Light from the morning sun was blocked out of Rose’s living room by the combination of curtains, blankets, and towels she had hastily thrown up after noticing one of the guards from the train and hotel had followed her home.
“You are aware that goes both ways, no? Such blindness deserves any attack you suffer.” the voice said after Rose hung the last towel. No amount of visibility could make Rose feel any less exposed after being followed home. She sat at her kitchen table and stared at the front door, ready to jump at the slightest sound. Her eyes stung from a sleepless night, so Rose briefly closed them to refresh her sight. She snapped to attention when her head bobbed as it dropped from it’s place resting in her palm. Still a bit out of it, Rose lifted her head and looked around before her eyelids fluttered, then closed.
Rose saw a castle surrounded by a moat filled with blood. Two skeletons stood guard at the drawbridge and several others were positioned around the moat as if they were drinking from a stream. A moon larger than anything Rose had seen before hung fixed in a pale teal sky. Rose moved closer to the castle, each step felt more like floating than walking; as if she were tethered to something which dragged her forward. Rose looked around and saw endless meadows which led to sloping, grassy hills. If not for the ominous castle surrounded by blood, she would have considered called the field serene. Rose looked down to get a sense of herself and gasped when she saw withered hands weighed down by tarnished jewelry.
The skeletons by the drawbridge aroused at the sound, and in a split second were directly in her. They wore decayed armor, with symbols and crests that Rose didn’t recognize. Their helmets and chest plates were roughly punctured holes and displayed burn marks. In a slow, fitful motion, they seized her arms and began to pull Rose towards the moat of blood. Cold, bony hands grasped at her wrists, and Rose felt her heart race. Worst of all was the ear splitting, creaking and cracking noise created with every movement of the skeletal wardens.
They dragged Rose towards moat which bubbled and frothed; the crimson liquid gurgling as she approached. When she reached the bank, the pulling stopped and the skeletons pointed downwards. Their teeth made a horrible chattering noise as they pointed emphatically over and over again. Rose felt something push her from behind, and her foot nearly slipped as she tried to keep from falling into the moat. The other skeletons left their positions and began to crowd her. Rose tried to free herself from the mob, but they drew in closer and compacted tighter until she completely swarmed. Rose opened her mouth to scream but no sound could be heard over the chattering and creaking.
Rose’s eyes snapped open. She was standing in the middle of the living room. Her breathing heavily and ragged, and her right arm extended out. In front of her, faint smoke rose from a singed couch cushion. Her pulse raced as she desperately turned her hands over and looked around. Instinctively, Rose closed her eyes in order to compose herself, but she immediately opened them. The dream had faded a bit in her memory, but the fear was a sharp as ever. A door slammed in the hallway which caused Rose to jump. She stared at her own front door, then tip toed over to see the commotion.
Rose barely cracked it open, and saw only an empty hallway. She walked out of her apartment with shy footsteps, in the direction of the stairs, and looked over the banister. Rose exhaled when she saw Eamund walk towards the front door carrying a couple of books. He suddenly stopped, slapped his forehead, then hurried back into his apartment. Moments later, he emerged carrying an even larger, wobbling stack of books and walked towards the door once more. He paused in front of the door and moved to grab the knob, but the books nearly fell from his hands. Thus began several minutes of feinted attempts to try moving the books into one arm to grab the door only to nearly drop them. Rose chuckled to herself as he turned from side to side, in an attempt to balance them on his hip.
“Need a hand Ed?” Rose fixed her hair a bit as she descended the stairs. As arrived Eamund had managed to lean the stack against the wall, but found the books obstructed the door’s ability to open. His face lit up when he saw her arrive.
“Yes, thank you. I had to get all these obscure books for a new assignment. Some of these are in a language I’ve never seen before.” Eamund said. Rose tilted her head to read the spine of a book near the middle of the stack.
“Folding Magic? What does that even mean?” Rose asked.
“Some gobbledy-gook about spell compression. Frankly, it seemed like a lot of antiquated ideas.” Eamund said. Rose looked at him. “I had to give notes on all of the books.” he added. Rose whistled.
“They didn’t exaggerate about smart the people are at Valeth.” She said.
“Well you know...I...thanks...” Eamund blustered. “Hey, I’m glad I caught you, I wanted to get that lamp-” the door burst open which knocked Eamund and his carefully stacked collection of books backwards.
“What in a Death Worm’s tail are you doing on the floor?” Troflar asked.
“That’s one of great mysteries of the world.” Eamund replied through gritted teeth.
“Well, get up, we’re going to be late. And Troglor says time is gaeld.” Troflar said. He stood in the door way, hands on hips, and frowned at Eamund.
“There’s still here?” Rose asked as she bent down to grab a book.
“Yeah.” Eamund said, his voice dry. “Apparently, ‘a place in the city’ was actually squatting in a house while the owners were out of town.” Eamund shook his head. “Promise they’ll only be around until I can get them settled elsewhere.” he added.
“That won’t be long near as me and my brother figure it.” Troflar said. “Today we are launching our...legitimate business venture.” He over enunciated the last words, which gave them a very rehearsed tone.
“Scamming people in front of hospitals this time?” Rose asked. She was still a bit sore about their encounter the previous day.
“Carriage for hire.” Troflar said proudly. He pointed outside at Troglor, who stood in front of a nice if not well used carriage, cleaning something from the windshield. Rose felt her heart skip when she first looked at the street, but surprisingly relief came when she saw Troglor. She turned her gaze back to the foyer and looked at Troflar, then Eamund and bit her lip. “All three of you are headed downtown?” Rose asked.
“Hmm? Yeah, they’re dropping me off at work.”
“And then we make tons of gaeld.” Troflar boasted.
“I’ll bet.” Eamund said under his breath.
“Care if I tag along?” Rose asked. “I could be your first customer.
“Sure!” Eamund said too quickly. He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to pay them.”
“Like Ttrormek she does.” Troflar said. “Ain’t nobody riding for free. ‘Cept my brother and me, and of course pappy.”
“Pappy?” Rose asked.
“It’s the closest to the Trollish word for a tribal elder who helps rear the clan. Sort of like a grandfather. Departed Trolls still exist in the world just in a spirit form known as Th’gast. . At least that’s the ‘belief’ back home.” Eamund explained. He rolled his eyes.
“That’s pretty comforting.” Rose said.
“That should leave a seat open for a paying rider.” Troflar said.
“Perfect.” Rose said, before Eamund could argue. “Just give me a moment to get ready.”
“I keep telling you, Th’gasts don’t need seats. You’ll make less money.” Eamund said as Rose ran upstairs to her apartment. Without the ability to cast even basic dressing spells, Rose taught herself to get up early enough, and move quickly enough, to be ready and out the door in no time at all. Unfortunately, this made her constantly show up to appointments right on time, or even a little early, which earned no shortage of raised eyebrows. After a while she got used to it, but still lied about her arrival time to avoid the looks when possible. Only few moments, a slightly more put together Rose rushed down the stairs and patted Eamund on the back. “Let’s get to it.”
----------------------------------------
Rose gripped on to the door handle of the carriage for dear life, and tried to focus on what Eamund was saying. The concern wasn’t necessarily the speed, as much as it was the fact that Troglor seemed to hold zero regard for the presence of other physical objects on their route; namely other drivers. Not long after leaving, Rose learned that there was no gap too small to fit in, no right of way too insignificant to ignore, and no sign worth more than a suggestion in the face of getting to their destination.
Troflar had agreed that Troglor was the better driver, which meant there would be no reprieve found by changing the carriage operator. In fact, Troflar was the perfect compliment to Troglor’s driving in that he had the perfect attitude to support his brother’s recklessness. Every reaction by other drivers to being cut off or nearly sideswiped was met by creative sounding Trollish insults and gestures. Some poor old woman found herself on the receiving end of a tirade for not wanting to race to the main road into the city. Not to be outdone, she gave as good as she got, and actually earned begrudging respect. Eamund looked mostly unbothered, if not a little embarrassed, by his cousins’ antics. Though, Rose suspected he was so excited to discuss his work with someone, they could have sprouted wings and he wouldn’t have noticed.
“Which is why there’s now a rule about eating in the lab. Speaking of, did you bring that lantern with you? They’re sticklers about returning equipment and it’s pretty expensive-
“Oh.” Rose said as she heard a chime from her bag. She pulled out her MIRA to see a message waiting. “Sorry, one moment. Work.” she said. Rose pulled up the message: it was from Jun.
Hey. Someone’s waiting to see you up front. Said there’s an appointment but otherwise scant on details. Want me to give them an ETA?- Jun. Rose frowned. She went through her memory of the previous day to see if she accidentally gave someone the impression of a standing meeting, but there was nobody she spoke with who should have made that mistake. Whoever was waiting, was lying in order to see her, that much was for sure. The question was whether or not the lied with ill-intent.
Did they leave a name? Rose typed back. Instantly another message popped up.
No. That’s why I’m giving you the heads up. I’ve got kind of a weird feeling. Rose sat back in her chair. It could be Chen, but he probably would have identified himself.
“I can guess what you’re thinking. But you should keep this quiet.” the voice said
“I think security should know.” Rose muttered. She rubbed her face to hide her mouth; it was one thing to talk to the voice in public, it was entirely differing sitting across from someone in the back of a carriage.
“Whoever it is thinks they’ll have an easier time getting to you at the office. That means you have some slight edge in knowing where they’ll strike. Don’t waste it.” Rose stared at her MIRA and bit her lip.
Thanks for letting me know. Tell them, I’ll be working out of office most of today. Rose typed. She hit send and put the device away. The voice had a point, a phrase Rose hated the sound of, even internally; as long as the person waiting thought their best chance was in one specific location, Rose could keep them funneled to the office and move freely. On the other hand...Rose thought back to the previous night, and the sight tattooed guard watching her apartment from across the street. She could never shake the feeling that he was staring directly at her, even all the way from ground level.
“You sure you’re alright?” Eamund asked. “You seemed tired earlier and pretty stressed right now.”
“Yeah, just this case has become...complicated. That’s just work though, you know?”
“Definitely. Totally. Just something I’m completely familiar with when I think about my day to day. And the things I may or may not be taking care of in the near future...” Eamund said. His legs bounced and his yellow eyes gleamed as he leaned forward.
“Really?” Rose tapped her chin. “Are you working on a big project or something Ed?” Rose laughed as she asked. Eamund nodded.
“Huge.” he said. Rose crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knee. She grinned.
“Do tell.” she said. Eamund practically jumped out of his seat.
“I can’t say a whole lot, but today is the last day with my current team. They’re moving me to this prestigious, top level group.”
“I’m impressed.” Rose said. “How big is the team?” Rose asked. Eamund hesitated.
“Now, that you ask, I’m not sure. I’ll be the number two guy for my particular cell, but I know there’s several cells working in conjunction.”
“Nice little brag.”
“Thank you kindly. I know it’s a high clearance level deal but not all the details, but that’s normal. The joke around the lab is Valeth is the leader in secrecy and innovation. In that order.”
“So enigmatic and mysterious.” Rose said. She glanced out of the window. The city at the center of Aesop was huge, almost as big as a province, but it was broken up into the heart where she and Eamund worked and the outskirts; smaller wards which fed into the city. There was one large main road which connected the wards to the heart as the most direct path. It snaked past every ward, which meant a lot of traffic built up the closer a person came to downtown proper. To keep congestion from spilling over, the road was separated by a short wall and used exits to feed into the wards; this allowed travelers to beeline for the city without bothering locals. Building sand pedestrians passed by along with carriages headed the opposite direction on a part of the road which was built lower than the one headed into the city. Rose had been impressed the first time she laid eyes on the massive system which kept the citizens moving. The province she came from wasn’t some backwater, but it paled in comparison the complexity of the city. Even all the construction, which was surely inconvenient, still displayed the impressive level of planning which went into the design of the city.
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She turned back to Eamund. “Is it related to your work on healing spells?”
“Not specifically.” Eamund ran his hand through his hair. “Similar sorcery related research, but we’re working on the idea of using it to infuse spells in items.” he said. Rose felt a chill run down her back.
“Like enchanting? I hate to break it to you but you’re a bit behind.” Rose and Eamund laughed, but whatever the feeling had been didn’t leave.
“It’s similar to enchantment, just way more advanced.” Eamund said
“Turn around.” the voice demanded. Rose stretched as an excuse to look over her shoulder through the back window. She found only road and morning traffic and returned her attention back to Eamund. “There is someone three carriages back following us.” the voice said.
“You accused the guy who delivers packages back home of being a secret assassin.” Rose said. She yawned and covered her mouth in order to speak
“You never proved me wrong. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” the voice said.
“Based on research my team has already done, you need an item with rare properties” Eamund said quickly. “But the interesting part is that an enchantment sort of imbues an item with the properties of the rendered spell.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out small telescope. “For example, we use this to see mana concentration in a particular area because of a specific spell to grant it that ability was cast on the lens.” He held up one finger. “Get ready to have your mind blown. What were working on is using unstable sorcery to take that same spell and infuse it into the very being of the telescope.” Eamund grinned and put his hands up. Rose wrinkled her forehead and squinted.
“Right....” She nodded along with Eamund then started to shake her head. “I don’t get it.”
“Basically the telescope would contain the spell instead be an activation of the spell.”
“So it would see better?” Rose asked
“Well, no. In that example using it would be basically the same, but maybe instead of something sight related you used a fire spell.”
“Why would I want use a burning telescope?”
“I mean...it wouldn’t...it doesn’t have to be burning. Say you need a special light, like the fire from that lamp I gave you to hold. You could use the telescope to create the fire to see spell reside, and then use it to see mana density. All much cheaper than the combination of lamp and telescope. They’re expensive because both spells are hard to make and have a high mana cost. I mean they’re really expensive.”
“So the item would help with mana cost?” Rose asked. She had leaned towards Eamund. He looked away and pulled at his collar.
“Ah theoretically, yes. That spell which was infused would be a little easier to cast because one of properties I referred to was the ability to hold or at least conduct mana. There’s no telling by how much, likely insignificant, but yeah.” Eamund said. Rose raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her seat. Her entire life she tried to manage the envy she carried towards others because of her inability to perform magic. No matter how many people tried to comfort her with words of not being alone and strategies to get by, Rose always wished she could cast spells like normal person. She hated how jealous it made her feel, how much she longed to be normal. If they could infuse a spell into an item, could they do the same for a person? Eamund had not come close to promising that, but it was hard not to let her imagination run wild.
“Wow.” Rose said, her voice breathless.
“It’s all very up in the air.” Eamund said. His face turned serious. “And it would fantastic if you never told anybody, specially the fact that I told you. Rose dragged her thumb and index finger across her lips. Eamund smiled then quickly turned to the window as the carriage jerked from another of Troglor’s sudden lane changes.
“How are you settling in as a Juror?” Eamund asked.
Rose was looking out of the rear window. The carriage which the voice had pointed out was not only still behind them, but had gotten closer and showed no signs of slowing. It was dark black, with deep violet windows obscuring any view inside. The tires were thicker than the carriages Rose had encountered in the city and small, sharp spikes extended from the spokes.
“I told you.” the voice said. Rose turned around in her seat, and when she saw Eamund looking at her, she quickly switched her frown into a more neutral face.
“Sorry I...I’m still not used to the enormity of the city. You could fit four or five of the neighborhood I grew up in just on this road.”
“It’s wild right? The Troll lands are vast, but dotted with small villages turned city states. They could have something like this if they wanted to, but...let’s just say I was glad when Valeth offered me a full position and I could afford to move instead of working from home.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw the carriage behind them move into the lane on their right and slowly pick up their speed.
“See? Maybe you were mistaken?” Rose said quietly.
“Yes. And maybe the assassin’s blade will make quick work of you.” the voice replied.
“Something wrong?” Eamund asked.
“No.” Rose replied sharply. “ I mean, I’ve never been to the TROLL LANDS. What’s it like there?” Rose said. She felt a gnawing in her stomach as Eamund described the fairly unremarkable landscape of his homeland.
“I’d feel bad about using them as personal shields too if I were you.” the voice said. Rose felt bad that she couldn’t argue. Her plan had been to travel in the safety of numbers, as a deterrent for any problems. Now that it seemed someone was actually coming after her, Rose had inadvertently put Eamund and his cousins in their sights as well; a wave of guilt rushed through her.
“Thank Myr, my time working at the satellite lab in THE TROLL LANDS and my grades helped me get my foot in the door with the main location. Normally, it’s impossible to land a position at Valeth without knowing someone of note there.” Rose’s eyes darted back and forth as she stared at the ground.
“Let’s go there.” she said. She lifted her head and stared at Eamund.
“What?”
“Valeth. Right now. Let’s go. I want to see the...” Rose snapped her fingers repeatedly. “Thing...project you’re working on.”
“Wow. I can’t really show you Project Cadeus, but you can definitely see the office and the best room in the building. I’ve never had someone visit or want to visit before. This is great!” Eamund’s enthusiasm stung Rose a little bit, she wasn’t entirely honest about wanting to see Valeth, but it was far preferable to the idea that she had potentially dragged him into danger.
“We’re charging you for the time we wait.” Troglor said, looking at Rose. “And parking.” Rose relaxed as the carriage slowed and began to glide towards the exit.
Rose relaxed as she felt the movement towards the exit, but they were stopped when their pursuer blew past them. Initially, Rose was relieved that she might have overreacted to someone driving the same direction she was going, but only made it mid-way through self-admonishment when the carriage slowed and settled at a pace which placed it just ahead of them, blocking the lane entirely.
“I have never see are more frustratifying carriage driver in my entire life.” Troflar grumbled.
“That el’vurik is in the way. Now we’re going to miss the exit.” Troglar shouted.
“Troglar! You can’t say those kind of things here.” Eamund said. Rose looked up as all three trolls argued in Trollish and saw the exit for the part of downtown she worked in fly pass them. Troflar said something in an exasperated tone and threw his hands up.
“Fine.” he groused. The carriage drifted to the left, then immediately jerked right. “For the love of Ttrormek someone tell these el’vurik how to drive.” Before Eamund and his cousins started up again, Rose twisted around in her seat. An identical, black carriage was in the left lane, moving just fast enough to stay right behind and diagonal to their own.
“We’ve been caught in a pincer. They must intend to shepherd us somewhere. Command one of your oafs to throw themselves in the way. Not the diminutive one. He’s too...stringy.” the voice said.
“What happened to that stuff about personal shields?”
“I said if I were you. Fortunately, in every conceivable way, I am not.” Rose felt her chest tighten. The situation had turned quickly, and not in a good direction.
“Scenic route I guess. Might as well get more done so we’ll have plenty of time for the tour.” Eamund said. He watched the exit sign pass by and settled in his seat. He opened one of the books from his stack and started writing on as slip of paper. The carriage sped up as a frustrated Troflar tried to move past the obstruction, but the other drivers easily matched his speed.
“There is a spell which would assist us quite nicely right about now.”
“I can’t do spells.” Rose hissed. Eamund looked at her. “Sorry, I was rehearsing this speech for my case.” Eamund smiled and nodded and returned to his book.
“That’s very sad for you. But not me...” the voice replied.
“No.” Rose said.
“We have few, if any, other options.” the voice replied. Rose bit her lip.
“Even if I agreed, I don’t have whatever old time spell you’re thinking of, and I have no idea how you could us it for me.” Rose said.
“I assumed you smarter than that, girl.” the voice said. “Seize the device from the bookish one.” Rose hesitated. The last time the voice produced magic, more than out of control, the experience was frightening. Rose wasn’t sure she could risk it riding with three innocents. “We have a tight window. It is past time for action. It is time for me.” the voice said. Rose shivered at the way the voice said that word: me. Ever present in the back of her mind, was the fear that Rose would be subsumed by the voice.
“It has to be a safe, toned-down spell. There’s a lot of other people out here. So no explosions.” Rose said.
“Of course! I wouldn’t deign to cast something so bombastic and crude” the voice said. Rose tapped Eamund on the shoulder.
“Can I take a look at that telescope?” she asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Rose held her hand out impatiently.
“Sure. Just be careful. It’s almost as expensive as that lamp. Speaking of-” Eamund was cut off when the carriage was bumped from behind. “What was that?” he asked. Rose didn’t bother to feign confusion, she desperately grabbed the telescope and held it in her hand.
“Okay.” she said. “Spell time.” Rose waited, but nothing happened. She squeezed hard on the telescope and again, absolutely nothing occurred. “What’s happening?” she hissed.
“I...assumed it would work much like the diadem.” the voice replied.
“I thought you were smarter than that voice.” Rose nearly shouted in a mocking tone.
“I know about the same amount as you do...just not how this part works.”
“Hey.” Eamund said. Rose looked at him and froze. She waited anxiously to see what his reaction would be to hearing her hold a conversation alone. “You put in the work to be a Juror. You’re plenty smart enough.” he said. Rose’s shoulders sagged.
“Thanks.” She breathed out. Eamund smiled and nodded then went back to his book.
“Compose yourself girl.” The voice said. “Think back to the diadem.” Rose let her mind run through the events in the repository. The day had been such a rush and filled with so much, Rose realized this was the first time she reassessed everything that happened. It felt like her head was so full, and the current crisis didn’t help. Rose remembered being in the depository, grabbing the diadem and a rush of power through her body. No answers leaped out at her. Rose shut her eyes tight to try and straighten out the memory. She envisioned grabbing the diadem, then seeing it fall apart from each end until only the jewel in her hand remained.
“The lens.” Rose said, breathless. “That’s the enchanted part.” She opened the cap and could feel soft vibrations as an undercurrent of magic emitted outwards. Instinctively, Rose’s right hand moved to touch the glass and a sudden rush of energy ran through her arm. “I’m going rain down fire like you have never seen-”
“No.” Rose said. “Discrete, inconspicuous, and relatively safe. I don’t want to drag Eamund any further into this situation.”
“Oh fine. Fortunately I know another perfect spell to suite your wishes.” As if it were being pulled by a string, Rose’s right arm lifted and her index finger began to glow. “This dear girl, is commanding true magic.” the voice said. The glowing finger traced unrecognizable symbols into the air, which glowed a bright orange and quietly sizzled. Before a symbol would completely fade away, the next was drawn perfectly over the same space. Rose flicked her eyes towards Eamund. He flipped back and forth through the book and muttered something about dragon scales. “I don’t have a separate set of eyes fool.” the voice said. Rose turned back to the spell and the voiced used her hand to make the final symbol. Once it was completed, the others reappeared and orbited Rose’s hand until she made a fist and every sign dissolved in burst of orange light.
The temperature in the carriage dropped instantly, which prompted Eamund to look up and check the window. He rubbed his arms then went back to work. A wisp of maroon smoke hovered in front of Rose, as if an invisible fire floated by her face. It started small, at first, then thickened and swirled. The spiral of smoke grew larger and more compressed. Rose gasped as pale, gray, semi-opaque fingertips emerged through the smoke. The winding, circling smog increased its size, which allowed more of the decayed hand to force its way through.
“What in Myr is that?” she whispered. Rose had trouble speaking at all while she watched the
“Don’t worry, nobody can see that but us.” the voice said.
“That’s not what I asked.” Rose replied as she shrunk in her seat, eyes wide, eager to avoid any contact with the ghastly hand as it struggled to emerge. It had gotten out as far as the wrist, but stopped as if it had run into an invisible barrier; each finger curled into a claw like pose.
“This is...unusual.” the voice said. A thunderous rumble echoed from the outside. Instantly, the hand started to atomize, as if it were being erased from the fingertips back, until the swirling cloud vanished.
“Did you hear that?” Eamund asked as he looked up.
“Crazy right?” Rose said. She chuckled nervously.
“How dare a ghoul not respond to my summon?” The voice asked.
“It must have been countered by one of the spires.” Rose said. “Wait a what?”
“I summoned a soul harvester to feast on the life essence of our pursuers. An event entirely invisible to the normal eye. Discrete as requested.”
“No.” Rose said. “That’s so...I can’t even begin...that’s one hundred percent illegal.”
“You live in a world not free to command dark, ancient beings to dispatch your enemies? Frankly, I’d rather the assassin take me.” the voice said.
“You might get your wish.” Rose said. She watched the carriage blocking them from the front move close to their lane. There would have been a collision, if not for the the admittedly deft way in which Troflar swerved to reduce the contact to a minor bump.
“That’s it.” Eamund said. He poked his head between Troflar and Troglor in the front seat. “This is crazy, just pull over and settle this.”
“Can’t.” Troflar said, a glean in his dark eyes.
“Why not?” Eamund asked.
“No license.” Troglor said, his voice matter of fact.
“What?” Eamund and Rose shouted together. Troglor laughed.
“If we had a license, we’d have to follow all their stupid rules.” he said. “But don’t worry, we can settle this like back home.” He reached down and pulled out a large stone. Troflar smiled at his brother and started to speed up. Eamund immediately launched into an argument on why that was a terrible idea, and Rose turned around to view the carriage that had been trailing them.
Someone was leaning out one of the windows and held a scroll in his hand. Rose didn’t recognize him specifically, but he wore a similar uniform to the guards she ran into at the hotel and on the train. The scroll curled and turned into a fire ball floating above his hand. He cocked his arm back as the driver steadied the carriage.
“Tell me you have a counter spell ready.” Rose said.
“The summon used up most of what I...we absorbed and I can only cast what I remember. There is much I have forgotten. Not to mention, who know what your precious rules will allow.”
“Sulk later.” Rose almost yelled. Fortunately, Eamund and his cousins were far to engrossed in their own conversation to notice.
“I think I have something.” the voice said. Rose heard incomprehensible words echoing inside of her head. It sounded like someone speaking to her from within a large empty room, and the words themselves were uncomfortable; made of foreign noises that Rose couldn’t describe. When the words ceased as thin fog enveloped the area outside. She watched the fireball sail past the carriage, miserably aimed.
“Whoa where did that fog come from? Better slow down Troflar.” Eamund said.
“What just happened?” Rose asked.
“I’ve always considered illusion based magic to be for children and the stupid. Apparently so do your masters. I’ve cast a fog of illusion. Obviously you see through it, but everyone else sees a thick cloud.”
“What happens now?”
“It’s a blank slate from which we can create any image. I suggest we do so soon. It won’t hold long with as the last bits of mana are exhausted.”
“What should we do?” Rose asked.
“This is why your ilk aren’t meant to wander off the farm. Use your mind to create what they’ll see. Block the other driver’s vision or something to make them crash. Just do it quickly girl.” the voice said. Both carriages adjusted their speed when Eamund finally convinced Troflar to slow down a little bit, they seemed entirely unfazed by the change in visibility.
“Everyone knows Trolls got eyes better ‘n a Razor Eagle during hunting season.” Troglor complained to his brother.
“Birds.” Rose said and slapped her thigh. She fixed her gaze on the carriage which pinned them from the front and concentrated. A huge flock of ravens tore through the fog and descended on the the front of the vehicle. The carriage swerved side to side in an attempt to steer out of the croaking throng. Rose made sure the flock was thickest on the side which coincided with the lane Troflar was driving through. The carriage made a pronounced lurch to the other side and crashed right into the wall on the side of the road. The carriage following them slowed down and tore across the lanes to investigate the wreck.
“We did it!” Rose squealed. She felt the desire to leap or dance well up from deep within. Rose had spent a lot of time imagining what it would be like to cast a spell. Never had she come close to the feeling of elation which she currently experienced. The feeling of having the ability to just will something to happen; it was more than she could have ever conceived.
“Almost.” Eamund said. He looked back at Rose, a reassuring smile on his face. “The main road will end and turn into the city streets soon, which is easier to navigate in a fog, but we should still slow down until we’re out of the woods, so to speak. Specially with that intersection.” He turned his attention back to Troflar and shook his head.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have that all the time?” the voice asked.
“Yes” Rose said. Her voice low and surprisingly husky. “I need...” Rose trailed off when she saw the lights from the second black carriage rapidly approach. She brought down another flock of birds, crows this time, but the carriage continued on its path, undaunted.
“It appears that trick has out run its usefulness.” the voice said. Rose’s chest tightened as she tried to come up with something to deter the driver. She put up an illusory road barricade, but again the carriage drove through it with more than simple disregard, but with determination. “The fog is lessening. He’ll see us soon.” the voice said. Rose looked outside, and even though the fog was always thin to her, it was noticeably thinner. “The illusions burn through it faster. Your next move had better be the right one.” Rose spotted something in the distance which sparked inspiration.
Rose looked ahead and created a faint illusion of the back of a carriage. The black carriage was mere feet away from making physical contact when the driver spotted the decoy in the next lane over. He whipped over to that lane and accelerated. Rose then imagined several road closed signs and the carriage blew past each one getting closer to the decoy. The fog was quickly dispersing as he drew nearer to the phantom carriage, which swerved in and out of the lane around another construction barricade. The black carriage, however, picked up speed, and instead of passing through another illusion, slammed into the very real concrete barrier.
Rose pumped her fist into the air as the mirage carriage disappeared. She had found away to lose her pursuers and keep everyone safe, all while Eamund, Troglor, Troflar were none the wiser. Rose watched the wreckage grow further into the distance as they continued to drive away and the fog lifted for good.
“Huh. That was weird. At least now we can see-watch out!” Eamund yelled. Rose spun around in her seat just in time to see a large truck headed right for their carriage.