Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
T aking the long way back to the grove, Solomon slipped out the side door after speaking with the guard on duty. Since the near destruction of the Legacy Grove, Bella insisted on increasing the amount of security around the entire campus. Solomon agreed to it. Multiple Guild members were part of the security team. The members understood about the secrets.
After touching his glasses to push them back up his nose, Solomon stuck his hands in pockets. He hadn’t bothered to change his trousers, just slipped on a soft knit shirt in a pale lavender. He pushed the sleeves up his forearms. Then he cleaned the grass and leaves from his hair before doing a quick restyling. Even his glasses needed a bit of a cleaning and straightening, but the protective spell he kept on them did its job.
Along the walk, he organized the multiple levels of thoughts and problems. So much happened during what was usually a routine drop-off. None of it was routine. Everything he thought about the Guild and Carmine now flipped completely upside down.
Reaching the open meadow, Solomon felt something off. He paused and looked around.
No… Not physical.
He waved a hand to bring the barriers into focus.
There was a harsh push and shove. Then the barrier literally ripped open.
Stepping back, Solomon ducked down behind a grouping of massive boulders and laumeldites.
A portal popped in hard as it pushed through the rip. It was wobbly and discolored, but it opened enough for two cloaked figures to jump out and land on the meadow.
/Gloriosa?/
::We sense the strangers. They broke through the barrier. Their magic is dark and twisted. Like that lady.::
/Get ready. We might have to secure some more prisoners./
::We will wait for your order.::
/Alert Julian and Emrys to the strangers. And any of the guards you can reach or speak too./
::We will alert everyone.::
“This is where the beacon stopped. It wavered a few times before it split three ways. Something happened here. Our guide hasn’t checked in for her report,” the tall cloaked figure said while they held something in their hand.
“Doesn’t look like much more than a boulder strewn meadow. There’s that questionable academy. Think she could be there?” the other figure asked.
“Possibly. I never trusted the reports from this realm. Nucira. It’s strange. Unusual. All these so called precious gemstones that no one can mine without permission. And not political, but this place.” The taller figure put away whatever they carried and pushed back their hood. It revealed a dark cocoa skinned man with short black hair.
From the coloring and accent, Solomon knew this man was born and raised in one of the far southern realms. Either a desert or jungle realm based on the coloring which protected them from the harsh climate.
“What do you want to do, sir?” The smaller figure pushed back their cloak to reveal dark golden skin and shiny black hair ordered into a braid. From their stature and voice, Solomon couldn’t tell anything more about the figure. “Should we call in reinforcements? Perhaps it’s time to take down this realm and begin the Carmine’s infiltration of the east.”
“Hmm. I would like to have a nice pile of these so-called precious laumeldites to explore and test,” the man said.
Swearing softly, Solomon pulled away from the cover. Adjusting his glasses, he added a stay-put spell to make sure they didn’t fall during whatever could happen. Though he abhorred violence of any kind, he would do everything possible to protect Nucira and Lunore. Moving around the boulders, he acted like he was walking across the meadow.
“Ahh… someone to… make our inquiries,” the man said.
“Who are you? How did you get past the barriers?” Solomon asked.
“And you are?”
“A professor. Who are you?” Solomon raised his hands, but clamped down his arcane energy. He could only use air and lightning.
“Then we can use you to get us in the academy. It appears someone captured a friend of ours.” The man motioned to the other figure to move around.
“No stranger can enter the academy without an appointment and clear intent on their visit. Trying to capture me will not gain you entry,” Solomon said. “Best to turn around and leave the realm.”
“I don’t think so, little professor,” the man said and waved his hand.
A blast of earth and air energy swirled toward him.
Solomon let the energy roll over him. Then he ducked when sensing the other figure’s attack. He sent lightning toward the second attacker. /Gloriosa! Get that second one./
Vines punched up and coiled around the second attacker, who screamed at being squeezed in a constricting vise.
“What in the flames is that?” the first attacker said. He shot more spells at Solomon, who dodged them and counterattacked with his lightning.
“Another reason to leave the realm.” Solomon sent more vicious strikes at the mage, who dodged them.
“Not without my colleagues. This little realm can no longer stand out of the Society’s reach,” the first mage said. He held out one hand where a broadsword appeared. He gripped the handle in one hand. Then another weapon appeared in his other hand. The sleek steel weapon was a little more threatening.
“Those are illegal in the realms,” Solomon said, swearing under his breath at the sight of the gun. How could anyone locate one of those weapons never mind one in working order?
“As if someone would dare to stop me,” the mage said and aimed the gun. He squeezed the trigger multiple times.
Dodging the bullets, Solomon sent a strategic strike of lightning to destroy the barrel. The mage moved at the last moment and his strike missed. Then he called forth a long thin-bladed rapier and dagger. The metal was a special blend to either repel or accept magic.
The man moved and fired again.
Solomon rolled and rushed forward until he could swing his rapier. This time, he scored a hit while his blade sliced through the gun and almost removed some of the man’s fingers.
Cursing, the man dropped the damaged weapon. He held the broadsword with both hands and attacked.
Parrying every thrust and attack, Solomon pushed back against the taller man.
They danced around the meadow in a dangerous intersecting pattern. Each one looked for a way to counterattack and land a strike.
Finally, Solomon attacked, sending lightning down the shorter blade to distract his dangerous opponent. When the man tilted offside, he swiped with the blade. Just as the man tumbled back, Solomon struck again.
/Gloriosa! Now!/
Vines punched through and constricted around the man. More vines caught his hands and squeezed until he dropped the sword.
The man cried out in pain as the Gloriosa squeezed him.
“Welcome to the Nucira Realm. The Gloriosa doesn’t like intruders that dare to harm anyone they consider friends. By the way, you’ll soon see your friend, but you will not like it.” Solomon stepped forward to stare down at the cursing man. He adjusted his glasses while he peered down.
“We will not be the last. If we don’t report in, they’ll send more. A never-ending flow of danger. We don’t stop.”
“Bring it. All you got. There will always be someone here to repel the advance. For the Guild is strong here. We never give up.” Solomon sent flames of pure white arcane down the blades.
“You… It’s you. We’re—” The man fell quiet as he glared at Solomon.
“We’re what?”
“Capture you for our beloved leader. You’ll be his crowning triumph against the arcane.”
“That will not happen since I captured you and there will be no outlet for you to contact your master.” Solomon spun his dagger. “I look forward to meeting him on my terms. We’ll deter all of his plans and end them. The arcane created the realms and will forever protect them. Especially from your ilk.”
Gloriosa squeezed the man tighter. Then sent smaller vines to search each attacker. The vines plucked multiple items from the Carmine members. Other vines caught them and moved them toward Solomon.
“What do we have here? Oh, yes, more trackers. Hmm… These others are interesting.” Solomon disabled all of them and captured them in an arcane bubble.
“Professor Windham!” someone hollered.
“Here. On the meadow,” Solomon said.
The lead guard, Declan Gardner, was the first to crest the edge of the meadow with two others following them.
“Solomon!” Emrys called out while he raced across the meadow with Julian. He held his staff topped with a gemstone and swung it around to do something to the attackers.
“Emrys, no, we have them under control. Carmine members. They followed the trackers on Helene,” Solomon said with a wave of his dagger. “Gloriosa, knock them out for transport. Like the others.”
The Gloriosa flicked back the broad leaves and sent a spine into each Carmine member to knock them out. Then they snapped off the vines that constricted each one.
Solomon flicked his dagger and created a levitation spell.
“Looks like you and the Gloriosa took care of everything,” Declan said. “Knocked me for a second when the Gloriosa spoke to me.”
“What’s with the swords?” Emrys asked.
“Learned a few things about them, but I had things in order.” Solomon shrugged while he spun the dagger. “Ended up going old school. He brought in a gun. How crude.”
“A gun?” Julian said. “Those are supposed to be banned. Everywhere.”
“Where would he even find one that is working? Along with the needed ammunition,” Emrys added.
“Just another reason to hate and fear the Carmine. Seems they have access to just about anything they desire. We’ll have to send out a warning.” Solomon sent his blades back in their protective magic pocket.
The other guards picked up the discarded weapons and took hold of the levitated captives.
“Take those two to the dungeon. Each one in a separate cell,” Declan said.
“Yes, sir,” a guard said. They pushed the captives back to the academy.
“How did they get through the barrier?” Emrys asked.
“Tore through the barriers. Now that I sensed their energy and magic, I can add it to the weaving,” Solomon said. He lifted his hands and called the barriers back into view for everyone. Then he sent out his arcane to weave the tear back together, along with adding new threads. “Need this here. This one needs revision. Got it. Add this loop. There. A thread here. That should do it.” With another wave, the barriers became invisible except for a slight shimmering.
“Would you like me to take those devices?” Declan asked.
“No, I need to study them. Some I’ll send out like I did the others,” Solomon said.
“I’ll return to the academy,” Declan said.
“Thanks for coming.”
“Leave some of the fight for us to manage next time around. We need to keep up our skills too,” Declan teased before he left them.
A bit of laughter escaped Solomon. Then he glanced down at his shirt and grumbled. He brushed away some dirt and grass. “The Carmine has been hell on my laundry.”
“Don’t think that’s going to be the worst of it.”
At the sound of Emrys’s dry tone, he turned to his friends. “No, but still don’t like the consequences of rolling around in battle. At least to my clothes.”
“Don’t you have the biggest closet on campus?” Emrys teased.
“Yes. There’s also a separate standing wardrobe,” Julian added.
Sighing, Solomon grumbled. No respect for fine clothes. None.
Grinning, Emrys sent his staff back to its protective pocket. Back a little further, Julian returned to talking with the Gloriosa.
Walking back toward them, Solomon paused when his vision went a little dizzy and fuzzy. He leaned to the side. “Hold up there.”
“Sol, you turned pale.” Emrys moved to catch Solomon by his arm to support him. “What happened?”
“The idiot used his magic too much today and didn’t properly fuel his body,” Julian said.
“Which means?”
“I skipped meals,” Solomon said.
“As usual,” Julian said.
“I was a little busy with classes and trying to save a child,” Solomon said.
“Doesn’t matter. You need to eat if you’re going to use your arcane gifts.”
“I didn’t know I was going to use them?—”
“Perhaps I should give you a bag of my family’s energy snacks. I have them all the time in the greenhouse. I’ll send one of my assistants to drop off a bag. Try a few and see if they help stabilize you between meals,” Emrys said.
“Are those the ones you had at the grove?”
Emrys nodded.
“They were yummy.”
“My family tried multiple recipes to see what works. Though with arcane, you might need something with a bit more kick. We’ll adjust it.” Emrys motioned toward the field. “While I figured someone would follow the trackers, didn’t think they would act so fast. Or have a way to bust through the wards around here.”
“We’ll have to put our plans into motion sooner than we expected,” Solomon said.
“Let’s get back to the grove. We’ll study those devices and send them on their way. Then we need to knock out a plan.”
“Agreed. Only?—”
“After we put some food in your belly. Then we can figure everything out. I have a delicious meal keeping warm,” Julian said.
Solomon hung his head and groaned. “Yes, Julian, I’ll eat. I promise.”
Emrys chuckled while Julian huffed and walked off.
Solomon followed with Emrys. “We need to pull in some back-up. Especially someone who knows all about investigations and justice.”
“Yes, I thought about calling our favorite RASI man. Multiple times. We can’t do this on our own. We’re out of our field.”
“We’re not trained to investigate or have the authority to do such a thing. We need him.”
“If he’s available, but I don’t think he’ll want to miss out on all this fun. Give him a chance to catch more bad guys while managing all of our craziness,” Emrys said. “You know we should call in Gray and Mac. Fill them in on everything.”
“I need to face Mac in person after what happened between us. If I call…”
“It doesn’t have the same punch of truth,” Emrys finished. “Guess you don’t have a choice but to leave the East.”
Solomon shifted his gaze to Emrys while he paused his steps for a moment. “I would do it for him. Just hope he gives me that chance.”
Emrys patted him on his back while they continued their walk to the redwood trees.