A Shadow Thief's Magic

by D. R. Rosier

  She called on her healing magic and visualized his arm whole and well. With a certain relief she saw the wound close. The idiot was still smiling.

  He said softly, “I love you too… I didn’t do it on purpose you know. Plus, I really need to concentrate right now.”

  She scowled even thought she felt her heart softening, she knew she was being ridiculous, but seeing him bleeding had scared her badly. Erin and Gabby were looking at her with amusement as well, which made her blush.

  “Fine, just don’t let it happen again.”

  He snickered, “I’ll make it a priority.”

  She kissed his cheek and then moved back, it probably was a bad idea to distract him right now. His plan seemed to be working perfectly, except of course for the stab wound… As soon as they were hidden from view during their staged retreat, he had pulled them all into the shadow of a tree, while at the same time creating illusions of all of them continuing to retreat back east. It was taking all his concentration to control the four horse illusions, not only to move east, but to avoid walking through trees at the same time.

  They’d decided he should lead them off for a couple of hours at least, before releasing the illusions. All the elves would be way out of position and will have lost them, and they’d be miles to the west and gaining ground by the second. It was a good plan, and seemed to be working, except she had nothing to do but fret as they waited.

  After about a half hour, she used her own shadow magic to release them from the tree’s shadow, the elves were long gone now and wouldn’t see them. She carefully led Daniel’s horse for the next ninety minutes, while he stared into his hands, still guiding the illusions while they increased the distance even further. They made it back to the road and moved a lot more quickly, there was no way the elves would be able to cut them off now, they were too far behind and still going the wrong way.

  -Daniel

  He released the illusions, careful to make sure an elf didn’t see. The next three days went by quickly even if they were a bit mind numbing. They took advantage of Katy’s nature magic and his illusionary headlights to ride well past sunset each night, cutting their trip significantly. They didn’t want to take a chance that the elves would figure it out and double back quickly. It was the morning of the fourth day when they were close to Highwater, when they took stock.

  The best news he had was Aria would help them, supposedly the guards would let them pass without comment when the time came. He still hadn’t figured out that last obstacle though, how would they get into the castle to begin with? He’d have to wait, maybe watch the castle for a while, to get an idea.

  “So are we going in, or should we skirt the village?”

  Gabby sighed, “We need supplies, and we could all use a decent bath.”

  She had a point there, they were able to clean up in streams and the like, but it wasn’t the same.

  He shrugged, “Alright, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get a night’s sleep in a bed either. I don’t think they’re looking for us here yet. We’re over day early, they shouldn’t be expecting us until tomorrow evening at the earliest, and they also have those elves to deal with.”

  They all agreed, so headed for the village. Like the others, this one had a large wall surrounding it, and the guards barely took note of their passage. They were all pretty tired from pushing for so long, by the time they checked into the tavern, ate lunch, and took a bath, they were all ready for a nap.

  Even Katy who always wanted to play before sleep didn’t do more than give him a lingering kiss before she cuddled into him. There was a price to pay when using magic to extend their stamina for three days in a row, even for a grand sorceress. He held her close as they fell asleep, and none of them woke up until early the next morning.

  Chapter 18

  They were still in bed and whispering together. Erin and Gabby had gone off to give them a little privacy after breakfast, and they’d taken advantage of it. Since they couldn’t go all the way, sixty nine had become Katy’s favorite position, she’d become very talented with her mouth since their first time, wasn’t afraid to experiment, and she seemed to get more enthusiastic and aggressive the more he pleasured her with his tongue.

  It was all around quite satisfying for him, even if he wanted to join their bodies together, he was mostly content to wait. The fact that he could have sex with two other women perhaps made waiting with Kat a bit easier, but he still wanted to become truly one with her. He wanted her to be his wife as well, the time they’d spent only solidified his love for her even further. They’d never really talked about when though, so he brought it up, whispering lightly in her ear as he held her close.

  “You know, we haven’t set a date Kat.”

  Katy craned her neck and looked at him strangely, as if she didn’t know what he meant.

  He smiled, “It’s an expression on my world, meaning planning what day we will be married.”

  She shot him a bright smile, “Oh, well the only tradition here is I have to be married in the throne room as queen. We don’t have to wait for a specific day, or at all, once I have the throne claimed. I even know what dress I’m going to wear. If it wasn’t for that I’d have married you by now. It wouldn’t have been hard to find a clergyman with the nature sphere to perform the ceremony in any village, much less Ashbridge.”

  He grinned, “I was wondering, so we won’t have to wait very long then, once this is over.”

  She ground her ass back against him as if to accentuate her point, “I don’t plan on waiting at all. I love you, and I can’t wait to make you mine in the eyes of the gods. Once my uncle is taken care of, and I stop the elves cold, we can have the ceremony along with my crowning within a day. Are you okay with that?”

  He kissed the back of her neck and whispered happily, “More than okay love.”

  She sighed in pleasure and stretched in his arms in a way that scrambled his thoughts. Not that she had to try very hard to do that to him. He knew they should get up, even if he could lie here all day and simply enjoy her, which he couldn’t. They needed to get supplies and…

  Shit, supplies...

  He’d been so focused on getting into the castle without being seen, he’d failed to consider the obvious, just walk in.

  “Kat, how does the kitchen get restocked in the castle? Do you know?”

  Kat turned and looked into his eyes for a second, “One of the cooks goes down to the market with a few kitchen helpers and a couple of wagons every few days. Why?”

  He grinned, “Because that’s how we’re going to get in.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it, then asked, “How?”

  He shrugged, “We’ll replace the cook and helpers along the route. You don’t mind being a kitchen assistant for an evening do you? We won’t hurt the ones we replace, but they will be stuck in the Shadow lands for a day. But we’ll be grabbing the scepter that night and be long done before they get out and can report what happened. I don’t think Erin would have a problem with the cooking, do you? We’ll all have to be in complete illusions of disguise though and become those people.”

  Her eyes narrowed in thought, “It might work if it was just them, but there are two other cooks each with three or four helpers of their own. They’d catch on to the fact we aren’t the people we say we are. Plus, if my uncle or Mal get anywhere near the kitchens they would feel my magic. It’s a good idea though, at first, let me think about it a minute.”

  He thought it was too bad she couldn’t cover her magic like Gabby could, but hers was too strong and it wouldn’t work. It was the difference between blocking a candle with a veil, and trying the same with a bonfire. If she made the death magic strong enough to completely eclipse her power, the spell itself would be a beacon. But he couldn’t think of a way to just walk in like that at nighttime.

  She sighed, “We could try and recruit the cook. I know our conspiracy is growing a bit too large, but that might work. Assistants are usually just running around cooki
ng, and don’t really have time to stand around and chat. There’d be a better chance of getting away with it.”

  He didn’t care for the idea, he thought adding two guards and Aria to their plans was risky enough, and this would be a cold approach which could ruin everything if it went bad. He couldn’t think of a better idea though, at least not yet.

  “Alright, we can try that unless I think of something better before we get there. You’re getting good at this sneaky business your majesty.”

  She snickered and kissed him softly, but the kiss grew hungrier and more passionate the longer it lasted. He lost himself in the sensations of her warm, soft, and supple flesh against his, her wandering and lustful hands, and the sweet sounds of pleasure escaping her lips as her body responded to his lightest touch. They didn’t talk again for quite a while…

  They were packed up and ready to go right after lunch. Erin and Gabby had used the time away to pick up supplies, and they were mounted and riding at a walk toward the street from the stables when they heard the horns. He rode out to the street and looked to the left and right, and the soldiers were closing the gates. Did they know they were there? He turned to Katy and the blood had drained from her face.

  She said softly, “It isn’t us, the elves must have caught up. They must be desperate to try a siege, but they can’t afford to let us make it to the crown city.”

  He frowned and they rode back behind the inn, where he created a bird, and summoned a shadow to his hand which would see from its eyes, much like the wolves had. With a thought he sent it up into the sky and circled the village.

  He grunted, “They’re pouring out of the forest from the west, and the east. They must have circled some of their forces. On the good side, there aren’t any more of them than last time.”

  Katy looked guilty, “We slept too long, and then stayed too long after waking up.”

  He shook his head and looked her in the eye, “They are the killers, it’s their fault, and your uncle’s fault for giving them opportunity. We’re trying to do the right thing, and save as many in the process as we can, but sometimes it’s not enough. Don’t be guilty for enjoying what time we took for ourselves, you can’t live that way. We’ll figure something out. How many soldiers are here, do we know?”

  Katy shook her head, “Maybe a hundred? That makes it seven to one odds, which is doable in a siege, especially with good walls, but it will be close. If they bring in more elves we’ll be completely screwed.”

  He nodded, “Should we help?”

  Gabby nodded, “We can protect you Katy while you attack from the walls. If we clear the way to the west, we can leave on our horses and draw the rest of them away.”

  Katy got a hard look on her face, “No, we’ll leave when they’re all dead. No sense in running ourselves ragged with an army at our heels, we might as well take advantage of the walls like you suggested.”

  She wheeled her horse and headed toward the east gate. He admitted to himself he was nervous as he followed her, but he was also curious what a pissed off Grand Sorceress was capable of. A guard tried to stop them and send them to shelter, but fell silent when she looked at the guard. She usually shook off her anger quickly on the rare occasions she showed any, but this time she seemed to burn hotter with each step she took. They followed her up onto the walls and ignored the suspicious and confused looks of the soldiers.

  She was always so soft, sweet, and kind for him, what followed reminded him she had the strength of a queen that would protect her people no matter the cost. He, Erin, and Gabby were busy as the elves sighted them and attacked, apparently too angry at being duped yesterday to stick to their plan. Perhaps they believed their spy could kill Lianeth before he realized the truth and seized the scepter, either way, they weren’t screwing around anymore.

  He lost count of the amount of arrows, knives, and darts he stopped with shadow before they could reach the four of them as the elves rushed the walls. Gabby was doing the same, and Erin stood before Katy with her sword out to deflect whatever they missed. He even had a number of duplicates of them along the walls, which did draw some of the fire, but not as much as he’d hoped.

  While they were doing that, he could hardly track the death Katy was causing. There was fire, lightning, and in some cases whole groups of elves would merely stop breathing and fall dead without a mark. The elven wizards were a different story, protected from direct magic they died in myriad ways. He saw one swallowed up by the very ground, another was run through by multiple swords that had seemed to jump up from the field, and still another was ripped apart by a tree he foolishly stood too close to.

  A few soldiers died around them, but not all that many, compared to the slaughter Katy was engaged in. The surges of magic he felt Katy draw in and release absolutely dwarfed his best efforts as she destroyed the enemy piece by piece until they finally broke and fled, perhaps one in seven left alive, if that many.

  It was then he understood why he was summoned, not because he was the only one that could help her get the scepter. But because he was someone that could both help her retrieve the scepter, and do so in a way that she wouldn’t have to kill a castle full of loyal but deceived soldiers and servants. He understood she would weather this storm, killing elves intent on killing her subjects was one thing.

  But if she regained her throne by killing her own subjects, it would destroy her inside, cause emotional harm that would be hard to bear.

  Her strength also showed him how critical it would be to avoid her uncle while retrieving the scepter, if he was a better sorcerer than she was… he couldn’t even comprehend it. He just knew there was no way he could face something like that and live. Or at least, not head on.

  They walked back down the wall and not a soldier dared approach. The soldiers must have known who she was, but when they arrived at the west gate the soldiers there simply opened it without a word and let them through. Who could blame them for their awe at what they had just seen? He wouldn’t have tried to stop her either…

  After they were riding for a while he asked, “Did you want to talk about it?”

  She shuddered, “I was just so angry. I… liked it. Now I’m… a bit numb. Three more days and we’ll be back there. My uncle has a lot to answer for.”

  He nodded, “He does Kat, just… don’t let him turn you bitter, you did a good thing back there, and saved a lot of people.”

  She didn’t answer and just looked thoughtful, and he stayed at her side until they stopped for the night. There was nothing he could really say to change what happened or make it better, all he could do was be there for her.

  Chapter 19

  Over the next couple of days they refined their plans, and used Aria as an information source. It seemed as if they’d have to sit tight for two days once they got there before the kitchen would need to replenish their stores.

  Their plan was a little risky, but he couldn’t think of another way, it would not only get them into the castle, it would also get them through the checkpoints between the inner and outer city, as well as the one between the inner city and the drawbridge to the castle. It was that last part that bugged him. If the cook betrayed them there, it would be a bloodbath if they tried to fight their way out.

  That needed to be avoided at all costs, that said, he would do whatever he had to, to keep Katy safe. Gabby had suggested as a last resort to use nature magic to influence the cook and keep them unsuspecting, but Katy hadn’t liked the idea, it was frowned upon to suborn someone’s will like that. He thought Gabby must agree, because she didn’t fight for the idea very hard.

  They were coming up to the gates behind a caravan of sorts, and the large city was surrounded by farms. He was a little worried the soldiers would be more vigilant and discerning here, considering the four of them were fugitives of sorts, but they pretty much waltzed right in with a minimal search of their belongings, and one or two questions about their visit.

  Their merchant cover wasn’t questioned or doubted.<
br />
  Gabby led them this time, with Erin next to her as he and Katy followed. She led them through the streets to a tavern and inn that was close to the market. They had a couple of days to kill before they could start on their plans. Aria had told them all she’d let them know when the cook left.

  The inn was the nicest he’d been in so far. It was frequented by successful merchants, the rooms for rent weren’t exactly full suites, but they did have two rooms. Walking in from the hallway there was a room with a decent table and chairs, along with a sideboard. Merchants could use it as their private meeting space. Through the door opposite the hall was the bedroom, which had an extremely large bed in it, along with a dresser, wardrobe, and a chest with fresh linens and extra blankets.

  They basically waited in the inn for the most part, staying in their rooms except for mealtime. The three women told him about all the entertainment available in the city, and it was something they could enjoy once they weren’t on the run, but none of them thought a night out was enough reason to risk it, not now that they were so close to their goals.

  The only person that went anywhere was Gabby, and he wasn’t sure where she went, but when she returned she gave him a very nice set of lock picks.

  Stuck inside, they found other ways to fill the time, outside of the obvious fact he had to keep three lovers happy and satisfied, not that it was any great chore, and it also kept their nervous energy to manageable levels. But they also talked a lot, he learned a great deal about Gabby over those two days, Erin and Katy shared stories as well, but he already knew most of their history from their travels.

  They also played some card games, and practiced magic on a small scale that wouldn’t be detected. The card deck was completely different from back on Earth of course, and he lost more often than not until he caught on.

  He was actually enjoying himself, and if anything was the least stressed, since they were all coming to him for their own relief. If it wasn’t for Katy having healing, he was sure he’d have been sore as hell by the time they got the communication from Aria about the cook. There was a wrinkle there though. Aria also passed on there would only be three assistants, so they had a decision to make.