Visions of Power

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “You’ll forever have to fight to keep the energy coming to you in our realm. It will never accept that it must serve you here. You’ll get stronger at it and be able to control it for longer periods as you gain experience, so that eventually the effect will simply be how tiring it is. You’ll also come to realize that you don’t always want to battle with it if you don’t have to. I haven’t called upon my own power more than once or twice this season,” he added. “Fayette, go make sure no one’s ahead of us, and we’ll see how far our warrior can go today.”

  Fayette opened the door and left the room. “Hallway’s clear,” he reported, and Alec and Merle followed him out of the room.

  As soon as he stepped across the threshold, Alec felt his hold on the energy give way, and the connection to the world of power snapped away from him.

  “Oh!” he said. “It’s gone.”

  “That’s how it goes,” Fayette said, coming back to join them. “I had that happen to me over and over again before I was able to at least judge how long it would be ‘til I lost it.

  “Congratulations though, for your first time! Will you join Roland and I and some others for a small party this evening to celebrate? It’s customary, really,” he asked.

  Alec appreciated the offer, even though he knew Inga would hold it as proof of her accusation of ingenaire cliquishness. But she had maintained a certain aloofness since their talk about rumors, so he felt less concern. “I’d like that; what time and where to get together?”

  “Great. Let’s meet after the day’s last changing of the guard. Meet at the bridge, and we’ll go to the Muddy Bank Tavern,” Fayette said.

  With that they split up and went their separate ways, Alec returning to the shop.

  “I did it! I touched the ingenairii’ power today in my exercise,” he told Leah.

  “What was it like Alec? What did you do?” she asked.

  He told her about his experience, and ended by telling her he was invited to go out for dinner. “Would you like to come along?” he asked her.

  “You go ahead and go without me,” she told him. “You should celebrate this with other ingenairii. More to the point, I’m so tired every night, I’d pay money to stay home and sleep! Have a good time with all of them. It’s good that you have a chance to meet some folks beside just a few guards,” she added in a voice that trailed off.

  Alec spent the afternoon working on the canteens of spring water for the medical supply kits he intended for the Guard medics to have. As evening approached he gathered his production up and headed for the palace, saying farewell to the household of women on his way out.

  A walk slowed down by the goods he was carrying brought Alec to the guard armory later than he expected it to. He had hoped to talk to Inga about his breakthrough today, but the delay left him with no time, so after dropping the canteens off in the supply room he walked back to the gatehouse on the bridge, where he found the ingenairii group already assembled and waiting on him.

  Fayette had gathered all the older apprentice ingenairii, so that Alec was the youngest of the group at his own celebration. Alec felt pleased and embarrassed to see the whole group come together for him, including some he didn’t know very well. Two girls, Yula and Latvia, along with four males beside himself, Fayette, Roland, Michael, and Grant were waiting, Grant and Latvia in an apparently rambunctious mood. Fayette announced that they were going to the Muddy Bank, which brought cheers from the loudest two.

  The tavern was a respectable establishment, very near the river and only a hundred yards from the bridge. Inside, a group of indistinguishable Guards were dim in a shadowy corner. The apprentices claimed a whole large table to themselves. “I’ll buy the first round of drinks,” Alec offered, which brought a round of applause from the group and a kiss on the cheek from Latvia. He was seated between Roland and Yula at one end of the table, closest to the fireplace, and with his back to the door. The louder members of the group were located at the opposite end.

  A serving girl came and took their orders, Alec having to pay in advance to secure delivery to the rowdy young group. Alec alone avoided alcohol, the others having wine or ale. “Won’t you honor Goldenfields by tasting her famous wines?” Grant asked him with a grin.

  Alec politely declined, then settled into a long conversation with Yula, a slender blond girl he’d seen but never talked to before. She told him about her home village and the adventure she considered herself to be on. A plant ingenaire, she was slowly learning to coax plants into tricks. She faced the decision of whether to go to Oyster Bay to learn the intricacies and secrets of her craft, or whether she should return to her village soon, and help the crops with what she already knew.

  A boisterous argument broke out down at the other end of the table. “You’d never know that Grant and I are both plant ingenairii from our personalities, would you?” she said with a giggle. “He’s so outgoing, while I usually find it hard to talk to someone I don’t know.”

  Michael suggested they go to another tavern, the Wooly Sheep. “You just want to go to see that tavern girl Renee there, Mike,” Grant told him.

  “We’ve got a great table to ourselves here. Let’s stay,” Latvia added, so the group stayed at the Muddy Bank to have a second round of drinks.

  Alec again had a juice, and feeling hungry, he ordered a platter of fried tubers and cheese slabs to eat and share. Roland got up to go sit next to Latvia, and Michael moved over to take his seat next to Alec.

  “So you are going to be a warrior ingenaire, Alec?” he asked with a gleam in his eye. “I’m glad to be any type of ingenaire, but if I could chose, I think that would be the one I’d enjoy. Who will you fight for?”

  Alec looked at him blankly for a second, unsure of what Michael meant.

  “You know,” Michael prompted, seeing the uncertainty. “Many of the warrior ingenairii serve great traders or nobles. They earn a huge premium.”

  “I’m already a captain in the Duke’s Guard. I’ll fight for Toulon and Goldenfields,” answered Alec matter-of-factly.

  Yula looked at him. “You’re a captain in the Guard? I never heard that. I thought you were a healer.”

  “Well, I’m a healer too. I’m supposed to be in charge of the medics in the Guard, helping to improve the care we give.”

  Both of his acquaintances stared at him. “Alec, how does a young boy ingenaire-in-training get to be the captain in charge of medics for the Duke’s Guard?” Michael asked.

  “It’s a long story. I helped to heal the Duke when they tried to kill him, and I healed another Guard officer when he was ill. I’ve just had the gift of good skills and being at the right place at the right time,” he told them, beginning to wonder if he had said too much.

  “You’re the one who saved the Duke?” Latvia said from the other end of the table. Her voice carried across half the room.

  “Who saved the Duke?” a rough voice loudly asked.

  The ingenairii’s table went nervously silent.

  On the other side of the room, a man in Guard outfit stood up, and others followed. “Who here claims to have saved the Duke?” the man, a corporal, Alec realized, walked over to the table. “Who’s boasting to impress the girls here, girls?”

  Not sure what to do, Alec saw Grant stand up, trying to make peace. “We’re not boasting, just having a good time, friend. Let’s all just have fun with our friends.”

  “No one take’s the Duke’s name and uses it for fun when the Guard is in the House,” the corporal said, clearly looking to instigate some trouble. “Let’s see who thinks they can get away with such trash.” He waited a moment. “Well, won’t any cowards stand up?”

  The ingenairii looked at one another uneasily. Alec felt frozen with indecision. He could stand and try to divert attention from the other apprentices, but he didn’t want to be the center of attention and get into a fight over having healed the Duke, of all things. He realized heads were turning in his direction now.

  “Alec, can you tell thi
s lout to sit down and leave us be?” Latvia asked him.

  Lout, am I?” the Guardsman asked loudly.

  Three more Guardsmen rose from their table and came over to join the fracas that now promised to erupt. One of them, Alec saw with relief, was Inga. “What do you have brewing over here, Morst?” another Guard asked.

  Alec decided he had to do something, and stood up. As the bench jostled against his legs, he was knocked back down and landed sitting on Yula’s lap, throwing his arms around her to steady his balance. She pretended to swoon, and laid her head on his shoulder. His movement drew the attention of the Guards, including Inga, whose face went white when she recognized him.

  “Let them be, Morst,” she told the first Guard who had approached the table of Ingenairii. “The one cuddling with the blond is Captain Alec, chief of your medics.”

  “Pardon our interruption, sir,” she said with a disrespectful tone on the last word.

  “I thought he was pawing after you, Inga,” Morst replied. “You’re a busy one, aren’t you, lover boy?” he insulted Alec.

  Alec stood up again, hastily. “Inga,” he said, then hesitated, not knowing what else to say and suddenly aware that all eyes in the room were on him. This all seemed so ridiculous a mistake to get into a scene over, Alec felt burning embarrassment. All he wanted to do was sit down and fade out of sight.

  “Let’s talk about this later,” he said, hoping to end matters for now. He didn’t know what to say, so he sat down next to Yula again, missing the expression of disgust and hurt feelings that momentarily flickered across Inga’s face as the blond girl placed her arms around him with a giggle.

  Latvia came around the table and leaned over, giving Alec a hearty kiss that drew applause from the other tavern inhabitants still watching. “My hero!” she said. Inga and the Guardsmen walked away. “You can have more fun with the Guard girl after we show you a good time first,” Latvia added loudly.

  Alec felt miserable. He had no desire to stay there any longer. “It’s time for me to go,” he told the others at the table. “I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. Thanks for taking me out tonight. I’m glad to have spent some time with all of you. See you tomorrow, Fayette,” he announced, and rose hastily to leave.

  Alec worked his way through the crowded room, finally arriving at the main door. He opened the door, and as he turned to leave his glance swept the room, locking eyes with Inga’s inscrutable glare as he left the building.

  Chapter 39 – Terror at the Shop

  Alec left the tavern where he’d just been embarrassed in front of his friends, peers and everyone else, and walked at a brisk pace, taking a roundabout route to stretch out the time needed to return home. He was in no mood to talk to anyone. He turned onto Baker Street, and walked to the shop.

  “Alec, wait,” a voice on the street behind him called. He turned and looked, seeing Inga standing at the corner, having apparently followed him. He sighed with renewed regret, not wanting to face an unpleasant scene with his friend, who was walking towards him.

  Might as well at least take it inside instead of letting the neighbors witness it, he though to himself as she drew near. He noticed the door to the shop was slightly ajar, which surprised him, but he stepped inside to wait for Inga. He was completely unprepared for what he found.

  Leah sat in one corner of the room, a large man standing threateningly over her. Another man held Hannah against the floor, muffling her screams and cries. Two others were beating Ellen, one of them holding her and the other punching her repeatedly.

  “What is going on here?” Alec asked in a loud voice.

  The door was slammed shut behind him and he was shoved to the ground.

  “Here’s what’s going on kid,” the one beating Ellen said savagely. “This woman ran out on me. She’s going to pay, her kid’s going to pay, the pregnant lady is going to pay, and since you’re here, you’re going to pay too.”

  Alec lay on the floor, stunned. He started to use his healing vision to look at Ellen, seeing an assortment of injuries that sickened him. Suddenly he felt a foot land on his back, then draw back and kick him hard in the ribs, provided by the hidden man who had shut the door.

  He sensed that the door was opening again, probably from Inga’s arrival. Without thinking, Alec found his mind taking him into the place between the barriers, and quickly racing through the barrier to the entrance of light. He imagined himself, holding his sword, with the same simple outfit he had worn in his last incursion into the wizard powers realm.

  Prepared, he pushed his spirit headlong into the realm of the ingenaire’s powers, feeling the energy swamp his image with potential action. Alec asserted his control, finding it easier this time that before to turn the body image and leave the source of light. He moved quickly out of the realm and through the barrier. He paused for a moment, gathered his wits, and came back to consciousness.

  His eyes opened and he saw the boot of his assailant headed for his face.

  Alec leaped up, his body twisting and rising, one of his own legs kicking out to make hard contact with the throat of the man who had kicked him. The man started to scream, but his voice collapsed with the impact of Alec’s foot, as Alec felt a burning pain on his arm. Alec somersaulted as he landed and lifted the man off Hannah, throwing him across the room, he too yelling as his head hit the wall and he fell unconscious.

  The other thugs realized that something was going on. Alec launched himself at them even as they started to turn. He heard the door close behind him as he leaped across the room towards Leah. Alec hit her attacker in the chest and kicked him in the groin, then swung at the man hitting Ellen. All three punches he delivered landed hard in his face, knocking him down. Alec grabbed the arm of the last man, the one who held Ellen, twisted it savagely, dropped it, caught Ellen as she fell and laid her down gently, then moved against the newcomer at the door, starting to deliver a blow, but pulling it back just as he arrive face to face with the new arrival. Inga stood there.

  Chapter 40 – Consequences of Power

  Only seconds had passed since Alec had gone on the attack. “My God,” Inga said, her eyes wide and fearful. Alec felt the energy drain away from him as he lost his contact with the power he had just called up. He felt suddenly weak, and collapsed to a sitting position on the floor.

  “Alec!” Leah cried. She stood up, apparently not badly harmed by the mayhem in the shop, and hurried over to him as Inga bent down to him.

  “I’m okay, just exhausted. Listen, Ellen needs your help badly. Put her in a bath tub and fill it with the water from Natha’s barrel,” he directed. “I need to rest and gather my strength, and then I can take a look at her. Both of you will need to carry her and fill the tub quickly,” he said looking at the two women. “I’ll look at Hannah and see what she needs.”

  The two slowly stood, Leah by necessity, and Inga because she was too stunned by what was happening. “Alec, what was that?” she asked in a strained voice.

  “Take care of Ellen and I’ll tell you later. She needs help now,” he said, and then let his chin fall to his chest as another wave of exhaustion overcame him.

  Sometime later he raised his head. Ellen had been transported out of the room. The bodies of the five attackers were still sprawled where Alec had flung them, and Hannah still lay in her place, whimpering.

  Alec slowly raised his body and walked over to the child, stooping low. He rolled her over so that he could see her face, but when he tried to use his health vision he could not engage it. He tried again, but the vision was not there, even after a long effort that produced a severe headache.

  Faced with the stunning inability to use his talent, Alec decided for now to use traditional means of diagnosing injuries. He began touching her torso and limbs, asking if anything hurt. He looked for bruises, cuts, or scrapes, and found nothing wrong. He concluded that she had not been harmed, but had simply been held as the next victim and witness while Ellen was beaten thoroughly.

  “Let’s get yo
u up to bed and let you rest now, Hannah,” he said as he realized the sound he heard in the background was the sound of the women carrying buckets of water upstairs to the tub.

  “No, the bad men will get me,” the girl squealed with fear, grabbing him and holding on in fear.

  “I’ll get rid of these bad men as soon as you go to bed,” he promised.

  He sat with her, holding her tight for a few minutes, both to comfort her and to allow his own strength to recharge more, though incompletely. ‘That really took it out of me,’ he thought to himself. ‘Now I have some understanding of what Merle meant about feeling drained.’

  Using his own body to shield her from any views he didn’t want her to see any further, Alec led Hannah upstairs. “Here, why don’t you sleep in my bed tonight, and then Leah can sleep in here with you too?” he suggested in the most jovial tone he could muster, “like a slumber party.”

  “That would be fun,” she said, and snuggled into his bed.

  Inga passed him in the hallway on her way to bring another bucket of water up as Leah started down with an empty bucket. “Leah, Hannah will sleep in my bed tonight if you don’t mind?” he suggested.

  “Yes, Alec,” she said, but kept her eyes away from his face as though scared of him after what she had seen him do.

  Alec entered the room when Ellen lay in the tub, nearly submerged in the water. “That will be enough water,” he told Inga, looking down at the unconscious woman. The other two had undressed her, and Alec could see the welter of bruises and abrasions across her entire body. Although he could not revive his vision, he remembered the internal damage he had seen. He felt at a loss over what to do.

  “I’ve put her daughter to bed in my bed, which is in the same room with Leah’s bed, although we sleep separately,” he said for no apparent reason.

  “Inga,” he said and turned to face her. “Why are you here?” the question had forced itself to the front of his mind amidst everything else he had to think about.