15. Sloan
FIFTEEN
SLOAN
With the kitchen area raided, the emissaries to Queen Eleanor sat in the lounging cart sharing a meal. Sloan was so caught up with the day’s events, she had neglected breakfast. Now as the afternoon approached, her stomach reminded her of how hungry she really was.
Lunch was a much simpler affair than dinner the night before; still, it seemed like a feast to Sloan. There were croissant sandwiches filled with meat and cheese, fruit, and water and beer to wash it all down.
Aareth had brushed his hand through his hair and found the rogue strand of toilet paper, giving Sloan a raised eyebrow.
“What?” she asked. “I thought it was an improvement.”
Over lunch, Sloan, Jack, and even Aareth opened the directions Edison provided with their new weapons. Sloan inspected her sword inside and out. On the butt of the weapon was a small indention imprinting the initials “A.M.M.O.” Both Aareth and Jack found similar markings on their weapons.
Sloan took a moment to look up from her reading. Aareth was slouched in a chair, nose deep in his own weapon’s manual. “Someone decided to come around and take the advice of a female captain, I see.”
“It’s powered by mage technology.” Aareth looked up from his thick manual, ignoring the remark.
“At least that’s what I’m getting from this brick of a book.
Something about stored mage energy that you get by turning these cranks on the wrists.
The energy is released when I press the buttons on the palms. It’s only good for a few seconds at a time.
It’s the equivalent of being struck by a bolt of lightning. ”
“Are you trying to tell us you’re Zeus?” Marcus sat in his chair, amused.
“Well, I didn’t think of it that way, but yeah, I guess I am.”
“How about you, Jack?” Marcus chuckled and looked at his son. “Any other surprises with your extending wand?”
“It seems in its condensed form, the wand will help channel and direct my magic.” Jack drew the steel wand from his holster.
At once, it glowed a bright green. A bolt of magic fire formed at the tip, ready to be released.
“I’ll have to test it out and see if it’s more effective in long-range use, rather than simply shooting the magic from my hands. ”
There were impressed looks around the room as all eyes turned to Sloan and her peculiar sword.
“Well, I read the directions front to back twice. It’s a heated saber. The handle carries a small amount of renewable mage technology. With the flick of this switch by my thumb, the blade is supposed to heat to an unnatural degree, giving it the ability to slice through almost any object.”
“Mage gloves, heated sabers, and wands that can extend to staffs. What will surprise us next?” Marcus asked.
As if on cue, the locomotive began to slow.
“Did we already reach the end of the track?” Jack looked at Sloan, worry written across his young face.
“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Sloan answered peering through the windows and the terrain beyond. “We should have had enough track to get us to the first city or close to it. My guess was that we would arrive after the sun set. Something’s wrong.”