by Taki Drake
“Even if the bitch had not paid us to take you out, I would find it a joy. She promised us that you had money and told us that only violence would get a ransom, but I could taste her desire for vengeance and knew that only part of that was right. Now, I understand the force that drove her. For your insult and the damage you have done, I will exact vengeance from your emotions and your flesh.”
Pausing, the Mage seemed to be waiting for a response, so Corda decided to provide him with one. Not feeling particularly polite, the young girl said, “You really should have paid more attention to your language lessons. You have at least five grammatical errors and several syntactical errors in that supposedly deathless speech. I hope you have a chance when you’re in prison to learn a little bit better, but I’m not holding a lot of hope out on that.”
“Silence, woman. Your blatherings are not worth listening to.”
“Beep! Thank you for playing. You have just really screwed up, and you have no recovery position..”
Enraged, the renegade Mage threw a massive Magical strike against Corda’s exterior shield. Unable to see past the first layer, the man was blind to the danger of the secondary layer Corda had constructed.
Corda watched as the man smiled in triumph as his spell stripped away her exterior shield. Unemotionally, she watched as his gloating satisfaction changed to alarm as the force of his attack reflected back to him, multiplied to many times the power that he had initially thrown.
Serenely, Corda watched as the reflecting spells bounced back not only into him but onto the walls of the alleyway where she had cast her third level of spells. The impact of the Magical rebound ignited a lattice of star-hot matter that crisscrossed the alley and vaporized everything that it touched.
The sifting of ashes drifted through the air to the surface of the alley in the quiet. Corda could hear her own harsh breathing and the rapid respirations of her two friends. For a moment, she thought they were safe.
The pounding of steps pulled her back to full alert and drew her two friends to their feet, shaking, but determined to defend themselves. Corda tried to calm her heartbeat to regain the needed control over her Magic, but the release and then the resumption of tension challenged her.
Large bodies turned the corner and charged down the alley, Corda barely avoided firing her remaining spells when one of them roared, “Corda, we are here!”
Running behind her brother Bertor, charged a group of people, including Gerald, Ricee, Keve, and men in Peacekeeper uniforms. Every single person in the relieving force looked ready for a fight. The Academy Mages came alight with spells to cast, and the Peacekeepers had weapons drawn.
Beside Corda, Liz said so softly that it sounded like a breath, “Safe. I think we are safe.”
Argah echoed, “Safe,” but added, “thanks to ourselves. The least they can do is clean up the mess.” The three young women dissolved into laughter as the men advanced, holding onto each other with tears running down their faces but still joyous in a celebration of being alive.
Without warning, a wave of nausea hit Corda. It felt like her stomach wanted to crawl out of her throat. Wrenching her body away from her friends, the young girl only had enough time to take three quick steps toward the side of the alley before falling helplessly to her knees and vomiting. Heaving until there was nothing left, Corda became aware that there was a warm hand on her back, and her brother’s voice was saying soothingly, “Breathe, just breathe. Slowly inhale, hold it, exhale. You are safe now.”
The voice that she had trusted since she was old enough to be able to identify sound pulled her back from her body’s extreme rejection of what she had just done. As the fog of battle lifted from her mind, tears sprang to Corda’s eyes, burning with the intensity of their heat. I just killed people. Even if they were attacking me, I used Magic to kill.
The young girl wept, tears hot with regret and the echoes of fear pouring down her face while sobs ripping through her throat. Her thoughts were jumbled and confused, mixing images of Pharyl’s sadistic harassment, and her father’s studied cruelty with snapshots of her own actions. Am I going to be like them? Will I turn out like my father, my brother?
Slowly, the comfort from her brother seeped in, soothing tense muscles carried by a wave of Healing Magic. Her pounding heart slowed, and the tightness in Corda’s chest released.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Corda managed to stand up, raising her tear-clotted eyes to her brother’s face, and said, “Bertor, I killed them. I deliberately killed them.”
The Master Healer stared at his tiny sister, his face racked with pain, and his eyes somehow darker and deeper than she had ever seen. His voice was a low rumble as he said, “You did not go and hunt them, they hunted you. You acted as a defender, protecting those that you’ve adopted as your family. Feel pride in what you did, not disgust.”
The brother and sister stared at each other for a split second before Bertor crushed Corda to his chest, bending over and murmuring into her hair. He whispered, “I love you.”
Hesitantly, Liz and Argah joined the siblings. When Corda reached out to draw the two young women closer, first Gerald and then the other two young men joined them. As the friends reassured themselves that everyone was all right by a swirling exchange of hugs and garbled comments, Bertor wrapped his big arms around his tiny sister again and said brokenly, “I thought I had lost you.” As Corda attempted to return his hug, Liz and Argah threw their arms around the big man also. Not to be outdone, the other Academy students joined in a massive joint hug.
Chapter 25 – Keeping the Peace
While Corda and her friends were reassuring each other of their safety, the black-clad Peacemakers had formed a protective cordon at the end to the alleyway, also securing the doors that led into the alley. The lieutenant in charge of the responding Peacekeepers had taken one startled look around the area before pulling up his comm-unit and requesting more senior representation and a response squad from the MCF, the Magical Crime Forensics division of the Peacekeeper organization.
The MCF shuttle and the captain from the Peacekeepers arrived at the same time. The tall, dark-haired man in the standard PK uniform with officer tabs had a quiet word with the young officer that had been first on the scene, before walking over to where Corda and her friends stood.
Introducing himself as PK Capt. Braige Thompson, the man first checked to see that no one needed medical assistance before letting them know that his officers would be interviewing each of them separately. Glancing around the area, he looked at Bertor and asked him what it happened.
“For the details of the attack, I am afraid you are going to have to ask my sister and her friends, Capt. Thompson. Even though the four of us and your Peacekeepers charged to the rescue, the three young women handled it before we could assist.”
His eyebrows raised in disbelief, the muscular man turned and inspected the three women. Responding to the challenge in a subconscious manner, Argah and Liz stood in a flanking position to Corda, ceding her the point. The officer's expression shifted once again, as his eyes widened and his face froze. Before he could ask further questions, a man in the usual PK officer uniform but with the MCF flash shoved himself next to Capt. Thompson, turning his back on the Academy Mages.
“Thompson, obviously, this is our crime scene, and you don’t have any jurisdiction here. You and your men need to vacate the area so that we can conduct our procedures.”
“Mage Capt. Hezal, by order of headquarters this remains our crime scene. The investigation does not fall under your jurisdiction, and you are to perform the appropriate tests and provide us with the findings.”
The Mage officer snarled and said, “Still trying to keep control of things you don’t understand, are you?”
Only the tightening of Capt. Thompson’s expression betrayed his emotional response to the rude and dismissive commentary. Ignoring the fuming MCF officer, the OIC took one step to the side and looked at the three girls standing together. Glancing at them, th
e man suggested, “I think it would be best if the three of you were interviewed first. You can then complete your statements and hopefully be released to some well-earned recovery.”
Interrupting another unsolicited remark, the MCF officer cut in, saying, “Still coddling witnesses, are you? Of course, it helps that they are female, but aren’t they a bit young for you?”
When Bertor tensed and was ready to fire back at the rude man, Corda reached out her hand and patted her brother's arm, saying, “It’s okay, Bertor. Either he’s usually rude, and there’s nothing you can do about it, or he is having an awful day, and it’s not worth fussing about.”
Cold blue eyes swung around and speared the slender 13-year-old, as the rude Mage demanded, “Leave this area. My staff needs to run the Magical traces, and I won’t have any of you smudging the Magical spell lines.”
Corda gave the man a sweet smile, which seemed to totally throw him off. As he gaped at her, the tiny girl said in a deadly, calm tone, “Of course, we will leave the area. We can talk to some of the courteous PK people outside of the alley. However, although all of the normal PK officers have been very careful not to damage forensic traces, you have charged through at least three and have probably done more damage to any reenactment than could be possibly done by accident.”
As the man stuttered in enraged shock, the Academy group moved out of the alley and into the street. Several vehicles and a cordon of PK patrolman had created a secure alcove to allow statements to be taken. Following the directions of the initial responding PK officer, the girls were separated and questioned by PK detectives.
Once their statements had been taken, the rescue party was also questioned. Through all of it, the Peacekeepers had been unfailingly polite and helpful, slowly lowering the tension level.
Corda could see that Liz and Argah were close to their stress limits. Both of them were shivering so badly that the young men of their group had removed their jackets and wrapped them around both girls. Keve had disappeared briefly, only to return with several new blankets that he tucked around Liz and Argah. When he offered one to Corda, she thanked him sweetly but told him that she wouldn’t use it quite yet.
With the instincts of a Bard, Keve had looked up at the note in her voice, straightening his clothing as if he were going to go into battle. In a low undertone, he asked the young girl, “Should I call your grandfather?”
A tiny jerk of Corda’s head told the young man that she hadn’t thought of yelling for help. Her wide eyes when she looked at him, betrayed her rapid calculations. When she jerked her head in a tiny nod, the young Bardic student quickly sent an explanatory note to the elderly Advocate.
While they were waiting, Corda had been very conscious of the bursts of Magical energy that were being released in the alleyway. From their classes in Basic Magic, she knew that Magical forensics relied on trace identification and reenactment. The clumsy Mage officer had violated some of the validity of evidence by breaking clear lines of Magical flow. That would destroy some of the ability of the regular MCF spells to trace how Magic had been cast and controlled. Why would he want to mess up a crime scene that he was responsible for looking at?
Having completed giving his statement, Gerald stood next to Corda and put a gentle hand on her slender shoulders. Examining her closely, the young girl could see some of his tension release as he realized that she was not on the verge of collapse. Giving him a sweet smile, the 13-year-old murmured, “I will relax when all the fuss is over. I neither like nor trust the MCF guy.”
“I agree. In addition to being a jerk, the guy doesn’t appear very competent either.”
“No, he is not, which I expect is going to cause us trouble in a little while.”
Bertor finished his witness interview and came over quickly to stand by Gerald and Corda. Looking in concern at his sister, the Master Healer said quietly, “They will not be able to figure out what happened, and that’s going to make them very unhappy. Perhaps it’s time to place a call to the Academy and to Grandfather.”
Before any of them could have further discussion, the MCF officer charged out of the alley and advanced on the Academy Mages. He started yelling when he was about 15 feet away, demanding, “Who else was in the alleyway with you? It is impossible to trace the different lines of Magic, and there has to have been more than three of you there.”
“The only people other than Corda, Liz, and I that were in the alleyway were the people that attacked us. That should be easy enough to track, even for you,” Argah hissed.
The infuriated officer raised his voice to yell, “You’re lying! Maybe I should throw you in a cell to teach you not to lie to the authorities.”
Chapter 26 – Reserve Forces
A voice crackled with authority, crystal-clear, and underlaid with outrage, “That is enough!” Advancing on the angry man with a contained posture of fury and Magic sparking along his forearms walked Advocate Amity, flanked by two men in uniform. The man in the garb of Academy Security took a position in front of the students and drew his weapon, keeping it aimed toward the ground but obviously ready to use it.
The other man stayed by the Advocate’s side. This gentleman wore a version of the Peacekeeper uniform, but with markings that Corda did not recognize. He managed to stop Corda’s grandfather with a gesture before he demanded, “What exactly was the purpose of that tirade? Hezal, I expect an immediate explanation.”
Stuttering in his shock and surprise, the PK Mage came to a crashing halt as his eyes sought his superior's face, saying, “Sir, we have examined the evidence, and it does not support the statements of the witnesses. Respectfully, sir, this means that they are lying.”
The senior PK officer on the scene asked again in a hard voice, “What procedures have you run, and where is the report from that?”
When Mage Capt. Hezal stammered through the beginning of a reply, Corda had enough. Stepping forward, the young girl stated in a penetrating, intense voice. “Even from here we could tell that the MCF team ran three levels of Magic release traces. They have not run a reenactment at all. The findings from the three trace spells were faulty, since this man, who I refuse to believe is an accredited Mage, charged through the spell lines like a rookie PK on his way over to be nasty to Capt. Thomas, who was gathering information from us.”
Adding his voice to hers, Gerald stated, “And since we just finished giving our statements, I don’t see how he could say we were lying when he hadn’t even reviewed what we said. He was not part of our interviews, and he hasn’t read our statements.”
Desperately, the Mage Capt. said, “This could not have been a Magical battle. There are no clear lines of spellcasting, and the damage has to have come from a much larger team or a weapon.”
The Advocate’s dry voice cut through the burgeoning noise like a hot knife through butter. “Perhaps I can summarize. Number one, you were so busy playing political games that you destroyed evidence. Number two, your team was unable to run your normal forensics successfully. Number three, you can’t figure out what was used in the alleyway, so you’ve decided to attack the victims of this crime. Number four, the people you are attacking are three girls, three children actually, that had just survived a brutal attack, and you have decided to try to bully them in turn.”
In the sudden quiet that fell over the area, the Academy Security officer’s voice was clearly audible as he spoke into his comm-unit. “ASAP supplementary protection forces requested on my geo-tag. Extraction vehicles critical and notification to Academy legal department imperative. Notify medical of incoming, three female victims ranging from 13 to 15 years old. Possible shock, other mild damage, and mental trauma. ”
The high ranking PK officer turned to the irate Advocate and said in a conciliatory tone, “Epheth, please, calm down. Let’s lower the tension and avoid blowing this up even more. If everyone can just relax, we can get to the bottom of this.”
The elderly man responded, “Rankev, this whole thing is unconscionable. How many
other times has this occurred where reliable evidence was destroyed, and victims were attacked?”
Closing his eyes in pain, the senior PK officer asked pleadingly, “Please calm down, we will get to the bottom of this.”
Just then, Hezal interrupted angrily, snarling, “Why do we care about three, silly girls? So what if they got scared? It’s not like they were raped or anything.”
Rankev responded furiously, “Hezal, shut the hell up! Answer when I ask you a question, but other than that, do not speak.”
Advocate Amity turned toward the cluster of the three girls, letting his eyes carefully examine each one of them. With the discernment developed over decades of legal work, the elderly man recognized their exhaustion and stress. His face tightened even more in anger.
Concerned that his worry for them would cause him to do something he would regret, Corda took a small breath and stepped toward the old man. As she approached him, his arms went out. With a little sob, the young girl’s control shattered, and she threw herself into the circle of his arms, tucking her head against his chest. She could feel the pounding of his heart and knew how much he had worried about her and how furious he was that she had been unnecessarily hurt and insulted by the very people that should have been protecting her.
Hot tears rose to Corda’s eyes again, and she looked up at the old man sobbing, “Bonpa, we are all okay. Liz got pulled into the alley, and she got hurt but not cut, and Argah got hurt when they were trying to knock her out.”
His voice breaking, her adoptive grandfather asked, “What about you, Corda? Are you all right?”
“They didn’t physically touch me at all, but they threw spells at us. They were trying to kill us with weapons and Magic. I tried to shield everybody, but my shields aren’t that strong yet.”
The silence stretched out as Corda tilted her teary face up at her grandfather and said, “There was no one else, and they were going to kill us. Hera had paid them and then left after we saw her. I didn’t know what else to do, and we didn’t know anyone was coming.”