by G. K. Lund
Damyan managed a thank you though and headed for the front door.
“Thanks again,” I told Del and followed him, only to be stopped by him blocking the now open door.
“Damyan?” I tried peering over his shoulder, but he stepped back and slammed the door shut.
“What’s going on?”
“My father’s out there.” There was worry and fear in his eyes.
“What? Let me see?” I pushed him aside and opened the door. He wasn’t wrong. Out in the square, hovering slightly above the ground, was his father. Or his father’s fetch, as it were. It was merely floating there. I got the feeling he was waiting for something.
“That’s a fetch all right,” Del said, so close by I startled. I hadn’t heard her approach. “Now that I can sense him, I know it’s not a ghost. That spirit is pure magic and life force.”
“Why is it just floating there?” Damyan asked, though he didn’t come closer to the door to watch.
Del shrugged. “My wards, I assume. It would take a lot to break through the magical barriers I’ve set up around my shop.”
So I was right about that then.
“I think you should hurry though,” she went on, eying the apparition with interest, rather than fear. There were a few people out there too, but the fetch didn’t pay them any attention. They seemed to think it weird enough to stay clear of, walking around it in big circles.
“Why?”
“I sense more magic than life force in him. The one who’s controlling the actual man seems to tap a lot out of that resource.”
“That boil slurper!” Damyan blurted and neared the door again.
“I suppose that sums it up,” I said and grimaced. I nodded at him nonetheless, and together we walked over Del’s threshold. Time to test our new weapon.
We walked with measured steps into Pingbrook square. The cherub fountain stood next to the fetch, which didn’t react at all to the spray of water.
“This is so weird,” I whispered at Damyan. The fetch seemed to have a one-track mind, not caring about anything other than getting the Glory of Avalon. I could probably have started singing and dancing in the square, and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Like a ghost, it wasn’t a living thing, but its only want was its master’s demand. To get the sapphire back.
“Why isn’t it doing anything?” Damyan asked.
“Maybe it wants to talk?” I suggested. I knew it was capable of speech, albeit not very many words.
“Nuh-uh,” Damyan said. We’d taken another step, and that had to be the boundary of Del’s magic wards because the fetch jerked into motion.
Damyan and I froze at the sight of the oncoming nightmare; the twisted face, mouth ever moving, the eyes almost glowing in anger. Run back inside? Or stay?
Running back inside wouldn’t get us to the order, though. I shoved my hand in a pocket and my fingers enclosed on one of Del’s vials. This was a good time to test them.
I yanked it out and hurled it at the fetch. The vial hit it square on but it bounced off his chest and fell to the ground where it broke and the liquid sprayed onto its feet and legs while turning to a hissing fog-like vapor. The fetch screamed and twisted, its movements halted. Then it screamed louder, eyes glowing in horror this time as it advanced again.
Another vial broke in front of it. Damyan was already retrieving another from his pocket, and I did the same. We separated and ran each our way to come at the fetch from the sides, throwing the vials at it, and hearing the piercing scream it gave when the potion hurt it, much like my dagger had, though with less effect.
People were running around us, their cries of panic and fear mixing with the fetch’s. I flung another vial at its head and it broke, the vapors hissing, choking out the scream, and like before, the fetch vanished.
Damyan and I stopped moving, just tried breathing a moment.
“Well, I supposed the DMA worked. Maybe not as efficiently as I hoped, but…”
We both glanced at Del, who stood leaning against her doorway, arms crossed while she was watching us.
I sucked in a breath and straightened up. “DNA, but yeah. I’m glad you made a few.”
“Oh, no worries,” she shot us a wide grin and nodded. “Anyway, you should go. Someone’s bound to have called the constabulary.”
I glanced around, realizing there wasn’t a soul to see in the usually busy square. Del was right. Someone would call the cops, and I did not want to be here for that. My uncle would have a fit. Damyan didn’t have to be asked twice either, considering his eagerness to leave when I indicated our direction with a sideways nod, shouting my thanks to Del again as we left the area at a run.
We slowed to a walk a few blocks away, not willing to attract the constabulary should they come running in the opposite direction. Instead, we kept to a brisk pace, the order our goal. There must have been some sedative-like compound in Del’s green concoction because Damyan moved with more ease now.
I wondered how long the potion would keep the fetch away. I’d thought my dagger had banished the fetch for quite a while, but I had no idea how long it’d been hovering out there in Pingbrook square before we came out. I could only hope we’d reach the order before its return so we could resolve this directly with Melleta. What had happened to her? We’d been on friendly terms in the Red Kin. Not the closest mind you, more like acquaintances. We’d gotten along well enough. She’d been devoted and faithful to Kerwyn Bowden, and I could see why. She must have honestly believed every word he’d spewed about magic users for her to find comfort there. She was a magic-user. Or had perhaps not been one while in the Kin. Maybe the continued monotony of the Order of the Learned and the Reflective had gotten to her. She’d spent two years hiding behind those walls, waiting for an opportunity to leave Atlantis. Maybe I’d have turned a little crazy myself if it had been me.
“The gate’s a no-go,” Damyan said when we arrived at the order house. I stared up at the wall and the wide gate doors. He was right. We needed to deal with the fetch and Melleta both, but first I needed to figure out if Loki was all right. The only thing I knew for sure was that he wasn’t possessed anymore. So why hadn’t he come out? Had Melleta hurt him? Or had being possessed by something that was not a ghost hurt him?
“Well,” I said and glanced down along the wall that surrounded the property. “I’m sure a member of the Thieves’ Guild knows another way inside.”
Damyan huffed at me but led the way along the fence. We were walking along the building on the right-hand side when seen from the gate, and almost, to my judgment, came to the middle building with the antechamber. There, the fence took a ninety-degree turn left, but he stopped before that. He moved back-and-forth sideways a bit as he checked something on the fence wall.
“There are notches from wear and tear here, but if I give you a boost, you should reach the top of the fence.”
“Okay? And then what?”
“There’s a narrow gap between the fence and the roof. About three feet or so. No one ever goes back there unless they’re raking up leaves or having sex.”
“Good to know.” Considering there weren’t more than a couple of people and a fetch in there, I doubted either activity would be happening there right now. “I think I’ll remain unseen.”
“Go find your friend. I’ll give you a few minutes.”
“Why? Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Not a good idea if Melleta sees us together.”
I considered this, but he was right. At the moment, Melleta thought I was helping her, not Damyan.
I raised my foot, knee bent, as my agreement, and Damyan folded his hands and gave me a boost up. I caught the edge of the fence and immediately realized I wasn’t Spider-woman.
“Lift your left foot a bit, slightly to the left. You’ll find a small indent in the fence,” Damyan said from below. It was next to impossible to see in the dark, but some awkward fumbling, while my arms burned, led to me finding the small foothold. It allowed me to lift m
yself some more and get a better hold up there. It wasn’t elegant, but soon I rolled onto the top of the fence which was luckily wide enough for a person to lie on. It wasn’t all that thief-proof, though. The order must have spent money on having it built, but maybe their biggest problem had been drunk partyers peeing in their fountain.
I sat up and saw only darkness between the house and the fence. Still, I knew how far the drop would be, so I lowered myself between the two, a hand on the fence, another on the cooled tiled roof. When my arms burned from holding my body up again, I let go and landed with an unfortunate “ooof!” I didn’t think Melleta was snooping about back there anyway and dusted dead leaves and dust off my jeans and nothing else I hoped, considering Damyan’s mention of the activities people got on with there. I made my way along the house, back in the gate's direction. I wanted to check on Loki, and the last place I’d seen him was in the building that ran parallel to this one.
The burble of the fountain reached me when I approached the corner of the building. I peeked around it, but it was quiet. Not a soul to see. The lights were on in the other building, and when I sneaked around the short end of the wall, I could see this was the case with the middle building as well. It seemed excessive considering Melleta and Helios were the only ones here, but maybe they were afraid of the dark? Hardly likely.
The sand rustled softly under my shoes when I ventured into the courtyard. Not only were the lights on in the large common room where Loki and I had first entered, but the front door was wide open. Had it been like this since I left? That was yesterday. I peeked inside and two things were confirmed for me. Loki was no longer there, and there were all kinds of insects buzzing around, enjoying the light and the spoiled food.
“Emery?”
I jolted and saw Melleta by the front door to the middle building, her hand still on the doorknob.
“Yes,” I managed and moved away from the door I was at. “It’s me.” I drew a silent breath and steeled myself as I walked back into the sandy garden and a little closer to her.
“Did you find him? Did you find the gem?” Her voice sounded friendly, but now that I knew better, I could hear the urgency in it. It was like nothing mattered but the sapphire.
“Um, not quite.”
“What?” she snapped, then seemed to remember herself. She forced a bemused look. The worst part was that I now realized she’d always been like this. Sharp-tounged and quick to complain about others. We’d just had the same goal for so long, and no one trusted each other inside the Kin anyway, so I’d paid no attention to what it might mean. She’d never been on my back before, so I’d never noticed.
“Did you not catch him then?” she asked, her voice under control again.
“Oh yes. Got my dagger back and everything,” I told her and indicated the pair which were now reunited on my hip.
“And?”
I shrugged. “He got away. That ghost showed up.”
“Ah…”
“Yeah so…”
“Why did you sneak in here then?”
I smiled and took a chance. “I had to sneak in. I knocked on the gate. You didn’t answer.” I hoped she hadn’t been somewhere where she could hear. “Neither did Helios. Where is he, by the way?”
“Helios is busy.” She made a gesture toward the building behind her, making her yellow robe flutter around her.
“Right. Well, when that ghost showed up, without my partner’s body, I figured I’d come looking for him. Seen him?”
Melleta eyed me for a long time.
“Melleta?”
“No. I have not seen him. Maybe he went home?”
Doubtful, since my home was now his for the unseeable future and he wasn’t there. “No, I checked.”
Again, Melleta paused as she stared at me. “Are you sure you’re telling me everything, Em?”
“Of course.”
“You didn’t find the gem?”
“I don’t have it.”
She stepped closer. “That’s not really what I asked.”
Crap!
“You know,” she said and pushed her robe back a bit with a flick of her hands. “I always wondered how a dum-dum like you could rise so high in the Kin.”
“Melleta?”
“I knew you were a favorite of Kerwyn’s but not once did I see, or hear of him, sleeping with you.”
“Uh… no.” What in the realms was she on about? The man had never even tried to come on to me. And yes, he’d had favorite lovers often enough among the Kin.
“What the hell kind of use would he have for such an imbecile as you then?”
The daggers, was my guess, not that that made me any wiser. “Maybe we should focus on the task at hand?” I held my hands up defensively.
“You’re not a good liar, Emery.” She laughed at that and magic flared from her hands, ripping into reality and forming like fiery orbs in her hands. “Give me the gem.”
“Yeah, I truly don’t have it.”
Melleta wasn’t listening. She threw one orb after me and I dove sideways, hitting the sand and rolling.
“What the hell? How’s killing me going to help?” I ran so I got the fountain between us. I drew my daggers, the only defense I had.
Melleta snorted. “Who said I’m going to kill you?” She threw another orb, and I ducked. The fire magic hit the fountain. Water and pieces of concrete and stone sprayed on me. I noticed new orbs appeared in her hands and she threw them. She would not run out anytime soon.
I skittered back and forth like some agitated goalie, trying to anticipate where she’d aim next. When the subsequent fiery orb flew from her hand, it was more instinct than anything that saved my hide. I rolled to break my fall, grateful for the fine-grained sand. Clouds of dust flew around me.
Melleta was quick, though. Another orb soared toward me, and I bent backward and raised my daggers to a pathetic crossed little shield in front of my face. My heart pounded, and I screamed inside my head at the oncoming danger. There was no time to scream out loud. A flash of light burst in front of my face, the fire spreading out and disappearing into the dark.
“What the—” I stared dumbfounded around the courtyard. My face had not melted. If it wasn’t for the fact that Melleta was doing the same shocked staring, she could have struck me for real right then.
“How did you do that?” she asked and then remembered herself, flinging more orbs my way.
I wasn’t one to question how it worked as long as it did.
The fiery orbs were flung at me at greater speed now, but I dodged and swung away while deflecting them with my daggers. If I didn’t let the daggers get passively hit by her magic, I could send the orbs flying by slashing them, in a sense pushing them away. Magic repellent daggers indeed.
Melleta screamed in rage at my newfound defense. Sand whipped around her feet as she hurled her magic toward me. Brick, mortar, and wood sprayed everywhere due to the orbs ricocheting off my daggers, hitting the fence and walls. The poor horse in the fountain was now both headless and missing a leg.
“Stop it!” I yelled at her and ducked, an orb crashing into the gate doors behind me. “We can work this out!”
“You’re working with that thief, aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
Melleta whirled around on the other side of the broken fountain and then hurled orbs after me while she ran sideways. I caught the first three with my daggers, and dove to the ground to avoid the last.
“You’re such a terrible liar,” Melleta shouted at me.
I rolled to get up, not chancing on staying in one place long enough for her to hit me.
“Did you not think I’d notice when you banished my servant?”
I had not thought of that, but I wasn’t surprised. She’d likely had to summon the fetch anew each time.
An orb slammed into the sand a couple of feet from me and I twisted to avoid the spray of sand reaching my eyes. I could feel the wave of heat from the fire, though. I was pretty sure Melleta wo
uld tire of this, but my money was on me getting worn out first. I needed to change that. She hurled evermore magical force my way, and I tried controlling my slashes, adjusting the angles, getting the orbs to strike back at her. One landed a few feet in front of her, a cloud of dust and sand exploding at her feet. By then, I’d figured it out. Luckily, she hadn’t. She sent another two straight for me, and I crouched slightly, and then swung my daggers, slashing at the orbs, one after the other. The first nearly hit the side of her face as it flew by. She screamed in shock and didn’t see the other one before it hit her in the shoulder and sent her flying backward before she landed ass first in the sand.
I was already stepping sideways to avoid a new attack, but skidded to a halt and stared at her lifeless form.
I panted hard, staring in disbelief. “No way!”
Chapter Twelve
I stared in awe at the daggers in my hands. I hadn’t known they could do that. Good to know.
My steps sounded awfully loud when I approached Melleta. She lay on the ground, unconscious, yellow robe splayed around her on the sand. She’d hit her head on the edge of the fountain on her way down. The fiery orb deflected by my daggers had struck her shoulder. The fabric was burned away there, and the skin was red and blistering. Water kept on flowing from the broken fountain though, so I sheathed my daggers and cupped my hands in it, and poured several fills over her burning skin, hoping it would help. Realizing I had people to look for, I knew I couldn’t sit there like that. Besides, Melleta could wake up. I needed to restrain her before that. Too bad I didn’t have a magical inhibitor like she did. I doused the corner of her robe with water and lay it over her burn wound. It was the best I could do under the circumstances.
I needed something to bind her with, so I headed into the building where we’d first seen the fetch. It was still messy from the attack, but there was no rope to be seen. I walked further inside, over the fallen hutch, and into the utility room where Loki had been possessed by the fetch. There, at least, I found some rope coiled up in a cabinet. I also picked up Loki’s sword, which hadn’t been moved. I stopped for a moment, taking it all in, but heard or saw nothing. It was eerily quiet. Melleta must not have cared for anything but retrieving the gem. I guessed that she’d leave here the moment she got her hands on it.
