by TR Cameron
The tenor of the conversation coming through the speaker changed, and they shifted their attention back to it. The dwarf asked, “So, about the rescue operation.”
“That’s going to be tough. I think we’ll need to bring in more people from out of town, maybe even have some air support.”
Grentham chuckled. “Yeah, like a dragon.”
Trenton joined in the laughter. “I was thinking more of a helicopter, swoop in, pull us out of there if we get in trouble.”
She heard the other man’s frown in his tone. “You’re sure we have to be there personally?”
“Let me put it this way. If we’re not and the boss finds out, what do you think he’s going to do to us?”
“Yeah. Good point. Do we know when they’re moving Goryo?”
The conversation paused abruptly, then the sound of the door opening and a female voice saying, “Your ten o’clock meeting is here.” After that, the feed was more or less useless as the security company owners made a pitch to convince someone to buy their services.
Morrigan asked again, “Should whatever this rescue thing is go to Alejo?”
Ruby shook her head. “No. If word gets out that the authorities know, it’ll make everything harder. We’ll take this one ourselves, rely on the element of surprise. But we’re going to need stuff, and we’re going to need help.”
Her sister clapped her hands together and grinned. “That means a trip to see Margrave. I’m totally coming along.”
Phineas Margrave opened the door as they walked toward the house, then laughed as Morrigan jumped when one of the magical technology robots in the front yard cackled at her. The skeleton waved its arms in a spooky fashion while adding, “Ooooooo,” afterward, as if to mock them. Her sister growled, “It would be impolite to destroy that thing, right?”
Ruby chuckled. “It definitely would.” When they stepped inside, she dropped the veil that had been concealing Idryll, and Margrave’s smile stretched wider. “I hoped to see you again.”
Idryll returned the grin. “And I, the same. We didn’t get a chance to talk before since Ruby was busy doing one of her fainting spells.”
She rolled her eyes. “I do not faint. I pass out, in a decidedly strong and powerful fashion.”
Morrigan replied, “Sounds like fainting to me.”
Ruby shrugged the heavy duffel bag hanging from her shoulder to lessen its pull. “Both of you shut up. Margrave, we need your help.”
He laughed and led them to the basement. “Of course you do. You only show up when you need my help.”
“A, that’s untrue. B, I’ve been inviting you out to dinner in Magic City since I got back. You’re the one who’s antisocial.”
He pointed them to chairs at the table and took his at the head. “Guilty as charged. So, what can I do for you?”
Ruby replied, “More revelations first. I’m sure you’ve heard about the masked figures involved in the stuff at the casinos?”
“I was sure it had to be you. I take it the other two of them are here with us?”
She nodded. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep that secret from you for very long. Especially after last time.” She let the illusion of her humanity fall so he could see the pointed ears that marked her as a Mist Elf.
“That explains a lot. Here I was worried you’d find it challenging getting into the business, not being a magical.”
“I’m sorry. Really. I wanted to tell you.”
Margrave shook his head. “No need for apologies between us, ever. I know you had a reason. So, what are we doing here?”
An hour and a half later, the ensembles were ready. A combination of magic and paint rendered their mismatched gear into intentional-looking costumes rather than the slapdash assortment of pieces they’d been wearing so far. Ruby chose black with an iridescent sheen controlled by a thread of magic. She could reduce it to matte darkness by releasing that thread if she needed concealment. Donning the mask, she willed the idea of a dragon into the magical item, and the kabuki resemblance faded to be replaced by a stylized dragon’s face. “That’ll point some suspicion away from me and toward the witches and wizards, assuming anyone draws any conclusions at all.”
Margrave, who was a wizard, replied dryly, “Thanks for that. I’ll probably get people knocking on my door.”
Morrigan, who had met him before and had a solid playful relationship with the man, responded, “No one will imagine it’s you in the suit. You’re old.”
He placed his hands over his heart. “You wound me. Now put on yours.”
Morrigan had chosen a different approach. She wasn’t concerned with remaining unnoticed, counting on illusion to conceal her when she needed to hide. Her gear was entirely in reds, oranges, and yellow, and her mask that of a phoenix. Margrave offered, “I could give you fire, or the illusion of it, the same way I did the scales.”
Her sister shook her head. “If I need it, I’ll do it, but thanks for the offer.”
The only adjustment that Idryll's costume required was blending the belt to complement her natural fur colors. Her mask was a tiger’s face, appropriately enough. They removed the masks and set them aside. Ruby said, “Our friends from that unnamed government agency are going to put some tech into the masks. I’ll ask if you can take a look at them afterward.”
Margrave nodded. “Well, if they say no, I’ll wait until you faint again and take a look then.”
Ruby scowled. “That’s cold. Seriously cold.” Everyone laughed, and she continued, “So, I think we’re going to wind up fighting outside for this next one. It’ll be chaos. What can you do for us?”
He slid six discs onto the table, reduced in size but otherwise identical to the concealment grenades she’d used before. She lifted one and found it was slightly smaller than her palm and no thicker than her cell phone. She asked, “These still as powerful as they were?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a five percent reduction. Well worth the tradeoff. Plus, once you’ve stuck them to your belt, the adhesive won’t release unless you yank them directly upward.
Ruby examined one, wondering how he’d done it. “Nice. You have to share that trick.”
“Will do. As long as you’re willing to invest some sweat equity in exchange for it. Now that I know you have magic, I have all sorts of things you can assist on.”
“I am a little busy.”
He gave a creepy smile and put on the appropriate accent. “Quid pro quo, Clarice.”
Morrigan laughed. “You’re definitely more Anthony Hopkins than Mads Mikkelsen, I’m sorry to say.”
“Either way. Smart people, good company to be in. Except for the cannibalism.” He slid over three more discs, almost identical save a thin blue ring. “These are very focused explosives, essentially shaped charges that will create a hole in this shape. They won’t go off unless you strike them with shadow bolts.”
Morrigan replied, “Wait. If I get hit with shadow bolts, I’ll blow up? Ruby, I think you should carry all three.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You have to prime them first, dummy. Right, Margrave?”
He nodded. “Same as the concealment ones. Push in on the top to prime it.” Her sister took hers and snapped it onto her belt, still looking a little concerned at the prospect.
Ruby asked him, “What else you got?”
“You all are so ungrateful. Well, except for Idryll.”
He traded a grin with the shapeshifter, who replied, “Someday they’ll learn that manners matter.”
Margrave continued, “Without knowing exactly what you need, I think these might help.” He opened a cabinet, retrieved a large cylinder, and handed it over.
The object was thick enough that Ruby’s hand couldn’t close over it and tall enough that it extended a couple of inches above the top and bottom of her fist when she tried. “Heavy. What is it?”
The techno-wizard replied, “It’s difficult to describe exactly. But the important thing to know is it acts like an EMP. When it
goes off, everything electrical in, say, a twenty-foot radius is toast.”
“Like, it shuts down?”
He shook his head. “Like it’s fried. Done. Gone. Won’t function anymore. Ever.”
The fact that such a comparatively small container held so much destructive power amazed her. “So, this works on anything?”
“Anything that uses electricity or circuits. That includes the stuff I’ve given you, so you don’t want to be in that circle.”
Morrigan replied, “That sounds dangerous. Maybe the smartest member of our team should carry it.” She reached over to grab the canister, and Ruby snatched it away.
She patted it and said, “Oh no, this is mine. My precious.”
Apparently, her Gollum impersonation was on point because both Margrave and Morrigan burst into laughter. Idryll shook her head with a look of exasperation. “You people are ridiculous.”
Chapter Twenty
With the psychic stench of Jared Trenton still clinging to her, Ruby could see only one solution to get rid of it. Fortunately, it was what she wanted to do, anyway. After storing her equipment in her bedroom at her parents’ house, she portaled to Oriceran. She donned her training gear of brown leather pants and a blue and silver tunic, and strapped the dual sword holder to her back, sheathing her practice weapons into it. She stepped through the door to find that it was late afternoon, with children playing and adults congregating outside their houses. The person she relied on most in the world perched on a rock in the clearing that was the village center, waiting for her.
The crowd spread away to give them room as Keshalla rose and nodded a greeting. “Minari.”
Ruby gave a deep bow of respect. “Shenai.”
Her teacher took up a defensive position. “Begin.”
Ruby raced at her, the other woman’s empty hands signifying they would start unarmed. A second before she arrived, her mentor burst into motion, whipping a fast roundhouse kick at her head. She deflected it and tried to slam bodily into her foe, but her teacher danced nimbly aside. Could be I’m overusing that tactic. Better give it a rest for a while. Ruby blocked a pair of punches and another kick, all thrown in a matter of seconds, then stepped back as if she would disengage. Instead, she pushed off her back foot and threw her fists forward in a double punch to her opponent’s chest.
Her teacher retreated only far enough to lighten the impact, then swept her arm around and under, going for a wrist lock. Ruby performed an acrobatic flip to the side and yanked her hand away, breaking the grip before it solidified. Keshalla laughed. “Something has you troubled today.” She drew her daggers and beckoned Ruby ahead.
“Nothing. Just a moment of grossness I’d like to forget.” She pulled her blades from her belt and darted forward. She layered the edges with force magic to ensure they wouldn’t cut and stabbed at her teacher’s stomach. Keshalla blocked, and Ruby launched the other part of the combination, a forehand slice at eye level that curved back in a backhand stab at the ribs. Metal clanged against metal as her opponent intercepted the second blow and snapped out a front kick at Ruby’s solar plexus.
She backpedaled to avoid it, then threw one of the daggers as a distraction. The move caught her foe by surprise for an instant, and it was enough to let her dart in close again to launch a flurry of jabs and cuts. Her teacher blocked each of them in turn, never in danger but having to work hard to protect herself. Pleasure surged through her at the realization that her skills continued to improve, and she felt the anger and irritation that remained from her fake date with the security company owner burn away.
Keshalla must have sensed it too because she disengaged and sheathed her knives with a flourish. “Okay, you’re ready. Draw your swords.”
Ruby complied, twirling the weapons once and reveling in the feel of them in her hands. Again, she coated them with a sheen of force to protect her teacher, although a blow sneaking through was rare enough to be almost no worry at all.
Keshalla pulled one of her two swords from the scabbard on her back and held it in a diagonal guard. “Are you ready?”
Ruby nodded. “I am.”
“Then defend yourself.” Her teacher flowed in with professional concentration on her face and no sense of hesitation in her movements. The blade darted out, and Ruby intercepted it with a downward swipe of her left and countered with her right. A subtle shift of the other woman’s weapon put it in the way of the attack. Ruby pulled back her left sword and tried for a low cut to Keshalla's calf. Her opponent lifted her reinforced boot and blocked it, potentially dangerous against an edged weapon. Ruby assumed her teacher had the very best protection, though, so probably magic and current or ancient technology protected her foot.
That same boot didn’t set down but snapped out at Ruby’s head. With her arm low from her attack, she had no way to block it, so she dove and rolled to the side, tucking her swords carefully to be sure she didn’t injure herself, then came up in a defensive crouch. Her foe’s blade clanged on hers once, twice, then a third time, setting her up for the change in pattern that happened a moment later. Instead of a fourth identical strike, Keshalla slipped in and slammed the hilt up at Ruby’s face.
She’d taken one too many hits in the nose in the recent past to be caught off-guard by that particular strike. She threw herself backward, simultaneously kicking up at Keshalla's groin. The blow connected, the hardened surface of her boot meeting something protective in the woman’s armor, but it was still enough to drive the breath from her for an instant.
Ruby gained her feet and moved to the offensive. Her left sword focused on defense, occasionally stabbing in when the opportunity presented itself. Her right wove in a series of swirling strikes, the motion never ceasing, each deflection sending it along a different vector from which to launch another attack. She’d been practicing the flowing style whenever she could, as it was unique to the paired swords, relying on one of them to maintain the defense. She lost herself in the movements, her body finding the steps and positions perfectly, and pressed her teacher.
It was all going well until Keshalla caught her in a moment of overconfidence and kicked her foot out from underneath her, dropping her on the ground. The other woman was on top of her in an instant, knees resting on Ruby’s biceps and a dagger held at her throat. “Do you yield?”
The fact that the knife at her neck was probably magically protected didn’t lessen the instinctive fear of the situation. She squeaked, “I yield,” and her teacher rose, laughing. Keshalla extended a hand to help her up and observed, “You’re getting better. I saw your instincts take over. That’s very good. Against anyone but an expert swordsperson, that should prove a huge advantage.”
Ruby shook her head. “I hear what you’re saying, but it seems like I let my defenses down because I got too into it.”
Her mentor sheathed her weapon and motioned for Ruby to do the same. “Certainly. But that, too, will come with practice. And, I think you might still be a little distracted today. What’s on your mind?” She gestured at one of the boulders that decorated the training area, and they crossed the grass to sit on it together.
Ruby replied with a snort, “You mean besides trying to thwart the evildoers in Ely, and waiting for whatever the next step of the venamisha might be, and hoping I won’t get called in the middle of a fight and die because I’m suddenly rendered unconscious?”
Keshalla shrugged. “Sure, aside from that.”
The deadpan delivery made Ruby laugh. “Have you found out any more about the venamisha?”
“Only a little. The mystics are now completely convinced that the prophecy they thought was about you, is.”
The revelation hit her like a sledgehammer to the head. To think that a prophecy about you might exist was one thing. To have it more or less confirmed, definitely another. So, here, Ruby, have some more pressure. Enjoy. She told herself to quit whining and said, “I started remembering more about the second venamisha when I got back to Earth. You, or I presume an illusion of
you, accused me of betraying our people.”
Keshalla cocked her head to the side and asked, “Haven’t you?”
Chills ran through her before she realized that her mentor had shifted into the interrogatory mode she used when teaching. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
She remembered the argument she’d spoken inside the mountain, which still seemed valid. “I’m in a situation that requires action right now. If I had my choice, certainly, I would attempt to make Mist Elf priorities as important as human priorities. At the moment I don’t really have that choice.”
The other woman nodded. “Again, why not?”
Ruby expelled a small sigh. “I don’t know. Loyalty to my hometown, maybe? I’ve asked myself the same question, and I’m not sure why I feel the need to stand up for Magic City, but I can’t deny that I do. Feel it. That need.” She sighed again. “Now I’m babbling.”
Keshalla smiled. “You’ve answered your questions. Being the defender of the city allows you to protect both Mist Elves and humans at the same time, as well as everyone else. That commitment is certainly an appropriate choice.”
“It doesn’t always feel like it, though. What more can I do? How can I succeed in a way that shuts these things down, rather than stretching them out? I’m running around slapping on band-aids instead of fixing the problem.”
Her teacher lifted an eyebrow. “As always, continue training.” Ruby rolled her eyes in response to the woman’s most frequent advice. “I also have another idea for you. If you’re going to keep doing this for a substantial amount of time, it might be worth making an effort to acquire an artifact weapon.”
“Shentia and I discussed that.” She’d told her teacher about the Drow tradeswoman in the kemana. “She doesn’t have any to sell.”
Keshalla laughed. “From what you said, you probably don’t want to owe her that many more favors.”
Ruby groaned. “Thanks for the reminder. Yeah.”
“I know where one might be. The mystics and I have examined a prophecy that with the other now fully understood, could refer to you as well. It involves an artifact weapon, specifically an attempt to secure one.”