Admiral Scott seemed disappointed, but not surprised. “I had a feeling that would be your answer. Then let me make a suggestion: you need to talk to your Magister and tell him to get the Arcane College off my ass.” He started to walk away.
Arcane College? I hurried to catch up and said, “Wait, sir. Please, tell me what is going on.”
Admiral Scott stopped and then turned to glare me down. He kept his voice low, “It’s simple, the Magister has filed complaints against everyone that has even broached the subject of this investigation and now he refuses to talk to anyone. If you’re the agent I think you are, you should have some pull.”
That left me standing there, wondering how this Admiral even knew who I was. I had been hoping to speak with Archmage Maewon this morning, but it did not look like I was going to get the chance.
But why would the Arcane College get involved if it was just a Magister? High Mages would barely be given a thought.
Taking a few steps back, I quickly headed for the elevator. There was a phone call I needed to make.
~*~
Silver was not out in the common area when I got back. I dropped everything on the counter and pulled out my phone. Then I noticed the note was gone. I paused wondering if I should let him know I was back.
I shook my head and quickly called Savanas. I bounced on the balls of my feet impatiently.
“Farstrider.”
The moment she answered, I spoke rapidly, trying to get it all out while I still held the train of thought, “Savanas, it’s Ketayl. I ran into Admiral Jonathan Scott in the lobby. He wants…”
“Hey! Slow down. Admiral Jonathan Scott of Terran Naval Command? Crap, I was hoping to not have to deal with him. What did you tell him when he wanted answers?” Savanas asked. She seemed to be taking this a lot more calmly.
I could not slow down and my mouth was starting to get ahead of me. I told her, “Nothing, well, not nothing. I told him to talk to the Director.”
“Okay, so what has you so worked up? Did he threaten you?” Savanas’ calm started to wear off on me.
I said awkwardly, “I don’t think so?” I was not even sure what the encounter was. “He said he wanted me to talk to the Magister since he’s been filing complaints with the Arcane College and the Arcane College has been harassing him.” Harassing? Was that the proper thing to infer from our conversation? “Admiral Scott thinks I might have some sort of pull with the Magister.”
“Not likely, but it’s an avenue I have been considering. I’ll get in touch with Admiral Scott and get a better idea of what is going on. Cancel your plans for the morning and come in.” Then Savanas hung up.
“Ketayl?” Silver asked. He stood at the doorway to his room. “I was finishing my morning prayers when I heard you. Is everything alright?”
“I don’t know, but I bought some food if you’re hungry. I wasn’t sure what you liked,” I said and forced a smile, taking one of the cups of lavender tea to hide behind. The scent helped calm me. It was my favorite, but some thought it odd.
Silver took the other cup and took a moment to smell what it was before putting it back down. His face told me that it was not something he much cared for. He said, “Ketayl, you can talk to me. I’m here to help where I can. I doubt my part ended with releasing those souls.”
I dug in the bag for one of the apple-filled pastries while I was settled enough to try and eat. “Admiral Scott of Terran Naval Command caught me on the way in. I’m afraid this is my first field assignment and I’m not used to dealing with anyone outside of the TIO - I got a little worked up over nothing.” It was a lie - I knew it was not nothing.
Silver took a random pastry and sat down on the couch just before the door opened and a worn out Retanei strolled in with Artemis at her heels.
She shook her hair free of her hat and said, “Someone could have warned me about the media vultures.” Her coat was wet. Had it snowed overnight?
“Sorry, it was my fault,” I admitted.
“Don’t worry about it - I’m good at dodging people. I’m going to clean up and get some rest. You wouldn’t happen to have any extras?” Retanei pointed at the pastry in my hand and it took me a second to follow her train of thought. I pushed the bag over to her - I had gotten plenty. She had a thing for sweets.
Silver offered up his untouched drink.
Retanei snagged food and then hurried off to our shared room. Artemis collapsed on the floor by the couch.
I apologized, “I didn’t mean to interrupt your morning prayers. Once you’re ready, we should get going. Savanas wants us at the office.” I should have thought to ask him about the customs of paladins.
“If I was back at the church, I would have wanted you to. Paladin Marsh is leading prayers this week and he can be a bit of a windbag,” Silver said it so calmly I choked on my drink. “Are you okay?”
Waving him down, it took a couple of moments to clear my throat. “Sorry, wasn’t expecting that.”
Silver’s smirk told me a little more about the person behind the paladin’s armor.
“We should get going,” he said. Silver was right, we did not have time to spare.
~*~
I stood before Savanas’ desk, explaining why the whole thing bothered me more than she thought it should.
Savanas summarized, “You’re saying it is highly unusual for them to care about one of their own they sent into the field? Maybe because of the circumstances?”
I said, “Not likely. I’ve read the reports from other incidents the Arcane College has had with liaisons. They often distance themselves from anyone lower than an Archmage to keep up relations.”
It was an odd setup, but I understood they would rather let one of their own take the fall so they could keep up appearances. It did not happen very often, but there had been a few instances over the years. Mostly involving incidents of the mage forcing another to join with them.
Savanas sat back in her chair and looked over to Rathal who had been very interested in our conversation. She idly tapped the arm of her chair, considering something before she said, “Given what we’ve been able to find out, I’ve managed to get a warrant to search the Magister’s quarters. You are going with me and Rathal. Silver, I don’t know what to do with you, but if this is our guy we’ll need someone who is specialized in the divine as well.”
“You think it’s the Magister?” I asked. I did not understand, a Magister was below a High Mage. I thought gave them a base level before.
As Savanas got her coat on, she said, “We’ve put eyes on all ranked mages in the area. There aren’t as many as you would think. The only one we can’t account for at the time of the bombing, as well as the lovely little greeting in our lobby, is the Magister. Since he is the only one who won’t cooperate, the judge was more than happy to issue the warrant.”
Rathal jumped into the conversation and asked, “What about Brad and Darius?”
Savanas shook her head and said, “They’re still conducting interviews - I’d rather they kept priority on making sure we find out who else was affected and how badly. We don’t need that large of a team to talk to the Magister.”
Chapter 12
It was not long before we were loaded into Savanas’ car. She had brought Big Black in, but left him with Melody who was intent on spoiling him. There would not have been enough room for all of us.
Once we turned down to the docks, the massive naval vessel came into view. All I could do was stare at the size of it.
I had never been this close to one before and I was edging on excited to get on board and explore.
As we got out of the vehicle the salt air and sounds of maintenance greeted me. The mounted guns were the largest I had ever seen. This was a battleship class vessel - its offensive and defensive capabilities were the best of all the vessels currently in service.
Rathal spoke about them during the ride. He called the battleships “the lone wolves of the fleet” as they often sailed without other vessels.
/> Nowadays, with a mostly centralized government, the navy spent more time tracking down pirates than engaging in inter-territorial disputes. A mage was needed to power the defensive shielding. I wanted to know how it worked. Perhaps if there was a chance I could get a quick look at the system…
“Wonderment later, work now,” Savanas scolded gently. “We can ask the captain after the investigation is over if we can have a quick tour before they depart.” She winked at me.
I was not sure what to make of Savanas. She knew what happened yesterday and yet she was acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. A comment about two hotheads came to mind and I eyed Silver and Rathal who were glaring each other down. When we had loaded up, they argued so much over who would should sit in front that Savanas ordered me take it.
What the problem was between the two, I still did not understand. Why I seemed to be in the middle, I understood less.
I followed, pushing those thoughts aside and hefting my bag. I was not sure what the Magister would truly be like. I had a good idea of what his general personality would be, but given the circumstances, it could send it to an extreme in a few undesirable directions.
He would likely focus his attention on me to further avoid questioning. I just was not sure if I should expect stark-raving mad or to be verbally torn down in that monotone that so many of the higher mages adopted. Either way, if he decided to use his abilities to make an example or punish, I doubted I could defend myself against him.
My Arcane College pin was in my pocket. I thought about putting it on if only to give the Magister one less thing to be mad about. The movement would be obvious and I did not want to draw attention to myself. I also really did not want to put it back on - that thread was bothering me.
We met with the captain first. He was an older Human - his cap sat on a bald head. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you guys to come for my pain in the ass. I didn’t think it possible for him to get worse, but he managed it after your last visit.”
Savanas’ face remained neutral. “I would like to hear more of your take on him. I had the pleasure of hearing your first officer’s opinion the last time,” she said.
“If you can get him out of his room it would be a sheer miracle. He hasn’t left in over a day and won’t even accept the food he insisted be delivered to his quarters,” the captain said. Once he stood up, the captain stood taller than me and despite his visible age, he was fit. “Last time you met with him in the conference room, but since we can’t get him out, I’ll take you to him. I should warn you he’s used his magic to alter his room to his liking. Wish I could have thrown him overboard for that.”
We followed the captain through the narrow hallways in single file. I ended up at the back of the group. Rathal and Silver had an ongoing rivalry of trying to not appear as if they were shoving each other into the bulkheads. I should have been more weary of their actions, but it gave me something to focus on other than the impending meet with the Magister.
Granted, I was not completely unaware of what was going on - I knew Savanas planned on using me as bait to lure the Magister out. I just hoped she knew what she was getting us into and had some sort of plan.
As we approached, two men stood outside as guards. At some point, Silver managed to push his loaned coat’s sleeves up to his elbows and called out his weapons. I did not recall seeing the dagger before on his right hip. He left both blades sheathed for the moment.
The captain knocked hard on the door and called out loudly, “Magister Browne, open up! The TIO needs to speak with you.”
Silence was the only reply.
The captain shook his head and admitted, “I wish I could order him around since this is my boat, but he’s not one of my sailors and I prefer to not have the Arcane College up my ass.”
The corridor was silent except for the sounds of the ship’s daily activities. What was maybe half a minute felt so much longer. What if he decided to attack? Being as gathered together as we were made me nervous.
Savanas tried next, “Magister Browne, this is Agent Savanas Farstrider with the TIO. I brought our Arcane College liaison with us to speak with you.”
Again more silence.
Savanas signaled to the men to open it and drew a gun from under her coat.
I could feel Rathal doing the same and I stood back with Silver who drew his dagger. I sensed no arcane traps at the door, but it did not mean that we were free of dangers. Savanas looked back to me and I nodded, conjuring a small ball of arcane energy in my hand. It would be easier to manipulate to my needs in this state.
The captain turned his attention to me. I had given my TIO coat to Silver and left my hat back at the hotel again. And now I was conjuring arcane energy. I had made myself his target. At least I had decided against wearing my pin.
I shrank back from the captain and dispersed the energy. I had not thought about the crew’s reaction to that bit of information.
I heard a “Clear!” from the other side of the now open door.
“Farstrider, care to tell me why you neglected to mention that you brought another Arcane College mage?” The captain asked angrily.
“Calm down, Captain. Ketayl is our Arcane Investigator. She previously served at the Arcane College as a Researcher, but she’s one of mine now. If it wasn’t for her, we might still be chasing our tails at the crime scene. I was hoping her presence would lure him out, but he’s obviously not here,” Savanas said as she stood in the doorway. She signaled me to come in.
From where I stood, I could see the changes made to the room. Wood flooring and walls, it was also made to be larger inside than the dimensions of the room would normally allow. Antique-style furniture adorned the room, though the bed was pushed against the wall to allow for more working space.
It was going to take a lot of effort to reverse the changes made by Brown. This was permanent magic in the sense that the changes he made did not require any further power to maintain.
Walking in cautiously, I put the gloves on Rathal handed me. My eyes were drawn to a point on the floor in the center of the room. “He teleported. Late last night was the last one.” I dug into my gear bag and grabbed a sample of the arcane mites before I pulled out the camera and started taking pictures.
“Wait, he teleported more than once?” The captain asked, anger still in his voice. I wondered how much was still directed at me, but I needed to focus.
Kneeling down in the spot Browne preferred to perform his teleportations, I prepared to trace the golden lines, grateful that they did not disappear as quickly as remnants did. I was familiar with teleportation. I knew what it felt like to ride the wave of magic. How disorienting it was to appear somewhere else. Well, unless you were used to it.
Letting my eyes unfocus, I used my power to ride the golden arc. I did not need to physically follow it. It was still a bit of a head rush to extend myself like this. I was glad it did not take long to hit the end of each and see where he had been. The level of degradation on the arcs gave me a timeline.
“Every couple of days or so. Some are too far away now for me to follow, but the more recent ones…” I trailed off, trying to memorize the area of the last teleport. “He went into the forest outside of the city on this last one. Prior, he was near the Waking Dawn, and not far from the TIO office - those are the anomalies in the pattern.”
I stood up, rubbing my eyes and trying to get my bearings back to my immediate surroundings. Savanas was next to me, but made no comment about my actions. She was writing down what I told them. Though it was hard to read all of her shorthand.
“Well, if that isn’t suspicious. Unfortunately circumstantial,” Savanas said.
Silver folded his arms and remained as far outside the door as he could, which caught my attention. I asked, “Do you see something?”
“There has been death, but the power holding it is gone. I don’t want to shock anyone if I walk in there,” Silver said. He was staying as far as he could given the tight quar
ters.
“Not much left you can shock us with at this point,” Rathal said, sounding bored, as he combed through the Magister’s closet.
Silver strode forward slowly. The faded images of animals appeared near the outer walls of the ship - the Magister must have been using them to test his spells. I was taking pictures as fast as I could.
The captain was still focused on me and asked, “Is that camera special? Because outside of what your boy here is doing, I can’t see these teleports you’re talking about.”
I looked to Savanas who nodded her consent before I walked over to the captain.
“We’ve developed a prototype filter to see the arcane. It can’t follow a teleport line, but at least it can capture the remnants of the spells used. May I show you?” I said. I turned the screen toward him and began explaining the images I had taken. If nothing else, I could at least try to put his mind at ease about me.
Rathal was in his closet and pulled out an emerald green robe. “Well, I can tell you he has no fashion sense.”
If the strap had not been around my neck, I would have dropped the camera.
“Oh no…” it came out as a whisper.
“What? Was it something I said?” Rathal asked and looked confused. His attention was on me, but I barely noticed it next to what he was holding.
Walking closer to the garment he held, I pick up the edge of the sleeve to check the embroidery and length. I ran a gloved thumb over the intricately woven threads to see if the color would change as some mages had attempted. The illusion would disappear with contact. It did not and there was no doubt.
“He was an Archmage, not a Magister. The robes can be any color or design, but the sleeve length and the embroidery colors have to match the rank. This gold and platinum embroidery - that’s an Archmage. A Magister would be silver and gold and the sleeve would be significantly shorter,” I explained after my examination.
“Bag it,” Savanas ordered, “Ket, Silver, come over here and tell me if this means anything to either of you.”
Twisted Magics (Terra Chronicles Book 1) Page 12