by Dixon, TJ
“Follow me.” I give the first command since we arrived and then port to the cave. Everyone follows my port trail immediately. In front of me are six girls tied up and bobbing up and down in a huge cauldron of icy water. Around it are hungry goblins. No, around it is ash from the hungry goblins that I just killed. I port the girls out of the cauldron as my mages defend us from the other enemies.
“Cave in.” The mage besides me says and we port out just before the cave collapses. We are just outside the cave and defending against an even stronger wave of goblins than before. I sense an enemy that fills my heart with terror.
“On my word, back home. Now!” I call out and my voice clearly shows my fear. We port back and I sigh in relief.
“You apprehended the criminals.” A warm but false sounding voice says from behind me. Not sensing her presence I spin in surprise.
“Who are you?”
“Mayor Perry.”
“This land is not under your rule.”
“Oh, good gracious me… I come all this way to be of assistance and this is how I am greeted.” She says faking offence rather well in everything, except for her eyes.
“Assistance with what exactly?” I reply not even trying to hide my annoyance.
“With the apprehension of the treasonous criminals. I assure you the Queen will be delighted if you turn them over to me for immediate execution.”
“I assure you the Queen will certainly not allow such an outrageous action.”
“I have already executed the ring leader.”
“The ring leader?”
“Peter, of the wind.”
“You executed him.” I say and laugh loudly. “There is no way an insignificant mage like you could so match as scratch Peter of the Wind.”
“Insignificant mage… A little girl like you has no idea what I am capable of. Very well… I will execute you as well.” Mayor Perry says and every mage around me readies herself for battle. Despite my bravado I know that Mayor Perry is one of the immortals and will not be so easily beaten. I have no choice but to fight though. I can already sense that porting is impossible.
Throwing my flames at her I wish that we weren’t already worn from battle. Her attack throws me into the air and against the house wall. I hear another mage from my guard hit the wall just after me. I throw my flames back at Perry again but in moments half my guard have been thrown about like leaves in the wind. She isn’t even serious. She’s just playing with us.
“Traitor Perry.” I hear a cold voice and suddenly the battle has turned. Our flames may have been of no concern to her, but mother’s flames are a different matter. Flame and wind strike against each other like two giants battling for supremacy.
“I see your whole family are traitors.” Perry spits back and her next attack collapses a corner of our home.
“You are the traitor, Perry!” Mother spits back and Perry barely holds her flame back. After a few moments though Perry does manage to send it back towards mother. Then another moment later it is racing back at Perry. I notice in that moment that Perry’s hair was singed. She looks none too happy.
My flames whilst strong simply cannot compare to mother’s flames even at the best of times. Having fought the goblins mine are now too weak to make even the slightest difference. I focus on what I can do. Now the port barrier is down, because Perry is focusing everything on fighting mother, so I port the girls and my injured guards to me. I take out healing potions and heal my guards. Then I quickly burn away the ropes, whilst making sure not to hurt the girls. They are freezing cold from the icy water so I use flames to warm them and use a different potion to heal them.
“Where am I?” One of them asks.
“No time to explain.” I say and it is true. Because we are here mother cannot use her full power. Now I am sure they are ok I port us all to the royal palace waiting room, and pray that the enemy is not here too. There are exclamations from the group of girls who asked for our help. It seems they are still waiting to see the Queen. There is also a woman who I am sure I recognise.
“Trinity Divine Flame. Is this the best you can do against mere goblins?” The woman says looking down her nose at me.
“Goblins didn’t do this.” I say wondering whether I can trust her. She looks at me for a moment.
“What did?” She asks sounding genuinely concerned.
“A traitor. Mayor Perry.”
“Where?” She asks urgently.
“My home.” I say. “Mother is fighting her now.”
“I will be back. If our turn comes before I am back you must take the lead.” She says and ports away.
“Who was that?” I ask the girls.
“That was Lucy’s mother.” One of the girls says. “We didn’t get the chance to introduce ourselves earlier. I’m Rin, this is Yu Kii, Emma, Yusa, Midori and Helski.”
“There were five of you earlier.” I say noticing there are now six.
“Yu Kii went to get Lucy’s mother.” Rin says. She took the lead earlier if I remember correctly. She must be their leader. “Thank you for saving our friends. Have you been introduced yet?”
“No.” I say still trying to remember who that lady was.
“This is Hermes, Jenny, Lilian, Tabi, Cherry and Sherry.” Rin says pointing to each of them in turn, although she points at both Sherry and Cherry at the same time. Since they look identical I suppose she can’t tell those two apart any more than I can. They are all clearly in shock from what happened earlier.
“Thank you!” Hermes says throwing herself to the floor. The others do the same and I feel embarrassed.
“No problem. Get up though.” I tell them. They do but they keep their gaze on the ground. “Have you heard anything else yet?”
“No.” Rin says sounding worried.
“The Queen has granted audience to Lady Elena Fillia, and to Ragia Divine Flame.” A woman announces. I remember where I saw that lady. Elena Fillia was a close relation to the old Queen, and an immortal. I saw her at a party a few years ago. The woman realises that neither my mother nor Elena Fillia are still here. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“I will go in my mother’s place. They are dealing with a traitor, who would bring harm to Contractia and the Queen.”
“If you are lying your head will be forfeit.” She says coldly but ushers me through the door anyway. I approach the Queen with my head down. I kneel once I am close enough.
“Trinity Divine Flame. What are you doing here?” Queen Emily says and I can sense a cool anger in her voice.
“Your majesty, I come in my mother’s place to bring news of the arrest of Peter of the Wind, and the treason of Mayor Perry.” I say sounding more confident than I am.
“You are shaking. Is this because what you say is false?”
“No, your majesty!” I protest and then realise too late that I raised my voice to the Queen. I half expect to lose my head instantly.
“Calm yourself. What are the grounds of Peter’s arrest?” The Queen asks.
“I do not know, but Mayor Perry claims to have executed him.” At this I hear the Queen gasp.
“Executed you say?” The Queen asks incredulously.
“I do not know if she spoke true though.” I quickly add, and pray that Perry was lying.
“Where was he arrested?” The Queen asks quickly.
“Rin brought the news to my home, but I did not think to ask.” I say realising my error may not be easily forgiven. To approach the Queen without proper preparation is a serious offence.
“Where is Rin?” The Queen asks quickly.
“Waiting outside this room.” I reply gratefully.
“Guard! Fetch Rin immediately!” The Queen orders, and the guard beside her immediately ports. A moment later she is slightly behind me and Rin must be with her.
“Where was Peter arrested?” The Queen asks barely hiding her anger.
“Probably the academy. That was where he was meant to be. I tried contacting him through the chain you gav
e us. I was answered by the head, who said he had been arrested for stealing the chain, and something about an illegal potion. That must have been a lie though, because if Peter wanted a potion he would have come to me, and I would never have given him anything illegal.” Rin says but the Queen seems to realise something.
“Minerva… The anti-sleep potion…” The Queen says after a moment. “I will go straight to the academy and clear this up. This should not have been sufficient justification for Perry to have executed him though.”
“Executed! Anti-sleep potion!” Rin says angrily. “Just what is…?!”
“Silence!” The Queen says and Rin only seems to realise whose presence she is in when the guards take a step forward. They seem to accept her silence, perhaps only because the Queen has not called for her immediate execution. “Wait here.”
Chapter 12 (Peter)
“Hello Peter. Long-time no see.”
“Hades!” I call out in joyous surprise. Then I look around and see only darkness. “Where are we?”
“Never mind that. The elders wouldn’t let me see you. They said you were dangerous.” Hades says bitterly.
“What changed their mind?” I ask.
“They didn’t. I’ll be punished if they find me here. The only way that would happen though is if they came here too, and then they’d be as guilty as I am.” Hades says cheerfully.
“But you’re not going to say where here is?”
“I can’t.” Hades says sulkily.
“How have you been doing?” I ask.
“Burning as brightly as always.” Hades says cheerfully.
“Have you seen father?”
“No.” Hades says sounding annoyed. “I thought you’d forgotten about him.”
“How could I ever forget father?” I ask laughing.
“You never mentioned him since you went to that dismal place.”
“I didn’t?” I ask surprised.
“Not once.”
“Why not?” I ask as much to myself as Hades.
“Like I said, I thought you’d forgotten him. Perhaps you were just trying to?”
“No, I’d never do that.” I protest.
“We don’t have much time left.” Hades says sadly. “I’ll be watching over you, but we may not get another chance to talk until you can come to me.”
“I’m sure I’ll come soon. Perhaps just another century or two.” I say hopefully.
“That would be good.” Hades says shining brightly. “Goodbye Peter.”
I blink and it is bright. No it just seems bright after so long asleep. Where am I? Who am I? Ah yes, I’m Peter of the Wind. Where? There is stone above and cold stone below. I get up quickly and see stone walls as well. I don’t see a door or window, but there is a small globe of light far above me that dimly lights the room. It seemed so bright a moment ago, but I think that was just me.
I feel cold air on the other side of one wall, so instinctively I slice through the wall with an air slice. The sun really is bright so I blink a few times and rub my eyes. Before I can fly out of the hole I have made, an old woman appears in front of me. She asks incredulously, “You’re alive?! How?” Her words and tone don’t exactly inspire me to consider her an ally or friend.
“Who are you?” I ask suspicious.
“You lost your memories again?” She asks carefully. I frown and try to remember.
“Ah, you’re the head. Why did you think I would be dead, and why am I here? The last thing I remember, I was being attacked by Rin.”
“Rin?” The head asks blankly. “When did Rin attack you? Why did she attack you? You tried to do something to her, didn’t you?”
“No. She was annoyed that I didn’t tell her about Minerva.” I say and start to realise that I am treading on dangerous ground here. The Queen made me promise to keep what happened at Minerva secret.
“Minerva? That’s some way from here. I thought that city was under siege by elves until recently. Was that your secret mission? The reason the Queen didn’t let us get rid of you sooner?”
“Sooner?” I ask nervously.
“Yes. After the crimes you committed, nothing less than death is acceptable.”
“Crimes?”
“Be thankful you cannot remember them, and allow me to kill you for them.” The head says, but there is no way that is happening. If I could remember them and they were truly awful, maybe, but not for something I don’t even remember doing. I can’t port but I shield against the head’s flames and fly up, and out through the hole. In the open air I am much more confident. Strangely my power seems much stronger than usual.
The head ports to a balcony and throws flames at me again. I consider attacking, but if I have truly committed crimes she could be innocent. I don’t believe I have, but this is yet another gap in my memories. I dodge her attack and the flames chase me, but I race away quicker than them. Diving into the forest I am soon far enough away that the flames no longer chase me.
“Damn!” I shout and punch a tree. My hand hurts but what really concerns me is Hermes, because as my slave if I was supposed to be executed then what will happen to her? Might they even have decided to execute her as well? I have to go back, but I’ll need to hide my presence well enough to evade every mage at the academy. Wait. All I need to do is use the Queen’s chain. Except it is gone. Of course they wouldn’t leave it with me. Then I have no choice but to return.
I hide my presence and fly back to the academy. How to enter? Thankfully I find an open window. There are students walking along the corridor so it must be lunch time. Not great timing but I can’t afford to wait. I fly above the students and am thankful for the high ceiling. My room is locked and doesn’t open to my magic. I throw caution to the wind and knock. There is no answer. I knock harder but there is still no answer so I fly away in case anyone noticed me.
I find our classroom but don’t dare enter because the door is closed. I try the lunchroom but can’t see Hermes. Strangely it is very empty for lunch time. Perhaps it is a day off? She wasn’t outside earlier, and I assume she still isn’t. I have no choice but to find her, wherever she is. If she is on a bounty hunt though, it will be impossible.
Maybe if I can find a club member they will know where Hermes is. I made a note of where their rooms are, but it is in my room. I can remember where the Lightwood twin’s room is. Wait. I seem to remember that Yusa was living at Hermes’ old home. When did I find that out? It was after I got back. I was talking to Rin, and getting attacked, and then I spoke to Hermes about Dairon. I took him to Hermes’ old home and Yusa was there. Even if Jenny is on a job Yusa will be there. Are my memories starting to return?
I port straight inside. To my shock the place is a wreck. There are wind marks all over the walls and scorch marks on the ceiling. There was clearly a battle fought here. Nobody is here anymore though. I can only pray that nobody was killed. If they even came here then nobody in my club is safe.
I have no choice, other than to recover the chain so I can contact anybody who is still free. Perhaps I can find out something from the Queen too if I do that. Where is the chain though? I try porting back to my room, but unsurprisingly it is blocked. I’ll have to port somewhere close and try breaking the door down. To hell with stealth. Speed is what I need now.
“Hello Peter.” Those words from that person fill me with disgust.
“Hello Perry.” I say hatefully. I turn and glare at this maggot of a person. She can be under no illusion as to my feelings.
“So, did it feel good, killing your friends?” She says, and even though she is the last person in the world I would trust, there is nothing she could have said that would scare me more.
“I suppose it was too much to expect sense from you.” I say with false bravado but there is no fooling her. She knows just how false it is.
“Oh, dear, dear me. To think that you killed them and then forgot all about it. You don’t even get to remember how fun it was.” Perry says in her falsely sympathetic voice. Then
her first strike comes. I dodge it instinctively and striking the wall with wind I leave through the new entrance I just created.
Outside I fly up and away, but suddenly mages are diving towards me and the sky around me is filled with magical attacks. They miss though, and I get far enough away to port. This time I port outside my room and focus a quick and accurate but powerful wind slice right through the door. The room is empty. Not even our beds remain. I sense a mage behind me, and it isn’t one I recognise, so I port again whilst I still can.
I’m close to the head’s room. Perhaps she has my chain there. I race through the corridor ignoring the students who don’t seem to realise anything is wrong. They realise when I blast through the head’s door with a wind slice but they seem more interested than worried. I have little time, but thankfully what I am looking for is on the head’s desk. I grab the chain and put it round my left wrist rather than my ankle, because it is quicker.
I try to call out to the Queen but suddenly it is hot as a flame and I cry out in pain. Some extra magic seems to have been added and I have no way to use or even remove it. I am barely able to stand but suddenly Perry is standing in front of me again. This time I find I cannot even use magic.
“It seems I no longer need to kill you. Your magic will do that for you. Just so you know though, the friends of yours who are still alive will soon die by my hand. Enjoy your death.” Perry no longer maintains her false voice and her joyful malice is clear for anyone to hear. Then she ports away with a broad grin.
Unable to use my magic and with the magic in the chain burning stronger by the moment I am at the end of my options. I fall to my knees in pain and curse loudly. Then my curses turn to screams as the pain becomes unbearable. My vision blurs and soon all I can see is darkness. I have no idea how much time passes, but I am sure my life is at its end.
“Peter! Peter!” I hear a distant voice through the pain. I feel a sudden change in the ground under me. It feels like I am on carpet now. I assume that I was ported. There are now more voices but my hearing is so bad now that I have no idea what they are saying, or even who they are. The pain is growing weaker, but I can’t feel my legs or arms at all.
