by John Mangold
Maluem thought about this. It was an intriguing concept, but it went against everything written in the “Asklepios’ Panacea.” Still, it would deliver the desired effect without the need for her to touch another’s flesh. This would also give Maluem an excuse to attempt a technique she had long wished to practice: Scorching a Pallet. Even if the experiment failed, she and her students might still learn something from the exercise.
With a nod to her Acolytes, Maluem brought her left hand up, tracing the outline of the force bubble runes in the air, concentrating at the same time on the pallet spell. It was far more taxing than she had imagined as she was essentially casting two complex spells at once. The strain was enough that it forced Maluem to squeeze her eyes shut, internally focusing on her fingers' subtle movements. Strange, it always seemed so easy when she watched Sator Valde create his pallet in the blink of an eye.
With each move of her digits, she could feel her energy began to wane, causing her to fear she might not be able to finish the incantation. But, as Maluem pressed on, she could feel power flow into her from the staff on her back, boosting the stores she held within. When she opened her eyes once more, she found that her exertions had resulted in a light frost forming on the floor at her feet. Still, the energy investment had produced results, with a glowing green rune hovering in the air at her fingertip. From the expressions on the Entwhistles’ faces, they were more than impressed.
Repeating the exercise with her right finger, Maluem traced the rune for the healing spell she desired. This one was more challenging as she was less familiar with it. Her movements were much slower, and the drain was much more pronounced. Yet when she opened her eyes again, a second rune now burned in the air by her right fingertip, mirroring the rune floating to her left. Glancing down, she could see that the ring of frost on the flooring had grown exponentially with her latest efforts.
This brought her to the step which she had never witnessed either of her Mentors perform. Keeping both spells at the forefront of her mind, Maluem brought her two fingers together so that the two runes, each following its respective fingertip, blended into one another. As they touched, she spoke the final incantation for each, interlacing their pronunciations. Maluem had no idea what to expect if the two spells would cast simultaneously as she hoped, fail to release at all, or explode in a catastrophic reaction. To her immense relief, it was not to be the latter. Yet what did happen was far beyond her expectations. The results of her combination proved to be both exhilarating and horrible in their consequences.
The spells activated as one, coursing across the room in a hemisphere of energy like a rushing wind. As it struck Torrez and Shelia in turn, their bodies each went rigid, letting out audible gasps of shock as they staggered backward. For a moment, Maluem feared they would both tumble to the floor unconscious. But both regained their balance, laughing nervously as they did so.
When the spells had run their course and the shock wore off, Torrez examined his arm in disbelief. The wound was indeed healed, as though it had never existed. He glanced over to Shelia, who looked equally amazed at what had transpired, yet both their expressions changed from exhilaration to ones of horror as they beheld the physical state Maluem had been left in.
Both stepped forward to try to assist their master, but before they could move in earnest, Maluem’s right hand shot up to push them back. They could do little as they watched her gasp at the air while using a chair to force herself upright. Maluem’s complexion had turned a shade of green as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. For an agonizing moment, it seemed inevitable she would collapse under the effects of her exertions. Yet with every breath, the color in her complexion began to return, and her breathing began to become more regular.
“Maluem, are you alright?” Shelia asked.
“Did the spells backfire somehow?” Torrez added.
For a moment, Maluem could do nothing but shake her head. She tried to open her mouth several times to answer, but her stomach launched a nearly successful rebellion at every attempt, forcing her to clamp her teeth tight once more. At last, with an agonizingly slow pace, Maluem managed to get out a reply while simultaneously fighting to restrain the effects of her ongoing intestinal warfare.
“The spells worked fine,” Maluem managed. “They blended with each other better than I could have possibly imagined. However, when the combined spells struck the pair of you, it was as if your souls touched me simultaneously. The backlash was only half as fierce as what I experienced while physically grasping Torrez, but this time there were two of you, assaulting my psyche at once. I can work with this, but it will take me some time to recover. I just need a moment.”
“Sorry, Maluem, but that resource has run out,” Volo replied, now suddenly at Maluem’s side. “Thayne is on his way back. I think we are getting ready to move.”
31.
Infiltration
“Thayne is on his way here?” Maluem managed, her shock quickly overcoming her nausea. “But we still have one day to go!”
“I realize that, Maluem,” Volo replied. “But when I finally tracked Thayne down, he was heading this way, looking very agitated. I think our plans have changed.”
“That would be Thayne, alright,” Shelia replied. “Always changing paths mid-flight.”
“If he has altered anything, I am sure there is a good reason, Shelia,” Torrez protested. “Besides, what is important is if he had the papers we need.”
“He had a large bundle with him, so he might have stowed them inside-” Volo began.
“Now just wait one moment,” Maluem cut in. “Volo, what do you mean that you tracked him down? Were you not following him this whole time? Is that not what I commanded?”
“Well, I caught up to him quickly enough when I left here,” Volo replied. “However, about a block or two from here, Thayne got into some sort of carriage for hire-”
“A Taxi?” Shelia offered.
“Yes, I think that is what I heard someone call it,” Volo replied. “Those things move faster than any horse I have ever seen! I don’t think the B.B. had so much pep! If it wasn’t for the press of humanity in the streets, I never could have run fast enough to keep up-”
“Why didn’t you just fly or something?” Torrez asked.
“What are you talking about? Do I look like a bird to you?” Volo asked in reply.
“You’re an apparition, aren’t you?” Torrez challenged. “You can be whatever you want to be.”
“No, I can’t…I…uh…hmm…I never thought of it like that. I suppose it might be possible…” Volo said, drifting off into thought.
“Supposition is all well and good, but this is neither the time nor the place for it,” Maluem interrupted. “We need to stay on track if we are to know what is in store for us upon our host’s arrival. Very well, so you kept up with this ‘Taxi,’ where did it lead you?”
“Oh, well, as I said, it was a struggle, but I managed to keep up with it for some time. But Thayne did the oddest thing. He had it drop him off at a corner where he immediately jumped into a second ‘Taxi’ and sped off in a new direction. He must have done this three or four times, at the very least.”
“He feared he was being followed,” Maluem concluded. “But by who? Could he have sensed Volo’s presence?”
“I doubt it,” Shelia replied. “In ethereal form, Volo is completely invisible. Thayne would have needed some form of spiritual scanner to know he was being tailed, and that man has no mystical leanings I am aware of.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Torrez offered. “Thayne did show an interest in the arts when we were teenagers. I even taught him a few tricks my Auspex had shown me, and he picked them up quickly enough.
“In the end, it got us both in hot water. Thayne’s parents forbade him to fool with such ‘twisted hobbies’ as they called it. They wanted him to grow up to be an ‘honest man.’ Doctor, mechanic, thief, anything was better than having their son fiddling with ‘Bocor mind tricks.’ That is wh
y his father set him up with a job at the Coliseum selling tickets.”
“Real geniuses his parents were,” Shelia snorted. “Keep a child pure by throwing him into a viper’s pit.”
“At any rate, I still can’t believe Thayne would know about Volo,” Torrez said. “Maybe he was just trying to avoid anyone tracking Maluem.”
“Coming from his own hideout?” Maluem replied. “If anyone hunting me had gotten this close, they would not have bothered chasing him. They would simply strike the dwelling once he had gotten clear. No, I would wager there was something else driving such precautions. Still, it would be a great help if we knew to where he had been rushing off.”
“Well, that was what I was getting at,” Volo replied to Maluem’s implied question. “After the fourth change, we were heading deep into a pretty well-to-do part of town. Things were obviously better defended, and there were a lot more police on the streets. The next thing I know, the carriage he was in rolled straight through a fantastic pair of overwrought gates. From the look of them, they had to be made of solid gold!
“When I moved to follow him through, I noticed one of those strange fellows standing on either side of the portal. I think you called them ‘Eyes?’ Well, I can’t be sure, but it was almost like the two of them were staring straight at me. I had to check myself just to verify I wasn’t projecting more than I intended to. When I knew I was completely invisible, I approached the gate once more, but both their heads tracked me as though they followed my every step.
“Well, I remembered what you said, Maluem, and I backed off. I spent two days trying to find an unobserved path past that portal to no avail. Finally, I gave up and started back, retracing the path we had taken from here as best I could. I was about halfway back here when I nearly ran straight into Thayne as he came storming out of some dilapidated pub. He jumped into yet another ‘Taxi’ and started hurtling back towards this flat. The only reason I arrived before him was because of all the crowds on the streets blocking his progress. I still have no idea how anyone gets anywhere in this place-”
“That was ‘Kraftur Gate,’ it had to be,” Shelia cut in. “What the kulk was Thayne doing there? That is on the Royals’ front steps! Is he trying to get caught?”
“Maybe he has a new contact…maybe he managed to bribe an official notary-” Torrez began before being cut off by the crash of the door opening.
“Time is up, Doves,” Thayne bellowed as he stormed in, two packs lying heavily on his back. “We move tonight. I have everything prepared-”
“Hold for a pulse Thayne,” Maluem cut in. “Why the sudden rush? I thought you told us that tomorrow was the ideal time. The Arcturus artillery strike-”
“No time for a committee meeting Dove,” Thayne cut her off. “I have it on good authority that they plan to do away with your ‘sister’ a bit sooner than we thought. If we don’t move tonight, there won’t be anything left to save. Now listen close because we don’t have time to stand on ceremony here. No dress rehearsal, we get it right the first time, or we’re all copped. Now here’s how we’re going to play it... “
***
“Tunnels,” Maluem muttered to herself. “Why do I continue to find myself in tunnels? It is as though some unseen force wishes me to become a mole.”
“What was that, Dove?” Thayne called over his shoulder, lighting the way ahead with a mechanical torch.
“Do not use that word, if you please. It makes my ears bleed,” Maluem replied.
“You have to be more specific, Dove,” Thayne said. “Which word bothers you so much?”
“Forget I mentioned it,” Maluem muttered back, turning her attention to the walls around them.
Upon slipping into the tunnel access under an abandoned building near Thayne’s ‘apartment,’ Maluem had extracted her staff from the casing Torrez had made. Its dull glow allowed her enough of a view to see the walls closest to her. They were of similar construction to those she saw in Enox. However, to be truthful, these passages were very different from those she had found herself exploring in the recent past.
Unlike their predecessors, these caverns were clearly made for humans traveling in considerable numbers. There were even rusted hand railings still running along the walls and lining the stairwells they descended. What she found even more fascinating, though, was the writings scrawled on the smooth surfaces here and there. Sporadic and usually crudely written, they still fascinated her with their archaic lettering. Some even included works of considerably complex art, though their meanings seemed surreal at best, vulgar at their worst.
“I have spent a few days down here studying those scrawls,” Thayne remarked as he gestured with his torch. “Most are impossible to make out. Some seem to be written in a very crude version of our own language. All I have been able to pull from them, though, is that they must have had a great number of royal figures when these tunnels were first used. I counted at least ten different Princes and Kings in twenty feet.”
“How could it be that no one else knows of these passages?” Maluem asked. “Someone would have had to stumble on something this large lying under the city.”
“I never said they hadn’t, Dove. Many have been found and have been put to use by the Royalty. Others are used by the city to meet the daily needs of their constituents. This right here is a prime example.”
Following Thayne’s gesture, Maluem noticed that the passage ahead was much brighter than those behind. As they stepped out from a short stairwell, they found Volo waiting for them, projecting himself in his flame apparition form. The light from his body illuminated the vast chamber they now found themselves in. It was apparently a massive intersection of two enormous parallel tunnels running perpendicular to the path they had been following.
They now stood on a platform that defined the edge of the first great passage. Looking out across the expanse, Maluem could see Volo’s light reflecting off a mirror-like surface below. The parallel shafts had been flooded halfway, creating two immense rivers running underground. Peering down into the darkened depths, she could almost make out what appeared to be train tracks running along the man-made river bed.
“This was probably an underground railroad at some time,” Thayne explained. “However, there have been too many cave-ins to use it for that now. Currently, it serves as an aqueduct for all of NuSam. Normally, this whole area would be underwater, but I heard tell some artillery strikes caused major damage up the line a few miles, choking the water flow. That was a lucky turn for us as these passages flow directly under the slave pens. All we have to do is swim two miles or so to get to the access hatch, unless you have some Bocor trick that can keep us dry, of course.”
“I shall make it a goal of mine to purge the word ‘Bocor’ from your vocabulary,” Maluem replied.
Using the technique she had practiced in Thayne’s hideout, Maluem scorched the symbol for a force bubble in the air with her left hand while scorching a buoyancy spell she remembered from her youth with her right. The drain was still pronounced from such multiple castings, but she was getting the hang of channeling the energies more efficiently. Once both runes were complete, she brought the symbols together, directing them to the water at her feet. As the combined spells hit, the patch of water targeted first bowed down as though an immense, invisible globe was pressing deep into its surface, then the affected liquid congealed to form a hard, ice-like mass eight feet in diameter.
With a nod to Thayne, Maluem stepped off of the platform and onto the mass. When Thayne did not immediately follow, Maluem regarded him with a cold stare.
“If you do not trust my creation, you are welcome to swim the required distance. The exercise will certainly do you no harm.”
With a barely audible grumble, Thayne slowly approached the floating disc as though he feared it might evaporate at any moment. Stretching a single foot out, he delicately began shifting his weight from the platform to Maluem’s vessel, testing to see if it might sink. As Thayne gingerly transferred his full we
ight, a horrendous hiss of expanding steam suddenly filled the tunnel. Thayne nearly jumped out of his skin as he sprang back to the dock as though the river had become molten rock.
The hissing quickly abated, but the tumult was just as suddenly replaced with echoing laughter. As Thayne peered up the river, discovering the source of his alarm, Volo had stepped onto the surface of the water, allowing his flame projection to superheat the water for an instant. It was apparent that Volo had desired this precise reaction, getting no small amount of amusement from the results.
“Very humorous, Volo,” Maluem chided, feigning annoyance. “But we have no time for such foolery. Instead of tormenting our benevolent guide, why not make yourself useful by finding this hatchway we seek. I believe it should be some two miles ahead.”
“As you command, my master,” Volo replied in an overly ornate manner, chuckling as he proceeded to glide up the surface of the river and around the bend.
“Come, Thayne, The disc projection is as solid as wood,” Maluem coaxed, seeing that the man still stood on the platform as Volo departed.
Volo’s prank had been quite amusing, yet she could not help but feel a bit sorry for Thayne. She had been quite hard on him ever since they had first met. Perhaps she had been unfair.
“I think I would rather swim,” Thayne remarked, heading towards the water as though to jump in.
“Thayne, do not be foolish. I am certain that Torrez and Shelia have had an easier time than we in approaching our goal. If we do not hurry, we are unlikely to meet up with them in time to get Cruentus and escape unseen. Do you really feel you can swim this distance in the necessary time and not be exhausted? You said yourself that there might be a fight ahead. You can do little to assist the group if you are too weary to lift a sword.”
“Dove, I could certainly swim this short distance and take on a legion of troops if necessary. However, in the interest of time, I will try your method,” Thayne replied indignantly, yet Maluem observed that as he spoke, Thayne continuously wrung his left wrist with his right hand in an oddly anxious manner. It was a nervous tell she had not noticed before, but one that she would be mindful of in the future.
