A Long Time from Home Ch. 24

"Yes Sir."

The Dominus Grande took a red scarf from the desk and gave it to me. "These are given to all people that go on missions. According to the doctors, the disease spread through the air, but mages have developed these magical scarfs to prevent contamination. Put it over your nose and mouth when you go out and you're safe." He smiled grimly. "It also works as a Colorare Mortis (Baylon: "Mask of death") in case you need it."

I took the scarf. "Thank you, Sir. When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." He smiled. "Now go say goodbye to your friends, Spectre."

I saluted and walked out, but instead of going to see Varro and Verina, I walked to my room. I needed some time to get my thoughts in order.

A glass later, I had finished packing and was sitting by the window, drinking tea and looking at the red scarf, while thinking about why the Dominus thought I might need a Colorare Mortis.

The Mask of Death is part of an Ars Mentalis trick, used by assassins for hundreds of years. If you have to kill someone and lie convincingly about it, you make a mask and as you don that mask, you become another person. Then the person that you have become, do the killing and not you, so when you take of the mask and become yourself again, you haven't actually killed anybody.

It sounds weird, but it's a great mental trick to help you lie if asked about it. Any interrogator worth anything knows about the trick, so it's useless in court, but if superficially asked, it's a great help.

I drank some more tea, thinking it over. The chances for anybody really interrogating an Inquisitor were on the other hand rather slim, so perhaps it would be a greater help than I thought. As long as I didn't do anything stupid that is, because when delivering a report after any job, there are always questions that are designed to reveal the use of a Colorare Mortis, so Inquisitors didn't abuse it.

Placing the cup on the table next to me, I stood up and placed the red scarf in the backpack, before I walked to the door. It was time to say goodbye, or at least "see you later" to a lot of people.

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The city of Sybaris, Baylon. Ca. 1220 BC.

The stench of rotting flesh lay as a thick pillow over the city of Sybaris and the sound of carrion eaters echoed between the empty streets. Not that they were really empty, as there were plenty of rats that feed of the corpses, sometimes making the streets look like they were covered in a moving brown furry carpet.

To make the experience even worse, there was so much negative energy in the city that it hung in the air like an invisible vapor, drenching us with the stench of death with every move we made.

"This assignment sucks!" stated Varro as we walked up the main street. "Or rather... it stinks!"

I nodded in silent agreement. We had been assigned to both clean up the place a bit and to bring in a mage to find some magical books and artifacts that the Ordo Ars Magica simply couldn't live without, since most of the libraries were gone.

Unfortunately, those artifacts were in the main building of Ordo Ars Magica in Sybaris, which meant going through a dead, stinking, rat and Disease infested city to get there and after that, Varro had to do some Ars Magica to bring in the mage.

The bright spot in all this was that since they were sending us into potential Diseased cities, we had both received some of the first vaccines that had been made, making us immune to the Disease.

As it turned out, my theory about the Pulcher family had been correct. A careful search of their castles in the human world, had revealed that they had used a mix of Alchemy and magic to create the Disease and their notes had been instrumental in creating a vaccine against it.

The worst part was that it didn't seem like anybody knew why the Pulchers had done it. According to Dominus Grande Maximus, the leaders of the family on Baylon had killed themselves to avoid getting captured and interrogated, exactly like the ones in the castles.

While I could understand their efforts from saving the whole family from being destroyed, it was also frustrating, because I was still certain that the Pulchers wasn't working alone. Unfortunately, with the leadership dead and gone, it had become almost impossible to find out who they had been working with.

The only hope was that the Securitas had found something more than the notes about the Disease when they searched the castles, but even if they had found something, it was highly unlikely that they would inform a lowly Inquisitor like me about it.

I looked around and saw a pile of gnawed bones. Even with the speed they had made the vaccine, it had come too late for the thirty thousand citizens of Sybaris. Not that all of them had been infected by the Disease, but the pain in the head had also driven infected Mages or Mentats insane and those who hadn't killed themselves, tended to direct their rage against others, which in many cases were either their family or simply the nearest target. Half the inner city was burned down or blown up along with whichever people was in there at the time, which had added to the death toll.

The few that had survived that, were caught in a magically sealed city where the Disease, or those infected by it, had killed them as it spread. It was a harsh way to defend Baylon, but until recently, it was also the only way to stop the Disease from spreading further. Now that we had the vaccine, that would change, but it didn't bring back the dead.

"Are you even listening to me?" asked Varro irritated, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, and I agree." I said as I warped the Colorare Mortis around head, covering the mouth and nose in the hope that it lessened the stench. At least it would keep the flies out. "It stinks even worse than Gesso."

"Well, Gesso had been wiped out half a year before we had to go there." Grumbled Varro. "No rotting flesh there."

"Good point." I answered as we closed the city gate and started to walk towards the city centre, stopping from time to time to take an Ignis Lapis (Baylon: 'Fire stone') and throw it into a building before we moved on. An Ignis Lapis was a magical stone that held a huge fire spell that would go off after two day or so, causing a large area to be covered in magical flames. It would last for almost a day, which was time enough to set even Baylon buildings on fire and with the number of buildings we were hitting, most of the city would be burning the day after tomorrow.

It was the only way to ensure that the Disease, plagues, and sickness in the city was gone and it would kill off many of the rats and dogs, which had the potential to become bearers of the diseases.

A low howling that sounded like it came from the other side of a building caught my attention and I lifted a hand to signal a stop, but it was unnecessary: Varro had heard it too and looked at me, as he pointed upwards towards a low rooftop.

With a nod, I slipped into Vis meditation of a moment to activate a trick that allowed me to jump the six meters up there, landing in a crouch, so I couldn't be seen from the streets on the other side.

Varro followed a moment later and we sneaked to the edge of the roof.

The grisly sight that met us was one we had seen too many times before.

In the square below thin, greyish humanoids sat near some corpses, tearing the half-rotten flesh from the corpses with clawed hands and eating it, as if it were the greatest delicacy in the world.

Their mouths were filled with long teeth that wasn't quite fangs, but longer than normal, and what had once been clothes hang as rags on their bodies.

"Ghouls." Whispered Varro and I nodded in agreement.

Ghouls were strange creatures. They were the sad remains of people who had been hungry, desperate, or insane enough to start feeding on the uncooked meat of corpses. That by itself was a diet that killed most people, but sometimes the Negative energy in the corpses infested them and instead of dying, they became transformed into an animal-like creature not quite living, not quite dead, but mostly quite stupid.

Many of them had completely forgotten their former lives, but a few had the unpleasant ability to use the some of the Ars Magica as they could before.

While most ghouls were no match for us in combat, the few that could use Ars Magica were a danger we needed to deal with before moving on.

There were twelve ghouls in the square below us, but five of them looked human and thus unable to use Ars Magica. That left seven possible spell casters, which was bad news. On the bright side, even those ghouls were stupid, and their spell casting was usually rather basic, almost instinctive.

I looked at Varro and whispered. "Plan?"

"Fire in a back alley?" He whispered back, referring to a tactic we had used before. Lure the ghouls into a back alley and fill in with a wall of fire, killing the ghouls.

I nodded in agreement and looked down at the square again. Extending my mind, I took hold of a corpse and moved it slowly a few meters. The ghouls looked at the moving corpse and nine of them mindlessly walked towards it.

"Nice. I'll go now." Varro whispered and sneaked off to the right.

I moved the corpse a few more meters as the ghouls started to come closer to it.

They stopped to look at the moving corpse, but then followed it.

I continued to do that, until the nine ghouls had followed the corpse to the entrance of a back alley, where I flung the corpse into the alley.

They didn't even hesitate, but followed the corpse into the alley, so I turned my attention towards the last three. One was still eating, but the two others were watching the pack disappearing into the back alley.

The problem was that I needed to take all three out as fast as possible to avoid giving them a chance to use any magic and neither throwing knives nor bows were effective against ghouls.

Slipping into Vis Meditation I activated Pugna Promptu to alert me of attacks and silently drew my sword, as the end of the back alley suddenly erupted as a Wall of Fire rose from the ground, sealing it off from the square.

Using an Ars Mentalis trick called Relictis (Baylon: "Leaving"), I transported myself to a spot behind the two watching Ghouls, entering the slow world of Mutatur Tempus Mente at the same time.

The first one went down, as I nearly cut it in half and the other turned towards me so slowly, that when it finally saw me, it was too late as I beheaded it.

Pugna Promptu warned me of an incoming attack and whirling around I narrowly avoided a bolt of magical fire from the last Ghoul.

With a snarl, it sent another bolt my way.

Reacting with the instinct driven by Pugna Promptu, I hit the bolt in the air, deflecting it away from me and moved to cross the distance between us with a speed powered by Ars Mentalis.

It looked surprised as Shadow Fang flashed and took of its right arm, but I didn't give it time to recover and the next attack hit it in the head, killing it.

Looking around to see if more attacks were coming, I saw Varro as he jumped down from the building and walked towards me.

"Any problems?" I asked when he came closer.

He shrugged. "No, they're ghoul barbeque by now."

"Not exactly one of my favourite dishes." I said with a chuckle. "Let's move on."

"One moment." Said Varro as he studied me. "I saw you use a power to move behind the ghoul and then hit him almost at the same time. How did you do that?"

"Well, that's how Relictis is supposed to work." I said, not understanding what the problem was.

To my surprise, Varro shook his head. "No, it's not. Everybody else have a few heartbeats of disorientation when they use Relictis or a similar power to change position, which is why it's rarely used offensively in battle. Don't you have that?"

Surprised, I just shook my head. "No, not really. I use it to change location and then I go on as before."

He looked at me for a moment, but then shook his head. "Well, just be happy that it works that way for you."

I grinned at him. "Oh, I am. Now, lead the way. We're not out of this yet."

With another nod, he turned, and we started walking again.

-----------------------

"Ahh here we are." Remarked Varro some four glass later, as we passed through the arch that marked the entrance to the Ordo Ars Magica quarter. "So now we only need to find the headmasters villa."

"And avoid whatever is in here." I added as I looked around "Some of these insane mages isn't exactly fun to meet."

"Well, most of them would be dead or severely limited in spell casting by now, but you're still right." Varro said as we slowly walked towards the main building, while looking around for enemies.

Because the Disease ate into the Centrum Potentia (Baylon: 'The Centre of Power'), those that had been driven insane by the pain, weren't that strong in power and as time went by, that power diminished, until they died.

Unfortunately, some of those attacked by the Disease had been extraordinarily strong to begin with, meaning that they could easily be stronger than both of us even with their limited power.

The door to the main building was locked, so after checking that there wasn't a trap on it, I found a lock pick set from a pouch and got to work.

"When did you have time to learn that?" Asked Varro as he watched me.

"Do you remember when I told you, that I was studying or training, while you and your gang played around?"

"Yes, but ...Oh... "

I nodded. "Yeah... Deception and subterfuge skills were taught in non-mandatory classes..." There was a 'click' as the lock opened. "...and I took most of them."

"Hmm, I feel lazy now."

"No need for that. As far I remember you took the extra classes in Ars Magica, which I didn't take."

"Good point." He grinned and stepped aside as I took my sword and used it to open the door. It's not that I'm paranoid, but if I had been living in the inner city during the Disease, with insane Ordo Ars Magica members running around, I would have put some traps on the door to my house. It might not kill them, but a few broken fingers make it a lot harder to cast spells, giving you a better chance to survive.

I had forgotten it once in Gesso and nearly lost my hand when a ward went off and gave me the shock of a lifetime. Needless to say, I don't forget that anymore.

Seeing that there weren't any traps, we walked silently into the building.

Once the building must have been a beautiful sight, with painted frescos on the walls, mosaics on the floors and fine vases and statues all over.

Now it looked like a decorated cross between a slaughterhouse and a cemetery. Decaying corpses of servants lay everywhere. Some had faces contorted in pain, frozen in the moment of death due to the disease, while others had been killed in various fashions. Once that sight would have bothered me, but that was years and thousands of corpses ago.

"Fuck!" Mumbled Varro disgusted. "The spells that keep the villa clean, must slow the decay of the corpses."

"Yeah, dry air, no flies or maggots and so on." I answered as I looked for the entrance to the Gating room, where Varro was supposed to bring in the mage. "They're being mummified."

Varro must have seen it because he pointed towards a closed door. "It's that way. I was here on visit a while ago."

Besides being an Ars Magica user, where I was a Mentat, Varro came from a family of mages, so he had visited most of the Ordo Ars Magica's quarters in the various cities and knew his way around.

Nodding I walked towards the door, being careful not to step on the corpses. Slow decay or not, touching those corpses would cause them to break and spread stink everywhere.

Again, I searched the door for traps, but it seemed clear, so I opened it slowly with the scabbard, holding the sword in the other hand.

The Gating room looked like all other gating rooms I've seen: Octagonal and with a mosaic in the floor that held the city signet as well as the Ordo Ars Magica logo.

The corpses of the four guards were not part of the usual interior design, but Varro ignored them as he walked to the middle of the room.

"Are you ready?" He asked as he stopped.

"Not much to be ready for." I remarked, as I looked around in the room outside. There was nothing but dead people and they weren't moving. "Go ahead."

He started to cast an Ars Magica spell and I could hear the power hum in the air and almost felt it on my skin, wishing he could have used Ars Mentalis instead. Ars Magica tended to give a lot of magical noise when used for long distance communication.

However, it was impossible to use Ars Mentalis to gate or teleport people into the Ordo Ars Magica compound and after the Disease, the magi had changed the wards, so it was impossible to gate out of a city by any means, meaning that we had to escort the mage to the city gates afterwards.

Varro extended a hand in front of him and a moment later a hand appeared out of the thin air and clasped it. Varro did a dragging motion, causing a tall, bald mage to appear out of nowhere.

The magical noise disappeared as Varro let go of the hand and bowed slightly. "Hello, Scolaris Narses."

Glancing at the Ordo sign on the man's clothing, I sighed to myself. It was an Ordo Ars Magica Sage: A Researcher and from the look of him, one of those that had spent most of his life in the sheltered surroundings of his books. Granted, sages are clever, but they are rarely smart, as in quick thinkers, and we had to get him out of the city when we were done here.

"Hello, Inquisitor Varro." Said the bald mage with a nod, but then saw the bodies and gagged.

We waited until he had composed himself again.

"Why haven't these people been given a proper burial?" he demanded to know after a little while. "They shouldn't just lay here."

"Feel free to arrange it." I said quietly, which caused him to look at me for the first time. "There are twenty thousand more out there you can bury while you're at it."

"And this is Spectre." Said Varro calmly. "Ignore the scarf, it stops flies from getting into your mouth and nose."

The sage bowed slightly. "Scolaris Narses. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." I said, returning the bow. "Now let's get moving."

Narses nodded and walked out of the room but stopped so suddenly that I almost walked into him.

"Ignore the corpses." I said as I saw him look around with a horrified expression on his face. "We need to find the books and artifacts as soon as possible."

"And try not to touch them." Added Varro. "They stink to high heaven when they break."

Looking a little green by the ears, Narses nodded silently and started to walk again, turning right.

We walked for almost a glass, following the sage as he walked down long empty corridors, ignoring corpses and other unpleasant sights on the way.

Then he stopped by a large door and took a key from a pouch. "It's in here."

"One moment." I whispered and started to check the door for traps.

Behind me, I could hear him asking Varro in a whisper. "Why are we whispering?"

"Because we don't know if anybody is in here and we want to avoid trouble." Varro answered back, his voice a touch irritated.

"Oh."

Satisfied that there were no traps on the door, I motioned for Narses to unlock the door, which he did. That he also opened it wasn't according to plan, at least not mine, so I pulled him away as the door swung up.

The sound of somebody whistling reached my ears.

Apparently, the others had heard it too because they were suddenly silent.

Placing myself against the wall, I took a small metal mirror from a belt pouch and used it to look inside the room.

As the rest of the house, the study had been a nice place once, but now the walls were covered in writing, that looked like it had been done in blood, while the floor was covered in sickly green goo.