by Ann Macela
When he and Jake parted, Saxt searched out Clyde, who also agreed to say nothing—after he expressed his pleasure for Johanna and added his own warning.
To clear his head and get some fresh air, Saxt walked alone from the Defender Building to the hotel along the shoveled outside path rather than through the underground parking. No matter how frigid the temperature, he needed a little solitude before dinner and the big demonstration afterward.
Chuckling to himself, he remembered Jake’s and Clyde’s words. Both in the past and for the future, Johanna was fortunate to have them around, Clyde as her team leader and Jake running the school. She’d have somebody to watch out for her when he had to travel on business.
The two men didn’t know him, or they’d have realized they didn’t need a warning. Where Johanna was concerned, “Protection” was his new middle name.
Except … a sudden unease snuck into his backbone and stopped him in his tracks. What was wrong with his conclusion? Or was it his mind-set from the beginning? Johanna was his soul mate. Therefore it fell to him to protect her.
Except … the woman was a Sword. A Sword, for God’s sake. On the front line of the Defenders when destroying evil magic items. He hadn’t thought of that last night when considering how living with a woman so different from Maddy would play out. Different didn’t begin to describe the contrast between the two.
How in the world was he going to protect her when she faced an evil magic item inside a pentagon?
Ask her not to do it?
No, impossible. He couldn’t even suggest that she quit the dangerous work. Being a Sword was a true calling, as he could attest. The talent was a deep, integral part of their beings. Neither of them was going to, neither of them was able, to give it up.
Should he, could he be in the fortress with her?
Hmmm. That idea had distinct possibilities.
Weren’t there rules about soul mates not being on the same team? He didn’t know of any who were.
He needed information before deciding on a plan. He needed to talk to spouses of Swords and to women Swords. How did they handle it? On the other hand, he didn’t want to draw attention to either of them, especially not as soul mates. So he couldn’t go around asking right away, no matter how much he wanted the information.
Damn. Saxt gazed around at the frozen landscape. He wasn’t going to learn answers or make decisions here. He resumed his walk toward the hotel, though now it had become more like a forced march back to work.
Chapter Eighteen
That evening, Johanna studied the Swords and Defenders milling about in the large arena while they waited for Jake and Saxt after the orientation session in one of the classrooms. To practice spinning the ring and to take part in an evil item’s actual destruction, a number of Defenders had volunteered to help with the Sword training.
Good thing, too, because they had more than enough Swords—so many, in fact, that each pentagon would have four blade wielders instead of the usual two.
Johanna checked the safety precautions one last time. A couple of teaching masters had cast the protective spells for the wall around the oval and the balcony barriers, check. Outlines for the six pentagons were clearly marked on the floor with enough space between them so they couldn’t interfere with each other, check. Everybody on the arena floor had their robes on and securely fastened for maximum protection, check. The level-one evil items, each in a lead-lined box, sat next to the pedestals in the center of each fortress, check.
In her place at one end of the oval, she was responsible for supervising the two pentagons there. Clyde would watch over the two in the middle, and Saxt the two at the other end. Teaching masters—whom she had spent the day training—were also on the floor to help.
Poor Saxt, he was supervising the team with Phil in it. Yes, Johanna knew that was the way Jake and Saxt had planned it, and she felt sorry for him nonetheless.
Phil was down at the far end, holding court among his cohorts. Four of his Defender buddies were grouped around him, laughing and joking. No Swords, of course. Phil’s ego wouldn’t allow competition. All of his followers were under the age of thirty and below level twelve. Phil was definitely the “old man” of the group at age thirty-eight and the most powerful at level fourteen.
Johanna recognized the three youngest as her former students. They were “adequate” Defenders, capable of sharing power as needed. If they applied themselves, they could make a contribution to their teams. Of course, under Phil’s influence, they had joined none. Instead, they had remained Independents, seemingly happy to rotate around the sun that was Phil. That was one way to avoid responsibility and growing up, she guessed.
Their leader had not made an appearance in the Defender Building all day, as far as she knew. He was ignoring her now, thank goodness. The last problem she wanted or needed was another argument with him.
Ah, Saxt with Jake and the two council presidents entered the room. They could get started.
Despite her determination not to give others a single clue about their soul-mate situation, Johanna’s center warmed, and she felt herself blushing. Saxt didn’t help by winking at her as he passed. Scoundrel. She immediately wheeled around and marched to a spot between the two fortresses. Since nobody was paying attention to her, she indulged in a secret little smile of her own.
Saxt acknowledged the presence of the two council presidents as observers and quickly sent everyone to their places. Within fifteen minutes, all teams had cast their fortress spells and created and spun their rings.
Johanna loved this part of magic practice, with power swirling within the pentagons, her excitement rising, and her center humming in anticipation. She inspected the fortresses in her care, suggested refinements on technique, and made sure everyone was all right. The happy and concentrated expressions on the participants’ faces proclaimed their pleasure and their attention to the job.
“If any of you Defenders and Swords haven’t walked through a ring before, do that now,” Saxt said. “Then return to your places outside the ring.”
Whoops resounded from several fortresses when those who had not experienced the power rush passed through the wheel for the first time. Barnaby was standing next to Johanna and asked, “Could I try that? Even if I’m not a Defender?”
Figuring that it never hurt to show non-Defenders—especially the president of the Teaching Masters Council—what they did, Johanna queried the team in the closest pentagon, who made room. One member said with a grin, “Come on down.”
Barnaby took a big breath and stepped through the ring. “Holy moly!”
The team enjoyed a big laugh out of that, and Barnaby exited the pentagon appearing stunned and totally impressed.
“All right, everyone, it’s time to kill these items.” Saxt’s voice rang out through the room. “Swords, inside your rings. Designated item keeper, deposit the item in the bowl. Supervisors, signal when your teams are ready.”
After the teams followed the instructions, Johanna examined her fortresses again. “Looks good, people,” she told them both before she waved at Saxt. “We’re ready.”
“Let me repeat the steps,” Saxt continued when Clyde indicated readiness and his own teams were set. “We’ll destroy the items one pentagon at a time. Those waiting should hold their positions and let the energy continue to flow in and out.
“Swords, you will not draw your blades until your supervisor gives the order. Remember, when you point your sword at the item, build up the energy inside you, and on the count, shoot it out your tip with all your force. One burst of power like a bullet or cannon ball.
“Defenders, increase your output the second the Swords draw their blades, and keep pouring it into the ring until the item disintegrates. Everyone, stay in your pentagon until all the items are destroyed. Johanna, your first team is up.”
“Draw your blades,” Johanna told the Swords in her first fortress.
In less than ten minutes, both her teams had destroyed their item
s. Even though they expected the outcome, the ease with which they had done it had the usual effect on first timers—stunned silence followed by jubilation.
Clyde’s two teams accomplished their tasks in the same manner.
The team without Phil worked first, and they also disintegrated their item in good order.
Johanna hurried over to stand next to Clyde near the edge of the large encompassing oval. Their location gave them a side-on view of Phil.
In their earlier discussion on team assignments, Saxt and Jake had decided to let only two of Phil’s four Defender friends into the pentagon with him, thus overriding Phil’s request for all of them to be together. Jake and Johanna thought Phil was trying to “load” his power suppliers in his favor. Saxt and Clyde didn’t disagree with that assessment, but thought it better to give Phil the chance to try something, while making certain the other Swords could protect themselves by tapping into the “non-Phil” Defender sources. Even level-one items could be dangerous.
Standing with their backs to the “points” of the pentagon, Rodney Osterburg and Mort Kowalski now flanked Phil on either side. Both in their late-twenties, the two had attached themselves to Phil some years previously. The smaller of the two, Rodney came across as quick and nervous, while Mort moved sluggishly, both mentally and physically.
The three other Swords settled into place inside the ring. Instead of forming a square, as would be usual with four, the two nearest Phil stood closer to the woman across from him than they did to him. Each of the three stood directly in front of a Defender.
Johanna wondered if the Swords were aware of their self placement. She wasn’t surprised at their stance, though. She wouldn’t want to stand too close to Phil, either.
She glanced up at Clyde, who shrugged and whispered, “Okay, so far.”
Except for the slightly skewed “square,” she agreed with him. The team’s ring was spinning well, a good golden color, and the Defenders were feeding it energy at a reasonable rate. The Swords were standing calmly in the center, only lightly connected with the ring by gossamer threads of energy. All appeared normal. Except … Why was her magic center suddenly totally quiet, totally still, as if lying in wait, anticipating trouble?
“Draw your swords,” Saxt ordered. He stood outside the pentagon and slightly to Phil’s right side. Jake took up a similar position on Phil’s left.
The four blades appeared simultaneously. From the colors, Johanna estimated their levels at eleven, twelve, Phil’s fourteen, and fifteen. The level fifteen belonged to Margaret Highsmith, a medium-sized, middle-aged woman from Atlanta. Johanna didn’t have a chance to talk with her before the demonstration and had no clue to her knowledge of Phil. Would he attempt to hog energy with a level fifteen in the mix, especially when the higher level was standing opposite him?
The ring flared when the Swords drew their weapons, and the Defenders increased their energy output.
“Swords, begin to draw energy from the ring, and build the amount in your center slowly,” Saxt said. “Defenders, keep it coming.”
To test Phil further, Saxt and Jake had also decided to hold the team at this point for longer than they had the others. At first, the power built up smoothly. Before more than two minutes passed, however, Johanna noticed an irregular color shift in the ring and a sort of “stutter” to the flow.
Directly behind Phil, the ring threads that stretched between Rodney and Mort glowed darker than the rest—but on only the underside of the ring and only between those two Defenders. The threads connecting Phil to the power source grew thicker and also darker. He was definitely grabbing more power, and he was taking it from the bottom side of the ring behind him. The other Swords were drawing as usual from the entire breadth of the wheel.
Johanna tugged on Clyde’s robe and nodded at the threads.
“I see it,” Clyde agreed.
Before she or Clyde could point out the anomaly, Saxt stepped into the pentagon between Rodney and Mort and stuck his hand into the ring. He raised and lowered his hand twice, moving from the bright part of the ring to the darker and back. In the center, Phil didn’t move, and since Saxt was behind him, Johanna doubted that Phil even knew he was there. Although Rodney and Mort sent him startled glances, they didn’t change their power production.
Saxt motioned to Jake, who joined him inside the fortress and made the same hand movements within the ring.
The two men stepped out of the pentagon, and in a clear voice of command, Saxt ordered, “Swords, sheathe your blades. Everybody cut power to the ring. Now.”
They all followed his command immediately, and the ring vanished with its usual poof.
Several members of the team spoke at once, asking what the problem was. Phil and his two henchmen kept quiet. The Atlanta Sword was glaring at Phil, but said nothing.
“I think we have an imbalance here,” Saxt said. He pointed to Phil’s two buddies. “You switch places with the Defenders to your left and right. Swords, arrange yourselves in a true square inside the ring. Phil, you stay where you are. All right, let’s try the ring again.”
The participants in the other pentagons ignored the original rule to stay in place and gathered around to watch. So did the teaching masters. Johanna wondered if Phil would play to the crowd or, for once, concentrate on the business at hand.
Within a few minutes, the rearranged team spun their ring at a good rate, and the Swords stood in a true square in the center.
Saxt gave the command to draw blades and gather in energy. This time, the ring’s color was consistent throughout, and Phil was drawing no more power than the other Swords.
“Point your blades at the target,” Saxt ordered. “Pull in all the energy you can hold, and channel it into your blade. I will count to three. When I say ‘three,’ hit the item with all the force you can. Defenders, keep the power coming.”
The whoosh of the ring increased, and the gold glowed brighter. Johanna kept her eyes on Phil. He didn’t have his cohorts sending more energy his way, but that didn’t stop him from taking more than his share again. The threads linking him to the ring grew broader and thicker. The ring itself actually paled the tiniest bit.
Because Saxt had his back to her, Johanna couldn’t tell if he noticed Phil’s tactics. If he did, he didn’t stop the proceedings. Instead he finished them with, “Ready? One. Two. Three!”
All four Swords shot beams from the tips of their blades and engulfed the item in white light. It disintegrated, leaving not a single fragment of ash.
The Swords sheathed their weapons, and the Defenders cut the power and relaxed as the ring dissipated.
“Okay, people,” Jake said quickly, “Our practice is concluded. If you have questions, see Saxt, Johanna, or Clyde tomorrow. If you want help gathering a team for practice, see me. For now, eat and rest. All except this last team, that is. You stay here.”
Within a couple of minutes and with an efficiency Johanna admired, Jake had effectively shooed everyone else out. The arena was clear except for Saxt, Jake, Clyde, Johanna, the team with Phil—and the two council presidents. As far as Johanna knew, no one discussed Phil with Miriam and Barnaby, but the two leaders, sensing a problem here, were immovable, of course.
Before Saxt or Jake could speak, however, Margaret, the level-fifteen Sword, marched up to Phil and his two henchmen and declared in a deep Southern drawl, “If you boys ever try a stunt like that with me again, I’ll deep-fry your gizzards and serve them with corn bread.”
To Saxt, she said, “I’ll talk to you later. I’m too angry to be coherent, except to say that I never want to be in a pentagon with either of these three clowns again. Damn power hogs.”
As she stalked off, Saxt faced the team members not affiliated with Phil and asked, “What did you feel in the ring, both before I shifted people around and then right before the Swords shot the item?”
“Wait a minute!” Phil exclaimed. “I have some complaints about how you ran the practice.”
“Hold o
n, Phil, you’ll have your say,” Saxt said. “Linda, why don’t you begin?”
“This is the fourth ring I’ve spun,” Linda, the level-twelve Sword, said. “It felt fine until right before you said to shut it down. The wheel kind of ‘lurched,’ and I thought it was going to stop for a second. When the rotation picked up again, it was weird. I couldn’t pull as much power as I was able to before the lurch. The ring didn’t have as much energy.”
“Yeah,” one of the male Defenders said. “I thought for a second that Rodney, who was to my right, had stopped transferring energy. When I watched, though, I could see the threads coming from his hands. One fed power to the top of the ring and the other to the bottom. Was that right? I’d never seen that, even with the old method.”
“That’s what I saw, too,” the sole woman Defender said. “I was on Mort’s other side, and he was doing the same with his hands. The ring was a weird color, too.”
“Rodney and Mort?” Saxt asked. “What were you trying to do?”
Saxt waited. Phil was staring at the floor. When the two Defenders didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, Johanna turned her gaze to their leader. Phil’s henchmen followed his orders. When, however, he had given them none, as seemed to be the case here, they couldn’t come up with a reason or explanation for their actions.
Finally Rodney said, “We were seeing if we could channel energy in a different way. This morning at Phil’s we were trying out stuff, seeing how the ring spun, like that.”
“Yeah, like that,” Mort agreed.
“What did you discover?” Saxt asked.
Johanna wondered how he could keep such an expressionless face and a mild tone when it was clear the two were feeding the bulk of their power to Phil, despite all the emphasis on the need to share it equally. They had practiced secretly, also, at Phil’s. What else had they been doing there?
“Uh …” Mort shook his head and stared at the floor. “I’m not sure.”
Rodney looked at a scowling Phil, who glanced from one to the other of his buddies.