Once the teenagers were healed, Myers looked at Richard. “So, what’s going on, Shepard? Where have you taken us and why?”
“Me?” Richard snapped. “If you think I’ve got the ability to teleport, then you better think again.”
“Rick,” said Jerad automatically assuming the part of the peacemaker. “Do you know where we’re at?”
Ignoring Myers, Richard concentrated on Jerad. The rain had slackened somewhat. A half-moon peeked out from behind the clouds and illuminated the flat area. Richard was able to make out the dark forms of the others looking at him. Small glints of blue light at the waist levels of two of the forms drew Richard’s attention. He sensed the glints with his passive scan. They were the creallium rings he’d summoned for Jerad and Trinity. The spells Magnus had cast on the rings caused them to shimmer with Power. Richard made a mental note to show his friends how to include the rings in their stealth shields. The clouds thinned enough near the moon to show part of the night sky. Richard noticed a familiar formation of stars. He’d seen them many times in the past. He knew where they were.
“We’re on Portalis,” Richard said. “When, I don’t know. Something’s different this time.”
“Portalis?” asked Telsa. “You mean the place ‘the One’ sends you? Why’d we get sucked along? He’s your playmate, not ours.”
Richard shrugged. He doubted anyone noticed his movement in the dark but didn’t care. He just needed to do something. “I don’t know why the rest of you are here. My niece and nephew were transported with me on my first Portalis mission. Except for that one time, I’ve always been by myself.”
Of all the wizard scouts, Myers was the most familiar with missions for ‘the One.’ His parents had been time-commandos after all. While the rest of Richard’s friends were still trying to grasp the situation, Myers appeared to accept the concept readily enough. He began asking questions.
“Where on Portalis are we?”
“I’m not sure,” Richard admitted. “Like I said, something’s different.”
“What?”
Richard thought his brother spat out the word more like a command than a question. A part of Richard wanted to rebel. He was no longer a cadet, and Myers wasn’t his TAC officer. With difficulty, he forced his building anger down. This wasn’t the time.
“The Portalis I know has a shield around it,” Richard explained. “I don’t sense any kind of shield above us.”
“A shield around what?” asked Jerad. “Around some city?”
“No,” Richard said. “I mean around the entire planet. To the best of my knowledge, all of my missions on Portalis have been on a continent called Slyvrastra. That continent has a second shield of some kind around it as well.”
“Uh,” said Telsa sounding like she was trying to be tactful. “Surrounding a city with even a low-level shield would take the energy output of a hundred dreadnaughts. The power requirement to protect an entire world or even a continent is unimaginable.”
“Nevertheless,” Richard said. He didn’t feel like arguing. He knew what he knew. “My point is that I can normally sense two shields above me when I’m on Portalis. There’s not even a single one above us now. When I merged minds with my battle computer once, I tapped into a memory he’d been given. From what I could understand, Portalis was surrounded by a shield about a hundred thousand years before our time. My guess is we’re in the past prior to that occurring.”
“Are you sure?” asked Jerad. “For what purpose?”
“Yeah, Shepard,” said Myers. “Why? I know enough about ‘the One’ to know he gives at least a snippet of instructions to his so-called time-commandos.” With an increasingly disdainful voice, Myers added, “You’ve always been a puppet for ‘the One.’ What orders did he give you this time?”
Richard’s anger broke loose a little. “Well, guess what, Myers. It looks like you’re a puppet of ‘the One’ now. You’re here same as me. How’s it feel to be a time-commando?”
“Rick,” said Jerad. He’d been Richard’s tent mate at the Academy. He knew Richard’s dislike of his brother better than anyone. He undoubtedly saw a useless argument brewing and was determined to nip it in the bud. “We need information, buddy. If you know something, how about letting the rest of us in on the secret?”
“Yeah,” said Tam. “For starters, I’d also like to know why we’re standing in the rain naked.” Without warning, Tam spun to her left. “And Matt, if you don’t keep your eyes at neck level or higher, I’m going to rip them out and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. Comprendo?”
“Uh…,” stuttered Matthew before turning away to look out into the dark rather than at the four females. “Uh…, sorry.”
The momentary distraction gave Richard enough time to get control of his temper. He forced himself to turn away from Myers and answer Jerad’s question.
“Just before we were teleported, ‘the One’ told me to ‘help the dwarf, save the innocents, and keep my promise.’ I’m not sure what promise he was referring to. I’ve actually made several during the past few years.” Richard turned and faced Tam. He made a point to keep his eyes at neck level or higher. “As far as being naked, I don’t know. ‘The One’ has sent me on several missions in the past without equipment. Nick’s always told me it’s been a form of punishment when I’ve refused to do something during a previous mission.”
“So have you done something bad recently?” Tam asked. “If so, can we somehow make amends? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m cold. My self-heal won’t let me freeze to death, but I’m still miserable as all get out.”
“Actually, not everyone here can self-heal,” said Myers. “We need to get Matt and Tia out of this rain.”
“We’ll be all right,” said Tia.
Matthew gave his assurance as well.
The sound of chattering teeth did little to convince Richard the teenagers were telling the truth.
Trinity spoke up. “There’s a group of several dozen life forms about five kilometers in the general direction of that road.”
Richard reached out with his passive scan in the direction indicated by Trinity. He got a couple of thousand meters before the combined life forms in the surrounding area overwhelmed his passive scan.
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Richard said. “I can’t get more than half that distance before my scan bleeds out.”
“Really?” said Trinity. “You must not be filtering your passive scan correctly. If and when we get time, I’ll show you how to increase your range.”
“Well, Rick,” said Jerad. “What do you want us to do? Should we go investigate? Or should we stay here and build some kind of shelter for Matt and Tia?”
“Why ask me?” Richard said. “I’m not in charge.”
“If not you, then who?” said Jerad. “If we’re forced to fight any large-scale, heavy-armor actions, I’ll be more than happy to lead the way. Unless someone else has previous experience performing missions for ‘the One,’ I’d say you’ve got the job.”
Richard waited for Myers to object, but his brother remained silent. He noticed Myers was standing near Matthew’s windward side as if he were trying to block the rain from hitting the teenager.
Strange, Richard thought.
Since no one else seemed inclined to volunteer for the job, Richard shrugged his shoulders and got down to business. He knew Jerad was right; Someone had to be in charge, and his previous missions on Portalis made him the obvious choice.
“Fine,” Richard said. “Then let’s get to it. Tam, Telsa, you’re on point. Jerad and Trinity, you bring up the rear. Myers and I will stay in the center with Matt and Tia. We’ll figure out our next move when we see what we’re up against.”
As Tam and Telsa started moving out, Richard said, “Keep alert for any anomalies. If we’re really a hundred thousand years in the past, higher-level mages will have stealth shields as good or better than yours.”
Tam’s voice drifted back out of the darkn
ess. “We’ll be careful, Mommy.”
Once the two women were out of earshot, Matthew spoke. “They don’t have any weapons. Maybe one of us should go with them?”
A noise sounding almost like a genuine laugh came from Myers’s direction. “They’re wizard scouts. They don’t need weapons; they are weapons.”
“But still, they’re…err…”
Richard placed his hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “Matt, I hope you’re not getting ready to say because they’re women.”
“Well, uh…”
“Watch it, Matt,” said Tia. “I can probably kick your butt without breaking a sweat. Don’t make me prove it.”
“Besides, Tam’s a defender,” said Myers. “She was the best in her cohort at defensive shields. Telsa’s small, but she’s connected to one of the largest Power reserves I’ve ever seen. On top of that, she’s a projector.”
“A what?” Tia asked.
“A projector,” Richard said taking the lead. “Myers means she can project pure Power from her reserve as a weapon. If Telsa dumped her whole reserve at once, she could probably take out the side of a building even if it was made out of reinforced concrete.”
Matthew gave a nervous laugh. “Remind me to stay on her good side.”
“Anyway,” Richard continued, “I’d say unless they run into some heavy-duty mages or a dragon or demon, they’ll be fine. A half-dozen wizard scouts is a force to be reckoned with, even if we are naked, wet, and half-frozen.”
The four of them pretty much remained silent until Richard sensed Tam and Telsa stop. Even with their best stealth shields up, he could detect them at short ranges.
When his group caught up with the two females, they were standing in the shadow of a large tree off to the side of the road. A light from a two-story building was visible in the distance. The sound of laughter and an occasional shout drifted on the night air.
“What do you make of that?” Myers asked.
Although he didn’t know for sure, Richard had a pretty good guess. “I’d say it’s a tavern or an inn. It’s a high-end one at that. The illumination along the horse railing looks like it’s coming from light spells of some sort. That’s pretty rare in the parts of Portalis I’m used to traveling. Most places use torches or nothing at all.”
“I did an active scan before you got here,” said Tam. “There’s thirty-two life forms inside. I detect a couple of strange energy sources as well. They remind me of the rings you gave Jerad and Trinity.”
Richard nodded his head approvingly. It was nice having other wizard scouts along to share the load. With his current Power level so low, he doubted he’d have tried using an active scan.
“What do you think, Shepard?” asked Myers.
Richard was surprised. His brother’s tone was unusually cordial. Richard forced himself to be equally as civil.
“My guess would be the two Power sources are magic items of some type; possibly weapons or wands. I want everyone to be careful when we go inside.”
By this time Jerad and Trinity had joined the group.
Jerad spoke up. “I assume we’re going in to make contact. Should one of us men go in first and check the place out?”
An unbidden smile turned up the corners of Richard’s lips before he got control. Jerad occasionally demonstrated old-fashioned ideas when it came to women. Richard was pretty sure Tam or Telsa was going to explain the lay of the land to him. Surprisingly, Trinity was the one to set her husband straight.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Trinity.
“Uh…,” started Jerad.
“Uh, what? Do you think us poor little womenfolk can’t take care of ourselves?”
“Uh…, well…, uh, no. I just thought…”
Trinity didn’t give Jerad time to explain what he thought. “Oh, I know what you thought, and you can get those chauvinistic ideas out of your head right now. If you don’t, this will be the shortest marriage you’ve ever seen. We’re equals in this relationship. Got it?”
“Uh, yeah, uh…, I didn’t mean to imply…, uh…”
“Well, good. Then we understand each other.”
Trinity turned to Tam, Telsa, and Tia. “Girls, shall we?”
With nary a word or a backward glance, the four females quick-marched toward the building. Richard and the others barely caught up before the women started up the stairs.
“Better let me go in first,” Richard said.
Telsa looked like she wanted to argue. “Not you too, Rick?”
“Hey,” Richard said trying to explain before he got in trouble. “I’ve been in these kinds of situations before on Portalis. You don’t even know if we speak the lingo here.”
Actually, Richard assumed they did. At least, that’s the way it’d always been on previous missions. He didn’t mention the fact to Telsa.
“Fine,” said Telsa. “That makes sense. After you, then.”
The four women moved aside to let Richard pass, then closed ranks right behind him. The remaining men were forced to stay in the rear.
Just before Richard opened the door to enter, he heard Tam say, “Matt, if I catch you staring down one more time, you’re going to have to learn to read using braille.”
“Uh…, sorry,” said Matthew.
“Oh, you’ll be sorry all right, young man,” said Tam. “You can bet your bottom credit on that.”
Chapter 17 – The Inn
___________________________________
The noise from the group of soldiers grew correspondingly louder as they poured an ever-increasing amount of wine and beer down their gullets. There were ten of them in all. The three tavern girls were doing their best to stay out of reach of the soldier’s arms while still keeping them supplied with food and drink.
So far, the soldiers had remained relatively well-behaved except for an assortment of catcalls. Emerald had a feeling the soldier’s manners would soon give in to the alcohol. From their uniforms, she could tell they were part of the king’s light cavalry.
Probably a recon unit, she thought. The army’s only bivouacked a day’s march to the east.
Emerald didn’t think the soldiers in the group were necessarily cruel by nature, but they were men, and a few of them were getting increasingly drunk.
“Maybe we should leave,” said the blonde woman sitting across the table from Emerald. “You know it’s just a matter of time before one of these men decides they’re the Creator’s gift to women and makes their move.”
Emerald smiled at her friend. After years of shared hardships, she knew Chancee wasn’t worried about the soldiers. The two of them had handled larger groups of opponents and come out on top. Still, Emerald also knew her friend was correct. Why look for trouble?
“I suppose you’re right,” Emerald said. “I just hate to leave so early. The night’s still young.”
“We’ve been here for a week now, partner,” said Chancee. “Maybe the Oracle was wrong. Maybe we’re not even at the right inn.”
Emerald shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe, but I doubt it. The Oracle was pretty specific that we’d meet those who would help us here. He said we’d know them when we saw them.”
Chancee gestured toward the group of soldiers. “Well, I may not be the best judge of character, but I seriously doubt they’re the ones we’ve been seeking. I’ve kicked better men than them out of bed when I was desperate.”
Emerald laughed. “Really? I don’t seem to remember you ever kicking a man out of your bed while he was still breathing.”
The blonde woman took the joke good naturedly. “Ha. You’re not as funny as you think. I’ve got my standards. That’s more than I can say for you. If the man’s short and has a beard, you think he’s an eleven on a scale of one to ten.”
A nice retort was on Emerald’s lips when she noticed two of the soldiers get to their feet. They were both looking in their direction. Spurred on by shouts of encouragement from their companions, the soldiers began to stagger in Chancee and her direction.
Emerald mentally cursed. She’d waited too long.
They’re too drunk to pose a threat, she thought, but some of their friends are sober. They might give us problems.
As she continued eyeing the approaching soldiers, Emerald weighed their chances. All of the soldiers were wearing leather armor and carrying swords. Unfortunately, she and Chancee had left their armor and weapons in their rooms. After a week of the same boring crowd at the tavern, she’d let her guard down. They only had their daggers.
“Here they come,” said Chancee. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to bed them both just to keep things civil?”
Emerald grabbed an empty wine bottle off the table and held it down by her side. “No. I was kinda hoping you’d do the honors.”
Before her friend could respond, the door to the tavern opened. The sight of the group who entered stopped all conversation in the room. Even the two drunken soldiers froze in their tracks as they stared dumbfounded at the door.
Chancee gave a low whistle. “Now there’s something you don’t see every day.”
Emerald nodded in agreement. Standing in the door was a tall man with short-cropped, dark hair. He was slim and well-muscled. She knew this for a fact because the man was naked as the day he came out of his mother’s womb. He wasn’t even wearing boots. Water from the storm dripped onto the floor from his hair and body. The man gave a cursory glance around the room before strolling up to the bar as if he was dressed in the best suit money could buy.
The man was followed by four women. They were as unclothed and wet as the man they followed. Behind the women came three more men. They were naked as well. One of the men was young. Emerald figured he was probably still in his teens. So was one of the women.
In the ensuing silence, Emerald heard the first man speak to the bartender, who by chance happened to be the tavern owner.
“We lost our gear. As you can probably tell, we need rooms for the night, clothing, food, and a warm bath if possible.”
The owner eyed the man up and down. “And how are you planning on paying for it? This is an inn, not one of the king’s charity houses.”
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 17
