Dire Prophecy Read online

  "You are not blocked. I have only been able to maintain my block with difficulty. Your essence deposited in my body is so eager to make a new life; I feel its seductive call. I fear in a moment of weakness that my body will betray my mind. I want your children with every ounce of my being."

  "How do I block my little friskies?" I asked, sharing a view of a condom.

  Argon was horrified at the concept of condoms and reassured me I could control the "little friskies" appetite at the source. She apologized that she didn't know how, but it was something another male could instruct me in.

  I felt a bit wilted, despite Argon's arms and mind wrapping around me, to discover I'd been doing it wrong. It was a lot worse than peeing in the sink and made me wonder what other fundamental assumptions I got wrong.

  So much for catching my breath.

  It didn't take long for Argon to distract me from our discussion as her lips claimed mine and her arms wrapped around me. Allo was dumped unceremoniously onto the rug as Argon began stripping. "Hurry up you slowpoke," she said helping me remove my pants. "We've got to be at the hospital in a short while, and I'm not willing to wait."

  I loved it when Argon initiated our lovemaking. But, we definitely had to find a shower unit for our new apartment suitable for two because serial showers were so inefficient.

  We left for the hospital only a few minutes late.

  Queen Mother Jenia sat beside the bed holding her father's hand. King Rufix was sitting up on the bed and talking animatedly with her when Alba escorted us in. The contrast between the man before us and the near-corpse we rescued was hard to reconcile.

  Jenia introduced us. She had evidently apprised him of our role because he started right in.

  "What is the situation in Augun?"

  Argon nudged me to take the lead.

  "We estimate there were about 20 mages who formed the core of the coup, led by your secret police chief Arbos. We killed or captured all but five. No one has seen those five mages since we rescued you." I paused to see if he had questions, but he nodded for me to continue.

  "We don't have an estimate of those killed during the coup, but it is likely to be in the hundreds. Arbos disbanded the Augun King’s Guard. We believe he had most of the officers and sergeants killed. Mages have deserted the Augun Mage Guild. Most of your affluent citizens have either left their homes with their families or been killed. This has shut down a lot of businesses leading to high unemployment. Your harbor is full of empty ships without cargo.

  "There are rumors you survived but no official notice. It is well known your heir died in the assassination attempt." It didn't take a mind reader to see the pain this caused the king.

  "Former king’s guard Lieutenant Valso and two other lieutenants were in the keep’s prison when we liberated it. I placed him in command of reforming the Augun King’s Guard. He is the most senior officer we could locate and seemed the most capable of the three. We were lucky Arbos pressed most of the enlisted king’s guard into service as secret police under the guise of searching for the assassins. If he had just killed them, you would have no trained personnel. I suspect that was something he intended as the last blow before leaving Augun.

  "Valso now has reinstated all of the former king’s guard not known to have committed any crimes. He says the keep is secured and all civilians have been liberated from the prison. He has not allowed the staff and former prisoners to leave the confines of the keep. He wants to hear from you first. When we left him this morning, he was planning to lead a raid on a secret police command center in downtown Augun.

  "I promised to brief you and then bring back any instructions you have for him or others. To facilitate communication, we can teleport him here to meet with you face-to-face.

  “I know nothing about your other heirs, but no one has heard from them, and I am concerned about that," I finished, glad of my previous command briefing experience. My former CPO would be proud.

  "Jenia says you are willing to help further?" questioned Rufix.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 25

  King Rufix was still fuzzy about what had happened to him. One moment all was well and the next the walls came tumbling down. He had no warning. He was dismayed to learn of Arbos' betrayal. The king had known Arbos for years and was unaware he was a mage.

  This made me wonder whether an imposter had replaced the original Arbos. Argon sent my suspicions to Inoa who promised to follow up.

  Rufix agreed with our actions so far and wanted to return to his kingdom as soon as he could physically manage it.

  We agreed to bring Lieutenant Valso to meet with the king this evening and asked if we should seek out others as well. He was dismayed at the complete annihilation of his government and asked for a list of former arrestees. He reasoned if they were a threat to the coup they might be the ones he needed to rebuild his country.

  The vanishing guild mages puzzled Rufix. He assigned a high priority to contact the guild leadership. I confirmed the Klee guild had only located a handful of junior members and now even they were missing. He gave me the names of some retired Augun mages who might be more accessible. He asked Jenia for help getting us a set of official documents to prove we acted with his authority.

  I com-carded Lieutenant Valso to alert him to his scheduled meeting with the king and requested a list of those who'd been imprisoned. He confirmed he'd bring the list with him. Valso was also delighted with the successful raid on the secret police city office. There were no mages amongst those captured or killed. The two mages assigned to the city office left about the time we liberated the keep. They'd left orders for the secret police to remain on duty until they returned.

  I arranged to meet Valso at the ballroom by sundown and to com-card him if something delayed us.

  While I arranged the meeting with Valso, someone arrived from the Klee keep. She was working with Rufix and Jenia to prepare the validated documents. A certified image of the king's sigil was embedded in the documents. It was a new enchantment for me.

  Argon messaged me it was an extension of the king's sigil. Only the king could remove his sigil from his person, and only he could activate this aspect of it. Should someone remove the sigil by force it would be destroyed, which was likely why the assassins had left it with the king. Each king and queen maintained dead man's switches on their sigils and what these switches would trigger was a matter of much conjecture in some circles.

  Alba asked us to provide the king with a burst of healing before we left and we were pleased to see his life spark was now glowing fiercely. I checked the bones. They were stronger than this morning but not ready to bear his weight.

  Alba thought the king might be ready to test his new skeleton by tomorrow. She warned us the damage had been so extensive she expected we would need to make several adjustments before he could actually walk.

  Alba slipped the king back into a healing coma and promised he'd be ready to meet with us at around sundown.

  Jenia thanked us as we left. She then settled into a chair beside the king. She slid her hand back into his and at her touch, his face relaxed. His sleep seemed more natural.

  I messaged Cleon and asked if he could arrange for the leader of the Klee Mage Guild to meet with me. I explained we needed to find out what happened to the Augun guild. Cleon agreed to message me as soon as he set something up.

  We had a few hours before we had to return to Augun so arranged to help Tobron get our new business building rebuilt. Tobron was eager to show off his new techniques and to train us both in building with earth magic. It would also cut some time off the rebuilding effort.

  Helping Tobron build our headquarters was actually quite fun. I discovered my flair for heavy building while Argon was a top hand at elements requiring an artistic touch. We'd been at it about an hour when I got word from Cleon to meet someone in the mage guild members’ lounge.

  We reluctantly left Tobron to continue his work and 'ported to the members’ only area of the Klee Mage G
uild. A mage we had never met before escorted us into a private conference area.

  The head of the guild and two colleagues rose to introduce themselves as we walked in. I recognized the guild leader from the two cabinet meetings with King Ruton. The other two were strangers. I sent Tobron the images of the two men. He confirmed one manufactured appliances of all types and the other was a commodities trader. He suspected they were there because of their business ties with Augun.

  I thanked the mages for meeting with us at such short notice. They accepted my thanks with grace even though I suspected their attendance wasn’t optional. Argon took over from there. She told them we had been asked to reestablish contact with the Augun Mage Guild leadership. She didn't mention who had asked us and I suspected the three men assumed we were on a mission for King Ruton.

  The two businessmen had extensive business dealings with mages in Augun and had not been able to contact them during the last few weeks. Each mage they attempted to com-card had responded by canceling the card. While this was a concern, they were not truly alarmed until they heard the Augun Mage Guild wasn’t responding to queries from the Klee guild.

  They had contacted the Klee guild leader. He told them there had been an attempted assassination of Augun's king. They businessmen decided to await more official contacts before launching a private check on their business associates.

  While the mages had routine commercial dealings with companies in Augun, these comprised only a small part of their overall enterprises. Each assumed their Augun contacts would reconnect once the current crisis had eased.

  When assured by the Klee guild leader that King Ruton would appreciate any assistance they could provide us, they shared several teleport locations and addresses for Augun guild leadership and significant businesspersons. The 'port locations included country estates.

  We thanked them for their thoroughness and urged them to stay in Klee and let us reconnect with the Augun mages. I suspected the two businessmen would be divesting all things Augun moments after they left us. I couldn't blame them.

  We com-carded Valso and messaged Alba we were 'porting to Augun keep. When we arrived in the former ballroom an Augun King's Guard, now without an armband, told us Valso was on his way.

  We weren't sure where Valso found a dress uniform, but he'd showered and prepped, since leading the raid on the police command center. Argon asked him to bring someone captured during the raid that had seen the two mages stationed there to question.

  Argon questioned the captives while I took Valso to meet his king. She wanted to record the images of the missing mages to add to Inoa's investigation.

  I grasped Valso by the shoulder and we 'ported to the Klee hospital. The Klee King’s Guard let us into the hospital wing immediately to see King Rufix. I could tell they had received new orders about us. This time they didn't wait for an escort to let us in. There was a crispness to their response that told me they now considered us VIPs.

  I left Valso with King Rufix and excused myself, figuring they needed to establish a working relationship quickly. I assured them I'd return as soon as Argon was ready.

  I then 'ported back to Augun to be with Argon. Not that I thought she needed help with the interrogation; I just hated being apart. It took three prisoners before she was satisfied with the mental images of the two mages assigned to the command center. One mage was female and the other male. The duo was very careful not to let their workers see them, especially in the beginning. We recognized the male as the mage we saw at the Bounding Basas.

  Argon forwarded the images of the newly identified mages to Inoa to add to her building file of evidence.

  Argon suspected we had surprised them with our attack and they failed to complete their plan. The mages we captured in the keep planned to kill all the witnesses as the last step of the assassination plot. We suspected the pair assigned to the command center had the same intent.

  The secret police she questioned expected their bosses to return, but she didn't think this was likely.

  The cabal had already inflicted a heavy blow to Augun's wellbeing. Even if it weren't a deathblow, the financial consequences would ripple through the region for years. The king would find it nearly impossible to repair the empty treasury and financial meltdown. If more of the mundanes blamed all mages as Valso did, the social unrest could paralyze the kingdom even more.

  The more we learned, the more this seemed an organized plot to destabilize the continent. Argon was convinced it was tied to the prophecy. I was still reluctant to fully accept the whole prophecy thing.

  I was still puzzling why Shala didn't recruit a champion mage at about the time she selected Argon. If the world was going to depend on a champion, why not recruit one as soon as possible, so he could train sufficiently to do what was needed. Starting the refuge 20 years ago would make it impregnable by now.

  I suspected there were significant aspects of the prophecy Shala was keeping from us. When Argon informed her of our rescue operation in Augun, the god seemed both distracted and unconcerned. Argon couldn't tell whether Shala was dealing with something far more serious or whether this was old news to her and she already knew the outcome.

  I was beginning to suspect Shala had expected us to uncover this plot and deal with it. She could have predicted our decision to start with Klee based on Argon's exposure to information about Klee's king or it could all be a coincidence.

  My SEAL instructors didn't believe in coincidence, and neither did I.

  My growing unease over the whole situation reminded me of the three mystery mages Argon spotted trailing us when we first arrived in Klee. We had chalked it up to an unknown group once Jarus, our captive Klee mage guild snoop, hadn't recognized them. If they weren't from Klee, could they be part of the planned assassination, checking on new players entering the city?

  Argon agreed it was at least worth pursuing and sent their images to Inoa.

  I hated to distract Inoa with this long shot, but the more I thought about it, the surer I was the sighting was related to the potential coup. Finding one of the mages involved could blow open the entire conspiracy.

  We teleported back to the hospital and were escorted promptly to see King Rufix. Lt. Valso was still standing uncomfortably at the foot of the king's bed. Rufix looked even better than he had earlier in the day.

  "I will be returning to Augun in three days," said Rufix. "I think it is important to put out an official proclamation throughout the kingdom beginning today. Valso has copies of the proclamations for posting. It might bring some of those who fled back to the city."

  Argon told him we had contacted several Klee merchants and expected to expand our search for his missing mages and financiers.

  I asked if anyone had heard anything from the king's heirs. This was a growing concern for both Rufix and Queen Mother Jenia. Since we had no teleport location in Asme near the heir's estate, getting there would be the responsibility of the reconstituted Augun King’s Guard.

  Valso was sending one of the other officers to the estate with a troop of men via basas and carriage. The Klee Mage Guild, as a favor to Jenia, agreed to send one of its junior mages to accompany the troop. The mage would meet the troop in the Augun keep ballroom at the 'port location we had been using. He or she would let Cleon know what they found and would send a 'port location for follow up or assistance.

  Argon and I agreed to support this junior mage if needed.

  We kept several copies of the Augun proclamation to post in the mage guild and wherever we visited in Augun. The sooner the population knew the king had muzzled the secret police, the better.

  I prepared to drop Valso off in Augun immediately. He needed to form the troop for contacting the heir and send runners to post the proclamation throughout the city.

  The king needed about an hour to prepare private messages for several persons held captive during the coup. Rufix also had two former prisoners from Valso's list he really wanted to speak face-to-face with.

  T
his unexpected request caused Argon and I to split duties. I agreed to play errand boy by delivering the messages and bringing the visitors back to Klee while Argon met with Inoa.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 26

  It was quite late before I got all of King Rufix's notes delivered and his visitors shuttled back and forth.

  Argon learned the mages being interviewed by Inoa believed all of King Rufix's staff mages had been executed by the assassins moments before the collapse of the Augun Keep. The assassins Inoa questioned believed they had caught them all. Inoa wasn't sure that was the case because the assassins had apparently not been behind the disappearance of the rest of the Augun mages. The rapid disappearance of the Augun Mage Guild and the kingdom's financial titans surprised the coup leaders.

  The assassins murdered the highest-ranking officers in the Augun King’s Guard but kept the three lieutenants in case they needed them. A few of the prisoners we freed were mid-level members of King Rufix's staff and a few influential business people. The assassins seemed to have randomly selected the rest of the prisoners.

  It was unclear how many of Rufix's top aides had died in the collapse, been killed by the assassins or managed to escape. The assassins hadn't imprisoned any of them.

  King Rufix instructed Lt. Valso to help the captives return to their homes. He hoped this would help spread the word the coup had been thwarted and start his kingdom on a path to recovery.

  The two men I brought to meet with King Rufix were the highest-ranking members of his staff still alive. They had been apprehensive when I 'ported them to meet with their king. On the trip back they were energized, discussing the enormous challenge of pulling the kingdom out of its current freefall. They were also eager to check on their loved ones. Not knowing how their loved ones had fared seemed more traumatic for the two than their own imprisonment. They were relieved the king was letting all of Arbos’ captives return home.