by Tom Larcombe
Amber shuddered.
“I can understand why people might avoid wizards like that,” she said. “But how many of them are strong enough to do something like that?”
“Not many, and it takes a lot of time,” Greg replied. “They have to do a lot of rummaging around in their victim's mind and somehow make the control seem natural. Otherwise the victim will either snap and go crazy or fight through the control. And once they've fought their way out from under that control there's no chance the wizard will be able to control them again. As a matter of fact, most of them that do fight off the control are a little crazy anyhow and the first thing they try to do is kill the wizard that was controlling them.”
“Enough of that,” Charles said. “This isn't anything of the sort. The people didn't seem mind controlled, it was more like a mental illusion I think. I know that I saw an out-of-business department store instead of the factory at first, and I think that's what the Spirit Magic was doing to me.”
“Plus making you not want to go to that area in the first place,” Amber added.
“Yes, plus that,” Charles admitted.
“Well, those affects are both fairly easy with Spirit Magic. The illusion is easier that way than the traditional ones the other elements use since you only have to affect one person at a time. The aversion is another very simple thing as well. It obviously wasn't strong enough to stop you, just irritated you when you ignored it. I'd say the aversion is intent based, like you suggested. But the illusion affects anyone that looks at that factory.”
“Well, we know our current shields can get around those, but do you know any stronger mental shields? Because I'm sure there will be other things once we get inside the building. You don't put up massive area of affect wards like those and not have more magical security on what you're protecting.”
“I've got a couple of things that might work,” Greg said. “Assuming you and Amber can manage them. I know I can, so I can hold it for all of us if needed. But if that's the case, I won't be much use beyond that.”
They continued working on their plans late into the evening. They'd go in the following evening, figuring that a Sunday night was liable to have the least people around of any day they could go in. When they finally finished, it was very late and Amber excused herself to go back down to her apartment.
Once the door was closed and she was in the hallway, she headed for the elevator and took it to the third floor.
They've got all the magic they've trained in for years. I haven't got squat, except for a few little defensive magics they taught me. You can't win without an offense, so it's time to get one.
She was sure she could duplicate the spell she'd managed to unlock Charles' window with. Now that she knew a little about magic and could call it up, she knew how she'd done it before. She stopped outside of apartment 3-E and had the door open in under a minute. She went to her parents' bedroom and found that the lock on the desk was even easier to open. When she left the apartment she had her father's revolver and a box of ammunition for it. She locked all the doors behind herself and went down to her apartment.
Having lived on the streets for so long she'd had her hands on firearms more than once. There was even that one impromptu firing range someone had set up in a warehouse temporarily. She'd only fired a nine millimeter pistol before and the revolver was a .45 so it would have more recoil, but she thought she'd be able to handle it and was completely unwilling to go into the factory without some sort of offensive weapon.
The revolver fit into the bag she used as a purse with a lot of space to spare. The bag was much larger than a normal purse because she had a lot of things that your average woman wouldn't carry around that she was unwilling to not have with her. With the revolver and ammunition stashed in her bag, she settled down onto her bed and tried to go to sleep. It didn't come easily, but when it finally arrived she was deeply asleep in moments.
* * *
* * *
Chapter 13
Charles looked over at Greg.
“Are you ready for a long night?” he asked.
“I'm guessing you want us to prepare for this like we used to when we were going out, right?” Greg replied.
Charles nodded.
“Yes, if Amber hadn't been so tired I would've had her help however she could so she had some idea of what we were carrying. But if she's as tired as she said, then she never would've remembered half of it, so I thought it better that we do it without her.”
“Good point. She's bright though, she might've surprised you.”
“Yeah, but this isn't the time to experiment with that. I'm telling you, that place freaked me out when she convinced me to put up my mind shield. I just did it in hopes that we could leave, but as soon as I did, the entire building shifted in my sight. The store I'd seen had the same basic outline as the factory, so anyone that's affected by the illusion won't be surprised by walls being where they shouldn't be, but the factory goes up a couple of stories.”
He stopped and shook his head.
“I wouldn't have thought anyone could manage an illusion like that. They have to be pumping a lot of energy into it, and if they are that means they have a lot of energy to burn. I hate it when we have to deal with strong wizards that have decided that they can do whatever they want.”
“Come to the dark side, we've got cookies, right?” Greg said. “They could get the same damn cookies with just a little effort on the light side, but no, they need to think of themselves as the big, bad, spooky types. And those guys can never let themselves be seen putting in an honest day's work.”
He caught Charles' glare and sighed.
“Still on that anti-cussing kick?” Greg asked. “I tell you, sometimes they're the right words for the moment.”
“Maybe, but if you'd heard Alicia and Amber when they got here...”
He shook his head again.
“Those two could've made a sailor blush. Amber's working on it, although don't give her the satisfaction and laugh when you hear what she's trying. I don't want to encourage her.”
“What's she doing?”
“Let's just say I've heard phrases like 'child of questionable parentage' quite a few times over the last week or two.”
Greg snickered.
“Really? She's actually taking the time to replace them with synonyms?”
Charles grinned at his friend.
“Or as close to it as she can get. It makes her stop and think when she'd normally swear, so I figure that sooner or later she'll just stop. It can't be nearly as satisfying that way.”
“Aha! So you admit that it's satisfying now?” Greg said.
The two of them continued to argue about Charles' view on cursing as they prepared for their mission the following night. Charles pulled out a bunch of lower grade and smaller crystals that were prepared to hold spells that they might need and the two men proceeded to charge the crystals with spells that would allow them to remain unseen, to produce balls of flame, to destroy things made of earth or stone, and so on.
Each crystal was marked with a small rune to let them know which spell that one held, then the crystals were deposited in various pockets and holsters on the gear they'd made specifically for this type of outing years back.
It was very early in the morning by the time they were done and both men had exhausted their own stores of energy as well as the energy from Charles' larger storage crystals.
Charles placed the empty storage crystals on the windowsill to charge, made sure the window was locked, then crashed. Greg was already snoring on the fold-out bed by the time Charles made it to his room.
* * *
It was very late in the morning when Charles woke up to a noise in the living room. He glanced across at his alarm clock and saw that it was past eleven already. He rolled out of bed tiredly and pulled on some clothes.
Looks like I'm going to need a nap before tonight, he thought. I guess even magic won't give you the stamina of the young indefinitely.<
br />
When he left his bedroom, Greg had just folded up the couch.
“Oh, hey Charles. I hope I didn't wake you. I need to check on the store and make a run back to my place before tonight. I've got Stanley opening up for me at noon so I wanted to be there then.”
“Stanley?” Charles said groggily.
“Yeah, I told you I was going to hire some part-time help for the store. He's an older guy, works fifteen to twenty hours a week for me. But this way I can take a day off sometimes.”
Charles grunted and headed for the kitchen. This time he'd remembered to set up coffee the night before and simply hit the button to start it. Greg wandered into the kitchen as well. Charles inhaled deeply as the coffee was ground and the first signs of alertness entered his face. The two stayed silent while the burble of the brewing coffee filled the air.
Once Charles had a cup of coffee and was sipping at it, Greg helped himself to his own cup. A few minutes later he spoke.
“So, we're taking Amber with us tonight, right?” Greg said.
“Yes. I don't like it very much, but it was her idea to check and she's already shown that she can be useful. I still would've been ignorant if I'd gone to check on my own, never mind that I never would've thought to check if it weren't for her.”
“I was just thinking that we ought to rig up some sort of harness for her, give her a couple of the crystals that can help her defend herself.”
“We can probably do that. If I've still got the materials around.”
“I know I do, that's part of why I want to make a run back to my place,” Greg said. “I'll bring them with me. But we'll need her up here to get fitted. I was thinking that for now we should just make her a gear belt with a few pouches and slots for holding things. If she wants more than that, we can add it later on.”
Charles nodded his agreement.
“I'll wake her up and let her know what we're planning,” Charles said. “She must've been as tired as she claimed if she's not up here yet. Kind of a good thing though, I'm still exhausted.”
“You and me both,” Greg said. “But I think I'll be fine if I get an hour-long nap this afternoon.”
Greg finished his coffee, rinsed the cup, and set it beside the sink.
“Well, gotta be going. I should be back before dinner time,” he said.
After he left Charles poured himself another cup of coffee and sat nursing it, staring through the window at the trees he'd planted just a couple of weeks back. Their leaves were showing, just starting to unfurl from buds. He could feel them there and thought that if they continued to grow well they'd serve the purpose he'd planted them for.
Plus brightening up the area a bit, he thought. But I suppose I should go wake Amber now. I'm surprised I've taken to her as well as I did. Greg told me that he thought I would, but couldn't explain it. He was right, and I can't really explain it either. It's like the world is paying more attention when she's around or something.
* * *
Charles knocked on Amber's door and got no answer. A minute later he knocked louder. This time he heard a muffled voice call something, so he just waited.
Amber opened the door, her hair mussed and wearing just a t-shirt that had hung down to her knees a week or so ago, but now made it down to not-quite her mid-thigh.
“Yeah?” she said.
“Amber, it's almost noon. I thought you'd be up already. Sorry for waking you.”
“Almost noon? I slept for like twelve hours then. I don't feel like I did though.”
“Well, if you're up, I need you to get dressed and come upstairs. We've got a couple of things to talk about.”
She yawned loudly, her jaw cracking.
“Sure, just give me a few minutes and I'll be up there.”
“I'll make some lunch for us. Come up as soon as you're ready.”
It was more than half an hour later when Amber finally knocked on his door.
“What took so long?” he asked.
She blushed.
“All those clothes I found for myself a week or two ago? They're too small now. I had to go dig through some more boxes to find something that fit.”
Charles looked at her closely and sure enough it looked like she'd grown a few more inches since the last time he'd paid close attention.
“That's fine,” he said. “I bet it's all the extra food and the opportunity to get a lot of sleep. Aren't you sore though? I'd imagine that has to hurt.”
“No, not really sore. You know that rubbery feeling you get in your legs if you walk or run too much? My whole body feels a little bit like that. Plus it took me a while to get my sense of balance this morning, but I'm good now.”
“Well, come sit down and eat. We'll talk about tonight after lunch.”
After they'd both eaten their fill, Charles sat her down in the living room.
“We're going to make you some gear for tonight. I would've gone over all of this with you last night, but you needed your sleep.”
“Gear?” she asked.
“When we do these things, or at least when we did them in the past, Greg and I make some preparations. We take a bunch of smaller crystals, ones that aren't too good for storing energy long term, and we set spells in them. You can set them off one of two ways. Either a trickle of magic aimed at the spell in the crystal, or by shattering the crystal.”
“Wait, aimed at the spell?”
“Yes, remember how you release the energy in a storage crystal? It's the same thing. You just make magical contact with the spell to release the energy in those. For these, you just make magical contact with it the same way. Those are the ones that will affect you. The offensive spells are the ones you throw. Don't confuse them since Greg has some offensive ones that burst into flame or put people to sleep.”
“How do you tell the difference?”
“I'll get to that. First, the gear. We're going to give you some of these crystals to use so you'll need a way to hold them. The first way to tell them apart is by remembering which one you put where. You'll have a belt with pouches and slots in it that will hold crystals. So if you remember what you put where, you're good.”
“Yeah, but what if I forget?”
“We've marked each of them also. I'll show you what marks stand for what spell in just a few minutes. I wanted to ask if you have any questions about the concept first.”
“What's the belt look like?” she asked.
Huh? he thought. Why would she be asking that?
“Probably it'll just be leather. It's easier to work with than synthetics when you're using magic. Why does it matter?”
“Cool, so just like the old gunslingers? I'll be a spellslinger then.”
Charles' eyes rolled back into his head.
Every time I think she's actually starting to act close to her real age, something like this comes up. Just roll with it and we'll be able to finish up here more quickly.
“Sure, that works. You can be a spellslinger, but like I was saying, do you have any questions about the crystals or the gear?”
“Not right now, I haven't seen them yet,” she said. “I might after I see them.”
“Well then, let's go through the crystals and I'll show you the marks and tell you what they mean.”
A grueling hour later, Charles was finally finished. He'd showed her the marks, quizzed her about them, then shown them to her again when she failed to recognize two of them. By the end of the hour, he was pretty sure she actually knew the marks and what they meant.
“Greg's going to be back in a little while. He's bringing the materials for your belt,” Charles said.
Amber grinned at him.
“Do I get any say in how it looks?”
“Fine,” Charles said. “I'll let you and Greg take care of designing it. But I get veto power, just in case whatever you design won't work well.”
“When's he getting here?” she asked.
“I don't know, he was checking on his store, going home to take a nap and get the ma
terials, then come back here. Speaking of which, I'm going to go take a nap. I'm still tired from last night.”
“Can I use your computer?” she asked.
“Only if you calm down first. Remember, I said that you're probably more powerful than I am in terms of raw power. That means a stronger possibility of shorting out electronics, especially when you're excited.”
“Fine,” Amber said, drawing the word out.
“Then yes, you can use my computer. I'm going to take that nap now.”
* * *
By the time Charles woke up from his nap, Greg had arrived. Charles walked out into the living room to find Amber and Greg sketching out ideas for the belt.
“No, you can't leave it slung low like that. It might look good in the movies, but in real life that'll fall right off of you,” Greg said.
“If you want the low-slung look, you need an extra portion hanging off the actual belt,” Charles interjected, startling the two of them.
“I don't understand,” Amber said.
Charles took the pencil and sketched in a solid portion of belt above the part she'd drawn that would hang low.
“See, that would technically not be part of the belt. The belt itself is up here, where I drew it, but you attach an extra piece that hangs lower like you sketched there. Honestly, it doesn't work as well as you might think, we tried something like that. The crystals are too small to be easily available when they hang that low.”
“Really? Well, how about this?” she answered.
In the end she got her way, she had the lower hanging section she wanted, formed into a large pouch, but the support belt portion also had slots in it for the crystals.
“I don't know why you're insisting on this,” Charles said.
“Because I have other things I want to carry than just the crystals you're giving me. If I have this extra portion to use to carry stuff in, then I don't have to take my big bulky bag. The flap will make sure it all stays in, but I'll have it easily available.”
“Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place?” he asked.