by Guy Antibes
“Then don’t do anything for as long as possible,” Lin said. “I honestly don’t see why you need to use all your power until needed, either of you.” She took a sip of wine. All the others had ordered ale. “Traveling to Bristone is arduous enough since it is all uphill from Dorkansee, and the people live like they did centuries ago.”
“Have you been there before?” Penny asked.
“As far north as Boxwood and then just as far as the border, I’m afraid,” Lin said. “That was far enough since I entered the country on a dare. The people are rustic, to say the least. I wouldn’t be going if Willet and Jordan hadn’t asked me.”
“Jordan, as in King Jordan?” Jack asked.
“Who else?” Lin said, nonchalantly waving her hand.
Jack suspected she was acting again. It must come naturally for the woman, he thought.
“What kind of training do we need to do at this point?” Jack asked.
“You and Lorton need to be drilled in proper etiquette. Not so much Lorton as you,” Willet said. “If you are to be a potential escort, you will have to learn escort kinds of things. Lin will be your trainer. I don’t think you will require any of Gary’s instruction.”
Jack didn’t either after having watched Penny fight the man. “I will need to bring Lorton up to speed,” he said.
Penny giggled a bit.
“What does laugh that mean?” Lorton asked Penny.
“Jack will show you. He can teach you some of the techniques he talked about.”
“I can learn those?”
Jack nodded. “A few. I don’t know what your wizardry potential is, so we will have to spend some time together. You won’t regret the sessions.”
“I’m a busy man,” Lorton said.
“Learning is up to you, Reedbrook,” Jack said. “I’m offering to help. If you don’t care to learn, that is your problem.” The man irritated Jack, but he didn’t know if he could dismiss Lorton from their team. “Do you have time after lunch? If you aren’t up to it, we will have to find someone else.” Jack didn’t want to call out the man, but Lorton had provoked him enough.
“I think that would be appropriate. Gary, Lorton, and Jack,” Willet said. “I think our time is up in this room. Let’s get Lorton up to speed, as Jack said. We will meet in the conference room where we gathered this morning and come up with a training plan.”
Jack dawdled with Fasher as the others walked on ahead.
“Did Lorton Reedbrook get underneath your skin?” Fasher asked, a faint smile on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said. “I’m used to traveling with willing participants. Lorton thinks the world circles around him. It doesn’t.”
“Does it circle around you?”
“No, but I see what you mean, Jack said. “I don’t know how he and I will come to terms, but I suppose it will be difficult to find someone to take his place at this point.”
Fasher nodded. “It will, but such a thing is not impossible. I have another assignment for you on this errand. Make Lorton Reedbrook a better man.”
Jack laughed. “How am I supposed to do that?”
Fasher stopped and looked into Jack’s eyes. “You will find a way. If you feel that is impossible, ask Ari Gasheaux to help. He has lots of experience in dealing with brash young men and arrogant police officers.”
“I’m anything but brash,” Jack said.
“Lorton Reedbrook probably has a differing opinion. Let’s split your challenge into three parts. Earn Lorton’s respect before you leave Dorkansee. Become friends with him by the time you reach Chancey, and then make him a better man.
“That will be harder than finding the Hidden Mask,” Jack said.
“Perhaps, but consider it part of your assignment.”
Jack sighed. “We need to catch up to the others.” He took a few steps, but Fasher remained rooted to the pavement. Jack sighed again, “I accept.”
Fasher smiled and gently clapped Jack on the shoulder. “Good. You will be better for it along with Reedbrook.”
Chapter Four
~
L orton pursed his lips as Gary explained what they would work on for the afternoon.
“Jack has brought back some very interesting fighting methods as well as his Masukaian sword and throwing weapons called stars.”
“Throwing stars,” Jack said.
Lorton only grunted. “I can throw my knives as well as he can throw his stars.”
Gary nodded. “That remains to be seen. Why don’t you two have a little competition first, and then we will work on both of you teaching the other.”
“I don’t know the advantages of a real throwing knife,” Jack said.
He did, but Lorton had to get involved. Lorton looked like he was likely to walk at any minute.
“Let me tell you,” Lorton said. “Look at this.” He picked up a flat throwing knife. “It is flat, so you can have a few on your body. It is balanced, and there are two edges so it can bite into your target.”
He stood and tossed the blade at the target. Jack could tell he increased its speed with a spell. “Watch me move it.”
Jack stood behind the policeman, watching Lorton toss the knife away from the target and move it into the center.
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried a throwing knife.” Jack picked up one of the flat knives. It was light enough for Penny to handle it, but there was enough weight to sink it into the target. He bent forward and tossed the knife without any magical aid. It slammed sideways into the target. He laughed. “I should have Penny give me some lessons.”
Lorton grunted. “That is what I am here for.”
“Then teach me.”
Jack let Lorton explain how the knife needed to rotate and then talked about how to handle the blade. With every tip, Lorton made Jack practice twenty throws until he made sufficient progress to move on.
The policeman’s instructions worked better than Jack would have thought, and in the end, he was consistently making the knife stick.
“Can you add some magic to your throws?” Lorton asked.
“I do have experience with that.”
Jack proceeded to bury five knives in a cluster in the middle of the target. “Let me show you what I learned on.” He pulled out a bag of ten throwing stars. “These are a little easier to hide than the throwing knives, but they do not penetrate like a knife does, I can see that.”
He touched the void and put all ten blades into a tight pattern in the target to the left of the knives.
“Without using wizardry, I’m not as accurate,” Jack said.
Lorton stared at the target and then at Jack. “How did you do that?”
“You missed the sword demonstration,” Gary said to Lorton. “I am almost speechless at Jack’s demonstration with the throwing stars. He taught us all how to increase our speed. It’s time for him to teach you something.”
“Teach me.”
Jack smiled and talked about touching the void. “You are a wizard?”
“I used to be a battle wizard, but like Fasher Tempest, I didn’t like it. I chose a different path,” Lorton said.
That was progress, Jack thought. He continued to talk about his experience with using a trigger word and then using an image instead.
“Masukaian magic philosophy is different from ours. They don’t have the Five Manipulations. All magic is the same, and it is applied differently in an infinite amount of ways. To a Masukaian, it is all about will and power. The trigger can be a spoken word or an image in your mind. Touching the void is a Fourth Manipulation, yet Gary was able to speed up. The more power, the more speed, but he improved.”
“I did, Lorton. It was an amazing thing. Penny is faster than I am when we are both in the void, but I could beat anyone not enhanced. Me, someone who only has a breath of magic!”
Jack worked with Lorton, who, after an hour’s work, finally found a good trigger word, and the policeman was able to spar competitively with Gary.
<
br /> Lorton laughed. “I’ve never come close to beating you before.”
“Try using the void with your knife throwing. Once you are in the void, you can still apply magic to your throws,” Jack said.
Lorton threw with speed, but he was unable to direct the knives. He laughed. “I tell those I train: practice, practice, practice. I will do the same.”
“That is what it took for me. I spent a year at a training facility in the southern Masukaian desert practicing. I’ll show you another technique that I learned. Can you teleport?”
Lorton shook his head. “A couple of feet is all.”
“That is enough. Can you levitate?”
“I’m better at that.”
“Good, let me show you how to move through a room without touching the ground.” Jack demonstrated his nightingale walk. “It is a combination. You can’t be out of power when you do it.”
“I can see that. It uses up a lot.”
Jack worked until twilight with Lorton. He was able to move about twenty feet along the floor before his concentration flagged.
“Practice, again,” Jack said. “From this point on, it is something you’ll have to figure out on your own. You can—”
“Fiddle with the trigger words, I know. I didn’t expect I’d be learning all this. I must admit, I had my doubts about you.”
“There are some other things, but I think these two are enough for now,” Jack said. “You’ve picked it up pretty quickly.” The statement sounded odd to Jack, but it was true. Lorton was stronger than Jack had thought.
“Time for me to go, and both of you too. I will see you tomorrow in Willet’s conference room,” Gary said.
Jack was fine with that. He hadn’t expected to be the teacher, but if that was what it took to find a way to tolerate Lorton and for him to tolerate Jack, the time was well worth it. He considered Fasher’s first stage to have been a success.
~
Penny yawned, but she was much more discreet about it, Jack noticed, as they made their way to Willet Barton’s offices. Fasher said he would join them in the afternoon.
“Are you going to be more civil to Lorton Reedbrook?” Penny asked.
“I am going to treat him as a member of our team if that is what you mean,” Jack said. “I’m not sure about his suitability, but I didn’t assemble everyone, Fasher did. I will have to rely on their judgment, just like I always have.”
“Is your intent to just take whatever they say and do it for the rest of your life?” Penny asked.
Jack shrugged. “I don’t look that far ahead. I’m focused on the Hidden Mask.”
“And after that is done? Don’t you have any idea what you will be doing ten years from now?”
Jack laughed. “No, I don’t. Do you? What are you going to be doing a decade from today?”
“I will be healing or following you around on one of Fasher’s errands, I suppose.”
Jack shook his head in exasperation. “I suppose I don’t see myself running errands for Fasher. In ten years, what errands will be left to do? Maybe I’ll open up a little wizard shop or entertain people by performing in my own traveling wizardry show.”
Penny grabbed Jack’s upper arm. “Assuming we won’t be killed in that time, I’m not sure what we can settle for. I still don’t feel normal, even after a few days back in Dorkansee. My life after the institute is not what I expected. I wonder if my wanting to be a lady is a false dream.”
“You have turned into a lady to me,” Jack said. “Lin will hone your ladylike skills to a fine edge while we travel. Perhaps we can both get jobs with Willet Barton.”
“You don’t believe that, do you?”
Jack pressed his lips together. “I think all our conversations with gods and goddesses will affect our future in ways we don’t yet understand. Is that a better answer than I don’t know? Being all polished and shiny will only help you when we find out.”
Penny sighed. “That is more of what I expected to hear from you, Jack Winder. When we come back to Raker Falls from Bristone, we will both corner Fasher and find out.”
“Why don’t we do that before we leave for Antibeaux? Jack asked.
“Because I am afraid to,” Penny said. “I’ll feel more confident after I come back. He is likely to put us off anyway.”
Jack laughed. “I agree with that. We will both confront him then.” In his mind, he thought if they both made it back. Jack still didn’t trust this team as much as he had Tanner, Helen, and Grigar when they traveled to Masukai. He didn’t have to love everyone they traveled with, but Jack only trusted Penny, and maybe he trusted Sera only because she seemed to be a genuine friend of Penny’s.
“What do you want to see in Dorkansee?” Penny asked.
“I’d like to see your old house,” Jack said. “Perhaps get closer to King Jordan’s castle. The only errands where I didn’t meet the head of state was my trip to Dorkansee for the Serpent’s Orb and when we went to Passoran.”
“Perhaps I can arrange something,” Penny said. “The king knows who I am, you know.”
“Arrange something, then,” Jack said, laughing. He put his arm around Penny’s shoulders, but then withdrew it. “Maybe I shouldn’t do that in public,” Jack said as they walked past the Wizards Guild building.
“No. Put your arm around my shoulder again,” Penny said after her breath caught. “Peer Major is walking toward us. Maybe he won’t recognize me.”
Penny’s betrayer stopped a few paces before he reached them.
“Penny?”
“That’s right, Peer. I have returned to Dorkansee. I escaped from the clutches of Simara Khotes, but you might not have known her by that name. All you were concentrating on the last time I saw you were the gold coins Lazy had plopped on your palm.”
Peer appeared to have ignored her comments. “I nearly didn’t recognize you with your white hair.”
“Goddess-given, if you want to know. I have returned a different person than when I left. You never did meet Jack Winder, did you?”
Peer’s gaze turned to Jack. “The one who went to Masukai?”
“And the one who rushed to save Penny who was kidnapped.” Jack took a few steps closer, and Peer took one back. “You essentially sold her. Did you know Simara Khotes planned to kill Penny?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Because you didn’t ask,” Penny said.
Peer turned to run, but Jack teleported in front of Peer and pushed him to the ground. “Do you want to test a Masukaian wizard-warrior? That is what I have become,” Jack said, beginning to pull his Masukaian sword out of its sheath.
“It’s black steel,” Peer said.
“So the blood doesn’t show,” Jack said. He had to force himself not to laugh at his prank. “It wants to drink yours, Peer Major.”
The young man turned pale and ran into the square away from Jack. Fortunately, it was in the same direction as police headquarters, so Jack put the rest of his sword back in the sheath and began walking toward Peer, who uttered a hoarse cry and began to run toward the institute.
“I’ll be back for you, Peer Major,” Jack shouted.
Peer ran even faster.
Penny put her hand to her mouth. “I think he has paid for his crime.”
Jack turned serious. “He has done no such thing.”
“Is that really why the sword is black?” Penny asked.
“My Masukaian wizard-warrior outfit is black,” Jack said. “It doesn’t show the blood either.”
Jack couldn’t keep in his laughter. “It feels good to pull a prank again. I really don’t know how long it has been. The black represents Deep Mist.”
Penny smiled and hit his upper arm. “You even had me scared.”
Jack made an angry face but broke into a smile. “So that was Peer Major. Not the model of courage, is he?”
“Far from it,” Penny said. “I thought he was a vacuous noble playing at life, but that changed when he sold me to Lazigar.” She looked toward
the institute. “Another reason not to return to my training. I’m not sure I could restrain myself like you did.”
“See what I mean about improvising as a team?” Jack said. “We both did a marvelous job.”
Penny beamed. “We did.”
She grabbed his hand as they made their way across the rest of the square and ended up in Willet Barton’s conference room.
~
Jack laid out his version of the Serpent’s Orb. He took off his black bracers, took off Eldora’s box, and put it on the table. The Battlebone went beside it along with his sword and knife. He hadn’t thought to duplicate Takia’s Cup, but Jack still knew the proper spell and process to duplicate it. He would take his own version with him to Antibeaux.
“We have these at our disposal. I will tell you what they do, but this isn’t the proper venue for a demonstration.” Jack said.
He explained what each object did and an example of how he used it. “The sword and knife are augmentations. You can shoot wizard bolts farther, project wizard’s fire farther, protect yourself from a compulsion or conversion spell, or even store more energy. Some of these you can use, but most you won’t have the power to activate. I can make duplicates of these.
“You are a one-man army,” Willet said.
“No, I am one man,” Jack replied. “I have extra capabilities, but I have nearly died a few times, especially once in Masukai. I woke in the arms of Eldora if you want to know. She gave me a choice to stay with her or return to the world.”
“I don’t believe you,” Lorton said.
“I’m not forcing you to. It happened. I’ve been more honest with you about my experiences than I have with anyone.” Jack said. “You have told me that this errand requires getting into the thick of Bristone politics. I have little political experience, although I did help the current king of Tesoria ascend to the throne. That is a story for another time.”
“I didn’t hear anything about help from Corandians,” Lin said.
“They erased the true history and replaced it with a version that was more to their liking,” Jack said. He remembered Ralinn Bonarin. Jack looked at Penny and smiled. Penny had never betrayed him like the princess of Tesoria. Ralinn was his version of Peer Major, Jack thought, substituting Penny’s slavery for Jack’s rejection. “You don’t have to believe that, either, but that is what happened.”