War of the Wisps

Despite the blade Andrew had to the mage’s throat, Anna approached warily. She held out her hand, sensing for magic or spells, and especially trying to determine if he had any Wisps in gemstones on him. There was nothing. Then she saw the discarded staff. She sensed nearly a dozen Wisps inside the crystal at the top. She picked it up gingerly. “We won’t be able to save all of you right away,” she muttered.

“Who’s this contact?” Andrew demanded. “How did they know about us?”

Anna looked over and saw a grin spread across the pirate’s face. “Oh my. Did I say all that out loud?” he asked. “Woops! Let’s just call that a slip of the tongue. Nothing I say is of any consequence. You should just ignore me. I’m just a pirate, here to make trouble, after all.”

Andrew frowned. “What’s he talking about?” she asked Andrew.

Andrew didn’t seem to hear her. “Talk, damnit!” he barked. The pirate’s grin just grew wider.

“We can question him later,” Mac’Neil said. “Right now, we just need to get him away from here!” The other knights and guards formed a ring around the pirate leader. Mac’Neil drew out some rope to bind him, allowing Andrew to step back to sheath his sword.

“Did you check to see if he had another anchor on him?” Anna asked.

Andrew nodded. He still seemed shaken, though Halcyon’s presence seemed to be working its magic on him. “None that I could see. How small can they be, though? Did you sense anything?”

Anna shook her head. “I can’t sense the anchors themselves. Spells and enchantments, sure. So we can safely say he doesn’t have any of those. But Anchor’s can be pretty we’d better search him as soon as we can. Oh, but he has a few Wisps in this,” she added, hefting the gemstone spear. “Hopefully, we won’t need to break this one for Halcyon to help them.” Andrew didn’t reply. He just kept looking after the mage as he walked away. “Hey, is something wrong?”

Andrew shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jarnvaror glided down to them and land on the beach before he could get out a word. Peter grunted in discomfort as the landing jostled his legs.

“You guys get going!” Peter said. “Jarn and I can watch your backs on the way to the ship!”

“Hold on a second!” Andrew told his brother. But he looked back to Anna. “I’m more worried about what he said. Did you hear it? It was just as you were showing up.”

Anna shook her head. “No, why?”

“He knew we were coming from the capitol. The three of us. He didn’t know we were in town yet, but he knew were coming.”

Anna blinked. “How could he know that?” she asked.

“We already know he has informants in the city,” Peter said. “Maybe he just has a bigger network.”

Andrew shook his head. “No. He said that the person in Prohr who gave him the Wisps told him.”

Anna thought she felt her heart stop. Haclyon tried to calm her down, but she couldn’t make the cold feeling go away. “He’s not one of the people capturing them?” Anna asked.

“We were never really sure about that,” Andrew said. “But… no. It seems like he’d be one of our Elf mage’s customers.”

“But that doesn’t explain how he knew we were coming, does it?” Anna asked.

Andrew shook his head. “No. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You can always interrogate the guy on the ship,” Peter said. “For now, though, I think you should get going. It looks like some of the stragglers are getting bold again.”

Andrew nodded to his brother. “Right. Watch our backs. We’ll see what else we can learn.”

Anna followed Andrew back to the ship. She took the pirate’s staff with them. She felt like she needed it to walk. There was something about the fact that the mage knew about them before that was important, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Then they were on their little dinghy, and her worry had to contend with the motion sickness as well.

Halcyon’s influence pressed into her head. She let it slow her breathing, let her thoughts calm. What do you think? she thought, wondering if Halcyon would understand. The Wisp continued to pour his calm into her, and she couldn’t tell whether he was able to understand or not.

They reached their ship, and the sailors hauled their little boat back up. On the deck, Sir Mac’Neil was ordering his men to take the mage down to the ship’s hold and keep him under watch. “We want to be away in case any of the pirates try coming after us. We don’t want to get caught up in things while the dragon finishes them off.”

“I doubt he’ll go that far,” Andrew said. “He’ll watch our backs and make sure none of them get too close.”

The commander nodded his understanding. “A shame. But we’ve dealt the pirates a major blow.”

“Have you no mercy for us poor souls?” the mage asked. His tone was mocking, all exaggerated self-pity and fear. “None for us outcastes living the only way we know how?”

“Save it until we reach the city,” Sir Mac’Neil said.

“Wait!” Anna cut in. “We need to make sure he doesn’t have another anchor on him.”

The mage’s eye’s flashed at Anna in annoyance. Then he laughed. “Really? Where would I have another anchor? In my pants? Casting from there really doesn’t sound very comfortable.” But the knight commander only nodded to his men to begin their search. “So you’ll take even my dignity in front of the little lady?” the mage bawled. Anna turned around, not wanting to look.

“He’s clear,” said one of the knights.

“Then put his clothes back on and send him down,” Mac’Neil said. “We’ll question him back in the city.”

Anna frowned, following the guards with her eyes as they took the mage away. Why had he seemed so annoyed with her for pointing out that he hadn’t been searched? It made no sense that he’d have only one anchor. At least a spare. She would carry one if she did anything but sense magic and practice tiny spells with it.

“Alright!” the commander barked. “Let’s get out of here!”

The sailors began manning their posts. The sail unfurled, catching the wind which would pull them back to Prohr. As they worked, Andrew stepped up to Sir Mac’Neil. “About the mage,” he began.

“You three did well,” the knight said. “I expect Lord Mac’Fureigh will be pleased.”

“It’s not that,” Andrew said. “The mage mentioned a contact in the city.”

“One of his informants?”

Andrew shook his head. “Someone who gave him the Wisps.”

A frown creased the older knight’s forehead. “Something more than an informant, then,” he muttered.

Andrew nodded his agreement. “I think we need to find out who that is before getting back to the city.”

“A good idea,” the commander said. “I’ll go and have a chat wit-“ Jarnvaror’s roar cut him off. He looked and saw the dragon diving back at their ship. They could see Peter on the dragon’s back, obscured by the night, flailing, trying to point at something.

“What are you doing?” Andrew called up to his brother. But Anna’s eyes grew wide. He was pointing down. To the water. Anna ran to the railings, and looked down. Half a dozen rowboats were clustered around the stern, grapples trailing from the ship itself. Men were climbing up them.

“We’re being boarded!” she shouted. Only Andrew and Mac’Neil seemed to hear her, but the commander repeated her warning in a bellow that seemed to shake the sky above. In moments, the knights were forming up behind the helm of the ship.

“What’s that boy doing? He should have been watching our back!” the commander hissed under his breath.

“My brother probably couldn’t see them himself,” Andrew said. “And I bet Jarnvaror thought they were our own.” The knight commander grunted in answer, preparing to fight.

“No. All of you stand down, or I’ll have to butcher you.”

Anna spun to see the mage standing at the entrance to the lower decks, hands unbound, and without any guards.

“You?” The commander burst. “How did-“

He got no further. The mage flicked his hand up. A crescent of rippling air flew from his finger tips and cut into the knight. The man sputtered and fell to his knees. The pirate mage sighed. “I hate holding back so much,” he muttered.

Anna shivered. “How… How are you casting without an Anchor?” she asked.

The Mage turned to her and grinned. One of his teeth was glowing. “Best thing to ever come from losing a tavern brawl,” he said. He flicked his hand out again, and a whip of air seemed to form around the staff Anna was holding. Tight as she tried to hold it, it was wrenched from her grasp, and she fell to the deck. The guards and sailors were already advancing on the mage but as soon as it reached his hands, the gem glowed red. A feeling of rage rippled out from the staff, along with currents of air that slashed at the sailors. Half a dozen sailors and guards fell to the deck, unmoving.

He stepped over his victims. Anna froze. Halcyon pulsed inside her bracelet, but his strength seemed so little compared to rage and fear spilling out from the mage before her. “No, there’s too many,” she said, clutching the bracelet in her other hand. “Get the others to help you. The ones from Ironhill!” She had no idea if Halcyon understood. He responded to her urgency by pouring out more calm. She didn’t know any spells. She couldn’t duel him. But she could try and sense his magic, try and predict his moves.

The Pirate mage eyed her. He seemed impressed she was still standing under the influence of the other Wisps. Then his focus turned to Andrew and the other sailors. “Now,” the mage began. “I think you lot have taken quite enough from me this night. And… well, we simply can’t let that stand. But, I’ve got a proposal for you.”

“Damn you!” one of the knights roared, diving at the mage. The mage flicked his hand, and the man fell to pieces at the pirate’s feat. Anna gasped, sensing the whole spell. It seemed almost familiar. She held an image of it in her head and realized it was something very similar to the spell Sol had shown her for controlling air.

“As I was saying,” the pirate continued, as though nothing had happened. “We can make a deal. I seem to be short many ships and crew after this evening. I don’t hold that against you. You were just doing your jobs. And I, in turn, need more ships to do mine. And look at what we have here!” He tapped his foot on the deck. His men laughed.

“So, here’s my proposal. I let you lot live. And, in exchange, you give me the ship.” The pirate captain looked from one sailor to the next. “Any takers?”

“How can we trust your word?” Mac’Neil demanded through ragged breaths.

The pirate thought about that for a moment. Then shrugged. “I could just kill you all and take it. It’s really the same either way, for me. One’s just messier.” He paused for a moment. Looking up to where Jarnvaror was circling overhead. “Oh. But I definitely want to also kill that beast.”

“No!” Andrew and Anna yelled together. “Our friend is up there!” Anna added, hoping that Halcyon might be able to make the mage feel any pity at all.

Instead, the pirate looked at her and sneered. “Oh, well that certainly changes things. After all, it’s not like I had any friends burned tonight.” Anna found herself choking back whatever else she might have said, and the mage nodded. “Oh, and to be clear, don’t think I can’t tell that you’re poking and prodding with your magic, little novice. Believe me, it won’t do you any good. Now I just—”

Another roar split the air as Jarnvaror turned to dive at the ship. Anna realized Peter must have heard their shout a moment ago, and convinced the dragon he’d need to fight the rest of the pirates, anyway.

The mage only shook his head and raised his staff. “Guess I’ll have to deal with him first! Men, to me!”

As he said that, the ship exploded into chaos. Halcyon burst from Anna’s bracelet, along with two of Ironhill’s Wisps. Just two, but they were enough to dampen the chaotic influence of the Wisps under the pirate’s command. Even as his companions moved to protect him, the knights and sailors charged into the fray. The mage paid them no mind. Anna, with her magic, could tell that the mage was charging up for a powerful spell, weaving the same net together over and over so it could cut through a dragon’s scales. And he was pulling energy in from his staff. From the Wisps themselves.

Jarnvaror landed on the prow of the ship, hissing and spitting at everyone. “Anna, get to Peter,” Andrew shouted. “You can’t do anything here. I’ll try and buy you guys some time to escape!” And he pushed for her to move away.

Anna stumbled and fell, and she couldn’t find the will to give up. Run? Leave Andrew behind? Leave the others? With the pirates? That mage? No. Anna knew with a strange certainty that the mage would never have spared any of them. And how could they run? His magic, that twisted air magic, could cut them out of the sky long before they got away, the moment the mage completed it.

So don’t let him complete it. The thought seemed to spring out of a well of calm. Anna could feel Halcyon pulsing at her side. It wasn’t one of his thoughts. She didn’t think it was, anyway. But it didn’t matter. It was her only shot.

She looked up, trying to sense the pirate mage’s spell again. The net was a great knot of power, many knots forming a complex spell that had one purpose. Even a little change would alter the whole thing. It would make the spell behave… wrong. If she cut just one, the whole thing would destabilize.

Strong as it was, the spell would rip apart the entire ship.

But then she noticed something in the pattern, remembering the same one that Sol had shown her. Different parts controlled the material the spell would manipulate, while others controlled it’s force, and still others its direction. What would happen if rather than cutting the spell, she simply unwound the right knots?

Anna didn’t know if it would be the same, but she knew it was their only chance. She reached out with her own magic to the spell being woven before her. She looped several strands of her own magic into the spell, then pulled.

The pirate mage seemed to notice she was acting a second too late. “NO!” he roared. There was a terrible cracking sound as his staff exploded, as did the anchor on Anna’s wrist. Red lights shot into the sky like lightning from the broken staff. Then, the whole ship shuddered. The mast cracked and a great wind spiraled out and up between Anna and the pirate.

Anna was thrown back against the deck railing, as was Andrew. Men fighting on the deck were scattered, some colliding with the railing as well, others tumbling overboard. The wind seemed to last minutes, though later, Anna realized it must have only been a few seconds.

When she was able to look back, the lights of the lanterns were all out again. In the moonlight, she could see men spread across the deck in groaning lumps. Or they were silent.

“What was that,” Andrew groaned next to her.

“I…” Anna began. Then she swallowed. She had no idea who was still on board, and who was gone. “I’ll tell you later,” she muttered, more quietly.

Andrew didn’t reply. He just stood, found another sailor who was in less than terrible condition, and began relighting what lanterns he could. What lanterns were still around, anyway.