Bridgeworlds: Rise of the Magi (12 page)

At that word, Omar extended his arm toward Myles. A bright ball of flame shot from Omar’s hand. When the ball of fire hit Myles in the chest, his robes collapsed to the ground without him in them. He just disappeared. The crowd gasped, and for about a minute there was a complete hush in the coliseum.

“Hey! I’m okay. I’m up here!” All eyes shifted to Myles, about 200 yards away, in the top row of the coliseum.

An Akana of the Council of Six blurted out, “Impossible!”

“And yet, there it is, right before your eyes,” Omar said with a smile.

The council members all turned back to Omar. “No more games,” shouted Moluno. “You’ll tell us how you did this thing.”

Omar shook his head. “No! The secrets we hold are for Magi alone. If you would like to join, you may apply at city hall in Pneuma Karpos, but I doubt you have the intelligence for it.” Laughter spread throughout the crowd.

Moluno heaved himself over the table toward Omar. “You’ll do as I say or you’ll pay with your life!” As Moluno crawled over the table, his fingernails dug into the wood as if it was clay.

Omar just stood there and raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to join your cousin? Don't underestimate me. I’m the founder of the Magi, and you’ll regret any physical action you take against me…sir!”

Moluno didn't pause in his lunge toward Omar. Shouts and screams broke from the crowd as he grabbed for Omar. Moluno landed face-first on the arena floor with only Omar’s robe beneath him. A disembodied voice echoed throughout the coliseum. “I will not be threatened, and I cannot be harmed.”

As Moluno got to his feet, Ragal was the first to speak. “I think you should leave, brother, so that we adults may continue negotiations with the Magi.” Her smile was gone, and she looked intensely serious.

Moluno glared at Ragal. “I am the Chairman of the Council of Six. How dare you tell me to leave?”

Ragal grinned. “You may be the chairman today, but who knows what tomorrow holds?”

Moluno laughed at his sister’s impudence. “It would take a unanimous vote to get me off of the council and there is no way that could…” He trailed off as he looked at the disgusted expressions of his cohorts.

Moluno frowned. “Omar, if you’re still here, please make yourself visible so that we may speak with you. I promise before all these witnesses that I’ll not attempt to harm you again.”

Myles had worked his way past Ragal, down to the center of the arena again and cracked a smile at Moluno’s invitation. This was one of his favorite tricks, and he loved the fact that Moluno had handed them this chance to finish big. Myles gestured sharply toward the ground and smoke began to rise in a large white cloud. Omar stepped through the thick smoke and waved his hand at the crowd.

A Remmy on the Council of Seven jumped onto the table in front of him. He stood only a foot tall, wearing a mushroom cap on his head with a long beard that trailed below his waist. His voice was strong for such a small figure. He stabbed a finger at Omar “I tell you what! I think its dark sorcery!”

Omar answered, “There’s no such thing as magic. I assure you that we do not use sorcery.”

Ischus spoke up. “He tells the truth. I’ve weighed his heart, and he doesn’t lie. This isn’t magic!”

Omar nodded toward him. “Thank you, Ischus.” He raised his hands and announced, “There’s one more thing you should understand. We will not be staying here in Musterion. It was the Adam who discovered the way out of the maze before, and it will be the Adam who will do it again. Those who join the Order of the Magi may come with us when we leave. The Magi will also need servants and workers of all kinds, so anyone may apply to join us whether or not they are accepted into the order.”

There was a murmur throughout the crowd in the coliseum while people began to discuss what they had just seen and heard. As the commotion continued, Myles stepped forward with a smile and asked, “Are we clear of the charges against us?”

Moluno looked at them in disgust. “Yes, you are.”

Myles turned to the entire group of the two councils. “We would like to give the council time to discuss the Order of the Magi in private. Please summon us when you decide what you’ll do.”

Omar and Myles both bowed respectfully, turned, and walked away. Sebastian followed. Omar looked back, saw Sebastian, and grinned. “How would you like to be the first Magi recruit?”

Sebastian's head bobbed and he beamed at them. “I thought you’d never ask.” He quickened his step and walked beside them. And so the new order began.

As they left the coliseum, Myles reached into his pocket to get his pipe and found a note.

You and Doctor Metzger need to meet me at city hall in Sarx-Ergon if you want to see your motorcycle and bags again.

Instead of reacting right away, Myles reached farther down in his pocket and grabbed his pipe. He lit it and began puffing as he considered the note. Omar turned to look at him with a smile but saw the serious look on Myles’ face.

“Come on, you did great, Myles. There’s no reason to worry.”

When he said that, Myles handed Omar the note and quietly observed,

“It seems that I’m not the only one who’s skilled at sleight of hand.”

Omar read the note and frowned, “I take that back. We have a lot to worry about.”

Myles showed the note to Sebastian. “I found that in my pocket when I reached for my pipe. Ragal must’ve snuck it in there while I was distracted with the illusions. She was the only one near enough to do it. Doc, how are we going to get all that stuff back? Without those things on the bike, our order is finished before it even begins.”

Omar lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Actually, that’s not what concerns me. We can get my things back.”

Myles cracked a goofy grin. “What’s up, Doc?”

Omar didn’t seem to get the joke. “Ragal wrote this note in English! She knows our language -- even the word for motorcycle, something they don't even have in this dimension. Do you know what that means?”

“Are you telling me…?”

“Yes, as crazy as it seems, Ragal is also from Earth.”

11

Plans

Kasey sat in the library of the city hall at Sarx-Ergon. Her nerves bristled as she anticipated the meeting. Kasey was a name she hadn’t used in over 400 years, and she’d almost forgotten it. But as she sat there, she thought back to when she’d been Kasey. Those were better times, and now a hope had arrived that maybe she could find her way back.

Ragal, the Hebrew word for spy, was the only name she’d known since she arrived in Musterion. Many Musterlings spoke Greek and Hebrew, so it wasn’t unusual for people to have Greek or Hebrew names. Kasey didn’t understand why those two languages existed here, but she didn’t really care. All she knew was that she’d been a spy for Moluno for too many years. Now things had changed. She decided that she was done doing Moluno’s dirty work.

Kasey took a sip of ale. It had a nice bite to it. Only in Sarx-Ergon could someone get a glass of ale served in a library. Though she’d tried to resist it, she’d developed the Kalat craving for raw meat, but she could never enjoy drinking blood. The ale helped her avoid the thirst that went deeper than enjoyment.

Kasey reviewed the events that brought her to Musterion. She rubbed the number tattoo on her arm. Myles had the same tattoo. One of her Haspen informants had told her that she’d seen Omar with the same tattoo the day they had first entered Musterion. These tattoos could make people ask a lot of questions. Kasey had managed to keep her tattoo a secret up until now.

Seeing Myles and Omar at the coliseum had brought back a rush of memories from her youth. She’d left Earth back in the year 2010. In Kalat years she was 457, about middle-aged. That year, Dr. Omar Metzger’s face had been plastered on every magazine because of that trash-run vehicle he'd invented. If her calculations were correct, it would be the year 2467 on Earth right now. Instead of being dead, Dr. Metzger was here in Musterion, which didn’t make sense. Kasey wanted answers.

She could still remember the night she came to Musterion. Kasey’s mother was a Jew and her father an Egyptian Ambassador. By the age of 27 she’d been working as an assassin for the Egyptian government for two years. Her assignment was to kill the Israeli Prime Minister. Not only had the Prime Minister figured out that someone had poisoned his meal, he somehow knew that it was Kasey, who’d infiltrated his home disguised as a servant. Guards were searching for her, so she had fled to the lower levels, hoping to find another way out. Instead, she had found herself trapped in his basement. Footsteps clattered down the stairs as she glimpsed what she thought was a doorway out. At the top of the doorway were the Greek words, “The Life.” She had bolted through the doorway and found herself in the Maze of Musterion.

After she figured out the maze, she had reached the same gallery with the three paintings that Myles and Omar had found. Kasey stepped through the painting with the fallen, rotted tree. She came out on the other side with some kind of goo all over her. The real Ragal had discovered her and grabbed hold of her. When Ragal touched her, Kasey took on Ragal's form. Ragal feared this strange transformation. She and her husband tried to kill Kasey, but they really hadn’t stood a chance against Kasey’s assassin’s training. Now Kasey had the added advantage of a Kalat body with newfound strength.

After she had killed Ragal and her husband, she heard light, unsteady footsteps approaching from the adjoining tunnel. Kasey found a two-year-old child toddling toward her. “Mama.” She raised her hands to be picked up. Kasey picked up the child and wept for the first time since she was six years old. Kasey realized what a monster she’d become. She found her way to Sarx-Ergon and encountered Moluno. This horrible creature had stunned her by calling her his sister.

Kasey, to hide the fact that she had murdered this man's sister and brother-in-law, clung to the child and pretended that she was in shock. She just stared forward and didn’t speak. She continued the ruse while doing a lot of listening. Kasey learned the language and everything she could about Ragal, Ragal’s husband Gjeno, about Moluno, Musterion, and the Kalat. Kasey finally broke her silence after three months and took on the life of Ragal. Not too long after that, Nekar, the last of the original thirteen Adam, broke into the home Kasey had stolen from Ragal and Gjeno and took Ragal’s daughter. Kasey found a note that said, “She’s not yours to keep.” For the second time since she had come to Musterion, Kasey wept.

Moluno declared a hunt for Nekar. Anyone who followed the Council of Six and found Nekar had carte blanche to kill him as long as they brought back his body as proof. But Kasey soon learned the price of crossing Nekar. For two years the Kalat had hunted Nekar almost non-stop. One day he was seen sitting on a bench in the square at Sarx-Ergon. Word spread and the Kalat quickly formed a mob.

Nekar escaped down a tunnel and the mob followed. He led those Kalat into the Maze of Musterion, never to be seen again. Sarx-Ergon lost 53 Kalat that day. Nekar knew that the Kalat would always give in to their rage when they saw him and he did the same thing over and over. In one year Sarx-Ergon lost 342 Kalat.

Moluno called Nekar before the council, and surprisingly he came. Moluno agreed to call off the hunt if he would stop leading Kalat into the Maze of Musterion. Kasey confronted him, furious, and demanded he tell her what he’d done with the child Alicia. Nekar shrugged. “I gave her to the giant. Your only hope of ever seeing her again is to embrace the Phoenix.” He walked away, laughing hysterically. She never understood what that meant.

Years went by. Kasey became notorious in Sarx-Ergon and throughout all of Musterion. The Council of Seven couldn't touch her for her many "services" for Moluno. Recently she’d stopped doing his bidding, and Moluno had threatened her for her insubordination. After today, however, she felt that she didn’t have anything to worry about anymore. The one truth that she’d hidden so well from all the Kalat, and Moluno especially, these idiots from Earth would now blazon abroad without even realizing it. Their arrival was a game-changer.

Kasey set down her empty bottle of ale as an Akana slave brought her another. She’d been in Musterion for 457 years. It was high time to leave. A return to Earth was not what she hoped to get out of the meeting with Omar and Myles. But Soterion was a different story. She’d heard so much about Soterion. Every few years someone would wander into the maze from there and get stuck. She concluded from all that she’d learned from those people that Soterion was similar to Earth, at least physically. It had two suns and three moons, however. She longed to see that. Kasey thought most of all that it might be nice to not have to live in a world made of tunnels.

Suddenly Neafer appeared in front of her, standing on the table. She was one of Kasey’s personal Haspen spies, with pale skin, dark, sunken eyes, and long black hair partly obscuring her face. At the moment, she was wearing a black silk dress and black-and-white-striped stockings pulled up to her knees.

"Madame Ragal, Your visitors have just come out of the tunnels and are entering Sarx-Ergon.”

“Good. Thank you, Neafer. Please send some Daqad guards to protect them from any buffoons eager to test their Magi powers.”

Neafer's black-painted lips twisted upward. “Of course, Madam. We wouldn’t want anyone getting to them before we do, now would we?”

“Precisely, Neafer. You read my mind.”

Neafer giggled and disappeared.
Now how am I going to approach these Magi?

~*~

Myles, Sebastian, and Omar had found the tunnel that would lead them to Sarx-Ergon. Myles and Omar were not entirely sure they wanted to go back into the tunnels. Ischus provided them with the most direct route. Ischus seemed curious as to why they would dare venture into the one city of Musterion with the highest Kalat population, though he didn’t demand any answers. Ischus reminded them that the two councils would likely come to a decision about the Magi soon.

Myles and Omar were glad that Ischus hadn’t forced any information out of them. This strange development with Ragal had left them with a lot more questions than answers. They definitely didn’t want to explain the motorcycle and the bags of weapons.

Sebastian guided them to a tunnel that was ankle-deep in water.

“On Soterion, the Kalat hate all other Malakadam; but here in Musterion, Moluno has made peace with the Akana. So Omar, they will treat you better than they would me. Use that to your advantage if you can. Remember, Moluno must stay in Pneuma Karpos until the councils come to an agreement. This will work to your advantage also. He can’t stir up trouble for you until he gets back.

“I find it hard to understand how Ragal could know this language you spoke on Earth. It seems impossible that she came from there as you did. You must understand that Ragal has a family, Moluno among them; she had a husband, a child. I would suggest that you ask questions instead of accusing her of anything. Ragal is one of the most well-known of all the Kalat in Musterion. Her power over them rivals that of Moluno. I wouldn’t underestimate her. She won’t fight you physically unless she has to, but her tongue is a far more dangerous weapon.”

Omar stepped around a large rat floating on a piece of wood. “Myles, how did Sebastian’s first lesson go?”

Myles winked at Sebastian. “He now knows how to make a small object completely disappear.”

“Is that right? Sebastian, I’m impressed.”

Sebastian nodded and explained. “The Gabad are the swiftest and most dexterous of all the races on Soterion. I picked up on the trick fast.”

Omar turned to Sebastian. “Next will be my first lesson for you. However, it will be different from what Myles taught you. By combining what the two of us can teach you, you might become more dangerous in reality than these people already think the Magi are."

Sebastian tilted his head and looked at Omar in surprise. “I seriously doubt that.”

They reached the end of the tunnel and got their first look at Sarx-Ergon. Before them was a city with spiraling towers as high as any skyscraper Myles or Omar had ever seen. But it was what they could see above the towers that made them gasp. An open sky with billions of stars and a red moon formed a stunning backdrop. A multicolored nebula blanketed the horizon and illuminated the sky above the city.

Sebastian smiled at his two mentors. “It’s breathtaking, don’t you think?”

Omar just stuttered for a moment. “S-S-Sebastian, is that sky real? I mean, does it really open out of the maze?”

Sebastian nodded as he watched the child-like awe on their faces.

Myles gaped. “You’ve got to be kidding me! If that’s true, why don’t you just fly out of the maze? Couldn’t you get out that way?”

“You might get out but not alive. There are many places where the maze opens up and each view is just as breathtaking as this one. Some have tried to fly out only to discover that there’s no air beyond the walls of the maze.”

Omar smirked at Myles. Myles shook his head. “There’s no way you packed a spacesuit in that bundle of yours.”

“No, but I actually did one better. I did bring something I invented for NASA. I won’t explain now, but we won't really even need a suit.”

Myles saw Sebastian's baffled look and put an arm around him. “Apparently, the simple explanation is that a lack of air is not going to stop us.”

Sebastian clearly wanted to know more. Instead he looked toward the city again and pointed. "Smoke! That's where the City Hall is!"

“What do you think that’s about?” asked Myles.

"With Ragal being who she is, if she wasn’t involved before the fire started, she is now!”

Myles gave them both a push. “You two take off. I’ll catch up on foot!”

Omar and Sebastian flew toward the black cloud rising from the center of the city as Myles ran in the same direction.

~*~

With a satisfied grin, Kasey drank the last drop of her ale and mentally rehearsed her plan to reel in the Magi. She set the cup down on the table and clapped a hand to her neck at the stinging sensation she knew all too well. Dart guns were a common weapon on Musterion. The moss on the walls of the tunnels was the source of the light in Musterion. That same moss was a deadly poison to the Kalat. Only a few knew this, and when Kasey had first learned the secret, she had a concocted something that wasn’t really an antidote, but which suppressed the effects of the poison for as long as three days.

Kasey pulled the dart from her neck and confirmed her suspicions. She reached into a belt pouch, pulled out the slowing agent, and swallowed a dose. She reached down to pull a .38 revolver from her boot as she looked around for the assassin. In all the time she’d been in Musterion, she’d never used her gun in public, but she practiced regularly and kept it clean for such an occasion. Knowing that she was going to die in the next three days, revenge seemed to be her only option.

She looked up to the balcony above the library and saw a figure climbing out an upper window. Kasey jumped to the balcony where she grabbed a gas lamp and tossed it to the floor of the library. A burning lamp spilled all over the floor would get someone’s attention for sure. She was a dead woman walking, but at least every Kalat in the city would be after her assassin if she didn’t get him first.

Kasey climbed up to the roof of the building where the assassin had joined nine other Kalat. With six bullets in the revolver she wasn’t going to take her chances on having to reload. She’d have to take out four of her executioners with her sword. So, while holding the .38 in her left hand, she drew her katana from its sheath with her right hand.

“I’ll tell you what, boys. I’ll let all of you go if you tell me who sent the assassin. Why kill the messenger, right?”

The ten Kalat waited for her first move without answering. Kasey nodded in agreement and pointed her sword at the largest in the group, “All right, I’ll kill you first.” Then she pointed the sword at the assassin saying, “And I’ll kill you last.”

She raised the gun and popped off three headshots. The assassin ran for it as three Kalat fell to the ground. The other six looked down in shock. Kasey smiled as she raised the gun. “Last offer. All I want is the assassin. Let me chase him down, and you all live to see tomorrow.”