Third Earth, page 4
The dark, twinkling magic surrounding the vortex took me back to my battle with Vi Lorina. She used that tainted stuff in her vortex spells, but she was dead, and her vortexes didn’t suck people to it. Maybe it was a mini black hole. An anomaly of physics? Real black holes stayed constant, they didn’t blink out of nowhere, and as far as I knew, they didn’t have tainted magic on them.
“You seem on edge. How about I take you somewhere to rest?” The sentry lifted a hand to a branching hallway.
“This is an emergency. I have to see the king.”
“A few minutes to gather yourself won’t hurt, right?”
He reached for my elbow to change my direction, but I flinched and jerked my arm away. Sentries were trained to be helpful, but this guy went too far. Lumi lunged between us and snarled viciously. The sentry bowed his head and stepped back, so Lumi walked on.
Was he one of the paladins possessed by Vi Lorina’s demons? I was sure we excised them all last summer, but this guy acted weird. I waited to see if he was okay. He wasn’t. A dark shadow clouded his eyes, exuding unreasonable hatred at Lumi.
Then he smiled brightly at me. “My fault,” he said.
No demons hid under his skin. I accessed my gift of truth and tested for a lie.
“Everything okay?”
“Of course, Arch Mage. I’m just a humble sentry trying to uphold my sworn duty. No hard feelings.”
My lie detector didn’t buzz. He offered his hand in a Second Earth handshake, but I didn’t take it. He had anger issues, and that smile was too little, too late.
“I’ll stay with Lumi,” I said, tilting my empty bag onto its wheels. “She can find her way around.”
As Lumi waited for me to catch up, her nose twitched, and she blew out in distaste.
“What?” I asked her.
“Nothing. Just a smell.”
I didn’t know how the sciftans navigated the magically changing hallways of the palace. Even with my gift of truth, I got lost. Lumi turned a corner to a polished wooden door framed by an arch and two potted shrubs with royal blue leaves. The leaves bore the distinct pattern of Maudine’s DNA-altering magic. Pretty. The way to the door might change, but those blue shrubs always marked the Odonata dining room.
Another sentry stood guard, but this man greeted us with genuine pleasure on his striking face.
“Welcome back, you two. It’s been a while.”
“Hi, Jenz.” It seemed like every time I saw him, he put on a few more inches of muscle. “I really need to talk to King Odric. Hey, do you know who’s guarding the throne room doors right now?”
“Syran. Why?”
“He was acting—um—angry.”
“Again?” Jenz exhaled sadly. “He’s on the verge of dismissal from the paladins.”
“Why?”
“His personality changes, he refuses to stand duty inside the throne room, and sometimes he can’t account for hours of time. Did you see anything?”
“No demon. And no obvious lie,” I admitted. “He was just pushy.”
Jenz seemed disappointed, like he hoped for a better answer. “The grand master thinks it’s a delayed response to Vi Lorina’s spell. It’s sad, but we can’t have an unstable man protecting the royal family.”
PTSD explained a lot. He was just an unpossessed sentry with trauma issues—not everyone who acted funny was out to get me.
“Thanks, Jenz.”
“Of course.” He opened the door, and with a military pivot, he stepped inside and announced, “Miss Agnes Cavanaugh, and Pharess Lumi.”
The Odonatas, minus Claude and Temnon, sat at a thick, round table.
“Aggie.”
Nemantia glided to me and leaned in with a best-friend hug, probably flirting with Jenz over my shoulder. Drat it all. Why did I have to go find dragon spies, when I wanted to stay here and go shopping with Nemmy?
I shot a nervous glance at King Odric. “Um, did the sentries in the throne room already contact you about the Jent Path?”
King Odric’s fork paused halfway to his mouth. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“There’s a tear. It’s not safe to travel. It nearly sucked Lumi and me into space.”
“Nonsense,” Maudine tittered. “I took the Path moments ago, and it was perfectly sound.”
“Not anymore.” I explained how the ball triggered the vortex and how I patched the hole with my own light.
“Holy vitas above,” Maudine gasped. “Anyone else will die instantly, including normal illusionists. Even with the presence of mind to think of a patch, there isn’t enough light in space for them to create one.”
Lumi leaned against my leg and wrapped her tail around my ankles. I buried my fingers in her warm ruff.
“Does this happen a lot?” I asked.
“No.” King Odric swallowed and threw a napkin on his plate. “It doesn’t. Jenz…”
“Yes, sir.”
A somewhat sobered Jenz stepped outside the door, and a golden stream of telepathy flew from an insignia on his collar confirming the immediate cessation of all Jent Path travel. I assumed he contacted whoever knew about Jent Paths.
Serene stood. “Odric, we should go assist the maintenance team.”
“Good idea,” Odric agreed. “Claude is better for this, but I know a bit about Interplanetary Relativity Physics.”
“Yes, but…” I said, unsure of which recent disaster was most important. “I’m due on Earth 22, and I still have to tell you about Regent Menneth.”
Odric and Serene halted in their tracks.
“The regent contacted you directly?” Odric’s worried forehead creased.
“He appeared in a magic window in my Apex,” I explained. “He asked me to expose a ring of spies.”
“Oh, gracious me,” gasped Maudine.
Serene put a worried hand on her chest. “Spies? In the regent’s court?”
“What happened, exactly?” Odric asked.
“Uh,” I stammered under the pressure of their intense gazes. “He spoke to me telepathically but blocked Lumi, which was strange. Oh, and he lied. He must have known I’d recognize a lie right away. I can show you.”
“If you would, please,” agreed Odric.
I gathered the experience to the front of my mind and sent them a telepathic replay of everything the regent said to me. I showed them the first lie, and even shared the unpleasant buzz of my lie detector. Nemantia shuddered in response to the feeling. Then I showed them how the regent spoke to the room of dragons and cut the portal.
“It seems a little odd,” started Serene. “They completed a sun larva application, but they’re fourth in line and…”
“The sun larva was just an excuse.” Lumi nudged me. “Show them the rest.”
When I showed the regent secretly opening the portal and begging for my help, unease replaced their doubt.
“I see,” Odric stated simply. He crossed his arms and tapped a finger in deep thought. When scowling, he resembled his twin brother, Claude, more than ever. “There is no way around it,” he decided. “Agnes, you can decide for yourself whether to go, but as we have an official alliance with Third Earth, we will do all in our power to aide him.”
“But she has so little experience with dragons,” Nemantia said, taking my hand in hers. “Third Earth is so dangerous. Why must Agnes go? Can’t Grandpa Thayn handle this?”
“Grandpa?” I said.
I’d never heard any of the Odonatas mention another family member. Grand Dame Maudine was the matriarch. Claude and Odric were her grandsons, and Temnon and Nemantia were her great-grandchildren. Oh, yeah. There was an entire generation missing from the middle.
“Great-grammy’s son is the ambassador there,” Nemantia explained to me. “He’s lived on Third Earth for as long as I can remember.”
“I thought Serene was the ambassador.” This was getting complicated.
“She’s the ambassador on First Earth. We also have ambassadors from here that live on allied worlds. Grandpa Thayn studied dragons, so when his wife died, he volunteered.”
“And now he can’t be bothered to come home to visit his poor, aging mother.” Dame Maudine pouted, her face receding into her wrinkles.
“He hasn’t been here in twelve years,” Serene added. “Not even to see Nemantia after the battle with Vi Lorina.”
“We all miss him,” Odric said, “but the issue is, can he help Menneth uncover the ring of spies? What do you think, Grandmother?”
“Thayn is a capable boy,” Maudine said fondly. “Smart, strong, kind. You’ll not find a person more equipped to deal with dragons. But he can’t tell a lie from a vanishing dewback. As much as I hate to send my sweeting Agnes into the dragon’s maw, she is uniquely qualified to flush out liars.”
“I agree,” Odric said with reluctance. “Menneth is in a tight spot. I’d request Agnes if I were in his position.”
“Well, I disagree.” Serene slammed her hands on her hips. “How can you even think of letting Agnes walk into an obvious trap?”
“We know it’s a trap,” Odric said. “We’ll prepare special armor and send protection.”
“It’s illegal to send people that haven’t been requested,” scolded Serene. “Her usual team won’t be enough. With Thayn already there, even my presence will be illegal. An armed guard will be construed as an act of war, so what kind of protection can we give her? A pistol with a zen-shot? She might as well hit them with a stick.”
“Oh, yeah,” I remembered. “Menneth told me to bring Dominath.”
“Brilliant,” crowed Maudine.
“Yes.” Odric clearly liked the idea. “Dominath has legitimate reason to accompany Agnes everywhere, even into the core itself. Ultimately, however, the decision is hers.” He gave me a courteous nod. “How would you like to proceed?”
“I’d like to proceed to Tirinad and go shopping,” I said, truthfully, “but the regent supported me when Vi Lorina attacked, and again when I thought the sun larva was an evil megalomag. So, I guess I’ll go, but I’m not happy about it.”
“Marshal Nighting,” Odric shouted at the door.
Jenz opened it immediately. “Yes, sir?”
“Hike to Dominath’s lair and inform him—”
“I’ll go with him.” Nemantia bounced on her toes, then she contained herself and added calmly, “I can fully inform Dominath of the entire situation.”
“Very well,” Odric said with a sigh. He seemed torn between being a father and a king. “But this is official royal business, not a date.” He knew as well as anyone it was only a matter of time before Jenz participated in the family meals instead of guarding them. “Serene and I will stay here and prepare dragon-ready armor for Agnes and her team. Assuming we can fix the Jent Path, first. How long will your mission to Earth 22 take?”
“I should be done early tomorrow.”
“We’ll be ready for you. I trust you will tell Claude, Temnon, and Grimmal everything when you arrive?”
“Of course, she will.” Maudine tottered up to me, brushing breadcrumbs from her blue skirts. “She’s no novice at saving worlds, you know.”
“Is there anything about saving the dragon world in the Seer’s prophecy?” I half-joked.
Her head cocked to one side. “Why would you ask that, dear?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I need assurance that I’ll survive this.”
“Agnes,” Odric put a fatherly hand on my head. It felt extra heavy pressing against my stress-tightened neck muscles. “You don’t have to fight any dragons. Simply do what you’ve done all along: search the core for a sun larva. If you hear a lie, make a note, and once you are safely home again, we’ll report it to the regent. He’s been the leader of the dragons for millennia. He knows what he’s doing.”
That made me feel a little bit better, but only a little bit. There were still a million other pressures in my near future. I’d be lucky to reach my next birthday emotionally intact.
5
I Have a Cousin?
Without anything else to do, I followed Serene and the king to an area of the palace I’d never been to before. A whole group of wizards in short, silver jackets were gathered around a blocky machine full of holes. As I entered, a couple of them hurried over to me, their hands sparkling with enchanter magic.
“Sorry for being so abrupt,” one apologized, “but we need some readings.”
His enchanter magic scanned me, and my muscles twitched as the power passed through me. His terse politeness faded into sheer concern.
“She’s been exposed to raw space,” he shouted to the others. “Evidence of a hole.”
“Launch the badger,” an older guy commanded.
I jumped in surprise as the blocky machine’s holes blasted me with air. The pressure lifted the device from the ground and a golden circle spread under it. The floor disappeared, and the machine zoomed into a Jent Path. The hole in the floor stayed open, connecting the machine with a steady stream of magic. Every few seconds, bits of magic flowed from out of the hole to an orb hovering in the center of the room. The magic converted into visible swirls, waves, and lines that made no sense to me.
“Badger is a nickname,” Serene explained, eyes studying the strange symbols. “It’s officially a Dimensional Diagnostic Probe. It will show any problems with the Jent Path.”
The wizards focused intently on the shifting lights. Every few seconds, someone lifted a hand and magically made an adjustment to the light’s shifting patterns. After a few minutes, the older guy turned to me.
“Where did you experience the hole?”
“Uh…” I stammered. The Jent Path didn’t exactly have mile posts on it. “In the wormhole? All I know is I heard roaring the whole time.”
Puzzled, he flitted another spell into the orb. “The badger left the wormhole four minutes ago and sent no warning.”
He ordered his team to guide the badger back into the wormhole. I guessed that’s what the air holes were for, steering and changing direction within the Jent Path.
After another few minutes, the older guy said, “I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Tell me exactly what happened to you.”
The rest of the team retrieved the badger while I showed him telepathically. I replayed the dark magic of the swirling vortex and listened to his shocked gasp as he witnessed Lumi and I barely escaping the pull of space.
“Whatever disrupted the Jent Path is no longer there, according to the badger,” he said, “but Captain Malon will perform a human test before we lift the travel ban.”
“I’m on it.” One of the enchanting team saluted as he fearlessly jumped into the hole.
“Will he be okay?” I asked, kind of taken aback by his lack of caution. Maudine said anyone else would die.
“He’s an interplanetary explorer,” King Odric said. “He’s been trained for this type of situation.”
I answered occasional questions and watched the lights for a little over half an hour. Then the captain popped out of the hole, safe and calm.
“Whatever happened is gone now,” he reported. “I traveled all the way to the edge of Second Earth. The path is whole and completely safe.”
Lumi grumbled with a feline yowl mixed in. The head wizard nodded at her, as if he understood her complaint.
“We’ll place monitors,” the head wizard said, flinging spells into the orb. “But I deem the paths safe for travel. Arch Mage,” he said to me, “Captain Malon had better escort you on your next trip, just to be safe.”
“Fine with me.” I turned to the grinning captain. “I’ll go as soon as you are ready.”
“Then let’s go,” he said as if we were headed for a pleasant stroll.
King Odric patted my shoulder. “Go ahead, Agnes,” he said. “The captain will keep you safe. And the rest of us will prepare for your next mission.”
Right. The next mission. To Third Earth. How many different things were going to try to kill me this week?
The trip to Earth 22 took over three hours. Captain Malon proudly boasted about his profession the whole time, but not in a better-than-you way, more of an earned confidence way. He told me Earths were designated according to the order they were discovered, so planets with higher numbers were further away from First Earth.
My planet, Second Earth, was the first to be discovered by King Umnon, the creator of the Jent Paths. His interplanetary spell was drawn to other planets of magic. At the time of his discovery, Second Earth’s wizards were strong, and dragons had been living among them for centuries.
Apparently, dragons didn’t need a Jent Path to travel between worlds—at least, not a certain type. As magical carnivores on human-populated planets, of course, there were some initial conflicts when dragons first arrived. But over time and as they interacted with humans, the dragons adopted the concept of government and allied with creatures on various planets.
As Umnon’s explorers discovered more planets, they also formed alliances. That’s how sciftans came to my planet. Fifth Earth, Lumi’s home world, was quite close to First Earth, but because of its lengthy orbit, others were discovered first. Captain Malon laughed about the poor explorer who accidently ran into the sciftan world and sat in a cat-sized jail cell for several months before the phar got around to acknowledging him.
Who knew my planet had cities, magic, and interplanetary trade during the dinosaur eras? I mean, sure, it wasn’t modern by any stretch, but it was a decent existence. When the Great Council banned magic, the alliances dissolved, magic went dormant, and society digressed into scavenging tribes. Sad.
The three hours sped by with all the fun stories, and before I was ready, the roar of the wormhole rushed in my ears. Lumi tensed, and I gripped my carry-on. Still grinning with fearless confidence, Malon scanned space for any hints of danger.
“Do what you were doing when the disruption happened,” he said.
With freshly renewed fear, I sent a few light balls flying into space. I did think maybe one of them changed direction slightly, but no vortexes appeared. The rushing noise died down, and a big planet with a single ring of magic approached. Blue spots surrounded by green dotted the brown surface.
