Both Lexi and Ron still wore the comm-gear that they had been using since Lexi first bought the units for the team. Following the mission during which they recovered the Rose of Light, she decided that the tiny devices, which embedded tracelessly in an ear canal, were a necessity. After upping the mikes’ sensitivity, they both eavesdropped on the conversation at the front of the room.

  Nothing of much interest was said, just Armain’s account of their improbable involvement in the aerial battle with the forces of someone referred to generally as “the bastard” and occasionally as Gordian. On the other hand, they did hear the king ask if Armain was sure the two had teleported onto the backs of their fliers.

  Armain replied, “Sir, it appears that is the case.”

  Fermata, although it was clear she was bursting with excitement, waited until Armain finished his debrief before quite seriously reporting that she had been flying through the air without a flier. Apparently, Lexi’s approach to aerial combat had impressed Armain as well. The strange behavior of the enemy flying reptiles accompanying the squadron back to base puzzled all of them.

  Shortly, the entire group accompanied the King as he walked toward Lexi and Ron. They both stood. Comparatively, all of these people were short. The tallest of the natives in the room stood no more than five foot six. At six-three, Lexi was significantly taller. Ron, standing six-foot-seven, was a veritable giant.

  Both children had at that point already been bustled off with a governess to be bathed and dressed for dinner. As Armain made introductions, both Lexi and Ron inclined their heads. It wasn’t really a bow but enough that no one was offended.

  King Worlan spoke first. “I am very pleased to meet both of you.” He looked up at Ron. “It is unusual meeting anyone your size. In fact, I don’t believe I ever have.” He frowned at Lexi. “It is also unusual meeting a warrior who is also a woman. I am most curious to hear where you come from. That, I think, can wait. I am clearly in your debt. Wing Captain Armain tells me his wing was set upon by an overwhelmingly superior force and that were it not for your timely intervention, my children, along with his entire wing would have been lost.”

  He paused. “My wife, Queen Brieza, is taking care of having rooms prepared for you. We would both be pleased for you to join us at dinner later this evening. We’ll have someone sent around to bring you to the dining hall when it’s time. We also have many questions for you. All of which can wait until after dinner if you’re agreeable.” He smiled. “I want to hear more about this business of switching mounts in midair.” He laughed. “I think we shall feed the children separately tonight or we will hear of nothing else.”

  Soaking in a very large, very hot, stone tub — the water continually refreshed from copper pipes originating in a hot spring — Ron sipped his wine and looked at his wife. “I couldn’t get a wisp of anything from any of them telepathically. All I get when I try is static. Do you know any more about where we are and what’s going on here than I do, kiddo?”

  “Nope. I don’t have a clue either,” Lexi cheerfully admitted. “I can’t even send you a telepathic thought. Too much static.”

  Ron grunted and ducked his head under the water to get what dust and grit he could out of his hair. They had already determined that they didn’t have showers here. He desperately needed a haircut — and a shave. The mop on his head hung down past his shoulder blades. At least he had been able to get a thin leather thong from the harness on the reptile to tie it back into a pony tail. He had found it annoying in the extreme having it fly around as though it had a mind of its own while on reptile-back. Lexi’s hair had grown much longer than she normally kept it, too. On her, it looked good.

  Based on the castle’s appearance, both were pleasantly surprised to find indoor plumbing at all. He came back up with water cascading down his face to find Lexi looking at him, a tender smile on her face. She looked more relaxed than he had seen her since they first met. It had been a busy thirty years. He smiled back and moved to her side of the tub in order to wrap her in his arms. They sat like that for quite a while.

  He thought he understood why she was able to relax. For years, her entire team had suspected that someone had somehow been manipulating her life. In fact, all of their lives. Now, they knew that was literally true. Plus, they knew both who was behind it and why she had been doing it. And they had put a stop to it.

  Lexi’s mother, Violet, sometimes known by her Akai name of Meki, and most recently as Lokasine, had been trapped for ages in an eternal battle against the Bogeymen in the dark universe inside the spacial anomaly called the Rift. Violet had simply had all she could take. On one of her brief forays into normal space, she had given birth to a daughter. Then she arranged events to forge her daughter, Lexi, into a tool powerful enough to get her mother out. It didn’t take a lot of thought to realize that her approach had been quite ruthless. At the same time, it was clear she had been fighting to protect all life in the universe. Considering what she had suffered through, her purpose could even be looked at as being noble.

  “Lexi, love, I’ve been thinking. Dangerous, I know. We exterminated the Bogeymen and got out of the dark space. Why couldn’t Violet?”

  Lexi, still luxuriating in Ron’s grip, something she hadn’t been able to do for all of the years they were trapped in the void, said, “Because I have you, Ron, and you have me.” She paused. “Together, in some ways, the two of us are more powerful than Violet. She manipulated us to become this way.” She sipped her wine, adding, “And we’re lucky, Ron. We’ve always been lucky. Did you catch Worlan’s suggestion that we ‘teleported’ into the battle?’ He didn’t sound as incredulous as I would have expected.”

  By the time she and Ron came to Eloisa — both had picked up the name of the planet they were currently on along with the native language, they were the only living beings left in the dark universe. Oddly, they hadn’t been alone in the dark for long before they found themselves battling the bastard Gordian’s men with arrows and bronze swords from the backs of flying reptiles.

  Ron considered what Lexi said momentarily. “Ah, Lexi, Violet was a god.”

  “Yeah. She was, wasn’t she?” She paused. With a small shrug, she remarked, “On the other hand, she never claimed to be.”

  She sighed. Sometimes you just had to wait on enlightenment. Something was concerning her more than Violet. “Ron?”

  “Hmm?”

  “It’s almost nothing, really. It doesn’t even make sense. Did it feel to you like there was someone else in there fighting with us at the end?”

  “OK, yes, I felt something changing toward the end. I thought it was coming from you.”

  “We were both flagging, love, and then we weren’t.”

  He laughed wryly. “I was pretty sure that was due to desperation.”

  “Maybe,” Lexi said. She didn’t sound convinced.

  Ron fell asleep in the hot water before either of them was ready to get out. They knew they must have been in that other universe for years. Based on how much longer their hair had grown, Lexi guessed about five years. It had felt much longer. The tub was paradise in comparison.

  While Ron slept, she thought, Telepathy mostly ignores distance. Now that we’re out, I should be able to reach Allie, at least. Sis is as strong a telepath as I am. Maybe stronger. But she’s not there. I can’t find Jis either. This might not be our universe. Or, we may be so far in the future that they’re dead, although barring accident, both of them should be immortal.

  She looked into Ron’s sleeping face. Of course, I can’t reach Ron telepathically either, even now, right next to him in the tub. Too much static. Which is extremely odd. We’ve never experienced telepathic static before no matter how great the distance. We were wearing skinsuits when we went into the dark space. How likely is it that we would come back in the middle of a dogfight, dressed in our black-leather Aeolus Investigations outfits? I expected us to pop out on Storm Gate, if anywhere. I don’t see how this can be random. We were brought here. The leathers seem to indicate we’re here to do a job. Why? To save Carlin and Fermata? Or, am I reading too much into our clothing? Not having answers, she sent her mind roaming through the castle, static be damned.

  All she got from that effort was a headache.

  Dinner was, well, nice. The wines served to them were excellent although the food somewhat bland. They were introduced around to a group of men, including the king’s advisory council, some other minor nobility, a number of ranking military men, and to Lexi’s utter delight, the kingdom’s ranking wizards. When Carlin and Fermata were brought in at the end of the meal, the youngest looking of the three wizards conjured, with a flourish, a fruit-based confection for Fermata. If it was a trick, Lexi didn’t see how it was done.

  After dinner, they talked about, among other things, teleporting.

  Chapter 3

  Magic Camp

  Lexi smiled as Ron asked, “Ready for your first day of school, kiddo?”

  She grinned. “I’m actually pretty excited about it. I mean, a lot of what we already do seems like magic, but it’s really just technology. But Ron, as far as I can tell, these people use real magic — without any technology behind it. And they’re willing to train me how to do it. Are you sure you don’t want to go to class with me?”

  “Not now. I’m on vacation. So are you. So, run along and take your magic classes. Have fun. You can train me once you understand it. Besides, part of our deal with these people is that we’ll help them with their infrastructure. I’ll enjoy figuring that stuff out. It’s relaxing.”

  He paused. “Speaking of figuring stuff out… Do you think you’ll be able to reproduce our super-tech nano-cells? And what happened to them? I know we were warned they wouldn’t survive if we exited from the Rift, but I can’t find any sign we ever had them.

  “I know. It’s curious. But as far as recreating that variety, no, not anytime soon. The alternate-me who gave them to us was from two million years in the future. She said it would be centuries before I can build something like those. I doubt I’ll be able to come up with anything that advanced any time soon. It was an unsatisfactory design anyway.”

  “Was it? How do you mean? They kept us alive in the dark space.”

  Lexi grinned. “We tried kissing each other before we left Storm Gate. As far as kisses go, that one didn’t work very well. I’m actually glad we didn’t attempt anything more intimate.”

  Ron laughed. “That, my love, is not something I every excepted to hear you say.”

  “Yeah, me either. There’s no technology here to build them with anyway.” She paused. “What I find puzzling is where did they go? We should have excreted them somehow — through our skin or our pee or something.”

  Lexi met with Gerund, acknowledged as the most powerful of the dozen wizards in the small kingdom, in the top room of the eastern-most tower of the Keep. They were alone. She was coming across as perky. She couldn’t help it. This was exciting stuff.

  Gerund was a dour looking, late-middle-aged man. He had argued with Worlan that he no longer tutored novices. Worlan had suggested it would just be until the woman got bored. He had gone on to point out that he, personally, owed her for saving both of his children. He expected Gerund and his other staff wizards to make a small effort to mitigate his debt.

  Once the two of them were seated across from each other on raised hassocks, Gerund said, “Understand, I am only doing this because my king specifically requested I do so. I have not tutored a novice in decades.” He sighed, stroking his long gray beard as he spoke. “However, I am willing to take the time to mentor you in the development of your magical abilities.” He smiled, “Frankly, the first secret of wizardry is, and don’t tell anyone this, that most of the time, a wizard’s workday cannot be described as demanding. Although there are occasions…”

  He didn’t seem inclined to describe those occasions, so Lexi said, “I appreciate it, sir.”

  “Yes, about that ‘sir.’ The traditional practice calls for the student to refer to the tutor as ‘Master.’ I believe we should follow that tradition here. Wouldn’t you agree, novice?”

  “Of course, Master,” Lexi said, wondering if Gerund was going to be a pompous ass like Professor Jameson, back on Earth. Jameson might be dead by now. Probably is. He was still institutionalized, although getting pretty old, the last time I checked. At any rate, either way, he won’t be raping young women any more.

  She had dealt with Jameson early in her career. The first of the hard decisions she would have to make — how to deal with a serial rapist when there was no evidence of his crimes. Ron, not even quite her boyfriend at the time — just a man she was very interested in — had berated her for making the decision solo, without consulting the other members of her team. She had immediately apologized — he had been right.

  “Perfect.” Gerund said. “Now, practicing wizardry requires extreme mental control — the ability to concentrate, to focus one’s thoughts, to be aware of but not distracted by one’s surroundings. I will be completely honest with you. You may be too old to learn the necessary disciplines. We usually start training our apprentices between the ages of ten and thirteen, while their young minds are still flexible enough to adjust their perception of the world around them.”

  He looked her up and down, evaluating, before asking, “You’re what, already in your mid-twenties?” He sighed. “However, you saved the king’s children and Worlan insists we do what we can with you, so, let’s get started, shall we? I promise you that despite having low expectations, I will take your training seriously.”

  “Thank you, Master.” The damn Wraixain pirates expected to be addressed as Master. I exterminated them. Just off-hand, I can’t think of any good reason to correct his misconception about my age and to tell him I’m sixty-one of this world’s short years.

  “Magic is an energy,” Gerund began his lecture. He waved his hands as he spoke. “This energy is all around us. It is in us. It is everywhere. Think of heat, Lexi. Heat is an energy the same as magic is an energy. There are some places where it is hotter, such as in front of a fireplace, and some where it is colder, such as in an ice house, but even in the coldest spots you can imagine on Eloisa, there is still heat. You sense heat with your body, with your skin. It tells your mind that you are in a place with an excess of heat, a lack of heat, or a pleasant degree of heat.” He smiled. She was following his every word. Young apprentices frequently began dozing off around this point. The brighter ones usually asked how they could sense magical energy. Lexi remained quiet, waiting for him to continue.

  He nodded, momentarily pleased with this unwanted student who had been foisted on him over his protests. “In these first lessons, we will work on focus and concentration. Your eventual goal is to feel the energy. If you can’t feel it, it isn’t possible for you to manipulate it. If you are unable to manipulate it, you cannot do magic. In a few months, or perhaps years, assuming you learn to sense it, we can move on to shaping it, subjecting it to your will. Most practitioners term the process ‘channeling’ the energy.”

  He gestured and said, “Kake domal.” A small round table appeared between them. On the table stood an unlit candle. “That, of course, was an example of conjuring. Neither the table nor the candle existed until I created them. Conjuring, the art of using magic to create an object, is one of our most advanced arts, requiring up to a decade of training and practice.”

  He reached toward it and touched the wick. As he did, he said, “Tak.” As with his prior command, his intonation was firm and commanding, possessing an interesting quality, as though he were speaking nasally. The result of his second command ignited the wick and left the candle burning. He noted she was not expressing any degree of surprise or wonder, prompting him to remark, “This is simple magic. It is refreshing that you do not appear impressed.”

  “I am here to learn, Master, not to be impressed. I know you are a master wizard.” He seemed like a nice enough guy. Other than the negative connotations she associated with the word, she didn’t have an issue with calling him “Master.”

  “A refreshing attitude,” he remarked. “Let us begin then. Lighting the wick required a simple conversion of magical energy to heat energy. The candle, or more precisely its flame, is a training aid we will use in our session this morning. I want you to still your mind. Focus on the flame. Think only of the flame as it radiates the energies we call heat and light. See it. Feel it. Remember there is magical energy all around us. It permeates the flame but neither affects nor is affected by it. It requires the intent of a wizard to affect the flame. Some day you may be able to sense this energy as well. Once you can do that you will be ready to use it to manipulate the flame.”

  Following his somewhat vague instructions, Lexi focused. It was nothing new to her — she had been instructed in meditative techniques by Jis long ago when she had been learning control of the Rose of Light. She frowned as he babbled on. “Don’t be discouraged when you fail to sense anything at all. No one does on their first attempt. We won’t spend more than two hours on this today. These lessons can be quite fatiguing. You can practice more this evening if you care to. I advise it, but regardless, we will continue tomorrow.”

 

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