by Scott Baron
“Precisely. So why the weapons? It looks to me like they’re prepping for something. And now Leila is in trouble because I brought it to her attention.”
“So the tray?”
“Taking her food. Hopefully they’ll let me in to see her, at least for a minute. If I had a proper konus I could take the guards, but I only have this weak-ass trinket with just enough juice to clean the pens and that’s it.”
“You were a gladiator, Charlie. Of course they’re going to be cautious giving you potential weapons.”
“I know. And that’s why I have to get her out a more traditional way. By subterfuge, and good old-fashioned physical violence, if need be,” he said, heading for the door. “But, Tuk, my offer still stands. If my ride out of here pans out, there’s a seat for you and Magda. Think about it at least, okay?”
“Okay, Charlie. I’ll think about it.”
“Great. Oh, and while you’re at it, is there any way you could see if Magda has any old warm blankets in storage that won’t be missed?”
“Uh, okay. But why?”
“Long story. Let’s just say it’ll be cold where we’re going, at least for a while, and the extra layers will be a lifesaver.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, Tuk. That’s all I can ask.”
Charlie gave his friend a little nod and headed out the side door into the night, the vaguest beginnings of a half-formed plan coalescing in his mind. He just hoped it would solidify into something more concrete by the time he reached the men guarding Leila.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The grounds were eerily quiet as Charlie made his way to the far end of the building beneath which Leila was being held. The hustle and bustle of earlier had ceased abruptly, and an uneasy silence now hung in the air.
“Something’s up,” he observed as he strained his ears. Far in the distance, he thought he could hear something, but in the general vicinity of the estate’s sprawling structures, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Walking with confidence, hoping it would be sufficient to bluster his way past the guards, Charlie rounded the corner at a full stride, making sure not to look hesitant in the slightest. It was the clipboard and hard hat principle at work. Act as if you belong and most often no one will question you.
Unless that someone happens to be the visla’s daughter.
“Malalia,” he said, startled at seeing the young woman walking toward him. “I thought you were in bed by now.”
“I tried to sleep after you left, Charlie, but what you said about the groundskeeper’s daughter concerned me so greatly that I simply had to come see what was going on, and if I could help in any way.”
“Really? That’s wonderful. Thank you, Malalia. I’m sure Hertzall was thrilled.”
“Well, I haven’t spoken with him as of yet,” she said, looking at the two guards standing near the doors. “Is this for Leila?”
“Yes. I thought she could use some food, seeing as she missed dinner.”
“You’re such a considerate man, Charlie. Come, leave it with the guards. They’ll make sure she receives it. Let us walk a bit. I wish to speak privately.”
He hesitated.
“I really should bring it to her personally. I mean, I wouldn’t want to trouble Dinuk’s men.”
“It’s no trouble, I assure you.”
There really wasn’t a way around it.
“Okay, I guess,” he said, handing the tray to the nearest guard.
“Excellent. Now, come. Let us talk. I have important things I wish to discuss with you.”
The pair quietly padded down a path lined with low shrubbery on either side until they reached a crossroads where several other trails linked. Malalia veered right, and Charlie followed close behind.
“I hope you found the tech-magic items I had brought here for you useful. My men really didn’t know what they were looking for, and I worried not all of it would be of value.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, I appreciate your having those pieces recovered. I have not really had a chance to see what I can do with them, but I do hope to make myself of greater use around the grounds if I can.”
“Well, you know, Charlie,” she said, leaning in conspiratorially, “another of my father’s ships will be passing that way in a few weeks. I may be able to have another collection of pieces brought back for you. Would you like that?”
“That would be great,” he replied. “It would be wonderful to be able to use the science of my world to help the inhabitants of this one.”
Turning to look at him, her shoulder brushed against his, contact that was longer than could possibly be unintentional.
“You really are a kind man, you know? It’s a rare gift, this spirit of generosity and compassion.”
“Uh, thank you,” he replied. “And you’re a kind woman, Malalia. It must be difficult at times being the daughter of a powerful visla, but you seem very well adjusted.”
She laughed brightly, flashing a warm smile his way.
“Thank you, Charlie. That means a lot to me.”
“Well, it’s true,” he said. “And you went out of your way to make sure Leila was all right. It’s really kind of you. Speaking of which, what’s going on down there, anyway? I can’t see any reason they’d hold her like that. She’s spent her whole life on these grounds. It’s not like she’s some random outsider they need to guard.”
Malalia looped her arm around his and drew him close as they walked.
“You know, Charlie, from what I gathered, it sounded like she was inquiring about the Zomoki. About its powers and how to tap into them. Naturally, this made Father uncomfortable, and he felt he needed to hold her from the others until he could ascertain her motives. I mean, for his personal animal keeper to mistreat one of her charges, it was quite a shock to him.”
“I imagine it would be,” he said, careful with his words lest she realize he was on to her ruse. “Still, it might have been innocent curiosity about the animal in her care. She doesn’t strike me as the type to exploit a captive creature like that.”
“Maybe not, but just the other day, when we went to see the beast, Father mentioned that a long time ago there were people who could actually connect with Zomoki on a primal level. Legend has it that some could even share their power.”
“That sounds really dangerous.”
“I’m sure it was, but then, you managed to ride atop of one, and came out unscathed! How in the heavens did you ever manage such a thing?”
And there it is, he mused with a little sigh. Honestly, I’m surprised it took her this long.
“I told you, I really don’t know. In the heat of the bout I wasn’t thinking and just scrambled for the safest spot I could, away from the men trying to kill me.”
“Atop a Zomoki’s back was the safest place?”
“Compared to the men with slaaps and swords trying to kill me, yes, for that moment at least. Like I said, it was just a reflex reaction, but it saved my life.”
“But how were you able to stay mounted without being thrown? I hear the beast managed to cast a powerful spell in spite of the control collar on its neck.”
Charlie assumed that she didn’t know the truth, much like the others at the bout that day. The truth that it wasn’t the Zomoki who had cast the spell, but Charlie, drawing from the creature’s vast stores of magical power. So long as they thought it was all about Ara, he would remain free to enact their plan. The moment they suspected he knew more than he was letting on, he would be imprisoned just like Leila was.
“I was just holding on for dear life when she took to the air,” he said with an amused sigh. “You have no idea how frightening it was when I suddenly found myself airborne.”
“But it flew you over to the pole and helped you grab the ring.”
Charlie forced a laugh he hoped sounded natural. “Oh, I really don’t think it was trying to help me. In fact, I think it was actually trying to throw me off its back and just happened to swerve close enoug
h for me to grab it. Blind luck. And as for the spell, I didn’t even know Zomoki possessed that kind of magic.”
“Most do not. I mean, from what I’ve heard. But once in a very long while, a Zomoki is born with great power within. It is akin to the way vislas are born with power far exceeding that of emmiks or mesters. Or how a handful of one race makes up all of the Drooks in the systems, yet the vast majority of their people have no power at all.”
“I guess that makes sense. I still haven’t figured out why some people in certain systems have different powers and gifts, but I think it has to do with the radiation from their particular suns.”
“We have known this for a long time, Charlie.”
“Well, it’s all new to me, so I’m just figuring it out as I go.”
“And the Zomoki’s power? What did you make of that, being so close when it used it?”
He turned and looked her square in the eyes.
“To tell the truth, I was zapped unconscious by the collar before I even knew what had happened. I only know now because people have told me about it. It’s like learning about your own life secondhand, you know? It’s rather disconcerting.”
“Yes, it would be,” she said, sliding her arm from his. “It was nice talking with you, Charlie, but this time, I really should be off to bed,” she said, turning back toward the estate. “I’ll be sure to ask my father about Leila when I see him in the morning, but for now, forget about her. Until he knows what she was up to, I feel my father will keep her locked up, for all of our safety.”
Charlie bristled inside but kept the dopey smile on his face. He was just a harmless slave. No reason to worry about him at all.
“Thank you, Malalia. I’ll just wait to hear what the visla says, then.”
She smiled, satisfied, and walked off into the shadows.
Charlie, however, was most definitely not satisfied.
“Ara will know what to do.”
Chapter Thirty
“Okay, I’m not using my outside voice this time. Are you happy?” Charlie silently called out as he entered the dragon’s enclosure. “Ara?”
The space was empty, signs of a struggle marring the churned soil near the large, unbolted doors opening from the rear walls. Someone had forced the Zomoki out––against her will, at that––and there was only one person with the power to do so.
“Shit. Maktan,” he said, following the tracks to where they suddenly vanished just outside the enclosure.
The dragon had been subdued, then loaded onto a transport of some kind. Whether she was even still on the planet was now up in the air, and despite his desperate desire to race to find answers, Charlie knew there was only one truly reliable source. Not his friends, and certainly not the visla’s manipulative daughter.
He would have to rely on the weakest link in the wizard’s armor––his guards. Not the trusted ones, though. He needed to find the others. The ones routinely given the shit details. The ones most likely to talk.
But one could not simply approach them empty-handed and strike up a casual conversation about the abduction of a certain house-sized Zomoki. Subterfuge was required. Fortunately, Charlie had one caffeinated card up his sleeve that no one else in the galaxy seemed to possess.
“Hey, fellas, how are you all doing tonight?”
“Hi, Charlie,” the men replied, casually.
A pair of the team of security staff lounging in their late shift station had casually sparred with Charlie shortly after he arrived, curious if the gladiator could show them any new moves. Charlie had indeed imparted a few minor tidbits of knowledge to them, while being careful to ensure he never showed his martial superiority.
This feeling of equal footing allowed an easy camaraderie with the men, who enjoyed a boost to their egos as they held their own with this alleged top fighter. Little did they know the degree he was sandbagging to stroke their egos.
“Hey, I couldn’t really sleep, so I made some coffee and was going to work on some little projects out at the pens. I made a big pot, and I sure can’t drink all of it, so I brought it over in case you guys wanted some.”
The men eagerly accepted, their moods perking up even before the caffeine hit their systems.
“Thank you, Charlie.”
“Hey, it’s my pleasure. So, everything calm tonight?”
“For the most part. You?”
“Yeah, the same,” he said, sipping his cup. “Well, actually, there is one odd thing. I was fixing some fencing on the bundabist corral, and I noticed the Zomoki is missing. Did the visla sell it?”
The men groaned and looked at one another knowingly.
“Oh, that,” one said, obviously less than thrilled. “He had us move the thing a little while ago. I’ll tell you, it fought something fierce when the girl tried to subdue it.”
“Girl? But I thought Leila was locked up?”
“No, not her. The visla’s daughter. She had on her father’s slaap and was shocking the beast into submission. I’ll tell you, it was a little unsettling, how much she seemed to be enjoying it.”
“I bet,” Charlie replied, carefully keeping his face neutral. “So, they had you load it on a ship, huh? That must’ve been a lot of work, even with lifting spells.”
“It was a pain, all right, but we only had to get it onto a transport sled, so it wasn’t all bad.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. Where’d you wind up taking it?”
“Hey, you know the visla will have all of our heads if you talk about his private stuff,” a guard Charlie didn’t recognize interjected. “Best to keep to your own business. You don’t want to be on the visla’s bad side. Believe me, I’ve seen what he can do to people who dig around in his private affairs.”
“Thanks, I’ll remember that. I was just curious, is all,” Charlie said.
Truth be told, he didn’t need them to tell him where Ara had been taken. In fact, he had a very good idea exactly where she was.
“All right, then. I’d better get back to work. No sense being up and awake if I don’t get anything done. You all enjoy the coffee, and have a safe night.”
“Thanks, Charlie. You too.”
He left the men and took off at a quick jog across the grounds. At the crossroad of paths, he took the left fork, heading toward the grove of trees leading to the low wall surrounding the inner layer of the estate.
“This is going to suck,” he muttered as he slid his fingers between his collar and his neck and squeezed tight.
Charlie then began running.
Running straight for the low wall a mere handful of meters away.
“Konus magusi. Konus magusi. Konus magusi. Konus magusi.”
He repeated the spell over and over in his mind as well as whispered through his lips as he ran, doing all he could to lessen the power of the collar that bound him as his feet raced faster and faster. The burning sensation building against his skin began to spike rapidly, nearly making him lose concentration, but his gladiator training came in handy, and he redoubled his efforts and pushed through the pain. Somehow, he managed to keep his footing even, as he increased his pace to a full sprint in the low light.
The wall was closing fast, and despite the reduced potency of his control collar, Charlie felt like his neck was on fire. His eyes were watering, blurring his vision and screwing up his depth perception, the burning agony threatening to sap his very consciousness.
With a final determined surge, he leapt as high as he could, clearing the wall, a physical blow slapping him as he passed the barrier in midair. His legs were still moving fast when he landed on the other side, his momentum carrying him forward several steps, but Charlie was out of control, unconscious on his feet.
Finally, he crumpled to the loamy soil in a heap, the glowing collar around his neck slowly fading back to its normal golden hue. His prone body heaved with every breath as his respirations slowly returned to normal.
Chapter Thirty-One
The shapes of the dark path began to slip bac
k into focus as Charlie struggled to his knees, an itching burn marking his neck where the restraining collar had tried––and failed––to keep him back. Fine lines of cleanliness streaked his cheeks, where his watering eyes washed a pattern in the dirt acquired upon impact with the ground.
Well, that answers that question. The barrier is just the wall and not beyond it, he noted thankfully as he forced himself back to his feet.
A bellow rang out down the glen from the direction of the weapons factory.
Ara.
He took off at as much of a run as he could on his unsteady legs, stopping a moment to grab a knotted branch from a fallen tree. Apparently, Hertzall only cleaned the innermost ring of such detritus. That, or the tree had only recently fallen. Whatever the case, the Earth spaceman turned slave gladiator finally had a weapon he could wield regardless of magical aid, and it felt good in his hands. Solid. Tangible. Ready to do harm, if need be.
Another roar. Someone was hurting the Zomoki.
Harm, it appeared, was on the menu.
Charlie raced to the rear of the building, hiding against its dark shape in the shadow cast by the illuminated clearing to the front. Ara was obviously being held there, the question was, what could he do about it? From the sound of things, there were several guards with her, and all he had was a wooden club, and not a terribly impressive one at that.
As quietly as he could, Charlie snuck along the wall, pausing to peer in a window before continuing his advance. The building was nearly entirely empty, with just a handful of crates and materials remaining, a few slaaps and konuses lying on what appeared to be a designer’s work table.
That just might be the edge I need.
He silently slithered in through the window, sticking to the shadows of cover as he made his way to the small table. Five guards and a handful of the green-and-black factory worker things were hauling the last few cases out the front doors.
Ara was there. He could see her massive red shape through the doorway. Judging by the caution with which they exited the building, she wasn’t in as much distress as he had feared.
