by Pam Uphoff
It's going to be almost a matter of luck, a spell hitting just as the shield against it is holed to send a spell out.
Or a really strong shield piercing spell, followed by a slice . . . They pulled power and gave it a try. It bounced, trees shredded.
A return volley. Bounced.
A streak of red, arrowing in fast, around them. Helio jerked hard on a reflexive strike, to make it miss.
"Wavelength!" Obsidian yelped in dismay.
The triad fell apart. Helitrope threw up shields, staggered back under the sheer power the Hors' triad could use against them.
Movement from the left. Teri.
Helio tried to extend her shields. . .
A cry of pain from Indigo as she staggered back.
"Grab her! Run for the corridor!" Heliotrope pulled power for shields, backing away, unable to throw a single spell under the onslaught of the triad, and Teri coming in from the side.
She backed and backed, whimpering a little. A hand grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her through the corridor.
"Run!" Obsidian released her and grabbed Indigo. "They'll come after us."
Heliotrope supported Indigo from the other side and hauled her through the door. Slammed it behind them. Tried to run down the hallway. Not fast enough. She heard the door open behind them and raised shields again.
"Get her down the stairs!" Heliotrope turned, powering her shields and backing up, always backing up.
A slice shattered and bounced off her shield, bring down the ceiling in an explosion of dust.
Heliotrope turned and fled. Down the stairs, turning toward the bright light of the open front doors. She caught up with the others as they reached the street.
"Form up! Fast! Before they do."
Indigo was wobbly but reached out for them.
"Pull power. Lots of power." Helitrope brought out the mental box. She'd barely had time to study the transformation spell, but the basis was the physical morph . . .
Jade burst through the door, Teri right behind her.
Heliotrope poured power into the net and threw it.
The leading spells bounced, were absorbed, weakened the shields . . .
Teri flew back and crashed into the third witch.
Jade shrieked and staggered, hunching over. She raised her head and glared, threw energy in a torrent of fire.
Helio poured power into the shields, reflected the conflagration. The whole front of the house burst into flame, save the small circle around Jade.
Jade's eyes gleamed in fury . . . and she turned and ran back into the burning house.
"UNCLE XEN! HELP!"
Heliotrope spun. The little red dragon was in the middle of the street . . . and Xen stepped out of nowhere beside her.
Heliotrope pointed. "Jade and Teri, at least two other witches. There's a corridor to the tropics on the second floor."
His grin flashed and he bolted past her.
" . . . be careful?" Heliotrope staggered out into the street, and turned to survey the house. The windows had shattered, and the flames were picking up inside, even as the magical flames died on the exterior stonework.
The dragon half flew to meet Obsidian in a desperate hug.
Indigo flopped down on the ground patting her pockets. She pulled out a flask and drank. "Now I just have to not even look at a man for two months . . . "
Running footsteps . . . Helio was snatched up in a hug herself, and wrapped her arms around Asti.
Xen trotted down the carriageway. Shook his head. "They popped the corridor. Now, if you guys could tell me what's going on?" He glanced at the house and the fires died abruptly.
"I spotted Teri and tracked her. We went to get our children back." Heliotrope sagged. "Got one."
Xen reached out and patted the dragon who was now sobbing in Obsidians arms.
By the time Wavelength has calmed down enough to speak coherently, Asti's parents had driven up.
And soldiers had arrived. Lots of them.
Heliotrope started over with the longer version. "The corridor was to a tropical beach, tall volcano, black sand . . . "
"They called it Black Island." Wavelength was still clutched tight to Obsidian's side. "They said they were the Black Island Pyramid."
Xen blinked at her. "You've grown in six months. Speed bubble?"
The dragon nodded. "I figured I needed to grow up fast, so I snuck into the fast house whenever I could. I thought as soon as I grasped power, I'd be able to change and fly away. Last week I finally did it. I . . . feel funny . . . "
"Sweetie, I think you need to change back to human for a bit." Obsidian put her hand on the dragon's forehead.
"But it hurts."
"And you should eat and drink first." Xen started pulling things out of thin air.
The little dragon snatched a sandwich and wolfed it down, chugged the bottle of beer he uncorked. Burped.
Obsidian tossed several spells. Heliotrope recognized the painkiller, the healing spell . . . then the dragon hunched up and her wings flopped back against her legs and sank in as the tail shrank
"Oh my goodness!" Sashi sounded shocked.
Xen shucked his uniform coat, pulled off his shirt and handed it over.
Obsidian wrapped up what was clearly now a girl of perhaps twelve in it. Hugged her hard. "And you've grasped power."
The girl nodded. "I started practicing flying in secret, to get strong . . . but I wasn't big enough to carry Centauri and . . . when I sort of talked to her about it, she got mad. She said she liked it there."
Obsidian sighed. "They kidnapped Nimbus, Dusk, and Toby at the same time. Have you seen . . . "
Wavelength wiggled around in her arms and plucked something invisible off of her arm. Held them out. "Three bubbles. I'm pretty sure Toby is in one of them. I don't know about the others. I grabbed them while you were fighting."
The girl hung her head. "Nimbus and Dusk . . . their real moms really love them. I didn't have time to find them . . . and they probably wouldn't have come anyway. Maybe they're in one of these, but I don't think so."
"I . . . understand their mothers loving them, the girls loving them back. I just . . . " Obsidian hugged her. "You were very brave and resourceful."
Xen knelt down and opened a bubble. "A girl, just a few weeks old."
Heliotrope froze. I should touch her. It may be Tunguska . . . "
Indigo sagged. "Oh . . . I'd hoped Gabe and Rafe . . . "
Xen opened the next one. Two babies. Indigo lunged forward reaching for them. Heliotrope felt the zing of close relatives touching after a long absence. Indigo burst into tears as she tried to pick them both up at once.
Xen opened the last bubble. A dark haired toddler.
"Toby!" Obsidian pulled him in with her other arm.
Heliotrope felt Lady Sashi stir beside her.
"But what about the baby girl? Someone must be missing her!" She knelt and picked the baby up carefully. "What a little beauty!"
Wavelength looked over. "They experimented. Sometime on babies they'd stolen, sometimes on their own. I think that's the baby they called Hatred."
Heliotrope took a deep breath and knelt beside Sashi. She reached out to touch the baby. Zing!
What should I do? What do I want to do? She met Sashi's gaze and nodded.
Xen eyed her. "No doubt someone will adopt her."
Sashi cuddled baby against her shoulder. "Well . . . until you find her mother, I could keep her."
Asti laughed suddenly. "In that nursery you've furnished, hoping for grandchildren? Good idea, Mother."
He looked at Heliotrope and she gave a tiny nod. Yes. This is Tunguska.
Xen stood up. "Yes. Excellent idea. We'll try to find her parents, but I suspect it'll be one of those women."
Ha! Like you didn't feel that zing when I touched her.
More men in uniforms arrived, and Janic listened to Xen's quick synopsis and ordered his men to spread out to search the neighborhood.
"At the first sign of anything uncanny, get back here." Janic turned away as his men dispersed.
Xen eyed the neighborhood in dissatisfaction. "There aren't any corridors in a mile radius."
Fuchsia was furious. "I can't believe that niece of yours grabbed a baby instead of helping Centauri escape."
Obsidian glared.
Xen ignored her, studying Wavelength. She wiggled out of Obsidian's grasp and hugged him, got hugged in return.
"So, grasped power, did you?"
She flashed him a smug look. "Mommy says I had a breakthrough, because I really needed to escape. That Teri person kept trying to put a control spell on me."
"Good thing you could block her."
"Could they make me into a nice little girl?"
"Yes. They are very bad people."
Fossi snorted. "Spoken like a true wizard."
"And she kidnapped at least one baby from somewhere else." Fuchsia scowled.
"We'll find out whose baby she is and get her home. Unless she belongs to the two witches we have in custody, in which case she'll need to be adopted into a witch family." Easterly shrugged. "When someone tries to claim them, we may get another lead."
"The mother is surely one of those four women you ought to have incinerated." Fuchsia stared around the neighborhood they were in. Big homes of the well to do of the last generation or the rich of the younger generation. Not a hint or dribble or leak of magic anywhere.
Wavelength shifted in Xen's arms. She kept her voice very quiet. "Centauri didn't want to come. She ran off to tell on me, so I flew away."
Xen hugged her. "You did the right thing, to come away."
"They were nice to Centauri and Betelgeuse. They did what they were told. I got in trouble because I wouldn't sit still and be quiet. They didn't like it when I argued with them. Doo doo heads. I told them where Scoone was and they were sure it was south of there."
"They were running a school?" She nodded into his collar bone. "What were the teachers' names?"
"Smokey and Miss Harriette. The Nanny was Nanny Mason. The maids were Mari, Gale and Beca."
Colonel Janic was sitting up and taking notice. Wacolm was taking notes. "We'll see if we can track that assortment of people down. Good memory, kid."
Wavelength turned her head to look at him. "I always remember everything. There was a groom, too, but I didn't see him and they didn't say his name. They said he'd burned down barns before."
"And I'm not allowed to hire kids. Life is not fair." The Colonel walked out to start his people asking about servants. And barns that had burned.
"Well. I think it's time we took our children home. Unless you need any of us?" Obsidian looked at Janic.
Janic shook his head. "Xen, why don't you go too. Make sure no one is waiting for them at home."
Heliotrope took Asti's hand to rise, as Lord Andre helped Lady Sashi up, with her armful of baby.
"I think we should take my parents and this little girl home now, unless Colonel Janic has more questions?"
Janic shook his head. "Go ahead. We'll keep looking, but I suspect they all got back to that Island of theirs before they closed the corridor."
Fossi produced a carriage large enough for the rest of them. They followed Lord Andre's trap back to his home and Xen searched it quickly before rejoining the rest of the witches.
Heliotrope hesitated. Go? Stay?
Asti looked down at her.
"Asti . . . I'm a very strong and dangerous witch. Will you marry me?"
Chapter Seventeen
Late Fall 1397
Black Island, Southwest Cific Ocean
Teri was enjoying herself enormously.
Jade was not. "You can fix this!"
"I need to move slowly and carefully, Jade. Heliotrope's spell nearly killed you." And my counterspell was nearly as bad. "You just need to rest and heal, and not be in a hurry." Which will give me time to figure out how to undo what I did. I should have known using my pattern for a template was a bad idea, all the diseased genes Arbolian 'gods' have.
Jade was a mess. Alive and able to do magic. But the layered spells had interfered with each other, and left the witch looking a bit mixed up. And thin. Very thin. Jade stood up abruptly and paced. Limping on legs of different length.
I ought to fix that right away. But it sure takes her down a peg.
Jade's hair was now a solid black, or a bit purplish. And short.
"I'll send up some more soup." Teri promised as she walked briskly away. She smirked. The psychological control she held over Jade was so much more satisfying than even the magical control over the servants. Just thinking about it made her hot. Pity there weren't any men on the island.
Worse, they had no way off the island. We ought to have had a second corridor, someplace secret.
But they were in good shape apart from that.
Smokey and Sunset each had their own little cabin.
Betelgeuse and Centauri weren't children any more. They'd grown into quite nice teenagers, and Arrow and Dagger weren't far behind. Any of them could grasp power, anytime.
She was frankly delighted that horrid little Wavelength had escaped. The four nice girls were going to have rooms facing each other with a covered porch in between.
Teri would, of course, be staying with Jade until she was well.
The nanny, and the maids needed to stay out of the fast house; their babies were toddlers now . . . well, maybe part time in the fast house . . . As they found food. The pigs were a pain to hunt, but fish every night was tiresome. Fruit and nuts . . .
Damn it, we need to get a corridor across the ocean. Or maybe just up to . . . did they call it Asia? Deer and buffalo would be nice.
Sunset and Smokey, thoroughly spooked by the sheer power and trained expertise of the witches who had attacked them, were down on the beach, practicing slice and fireballs. Nimbus and Dusk were running around in the shallows . . . stopping and pointing at something.
Teri stepped out to look . . . a ship. The patched sails luffed a bit as the ship turned around the point. A faint pattern of a howling wolf on the tattered square sail on the makeshift mast.
They look like they've lost a battle. Well, well, I guess we'll have both men to play with and transportation off the Island when we need it, after all.
Good enough.
Chapter Eighteen
Late Fall 1397
Karista, Kingdom of the West
Lady Heliotrope Througus tossed her bouquet of flowers to the hopeful young women who'd attended the wedding and turned to smiled up at her very own husband.
"It's an interesting phenomenon." Asti's eyes twinkled. "All readily explainable by psychology. The women who caught flowers will be more confident of their success, and pursue likely bachelors more vigorously. The women who missed will sag unhappily and the bachelors will flee."
Heliotrope chuckled. "Thus explaining why some women are successful in their hunting. Or, of course, it could be magic."
He grinned. "Never fear, unlike Tanner, I believe in magic." He eyed the flowery arch, calculatingly. "Shall we lead the way to the reception?"
"Certainly." She tucked her hand under his arm and they led the way through the arch and stepped out into the garden of her parents' home.
Everyone else flocked through after them. The gardens were amazing. Nic, Loc and Tir had put down all the stone paving, and her mother had leveled it and melted it. The pattern was crisp and clear. There were tubs of flowers, and the rose bushes were in full bloom.
There were a lot more rose bushes than she remembered. Looking carefully, she realized that most of them were illusions placed on the tough native bushes that grew wild all over the island. The trees weren't all stately oaks, either, but today they were putting on airs. The peacock that strutted off, dragging its beautiful tail was actually one of her mother's feral chickens. The twin fountains on either side of the stairs weren't actually there at all, they were oversized copies of the real fountains up by the door.
>
Her new father-in-law was studying them.
"Lord Andre appears to be well entertained."
"Oh, yes." Asti surveyed the garden. "I suspect he'll be working up an energy budget for all the illusions, and calculating the drop in the local gravity field necessary to maintain it all. The University is thinking about setting up a new school to study Magic and the Multidimensional Universe. But the current schools of philosophy and physics are refusing to let go of their new possibilities."
"Not Biology?" Heliotrope smiled. "Perhaps they should just set up and fund some multiple disciplinary, umm, projects, as a first step. After all, most of it does actually fall under already established fields."
Lord Andre turned away from the illusionary fountains and beamed at them. "Personally, I think the problem is the funding. None of the departments want to let go of any money. Even History and Archeology would be affected. More affected. We are, of course, all trying to find reasons to increase our own budgets."
"Sounds like you need some fund raisers." Heliotrope said. "How much is it going to cost your department, for instance, to study all the multiple histories and just start by determining where they split? And then you'll all be wanting to look for parallels, for evidence that events in one universe affect events in other, close, universes."
"Oh yes." Lord Andre sighed. "We asked for a million royal increase, and I thought we were going to lose the Chancellor for a second there."
Asti looked thoughtful. "Is it possible to raise money privately? Those amounts of money?"
Heliotrope nodded. "I don't know if it has been tried here, or not. I'll look into it, and see what might work."
Lady Sashi swept down the steps. "Have you finished playing with the fountains, dear? I think you are going to want to see Lord Hell's house." She winked at them and dragged Lord Andre away.
Asti chuckled. "I never actually got around to describing your house to them. Dad is going to be impossible to get rid of."
"Four of my five sisters, three brothers and four other witches live here. Trust me, they can drive him from the house at will."