. There was a torch at each end, and the flickering flames were the only source of light in the corridor.
In a moment, all four of them were standing outside their cell.
“Which way?” Grigar said. “I don’t remember.”
Tanner pointed left. “That way.”
They reached the end of the corridor, but Tanner drew back. “Assassins,” he whispered and drew them back. They padded to the other side of the corridor, but before they reached it, more black-clad figures were filling their two avenues of escape.
“What do we do now?” Grigar asked. “I’m not used to doing this type of thing.”
“Surrender,” one of the masked men said.
Jack raised his hands. If they had wanted to kill them, the men wouldn’t have asked for their surrender.
One of the figures tossed black tunics and hoods to them. “Put these on,” the female voice said.
“Namori.” Helen said, very softly.
Another test, Jack thought. They could have killed someone getting out of the prison, but then Masukaians wouldn’t care about that, would they? Corpses probably littered the prison. He sighed and put the clothes on. At least he was alive.
They all turned left and exited through a secret door in the masonry. The Pearl Mist had made themselves at home in Yomomai.
No one said a word until they emerged in a basement. Jack hadn’t thought any of the dwellings had basements. They climbed up a ladder and out a trapdoor into a shop of some kind. Jack smelled aromatic wood. He guessed a craftsman’s shop since the smell reminded Jack of his father’s business.
One of the rescuers slid a door open and looked out. “A patrol will pass in a few minutes. We will leave after they pass.”
Jack could hear laughter as a squad of six Imperial Guards walked past, telling humorous stories, he thought. The stoic behavior wasn’t shared among peers, Jack guessed.
They slipped out the front door and carefully trod on a wooden walkway and onto the cobbles of the road. The capital’s cobbles were tight-fitting dressed stone. As they made their way through other streets and alleys, only a few citizens were about. They walked down an alley and entered a large warehouse of some kind through another hidden door.
As the door closed, hands gripped them until Jack heard a metallic click. Perhaps their entrance was now locked.
Flames appeared all around. Jack looked at the faces and recognized Okiku’s face.
“Did they fight you when you reached their cell?” the woman asked.
“They had just escaped. We were just in position, counting minutes before starting the operation.
“Escaped?” Jack didn’t recognize the man’s voice. He stepped forward. He was probably a little older than Fasher. “You were able to leave your cell?”
“Of course,” Jack said. “I’m a Wizard-Eight, aren’t I?”
“No eighth level wizard has left a cell before,” the man said.
Jack had another flippant comment on the tip of this tongue, but he bit it before he uttered another word.
“He has talents that are a bit unusual,” Grigar said. “We used teleportation to escape our chains,” Grigar pointed to Jack and them to himself. “Then, Jack created an object of power to melt the chains that bound Helen and Tanner before teleporting us out of the cell, one-at-a-time.”
“Is that correct?” the man asked one of their rescuers.
The hooded man shrugged. “It could have happened that way. All we know is they were walking in the corridors, and their cell door was shut. We hadn’t yet unlocked it.”
“He can teleport, even with another person,” the man said to Okiku. “I must admit I didn’t quite believe you.”
“I still have the plant he brought me,” Okiku said.
“What do we do now that we are criminals?” Tanner asked.
“Don’t worry about the ranking cards. You will get new ones, but after another round of training,” the leader said.
Chapter Thirteen
~
T he Pearl Mist academy had a public side and a private side. Torii Ishoru, the leader who interrogated them the previous night, gave them quarters that were a little bit better than their previous cells. Jack got his own room, though. He slept on a mat, but that was better than the cot. Namori said they were kept on the private side until they were tested again.
“The imperial bureaucracy has quite a few societies and guilds who are delegated the ability to is
sue ranking cards. Your new cards will carry different names,” Namori said.
“Then why issue ranking cards in the first place?” Jack asked. They sat around a low table on cushions in a dining area.
“Names aren’t important, but the ranking is,” Namori explained.
Okiku joined them while they ate breakfast. She brought a sack of rods. “Our healers would like to experiment with your healing and energy rods. As part of the price of your training, we request that you fill these,” she said.
“Do I get a better room?” Jack said.
“You can act better than that,” Okiku said, scolding him.
Jack bowed after the reproof. Maybe it was better to be a guard who could laugh with his friends in the street than someone with a higher rank who had to carry a straight face.
“From what we learned from Namori about your training, there will be more of the same. You need to speak with a better accent, and a better vocabulary will come naturally from more study and more reading. We will teach you other branches of martial arts, fighting without weapons will be one of them, but none of you are expected to achieve any kind of mastery,” Okiku said.
Helen made a sound but kept her face smooth when the wizardess glared at her. The wizardess made a different sound of her own, but Jack could figure out that Helen would take the wizardess’ comment about mastery to heart.
A man approached the table with a pile of books and distributed three books to the four of them. Okiku watched him depart. “You may begin to look through these until midday when you are tested on language, wizardry, and martial arts again.” She rose and followed him out of the commissary or whatever it was.
Jack had no idea where they were in the city. They were moved so quickly from the jail that Jack was completely turned around before they entered the warehouse, or whatever place they were in. They sat amongst themselves, perusing the books after Namori left the table.
Grigar made a disagreeable face. “I don’t like having to waste precious months of my remaining life learning after all these years. I don’t know about you, but my mind isn’t as nimble as it once was.”
“Maybe your body has slowed down, but I doubt if you’ve lost anything up here,” Tanner said, tapping the side of his head with a finger.