by Dan Oakley
Carving the curved lines into my flesh took a long-time, and I was lightheaded by the time Valletta finished.
“There,” Valletta said, inspecting his finished work proudly. “Perfect.”
I looked down at the bloody mess he’d made on my palm.
He handed me a scrap of linen, and I pressed it to the bleeding wound.
“Now,” Valletta said with a flourish of his hand, “we get started on the hard part.”
He positioned me, muttering about posture and keeping my back straight as he showed me how to fling my arm out to one side in a smooth arc. I felt a bit silly, repeating the motion over and over again when nothing was happening.
“Maybe I’m not ready,” I said.
“Nonsense. These things take time. Focus on the rune while you access the votoom zone. Some mages find it helps them to press the rune while they think of the word protection. Then imagine a protective magical cloak leaving your arm and hands. It’s similar in lots of ways to generating an energy ball. Instead of a ball, you produce a cloak of magic.”
It took a further ten attempts, but eventually, a flickering purple light swept around my body as I flung my arm in an arc.
“It worked!”
“Of course it worked. I’m a great teacher.”
I spent the next hour generating cloaks in different colors. I didn’t exactly understand the nature of the colors, and Valletta explained that there were only minor differences when casting the aura. Some shields would be better at deflecting magic, others at deflecting laser weapons for example.
My new mentor seemed to be pleased with my progress. Since he was in such a good mood, I decided to ask him more about the mage Queen.
“Have you ever seen her? The Queen Mage, I mean?”
Valletta shook his head. “No, but the legend states she will walk the seven Kingdoms again, with the help of the chosen mage.”
“And who is the chosen mage?” I asked.
He was quiet for a long time, and I didn’t think he was going to answer my question. Eventually, he raised his head and said, “Well, that depends on who’s telling the story, but I very much suspect it could be you, Tomas.”
My conversation with Valletta left me more confused than ever. I was now almost sure he was mad. The chosen mage was obviously a silly fairy tale, and for some reason, Valletta had fixated on me. Still, I wouldn’t have to worry about it much longer. If all went well this evening, we would never see the resistance again.
We all ate dinner together back in the large meeting room, and I knew it wasn’t my imagination that there was more hostility than ever towards us from the other mages. I forced myself to swallow down the garlicky sausage soup and garlic bread. I didn’t want to risk arousing any suspicion tonight.
Though none of us mentioned our plans when anyone else was in earshot, I kept suspecting Toddo would haul me off to the admiral’s office at any moment, accusing me of plotting an escape.
We went to bed at the usual time, waiting for the chatter to die down and for the snores to start. We planned to leave just after midnight. Toddo had taken up his position beside the door, but I had a plan.
I was going to ask him to check on Valletta. I would tell him I was going to the restroom and then race back to say Valletta was in trouble. While I kept Toddo occupied, the others would sneak up to the restaurant. Then Finn would come back and help me get away from Toddo if I needed him to. I hadn’t quite worked out that part of the plan yet, but so long as I got angry enough, I figured I wouldn’t have much trouble restraining him.
But we didn’t get a chance to put our plan into action. Long before midnight, we heard footsteps racing down from the restaurant, and Gaio burst into the meeting room.
“The inquisitors are on their way. We need to evacuate. Now!”
Chapter 19
Mad panic took over. Every mage, abruptly woken from sleep, began to gather their things together. Everyone was talking at once. I grabbed my cloak and flung it over my shoulders.
Kira’s hands fumbled over the strap of her satchel as she tried to fasten it across her body.
Finn’s voice was thick with sleep as he asked, “What’s going on?”
“It seems Draylan was right,” I replied. “The mole had already revealed our location.”
Draylan was standing still, staring at the doorway, where Toddo was deep in conversation with the mage who had just burst into the room.
After a moment, Toddo turned and clapped his hands together, summoning everyone’s attention. “We have it on good authority the inquisitors are planning a raid this evening. They could be here at any time. That doesn’t mean we all run out of here like rats deserting a ship. We’re going to split up and go two by two.”
I put a hand on Kira’s shoulder. “With me?” I asked.
She nodded confidently, then turned to Finn. “If we don’t manage to meet up again tonight, then we meet tomorrow at the coffee shop in the mage square.”
Finn nodded and pulled up the hood of his cloak.
Bayliss stepped behind Kira. “We need to get moving.”
“Agreed,” I said and began to head for the door. Everyone seemed to have the same idea, and the doorway was clogged with bodies.
Before anyone left the room, I heard the commanding, raspy voice of the admiral.
“You pass me two by two,” she said. “We can’t risk raising suspicions by leaving as a large group.”
She began to count mages as they passed her in pairs.
When Kira and I got to the front of the queue, her eyes fixed on me. “No,” she said. “Draylan is to go with Toddo, and you go with me, Tomas.”
I shook my head. “I’m going with Kira.”
I felt a shove from behind. “Stop causing trouble. We need to get out of here.”
I ignored the voices behind me and stared stubbornly at the admiral. But she met my gaze unflinchingly.
“I can partner up with Bayliss,” Kira said. “I’ll see you later.” She grabbed hold of Bayliss’s arm, and they walked past me, the admiral nodding. Draylan was muttering under his breath as he stood to one side to wait for Toddo.
The admiral partnered Finn up with another mage, Gaio.
It seemed we would be the last to leave.
I watched the mages leave in pairs, a slight delay between each one.
Finally, the admiral turned to Toddo and nodded. He grabbed hold of Draylan’s shirt sleeve and pulled him out of the room.
Draylan shot the admiral one last angry glance. “I hate to say I told you so, but well, I did warn you the mole would reveal our location.”
The admiral ignored him and turned to me. “Ready?”
I nodded. As much as I loathed partnering up with the admiral, I really didn’t want to wait around here until the inquisitors turned up.
“We need to keep our faces hidden,” the admiral said as she walked up the stairs ahead of me. “All the security cameras on Marrachi work on facial and retina scans, so remember to keep your head down and your hood up.”
“I will.”
We made our way out of the back of the restaurant.
We stepped out onto the dimly lit street at the rear of the restaurant, sneaking out behind the large trash cans that smelled of rotten fish and vegetables and made my stomach turn.
The admiral paused, looking both ways down the street before quickly crossing the road to the shadows on the other side.
“There’s a ship waiting for us at the docks,” she said.
I kept my head down walking quickly, wishing I could leave her behind.
“You really think I’m a terrible person, don’t you?” she scoffed.
I gave her a sideways glance. “I don’t consider you one of my closest friends,” I said sarcastically.
She smirked. “I’m really not that bad, you know. If you knew what it took to lead a resistance cell, you might understand.”
“I don’t think I would.”
“Really? And how would you han
dle things better than me?” she asked coldly.
“I would have dealt with the mole quickly and questioned him first before terrifying him with the snake thing and then killing him in front of everyone.”
“The snake thing?” She laughed. “It’s simply an enchantment, an illusion. And the way I dealt with the mole was necessary. I don’t expect you to understand. You’ve never been in my position. But we were betrayed by one of our own. The only way I can make sure it doesn’t happen again is by letting all the people under my control be too terrified to risk getting caught to betray me.”
I supposed that made some sense, although it still seemed very barbaric and cruel.
We walked in silence, ducking down alleyways, sticking to the shadows and darkness, and avoiding as many security cameras as we could.
It occurred to me I could run. I could escape this madwoman and the resistance. But what would she do if she caught me? Would those soft waves of dark blonde hair switch to snakes?
It was a stupid idea anyway. I couldn’t flee, not without Kira and the others.
I needed to bide my time until I could get away from the resistance.
“You are determined to see the worst in me, aren’t you?” she said. “I’m just trying to do the best I can for my unit. Their lives depend on me.”
“Maybe we should have moved earlier,” I said, knowing full well I was digging the knife in.
Draylan had been right to suggest our location could be breached.
Her expression tightened, though it was hard to see her full reaction as most of her face was hidden by the hood of her red cloak.
It was a strange choice. Not exactly a color you’d pick to blend in, and almost the same shade of red as the inquisitors’ cloaks, which never failed to fill me with terror.
“What’s with the uniform?” I asked. “And the cloak. Why red?”
She hesitated before answering. “I used to be in a mage-only military unit before they were forbidden by the Kingdoms. Things have steadily been getting worse since then for mages. Our rights are slowly being eroded, and we’re becoming second-class citizens. Or maybe we already are. I still wear the uniform because… I suppose it’s my way of holding on to the past. The rest of my unit was wiped out. The Kingdoms used an extra strong batch of Bysandown, and none of the others survived. Forty mages were wiped out in one day. No one was prosecuted. It was ruled by the kingdom courts to be an accident.” Her mouth twisted into a grimace.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
I knew what it was like to see members of your team die. I hadn’t known my team for long when they were annihilated by the mutant lizards on Tor.
As we rounded the corner, she suddenly flung out her arm, hitting me square in the chest. I jumped in surprise and then saw why she was trying to stop me. Ahead of us were the red cloaks of inquisitors. There were three of them. I didn’t get much of a look before the admiral pushed me into a doorway.
I could hear their footsteps marching. They were coming directly towards us. My mouth was dry, and magic crackled between my fingers.
The admiral pushed a hand harder on my chest and shook her head. Did she really think we could hide here? They would see us as soon as they passed.
But what she did next took me by surprise.
She pushed me back against the door, pressing her body against mine, so close I couldn’t tell where my cloak began and hers ended.
She reached up, her hands clasped around the back of my neck, and pulled me towards her.
My heart was thumping as my chin brushed against strands of her hair that earlier had been a mass of swarming snakes but now felt soft and smelled of flowers. Her breath was hot against my neck. My arms slid under her cloak and wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer.
A moment later, they were in front of us. I didn’t dare look up but kept my head buried in her hair.
One of the inquisitors cackled, pointing us out to the others. “Get an eyeful of that, lads,” he said, and the others followed up with crude comments.
To them, we had to look like a pair of lovers hiding in the darkness.
I held my breath until they finally got bored of their lewd comments and carried on walking up the alley.
When they had gone, she pushed away from me, her mouth twisting into a small smile.
“That was close,” she said. “Come on, we need to move quickly.”
I wasn’t sure if the dizziness I was experiencing was due to almost getting caught by the inquisitors or the fact I’d had my arms around the admiral.
We didn’t speak of it again, and only five minutes later, we made it to the docks.
A tall man slipped out of the shadows and handed us ID cards to use at the security gates.
I nodded my thanks, and the admiral and I quickly made our way through the automatic security and into the docks proper. I couldn’t see anyone else around and followed the admiral as she strode along the transport cylinder towards the ship that was apparently waiting for us.
“Are we all meeting on the ship?” I asked in a low voice. I didn’t fancy getting on a ship with the admiral without Kira, Bayliss, Draylan, or Finn.
She nodded. “Yes, as long as we all made it out and none of us got caught. It’s just up ahead, Bay 36. It’s a small ship, and we’ll have to alter the manifest before we leave. It’s called the Majestic Eagle, which is ironic considering the size of the ship. It’s in no way majestic or anything like an eagle.”
“What do you want to get out of this?” I asked.
My question took her by surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s obvious you wanted me to help you in some way. I don’t think this mission was all about Trella, was it?”
She sighed. “It’s nothing personal, Tomas. I just thought you could help us. If your powers are as strong as people keep suggesting they are, I’d like to have you on our side.”
“Then why don’t you trust me? Why keep us as prisoners? We could have worked together.”
“You have no idea how many people want to get trust without earning it first. There’s too much at stake, Tomas.”
I followed her for a few more strides before asking, “Do you believe in the mage Queen?”
She looked at me with a puzzled expression, “The Mage Queen? Why do you ask that?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t heard much about her before now, and I’m trying to work out if it’s a fairy story or if she’s real.”
“Of course she’s real,” the admiral said with a toss of her head.
“Have you ever seen her?”
“No, but I’ve never seen my heart either, and I know that’s real for the very fact it’s pumping my blood around my body and keeping me alive.”
We both fell silent as we passed a security outpost, but luckily it was empty.
After a few more minutes marching along the cylindrical hallway, the admiral turned back to me and said, “Here it is, our new home.”
Chapter 20
The admiral hadn’t been joking when she said the ship was small. From the fleeting glance, I got via the bay loading screen, I guessed it would be a tight squeeze to get the entire resistance cell on board the grey trader ship.
We paused beside the loading bay, and the admiral keyed a code into the security pad.
The doorway didn’t open straightaway, and as we had to go through the airlock, I couldn’t help looking nervously over my shoulder and wondering whether any of the others had made it.
A few seconds later, the door slid open, and I followed the admiral inside.
As the door swished closed behind us, she pushed back the hood of her cloak and turned to look at me. “Before we get on board, I thought we should clear the air.”
I raised an eyebrow, not sure how to proceed. I didn’t see how we were going to be able to get along while I was kept as a prisoner of the resistance.
The admiral began the air lock protocol, and I watched her, wondering what game she was playing.
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“Let’s call a truce for the next couple of days until we get off Marrachi at least. There will be a lot of bodies aboard the ship, and tempers will run high. I want your word you’ll help me keep the peace.”
She was asking a lot.
Frowning, I thought it over. “You wouldn’t have to worry about tempers flaring if you just let us go,” I said.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’ve explained this, Tomas. Letting you go would put my whole cell at risk, and I can’t do that. Listen, we are going to be setting out in pursuit of the transport ship containing Trella. We have someone on board, on the inside, who can help us. Life would be much easier if you’d work with me.”
I’m sure it would be much easier for her, but not so much easier for me. Then again, if she was serious about mounting a rescue mission…
“I can’t promise to keep Draylan in line,” I said, truthfully.
“I’m not sure anyone could keep that man in line.”
“He’s not a bad guy,” I said. “In fact, if you learn to work with him, you might find him useful.”
The admiral snorted. “I can’t believe that.”
She held out her hand, and I hesitated only briefly before shaking it.
I wasn’t sure how Draylan would feel about our new truce.
Once we got on the ship, I saw that we weren’t the first to arrive. The midsection was already packed with bodies.
As soon as the admiral was on board, she began barking orders. She sent many of the mages straight down to cargo. She ordered navigators to the bridge, and the system controller to make sure the climate was well controlled within the cargo hold, suitable for human habitation.
At that point, Finn stepped forward. “I can jump us out of here,” he said.
The admiral paused and turned to face him. “Thank you for the offer, but I have many spacemage jump mages I can call on.”
“Yes, but I have super mage status,” Finn said. “I’m sure I could get you out of here faster than anyone else.”
That made the admiral pause. Finally, she nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Finn. That would be helpful. If you can go to the bridge, I’ll meet you there soon. Familiarize yourself with the layout until I get there.”
