by M. Gregg Roe
“Perhaps you could fly us back,” he said to her, already tired. That should be straightforward now that they were in an area dominated by tall grass and gentle hills.
“Look,” Rosalind said, pointing south. “Do you see the smoke? I think there’s a village there.”
“I don’t recall anyone mentioning one being one in this area,” he commented. But she was right about the smoke. Thin columns rose upward from several places, just as one would expect.
“Me neither.” She turned around. “Maybe they’re not friendly. We’ll ask after we get back.” Her face tensed in concentration as she invoked the necessary spell.
Flying, it didn’t take long at all to return to Tritown. And despite being out in the sun, it was cooler because of the breeze created by their motion. But it startled him when she rose much higher as they approached the village and landed them on the keep’s roof. Still, they were home. That was what mattered.
[ 25 ]
Defending Herself
With a serene expression, Grasapa said, “And now I would like for everyone to attack Audrey.”
Audrey hesitated only briefly before heading for the nearest corner of the classroom, but one of her fellow students still beat her to it. Sitting back in a defensive stance, he bared his teeth in a feral grin. She saw that the other three students had occupied the remaining corners and that their instructor was now standing in the room’s sole doorway. It was four to one, and she was surrounded. And she needed to keep an eye on Grasapa in case the woman decided to join in. She had said everyone, after all.
Faced with such a situation in the real world, Audrey had many options. She could teleport away. She could magically enhance her speed and strength and fight it out. Or she could make use of her arsenal of magical weaponry to either slay or frighten off opponents. But this was an advanced Shorinken class at Xlee’s Martial Arts Academy, so she had no choice but to rely solely on her training and natural ability.
Even that required restraint. Unlike her fellow students, Audrey had received intensive combat training. She knew how to break bones and destroy joints. Back when she had been an adventurer, that had been a necessity. It was often kill or be killed. But now it meant that she had to limit herself. Causing any injury beyond light bruising would earn her a severe reprimand.
Taking the offensive, Audrey launched herself at the least-experienced student. She managed to defeat both him and the woman who came to his aid, but she then fell to a coordinated attack launched by the other two students, who had plenty of time to prepare. Lying flat on her back on the padded floor, she waved an arm in surrender and smiled sheepishly at them.
After helping Audrey to her feet, Grasapa said, “Tell us what you did wrong.”
Audrey could hear the disapproval in her teacher’s voice. That meant that she had made a fundamental mistake. Was it that she had reacted too slowly? Even fighting from a corner, her victory wasn’t guaranteed. Her fellow students would soon have figured out a way to get her out in the open. Then the realization struck.
“I should have made straight for the door,” Audrey said, feeling embarrassed. It seemed obvious now. She could have just run out into the hallway and made her escape. Or she could have fought while standing in the doorway, making it impossible for them to surround her. What had she been thinking?
After an acknowledging nod, Grasapa turned to address the other students, now standing in a loose group. “We fight only when necessary,” she lectured in an even tone. “There is no shame in fleeing, particularly when outnumbered or facing a superior foe.”
The rest of the class involved pair exercises that resembled slow-motion combat. After they had all lined up and bowed, Audrey obeyed Grasapa’s gesture and remained in the room while the others filed out.
“Sorry,” Audrey said, after Grasapa had closed the door. “I’m not setting a very good example.” She actually taught this class part of the time.
“You provided an instructive example,” Grasapa countered, standing relaxed. “The more skilled one becomes in combat, the more difficult it is to flee a confrontation.” She smiled slightly. “It is even more of a problem when one believes themselves to have skill without actually possessing it.”
Audrey laughed, knowing that the woman was referring to one of her former adventuring companions from her youth. No one had been more delusional about his fighting skills than Roho, and yet the infamous dwarf warrior now had a city named after him, in fact the one where Grasapa and her husband now resided.
“Would you care to have lunch?” Grasapa inquired. “I am returning home this afternoon.”
That would be by ship. Audrey could have just teleported the woman home, but she knew better than to offer. “I’d love to,” Audrey told her. “I’ve got an intermediate class to teach this afternoon, but I’m free until then.”
After changing out of their unbleached linen uniforms and cleaning up, the two of them set out for The Watch, a favorite of both of theirs. It was still hot outside, but not as hot as it had been. After making the short walk, they requested a table in a quiet corner.
“I don’t know why I’m looking,” Audrey said, then put down the menu. “I almost always order the chicken and noodles.” It was the first thing that she had ever eaten there. She still hadn’t figured out how they made the noodles so tasty. Hers never turned out that well.
“I believe I will have that as well.” Grasapa held up a hand to signal the waiter.
When Audrey had first come to live in the Witch’s City, she had been illiterate, ignorant, and sadly plump. Almera had addressed the first two issues. The woman had taught Audrey many things, as well as hiring a tutor for her. But it was the rather dull-looking woman with the odd name who had taken care of the other issue. One free self-defense lesson had awakened Audrey to possibilities she had never imagined. Shorinken training had transformed her, both physically and mentally.
Grasapa had named her school after Xlee, the man who had been her teacher and mentor. Bennet and Zalina, a married half-elf couple with one child, now ran the school. But whenever Grasapa was in the Witch’s City, she stopped by, sometimes offering instruction as she had done today.
After the waiter brought them goblets of water, Grasapa said, “How are you faring, Audrey?”
The question wasn’t unexpected. “I’m still following my plan.”
Grasapa merely nodded in response. She had been the one to suggest that Audrey needed to organize herself better, to plan out her immediate future, to stop acting on impulse. That had helped immensely during those first few months when Audrey was struggling to come to terms with the immense responsibility and what she had become.
“I heard that Rosalind moved to Tritown,” Grasapa said casually. It made sense that she knew. The woman’s daughter lived in Wineton, where Rosalind’s former temple was located.
“That was my doing,” Audrey admitted. She told Grasapa all about how both Ferikellan and Rosalind had come to work for her in Tritown, and about their experiments.
Grasapa frowned slightly. “I have never thought seriously about the plight of those that dwell within the Gray Forest. Even in my youth, I had access to healing magic. Unlike yourself.”
It was a reminder of all the people that had perished in Farmerton from injuries and diseases that wouldn’t have been fatal in the Witch’s City. That, sadly, included her cousins’ father, who had died from a severe fever.
The arrival of their food snapped Audrey out of her reverie. The dish was as flavorful as always. She ordered pudding for dessert, but Grasapa declined, saying, “I can no longer eat the way I did in my youth.”
After walking the woman who meant so much to her to her ship, Audrey gave her a tight hug. Then she headed back to Xlee’s Martial Arts Academy. This afternoon she would be the instructor.
It had become a point of contention. Every time Audrey got together with Conrad, he asked how she was feeling, obviously worried about how assembling the blocks was affecting her. H
er attempts to reassure him, whether terse or lengthy, didn’t seem to be having much effect. His concern was sweet, but also annoying.
It was all becoming rather trying. Ermizad wanted updates at least twice a month, sending nagging letters if Audrey was tardy. Mardan kept coming up with additional questions, sometimes even showing up at her cottage to ask them. That had forced Audrey to tell her cousins about the castle and then take them to see it. Draymund and Saxloc also wanted to see it, wasting more of her time. After finally taking an interest, Ferikellan had expressed deep misgivings. And what was up with Rosalind’s gworn? Audrey had never met one that didn’t have the type of personality that made you want to slap them. Harbik was so polite it was disconcerting.
Tonight was show and tell. After they finished cleaning up Conrad’s kitchen following their meal, she told him they were going to travel to the castle site, so he could experience block-joining firsthand.
“We’re going there by magic?” he asked, failing to hide his nervousness.
“Teleportation,” she said, enunciating the word carefully. “It’s instantaneous. And painless.”
He didn’t reply, and she could tell that he was trying to come up with reasons to refuse. No matter what he claimed, the man found magic somewhat frightening, and he was far from alone in that.
With two quick steps, she moved directly in front of him and willed the teleport. After blinking several times, he slowly looked around. “See,” she said. “Quick and painless.”
Conrad rubbed his beard. “You could live anywhere you wanted.”
The non sequitur left her momentarily speechless. “Not if I want my abilities to remain secret,” she finally said.
After nodding thoughtfully, he began to explore the area. Clover and a type of grass that spread by putting out runners now covered much of what had been barren ground. Some trees and bushes had been restored to health by the end of the drought, but not all. Squirrels and other small wildlife were also returning.
Audrey waited by the base of the second tower for Conrad to finish his inspection. Only two layers high, this tower was just as slim as the first one. That one now stood over six yards high, as did sections of both walls that attached to it. Floor triangles continued to appear, but there was still no sign of any internal structure. It was going to be one weird castle.
“This one goes here,” she said when he returned, pointing to a block nearby and then to the proper location. Experience now allowed her to quickly spot matching patterns. “Be careful of your fingers when you’re placing it,” she advised after he squatted down and lifted the block with both arms. That sometimes made it awkward.
With a look of resignation, he placed the block on top of the others, but too far out of position to trigger the joining. He pushed tentatively on the left side until it suddenly snapped into place with the familiar sound. Eyeing the block warily, he took a step back. “I’ve never felt anything like that,” he breathed with a worried expression.
“Are you all right?” she asked, noting his pallor and unsteadiness.
Instead of answering, he sat down next to the block he had placed. His eyes had a glassy look that concerned her, but his breathing was slow and regular.
“You do this every day?” he suddenly asked.
“Not every day,” she shot back. “I come here when I have some free time. I’m used to it. It’s like developing a tolerance for alcohol.”
“That makes sense,” he said, creasing his brow slightly.
“I’ll ask Priestess Rosalind to examine me again,” she promised, hoping to further reassure him.
The silence stretched as he went back to thinking. Audrey swatted at a pesky bee, wondering where the hive was located. But that was also a sign that the area was recovering.
“If the magic in the blocks runs out,” he said slowly, back to rubbing his beard, “will it be possible to separate them again?”
“I have no idea,” she confessed. For all she knew, they might disintegrate into a mass of reddish-brown sand.
He stood, and she gave him a gentle hug before teleporting them back. Judging by the question, Conrad the carpenter was back to his usual self.
By the time she departed the alchemist shop, Audrey was in a testy mood. The owner was much too nosy for her liking. He had fulfilled Rosalind’s order but was desperately curious to know what it was for. She had pretended ignorance until he finally gave up.
After teleporting to the keep, she found Rosalind sitting at the small table in her bedroom, perusing a book. Her face lit up when Audrey handed over the package, and Rosalind quickly removed the wrapping paper to reveal four hand-sized blocks of colored wax, two light blue and two dark green.
“Which is which?” Rosalind asked, gazing down at them.
“The blue wax melts at a lower temperature than the green,” Audrey explained, having listened to the alchemist’s proud exposition on the subject. It was a clever way to use the copper cubes to send two different signals. If you found both types of wax melted, that indicated urgency.
“I’ll have to experiment to get the heat levels correct,” Rosalind said as she re-wrapped one block of each color. “Don’t set up your end until tomorrow morning.”
Audrey picked up the wrapped blocks and stowed them in her belt pouch. All she needed to do was put a small piece of each type of wax on top of her cube and then remember to check it regularly. And there was no reason the melted wax couldn’t be reused multiple times. They might never need more of the custom-made waxes.
“How was your trip outside?” Audrey asked, still somewhat miffed that they had refused her offer to escort them through the Gray Forest. Teleporting them hadn’t been an option because she couldn’t teleport living things either into or out of the Gray Forest. Her casual mention of that fact had piqued both their interests.
“It was shorter than planned,” Rosalind replied. She described the area where they had camped and the storm that had struck. “We returned near a village that’s east of here,” she continued. “Birchbark told us that the original inhabitants had all been killed, and that the people living there now are insular.”
Audrey knew all about the current inhabitants, but their secrets weren’t hers to share. “They really do prefer to be left alone, but they sometimes come to Tritown to trade.”
Rosalind shrugged. “Unless they’re ogres, they’ll stand out here. Don’t worry. Ferikellan and I won’t go to their village uninvited.”
“How is the potion research going?” Audrey asked, more to change the subject than because she was interested.
“We’ve determined that there are at least three different types of humanoid blood,” Rosalind said, gesturing. “Some types mix properly and some don’t. We don’t really understand it, especially since any type of blood from the Gray Forest will work. When you have time, I’d like to go back to that cavern and look for books that might help.”
“That might be awhile,” Audrey told her, thinking of her busy schedule.
“That’s fine. How is the castle going?”
It was a reminder of her promise. “Also fine. Can you check my health?”
Rosalind sprang to her feet with a look of concern. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I just promised Conrad I would ask you.” Audrey shrugged. “I feel fine.”
Following Rosalind’s instructions, Audrey sat down on the chair and remained motionless as the half-elf cast a spell and performed the magical examination, passing her glowing hands over every part of Audrey’s body.
“What is it?” Audrey asked after Rosalind finally finished.
Rosalind hesitated for far too long. “I don’t like what I’m sensing from your brain. When was the last time you joined blocks?”
“Yesterday,” Audrey replied. But it had been quite a few.
“Join no more blocks until I say you can,” Rosalind ordered. “And come back here tomorrow afternoon for another examination.”
“Okay.” Audrey stood and picked
up the package from the desk. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The issue preyed on Audrey’s mind for the rest of the day and kept her from sleeping well that night. But the next day Rosalind told her that everything was normal. That was a tremendous relief.
Orcs were threatening Audrey’s castle, and she was not happy. She rolled her eyes as yet another red-fletched arrow made from dark wood shattered against her invisible shield. The orc shaman—recognizable because he was carrying a staff with a red-painted skull on top of it—whispered to the orc chieftain, probably telling him that her protective spell would eventually wear off. Ha! She didn’t even have to activate that power. It came on automatically and would even stop stones hurled by giants (or catapults). She yawned as two more arrows met their end yards short of her. It really was too early for this kind of thing.
There were about thirty orcs armed with a variety of weapons and wearing mis-matched armor. (The chieftain had the best armor, but the iron scale mail was probably weighing him down.) Even though they had a shaman, this definitely wasn’t one of the more successful orc tribes. They were probably wanderers, relying on theft and robbery to survive.
Not long after dawn, a flashing surveillance alert accompanied by a warning tone had woken Audrey. It was the crystalloids, and the early hour meant that time was of the essence. That was why she was now standing between the orcs and the partly built castle, attired in wrinkled clothing and still wearing her slippers. (She knew she had forgotten something.) Her hair was also an utter mess, which might explain why they weren’t taking her seriously.
If she hadn’t been so lazy, she might still be sound asleep in her bed. Over a month had passed, so the Collector should have finished restoring the other constructs by now. But that was of no use if she didn’t transport them to the site and give them orders to defend it.
