A Long Time from Home Ch. 32

My mind searched for ways out of the situation, that didn't include combat, but with the teleport being unusable, it was hard to see how it could be done.

An idea struck me. One that was so simple, it might work. Taking a deep breath, I shouted. "This is Inquisitor Captain Spectre of the Ordo Gladius. Lay down your weapons and surrender." Just to be on the safe side, I used mental communication to send out the same message to everyone within the square.

It had seemed like a good idea, but just as I had finished shouting, a fireball exploded against the cart, proving that they weren't about to just surrender.

Time to dance with the Goddess of Death again.

A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Slipping into Vis Meditation yet again, I activated Vigor Pugio (Baylon: 'Energy Daggers'). Immediately a shimmering throwing dagger of concentrated Vis appeared in my free hand and with a flick of the wrist, I sent it into the chest of yet another dark red figure that had appeared on top of the city walls. A new Energy Dagger appeared in my hand as soon as the first one was thrown.

The figure fell to the ground with a crash as I infused mental energy into Shadow Fang. Like the other times I had used that ability, I could feel the blade contract as it got sharper.

Magic hummed in the air and the cart I was hiding behind suddenly turned to dust, revealing seven soldiers in dark red armors coming my way. All seven of them were holding a round shield with the same dark red colour, and all were wielding swords.

I went into action, activating an advanced version of the Mico Gradus (Baylon: "Flash Step") Vis Power, which allowed me to move incredible fast for a short distance, while still being able to react to my surroundings. Then I dashed between the seven warriors, hitting each as I passed them, slashing through armor, flesh and bone with each hit, wounding or killing them.

They fell, but one of the magi fired a glittering Bolt of Ice my way. I parried it with my sword, sending it into a wall. Then I noticed that a dozen more people clad in dark red uniforms had appeared in the plaza. They must have arrived while I was behind the cart.

Cursing to myself, I used a telekinesis trick to reach out with my mind, taking hold of the swords my attackers had dropped and hurled them toward a group of five magi. The spinning swords glittered in the sunlight for a heartbeat and then slammed into the magi, cutting through their robes and painted the wall behind them red with blood.

Standing still in a combat against magi was always a bad idea, and I was about to move again, when Pugna Promptu warned me of three incoming attacks from a trio of magi to my right.

Moving away as fast as I could, I managed to dodge one of the elemental bolts and parry another, although the third attack, an Icebolt, hit me in the side. The Iron Silk stiffened lessening the blow, but pain shot through my body as several rips broke from the force of the bolt. Gritting my teeth, I blocked the pain, and sent a shimmering Energy Dagger into the facemask of a mage.

More elemental bolt left the rest of the magi, but before they could hit, I used Mico Gradus again, as I sprinted towards a group of soldiers, throwing two Energy Daggers as I moved past the remaining two magi in the trio. The bolts flew past me, but the daggers hit, sending them to the ground before they could cast another spell.

Another spell hit me, but this time it wasn't an elemental bolt spell and thus not something I could dodge or even know where it was coming from. Powerful Ars Magica tore into my body, breaking bones, and rending flesh. Screaming with pain, I sent out a wave of mental energy that caused the group of soldiers to stagger as the wave stunned them. Unfortunately, the magi were out of range for the mental scream, which meant that I had to avoid them somehow.

Using a moment to block the pain again, I dashed into the group of soldiers, where the magi couldn't hit me without hitting their own people. Shadow Fang glittered in the air, cleaving the chest of a soldier. He fell to the ground and I sent two Energy Daggers through the space where he had been standing, impaling a mage some twenty cubits away. He must had been uttering an extremely powerful spell, because when my knife interrupted the spell, he staggered for a heartbeat, before his head exploded, as the magical forces he had been gathering suddenly had nowhere to go.

I dodged the attack from one of the three remaining soldiers in the group I was in and took off the head of one of them with Shadow Fang, being careful not to expose myself to the magi. Fortunately, the soldiers were a lot less skills than they looked, and I continued to dance around them, as I sent the next Energy Dagger into the chest of yet another mage.

A soldier died when a Lightning Bolt missed me and hit him in the chest, blasting right through him to hit a wall some thirty cubit away. Lightning Bolt is a much more powerful spell than the Ice- and Firebolts the other magi had cast, and I instinctively focused on the mage that had cast the spell, marking her as dangerous in my mind.

Impaling the last soldiers with the sword, I dodged around him and used telekinesis to hurl three of the dropped swords into the dangerous mage. The first one bounced of an invisible barrier, but the next two hit her head and chest, killing her instantly.

That left only the two magi who had flanked the Lightning Bolt caster and I didn't want to give them time to do anything, so I threw yet other knife at the nearest one, just to make the mage dodge and interrupt his spells. To my pleasant surprise, he either didn't see it coming or was preoccupied with the spell casting, because it buried itself to the hilt in his chest, killing him.

Activating the Mico Gradus (Baylon: "Flash Step") Vis Power again, I dashed to the right, dodging a fireball from the last mage, and before he knew what was happening, I was next to him. There was a surprised look on his face as Shadow Fang pierced his heart with a stab, but the expression disappeared when I jammed an Energy Dagger through his temple, destroying his brain.

The made all my visible opponents dead, but I doubted that they were the only one here, so I moved towards the gate as fast as I could, while using an Ars Mentalis trick to detect mind-patterns.

Four patterns showed up where there were no people to see, positioned in pairs by the walls to each side of the gate.

Pugna Promptu screamed to me, that an attack was incoming, so I hurriedly sent out a cone of mental energy that slammed a pair of magi against the wall they were standing by. They became visible as they crumbled to the ground as two broken dolls.

Two gleaming bolts of Ice raced towards me from the other two magi and while I managed to parry one of them, the other bolt was so badly aimed that it took me by surprise and hit my upper right leg. There was a sound like a dry piece of wood snapping in two, as my leg broke, sending me tumbling to the ground.

Still being in the slow, secure world of Mutatur Tempus Mente, falling took a long time in my head and before I even hit the ground, I had sent out a mental attack, that sent both into a coma.

Just as I lifted my head to ensure that I had gotten them all, a force picked me up from the ground and threw me through the air towards the city walls. I had just enough presence of mind to turn in the air, so I didn't hit it with my head, but the impact broke even more bones and knocked the air out of my body.

Shimmering chains of magical energy surrounded my body the moment I hit the ground, making movement or escape almost impossible. As I looked up, I saw a lone figure walking towards me in a slow measured pace. A bolt of stone left his hands and slammed into my body before it continued, only to turn and hit me again, breaking the arm I had lifted to protect my head.

And again. Breaking the other leg with so much force that if I haven't been clad in Iron Silk, it would have amputated the leg.

And again. Mangling my hand and causing me to drop my sword, as the bones in the fingers was smashed to pieces.

And again. Shattering my shoulder as the bolt disintegrated against the Iron Silk.

My world was pain and to make it worse, I could only watch as the blurred figure cast another bolt of stone. Fortunately, I was still in the slow, secure world of Mutatur Tempus Mente and that gave me just enough time to create an invisible forcefield around myself before the bolt hit.

It didn't stop the stone bolt, but along with the Iron Silk armor, it did reduce the damage a lot, as the bolt hit me just as many times as the first one. One of them hit me in the head and I must have passed out for a moment, because the next thing I remember was looking at the face of Angus Nigrus Cor, as he kneeled beside me, with a frown on his face.

"I don't know how you're still alive, Inquisitor Emilian, but I hope you suffer." He showed his teeth in a humorless smile. "You have been a pain for years."

I tried to speak, to tell him that his actions would destroy Baylon, but nothing came out.

"Oh, too hurt to speak?" He shrugged lightly. "That matters little. You failed, we succeeded. Baylon will return to its home dimension."

Ignoring his taunts, I tried to use mental communication to tell him the same as before, but for some reason, it was blocked.

He laughed, wriggling his hand in front of my eyes. A ring with a glowing red stone caught my eye. "See this ring? This makes me immune to mind attacks, so just give up trying."

"Fool." I managed to say, finally getting my mouth to work for just one word.

That took him by surprise, but the surprise quickly turned into anger and a heartbeat later my head rang as he hit me in the face. Fortunately, the forcefield trick was still working, so the punch was rather weak. Still with all the damage I had taken, it still made lights appear in my eyes.

Hitting the forcefield seemed to piss him off, but with a visible effort, he brought his temper under control. "Never mind. You're going to die here and now."

He started to cast a spell.

Slipping into Vis-meditation of a heartbeat, I activated a power that allowed me to drag something to me, and then used it on him. His eyes widened as he was pulled into his own energy chains, burning his hands, and interrupting his spellcasting.

Even better was that the energy chain spell did exactly what it was designed to do. It dissolved when their creator touched them and at the same time, I used the only power I could think off, that wasn't a mind attack.

Every Mentat healer used the Tralativa (Baylon: Transfer) trick to transfer a wound or any other problem from the patient to the healer, since Mentat healers could only heal themselves. What few people knew, was that this trick, like several other tricks, could be reversed if the Mentat is skilled enough.

The reverse version is called Vindicta sanantis (Baylon: Revenge of the Healer) and will transfer wounds from the healer to whomever he or she is touching.

Gathering the mental energy, I headbutted him, releasing the Vindicta sanantis as my forehead smashed his nose, breaking it.

To my amazement, it went through his defenses and a shimmering field surrounded us both for a few heartbeats as time and space was twisted, and I transferred every single wound I had gotten during the fight to him. The broken, shattered, or pulverized bones, the mangled flesh, the ruptured tendons and muscles, and every bruise, scrape and minor bleeding that came with them, disappeared from my body, and materialized on Angus Cor.

A wave of relief soared through me, as my body returned to normal, and the pain suddenly disappeared, but Angus Nigrus Cor didn't fare so well.

He shook violently as the Vindicta sanantis sundered his body, the noise of multiple bones breaking at the same time sounding like a giant stepping on a pile of dried twigs. Wide-eyed, he opened his mouth in a silent scream and fell to the ground, passed out from the pain.

Shaking my head to clear it, I took a moment to check myself and after confirming that everything was as it should be, I took hold of Shadow Fang and stood, as I looked around. It felt like the fight had taken hours, but I doubted it had lasted for more than a few minutes, judging from the still stunned expression of the few remaining people in the square.

A city guard patrol came running toward me, clubs at the ready.

Holding up my Inquisitor seal, I quickly identified myself, using both vocal and mind-speech. Since it's incredible difficult to lie over mind-speech, that seemed to calm them down somewhat.

The Sergeant saluted. "Well met, Inquisitor Spectre. How can we assist you?"

I blinked a few times in surprise when I realized that I knew the leader. It was Sertor Claudius Galba, the nephew of Sky Knight Galba of the Dragon Riders, and one of the students I had met in Arcem Discendi along with Sabia Lartius about five years ago.

Reaching out with my mind, I asked "< May I ask what are you doing here, Sertor Galba? Shouldn't you be in Arcem Discendi? >"

"< Yes, sir. I'm here to learn how the city guard work. This is my second tour >"

Since any Inquisitor would be required to work with the city guard from time to time, spending time being one had always been a part of the education, but most students only did it once and my guess was that he was being punished for something. Not that it mattered right now.

Verbally, I said. "Good to meet you again, Sergeant Galba. I need you to place this mage, as well as any survivors from the combat, under arrest: They're involved in the plot to assassinate the High King."

That got their attention and Galba's eyes turned hard as he looked at Angus Nigrus Cor. "Yes, sir."

Focusing on Sergeant Galba, I reached out with my mind and sent a fast recap of the combat to him. He would need it to understand what had happened. Then I finished verbally with. "He cannot wake up or be allowed to escape. The same goes for all the people dressed in those dark red uniform. I want them all to stand trial."

The sergeant nodded. "We'll take care of them. They're not going anywhere." Looking around, he added. "May I ask what those red uniforms are? I've never seen them before."

I shrugged slightly. "I don't know. It's the first time I've seen them as well." I pondered it for a few heartbeats. "Guard me."

"Yes, sir."

Reaching down, I placed a hand on Angus Nigrus Cor's forehead and reached out to read his mind. Unfortunately, his mind-shield was extremely tough and trying to read his thoughts was like running into a stone wall. I sighed as I realized, that there was no way I was going to get through that shield anytime soon and time wasn't exactly my friend.

I opened my eyes again and looked at the Sergeant. "I can't read his mind right now, so that will have to wait. I advise you to gather the witness and safe them safe as well." I paused for a moment to think it over and then continued. "Oh, you need to remove his items. Some of them makes him immune to Powers."

One of the guards grinned widely and took a pair of pliers from her belt. "We got this covered, sir. It's not the first time we had to arrest a mage."

"Good. Please do it now." I turned towards Galba again. "I have to leave. Can you open the gate for me?"

"Yes, sir." Said Galba and took a wand from his belt. "Allow me."

We walked to the gate, where he used the wand to unlock the gate for me and said his goodbyes, while I opened the small door and walked outside, aiming for the small forest where I had arrived yesterday.

The thought made me shake my head. Everything moved so fast, that it was hard to believe that it was only yesterday I got out of the hospital.

When I has entered the forest, I stopped and reached out with my mind to complete the plan I had made a glass earlier. "< Hello Tia >"

"< Ivah! >" came the happy answer. "< Are you in the neighbourhood? >"

"< Not yet. Listen, I really need your help right now and it's serious >"

There was a slight pause where I assumed, that she was thinking it over. "< Can you tell me more about it? >"

"< Not without putting you in danger and that is not going to happen >"

There was a mental laughter, as she replied. "< Fair, I guess. What do you need? >"

"< I'll tell you later. Can I teleport to your room? >"

"< No. I've gotten a new room, so you're not familiar with this one. Here's an image >"

A mental image followed, showing a room that was larger than the old one, but just as luxurious, with Kemetian art and carvings.

"< Nice >" I commented as I locked the image in my mind and used the Ars Mentalis trick that would teleport me there.

A few heartbeats later, I was standing in the room in front of Tia, who was sitting on a richly decorated Kemetian style chair. She was looking just as good as the last time I saw her, with the long red curly hair framing her pretty face and highlighting her sparkling green eyes. However, her clothes were different as she was wearing the robe of a Dominus in the Ordo Architectus, the highest rank a pure mage could get in the Ordo. The Dominus Grande had always been both a smith and a mage and I doubted that was going to change ever.

The smile on her face disappeared the moment she saw me. "Goddess! What happened?"

Surprised, I looked down at myself. I had forgotten to clean myself after the fight in Grove and despite the Iron Silk taking the blunt of the attacks, I was still filled with dust, sweat and blood. I shrugged lightly. "No worries, most of it isn't mine."

She snorted as she stood up. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Politics." I said with a sigh. "Oh, congrats on the promotion, by the way."

"Thanks, but I have a feeling that this is even more serious that you said." Tia said. "How bad is it?"

"The end of Baylon bad." I said, as thought were spinning in my head. I had promised myself not to tell her more than necessary, but with her now being a Dominus, perhaps it was more prudent to just tell her the whole thing, so there was a witness more in case I didn't return. "Is the Dominus Grande here?"

Tia shook her head. "No, he was called to the Capitol for a meeting earlier."

"Makes sense." I mumbled and used the usual Cleaning trick on my clothes before I said. "If you want to know what is happening, I will tell you, but we need to go to Kemet or any of the colonies first."

I didn't know the extent of the wards or the capability of the mages, so I wanted to get to a place from where I could reach the last anchor just in case the magi closed Baylon down. If that was even possible.

Tia studied me for a long moment and then nodded, smiling slightly. "Let it never be said that I refused a request from a royal Healer. Kemet it is. Your place?"

I shook my head. "Your place is safer."

She sent me a thoughtful look, but instead of asking, she cast a longer spell and a shimmering portal appeared in front of us. On the other side, I could see a typical gating room, except that this one had a beautiful mosaic in the form of an Eye of Horus. Drawing my sword just in case somebody was there, I walked through followed by Tia.

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

Except for the servants, the place proved to be empty and a little while later, we were sitting in a garden with a mug of cider each.

"So, what's so serious that it has gotten you all paranoid?" Tia asked, as she leaned back in the chair and drank some of the cider.

"Well, do you know the old saying 'it isn't paranoia if they really are out to get you'?" I said, causing Tia to chuckle and nod. "Yes, I've heard that a few times."