Kingdom of Magicians

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Keo, Dlaine, Jola, and Maryal emerged onto the rooftop of Galy's house. The sun was still in the sky, although it had gone down somewhat since they had been in the house, and it was thus still quite hot, but Keo paid little attention to that, because his eyes were drawn to the streets.

  Dozens of people—men and women alike—were gathered in the streets around Galy's house. Many were calling for Maryal's arrest, while others were calling for her death. This all seemed rather extreme to Keo, although it told him just how seriously Kraggan's fans must have taken his loss to Maryal. It just made him glad that none of the people in the streets were looking at the rooftops of the nearby houses, although even if they did they would not have been able to see Keo and the others escaping.

  “Okay,” said Keo, readjusting his grip on Maryal, because he was starting to feel his hands slip. “Where should we go from here, Dlaine?”

  “North,” said Dlaine, gesturing in that direction. “By going along the north road, we should reach Capitika within the next couple of days.”

  “Okay,” said Keo. “So how do we get from here to the northern gates quickly?”

  “Just follow me,” said Dlaine, turning north. “I already see a path we can take. Try to keep up.”

  With that, Dlaine took off. He ran to the edge of the rooftop and jumped over the gap between Galy's house and the next building. He landed on the other side safely and then turned and gestured for Keo to follow.

  Keo bit his lower lip. While he was certain that he would have been able to make such a jump himself under normal circumstances, a part of him worried that the combined weight of Maryal, Gildshine, and himself would cause him to fall into the street below. Yet he could not simply stand here and wait, either, because the spell didn't have a long time limit.

  Then Maryal said in his ear, “If you are worried about falling, don't be, because I can give your jumps an extra boost with a small gust of wind. Just trust me.”

  Keo did not know how Maryal had known about his worry, but he did not question it. He just nodded and then ran toward the edge of the roof and, at the last second, jumped as far and as hard as he could.

  When he was at the top of his jump, he felt a sudden gust of wind catch him and carry him the rest of the way. He landed gently on the rooftop next to Dlaine, who looked surprised at Keo's landing.

  “Huh,” said Dlaine, scratching the back of his head. “I didn't know you could use wind to do that, Maryal.”

  “It's simple for me to do, even in my weakened state,” said Maryal. “I could even give you an air boost, if you need it.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be fine,” said Dlaine. “Just follow my lead and we should get to the northern gates without any trouble.”

  Once more, Dlaine took off to jump over to the next building, and Keo followed as quickly as he could. With every jump, Keo was convinced that he would fall to the street below, but Maryal always helped with her wind magic, allowing him to make every jump without fail. Even so, Keo would still sometimes look over his shoulder just to make sure no one was following them, even though he had no reason to believe that anyone other than Galy even knew where they were.

  Just focus on following Dlaine and getting out of here, Keo told himself, watching as Dlaine jumped over to the fifth building they needed to jump on. As long as I keep following him, we should be able to—

  “Keo!” Maryal shouted. “Duck!”

  Without asking what Maryal meant, Keo fell to the roof under his feet. A second later, a shining white light shot past where his head had been mere moments before, causing Keo to look in the direction that the light had come from.

  Standing on the other side of the roof was a woman in white robes who Keo had never seen before. The woman was bald, with large ear rings hanging from her earlobes. Upon her chest was the symbol of the Magical Council—a wand sparking with energy—stitched in gold, which immediately told Keo that this woman was yet another Magician.

  “Missed,” said the woman, who sounded bored and who was also looking directly at Keo and Maryal despite their invisibility. “Damn it.”

  Keo blinked. “Maryal, can that woman see us? Or am I just hearing things?”

  “That woman can see us because she is Magician Enira, the Magician of Carrk,” said Maryal. Her voice trembled slightly when she spoke the woman's name. “She must be using her magic to see us somehow.”

  “It's an awful spell, the one used to make you three invisible,” said Enira with a yawn. “I saw through it right away. Whoever cast that spell on you did an awful job, if I do say so myself.”

  Keo gulped, while Dlaine on the other building shouted, “Hey! Who is that woman? How can she—”

  Enira immediately pointed her finger at Dlaine and another white light shot out of it. The light flew across the street and struck Dlaine in the chest. Dlaine gasped and then immediately collapsed, though he appeared to be only unconscious and not dead.

  Still, Keo shouted, “Dlaine, no!” He glared at Enira. “Why are you chasing us? Why don't you just leave us alone?”

  Enira looked at Keo incredulously. “Are you really that daft? I am coming after you because Magician Maryal is reported to have cheated in the charity duel and nearly killed Magician Kraggan. That goes against not only the rules of the charity duel, but also against the laws of Carrk itself, laws I, as the town's Magician, must enforce. So I am going to arrest all three of you and throw you in jail myself.”

  “But I didn't cheat,” said Maryal. She patted Keo's shoulder with her hand. “I was just trying to save my own life. You can't toss me in jail, too.”

  “I know you didn't cheat,” said Enira. “That much was obvious to me as soon as I heard the first reports about the fiasco from my Enforcers.”

  “It was?” said Keo in surprise. “Then why are you trying to arrest us?”

  Enira gestured at the streets below, which were full of people running and shouting in confusion. “Because I know that is the only thing that will stop the people from tearing Carrk apart. If they see that the one who harmed their favorite duelist has been captured and will be judged for her crimes, they will be more than happy to go back to their normal, law-abiding laws. And that is worth jailing an innocent woman, if you ask me, because Carrkians never do things half-measure, including rioting over perceived injustices.”

  “Well, I certainly don't think it is,” said Maryal. She tightened her arms around Keo's neck. “Especially since that innocent woman is me.”

  Enira shrugged. “I value peace and order above all else, because that is what the Magical Council values. But it doesn't really matter what you want. The fact is, I will arrest you three and bring you to justice, whether or not you have actually committed any crimes.”

  “Not unless we fight back,” said Keo. “And trust me, I know how to fight. I learned from the master.”

  Enira smirked. “Oh? How do you intend to fight while also keeping Maryal safe? She must be weighing you down, after all. And I know that you are not a Magician, so you cannot attack me from a distance, either. Trust me, in a straight fight, I would wipe the floor with both of you without breaking a sweat.”

  Keo gritted his teeth, but he said nothing because he could not disagree with what Enira had just said. In order to fight her, he'd have to put Maryal down, but if he did that, then Maryal would be unprotected. Even if Maryal was capable of defending herself with her magic, the fact was that she was still recovering from her fight with Kraggan and still needed time to recover, which meant that she shouldn't be fighting at all.

  “Let me make you an offer,” said Enira. She held out a hand. “Surrender and I will not allow the angry throngs of people rioting in the streets to tear you apart. Or fight and see if destiny is on your side today. But if you want my advice, I find that it is generally wiser to accept offers from people who are more powerful than you, particularly from Magicians such as myself.”

  Even though Keo did not want t
o accept the offer, he knew that he didn't have any bargaining power in this situation. Enira, being the powerful Magician that she was, had all of the power and leverage here. Besides, even if Keo had some leverage, the fact was that Enira was clearly not in the mood to compromise with him, because she was more interested in restoring peace to her town than in achieving actual justice.

  But then Keo felt a hand tug at his pant leg, which he glanced down at just briefly but did not see anything. Then he heard a feminine voice in his mind say, Keo of the Sword. It's me, Jola. Please distract Enira while I sneak up on her.

  Keo had to hide his shock, because he did not want Enira to suspect that anything was amiss. Jola? This is the first time you've talked to me. Why—

  Because Dlaine trusts you, said Jola simply. And because that vile Magician harmed him. I just want you to know that I am going to attack her before I do so it doesn't come as a surprise to you.

  Uh, okay, Keo thought, still looking at Enira. But what, exactly, are you going to do to her?

  You'll see, Jola told him. Just stay where you are and don't move an inch. Otherwise Enira will suspect that you are planning something, which would ruin my plan.

  Then Keo felt Jola's mind disconnect from his own, like a dark storm cloud suddenly covering the sun. He still could not see Jola anywhere, but he decided to trust that she would do what she said to do, which meant that Keo would have to do what Jola told him to do unless he wanted to spend the night in jail.

  “Still thinking about my offer?” said Enira. “If you keep quiet for much longer, then I'm afraid that I will have to take that as a yes.”

  Keo shook his head. “No way. We're not accepting your offer. We're not idiots.”

  “Could have fooled me,” said Enira. She raised her hands, which started to glow with magical energy. “But I guess it doesn't matter. You're coming with me no matter what—”

  Without warning, a rock flew out of nowhere behind Enira, aiming for her head. The rock almost struck her, but then she ducked at the last second and the rock sailed over her head. She then whirled around and unleashed a burst of light, but the light must have missed Jola, because Keo did not hear or see her get hit.

  Then Maryal whispered in his ear, “Let's go! She's distracted!”

  Keo nodded and ran toward the edge of the roof. He heard Enira yelling at him to stop, but Keo ignored her. He leaped across the roof, allowed Maryal's wind spell to carry him the rest of the way, and then landed next to Dlaine, who was still unconscious. Keo at first did not know how they were going to bring Dlaine with them until Jola's voice in his head said, Don't worry. I've got him. We just need to keep going.

  As soon as Jola said that, Dlaine immediately started floating, looking almost like a ghost. It was a strange sight to Keo, but when another light burst from Enira narrowly missed, Keo decided not to worry about it.

  He dashed toward the edge of the roof of the next building, following Dlaine's floating unconscious body. He didn't look over his shoulder, so he had no idea if Enira was following them or not, but he didn't care. He just kept running, breathing hard, doing his best to keep moving, ignoring the fatigue he was getting due to the combined weight of Maryal, Gildshine, and his supplies.

  But then, when they were about three buildings away from where they had run into Enira, with only a couple of buildings between them and the northern gates, something flew by overhead and then landed right in their path. Dlaine's floating body jerked to a halt, as did Keo, and Keo saw that it was Enira, who seemed to have jumped over them somehow. The Magician of Carrk looked angry, like she was getting tired of chasing them.

  “Stop,” said Enira, holding out one hand before her. “Or I'll make you stop.”

  Keo bit his lower lip, thinking this was the end of the road for them, but then Maryal suddenly jerked her right hand forward.

  Immediately, Enira started gasping for air. She fell to her knees, grabbing at her throat, but there was nothing she could do to keep the air from being taken from her lungs, which appeared to be what Maryal was undoubtedly doing to her at this very moment. Then another rock fell out of nowhere, struck Enira in the forehead, and knocked her out cold.

  Keo did not even wait for Maryal to give him the go ahead. He just dashed past the unconscious Enira, made it across the next few buildings, and then was on the town's ramparts, which were empty of guards at the moment. The walls were high, but Keo did not hesitate to jump off them, along with Dlaine's unconscious body, which floated alongside him.

  A powerful gust of wind caught Keo, allowing him to float down to the road safely. As soon as his feet touched the road, he was off, running up the road as fast as he could, never looking back at Carrk. He heard Maryal's breath in his ears and felt her breasts against his back, but he did not even slow down, because all he wanted to do was put as much distance between them and Carrk as he could.

  ***