Cage cleared his throat after she pulled her hand out from his robe. “Except that if I don’t heal myself, my lance will be bruised after that kind of handling.”
Brooke placed a hand on her breast and pretended to be genuinely hurt at that remark. “Who me? I’m the gentlest woman of the whole tribe. I’d never hurt my mate in the slightest way.” Someone snickered and the tension broke in roaring laughter at the priestess’s innocent words.
Meeka came closer and sat her chin on Brooke’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around Brooke’s core. “Go, Cage, We’ll be home in several hours. Be sure to keep that lance in good condition. It looks like I need to teach our woman how to make a punishment that won’t take away our enjoyment. You’ll be punished of course, but in a way that will still give us great pleasure.”
Brooke smiled and turned her head to kiss Meeka’s temple. “I knew I keep you around for good reason, My Love. We can come up with a proper punishment.”
“I’ll take that as my cue to leave.” He said before giving his two beautiful women a quick kiss. He gave a wave to his people before flying off.
Minutes later Cage whipped down with precision movements, like he was born to fly. In a way he was. Before he made touchdown, he spotted his teacher sitting outside on a chair, sipping on a steaming cup of tea with Frill laying on a large pillow down on the ground. He swooped in and expertly landed a half dozen yards from her. “Morning you two. Enjoying the view?”
“Very much so.” Frill meowed, sounding a deep voice mixed with a birdlike chirp. “This island has great natural beauty.”
“I find it relaxing after recent events.” Megdline spoke.
“Speaking of… Any word?” He asked, taking a chair she floated out from her house to sit beside her and enjoy the company.
“The five we sent are secure and healed of most injuries. They no longer pose a threat to anyone and will likely begin to be interrogated today. Without their staffs they are weakened considerably. I haven’t gotten word from my husband so that means he is relieved. If he were anxious he would have insisted on me returning home, come get me himself or even sent protection. He must feel I’m safe enough near you.”
“Glad to hear it. I wouldn’t allow the protection to set foot on my island.” He stated, watching a group of birds soar on the wind.
Little else was spoken about for the next hour as the three of them peered out over the northern half of the island. It was calming of mind and body, sitting there, enjoying the scenery and silence.
“Shall we begin the lesson?” Megdline eventually asked, sitting her empty mug down in the lush grass.
“Teleporting or the pocket trick?” Frill went to open his mouth, but Cage realized his mistake. “I mean Jumping… Sorry, it’s how I think it is.”
“Not to worry. You can call it whatever you want for all I care.” Megdline said as she turned her chair so that they faced each other with a comfortable space between them. “So long as you understand the principle, you can even call it slipping. But one lesson must precede the second. To carry many things with you without the need to bring many supply carts, you must learn to Jump. It will aid progress considerably. If your natural inclination for magic continues to be any indication then you should have both mastered by this evening.” He nodded for her to continue and she obliged.
Megdline plucked a long blade of grass, pinching the center with her fingers. Touching either end she asked “If this is the beginning point and this is where you wish to go. Tell me, what is the shortest distance between these points.”
Cage grinned, already understanding the profound meaning behind the lesson. “So that’s what I’ve kept overlooking. You’re actually folding space?”
The sorceress blinked rapidly before shaking her head and chuckling. “I knew it, I just knew it.” Her grey eyes met black. “Since you’ve summed up the whole concept of Jumping as folding space, I take it your world hadn’t forgotten the idea.”
“Actually until less than a century ago did one of the greatest scientists of all our recorded history theorize such an idea. He also mathematically created the light-speed equation barrier. The only way to bypass that law was folding space. Distance doesn’t really exist if you think like that. You could, in theory, go from one end of the universe to the other instantly rather than shooting at the speed of light for billions and billions of years.” He said and she listened intently.
“What you say is quite accurate, but the dragons have proven that things can go faster than the speed of light. The object would become pure energy as a result, until it slowed, but it is difficult to achieve and requires great amounts of mana. Folding space though is correct. In a way, distance is merely a physical illusion. As physical beings, we are subject to the same laws and physics. But we can fold the laws, if you will. It takes considerably less mana than to go faster than light and is faster than flying or walking, but the cost lays between the two.
“If your destination is but an hour away, it would be more efficient to fly there than to Jump. It takes a rather strong amount of mana to Jump, which you will soon find out for yourself. Only first class wizards and up have the strength to endure Jumping. And there are laws you must not bend for this spell. The reason only the top class of wizards and up can achieve Jumping is because they can survive the effects. If you Jump anything alive that doesn’t have the strength of a wizard, you will inadvertently kill the being. Watch.” Megdline stretched out a hand and plucked a squirrel from a tree. It couldn’t do much except scream at the air for taking it from its tree. She opened a small archway, threw the squirrel in. In the instant the first glow popped, another appeared between the three of them. Out came a squirrel as it dropped to the ground. It twitched twice before dying right before Cage’s eyes to understand. “Now you can understand. There are deadly risks to this spell, should you ever forget this lesson. You, Frill, Daku and I won’t suffer such a fate for our greater mana shields us. If you Jumped, let’s say Brooke and Meeka, they would end up just like that squirrel.” She sent the critter off into the woods so they didn’t need to look at it again.
“But what about plants? If that is true, shouldn’t the seeds you carried in your pockets have… I don’t know… died?” He asked.
“If they had sprouted then yes, but for some reason, seeds can survive. It is like they are dormant, waiting on the right conditions to begin to grow and thrive. Until such a time, they are safe from Jumping’s effects.” She was glad he was so perceptive and asked the right questions. “Size and mass can also be affected in a Jump. The larger the object, the same for the power requirements.
“More that needs to be considered… As you, undoubtedly realize, there is danger to where you will exit. The last thing you want to happen is to Jump inside a solid object like that of a tree or rock. I’ve seen it happen to the careless and survival depends on what gets doubly occupied in the same space. It wasn’t pretty seeing a man needing to cut off his own leg when the knee down had become one with a boulder.
“I will explain the wards necessary to keep such a fate from happening to you. It is a long word spell, but it requires almost no mana once it is in effect. It will warn you should the destination need to be altered. Without it, you run the chance of blindly Jumping where you will regret. You might know where you are going, but if even the tiniest things is moved, you could potentially Jump and kill yourself.” Megdline then went over the spell for the wards for Jumping safely. It took nearly two hours to create, she even needed to use her own wards as reference for it had been a long time since she’d taught someone this skill.
“…to protect from occupying the space of another object.” Cage finished saying and locked the wards into the diamonds. He then chose to take a break for lunch with his mentor. After that and hitting the head they stepped back outside. The break really did wonders and helped recover energy.
Outside his house Megdline stopped him. “Now to practice. Look across the bridge…” Cage looked and listened,
following her instructions as he imagined willing himself to want to be by the chairs they left behind. He clearly pictured the area in his mind’s eye and held it while focusing on a secondary point right in front of himself and imagining them to be connected by an imaginary doorway. When he felt that the conditions were met, the tingling sensation grew between his shoulders. Before his eyes appeared an archway of blackness slightly taller than his six foot six height with a width of two and a half feet, enough for his wide shoulders to pass. He faintly heard behind him, “Go ahead.” And stepped into the black light.
Nothing could be seen as he stepped in, but a comfortable warmth enveloped him, like bathwater and he remembered a fraction of what it was like when he was Jumped from Earth as a paraplegic, escaping from the military after killing a traitorous army general who instigated an assassination attempt on him and his covert military siblings. Then it was all over in an instant as there was a faint pop and the warmth disappeared and light returned. Cage stumbled slightly in his step, and tripped to land flat on his face. He jerked back up and looked around, finding the spell worked. “Hell yeah!” he crowed and jumped to his feet. Megdline and Frill still stood where he had left them outside his house. It happened so fast, he barely had time to feel the effects of teleporting.
“How do you feel?” Frill asked as he and his partner crossed the bridge.
“Terrific actually! Now I can get around instantly wherever I’ve ever been… but, you were right.” He turned to his mentor. “It did take a good amount of mana. I think I can teleport about six or seven times at the most a day.” Cage admitted.
“Not surprising. I personally can Jump four times in a day without relying on my staff.” She then took the staff in question and transferred hands. “Cage, this time, make a Jump path back to your house and allow me to accompany you.”
Now that he understood the process, Cage created a black arch a few feet ahead of himself. Megdline stepped through and he followed. The exit was twice as draining and he said so while breathing slightly labored. His teacher didn’t allow him to rest just yet and had him try Jumping where a tree stood, but was told to not enter the magical archway. He did so and felt a sickening sensation mixed with a force warning him to not go through with the plan. The wards worked perfectly and didn’t release their grip till the blackness disappeared.
“It is now possible to go nearly everywhere in the world for you.” Megdline said around the time Frill laid down on his pillow. “Because of your knowledge on folding space we can work on manipulating targeted space.” She patted her pockets. “You can use any kind of container for this, but nearly all mages of every class, except magicians like your mates, can use spatial alteration to varying degrees. First you target a confined area, like your pockets, and lock a gem to it. Make sure the pocket is clear first…” Cage ran his fingers through the ten inch wide pockets, making sure the interior was clean. It was. “When the area is bound, imagine it widening until finding resistance. The space within the pocket will grow, but the fabric and size will remain as it always will. This is an extension of folding space and will allow you to carry nearly indefinite amounts of supplies in a way so subtle, commoners do not even realize you might be carrying enough food to feed an entire city for a day. Because of the properties of the spatial alteration the weight of whatever you pocket is reduced to nearly nothing. This is a great secret among mages that is meant to protect us from attack by bandits.”
“Then why do the couriers have bags overflowing with deliveries?” He asked.
Megdline smiled. “Partly as a cover to retain our air of mystery. The other issue is that if the wizards or witches grew too comfortable storing packages in their robe or a bag, they could become complacent or worse, greedy. The guilds protect packages as well as mages, at least those under our control. Our services are made to function swiftly and safely with minimal interruption. At least, that is how I see it.” Megdline went on. “Like Jumping, there are deadly consequences to this ability. Since space is altered, you must heed these rules. You must not store anything alive for the space in the pocket is practically a vacuum and will kill anything living. Since it will be your magic, you won’t be in danger of the vacuum when you reach down. It is how I keep food so fresh. Without air, it cannot spoil.
“Should another put their hand in your pocket, it will feel empty to them. None but you will be able to enter the altered space to deposit or retrieve the objects within. Not even I could reach into your area just as you cannot reach in mine. Lastly, you must be aware of what you put in by first holding whatever the object is, giving it a name and letting go. To retrieve it, you call the name and it will slap into your hand instantly. If you store multiple objects of the same name it will fill the hand one object at a time by order of first to be pocketed to last. It is a simplistic and effective spell.”
Before he began to create the pockets of altered space he asked “What happens to the objects in the pockets of those mages I killed the other night? Where does it go when the mana containing the area is released?”
She nodded, still glad she had such a smart student every moment, even if it sometimes is frightening. “That is why you’ll probably never wear another robe after this day. The robes of those mages likely have many tons of supplies in their pockets and in Twilight there is a great open place safeguarded far away from the city where many groups will wear down the stored mana in the gemstones until it can be cracked. Usually a sharp hill is dropped on the staff. It’s wards will hold the hill off till it can no longer function. When all mana is gone, the pocket will rip open, instantly throwing all it held contained. Usually it equates to a small castle’s weight. A team will go through the loot and be put to good use. Any dangerous objects will either be confiscated or destroyed. Food will be sent to orphanages, after a thorough test to make sure it is safe and not tainted.”
“And what if I happen to forget what I put in?”
“It would be best if you don’t, but if you need to check, send your magic into the pocket and use your ability to go through one item at a time. If I had to inventory my pocket, it would take three months at the least to go through it all. Every twenty years, I take inventory. Even I forget what I put away. Take my experience to heart, do not idly use your pockets. It can be a mess to clean out later.”
At least Cage knew why she whispered every time she reached in a pocket or her arm went deeper than the fabric would allow. He was done with questions for awhile and began working the magic to craft the spatial alterations. When the conditions felt right and Megdline gave him the nod everything was correct he began expanding a subatomic space wider and wider. It expanded without even touching the spider silk of the robe as it stayed contained in the pocket. By the time he felt resistance his lips parted for he figured he could hold just over half the entire island in his pocket. Megdline hid her surprise well as even she felt the scope of what could be held. Afterwards he did the same thing to his left pocket, making the potential capacity size symmetrical to the first.
Time had passed while he crafted the spells so much that when early evening arrived he found that Daku snored beside him and his family were inside the house already. “Well done.” His teacher said. “You almost broke the record for first time creation of a spatial pocket.” Megdline tossed him a stone which he deftly caught. “Put it away.”
“Rock.” Cage said after putting a hand in the pocket and let go. His eyes widened when he reached around when it completely vanished. His whole arm went into the pocket, but he felt nothing except emptiness. “Rock.” A hard object slapped into his hand instantly. He pulled his arm back, holding the object in question. Megdline had him put it away again and came closer. She reached in the pocket, but couldn’t enter the area. She gave the same command, nothing happened. She proved she couldn’t retrieve it. “No, I’m going to keep it as a reminder.” He said after the final test. She merely inclined her head while offering a small smile. He gave a quick stretch and said “Now that I kn
ow how Jumping works, I’m going to make sure to plug the holes in the island’s wards.”
She gripped his arm and gave a stern look. “What are you going to do?”
“The missing information I’ve been searching for can now make it so that no one can Jump just anywhere on the island anymore. I’m going to work the wards to transfer any incoming teleports over to the pillars. Inside teleports will be the unaffected, but I’ll not have what happened happen again. Teleporters will be held above sea level and be subject to the password, which I already plan to change. I know it will take far too much mana to create Jumping impossible indefinitely, but shifting into a preselected point with the greatest restraints will work well. The pillars are the island’s best defense to restrain or defend us all.”
“Oh, then by all means.” She let go of his green sleeve. “I was going to tell you how tomorrow, but if you’ve got it worked out, I won’t stand in your way.”
“Daku, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Cage said and smiled before Jumping safely into the heart of the mountain. Total darkness and cold air greeted him till an orb of light sprung to life in his hand. Shadows retreated instantly. A dozen yards away sat the island’s two primary control crystals ceaselessly maintaining the defenses. He easily connected to them and could feel they were already saturated while constantly regulating security. Cage then took what he learned and applied the teleportation protection spell to send any persons to the skull pillars who’s hidden crystals were the most powerful. From the control crystals beneath his hands Cage found he could even connect with the large pillar gems miles away and work the modifications from this room.
He plugged all the island’s holes as best possible.
To make sure the wards worked, Cage fortified himself with his diamonds before Jumping out of the room and appeared more than a mile out to sea. He stood on the water, quickly getting the hang of exiting the magic before trying to Jump just outside the house. He stepped through and felt a slight tug during the short moment of travel to find himself suspended thirty feet in the air. The wards held him completely immobile before the large white skull appeared to ask for the new password. Once received, Cage was lowered to the water. Before hitting, Cage created his board and flew towards the alerted Utala who saw not only the skull but the mountain’s yellow warning orb too. It took a few minutes to settle fears before they understood his explanation and let him leave to fly home.
Laugh of Destruction (Book 3 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 30
