Dire Prophecy

by Zack Finley

  While others in the hospital had the talent and the magic to regrow an arm, they would have no magic left to treat life-threatening injuries if they did. It was a sobering look into the limitations and benefits of magic-based medicine.

  We discovered I was great with trauma injuries but only mediocre with illnesses. If I needed to get better with these, I would have to invent the microscope so I could see the microorganisms. Understanding the Jaloan immune system eluded me. For now, I was satisfied with repairing traumatic injuries.

  I just finished treating a man with a leg mangled in a basas accident when Argon slammed me with a blast of severe emotional distress. The emotion stunned me for a brief time until I realized she was in trouble. I teleported to her side immediately in a panic, ready to murder the cause.

  She was treating her first young patient. Argon was so distraught I'm not sure what I imagined was happening to her. Alba came running as well. Allo was in my head demanding to know what was wrong.

  Argon shut down her emotional broadcast and immediately apologized for needlessly bothering us. I remained on high alert until Alba shooed me away. I could feel Argon regaining her composure, and she was soothing Allo and me.

  "I'm all right; I just didn't expect this to affect me so much. Alba is showing me ways I can stay in tune with the patient yet maintain control of my emotions. Go back to your patient," Argon sent to me. "The little girl just hurt so badly. Alba is showing me how to take away the patient's pain so it will be better."

  I returned to my patient. I reassured him nothing was the matter before I got back to repairing his leg. Shortly after that, Alba reappeared and helped me finish. She assured me Argon was better now and that I shouldn't worry. Right.

  I got the impression that having volunteers with healing magic drop by to help was not something that happened very often. Our mere presence buoyed the spirits of the hospital staff. Alba admitted the staff spent too many days with the healers going home devoid of magic having barely provided the minimum of care.

  Today had been a great day for the patients, and the staff was very appreciative.

  Before we left, Alba presented us with a healing talisman. We agreed to top it off with our magic to take it with us to rescue the king.

  My efforts at the hospital sucked down some of my healing power, but it had an awesome rejuvenation rate. It would easily refill my health magic container before bedtime.

  Argon was subdued, and she didn't want to talk about her experience. I just flooded her with loving support and reminded her she didn’t have to face this alone. She echoed my love and appreciated my support, but she had walled away her earlier reaction.

  She reminded me we didn't have time to deal with emotional baggage; we were preparing for a mission.

  I let it drop, for now.

  Inoa contacted us, as we were wrapping up at the hospital. She and Cleon had some sneaky magic to share. She forwarded a teleport location at the Klee Keep.

  We teleported into a martial arts training room. Except for the stone walls and floor, it was the same as many I trained in over the years with mats on the floor and along the walls. Cleon and Inoa were both dressed in light battledress. They wore their battledress with a casual familiarity. The clothing was well worn but clean and sharply pressed.

  Inoa conveyed through our link how pleased she was to receive permission to train us on these secret techniques used by the Klee secret service. She said it demonstrated how worried the king was and that he trusted us.

  She and Cleon both recognized our mission was a tough one and hoped the spells would help us stay alive. With so little time to prepare, our teachers raced through the different spell options.

  Cleon showed Argon a way to become virtually invisible using an offshoot of refractive air magic. Our shadows might trip us up during strong daylight, but the spell worked great indoors, at night, around twilight, and during cloudy days. Troubleshooters found this spell to be quite useful.

  Mind magic was our best bet to keep people from spotting us, and Inoa was a great teacher. Our current mind shields were so good she saw no reason to do anything with them.

  The top-secret mind spells she demonstrated came in three categories: misdirection, incapacitation, and false memories.

  Misdirection spells convinced the target we weren't there.

  Another misdirection spell convinced a group that whatever prompted them to get together was now over and it was time to go home. Cleon cautioned this worked quite well with an unstructured group, such as a crowd gathered in a common room, but it was seldom effective against soldiers and more structured groups. Soldiers usually started to disperse but seldom got very far before someone got suspicious.

  Another spell created a false image of someone disappearing around a far corner.

  Incapacitating mind spells convinced the target to fall asleep. These spells worked great against a lone guard. Its major weakness was the target was only asleep which was also its main strength. Inoa cautioned the spell seldom worked for more than two people.

  More effective knockout spells came with potential penalties should someone discover the unresponsive person. Someone merely asleep on duty might prompt a reprimand or other personal discipline but not a facility-wide alarm. Someone knocked unconscious with mental magic goes down quickly but they won’t wake up until the brain trauma fades. Recovery may take hours. If used we were advised to hide the targets out of sight to keep someone from raising the alarm.

  If you question someone while they are conscious, they will remember you and what they told you. For a clandestine operation, remove the memories and provide them with logical new ones. If you have stunned others in the compound, merely remove the memories and stun the one you interrogated.

  If we had this spell for use on Jarus, we'd have replaced his memories with hours spent on boring surveillance followed by a great time at a local tavern drinking with someone he met there. If you don't have time for an elaborate ruse, plant a memory the subject got sick and spent the time puking.

  At the end of the lesson, Inoa hugged Argon and me; and Cleon wished us good luck. If we were lucky, we wouldn’t need any of these new spells to rescue the Augun king. I just hoped they would be enough to give us an edge.

  We told our partners we would screen the Augun ship captains in the morning. We planned to hike to the king's keep afterward. The keep's isolated location on the ridge above the city made our approach difficult. While I believed it was likely we would have to wait until dark; I felt an odd urgency to get there earlier.

  Argon and I beefed up our wards, planning to ditch our leather armor and switch to Augun garb for the walk to the keep. Switching before we talked to the ship’s captains might raise questions; the locals expected our armed look.

  Inoa recommended we adopt emergency teleport spells with a dead man's switch. She also suggested the 'port location be somewhere we could receive immediate emergency medical care. She showed us how to set up a combat 'port spell with a trigger that would activate if we became unconscious or unable to act voluntarily.

  If we didn't go this route a good paralysis spell, knockout gas or even a club to the head could leave us in enemy hands.

  The disadvantage was when we returned to normal life we needed to turn the spell off, or we'd teleport to the emergency location when we nodded off.

  Inoa suggested we use her foyer as the 'port location. She could begin first aid and have Alba on site within seconds.

  We agreed to the new emergency teleport protocols and set them up as suggested.

  Inoa also agreed to manage our communications. She and Tobron would stay on our mental band the whole time we were in action. Inoa said she would patch us in to talk directly with Alba or Cleon as required.

  Inoa and Tobron would be prepared to 'port to us if we needed an assist. Alba was concerned about the Augun king's condition and asked us to send for her if we thought she could help. Cleon wanted to accompany Alba if she came. I didn't expect to n
eed any of them, but having backup was a good thing.

  Before we retired for the night, Argon told Shala, our plans and she reminded me not to forget my earth magic.

  That night only Argon's reminder to disable my new dead man's teleport spell avoided a totally embarrassing moment.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 19

  The next morning, we were both jittery with pent-up anticipation. Like paratroopers getting ready for a jump, we crosschecked each other's wards and spells.

  The queen mother came through while we slept with a safe word for the Augun king. It came with a family sigil she hoped would help us get through the keep’s wards. She also sent a rough sketch of the keep with the approximate locations of secret entrances she hoped the family sigil would allow us to use.

  We thought it likely her sigil would still work.

  Spare clothes and anything else Argon thought would come in handy, including water and a few snacks, were stored in a small weight-suppressed backpack. The pack didn't interfere with her crossbow, so she already preferred it to her normal pouch.

  We told Tobron and Inoa about the god's hint for me about earth magic. Tobron reminded us earth magic was handy to have in a large stone complex. Putting up stone walls to block opponents was a good non-lethal use of the magic, and we never had to enter a room through a door. He suggested going through a wall, floor or ceiling unless the wards were too tough or took too long to break. He confirmed builders put most of the wards in the outer walls, leaving the interior much easier for earth magic to manipulate. He urged caution when banishing structural elements unless we wanted to trigger a collapse.

  We 'ported into the Bounding Basas and applied some of our new air invisibility magic to hide our arrival. I expanded my mind-reading app to check for trouble. Our invisibility spell was working well, no one noticed our arrival. Jeref was there. I delved into his mind, to check for new developments. His stevedores were pissed about yesterday's cancellation, and Captain Blent had chewed him out for wasting his time. He was hopeful one of the new ships would be okay so we could complete the deal. There was no hint of betrayal, plenty of irritation but no complicity in Blent's scheme.

  Misery still filled the tavern. There was no new information about the king and no sign of a mage or anyone wearing an amulet. Fewer people were playing games. More were hunched silently over drinks.

  Argon let the invisibility spell wane, and we went to greet Jeref.

  Through the mind-reading app, several noted we were back, but otherwise, our appearance caused no unusual reaction. This time we had Jeref accompany us to visit the captains. We intended to visit all three and choose the best one.

  The first ship had threadbare sails. The few crewmembers on board were listless, their thoughts focused on last night's drinking instead of today's work assignment. Grime had built up in corners around the main deck, and rust or corrosion covered much of the metalwork. The ropes holding the ship to the dock were very frayed. The hull had a rudimentary integrity ward.

  The ship's captain wore a mind shield, but it was just a minor speed bump. At least this one wasn't planning to turn pirate. He was worried about the delay in getting cargo in Augun and had been considering leaving without one, just to get to a more viable port. He had discounted his sailing fee significantly to get this deal. He was not looking for a long-term charter; he was just looking to get out of Augun.

  The second captain had a mind shield; he also had a larcenous soul. He was a serious smuggler, using legitimate cargo to sneak slaves and stolen goods from port to port. We didn't bother touring his ship.

  The Malan was the third ship, with Captain Malek at the helm. He was also the ship's owner. The ship reflected it. The deck was spotless, and the metalwork shone. Ropes were in good condition, and the sailors had coiled them in precise circles. The sails looked new, without the fraying seen in the first ship.

  There weren't many sailors aboard; compared to the number we'd seen on the other ships. Those we scanned had been with the captain for several years and felt lucky for the berth. None associated with pirates or slavers.

  Capt. Malek was a mage so unless we wanted to break through his wards we would have to find out about him the hard way. We left Jeref on deck as the three of us went to his cabin to discuss business. We were confident he had scanned Jeref, so he knew something about our dealings with him.

  Captain Malek told us he had been sailing cargo between ports along the western seaboard for nearly 20 years. We asked if he had any mage references we could check, particularly in Klee. He named two business associates, which we shared instantly with Tobron and Inoa. Inoa also checked their names with Cleon and Alba.

  Cleon had met one of Malek’s references. The reference had a good reputation amongst the Klee King's Guard, but Malek himself was an unknown. Cleon thought it was a positive sign that Malek had never come to the attention of the guard.

  A tour of the Malan revealed some strong water and modest force magic enchantments on the hull and some modest air enchantments on the sails. We guessed these would cut travel time significantly.

  It was an easy choice.

  We awarded the contract to Capt. Malek and Jeref scurried off to get the cargo moving. We left him with a chit against the Augun Mage Guild bank for the total and warned him not to claim it until the cargo was loaded aboard the ship.

  Tobron agreed to meet with Malek's references before the ship arrived in Klee. We told him he might have to hurry; the Malan would be there quicker than we expected.

  We 'ported to the Augun market and dropped in on the bookseller. He was more skittish than before. A probe confirmed he was terrified. A visit by the secret police would do that. They came yesterday afternoon and questioned him about us. They left him with a warning to contact them if we returned. He told them about referring us to Jeref but failed to mention the kickback he expected for doing so.

  We gave no sign we knew anything was amiss, thanking him for referring us to Jeref. Argon bought a book. I wasn't sure whether it was because she was being nice or was just being a compulsive shopper.

  I teased her about her book buying habit. She reminded me her books would be a valuable asset in our new refuge. I hadn't thought of that.

  We weren't surprised to have attracted the attention of the secret police. Argon still wanted to kidnap and question them. I couldn't argue with her reasoning.

  The secret police also visited the other booksellers who told them we had spent a lot of time with the last shopkeeper.

  We debated warning Jeref but decided it would be better for him if he knew nothing. No reason to tell him we were forewarned.

  We 'ported home to change out of our armor and then back to Augun in the alleyway where we originally arrived. The invisibility spell allowed us to tuck into cover without being spotted. We joined the other pedestrians and tried to blend in.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 20

  By the time we merged with the traffic on the thoroughfare, we could keep our head down with the rest of the pedestrians. This time we headed north away from the guild.

  The Augun king's keep covered a large area on high ground along the northern edge of the city. The ground sloped away to the east. Its only access from the city was on the keep’s east side.

  My map indicated the street we were on ended at the foot of the cliff the king's keep perched on. All main streets headed north for several miles dead-ended against the cliff. The map showed an unnamed cross street paralleled the cliff.

  If we ran into problems I was prepared to wait until dark. In the dark climbing the cliff, especially with a force magic boost seemed a viable option. Unless forced to wait, I estimated that staying on the public streets would provide better intelligence and get us in quicker.

  Initially, we planned to hike to the cliff and then take the cross street, but that depended on traffic and cover. We could not afford to be the only ones on the street.

  The traffic disappeared as we neared the
target cross street. We backtracked to a more crowded location to avoid raising suspicions. My frustrations with Jaloan map-making continued as the city map's representation failed to match the actual street layout.

  Our new plan was to stay with the crowds while moving toward the objective even if it required backtracking. As we left downtown, carts and carriages were still plentiful, but there were far fewer here than near the market. Most pedestrians we monitored walked only two or three blocks. No one but us was just out taking a stroll.

  To avoid attracting attention, we ducked into several stores and a few taverns to break up our journey. Storekeepers were eager for us to buy and Argon bargained for several sets of shirts and pants. One store had women's lingerie. The clerk suggested I sit in the waiting area while Argon made a few purchases.

  All to protect our cover story, of course.

  Occasionally we scanned someone who was untouched by the pervasive atmosphere of fear, but these were usually younglings.

  We spotted pairs of watchers assigned to some of the larger intersections. Pedestrians gave them a wide berth. No one entered any shop they were standing near.

  They wore poor quality mind shields, and we probed each one. They actually knew little about the assassination, the condition of the king, or even who was in charge. Someone from the secret police told them to stand and watch at their location. They were to report to headquarters if they spotted anything suspicious. They worked in pairs so one could stay and observe the suspicious activity and the other could go report it. Most had no idea what suspicious activity they were looking for. They also were happy not to spend time at headquarters if they could avoid it.

  Headquarters sounded like a potential mind-reading target, but we concluded the side trip would take too long.

  Several more clandestine observers quietly watched from the shadows. These were former king's guard now working for the secret police. They didn't know much more about the assassination or even who was in charge. They really missed the murdered Augun King's Guard commander.