AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why? There’s no danger. Besides, we can’t. I promised Reema I’d finish the story tonight.” I considered as the server returned with Hale’s food. “Has anyone spotted them since Red Oak?”
“No.” Hale pulled his dinner out of Leif’s reach.
Smart man. “Devlen speculated that they’re in Ixia. What do you think?”
“Even with uniforms and the proper papers, it’s hard to hide in Ixia. If I were them, I’d head east to the Emerald Mountains. There are lots of hiding places in the foothills.” Hale cut into his steaming meat pie.
True. But just in case, I would send a message to Valek after we finished. “Did you learn the names of the other magicians?” I asked Hale.
“Yes. Although I only recognize one of them, Tyen Cowan. He was Ben’s best friend when they attended the Keep together. Tyen’s power to move large and multiple objects is impressive.”
“He’s from Opal’s clan. Do you think she knows him?” I asked Leif.
“It doesn’t matter.” Leif pulled his glass super messenger from his pack. “I’ll ask Irys for more information. Who are the others?”
“Rika Bloodgood, Cilly and Loris Cloud Mist. I’m not sure if they’re married or siblings,” Hale said.
Leif stared into the messenger as Hale finished his meal. I considered what to do with the information we collected. Best thing would be to give it to Devlen. Perhaps it would help with the investigation.
“Irys said she’ll gather information on the prison gang and get back to me later,” Leif said. “What should we do in the meantime?”
“Can you talk to your friends in the Council Hall and see if they’ll tell you how they broke Ben out of prison?”
“Will do.” Leif leaned back. He’d scraped every morsel of pudding from the bowl.
“How will the details of a prison break help you?” Hale asked me.
“I don’t know. But there might be something that might seem odd or irrelevant that might give us a clue as to what they’re planning.”
“Wouldn’t the authorities have done that already?”
“Yes, but they haven’t been trained by Valek. He taught me to look beyond the standard replies.”
“Taught us,” Leif said.
“Correct. And in looking beyond, take Hale with you to the Council Hall. He can overhear any conversations you spark.”
“Spark?” Hale asked.
“Yeah. You know how sometimes people might not talk to you, but after you leave...”
“They discuss it with a colleague. I get it.” Hale paused. “Are you coming along?”
“No. Too many people know me at the Council Hall. And if I’m spotted, the security officers will expect me to aid in the search for Ben Moon.”
“But you are helping.”
“Yes, I am.” I tapped my chest. “But the Soulfinder is unavailable and they’d rather have her assisting them in capturing five magicians.”
“Oh.” After Hale finished his dinner, they left the inn and headed into downtown. I sent the message to Valek, warning him Ben might be in Ixia along with his powerful friends. Then I spent the next couple of hours grooming Kiki. The repetitive motion of the currycomb through her coat calmed my mind and centered my thoughts. Valek had his carving rocks, and I had my beautiful Kiki.
* * *
Leif and Hale returned a few hours later. They joined me in the stable. Kiki, Garnet and Rusalka gleamed.
“Did you learn anything at the hall?” I asked.
“No one would talk to us,” Leif said. “So...” He pulled a thick folder from underneath his cloak. “We helped ourselves.”
“You stole it?”
“We borrowed it. Big difference.”
“How?”
“Hale put the whammy on one of the secretaries. When she dashed off convinced her boss needed her right away, we...er...appropriated the warden’s file, detailing the escape.”
“All right. Let’s go inside and read through the file. Maybe something will pop.”
We spread the pages on the table and each took a section to study, then swapped them when finished. In the late afternoon, Leif stopped to pull his messenger out. He frowned at the glass cube and wrote notes on a crumpled piece of parchment. When he finished, he met my gaze.
“That bad?” I asked.
“Worse. These are powerful magicians that had been operating on their own, but now have teamed up. The Ethical Code means nothing to them.”
“Tell us what you learned from Irys.”
Leif smoothed the paper flat. “Ben Moon is the most powerful of the group. He can produce a null shield, light fires, move small objects and influence others with his magic.
“Tyen Cowan can only move objects. Unlike Ben, he’s not limited in the size and weight of the object. Tyen has been known to move boulders.” Leif tapped the file with his index finger. “He’s the one who slammed all those correctional officers into the stone walls, knocking them unconscious.
“Cilly and Loris Cloud Mist are siblings born a year apart. They have the strongest mental communication skills of the group. They’re the ones who used their magic to force the correctional officers at Wirral to unlock the doors and guide them to Ben’s cell.
“Rika Bloodgood’s specialty is illusions. Strong illusions that can even fool other magicians. She also has the power to create what’s known as mirror illusions that mimic the surrounding area and will remain intact even if you view it through a null shield.”
“Will her illusions fool Valek, as well?” I asked.
“Yes, and Opal, too. During the escape, the Wirral officers not in the area of the attacks saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary until it was too late.”
“Quite the crew,” Hale said into the silence.
I considered the array of talents at Ben’s disposal. “Devlen said they lost the gang in Red Oak. With Rika’s ability to cast convincing illusions, perhaps they hid behind an illusion. They could still be there.”
“Possible, but doubtful,” Leif said. “The town’s too small. Someone would have said something by now.”
True.
“But they could have left clues or a trail to where they went,” Hale said. “They’d be pretty confident at that point that they’d given the authorities the slip.”
“Good point,” Leif said, although he didn’t appear happy about it.
I straightened the papers and tucked them back into the folder. “Leif and I will take this along with our information to Devlen. He can bring it all to Fulgor’s security forces.” I stood. “Hale, we’ll be back later. We’ll leave for the plains in the morning.” Hale nodded and we left the inn. The sun had set while we’d been reading through the file. Leif insisted we stop at the Pig Pen to purchase a container of beef stew to take with us.
“We can’t arrive empty-handed,” Leif had said.
The savory smell of hot meat and spices teased me the rest of the way to the factory. My stomach growled in anticipation. But as we neared the entrance, Leif slowed.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“I caught a whiff...” He sniffed the air as if trying to catch a scent. Leif handed me the bag of food. “Go on inside. I’ll just do a loop around.”
Unease replaced hunger. “We should have brought Hale.”
Leif pished. “Nonsense. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Devlen answered the door and frowned. “You should not be alone.”
I explained about Leif’s loop.
He gestured me inside. “Go upstairs. I will wait for Leif.”
In the apartment upstairs, Opal helped Reema with her homework, explaining fractions. But as soon as Reema spotted me, she abandoned her lesson, grabbed the bag and proceeded to unpack the food. By the time she’d ladled out
five bowls, Leif and Devlen had joined us.
My appetite returned with a wave of relief.
“Told you it was nothing,” Leif said.
“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow at him.
