by R N Skye
Leslie remained silent testing her bonds as unnoticeably as possible.
Noting her flexing, Pechor who was now fully in control of King Allion smiled condescendingly. “You cannot break those. I have used glyphs provided by my enemy to secure them and while it hurts my pride to do so it saves me from wasting my lumen on the trivial matter of detaining prisoners.” The King seemed to put emphasis on the word ‘my’.
“Normally,” continued Pechor, “I would not waste time on you but Allion who has graciously agreed to host me, was very concerned about an individual that you knew as Stafford. I am told that a somewhat incapable agent known as Wendell killed him. As we have no witnesses and no body I am forced to take the precaution of making sure that a foe that would cause such consternation in my Host is not, shall we say, a loose thread lying around preparing to unravel my plans. As you were one of the last to spend time with Stafford I need to know the extent of your relationship and to know if he has or had plans to overthrow the Infin Monarchy. This would of course include his organization and co-conspirators as well.”
As if on cue Wendell entered the room and eyed the captured woman with an insane glance. “The cells are cleaned up and the guards are sufficiently in place that unless she can walk through walls she will not escape again.”
“The guards are sufficiently strong?” The King asked.
“I have hosted them myself, Pechor.”
“You are not spreading yourself too thin are you Brenner?”
“I have one host in Yllyan who knows not that she is possessed and only these score guards, if necessary I will use them up and re-host later.”
The king opened his hand and produced a glowing red sphere. “Mademoiselle Coeur, no interrogation will be necessary. You will tell me all. My mind will own your mind. Your thoughts will be mine to inspect as I please. The Allyant do not have the constraints that the Elios do. We do whatever is necessary, most of all we do as we please,” he laughed as he the red sphere against her forehead.
The world turned red again and Leslie screamed into unconsciousness.
A messenger entered the examination room and paled at the screaming woman; remaining silent until she fainted. He held out a dispatch to the King. “I apologize for the interruption, your majesty, I have message for you from your spies on the Luion border. Per your instructions,” he added nervously as he took in the king’s disposition.
Pechor snatched the message away, irritated by the interruption. After reading the message handed it back to the messenger; he was going to have to hold off searching through the prisoners mind for the moment.
Heading toward the exit Pechor turned to Brenner. “Take her to her cell and I’ll deal with her later.” Turning the king left the room.
The moment the king was gone the Brenner possessed Wendell walked up to the unconscious woman. Leaning in with a leer he brought his face close to hers. Closing his eyes he breathed in, “Your lumen is so sweet my dear I think I will try a taste before the king does; not here though, we can’t have the king walking in on us.” Turning to a pair of guards he ordered, “Get her back to her cell!”
The Guards hurried and deactivated the glyphed manacles and followed by Brenner carried her to the dungeons.
~~~~~
“Monsieur Stafford…err Ari, They are bringing the mademoiselle back; she is unconscious!” Exclaimed Roger as he stood watching the screens.
Ari and Shane hurried to the console. At a glance Ari went into action. “Roger, keep an eye on things on the boat. When Shew and the kid get back have them wait on the boat but keep the kid below decks… I don’t want him touching any of our enchantments up here. Shane and I are going in after her. We won’t be coming back here unless she is healthy. If she is injured we’re heading straight to Yllyan. Shane, as soon as they put her in the cell and close the door you open a portal and get us in there. I’ll watch your back.” Reaching to his belt Ari detached a metal his bladeless sword handle. “Ready when you are.”
Shane activated his portal device and watched the smaller screen waiting for the soldiers to deposit their prisoner onto the cot. Before long Shane saw Leslie dropped roughly on the cell cot and the door closed behind the guards as they left the cell. The guards hurried back along the corridor and exited the far doorway. Surprisingly the man he knew to be Wendell lingered behind. “Ari what do you make of this? There are nearly ten guards in the hallway outside the cell and another ten outside, with your old pal Wendell hanging around – now he’s headed to Leslie’s cell.”
“That’s not good,” Ari growled. “I’m pretty positive that the Wendell we know is dead and whatever is in his head is an Allyant. We need to go now. You watch Leslie; I’ll take Wendell and the guards. Be careful we don’t know if she’s been exposed to an Allyant seed.”
Shane opened a portal into the dungeon just inside Ava’s aunt’s cell. Ari ran through activating a brilliant blue lumen sword just as Wendell entered the open the door and stepped through.
Shane used his repel glyph putting all the effort he could into it without using an external power source, slamming Wendell and the guards to the far end of the hallway; Ari charged after them brandishing the glowing blue bladed sword.
Shane examined Leslie and saw the red glow of the Allyant seed’s influence. Quickly he began to assemble the protection glyphs in his mind when Leslie’s eyes snapped open and a voice that was hollow and not her own began to address him. “I see the magic of the Elios has been rediscovered. I wondered if it would occur before I could control the lumen of this world. I cannot see what your companion is up to but he will soon die as he is fighting an Allyant with a score of lumen hosts. You have come too late to rescue the fair Mademoiselle Coeur she is already mine.”
Shane looked down the hall and all he could see were flashes of blue and red as a monumental magical battle seemed to be underway in the hallway beyond the cell. Still using mastery to construct the Shield glyphs Shane completed the needed sequence. “Something you should be aware of whoever you are. My friend down the hall is not just anyone, he is a Sicam and this conversation is over.” Shane imbued the glyphs and a golden shield surrounded Leslie cutting off the link between her and the controller of the Allyant seed.
Brenner stood in shock. He had withdrawn the host links from all the guards to preserve himself the twenty men that had been selected because of their lumen potential for him to draw upon lay slain up and down the hall. In desperation he reached out to leach the lumen from the powerful fighter facing him and the shield he encountered caused him to shudder. Brenner’s legs became weak, he was about to draw upon the host he had in Yllyan when a golden shield surrounded him and his link was lost. Falling to his knees weaker than he had ever felt in his life Brenner suddenly recalled Wendell’s memories. The feared Stafford stood before him with a lumen sword that was more powerful than he could have imagined – Only a Great One could stand against such as this, he thought to himself. Then it was over with a flash the blue sword removed his head; all that was ever Wendell Sapp was gone and the only remnant of Brenner was a sliver of thought twenty five hundred miles away.
Shane was struggling to keep the shield glyphs up as Ari walked into the cell. Seeing Ari he made the glyphs visible. “Write these down on the bed frame and activate them as fast as you can,” Shane gasped. “Add a power glyph too I need it to be self-maintaining. Let me know when you are ready.”
Ari hurried and fished his scribe from a holster on his belt and as fast as he could he etched the glyphs onto the metal bed frame adding a sun glyph for power. “Ready,” he nodded as he added lumen to the glyphs and activated them.
Shane released his glyphs took a deep breath. “Ok she has been exposed to an Allyant seed and while it’s not as bad as Lumen poison it can become lumen poisoning very quickly. I need you to look into her and you will see a red lumen and a white lumen. The white lumen is her, the red is the Allyant seed influence I need you to put a shield around the white lumen like the shield
that you have naturally around you as a Sicam. Hold that in place while I isolate the Allyant seed and remove it.
“That’s Glyph mastery, I don’t know if I can do that,” Ari said with worry.
“We don’t have time to write it down. Ari, Think! You’re the best detailed planner I’ve known. Image the glyphs in your mind like they are part of a plan and each glyph is a phase. Visualize each phase as a whole and then imbue it and hold it until I tell you it’s safe to drop it. Hurry it up we’re running out of time.”
Ari closed his eyes and cleared his mind as he focused; sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth at the same time screwing up his face into a comical expression of concentration. Shane almost laughed but the seriousness of the moment kept him somber. Using his lumen sight Shane saw the shield come to life and the Lumen that was Leslie Coeur was separated and protected from the Allyant seed. Shane immediately employed the same methods that he had used to clean the city of Valee and gradually scoured the entire dungeon into a golden globe of hundreds of Allyant seeds. As fast as he could he released the lumen from all of the seeds and then created the barrier that would starve any residue.
“Ok, you can release the shield but keep the Lumen shield on the bed up for a moment longer while I check for residue. As Ari released his shield Shane replaced it with a permanent one that he could easily maintain if there was any residue present. Once his shield was in place he poured lumen into the weakened woman. As he checked for signs of lumen poison and finding none he removed the glyphs from the bed and the outer shield disappeared. Leslie seemed to jump as her eyes fluttered open.
Leslie thought she remembered the voice in her head that was not her own talking to someone about restoring the magic of the Elios. She also recalled herself standing in a dungeon cell looking at Shane and Ari; Ari’s expression was so serious but comical at the same time - it nearly made her laugh. She had never seen him concentrate this hard and his expression was quite comical. Looking past them her thoughts sobered as she saw herself prostrate on the cot. She saw the globe full of the sinister looking red spheres winking out one by one until there were none left. Shane was doing something and then the golden globe that had contained the smaller red spheres was gone.
“Ok,” she heard Shane say to Ari, “You can release the shield but I’ll keep the Lumen shield on the bed up for a moment longer while I check for residue. Suddenly she was back in her body. At first she felt weak but suddenly like a flare of white she was fully awake and her strength returned causing her to jump.
The next thing she knew Ari was kneeling at the bedside helping her to sit up asking her if she was okay. Looking into his eyes she saw something she knew was in her own eyes and she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace.
Shane looked toward the end of the hallway as he heard pounding on the door. Opening a portal to the sloop he cleared his throat, “If you two lovebirds are through making gaga eyes at each other we really need to get the enfer out of here.”
Holding her hand Ari ushered Leslie through the portal with Shane close behind. The portal winking shut as the hallway door of the dungeon smashed open.
Chapter II
Leo looked up from the desk and the notebook in which he had been furiously writing in an attempt to get his complete thought down before he forgot it. With a start he noticed the presence of two women watching him silently; one was the blonde, dazzling, Ava. The other slightly older, just as radiant, but brunette and unfamiliar; but one he wouldn’t mind knowing he thought uncharacteristically.
“Ladies,” he smiled enthusiastically coming to his feet bumping a pile of paper to the floor from the cluttered desk. “Ava, how are you?” He paused; a concerned look crossed his face. “I’m not late for a meeting am I? No,” he said answering his own question. I’m positive I don’t have ‘status meeting’ until this afternoon.” Turning to the brunette he held out his hand. “Pardon my rudeness Mademoiselle; my name is Leopold, Leopold Wetz; my friends call me Leo” he said with a shy smile and look of embarrassment as he looked around the room at the leaning towers of documents and scattered papers.
Kaysee took the proffered hand and smiled at his awkward but contagious smile and humble enthusiasm.
“Kaysee,” Chimed in Ava in an attempt to avoid an awkward silence. “I‘d like to introduce you to Professor and Doctor, Leopold Wetz, formerly the head of magetech studies and research at Wonstrowd Collegium in Jehhet. Who is now leading our development and manufacturing for our little unnamed group of magetechs and glyph mages here in Yllyan. He has generously joined us while we help provide magical defense for Old Luion in the war with Infin.
Kaysee still holding the professor’s hand squeezed it and shook it again; reluctant to let go and surprised as she realized she felt an attraction to the cheerful academic. Finally letting go after a prolonged handshake Kaysee continued smiling as she said, “It’s an honor to meet you Doctor Wetz.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake please call me Leo; besides I’m more a student now these days as we are all trying to learn the rules of lumen and the Laws of Elios and the same time become glyph mages. When it comes to Lumen studies Ava is more the doctor and professor than I am.”
“Don’t you listen to a word he says Kaysee his knowledge of process and manufacturing go far beyond magic and has been both crucial and indispensable and his magical skills are amazing.”
“Not true,” argued the professor, “I’ve told you several times before that potential for lumen are different in everyone. While I may know how to better optimize the use of my lumen potential and it can continue to grow as I exercise it, you and Shane are “off-the-charts” as they say, compared to what I can do.”
“You can call me Kay if you like,” interrupted Kaysee. My friends call me Case. I look forward to working for you.”
Leo’s jaw dropped. Ava burst out laughing at the comical and perplexed expression on the usually unflappable professor as he realized the purpose of the visit. “Leo, meet your new assistant. You will find she is a hard worker, probably the only one I know that will be equal to your standards. That doesn’t mean you can work her that hard; it means you need watch the clock a little more carefully and make sure she gets some personal time; you too for that matter.
She has a real sense for glyph structure; she has already discovered how to operate several complex artifacts without a complete education. Feel free to continue her education. She has a home here on Yllyan near where Soaris and Laura live and I have set the door to the building to allow her to exit to the Yllyan side, I’ll leave it to you to set up access to Lu Y Onton. If you have any questions comm me,” Ava took a breath. “Bye now; you two have fun. I need to get back to my Coh Y Nord project.” Ava waved and left a speechless Leo and a nervously smiling Kaysee gaping at her departure like a pair of children seeing their parent leave after dropping them off on the first day of kinder school.
As Ava closed the door behind her she pondered the looks that the professor and Kaysee had given each other. Who would have guessed, she thought to herself, the woman who has sworn off men and the professor who has never found the time for a wife - I bet they are holding hands by the end of the week. Ava smiled and laughed out loud and went to her lab.
~~~~~
Ava deactivated the viewer on the portal device that Shane had given her and glanced at the map that she had made plotting the path of the overland monorail that ran from Yllyan to Coh Y Nord. She had spent the last several hours following the path with the viewer finding several over grown areas where the forest had covered the original path of the monorail. Most of the old path was intact and she felt confident that it could be reactivated; except for one area that appeared to be a small valley that was bordered with forest and no sign of the monorail glyph guides. When she had zoomed back forth across its circumference it almost looked as if it was a large crater rather than a valley.
Calling up her instructor she asked for any information on what it knew of the monorail co
nstruction. The device morphed into several screens and page after page of glyphs scrolled past – finally stopping as a small disk imprinted with glyphs centered on the screen. “What is this device,” Ava asked the instructor.
“It is the conveyance enchantment that you requested, commonly referred to as a monorail. They are placed at varying intervals between the beginning and the end of the path of the conveyance,” replied her instructor device in mental mode.
This was new, thought Ava.
Beginning to feel the strain that came with prolonged mental interface with her instructor she decided she had better change to a vocal method. “Instructor - mental interface off,” commanded Ava.
With a sigh she began reading the footnotes and glyphs of the monorail disks. Up until now she had read all she needed to know regarding configuring, setting up, the scheduling and activating of the infrastructure using the control obelisks but until that moment she had not known what needed to be done should she have to replace any of the monorail system vehicles or rails. Scrolling back through the pages of glyphs she began reading the footnotes. Looking at the pages and pages of glyphs and at her ever filling note book she sighed this was going to take days copy let alone make. “Instructor,” she said aloud, “Can you print these glyphs onto blank pages in my notebook?” Ava indicated the open book on her desk.
“If I use the average size of the glyphs already contained there is insufficient room to transcribe the glyphs requested onto the pages remaining,” replied the instructor.
Ava left her office and went to a storeroom where they kept various supplies and returned to her office with a new and empty notebook. “Is there sufficient room in this book?” She asked.
“Yes. Utilizing an average font like the one used in the previously scanned notebook and using the same format of single sided placement, there will be fifteen pages remaining at the end of the printing” replied the instructor. “Would you like me to place the information into your paper book for study?”