by Jeff Kish
Sapphire Ambition
The Runics Series
JEFF KISH
Sapphire Ambition by Jeff Kish
© 2017 by Jeff Kish. All rights reserved.
www.runicsbook.com
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:
[email protected]
Encouragement from: Emily Kish
Heavy input from: Tim Kish
Cover by: Donna Harriman Murillo
Powered by: Biggby® Coffee
ISBN: 978-0-9976784-2-0
Dedicated to my tenacious brother
This series wouldn’t be half of what it is today without your tireless efforts.
Chapter 1
“Which way did she go?”
“I’m not sure! Split up and find her!”
The Allerian clutches her prize while hugging a wall in the darkness of the hallway, doing her best to conceal her breathing under her mask. She slips into one of the luxurious mansion’s rooms and is exhilarated by the sight of a lengthy window. To her further delight, the plush carpet adorning the wooden floor silences her footsteps.
“Nothing over here!” a voice calls out from the hallway, lights flickering from beneath the door.
“Sheesh, these guys are filthy rich,” Jem mumbles, marveling over how many light runes they have just for security. She moves to the window, only to be reminded she’s on the second floor.
“Start checking every room! She has to be here somewhere!”
A shiver runs down her spine as they storm into the next room over. “Time to adjust the plan,” Jem whispers to herself as she flings open the shutters. Concerned for her treasure, she leans over the sill and lowers the satchel, hoping to drop it from a safe distance.
The door behind her slams open, startling the thief into dropping her stolen possession to the ground below. “She’s over here!” her aggressors cry, their numbers hidden by the blinding light of their runes.
Jem swings her legs over the window’s edge and recklessly throws herself out. She hits the ground and rolls, absorbing the impact enough to keep moving. With a groan, she grabs her bag and stumbles into a trot.
“She’s outside!”
With her pursuers gaining ground, Jem hurries to the outer gate of the small fortress she invaded. Her back to the wall, the masked thief reaches into her bag to retrieve what she stole, and her eyes widen as she realizes her treasure was broken in two sometime during her escape. Locking the disparate pieces together, she shoves them skyward and shouts, “STOP! OR I’LL BREAK IT!”
The crowd comes to a halt, and a burly thug steps forward. “Give that back now, or we’ll break you.”
“Break me? You!?” Jem retorts. “I’ve fought a commander. You don’t scare me.”
“Do you even realize who-” he bellows before a hand appears on his shoulder. Abruptly, he steps aside to allow his well-dressed, heavy-browed boss through the small crowd.
Jem can’t help a smirk. “I’m guessing you’re Jannal Mor?”
“You are knowledgeable for a rat,” he replies in a deep voice while stroking his white beard. “You know my name, plus it seems you came here explicitly for my rune.”
She glances to the hefty obelite disc in her hands and says quietly, “It’s more my rune than yours.” Lowering the two pieces as one unit, she announces, “You’ll let me leave safely or I’ll break it. I’m sure a collector like yourself would keel over from seeing such a treasure destroyed.”
Jannal studies her as he ponders his options. “It would certainly be ideal if you returned it unharmed. Can we strike a deal?”
“A deal?”
“Name your price,” he replies. “Dropping another thousand or two on that is worth the price to keep it intact.”
“You paid five hundred venni for this,” Jem sneers. “Buying it off an unwitting sailor for a fraction of its worth. Have you no shame?”
“I would lower myself to murder if it meant having that in my collection,” he growls. “Do you intend to push me so far? The choice is yours.”
Jem backs into the wall as Jannal’s men inch closer. “I came to take it for myself. I won’t leave without it.”
Jannal sighs. “Then I’m afraid you won’t leave.” To his lead guard, he says, “If she breaks the disc, it’s on your head.”
The guard doesn’t waste a moment. He charges Jem at full speed, but a sudden earthquake violently rends the ground beneath his feet, and he disappears into a deep fissure. Dust flies everywhere as Jannal and his men cover their mouths and faces.
“About time,” Jem mutters as she lowers the rune, but the tremor isn’t over. The ground continues to shake as it gives out beneath her own feet, and she shrieks as she and several of her adversaries fall into a gaping crevice.
“Get that rune!” Jannal screams from the top of the slope.
Now well below ground level, Jem suddenly realizes the two rune fragments are at her side. “Oops,” she mumbles as she stuffs the pieces into her bag.
“Y-You SCOUNDREL!” the collector bellows at the sight of his broken artifact. “KILL HER!”
His lackeys scramble to their feet, but Jem finds her salvation: a reaching hand that pulls her through the narrow space between the wall and the ground. The two thieves race off into the darkness, leaving the mob within the walls as Jannal can be heard screaming at his guards to give chase.
“They’ll come after us, so we need to move,” Jem advises. “And just what took you so long? If they hadn’t been so chatty, they would have captured me!”
“Hey, that was the deepest hole I’ve ever made!” Era argues. “I had to go under a wall!”
“You said it would take you seconds to do.”
Era sheepishly scratches his dark brown hair with his hand. “Did I say that? Maybe I meant minutes.” As his mantle flutters in the wind, he gratefully says, “I’m just glad I was able to help.”
Jem gives a glance to the sideways cloak tracing Era’s left side, still bound by her emerald necklace, hiding the fact that he has no left arm. For once, she decides to cut her criticism short. “Sure is good to hold my baby one more time,” she says, gripping her bag with one hand. “Should be worth a fortune!”
“Let’s hope so,” Era says. “Because Fire is going to be steamed we did this.”
* * *
“You did what?”
“We got our rune back!” Era exclaims, exaggerating his excitement. “Now when we go to the Academy we’ll-”
“You two had one thing to do. ONE THING,” Fire asserts, holding a single finger upright. “What did I tell you to do?”
Era deeply inhales the crisp morning air, and he leans against a tree to pout. “Do nothing…”
“NOTHING! Do. NOTHING. Why can’t you stay out of trouble for three days?”
“Don’t let her get to you, Era,” Jem says. “Shorty here just can’t handle the fact that we got along fine without her.”
“Have you two completely forgotten the situation we’re in? A single report to the military will send them barreling down on us in moments.” Fire anxiously taps at the weapons hanging from the belt at her waist and says, “We won’t withstand a fight. We need the luxury of staying hidden.”
“We got out without anyone seeing Era,” Jem says, “and I had a mask on, so they never knew I was Allerian. They have nothing to go on.”
“Except you took back your rune,” Fire retorts.
“But won’t this help us?” Era asks. “The Academy might offer big coin for something like this. Even if it’s broken.”
She seems to ponder the notion while p
laying with her short, straight hair. Era finds himself drawn into the deep color of her locks, now fond of the hint of blue dye he once mocked.
“Fire just wants to be in control of everything,” Jem insists, catching Era’s eye. “It was a botched job if she wasn’t involved.”
Fire resolutely crosses her arms. “That’s because you two are incompetent.”
“Care to say that again?” Jem challenges, her temper rising.
“Okay, now, let’s stop with the yelling,” Era eases. “What’s done is done, so let’s just move on to the Academy like we planned.”
“You say that like you ever stick to a plan,” Fire quips.
“It was your decision to come with us,” Jem reminds her. “Just tell us how your end went. Find anything interesting?”
Fire’s mood sours even further. “Brace yourselves. The bounty doubled.”
The two partners meet eyes. They had expected a swift military response, but they still find themselves breathless. “Four… Four million?” Era wonders aloud, his throat dry.
“Needless to say, we’re going to have more pursuers,” she warns. “Fortunately, they don’t have a lead on us like they did when you raided the train. We’ll be fine as long as you follow my directions.”
“Hey, except for the rune, we’ve obeyed your orders,” Era says. “We’ve been waiting here in the woods for three days straight.”
“‘Except for the rune’ as if that were a nuance,” Fire mutters.
“That aside, did you get what you needed?” Era asks.
The redirection calms her down, and Fire pats her side, making a row of iron weapons clink as they dangle from the belt under her shirt. “I’m completely restocked, and it feels good.”
“Got plenty of needles, then?”
“They’re called spikes,” she clarifies while unstrapping a sheathed dagger and extending it to Jem. “Here’s the item you ordered.”
Jem gratefully takes the dagger. “This should be better than my other one,” she comments as she withdraws her half-shattered blade.
“Going to throw it away?” Era asks.
“Nah, might as well keep it as a spare,” she says as she sheathes it once more and straps the new dagger to her other leg.
“Good call,” he replies. “My fake father used to say, ‘Always carry a spare for your spare’.” After a moment, he adds, “Come to think of it, his backpack would have been heavy.”
Fire gives Jem a glance. “Must have been torture spending three days with nothing to do but talk with this guy.”
“Been with him almost two years,” Jem reminds her. “I’d have ditched him long ago if I grew sick of him so easily. Then I would never have gotten myself dragged into all this.”
Era nods. “We’d have never met Di.”
Fire shrugs. “You’d have met her eventually. The military seems to want to collect all of you. What’d they call you?”
“Runics,” Era recalls. “That’s what that Ares guy called me back at the barracks, at least. I sure would like to know what the Academy bigwigs have to say about it.” Pausing, he asks, “So how do we do this?”
“The Allerian stays behind, and the two of us claim to be Di’s relatives,” explains the hunter. “That should be enough to get us an audience with someone who has answers.”
“Hey, why am I always forced to stay behind?” Jem asks, irked.
“Until you can bleach your skin, you’re staying in the woods,” Fire says.
“You two stand out just as much! Era has one arm, and you’re a shrimp.”
Fire takes a deep breath. “The idiot’s cloak covers his handicap. So stop whining like a child.”
Jem forces a sigh. “I’d better not be stuck as the rear guard for the rest of my life.”
Era pats her shoulder reassuringly. “This will be worth it. Di’s shaping and combat skills spiked dramatically after the military captured her, so maybe I can do the same thing now that I know my potential.”
Jem waves him off. “I know, I know. Just be careful in there. It’ll be the first time in weeks you’ve shown your face in public.”
“I can handle things fine. Besides, I have a skilled assassin with me. What could go wrong?”
He happily stomps away in the brush, with the always self-assured Fire following close behind. Jem rolls her eyes as she trails, silently conjecturing whether Fire’s presence will become more of a curse than a blessing.
* * *
The sun is barely rising over the hillside as the trio comes to the edge of the woods. Standing prominently before them are three towers, each stretching above the morning mist and capped with a flat roof. Dwarfed by the impressive pillars, a smattering of more humble buildings form a campus enclosed by a decorative half-wall. A hefty stone archway sits at the edge of campus along the road leading east to Hensi.
“The Arcane Three Pillars Academy…” Jem mumbles in reverence. “I didn’t think it would be so impressive.”
“Really?” Era asks. “Somehow it’s exactly how I pictured it. There are three pillars, after all.”
“Each of those is a massive tower, Era,” Jem corrects. “There are people inside! And I just mean the campus as a whole. There are so many buildings surrounding the original structures.” Marveling again at the scene, she wonders, “How old is this place? I can’t believe they could build such structures back then.”
Fire shrugs her disinterest. “It’s just a bunch of windbag academics trying to look important.” She extends her hand to Jem. “I’ll need your bag with one of the rune halves.”
“Oh, so now it’s useful to you?” Jem quips as she obliges.
Fire slings the satchel over her shoulder. “Come on, gimp. Time to go.” With that, she takes to the path leading to campus.
Era turns to his partner with concern. “If the military happens to be here, Jem, you need to-”
“The military’s not here, Era,” she interrupts. “They don’t know where we are, so stop acting all doom and gloom. Get in there and find out what you can.”
Encouraged, Era says, “Got it. We’ll be back in a couple hours.” He hurries to catch up to Fire, leaving Jem to watch from the edge of the woods.
The campus is already busy despite the early hour. Students and professors of all ages hustle along the paths, each dressed in a colored velvet robe and clutching tomes. Though the two intruders stand out amidst the crowds, each academic is too concerned with his or her own agenda to give them any mind.
“Hey!” Era calls out to one wearing a green robe, earning himself a cold stare from Fire for acting on his own.
The middle-aged passer-by meets Era with clear disapproval. “Yes?”
“Where’s the guy in charge?” he asks directly.
Annoyed by the distraction from his morning activities, he hurriedly replies, “The headmaster is likely in his office in Pillar Two.”
“Thanks!” Era exclaims as he heads toward the middle tower.
“Actually, that’s Pillar One,” the stranger smugly says. “The Pillar to the east is Pillar Two,”
“Why would you put them out of order?” Fire scoffs.
“The pillars are numbered in order from zero to two,” a graying gentleman says as he approaches, himself wearing a black robe.
“You numbered a tower zero?” Era asks in confusion.
“We numbered a pillar zero, yes. After all, the field of advanced mathematics teaches us that numbering starts with zero. Sadly, not everyone is educated enough to understand.”
The student in the green robe chuckles. “Well said, professor. I forget how uneducated the common folk are.”
Fire’s eye twitches, but she refrains from responding and stomps past Era, who offers an apologetic shrug to their guides before catching up to his companion. “Probably best not to take offense,” he offers.
“I hate every last one of them,” she flatly states. “Those two were like Di, multiplied by twenty.”
“Twenty, huh?” Era repeats in
amusement. “Since zero is the first number, does that actually equal nineteen? Or is it twenty-one?”
Fire ignores him as they approach the third pillar. The structure is identical to the other two, cut from stone and stretching to the sky. Students of all ages enter and exit the towers. Era observes the morning traffic and wonders if any of these pupils studied with Di while she was here.
The inside of the tower sports a decorated foyer, as if tourists were a common thing. Fire finds a receptionist sitting behind a weighty desk and barks, “We’re here to see the headmaster.”
The secretary meets her with boredom. “Do you have an appointment with our honorable headmaster?”
“No appointment. We came here to discuss an urgent situation with him.”
His boredom shifts to contempt. “I’m afraid the headmaster is far too engaged to answer the summons of unannounced visitors.”
“Tell him he has five minutes to show himself before I-”
“You had best not be looking for trouble in these esteemed halls,” a voice booms. The black-robed professor standing behind them is nearly as wide as he is tall, towering over the two intruders with suspicion planted on his bearded face. “My name is Charlin Marris, and I’m the dean of the blue garbs. State your need.”
Fire isn’t intimidated. “I already stated my need. I’m here to see your pompous-”
“What she’s trying to say,” Era intervenes, “is that we’re here about our cousin, Di. She was a student here until a few weeks ago, and we’re desperate to find her.”
Surprise washes over the dean. “You’re here about Di Venelli?”
Era is relieved. A small part of him was expecting to relive his failed investigation at Canterin. “Looks like you knew her.”
“Of course I knew Di. Her situation was… rather unique. Perhaps we can both benefit from a conversation.” He motions for them to follow and says, “Please, follow me.”
He leads the visitors to a door, but, to their surprise, he opens it to reveal what is seemingly nothing more than a closet. Still, he motions for them to enter. “After you.”
