Edge of Chaos

by Des Pensable

  Featherdown used a power the enable him to see invisible then another to turn invisible and went to the stairs. Sitting on the stairway was an invisible wizard with a fireball wand. He counted the guards he could see inside and looked out the window to see how many around outside. There were four inside the Inn near the back door and another eight including a wizard outside the front door. He looked up and down the street and saw group of four guards at each intersection. He returned to Chantalot’s room and found the second group of four druids had arrived.

  He quickly discussed the plan and the second group stripped off their robes and shape changed into a mother cat and her three little kittens then set off down the hall to the stairs. Mother cat jumped down the stairs to the people milling below and was patted by them. Then the three little kittens came bouncing and falling down the stairs after mum. Everyone’s attention was focused on the cat and her kittens when the wizard on the stairs suddenly felt uneasy. He could hear no sound. Moments later he had a wire garrotte around his neck and his wand fell harmlessly and noiselessly on the carpeted steps.

  For those not looking at the cat and kittens they might have noticed the head of the young enemy mage roll down the steps and stop at the bottom. They also saw Featherdown appear over the headless body on the stairs with his finger over his mouth indicating that they should be quiet. He held a wand in one hand and moved down the stairs. When out of the zone of silence and in range he fired the wand of paralyse at the group of four guards watching the cats and they all froze. The cats moved over to the guards changed form to druids knocked down a guard each, stripped the clothes off them, gagged and tied them securely hid them behind the bar and redressed as the guards. They then sat where the guards had sat.

  Featherdown moved quietly to a position where he could see the group outside the inn and Chantalot came down the stairs and waved them to come quietly with him. Over a hundred people stood quietly and carefully moved up the stairs. The three druids pointed the way to Chantalot’s room and they were divided into groups of six and teleported to Templewood.

  When they had all left Chantalot came down and whispered to him and he asked the four druids to go stealthily to the teleport marker to the west of town and get in a position to help take out any enemy defenders there when Featherdown arrived.

  ‘Where are all the other town’s people?’ asked Chantalot.

  ‘There should be at least another hundred here.’

  ‘I think they’re being held hostage in the Gateway building.’ replied Featherdown stooping down to pick up the fireball wand and passing it to Chantalot.

  ‘That was a bit excessive wasn’t it?’ said Chantalot pointing to the decapitated body.

  ‘He was here to use that fireball wand on all these people if there was any resistance. He would have burnt over a hundred innocent people to death.’ replied Featherdown.

  ‘I suppose so.’ sighed Chantalot.

  ‘We’re at war Chantalot and war is brutal and unforgiving. The moment you forget that you die. Now let’s see if we can find the other townspeople. Knowing Battlemaster Firestorm I have a good idea where they are likely to be. You use that ring of invisibility I gave you and search around to see if you can find any of our people hiding in any of the houses or shops around town and tell them to head for the teleport marker in the jungle to the west if there is any problem there then make their way to the beach to the north as soon as possible. You go there as well when you finish checking for stragglers. I’m taking the other three druids with me and we will try and see if we can close the gateway permanently.’

  ‘You’re not going to destroy the town are you?’ asked Chantalot.

  ‘I’ll only do what’s necessary.’ replied Featherdown. ‘Now please be careful resurrection is expensive.’

  Chantalot smiled.

  ‘Okay, I’ll see you soon.’ And they parted.

  Featherdown first went up to Chantalot’s room and removed the crystal that was the power source for the teleport ring then replaced the mat. He then asked the three druids to get ready for a fight then ready for teleport, and they teleported to the teleport marker in the jungle to the west of town. As expected Curbut had sent a platoon to dig in there but they were still preparing their defences when Featherdown arrived and with the help of the four druids previously sent they captured the area after a short but bloody fight.

  The seven druids were left to defend the teleport marker and protect any locals that turned up. Since the area was all jungle the druids were in their element and it would take a considerable force to remove them.

  Featherdown teleported into his tower, went to the top and looked out to examine the situation. The entrances to both his tower and Granwell’s tower were blockaded and there seemed to be some engineers examining the walls at the base. They were either going to try to get in or perhaps even demolish his tower. It didn’t matter Twin Towers was finished. He had already moved his valuables to another world. He called to his gnome assistants but they were gone. They knew the drill.

  He looked around and attempted counting the troops that had already come through the gateway. There were now hundreds. They were currently moving supplies through. This was a major operation. It must have been planned for some time. There were groups of troops located all over the headland and more marching into the township. There would be wizards everywhere.

  Curbut was their key player. He knew all the strengths and weaknesses of the place or so he thought. They must have had a heart attack when they heard he was disintegrated but they would have had a part of him to resurrect in case he was killed. The usual trick was to cut off a finger and preserve it somewhere safe. If you were killed and your body lost, a High Priest could resurrect you provided it wasn’t more than about 2 weeks since you were killed.

  Curbut didn’t know the secret defences. Gnome specialists under Featherdown’s close supervision had devised the defence system. Nobody in Twin Towers was involved in its construction and nobody knew its secrets except him. Every possibility that they could think of was covered including the current one where a large number of townspeople were likely to be held hostage in the gateway building.

  Featherdown had tangled with Battlemaster Firestorm before on another world. Firestorm got his name from his favourite pastime of burning down towns. He would station his army all around and use the wizards to burn everything to ashes. Nobody survived. The only reason Twin Towers had survived was that he needed it to house his troops. They wouldn’t appreciate having to camp in the jungle.

  Firestorm also needed the commercial teleporter here to get them to Templegate and Turtlehaven, the only two other settlements big enough to be called towns. Featherdown would need to ensure that it was disabled. Firestorm and his troops had to be isolated here then the druids had a chance. This whole world was pretty hostile for those unprepared for it.

  He looked down at the customs houses. One of them was guarded by at least three platoons of Panmagican troops surrounding the place. That’s where the guards would be held prisoner. There would be glyphs of warding and glyphs of fireball in and around the building to block entry and incinerate anyone trying to release them. The buildings each had a secure basement that was teleport proof and used to store special goods. That was most likely where the guards would be.

  He looked a bit closer and could see a line of wizards sitting on the ground with a fighter standing behind each of them with swords drawn.

  ‘Dam. He’s going to execute all of my young wizards if I do anything.’ he said to himself.

  ‘Hmm. It could be an illusion.’

  Suddenly there was a lot of noise coming from the township. He crossed the room and looked out the window facing the town. They had discovered the people in the inn were gone and he could see a patrol heading towards the western teleport marker.

  ‘Wait!’ he thought. ‘There’s a fireball. He he. Looks like Chantalot has decided to buy us some time. I hope he’s careful. I better get moving.’

/>   Featherdown crossed the room to his communicator and called Granwell. A few seconds later Granwell replied.

  ‘Is that you Featherdown. It’s about time. We need to get moving they’ve already got a lot of troops through that gateway. I’m just wondering why they haven’t sabotaged our towers yet?’

  ‘They must be afraid that our towers will harm some of their people if they fall. We’ve evacuated all the townspeople from the inn but a lot are missing. I’m betting they will be in the gateway building as hostages against an attack there.’ replied Featherdown

  ‘I would leave your tower quickly. The teleport marker to the west is in our hands. You might like to help our defences there. I want to evacuate all the people I can before we do any real damage. Make sure you have a communication stone with you.’ said Featherdown.

  ‘Hehe. I haven’t had a good fight for ages. I think I can get us a real dragon if we need one. That should prove exciting. Okay. I’ll go to the west and watch over the teleport marker.’ replied Granwell.

  Featherdown ran over and looked down at the line of his young wizards. They were all dead, decapitated by the fighters behind them.

  ‘Dam. I hate wars.’ he said aloud to himself then quickly teleported to a secret marker hidden under the ground near the gateway building. He quietly moved along a narrow tunnel climbed some stairs and looked out a peephole overlooking the gateway entrance. It was open and a steady stream of traffic was moving across the steel bridge from the gateway to the exit door. All the missing townspeople were in the pit below the bridge.

  The bridge was designed with hinges on the sides. By pulling a lever it would split down the middle and the two sides would swing downwards and stop against the sidewalls of the pit and the gateway would be closed. Anything on the bridge would fall into the pit and be trapped there. The pit was lined with dead magic rock so that it would make magic use in the pit useless.

  Guards from above could shoot into the pit and if necessary the pit could be filled with water to drown any creatures down there. The people in the pit knew that if anyone tried to attack the gateway building their fate was sealed.

  He could hear angry shouts, then a voice nearby that brought back memories.

  ‘I didn’t think he would surrender Kelnor. Are you happy now? He’s managed to save half his town’s people that were in the Inn. He’s probably guessed we’ve got the rest of his people in here. I know him. He’s a weasely bastard. However, while we’re in here he can’t do much and the supplies keep coming through.’

  ‘We’ve just killed his mages surely that’ll make him cooperate a little.’ said Kelnor.

  ‘Mm. I don’t know.’ replied Firestorm. ‘It would just make me more annoyed. However, we still have his guards. He’ll know they will be next.’

  ‘He worries about the townspeople.’ said Curbut.

  ‘I’ve heard him. This is his town and he knows if he attacks us here we will flood the chamber below and they will all drown. He can’t possibly get them out.’

  ‘The longer he’s out there the more chance my wizard hunters will get him.’ said Kelnor.

  ‘Dam. They’ve got wizard hunters!’ thought Featherdown. ‘Granwell won’t be expecting them.’

  ‘Care to make a small wager Kelnor. I’ll bet my wizards find him before your wizard hunters.’ said Firestorm.

  ‘You know my temple is against gambling. We only bet on sure winners and my augury didn’t reveal what was likely to happen.’ replied Kelnor.

  ‘That means the gods aren’t sure either.’ said Firestorm. ‘I like it that way. It adds a bit of excitement don’t you think.’

  ‘No.’ said Kelnor. ‘I would prefer it more clear cut.’

  Featherdown decided he had to act quickly if there were wizard hunters around. These were half priest half wizards trained to capture and kill wizards. They used all sorts of magic protections on their bodies, stayed invisible most of the time, were equipped with greater dispel rods and were trained for close combat with poisoned daggers. No wizard was safe when they were around.

  Just before he was about to leave he heard something that caught his attention.

  ‘I hope that Agent of Chaos shows up. I’d like to kill him again.’ said Curbut. ‘I’ve already killed him a few times. Sooner or later he has to run out of lives. I think it’s that bitch girl friend of his bringing him back. If we can kill her it could end a few of our problems.’

  ‘I have given strict orders that neither he nor his girlfriend are to be harmed and that applies to you too Curbut. He is not to be harmed. Do you understand?’ said Firestorm.

  ‘Why?’ asked Curbut obviously annoyed.

  ‘That is none of your business. If you attempt to harm them in any way then you will answer to me. Understand?’ replied Firestorm but Curbut didn’t reply.

  Chapter 25 Run Dragon Run

  After hearing that Aquitain and Miranda were not to be harmed Featherdown had an idea. He carefully replaced the peephole overlooking the gateway and retraced his steps far enough away so nobody would detect the use of magic. He teleported back to his tower raced to the teleport circle and teleported down to his basement and quickly searched around for what he wanted, an old wire birdcage that stood waste high. He checked it carefully to see if its base was solid enough then teleported back upstairs and went to his room and stood in front of the mirror.

  He pulled out a small compendium of useful powers from a pocket in his battle gown and paged through it until he found the power he wanted. The book contained a multitude of powers that he used only occasionally.

  He removed his clothes and he cast a powerful permanent polymorph on himself. He now looked like a young Newman. He looked for another spell and created a powerful glamour like they often used in Moonmist on himself and formed it into a loin cloth. Lastly, he used a simple glamour power on the birdcage making it look like a shiny new golden cage.

  He renewed his power to see invisible, used a shape change power grabbed the cage and teleported to the western teleport marker and quickly looked around. There were a few townspeople there and an invisible Panmagican wizard nearby watching.

  ‘Hello. I’m Aquitain.’ he said ‘I’m looking for the High Wizard. Is he around?’

  ‘Aquitain. It’s Aquitain. Our champion is here. He’ll save the town,’ yelled one of the townspeople.

  Featherdown changed to a bear and started sniffing the air and looking in the direction of the invisible wizard and watched him teleport away. But just to be sure he walked over and smelled the magic residue. Yes, there was teleport magic there and a range of other protection magic smells. He changed back to his naked Newman form re-established his loin cloth and asked

  ‘Is there anyone in charge here?’

  The townspeople crowded around him.

  Moments later one of the trees turned into a druid.

  ‘I am.’ said the druid. ‘Are you really Aquitain?’

  ‘Please people can you give us some room. I’ll try and save the town if I can but I’ve heard the invaders have a lot of captives. I’ve come here to help get them released.’

  ‘Yay.’ They all shouted.

  ‘Quiet please. In fact please stand in a circle and hold hands.’

  He was amazed at how quickly they obeyed his instructions.

  ‘I’ll send you to Templegate now.’ Then used a mass teleport on them and they were gone.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you, Captain Brown Bear, Sir. How can I help.’

  ‘Call the others I need to talk to you all.’ said Featherdown.

  The druid was suddenly suspicious.

  ‘How did you know there were more of us?’ he asked.

  Featherdown was tempted to tell them who he really was but decided to continue on with the deception.

  ‘Because I’m a mind wizard, I can detect their minds.’

  ‘Oh. Of course sir.’ said the druid and called them.

  Just then Granwell appeared.

  ‘Do I know you?’ he a
sked.’

  ‘I’m Aquitain.’ said Featherdown beginning to enjoy himself.

  ‘Oh the little spider gnome fellow with the golden collar. Where’s your

  collar? I would have recognized you if you wore that.’

  ‘I left it with Princess Miranda.’ replied Featherdown.

  The other druids joined him and were told by the druid in charge that he was Aquitain the famous mind wizard. They were suddenly very interested.

  ‘Ok this is what I want you to do,’ and he explained the three jobs he wanted them to do. When he stated that he wanted one to mimic Princess Miranda. They were quiet for a moment.

  ‘Er, Captain Brown Bear we’re not supposed to do that. It’s against the rules.’

  ‘Well she’s my girlfriend. If she finds out about it just blame me. She will probably carry on a bit but after all what can she do?’

  Suddenly all seven volunteered.

  Featherdown suggested they change form to her and suddenly he had seven Miranda look-alikes. None were perfect but good enough to suggest they must have tried it before. He selected a winner and told the others their jobs. One pair had to release the townspeople, a second pair the guards and the remaining two secure this position while Aquitain and Miranda provided the diversion. They would then attack the commercial teleporter and retire to the northern beach.

  He gave them the teleport marker coordinates and four of them disappeared to take up their positions. Two went to the secret underground area next to the Gateway building and two to an underground tunnel that led to the customs buildings basements. They were to wait until the signal came then activate a mechanism that rotated a part of the wall up so the people inside could escape down the tunnels.

  To ensure things happened fast they would play the game Run Dragon Run. This was a game that the children played and all knew quite well as they were drilled with it three times a year. In the game the children sat on the floor and when the teacher yelled Run Dragon Run they all ran to the green room which was usually a basement painted green. The first few arriving were given prizes of sweets and the last to arrive was called the dragon’s breakfast.