by Adam Witcher
A pit formed in Matthias’ stomach, and he couldn’t tell if it was caused by the magician at large or his supposed ‘partner’ withholding information.
“So what do you think?” Matthias picked up a light bulb and spun it between his fingers. “Alien? A genius ahead of his time?”
Matteo gritted his teeth. Hectus groaned. The man looked like he was about to pass out.
“Possibly neither.”
“How do you mean?”
“A time traveler.” Matteo was embarrassed to suggest it.
“This isn’t the time for nonsense.”
“Do I strike you as someone prone to nonsense?”
Matthias frowned.
“You know it isn’t possible, even on Draconis.”
“I struggle to come up with a better alternative,” Matteo said, pacing. “An alien would have no business here, no interest in preventing a takeover that has barely begun. And a genius? Even the smartest man on this planet would have to work from the simple tools around him before developing more advanced technology. These supplies are simply not possible to procure on this planet, in this era, without having skipped generations of technological evolution. Besides, don’t you find it a strange coincidence that this ‘magician’ and his assistant happened to show up at this castle exactly when we did?”
Matthias grunted. These matters did not interest him.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers,” Matteo continued, “but I suggest we begin taking this threat very seriously. We are so close to being unstoppable. I suggest… I suggest reaching out to the outpost. I don’t like the idea any more than you do, but I think it would be prudent to explain our situation.”
“Why try to convince me?” Matthias said. “Why not just do it?”
“Because…” Matteo started. “Because Eliza is not our ally. If I go at this alone, it’s my word against hers. If we are to take down this ‘magician,’ I believe it is in our best interest to work together.”
“You’re right,” Matthias sighed. “I haven’t even seen her today. Always so secretive. If we succeed by working together, so be it.”
“On that note,” Matteo said. “You know we have some… specialized equipment hidden away for emergencies. Should the magician continue to plague us, I suggest we split it between the two of us. Eliza need not know.”
“Agreed.”
Matthias pressed the communicator hidden in his ear and mentally connected with the other end at the outpost. It took several seconds for the connection to go through. A beep confirmed it, but there was no answer right away. Annoyed, Matthias spoke up.
“Ground team to outpost,” he said. “You there?”
A pause.
“Outpost listening.”
Matthias bit back his frustration. They’d been communicating for nearly a week and the damned airheaded scientists still couldn’t get the lingo correct. As badly as he wanted to admonish them for it, this was no time to lecture.
“We may have a situation on our hands,” Matthias said. “Let us explain…”
***
Eliza sat in her makeshift control room, screens hanging from every side. On the other side of the curtain, underneath her bed, the soft hum of the generator droned pleasantly in her ears. All her bugs were still in operation, constantly feeding live footage directly into her palanquin.
She congratulated herself for setting up the tech scan blocker in her room. She prided herself for over planning, overpacking, and for refusing to cooperate with the men. The time traveler had proven to be quite clever, and she needed all the resources she had to dispose of him.
One of the bugs was fixed on the king and queen - the real ones. She smirked as she watched them huddle in a damp corner of their cell. Stripped of their elegant robes and gowns, the two could have been any pair of lowly paupers, spat upon by the fates.
Another bug was nestled into a stack of cleaning rags in the kitchen. She gleefully watched the servants whisper and gossip, anxiety permeating among them. Some of them suspected the takeover. Others laughed at the notion. Others still - only a few - had already completed the blood ritual, her little spies speckled throughout them. The friction and fear between the groups was delicious. Though she couldn’t feel the ecstasy of their fear without being physically near them, she derived great pleasure from watching them anyway. It was no different than her mouth watering at the sight of a juicy steak.
Eliza was in no hurry to fulfill more blood rituals. She’d quickly found the right balance. If too many humans gave in to the ritual, their fear lost its flavor. It was considered a necessary evil early on in these takeovers. In the Draconian utopia, her Draconian utopia, they would no longer need to manipulate humans’ brain chemistry in order to make them obey. With enough power pressing down on them, humans would have no other choice.
She didn’t relish the blood drinking ritual, nor did she relish the shift in power that the wedding had brought. She’d doubted their legitimacy at first, but that was no longer the case.
As she learned in the debriefing, the rituals were different on each planet the Draconians invaded. She had a mind for all things military, so the neuroscience behind the process escaped. For practical purposes, all they needed to know was this: force your victims to bastardize their own rituals, and they will be putty in your hands. There is no greater power than the one handed over willingly by the subjugated.
Humans were strange. She had a hard time understanding what was so sacred about marriage and communion, but she couldn’t deny the results. She’d doubted these efforts would work at all until Matthias dragged Hectus back from the hunting trip. Whatever neurological chemistry the Draconians possessed proved its power through Hectus’ loyalty. It was beyond her scientific knowledge, but that didn’t matter as long as she could utilize it.
She needed to leave the palanquin soon. Matteo and Matthias were likely wondering why she’d been holed up all day, and she didn’t want to explain it. She’d already had to reveal the surveillance bugs. There was no need to elaborate on the extent of them.
She needed them for just a little bit longer, until Anton was out of the picture and she could begin her new plan. Only a few of the Draconian guards were her people, and she had stationed them at the surveillance center in the inner city. But she would find a way to win the loyalty of the others. She’d never felt more confident in her abilities of deception. It was that very skill that had landed her a spot on this ground party. It was that very skill that would give her people the rise to glory they’d deserved for so long. Yes, she needed Matteo and Matthias just a little longer. But she was so close to victory, she could taste it.
Before she got up to leave, she backed through footage of the court scribe’s private quarters. She’d seen them flirting so often that, if anyone knew of his whereabouts, Eliza could count on her.
She watched lazily for a while. The scribe didn’t spend much time in her quarters, and Eliza was on the verge of giving up when she found the footage of the magician leaving her room. She watched the scene in reverse, as the Anton walked backward into bed, cradled the naked scribe, had wild sex, threw their clothes aside, and entered the room mid-kiss.
With this on her mind, she stood up and went to find her ‘partners.’
***
In the early afternoon, the king and queen summoned all members of the castle to the throne room. The king rarely took advantage of this room; he found it stuffy and pretentious. The royal coats of arms on the walls didn’t interest him as the mythical depictions of heroes in the dining hall did, and the throne was as uncomfortable as it was ornate.
The reptilian shapeshifter imitating him, however, did not know any of that, so the looks of confusion on everyone’s faces annoyed him.
They annoyed Eliza, too, but she was too distracted with forcing herself to cry. It was a new experience for her, and she was struggling with it. Draconians did not have tear ducts. She contorted her face as if trying to make a bowel movement, but it wasn
’t until she pinched her skin hard that she was able to make her eyes water.
“My people,” Matthias said, “We have entered a state of emergency. The wretched magician Anton has proven to be a traitor. He has kidnapped our daughter and taken her for nefarious purposes. We suspect that he will return with more wicked tricks soon, and he is to be considered extremely dangerous. It is our reluctant duty to inform you that we must institute a castle lockdown. You are all confined to your quarters until further notice. Only guards will be permitted in the hallways.”
The castle staff grumbled but didn’t argue. Some spoke to each other in low voices. After a moment, a voice rose from the crowd.
“Where is House Dracos?”
The king pretended not to hear while he fumbled for an excuse. It wasn’t until several other voices repeated the question that Eliza finally spoke up.
“The members of House Dracos have gone on a special mission on our behalf. In our effort to bring the dangerous magician to justice, they have returned to their kingdom and will return with additional forces. Expect their return tomorrow. They have left their original military detail in place until then.”
The staff erupted with more questions, but the king cut them off.
“Silence,” he ordered. “There is much to do. The lockdown is effective immediately. For your own safety, please return to your quarters.”
With that, the servants’ questions were stifled by the intrusion of the guard, Draconian and human alike. Their weapons and armor gently persuaded all that it was time to go. They were herded out of the room and into their respective quarters.
On the way out, Sabina heard the queen call to her.
“You there, scribe, come here.”
Sabina turned around and gulped nervously. In all her time working for the court, they had always referred to her by name, never by occupation. She wasn’t sure what was really going on here, but her instincts told her to keep her head down.
“Yes, your highness?”
“You are to come with me, I have a special task for you.”
Sabina’s hands went clammy as she approached the throne. Behind her, she felt the air being sucked out of the room as the two women were left alone.
Outside the throne room, Gregor listened to the staff’s chatter. They pointed out that King Gareth’s verbal patterns and preferences had changed, his entire demeanor, really. A few were impressed by the change and expressed confidence in their ruler’s ability to bring the criminal to justice. But Gregor was not one of these. He had known the man far too long to be fooled by an imposter.
Whatever had happened, he resolved to find out. He followed the herd of people toward his quarters. No need to bring any attention to himself for now. He would go to his room willingly. But Gregor had lived in the castle for many, many years, and he knew it better than anyone.
Chapter Twenty
Anton ended the transmission and exhaled slowly. From what he could tell, Matthias and Matteo didn’t suspect deception. But now he knew the Draconians were onto him. They’d underestimated him and Ana since their arrival, but he doubted they would make that mistake again. Not since they knew their entire future was at stake.
He was relieved to learn that Eliza did have surveillance in the castle. At least that gave him some answers. He only wondered how the bugs had gone undetected by Ana’s tech scanner. And if the surveillance had been in play the entire time, why had the Draconians waited to kill or expose him? Eliza must have known. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have caught the crossbow bolt.
Anton turned to his companions, who were both silently analyzing the situation themselves.
“Ana,” he said. “Any idea how we could have missed the bugs in the tech scan?”
The android cocked her head in thought.
“It is possible that Eliza has a tech scan blocker. It is also possible that the bugs did not show up because they are extensions of the technological system rather than the source of it,” she said. “I hypothesize that the source is not in the castle, but is instead somewhere nearby.”
“Damn, we never did a scan of the whole city, did we?”
“Negative, Anton. It did not seem necessary.”
He paced and twirled his laser pistol on his index finger.
“If we’re going to take them down, we’ll need to eliminate surveillance. If the scientists have advanced weaponry, I’m willing to bet the ‘royal family’ does, too.”
Two of the reptilians’ purple guns lay on the floor, giant needles sticking out of the tops of them. Anton walked over and picked one up, then handed it to Ana.
“I’m not going to have you defenseless again, Ana. Take this.”
Ana studied the weapon.
“Interesting,” she said. “This appears to be some type of plasma pistol. A mechanism melts down the spikes, then reforms them in the barrel. The sudden change of state makes the substance volatile. That’s why they explode shortly after exiting the gun.”
Petra stared at the glowing purple weapon in awe.
“I… think I’ll just stick to my swords for now,” the princess said.
Anton laughed.
“Get comfortable with that thing,” he said. “We’d better wait until dark before heading back to Jagari. Let’s see if we can stealth our way inside the walls. Hopefully, we can use the tech scanner to find the surveillance center before we get found out.”
“If we sever the connection to the surveillance center,” Ana warned, “they will know we are there.”
“They’re going to figure that out eventually. Might as well level the playing field first.”
***
They waited at the outpost until dark, hoping neither the mothership nor the castle would call. Luckily, neither did. Ana spent most of the day studying the alien technologies. Anton did this to an extent, but kept finding himself distracted. There was simply too much else to think about. Petra half-heartedly practiced her swordplay, but the novelty of her new surroundings overwhelmed her. By the time the sun set, it was a relief for all of them.
Ana had a difficult time keeping her new weapon hidden beneath her revealing clothes, so she fashioned a holster onto the insides of an unsoiled lab coat and kept it hidden there. As they moved across the darkening plains toward Jagari, it gave off a very faint glow beneath the coat. Anton double- and triple-checked that his pistol and dagger were both still tucked away in his vest.
Soon they were close enough to the castle’s main gates to see that the typical guards had been replaced by Draconian counterparts. The outer city bustled with nervous energy, the citizens ironically afraid of ‘the dangerous magician’ who had arrived to save them.
“I would prefer not to kill any innocent people,” Anton said. “The main entrance is out. Petra, you’re sure there’s no way to get in through the tunnels? How solid is that latch?”
“It’s foolproof,” she said. “Besides, it would take us directly into the castle. Not to the surveillance outpost. Not to mention, they already know about the tunnels. That’s where they stole your supplies. I had them hidden behind the bookcase.”
“Damn. Let’s see if we can scale the wall somehow. If we can score some rope and scrap metal, I bet I can fashion a grappling hook.”
They snuck behind various stalls in the outer city. Nobody noticed them slinking through the shadows. Their search ended at a shop hawking farming equipment. Anton reached in and snatched a heavy rake. He left a handful of coins in its place.
While he did this, Petra disappeared behind an adjacent stall, then came back holding a rope. They found an isolated spot between some trees, and Anton fashioned the two together. He pulled the rope taught, and it held well.
The makeshift grappling hook wrapped around his arm, Anton led them along the back alley until they were able to sneak through darkness and reach an unsupervised section of the inner city walls.
“Ana, can you run a bioscan? Make sure we don’t hoist ourselves over in front of anyone,” he said, his
back to the wall.
She did. “All clear.”
With the hologram held in front of her, Ana led them to a spot a little way away from the spot the tech scan indicated. When they were in position, she nodded to Anton. He launched the grappling hook over the side. It took a few tries to get the thing to catch. When he pulled it taut, he nodded to his companions and began to climb.
Anton flung himself over and landed with a hard thud. The only things that greeted him on the other side were a feeble oil lamp attached to one building and a stinking pile of refuse. Petra and Ana followed him swiftly and gracefully.
“Now we need a tech scan,” Anton said to Ana. “See if you can find the surveillance center.”
“I am picking up a signature approximately two hundred and fifty meters south, then thirty meters west.”
“Lead the way.”
The Draconian queen must have chosen the most repulsive building in the city to house her surveillance center. The thing was tucked away in the dirtiest, poorest part of the inner city, and it reflected its location perfectly. Rusted windowpanes held cracked glass, pigs rooted through overflowing heaps of garbage that looked as if it had been there for months. Two stories tall, the bricks that lined the building were caked with grime.
While still several feet away, Ana switched to her bioscanner and revealed the presence of four cold-blooded signatures inside, pacing about idly.
“I don’t want any of these bastards notifying the castle that we’re here,” Anton whispered. “Let’s take them down one-by-one. Petra, those swords are going to come in handy. Our weapons are a bit too conspicuous.”
They snuck in closer and ducked below a window with a large chunk missing from the glass. A grey curtain flapped over it in the breeze. Ana monitored her bioscanner. A few tense seconds passed as they stood perfectly still and waited for the dot to approach the window. The Draconian passed and continued onward.
Anton pulled his laser pistol from his vest and set the device to cutting mode, then pulled the trigger. With a light ‘pew’ sound, the laser blade shot out from the barrel. He lifted it to the glass and let the cut-away pieces sizzle and bubble on the dirt around their feet. The curtain waved freely through the empty windowpane.