Opal Summerfield and The Battle of Fallmoon Gap

by Mark Caldwell Jones

  “Everyone in this town knows Amina’s history. We still feel the shame of losing her to those terrible creatures. We searched and searched for that child, even found the goblin tunnels, but we never found her. We were all heart-broken! Everyone of us sitting here hates what happened to that girl, but she has changed, and done terrible things that can’t be forgiven. She would claim Liberty Creek as hers to control, if we’d let her. But that would turn our town—a place that has represented freedom from its beginning—into a haven for a dictator. If there is a spy in our midst, we are all marked for death. Tell us what you know, or our blood will be on your hands,” he admonished.

  The old men stared at the young wardens. They just stared back.

  Opal wanted to melt out the door. So far, this diplomatic visit was a complete diplomatic disaster.

  Tirian handed Eltheon the enchanted equipment as he unloaded it from his saddlebags.

  “I’m just glad we got out of there in one piece,” he said.

  “Well, we got out, but Luka is still in there,” worried Opal.

  “That’s why I’m an engineer. I belong in my workshop with tools, not with real people, especially angry ones,” he said.

  “I can’t believe Luka went off the rails like that,” Eltheon said.

  “I can’t believe he didn’t tell us about his father,” Opal added.

  Tirian laid out a large piece of burlap and organized the equipment in a tight formation.

  “Okay, we need to get all of this set up. This instrument will locate breaches in the Veil. This one is a device for measuring magical energy levels. And this one, well this one contains our lunch,” he said. “I’ve got to eat something or I’m not going to get anything done.”

  Tirian pushed a button and the box opened its pneumatic lid with a click and a whoosh. The box was actually a large picnic basket full of all kinds of treats. The girls laughed as Tirian dug for his first bite.

  “By all means, let’s get the important stuff—like Tirian’s stomach—taken care of first,” Eltheon teased.

  After a bit of food, the group got to work. Opal held a roughly sketched diagram for Eltheon as she adjusted the devices. Eltheon set them up as Tirian had instructed. Tirian was walking back and forth along an area near the eastern wall of the town. For a long time nothing seemed to happen. Dials and crystals and a flat, highly-polished piece of quartz the size of a dinner plate, seemed to crackle with energy. Waves of magic danced across the surface of the instruments. Tirian ran back to the girls.

  “Well, it does seem that the pocket of the Veil is still collapsing. Soon there won’t be any magic left for these people. Wait. Okay. Looks like I found something else!”

  “What?”

  “Too complicated for your two brains combined,” he chuckled.

  Eltheon, you need to spin the second dial on the scanner. It’s not tuned in properly. Turn it clockwise until that dial in the upper right corner peaks.

  “Okay folks, I’m getting some interesting responses now, but geesh.”

  “What is it?”

  “I just wish for that, for once, we could get something normal. This is another strange reading. There is a fissure in the Veil near the southeast corner of this perimeter, but it is not leakage. It’s an apportation portal. Someone has been using some very powerful magic to apport from here to other places in Arcania.”

  “It has to be Amina, right? I mean who else has that kind of powerful magic?” Opal said.

  Tirian picked up a strange instrument. It was part telescope, and it had several crystal prisms and mirrors set on a half-circle of metal with strange symbols and hash marks ticked down its edge. He looked down the scope and adjusted the prisms, then adjusted one arm to a different angle.

  “Now what? How many toys did you bring?” Eltheon teased.

  “This is a Veilian sextant. Now that I know the exact position of this apportation tunnel, I can find the other end—with a few calculations, of course,” he said.

  “Of course,” smiled Opal.

  Tirian did his work. He calculated his numbers and turned to the girls with a long face.

  “This is good and bad,” he said.

  “What’s the good part?” Eltheon asked.

  “This is her magical signature, for sure. I know exactly where she is. It’s obvious. She’s been traveling all over the realm. But there is one particular portal getting the most use. It has to be her main location.

  “What’s the bad news?” Opal asked.

  Tirian turned to Opal and braced himself for her reaction.

  “She’s in Grigg’s Landing.”

  85

  The starlight invading Jakob Prismore’s room shimmered on the real memory stones as the two men talked. William Windfar wanted to kill Jakob Prismore for hiding them, but he stayed his hand.

  “I’ll have my justice, old man, but not today. We’ll find another time to settle accounts,” he said.

  “You have free reign, I give you my word. While you are in Fallmoon Gap, you will not be bothered or apprehended,” Jakob said.

  “Your word is pretty much worthless at this point. You know that don’t you?” the Ranger growled.

  “Do what you need to do,” Jakob said. “Settle your troubled mind. In this city you have my protection. The magic here will contain you. But if you leave, your fate will be your own.”

  “We both know how to find each other,” the Ranger said. He felt along one of Jakob’s walls. His hand stopped. There was a click and a rusty escape tunnel grinded open. “And we both have our own magic. It will be interesting to see who prevails. Until we meet again, old man.”

  “Until then,” Jakob said.

  The Ranger disappeared into the shadows of the passageway and out of Jakob’s room.

  “May you find what you seek, and may it find you,” Jakob said quietly.

  Jakob’s walking cane began to glow, and in a whisper of white light, he was gone.

  PART FOUR

  I have started a small settlement at the confluence of two beautiful rivers called the White and the Buffalo. I received correspondence from the Protectorate and read that my monthly reports have convinced the Council to establish a permanent outpost in these parts. Fallmoon Gap is now under construction and seems central to one of the most powerful nexus points in the whole of the Veil.

  As for me, I feel I have nowhere else to go, and I sincerely want no other home. My time here has convinced me that I am a citizen of these Ozark Mountains, and this will never change. Dead or alive, predestined or not, it is my eternal condition.

  — Cornelius Rambrey, “A Journal of Travels into the Veilian Nexus called Arcania”

  Ambushed By The Wereboars

  86

  It was Saturday night and the atmosphere of the Stillwell was jubilant. People danced jigs and reels under the flicker of kerosene lanterns. Fiddles, banjos, harmonicas, and cigar box guitars played like a little symphony, pouring out over the cornfields, right up to the tree line where Opal and Eltheon hid in the dark.

  It was strange to believe that Tirian had tracked Amina to this very spot. There was no denying it though: somehow, someway, she was hiding out there, only miles from Opal’s childhood home.

  “I’ve only been here once before. Just snuck up under the building with Mattie and watched the party through the floorboards. We stayed for almost an hour. It was a wild time,” Opal said.

  “Do you know anyone here? The owners?” Eltheon asked.

  “Big Maggie Brown runs it. She’s a lowlife. She’s screwed up in some bad business. But I only know her by reputation. We’ve never met.”

  Eltheon and Opal played with the symbols on their Warden gear. The thin emerald-plated leather armor shimmered away and became invisible. The girls threw on cotton dresses. The dresses fell over their bodies awkwardly, clinging to their hidden armor—but to the casual observer it completed the illusion. They appeared to be two young farm girls from Grigg’s Landing ready to have a good time.
/>   “Just like your boyfriend trained you, okay?”

  “Shut up. He’s not my boyfriend,” snapped Opal.

  “Just teasing. Gotta break the tension somehow,” smiled Eltheon. “Your senior Warden will now get serious. This is just a sweep. We’re just looking for information. It could get dangerous, so we need to do it by the book. We see what we can see, hear what we can hear, leave, and report. You think you’re ready?”

  “I’m ready. But if Amina is here?”

  “We call in help. We can’t apprehend her alone. She is way too powerful. But the scouts said they haven’t seen her or anyone like her around here. We need to see what the owner and the regulars know.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Opal said.

  The girls walked out of the forest onto the road and mixed in with the other juke joint regulars. Once they squeezed into the Stillwell, they milled about and watched the band play. The house was packed wall to wall and the music was intoxicating. The girls took opposite positions in the crowd.

  After a long time working the crowd, Opal made her way to the bar. Eltheon was already there eating barbeque and pretending to sip on a glass of moonshine. She winked at Opal.

  “Anything?”

  Opal was about to answer when Snooks Harper, one of the main bootleggers, approached them.

  “Hey ladies, y’all a little young to be messing around here, ain’t you?” he asked.

  “Too young for work? I need a job. You got something I can do around here?” Opal fired back.

  “Y’all too young for that too,” he said. “Go on and get out of here, if you know what’s good for you.”

  Opal wasn’t going to back down. She reviewed the powers of the Agama Stone in her mind and landed on one particular color. She thought about a line in the poem. Yellow like gold, the Citrine makes one do what is told.

  Snooks seemed like a great practice dummy.

  Why not?

  She calmed her mind and imagined sunflowers in the bright noonday light. The necklace began to swirl with little yellow flames the size of daisy petals.

  She repeated herself. “Come on, can’t a girl get a little break? I really need some extra money?” Opal dangled the end of the necklace in front of the man. Snooks went a little cockeyed. His stare was glued to the pulsing stone.

  “A break, huh?” He stared at the necklace. “Yeah, maybe I can do something for you,” he stuttered.

  “Like take us to see Big Maggie, so we can talk about a job?”

  Snooks leaned a bit to the right, like the floor had tilted. “Yeah, I can do that,” he sputtered.

  “Of course you can do that for us. We’d be much obliged,” Opal said. She couldn’t believe it was working. She winked at Eltheon.

  “Come on, follow me,” slurred Snooks. He sounded like he’d had a bit too much of his own moonshine.

  The girls followed him back through a series of halls, and finally, to a room hidden in the back of the juke joint. The door had a guard. Snooks explained things and the man opened the door for them to pass.

  In the backroom, Big Maggie Brown sat at a table by herself. She was smoking and stirring a glass of moonshine with her finger. She laid out cards as if playing solitaire. Two tables of men, deep in a dice game, flanked both sides of the room. Everything stopped when the women were led into the room.

  “Miss Maggie, sorry to bother you. We got some girls that want to see you,” Snooks said. “They’re looking for some work.”

  A very giant man with a web of scars across his face stood and whispered in his ear. Snooks face went sheepish. He seemed to have recovered from the stone’s magic. He looked around confused, then skedaddled.

  The big guy took up guard at the door. He licked his lips like his dinner had just arrived. He shoved the two girls forward.

  Opal whipped her head back and stared indignantly at the guy. Most of the men had gone back to throwing dice. One odd man started clapping nervously and laughing. Another adjusted his eye patch and stood up to join his friend, the giant.

  In the corner, Big Maggie didn’t move a muscle. She seemed oblivious to what was happening. Opal could feel her stone going crazy. It was trying to warn her of something furiously. Then the big giant at the door kicked Opal in the backside, knocking her forward into one of the tables. She felt a streak of rage burn through her and spun around.

  “If you want to lose that foot, try that again,” she barked.

  The men laughed and the giant stood stoically. His mouth stretched awkwardly into a smile. He cracked his massive knuckles.

  “What are you going to do, little girl? Tie me up with hair ribbons? I’ll end you with one hand tied behind my back. But first, me and the boys are going to have some fun with you and your friend!”

  Opal focused instead of letting her anger go wild.

  The protective magic of the Agama Stone burned like a cerulean coal. Opal held out her hand and gave the giant a vulgar gesture. Some of the men snickered at her boldness.

  “Aww heck, you done asked for it now!” he said.

  As he closed in, Opal’s fingers curled into a fist, and she struck the man straight in the sternum with all the magical power the stone would allow. There was a crack of sapphire lightning and the giant went sailing back across the room. He hit the wall so hard that he crumpled into an unconscious heap.

  The shock of the giant’s flight stunned the rest of the men. Their pause gave Eltheon time to take two of them out with a flurry of well-placed kicks. Unconscious men piled up as Opal went to work on the other side of the room.

  Opal felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed into her back and she raised her hands in feigned surrender. Then, with a pivot, she grabbed the pistol. The gun’s barrel melted to slag in her magical grip. She brought her other energy-charged hand across the neck of the gunman, sending him to the floor.

  Two men with guns had backed Eltheon into a corner, but she had the third in a headlock, using him as a shield. The men looked back and forth at each other. Should they go ahead and shoot? Before they could decide, a pair of throwing shards spun from Eltheon’s hand and planted themselves in their necks. Both of them collapsed instantly, like ragdolls.

  Eltheon disabled her third attacker. Opal used a well-placed kick and another crack of energy to take out the remaining man.

  In the corner, Big Maggie continued smoking, sipping moonshine, and occasionally glancing up to watch the show. When it was over, she stood slowly and began to clap. Her applause took Opal and Ellie off guard.

  “Damn girls, that is the best thing Maggie has seen in a long time. Whoo-whee, you have got to show me some of them tricks!” she cheered.

  “You need to take a seat, Ms. Brown. We have some questions for you,” Eltheon said in her most official voice.

  “Sit down? Did you just tell me to sit down?”

  “Yeah, she did. Now do it!” commanded Opal.

  Opal was ready to vault the table and help the woman find a seat. Big Maggie just leaned in closer, so that she and Opal were almost nose to nose. She exhaled a great puff of smoke in Opal’s face. Opal tried to pretend it didn’t bother her. She was seconds from coughing when Big Maggie Brown’s voice took on an eerie tone.

  “So much more courage. More than Sanura ever had. I’m impressed Ashiah. You’ve even learned to control the Agama Stone, something your mother never could. What a powerful lithomancer you are becoming,” she hissed.

  Opal felt punched in the stomach. How did Big Maggie Brown know her real name?

  “Who are you?” Eltheon demanded.

  “Amina Madewell—you have to be!” declared Opal.

  “Very good! All this time I’ve been hunting you, and tonight you walk straight into my little house. Ain’t that a thing?” crowed Big Maggie.

  The enchantment of the squat backwoods criminal shimmered away. Amina the Conjurer stood in her place. She began cackling wildly.

  Eltheon backed away into a defensive stance and ripped off her dress as her armor rem
aterialized. Opal followed her leader and did the same. Eltheon tossed a brass distress beacon into the air, and with a rocket-blast of magic, it shot up, burning itself through the pine ceiling and out into the night sky.

  Before it flared, Amina swung her staff after it. A burst of dark magic shot out and formed a snare that grabbed the beacon, pulling it back to earth. It fell through the ceiling, into the floor, and rolled into the corner as its quartz fuse fizzled out.

  “No need to let your friends know you’ve found me, girls. That would spoil the fun,” she laughed.

  The conjurer swept her staff over the unconscious men. Four of the largest began to stir, heave, and twist. Razor-like fins erupted from their spines. They bellowed in pain as their human bodies transformed into monsters. In seconds, Opal and Eltheon were surrounded by several raging wereboars.

  “I’ve been waiting on you, girl!” one growled. “Now I get my revenge, eye for eye!”

  Foxkiller, Brokentusk, and the one-eyed wereboar Opal had assumed was dead, started coming for her. Redboar was pure wrath and he lunged for her recklessly. One tusk raked past her face, almost scooping an eye from her head, but Opal dodged the attack.

  “Give me the necklace, Opal. Or I will let my pets peel your friend’s skin right off her body, strip by strip,” Amina taunted.

  “I can take care of myself, witch!” yelled Eltheon.

  She pulled the handle of a bow off her belt. With a flick of her thumb, the rest of the weapon telescoped out. Before anyone could react, Eltheon shot Redboar in the neck with a crystal-tipped arrow. He collapsed in an epileptic fit. His high-pitched squeals filled the room.

  “I guess that’s your answer,” Opal mocked. She flashed a rebellious smile and spun wildly at Brokentusk.

  Opal knocked the wereboar across the room with a crack of blue-energy. The more focused her mind, the more power she seemed to have. Brokentusk shook it off and made another run, but the Agama Stone recharged Opal. She kicked the creature this time. He flew across the room with even more force, shattering one wall. The monster collapsed under a shower of splintered wood.