Chapter 4
RIGHTLY CONDEMNED
Finn appeared on the ruined road beside the pier, next to the corpse of the female Ravager Skara had despatched. Gypsy had informed him that Skara and the dumpy Ravager she’d called Dustin were approaching at a run, pursued by some mana-based creatures.
With a thought, Finn teleported all the little pieces of his collar into a small pile next to the nearby corpse. He was tempted to fuse the shards into a sculpture that reminded him of his terror-filled time as a slave, but he chose not to. He was sure that the memory of those days would haunt him for a very long time.
A wicked grin crept onto his face when he saw the two Ravagers sprinting toward him as fast as their legs would carry them. He could even make out the terror in their eyes. That was something Finn would happily remember for many years. The gangway was up, and both cargo holds were firmly closed. He was determined to ensure the fast-approaching pirates would never set foot aboard Gypsy again.
He fed mana into his eyes and extended his vision to the seven shadow figures floating along at speed in pursuit of the fleeing humans. Shadow wraiths, if I remember my bestiary studies correctly, he thought. They are made from pure shadow-aspected mana, which means—.
Finn started drawing golden runes in the air. With his newly widened mana pathways, it was much quicker to channel copious amounts of light-aspected magic into the constructs as he drew, making the symbols sparkle brightly and crackle. Once done, he sent the rune constructs away with a powerful flick of his wrists. The flight of the two runic spells was too fast to follow, but they had clearly hit their marks when two phantoms froze and began to dissolve as the light magic spread through their forms. Yes! Shadows hate the light, Finn thought, pleased that all his theory translated into his new reality.
“Woo! Nice shooting!” Gypsy whooped in his mind. “Two down, five to go.”
Trying not to laugh at his spectator’s enthusiastic commentary, Finn sent another two Burning-Light spell constructs toward the incoming spirits. However, one must have been more intelligent than the other wraiths as it leapt sideways before continuing its progress. The other froze and got scoured by his spell’s wrath.
“Bad luck. Never mind, hero, only four left.”
Finn snorted. Skara and Justin had almost reached him. He could tell that Skara had realised he’d escaped from her enslavement because she had hate in her eyes and her sword out. The mana orb Finn had prepared before he left Gypsy hit Skara in the chest as she prepared to decapitate him. It was a small translucent sphere that encapsulated a runic Light-Cage spell and was about the size of a large egg. The globe burst as it struck Skara. Thick glowing bars of golden light exploded from the small orb, almost instantly forming a large cage that encapsulated the pirate boss and her minion. Each bar scintillated with lightning, and the entire structure buzzed and crackled threateningly.
Skara and her minion hit the bars of their magical cage with all the momentum they’d built up in their sprint to escape the shadow creatures. Lightning danced from the bars into both Ravagers, making them twitch and scream in pain.
An evil smirk betrayed Finn’s satisfaction at seeing his nemesis suffer, but he knew there was other business to attend to.
Finn conjured his wickedly curved assassin’s blades, which were infinitely sharp long knives made of pure shadow mana. The long knives were a magical summons, a non-verbal spell perfected by his family and known only by them. Finn issued another thought, and the black fire that had started to burn along the knives changed to the golden flames of light-aspected mana. Then he teleported behind one of the attacking creatures. The phantom was obviously agile as it stopped instantly and tried to turn on Finn, but the flames of light allowed his blades to slice cleanly through its chest and neck. There was no scream or any other noise. The spirit just dissolved into swirling black dust. With a half spin, Finn despatched the creature nearby that was also turning on him.
“Woohoo! Go Team Gypsy,” Gypsy celebrated in his mind. “It almost seems as if you’re enjoying yourself. I guess twenty years of training paid off.”
The two surviving wraiths had turned, realising their comrades had perished, and were floating back toward Finn at speed. He teleported back toward Gypsy and then started building two more Burning Light constructs. Once they were done, he encapsulated them both in spheres. He pocketed them and then waited for his attackers to arrive.
As the two phantoms sped closer, Finn blinked behind them and tossed his two spell orbs at their retreating backs. Both spheres hit the creatures cleanly and burst in a flash of golden light. The wraiths froze to the spot as a rich golden light ripped them to pieces.
“And it’s a resounding victory for team Gypsy. Skyship and minion survive to fight another day. Go, team!” Gypsy chanted happily.
“Hey!” Finn replied with mock anger. “Who are you calling a minion?”
All he received back was a loud mental raspberry. He chortled to himself. It was clear that Gypsy was blowing off steam after the horrors of the last few days, and it was good to hear. Finn knew he was doing the exact same thing with this combat. The collar had taken away his fighting abilities and combat spells, leaving him a meek and fearful mouse who existed to please his mistress. A long and exaggerated shiver ran down his spine at the very idea.
“And that just leaves you two,” Finn said with a raised, business-like tone. He strolled closer to the mana-built cage.
“Kill her, and I’ll just leave. I never did you no harm, son,” Justin said from on his knees. “You never saw me, an I never saw you. Deal, right?”
Now that Finn was paying attention, he noticed that the man had a nasally, wheedling tone to his voice. It was a voice that would quickly become annoying. He decided to ignore it.
Fortunately, Finn had chosen to stand slightly back from the cage because an arm holding a two-handed sword shot out, the blade reaching about an inch from his throat. “My, my, Skara. You seem to be upset. Having a bad day?” Finn gloated. Then, a thought occurred to him. His taunting behaviour wasn’t much better than the Ravager’s attitude. A wave of disgust passed through him, and he was momentarily ashamed.
“What do you want, Worm,” Skara spat. “You think you can rape me or make me suck your cock?”
“Ew!” Gypsy said. “Just ew!”
Despite the confusion Skara had made him experience earlier, he had to agree with his ward. Ew! Instead, he concentrated on the spell construction holding the cage together and then made a clapping motion with his hands.
Justin whimpered in fear as he noticed the cage begin to shrink rapidly. They screamed as their confines closed in, and lightning ravaged them, making them writhe in agony. A disgusting squishing sound could be heard as they were crushed by the cage’s embrace until they burst.
Finn arrived back on board Gypsy once he was satisfied the Ravagers were now no more than a bad memory and a pool of gore. He would make himself remember the horror of the slave collar to ensure he avoided ever having to endure that again.
****-****
Finn got to work tidying, anxious to erase any trace of his tormentors. He was currently knee-deep in luxurious quilts and sheets. When the Ravagers were hunting for alcohol or anything else of value, they had made a complete mess of the officer’s quarters. He knew there were no officers to appreciate his efforts, but he wanted to keep himself busy while the adrenaline from the fight faded from his over-stimulated body.
“You’ll make someone a terrific wife one day,” Gypsy thought, continuing with her teasing.
“Make yourself an avatar, and I’ll let you wear the trousers,” Finn goaded back. “We might as well be married as I’ll be spending my life with you anyway.”
“Aw! Finn darling. That’s a beautiful sentiment, even if it was delivered a little unenthusiastically.”
At that, Finn laughed. Ever since the Ravagers had murdered the rest of the crew, he and Gypsy had drawn closer emotionally. Right now, it felt like it was them against the rest of the world. He found that he didn’t mind that prospect at all. The rest of the world had better watch out.
“I’m going to spend some time working out precisely what Danu’s avatar did to me. I need to understand my new limits,” Gypsy said. “You need to understand our new limits too.”
“One thing she definitely didn’t do was tidy up in the officer’s quarters,” Finn said from inside a duvet cover. “You raise a good point, but I’m unsure if I can test my limits without creating mana-intensive constructs for hours until I start getting lightheaded.” Finn paused to think. “I don’t even know what I could do with such a huge mana core.”
“The obvious answer is to create bigger and more complicated spell constructs. Maybe start enchanting objects with some complicated runic script. That’ll certainly tax your abilities,” Gypsy suggested. “You could set up a shop, or we could make you a mobile emporium in one of the cargo bays. We could become travelling merchants. Oh, Oh! You’d need a floppy hat with a feather in it. You’d look great wearing that.”
Finn could feel the mirth behind Gypsy’s thoughts. For a military craft, she had a vivid imagination. It was nice to hear her laughing after the string of disasters that had befallen them since fleeing the royal sky docks. Theirs was a tale worthy of the bards, not that he’d ever heard a bard. It was good she was reverting to her original happy nature. Finn knew his recovery would be slower, but he was determined to bounce back eventually.
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Five hours later, Finn had finished cleaning the other officer’s rooms and the barracks. He’d collected over seven hundred gold coins and even more silvers. As for the copper and bronze coins, there’d been so many Finn hadn’t bothered to count them. He’d stashed everything else in the back of the fellward cargo hold. The Ravager’s stuff sat beside all the items that had belonged to the officers. One day, I might find enough courage to sift through it all, Finn thought sadly.
Finn had already replaced the bedding in the captain’s suite, swept the floors and teleported Skara’s detritus away. He was now kneeling with a dustpan and brush, sweeping all the room’s edges. From his viewpoint, it wasn’t hard to spot two chests pushed a considerable way under the enormous bed.
Feeling he’d done enough cleaning for one day, Finn decided to satiate his curiosity and delve into the worldly possessions of the seriously evil, mercifully dead bitch. He dragged out both chests and scanned them for any protection runes or mechanical traps, none of which were present. He assumed Skara must have relied on fear to prevent her fellow thugs from stealing her things.
Finn opened the largest and by far the heaviest of the chests. He wasn’t surprised to find it brimming with gold, but it wasn’t coins. Instead, small ingots of the precious metal gleamed out at him. With a thought, he transported the chest to the other containers full of valuable salvage. Finn might have been impressed if he’d known what the value of the precious gems, metal and coins he now possessed was worth. However, he had never spent any money, so he had no idea of the value of anything.
In the next chest, he found an extensive collection of small bottles. Each contained some viscous liquid, and each appeared different from the last. The labels stating the contents of each bottle were finely scripted, which was a relief. From his studies, Finn recognised them to all be very valuable poisons, a fine acquisition for any assassin. The best prize was the thick, well-thumbed alchemy book tucked neatly in a customised pocket inside the lid. This chest would go to his lab and join his extensive collection of alchemy equipment.
As he was clambering to his feet, he felt more divine manor roll through Gypsy in a wave. The avatar that had visited them shouldn’t need to come back, should it? Besides, this mana wasn’t the same. It had a different flavour.
“What now?” Gypsy asked.
Finn smiled at the speed she picked up on any nuance on board. Admittedly, he did, too, but she always beat him to the declaration. He looked around for any clue about where the mana had come from.
“Not Danu’s avatar this time. I have no clue who this one is, but she’s up in the officer’s mess,” Gypsy said, her thoughts puzzled. “She’s drinking tea.”
Finn teleported there in an instant. Sure enough, a stunning lady sat daintily at the central dining table. She wore a white gossamer ballgown cinched at the waist that billowed around her curvaceous figure as if an unseen wind was blowing her way. Her hair was the colour and radiance of spun gold and cascaded past her waist like a golden waterfall. Her skin was the purest white of a mountain opal, and her face conveyed a stern yet friendly feeling. Finn instantly wanted to help in any way he could. He still had no idea who this woman was, though.
“Oh!” Gypsy said with disappointment. “I was hoping you’d know. They didn’t have a statue of this one in the royal library, then?”
“It’s not an avatar. She’s the real deal,” Finn replied.
“This one has mass, unlike Danu’s attempt at a manifestation,” Gypsy replied.
The lady smiled at Finn and gently placed her teacup on its saucer. “Please, youngling. Sit with me and take tea,” she said with a lilting voice that perfectly matched her appearance. It held aspects of wisdom yet resonated with youth. “Such a civilised tradition, don’t you think?”
Finn wordlessly took the seat directly opposite her. He didn’t even blink when a teacup on a saucer appeared and a small plate of the delicate iced biscuits the fae nobility loved so much. So, she knows who I am and where I’m from, he thought.
She smiled warmly at him. “I do. I can read your thoughts, too. Now, don’t be shy. The tea isn’t poisoned, and the biscuits are divine,” she said.
“Are you a goddess?” Finn asked, feeling the wonder of this woman clouding his mind. He focused and mentally pushed the glamour away. He’d just regained his freedom of thought and wouldn’t allow someone else to take over.
“So subtle!” Gypsy laughed.
The woman laughed. It was a sound that tinkled like a silver bell. “Yes, Finn. I am the Goddess Liss. Allis is my ward in the same way your lovely skyship is yours. What hurts Allis hurts me.”
“Allis, as in the world we’re in?” Finn asked. “If so, the only knowledge Gypsy and I have of your world is a navigational map.
“Yes, you might not know this world, but it is already well aware of you. I am afraid you arrived in a whirlwind of attention,” the goddess replied. “Scouts watch the Grandis fae gate all the time. Therefore, you are now the hottest topic in the human king’s royal court.”
“I believe we met some of his soldiers in a clearing in Grandis,” Finn replied.
“Oh, no. Those weren’t his soldiers. Those you met were a particularly nasty band of mercenaries looking for a fast profit. They were working for the Reakian king just as your ex-Ravager guests were. Well done for dealing with them, by the way.” The goddess stared at him and smiled again. “In fact, you and your lovely ward might be the answer to the human king’s prayers. I predict he’ll fall over himself to befriend you as an ally. That’s not for a while yet, though.”
Finn crossed his arms, trying to hide his opinions on the plight of someone he didn’t know in a world he was yet to understand. “Oh? Why?”
Liss smiled indulgently. “Relax, young fae. No one will make you do anything you don’t wish to. I don’t blame you for your caution, though.” She paused and sighed. “As for why, you see, the humans of Grandis have a huge problem. It’s not your problem, at least not yet, but a few months ago, their easterly port was invaded by an army of creatures from a desolate country called Reakia. An army they can do nothing to counter and is rapidly growing by the day.”
“Good to know, although I’m not sure what I can do with that information,” Finn said. He looked suspiciously at the teacup in front of him but raised it and took a sip anyway. Actually, it was rather good. With new confidence, he took one of the beautifully decorated biscuits.
Liss watched as Finn nibbled the biscuit, and she smiled when the whole confection disintegrated into sweet, biscuity shards.
“You booby-trapped the biscuits?” Finn questioned in confusion. His enquiry was rewarded by another of her melodic laughs.
“No, youngling. There is a technique for eating those silly confections. It is something that all fae nobles are taught. It was a small test to see if you used to move in their circles or were always a creature of the military.”
“As soon as I left the academy, I was soul melded with Gypsy. I have never even visited a shop, let alone been to the parties and soirees of the nobility. My mother was the only member of the nobility I ever saw after I turned five, and that was only once a year, for less than a few minutes.”
“Good,” the lady replied. Her face seemed to relax when she heard Finn’s words. “The champion I seek must play well with the lowest classes. A peacock is the last thing I need.”
Finn’s mind raced upon hearing Liss’s words. “Uh! Champion?”
“Well, that word is open to so much bias and misinterpretation. The champion of one nation could easily be the most wanted terrorist of another. Don’t you think?”
“I must admit I’m confused. Are you looking for someone to help you?” Finn tried to get a grip on Liss’s tangential subject changes. “If so, why? You’re a goddess. Why would you need help?”
“No, silly!” Liss laughed. “I was looking, but now I’m not because here you are. I have found you. Well, actually, I have discovered you both. It just took you two longer to come to my attention than I had initially planned.”
Still bewildered, Finn at least understood that it was he and Gypsy that Liss had been looking for.
“Okay, so you were looking for Finn and me for some reason,” Gypsy said, using the tannoy for the second time that day. “Why?”
Liss glanced around and gave a slight nod. “So clever,” she sighed quietly. “The fae have come such a long way.” The goddess sat quietly and appeared to lose herself in thought. Then she shook her head and looked at Finn.
“Where was I, dear?” The goddess asked.
“Uhm! I think you were just going to tell us why you were seeking Gypsy and me,” Finn replied.
“What? Ah yes. That’s right. Please forgive an elder goddess. I sleep for millennia and only awake when I am needed.”
Finn wondered about that. He imagined any deity was immortal, but maybe the books he’d read were mistaken.
“Not mistaken, young fae. What you understand is correct, but I have been watching over this world for so long that it gets dull. So, I sleep,” The goddess said, then a wicked smile touched her lips. “In the local pantheon, I am an elder, that is all. Please have no worry; my faculties are just as sharp as they always were, and I could certainly run you ragged if I so chose.”
Finn refused to allow himself to dwell on her last words. She could read his mind, after all. He didn’t want to be executed for inappropriate thoughts about her.
Liss gave him a coy smile. “I have come to offer you both help and, in turn, seek help from the two of you. A partnership, if you will,” Liss said. “I offer a fair trade and will make no unachievable demands.” Then she put her palms in front of her and turned them up and down in the fae gesture of having nothing to hide.
“Why would you need our help?” Finn said. He knew it was virtually the same question he’d already asked, but he hadn’t received an answer yet.
“I mentioned the problem the human settlers have in Grandis. The Reakian invaders?” Liss reminded them.
“Yes,” Gypsy replied over the tannoy.
“Nice of you to rejoin us, girl,” Finn teased.
“Just trying to make sense of this, like you,” Gypsy thought in reply.
Liss looked at Finn, smiled brightly and nodded. “And sense you shall have,” she said. “Over one hundred years ago, in Grandis, the ruling church declared all magic and its practitioners unholy. They riled the population into a frenzy, forcing anyone with even an ounce of magical talent to flee into hiding. Most of those were later hunted down and executed by the church. Magical books and scrolls were burnt publicly, and rewards were offered for any person turning in magical contraband. Chaos reigned for many years, but the outcome was that Grandis shunned magic for decades after the purge.” Liss paused.
“More tea?” The goddess asked with a warm smile. “It is such a shame your lovely companion cannot join us.”
Finn sighed, as did Gypsy. “Believe us when we say it is a wish we have shared many times.”
Liss tapped her chin, then waved a delicate hand. “I can help with that, but you should save that discovery for another time. We still have business to discuss.”
“So, if I understand correctly, Grandis has no magic to speak of,” Finn reasoned. “You also mentioned that they had recently been invaded by a race called the Reakians, yes?”
“Indeed. Although it isn’t just Grandis who have lost their magical arts. The whole world has shunned magic for far too long. Now, even though it is not outlawed, magic is not known by anyone but the fae, the blood mages of Reakia and a few of the Elvenkind.” Liss paused to take a sip of her tea. Then she looked back to Finn with an encouraging smile. “You were doing well. Continue, please.”
“Okay, so the Reakians have magic that probably aids their warriors,” Finn continued. “Maybe magical attacks or mana shielding. Something that the humans couldn’t fight because they have no magic. Grandis wouldn’t have an answer unless they acquired magic to counter the Reakian’s offensive. Although, that would mean you plan to ask us to use our magic to help them, yes?”
Liss’s smile grew. “You are a clever lad. That is all beautifully reasoned out, apart from your last assumption. I know the way the pieces of this puzzle will be placed. The goddess of fate, Sara and I have spoken at length on the subject. She loves elven tea too, you know.”
Liss poured tea into Finn’s empty cup. “You do take milk and sugar, don’t you, my dear?”
“Uhm! Y-yes. A little of both, please.” Finn knew how to behave in this situation. He had taken tea many times with the officers. It was a tradition for the upper echelons of the military to take tea before midday and wine afterwards.