The Elfmaid's Curse (The Elfmaid Trilogy Book 1) (39 page)

            "So they don't steal all of it," Danica said.

            "That's right. They tend to hang around taverns and wait for derelicts or, more hopefully, warriors to pass out drunk. Then they steal some of their energy." Smiling wickedly, "It's really quite ingenious. The drunk bastards are so sick the next day they don't realized anything's amiss."

            Danica and Cat looked at each other wide-eyed. Both wondered if they had fallen prey to wizards in the past.

            Changing the subject, Cat said, "So why is this talisman so much better?"

            "It doesn't require any life energy to use," she said. "In effect, you will be tapping Maag's own energy. Otherwise, that first time Danica called up all those lightning bolts might have killed her. That was enough energy to drain the average person."

           
Gods
, Danica thought, a sick feeling in her stomach.

            Taking the crystal globe from Elise, Danica studied it a moment. It was heavy, and warm to the touch. That pleasant feeling still emanated from it, running all the way up her arm. Shifting to her Mage Sight, she watched the threads of power wind up her arm with the tingling.

            "Exactly how do I use this," she asked.

            Elise gave her a stern look. "You visualize what you want first, then lock it into your mind. Then you give it a one word command that best describes what you want. What is locked in your conscious mind is of the utmost importance in this. The word is only the trigger, and can in truth be any word you so choose."

            Eyeing her warily, "I was visualizing those guards being struck down, but that didn't happen."

            "You were probably not being specific enough. Next time, try to visualize one person being struck down and how they are to be struck down," she said. "I suspect you were not concentrating hard enough to focus the talisman's power, which would also explain why you had the problem of sometimes nothing happening."

            Danica sighed. Maybe Elise was right, but she was pretty sure she was concentrating at the time.

            "All right, I can do that," she said, looking around. Seeing a half-dead fruit tree in one corner of the tiny courtyard, she envisioned it being struck by lightning, "Lightning!"

            A single bolt thundered out of the globe and shattered the tree. Danica turned to smile at Elise, only to see her staring at the smoldering ruin in horror.

            "You killed Mirel's plum tree," she whispered.

            "It was almost dead."

            "It still produced fruit," she shot back. Then looking worried again, "They aren't native to these parts. She brought it back from the Amazon Empire twenty years ago."

            "I know how you feel," Cat said, giving Danica a sharp look. "She never seems to consider the consequences of her actions or how others feel about it. Just like a man."

            "It was only a lousy tree," Danica said.

            "But it meant a lot to Mother Mirel. It reminded her of happier times," Elise said.

            Scowling, Danica turned her back on the two women. She marveled at how women could always make her feel guilty. Was it their nature? Or something they taught each other to get back at men. Then a thought came to her.

            Visualizing the smoldering tree to be whole and lush, she held out the talisman, "Restore!"

            In a flash of light the fruit tree became tall, lush, and heavy with fruit. Cat and Elise gasped at the sight.

            Danica gave a haughty wave of her hand. "A gift to repay Mother Mirel for all her assistance."

            "Nicely done," Cat praised.

            "I agree. I couldn't have done better myself," Elise said, smiling. "Mother Mirel will surely be pleased."

            Bowing, "I accept your adulations humbly." They rolled their eyes. Continuing, "But, pray tell, how do I capture a wizard? I might be able to turn him into stone, or strike him down with lightning, but I want to capture him uninjured."

            Elise shrugged. "Batter down his defenses. Don't think you're going to just walk in there and capture him effortlessly. He's an arch mage for sure and can still defeat you handily if you aren't careful."

            Danica held up the talisman. "I have more power."

            "And he has more experience using it," she said. "Tell me, does the biggest warrior always win? Or the warrior with the biggest muscles or the biggest sword? Or does skill and experience ever play into it?"

            Danica scowled at her a moment. "Then what do you suggest?"

            "That's the problem. In the hands of a witch or mage, that talisman would make them all but invincible," she said. "But an ordinary person like you will have real problems coming up with solutions."

            "What do you mean?" Cat asked, starting to get worried again.

            Frowning, "This Talar will be throwing everything he has at you when he realizes what you have. You will have to conjure up a credible defense to counter each different attack."

            "Won't the talisman automatically protect us?" Danica said.

            "Did it protect you against the priests?" she asked. "The Gods never make it that easy. I think they receive some perverse pleasure out of all this. Why do you think the bloody thing is made out of crystal instead of steel?"

            Cat said, "What can we do to protect ourselves from Talar's magic?"

            Smiling weakly, "I've got something here that might help a little." She pulled two amber bead necklaces out of her coin purse. Handing one to each woman, "Each bead is an amulet that somewhat protects the bearer from magical attack."

            "Great!" Danica cried.

            "Somewhat?" Cat said.

            Shrugging, "I'm only a witch. He's a wizard. His magic is far stronger than mine, so the more powerful the spells he casts are, the more beads that will be neutralized."

            "And when all the beads are used up, we don't have any more magical protection," Danica said, putting the necklace on. "Good enough. Thanks, Elise, I knew I could count on you."

            "Now, back to work," Elise said. "First, give your necklace to Cat."

            Shrugging, Danica removed the necklace and handed it to Cat. Elise promptly pointed a finger at Danica and spoke a Word of Power, sending a bolt into her chest. Danica was slapped to the hard cobbles with a cry of pain.

            "Sloppy," Elise chided. "You let your guard down. Danic would've never made that mistake."

            Seething, Danica climbed back to her feet. "I didn't expect an attack from you."

            "Expect it from anywhere, damn you! You're going to fight an arch mage. He's not going to be polite and wait for you to get ready. You'll be lucky if he doesn't begin his attack even before you reach his home. Believe me, if he has his guard up, he'll see you coming from a long way off. So be prepared for anything!"

            "How can I be prepared for something I don't know about?"

            "This morning I'm going to teach you what I know, and run you both through a few defensive drills using the talisman. This afternoon Maeve will take over. As a sorceress, she'll be considerably more helpful in letting you know what to expect."

            Danica grimaced. She dreaded meeting with Maeve again. She regretted ever going to talk with her last night. She especially regretted her impetuous departure, knowing it only went to confirm Maeve's assessment of her problem. It was a verdict Danica could not accept.

            "Why isn't she here now?" Cat asked. Her dark eyes narrowed as she looked around suspiciously. "I don't trust her. She doesn't feel right."

            Danica's head snapped up at that.

            "I agree, but..." Elise started.

            "Hey! Maeve's my friend. She won't do anything to jeopardize us," Danica said.

            "If you say so," Cat said, but she didn't look convinced.

            Clearing her throat, Elise changed the subject, "I think we should direct our energies toward your training. Danica first. Take the talisman across the courtyard, and be prepared to block anything I throw at you. I'll start out slow and obvious at first."

Chapter 21

            Maeve eased quietly down into the cellars of the Vikon tenement. Danica and Cat were upstairs preparing to depart on their mission. She would have liked to use the talisman on this exploit, but she just couldn't bring herself to steal from Danica. She had to be more than thorough this time. Nothing could be left to chance. Dealing with a goblin was deadly serious business.

            Goblins were one of the Old Races, and all were a little magical. They were generally no taller than a dwarf, but slim like elves. They tended to look like twisted little elves. They were also known to really enjoying eating the flesh of humans, dwarves, and elves.

            Many people thought of goblins as half-wits, due to their incomprehensible shenanigans and mischief making. Maeve knew better. They were cunning and fearless warriors and like elves, they were deceptively strong, agile, and fast.

            From her conjuring, she knew Kyras was a young male outcast. She was unable to discern his crime, but suspected the goblin ruler feared his Gift. His youth and inexperience would prove his undoing and Maeve would have his Gift. With the Gift of Persuasion no door would be closed to her. Anything and anyone would be hers for the asking. Even Danic.

            Maeve quickly found herself in the lowest cellar. The granite walls were glassy to the touch, indicating they had been blasted out of the bedrock with searing eldritch bolts and fires. Besides being faster, the process also sealed the chambers from the seeping swamp waters above. Amid tightly packed crates and barrels, she cleared out an area next to the west wall.

            Taking out a piece of blue chalk, she began drawing a large pentacle on the wall. Maeve spent the better part of the night placing very special spells on the chalk, and the rest of the night pre-casting the wards and fighting spells she might need in her little adventure. The pentacle drawn, she encircled it with two lines and started drawing runes between the lines. Once that was done, she drew a large pentagon around the whole thing. And more runes just inside it.

            After looking everything over one last time, she stopped to catch her breath and steel herself for what was about to come. If only one of the runes was drawn incorrectly, or even improperly spaced around the pentacle or pentagon, she could end up in some really nasty demon realm. Or worse, create a gateway for the demons of another realm to enter hers.

            Assured her efforts were correct in every detail, she turned back to herself. A quick mental inventory showed she had any and all even remotely needed spells for assault or defense already cast and waiting for a Word of Power to trigger them. She had ample life energies stored and ready. Her Vikon armor sheathed her body, or at least the important parts, and she had her newly enchanted shortsword, belt knife, and daggers.

            For a fleeting second, she hesitated, thinking of others who might need her.

            Gods, how Maeve hated being uncertain. Should she wait until after Bloodmoon for either Danic, whether male or still female, to return? Or go about her business and win her prize from Kyras, who was organizing and leading the city's street urchin population? In truth, there was nothing she could do here but wait. She had finished her duties of further instructing Danica and Cat in the talisman's powers and uses. Besides, if all went well, she’d be back within the hour. And she will enjoy the stupid look on Danic's face when she returns with her prize.

            "I might as well get this over with," she muttered, clearing her mind to all but the called upon spell.

            Drawing runes in the air, Maeve began chanting softly in a harsh language she only barely understood. A fact she tried not to think about, knowing that if she misspoke even one word the spell would be altered. Probably in a way detrimental to her life, limbs, and schemes. Probably wouldn't do her friends upstairs any good either.

            The spell completed, she touched each rune lightly in the precise order required. The chalk lines began glowing softly in the dark cellar and shining more brightly every minute until she had to look aside.

            When the lines shone like the sun, Maeve ordered, "Take me to the goblin Kyras!"

            The glowing pentacle faded into a swirling blue-gray whirlpool. Maeve hesitated, praying the portal spell would take her where she wanted.

            "Here goes," she said.

            Stepping through the portal into another subterranean chamber, she surveyed the scene before her. Some twenty odd torches lit the chamber. An equal number of young boys and girls, filthy in rages, sat around a short and thin goblin sitting on an ornate golden throne that her Mage Sight permitted her to see as a simple chair. All were regarding her with a mixture of shock and uncertainty.

            Kyras recovered first.

            "Who are you?" he asked in his harsh little voice.

            Smiling warmly, Maeve said, "I am a Vikon friend. I come to bring you a warning of dire danger."

            Goblins and Vikon were known to treat on occasion. The goblins trusted few humans other than the priesthood of Eshu, God of Lewdness, but the Children of Vik were known to help them, with the right incentive. They rarely even dealt with the elves and dwarves, preferring to live their lives in solitude deep in underground cities. Maeve had chosen her disguise carefully.

            "Name it and begone, witch."

            Maeve stepped closer. The closer she could get, the better her chances at success.

            "Are you the goblin lord called Kyras?" she asked. "My message is for his ears alone."

            "I am Kyras," he said, eyeing her warily. Then with a snort of impatience, he spoke in a deep, strangely compelling voice, "Stop where you're at. Tell me the message now."