She screamed, but it was not as intense as earlier. Lorit could feel the threads breaking away as he worked. They frayed and snapped as his lance of magic cut through them. Finally, he was left with only two layers of magic surrounding her.
As he cut away the outermost spell, Lorit felt the connection with Chihon strengthen. He was always aware of her, but they had not been fully connected since Veldwaite. Now he could feel her strongly, and he knew where she was. She needed his help. He channeled the magic from the room to Chihon, feeding her his magic, helping her break free of the spell that separated them.
Lorit turned to the monk. "There is one spell remaining. But she is disconnected from Chihon. I can feel it now. I need to go to her."
The monk examined the Princess. "Please, there is yet one spell around her. You may be able to remove it. You must try."
Lorit reached out for the remaining spell. It was intricate. He was unable to distinguish the threads of magic that bound the Princess from her own life force. He dug for a loose end to the spell to use to unravel it, but he only succeeded in making the Princess scream out in pain.
"This last thread is woven around her life thread. If I keep trying, I may kill her. I can't take that chance. I must go to Chihon."
"What of the Princess?"
"I cannot break the last spell. Can you escort the Princess back to Veldwaite? Once I find Chihon, we will return there and try to break the last spell together."
The monk bowed his head. "As you wish. I will take care of the Princess. Meet us when you can."
Lorit reached out with his magic. He gathered the power from the earth, the altar, the mini dragon and combined it with his own. He oriented on Chihon, and pulled with all his strength. The monk, the room, and the Princess faded away.
Epidemic
The inn turned into a mass of voices as the Atenthi invader fell to the floor. No longer did the patrons fear the man, now they feared the disease he carried.
Chihon examined the fallen invader with her magical sense. He was filled with the dirty brown color of decay. She could feel it in him, running through his veins, coursing through him where the bright green should have flowed. He spasmed and spit up, foam coming from the corners of his mouth.
The serving girl screamed. "Plague. Fear for your lives."
Chihon held up her hand. "Please don't panic. He is sick, but you are safe. None of you has the plague. I am a Priestess, I know about these things."
"How can you say that? He's sick, spewing his disease onto all who come into contact with him."
"Please," Chihon said. "I am a Priestess. I can heal anyone who gets sick if you come to me as soon as you see the signs. Please don't panic."
She leaned down and examined the man. He had stopped shuddering and lay there quietly, his chest heaving. His breathing labored. She touched his flesh; it was as hot as an oven. She quickly withdrew her hand. He coughed once more then stopped breathing. She reached out her senses to see how the disease was progressing, where it was ravaging his body, and where she could make adjustments to ease his pain if nothing else.
The man was beyond her help.
"He's dead," cried the serving girl. The patrons pushed and shoved their way towards the door.
"Please don't run," Chihon said. "I can help you if you stay here. If you go, you will only spread this disease to others."
They disregarded her in their rush to get out. Only a few stayed behind, including Banuntu and Enmeld, and soon the inn was empty save for these few.
Chihon bent to examine the body. She could sense a familiarity in the disease. It felt like the love spell she had released Banuntu from only a little while earlier.
She looked up at him. "Did you spread your love potion to the invaders?"
"Yes, I did, only in small doses. I didn't want it to seem obvious. I put it in the wells all over the city."
"Do you have any more of your love potion left?"
"I have some back at my home. I'll go get it." Banuntu rushed out the door.
Chihon bent to examine the man's body. It did feel a lot like the love potion, only there was something more. She probed for it, searching the pestilential brown that had invaded his system. She found the love potion flavor. She could see it was the same, but lurking behind it was something more powerful. It felt like a Wizard magic, not the chance potion that the boy would have been able to make.
This had to be the work of a powerful Wizard. She was certain of it.
Banuntu returned with an old jar with a small amount of an amber-colored liquid. Hanging from the lid was a parchment covered in spindly writing. She read it to herself, noting the ingredients. Most of them were common enough. They could be purchased at any herb seller or apothecary. She examined the liquid with her magic. She could see the evidence of most of the ingredients in the liquid, but there was something strange.
"Where did you get this formula?" Chihon pointed to the parchment.
"I bought it from a man in the market. He said it was very powerful."
"Where did you get the ingredients?" She shook the jar at him.
"From the market ... I got most of them from the market."
"Most of them? What about the rest?"
"The old man who sold me the formula also gave me a couple of the ingredients. He asked me if I knew what each of these was. There were a few I didn't know, and those he gave me."
"Which ones?"
"This one." He singled out one of ingredients. "And this one." He identified the two ingredients she knew were things one could not normally purchase in the market.
"What else?" Chihon demanded.
"What do you mean, what else? That's all. He gave me those."
"Did he ask to see the finished formula?"
"Yes. He said he wanted to check to see if I had it right."
"Did he take it out of your sight, even for a moment?"
"No, well ... maybe. He had to examine it carefully, so he put it under his glass. He had to go into his shop to get that."
"So he had the formula away from you?" she demanded. "For how long?"
"Not long. He had to check it carefully, but he gave it right back. He said I had done it correctly."
"Take me to him," Chihon pocketed the potion and turned the boy around, shoving him towards the door.
Banuntu led Chihon along the market until he came to a series of shops that lined the street. "It's over there." He pointed out the Apothecary. "That one."
Chihon entered the shop. It was a typical Apothecary shop with bottles of liquid and powder lining the shelves. The chemist was a middle aged man with short gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He wore a splotched white apron to protect his expensive clothes.
He turned to her as she entered, the jolly smile sliding off his face. "May I help you?"
"You may." Chihon made her way to the counter. "Is it not customary to greet a new customer with your name?"
"Hatther," the Chemist said. Chihon noticed he made no move to extend his hand in greeting.
Chihon held out the parchment. "Did you sell this man this potion?"
He took it and looked it over, squinting at the printing. He reached under the counter and brought out a pair of thick lenses which he placed on his long and crooked nose. He hitched the arms behind his ears and held up the parchment once again.
"Yes, I recall this." He looked over Banuntu. "How did it work for you?"
"Did you sell him the ingredients?" Chihon interrupted before Banuntu could answer.
"Some of them. I had extra and they are difficult to find. Especially this time of year."
Chihon reached out her magical senses to examine him, trying to read if he was telling the truth, or lying. She felt a rigid shield about him, stronger than Lorit usually held. She pushed and probed harder, looking for any kink in his magical defenses, but she found none.
He looked at her without a concern. She knew he was aware of her probing, but he made as if nothing unusual was happening. She pushed harder but got nowhere.
"What did you do to the potion?" Chihon demanded.
"I may have improved it a little, made it more effective on the Atenthi, less so on our own people."
"One of the invaders just fell over dead at the inn." Chihon stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Hatther. "He had a strong scent of your potion running through his veins. Did you have anything to do with that?"
"I may have. These Atenthi overran the city and threw out the laws. They trampled on the rights and security of these folks. Someone had to do something about it."
"Will this affect the residents?" she asked. "Or is it tailored just to the Atenthi?"
"It should only affect the Atenthi. I prepared it especially for them." Hatther looked at Banuntu. "How did you deliver it? Did you put it in their water supply?"
"I did just as you instructed. I put it in the wells and water supplies around the city."
"And when did you do this?"
"Last night, just before dark." Banuntu shifted from one foot to the other. Chihon thought it was dawning on him what he had done.
Hatther looked over at Chihon. "And when did you say the first of them fell ill?"
"Just a short while ago. He walked into the Inn and started to shake. He fell down and died right there."
Hatther laughed and turned to Banuntu. "Perfect, you did just as you were asked. These Atenthi should be falling dead all over the city about now. All we have to do is clean up the bodies and hire a new troop of mercenaries to guard the city."
Chihon grabbed Banuntu by the arm. "Come with me."
She turned back to the Chemist as she held the door, urging Banuntu ahead of her. "You and I have unfinished business."
"I quite expect so," Hatther said as the bell on the door rang, signaling her departure.
Chihon left the Apothecary and headed back to the Inn, where Tass was waiting with Enmeld. They had moved the body and swept out the dining area.
"We went to see the Chemist," Chihon said. "I think he's a Wizard. He enchanted the potion so that it will work on the Atenthi but not on the locals. He knew it was going to kill them."
"I care little about the Atenthi, but we can't have a Wizard loose in the city when the Priests are all gone," Tass said. "We best get to the Temple."
"You two stay here," Chihon told the young couple. "We have to protect the Temple."
When Chihon and Tass arrived at the Temple, the main doors were open and the place had been looted. The statuary had been pulled down and the windows were broken out. The place stank of urine.
They made their way through the debris to the back of the Temple, where the altar was located. The magic that protected the altar had withstood the attacks of the Atenthi. The altar door remained in place and securely locked.
Chihon probed the lock with her power and quickly opened it. The ceremonial room was inviolate. The statues and potions were in place and the sacrificial knife was as sharp as a razor.
"Wait here," Tass said. "I'll see what else we can salvage." She departed the room and quickly returned with a cage, covered with a cloth. She set it on the altar and removed the cloth. The mini dragon inside regarded her with suspicion and breathed fire.
Tass opened the cage and reached inside. "You have to be careful with these, they're stronger than they look. They bite and the horns are sharp as a razor." She deftly pulled the animal from its cage and tied it to the altar.
"This will give you enough power to defeat the Wizard," Tass said. "Quickly; if he knows you're here, he'll try to stop you."
She pulled the sacrificial knife from the statue and handed it to Chihon. "It would be best to wait for the sunset, but this will have to do. You recall the words you were taught?"
Chihon took the knife. "Yes, I recall the words." She placed her hand on the mini dragon. Its fur was smooth and soft. Its breathing was fast, its heartbeat rapid. She tried to soothe it as much as she could. That, too, was part of the ritual. A fearful and panicked animal was not as strong as one that was calm and quiet.
Once again, something welled up in her. She had memories of stopping Lorit from taking the magic of another. Tass kept reminding her that those were false memories caused by her injuries, but they kept coming back.
She reached out to Lorit. She could not find him, but she tried anyway. She begged him to answer her; she wanted his guidance and advice. She felt a small flicker from him as if he knew she needed him, but no more. She steeled herself to follow through with the sacrifice.
She reached out to the mini dragon. It had a warm glow about it. It was stronger than most of the Wizards she'd met. She wanted to touch that magic, not take it from the animal. She leaned close to it and whispered. "I don't want to do this any more than you want me to, but I have no choice."
She got the strong impression that the dragon was trying to communicate with her. She bent down again, placing her hand on its body to comfort and sooth it. Its breathing steadied as it calmed down. "You are a lovely creature," Chihon said to the mini dragon. "I am sorry for what I must to do you."
She lifted the knife over the animal and glanced at Tass. The old woman was watching with a slight smile as Chihon prepared to strike the blow that would not only kill the animal, but also free its magic, so that she could take it for her own.
Chihon started speaking the spell that would draw the magic out of the creature so that she could cut it free along with the stroke that would end its life. She repeated the refrain over and over again, raising her own power, ready to accept the new source of magic as her own.
Just as she was about to touch the knife to the mini dragon, the door flew open and someone shouted. "Stop that!"
Chihon looked over to see Hatther standing in the doorway. He no longer wore his white apron and glasses. He had donned the robes of a Wizard. He raised his staff and pointed it at the mini dragon on the altar. A golden beam of light rushed from the staff, engulfing the mini dragon and releasing it from its bonds.