by Guy Antibes
“No, the Magician’s Circle is a closer society. They aren’t bound by university rules or precedent. Deechie made that clear,” Whit said. “I’m hoping he takes the fake artifacts and passes them off for the real thing. I think that is what Barine thinks.”
“But we can prove they are fake!” Gambol said.
“Do you think Deechie knows that?” Whit asked. “If Barine and the others were left behind on purpose, they will tell Deechie that the parts are real.”
“Well,” Gambol looked at Whit. “Maybe he already concluded they are phony.”
“But he didn’t find anything in the carriages he ransacked and burned, did he?” Whit said. “I think it entirely possible that he arrives in Garri and proclaims victory based on the gnomish craftsmanship,” Whit smiled tapping a pixie casting on a pedestal, “that Fistian and you created.”
Gambol grinned. “Innovation is the best product of the gnomes,” he said.
Whit didn’t know if he agreed, but it was close enough to his own sentiment at the moment. He parted from Gambol and found Pin in the mansion’s sitting room talking to a few of the friends Whit had already met, including the mansion’s owner.
“Since you haven’t left yet, do you care to play a little more scout? If you do, let me know so I can bet on you,” the owner said with a grin.
Whit sighed. “I’m afraid we will be leaving for Herringbone in a few days once Jonny Evia has found, or not found, Greeb Deechie. We were going to another country, but we’ve changed our plans and will hand in our artifacts and deliver the stranded members of the other team.”
“That is decent of you,” another pixie said. “I wouldn’t be so gracious.”
“I already knew two of the three marooned elves, and the girl’s brother is a good friend,” Whit said. “I’ll be needing another carriage. Are there any oversized ones available in Garri? I’m willing to part with a pair of horses to reduce the cost.”
“I’d ask Quiller,” the owner said. “There are a few royal coaches that are more than pixie-sized. The king owes you his kingdom, in my opinion.”
“I doubt that,” Whit said, “though we did help clear a few things up while we were here.”
“You showed us we had a friend who wasn’t. That alone was enough to justify putting you up in my house,” the owner said.
Jonny Evia entered the room. “I was told you were all here. Deechie left Garri not more than an hour ago. We couldn’t stop him, and it appears he is still getting help.”
“The Garri Magician’s Circle?” Whit asked.
“Could be,” Jonny said. “From what we were able to find, he was talking to thugs. I would say they are planning to attack you at some point. I’d leave Garri as soon as you can to give the criminals less time to plan.”
“I need the coach,” Whit said to Pin.
“Coach?” Jonny asked.
“A large coach to fit large foreign bodies.”
“I can get one here in two hours,” Jonny said. “It won’t be luxurious, but it is stout transportation, but it requires four horses.”
“Perfect, since I have four horses!” Whit said. “I’ll buy it.”
“Consider it a going away gift,” Jonny said. “I’ll even throw in an escort of my pub friends, if you’ll be nice to them.”
Whit left to get everyone packing. He felt enervated by the prospect of returning to Herringbone, even under the possibility of attack.
~
“Give my farewells to the king,” Whit said to Pin.
“Because of you, I’ll be able to do that,” Pin said with a twinkle in his eye.
Everyone’s bags were lined up waiting for the big carriage. Sedge, Barine, and Tory, the third member of Porch’s expedition, were standing by the Magic College’s carriage along with Yetti and Zarl. Whit, Razz, Argien, and the two gnomes would go in the bigger carriage.
The gate opened, and a huge wagon rolled in with Jonny Evie and Ritta Misennia riding in the covered drivers box and twenty mounted men, not wearing uniforms. This wasn’t a carriage at all, but a small cottage on wheels.
“It’s not as heavy as it looks,” Jonny said. “This was once used by a troupe of traveling humans. There was a dispute among the group, and they disbanded in Garri. They were out of funds and had to sell this. It has been sitting unused for four years. I used some of Whit’s purchase money to do some overnight modifications.”
Ritta looked as happy as Whit had seen her. “Welcome. I wanted to send you off and thank you for what you’ve done.”
Whit had to be more gracious. “You are welcome. I’m glad we were able to do more than just be treasure hunters.”
“You were,” she said, getting on her tiptoes and pulling Whit down to kiss him on the cheek. “It looks like my life might be changing. King Quiller is still at the castle and will always be appreciative. There is a reward hidden in the wagon from him.”
The team would be happy about that. He nodded to Jonny and looked at the dark red paint, barely touched the outside, and looked at the smudge on his finger. The inside smelled of soap, but it was amazing. They could fit the entire team in the wagon. There was seating for eight, ten counting two drivers, and a small counter for food preparation. The walls were very thin, and Whit suspected a strengthening spell. A large compartment was opened at the back which swallowed all their bags.
“You will discover lots of interesting places to stow items of interest,” Jonny said. “The troupe was not above doing a little smuggling.”
Gambol walked around the wagon and nodded. “The wagon is suspended on stiff metal springs. I think Fistian and I can make some improvements on the basic design, but I’ll know more after spending some time on the road.”
“You approve, then?” Whit asked.
“I’m ecstatic. We can travel together, that’s the most important thing,” Gambol said.
Once everyone was settled in, Whit stood outside with Pin, Jonny, Ritta, and the mansion’s owner.
“There is a spell that repels objects,” Jonny said. “It won’t repel an axe, but arrows will be slowed.” He handed an envelope to Whit. “The spell is in there. Make sure you introduce your group to my men. It will smooth things out. They will escort you to the Serincian border. The fastest road to Herringbone is through that country.”
Whit searched his memory for the artifact locations and recalled that all the Serincian artifacts were on the larger, eastern side of the country. Whit made sure to walk among the riders. Some of them laughed as he did so. He had embarrassed himself when he first went to Jonny’s pub, but it seemed he was forgiven.
With that task done, Razz and Whit walked through the wagon to the driver’s box and waited for Zarl to drive the magic college’s carriage out of the yard and onto the streets. A shock of excitement ran through Whit.
They were on their way!
Razz mentioned that the big wagon was more cumbersome, but how much he wouldn’t know until they left the capital. Eight men rode ahead, two men rode between the wagon and the magic college coach, and twelve riders followed the wagons. Jonny’s men joked as they rode through the city. Occasionally, they called to acquaintances, turning their exit into a more joyful procession than Whit envisioned.
One of Jonny’s men rode forward and handed a document to the guards at the gate. By the time they reached the front of the line waiting to go out, they were waved through without an inspection.
The next day, they approached a thick forest. Whit stopped the wagon before entering and said, “We will tighten up the formation as soon as we enter woods. If there is an ambush, I’ll bet it will be in there.”
Whit made sure that everything was secure and everyone was prepared for an ambush. Whit stopped the wagon and used the spell that Jonny had given him, augmented by Varetta’s wand. Four of Jonny’s pixies flew off their saddles and hovered over the trees. Whit waited for them to return with information, but after they were a few hundred paces inside the wood, pandemonium ensued.
&nbs
p; Pixies flew out of the trees, shooting from their wands, missing a lot more than hitting anything. The pixies above swooped down, and the fight was on. Razz tossed weak fire bolts at the pixies.
“Use water,” Whit said. “Weigh them down so they can’t fly as easily.” Razz nodded. Argien poked his head out of the wagon’s open door and began shooting the angel electric bolts. He didn’t need a wand, and he suddenly exited the wagon and flew into the air.
Whit realized this wouldn’t be a ground fight. “Protect the wagon. This is a magic battle.” He took off from the driver’s box and began using his wand to punch tight ropes of fire at the enemy. Neither side wore uniforms, so Whit had to be careful when aiming, but then he spotted a stream of water splashing against one of Jonny’s pixies. Whit followed the stream back and spotted Paros Porch standing next to two pixies. Whit avoided the pixie bolts and approached Professor Porch from behind and speared the two pixies at Porch’s side with spears of fire. The sky elf turned around.
“Hands in the air,” Whit said, flying above Porch, “or you will end up like your companions.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Porch said.
Whit saw one of Jonny’s men fall from the air. “People are dying around you, all caused by Deechie and you. And I won’t dare?”
Paros Porch lowered his hand and drenched Whit with a globe of water that Porch thought Whit couldn’t manage, but once the deluge hit, Whit was still hovering in the air.
“I’m sorry that you picked the wrong side,” Whit said as he poured a stream of fire into his former teacher.
Paros collapsed, but the fight continued. Unlike the interior minister’s men, the brigands fought on to the last man. Finally, the battle was over. Whit was surprised that although most pixies were injured, there were only a few deaths on either side. No wonder they fought with abandon.
Whit didn’t feel good about dispatching Paros Porch, but the professor had tried to kill him too. He checked on Barine and Sedge, who had remained inside their carriage. Troy had already been pushed out of the carriage. Whit checked on the drenched sky elf, but he was dead with a large hole in his side. It wasn’t a pixie bolt.
Zarl walked up. “Troy tried to take the sky elf woman hostage,” the ogre said. “We couldn’t have that happen.”
“We tried to fight him with water,” Sedge said, “but it didn’t work.”
Barine was shaking. “I’ve never been so scared. He said he was going to kill us if we fought him. I was able to push him out of the carriage with a water barrage, but…”
Sedge put his arm around his cousin. Both were nearly as wet as Troy’s body. They weren’t trained as fighters, that was plain.
“You survived,” Whit said. “I’ll dry you off as soon as the situation has stabilized. If Paros Porch was here, then Deechie must be on his way to Herringbone.”
“Where is Professor Porch?” Barine asked.
“The same place where Troy is,” Whit said.
Her mouth formed an “O” and she sat back. Yetti returned from fighting. Her dress was scorched in a few places, but other than mussed hair, she looked intact.
“We will have to use the wagon as an infirmary,” Yetti said. “There are injured on both sides. Luckily, my pixie healing has improved since we’ve been here.”
A few of Jonny’s men gathered all the victims, prioritizing the injured over the dead. Razz, Argien, and Whit helped them while Gambol, Fistian, and another of Jonny’s pixies assisted Yetti. Zarl acted as transport, picking up pixies as if they were kittens.
It took a couple of hours with travelers being routed around the mostly bloodless carnage. By the time they were finished with everything, Jonny arrived at the wagon.
“This was inevitable,” Jonny said. “I can only say I’m glad it happened this close to Garri. I learned of the ambush from my sources last night.”
Of almost fifty fighters, there were seven dead pixies, thirty injuries, and two dead sky elves. Whit’s team suffered burns, but no injuries. Most of the deaths were caused by pixies falling from the air.
“I can preserve the sky elf bodies,” Argien said to Whit, quietly.
“I’ll still give you the survivors as escorts. There is some ale in the wagon, so I’d suggest you take a break once you are out of the wood and give everyone a long break,” Jonny said. “I’ve got to take the injured back. Pin will be happy to learn that the boil that is Deechie has burst.”
That wasn’t the expression that Whit would have used, but finally Jonny headed back to Garri, and Whit’s team was back on the road.
The enchanted bodies of Troy and Professor Porch were wrapped in blankets and tied to the roof of the magic college’s carriage. Barine, Yetti, and Sedge decided they’d rather travel in the wagon, but Razz, Argien, Whit, and Fistian decided to ride in the carriage.
Although the wagon wasn’t as smooth riding, everyone liked it better than the carriage, especially Zarl who could properly stretch out and even take a nap on the carpeted floor when he wasn’t driving. Whit spent more than his share driving both transports, and after a riotous night at a pub, drinking and telling stories with Jonny’s men, they drove almost soberly to the border and into Serincia, saying goodbye to their escort.
The country between Perisia and Ayce was a closed sky elf country. Yetti taught Whit the pixie spell for coloring hair, so he passed for a sky elf. The other folk were told at the border that they were to stay on the roads and in the towns and villages on the roads from border to border. The restriction wasn’t that onerous, but the policy might be an impediment when the time came to find Eye parts in Serincia.
Whit felt that the sky elf culture was more confining in Serincia than in Ayce. That might have been because the head of Serincia had given herself the title of dictator after she rose to power as a queen. Rules were more rigid, but the capital of Serincia was a week away to the east of the road that was taking them to Ayce. The sky elves that served them in the inns and the pubs kept saying that they had more freedom in the western part of the country.
“I don’t think you can take the whole team back,” Gambol said. “I knew Serincia was closed, but this is much worse than Perisia.”
“We will face that when the time comes. For now, there are plenty of other countries to visit.”
Gambol smiled. “If we take care of our business in Herringbone quickly, we can be back into the field in time for at least another country. It just won’t be the one you planned.”
“Worse things could have happened,” Whit said.
“But we spent weeks longer in Perisia than we intended, and Deechie revealed himself as a true enemy rather than an impediment,” Gambol said.
“Three more days, and we will see University hill,” Whit said. “We will see how potent our enemy is.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
~
R azz drove Barine and Sedge home before taking the carriage to a seldom-used garage for his family’s delivery business. The rest of the team stopped at Whit’s house before proceeding.
Torius Pott greeted them at the front door and gazed at the wagon. “Your carriage has grown in the last couple of months,” the gnome said.
“It’s a long story,” Whit said. “We will unload everything, and hopefully this will fit in my garage.”
Yetti looked around Whit’s place while the others took everything out of the wagon.
“Canis said you wouldn’t be too long in Perisia. He made a delivery from the capital, and everything is secure,” Pott said to Whit.
“Good. Now Zarl and I will get the wagon put away.”
The wagon was a tight fit, but it found a home. The pair finally had a chance to disassemble much of the wagon and behind a panel that backed up to the driver’s box, Whit found a little chest filled with gold coins.
“The king was generous to you,” Zarl said.
“We all participated. I’ll take this into the house later,” Whit said, replacing the panel. “We will share in this after the summer�
��s work is done.”
By the time the two returned, Gambol had prepared a feast, and everyone had started without them. Razz showed up later.
“Our parts made it to Herringbone safely. Right, Torius?” Whit said.
“Safe and without incident, I was told,” Professor Pott said.
“Great,” Whit rubbed his hands. “Zarl and I found the king’s reward. It’s a little chest full of gold pixie coins. We will split it up once our summer expedition ends,” Whit said.
The meal turned to what everyone was going to do for the next few days. “We can meet here in three days. There is still time to find more parts. I thought we would visit Poxaltia, so Torius can join us, and Coria, where Yetti can help us with her pixie skills again. That’s a change, I know, but I didn’t think we would have to return to Herringbone in the middle of our summer.”
“It’s past middle,” Argien said. “Coria and Poxaltia are closest, so I’m in favor.” He took Whit aside. “Can I stay in your house for our tiny vacation?”
Whit nodded. “Just as long as you promise not to go into the basement. I’ve let it out to Torius for the summer.”
“I can respect that,” Argien said.
“Good. Let’s see if I have a bed.” He turned to Pott. “Is all the furniture delivered?’
Pott grinned. “The last pieces came two weeks ago.”
“Good,” Whit said. “Let’s find a bedroom after everyone leaves.”
Zarl walked up to Whit. “I heard you have a bedroom for Argien. My rooms are sublet out to someone else this summer. Can I stay too?”
Whit agreed. He wondered if there would be any other houseguests, but the rest had places to stay.
~
The next morning after fixing breakfast, Argien, Zarl, and Whit walked to the administration building.
“Has Greeb Deechie returned from Perisia?” Whit asked.
“He has and is reporting to the expeditionary committee right now,” she said.
Whit thought for a moment. “He is our advisor and I need to get some additional information to him. Where is the meeting?”
“Room fifteen on the second floor.”
