“We need to figure out the command words,” said Dantes. “Go up!” Nothing happened.
“Rise!” tried Ghorza.
“Lift!” ordered Dantes.
“Maybe you have to say the command word in their language,” guessed Ghorza.
“Can you use a Translate spell to translate our words into their language?” Dantes asked. “Maybe that would work.”
“Maybe these buttons would work, too,” said Milos, pointing to a row of buttons on the wall to the right of the door. “There are about as many buttons as the number of levels; each probably equates to a level.”
“That actually makes sense,” agreed Dantes with an approving nod. “The bottom one is probably our level. We want to go up five levels, so we need the button that is five above it.” He counted up and said, “This one.” He pushed the button, and the room started vibrating.
“I think we are going up,” Dantes judged; “it feels like we are being pushed down toward the floor.”
Just like on the outside, lights above the door illuminated as the magic room traveled up. With a small bump, the room stopped, and the door opened.
“That was fun,” said Milos as the group exited. “I want to do it again.”
“Focus,” ordered Dantes, “This is where we finally catch him. Follow me.” He led them to the room that he had seen the thief enter.
“Are you going to burn down the door or break it in?” asked Milos.
“Neither,” said Dantes. “I will knock. When he opens the door, I will knock him to the ground, and Ghorza will use air shackles to hold him in place.” Ghorza nodded. Of all of the things they had done and seen, this was the first thing that was familiar. Ghorza and Dantes had used this routine to capture a number of criminals.
“Ready?” asked Dantes. Ghorza nodded.
Dantes knocked on the door. The group could hear movement in the room, and then something passed in front of the peephole in the door. “Mmm bhsuejsh!” said a voice from the room. The person in the room walked away from the door.
Dantes knocked more insistently. The person came back to the door. “Mmm bhsuejsh!” said the voice from the room again, louder this time. The person started to leave.
Dantes knocked even harder on the door. This time the door opened a couple of inches to show a chain that ran across from the door to the doorjamb. “Mjm sdekar,” the voice started to say, but it was interrupted as Dantes slammed open the door, using all of his considerable strength. The chain tore off, and the human was thrown backward to the floor.
“Vincula!” commanded Ghorza. Glowing chains of force appeared on the person, locking him to the floor. The group could see it was the Spectre. The door to the balcony was open, and a crown was on the room’s large bed. A medium-sized mirror sat next to it, along with a small purse.
Dantes turned to Ghorza with a smile. “It has been a long time coming, but we’ve finally caught him. Red-handed, too.” He turned to the Spectre. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The Spectre stared at them, wild-eyed, and then said something in a foreign language.
“Of course he’s going to pretend he doesn’t speak our language now, too,” said Milos, looking at the figure on the floor. The Spectre was naked, except for a small piece of cloth around his privates. “That’s just pathetic.”
“Well, we can fix that,” answered Dantes. He glanced at his partner. “Ghorza, can you cast a Translate so that we can be done with this foolishness?”
“It will be my last Translate,” replied Ghorza, “and I’m almost out of manna, too.”
Dantes nodded. “That’s fine,” he said. “I think we’re about done here.”
“OK,” she agreed. She pointed at the Spectre and commanded, “Convertite.”
“We finally have you,” Dantes said, once the spell had taken effect. He nodded at the bed. “And with the crown still in your possession, too.”
“That’s not mine!” said the Spectre. “I never saw it before.”
Dantes smiled. “I know it’s not yours; it belongs to the queen. You stole it from her. I expect that the escape mirror sitting next to it isn’t yours, either.”
“No, none of that is mine,” the Spectre said. “I just found it. Who are you people?”
“We’re the ones that are here to bring you to justice,” said Ghorza, “regardless of the games you play. First you don’t speak our language. Now you’re probably going to tell us you’re not the Spectre, either, right?”
“Well yes, I go by the name ‘Spectre,’ but I didn’t do anything. I didn’t steal that crown.”
Dantes smiled again. He enjoyed catching criminals. He couldn’t torture them, but it was still a lot of fun to watch them squirm once they were caught. “Ghorza,” he said, “would you please do the honors?”
“My pleasure,” Ghorza said. “Furta!” she commanded with a snap. The crown glowed brilliantly, along with the purse that was sitting on the bed. She turned it over and dumped out a pile of gold coins. They glowed as well.
“The crown and the gold were all stolen,” Dantes said, “and they were stolen by the Spectre.”
“But I didn’t do it,” said the Spectre. “I don’t know how those things got here.”
“They never do,” said Ghorza, shaking her head.
Dantes took off one of his boots. “Oops,” he said as he smashed the mirror on the bed with it. “Seven years of bad luck for me; a lifetime of bad luck for you.” He strapped his boot back on.
Milos scooped the coins back into the purse. “I claim these as my reward,” he said. “You can have the crown; these are mine.”
Dantes shrugged and looked at Ghorza. She shrugged back at him. “Fine,” said Dantes, “I’m happy to get the crown back and strand him here.” He turned to Ghorza. “How long will the chains last?”
“About an hour,” Ghorza replied. “Long enough for us to get back and break the mirror, trapping him here forever.”
“Good,” said Dantes. “Let’s go.” He picked up the crown and turned to leave.
“I’m staying,” said Milos, bouncing the purse in his hand so that the coins jingled. “I have money, and I like this world. The women are tall and pretty, and I’m rich. There are magic rooms to ride up and down in. This will be so much fun!”
Ghorza and Dantes looked at each other and shrugged again. “Works for me,” said Dantes. “I’m happy to strand you here, too.” The two magicians left, closing the door as they went out.
“Naughty, naughty, naughty,” said Milos as he sat down on the bed. He shook his head. “You’ve been a very bad boy.”
“But I didn’t do anything!” the Spectre wailed. “I really didn’t!”
“You can stop the denials,” Milos said with a laugh. “I know you didn’t do anything.” He pulled a small mirror out of his bag and gazed into it, saying something that the Spectre strained to hear, but couldn’t. The Spectre recoiled in horror as Milos’ face melted, the flesh turning liquid and rearranging itself according to some predetermined pattern unknown to him. The result was sinister to behold.
“But, but, but, if you knew I didn’t do it, why didn’t you tell them?” asked the Spectre, his brain refusing to accept what his eyes had just seen.
“That wouldn’t have been very smart,” Milos replied, patting his face into place as it hardened, “since I was the one that really did take them.” He got up. “That reminds me.”
Milos walked out onto the balcony and pulled a handful of shelled peanuts from a pocket. Placing them on the table, he waved over the railing. Within seconds, a flock of crows flew in and started feeding. “Thank you for bringing those things up for me,” he said, stroking the one closest to him.
“So you are just using me to take the blame?” asked the Spectre as Milos returned to the room.
“Of course I am,” replied Milos. “You are as stupid as those other two fools. They got so excited to see the crown that they will take it back to our world and destroy their one way
of coming back here before they realize it’s a fake. You’re helping me start my new life.”
“But, didn’t they do some sort of spell or something to see if the crown was stolen?”
“Of course they did,” replied Milos. “They checked it the same way they always do, which is why I had the forgery made out of the gold and gems that I had stolen previously. It glowed like it was stolen by me, because it was stolen by me...just not from the time and the place they thought it was.” He pulled a crown from his bag. The gems shone with an internal light and brilliance that the other crown didn’t have. Milos smiled. The queen’s crown was more valuable than anything he had ever seen or held. Not only was it worth a fortune, Milos knew that it also held a significance that dwarfed its monetary value.
Milos’ laugh was gleeful and maniacal at the same time, leading the Spectre to believe that the person he was dealing with was not entirely balanced. He didn’t like where that led his thinking.
“Wha...what are you going to do with me?” he asked.
“With you?” asked Milos with a laugh as he walked over to gaze at his reflection in the mirror on the dresser. He pulled a chair over and reached forward to adjust something on the mirror. “Nothing. You are trivial to my plans. No one in my world knows you exist, and no one in this world will believe you if you tell them about me.”
The Spectre knew he was right. Anyone that came in and saw him chained to the floor would think that it was some sort of sexual tryst gone bad, not a case of inter-dimensional theft and recovery. He could never tell anyone about this; they would lock him away forever. “But what about you?” he asked. “What are you going to do?”
Milos smiled as he stepped up onto the chair. “What am I going to do?” he asked. “Anything I want to.” He stepped through the mirror and was gone.
# # # # #
The following is an
Excerpt from Book 1 of the War for Dominance:
Can’t Look Back
___________________
Chris Kennedy
Available from Chris Kennedy Publishing
November, 2014
eBook and Paperback
A stranger in an even stranger land...
John rolled onto his back. Some of the aches and pains eased; others intensified. His head cleared a little, to the point that he realized the buzzing noise in his head was someone snoring. He rolled a little further and saw that there was a man asleep on some sort of no-frills bed. It was nothing more than a couple of thin blankets over a wooden frame, and it looked less comfortable than anything John had ever slept on in his life. The only thing it had going for it was that it was better finished than everything else in view; the snoring man might not wake up full of splinters.
John levered himself onto an elbow, nearly passing out with the increased pain. Slowly the blackness faded back to the edges of his vision, allowing him to see again. The light level in the room grew as a cloud passing in front of the moon passed. Moonlight shone through the window, glinting off the blade of a very large sword leaning up against the head of the bed. It looked ready to use at a moment’s notice...like if the occupant of the bed woke up and found a stranger in his room.
He needed to leave and he needed to do it now.
* * * * *
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Kennedy is a former aviator with over 3,000 hours flying attack and reconnaissance aircraft for the United States Navy, including many missions supporting U.S. Special Forces. He has also been an elementary school principal and has enjoyed 18 seasons as a softball coach. He is currently working as an Instructional Systems Designer for the Navy.
Titles by Chris Kennedy:
“Red Storm: The Chinese Invasion of Seattle” – Available Now
“Occupied Seattle” – Available Now
“Janissaries: Book One of The Theogony” – Available Now
“When the Gods Aren’t Gods: Book Two of The Theogony” – Available Now
“Terra Stands Alone: Book Three of The Theogony” – Available Now
* * * * *
Connect with Chris Kennedy Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chriskennedypublishing.biz
Blog: http://chriskennedypublishing.com/
Twitter: @ChrisKennedy110
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Chasing A Spectre (War for Dominance Book 0) Page 3