The Mage War

by Ben S. Dobson

  Tane talked over her protests—he didn’t know how much longer he had, if she thought she was in danger. “She may have helped him compromise some of the personnel on this boat. Thorpe’s machine is capable of animating the dead as golems under his control. We saw it in Belgrier, and the machine we found in the warehouse had been used for that purpose. Which means we need to be on guard. I suggest divinations on every person on board. Anyone under Endo’s control will have an inactive Astral signature. Present, but placid.”

  While everyone else in the room was still gauging how to react, Lady Abena signalled her Mageblades. The two from the patrol boat kept hold of Tane and Kadka’s bound wrists, but the remaining two on guard—women both, a human and a half-elf—moved toward the Rhienni table, converging on Hobbier.

  The Rhienni guards moved to intercept, and the head diplomat—Anelle, Gerrolt had called her—rose from her seat. “Lady Abena, I must protest,” she said. “Do you mean to simply accept the word of an accused assassin? Miss Hobbier is here as a representative of Rhien. We will not surrender her without evidence.”

  “I would expect no less,” Lady Abena said. “But until my Mageblades reach this warehouse to verify Mister Carver’s tale, I’m sure you won’t object to an additional few guards over her. And I must insist we perform the suggested divinations immediately. If it is a lie, we have only wasted time, and if it is the truth, it may save lives. I have heard whispers about Miss Hobbier before today, and I am not inclined to take chances.”

  So Senator Stooke did get word to her. It made Tane feel a little bit better to know that Lady Abena was already wary of Hobbier, at least. He needed every edge he could get—especially since he couldn’t be certain that the Mageblades would find anything at the warehouse. Astra, let the machine still be there.

  Ambassador Anelle motioned for her guards to stand down. “Of course, Lady Abena. I will arrange for divinations on the crew. So long as we can agree not to take drastic steps without confirmation.”

  As the Mageblades fell in on either side of her, Hobbier turned to Anelle, wild-eyed. “I can’t believe you’re even entertaining this! Why would anyone send me to do… whatever it is I’m being accused of? I’m not even three feet tall and I can’t use magic through the wards! What could I possibly accomplish?”

  “The siphon in Belgrier worked through the palace wards,” Tane pointed out. “With Thorpe’s machine, spells can be scribed directly to the Astra, bypassing magical security.”

  Hobbier shook her head. “You think I’m the anchor for something like that? Wouldn’t you all be feeling it by now?”

  “It’s possible to scribe the spell to the Astra and activate it later,” Tane said. “The catch is, it would be easy to stop if we know who the source is. If we feel the slightest drain now, the guards will know exactly who to kill.” Hobbier blanched at that. “But like Lady Abena said, better safe than sorry. Maybe I’m wrong about the plan. Maybe you’re not the source. Luckily, it so happens that I have a way to nullify the danger entirely.” He looked to the Lady Protector. “The pack that was taken from us. It has protective talismans inside that will ward against the siphon spell. Should be enough to cover the diplomats, at least, and a handful more.”

  Lady Abena nodded to one of her Mageblades, a dwarven woman standing guard over the Audish table. The woman hurried out the door to fetch the pack.

  “You can’t possibly believe this!” Hobbier protested. “He’s a criminal and a murderer! He probably has a weapon in his bag, a spellfire detonation or something!”

  High Provost Elena nodded in agreement. “Conspirator or no, she is right about that much. How can we trust that this isn’t some Audish trick?”

  “The wards on the ship would prevent any such artifact from activating,” said Lady Abena. “And by now the pack has been examined by all of our security details. Anything dangerous will have been removed. I cannot speak for the rest of you, but if there is a possibility of an attack like the one in Belgrier, and the artifacts Mister Carver has brought with him may protect us, I would like to have them close at hand.” She turned her gaze directly upon Kaiser Gerrolt. “You witnessed the effects of the spell, Your Grace. Do you disagree?”

  Gerrolt paled slightly—he clearly hadn’t forgotten what the siphon felt like. “No,” he said, though he didn’t bother to hide his reluctance. “I suppose not. We should have a look at them, at the very least.”

  The dwarven mageblade returned a moment later, pack in hand; Lady Abena beckoned to him as he entered, and he deposited the pack on the table in front of her. After whispering with him briefly, she reached in and retrieved one of the small brooch-like talismans. “I’m told that my Mageblades couldn’t find any discernable spellwork beyond a few basic glyphs. As far as they can tell, these trinkets have no function at all.”

  “To counter Endo’s spell, ours had to be inscribed Astrally as well, through a replica of Thorpe’s machine,” Tane explained. “You’d need another machine to read the glyphs.”

  “So we have no way to check that they are what you say they are?” Kaiser Gerrolt asked, incredulous. “And you expect us to use them?”

  “That’s for you to decide,” said Tane. “I wish I had some better way to prove it, but I don’t.”

  “If is this or Endo’s spell, I know what to choose,” said Kadka, staring intensely at Gerrolt. “You feel it too, in Belgrier. The magic going away. Any risk is better.”

  Gerrolt looked away from her, his eyes falling to the small bit of brass in Lady Abena’s hand. He said nothing.

  Lady Abena turned the talisman over. “A pin. I suppose it must pierce the skin to function?”

  Tane nodded. “That’s right. It won’t last forever under a prolonged siphon effect, but it should give you at least an hour to get somewhere safe.”

  With a nod, Lady Abena stowed the talisman on her person, though she didn’t insert the pin. “In case the need arises,” was all she said. She offered the pack to Estene Althir, who took an artifact for herself; the other aides at the Audish table did the same.

  There was a clear tension in the air now—everyone weighing the possibility of an attack like the one in Belgrier against the chance that the artifacts were some kind of trap. For a moment, no one spoke. But they’re considering it. That’s further than I thought I’d get.

  And then Oola Hobbier began to laugh.

  It was a quavering, nervous sound, and her smile was too tight to be anything but forced. Trying to project a confidence she clearly wasn’t feeling. A light sweat beaded on her brow. “I can see why Endo is so impressed with you, Tane Carver. I didn’t think you’d get them to listen. Still, maybe you aren’t quite the threat he thinks you are.” She looked up at the Rhienni guardsman standing just beside her, at the edge of the table, and gave him a short, trembling nod.

  And in that moment, Tane knew he’d got it all wrong.

  “Wait!” he shouted, pulling against the cuffs that bound his wrists. The Mageblade holding him yanked him reflexively back into position.

  It didn’t matter. It was already too late.

  All around the room, guards in Rhienni blue and red drew their swords. Not all of them, but enough. More than he’d ever anticipated. He’d known Endo might have one or two agents placed aboard, but he’d been wrong about their purpose. They weren’t just there to silence him or Kadka. Not in numbers like this.

  Before anyone could react, the man Hobbier had signaled took two steps, grabbed Ambassador Anelle by the hair, and opened her throat.

  Chapter Eleven

  _____

  KADKA SAW THE swords come out, and then the room erupted into chaos.

  The Rhienni ambassador was on the floor with her throat slashed before anyone could move, and more assassins were already moving in behind the other leaders. The guards were too fixed on the fallen ambassador to notice—in fact, only Carver and Kadka had a clear view of the full threat from where they stood. Everyone else was facing inward, away from the guards be
hind them. Nobody had been prepared for this.

  Except Kadka. She’d been bracing for a fight—if not against Endo’s agents, then against Belgrians trying to take her and Carver away. She was ready.

  “Is not just one!” she shouted for the benefit of the rest of the room. “Look behind!”

  The warning worked, or at least it took some of the element of surprise away from the would-be assassins. Still-loyal guards turned to defend their charges, and many of the diplomats moved to shield their leaders with their bodies. Henred Klenn included. He put himself directly in the path of one of the attackers—an act of courage that surprised Kadka. The remaining Rhienni guards, the ones who hadn’t been turned by Endo, were little help. They didn’t seem to know who to fight, and their hesitation earned a half dozen of them swords buried in their ribs by former allies.

  A quick estimate put the number at maybe ten attackers, by Kadka’s reckoning. Not quite half of the Rhienni guard, but still too many. This wasn’t just insurance—Endo had turned enough of the guard to slaughter every diplomat in the room, if their ambush had gone as planned. And it still could. Hobbier must have used her position to lure members of the Rhienni guard into vulnerable positions, so that Endo could murder them and reanimate the corpses with his machine. Turn them into tools, weapons to make sure the peace talks ended in blood. A poskan strategy, and one that needed stopping.

  So Kadka moved, following her instinct. Which, unexpectedly, was to put herself directly between Henred Klenn and danger.

  Her hands were still cuffed behind her back, but she had no trouble tearing away from the distracted Mageblade holding her. Ignoring the ache in her recently healed leg, she bounded three quick steps toward the Belgrian table. A hands-free leaping slide carried her up and over, and she managed to twist and land on her feet on the other side. The rogue guard—a big human man—was nearly upon Klenn now. Kadka let her momentum carry her forward, shouldered Klenn aside, and rammed into the attacker with her head lowered. He grunted and stumbled back, jabbing his sword out at her; she barely twisted aside, and felt the blade score a shallow cut along her left arm.

  “Kadka!” Klenn’s voice, behind her. “Are you alright?”

  “Fine. Get back!”

  The assassin closed in again, and a silver glow kindled in his eyes—the power animating Endo’s puppets always shone through when they exerted themselves. Kadka dodged another swipe of his shortsword, and then thrust her foot straight into his kneecap. She felt it give, heard the crunch of bone, and the man lost balance and went over on his left side, hitting the floor hard.

  Another Rhienni guard with glowing silver eyes was closing in, coming at Gerrolt, but Kadka didn’t have to put herself in the way this time. The Belgrian guards were already there, weapons raised to defend their kaiser.

  Which probably should have been Kadka’s first move. If Gerrolt died here, war was all but assured, and yet she’d gone to Klenn’s defence first.

  That was something she would have to think on later. Just then, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

  One of the Belgrian guards sank his sword into the oncoming assassin’s stomach, but the stabbed man didn’t slow, didn’t fall. Instead, his eyes glowed brighter, and he returned the blow, hacking deep into the Belgrian’s side. One more ally down. And that made something very clear to Kadka: defenders outnumbered assassins, but that wasn’t enough. She was the only person in the room who had faced this threat before, and her hands were tied behind her back. She couldn’t handle this alone.

  “They are Endo’s puppets,” she shouted. “Silver eyes means he controls them. Not enough to kill like normal men. Have to maim. Arms, legs, eyes.” That would have to be enough. Longer explanations could wait. “Fall back, make circle around leaders!”

  In the absence of a better plan, they did as she said. Funny—no one was ignoring the half-orc now. The Belgrian and Estian guards made a wall in front of their leaders and diplomats, falling back together; Kadka moved with them, staying near Klenn, and let the armed men and women take the front line. On the other side of the room, Estene Althir had placed her considerable bulk in the path of the threat, and was now escorting Lady Abena away amid the rest of the Audish delegation while the Mageblades guarded their retreat.

  “The pack!” Carver called out. “We need those artifacts!” He wasn’t far from where Kadka had left him, cuffed in the center of the room. The Mageblades had abandoned him to defend Lady Abena, and now he was helpless and unprotected, backing away as two of Endo’s assassins closed in from the other side, nearest the door.

  Lady Abena had already been ushered around the table, putting it between her and the fight, but at the reminder she snapped up the forgotten pack. “Protect Mister Carver!” she ordered. “I expect him to be kept alive until he can explain to me what is happening here!”

  Carver fell back into the protective reach of the Mageblades just as the Belgrians and Estians reached the center of the room with Kadka. Crowded shoulder to shoulder with the Kaiser of Belgrier, the High Provost of Estia, and the father she hardly knew—not a position she could have imagined she would soon be in just a few hours before. What remained of the loyal Rhienni guards were there too, following Kadka’s orders in the absence of their ambassador. The guards and Mageblades formed a circle around everyone else, holding back the attackers—aiming for limbs and faces, just as Kadka had instructed.

  Already some of Endo’s silver-eyed assassins had been effectively removed as immediate threats—the man whose knee Kadka had ruined, and a second human man whose sword arm had been severed at the elbow during the retreat. One of the Mageblades slashed a dwarven woman across the eyes, blinding her, and the dwarf fell back and went still. Whatever magical directive animated her apparently hadn’t been set to waste effort controlling a woman who couldn’t see. But there was no special technique needed to kill the living, and too many guards were falling to enemy blades. The protective circle had shrunk to less than a dozen. At that rate, Kadka truly didn’t know which side would break first.

  And as long as she was bound and unarmed, she wasn’t doing enough to change the odds.

  Kadka prodded the Mageblade who had cuffed her on the boat. “My arms!” She spun around, offering her hands behind her back.

  The man ignored her—understandably—until Lady Abena shouted, “Unbind her, by the Astra! Both of them!”

  The other three Mageblades—none had fallen yet, Kadka noted, with a certain Audish pride—closed in to cover his absence as the man quickly unlocked the cuffs around Kadka’s wrists, and then Carver’s. Lady Abena didn’t need to be asked; she was already holding out the pack for Kadka to take her knives.

  Kadka grinned. “Feels better this way,” she said, grasping a blade in each hand. Beside her, Carver started digging out his various charms and magical knick-knacks.

  “Kadka, you’re already hurt.” Klenn gestured at her arm, where a growing red stain was slowly engulfing her sleeve. Behind him, Gerrolt frowned, clearly perplexed by the show of concern for a lowly half-orc, but Klenn didn’t seem to notice. “You don’t have to—”

  “Is nothing. Flesh wound.” She shot him an annoyed look. “Is not time for fussing now.”

  He shrank back a bit, nodded. “I know, I… I’m sorry.” He spread his hands helplessly. “Do what you have to do.”

  “Never needed permission,” Kadka said flatly. She didn’t need him trying to father her now, after so many years. But on the other hand, his attempt to supress his obvious worry was mildly endearing. She flashed him a small grin. “Will be fine, Klenn. Is not my time to die yet.”

  And then she turned away, and leapt into the fight.

  Just in time to see Oola Hobbier disappear.

  Hobbier had stayed back from the fighting, cowering behind the Rhienni table; she’d barely moved from where Ambassador Anelle’s body lay. But now that the defenders were rallying, apparently she’d decided she’d stayed long enough. Her body shimmered, and suddenly
she was gone.

  Or rather, she was camouflaged with an instinctive gnomish glamor. Kadka could almost pick her out, a strange shifting here and there against the background, but only for the first few steps, moving toward the door. A moment later it opened as if on its own. Hobbier was escaping.

  “Stop her!” Kadka barked. “Is only one who can tell us Endo’s plan!” But she didn’t wait for someone else to do it. She was already moving before the words were out.

  There was only one silver-eyed guard in her way; several others were moving now to block the path to the door, but not fast enough. Kadka lunged at the heavyset man in front of her, lured out a predictable thrust of his sword. She was already twisting aside, slashing one blade along his exposed forearm. His sword fell from his suddenly slack fingers; she moved by, and ducked low to swipe her second blade across the back of his heel as she passed.

  Kadka didn’t stop to look back when she heard the man crash to the floor behind her, just kept moving toward the door.

  She knew before she stepped out that something was wrong. The fight had distracted her enough that she hadn’t noticed before, but as she drew near she could hear noises of battle outside, grunts and weapons clashing.

  She had to step over a corpse to enter the hall.

  A human in Rhienni uniform had been stabbed through the throat and fallen right in the doorway, and another lay dead in the middle of the hall a few feet away. There was no immediate sign of Hobbier. Several yards down, two more human men were still fighting. Kadka could tell which was Endo’s easily enough by his glowing silver eyes, but his wounds could have identified him too—he been stabbed more than once, and blood flowed heavily down his stomach and chest, but it wasn’t slowing him down in the slightest. The other man struggled to defend himself, unable to land a telling blow.

  Kadka didn’t bother with words, just hurled a blade at the silver-eyed man. It struck deep in the shoulder of his sword arm, slowing his attacks. His eyes flared brighter, and he grabbed the hilt with his free hand to yank the knife out, but she was already closing the distance. She tackled him to the ground, grabbing his arm so he couldn’t strike back. Holding him down, she sliced the tendons on both wrists.