The Laws Of Elios (Book 2) (32 page)

“I’ll tell him about the boat and thanks for the heads up on the flying artifact.  It may be what he saw at the warball stadium recently.  Things are calm here right now but everyone seems to be on alert and so far no sign of the D’roe.  Shane’s trying to locate him
with glyphs.  Go and take out that activator but be careful.  The whole Infin army seems to be up to something.  When you get that done let me know and I’ll update you.  If you can’t reach me set up operations in the lab out of my office.  Good luck” Ari abruptly ended the conversation. 

Shew relayed what he had been told to Junior
as he plotted the location of the warehouse into his handheld device.  “Let’s go.”

The Ware
house was dark and there seemed to be no workers.  A hum and the click of some sort of machinery could be heard from the far end of the building.  Shew and Junior quietly made their way to a brightly lit area and the source of the noise.  To their amazement it was attended by an old man who calmly watched them walk up.  The activation artifact was imbuing wristbands.  The old man would remove one that had just completed and place one in its place while he took the activated band and held it to a large red sphere for a moment and then placed it into a box and retrieved the next.

“You are wasting your time,” said the old man in an unemotional tone.
  “The device cannot be broken.  The king did something to it.  It is as hard as diamond now.  Believe me, I’ve tried.”  He processed another band.  “We tried to rebel and were able to destroy the others but before we got to the last one we were stopped.  The king has taken all of those that worked here and turned them into soldiers and has sent them away to attack Luion.  I am the only one left and have been commanded to continue making these chains that enslave us; I believe these are for the Luion prisoners he plans on taking after the next campaign.  I would stop but he has my family held captive.  So as you can see I have no choice but to do as I’m told.”

“We are here to either destroy this thing or take it out of here,” replied Shew.  “Sorry about your family.  Where are they being held maybe we can bust them out?”

Suddenly the voice of the man changed.  “Ah, Mr. Shew, the man that my slave in the north hates so badly,” laughed the old man uncharacteristically.  “You were so foolish to have such boy working for you.  I learned all he had and now his mind and memories are mine.  He is on his way here now.  It will take a day or two due to him being on foot but as soon as he does I will activate his ring and then know the location of the Arc and with it I will capture the Star Seeds.  Your little underground effort to thwart me is far too late.”

“So what you’re
saying is that if this activator here is disabled then you won’t get what you need from the kids ring,” Shew smiled mischievously.

As Shew talked Junior slowly began to flank the old man.

“Go ahead and try.” Cackled the Allyant controlled old man.  “I have hardened it magically.  You can beat on it with the biggest hammer in this building and it cannot be scratched.”

Suddenly the old man turned with blurring speed and hurled the large red sphere at Junior, who
been about to grab the old man.  With amazing reflexes, Junior caught the sphere and held it for a moment.  While he felt no weakness his ring began to get scalding hot.  Quickly the fisherman hurled the sphere to the floor at the old man’s feet.  The glass exploded and a red mist swirled around the shattered fragments.  The old man fell back - a large shard of crystal protruded from his chest.  The mist soon dissipated and was replaced by a large black mist that flowed like a phantom towards Shew but couldn’t seem to touch him; held at bay as if repelled.  Failing to engulf the old spy it changed course and engulfed Junior with the same result.  The black mist seemed to weaken and with a desperate rush it engulfed the dying man. The old man laughed maniacally.  You are too late.  I have a trap set for your mage and the assassin.  You cannot destroy this activator and you have just been lumen poisoned.  This World is mine.  I will be called Great One.  Suddenly the old man gasped his last breath and crumpled to the floor.

Shew shook his head.  “That’s the problem with villains.  They don’t plan things as far as they should.”  Shew activated his portal with the exit about three cubits above the floor.  Then with a smile he sent the entrance to be located right down the middle of the activator. 
Somewhat anticlimactically the artifact sliced in half; one side remaining on the table the other landing with a thud on the floor – all sounds and lights of its former operation now dull and silent.

Opening the portal to the Ari’s office he added, “come on we need to see what
the rookie is up to.  I don’t know how he ever got along since I retired.”  As they walked through the portal Shew put his arm on the back of the tall fisherman.  “Nice catch and throw with that red thing.  Did I ever tell you about the time Stafford and I took out an entire protection racket and used it to get intelligence on the Luion’s top spy in Jehhet?” Shew said as if nothing had happened.

Junior laughed nervously, “That old guy said something about we were lumen poisoned?  My sister in-law had that remember?”

“Are you wearing the ring Shane gave you?”  Junior nodded.  “Are you wearing the ring I gave you?”  The younger man nodded again.  “Well then you’re not poisoned.  That’s one of the main things those rings are for; their magical protection.  That kid Shane looks out for his teammates.

“Teammates?” questioned Junior.
 

I know,” Shew laughed, “
but that’s how he sees this whole thing.  He isn’t looking at it like a war he is looking at it like a contest or a ball game.  Believe you me, that kid is competitive.  You rest assured he won’t leave you hanging.  He invents new and better stuff all the time.  And the minute he figures out a better way he makes sure his team has the use of it.  I don’t envy that bastard king or mage or whatever he is that up against us.  If it was me and Stafford we could probably still take him – magic and all – granted it would be a long engagement and the casualties would be very high.  But with the kid, and all the magic he controls, in the mix this guy doesn’t stand a chance.  The only reason it has lasted this long is because there are a lot of innocents out there and Shane wants to save as many as possible.”

“He seems pretty normal to me,” commented Junior.

“He’d take that as a compliment,” responded Shew, “Especially from you; he really likes you for some reason,” Shew grinned.

“Why, what did I do?” Junior asked curiously.

“My guess is the way you trounced him in that brawl you guys had at the Ox.” Shew responded expertly.  “Think about it.  Here you are this great giant of a man.  No one in their right mind would willingly go toe to toe with you, yet he did.  You could have trounced him into the next life and you know it.” Shew paused letting what he was saying sink in.  Continuing he said, “But you didn’t did you.”  The big man shook his head. “Well my guess is that Shane saw that.  Shane saw the brawl for what it was; a good old fashioned fun fight.  He wasn’t out for blood and neither were you.  In the end you both sat down and had a pint and came away with a greater appreciation for the other.  The fact of the matter is that Shane was holding back as well.  I don’t know if he even recognizes that he has this ability and that he does what he does on purpose unconsciously.  What I do know is that if he would have used even the little bit of magic that he knew at the time against you, you could have been a candidate for a trip to the next life as well.  In my opinion, Shane held back because you held back. 

You watch, you will see; h
e has an uncanny ability to see what is.  I’ll give you an example: You never met him but we had a stowaway on the sloop a while back.  Shane saw right away that the kid was a sneak, a thief, and dishonest as the day is long.  He clued Ari in on the situation.  Shane wanted to get rid of him as soon as he saw him, but Ari, being what he is, saw a tool.  Because of Shane’s insight we used that tool today to keep the king busy and bait a trap.

I guess what I’m saying is that Shane is a good kid, a smart kid and a tough kid.  More important Shane has great instincts and is fiercely loyal.  I plan on telling him how you stepped up and how
well you handled the last couple of hours; that will mean a lot to him.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate your help today as well.  But I’m not telling him to make you look good I’m telling him because he needs to be reminded why he’s doing what he’s doing.  He needs reminders that there are good people on this world; that he’s not alone in this fight against a magical tyrant.”

Dropping the conversation Shew touched his ear and said, “Ari.”  Turning to Junior he said, “Touch your ear and say ‘join Shew.’”  Getting a prompt to leave a message Shew quickly rattled off that they had removed the last of the activator and to watch out for a trap, that they would wait at Ari’s office until they heard from him.

~~~~~

Kaysee’s shame was more than she could bear.  She
ran from the room as fast a she could.  Leo was dumbstruck; what could she have done?  Then it dawned on him; her questions, the container, the nightmares.
Good heavens, she’s somehow done Allyant magic.
  Leo ran from the room after her.

Leo bounded down the staircase to the lobby of the office building just in time to see Kaysee hurry through the door.  Taking the stairs three at a time he managed to get to the door just before it pulled itself shut
, twisting sideways he slid through the gap and rushed out behind her.  Panting to catch his breath he found her sitting on the curb with her head in her hands still crying but yelling at someone he couldn’t see.

“You lied to me, you tricked me.  For all I know you are a lousy Allyant.  I can’t believe I was so naïve.”  She continued sobbing now in anger.

“Kay,” Leo spoke softly sitting beside her.  “We can take care of this.”  The rings you have won’t let him take control.  As soon as Shane gets back we can purge this monster from inside of your bad dreams and everything will be fine.”

The chime of a trolley traveling briskly down the street toward them caused them both to look up. 
Kaysee stood, looked at Leo and with a last sob said.  “Leo I love you.  But I could never be with someone good as you, knowing what I have done.  And I refuse to live another moment with this vile thing inside me.”  Before he could react she leapt in front of the oncoming trolley.

“NO!” yelled Leo helplessly as he tried
desperately to grab her and missing by a thread.

The trolley’s magical sensors stopped it with incredible speed but not before a sickening impact that threw Kaysee several feet before her limp form tumbled to a halt
. 

~~~~~

The world seemed to halt; Brenner had been caught completely by surprise.  The woman was broken and unconscious and he could sense her life fading.  He knew if she died that he would soon follow. He was about to give up when he sensed the crystal sphere that he had tricked the woman into making, inside of her pocket.  With his last strength he willed himself from the woman’s consciousness and into the protective containment of the sphere.  “Stupid Elios half breed,” he laughed to himself.  “I yet live another day.  I will find Pechor and take half the lumen of this world in payment for him nearly getting me killed like this.”  Suddenly the essence of Brenner was filled with pain.  The crystal was cracking, a pressure more painful than he had ever imagined seemed to rip at his very being – his last thought: “I hate you Pechor – I hope you die!”

~~~~~

Leo wasted no time.  Using his limited lumen senses he could see Kaysee’s life was fading and that she had a red energy flowing around inside of her; prodding at her life and energy but failing to grasp it due to the protective rings that she still wore.  As he watched he noticed it beginning to move toward her left side where it began to exit her body.  Looking closely he saw the sphere in her pocket.  As the redness entered in to it Leo tried what he had only read in theory. Without realizing that he was using glyph mastery Leo hurriedly cast a golden protective cocoon around her to starve any possible residue left behind by the Allyant.  Placing the red orb on the ground he cast again.  With anger like he had never felt in his life he enclosed the same shield around the sphere and slowly began to shrink it until he heard the cracking of the crystal.  He then made it smaller still and held it until he could tell that the all sign of the redness and the dark residue was gone.

Not yet proficient at any type of healing, Leo, quickly ran into the lab and grabbed an armful of the healing bandages that Ava had designed and ran back out and wrapped her the best way he could in the hopes that the healing glyphs would be sufficient to hold until he could get some help.  Recalling that
one of his former students, Alecia – now a beginning glyph mage - had a necklace that was designed by the Elios for healing he ran in and checked nearly every room looking for her but to no avail.  Too late Leo realized that she was with his other former students, John and Lance, assisting the Luion army. 
I need Shane or Ava
, he realized and he hurriedly used familiar levitation glyphs raising Kaysee from the road carried her into the building and as soon as the door was shut he pressed the glyphs that would open into Ava’s parents’ house.  Stepping from what appeared to be a coat closet and into a well-furnished foyer to a living room, he carefully laid her down upon a couch.  Checking again he could still see her life spark but it was barely a flicker.