Mindbender

by David A. Wells

  “We’re done here,” he said quietly. “Let’s go find a ship.” With that he turned and left the room.

  They were halfway down the stairs leading to the guard room on the level below when someone pounded on the door. The guards in the room remained unconsciousness as Alexander raced to the door and sent his all around sight through to the other side. He saw six soldiers wearing the markings of the Reishi Army Regency. The sergeant in command of the squad sent one of his men to raise the alarm.

  “Looks like getting out might be complicated,” Alexander said. “There are five soldiers outside this door and more on the way. We’re going to have to move fast. We kill the five as quickly as possible and then get to the docks. I know the fastest route from here but we’ll probably run into some resistance. Fight through and keep moving.” Alexander drew the Thinblade. “Jack, get the bar on the door.”

  “Lord Reishi, allow us to meet the enemy first,” Jataan said, motioning to Boaberous.

  Anatoly stepped up next to them with his axe and nodded his agreement. “You’ve been in the front of the battle far too much lately for my liking.”

  Alexander started to protest but Lucky put a hand on his shoulder and gently turned him away from the door and the enemy waiting beyond. “Your duty is to rally the Seven Isles against Phane, not to fight a squad of soldiers who are no match for your protectors. Let them do their job so that you can do yours.”

  With an effort of will, Alexander nodded and stepped back. Anatoly nodded to Jack who lifted the bar and pulled the door open. Boaberous thrust his hammer into a surprised-looking squad sergeant’s stomach and sent him flying into the far wall of the hallway. The giant swept into the remaining soldiers followed closely by Jataan and Anatoly, each fighting with their own unique style.

  Anatoly killed with measured efficiency and the cool, calm precision of an experienced soldier. Boaberous fought with focused rage, bludgeoning his enemies with his giant war hammer fueled by his bulk and ferocious strength. Jataan fought with impossible speed and deadly accuracy coupled with calm detachment. The five guards didn’t stand a chance. They fell with surprising quickness but even as the last hit the ground, Alexander could hear the footfalls of more soldiers coming. Then a bell began to toll. The alarm had been raised.

  They raced down the hall with Boaberous in the lead followed by Alexander directing him at each turn. After only a couple of minutes of fleeing through the keep, they rounded a corner and encountered two soldiers coming toward them. Boaberous charged them and hit the first man in the side of the head with his hammer, crushing his skull and driving him into the second man. They both crashed to the floor. Boaberous didn’t stop or turn to finish them but instead resumed his place on point and let Jataan kill the remaining soldier. They worked well together, each anticipating the actions of the other with unerring accuracy.

  Alexander led them through a large door and into a wide, high-ceilinged hall. He pointed to the door that led to the docks and Boaberous headed for the exit without hesitation, in spite of the fifty soldiers on the other side of the hall that were assembling to respond to the alarm. When they saw Alexander and his companions, they immediately gave chase.

  Five men was one thing, but fifty was something else altogether. An engagement could very easily cost the lives of one or more of his friends and it simply wasn’t worth it. Alexander had accomplished his purpose in raiding the keep. All that was left to do was escape.

  “Run!” he commanded.

  They fled through the halls with near recklessness. The few soldiers they encountered were totally unprepared for the three hundred and fifty pounds of Boaberous hurtling through the halls of the keep. He smashed into them and sent them sprawling without a second look. The thunderous sound of boots behind them only served to spur them on.

  “There. That door opens to the port,” Alexander said.

  Boaberous lifted the bar and opened the door carefully to see if there were more enemy soldiers beyond, but the dock was clear. Fifty soldiers rounded the corner behind them and charged. Alexander turned to face them, reasoning that they would be far more manageable in a confined space than outside, but Lucky had a better idea. He threw a glass jar into their path, which shattered on impact and scattered a handful of small pinkish crystals onto the floor. For a moment, nothing happened.

  The soldiers drew closer.

  “What was that supposed to do?” Anatoly asked as he readied his axe.

  Lucky smiled. “You’ll see.”

  As the soldiers neared, the crystals began to grow impossibly fast. Within only a few breaths time, they grew into a mass of beautiful light-pink crystals that completely filled the hallway from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall for a good ten feet. Several soldiers were caught up in the rapid growth of the magical crystals and died badly.

  “That should hold them for a while,” Lucky said with a nod of satisfaction.

  “Huh, not bad,” Anatoly said with a grin for his old friend.

  They fled out onto the docks in the darkness of early morning. Several vessels of different types were moored in the slips lining the waterfront of Grafton Harbor. Most looked like ocean-going merchant ships. A few were passenger ferries. And still fewer looked like patrol boats used by the Grafton navy to maintain control of the waters around the province. They were fast-looking, narrow little ships with three masts and several sails as well as a bank of oars on each side. The bow of each was armed with a heavy ballista and the prow culminated in a barbed battering ram.

  Alexander scanned the walls of the keep and saw lamps flickering to life as the enemy soldiers responded to the alarm. It was only a matter of time before the wall facing the port was lined with archers. He tapped Boaberous on the shoulder and pointed at the nearest patrol boat. The giant nodded and started toward the small ship. They moved quickly and quietly through the shadows of the early morning and out onto the dock running alongside the warship. It was tied off with two heavy ropes, and the gangplank was deployed, allowing easy access to the decks.

  A single guard stood on the dock watching Alexander and his companions approach. Alexander saw his colors flare with fear when he realized that the people approaching him in the darkness were the reason for the alarm. But he was too late.

  Boaberous grabbed him by one arm and flung him into the water before racing to the top of the gangplank. Anatoly chopped the rear mooring rope with a single stroke of his axe, while Alexander raced ahead to cut the fore rope. Within a minute they were aboard the little ship. The one man standing watch on the ship was tossed overboard and the gangplank was pushed off the deck, clattering loudly onto the dock below.

  Alexander opened the door to the deck below and found the sleepy eyes of a man with a captain’s coat hastily thrown on over his nightshirt. He leveled the Thinblade at the man and bore into him with his glittering gold-flecked eyes.

  “Are you the captain of this ship?” Alexander asked.

  The man looked at the Thinblade for a moment before he nodded, swallowing hard.

  “Is your crew on board?”

  He nodded again without a word.

  “Good, wake them and make best speed for Grafton Island,” Alexander commanded. “I have no wish to harm you or your men but I will if necessary. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” the captain said, nodding quickly.

  Alexander could see from his colors that he was afraid but also courageous enough to make good decisions in spite of his fear.

  “My large friend here will accompany you during our trip,” Alexander said motioning to Boaberous. “If you or your men attempt to resist, he’ll kill you first.” He raised the Thinblade so the captain could get a good look at the ancient Sword of Kings. “Let me be clear, you and your men do not have the ability to overpower us. If you try, you will all die. If you do as you’re told, we will get off your ship at Grafton Island and you will not be harmed. Do we have an understanding?”

  He blinked a few times as he looked around at th
e faces surrounding him and nodded. “We do.”

  “Good, get us under way with all possible speed,” Alexander said, then turned to Anatoly. “Take a look at the ballista and get it ready for a fight.”

  Anatoly nodded and headed off to the large siege weapon mounted on the bow deck of the little warship.

  The captain went below decks shouting orders interspersed with profanity. Within a few minutes the ship was alive and moving. Most of the crew were rowers with a few deckhands to man the sails. Since the air was relatively calm so near to the shore, the captain kept his deck clear, ordered the row master to give him best speed, and sent his first mate to man the wheel and guide the ship out of the bay.

  Shouts came from the docks as the soldiers realized that the enemy was escaping, followed by a volley of arrows that fell well short.

  Alexander watched from the aft deck as the keep and port came alive. A warning fire was lit on a high tower overlooking the bay and the three remaining patrol boats in port took on soldiers and began moving to give chase.

  For the moment, he was powerless to act. There was nothing he could do now but wait and see if the enemy ships would close within weapons’ range before they made it to Grafton Island.

  As they left the safe harbor of the bay, the wind picked up and the captain came to Alexander with Boaberous following behind.

  “The wind would give us more speed but I’ll need my deckhands to manage the sails,” the captain said without emotion.

  “Do what you need to do, Captain. Just get us to Grafton Island as quickly as possible,” Alexander said.

  “There are patrol boats watching for any ships headed to the island,” he said. “They have orders to stop and board every vessel for inspection.”

  Alexander nodded. “I expected as much. How many patrol boats can we expect?”

  “At least three, plus the three that are pursuing us,” the captain said. He was calm and matter-of-fact in spite of the fear that Alexander could see so clearly in his colors.

  “What will they do when we don’t stop for them?”

  “They’ll attack with fire pots launched with ballistae,” the captain responded.

  “Head straight for the closest patrol ship in our way,” Alexander said. “We’ll hit them first. Hopefully the others won’t be able to close within range before we make landfall.”

  The captain hesitated.

  “Speak your mind, Captain,” Alexander said.

  “I . . . those ships are commanded by my friends,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt them.”

  Alexander nodded with genuine sadness. “I understand, Captain. In truth, I don’t want to hurt them either but I will if I have to.”

  “If you don’t want to hurt them, then why are you doing this?” he asked.

  “Grafton has declared war against Ithilian and taken sides with Prince Phane,” Alexander said. “The Governor helped Phane’s people abduct Princess Evelyn and is allowing an army from Karth to use Grafton as a staging ground for an all-out invasion of the rest of Ithilian. I intend to stop them—and your friends are in the way.”

  The captain shook his head. “I don’t know about any of that and neither do they,” he said, pointing out into the darkness toward the patrol boats that waited in the distance. “We’re just doing our jobs.”

  “In doing your job, you are committing treason against Ithilian and waging war against the Seven Isles and the Old Law,” Alexander said. “Doing a job that requires you to betray basic morality is not an excuse worthy of consideration. By defending Grafton, you are aiding those who would wage unprovoked war against innocent people and abduct others for the purpose of using their lives as leverage against their loved ones.”

  “None of that is our doing,” he said with indignation. “We have to feed our families so we do as we’re told. Otherwise, we’d lose our jobs and others would take our places. You can’t blame us for what the Governor does.”

  “No, I can’t,” Alexander said. “I can only blame you for what you do. You and others like you are the means through which the Governor wielded his power. Without people like you who blindly follow his commands, he would be powerless. Obedience to authority does not absolve you of guilt if your actions are immoral. We must all choose when faced with a moral dilemma. How you choose reveals your nature and your character.”

  “And what about you?” the captain spat back, growing more angry by the moment. “You’ve hijacked my ship at the point of a blade. What gives you the right? How are you any different from the Governor?”

  Jataan stepped up. “Lord Reishi has no need to explain himself to you. His word is law.”

  “Lord Reishi?” the captain said as his face went slightly pale.

  “It’s all right, Jataan. His question is valid, so I’ll answer it,” Alexander said. “I’m acting in response to provocation. I did not start this war. I did not ask for this power. I did not bring enemy soldiers into a peaceful nation. I did not abduct an innocent woman from her home and ransom her back to her family. This war was brought to my doorstep. My family was attacked, my brother was killed, my home was burned to the ground, my nation was invaded and my enemies have tried to kill me time and time again. My actions are in response to aggression against me and other innocent people. If I wish to survive, I must destroy those who are making war against me and mine. They cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be bargained with, and they cannot be permitted to continue to live. They lust for power over the lives of others and will stop at nothing until they impose their will on every life in the Seven Isles. Their actions have condemned them to death. They have murdered innocent people, abducted innocent people, and stolen from innocent people. They have violated the Old Law and as such, they have forfeited their right to life, liberty, or property. Taking your ship is not a violation of the Old Law because you serve the enemy that has made war against me. Your rights under the Old Law are forfeit.”

  The captain swallowed hard. “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Not if you do as I tell you,” Alexander said. “I’m not bloodthirsty. I don’t want to kill but I won’t hesitate either. For the moment, you represent no threat to me. Killing you wouldn’t further my cause. However, if the day should come that I face you on the battlefield, I will kill you without a second thought.”

  The man in the crow’s nest called out and pointed into the gradually brightening dawn.

  Alexander and his friends went to the foredeck.

  Anatoly was standing on the bow, looking out across the water at the patrol ship on the horizon. “The ballista is loaded with a fire pot and ready to fire. I’ve set the range at maximum and checked the sights. It’s in good order. We should be able to hit them within a few minutes.”

  “Lord Reishi, I believe I can hit them from here,” Jataan said.

  Alexander and Anatoly frowned in unison.

  “How? Anatoly asked. “The ballista can’t shoot that far.”

  “Not on its own,” Jataan said, “but my magic will add considerably to its range.”

  Anatoly shrugged and looked over at Alexander. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. We have plenty of ammunition and it won’t take long to reload.”

  “Give it a shot,” Alexander said.

  Jataan nodded and went to the firing controls of the big siege weapon. He made a few adjustments and nodded to Anatoly to light the fuse on the fire pot. When Anatoly gave the signal, Jataan checked his aim and fired the weapon. The clay pot filled with lamp oil sailed through the air in an impossible arc propelled more by the magic of the battle mage than the power of the ballista. It hit the deck of the patrol boat and shattered in a spray of fire.

  “Nice shot,” Anatoly said grudgingly.

  The sails went up in flames quickly. Within minutes, the boat was listing and the crew was abandoning ship. Alexander watched their desperate struggle to save themselves as his ship sailed past. The remaining two patrol boats in the blockade and the three that launched from the port in pursuit wer
e well out of attack range.

  Grafton Island grew on the horizon as the light of day grew brighter.

  Alexander suddenly realized he was tired. They hadn’t slept for the entire night, and the rest of the day would be spent running into the interior of Grafton Island in an attempt to elude whatever soldiers made landfall from the ships behind them.

  He thought about Isabel and wondered what she was doing in that moment. He hoped the mana fast was successful and worried that it wasn’t. He told himself that his worry was irrational, Isabel was strong, she would survive and emerge stronger, but he still worried. More than anything he just wanted her with him. Her presence made everything better, calmed his nerves and soothed his soul. He missed her terribly.

  “She will return to you, My Love,” Chloe said in his mind.

  “You sound so certain, Little One. How can you be sure?” he said without speaking.

  “I have seen her mind and her soul. She is strong and she loves you just as much as you love her,” Chloe said. “You will be together again.”

  “Thank you, Little One.”

  Chapter 22

  They had sailed for several hours through the morning and into midafternoon when the captain came back to Alexander.

  “Where should I make port?” he asked. “There are adequate ports at the northernmost settlement and one around the west side of the island. The one to the east is farther and would take longer because the winds shift out on the open ocean and we would have to rely on the oars.”

  Alexander scanned the island looming up before them. “We aren’t going to a port. There will be soldiers waiting for us. Run aground there,” Alexander said, pointing to a sandy beach in a little cove a few miles from the northern port town.

  “But, we’ll be stuck,” the captain complained. “I’ll never get my ship off that beach.”

  “Captain, your ship is a thing,” Alexander said. “I am trying to save the lives of innocent people. Do as I tell you or you’ll find yourself swimming to shore.”