by Martha Carr
Chapter Ten
It was late afternoon by the time Louie made his way to the Dark Market and the market was bustling. More Oricerans were willing to risk opening portals to bring Earth’s technology back in exchange for a trinket infused with even the smallest energy. Louie saw that as a great way to end up with a one-way ticket into the world in between. Only fools traded with the humans on Earth.
Louie took a look at the small line waiting to push their way inside the larger tent. “That’s new.” He made his way to his table, shoving a few Crystals out of the way, getting a cold blast of air for his troubles. “That actually feels refreshing. Joke’s on you.”
One of the Crystals turned with his hand on his pick axe just as the line started to move. His friend nudged him and they moved on, the Crystal giving Louie a hard stare.
“Okay, big guy, I know. You’re like a super villain from a comic book. Antifreeze or maybe Freeze Frame. How about just Popsicle.”
“This is why people hate you.”
Louie looked down to find a Gnome crawling out from under his table. “Still not moving Ronnie. You can quit measuring the space.”
“Things change around here all the time. Good to be prepared.” Ronnie gave Louie a wink. “Hey, how come we haven’t done any adventures together lately? You mad at me or something?”
“Don’t tend to stay mad at anyone, Ronnie. You get distracted that way. Been super busy and well, you know, those legs of yours can slow a good Wizard down.”
“Way to wound.” Ronnie climbed into the chair Louie kept toward the back of his space. “You suck at lying anyway. You know a good Gnome can travel as fast as a Wizard. I’ve never slowed you down in all the years we’ve been dickering around with this crap.”
A Light Elf leaned on the table shaking the box Louie set out. Ronnie let out a loud tsk.
“They act like there’s deals to be made that won’t be there an hour from now. Nothing’s changed inside that tent!” Ronnie waved his arms around, annoyed. “None of them are brave enough to go find their own damn artifacts but all of them think they can open a portal and trade with somebody on Earth. Show me the logic in that!”
“Breathe, Ronnie. Not worth your whole head turning purple again. Last time we had to get a practitioner in here to hold crushed barcay leaves under your nose. They charge double to come near the Dark Market.”
“It’s just that I don’t get what’s gotten everyone so excited this time.”
“The usual mistress. Greed.”
A Light Elf who Louie had seen around the market before stopped by the table. He was easy to remember because of the long, jagged scar down his face, unusual for a Light Elf. They prided themselves on their ability to heal. And the long row of piercings down his pointed ears. The dangly earring clanking together. “You Louie? I have a message for you.”
Ronnie slid out of the chair, ready to take a swing at the guy if necessary. He moved his left foot forward, ready to grab the dagger he kept hidden.
Louie glanced back at Ronnie but went with an easygoing smile and put out his hands, stepping closer to the old saber he hid in the nearby pole, enchanted with a spell Louie had concocted on his own. “Dude, never heard of a good outcome that started with that line.”
The Light Elf grunted and gave a grudging smile. “Somebody wants to trade with you…” The Light Elf leaned in, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was trying to eavesdrop. “On a regular basis. You’re supposed to meet them at these coordinates. Don’t bring nobody.” He sneered at the Gnome, who barked back at him making the Light Elf laugh.
Louie took the message, his brows knit together. “Guy couldn’t come himself. So big he has to send a messenger?”
“More will be clear when you meet with him. Don’t waste the opportunity. Frankly I don’t get it. Why pick someone like you?” The Light Elf curled his lip.
“Pigeon postcard would have been the same but not as stupid.” Ronnie glared at the Light Elf.
“Good one, shortie. Look, message delivered. Word is you’re the most annoying fuck under this tent, which is saying a hell of a lot but you’re not entirely stupid. You want to meet the guy.” The Light Elf walked away before Louie could say anything else and pushed his way into the tent above the protestations of others in line. Everyone let him pass. He had a reputation for slights and getting even on his own timetable.
“What’s it say?” Ronnie tried to look over Louie’s arm.
“It’s just a bunch of coordinates.” Louie knew exactly where they would take him. To a favorite place in the Dark Forest for opening portals.
“You never look that worried. What is it? I’ll go with you. Fuck that guy. You don’t work for him. You can use your own rules. We stand together!” Ronnie was breathing harder, getting himself worked up.
Louie snapped out of it and looked up, slapping Ronnie on the back. “Little dude, it’s okay. Sure, you can trail me but stay out of sight. Per our usual. It’s probably nothing. Some other dealer looking for some inventory.”
“You heard what that scum bag Light Elf said. Trade regularly.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s true. Lots of people throw out deals with their mouth that their ass can’t cash.”
“What?”
Louie shook his head. “Nothing. Some old Earth saying. Look, this thing says he wants to meet in an hour. We better put this stuff away and get a hustle on if you’re gonna be in place when whoever this mystery guy is shows his face.”
“You think we need to get Anthony?”
“We don’t need a gang in the Dark Forest trying to lay low. You’re scrappy, you’re more than enough.”
Chapter Eleven
Louie left Ronnie nestled in tree branches where he’d have the best view and next to vines that would help him scramble down even faster, if necessary. Louie didn’t like admitting it but he was worried about who was showing up to see him. Too many strange things happening lately. This was just another one. Best to meet a challenge head on, though. Louie didn’t run away from things. Miss a lot of nice treasure that way.
He looked down at the heavy bonded paper with gold edges at the coordinates again. This is the spot.
He looked up at where the sun was in the sky and quickly estimated he had the time right. Another bozo. Should have known it. A no show and I left the market for this. Could have made a few sales with that line stuck by my table.
Louie felt the frustration growing inside of him. He didn’t like not being in control of things and this whole gig was starting to make him feel like that was the case. He was just about to go get Ronnie out of the tree and salvage whatever he could of the day when he heard a familiar pop and zin of sparks from behind him. A portal was opening.
He turned cautiously, his hands near his weapons, bracing himself for whatever was coming through the opening from Earth. The hole widened and he found himself looking through to a sterile looking room with a long polished wooden table surrounded by chairs on every side. A man with graying hair in a suit was smiling and holding out his hand through the portal at Louie.
“Hello! You must be Louie. Hard to find you. I’ve been trying to get a message to you for a week. Damn planet… no one uses a last name! Don’t know how you get things done over there.”
Louie stood there, waiting for the man to at least introduce himself and let the jitters burn off.
“Sorry, excuse my manners. So excited to have figured out how to get one of these damn things open successfully. Name’s Charlie Monaghan, CEO of Axiom Industries. One of the largest conglomerates on Earth. I own a lot of companies here on Earth and I’m in need of the services of someone like yourself.”
Louie scratched his chin, waiting for the pitch. He still hadn’t said a word but Charlie was filling in every piece of silence.
“I’m looking for artifacts. Any kind.” Charlie leaned out of the portal toward Louie.
“That’s a little dangerous dude. Thing could snap shut on you at any moment and take y
our head clean off.”
Charlie started and stood back a step inside his boardroom, his eyes wide. Louie could hear a snicker from the nearby tree.
“What are you willing to pay?” Louie kept his expression blank, waiting to hear how far Charlie would go to get what he wanted.
“Name your price as long as we get there first and you give me first right of refusal. Anything I don’t want, you can sell on your own. But I need exclusive rights to your skills. No side jobs. And no skimming from what you find.”
“How do you know I won’t do both of those things.” Honesty was one of Louie’s best and worst traits.
“I don’t but I’ll make it worth your while. No one else, anywhere will pay you more.”
“What do you plan to do with all these artifacts?”
“That a question you regularly ask your buyers?”
“In fact, it is, especially when they’re amassing a stockpile. Seems in my best interests since I’m on this side of the portal.”
“Think of it as preventive measures. Just making sure that my side of things has enough energy to protect us if things go badly. Portals are gonna start opening sooner rather than later, you know. Different story then. We have a deal?”
Louie looked him up and down. “We start slow. I’ll bring you some artifacts. You pay my price in gold coins. I’ll bring you more. Don’t like it, don’t take the deal. Veer from the deal at all, I stop showing up.”
Charlie smiled. It was almost a leer. “Hard bargainer, I can respect that. We have a deal.” Charlie started to put his hand through the portal again but thought better of it. “Meet me here every other day at this hour and we’ll trade. If I don’t see you, I’ll assume you don’t have anything and aren’t the legend other people swear you are.”
Louie could almost feel the Gnome rolling his eyes from where he sat in the tree. “Till then.”
Charlie touched a small metal hammer to something spinning on the table and the portal closed, sending out a spray of gold and silver sparks. At the end was a curious puff of dark mist, barely noticeable.
Louie stood still for a moment listening to the sounds of the forest, reveling in it. The forest was one of his favorite places to be and a long time ago he learned every inch of the forest, maneuvering his way through it, fighting off giant spiders and ducking when he saw a lion with antlers, or a harpy flying overhead. Louie knew every inch of it and thought of it as home.
“You can come down now,” he yelled and listened to the rustling as Ronnie swung down on the vine, landing neatly nearby.
“Good thing that human is such a loud talker. Could hear all the bullshit coming out of his mouth without any trouble at all.”
“I’m gonna do it.”
“What? Don’t tell me you’re believing that load. He’s the slickest one yet.”
Louie shrugged his shoulders. “All of my customers are slick. Who cares? If his gold is real and he brings enough of it then I’ll buy his load too.”
“I don’t like it. Something’s off. I can feel it.”
“Gnomes don’t sense things well, we both know it.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
Louie set off for the market. Maybe there’s still time to do a little business there.
Ronnie stayed close behind him, chattering the whole way. “At least don’t meet him alone.”
“I think I could take the old human.”
“Just promise.”
“Fine, I promise.” Louie was moving faster and faster through the forest. He wanted to take a shortcut to give himself a chance at making the market. What if he’s looking for the sword? Too late. That beauty is mine.
Chapter Twelve
Leira stood outside of the rental car near a planted field in Iowa. “That’s a bad idea. I can’t believe you of all people even came up with it.”
Correk walked the long row of tall plants back and forth, weaving his way closer to Leira. He could feel something under his feet every time he got close to the edges. Need to be sure. He turned and went down a different row, making a hard left, walking for an acre till he got to another edge. There it is again.
He walked to the corner as Leira ran and easily caught up with him. “What are you doing? Are you even listening?”
“Something under the ground here. Getting closer to it.”
“You’re playing a game of hot or cold in a field in Iowa.”
Correk stopped and crouched down, digging in the dirt with his hands. Leira came up behind him and planted her feet, pulling in magic. Correk felt the magic rumbling under the ground and quickly pulled in a stream of energy, running it alongside Leira’s and pulling her back.
Leira let the symbols along her arms fade and shook out her hands. “You could have just said, don’t do that.”
“There wasn’t enough time. I wanted to make sure you didn’t get far with your magic. This field is ringed in artifacts. Someone has deliberately buried them at the edges in spaced intervals. Come right here. Feel it?”
Leira felt the hum under her feet. “That’s some pretty good shit. Why not pull it up with magic? You think it’s a trap?”
“It could be there to help the plants grow even faster and stronger or it could be a trap, or both. Call me crazy, I didn’t want to find out the hard way.”
Leira kicked the dirt with the toe of her running shoes. “Have you ever seen something like this before?”
“Humans on Oriceran have been known to do it. Probably how the humans here got the idea. On Oriceran it’s to warn them of anyone trying to harvest their plants out from under their noses. The artifacts are more like early warning systems.”
“This is Axiom property. Has to be an early warning system for us. Doesn’t want us taking down his operation again.”
“Part of it. We should have brought Yumfuck with us.”
“For comedic relief? You would have had to share your road snacks with him and he can eat more than you do.”
Correk stood up brushing off his hands. “Trolls are superior at burrowing. Like your moles but with more precision. He could have dug one up without disturbing a thing.”
“Very useful info to know and explains a lot of his eating habits, especially around doughnuts.” Leira looked at Correk and the scowl on his face. “Why so serious? We have magic on our side. Usable magic. And we’ve already faced worse. This is your standard issue greedy humans looking to hack the system, come what may.”
“Leira, look around us. There’s miles of these fields and they’re all doing well. That means…”
“Hundreds, maybe thousands of artifacts. Okay, I get your point. Very determined humans do become more dangerous.” And then there’s the droid bug I found. Leira looked out over the field. “You really think using magic right now would be a bad idea.”
“The issue is I’m not sure.”
“Well then…” Leira backed up from Correk and pulled in a steady stream of energy, the fiery symbols lighting up her arms and traveling up her neck. Her eyes glowed as she set an intention and let the magic flow out of her, seeking its targets.
I forgot that about her. She trusts that somehow everything will work itself out, even after everything... Correk pulled in enough energy to keep up with her, watching the symbols along her arms flipping over and over, reeling out information. He could see her strong, glittering magic racing ahead of him, flowing out in a grid-like pattern, glittering across acres and acres. She’s looking for the artifacts heading straight for them.
Leira felt her energy swirling around each artifact, identifying what it was and how strong the energy was in it. More of them than she liked left a dark trail of magic. What does that do to the plants or who eats them? Like Oriceran poison.
Leira kept sending out more energy, crossing over fields, letting the stream of energy divide itself, wrapping like tentacles around each piece. She kept taking deliberate deep breaths and listened to the echo of Turner Underwood in her head. Let the magic do its work. You
follow. Stay focused on your intention. The strongest intention rules. Always.
Leira felt Correk alongside of her and saw his energy flow to the center of the grid and pool there, creating an anchor. Leira’s magic was now lighting up the entire area for miles in neat straight lines in both directions. You can do this.
She sensed what the magic was going to do next and stretched out her arms, her heart beating faster. The ground beneath their feet groaned and shook and split apart in the same neat lines. Dark clouds appeared in the sky overhead and the sound of thunder rolled across the sky.
One by one, the artifacts came to the surface, popping out and falling to the ground. Leira sensed the alarms going off more than heard them. Someone with magical capabilities is working for them. Leira stood her ground, waiting for the last of the artifacts to come spilling to the surface as Correk opened his mouth and sung to the crops. The magic carried the sound out over the fields. The plants infected with dark magic formed brown spots that grew until they consumed the plant, curling them into tight balls on the ground.
A swarm of bees appeared in the distance heading straight for Leira, circling her in a wide oval shape. “Tiny drones,” she shouted.
“Two moons.” Correk’s voice dropped to a whisper as he watched the swarm that spread as far across as an acre. The light glinted off the small metal parts on each bee. “Some seriously fucked up shit is going on here.”
As the last artifact popped through the ground, Leira felt her magic returning to her but suddenly without warning, turn and take a new shape, without her bidding. A swirl of glowing purple mist spread out, creating a low fog across the ground at first. “Great, another fucking mist. Something else trying to drag us to hell.” Leira reached across and grabbed Correk’s hand. “Not losing track of you this time.”
