by R N Skye
Shane looked at his professor and saw a look in his eyes; a look of determination and hope. “I’ll tell you what professor after I find Ava and when she is safe then I’ll look you up and see where things go from there. That’s all I can promise you for now.”
His professor held out his hand and Shane took it and shook it, “deal.”
“So,” remarked his professor still watching Shane, “What are you working, or can you tell me?”
“Roger, the first mate, expressed the need for additional fresh water. What I’m doing is designing a pump that will pull in seawater and expel fresh water. For something so simple it’s more complicated than it looks. I’m putting an activation glyph here so that you can turn it on or off then I need to link a series of glyphs to provide a source of the water and in between I need to incorporate the glyphs that will do the filtering and purification. I’m still trying to decide if I want to put a glyph command that will offer a water temperature selection. I probably won’t as most people will want to choose later. “Shane pointed to his open note book that displayed a page and a half of very small and tightly bunched glyphs.”
The professor looked at the pages and wondered aloud,” how in the world are you ever going to fit that many glyphs on such a small area?”
“That, Professor Wetz, is a trade secret,” Shane smiled. “After Ava is safe I’ll get back with you on that.”
The professor smiled back, “A deals a deal. I’ll be heading back below and get out of this sun and wind. Good luck glyph mage and congratulations, it makes a teacher proud to see one of his students go beyond what everyone dreamed was possible.”
After the professor left Shane conjured a piece of brass foil that was twice as long as his note books pages and nearly a half a hand less wide as the tube. With a few minutes he had scanned his notes into his scribe and copied them onto the foil. To be safe he merely tacked the foil to the tube in case he had to make a change and he gave the device a test. To Shane’s surprise it worked the first time. He then rolled up the foil and sealed the edges to the tube.
Shane was about to get up when he detected the scent of a mild flowery perfume. Turning he saw Alicia sitting on a similar bench a couple of cubits away.
“Hi,” she said smiling. “I can see you are just as focused after graduating as you were when you were in the study group.”
Not knowing how to respond, Shane just laughed.
“Still a man of many words, I see,” she said as she returned the laugh. When Shane didn’t respond she added. “Ava’s a lucky girl. I hope she’s ok.”
“Me too,” said Shane as he began to gather up his things and put them into his pack.
“So you’ve actually figured out how to activate glyphs without an activator. That’s going to make a lot of people happy and a lot of people mad.”
“I imagine so,” Shane replied. “What will be, will be.”
“Shane I was wondering if you could look at something for me.” She reached around her neck and retrieved a necklace with a pendant on it. “This is a family heirloom that was passed down to me from my grandmother. It has glyphs on it but it is deactivated. I tried to activate it once on a field trip to IDAD but it wouldn’t activate. I’m not sure what it does but it would be important for my family if I could find out. That is one of the reasons I studied magetech.”
Shane took the pendant turning and setting on the bench to get better light and examined the glyphs inscribed on the back. He recognized the healing glyphs right away. As he continued to study it he was aware of the closeness of Alicia as she leaned very near him, almost touching, looking over his shoulder. As he read the rest of the glyphs he learned that the pendant was meant to be a very powerful healing device. He could see where several of the glyphs had been scratched and thus causing it to fail. Reaching into his pack he retrieved his scribe and began to repair the damaged glyphs. After he was finished he willed forth the lumen necessary to activate it. Checking it one more time he saw that the glyphs were glowing and active as they should be. Turning to give the pendant back to Alicia their faces came very close together. He could see the desire in her eyes and he couldn’t deny the attraction but the thought of hurting Ava wouldn’t let him act on it.
“Alicia, I can’t,” he sighed. “I’m in love with Ava and it wouldn’t be right.” He handed the pendant back to her as she stepped back.
“Like I said, she’s a lucky girl,” Alicia replied with a half frown half smile.
“Your pendant is functioning now. It’s a healing artifact; a very powerful healing artifact. The user only need hold it or wear it and then place their hands on the patient until they are healed. Be careful with it though it is made of gold which is a very soft metal. If the glyphs I repaired are damaged it will fail again and you won’t be able to activate it unless the glyphs are fixed again. If I were you I’d copy them down on paper somewhere in case you need to duplicate the device or need it repaired.”
Alicia placed the pendent back around her neck then quickly wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek with a whispered thank you. Then she turned and ran below to her cabin.
Shane gathered up his pack and the tube he had enchanted and headed for the wheelhouse. He tossed the tube to Roger and said, “There you are, all the clean fresh water you will ever need.”
How does it work?” Roger asked peering into the hollow tube.
It took all of Shane’s self-control not to actuate it and douse his friend. Noting Shane’s mischievous look he quickly pointed it another direction. Opportunity gone, Shane quickly showed him how to use it.
Two days later they were entering Lu Y Onton harbor. Ari had spent most of the trip from Cliffs Port with his Instructor. He also had two artifacts made from two small brass bars that he had asked Shane to make for him, clipped to his belt; Shane hadn’t yet asked what they did.
Shane lowered the ship and pulled in the tow thrusters and the cable; cloaking it and securing it to the deck just to be safe and they took the ship into the Lu Y Onton harbor under the power of the thrusters. With the advice of Roger and Ari’s presence on command they were soon docked at a public slip that would handle a ship their size. Leaving the tow controller on a shelf in the wheelhouse and the fresh water tube in the galley, Shane only took the windows device and stowed it in his backpack.
Roger, Ari, and Shane, had a final meeting in the wheelhouse while the other passengers were getting their things and Roger confessed his affiliation with certain intelligence entities of Luion and that he needed to report to his superiors at the Luion Department of State. He did agree to take the rescued prisoners with him to debrief the returning expatriates and to see about those from Infin wanting to seek asylum.
After everyone was off the ship Shane sealed all the hatches, the members of the expedition Gathered behind Roger as he and Ari stood before Roger to say goodbye.
“You know, whoever ends up with that boat is going to have a nice little reconnaissance craft,” Commented Roger.
“It’s for sale,” smiled Ari.
“I’ll get back with you,” Roger laughed.
Shane and Ari gave Roger a hearty hand shake; they gave each other knowing nods then parted ways.
Ari hailed a coach and after a long winding ride through the city they stopped at an enormous mansion with arched architecture and a tiled roof with a large brick driveway surrounded by large oak trees. Exiting the coach Shane followed Ari directly to a large double door entrance; Ari opened the door and entered without knocking.
The large foyer was illuminated by skylights in the ceiling and was decorated by potted ferns and comfortable furniture. Ari led past the tranquil entry and called out, “Gerard, Louisa?” as he continued through the house.
“Ruari, is that you?” the voice came from the direction they were headed.
Shane and Ari entered into a well windowed spacious kitchen with many modern artifact appliances and a large counter top area. Seated at the table were Ava’s paren
ts.
“Ari it’s good to see you,” his younger brother got up and gave him a hug. “Shane how are you, son.” Gerard gave Shane a grasp of the shoulders then patted his arm. “Congratulations on the win the other day; you played phenomenally.”
“Thank you Sir”
“Shane, how nice to see you again,” Ava’s mother rose and gave him a warm hug. “Ari you are looking thin are you sure you’ve been eating enough? Leslie was asking about you the other day. Did you have a chance to meet?” She said with a knowing smile, which he pretended to ignore.
“It’s nice to see you to Mademoiselle Desmond,” Replied Shane.
“Please call me Louisa. Please sit down let me get you something,” invited Louisa, “We have tea, juice, or ice water.”
“Tea please,” said Ari.
“Juice please,” answered Shane.
“Gerard,” Ari said taking a chair at the table. “Have you heard from Soaris lately? As soon as we got word that the crown was going to war we went out to pull Ava off the island where she was on expedition and all her associates could tell us was she was talking to someone that fit Soaris’ description and then she disappeared.”
“You went where?” exclaimed Gerard. “How in the blazes did you get in and out of there in one piece? My reports say that Allion’s entire navy is out to sea protecting that dig.”
“We had a good boat,” Ari said dismissively. “What about Soaris, did he get Ava?”
“Yes, yes,” Gerard said. “Last Samedi during the game; she’s safe and sound in some place called Yllyan. He came by shortly afterwards and let us know she was fine.”
“What a relief,” sighed Shane. “We were worried sick.”
“Well now that everyone is safe and sound,” announced Ava’s mother. “You two are going to have to stay and have dinner,” she carefully placed a cup of tea in front of Ari and a large tumbler of juice before Shane.
“Would you like to go for a visit,” Shane said with a smile then taking a big swallow of juice.
Ava’s parents looked at him in disbelief. “As much as I would like that, Shane,” Ava’s father said, “According to Soaris, Yllyan is over two thousand milos from here.”
Shane smiled and winked at Ari as he took out the windows device and mentally queried his instructor asking for a direction or coordinates for a city called Yllyan
“Yllyan is located twenty two hundred milos east of your current location,” provided the instructor.
Shane zoomed out the screen for the destination and scrolled east until he was at the approximate coordinates. He began zooming in and a city began to take shape. Zooming in closer he saw movement and he scrolled to the area of the movement. Seeing a long series of rectangles connected together, traveling very fast, he followed them until it halted at a long building. Seeing people he zoomed in and found an out of the way location to use as a doorway.
“Where is the best place for this side, Ari?”
At Ava’s parents questioning looks Ari explained what Shane was doing. With dawning understanding that there was a chance to visit her daughter Louisa hurried across the kitchen to pantry and said use this door. Shane made the adjustments and activated the portal.
Shane stood up and said, “I’ll go find where she is staying and I’ll move the Yllyan door closer when I know where she is.”
Ari stood, “I better go with him. His propensity for trouble is amazing.”
Both Shane and Ari stepped through the door.
The monorail station was empty but the platform was crowded with people there seemed to be some sort of accident. Moving in for a closer look Shane nearly fell over; standing over a prostrate body was his mother.
“Mom,” Shane said not believing his eyes.
Laura looked up doing a double take, “Shane? Where did you come from?” Seeming to suddenly prioritize she took charge of the situation. “Hurry please help, it’s Ava she’s been injured.”
Shane’s heart leapt out of his chest. “Ari, get Ava’s parents. Mom, what happened?”
Shane suddenly felt his mother’s voice in his head. “It’s bad son, she was attached by an Allyant possessed.”
Shane felt her pulse it was weak. Using mastery he drained energy from himself and infused it into Ava. Her pulse quickened but she remained unconscious. “What’s wrong with her mom why is she not responding?” Impulsively he imagined heal glyphs in the air above Ava’s still barely breathing form and willed them into her chest. Her breathing stabilized a bit more but still she remained unconscious.
“Her lumen was nearly drained from her. She was not prepared and I was not quick enough to prevent it. I slew the minion but I am not trained in healing and Soaris is not here. I know not what to do.”
Recalling what his instructor had told him early on that his capacity for lumen was great, Shane took a deep breath and began to expand his lumen and gently pushed it into Ava. Like a glyph being imbued he saw a change come over Ava as she began to strengthen but then he noticed something else, he saw a blackness that was trying to consume the lumen as fast as he could give it. He immediately queried his instructor asking what it was. The instructors answer was that it was an infection referred to as lumen sickness. Shane quickly asked how to remove it and was told that only a lumen master healer could accomplish the feat. There was an option that if a healthy glyph master could manage the mental glyphs long enough the sickness could be absorbed and contained temporarily by the mage but unless a lumen master healer could be found soon then the glyph master would parish or lose all sensitivity to lumen and become a non-potent.
“Mom, I know how to save her. I’m going to have my instructor look for someone but if it can’t do what I ask I need you to find an Elios healer for me. If I don’t save Ava today she will be beyond help. I may only have a couple of days.
“Shane you could kill yourself, “Laura pleaded with her eyes for him to reconsider knowing he wouldn’t.
Mom, I can’t let her die. I need you to do me a favor, if I don’t make it tell Ava I love her.”
Turning to Ava he used his mastery and imaged the longest string of glyphs he had ever attempted. While infusing her with as much lumen as he could, he activated the paragraph of glyphs in his mind and held on to the image as hard as he could. Slowly an envelope of light scoured the lumen glittering form of Ava and the blackness was contained in a ball of light that Shane absorbed into himself. Holding her hand Shane surrendered himself to unconsciousness.
XIV
Ava opened her eyes she felt dizzy and weak. She saw Shane kneeling by her side and smiled; it must have been a dream. Ava started to sit and the world swam for a moment. She was surrounded by people many she didn’t know or recognize. There was Laura a worried look on her face. She saw her mother and father both gravely concerned; her mother in tears. Even uncle Ari was there; he also displaying a serious countenance. Where did Shane go she wondered as she finally sat up? She felt someone holding her hand looking at her hand she saw Shane, pale and lifeless his; his hand fell from hers. “Shane!” She screamed and her consciousness fled.
When she awoke some time later she felt stiff and sore. Her eyes felt itchy and dried out. As she looked around she recognized her room at Soaris and Laura’s home. Carefully she got up. This time there was no dizziness. She found she was dressed in a long night shirt. Standing, again no dizziness she donned her robe that was draped over a chair next to the bed and walked into the hallway.
She heard voices coming from the kitchen; her feet followed the sound. Half way down the hall she notice an open door to another room and saw a low light, looking in she saw Shane.
“Shane?” she whispered with a tremble; he looked so pale. She rushed to the bedside and knelt feeling his forehead and running her fingers through his hair. “Oh Shane what happened, are you ok?”
Shane’s eyes fluttered for a moment then opened slightly,” Hey you,” he smiled weakly. “How’s my girl?”
How am I? She thought how are you
? “I’m fine, sweetheart, how are you doing? What happened?”
“Oh, you know, one of those days I guess,” he whispered and smiled weakly. “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time together… I think I’m falling back asleep. I lo…” Shane’s head rolled to the side.
For a moment Ava panicked but she noticed that his chest was rising and falling with very slow breaths.
Ava quickly ran to the kitchen; there was Soaris, Laura her parents and her uncle Ari – all with very concerned expressions.
Wendell entered the king’s private office. Wendell was worried. The city had disappeared, the magetechs that were in his custody had disappeared and he had no answers for the king.
Allion sat with his hands together beneath his chin watching Wendell as he entered. “Well?”
Wendell decided that bowing and scraping would accomplish nothing. In exasperation he blurted, “Nothing, absolutely nothing. I have several hundred eyewitnesses all saying it was there one moment and gone the next.”
Allion shrugged, “it is of no concern. The Elios evidently had in place a defense enchantment that sensed the Allyant siphon bands that the soldiers were wearing and moved the city so that the lumen contained therein could not be harvested. It matters not, we will do this the hard way; a city at a time.
Come here and sit Wendell, I have something to show you.”
Wendell hesitated a moment, the look in the kings eyes was disconcerting. After taking a seat next to the king at the large desk the king grasped his wrist in a vice like hold.
“I want you to see this Wendell.” Wendell tried to jerk his hand away but he was feeling week and could barely move. The king held forth a small glowing red sphere that seemed to pulse. “I’d like to introduce you to your new master.”
Wendell felt the fire searing his hand he wanted to drop the sphere but the strength of the kings uncommon grip held his hand closed around it. Suddenly the pain and the sphere were gone and Wendell felt a strength that he had never felt before, he felt as if another entity was within his mind that the ideas where from somewhere else but that they were his also. Wendell smiled and with a wicked laugh. With a swift lunge he grabbed the king by the throat. The king was viper fast and his strength like ten men as he grasped Wendell’s wrist and hurled him across the room.