by Guy Antibes
Panix walked outside. “Watch.” Lorna was walking from the open stable. He used his power to burn a bush. He’d never done it since the night after his confrontation with Sovell. It crackled as the fire took hold of the branches.
Then Panix stepped closer and built an air barrier around the flames and the fire ceased. “What do you think? I can create air barriers around the shutters and window frames so they won’t be flammable.”
“I’ve never seen a magician do that before,” Lorna said, looking at the blackened bush.
“It’s probably been done. It’s just that I never knew about it. It wears me out, though and that doesn’t happen often,” he said as he turned to look at the cottage. “Is there any sheet metal here?”
“Not that I know of.”
“What can we do with the chimney? You’re the engineer.” They both looked at the chimney.
Lorna went back to the stables and returned with an old washtub. “Will this work? If you can take some metal strapping of some kind and bind it to the top, then you can punch holes in the metal to let the smoke out. Can you use magic to weld the metal?”
“Perfect, I think I can.” Panix climbed up on the roof, the washtub dangling awkwardly from his belt. He dragged the tub over to the chimney and lifted it on top, upside down. The tub changed as Panix focused on re-forming the tub and creating a top for the chimney. Holes were created just underneath the top as Panix rearranged the metal’s structure to better handle any heat.
He had a hard time making the metal bend to his will. He’d never used that skill before and its application wore him out, reminding him that different kinds of magic taxed magicians in different ways. He bonded strapping Lorna had made from a bucket and attached them to the sides to the stones in the chimney. He waited a few minutes for the metal to cool, and then tested his handiwork. It held fast to the chimney. Now the outlaws wouldn’t be able to climb down the chimney or easily smoke them out.
“Now we need to gather anything they might use against us inside the house or hide it in the woods.” The pair spent the next hour stripping the stable of tools and bringing implements into the house.
They sat in the cottage as the sun set exhausted from their task. “We’re ready. Now it’s just waiting.” Panix said.
“Are we going to sit here and wait for days, weeks?”
“No. If they’re going to come, it will be in the next few days. I think we can still make inquiries during the day, but I wouldn’t go back to Squire Fannok’s manor, or Riverwood, for that matter.”
“We could move to my father’s manor, but it’s a day away and even more remote than the cottage.”
Panix shook his head. “It wore me out preparing this house. How would we defend a manor house and put the servants at risk as well?”
Lorna looked away. “Then we stay here.”
“At least, we’ll eat well.” Panix gave Lorna a half-smile. “I can send word of what we’re doing to Corilla Westter in Gerellia, so no matter what happens, the Marquessa will have an idea what’s happening.” Panix didn’t want that message to be the last thing that anybody would hear from him.
~
Sovad looked at the cottage with a Korvannan spyglass. Murgontian equivalents were crude and hardly worth looking through, since the optics were so distorted. Another deficiency caused by the Murgontian aversion to magic. He saw thin threads of smoke rising by the light of two moons that shone from time to time when the showers had stopped. He looked again and noticed some contraption on top of the chimney. That would make it hard to smoke them out. The shutters were closed. They were expected.
A dark figure walked up the hill to Sovad. “They’re in the house. I looked through the shutter cracks and saw ‘em. Looks like they was eatin’ dinner.”
“Did you notice anything funny, Soloc?”
“Yeah. Magic. More magic than was used buildin’ the place. I put my hand to a shutter and it felt funny, like it had oil on it, but it didn’t.”
Sovad put his hand to his chin and looked down at the cottage. He wondered what defenses Panix had put into place. “Take some men and put some brush on the porch by the door, then light it. We’ll be right behind you.”
Soloc counted out three men. They mounted their horses and left. That left Sovad with five. “We’ll surround the house. As it burns they are sure to come out. Make sure the man is clubbed unconscious; he’s a powerful magician. But I want them captured, not killed.”
Down at the cottage, Sovad’s men piled brush and straw from the stables against the door. They lit the brush and stood back. The fire went out. One of the men had an unlit torch on his horse. The torch was lit and thrown against the brush. In a few seconds the torch guttered and died.
Sovad rode up as lights were extinguished inside the cottage. “Where’s the fire?”
“It won’t start. Must be some kind of magic I’ve never seen afore,” Soloc said.
“Let’s see if we can get in a window. Get a log somewhere and break in.” Sovad said as he dismounted. An airlight appeared in front of a window and floated over to Sovad, illuminating his features to those inside. “By Abbur’s sight,” Sovad said, realizing he was identified. “Panix,” he yelled at the cottage. “I know you’re in there. Come out and we won’t kill you.” His offer was met with silence.
Four of his men crept up to a window carrying a log. They swung futilely at a shutter. Suddenly globes of light appeared all around the outside of the cottage. His men were exposed. The men dropped the log and ran off.
Sovad thought about Panix and Lorna Baltac. What could entice them to give up? He figured out a probable solution. “How many animals in the stable?”
The scout answered, “They’ve just about stripped the place of everything else except for their horses and a couple of deflated floaters that are empty.”
“Bring the animals out here.” Sovad stood, hands on hips, feet spread apart.
The men bridled the animals and led them to a line facing the front door. Five globes of light cast a bluish pall over the attackers. “Let’s see how soft-hearted they are. A little shock might roust them out of the house. We’ll start with one of the smaller horses. Take the others over there. Two men on each, they might get spooked.”
Sovad stood there for five minutes to give Panix and the girl some time to think about what was going on. He smiled, knowing he’d shock them. “Panix! If you want to save these animals, you’ll come out.”
Sovad waited. No answer came. He wasn’t about to wait. He led the pack animal underneath a hovering airlight, took out his long knife and quickly cut deeply into the animal’s throat. The sounds were awful, then silence.
He recognized the mare Baltac’s daughter always rode in the city of Pent, but decided on the other, larger, horse. Sovad repeated the slaughter. The lights, together with the full moon, illuminated the grisly scene. Sovad kicked the flaccid flank of Panix’s dead horse. All of the globe lights went out. Sovad smiled ruefully. What a waste of horseflesh. Still he had to do it in order to capture Panix.
“Get me the girl’s horse.” He stood with his bloody knife in his hand. The horse was agitated and moved from side to side, its eyes rolling in their sockets. The moons gave enough light for the pair inside to see which animal was to be put down next.
The door was thrown open. “Stop! Don’t kill her.” Lorna said as she rushed to her horse. A minute later, Panix walked out. He wore a long cloak, but pulled it away from his body, to show he wasn’t armed. He’s armed all right, thought Sovad.
A man walked up behind Panix with a cudgel and smashed it against the side of his head. Panix fell to the ground, senseless. That fool! If he had killed Panix, there’d be two graves.
~~~
Chapter 14
Panix came to, smelling dirt and stale air, amidst the biggest headache he’d ever experienced. He felt an uneven, rock-strewn floor underneath his body. His first thoughts were laden with panic—he might be blind. He couldn’t focus very we
ll, but he found the point of light in his brain and concentrated. Once his breathing became regular, he created an airlight. Relief flooded him as he could see they’d left him in a cave. with walls naturally carved out of rock. Detritus littered the floor.
Evidently his captors put Lorna in another room. He rose to a sitting position and looked for an exit, disappointed to see a large rock blocking his escape. His head pulsated with pain where he’d been hit and touched the side of his head—it felt soft. so his skull had to have been crushed a bit. He might be fortunate to still live.
Well, he thought, Sovell did say he wouldn’t be killed. Maimed perhaps, blind forever, mindless, but not killed. What a sorry excuse for a spy. He knew through learning about the robberies that Soy, or Sovell, or whatever his real name was, had acted unpredictably.
Panix had no idea that the men would stoop to killing their horses and now realized that he had put Lorna into an impossible position that she wasn’t ready for. Even Quill would be disgusted with him, but Lorna wouldn’t permit them to slaughter her horse. He’d had no choice… none.
He spotted a jug in a corner of the room. Looking at the water with his magician’s eyes, he could sense the drug within. Sovad probably didn’t realize that he could separate impurities out of metal and he could purify water, as well.
Panix put the jug just about to his lips, and then looked at the rim. A different drug lined the jug’s rim. What a devious man. Panix merely wiped the drug off, bonded the drug in the water to the sides of the jug and drank deep. As he finished drinking, Panix realized he was so naïve in this game. Quill couldn’t teach him anything about fighting this war of wits and he felt witless and now he’d have to figure out how to play as he went along.
Sitting in the dirt, the cloak left around his neck warmed him as he felt the chill in the cave and lay down. He tipped over the jug and let the remaining water puddle on the floor. He let the globe remain, as he settled down to sleep.
~
The tears had long ago dried on Lorna’s face as she sat, bound to a roughly-made chair. A dirty rug lay on the floor like litter. An oil lamp dimly lit the space. Finally left alone, she couldn’t escape from the chair. If Sovell had killed her horse, she didn’t know what she’d do.
She had no idea what had happened to Panix. Sovell had gloated about the double-drugged water jug he left for Panix. He was quite full of himself. Lorna thought that he, unwittingly, told her that Panix still lived. Yet, when she pushed him for other information, Sovell clamped shut. The man knew exactly what he had communicated.
Lorna shivered at the thought of a man who could so callously kill those two animals. Yet her weakness, running out before Panix could stop her, left a bitter taste. She’d betrayed Panix and the Marquessa. Was she that weak? She didn’t want to face the answer. Just like in her work in Blox’s office, she ranked as an amateur. She only wished she’d make it back to her job in Pent City.
Men were coming, their voices muffled by the twisting corridor and the thin rug that served as a door to this room. She’d been here before, playing in these caverns as a girl.
The curtain parted. “Ah, there you are.” Sovell laughed at his own little joke. He carried a plate and a fork. Another feeding.
“What is your real name?” Lorna asked. She needed to find out what Sovell was doing here.
He raised his eyebrows, ignoring her question. “Let’s trade some information. Why are you here?” He put the plate down on the table at her side and sat in another chair.
They hadn’t kept their mission a secret. “The Marquessa asked Panix and me to investigate your activities in Southern Pent.”
“Me? Personally?”
“No. Your robber gang. We didn’t know you were involved until Panix questioned your victims in an inn on our way here.”
“Why not use the army to find us?”
“The Marquessa doesn’t want to take the army from the passes. She doesn’t trust you Murgontians.”
“So she doesn’t trust us, eh?” His smile turned into a frown then pursed lips. “Oh. You did very well, Miss Baltac. Now I can’t let you go.”
“You are a Murgontian!” Lorna wanted to jump for joy. She actually extracted important information from her captor. “You want the army to come down from off of the passes.”
“That’s enough. No more for today… except I will tell you my name, although you won’t remember it after we’re through with you and your boyfriend. My name is Sovad Mustak.” He cut one hand free and called in one of his men. “Watch her eat. When she’s done tie her up again. I’m tired of playing with her.” He left.
“Where are you from?” Lorna asked her captor, while she ate the food. She thought she was eating a stew, but couldn’t tell what the meat was. She spat it out and looked at the man. “Is this from one of the beasts Sovad killed?”
The man only smiled and crossed his arms. He didn’t say a word even though Lorna peppered him with questions. She left all of the meat on the plate and ate the shapeless vegetables. It dawned on her that she missed Panix’s cooking. She shook that thought out of her mind.
“I’m done,” she said as he placed a small jug on the table and removed the stopper. She took a long drink, washing down the oily taste of the stew.
The man took the plate and removed the fork from her hand. He tied her hand back up, checked her other bonds and left.
She fell asleep shortly after eating. The last hazy thought was that he had drugged her, too.
~
Panix woke to the prodding of his rear end with someone’s boot. He concentrated on relaxing and focused on the small light in the middle of his head. In his weakened state he felt his mind slip outside of his body. At first he thought he’d died, but he observed a man take his feet and drag his inert form out of the little room. He floated after the man.
His feet were thrown to the floor. Ropes found their way around his feet and hands, and then they were cinched up with his hands nearly touching his feet behind him. Panix still felt the linkage to his body. The pain in his head hurt, but it felt muffled. Maintaining the separation weakened him until he couldn’t keep that state any longer. He met with sheets of pain in his head when he fully entered back into his body.
One man forced more water down his throat. Panix felt too weak to purify it. So much for avoiding the drug, he thought as he felt his consciousness fade.
Panix spat out a bitter taste as he woke. He opened his eyes in dim light to see Sovell’s face leering at him. “Sovell,” he said.
The man leaned over with his hands on his knees. Panix could see two other men and then he saw the prostrate form of Lorna, trussed up like him. She faced towards him, eyes closed, and he couldn’t see any evidence of injury. Probably drugged.
“Welcome to my little corner of Dornna, Panix.” Sovell looked at Lorna. “Your little lady friend pried my name out. You might as well call me Sovad, too. Sovad Mustak.”
“Sovad,” Panix tested the name. “You can let us go. We can’t harm you. We’re here merely to look around. Surely Lorna told you that. It’s rather apparent you are here to upset the populace so there’s not much else to say.”
“Oh really? Like telling Marquessa Ronna that Mardon Fannok is in my employ? I’m sure she’d be interested in that.”
“Well. That’s obvious to anyone with a brain.”
“Your brain perhaps.” Sovad straightened up and went over the lamp, raising the wick and increasing the dim light. “I’m sorry, I’ll have to renege on my promise not to kill you two. Situations change and we have to be flexible.”
“I’m sure you’re an expert at flexibility, being a Murgontian spy.”
“That’s what Miss Baltac said. And that’s what sealed your doom. I can’t have you two walking around, sounding the alarm.”
“It’s not too hard to figure out that your whole purpose is to bring the army down from the passes and into South Pent, so the Murgontians can invade. Right?”
“I won’t s
ay you’re right and I won’t say you’re wrong. It makes no difference. Neither of you will see another dawn.”
His headache put so much pressure on his eyes that he could barely see Sovad walk out of his vision.
“Give him another drink,” Sovad said as he left the room.
Panix tried to separate his mind from his body, but he needed to concentrate on neutralizing the drugs. He sensed drugged water but nothing on the rim this time. He quickly removed the drug with his mind and let the man force clean water down his throat. He went still, then limp. He heard another man leaving the room. Panix waited for a minute then farted.
“Whew,” he heard someone say as the guard left the small room, and then he was certain they were left alone.
Panix smiled through his headache. Something prosaic to teach the mighty Quill Vent. He concentrated on his bonds. The rope strands shredded under his concentration and then he put his hand to his head, feeling fresh blood. Nothing he could do about that now.
He rose and went to Lorna, still out from the drugs. He didn’t know what to do about her, hesitant at any attempt at healing. He cut her bonds with his talent. At least he could make her more comfortable when she woke.
He needed a weapon. His eyebrows rose a little as inspiration hit as a globe appeared over his outstretched hand. He raised the level of the excited air. The airlight was so bright, Panix had to close his eyes. He magically threw it against the wall. Its matrix shattered in a blinding flash.
After gaining his sight back, he picked up Lorna and threw her limp body over his shoulder. She was light enough, but his head swam as he straightened up. He’d have to make sure he didn’t faint during their escape.
He listened at the curtain. Not hearing anything, his senses swept the caves. He could only pick up emanations from people using magic and sensed a concentration to his left, but he didn’t know if that was deeper into the cave or more towards the entrance. He retreated back into the little room as he felt Lorna squirm. He looked down and shook her shoulder.
“What happened?” Lorna’s eyes opened.
