The flame-haired scientist pushed back from her enlarger scope and rubbed her eyes. The vaccine would work, if she could get the villagers to forsake the fears and rituals of their gods. Perhaps she could save a few of their children. A soft rustle of robes distracted her. She grabbed her flintlock and aimed it at the sound.
A quiet chuckle answered her concern. "Beg pardon, Lady Nal. I am--"
"I know who you are, Wizard. So, why does the great Querl Dox grace my humble rooms?" the scientist asked as she set down the gun.
"You have heard the news from the High Seer's palace? Yes, I can see by your face, you have. I have been charged by your mother to rescue your sister. Will you join me?"
"Why should I? For that matter, why does a wizard only interested in knowledge accept a quest for a missing child? Perhaps she simply went to a party and forgot to tell her keepers."
"She is your blood! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"What does it mean to you?"
The man drew back his hood and revealed his green face and yellow hair. "The blood tells. Even though you do not possess a seer's powers, you two are still sisters. With your presence, I can draw upon the kinship and perhaps refine a tracker's sense to the point where she could find your sister under a spell of darkness."
"Do you know this for certain?" the scientist asked.
The wizard met her gaze for a few minutes and then, he had to look away.
"I thought so. You have no idea if this spell will work, what consequences it may have on the tracker, me, or Nura! Yet still you are willing to test this magic on us. I will go with you, Querl Dox, if only to make sure that your 'studies' do not harm any innocent beings."
Nura Nal was screaming in helpless rage as the beings who had taken her dismounted from their steeds and dragged her off of her mount. She was still screaming as she was pulled down cold stone stairs into a damp, dark hallway. Her feet scraped against the rough walls and scratched against the hewn stones. She continued to scream as she was smacked against the slimy dungeon wall and shackled. The rough iron chafed her wrists. "You're not going to succeed!" she screamed into a captor's ear. "My mother will find us and she will make you pay!"
A gloved hand slammed against her face. "Shut up!" the captor shouted. For a moment it looked like the captor would say more, but instead it retreated and said nothing.
"Nura, are you all right?" another captive asked.
"No! I'm wet, I'm dirty, I'm cold, I'm sore... Jeckie?"
"Of course. Who else could ignore that tirade of yours? Apparently we are to be the guests here for a time."
"Until when? What will happen to us?"
"You're the seer," Princess Projectra answered bleakly. "Let me know if it's something good."
"I can't see anything," Nura complained. "Make some light."
"Alright, but there's not much to see."
The room was suffused with a soft, yellow light. Nura blinked and looked around the stone room. A few rodents scurried about, and the stones were wet. Some devices that Nura could not recognize dangled from the ceiling and a table cluttered with rust-stained instruments rested underneath them. On the walls, there were other sets of shackles, and one set was occupied by a dirty blond-haired boy, younger than both Nura and Projectra. His head was dangling from his shoulders and it was only the irregular raise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive. "Who's he?"
"I have no idea. He's not royalty, or we'd know him."
"Who took us, Jeckie? What do they want with us?" Nura asked miserably, wishing she could brush the hair out of her eyes. "What are we going to do until... we're rescued, or something?"
Projectra of Orando had no answer.
After Mysa gathered a bagful of supplies, she yanked her dress off so she could pull on some loose-fitting canvas pants, and a stained silk shirt and placed a whip over her shoulder. To Querl Dox's astounded expression, she answered, "You'd be surprised at the versatility of this weapon. Let's go meet your guide."
They were to meet the woman at an inn near the edge of town, close to the forest. They sat at a table outside of the inn, both enjoying an ale, the deepening shadows, and the other's silence. Looking at his loose blond hair and chisled features, Mysa decided that Querl Dox would be a good-looking man...if he wasn't green.
A hand touched her shoulder. Mysa froze for a moment, then grabbed the hand by the thumb and the ball of the wrist, and then she twisted.
The person belonging to the wrist yelled. Querl shouted, "Mysa, stop! She's the guide!"
Mysa blushed with embarrassment and anger. "If she didn't sneak up on paranoid people--"
"I am sorry," the guide said with a softly-accented voice. "I have been told developing a sense of humor would be bad for business. I am Dawnstar."
Mysa turned and studied the woman, and tried not to stare at the bright wings growing from her back. Dawnstar was dark skinned, and black-eyed. Her cheekbones seemed almost incredibly high, almost as if they started at the leather headband that held the stream of black hair away from her face. Equally commanding were her wings-covered in feathers so white that the sun would reflect off of them on a cloudy day. "You're a Starhavenite? I've never seen any of the People in person before."
"Consider yourself lucky; now you have. Dox, do you have the fee we agreed upon?"
"Of course. To regain their favorite daughters, Orando and Naltor have opened their coffers. Just make sure to give me a receipt."
"Orando? Projectra is missing as well?" Mysa gaped. "Is their anything else you're conveniently forgetting to tell me?"
"I never forget anything. I have chosen not to tell you certain things."
Mysa stood up. "Then you can forget about my help. I am not a hired hand, or an underling you announce things on a 'need to know' basis." She headed for the door.
Querl was astounded. The untutored never just walked away from him. He rose and ran after her. "Wait a moment!" he shouted as he grabbed her arm.
"Release her," commanded a man who entered.
Querl hesitated. Faster than he could see, the man drew a sword and held it to his throat. A wing tip slashed at the man, but he dodged it.
"Val, stop it!" Mysa shouted at her accidental champion. "He's annoying and arrogant, but he's working with me on a project. Dawnstar, Querl Dox, this is Val Armorr, he's a wandering priest, and a warrior. I saved his life once, and we had occasion to become friends."
"How good of friends?" Querl asked suspiciously.
"That's none of your business! You know, Val, I was just thinking about you. I could use a favor."
"Later, perhaps. Lady Nal, hear me out. Princess Projectra's been kidnapped. I want your help in finding her."
Mysa smiled warmly. "Great minds think alike, Val. Come on, let's get some travel plans together."
The four of them began to talk, discussing the captured princesses and possible kidnappers. They also discussed what they would need for supplies.
"We'll need a couple of spies," Querl admitted.
"Why? I am a Shadow Warrior," Val objected.
"You might be dealing with the true shadow warriors, Armorr. They can see in the dark, and hear far better than ordinary humans."
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Mysa asked laconically.
"Of course. I know a pair of procurement agents who are especially gifted. They've done some freelance work for me in the past."
"Why doesn't this surprise me?" Val asked sarcastically. "Will they be willing to help us rescue the princess...and the seer...for a reasonable price?"
"The coffers of two rich kingdoms are ours for the duration, Armorr. I'm sure I have enough to persuade them."
"Where are these 'procurement specialists'?"
"In Tabbole, a day's ride north from here."
"And then how do we find the girls? How do you know which direction to travel in?"
"That's where I come in," Dawnstar announced quietly. "I'm travelling to Naltor tonight and following the kidnappers' trail. I'll come get you as soon as I've got a strong sense of where they have gone. But the general sense I have of the kidnappers is that they've gone north--towards the frozen lands."
"Winter Equinox is coming--the denizens of the frozen lands have some pretty important festivals during that time." Mysa thought aloud. "Oh, Apollo and Cassandra, no! What if the girls are meant as a sacrifice?"
"I wouldn't worry about it, Mysa," Querl said, a strange hint of sympathy in his voice. "There are some Shadow and Ice tribes that subscribe to sentient sacrifice, but those tribes have a fixation on the number three, and there's only been two kidnappings of the blood royale. I don't think the girls are for feeding the gods."
In the dungeon, Nura shivered in the thin gown of silk and taffeta. She supposed it was good that she could still feel it, but it did not seem very good to her at all. Projectra had dozed after telling Nura what little she knew--that she had been seized during a hunting party and all the hunters with her were killed. Nura could not find any solace in rest. She envied Projectra's ability to cope with the cold. Most of all, she envied Projectra's fur-trimmed leather hunting outfit.
A soft moan interrupted the boy's rasps. His breathing quickened and deepened.
"Are you awake, boy? Jeckie, I think the boy is waking up."
Projectra blinked her eyes open. In her imagination, she visualized the bright glow of a fire in the middle of the room and then it appeared. Would it be that hard to feel the heat? Or to lace the fire with the sweet scent of burning rose petals and baby's breath? She decided to try fooling those senses other than sight. It would help pass the time, and make what could be their last hours more comfortable. Of course, it would never do to make such fatalistic statements to the seer.
"Boy? Can you hear us?"
"I'm not 'boy'. I have a name."
"What is it?"
Silence. Then a cough and a word. "Jan."
The girls were unimpressed. "Jan who?"
"I'm from the Clan Arrah."
"I've never heard of it."
"We keep to ourselves. Who are you?"
"I'm Nura Nal, a seer of Naltor, She's Projectra, heir to the throne of Orando." Instead of greeting the stranger, Projectra scowled at her childhood friend. "Did I do something wrong?" The seer asked.
Projectra sighed. "So much for secrecy. He may be a spy."
"If I am, I'm not a very good one. I never heard of you."
The girls gaped.
"And I don't even know what are we doing here."
"Don't you?"
"No...I don't know why I'm here. Every so often...they come down here and make me drink something. It makes it so I can't think straight...makes it so I need to sleep...."
Jeckie considered the information. "They haven't made me or Nura drink anything. Why you?"
A soft snore answered her.
The three travellers met Dawnstar at an inn in the northern outskirts of Tabbole. "Where are your 'friends'?" Mysa asked.
"I contacted them. They'll contact us," Querl answered enigmatically.
"They have indeed been taken north by the Shadow Warriors and Ice Warriors," Dawnstar announced. "They have been taken to the Dark Mountains and they still live. I could not find out more without making my presence known."
"Why?" Demanded Val.
"Long trails are easily sensed, priest," Dawnstar spat. "The short ones, with the press of people around them, become more easily obscured. The Wizard has offered me an opportunity to make my powers even more precise if I do this work for him."
"It's a sweet deal," Mysa acknowledged, "but has he mentioned anything like side effects?"
"What are 'side effects'?"
"Something scientists worry about more than wizards," Mysa replied. She took a long drag of coffee and got ready to warn the Starhavenite about Querl's offer when both the tracker and the priest froze for a second, like they heard something that no one else did. Both of them stood and were reaching for their swords before Querl and Mysa could even ask what was happening.
Val's sword arm arched wildly as a cloak was thrown over Dawnstar's head. She swung her blade, but she connected with nothing. Mysa pulled her whip off her shoulder and cracked it on either side of the warrior-priest. On the right side of the warrior, the whip connected with something unseen and someone screamed in pain. Val took advantage of the sudden knowledge and used a roundhouse kick to near where Mysa's whip had success. There was a whoof as air escaped lungs and then a man materialized on the ground, gasping.
By that time, Mysa's attention was turned to Dawnstar. The guide freed her head and was face to face with the woman whose skin was fairer than Mysa's yet her hair was as dark as her own. Dawnstar slashed at the woman. It should have been an easy strike, yet the woman stood, a slight mocking smile gracing her face. Dawnstar stabbed upward. Her momentum, aided by her wings, sent her flying towards the ceiling.
Mysa watched. The woman was somehow visually there, but could not be touched. "Dox! Are these your 'procurement specialists'?"
"Yes. Tinya Wazzo and Jacques Foccart, formerly of the thieves' guild, meet Mysa Nal, Val Armorr and Dawnstar, searchers for the missing princesses."
"So these are the folks who will pay us to find--"
"--And rescue--" Mysa insisted.
"--and rescue the children."
"The children are not much younger than you," Val objected.
"Whatever," Tinya shrugged.
"What kind of supplies do we need?" Mysa asked.
"Dox and I have been in contact with my brethren in the Priesthood," Val explained. "They have the supplies we need ready, including a place for us to ensorcle as a doorway to the mountains."
Dox continued, "The biggest problem we'll have with this is that the mountains are undoubtedly protected from such spells. We can get close, but we cannot just enter the princesses' prison and whisk them away."
"Just as well, we don't get paid for easy jobs," Jacques stated. His partner nodded in agreement.
"Once there, I'll use Mysa's kinship with Nura Nal to create a spell that helps Dawnstar find the girls. Then we fight our way to them and then get back to the doorway."
"With the armies of two united and very nasty nations behind us." Mysa shook her head. "I have to tell you, Dox, you certainly know how to plan them."
"Yes, I do, don't I?"
The scientist buried her head in her hands. Her copper colored hair fell over her shoulders and reflected the light from the candles. The light shimmered in her thick curls as she shook her head again. "We'll have two--maybe more--people just rescued from captivity and Cassandra-knows-what tortures. We can assume they are injured, or at least a little stiff. I think Jeckie's been taught something of war craft, but I can assure you, Nura hasn't. Her idea of hunting is to throw a merlin in the air and let it catch something. We need something to even the odds."
"Projectra was trained by my hand in warfare, Lady Nal. She is also very creative with those illusion casting powers of hers. She will be able to help us," Val informed them.
"If she's conscious." Mysa countered, and looked towards Querl's direction.
"I'm a wizard, not a cleric! I don't have healing spells."
"Of course. Your goal is knowledge and power. What good you do people is a side effect."
"Pray, come off your pedestal. Are we any different? You seek knowledge at least as much as I do."
"I seek it so I can help people. I'm in the dirt, trying to figure out why it stops feeding the crops, and the swill trying to find a way to save people from all the sicknesses they get. I've been off my pedestal since the day I was labeled dreamless and cast out of my people's respect. And what about your pedestal, oh arrogant one? Is it only the seekers of magical knowledge who are worthy of your sincere respect?"
Querl scowled and investigated the bottom of his mug.
Val smiled sympathetically. "There are very few who can win the battle of words with Lady Nal, wizard. Even with my training in all forms of martial arts, she defeated me...almost as easily as she defeated you."
Tinya snickered as Mysa and Val rose. "If you'll excuse us," the scientist said hastily and took the priest by the arm to guide him to the door.
"That was not funny," Querl Dox pronounced as he looked at his remaining table mates.
The gardens of the Palace were meticulously groomed. Rose bushes with flowers the size of a baby's head bloomed red, orange, pink, yellow and white. Trees cut into effigies of the Royal Ancestors surrounded the grounds and gazed protectively at the gazebo that held their sugar-blonde offspring and her guests.
"More tea?" Projectra asked, reaching for the silver pot.
Nura passed her cup and saucer to the princess. "Thank you," she said as she took a moment to straighten her silver hair and her pine green satin blouse. Even though she was a year younger than Projectra, her body had already achieved a buxomness that her friend would not have. "It's a beautiful garden," she complimented as Projectra handed her the filled cup.
The princess beamed with pride. "Thank you!"
"And this is marvelous tea." She took another sip of the lemony-orange concoction. "Jan? Would you like some tea?"
"No. I'll say this once, ladies. I can't accept your illusions, Projectra. I have a sense that you cannot befuddle, and it shows me the truth of the situation. I cannot ignore the iron that binds our arms, the stone to our backs, or the cold water that has numbed our feet since the time you created this diversion. They mean to kill us."
"But why?" Projectra asked desperately.
"Their god is coming soon. They think he will need food, and they think he likes the flesh of younglings steeped in magic best," Nura whispered, almost entranced.
"Then maybe now is the time to escape. Jan, you've just said the most coherent and longest statement since I was brought here. Can you think clearly enough to be of some use?"
"I will not be used by anyone, Princess, but I have no intention of staying any longer than I have to. My thanks for creating an image they thought they fed that draft to. I'll need to concentrate for a few minutes. Get ready to run when we have the chance."
"Run towards what?" Val asked, exasperated.
"That way. Towards the alcove," Dawnstar explained. "I can almost see them. They're with a boy, a powerful one. He's gathering his power, his terrific power. He'll use it soon..."
"Oh, great, she's babbling," Tinya muttered.
"So much for your theory about the girls not being intended sacrifices," Mysa murmured, glowering at the green-skinned wizard.
"My hypothesis was sound, considering the data we had."
"That's what we get when we let a wizard who's so sure of himself fool around with a tracker's powers just before a fight. Now she's drunk with her own power," Jacques agreed.
Mysa took the Starhavenite by the shoulders and began shaking her. "Dawnstar, listen to me! You need to be clear-headed! If we're not running into a fight, a fight's going to be running towards us when we rescue my sister and the others. You have got to be clear headed! Dawnstar!" The redhead stopped shaking the dark-skinned woman, who staggered back and tried to focus on her tormentor.
"We need her to show us to the girls. She has to take point," Val insisted.
"She's already told us where they are," the female thief countered. "Let Jacques and me take the point. The Shadow Warriors will never know what hit them."
"What about her?" Val asked, jerking a finger towards the dazed woman. "We already have a laughably small force here; we can't afford to have anyone stay behind and nurse her."
"Oh, come now, what good is Mysa going to be in a running battle," scoffed the wizard.
"I have some exploding balls with me, and I think you've seen me use a whip," Mysa objected.
"I trust her to guard my back more than I trust you, wizard," the priest vouched.
The wizard looked towards the thieves. "We're staying out of this one," Tinya told them, "you're paying us to fight, not to argue."
"Let's just go," Querl growled.
The shackles around the captives disappeared. The three crept quietly to the solid door. Projectra waved her hand in a circular motion and made the door transparent for a moment. They could see two guards, one clad in the Shadow Warrior garb, the other in frozen Ice Warrior armor.
"They will shout and strive to keep us in the cell until some of their fellows come," Nura reported.
"Then Jan has to kill them quietly. Turn their blood into poison," the princess instructed.
"I will not kill," Jan told her with such determination that the princess was taken aback by the impudent youngster who refused her commands. "But I think I can silence them. Go to the end of the cell."
"If you cared less about those who would kill you and more about yourself, you may not have been in this place at all," Projectra suggested.
"I will not destroy those the gods touch with a soul and have speech to prove it. It goes against all my clan has been taught."
"Then your teachers were fools," the princess whispered to herself as Jan closed his eyes to concentrate again.
The girls waited. And waited. Finally, Jan hissed for them to come back to where he was. "I created an airborne counterpart to the draft they were giving me. Be careful to hold your breath while we're in that corridor."
"We better arm ourselves, although I can't see where Jan would need a weapon," Projectra advised.
"Weapons? Oh, no, Jeckie, I don't know how to use weapons," Nura lamented.
"Then be a quick study."
"I have a question. How will we know where to go?" the boy inquired.
"We're going to have to trust Nura's instincts to lead us to freedom."
"Does she have any?"
"I am the daughter of the High Seer of Naltor. Of course I have instincts!" Nura pouted.
"Then you know what is about to happen. Be ready, your highnesses. The door is crumbling down," Jan announced as the door disintegrated into fine dust.
The three scrambled out of the dungeon as fast as they could. The guards' weapons were taken by the girls. Nura ran to one end of the hall, waited for the others, and then turned and ran down another corridor. "We need to find stairs," she panted between heaving breaths. As hurt and sore as his own lungs were, Jan noticed Nura's pain and touched her shoulder in gentle reassurance.
"What I don't understand is why they're not after us; we were important enough to kidnap, why aren't there more guards? Why have we been allowed to get this far?"
"They're busy," Nura answered. "We'll find out why soon enough. These are the stairs we need."
The stairs were long and curved, twisting throughout a turret. The trio ran down them. As they went lower and lower, they heard the commotion that kept the guards from interfering with their escape.
Minutes before that, Tinya poked her head through a rock formation that looked curiously symmetrical. A moment later, she slipped through the stone completely, causing Mysa and Val to drop their jaws in astonishment while Jacques smiled at their reaction. "It is something to watch, isn't it?" the dark man asked in unabashed pride.
Suddenly, she phased out of the rocks. "There's a stairway here. This place has been carved from the inside out. I think the girls are being held just below the surface levels. These levels aren't used much."
"Is there anything worth stealing in there?" Jacques asked.
"Will you keep your mind on business!" Mysa hissed. "My sister's still in there!"
"I am keeping my mind on business! My business!"
"Enough, Jacques!" Querl ordered. "Nal, are your exploding balls powerful enough to get us an entrance?"
Mysa shook her head. "Aren't your spells?"
"I'll need a few minutes to prepare--"
"I'll do it," Val interrupted, and strode to the wall of the cavern. Then he began touching the stone, almost caressing it as a lover would.
"He's crazy, right? No warrior can smash through stone like that," Tinya asked.
It was Mysa's turn to smile as Val began a cry in the back of his throat as he drew one arm back with his hand oddly poised. With his eyes closed he lashed at the rock and smashed an entry into the castle. "Let's go, people. We've got two princesses to save."
"How did you do that?" Tinya asked.
"Come, thief, have I asked you how you walk through walls?" the priest answered. "Let's go. Tinya, you still take point, but Jacques, follow us, unseen. We may need help if we're ambushed."
"Right," Jacques acknowledged, slapping his short, thin sword. "I'm ready."
"Then follow me, folks," Tinya told them. "Quietly. I'd like to be away from this door before the ice and shadow warriors come to check on such a localized earthquake."
"I need to set up a ward on this exit," Querl whispered. It may be our only one." He took out some green, glowing powder from his pack and drew vigils in the air as he whispered arcane words. After he finished he nodded to the others. It was time to leave.
"Too bad you couldn't do that for Dawnstar," Mysa whispered.
"Unfortunately, wards only protect stationary objects. We'd have to turn her into stone before it worked." He told the scientist as they began the climb up the tower.
Suddenly the alarms were sounded. All but Jacques drew their weapons. The group tensed, waiting to see what happened next. A group of people came around a corner and crashed into them.
"Mysa!" Nura shrieked. "I knew you'd come to rescue us!"
"We were a little worried about the timing, though," Projectra admitted. "Can we leave now? I'm afraid they may still want to lay claim to us."
"Any idea why?" asked Mysa.
"Is it really necessary to know this?" Jan reprimanded. "I'm sure we can figure it out over a stout ale and a good meal...far away from here."
"Who are you?" asked Querl.
"Jan of Arrah."
"He's a shaper of matter," Jeckie added.
Mysa groaned when she saw the intense gleam in the wizard's and thieves' eyes. "Let's go back the way we came."
The group went back down the winding stairs. It began to get colder in the drafty hall, and all of them assumed it was because they were going deeper and deeper into the earth. Then Val slipped. He almost regained his balance until all of the rest of the group lost their footing on a thick sheath of ice that covered the stairs. They went down and around, crashing into walls and each other. After several terrifying seconds, they landed at the bottom of the stairway, dazed and helpless.
Except for one. While Tinya could not resist the pull of gravity, she could make herself intangible and immune to the bruising effects of the fall. She allowed herself to fall to the floor and then through it, solidifying enough to stop her plunge before she reached the great hot depths just below the cavern's floor. She waited and watched while the others finished their wild ride and noticed that Jacques was nowhere to be seen.
The darkness was intense. Most of the group could only see a few feet ahead of them, and what they saw almost made them wish they couldn't see. Two Shadow Warriors and an Ice Warrior were standing over them with spears pointed at their bellies. "Don't try anything, wizard and princess. In the darkness and the cold, your tricks will not work," the Ice Warrior spat.
"Then perhaps mine will," a voice whispered in his ear, and Tinya slipped her knife into the guard's ribs. As the Shadow Warriors turned to meet the apparition, the blinding glare of light ripped throughout the darkness and a blast of heat began to melt the ice. Before the blinded guards, Jacques appeared, holding up a dirk that was radiating the energies of a sun.
"If you can, then move quick and carefully," Jacques advised, "even this magic takes a bit of work."
Val whirled into a spin-kick and knocked one of the warriors onto the ground. Mysa's whip pulled the other down. "Let's go, before the entire platoon gets here!"
"And how are we supposed to see?" Querl snapped.
"My sword will continue to shine, wizard. Move your carcass!"
The group scrambled to their feet, each feeling their bodies protest after the battering the slide downstairs caused. Jan was shaken, badly. Too many transitions between drugged unconsciousness and painful awareness. "I want to go home," he whispered miserably.
"If we survive, we'll arrange that," Mysa promised.
"Let's not to be too hasty," Querl objected, "after all, there is a whole universe for a boy of his talents to explore."
"Can we talk about this later?" asked Val as he suddenly tossed a soldier off the cliff.
"If we can get through the soldiers ahead of us, I can make sure there aren't any more behind us," Mysa promised.
"Surely you can't mean to kill all the soldiers?" the boy asked, his blue eyes wide with fear. "There are innocent people who live with the soldiers! We can't--"
"No, I'm not talking about killing all of them. I'm talking about knocking out the bridge. So get out of my way! Jacques, I'm going to need you with me to keep up the distraction."
"Distraction? I'm the one holding them off!" The thief shouted. "Besides, if I don't stay here, the ice warriors will create a bridge of their own!"
"No, I'll stop them," Jan said quietly. "Your gunpowder balls aren't needed, and you can put your knife away. They can't get to us if there's a wall, can they?"
"You mean Jeckie's nonsense is true?"
"Can we talk about this later?" Jacques asked, then screamed as a crossbow bolt pierced his right shoulder.
Jan began concentrating as Mysa hustled the wounded thief towards the retreating group. "My dirk," Jacques moaned.
"Jan will bring it," Mysa promised. She looked back and saw an iron wall appear on the ledge.
The boy then turned, grabbed the glowing blade and ran to the others. "Now they can remove the wall when they repair the rest of the damage we've caused. By then, we'll be long gone, or long dead."
"We should keep moving," Querl advised. "The ward is nearby. With any luck, so is Dawnstar."
Mysa bit her tongue to keep from replying.
When they got to the transport window, they found Dawnstar. Her throat was slashed, rich life blood cooling in its tracks.
"It was a fast death," a woman's voice came from the shadows. "It was almost a mercy killing, for she was half mad with the wonders of what she sensed."
"Show yourself! Or we'll make you!" Tinya shouted, grabbing for Jacques' dirk.
"Please, I've had quite enough of that enchantment!" The shadows receded to show a Shadow Warrior walking towards them. Her armor was intact, except for her helm, and her reflectionless black hair cascaded down her shoulders and back. "I did not want to kill so defenseless a woman, but who knows what secrets she scried? You children have won your freedom. We needed to sacrifice three of power to feed the leviathan this day and this Starhavenite marks the third. You killed my cousin and friend, and their blood and bone feed the god, so we no longer need you. Just remember, Princess and Seer, when you come to your thrones, that the Realm of Shadow and Ice saw fit to spare your lives this night."
"We want Dawnstar's body," Querl demanded.
"See to the living, wizard," the shadow woman answered coolly. "The dead stay with us."
The group hurried through the gate.
Once they were back at the inn where they met the thieves, Val and Mysa began to tend to Jacques.
"I don't know why you're trying," Querl snapped. "Your gods give their priests no healing powers, and your science is so weak that it takes days to do what magic can do in hours."
"Then generate a spell to save him! The bolt was poisoned," Mysa retorted.
"Then there is no cure," the wizard announced. "Tinya, I'm sorry."
"If you're giving up, then let them try!" Tinya tearfully whispered to her occasional patron.
The scientist and the priest worked frantically together to save a man they barely knew. Occasionally they told the others to boil water, buy clean cloth for bandaging, or gather herbs, which Mysa would make into a broth or poultice. All the while, Jacques's blood flowed and his flesh became heated. Semi-conscious awareness of his surroundings gave way to delirium. Even Querl Dox could not voice the thought that the entire group thought: Jacques Foccart would die.
On the third day of the much more quiet and intense battle, Jacques woke up and asked Mysa for something to drink, and eat. The band cheered. Nura hugged her sister. Projectra and Val hugged each other tightly and kissed with a passion that showed they knew each other well. After Nura released Mysa, she hugged the gorgeous green man who somehow found the way to rescue her. Querl had no objections to the girl's affections, until Mysa's whip hugged his neck. "You keep far, far, far away from my sister. She is still young in the ways of men and women, and I'm sure my mother would like to keep her that way a little while longer," the scientist hissed in the wizard's ear.
"Mysa, I'm old enough to take care of myself!" Nura objected.
"That kind of thinking got you kidnapped in the first place! And you two," she indicated the warrior-priest and the princess, "what do you think you're doing?"
"I was the priest assigned to teach Projectra in the arts of war. During that time, she taught me about the madness of love," Val answered, gazing into his princess' sky blue eyes.
"Madness? You've got that right. Jeckie, you're sworn to another."
"Who no more loves me than I could love him. No one ever said marriage was made of love for my kind. We'll be discreet."
"Well, it does explain why you were so ready to go rescue her, Val, and I'm stupid enough to wish the two of you luck. Tinya, with your permission, I'd like to stay here until I'm sure that Jacques is healing properly. There may be bone and muscle damage."
"Of course. But how will we get our commission?"
"I'm going to escort the princesses home...with Val's help, I think. I'll pick up our reward while I'm at it. Then I'm going to Starhaven to tell them about Dawnstar and give them her part of the bounty. What about you, Jan? You're welcome to travel with us."
"Thank you, no. Since I never heard of Orando and Naltor until this week, I doubt that going that direction would help me get back to my lands. That is my ultimate goal, to find my people again. Until then, however, I think I'd like to stay with you, Mistress Mysa. You have done something that I had never seen before: You saved a life using plants. I'd like to learn to do that...maybe my powers could be of some use to you while I learn. Can we come to an agreement?"
Mysa smiled. "I think we can."
"I also have something I'd like to speak to you about, Lady Nal," Querl began with an unaccustomed awkwardness in his voice. "But I would prefer to speak with you in private."
"Of course. Come to my office." Mysa smiled, pointing towards the door.
As the pair went out in the street, Querl muttered, "have you ever noticed that in order to talk somewhere private, you have to go somewhere where there are even more people than the number you've left?"
Mysa almost laughed. "constantly."
"I'm--I have--I--I think I should apologize--No, that's not it..." He thought for a few moments. "I was wrong, and for once, someone else paid for it. I should not have tampered with Dawnstar's fundamental nature without scrying for the consequences. Because of my...haughtiness that I could do no wrong, a good woman is dead. Also, I'm not sure that magic can alone detect the potential outcomes. Your science is effective, because it works the same way every time, yes?"
"Yes, but I can't foretell all the outcomes of my experiments. One time I was trying to find a way to make bread last longer, and I found a way to stop a plague. At least, I think it will stop a plague. I haven't tested it on humans yet."
"I see. So you stay cautious, even when you think you have a way to save thousands."
"It's better than killing millions."
Querl grimaced. "I see. I think there are methods you use that could help me enhance my powers, and my understanding of the universe. I want to become your student."
"I'm not in the business of serving self-aggrandizers."
"There's more to this than my curiosity. I could not have killed Dawnstar more surely than if I slashed her throat myself. I have to atone for that. I need to learn to interact with people who are not as clever as I."
"In other words, you need to learn how not to be a snob." Mysa didn't miss Querl's grimace. "Well, if Val can teach an honest-to-goddess princess that lesson, I should be able to as well. Come back when you're ready, Querl Dox. Maybe we can learn from each other."
For the gamers in our midst.