by J E Mueller
“This already sounds like a bad plan.” I groaned. Hopefully it was a bit better formed than that.
“We’re planning on this group continuing to not using their brains.” Lee explained honestly. “We’re going to set up what looks like a hunting venture, which is logical. Our village has to eat. The whole team will go, and they should bite within the first few days. I’d be surprised if it was night one, but they may not wait for our guard to be down.”
“Your visions can figure out the day?” I asked, hopeful.
“It’s too far in the future for me to be certain. It’ll work, and that’s all I’ve got.”
“That’s good enough for me then.” I still felt terrible and didn’t know what to think of this idea, but at least the plan had some visions to support it.
Lee sat down next to me on the bed. “That’s the general consensus. We’ve got some situational stuff planned, but what it really comes down to is where they go and what’s going on there.”
“And that’s far enough in the future that there are no known details.”
“Correct.” He brushed the hair away from my face. “I’ll see if I can convince Mother to let you have a normal dinner. You’ll be dissecting your soup after what I said.”
“Yes, please,” I agreed, laughing.
The next couple of days went by quickly. While I felt better the very next day, I could still feel a lingering strain when I practiced my magic. I worried how it would affect any upcoming events, but pushed it to the back of my mind. I kept my practicing to a minimum so I wouldn’t get bedridden again, but the strain remained the same. There was little I could do about it, and in truth, I didn’t need much to destroy an enemy. It was keeping people alive that I needed to be careful with.
It was early morning a week later and we were finally preparing to leave. Juni had said her piece the night before and Tella made sure I let her braid good luck ribbons in my hair. There was no way I could say no, even if I knew my magic would likely damage them. It was already a wonder it didn’t set my hair aflame, and I was thankful for that.
Once we were certain we were far enough away from the town and had drawn the attention of those we wanted, we set up camp. We laid out some game traps, collected wood, and prepared for what was to come.
Nothing happened the first night.
Or the second.
Not even the third.
The plan was looking like it would fail but Lee assured us it would work soon. He would only give Zarek the information as to when, and it’d be filtered down to us when we needed to know.
On the afternoon of the fourth day Lee glanced at Zarek. “Tonight should be an early dinner,” he said, giving a code phrase for when they might finally be near by and listening. “We’ve done well, and gotten enough game this trip. We should turn in early and head back at dawn.”
From then on, no mention of our plan or magic was discussed. Everyone took turns napping to get some extra rest, and kept an eye on Zarek. As soon as he was taken we’d need to react. However, we also made it as easy as possible for them to take the bait and grab Zarek. He stayed closest to the nearby woods after dinner, sharpening his sword.
As the sky turned from lovely hues of yellows and reds to slowly deepening blues, they struck.
Letting out a battle cry they leaped to grab Zarek, while more ran in for the fight. Our troops went for their swords and were ready to push back the attackers. Lee joined them while I made a shield for myself. We wanted them to take Zarek, yes, but we didn’t want them to kill us. So we pushed back mildly at first, and then Lee gave the signal that they were far enough for us to follow and we really began to fight.
Those who were not aiming to kill fell back or fled. The rest met their fate with steel or flames based on their proximity. With the initial threat dealt with, we were ready to be on the move.
The real mission began as we went to track Zarek.
Clover lead the charge for a moment before blending into the night with her invisibility. Kilee then took point with her infrared vision and we silently spread out behind her. It was a slow trek, but we made it to their encampment with few issues. Falling back a little, we discussed the situation and sought Lee’s visions for guidance.
“Tomorrow night they’ll make it to where they’re really heading. That’s where we need to go.” He sighed, frustrated that there was a lot more to come.
“But he’ll be fine?” Jason asked the question on all of our minds.
“Yeah.” Lee nodded. “They’re not going to kill him.”
“Do your visions come with a map by chance?” Clover hoped.
“If only.” He rolled his eyes. “We wouldn’t have needed this plan, then. Anyway, I can get us a little up their trail so they’ll pass us and we can fall back and follow them tomorrow morning.”
“They’re going to march all day?” Conner asked, surprised.
“They’ll send the fastest riders of their lot to alert the rest of their team, but Zarek and the rest won’t make it there until just before dusk. They don’t have enough horses,” Lee confirmed.
We did as we had planned and just before dawn we were on the move again. It was agonizing being as quiet as possible and avoiding their scouts all day. We feasted on dried foods as we crept just far enough behind their party to not be noticed. By the time we reached the larger encampment they were heading for, we knew we’d need to rest before acting.
“How long do we have?” I asked Lee. I happily slumped to the ground, tired of all the sneaking. Normal travel was never this draining.
He concentrated for a moment, vision alight with magic. “An hour. They’ll meet, Zarek will be himself and of course not join them, and then the path goes many different ways.”
“What ways?” Mara asked.
Lee took a deep breath, not pleased to have to deliver all the news. “If we wait longer, the one Zarek is brought to see will either kill him in one of three ways or leave him be until the morning. It depends on when we move in – before or at the hour we strike changes things as well. There is too much to see and understand at once.”
“What’s the best bet, then?” Jason asked calmly, taking the lead.
“In a half hour we should split up. Key’s half will be a great distraction and cause full force destruction. Mine will sneak in and out with Zarek in tow,” Lee replied.
I was surprised we’d be splitting up. “Why the split?”
Lee looked me in the eyes. “You’ve got this. You can protect people and cause the most damage all at once. The smaller group with me needs to be unseen and get Zarek free. I’m just the guy with the visions.”
“What about their leader?” Kilee asked. It was the biggest reason we came.
“Three final paths.” Lee held up the same amount of fingers to emphasize his point, “He may take the distraction bait and goes into the fray, leaving none alive.” We all nodded and he continued. “Two, he poisons Zarek. The cure will be in the room, the leader's pocket, and can be made by just about anyone back home. It’s slow to kill and he’ll live for another few days, but it causes great pain and slowly causes violent episodes. Finally, he could hide and waits for those of us rescuing Zarek.”
“Are there ever set points with these damnable visions?” Clover asked, frustrated.
“Yes,” Lee replied with no emotion. “And that’s never a fun moment to reach. It’s terrible when you see all possible paths will merge into one and it doesn’t matter which you choose since it will end the same. Either way the five year old dies. Either way you get there too late. Your best friend drowns. Your neighbor dies in a fire and no one knows how it started. The day your baby sister dies. Some things cannot be changed. Fixed points are controlled by the gods and the gods alone, and we may never understand their reasoning. I’d never ask for one again.”
“I’m sorry,” Clover said, frustration gone. “I didn’t know – or understand. Thank you for explaining.” She bowed her head and there was a moment of silence.
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Lee nodded, those memories resurfacing. “I need a moment. Let’s get a plan together.”
I looked up at him, but he shook his head. He needed some time alone. It had never occurred to me that someone as happy and fun loving as Lee could hide so many deeply upsetting moments. Every rose had its thorns.
Jason took over the conversation instead. “All right time to choose your own adventure. I vote that Kaden should be on Zarek’s rescue team. Super speed will give you an advantage in case you’re ambushed. Clover as well. You can be invisible the whole time, correct?”
“Yes. Without negative effects at that,” she confirmed.
“Perfect.” Jason nodded. “And Kilee, you can see those who are hiding. Use it. I’ll be on team distraction. My skill is best used there. Mara, ready to move some swords and arrows?”
“It’s what I’ve been waiting for all day,” she agreed, pumping herself up.
“Conner, mess with their heads. Pop up and hit them where it hurts.” Jason pointed to him.
“Got it.” He nodded fiercely.
Jason looked at me. “Ready to knock some skulls around?”
“No,” I replied honestly, “But if it saves my brother I’ll do it.”
“That a girl. No need to do this without a heart. Sadly, in times like this, saving lives often takes lives. They’d kill innocents just for being born different. We can’t let them do that.” Jason reminded us. “Let’s put a stop to them.”
Nodding, I went to find Lee. He wasn’t too far away, just leaning against a tree barely out of hearing range.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked him, unsure what more to say.
He shrugged. “Yes. It’s just never a fun moment having all that rush back to you.”
“I understand.” I had let past memories get the best of me many times. It was likely to happen again. There was no way I could blame him, and he knew it.
“Do you want to talk about any of it?” I asked. Could I even say anything helpful? Usually it was me who was hiding memories. It was a strange turnaround I felt oddly unprepared to handle.
“Not today.” He smiled sadly. “But if we make it back all right I’ll tell you everything.”
If we made it back. I stared him for a moment, surprised by his words. With Lee’s usual ‘look to the bright side’ attitude I knew this was serious, and it scared me.
“What did you see?” I hardly whispered it.
“A lot.” He didn’t lie. “There’s a high chance that some of us won’t make it. No one is exempt. But there are many paths where we succeed. We can’t let the fear of the bad overturn the chance the good will work out. If we fail, they’ll destroy so many more villages, kill so many more people… It will be a long time before they are stopped if we fail tonight.”
“Then let’s get this taken care of.” I forced myself to turn my head back, but hesitated and glanced back at him. “Make it back, okay? You promised me a dance.”
Lee smiled as best he could. “Only if you’ll accept.”
“It’s a deal,” I agreed, heart pounding at the thought. Damn it butterflies, it wasn’t the time or place.
“Then let's get ready.” He gave a more convincing smile this time.
Heading back, it looked like everyone was ready to go.
“Think we’re fine leaving the extra gear here?” Mara asked kicking her pack for emphasis.
Kilee scoffed. “Yeah, leave the junk here. If we win we’ll get it. If we’re dead, we’ll haunt any jerk that takes it.”
Jason looked at everyone in turn. “Remember, this is do or die.” His voice was low and grim. “We only need one person left alive to tell the outliers their plan is dust. Don’t spare anyone until the last person is left standing.”
Lee shook his head. “That won’t matter. This is their main camp. Others will come back here if we need someone at the end.”
“Fantastic,” Jason cheered. “Let’s get in there. Go silent into the night.” The sneaky group started off ahead of the rest of us.
I said a silent prayer to every deity I knew for them. My heart wasn’t ready to find any of them dead.
Jason gathered the attention of the remaining group. “The rest of us, let’s remain silent until the front door and then let’s crash and burn. I’m thinking we should walk up to the entrance and then flame shield our way into a fight once they’re over the shock of how mad we are.”
“Perfect,” I agreed. “Stay close to me so that I can shield you. I can drop it as a whole or try and make gaps. Either way, if they touch it from the outside it’s going to kill them.”
“Curses don’t last forever.” Jason offered a smile. “You’ve got a nice gift. Thank you for letting us use it tonight.”
“My pleasure.” Tonight, it wasn’t a curse. Instead it would be used as a gift, and that was a great feeling.
We crept carefully past a few guards on patrol until we were just before the main entrance to their encampment. We walked casually out of the woods. The main guards didn’t know how to react and glanced at each other for a moment before coming to the conclusion we weren’t on their side and they aimed their swords at us. Gathering close together, I set up the flame shield and we were ready for action.
The front guards tried to attack us despite the fire shield, getting near enough for the flames to latch onto them. Their screams created the entrance we needed. Everyone who didn’t take notice of the fire at first took heed of the screams as we entered.
“Let me out,” Jason commanded.
Without question I opened a gap in my shield for him. In one swift movement he jumped out into the open and stabbed an enemy who had gotten close to him. Shoving that one away, he prepared to attack another.
Someone tried attacking from the other side as I was momentarily distracted. Clearly, they didn’t notice what happened to the guards in front. Flames latched onto them and the person was gone, their screams melting into the air.
“Ready for some fighting?” I asked the others. My mood seemed set. My heart raced, but I was ready for a fight instead of flight.
“Do it,” Conner agreed. I dropped the shield for them.
I moved quickly out of range so that my magic would not hit my allies before reforming my shield. I let it reform just as I was running by as many of my adversaries as possible. The first few didn’t realize what I was doing. The rest dodged as quickly as possible or ran. Someone threw a sword and it momentarily pierced the shield before clattering to the ground in front of it.
Surprised by what happened I turned towards the person who had attacked me. Knowing they’d soon run, I pushed the flames forward to strike, concentrating on keeping them straight forward and not veering off towards Mara who was fighting nearby.
Some started fleeing. Others were grouping together.
“Key!” Jason called, running towards me.
I dropped the shield just in time and repositioned it around us just as arrows struck it and fell.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” He fist bumped the air.
Inspired, I willed some of my flames to turn into magic arrows and used them to strike down the archer. The amount of control it took was draining, but it was paying off.
As the coast became clear, I made a gap in my shield, letting Jason continued on. I was impressed at how quickly and how well that worked. Seeing Jason’s idea, Mara and Conner both jumped towards me as they called on me for help. Thankfully, I was ready and was able to shield them. Together we made it so that there was no one left within sight.
“Let’s find the others.” Jason pointed towards the other end of the long camp.
While the action was clearly where we were, there was a lot more of the camp to look through. With enough things already on fire to cause a distraction, we switched tactics and carefully started to sneak our way through the quieter areas.
As we worked our way through, we ran into less and less people. By the time we reached the back half of the camp we found what
was obviously the main commander's tent. It was wide,long, and the only one that looked different from the others. Conner shrunk in size to check and see if it was clear and quickly came back out in his normal form to wave us in.
The inside had privacy screens, trunks and chests, a large table with a map, and chairs. One of the far chairs had some rope laying around it and it looked like there had been a skirmish of some sort.
“Think they’re left already?” Jason asked.
Something sunk in my gut. “No.”
“I get that feeling too,” Mara agreed, slowly looking around. “Something feels off.”
“The air is thick with magic,” I said slowly. “I don’t recognize the source.” I had limited experience in that field, but I knew the magic my team wielded and it was not from any of them.
“Me neither,” Jason agreed, speaking softly.
Conner nodded, eyeing the empty room suspiciously. “This is bad.”
We slowly turned to make a circle, facing away from each other.
“Thoughts?” I asked aloud. I wasn’t trained for this. Hopefully someone here was.
“If it’s not one of us, can it be someone from the village?” Conner asked hopefully.
“They’d more likely join us, and not be hiding in a screen of magic.” I shook my head as gears turned in my mind. “It’d be really messed up if someone with magic was controlling non-magic people to kill those with magic.”
“Why the fuck would someone do that?” Jason asked, baffled.
It actually did make sense to me, and I hated the conclusion I was drawing.
“Want to rule the world? It’s hard if people with power like yours can bring you down,” I replied. “Take them down and you’ve got yourself a nice throne.”
“Magic users can be born to non-magic parents. It wouldn’t last forever,” Mara pointed out the flaw in my made up plan.
“Enough hatred would take care of the problem itself. Make it illegal and ta-da… We’ve had many a mad king in our history. History recalls their names and deeds. Why wouldn’t another be possible?” I explained, undeterred.