by Dante King
Chapter Five
“Now,” Odette Scaleblade said, cocking her head to one side and regarding me knowingly, “as an Earthling, I realize that the word ‘murder’ is filled with all sorts of negative connotations.”
“Ye-eah,” I said slowly, “you could say that. I mean, the word’s denotative meaning is pretty grim. You don’t really have to even begin getting into the connotative meanings.”
Odette snorted softly. “Well argued. But, perhaps instead of saying ‘murder’, I should ’ave said ‘assasinate’ or maybe even ‘execute’.”
“Right,” I said. “Honestly, none of those three words make me feel super comfortable, but I’ll hear you out.”
Madame Xel, Enwyn, Cecilia, Janet, and Alura all remained silent, but none of them had reacted with as much revulsion as I’d have expected. Which meant Odette had explained her proposition to them earlier, and that it wasn’t quite as extreme as it seemed at first glance.
At least, that was my hope.
Odette inclined her head. “Very good. I think though, that when I tell you that the people whose lives you will be taking are wanted criminals of the vilest and most violent cast, you might find yourself warming to the role that is required of you?”
“Well, shit,” I said, “when you put it like that… After all, what was James Bond if not a government-sanctioned hitman? Judge Dredd was a serial-killer with a badge. All good guys have to put bad guys on ice from time to time.”
“You are okay with this?” Odette asked.
I considered the moral implications of hunting down and merking a trio of criminals.
“They’re really wanted criminals?” I asked.
Odette Scaleblade nodded.
“Nasty men and women? Violent?” I asked.
“Yes,” Odette said. “They’re dangerous and unscrupulous—though perhaps not the most dangerous criminals that are loose currently. ‘Owever, they ’ave been judged worthy of death by the laws of Avalonia.”
“And I need to kill these people because…” I said.
“Because in the slaying of these rogues,” Odette said, “you will unleash their ‘soul energy’. This soul energy can be used to awaken your father’s spirit.”
It sounded like the magical equivalent of restarting someone’s heart with a defibrillator.
“Okay,” I said, “I can get my head around that.” I looked around the circle of women. “How about we discuss the rest of this plan outside by the pool? It’s a nice day, and it’ll beat standing around in the hall.”
Odette assented to this and so I led her, Enwyn, Janet, Madame Xel, Alura and Cecilia through the kitchen and out the back.
When the girls were all comfortably seated or lying on loungers and I was holding court on a bar stool, the conversation continued.
“So, I’m to be an assassin of sorts,” I said.
“I think it’d be more accurate to say that you’d be playing the role of justice, babe,” Janet said.
“That’s correct,” Alura said. “Death and justice have always gone hand in hand in my father’s kingdom.”
“It’s the same in Avalonia,” Cecilia added. “Maybe it’s not that way on Earth, but those committing the worst crimes here know that the penalty is death if ever they are apprehended.”
If I pick the nastiest of the nasty, then I don’t think I have a problem with doing what is required, I thought, in the privacy of my own head. Like Bond, I’d have a license to kill, and I wouldn’t just be helping myself out, I’d be helping to clean up the Avalonian streets.
I reached behind the bar that I was leaning on and rummaged around. I pulled out a few glass bottles of water and passed them around.
“What about the Academy, what about classes and stuff?” I asked Enwyn as I handed her a bottle of chilled H2O.
Enwyn took the bottle with a smile of thanks. “You’ll receive a special dispensation—a hall-pass of sorts. It’ll enable you to skip classes without getting into trouble or arousing any difficult questions.”
“Won’t that look a bit odd, like I’m getting preferential treatment or something?” I asked.
Enwyn laughed. “No, not at all. Most of the students who are participating in the Mage Games Qualifiers will have dispensations of some kind or another. This is so they can squeeze in as much extra training as they can, and possibly learn some new spells before the Qualifiers actually begin.”
“Sounds smart,” I said.
“This is a War Mage Academy, Justin,” Enwyn said. “The whole point for most of the people that attend the Mazirian Academy is to become the best warrior-mages that they can be. That doesn’t happen if you’re not allowed to practise fighting because you have some class or other.”
At that moment, the kitchen door opened and my fraternity brothers trooped out into the sunshine. All of them were dripping with sweat, red in the face, and puffing a fair bit.
“Well, well, well, you’re working bloody hard I see,” Bradley Flamewalker said to me.
I raised my bottle of water at the lads. “Work smart, not hard.”
“Oh, please,” Damien scoffed, “are you trying to tell us that there’s water in that bottle and not vodka? Don’t make me laugh, man!”
There was some good-natured back and forth between me and the lads, but this quickly died out when they saw the fairly serious expressions on the faces of the women.
“What’s going on here, friends?” Rick asked, flicking his thick dreads out of his eyes. “Why the faces like grieving fish?”
I frowned at Rick in surprise. “Interesting turn of expression, Hammersmith,” I said.
“Cheers,” Rick said. He plonked himself down by the edge of the pool and dangled his massive legs in the water, sighing contentedly.
“So, what is going on?” Nigel asked. His face was perspiring freely from whatever the heck the guys had been up to below, and there was a thin cut down his left cheek.
“Oh, nothing really,” I said. “Apparently, I now have a license to kill. But I’m thinking that I’m only going to use it on the worst criminals that Odette knows about.”
The fraternity boys looked at me blankly. All except Rick who was swirling his legs around in the swimming pool.
“Normally, I believe the answer to a statement like that would be something along the lines of, ‘Are you high or something?’” Bradley said. “However, after spending some time under the same roof as you, I think it’d be judicious to let you simply explain what the bloody hell it is you’re talking about.”
“I’m of the same mind as Bradley,” Nigel said. “Fill us in, Justin.”
And so I elucidated what the women and I had just been talking about, and what Odette was planning on our next move being.
When I was done with my brief explanation, Nigel said, “And these criminals, what have they done?”
Odette reached into her voluminous skirts and drew forth a thick leather folder that I assumed was this world’s version of a manilla folder.
“Why don’t you take a look for yourselves,” she said. “Browse through our most wanted list of thieves and house-breakers, sinners, outlaws, and malefactors. Then tell me, Justin, who it is you think that we should go after.”
We huddled in a little closer and began passing around the rap sheets of some of Avalonia’s most undesirable citizens.
There were mutterings of, “This guy for sure” and “I don’t know if this dude has done enough to die” and “Yep, I agree, this motherfucker has got to go.”
Eventually, after quite a lot of debate, we had three contenders who all of us agreed were the sort of asshole that should be given the label ‘dead mages walking’.
I looked through the three pieces of parchment one last time before handing them over to Odette.
Vakash the Vile
Orc Pirate and smuggler. Responsible for the known trafficking of pixie women and charm-powder. Has a penchant for brainkiller grog. Lightning Mage.
Ratfink the Thief
Air Mage responsible for the theft of goods across many worlds. Does not hesitate to kill or maim anyone or thing that threatens to stand in the way of him and his prize.
Priestess Mallory Entwistle
Rogue Holy Mage. A rather fetching woman who is involved heavily in the business of human sacrifice. Both identifies and delivers potential victims, as well as freelancing as official druid. Highly intelligent. Highly dangerous.
“A fine choice,” Odette said, when I handed her the rap sheets that we had selected, as if we had been busy picking out three bottles of wine to have with dinner.
“So, once these three have been shuffled off their mortal coils,” I said. “What do we do with their captured soul energy?”
Odette’s mysterious and sagacious eye turned to Rick.
“That,” the dragonkin Death Mage said, “is where Mr. ’ammersmith comes in.”
Rick turned from where he had gone back to bathing his feet.
“Come again?” he rumbled.
Odette fished in her skirts, threw something up in the air, and caught it again. I didn’t see what it was specifically, but it looked like a small box of metal—copper or bronze, maybe.
“You ‘ave the magical birthright that allows for the crafting of vectors. You are, above all else, a blacksmith from a long line of blacksmiths, are you not?”
Rick nodded slowly. “Yes, but what can I do with a small box?”
Odette tossed the box over onto the grass.
The box burst apart in slow-motion. There was a rush of golden light, a wave of heat that washed over us all and then—
There was a full-on blacksmith’s workshop set out on the grass.
Rick’s mouth fell open—fully open. A swallow could have been forgiven for thinking that the Earth Mage’s wide-open maw was a cave, it was that open.
My experience of blacksmiths was relegated to what I had seen in Skyrim, but I saw that there was an anvil carved with intricate pictures and designs of men in boats, a whole smorgasbord of hammers, a forge glowing like the heart of the Devil himself, a bellows the size of a Fiat 500, and many other tools of various shapes and sizes.
Not a bad amount of gear to be held in a box that was about the size of a Google Pixel XL and two inches thick.
“But that…that is my father’s forge!” Rick managed to say in a strangled voice after a long moment.
“Yes,” Odette Scaleblade said simply. She made a gesture, and the forge was sucked back into the box in another whirling blast of golden light. The box flew through the air and landed in Odette’s waiting palm. With an adroit flick, she sent the box spinning to Rick who caught it and held it close to his chest.
Odette gazed around at the rest of the assembled young men and women. “You will all ‘ave a part to play eventually,” she said in her throaty voice. “All your families ’ave something important to give. When the time comes, you’ll be asked to give it. Rick is but the first.”
“Why Rick first?” Janet asked.
Odette Scaleblade gave her an unfathomable smile. “You will see,” she said. “If Mr. Mauler survives this quest.”
I looked around the group and grinned ebulliently. “So, no pressure then,” I quipped.
“And, just to clarify, during these assassination or justice delivery missions, Justin must be the one to deliver the coup de grâce, yes?” Alura asked.
“That’s right,” Odette said.
“And why is that, Odette?” Cecilia inquired.
“It is Mr. Mauler’s vector that must be awoken. Therefore it is Mr. Mauler who must be the one to take the soul energy at the moment of death.”
That shit sounded pretty heavy, but I guessed that was part and parcel of playing the role of the hand of judgement; judgement had to have a heavy hand.
“Madame Scale—I mean, Odette,” Nigel said, “do you think that eventually we’ll have to take down the Arcane Council? Is that where this whole procession of events is leading us?”
Odette let out a throaty and mirthless chuckle.
“I think you might be getting a little bit ahead of yourself there, Mr. Windmaker,” the gypsy dragonkin said. “‘Ow about you concentrate on getting through the Qualifiers, before you start worrying overmuch on such grandiose plans and schemes, eh?”
Nigel gave her a smile and nodded his head. “A fair point, Odette. I suppose it’s best that we take each step along the path as it comes, carefully and methodically, rather than just charge blindly ahead.”
“I couldn’t have said it better, Nigel,” Odette said.
“So, this mission of justice, this apprehending of bad guys,” I said. “I figure we should get stuck into it ASAP, right? The sooner all three of these undesirables have been taken out, the sooner I can start getting into the deep and meaningful with my old papa Zenidor.”
Odette inclined her head in agreement. “That’s right. It would be my recommendation that we start first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “What about you, guys?” I asked, turning to my fraternity brothers.
“We’re with you, friend,” Rick said instantly. He was still turning the pocket-sized forge over in his hand, rubbing his thumb lovingly over the palm-sized box.
“Yeah,” Damien said. “I think you know that we’d follow you into hell and back, man.”
“Especially,” Nigel said, “if we’re all doing it under the protection of a dispensation from the Academy.”
“Well, if that’s looking like it is all settled,” Janet said, getting to her feet, “I’m going to nip home and get some shit together. There are a few bits and pieces that I want to take care of before we shoot off.”
“I’ll come with you,” Madame Xel said. She stretched on her sun lounger, like the most erotic cat that ever existed and flowed to her feet with a dancer’s grace. “There are some potions I can brew for such an exhibition.”
The Academy’s Head Potioneer straightened her short PVC-looking skirt and winked at me when she caught me checking out her long legs. Then, she let out a girlish giggle, her silver horns flashing in the crisp light. “My, I think that this little outing is going to be quite fun, planned here under the morning sun. How it’ll end we do not know, but the trip itself should be quite a show!”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Sorry, you know how we succubi love to rhyme when we’re excited. See you all tomorrow!”
I sure did know how succubi sometimes burst into rhyme. The amount of filthy limericks that I had heard come out of that woman’s mouth was enough material for a small book.
“I think I’m going to take a swim,” Rick rumbled abruptly. He wiped some sweat from his face and looked up at the sun.
“Yeah, I’d recommend it,” I said. “You guys smell like a marathon runner’s gooch.”
“Honest sweat,” Bradley grinned. “Just because you played hooky training so that you could chat with the girls.”
I pulled the finger at Bradley. “That’s enough out of you, lowman.”
Bradley laughed.
He and the rest of my fraternity brothers got to their feet, stripped off down to their underwear, and leapt into the pool.
I turned my attention back to the ladies.
“Speaking of training sessions,” I said, with a sly smile. “How would you girls fancy going upstairs and engaging in a little nude coaching session—all in the name of the greater good of the Qualifiers and the upcoming mission, obviously.” I raised my eyebrows innocently at Odette Scaleblade and then said, in a voice that was completely free of sin, “And, of course, as a teacher, I extend the invite to you first and foremost, Madame.”
Odette gave me the smile of a woman who had gone through her whole life with her eyes wide open.
“An eloquent offer, Mr. Mauler,” she replied, “but a Death Mage’s magic is something you might not willingly wish to acquire. The dead, they speak, and they do not always know when to shut up.”
“Hmm,” I said, �
��I like your cryptic warning—it’s intriguing. I’m the kind of guy to throw caution to the winds and let curiosity get the better of me.”
Enwyn laughed from where she was sitting at the head of the sunlounger that she was sharing with Alura. The Gemstone Princess was sprawled out on the lounger, her white and gold eyes closed, her regal, glittering head lying in Enwyn’s lap.
“That’s true enough,” Enwyn said. “Justin sees every obstacle as merely a challenge to be overcome.”
Odette’s smile broadened. Between her heavily penciled and shadowed eyelids, her dark eyes glittered.
“Be that as it may, I don’t think that you and I engaging in any coaching, as you put it, would be the smartest course of action at this moment in time,” Odette replied. Her dragon’s tail twitched and swished in a bemused fashion. “Though, that does not mean that I think you should change in your attitudes or actions. The universe needs people who are willing to throw caution to the wind and get things done.”
“I’m sure we could manage something,” I said. “Besides, I’ll be playing it safe today: I don’t want to use up all my spell slots, after all. Apparently they’re limited.”
Odette ran a hand through her raven curls and shook them out. Her swept back horns were silhouetted impressively against the sun.
“You get yourself ready by any means that you ‘ave at your disposal,” she said. “And I will see all of you tomorrow.”
With a swirl of skirts, the sultry gypsy Death Mage left the pool area. The sound of her heavy-heeled boots receded as she walked across the grass and around the side of the frat house before she disappeared.
Something hit me in the side of the head as soon as Odette Scaleblade was out of sight. Something hard and slightly wet; an ice-cube. I pivoted on my stool.
“Odette Scaleblade gets the invite first and foremost, Justin?” Alura said, gazing at me out of one extremely relaxed eye.
“Highly offensive, darling,” Cecilia said, a small smile curling the corners of her gorgeous mouth.
“I have to concur,” Enwyn said. “You’ve better manners than that, Mr. Mauler.”