by J. J. Green
The conversation paused and five pairs of eyes focused on Carina. Just the mention of the kid’s name made her angry and fearful.
“I’ve thought about this a lot,” she said. “My first idea was to abandon him on an isolated planet. He’s a mage so he would survive. But I didn’t want to divert our journey any more than I already was and I realized I was only postponing the problem of his existence. All the habitable planets in this sector are settled, as far as I know, so wherever we left him he would find a way to leave the place in the end. He would return to the Dirksens or Sherrerrs or perhaps he would create his own evil organization and come after us when he has more backup. So that idea was out.
“The only other option that allows us to get rid of him is to hand him back to the Dirksens and hope they limit his influence. They certainly don’t seem to hold him in high esteem. But they hate mages. They proved that on Pirine. They would encourage him to find us, so the second option gives the same result.”
Carina took a breath and said glumly, “I’ve been forced to conclude the safest way of dealing with Castiel is to keep him with us. We’ll have to do our best to keep him restrained and deny him any access to elixir.”
“For how long?” asked Parthenia.
Carina couldn’t tell how her sister felt about the decision. Parthenia had learned to hide her emotions as a survival strategy while growing up in a dysfunctional, abusive household. Yet all along it had been she who had wanted to capture Castiel and prevent him from hurting anyone, so Carina thought she would be pleased they would be doing exactly that. But then, who would be happy about spending what could be the rest of their lives in their evil brother’s company?
“For as long as we must,” Carina finally replied. “Maybe when we get to Earth we’ll find a way to remove his powers. That would be the best solution. But I don’t know if it’s possible.”
Parthenia seemed satisfied, at least, because she didn’t say anything else. The others appeared shocked, as if Carina’s decision had been the last one they’d thought she would make.
Bryce returned to the dining room. He took one look at the expressions on everyone’s faces and said, “I guess you told them Castiel’s coming along for the ride?”
Chapter Twelve
Preparing to leave the Zenobia had taken much longer than Carina had anticipated. Everything in the hold had been returned to roughly its original state, but they also had to take clothes, supplies, and elixir to last them several weeks on the surface. If they could find what they needed to set them on the right track for Earth without having to take jobs to survive, that would be ideal.
Nevertheless, though gathering everything they would need took several hours, Carina had been pleased with the speed and efficiency with which the children completed the task. She’d expected more bickering and attachment to favored but non-essential items. Yet they seemed to be overcoming their pampered upbringing at last.
Not only that, their mage powers had improved considerably on the journey. Carina guessed this was in part due to the habit of meditation she had instilled in them, something Ma had entirely—and necessarily—neglected. They knew all about the Elements, the Seasons, and the Strokes and their daily recall of them had honed their Casting skills.
The ritual surrounding the Map had been the hardest part. Carina knew only too well how challenging the task was for young minds, but though her brothers and sisters’ lives on Ithiya had been soft in many ways, their regular education had been rigorous and this experience seemed to help them with memorizing the star points within a 3D frame.
All in all, Carina anticipated a better experience for them all than they had known before as they undertook their search. Her group wasn’t only a family, it was a skilled team, each member lending their strengths to aid in achieving their purpose: to find the true home of mages.
Now all was packed and ready. The Zenobia only carried a couple of emergency shuttles and they were too small to fit everyone and their baggage, so Carina was preparing to fly the ship itself to the surface. She’d contemplated asking Darius to Transport them down but she worried that something might go wrong. She didn’t want them to become separated, especially somewhere other people might be roaming about and could spot one of them materializing from nowhere.
As long as Darius’s Cloak continued to work the ship wouldn’t be observed as it descended, but the effects of landing a large ship anywhere other than the specially prepared surface at a spaceport would be unmissable. As soon as the Zenobia landed they would need to get away from it as fast as they could.
The children were on their way to a section near the ship’s exit that contained safety seats for passengers. Bryce was with them but he would take a detour to collect Castiel from the brig. He’d fashioned a pair of handcuffs for the Dark Mage to wear. It wasn’t much but it was the best they could do to keep him under control. Once they were on the surface Carina and Bryce would be forced to sleep in shifts to keep an eye on him.
Carina picked a spot fifteen klicks or so from the capital city where she’d first discovered the religious cult that held the secrets to mage history on Ostillon. They would Transport to the outskirts of the city as soon as they landed.
When Darius’s Cloak wore off and the starship appeared in the middle of nowhere, questions would be asked, but that was not Carina’s concern. Nothing remained aboard that could link the ship with her, her siblings, or Bryce.
Carina moved to activate the descent sequence. She’d deliberately chosen an area of air space that was free of traffic. The chances of something colliding with the invisible ship were slim but still not worth taking.
The pilot’s interface flashed a message. A hail had arrived. Carina’s hand froze over the console. Who could be hailing them? The originator field on the message was blank. Who could have seen through Darius’s Cloak? She didn’t think it was possible for even a mage to penetrate the Cast. Could it be Jace? Carina had never plumbed the depths of his mage abilities. He belonged to the Mage Council, but that was all she knew.
But if it was Jace, why didn’t he say so in the message? Unless he wasn’t sure who he was hailing.
Carina opened the message but only as audio from her side.
A round-faced man wearing a bright blue hat with an iridescent sheen appeared on the interface.
“I am disappointed,” said the man in a rich, deep voice. “I was looking forward to seeing the thief who stole my ship. You are wise to keep your identity secret, but your efforts are in vain. I will look upon you soon enough. Until then I will bide my time thinking of the slowest and most painful way to kill you. If you do not resist boarding, perhaps I’ll be kind and do it quickly.”
The interface screen turned black.
For a beat, Carina only stared at it.
The smuggler had found his ship, but how? Had the tracker penetrated even Darius’s Cast? And why had the smuggler given a warning he was about to board? If he anticipated a fight to take back the ship he’d lost the advantage of surprise.
The Zenobia’s short-range scanners reported a starship bearing down on them fast.
Carina could only guess the smuggler wasn’t confident he had the numbers to take the ship. He had no idea how many were aboard or who he might come across. The ship could be carrying a couple hundred mercs for all he knew. He’d opened a parley to avoid a fight. After all, it was his own ship he was trying to take back so he had a good reason to try to avoid damaging it.
Whatever the smuggler decided to do, it was clearly time to abandon the ship. Carina took out a pouch filled with small items. In preparation for their return to Ostillon, she’d told the children to gather things they could use to Locate each other in case they became separated. She took out a shoelace and wrapped it around her hand.
Darius was in the elevator. Carina couldn’t Send to a quickly moving target so she’d have to wait for Darius to leave the car.
An high-pitched alarm sounded. Carina could hear it coming from outsi
de the bridge too, blaring throughout the ship. The interface stated ‘Proximity Alert’ and switched to a map showing the Zenobia and a second ship approaching it fast. The display stated thirty seconds to contact. The kids and Bryce were heading to the exact place the Zenobia would be boarded and they had no idea what was going on and no time to prepare a defense.
“Carina?” said a voice in her head. Darius was Sending to her. “What’s that noise?”
“We’re about to be boarded. The ship’s owner has caught up with us. Can you Transport us all to the surface?”
All the mages had the ability to Transport themselves but without a frame of reference they would all end up in different places.
“Oh, okay,” was all Darius said, though his mental tone betrayed his anxiety.
“We’re above open farmland right now,” said Carina. “Try to keep us together if you can.”
Her bag containing her belongings and flasks of elixir was next to her seat. She leaned over to grab it. As her fingers reached out, she felt herself Transported. The next second, she fell and hit the ground with a bump. She was sitting in a hay field in bright sunshine, her hand gripping her bag. Relieved she’d managed to bring it with her, Carina stood up.
Where were the others? Shading her eyes with her hand, she swept the field with her gaze. In the empty, flat landscape it didn’t take her long to spot figures standing in the tall grass even though they were some distance away. Perhaps due to their separation aboard the ship, Darius’s Cast had flung her three or four hundred meters away from her companions. She slung her heavy bag over her shoulder and set off toward them.
This area of Ostillon reminded her of the prairie on Pirine, where the mages had held their Matching, only this was a farmed landscape. She was wading through grass and wildflowers, but grain crops grew in other fields and an autonomous harvester sat on the horizon. If she had her bearings right the city lay to the north, behind her. The sun sat in a clear blue sky to her left. They had about an hour until sunset, when they would have to find somewhere to spend the night.
Somewhere above her, the Zenobia’s owner and his crew would be searching the ship. Eventually they would wonder what had happened to the thieves who had stolen her, flown all the way to Ostillon, and vanished into thin air.
Chapter Thirteen
“It’s okay,” said Carina. “Really.”
Darius was distraught. He was so upset, Carina felt like a Spirit Mage herself because she could almost sense the waves of negative emotion coming off of him.
“I just forgot,” he repeated. “I could have Transported him, but he wasn’t with us, so…”
“We were surprised and in a hurry,” Carina said. “It’s no one’s fault.” If it was anyone’s fault, it was hers. Darius was seven. She was the adult. It was her responsibility to remind him if something was important. “Let’s walk a little before we go to the city.”
She wanted to wait until dusk before their next jump to the city’s outskirts. Transporting into an unknown area held the risk of their sudden appearance being noticed by bystanders. The failing light would hide them somewhat and still allow time to find somewhere to sleep. Everyone gathered their bags before the group set off walking north.
Carina didn’t blame Darius for failing to Transport Castiel from the ship but the fact that he remained there worried her. The round-faced smuggler would have discovered him by now, and she had no idea what Castiel would tell the man to explain his presence. Knowing Castiel his story would be self-aggrandizing, despite his incarceration in the brig. He would probably make up something about overwhelming forces attacking him, not his big sister picking him off like a bug on the ceiling.
But what would he tell them about mages? Had he learned from his experiences with the Dirksens?Would he keep the knowledge of his powers to himself?
Carina couldn’t guess. His capacity for boasting seemed infinite and might overwhelm his instinct for self-preservation. Not that she cared the slightest for his welfare, but his blabbing could endanger all of them.
If the smuggler learned what Castiel could do and that more people with his abilities had magicked themselves down to Ostillon, the man would probably come after them. Smugglers didn’t only deal in artifacts, they were also known to traffic humans.
Bryce gave her a sideways hug. “I hope our prospects aren’t as bad as you seem to think.”
“Do I looked that stressed?”
In answer, he placed his thumb against the skin between her eyebrows and gently rubbed.
Carina smiled and felt her face relax. “I think we’ll be okay. No one saw us Transport here. That’s a good start.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about that little shit we left on the ship,” said Bryce.
“Not about him exactly,” said Carina, “but the danger he poses to us.”
“Can’t Darius Transport him here in that case? I mean, I’d rather not, but if it helps…”
Carina shook her head. “A moving ship is too hard to target. I doubt even Darius could do it. If Castiel tells the Zenobia’s owner about us and that guy decides to track us down.”
Bryce frowned and peered at the spot between Carina’s eyebrows again. He lifted his hand, but Carina laughed and pushed it down.
“I get it,” she said.
“We’ll have plenty of time for worrying about it if the smuggler comes after us,” said Bryce. “Anyway, how would he find us?”
“It might be hard but it’s not impossible. I didn’t anticipate the possibility of leaving Castiel behind. We might have left something on the ship he could use to Locate one of us. I mean, we did a pretty good job of removing or cleaning everything we used, but we were aboard for weeks. It isn’t easy to live somewhere for so long and leave no trace of your presence.”
Carina let out a deep breath. “But you’re right. There’s no point in worrying about it now. We’ll have to face that problem if we come to it. I got a good look at the guy’s face and I’ll recognize him if I see him again.”
They walked on in silence toward the gray line on the horizon that was the edge of the city. Carina’s anxious mood began to ease. It was good to be planetside again, surrounded by grass and feeling the sun on her skin. Perhaps everything would go smoothly. They would find what they needed without too much trouble and embark on their new journey quickly, leaving Ostillon, the Dirksens, the Sherrerrs, and Castiel behind forever.
An hour or so later, when the children were beginning to murmur about resting and eating and the sun had disappeared below the horizon, Bryce suddenly said, “Is that smoke?”
In the oncoming dusk it was hard to tell whether he was right or if it was only low clouds, but a gray pall hung over the city.
“I don’t know,” said Carina. “Maybe.” If it was smoke, it wasn’t a good sign for the state of Ostillon.
In their hour of walking the only living things they’d encountered had been bugs, lizards, and a single grazing animal who appeared to be lost. Machines for weeding and harvesting stood in the fields, idle and likely broken down. The farm work had been automated, the Dirksens having stolen the Ostillonians’ land and not even provided them with jobs in return. Yet Carina was surprised by the absence of people. The fact that they’d encountered absolutely no one, considering they were close to a large city, implied that Ostillon hadn’t begun to recover from the Sherrerrs’ attack.
“Let’s Transport the rest of the way,” Carina suggested.
“Thank the stars for that!” Oriana exclaimed. “My feet feel like they’re about to drop off.”
“Then you won’t mind volunteering to Cast for all of us,” said Carina.
“Huh? All six of us?” The whites of Oriana’s eyes stood out in the deepening gloom as she displayed her surprise. “I can’t do that.”
“I think you can,” Carina said. “It’s the same as Transporting one or two people, just with greater oomph.”
“Oomph?” said Bryce. “Is that a special mage word?”
“Why can’t Darius do it?” asked Oriana.
“Yeah,” said Ferne. “I’m not sure I trust Oriana to Transport me anywhere.”
“Shut up,” Oriana said. “I bet I can Transport more people than you.”
“No way!”
“Both of you shut up,” said Carina, wondering to herself what she’d been thinking earlier when she’d imagined her siblings had matured. “Oriana, this is a good opportunity for you to practice Transporting several people. If you get it wrong we can Locate each other easily with our collections of personal items.”
“Hmph,” Oriana said, narrowing her eyes at Ferne. “I’ll try. Where do you want me to aim for?”
Carina indicated a position near the city but still several hundred meters from its edge, though the distance might not be necessary—as night approached no street lights had come on that might betray their sudden appearance out of the blue.
“Right,” said Oriana, opening her elixir canister. “Everyone, hold your stuff tight. Ready?”
The next instant, the scene jumped and Carina found herself looking at a scene of utter devastation.
Oriana whooped. “I did it!”
Carina swung around and jumped on her sister, clamping a hand over her mouth. “Be quiet, you idiot,” she hissed.
Oriana’s eyes were apologetic above Carina’s hand. When Carina released her she whispered, “Sorry.”
Carina returned her attention to the destroyed city. Not a building she could see remained whole. In some cases, only piles of rubble stood in their place, detritus at the bottom of a gap in the street’s facade. The places that were standing did so precariously, aslant, as if about to topple any moment.
And Bryce had been correct: over it all hung a cloud of smoke from a distant conflagration.
Carina could smell the stench of burning plastic and stars knew what else in the air. She recalled the state of the city when they’d left, which had been bad enough, but somehow things seemed to have gotten worse in the intervening time. Had the Sherrerrs returned to finish off the number they’d done on the Dirksen planet?
