“Nothing’s happening!” Zella called over to Allister. “Devan’s just being an old woman.” She pushed herself off of Devan and took a few unsteady steps forward…before stumbling and falling to her hands and knees.
Devan and Allister were both kneeling by her side in a flash. “Z!” Allister yelled. “Are you okay?”
Zella waved her hand in front of her face, enjoying the odd trails it left in her vision.
“Devan?” Lynna was standing by the smaller airship, her hands still full of the tarp.
“Stay right there, Lynna honey,” Devan called, pointing over at her.
“This isn’t good,” Allister said, looking nervously up to the skies. “We can’t have but a minute or two.”
Devan dug his fingers up into his hair and closed his eyes. “I know. I know.” He took a knee next to Zella. “Z? Honey? Can we talk about what needs to happen next?”
“Yeah,” she said. To Zella, her voice sounded like her head had been wrapped in cotton. “First, I wrap you…” She pointed at Devan. “…in an Inflection of Nalan. Then I connect you…” She pointed at Allister. “…to Devan so Devan can fly the big ship out of town.” She let her two friends lift her up to her feet.
“And on a scale of one to ten, how hard is that going to be for you? Maintaining a connection like that over dozens of miles?”
“Oh!” Zella blew out a blast of air dismissively. “Like…a one? Is one the lowest thing I can pick?” She was barely able to stay on her feet, even with the both of them holding onto her.
“Z,” Devan said, pulling her face in close to his. “If you can’t do this, you need to tell me now.”
Zella’s face twisted up like she was about to crack. “I can’t screw this one up, Devan. Not this time. I just can’t.”
Devan bit the knuckle on his thumb and turned away. “Okay,” he said, his mind elsewhere. “Then...then we adapt. New…” He paused, his eyes flashing back and forth as his mind raced, then finished his thought: “...new plan.”
He fell silent what felt like a long, long time. His eyes were closed. His lips were moving as he spoke silently to himself. Allister watched the night sky.
“We could…” Devan began. Then he stopped and shook his head.
“D?” Allister asked.
Zella shushed him.
“No. No. We could…” He stopped again, grimacing like he was in pain.
“Talk it out,” Zella said.
“Okay. Okay,” he sputtered, clearing his bangs from his face. “What do we have. We have two airships, one disguised as a security vehicle, one with the roof cut off and a funnel in the top. We have a mentalist with reduced capacity due to injury. We have a mage and a walking stick and an orphan and a…a…” He snapped his fingers. “Okay. I know what we’re going to do.”
He pointed at Zella. “Z. If you close down the link, and you just focused on the connection between me and Allister. And we kept the distance short. Like under a mile, maybe. Could you do that?”
Zella nodded. “Yeah. I think so. But what’s a mile going to get us?”
“Alli.” Devan grabbed Allister by the arm, bringing his attention back down to earth. “If you were to fly the big ship instead of me, do you think you could keep distracted for a few minutes, just flying in a wide arc close to The Palace? Like, say, under a mile, maybe? Just long enough for us to do what we have to do?”
Allister nodded frantically. “I think...yeah, I think so.”
“Then that’s the plan,” Devan said, talking to Zella as fast as his mouth would let him. “You put the Nalan inflection on Alli, and we let them chase him instead of me. He stays close enough that you can keep me connected to him so I can fly the small ship, then once we’re done, he takes off and loses them out in the woods beyond town.” Devan turned and looked at Allister. “I just need you to do one thing.”
Allister nodded. “Sure, sure. What?”
“I need you to tell me no.”
“...What?”
Zella looked up. Tolem’s ship was under The Palace’s shadow and ascending toward the hull’s nadir. “Devan, what...”
Devan grabbed Allister by the shoulders. “My uncle could kill you. He could kill Nalan, or someone he thought was Nalan. The only person who might make him think twice is me. If it was me under that inflection, I could always just drop it and save myself. But you…”
“D,” Allister said. His voice was strangely calm. “Is this the only way?”
“Give me another minute to come up with something, I just need a few more —”
“D.” Allister grabbed Devan’s shoulders. “Is this the only way?”
Devan groped for something to say, anything to say, that wasn’t “Yes.”
Allister smirked at Devan. “Then we trust in the plan.”
Devan’s eyes locked onto Allister’s. “No,” he said. “No! You’ll—”
“Alli’s right,” Zella cut Devan off. “You’re both right. I’ll do two Inflections on Allister: Nalan on top, you underneath. It’s better than nothing, and it’ll still be easier than trying to keep you two connected over that kind of distance.”
Devan just stared at Allister, shaking his head.
Far above them, the underside of The Palace exploded. Chunks of rubble and bits of gravel began to rain down all around them.
Devan pulled Allister close, and just for a moment, he and Zella both hugged him tightly. “You be careful, you skinny shit,” Devan said. “And if Tolem tries anything, you toast his ass, okay?”
Allister’s body stiffened in their embrace. “Toast him,” he said. “So...kill him.”
Devan grabbed Allister by the shoulders and held him at arm’s length. “Alli. If he tries something, you defend yourself.”
Allister just nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Sure.”
Zella could see in Allister’s eyes that he was replaying something in his mind. Something he never wanted to see happen again. “Alli?”
“Okay, okay, get off me,” Allister said, pushing them away. He started making for the big ship. Halfway there, his face shifted. The worry that had just been there was gone, or at least hidden under a smile. “So, hey…if something goes wrong,” he called to them from across the roof, “tell Breigh to…I don’t know…die with honor or something.”
“Yeah.” Zella grinned and pretended she wasn’t scared to death for him either. “She’s not really a ‘my love for you will outlast time and the grave’ kinda girl.”
Allister nodded. He paused, staring across the roof at the two of them. Finally, he closed the door to the big airship.
A moment later, he was in the air. Moments after that, the small explosive charge he’d planted on the underside of Tolem’s ship detonated. And moments after that, he was gone, soaring low over the city streets of Kauleth until he was out of sight.
Devan
“But what of the gold?” Headmaster Parnick asked.
Devan swallowed. “Can I get some water? I’ve been talking for a long time.”
The old man grumbled as he rose from his chair and walked to his cabinet to fetch the boy a glass. He filled it and set it down roughly in front of Devan. He was acting gruff, but Devan could tell that Parnick was on the edge of his seat.
Devan took a sip, then resumed. “The rest of the job went perfectly. Zella was amazing. Which is no surprise, because Zella is amazing. Allister…” Devan’s face darkened just saying his name. “Allister did just what he said he’d do. He kept close enough that Zella could connect my mind to his, giving me just enough insight into how he does what he does so I could fly the smaller airship.”
“But fly it where?” Parnick asked, trying to hide his curiosity and failing. “And why?”
In spite of everything, Devan couldn’t help but smile. Just a little.
“There are two things I may have neglected to tell you. The first has to do with the teleportation tabernacles on The Palace. They come in two sizes. There are the small ones in the cashiers’ cages
. And then there are larger ones used to pass large quantities of coins quickly. There are a few of those in the airship bay, where sultans and merchants can offload huge sums of money quickly from their private ships. Since there are fewer ships in the skies these days, those aren’t used as much anymore, so when my friend Nalan appropriated one for research purposes during our time staying on The Palace, no one seemed to think too much of it. After all, what’s the worst that could come from someone having the ability to add more gold into your treasure room?”
Parnick rested his face on his hand. “I expect I’m about to find out.”
Devan brushed his bangs back from his face. “So, we dismantled the roof of the larger airship and converted the metal plating into a funnel. And at the mouth of the funnel?”
“The tabernacle.” Parnick’s face brightened behind a scowl he wore only for show. “So you mean to tell me you stole the gold from Instructor Tolem…by returning it to The Palace’s vault?”
Devan shrugged. “It was the one thing I couldn’t work into the plan the first time we robbed the place.”
“So…the iron coins that Tolem ended up with…”
“…were already on Allister’s ship when he flew up to engage with Tolem.” Devan nodded. “That would be the second thing I neglected to tell you.”
The old teacher held up a hand. The next thing Devan knew, Parnick was seated in a slightly different position, he seemed out of breath, and his eyes were watering—possibly from laughter. Devan cocked an eyebrow and looked around. “Did you just…cast a freeze spell on me?”
“What? Of course not. What nonsense.” Parnick wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “Continue.”
Devan eyed the old man suspiciously, but settled back in his chair nonetheless. “We still had the icons we pried out of the lock room. So Zella and I flew the smaller ship up to the hole in the hull, looking like nothing more than one of The Palace’s security skiffs. I secured the icons on three sides of the hole, opened the lock, and presto…the treasure room empties into the hold of our new ship.”
“But surely someone must have seen you leaving the scene?”
“A lot of airships were leaving the scene,” Devan said. “We were just one of a dozen or more Palace security skiffs flying off in all directions looking for what had caused all those explosions. We had a mound of something in the back covered by a tarp, but I guess that just wasn’t very noteworthy compared to bombs going off on a flying casino.”
The headmaster clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Unbelievable.” He paused and looked over Devan’s way. “You’ve been amazingly forthcoming, Devan.”
Devan grimaced. “We all talked about it as we made our way back, and we decided that…considering what happened…” Devan chose his next words carefully. “Stealing is one thing. Lying to your friend’s mother about…something like this…”
Parnick nodded.
Devan fingered the rim of his water glass. “So,” he said. “That’s our story. I guess the question is…what next?”
Parnick leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers on his chest. “That. Is a very good question, Devan.”
---
When Devan found Nalan, he was standing in the hallway outside the nurse’s office, head resting against the wall.
Devan made his way over and leaned against the wall beside him. “Hey,” he said.
Nalan didn’t move. “How did it go?” he asked.
Devan bobbled his head. “Good. Considering.”
Nalan grunted. “They don’t want to come down too hard on us yet. Not with…Allister...” He trailed off, but his meaning was plain.
“Probably.” Devan pushed Nalan on the shoulder.
Nalan stood upright. “You ready?”
In front of them, the door to the nurse’s office loomed menacingly. And just on the other side…
Devan shook his head, staring off at nothing.
Nalan scratched his head. “Listen. A while back, after the job. When you were having your…problems…I heard you and Zella talking in the back room of that old shack. And I heard Zella say ‘Nalan always takes the easiest way out.’ Or something like that.”
Devan blanched. “Yeah, um…listen, I…”
Nalan held up a hand to stop him. “You know, that’s not actually true. It seems like it because I’m not always coming up with big, crazy ideas. But that’s not my job. That’s your job. I just make things work, and that usually means the simplest approach. The practical answers. Because somebody has to balance out your...your insanity.”
“Yeah,” Devan said. “And this time, Alli paid the price for my insanity.”
“That’s not what I…” Nalan shook his head and grimaced, frustrated. The words weren’t coming out right for him. “...When you checked out for a while there, after our first attempt, I stepped in to keep the five of us going. Somebody had to, so I made it work.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t have. You ever think of that?”
“No. I never considered that for a minute.” Nalan put a hand on Devan’s shoulder. “The five of us. Together. We were your biggest, craziest idea, and it was worth keeping the idea going. I knew that. Zella knew that. Allister knew that. He believed in that idea more than any of us.”
“Yeah, and I failed him. And I have to live with that.”
Nalan grimaced. “I guess you do. But that’s the difference between life and a heist novel, isn’t it? Not every crazy scheme has a clean getaway, no matter how smart you are.”
Devan looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He looked over to the nurse’s office door and sighed.
“All right,” he said at last. “Let’s do it.”
Allister
“Where are my flowers?” Allister demanded. Lying in his recovery bed, he was flanked by Breigh on one side and Zella on the other. “These two brought flowers. And I wasn’t even stabbed by their uncles!”
Devan smiled thinly as he approached. “Sorry. Must’ve slipped my mind.” He gripped Allister’s hand. “And I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here.”
“Nalan tells me you’ve been beating yourself up over what happened,” Allister said, gripping Devan’s hand back. “I just wanted you to know…that I approve.”
Devan’s face fell. “…What?”
“I think you should keep on feeling guilty about what happened, and…” His face brightened suddenly, as though he’d been struck by inspiration. “…and I think you should start working on regaining my favor. I’ll tell you what. I’ll write up a list of ten labors you’ll need to perform to win back my trust and friendship, and—”
Zella reached over and poked Allister in chest. Allister screeched in protest.
“Don’t be a dick,” Zella cautioned him.
“How dare you treat me this way.” Allister scowled up at Zella. “I, who have claimed victory over the grave.” He turned back over to Devan. “And you. You should’ve seen the look on you just now. Even Nalan wouldn’t have fallen for that.”
“You know,” Nalan said. “I could use a whole lot less of being used as a punch line.”
Allister smiled over at him. “Sorry, Nalan. Come here.” He started unbuttoning his shirt. “Let me make it up to you.”
Nalan looked over at Breigh uncertainly. “Uhh…”
Allister grabbed Nalan by the hem of his shirt and pulled him over. “Seriously. You’ve got to see this.”
“Ugh,” Breigh grunted. “He’s so proud of that tiny thing.”
Zella smirked over at Devan. “Good thing Lynna’s not here for this part.”
Allister parted his shirt. His chest was almost entirely consumed by a massive black blot, and to the left of center was a small, two-inch long gash held together with sutures. The moment Tolem’s blade went in, Allister cast a freeze spell on himself—the same kind he’d used to freeze the guards in the lock room that night at The Palace. After the others found him, it was a race to get him back to The Collegium, an
d even then it took every surgeon, healer, and alchemist in The Tower to repair the damage that’d been done.
Nalan gritted his teeth as he inspected Allister’s chest. “Neat?” he asked uncertainly.
Breigh harrumphed. “It’s all bruising. When it heals, it’ll be a dimple.”
Devan smirked up at Breigh. “Sounds like someone’s jealous.”
“Why do people keep saying that?” she demanded. “His wounds are just not that impressive!”
“Are you kidding me?” Allister exclaimed, beaming down at his war trophy. “I have a scar on my heart. My actual physical heart muscle. How amazing is that?”
“My broken rib bones were sticking out of my side!” Breigh shouted down at him. “You want to see scars?” She reached down and started pulling off her shirt.
Devan reached over and stopped her. “The patient can only handle so much excitement,” he said in his best soothing voice.
“Speaking of excitement,” Zella said to Allister, “did you hear what happened to the gold?”
“‘Happened’. Past tense.” Allister winced. “Do I want to know?”
Zella stroked Allister’s hair. “No…probably not…” She looked over at Devan.
Devan eased himself down into a chair and set his cane off to the side. “We gave it back,” he said. “Or, more specifically, we gave it to Headmaster Parnick and he gave it back.”
Allister covered his face with a pillow.
“Parnick set a meeting place. The Palace sent Faerathore and a whole battalion of guards; Parnick took most of the teaching staff and all of the loot. Once Faerathore got his hands on the gold, he started making...other demands.”
Allister peeked out from under his pillow. “Like?”
“He wanted us too.” Devan looked over at Zella. “He actually mentioned Zella by name.”
Allister’s eyes went wide. “Oh shit.”
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