Extraction

Captain Maelneth gets information from an unlikely source.

14.

Extraction

 

She was half a block ahead of them when she stopped in front of a small, rather humble shop in the middle of the merchant’s district.     As the two men wondered if she planned to wake the proprietor at such a late hour, their question was abruptly answered when the queen’s bodyguard suddenly reared back and then rammed her shoulder full force into the shop’s wooden door.

To their surprise, the wood splintered as if an ogre had smashed into the store.     Immediately an arcane alarm began loudly screeching.

“She’s going to get into big trouble,”   Nolen told the Hutcaiah prince as they ran down the street toward her.    Already, shopkeepers were coming to their doors and windows in response to the alarm and Nolen knew the Night Watch patrol would also be hurrying to the site.

 

Inside, Arianelle ignored the ear-piercing howl of the alarm and quickly found the stairs to the sleeping quarters.     She raced upwards, encountering Gee Macstus as he was fearfully running from his bedroom, holding a wand that was glowing with a building orange light.    Arianelle recognized the type of magic of the wand - it would shoot magic missiles once the charge is fully primed, which would occur in a matter of seconds.

He recognized her at the last moment, shrinking back slightly as she slapped the wand aside.      The missiles misfired into the side of the stairwell.

Arianelle grabbed him by the edge of his robes and pushed him hard against the wall.   The old man looked at her with wide, pitiful eyes.

“Listen to me, old man!    You know me as Captain Maelneth; do you understand?   Captain Maelneth!”

“C-Captain Maelneth, y-y-yes Your Highness.”

“No!   Do not use that title, or any title other than Captain!”

“B-But I don’t understand-“

“There’s no time for all that!   I’m Captain Maelneth, remember that!”

“A-Alright… Captain.”

 

She could hear the two princes coming up the stairs now behind her, so she loosened her grip on the old wizard’s robe and nodded once, to indicate to him that he was responding correctly.

“Maelneth, what in Yesh’s name are you doing?!   You broke into this man’s house!   The guard will be here any moment!”    Her cousin exclaimed, horrified to see how she was holding the poor old man.

“I was just having a little conversation with my friend Gee.    He’s a wizard and from the looks of him, he just may be of Toi-Migg ancestry.”

She shook him slightly, to get him to answer.    Gee glanced fearfully at the girl, then into the glowing red eyes of Prince Nolen, and finally into the face of the Hutcaiah prince.

“I-I…” He stammered, and Arianelle shook him harder.

“Answer me, wizard!   You mentioned to me that your family had fled from the Hutcaiah - are they Toi-Migg?”

“I…It was… long ago…”  He faltered, his gaze jumping back and forth to all of them.    

Arianelle suspected that she knew why he hesitated.     It was intimidating having the son of your former king standing there with the grandson of your current king, while that same king’s granddaughter, who purchased magic from you to conceal her identity, interrogates you.

He was uncertain of whom to trust and was scared out of his mind.

She loosened her grip on his robes slightly. “If you are honest with us, nothing will happen to you, wizard.”

“But… my door…”

“I will replace that,”  She assured him, “But only if you tell us what we want to know.    My first question still stands - are you of Toi-Migg ancestry?”

Gee swallowed hard several times, shooting fearful glances at Prince Lee in-between swallows. “I-I…w-w-we…we were…Toi-Migg…but I am a loyal citizen of Marksylvania now!”

“Then you won’t hesitate to tell us what we need to know…”

“Of c-course, um… Captain.”

Arianelle leaned in close to his face. “Who, among your people know how to cast the Dragon of Sorrow spell?”

She had been prepared to repeat her question, this time using the Toi-Migg (or was it Hutcaiah?) words for ‘Dragon of Sorrow’ but to her amazement, he seemed to understand perfectly.  His eyes betrayed a wave of fear before his best mask covered his face.  

But Arianelle saw the reaction. “You know what I’m talking about!”

“N-No, not directly!”  He was sweating profusely now.

“Then how?”  Arianelle pressed, her eyes narrowed to slits.   He wouldn’t dare lie to her now.

“I have a b-brother… he… he’s a wizard as well.  H-H-He…  He hates the Hutcaiah.”   Gee looked at Prince Lee, “It is only him, I swear!   The rest of my family does not seek revenge.    But Yin-Mose is angry… very angry… he fought with his brothers and even his children have ostracized him.”

“Tell me more about him,”   Arianelle demanded, lessening her grip on the wizard slightly.

Gee swallowed hard, took a deep breath and explained. “My brother was bitter at the Hutcaiah after their wizards used the ‘Harvest Moon’ spell to destroy the Marksylvania airship, over 50 years ago.  My brother was a young boy when the spell was cast.   The spell destroyed the alchemist’s shop where our parents were working and they died.    He never forgave the Hutcaiah emperor, for Hiote-Chi-Anak did not try to help the orphans that his wizards had created by bringing on this disaster.    Yin-Mose blames all the Hutcaiah nobles for our parents’ deaths.”

“When we fled the empire and moved here, Yin-Mose supported Marksylvania’s war with the Hutcaiah Empire.    But when the peace treaty was signed, he grew very bitter at King Eleazar.     He began talking about the death of our parents, and he started saying that part of the blame for their deaths were due to the royals of Marksylvania and Tarmard seeking to spread their religion to the Hutcaiah.”

“Go on,”  Arianelle demanded.   Behind them, she could hear the arrival of the night guard, but to her relief, she could hear Nolen speaking to them, probably explaining what they were doing.   At least they didn’t interrupt as Gee continued.

“Our family tried to reason with him, but he grew angrier, even toward us.    Two months ago he announced that he had found a way to ‘get back at all the elves causing misery to everyone’.     His sons could not get him to explain what he meant and he finally got to the point where he would not speak to them.    They asked me to try to talk with him and it took me several days by magic to locate him.”

“Where was he?”  Nolen asked, joining Arianelle.

“I found him in a tavern in King’s Reach, which surprised me, for none of his family knew that he had left Westmark.    He was sitting with a group of Toi-Migg men who wore the robes of wizards.   They were suspicious of me until Yin-Mose introduced me.    I think my brother thought I had searched for him to join him.”

“Join him?”   Arianelle questioned.

“There is a group of Toi-Migg men, along with a small group of humans from Marksylvania, who are… dissatisfied… with the peace treaty with the Hutcaiah.     They also greatly dislike elves ruling over them.    Yin-Mose and these men told me about their group.    They called themselves ‘Xian-Taeu’ which means-“

“ ‘Elf poison’… or more accurately, ‘Elf bane’.”   Prince Lee interrupted somberly.

“So they are seeking to assassinate any of the elven nobles?”   Arianelle asked for clarity.   Gee nodded.

“My family - aside from Yin-Mose- have no dislike of any elf.”

“So what else can you tell us about this group?”    Nolen asked the elderly wizard.

“Well, they were eager to have me join them and they let me in on their plan.”

“The Dragon of Sorrow curse?”   Arianelle inquired.

“That is their ultimate goal, yes.     Some of them were trying to cast it before my brother joined them, but the spell is too complex and they made errors.   They have been trying to cast it for several years.”

“Are they trying it again, right now?”   Arianelle asked, getting to the heart of the matter.    Gee looked very uncomfortable under their intense stares, but he nodded.

“You’ll want to know how far along on the spell they are, and where they are casting it.”

“Obviously, so tell us,”   The Sylvan princess retorted.

“They’ve had better luck this time - they were up to the part where the sacrifices need to be made, and these have to occur within four days of completing the spell, or else the spell dispels.”

“So your brother is keeping you informed?”  Arianelle growled and Gee flinched at the sound.

“He sends messages every few days - a scroll appears on my doorstep in Toi-Migg writing, informing me of their progress.”

“So you are still friendly with them?”   Prince Lee asked.

“No!   I told my brother and all the others in the group that I wanted no part of their scheme.     They threatened me with death if I divulged what I knew and swore that they would name me as one of their own to the king  if I tried to turn them in.   My life is in danger  just by telling you all this!”

“So where are they located?”   Arianelle ignored the wizard’s nervousness.

“That is the problem - they knew that the greatest danger of the spell was that they had to be confined in one place for a month while the spell is being chanted.    So they purchased a captured merchant airship from Hobnail’s pirates-“

“Was that the one that attacked the paladins?”   Nolen asked.

“No, no, I’m not sure where that airship was purchased, but the ship where the spell is being chanted is a very large merchant airship.     They want the ship to appear perfectly normal and mundane - it is posing as a lumber merchant’s ship, bringing loads of lumber and supplies back and forth between King’s Reach, Westmark and, under the new trade agreement between the Hutcaiah Empire and Marksylvania,  even to Lu-Wadj.”

Arianelle shot a glance toward her cousin. “They wouldn’t probably suspect a merchant ship.”

Nolen nodded, then turned toward Gee. “Sir, what is the name of the airship?”

“Water Dragon.”   Gee told them, “It moves from city to city and never hovers lower than rooftop level, so the spell chanting can be masked.   They do haul legitimate supplies back and forth between the three cities, but they are only trivial amounts, so no-one will suspect them.”

“Where is the airship now?”  Arianelle asked the wizard and he hesitated to reply, so the girl grabbed him by the edges of his robe.

“No, no, I’ll tell!”   He whimpered, “They left Westmark yesterday, bound for King’s Reach, so they should be there today.”

“Will they return here in a few days?”

“Yes, I imagine they will, on their way west to Hutcaiah territory.”

“Do they stop in Tarmard?”    Arianelle had to ask.

“No, I don’t think so.   There is no need for lumber there, so it wouldn’t make sense.”   Gee assured her, aware of the girl’s apprehension over her parents’ safety.

“Can you contact your brother?”   Nolen asked and Gee diverted his eyes and shook his head slowly, “No, they do that for this very reason  -- so they won’t be easily found.”

Arianelle pulled his chin up, forcing him to look her in the eye, “So you have no way at all to contact him?”

“N-No… honestly!”

She stared at his eyes for a long minute as if gauging him, then she loosened her grip and turned to her cousin, “We need to contact your parents in King’s Reach and warn them, as well as Prince Lee’s family in Lu-Wadj!   We need to split up - Prince Lee, you do have scrying devices to contact your father or your brother, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I would recommend that you contact them immediately!   Prince Nolen, I would say you should do the same for your family.   I will go to Queen Aurei and tell her what we have learned and have her contact Tarmard, for I suspect that their royal family is in jeopardy as well.”

Before any of them could agree, she had released her hold on the terrified wizard and rushed through the night guardsmen who had crowded into the house to hear what was going on.    The soldiers parted for her and she disappeared into the night, racing up the street.   But it wasn’t to warn her grandmother.

 

***

 

They finally left him an hour later, with a very stern warning not to try to leave the city, for they would be watching his house.   Gee Macstus was beside himself with nerves.     What could he do?    He had betrayed his idiot brother, but Yin-Mose was dangerous and not above killing his own kin.      He didn’t trust any of the elves, especially not the hot-blooded Sylvan princess.     The look in her eyes greatly disturbed him, for it was certain that she did not trust him either.    If they found out that he chatted with his brother every day by crystal ball, they might not understand, nor believe that he was trying to persuade his zealous brother to quit this foolish scheme.

Yet Yin-Mose was family, and no matter how insane he was, Gee did not want to see him killed and his family disgraced.    No, it was much better if Yin-Mose escaped and disappeared.  

Gee knew that they would have soldiers watching his house.    But he was a wizard and had other means.

Lying on the floor of his bedroom with his crystal ball in his hands, he chanted the words to bring up an image of his brother.

“What is it?”   His brother asked in their native Toi-Migg language as soon as his image appeared in the scrying device.     

Gee could hear the creepy chanting of the Dragon of Sorrow spell in the background and he knew he would have disturbed Yin-Mose just before his session at chanting would begin.

With a nervous breath, Gee confessed everything to Yin-Mose, expecting to be screamed at in return.   Instead, Yin-Mose just stoically listened.

When he had finished, his brother sighed. “That is most disappointing, brother.     But your life will be spared by confessing it to me.     Your tale actually has helped us, you see.”

Gee blinked in confusion. “Helped you?”

“We are ready to strike Gamel in King’s Reach and  Tutchin-Semer-rah in Lu-Wadj.    We did not know the whereabouts of the Sylvan heir.   Now we know that she is hiding in plain sight, so to speak.     If we could kill all three of the heirs, the power of the Long- Remee is tripled.    We have assassins waiting in Westmark - not all were killed in the feint of yesterday.”

“You want to kill Princess Arianelle too?”   Gee groaned.

“Of course!    One heir’s death activates the curse, two heirs’ deaths doubles the power, and all three heirs’ deaths would double it once more.    No magic could stop Long-Remee at that level of power!    You have greatly increased our chances of success, brother.”

“But she’ll kill me if she finds out I contacted you!”

“Then escape!”

“How, Yin-Mose?    They watch the house and they have their own wizards!”

“Fool!    Do you not remember the staff that I gave you a year ago?   Remember?   I told you to safeguard it and not to ask me about it.    You did not sell it in your store, did you?!”

“No, no!   I have it - it is safe!”

“Good!    Then I will reveal now to you why I gave you the staff.   It is a limited teleportation spell - a means of escape for our family when the curse is activated.    Strike the floor with it while chanting, ‘Dài w' dào nàlǐ’ and you will be brought to our airship.    But leave the staff so that my sons and our family may join us.   When the time for their escape arrives, I will tell them how the staff is activated.”

“But, when I am missing, they will search the house-“

“And find what?   Your inventory and a staff that does not seem to do anything.    As they won’t know what exactly has happened to you, they will probably just leave it alone or turn it over to some of our family.   None of them will figure out how to activate the staff.    We have wards in place on the Water Dragon that will cloak us from detection.”

“But-“

“There is no time to debate, Gee!    You have set things into motion, now join us at our moment of success… or else remain and die.”

“No, no, not that!    I will find the staff and join you!”

“Good - it will transport you into the hold of the ship as a precaution.    We are in the captain’s quarters on the deck above.   But I probably will just meet you in the hold.   Hurry, before more of the Xian come to torture more information out of you!”

Gee nodded, waving his hands across the face of the crystal ball, which caused his brother’s image to fade.     He sat there, his heart racing, for a few moments.     What choice did he have?   If he simply disappeared now, none of his family would know what happened to him, and so they would be innocent, even if the king used magic to detect truthfulness.     It was the quickest and most logical way.    If he took any clothing or scrolls, they might deduce that he had fled.    Better to keep them wondering what happened to him.

The elderly man stood up on trembling knees and hurried into the dark basement of the shop, pulling his brother’s staff out of a hiding place above the doorway.    With a deep sigh he chanted the incantation and tapped the staff against the floor.    In a flash of red light he vanished and the staff fell to the floor of the basement, bouncing twice before coming to a rest.

At the top of the stairs, a form appeared, seemingly out of thin air, as soon as the elderly wizard disappeared.     Arianelle glanced down sadly at the broach her aunt had given her, which now was a pile of glass-like crystals in her hand.

“Hopefully this was the sort of emergency that warranted the use of it,”   She whispered to herself, descending the stairs.

How she had hated the language lessons when she had been younger, for her father had insisted that she have a basic understanding of the Hutcaiah language.    She had not known that the language was almost exactly the same as the Toi-Migg language until this evening, but she had understood the entire conversation between Gee and his brother.   Apparently the Hutcaiah had shared the same language as their enemy.

Picking up the teleportation staff, she paused, wondering if she should seek out someone to help her.    But who would she get?   Nolen and Lee?    They were heirs and that would make them too valuable to risk with what she had in mind.

She did not know how much time was left before the Dragon of Sorrow spell would be activated, but if she could simply disrupt the chanting of the spell, that would give them some time to stop the group of wizards.    So she was going to try something extremely foolhardy and sneak onto the airship and mess up their spell.   Hopefully she could figure out a way to return.  

Forcing her apprehension down, she closed her eyes, spoke the Toi-Migg words and tapped the staff against the floor.     In a flash of red light, she vanished.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...he seemed to perfectly understand." Perhaps, instead, "...he seemed to understand perfectly."
"...by just telling you all this!" Switch "by" and "just," so it reads "...just by telling..."
"...two heirs’ deaths double the power..." I believe this should be "doubles."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, I'm just going to reply to this one as I'm home sick with the flu. I appreciate the time you take reading my stuff and your expertise in proofreading it. You are a blessing.

[Elina]

Oh no! Praying you start feeling better soon! And in all honesty, it is such a joy to read your works! You should feel quite accomplished, too, for you have succeeded in pulling me away from my habit of watching K-dramas (Korean dramas). ^^ That is quite the feat, as I've been rather wrapped up in them, of late. I always enjoy reading your books, they bring such joy.

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Elina, I love it when people enjoy my stuff.