Scales of Justice

by Brett Humphrey

  We said our goodbyes and ended the call.

  “C’mon, Sorceress Supreme, let’s see if I can help you with some of your calculations,” Brian said as he got up from the table. At Hillaes’ curious look he laughed, “You may not believe this, but I actually have PhDs in Marine Biology, Astrophysics and Spherical Trigonometry. I know I’ve got a pretty face, but I’ve also got some brains, too,” he drawled in his best Elvis impression.

  Hillaes just shook her head and got up from the table.

  “Jason and I are going to swim back to the site of the wreck and pick up a few more items from the ship; hopefully we’ll be able to use them for another location spell if we need to since the cannon disintegrated when you finished the last one,” I announced as Jason took my hand to lead me back out on deck.

  “Be good you two,” Brian chuckled, and I turned around to give him a death glare. Unfortunately, I wasn’t watching where I was going and rammed my right shoulder into the side of the doorway. “That’s going to leave a mark,” I grumped as I let go of Jason’s hand and rubbed the sore spot.

  Brian’s belly laugh was the last thing I heard as I walked out the door.

  August 4

  Salvage Australia Office Complex

  Melbourne, Australia

  We sat around a large conference table piled high with take-out containers and coffee cups from The Hardware Société, a popular Melbourne eatery within walking distance of the salvage business Rex Industries purchased. Even though Jason, Brian and I slept on the ocean floor off the coast of Australia, Hillaes, Yoli and Carlos were bleary-eyed and looked like they hadn’t slept much on the trip back. We’d been eating and discussing what we had learned since our meeting yesterday. Alister and Josef had joined us via teleconference again and there were two others on the screen as well, Aileene and Alister’s father, Phillip. As I stared at the former High King on the screen I thought about how much had changed in the last fifteen years.

  Alister’s parents, the former High King and Queen of Theria, had been betrayed by one of their closest friends, who had been a member of their Inner Circle, and it was presumed they were killed when Alister was only five. Their apparent deaths triggered shield spells around the Royal Palace, and the entire Kingdom of Theria, but some of us were able to escape through a dimensional gate into Claw before the shield was placed. Even as a child, Alister was powerful and able to open a dimensional gate from Claw to Earth, where we were exiled. Alister spent the next thirteen years on Earth, all memories of his time on Theria suppressed along with his ability to transform into a Royal Dragon.

  It was only when Alister began his thirteenth year on Earth that his powers returned. Alister, Bernie and Shelley, along with their mentor, Gustav, traveled from Earth to Claw where each of them discovered their shifter forms and found their true heritage. Alister successfully defeated the betrayer and healed his parents, who were near death in a poison-induced coma. Once his parents recovered their strength, Alister asked them to rule the Kingdom of Sirenea.

  Phillip had a somber look on his face as he spoke, “It seems that I must once again apologize that others are having to deal with issues I didn’t take care of when I was High King.”

  “Father,” Alister said kindly, “we’ve had this discussion about not being able to change the past—”

  “Son, as you already know, a good leader gives away the credit when his people succeed and shoulders the responsibility when things are difficult. I appreciate your faith in me, but as I’ve looked back on the records from when Akore escaped to Earth, I didn’t instruct Tionchar to investigate his apparent death. It was a mistake assuming we had seen the last of his evil.”

  “Father, what can you tell us that can help find Akore?” Aileene asked.

  “Not much more than what Hillaes has already shared with you, except there were reports of a plague killing hundreds of people in West India around the same time Akore would have come to Earth. This was at the height of the Age of Exploration on Earth and the Tionchar operatives were helping humans discover new routes for travel and trade.”

  “Father, while this is fascinating history, how does this help us?” Alister asked.

  “I’m getting into too many details, aren’t I?” Phillip asked. We all nodded so he continued. “The bottom line, our operatives were stretched too thin to look into those deaths right away. It was assumed they had been killed by a local plague and the report was buried; I don’t remember seeing anything about it at the time, but that was over five hundred years ago.”

  “That aligns with what Brian and I discovered. We traced the route of the direction spell and it passed through the West Coast of India in a place called Goa,” Hillaes added.

  “That makes sense with the history of Afonso de Albuquerque,” Josef said. “He was instrumental in conquering that part of India for the King of Portugal and was given land in that area as a reward for his service. It’s a wonder he’s stayed out of sight for this long but if his base is in Goa, he’s had centuries to gather the kind of magical power you faced on the Salvage Marie.”

  “Then let’s head to Goa and roast a black magic sorcerer,” Aileene grinned, her eyes dancing with dragon’s fire while a curl of smoke escaped her left nostril.

  “I’m sorry, but neither you nor King Alister can come on this mission,” Josef said firmly.

  “Excuse me,” Aileene growled, her voice growing deeper as her anger grew.

  Alister sighed and placed his arm around the shoulders of his frustrated fiancée. “Josef is correct, we have a wedding and coronation to plan and cannot leave Theria at this time.”

  “But it wouldn’t take us long. You just open a gate, we fly through, find Akore and kill him. It will be easy, and fun,” she said brightly.

  “You’re getting bored with all the wedding preparation, aren’t you?” Alister laughed.

  “Fritz and Frieda are killing me with all the protocols they want me to follow,” Aileene groaned. “C’mon, your father can marry us right now and we can go to Earth for our honeymoon and kill the bad guy,” Aileene wheedled.

  Before Alister could counter Aileene’s argument, another screen popped up on the monitor and a deep voice came from the screen, “peace daughter.”

  We all stilled as the frame was filled with the face and mane of an enormous lion. Light scattered from his mane as he moved his head and his fathomless golden eyes were filled with love, compassion and resolve as he stared through the screen. I felt like he was looking directly into my innermost self and that there wasn’t anyone else in the universe except for An’Ceann and me. His chuckle was a deep, rumbling purr which resonated through my entire being.

  “Dearest dragon, and daughter of my heart,” An’Ceann said to Aileene, “this battle isn’t yours to fight; it belongs to others.”

  “Yes, An’Ceann,” Aileene said meekly and looked down.

  He laughed suddenly and it was like sunshine breaking through the clouds after the rain, I felt lighter and by the expressions on the faces of everyone else, they felt the same. “Aileene, I have given you a fighting spirit and your desire to right wrongs is a credit to who you are. You just need to learn that others also have to fight evil where they find it; it’s not always for you to do.”

  “I understand,” Aileene said.

  “Besides,” An’Ceann continued, “you have your own battle coming your way soon.”

  Aileene’s eyes brightened suddenly as she sat up straighter, “I do?” she asked in a hopeful voice.

  “Yes,” An’Ceann nodded his head, golden light streaming from his mane, “you must decide between the five dresses Frieda is bringing to your chamber. One of those will be your wedding dress,” he said with a mischievous smile as his image faded from the screen.

  Aileene looked so forlorn at his announcement we did the only thing we could in this situation; we laughed.

  Be strong. This is your battle to fight but you aren’t alone, An’Ceann’s voice sounded in my head and I couldn�
�t help wondering what was waiting for us in Goa.

  August 5

  Goa, India

  Akore’s Compound

  The smoking ruins of what was once a magnificent house greeted us when we drove into the compound on the west coast of India. The grounds were beautifully maintained and the statuary, fountains and well-tended garden spoke of great wealth. The front of the house faced a pristine stretch of beach and there were three pleasure craft moored to the dock jetting into the water. Hillaes and her husband Wu were in their tiger forms, patrolling the dense jungle bordering the rear of the property to make sure Akore wasn’t anywhere nearby.

  Jason stopped the car and we stood, looking around at the devastation. The calming crash of waves on the shore and the tinkling of water cascading from a fountain did little to minimize the rage I felt as I saw the bodies littering the grounds of the wrecked house. My knees gave out and I wept when I recognized the woman and child I had rescued in Malacca lying with the others. While I grieved for all the tragedy on display, I felt a connection with the woman I had sacrificed so much to save.

  Jason gently lifted me from the ground and murmured words of comfort in my ear until I regained my composure. I wiped my eyes and counted the bodies; there were thirty-five victims on the ground, their faces frozen in the fear and pain they experienced before their deaths.

  I knelt and placed my hand over the unseeing eyes of the dead woman and gently closed her eyelids. “I don’t care what it takes, Akore will pay for his crimes,” I vowed to the poor people whose lives were destroyed to give power to a monster who should have died centuries before.

  Chapter 5

  Athas 14, 10,258

  Theria

  Royal Palace

  The ballroom was festooned with decorations befitting a double celebration of a wedding and coronation. The Royal Palace of Theria reminded me of Cinderella’s Castle at Disneyland, except it was full-sized and thousands of years old. Like most of the buildings in Theria, the palace was a blend of ancient architecture and cutting-edge technology. There were video screens covering two of the walls showing highlights of the ceremonies, also video messages from well-wishers who couldn’t attend.

  The royal standard, a crimson dragon in flight against a green background, was in full display on the walls and ceiling, but so was the standard from Eutheria. The golden drake on a red background complemented the royal standard perfectly and I thought it suited the Royal Couple. While it wasn’t usual for another standard to be displayed alongside the royal one, it was perfect for the High King and Queen. Aileene had fostered under Lord Moss in Eutheria and honored him and his house by displaying his standard. She even asked him to walk her down the aisle to give her away.

  The wedding ceremony was beautiful and Aileene was resplendent in the mermaid gown she had chosen to wear; personally, it’s my favorite style of dress. The gown was beaded with diamonds, sapphires that matched the color of her eyes and arcane crystals from Claw. Alister had enchanted the crystals to flash to the music being played so she was her own light show. Of course, a six-foot-three gorgeous woman with auburn hair pinned up in a chignon doesn’t need her own light show to stand out.

  As I caught my breath from dancing with Jason, I tried not to think about the death and destruction Akore had wrought on Earth. It took us three days to comb through the ruins of his compound to find any clue to where he had gone. Even though we couldn’t find him, we did find the thousands of corpses he had left behind. There were graves all over the property and we were able to estimate that he had been killing one person a month to keep himself alive—for hundreds of years.

  The local police force concluded that Akore was the leader of a cult that used humans as sacrifices, and he had escaped to places unknown. They were willing to close the case to put such ‘tragic business behind us,’ but Josef had other ideas. He used the power and influence of Rex Industries to bring in a team of investigators from the nation’s capital and took over the investigation from the regional police force. Even though Akore had been paying off the local government to turn a blind eye to his activities; the leaders of the Crime Investigation Department in New Delhi could not be swayed to look the other way. It helped that one of the lead investigators, Ishka Patel, was a member of Tionchar and well respected.

  Both Raksaka Gupta and Ishka Patel were naga shifters and well versed in investigative techniques. While they worked within the constraints of the law, they weren’t adverse to completing a thorough search of each local politician’s home looking for any way of tracking Akore’s movement. Since they both could shift into serpents, and this part of India had serpents aplenty, they could enter places almost unnoticed. Their investigation uncovered a trail of corruption that weaved its way through almost every office of the local government and had been going on for decades.

  Once the evidence was gathered and the officials confronted, there was a storm of laying blame and accusations as the criminal enterprise fell apart and arrests were made. New Delhi sent more investigators to the area and discovered there were hundreds of missing persons’ reports which had been ignored for years. After seven days of investigation, they uncovered a ring of slavers who would kidnap young people from the poorest regions of India and transfer them to Goa; either to work at the compound or get shipped to other countries around the world. The fates of those who left India were unknown, but those who found themselves at the compound met certain death.

  Akore held the top spot of Most Wanted Criminal for India as well as the Red List for INTERPOL. Hillaes was able to create an artist's rendering of Akore using magic and his likeness was sent to law enforcement agencies in India, Asia and other countries in this part of the world. Unfortunately, it would take time to find him.

  “You look deep in thought and not at all happy with what you’re thinking about,” Aileene said with a smile, startling me out of my reverie.

  “I’m so sorry,” I apologized and stood rapidly, hitting the table with my hip so hard it knocked over the glasses sitting on top while at the same time tipping back my chair so quickly it tripped a passing waiter who dropped the tray he’d been carrying, which fell with a clatter.

  “Oops,” I said and tried to rush over to help the waiter but only succeeded in tripping over my own feet and would have face-planted on the floor if Alister hadn’t caught me.

  Aileene helped the waiter stand while Shelley righted my chair with a grin, “It’s good to see you Cyndi, still as graceful as ever,” he teased.

  I just shook my head and laughed. It didn’t do any good to get embarrassed because anyone who really knew me, understood I was usually an accident waiting to happen.

  “My guess is you were thinking about Akore and the mess on Earth,” Alister probed. He looked amazing in his royal raiment of crimson, gold and green, although he was only wearing a circlet of gold instead of the Royal Crown his father had placed on his head during his coronation.

  “I just hate the fact that he’s disappeared, and we can’t seem to locate him by either magical or mundane means,” I responded.

  Alister placed his hand on my shoulder in comfort. “I know and Aileene and I both appreciate you were willing to pause your investigation long enough to come to join us on our special day.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I love you guys,” I gushed.

  “We love you, too,” Aileene said as she grabbed me in a hug. “You were there for us after Gustav was killed and we can never repay you for that.”

  “There’s nothing to repay,” I answered. “For one thing, you are my King and Queen, and I have sworn my allegiance to you both. But you are also my friends, and if I may be so bold, I love you like family,” I said as I hugged her back.

  Alister hugged me, too, then Shelley jumped in so he could get his turn.

  I laughed when I heard Jason come back to the table and say, “hey, Shelley you’ve got your own girl, leave mine alone.” We laughed as friends do when they are comfortable with eac
h other.

  “I know I’m opening a gate to send you back to Earth tomorrow but for tonight I really want you to try to enjoy yourself. Aileene and I need to make the rounds and visit each of the visiting rulers and dignitaries from the other kingdoms of Theria so someone should have a good time,” Alister grumped then smiled after Aileene poked him in the side.

  Jason put his arm around my waist as Shelley led the procession and they walked away, the crowd parting so they could pass. I waved at Bernie and Mkali as they followed behind Alister and Aileene, Mkali giving me a cheeky grin. She loved being Bernie’s squire and was usually so serious, it was nice to see her having fun. Both Aileene and Alister were so tall it was easy to watch them walk through the throng of people wishing them well. They were an amazing couple and would be just the High King and Queen we needed for Theria. I was honored they considered me a friend and part of their extended family.

  “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE started playing so Jason led me back onto the dance floor. Since Alister had spent thirteen years on Earth, there were a lot of songs from there, along with songs from Theria playing at the reception. I loved dancing and other than when I was in the ocean, it was the only other time I felt graceful on my feet. We danced for hours, only stopping when Alister and Aileene left the reception. They wouldn’t tell anyone where they were going on their honeymoon the day after tomorrow, but Bernie and Shelley were traveling with them as their Knights, along with another twenty guards to accompany them as bodyguards, so it may not be such a mystery.

  Once the happy couple left, the party wound down and we headed to the suite I had in the palace when I lived here fifteen years before. At that time, I spent most of my time at the nearby lake, and it was there I taught Alister, Bernie and Shelley to swim when they were little. Even though their memories were blocked for thirteen years, I always remembered them and was excited when I was finally reunited with them last year.