by D. R. Rosier
Getting to the inn felt like a relief. We all took turns in the bath, just cleaning up. I almost wished someone would make a move on us, just to shed this ridiculous tension we were all feeling. I set up a ward on our room and locked the door on our way down to the common room. None of us were comfortable with leaving one person alone to get the food or guard our stuff.
We were halfway through our meal when I felt two mages enter my detection range. It was hard to tell with all the other people in the street, but it seemed there were another twenty following them in perfect lockstep, like marching soldiers. I turned and looked at Ari and she nodded. She had seen it too.
Damn, I was kind of hoping we were paranoid.
“Love, there are two mages and twenty soldiers headed in this direction. I won’t tell you what to do, but for you to lift a hand in our defense against mages would get you the death penalty no matter how right you are. I don’t think they are looking for you, if you stayed free maybe…”
I trailed off as she glared at me.
I shrugged in apology, “I love you, had to try.”
Her face softened and she reached out to squeeze my hand.
I sighed and kept eating; it would take them a while longer to get here. The streets were packed and walking over a hundred yards would take a while. The food was pretty good, not as good as Leah’s but better than what we could make on the road. I took a long drink from my tankard of beer right before they came in the door.
One mage was in red robes, the other a dark green. I was assuming fire and water. The conversations in the rooms died down as they walked into the inn followed by four smartly moving soldiers flanking them. Sixteen of them stayed outside, though they seemed prepared to rush in. They walked up to the table.
The one in green looked young, mid twenties, he had his emotions under control however and I could feel active spells around him. I felt the same around the mage in red robes who wasn’t controlling his emotions; he had a haughty dismissive look on his face despite being in his early forties. I had no idea what the spells that I sensed could do; I just knew they were there.
The red robed mage demanded, “You will come with us.”
I had several spells loaded so to speak. Kind of like torpedo tubes in a sub. I had the magic sequestered with different thoughts in different tubes. Since the magic maintained the thought, it didn’t take any concentration to have them ready like that. I’d done a lot of tweaking the last two days during the paranoia.
The only thing I thought of that failed was distance casting. It had occurred to me that if I used scrying to see something far away, I could feed the target at that location to my elemental. With our bond I could send them instructions and magic no matter how far away they were, so long distance spells seemed logical because my elemental could be there locally.
Except it didn’t work, it worked for those I could sense out of visual range with my detection magic, but longer distances failed if I tried to cast through a scrying. Perhaps it was just impossible for it to understand a target passed along from a scrying, because I really thought that it should have worked.
Perhaps it was better it didn’t work. If it did that would have meant I could kill anyone anywhere as long as I knew their name and face. That is too much power for anyone.
I asked politely, “Who is you? Me or one of the young ladies? And… who are you?”
A few people gasped around the room and the guy glared them back to silence.
“I am royal mage Clayton and head of the military here. You will obey me at once.”
I nodded slowly, “You still haven’t defined the you part, nor told us why.”
This guy was rubbing me wrong, so I took a sip of my drink. He turned red in the face but didn’t do anything past a glare.
The other guy coughed and said, “I’m royal mage James, and he means you and the Elvish whore. We care not about your… wife.”
The young man smiled cruelly and added, “And please don’t worry about her safety, we’ll be leaving these four guards here to… look after her.”
I clenched my fist under the table and released the spell I was holding to modify the room wards. The duo flinched then exchanged looks when nothing happened despite feeling me use magic.
Ari spoke up, “You still have not stated why, what are we being accused of exactly?”
Clayton smile was oily as he replied, “Why, we know all about your plans to attack our king when you get to Ciren, now move. I won’t ask you again.”
Fighting here would be a bad idea. Too many innocent people might get caught in the crossfire. I handed the room key to Sienna and nodded. We had considered this happening and had a plan, she needed to go to the room and stay there, no matter what. I just hoped she does. I waited until she was halfway up the stairs and glared at the soldiers who looked at her like their Christmas bonus just came in early.
I released the spell for scrying my wife, it required so little power they didn’t even feel it. When she got in the room I held out my hand and helped up Ari, just to annoy them, and waited a few moments.
“Very well, lead on. I am sure the mayor can clear this up with a truth spell, the charges are ridiculous.”
He just smirked at me, I had a feeling he had just accused us of what they had planned, which was stupid on his part. Unless they wanted it out there, so that when the king died they could say they tried to stop it. The question of course was… why? I didn’t see how it was even possible; they were all supposed to be under oath to protect the king.
I almost warned the four soldiers as we were escorted out into the street, but changed my mind. If they tried to rape my wife they would get what they deserved. I had fed my elemental enough magic to hold in reserve against spells specified in the ward. It was no longer just there to give a warning of trespass to me.
Even if I was knocked out, or my link to the ward was severed, there was enough in the spell itself to hold the elemental there for a week, which was much longer than we would need. I hoped.
I wondered if they would try and kill us immediately when we reached an area they controlled. If they were smart they would, but we would see. The guards grabbed my arms when we were surrounded by them and they cuffed us. I almost snorted at the idea, but a shield of energy seemed to surround me. The cuffs had been spelled.
The guards also removed my and Ari’s sword.
The energy shield didn’t protect, it cut off flows of magic. The minute flow I had to maintain connection with my elemental for the ward was cut, and I was relieved I had modified the spell before this happened. Strangely enough the little twister was inside the shield and didn’t cut off. I didn’t really understand that though, because the magic I fed for it went to my elemental first too, who wasn’t inside the shield. I couldn’t figure out why it would matter.
Something for me to ask Ari about if we get out of this alive. I was just grateful I could still watch Sienna. She was pacing the room and so far the guards have left her alone. The guards seeing no reason to be silent anymore were yelling to clear the way. The commoners were stuffing themselves against the side of the street, anyone not fast enough was pushed out of the way.
It looked like we were heading toward the barracks, perhaps a dungeon, or just a killing ground.
I considered the spell thing again and didn’t understand it at all. Why my ward was blocked, but not the twister, I had no idea. Even if it was inside the shield, my elemental was not. Not expecting it to work I released a tiny bit of energy to my air elemental and asked for a puff of wind. I felt it hit my back and almost froze in shock. I tried again, this time at a commoner and watched as his hair moved.
I almost laughed but kept it in. Something about the Elven way of magic made these cuffs almost worthless, except for the ward. I was dying of curiosity, but I couldn’t ask about it right now. I was also feeling pre battle excitement. All the frustration and dread of the last week had fallen away. I now had an enemy. Even better they were against the king
for some reason, and had little respect for Elves. That was enough for me to have a clear conscience if they needed killing…
We were led through a portcullis into the inner city. From what I could see it was about half nice homes, and half military. There was also a very large mansion and government building. I understood the tactical reasons, but was disgusted by the idea that if things went wrong they would abandon the people in the city except for the most affluent and the mages.
It would be a much smaller area to protect.
We were led to the government building and taken inside. I was shocked no one had tried to stab me yet but went with it. They took us up two flights of stairs and down the hall to a richly appointed large office. It made Serina’s very nice office back in Cliff’s Edge look like a pauper’s hovel.
There was a woman behind the desk; she wore black robes with a red and brown design on the sleeves. I assumed this must be one of the most powerful dual affinity mages in the country. Fire and earth I would guess based on the colors.
I couldn’t tell if she had active spells at all, the shield did block my senses. I hadn’t tried until now to prevent the evil duo from catching me using magic. She was only a few feet away so it wouldn’t have taken much power. It seemed completely random on what worked and what didn’t.
She was studying me intently.
“So, is this where you reveal your evil plan and try and recruit us?”
She snorted and looked at the Ari in disgust.
“No, not both of you, although you would be a strong ally. I can feel how strong your magic is, and dual affinities such as us are rare. The Elf however is part of the problem. Cirenthia used to be strong, we held off the monsters of the north, the Elves to the west and another human kingdom to the east. We were threatened on all sides save the great sea to the south.”
I frowned, “So… peace is a problem?”
She sighed, “In that it weakened us yes. It’s been too long since we have warred. We can’t even keep our own roads free of bandits right now. The country to our east used to be the kingdom of Omajen. They were conquered ten years ago by an aggressive human Empire named Rhimera. Omajen no longer exists. Over the last ten years they have established order, and now they are looking west into our kingdom.
“The king is blind and refuses to change our national footing to war. He won’t believe they would attack us and doesn’t want to raise taxes or overburden the commoners. Ridiculous. As you know, our oaths are first to the kingdom of Cirenthia, then the king. It was created that way to stop a tyrant from gaining rule, but it will work just as well to topple a fool.”
She paused as if waiting for me to absorb all this. It made a disturbing amount of sense but I was failing to make some connections.
“I don’t get the Elven thing though. If Cirenthia is seeing a new enemy to the east, why would you want to destroy a treaty that guarantees peace on your west border?”
She sighed, “Even if we… remove the king. The one next in line is no better and does not see the threat to the east. It is hard to find people with the vision to see what we do, I had hoped a stranger didn’t hold any foolish illusions and could see the truth. That is why I am giving you a chance to live. But because the next king will be no better… we need to not only stop the treaty with the elves but start a war.
“Killing this Elven bitch and blaming the death of the king on the Elves will guarantee a war; at least one side would attack. The Elves are weak and foolish, we would quickly mobilize to beat them back or destroy them. Then we would be ready, or closer to ready, for when the real threat from the Rhimera Empire appears.”
I was fishing when I said, “And… you’re asking me because you three are the only ones?”
Her eyes narrowed, “There are others. We don’t have agents everywhere yet, but we do have them in strategic locations.”
I didn’t think that would work but…
I asked, “What do I get out of it? Besides living I mean.”
She sighed, “If you take an oath to join us, and we will know if you lie, the Elf woman will die quickly and without pain, and we will leave your wife alone for you to handle. You will also be guaranteed a position of power once your training is complete.”
Her eyes narrowed dangerously, “If you say no… The elf and your wife will die slowly while you watch, then we will start in on you.”
Lovely, she was insane. She was probably right about the threat but utterly bug fuck nuts about the rest of it.
My wife was still fine back in our room at the inn; I wondered how fast those soldiers will get the word if Ari and I attacked. I’d have to depend on the ward, and her skill with a bow. There were only four.
I gave Ari a look and nodded. She was more experienced so she would take the mayor, I was going for the evil duo and whoever finished first would help the other. I released a spell to cut both of our cuffs as a signal to Ari. I wasn’t sure what their spells did, so I kept mine ready as I could once again detect magic, but I struck out hard with my palm into the younger man’s temple. I gambled correctly that their spells protected from magic, not physical harm. James fell like a sack of bricks.
I moved to do the same to Clayton but a ball of fire erupted right in front of me and exploded. It was tightly focused and threw my body back into the wall. I was on fire and with a thought I was soaking wet and sizzling. I could smell my burnt flesh but knew it would heal. I sent another spell; this one ripped an antique sword off the far wall and speared toward Clayton from behind him.
I was trying to avoid a direct spell, not knowing what his protections were about. I could think of a few really nasty ones and I was a beginner, he’d probably been inventing twisted spells all his life. He sent a wave of flames my way, white hot, which I countered with a wall of solid ice. That one had taken a lot of magic though I still had more than half, but when my wall dissipated, I could see the sword had impaled him through the back and out of his chest.
I wondered how he missed what I did, overconfident?
I turned to Ari and the mayor and they were tossing magic back and forth. The desk was in splinters and I watched fire, earth, and air sizzle between them. I ran over to Clayton and pulled the sword out as his body collapsed to the floor dead, then charged the crazy bitch behind the desk.
A ball of rock appeared and speared toward me; I threw the sword in her direction and released a spell to direct it to her heart as the rock hit. I heard my ribs break and once again started flying across the room. This time the trick didn’t work; she laughed and with a thought sent the sword my way.
Of course, metal is earth and I’m a dumb ass.
Instead of fighting her control with wind or water, I used that elemental wind and destroyed her spell as I ducked down beneath the sword no longer homing in on me. I sent spikes of ice her way, figuring it was the only element not in play yet. She blocked me effortlessly while the magic duel between her and Ari went on.
I had no clue what to do and realized what I was doing wrong, instead of asking them for ice spikes or water, I should be focusing on the end result, so I let my elementals decide. I kept sending the message to wound her over and over and fed them magic. To my shock instead of attacking her directly all my spells countered her attacks against Ari, which let her elementals concentrate on offence.
Ari’s magic burned and cut deep wounds into the mayor’s body. The mayor didn’t last long. I checked on Sienna, she was still fine, untouched. I reached out and reestablished my link with the ward, just in case I also fed it more magic for the spells to replace what was lost.
I rushed over and hugged Ari, I wanted to kiss her but I didn’t want to drop my scrying, and with my luck I’d poke out her eye with the little twister.
I asked, “You okay?”
She hugged me tighter, “Never better. Thanks for the help.”
I asked in a plaintive voice, “Can you explain why the cuffs stopped detection and my ward connection, but nothing else?”
; She giggled, “Is that bothering you, not knowing? That sounded like frustration in your voice.”
I growled which made her laugh harder. I was feeling the relief too, but we were still in the middle of a fortified city, and had just murdered the mayor and the head of the military. James was knocked out still. I found a fresh pair of cuffs in James’ pocket and put them on him.
She said, “The cuffs only stop magic in this world. So for every human mage but you, that would work just fine since they control the elements directly. It stopped the magical detection because that is your personal magic spreading in this world. Same with the elemental that is guarding the room, he is physically present on this world, so was the connection.
“But elementals aren’t limited to one space or even dimension. Your elemental bond also runs to their own elemental planes. So when you cast a spell, the link to them in that plane still works and they cast the spell onto this side. Does that make sense?”
I replied teasingly, “Yes… I think I understand. Your beautiful voice is mesmerizing, I may have zoned out for that last part.”
She snorted, “Now what?”
“I suggest we search the office for some kind of proof, before we get accused of murder. It should also help having James alive, but we need to find another mage eventually.”
We went through her desk; it was all dry reports and accounting. Mages could talk magically so the chances we would find an incriminating letter had been extremely low.
“Any other ideas?”
She shrugged, “Find another mage who will hopefully wait long enough for us to explain and cast a truth spell on this asshole over here.”
I frowned and looked through the paperwork.
“There are two more, both old so probably either very loyal or considered not worth the risk for them to recruit at their age. Linden the earth mage, he’s fifty nine. The other is Amy who is actually a healer, and sixty two. They have rooms on the second floor of the government mansion.”