by John Booth
There was a guard in front of the cell door. He smiled at me as I approached.
“Have you brought lunch?”
I shook my head and his face fell.
“This is a restricted area.”
I was close enough to touch him by then. He fell asleep as my hand touched his neck. Magic through flesh ought to be too small to see, but I had to get a move on in case it had been spotted.
The cell door was locked and I risked another stab of magic to open it.
“Help him,” Ellis said as he saw me enter. The lad was bound by chains to the wall. Dren was bound, unconscious, and bloody, well beyond Ellis’s reach.
The time for tiptoeing around was past. A wave of magic dissolved the shackles around Ellis and he staggered towards Dren. I freed Dren and touched his face so I could read his health. He was horribly injured and near to death.
I grabbed onto Ellis and Dren and tried to hop. Nothing happened. A quick search with magical sight showed the bars in the wall had a secondary hop preventing spell written into them. No time to sort that one out.
“We need to get out of here,” I told Ellis. I floated Dren into the air and pulled his limp body towards the door.
The first few Knights came into sight as we got out of the room. I was done with playing Mister Nice-Guy and spears of magic dissolved their swords and armor. The wave of dragonfire I sent after it had them in full retreat.
“Hold my hand,” I ordered Ellis and as soon as he did, we were gone.
“What is this place?” Ellis asked.
I had taken us to the Dragons Gathering Place in the hope a dragon or two would be on hand to help, but the amphitheater was empty.
I let Dren drift to the ground and started applying healing magic. He had been tortured and his liver and kidneys were badly damaged. A scream brought me back to reality. The scream was from Ellis. Twenty or so Knights faced us from about fifty yards away and they looked angry.
I sent spears of raw magic at them, some of them got through, but knights without armor managed to protect the rest with shields. I’d never seen the Knights carry shields before and it seemed a little unsporting that they should introduce a new capability while I was trying to save a dying friend.
The Knights with the shields were not wearing swords or armor, which meant they could move quickly. They had run in front of the other knights to defend them. More than a dozen Knights raised their swords and pointed them at me. Their magic pulled at mine and I had to concentrate on my protective spell to stop magic leaking away. They were still far enough away for that to work.
Two dragons appeared in the sky behind the Knights, flying low and silent. They rained fire down on the Knights and disappeared.
The smell of burning flesh wafted over me as the men without armor became burning corpses. Apparently their shields only worked against raw magic. It was an eerily silent tableau. I fired another burst of raw magic spears and, without shields to protect the Knights they all hit home.
One of the Knights raised his hands, but before I could decide whether he was surrendering the dragons reappeared and then there were only screaming human candles that swiftly burned to ash.
The lead dragon landed in front of me.
[That was fun], Fluffy informed me. He lifted a claw and preened his face.
“Talk later. I’m busy.”
I went back to the task of healing Dren.
“Thank you for bringing him back to us,” Bronwyn said.
Two of her retinue led Dren away. I had fixed his body, but the mind is much less fixable and he had barely managed to utter a word since I finished. Perhaps time would complete the healing process
“He held out for ages,” Ellis said quietly.
“But he told them in the end,” Bronwyn suggested.
Ellis nodded. “They know about Tydan, you, our operations in the Diamond Worlds.”
“I withdrew everybody when it was clear Dren was compromised. Years of work down the drain.” Bronwyn sighed.
“I don’t think they know where Tydan is,” Ellis said.
“Unless the d’Tachi can find it for them,” Bronwyn said grimly.
It was my turn to sigh. “Okay, I can take a hint. I’ll go and sort it out.”
I hopped to Betty’s apartment.
22. Choices
Betty poked me and I rolled over and fell onto the floor. Single beds are so small.
“While it’s always nice when you come to spend the night, I’m a working girl and Mum will be here any minute.”
Scrambling to my feet, I concentrated for a second and my clothes materialized around me.
Betty tutted at me.
“It’s okay for you. Some of us have to do it the traditional way.”
“Not necessarily.”
I stripped her of her dressing gown, gave her the instant wizard freshen up and finished by putting clothes on her, neatly pressed. Betty staggered forward as I applied high heels to her feet and she collapsed onto the bed.
“Jake, how could you?” she spluttered into the duvet.
“Now you’ve gone and messed up your make-up.” I applied more magic, “Fixed.”
I cleaned the make-up off the duvet as she got to her feet and then I made the bed.
Betty checked her face in the mirror. “If you came with an off-switch you might be quite useful.”
I resisted the straight line and looked into Freyja’s cot. The little darling was asleep with a smile on her tiny face.
“And look what happens when you come without one,” Betty said as she looked at our daughter.
“She sleeps so peacefully.”
Betty smiled. “She knows she’s safe. One of the good things about being a Norn is that we don’t worry about noises in the night. Unless they are an actual monster, of course.”
“And what do you do then?” I asked.
“In your case, I made you my lover.”
Why is it that all the women I love are so good at that sort of comment?
“I need to ask. I’m going on a mission. Is there anything I should know?”
Betty came closer and used her hand to move my head from side to side as if examining my profile.
“Well?”
“Just memorizing your face in case you don’t come back.”
“It’s that risky?”
Betty let me go and laughed. It wasn’t a laugh that inspired confidence.
“You have destroyed the timelines. Everything planned for millennia is in chaos. Nothing is clear. If you ever left history alone for long enough for it to settle I might have a clue. You saved a man who was supposed to die, you killed Knights who should have lived and that’s only in the last couple of days.”
“Esmeralda sent me.”
“A woman who was supposed to die before you saved her. I couldn’t guide you at the moment even if I wanted to.”
I looked at Freyja’s sleeping form. “Not all the changes I’ve made are bad.”
Betty took my hand.
“None of them are bad in themselves, but they disrupt what was thought to be pre-ordained. You’re not in all the futures now. For the first time, in some of them you die.”
I kissed her and she kissed me back.
The doorbell rang.
Betty pulled away from me. “That will be Mum.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“I hope so,” she said, before heading for the door. I hopped.
[I was hoping you would turn up.]
I slumped into the only sofa guaranteed to resist dragonfire in the multiverse. It stank of smoke though and I had to give it a quick magical clean before the smell overwhelmed me.
“How did you know to rescue us?”
[The Meeting Place has an alarm system against the Knights.]
“Since when?”
[Less than a week. There are four dragons on guard right now. Our understanding of the Knight’s magic is they can home in on recent hops from the Diamond Worlds, but they have no k
nowledge of where they are hopping to. Under the circumstances precautions are necessary.]
I agreed. Nothing could be taken for granted. “Those shields they carry are new. How did they develop them when they have no wizards?”
Fluffy cleared his throat and a thousand spits of fire filled the cave.
[Which brings me to reason I am so pleased to see you. The Elders want you to spearhead our attack on the Temple.]
“And along the way, show them where the Temple is?”
Fluffy inclined his enormous head at me. [That would be most helpful of you.]
“I’m busy right now.” The thought of all the dead Knights that would result from a raid didn’t help. It wasn’t that they were bad people. Their intentions were honorable. It was just that they were misguided; misguided homicidal maniacs with magic swords.
[The danger is to us all. The Dragons, Salice, Tydan and even Earth could become the Knight’s next target. Better to kill them before they come to kill us.]
“I’ll think about it.” The truth was that if I blew it with Lana’s father, I might have no other choice. There were two ways I could stop the Diamond Worlds exploiting the technology they had. The first was to stop the devices at the manufacturers; the second was to eliminate the customers.
Fluffy dropped his head to the floor and I went to stroke his neck. It was all so much simpler in the old days when all I had to worry about was preventing the people of Wales from finding out he existed.
[I don’t think we have a choice,] Fluffy murmured as I found his favorite spot and rubbed.
“I rarely do these days.”
23. Reception
I hopped from Wales in the early afternoon, but it was late at night at Lana’s aunt’s house. Not that it was dark in the massive reception area. The stained glass roof glowed, each color glowing bright and then fading in a complex sequence. The overall effect was one of twilight.
It was quiet in a total absence of sound sort of way. My breathing sounded unnaturally loud as my brain tried to compensate for the lack of background noise. I waited, because Lana had suggested that someone would come.
Five women of identical height and build came towards me. They reminded me of old science fiction films as they wore metallic clothing that looked painted on. Though their build and hairstyles were identical, everything else about them was different.
Their hair colors ranged from glossy black to ultramarine, and the one in the middle had gold hair. Not yellow like straw, every strand of it looked like metallic gold. Their skin colors were equally varied, as were their eyes. But their overall appearances had the look of a style, as their clothing, skin, hair, and eyes were coordinated.
They stopped a few feet from me and I got a closer look at them. But for the colors they could have been clones. Perhaps they were clones? Who knew what High Tech worlds did for fun?
“Can we be of service?” Gold Girl in the middle asked.
“I am a friend of Lana’s. My name is Jake Morrissey.”
“Your arrival has been anticipated,” Ultramarine Girl said. She indicated a direction and they took up positions around me with two of them in front and three behind. They led me back the way they had come and into a ballroom that would have put Cinderella to shame. It was enormous, and yet somehow insubstantial, as if the walls were nothing but solidified air.
From there we walked up a glass spiral staircase the width of a house to reach an impressive corridor of similar proportions. We stepped through a much smaller door in precession to enter a corridor of normal proportions, lined with delicate white wood panels. Gold Girl opened the door to a room and I was ushered in.
Lights flicked on as I entered. It was the kind of room you might find in an expensive hotel in London. A little bit of a let-down after the splendor of the rooms we had just walked through.
“Unless you have need of any of us for service, we will leave you now,” Gold Girl said. She looked at me enquiringly.
When I didn’t answer, she and the other women turned to leave. Before they got to the door I stopped them with a question.
“How do I contact Lana?”
Gold Girl glanced at the other women and said “primitive” under her breath.
“I will stay and explain the facilities,” she said. The other women took her words as a dismissal and left the room.
She took me into the bathroom and showed me how to operate the toilet, How to make a shower or a Jacuzzi appear and how to use them. I’m glad she did because I would have had to resort to magic without her explanations.
After showing me how to adjust the room lighting she took me to a small table against a wall.
“Call,” she said and a holographic screen appeared behind the table.
She stepped back from the table and the screen vanished.
“You say, Local, and then the name of the person you want to speak to. In your case that would be Lana d’Fallon. When you have finished, step away from the phone or say End.”
“Thank you,” I told her and I really meant it.
She turned as if to leave and then turned back to me. “Would you like to have sexual intercourse with me? I passed my proficiency tests with an A* rating and am particularly skilled at using my mouth.”
I think my jaw hit the carpet.
I shook my head, which turned out to be a gesture she understood.
“Pity. Primitives are often very enthusiastic I have been told, if untutored.”
“Some other time?” I suggested weakly.
“Yes, I would like that. My name is Tiera d’Halleff. You can use the phone to contact me.”
She left the room, and I may have been mistaken, but she seemed to be almost skipping with delight.
I stepped up to the phone and said, “Call Local, Lana d’Fallon.”
There was a soft tinkling sound and an image of Lana appeared. The camera was looking down on her and I saw that she and Esta were lying on a bed in nighties. Then the image rotated rapidly as she sat up, so we were looking at each other eye to eye.
“Oh good, you came.” Lana looked pleased to see me.
I grinned. “Not yet, despite the offer from the girl with the gold hair.”
“The little vixen. And that one is progeny of a family that may be ennobled any day now. Where are you, Jake?”
I looked around. “In a room somewhere behind that ballroom. Other than that, I haven’t got a clue.”
“Wait a minute while I find out.” She gestured in the air for a few moments. When she spoke again she looked angry.
“I shall have words with Fandra about this.”
My blank look must have told her I didn’t understand.
“My Aunt has put you in the servant’s quarters. It is a calculated insult.”
“I thought you two got on?”
“So did I.”
The screen went blank and then the door opened and Lana walked in. She was still wearing her very revealing nightdress.
“Take my hand,” she instructed.
We hopped to a much grander room. Esta had put on a dressing gown and was pouring drinks.
“Are you two sleeping together?” I asked.
“It can get lonely on your own,” Esta replied. “My suite is the size of the arena we did the tests in.”
“She exaggerates,” Lana said, “But not a lot.”
“I was quite happy with that room. It was good enough for me,” I said.
“That is not the point. Among the d’Tachi we do not war among ourselves, but every action we take, raises or lowers our standing relative to one another. If I did not react to my Aunt’s insult my status would fall, as would yours.”
“Not that a hedge wizard has much standing here,” Esta put in. “Lana had to lie about me.”
Lana laughed. “Not a lie. I simply translated things they would not understand into things they do.”
“See how good she is at it,” Esta declared.
“They will regret insulting you,” Lana said, al
l the while staring at me. “They have no idea who you are.”
“The Great Destroyer?” I suggested.
Lana looked around in horror. She came close and I felt layers of magical defenses surround us. “Never say that here, or anywhere on this world,” she whispered. Then she stepped away and the shields vanished.
“You are a Lord on Salice and married to the Heir to the throne. You are highly regarded among the Dragons. The Elves are in your debt. Any one of those things means my Aunt should treat you with due courtesy.”
Lana vanished.
“I’ve never seen her act like that,” I said.
“Welcome to the d’Tachi Federation,” Esta said quietly. “She’s been exactly like that ever since we got here.”
24. Tricked
Lana was gone for hours, which gave me and Esta the chance to Christen the bedroom as it were. We were a little hurried at the thought of Lana catching us at it.
“Short but sweet,” Esta said. Her smile taking any sting out of her words. “We should call you that.”
“I’m six inches taller than you.”
“Which would leave people to guess what we were referring to.”
She jumped out of the bed to run away, but I caught her in a wave of magic that spun her into the air so quickly she couldn’t retaliate. She landed astride me, laughing. She leaned forward and kissed my nose.
“Have I injured your pride?”
I shook my head. Our friendship couldn’t be damaged by teasing.
Lana appeared in the room. “I see you chose not to sleep.”
“Wrong time zone,” I said.
“Too horny,” Esta put in.
Lana looked angry, which surprised me because I thought she was happy with our open relationship.
“Aunt Fandra has set us up,” she said and thumped the bed before jumping on it, sitting next to us. She put a hand on Esta’s thigh.
“I thought she was on your side?” Esta said, just beating me to it.
“Fandra is first and foremost on Fandra’s side and that side seeks any excuse to shame and belittle my father.”
