Dire Prophecy

by Zack Finley

  After fixing the guild transport site in our minds, it was finally time for the library to open.

  The librarian was alone, as usual, in the library when we arrived.

  I left Argon to feel out the librarian and returned to the book I was reading yesterday on the history of Klee.

  King Ruton, the current Klee king, ascended to the throne following the death of his father King Fermin about 13 years ago. The throne only passed through the male line. Fermin's first mate died of blood poisoning about 20 years before Fermin married Ruton's mother Jenia.

  Ruton was now about 30 years old. The sons from King Fermin's first marriage had all died before Ruton was born. Most members of the kingdom were surprised when King Fermin remarried. Even then, they expected one of the grandsons would become king upon Fermin's death.

  Fermin was nearly 150 years old when he died, leaving Ruton to inherit the throne.

  Jarus told us last night most of his cronies believed Fermin's second marriage was just an alliance between states because Jenia was the Augun king's daughter. After Ruton's birth, there was widespread speculation Fermin wasn't even Ruton’s father. The most corrosive rumors died when Ruton turned 12 years old, and Fermin formally acknowledged him as the sole heir of his body.

  Augun was the kingdom on Klee's northern border, and its main city was on our list to visit.

  The book was completely silent about Ruton's twin sister. I wondered how many of Fermin's daughters were still alive. It seemed wasteful to discount half your offspring.

  Ruton exhibited excellent diplomatic skills along with a decisive leadership style. This won over even the most doubtful detractors. He was now solidly in control of his realm. It didn't hurt that most considered Fermin's grandsons to be wastrels, especially after they ran their estates into bankruptcy.

  Woodworking, farming, and lumber were important mainstays of the local economy. Klee artisans were known for their ship designs, furniture, and watch-making skills. The local mage guild was renowned for its stonework, having created Klee's old town walls and the two river bridges. While Avia was the god most favored by Klee, there were no barriers to worshippers of other gods.

  Devastating floods, which nearly destroyed the southern district, had occurred twice in the past 100 years. The last flood wiped out the original two bridges linking the two sides of the city. The replacement bridges, built by the mage guild, were much higher above the floodplain and were considered flood proof.

  Klee enjoyed a robust seafaring community, and foreign trade was the lifeblood of the city. Barges brought food and lumber from inland farms and forests down the river and into the harbor. Much of the inland bounty was loaded into seagoing ships and delivered to other harbor towns up and down the western side of the continent.

  I sent a questioning thought to Argon and was encouraged to sense how much she liked the librarian. She asked me over to meet him.

  He was as tall as I was, but his dark brown blocky body made him seem shorter. The shiny black fur on his head was thick and unruly. His rectangular face mirrored his body type, and his prominent chin gave him a pugnacious air. The tip of one ear had been lost in some past misadventure. The crow's feet around his eyes were the main indication of his age. He was radiating good humor, with his twinkling eyes and a half smile on his lips.

  I stood and introduced myself with the half-nod that passed for acknowledgment between Jaloans.

  "I am Tobron," he said mirroring my nod. "Your wonderful partner tells me you are considering acquiring Mad Toffad's Keep. I was part of the group of mages who routed those death cult worshippers from it more than 50 years ago. I doubt anyone has been there except our guild’s annual ward keepers since we set up the first set of wards."

  Tobron was pleased to relive the battle with Argon's enthusiastic encouragement. My mind wandered since old war stories all had a sameness to them. We came, they fought hard, and we conquered. While this might seem cynical, if you lost, you didn't go home to tell the tale. If the enemy rolled over and played dead, it wasn't worth relating.

  Argon sensed my fading attention and gave me a mental kick. I could tell the story was near its end and tuned back in. It didn't matter because for Tobron I wasn't even in the room. He was preening for an attractive woman, and I was just another guy.

  Argon liked him, not sexually but more like a bear of a brother or uncle.

  "It sounds like the battle was touch-and-go for a long time?" Argon asked.

  "Yes, they had a lot of followers and too many mages to defeat easily. They knew the labyrinths under the palace, and we didn't. In the end, that was also their weakness. They outnumbered us so we couldn't meet them square on. When they withdrew into the labyrinths, it allowed us to fight them only a few at a time. Because we had enough earth mages, we seldom attacked from the direction they expected," Tobron said.

  "You seem very impressed with the keep; can you tell us more about it?" Argon asked.

  "Old Toffad planned a huge city because his wall encloses an area larger than old town Klee. He had only finished a few buildings when he disappeared, so it is an undeveloped jewel. I never learned why he built so much underground with all that room on the surface to expand," said Tobron.

  "I never got over there, but most of the king's guards were much impressed with the port buildings. Before the death cult moved in, the guard visited Toffad's Keep nearly every year to chase the pirates out. It was perfect for pirates with its safe anchorage, wharf, and huge warehouse area. That stopped being a problem after the guild put up the wards," said Tobron.

  "It sounds perfect for our needs," said Argon. "We are charged to locate and build a large keep with the potential for it to be self-sustaining."

  "Toffad's Keep certainly fits that description," Tobron said.

  "Right now, there are only the two of us, and the obstacles to making this happen are great," said Argon. "We need help getting our steading launched. There are so many steps to establishing a new business and getting the attention of the king. I am nearly overwhelmed. We are warriors without the background we need to get started. We have substantial resources, but it is a daunting mission."

  Tobron waited, clearly unsure where this was going. Argon had all of his attention.

  "I think we have compatible spirits," said Argon. "We want you to join our adventure. If you cannot, then I hope you can recommend someone else who can help. We will pay handsomely, and I can promise plenty of challenge."

  Tobron acted surprised by the request.

  When no answer was forthcoming, Argon eased her mind shield, allowing him to determine for himself she wanted to hire him and only wanted a recommendation if he was not available.

  "I cannot answer right away," Tobron finally said. "I am flattered by your offer but must consult with my mate. I have shared your offer with her, and she wishes to meet you in person. I am hoping you can join us at my home for dinner tonight."

  Argon got the details, including a public teleport location near Tobron's home. She gave him a com-card to contact us.

  "I hope he accepts," Argon sent me as we left. "He will be a great partner. Even if he cannot agree to join us, he will likely know someone he trusts who can help."

  We stopped by Alanna's office, and she was inconveniently not at her desk.

  There were several taxi services at the old city gate, but only one on our innkeeper's list. A surface mind scan of our driver indicated he wouldn't rob us, but if we left something in his carriage, we'd never see it again.

  "We are new to the area," Argon told the driver, "and we want a tour of the harbor and north town, ending at the market."

  I noticed right away that outside the walled part of the city the king's guard went around in groups of two or more and they wore heavier armor. There was a different level of threat outside the old city walls, and the guards were armed to meet it.

  Argon thought it might have something to do with the wards woven into the city walls or it could be something as simple as any
threats to the inner city had to be on foot, and there were only a few well-guarded ways to get in or out.

  "Setting wards to prevent general mischief is very tricky," she sent. "Most of us get caught by the laws of unintended consequence. If you forbid violence, then killing vermin becomes a problem, combat training doesn't work and so on. And that is but one example."

  The traffic in the outer city was insane. Carriages, carts, basas, and people flooded the streets, most attempting to get somewhere before the next person. Slow moving long-haul carts serving the harbor were essentially moving roadblocks. This left the rest of the traffic to maneuver around them. Many of the long-haul carts had bench seats on the back, and I noticed pedestrians hopped on and off as the carts plodded along.

  Basas riders passed the long-haul carts in the oncoming traffic lanes with impunity, causing the smaller oncoming carts and carriages to dodge around them. Once enough small carts and carriages stacked up behind the long-haulers, an entire convoy shifted into the oncoming lane, forcing the approaching traffic to give way or die. The streets were just wide enough for a long-hauler and two carriages to get by, as long as everyone was on their best behavior, no one sneezed, and no pedestrians were involved.

  Crazy all right, it might even have been fun if I was driving the carriage. I hated to be at the mercy of someone's skill and judgment I neither knew nor trusted. It was not an enjoyable morning ride for me, although Argon took it in stride. She advised this kind of traffic was typical of many places in Jaloa.

  The streets narrowed when we left the harbor area, but we also left the long-haulers behind. Here it was everyone for himself but without the suicide convoy element. This was true except when an occasional carriage driver was not in the same breakneck hurry as the rest of the traffic.

  Such slower moving obstacles triggered a frenzy of passing that threatened head-on collisions all over again. Here the small carts had a significant advantage, being slightly narrower than the carriages.

  When a carriage passed another carriage, you hoped the oncoming traffic was no bigger than a small cart.

  I was relieved when we finally left the NASCAR circuit of downtown Klee. Unlike NASCAR, there weren't any dramatic crashes, but I had no clue why not.

  Our carriage had either hit or been clipped by five carriages and a small cart. Nobody stopped, and nobody got out to check the damage. On the streets of Klee, any damage that didn't wreck you wasn't even worth worrying about.

  Argon wanted to check out some new estates on the northeast side of the city—at least from the road.

  We looked at several still under construction, but the small size of the grounds and their poor defensive characteristics left me cold. Shortly afterward, we asked the driver to return to the city and drop us off at the market.

  He left us with our thanks and a bonus for delivering us safely.

  A public teleport area off the market's main entrance had a discrete magical sign. We noted the location for future access before strolling among the various vendors.

  The market was a madhouse. It was a huge outdoor bazaar where you could buy everything from live animals and foodstuffs to elegant clothing and leather goods; watches to fine furniture and metal goods; weapons and armor to fine jewelry. There was also plenty of junk. The only group I didn't see represented were prostitutes; at least until Argon pointed me toward a discrete sign on a large tent in the next aisle.

  We ate lunch at an open-air cafe, and I was so impressed with the street food I ate a second portion. The buzz of activity nearly overwhelmed my mind-reading app. There was a carefree element to most of the shoppers, and the vendors were busy trying to make deals. In the end, I clamped down on the app, just to give myself room to think.

  We were both disappointed with our tour. In most ways, it was a waste of time. To me, it reinforced how important getting Tobron on board could be. We needed allies with detailed knowledge of conditions on the ground if we were going to gain any traction. It also made me question the advisability of just 'porting into the cities on our list at random.

  Argon reminded me we had only been working on this for a day. She was more patient than I was. She was also more confident tonight's dinner with Tobron and his mate would have a positive outcome.

  We agreed we weren't going to make any more progress sitting at the café and 'ported to our desert training site. I wanted to practice conjuring stone.

  When I examined the Klee city wall, I suddenly realized I had overlooked a major aspect of one of my strongest magics. Building with stone.

  At the desert site, Argon had me set the wards farther away than normal. She thought we needed a larger safe area to work in today. Setting wards was getting easier each day.

  Earth magic was not just balls of rock. I first conjured a small block of stone several feet from me. Placing it was more of a challenge than I expected. Until now, nearly all of my earth magic started in my hand.

  After that success, I conjured a large monolith of black stone in the middle of the field. It promptly sank unevenly into the desert sand and fell over with a tremendous thud. It fell away from us, but that was more a matter of luck than skill. Argon was not impressed.

  "How do I delete my mistakes," I asked, hoping to move on. Argon conjured a small block of stone and showed me how to banish it. I banished the large black stone on my first try.

  I forgot magic did not trump basic physics. Before trying it again, I needed a secure foundation. I'd try not to make that mistake again.

  I concentrated on banishing the sand where I originally set my monolith. The sand was more than 10 feet deep and kept seeping back into the excavation. I eventually got down to stone. I conjured a black stone base to fill the hole and topped it with an obelisk. I had a force magic spell ready to keep it upright, but this time I didn't need it.

  I could see advantages and disadvantages of building with stone. It was strong in compressive strength but needed a superb foundation because it was so heavy. Anything built of stone alone was likely to collapse during a massive earthquake. Stone didn't flex; it cracked. Builders on Earth got around that by combining concrete and rebar. For one of the first times in my life, I regretted knowing more about how to blow things up than to build them.

  I practiced conjuring different types of stone, wishing I'd paid more attention to my high school earth science class.

  I found I could make the rock surface mirror smooth or make it resemble natural rock. I conjured red rock; blue rock, white, and black rock and many shades in between. I excavated trenches and filled them with lava. I was frustrated. I had a seemingly endless vat of earth magic but lacked sufficient imagination to apply it.

  I reached out and conjured a block of iron. I hadn't expected it to work, but it was a logical extension of my earlier conjuring. I surmised Jaloa had a molten metal core or there would be no magnetic field. I must have tapped into it to conjure my metal block.

  I conjured a quartz block just as easily. When I conjured a block of gold, nothing happened. There were limits to what this simple spell would do.

  I experimented with iron conjuration, making shapes and bars. I stuck several pieces of rebar in the ground and conjured stone around them, making my first reinforced stone.

  My earth power tank was still full, but I was physically exhausted. I focused so hard, on what I was doing that I failed to pay attention to what Argon was up to.

  She had conjured a large stone basin and filled it with water, creating a swimming pool. She was already stripping off her clothes and preparing to jump in when I rushed to join her.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 11

  We arrived home in time to don the clothes we bought to meet the chamberlain. Argon wanted us to make the right impression with Tobron's mate and didn't think studded leather was the right look.

  We wore our guild sigils, in case we needed to teleport somewhere in Klee. We had decided to use the members 'port area as our default location rather than our inn room.

/>   I found not having boots was a problem. There was no place stash a knife. At Argon's suggestion, I strapped the sheath to my forearm and concealed the knife with my sleeve.

  We left our crossbows behind.

  The journey to Tobron's house went without a hitch.

  Tobron met us at his door and invited us in. We met his wife Inoa and settled in their living room.

  Inoa had a slender build and was about Argon’s height. Her skin was a lightly hued and her fur a well-groomed chestnut brown. Where Argon’s finger and toe claws were ebony, Inoa’s were a bright shiny red. Her eyes were piercing, and I detected a strong aura of protectiveness when she glanced at her mate. Where her mate was heavy and blocky, she was willowy and more delicate. Her iron will was in sharp contrast to her fragile physical appearance.

  While Tobron was more of a physical threat he seemed a happy-go-lucky bear of a man; his wife was the force to be reckoned with.

  Argon acted completely unconcerned. I maintained my companionable silent-type persona.

  Argon made small talk and was eager to try the exotic wine.

  I stayed with water.

  Inoa was a talented host, keeping the conversation light and not allowing any awkward silences to build. I answered direct questions but mostly let Argon carry our side of the conversational burden. Tobron adopted a similar strategy.

  Inoa requested we move to another room for dinner. Colorful pillows filled the new room surrounding a low delicately inlaid table overflowing with a variety of fruit and small plates.

  Inoa invited us to take our places. I followed Tobron's lead, sitting on the floor and propping myself up against a pillow. I hoped following his lead would reduce any social gaffes my lack of experience caused. Argon just lounged on a pillow with her legs tucked under her. She assured me I was doing fine.

  Throughout the meal, Inoa kept hopping up to replenish our plates, bringing in a continuous assortment of small dishes. I wanted to stuff myself with several of the delicacies, but Argon warned me privately to pace myself. Tasting every dish was part of the experience, our host would consider anything less to be impolite.