Where We Come Full CircleA Chapter by Alskar “Let go,” said Trellor gently. They had landed on the flat roof of an industrial building. Adainne had clung to Trellor. “Sorry,” she said, sliding her arm out of his grip. “Is this it? The hide-out?” “No.” He pointed to the building on the other side of the street. “Over that barbed wire and in that seemingly derelict building, that’s the hide-out.” “Oh.” “Okay, I’ll outline the tasks we have tonight,” he explained, turning to her with enthusiasm. “The first one is to stop Wizard Eron’s invasion of Pethryn. The second is to bust one of his captives out of jail.” Adainne raised a delicate brow. “Uh, and we’re doing both those things in under two hours? Stopping the invasion of the Wizard Consol in Pethryn, which is at least a hundred miles from here, and setting someone in this time zone free without anyone noticing, and not getting touched?” “It should be easy enough. Tonight is the night of the meeting where they decide whether or not the invasion is a good idea, since they’re coming up against world powers and all that. All we have to do is alter the chief-in-staff’s notes on the meeting, he’ll announce that he’s just scrawled something against the invasion, and we’ll see if Wizard Eron listens. After we successfully do this and get them locked in a debate, we head down to the basement to free his captive.” “They can’t see or hear us,” she pointed out. “We don’t want them to hear us. In fact, we’re not even going to make our presence known. It will be like all their Christmases came at once, everything going in their favour as they escape the compound. And voila, we’ve taken a huge step towards destroying the war future.” “It sounds simple,” she admitted. “The fact we can’t be seen or heard means that even if we do raise suspicion, we could get out of there before they know it.” Trellor smiled. “Exactly. The only hard part is ensuring we’re not touched. If we are, they’ll know there are Time Wizards there.” “And?” “And they could find a clever way of dealing with us without seeing or hearing us.” “Okay, I get it. No touching.” “Just make sure you hold my hand and keep against the wall.” He leapt up onto the ledge, kneeling down with one leg and resting his arm against the other. “Alright, breaking in won’t be that hard. They have cameras, charms, guards, and dogs as defence. From here, you disable the cameras for five minutes and I’ll work my way through the protective spells.” “From here?” Adainne queried. “I can’t even see all the cameras from here.” “Then shut down the electricity temporarily. Do that after I’ve got the spells off and we’ll put a sleeping spell on the guards and the dogs. Sound like a plan?” “Sounds like a plan,” she agreed. “Doesn’t make it any less scary though.” “Think how I felt trying to save the world on my own,” he said, staring out at Wizard Eron’s compound. “Right, let me remember all these spells.” He withdrew his wand and began murmuring under his breath. “Okay, the spells are gone,” he said, resurfacing eventually. “How did you know what spells he had on it?” “I learnt stuff when I was fixing up other cracks in the past,” he replied, jumping back from the ledge. “I’m telling you, I’m as prepared as I can be.” “That’s good to know,” said Adainne dryly. “Well then, you shut down the electricity and we’ll get this thing going.” He fastened his cape. Adainne moved to the ledge, placing one foot on it. She raised her wand, directing it at the building. She drew a swift line across the air and at once the yellow squares across the building blackened. “Hey, what happened to the lights?” “Get to the control centre now!” “Uh oh, these boys are sharp,” said Trellor, eyeing the guards as they ran around. “Alright, follow me, sleep spells on anyone you see.” Trellor pounced onto the ledge. Then he put his legs together and descended like a torpedo onto the street below. “Wait up, stupid!” called Adainne, peering down. Trellor was grinning at her. “Isn’t being invisible fantastic? We can discuss all our plans as loud as we like. Right, follow me, I need to work out the best way to get in.” She dropped down beside him like an eagle. “Come on, round the side so no one bashes into us.” Trellor grasped her hand and pulled her behind him. To their right, through the barbed fence, a number of all-black guards had gathered and were talking confidentially. Trellor stopped. Adainne fell into him but he caught her. “Right, take a deep breath,” he said, earnestly looking into her eyes. She did. “Do you have any idea how we’re breaking in yet?” “We can’t appear inside, too much risk of landing on top of someone.” Adainne laughed. “This is like a really elaborate game of Operation. Don’t touch the sides, or you get a shock.” “In our case, we die,” said Trellor, dipping down to a large grille fixed into the dark brickwork. “Huh. Think we could squeeze through the grille?” “Without drawing attention to ourselves? I don’t think so. Hey, why did we have to turn off the lights if we‘re invisible?” “To gather the guards so we didn’t crash into them. That, and the cameras won’t see me plucking off this grille. Go put a sleep spell on them or something, and I can get this thing off.” “Yes sir,” said Adainne, rolling her eyes. She went carefully down the pavement they’d come from. Directly on her left was a large tarmac yard where the guards were talking behind the metal fence. She gave her wand a wave and murmured. Almost at once, the guards dropped to the ground in a heap. “Aren’t we going to draw attention now? Half of security have just been wiped out,” said Adainne, arriving back beside Trellor. “Another reason for knocking the cameras. It will give us a head start before they see what’s happened. They’ll be on red alert soon though, and that’s when things get very hard.” “Oh, I love it when that happens,” said Adainne dryly. “Really? So do I.” He magicked the last of the screws away. Then he wrapped his fingers around the grille and pulled. With a heave, he wrenched it from the wall. “This is definitely a case of ladies first,” he said, gesturing forwards. Adainne sighed. “Only because you’re too fat to get through the grille.” Trellor snorted. She kneeled, inspecting the opaque and narrow tunnel. “I hate you.” “Well, the whole world will love me after this. I can deal. Get a move on, the power will be coming back on.” Without hesitation, she dipped into the grille. She lit up the tip of her wand to guide the way. She began to crawl against ice steel. “It’s freezing in here,” echoed Trellor’s voice as he crawled in after her. There was a harsh clang, indicating that that grille had been put back up. “Well, no going back now.” “Hey, where are we actually going Trellor?” “Well, we have to get out of this vent first. Just keep going until we see another grille.” “So well planned, and yet so aimless.” “Oh, shoosh. You try planning to shift one reality into another.” “I’d never be so dumb as to attempt it.” “Yeah yeah. Just keep moving before your big a*s gets jarred in the vents.” “You’re a prick. If we weren’t saving the world right now, you’d be regretting saying that.” “Am I being…naughty?” “Seriously Trellor,” she groaned. “Get a little perspective. Saving the world.” “Sorry. Hey look, a grille in front!” “Obviously my arse isn’t that big then.” “Your what? Right, get up close and see what’s past the grille. Might be a storage space if we’re in the lower levels.” She sighed, then scrambled up to the grille. The room was mid-blue, the kind of darkness experienced when moonlight falls through the windows. It was quiet. All she could see beyond the grille were storage crates. “The coast seems clear,” she told Trellor, who was directly behind her. “Do your thing, then.” The light of her wand dimmed and one by one she unfastened the screws of the grille. It felt off with a satisfying clatter. They slid out of the vent carefully. “Ah, it is a storage room,” said Trellor, straightening up and dusting off. The moonlight was coming from slender rectangular windows at the top of the damp wall. “Right, I want a plan of action and I want it now,” said Adainne, facing him. “Our main priority is getting to the meeting room of Wizard Eron’s cabinet.” “The-what?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “We’re going to be stuck in a room with Wizard Eron and his most elite followers?” “Yup. Now there’s no time like the present. Or past. I have a rough idea of the layout of the place, his meeting room is somewhere on the third floor.” “How do you know that?” “I told you, I’m as well prepared as I can be.” He moved towards three stairs leading to the door. “Come on, we need to do this quickly.” She followed Trellor to the door. He opened it to a bare, plastered corridor that was now lit with white light. They were in the bottom section of a narrow T-junction. “Huh, the power’s back on,” Trellor muttered. “They’ll have seen the guards now. Quick, no one seems to be here, let’s-” “Trellor, get back!” yelled Adainne, pushing him into the wall. “What?-” They both looked at the corridor beyond their’s. Guards were coming past. Trellor had nearly walked straight into them. Between them was another person, but their head was covered by a black sack. “Do you know who that is?” asked Adainne, breathing hard and staring after the guards. Trellor let out a breath. “Yes, but, I don’t have time to explain. We need to run before they come back.” “You know who-?” “Adainne! Now!” He seized her hand and they began to run down the left side of the empty corridor. They skittered to a pause at the double doors at the end, Trellor peeking to ensure no one was on the other side. Once it had been cleared, they slid through without fuss. “Why didn’t you just put a sleep spell on those guards?” asked Adainne, panting. “We don’t have time now!” He pulled her again, this time towards stairs that dominated the new corridor. They ran up to the first landing, skidded round, then darted up a fresh set of stairs. They repeated this two more times, encountering no one on their path. “Through here,” said Trellor urgently, and the two glided through the doors. They had reached another corridor. This one was different to the ones in the lower levels. It was lined with pressed, office gray carpet and off-white walls. Men jogged past them, talking with loud urgency into their walkie talkies. “They’ll be going down to check on the other guards,” said Trellor. He pointed down to the end of the corridor. “See the room guarded there? That’s probably Wizard Eron’s boardroom. It will have heavy enchantments on it though, we’re going to need help to get in.” “Well, it could be a lot worse. Then we go home for a cup of tea?” “No, stupid. We still have to get one of the captives out of jail.” “The one we saw downstairs?” “The very same.” “Who are they, Trellor?” “I’m so sorry, I can’t disclose that information at this time.” “Trellor-” He released a roar of pain, then dropped to the ground. “Trellor?” Quickly she went to him. She looked up. The door had burst open with armed guards, knocking Trellor over. “S**t,” she murmured, pulling him out of the way as he writhed in pain. “Are you alright?” “Never mind me! Have they noticed?” He was clutching at his head. The guards were running to Wizard Eron’s room and appeared not to have noticed. “Hey, Trellor, here’s our chance! Let’s slip in with these guys!” She tried to pull him up to his feet. He got up on his own after a moment then looked, still rubbing his head. “You’re right! Let’s go.” They jogged after the men, careful to keep a distance behind them. The men stopped at the door. “Master Eron, we need to speak with you urgently,” one said. There was no sound behind the door. “They’ve sound-proofed the room,” Trellor said to Adainne. “Master Eron,” the soldier repeated. A lean Irish voice seemed to boom from the door. “What seems to be the issue?” “Someone killed the power and security have been found unconscious,” said the soldier. “Someone has entered the building.” The sigh was deep and musical. “Wake up the rest of your team and get them guarding every door in the place. Wave up more protective spells. Are you wizards, or aren’t you?” “We’re Wizards, sir,” said the soldier. “We’ll do that, sir.” “Good. Get lost.” “Well, that’s our entrance screwed,” said Adainne. “No wait.” The soldier wavered outside for several moments, then looked at his team. “I’m not bothering him again,” he told them flatly. “One of you guys tell him.” “I’ll do it,” one said tiredly, stepping to the door. “Master Eron, there’s been magical disturbance in the storage room in the lower levels. There’s someone in the building, there’s no question.” The door flew open. In its threshold stood a wild, red-haired man. His amber hair stuck up in unnatural ways; his face was pale and elfin. He wore a black dress robe over jeans. His eyes were beady and blue, framed by rough red eyebrows. This was the most Adainne saw of the dictator who killed her mother. Before Wizard Eron had even begun to spoke, Trellor pulled Adainne towards the door. “Squeeze past him, do not let him touch you,” hissed Trellor. His eyes were wide as he stared at the elf-like monster. “I just asked you if you were wizards. Clearly not, if you must come running to me when there is a security issue. Seal all the doors, vents and replace the protection spells across the whole building.” Trellor had managed to slip into the room as Wizard Eron spoke. He beckoned Adainne to follow. She was staring hard at Wizard Eron. If she just killed him this whole damn thing would be over with. Forget being careful with timelines, nothing could go wrong if she just killed him now. She was trained to do it, after all. She could do it bare-handed, cleanly and without fuss, without the pistol in her pocket. “I know what you’re thinking. That time will come, Adainne. But for now you have to come here, or I’ll be trapped without you.” She glanced at Trellor, then looked back to Wizard Eron. Slowly, she side-stepped towards Trellor, sucking in her stomach and pinning her head back. The belt of her chinos was a centimetre from brushing his velvet arm. “Come on, you can do it,” Trellor encouraged her. “…and if I am disturbed by any of you again, it will certainly be the last time you do so.” Wizard Eron moved back to close the door. Adainne was stuck half way in the threshold. “JUMP!” cried Trellor, as the door began to shut on her. She threw herself out of the way and into the room, Trellor catching her by an arm. “Ow!” she hissed, as her arm threatened to disengage from her being. “Sorry,” said Trellor, releasing her. He helped her back up. Then, they both stood in silence and watched. Wizard Eron glided to the end of a round wooden table. The room was similar to one perhaps found in a bank. The seats were regal purple cotton and the floors a garish dark blue. Behind Wizard Eron was an unused flipchart and a lonely bamboo plant. “In response to your concerns, Ffoyd, I understand that the counsel is heavily enchanted,” said Wizard Eron, looking to a large-headed man. “It won’t be an easy time getting past the spells, that’s certain. However, they are still under the illusion that I’m a respectable member. No one is yet aware of our latest…conquest. Before the Prime Minister contacts the counsel, we need to attack. That means we have a matter of days, if that.” “Attacking the counsel is a huge step,” said another man. “I understand gaining control of it will give us immense power, but if we fail we will be wiped out.” Several members of the room glanced at each other, expressions sunken but wide-eyed. Wizard Eron was carefully silent for a long moment. Then his steel gaze fell on the man. “Give us immense power? I wasn’t aware this was a team achievement, Alon. As a follower, you gain no recognition, no standing from being a part of this.” Alon roared, and desperately scrabbled at his sleeve. Trellor and Adainne, who had been parked against the wall, moved together to peer at Alon. Ripping up his sleeve revealed a gash down Alon’s arm, pumping blood onto his pinstriped leg and staining the royal purple burgundy. Wizard Eron seemed to have barely touched his wand. “Clean yourself up,” he said evenly. “And be kind enough to learn your place.” Adainne gulped loudly. “You’ve actually trapped me in a room with this psycho?” she whispered. “We’re safe, though,” said Trellor, although he was whispering too. “Okay, I don’t want to hang around here for longer than necessary. I need you to distract that Ffoyd guy, he’s the one writing the minutes. When you’re doing that, I’ll write something on the page. Got it?” “Er, right,” said Adainne. She was secretly pleased she had gotten the easier thing to do. “Anything you like, so long as it’s discreet.” “Hey, Trellor, can we get back out the door?” “I assume so. Why put up enchantments to prevent people getting out?” “You assume so?!” “Yes! Now come on, we haven’t got all, er, year.” Adainne snorted. “Hurry up then.” Trellor moved swiftly to the chairman’s back. In the background, Wizard Eron was exploring more avenues of infiltrating their wizard counsel. It had been Wizard Eron’s biggest stamp on world. He overwhelmed the counsel with an almighty force of hundreds of followers. Unprepared but fighting valiantly, the counsel fell into the hands of Wizard Eron, and then the world began to collapse. “Now, Adainne!” Adainne snapped back into the present. Unthinkingly she withdrew her wand and a fly spun around the chairman’s head. Trellor looked alarmed. “You’re an idiot!” Adainne stared. “What did I do?” He was too busy to respond again. His wand was tipped at the chairman’s notes, eyes hard with concentration. Adainne let the fly become more erratic in front of his eyes. The chairman blew fiercely at the fly. Wizard Eron was murmuring in the background still. “Done, I’m done, stop!” yelled Trellor, crossing over to Adainne, and pushing her wand down. “What did I do wrong?” she asked, stowing her wand away. “Flies can’t get in here. Nothing can get past the enchantments without Eron’s permission. Opening the door to us was okay, because he was breaking the enchantment.” “Oh, s**t.” “We still need to wait until we leave,” he said, staring longingly at the door. “What for?” “Shoosh. To see what my little note will do.” The chairman flattened the fly with a thick palm to the table. Wizard Eron’s eyes were sharp on him. “Would you like to add something, Ffoyd?” Alon had gone white, manually stitching his arm with his wand. “Er.” Ffoyd stumbled and coughed. For help, he looked down to his notes. “But I don’t remember…” Wizard Eron’s eyes were slits. “Don’t remember what, Ffoyd?” Trellor sucked in a breath and his hand found Adainne’s. The chairman’s eyes were wide. He looked to the wizard again. “I…Ahem, I really don’t think you should go through with this, sir,” said Ffoyd, sweat droplets forming on his forehead. “Why, Ffoyd?” “Well, it’s an extremely high risk, sir.” He dabbed his head with a hankerchief, then looked again to his notes for help. “The counsel has twelve of the most accomplished wizards in the world, and at least a hundred other members who are trained to defend the counsel if need be.” The wizard considered. “They won’t be expecting the attack,” said the wizard evenly. “And we outdo them in numbers.” “I must concur, sir,” said a female wizard, opposite Wizard Eron. “I recognise you make the ultimate decision, but it is an unwise move. Considering the risk we took tonight with our latest conquest, it would be risky to make a move so soon. Let the latest sink in, and then we will calculate a better move.” “Once they know what I’ve done, they will kick me out of the counsel,” said Wizard Eron. “We will no longer have the advantage of a surprise attack.” The woman peered at Wizard Eron over her glasses. “Better we make a careful plan than rush into a surprise attack?” Once more, the wizard considered. “If we don’t invade Pethryn now, we won’t get another good opportunity.” “We will,” said the woman. “Gain more followers and we will attack with better resources next time.” The wizard was silent. “We can’t hang around for a definite decision. I doubt he will come to one right now, anyway. Come on, we’ve got a life to save.” Trellor picked up Adainne’s hand. They both moved to the door. They wobbled through it together, slipping through much more easily than expected. A new guard had taken up post next to them. “We don’t have time to go back down all those stairs. They’ll be sealing the place off and we won’t be able to get the person through.” He squeezed her hand to him and waved them away. Adainne was back in the T-junction corridor. This time she was staring down the route the guards had taken. At the very end of the vast corridor were lines of metal. Behind them, a woman was sobbing. She was guarded by two men. Adainne shook. “Trellor…” His hands gripped her shoulders. He dipped his voice down so that his hot breath hit her ear. “Do not make any silly moves, or we will end up putting her in worse trouble than she’s already in. We don’t have time now.” “Mum!” Adainne tore down the corridor. Trellor scoffed loudly behind her. “Seriously! I tell her!” He ran after her. “She can’t hear you,” he said, catching up to Adainne. “She’s alive,” said Adainne, staring. Her mum was on a bench, curled up. Her hair was a night purple, long and flowing as Adainne remembered it. “Adainne, we need to get her out of there without touching her,” said Trellor softly. “Will you be able to do that?” “I don’t know,” whispered Adainne, moving to the bars. “Alright, let’s do this then. It’s more important she’s alive than she knows I’m here.” Trellor gazed at her for a moment. “Yeah, it is.” A moment later, the two men guarding her mother were on the floor, eyes closed. Trellor put his wand to his side. “Alright, I’m going to give her a wand. You steer clear. We’re all going to have to leave at the same time.” Adainne moved back into the shadows. Trellor withdrew his wand and tilted it underneath Adainne’s mother’s seat. There, a new wand appeared, rolling around vaguely on the imbalanced floor. The woman’s amethyst hair rose from her knees. Trellor indicated to Adainne to keep quiet as they both waited. Adainne’s mother looked around shiftily, as though expecting the noise to come from an unwanted source. Carefully, she craned her fair neck under the seat. She paused for a moment, seeing the wand. Trellor sucked in a breath. Adainne did the same. She picked the wand up between her fingers and levered herself upright. After a moment’s inspection, she pointed the wand at the lock of the door, where it blew open. Trellor knocked Adainne back against the wall as her mother made her next move. With wild eyes, her mother stood in the threshold of the cell, staring around for guards. Then, without haste, she darted out of the cell and into the bottom end of the junction. “Come on,” hissed Trellor, seizing Adainne’s arm and following her mother to the storage room. Her mother had paused. So had they. Obnoxious alarms were ringing and a thick metal door was pushing down from the ceiling to block their way. “S**t,” muttered her mother. She charged at the door, ducking ungracefully under and into the next part of the corridor. “Come on Adainne!” said Trellor, tugging them towards the falling door. He slipped them both under. A few moments later, the door sealed with a boom. They followed Adainne’s mother into the storage facility, which remained empty. She stared around for a moment before noticing the opened grille on the wall. She went to it and they followed. Once she had crawled in Adainne was next behind her, and Trellor after that. He sealed the cover once they were inside to slow anyone who might follow them. They clanged and banged through the hollow metal vent once more. Upon reaching the end, Adainne’s mother stopped again. “What’s the hold up?” hissed Trellor from the rear end. “I don’t know,” whispered Adainne, attempting to peer over her mother’s shoulder. She managed to see the edge of a black trouser leg and boot on either side of the grille. It was being guarded, too. “What a pain in my arse.” “What is it?” The legs disappeared and a moment later two thuds were heard. “There were guards outside. I knocked them out with a sleeping spell.” “Don’t you think your mom could have thought of that, instead of you doing it and raising suspicion?” Adainne blushed. “Probably. But we can’t waste any more time.” She couldn’t see her mother’s reaction, but there was a distinct pause before she began tampering with the screws. The grille clattered to the pavement outside and her mother scrambled out. They followed suit, standing to the side of Adainne’s mother as she looked around for more guards. She peered off into the distance with her dark blue eyes once before fleeing in the opposite direction. Adainne started to run after her. “What are you doing?” exclaimed Trellor, pulling her back into him. “Mum! Mum!” Adainne cried, as her mother’s figure retreated into the gloom of the Irish city. “Come on, don’t be silly,” said Trellor. His voice was soothing rather than scolding. Adainne struggled against him for a moment before bursting into tears. Trellor kept her against him as she crumpled in his grip. “I’m going to take us back up to the ship.” He withdrew his wand with a barely free hand, and they were waved away from the scene. *** They arrived at the door. Adainne recoiled completely into Trellor’s grip, clutching him as she cried. He was holding her; his chin sunk into her hair. The cat and the star had paused to study the scene before them. Boston’s eyes dimmed with understanding. The star’s points wilted and again she faded a black-blue. Trellor eventually lead Adainne up the stairs, one arm secure underneath both of her’s. He took her weight until he lay her onto the bed, where she lay still. She was in no mood to talk, so Trellor smoothed her hair until her eyes began to dim. She rolled onto her back, ready to fall asleep. He began to stroke her cheek and hair against his palm. In response, Adainne closed her eyes against his hand. “Are you…alright?” he asked, slowly. Her eyes opened a little, and she looked up at him. “I will be,” she replied, letting her eyes close again. Trellor took this as his cue to leave. Before he did, he found his lips pressed to her’s with the intention of comfort. A moment later he lifted from her and moved to the door, exchanging quiet goodnights in the din that transferred Adainne to sleep soon after. © 2012 AlskarFeatured Review
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