by Taki Drake
His voice gentle, the old man asked, “Then what happened?”
Gulping slightly, the young girl answered, “The dark Mage threw a spell that was eating my shield, and so I stuffed everything I could into layers inside of the outer shield. He kept throwing more spells at me, and Liz and Argah were hurt and on the ground. I knew that the renegade was going to break through my shields, and then even if the Mage didn’t kill us, the other men would succeed with their weapons.”
Now wracked with heartbreaking sobs, the young girl cried, “I had to kill them. Bonpa, I had to kill them.”
In the stunned silence, one of the younger Peacekeeper patrolmen summed up everything when he exclaimed loudly, “Oh, shit!” From the expression of the other PK officers and patrolmen, the young man spoke for all of them.
Recovering quickly, Rankev stammered, “Your granddaughter?” At the Advocate’s nod, the PK Commander closed his eyes briefly with the expression of a man desperately praying before turning to the PK Mage officer and saying formally, “Mage Capt. Hezal, I am placing you on immediate administrative leave pending department investigation.”
“You cannot do that! I am doing my job,” was the furious answer.
“Capt. Thomas?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Detail two of your men to escort the Mage Capt. back to the precinct and process the paperwork to place him on immediate leave.”
“Yes, Sir,” was the immediate reaction from the OIC. Motioning to two of his patrolmen, the furious MCF officer was removed from the scene, still arguing at the top of his voice.”
Turning to where Corda still sobbed in the chest of her grandfather, the PK Commander appeared to be at a loss. When a motion from Capt. Thompson drew his superior officer’s attention, the PK Capt. pointed first at his own chest and then toward the sobbing girl.
Answering the nonverbal question, Rankev stepped back with a gesture of his hand, leaving the way clear for Capt. Rankev to move next to the traumatized girl, saying softly, “I know all of this has been very hard to handle. Unfortunately, it’s crucial that we gather information on what happened here.”
The man continued, “Before we get you back to the Academy, could you please help us understand what happened in the alley? It means that we will need you to watch the reenactment spell with us and to answer questions on anything that isn’t clear. Can you three ladies please do that for us?”
Liz and Argah both were shivering continually, while Corda was deathly pale and shaking. The elderly Advocate began to protest, but when Corda pulled herself up to her full 5-foot height and turned to look at the PK Capt, her grandfather let her go.
A fierce look of pride was plain to see on Epheth Amity’s face as he watched the young girl squared her shoulders in answer to the PK officer. Corda’s eyes showed how exhausted she was, but a hard core of determination was present in every line of her posture. In a thready but firm voice, the young girl responded, “We will do a little more to help. I know that you are just trying to find the truth and are not playing stupid games.”
Turning to her girlfriends, Corda offered them a fractured smile as they both wrapped the blankets around them more tightly and stepped up to her side. Looking over at the PK Capt., Corda nodded and said, “Let’s do this. I don’t think we have much more energy than another 15 minutes, so please be efficient.”
Chapter 27 – Reenactment
It was quite a large party that moved down the alley, carefully avoiding lines that had been dusted with tracing powder during the previous MCF spellcasting. In addition to the two PK officers and the three girls, Advocate Amity, Bertor, and the rest of Corda’s circle of friends formed a strange procession that reminded the young girl of one time she had seen a line of waterfowl slipping into the water of a lake.
Corda knew that the inappropriate giggle that she was swallowing was a distraction, one that she needed to avoid while being overwhelmed by the cloud of fear and dread that intensified as she got closer to where they had been attacked. The acrid smell of the alley coated her throat with a thick, sticky slime that tasted of terror and death. Swallowing several times, the young girl fought off another wave of nausea.
A hand touched each of her shoulders, one warming her with the familiar Healing touch of her brother, and the other, a much smaller hand, was redolent with a powerful sense of protection. Laying her cheek first against one side and then the other, Corda knew that both her brother and grandfather were there for her. To the young girl, it made all the difference in the world.
Catching the rapid beat of unknown footsteps, Corda turned to look behind toward the street. Bracketed by two immense men in the uniform of Academy Security, a woman with a face of granite marched toward them. Trailing behind the woman came another person, hooded and covered by a floor-length cloak. The young girl heard both PK officers draw a sharp breath, and the MCF Tech Lead that had come to meet them muttered an audible, “Damn, and double damn,” in a despairing tone.
The entire group around Corda had stopped when she had, and courteously waited for the new people to catch up. The woman in the lead swept the cluster of people in front of her with a single encompassing assessment of their situation and stopped.
Her rigid expression changed slightly when she saw the elderly Advocate beside Corda. Ignoring everyone else, she addressed him, saying, “Advocate General Amity, it is an unexpected pleasure to see you. However, I am a bit confused as to why you would be here. My understanding is this involves Academy students and is, therefore, within our jurisdiction.”
“Jessa, it is a pleasure to see you, as usual. You are correct that this is an Academy issue, but there are aspects to it the fall outside of the Academy into other domains, and I am present because of those.”
Corda could see Jessa attempting to understand what other interests would be involved in what she thought was a fairly straightforward matter. Before the older woman could ask questions, Corda’s grandfather said the voice of pride, “Jessa, I would like to introduce you to my granddaughter, Corda Devlin Watern, and her elder brother, Bertor Howill Watern.”
Speaking directly to his adopted grandchildren, the elderly man said, “Corda and Bertor, this is Senior Advocate Jessa Powood, who is, in my opinion, the best Advocate on Barkin Prime.”
Only because Corda was carefully observing the woman’s face did she see the slight flush of pleasure that her grandfather’s compliment evoked. It was a tiny display of emotion on a visage that was closed and warded.
Both Corda and Bertor murmured words of polite acknowledgment before the woman slipped into place on Corda’s left side and turned her attention to the PK Commander.
With a nod, Jessa said, “Commander.”
Just as tersely, Rankev responded, “Advocate.”
Without another word, the PK Commander led the group past the bend in the alley toward the far side from the street and about midway down its length. As they walked, Corda realized that the hum through her nerves was the same sort of feeling that she had experienced a short while ago when she realized that she was in a real fight.
The young girl felt like her skin was hypersensitive, feeding her constant input about faint movements of air and the heat of others around her. Her sense of smell was amplified even more, splitting out odors of burned organics, pheromones of attraction, and the faint ionic taint of charged weapons.
Lost in a half-dream that mapped out the entire area around her, Corda caught the tiny muffled sounds of scales sliding against each other and the clink of carbon-polymer weapons as they slid into different positions.
Her reactions amped up by the adrenaline that surged through her body, Corda took a hard look around her in a comprehensive sweep, verifying the position of each of her companions and locating the unknown MCF personnel.
Like cards slipping into a premade slot, Corda knew that the two Academy Security Guards had taken positions on either side of their group, weapons shifted to full ready position even though they remained poin
ted at the ground. The mysterious cloaked figure had moved to the other side of the elderly Advocate, and the young girl knew that this was the source of the scale sound and a pleasant but unusual scent that reminded her suddenly-hungry stomach of nut paste.
The Academy Security Guard closest to the alley entrance caught Corda’s eyes, giving her a nod of acknowledgment and a small smile of approval. To herself, Corda wondered, I wonder what I did to earn that? We haven’t even gotten started.
“Errrrm, we are going to recast the Magical tracing spells now. I would request that none of you move around and if the trace line touches you that none of you move. It should not harm you or affect you in any way, but any interruption of the flow within the spell will cause it to end prematurely.” The speaker was a younger version of PK Mage Capt. Hezal. Obviously intimidated by the presence of both his superiors and the Academy personnel, the man was struggling to present a professional appearance.
Corda took an instant dislike to him. Something about his loosely held, wet mouth and his continually-shifting eyes called forth a stab of revulsion in her chest. Suppressing a shudder, the young girl concentrated on watching the effects of the tracing spells.
Distributed around the alley, the four MCF technicians released their portion of the trace in unison. Four separate glowing balls of light flew up to hover over the length of the alley, positioned in front of each of the Forensic Mages. Trails of light settled out etching out pathways on the ground and up the walls.
Corda watched as the clear tracks of the renegade’s attacks were drawn on the ground, all converging on the spot where she had remembered standing. Her mind flashed back to the tension of that time, and the young girl felt power consolidate and rise up in the core of her body. She was shaking, the remembered fear of that moment was expressing itself as if her previous containment had simply funneled it across time to try to break free now.
The young girl felt the grip of her grandfather on one shoulder and grabbed his hand, desperately trying to keep herself anchored. The tremors in her body increased, and tears poured down her face as the memory of hot fear for her friends and the cold terror when she saw the renegade Mage seared her eyes.
Chapter 28 – Attack Response
All three of the girls were breathing in short gasping pants of air, frightened once again. Dimly, the Corda heard broken words of reassurance and comfort all around her, but the tension evoked by her memory kept any solace from reaching her.
Piercing through the shield of terror, the 13-year-old felt a stranger touch her, drawing a line between the chaotic energy inside of her and the ground between her feet. A voice whispered in her mind, << Let the memory of fear drain into the arms of the Mother, little sister. Allow She who gave birth to us all hold the burden for you. It makes no difference if you ever wish to pull that energy back, for She is boundless in her acceptance. >>
Slender firm hands captured her face, and Corda could feel warmth and strength, pouring into her from the contact. Opening her eyes, the young girl was surprised to see the Academy Advocate, her face no longer frozen but caring and concerned. In a low calming murmur, Jessa said calmly, “Corda, breathe slowly. You are experiencing the same emotions that happened at the time. Breathe evenly and let it go.”
Corda gave a short sharp nod and tried to regain her composure. She heard Argah and Liz whimpering and knew that the muffled sounds meant that her friends were being held and comforted. Aware that this torture was going to continue until the Peacekeepers got what they needed, Corda took another deep breath and looked around.
As soon as the young girl demonstrated that her control was coming back, Jessa released the young girl’s face and returned to her position on Corda’s left. However, the Academy Advocate left her right arm around the youngster’s shoulders, drawing a lethal-looking hand weapon with her left.
At first, Corda thought that her fear was causing a haze to cloud her vision, but in the next moment, she realized that the same shielding spell she had thrown before had been triggered by the replay of the fight emotions. Their entire group was enclosed in her constructed shield, and its hazy substance was what she had been noticing. Embarrassed by her lack of control, the young girl deliberately released the spell and allowed the barrier to dissipate.
Now looking around the alley, Corda could see where the effects of her spells were traced on the ground and up the walls of the alleyway. Around the location that the three friends had stood was a smudged circle, as if a very young child had taken chalk and scribbled a line. The uneven, wandering shape was a lopsided circle, and Corda could picture how its outline had skimmed around where she had stood between her two friends as they lay collapsed on the floor. With an ache of muscle memory, Corda knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had been standing in the exact center of it.
Continuing to take shallow open-mouthed breaths, the young Academy student saw that the trace spell was almost completed. When the fluid Magic had ceased to swirl and stayed static for another few seconds, there was an audible snap, and all four of the trace repositories disappeared simultaneously.
The Peacekeepers and the MCF technicians spread out, examining the alley and the position markers carefully. After a whispered consultation, the MCF Mage Technician who had spoken before walked over to stand with his arms crossed and glared directly at Corda, demanding, “Who cast this Magic? I have never seen anything like this before. None of this makes sense. There has to have been someone else here!”
His aggressive advance on Corda broke her fragmented control, and the shield wall slammed up again between the angry man and her. He appeared not even to notice her action, instead beginning to shout, “Who else was here? What weapon did you use? Who threw the spells?”
Several things happened at the same time, as the two Academy Security Guards seem to teleport in front of Corda and the other students. This time their weapons were not pointed at the ground but zeroed in on the irrational MCF officer. Eyes blazing, Capt. Thompson had also placed his body between the yelling man and the trembling young Mages.
Almost in chorus, two voices rang out in incandescent fury, “That’s enough, stand down.” Collided with “You are out of order, sir.”
Startled, the PK Commander and the Academy Advocate met eyes before turning their attention back to the unfortunate man who just realized what a massive error he had made. Unable to stop his sense of outrage, he almost whimpered his question, “Who threw the spells?”
A voice rumbling with anger and power startled everyone in the alley as a man wearing the tabs of an agency head stalked like a colossal apex predator down the lane, leaving shaken technicians and rigid Peacekeepers in his wake.
Taking in the trace evidence with a glance, the huge man moved over and looked at the MCF technicians and said a single word, “Leave!”
Scrambling in response, all four of the men fled as if their lives depended on their speed. A few seconds later, Corda heard a vehicle start and accelerate away from where they were with a roar of a powerful engine. Everyone in the alleyway waited to see the contribution in the drama they were living that this new participant would make.
The big man nodded toward the PK Commander, saying, “Sorry it took me so long. I came as soon as I could break free.” Rankev nodded in response, saying, “I appreciate your assistance Minister Rodray,” before tilting his head toward the waiting group.
Although showing mild surprise at the composition of the group, the man continued in his commanding voice, “I apologize for the totally unacceptable attitude of the MCF in this situation. Be assured that this will be handled appropriately and immediately.”
Interrupting what he was in the middle of saying with a controlled, chill voice, the Academy Advocate informed him, “Considering this is the second time that the MCF officers have attacked three girls that were victims of an assault, the Academy Legal Office would asked to be informed of the steps that are taken.”
“Of course, we will inform you as those steps ar
e executed.”
Focusing once more at the group as a whole, the man rumbled, “I appreciate that this has been a very tiring day, and I believe that I just have a couple more questions before we release you back to the Academy. First of all, who did cast all of the spells? I’m not talking about the renegade Mage attacker. I’m speaking of the ones that are traced in five different colors.”
Emerging from the center of a multi-arm embrace, Corda found herself standing in front of the group once again. Looking up at the broad, tall lawman, the 13-year-old girl said calmly, “That would be me.”
The Peacekeeper Minister looked like someone had hit him in the head with a brick. His mouth was open, and his eyes were bugged out, speechless as he stared at the tiny young woman in front of him. Opening and closing his mouth several times soundlessly, his voice squeaked as he asked, in disbelief, “You?”
With that as a trigger, all three of the young woman fell back into hysterical giggles. Corda had herself almost under control when she looked up and saw that all of the Peacekeepers had turned from whatever they were doing and were staring in stunned shock at her.
I could argue, I could show them, but this is just too funny, thought Corda. I’m the one who’s been having problems casting Battle Spells. Just the thought set her off in helpless laughter again.
The hysteria that the girls felt must have been noticeable because Minister Rodray gentled his expression and asked his other burning question, “What really happened?”
The Academy Advocate burst into furious speech, not raising her voice but shooting her words as if they were bullets from a gun, “Read the blasted reports of the interviews. These children, notice I am stressing the word ‘children,’ have been traumatized today and that trauma has been increased by their treatment. I am taking them back to the Academy and will not brook any further delay. The three girls are obviously suffering some level of shock, and I will not have them bullied any longer!”