Mindbender

by David A. Wells

  As he killed one soldier, another managed to step in and smash into his wounded shoulder with his shield. Jack killed the soldier in the next second but not before Alexander went down hard. The fall coupled with the renewed pain of his wound stunned him for a moment.

  One of the enemy soldiers tried to take advantage of his distracted state and stab him in the head with a spear, but Alexander managed to roll to the side and swipe across his ankles with the Thinblade, toppling the man in a screaming heap.

  The battle ended as quickly as it had begun. Most of the enemy soldiers sustained deep slashes across vital arteries in their arms and legs from Jataan’s knife. The ones who were not dead yet soon would be.

  Evelyn looked at the sudden carnage with shock that slowly transformed into righteous satisfaction. She went to the nearest dying soldier and removed the belt that held his knife and sword and strapped it on over her dress.

  Jack helped Alexander to his feet. His shoulder throbbed but he shoved the pain aside and shook the stunned feeling from his head as he sheathed the Thinblade and drew one of Lucky’s shatter vials from his belt pouch. He kicked the double doors open to the large adjoining room in the center of the main building and threw the vial in a high arc that brought it crashing down onto the central table. The orange-red liquid fire splattered across the table and onto the carpet, igniting everything it touched.

  Alexander turned to lead the way out when Evelyn stopped and faced him with suspicion.

  “Who are you and why do you have my father’s sword?” she demanded.

  “I told you, my name is Alexander,” he said. “As for the Thinblade, this one is mine. Now let’s go. We don’t have much time before the enemy comes back to fight the fire.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you until I know you aren’t the enemy,” Evelyn said stubbornly.

  Jack interceded. “Princess Evelyn, your brother is waiting for us outside the walls of the keep. Please come with us and all will be explained.”

  She looked around at the carnage and the growing glow of fire coming from the other room and nodded grudgingly.

  They left the tower and retraced their path to the hole in the outer wall without encountering any more resistance. The bulk of the enemy soldiers were outside the walls of the keep pursuing the rest of Alexander’s companions.

  As they crawled out of the keep, the air changed. It became charged and filled with power. Alexander looked up and saw the clouds start to spiral above the keep. Then he saw the colors of magic within them and he knew it was time to go.

  They moved quickly but quietly through the night toward the rendezvous point where his friends were waiting. As they got closer, they heard the sounds of battle. They entered the little clearing and saw a platoon of thirty men surrounding Alexander’s friends. Anatoly had positioned his group with their backs to a large boulder and was fending off the enemy as best he could. He was bloody from a gash in his leg and another on his shoulder. Lucky was on one knee behind them, ministering to Conner who was down with a belly wound. Boaberous was cut in several places but still fought with bursts of deadly rage. The enemy surrounding them had barred their escape and was wearing them down with cautious attacks designed more to draw them out and waste their energy than to kill them outright.

  Alexander didn’t hesitate. He drew the Thinblade and swept into the enemy from behind in spite of the pain from his wounded shoulder. He killed three before they even knew what was happening.

  Jataan knifed four men in the back in rapid succession before the platoon realized they were under attack from behind.

  Jack flickered out of sight and found the leader of the enemy soldiers. He cut the man’s throat before he could issue any orders, leaving the rest of the men uncertain and in disarray.

  Evelyn, seeing her injured brother, drew her sword and ran a soldier through with a scream of rage and fear.

  The sudden onslaught from behind gave Anatoly and Boaberous the opportunity to strike out at the distracted enemy. They drove through the cluster of men before them and felled six with a furious assault. The remaining men turned and tried to run. A few made it into the forest but most died trying to escape the sudden attack.

  Evelyn raced to her brother’s side. “Conner, please tell me you’re all right.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Lucky had stopped the bleeding and bandaged the stab wound in his belly, but Conner was clearly hurting.

  Alexander quickly assessed the situation. He could feel the air around him becoming charged with magic. The sky above was darkening with unnatural clouds and the enemy would soon return in greater numbers.

  “Can everyone move?” he asked urgently.

  “Everyone but Conner,” Lucky said as he stood. He had an angry-looking bruise on his face.

  Alexander winced at seeing his old tutor’s injury. Lucky was as gentle as they came, even if his magic was deadly. Seeing him hurt made Alexander’s stomach squirm.

  “Anatoly, Boaberous, go find a couple of saplings and make a stretcher,” Alexander said. “We can’t stay here, they’ll be back in force soon and the wizard in that keep is conjuring something.” As if to punctuate his statement, a bolt of lightning shot down from the gathering storm clouds and struck a tree not a hundred feet away with a deafening crack that nearly knocked them all from their feet.

  “Chloe, let me know when the enemy gets close,” Alexander said aloud.

  She buzzed into a ball of light, emerging from the aether and flew in an orbit around his head once before darting off above the trees to watch for approaching soldiers.

  Evelyn gasped, “What was that?” she asked in stunned amazement.

  “Not what. Who. That was Chloe. She’s a fairy and she’s my familiar,” Alexander said.

  Anatoly and Boaberous returned in short order with two saplings about eight feet long, each stripped of branches. They laid out two blankets one atop the other and then rolled the saplings up from either edge to make a stretcher. Within a few minutes they had secured Conner and were traveling through the forest by the light of night-wisp dust. Alexander didn’t want to give away their position, but he felt it was more important to get some distance from the enemy.

  It started to rain, lightly at first, then more heavily until it came in great torrents. The air sizzled with the power of the wizard’s spell. Lightning flickered across the sky and great peals of thunder shook the ground beneath them. A bolt of lightning struck nearby and knocked them to the ground. The concussion was so great that Alexander lay stunned for several long moments as he struggled to regain his senses. Another bolt struck a tree several hundred feet from their position and shattered it into splinters in a terrifying explosion that sent deadly shards of wood flying in every direction.

  Alexander realized the wizard was using the light of the night-wisp dust to target their position, so he doused the light and changed direction to evade the deadly lightning being called down from the angry clouds overhead. The strikes came more frequently but not as accurately. Trees exploded in the distance. The rain was making it difficult to move with any speed through the pitch-black forest. Alexander could see the colors of the trees all around and was able to lead his companions along a path that avoided the most difficult terrain, but it was still very slow going.

  Through it all they heard shouts in the distance as enemy soldiers followed them through the forest and into the higher reaches of the mountains. As they gained distance from the keep, the severity of the magically conjured storm began to wane and the frequency of the random lightning strikes diminished.

  Alexander and his friends were exhausted and soaking wet. Conner was bleeding through his bandages. Yet the enemy could still be heard pursuing them through the night.

  Then Alexander heard the shriek of the revenant from above. In spite of the thrill of terror that shot through him, he knew they would be saved by the beast. He withdrew his vial of night-wisp dust again and raised the light high int
o the air. He heard the revenant shriek again as it moved off toward the pursuing soldiers. Alexander looked around in the forest for some form of shelter but saw nothing suitable. They kept moving, although much more quickly now that they were once again traveling with the aid of light.

  In the distance, the revenant shrieked again, followed by the screams of men in the dark. Alexander smiled grimly. Sometimes the best tactic was introducing one enemy to another.

  They pressed on for another hour through the night. The rain of the unnatural storm subsided completely as they moved out of the range of the wizard’s power. When they found a small cave formed by three large boulders piled on top of each other, they stopped to rest and heal.

  Alexander decided that warmth was more important than revealing their position, so he started gathering wood for a fire.

  Anatoly joined him without a word.

  Lucky helped Conner sit up and put a pack behind him to rest against.

  “Drink this,” he said, holding up a vial of clear-looking liquid.

  Evelyn stopped him. “What are you giving my brother?” she demanded.

  Lucky sat back, weary from the battle and exhausted from traveling through the forest at night in the rain. He was bruised and beaten up himself and in no mood for an argument.

  “Don’t be difficult, Evelyn,” Conner said as he took the vial and downed the contents.

  “The draught will make you sleep,” Lucky said. “When you wake, your wound should be mostly healed. Given the severity, it may take a few days for it to heal completely.”

  Conner nodded and motioned for his sister to help him lie back down. Soon he was breathing deeply and evenly.

  Alexander and Anatoly returned from the darkness and stacked the wood they’d gathered, then began stacking stones in a circle for a fire.

  “You said you would answer my questions,” Evelyn said.

  Alexander gave her a look that stopped her from saying another word. “I will, but not tonight. For now, go help Jack gather some more firewood.”

  She looked surprised to be told what to do but then looked over at her brother and seemed to make up her mind. With a huff, she got up and stomped off into the woods with Jack trailing behind her wearing a mischievous grin.

  Lucky tended to the multiple injuries sustained by nearly everyone and then they went to sleep. Jataan stood watch in the night with a vial of night-wisp dust in his pocket just in case the revenant came back. Since they had only four hours or so before dawn, Jack split the watch with the battle mage so each of them could get a couple of hours of sleep. They rose at dawn and broke camp quickly. The enemy soldiers weren’t nearly far enough away and Alexander didn’t want them to get any closer.

  Conner had awakened with a groan but he was able to get to his feet and even heft his pack. Most of their minor injuries were healed by Lucky’s magical salve. Alexander’s shoulder still ached, and he could see that the gash in Anatoly’s leg still gave him some stiffness.

  They ate a simple breakfast as they walked in the early dawn.

  “Now will someone answer my questions?” Evelyn asked with exasperation.

  “Don’t be difficult, Evelyn,” Conner said to his sister. “This is Alexander Reishi, the Sovereign of the Seven Isles, and he just saved your life. Say thank you and be nice to the man.”

  “But, how can that be? He has a Thinblade but he says it’s not father’s. Yet I thought his was the only one that survived the Reishi War. Also, I thought Phane was the only Reishi still alive in the Seven Isles and he was the one who ordered that I be abducted.”

  Conner answered his sister’s questions as they walked through the forest. With every answer, she asked a series of new questions. Alexander walked ahead and listened to the exchange to keep his mind off the threats they faced. In some ways Evelyn reminded him of Abigail. They were both inquisitive and unafraid to ask questions although Abigail was a bit more tactful. He felt a sudden pang of loneliness. His sister was his best friend and he missed her. He trusted that she was alive and well but that did nothing to fill the void created by her absence.

  Chloe was keeping watch for Alexander from the safety of the aether. From there she could see everything that transpired in the world of time and substance but she wasn’t vulnerable to detection or harm. She reported that two hundred men armed with bows and swords were about an hour behind and force-marching through the forest. Alexander wasn’t worried about the swords, but the bows had him concerned. A large number of men armed with bows was more than they were able to defeat. Without adequate cover, they would be cut down in the first volley. Alexander stepped up the pace even as the terrain became steeper and more treacherous.

  Evelyn came up beside him breathing heavily from the exertion but not complaining about the pace. “My brother explained who you are and what’s going on,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you for coming to save me. I know I wasn’t very polite to you and I’m sorry for that.”

  Alexander chuckled. “Think nothing of it, Evelyn. You’ve been through an ordeal that would put anyone in a foul mood.”

  “If I may ask, where are we going?” she said.

  Alexander hesitated for a moment, trying to decide how much to reveal to her before he spoke. “There’s a ruined keep in the mountains. We’re headed there.”

  “Those ruins are supposed to be haunted,” Evelyn said cautiously. “Are you sure that’s the best way to go?”

  “I don’t know about best, but it’s where we’re going,” Alexander replied. “We have two hundred men armed with bows about an hour behind us. We need someplace with cover and the high ground to face them or we’re all dead. Those ruins are our only hope, and if they are haunted, that might actually be helpful. Those soldiers have probably never seen a ghost before—but I have.”

  She was silent for a while as she thought over what he’d said. “Why did you come to rescue me? I mean, you obviously have more important things to be doing than trying to save one person. From what Conner tells me, your home of Ruatha is at war and you’re way out here with just a handful of men. I don’t understand.”

  Alexander let her ramble until he was sure she was finished before he tried to answer. “As long as Phane had you under his thumb, your father couldn’t commit his troops to help fight my enemies. I need his help, so I did the one thing for him that he needed more than anything else: I protected his family.”

  “So what, I’m just a piece on a board to you?” She seemed agitated that Alexander had motives other than simply rescuing her.

  He looked at her with a sidelong glance and shook his head. “You’re not a piece on a board to me. You’re an innocent young woman who was being held for leverage against her father. In answer to your real question, yes, I do have multiple reasons for being here.”

  “Like what?” she shot back.

  Alexander smiled to himself. Despite her recent abduction and imprisonment, she was still feisty.

  He thought about his answer for a moment as he moved through the thinning forest of the mountain lowlands. “As you’ve said, my homeland has been invaded. But I don’t have enough soldiers to defeat the enemy’s army. As long as Phane had you, your father was powerless to act. With you safe, your father is free to throw his lot in with me and help me defeat the invading army on Ruatha. Second, Phane was building an army here in Grafton. I don’t want him to gain a foothold here because war here would destroy much of your food crops. Famine would follow. Thousands would die. Finally, there’s something I need on this island. Coming to get you provided a logical pretense for my enemies that prevented them from seeing my true intent.”

  She frowned, furrowing her brow deeply as she processed what he said. “What are you here to find?” she asked with genuine curiosity.

  He could see Conner perk up with curiosity as well. Alexander had been careful to avoid the subject of the adept wizard’s keep for fear that Phane might be listening. Now that they were so close, he knew the Reishi Arch Mage wouldn’t be a
ble to interfere.

  “I’m not actually sure,” Alexander said, “but I know that it’s important and I hope it will help me fight Phane.”

  Before Evelyn could ask another question, Chloe buzzed into existence in a bright ball of light. “There’s danger ahead, My Love. Ganglings are lying in wait on the ridge above the ravine we must pass through to reach the ruins.”

  “That complicates things,” Alexander muttered to himself. “How many did you see?”

  “I counted five,” Chloe said. “Each has a big pile of rocks.”

  “Five ganglings with the high ground and ample weapons,” Anatoly said as he shook his head. “Might be time to rethink our path.”

  “I concur with Master Grace,” Jataan said. “Given the superiority of their position, they are too dangerous to engage.”

  Alexander nodded, then turned to Lucky. “I don’t suppose you have anything in that bag of yours that might get us through the ravine without them seeing us.”

  “I’m afraid not. I don’t have another potion of fog and even that would only conceal us. The ganglings might still get lucky with one of their rocks.”

  Jack cocked his head and smiled. “Just exactly how big is that bag of yours on the inside?”

  Lucky blinked and then frowned for a moment before he smiled broadly. “It’s quite large actually. It certainly has more space than I’ve had a chance to fill up. I think your plan might just work.”

  “What plan?” Evelyn asked with the frustration of someone who didn’t like to be kept in the dark.

  Lucky sat down and started emptying the items from his magical bag. A minute or two later, he had a large pile of stuff: his bedroll, rations, waterskins, oil flasks, and stacks of vials, bags, pouches, small boxes, canisters, jars, and metal tubes. Some containers were full while others were awaiting the next ingredient that Lucky might find in his travels. He tipped the empty bag upside down and smiled as he handed it to Jack.

  “I would suggest Lieutenant Grudge go first,” Lucky said. “If he can fit, then everyone else will be easy.”