When Gods Were Human—Part Ten (Patreon)

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          Tony didn’t waste any time. Before the smoke had even cleared from his flame blast he was already running through the gap. Andrea noticed Tony didn’t spare a glance for the blackened remains of the guards as he hustled past them. She couldn’t really blame him for that: she didn’t want to look at them either.

          Inside the compound’s outer walls the lawns were well-manicured, with clean gravel paths. Tony rushed down one that led along the perimeter fence. He had a look of pure determination on his face. The fencing that surrounded the compound was made of delicate black iron that curled into the shape of powerful wards at regular intervals. The wooden manor that it surrounded was not protected in the same way. It was delicate in its construction, but without any warding that Andrea could see. Vines of ivy with gorgeous white flowers grew up the walls on carefully-crafted trellises.

          Another pair of eldrin guards came running Tony’s way out another gravel path from within the massive compound. They wore bright red uniforms and carried what looked to Andrea like crude spell shaping instruments in their hands. The first of the two guards saw Tony running the opposite way, but they didn’t attack.

          “You there!” one of them shouted. “We’ve had a report of an enemy pyromancer in the area. You should get to cover with the other humans while we check it out.”

          Tony casually held Tel’Andrid at his side, and away from direct line of sight from the two guards. “Where was that exactly?” Tony asked.

          The guard who had spoken up before pointed firmly down the path Tony was already taking. “Servant’s quarters. Behind the kitchens. Now stay out of our way.”

          Tony nodded and kept his eyes pointed at the ground until the two guards had passed. They didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. Once they were past, Tony picked up the pace precisely the direction they told him to avoid. “He’ll be there. He’ll be there,” he muttered to himself as he ran.

          The path curved around the main manor. There was a smaller building that looked like it had been added onto the manor as an afterthought around the back. The construction wasn’t quite up to the same extravagant level of detail as the main building. That was where Tony headed.

          Tony burst into the smaller building in a rush. It was filled with shabby bunks and a small communal living area. There was a small crowd of humans gathered in the main room. They gave Tony wide-eyes expressions of fear when he burst in so quickly.

          “Tony!” an older woman said. “What are you doing here? They said we were under attack and—”

          “Where’s Cally?” Tony demanded. He pushed his fellow humans aside in his haste to find his son.

          “He ain’t ‘ere,” a lanky young man answered. “The mistress snatched ‘im up. Said ‘e was connected to the attack some’ow.”

          “What? When!” Tony shouted.

          “Just a minute past,” another human answered.

          “I don’t get it,” Andrea whispered over her shoulder. “If they knew his son was connected, why didn’t the guards know who to look for?”

          Elder Jaelyn was the one who answered. “Obviously the Outsiders have not made much progress rediscovering magic theory. Their seers are probably having difficulty accounting for human error.”

          Andrea nodded to herself. That did make sense. The question now was what they would do with the child.

          Tony held the door to the cramped living quarters open. “Come on!” he urged his fellow humans. “Let’s go.”

          “Go where?” an older woman asked.

          “Out of here!” Tony said. “We don’t need to be slaves anymore. We can be our own masters.”

          “But the masters have magic and—”

          Tony interrupted. “I have magic now too,” he told them. “And the nice lady who lives inside this stone can teach anyone else who wants to learn.”

          Andrea wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She certainly liked being called a “nice lady,” but she wasn’t planning to sign up as a school teacher. The humans crowded up to Tony in an attempt to peer inside the stone and spot the person inside. They pestered him with questions.

          “Where’d you get it?”

          “I don’t see a lady.”

          “What kind ‘a magic?”

          “I’ll show you!” Tony exclaimed. He proceeded to march out the door of the small building and into the yard. Most of the humans followed after him, but even the ones too skittish to follow closely still crowded around the doorway to watch. Once in place Tony pointed Tel’Andrid at the iron fence that protected the manor and shouted, “Fᴀx ᴇᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴠᴏ ɪɢɴɪs!”

          A candle flame larger than a bonfire erupted in the air before him and melted a hole in the fence. Tony’s audience gasped in equal parts delight and horror.

          Tony raised his voice above the din of confused questions that followed. “Everyone that wants to escape can go now. I’ll come too once I get Cally.”

          “That spell was quite a bit smaller than the last one,” Andrea commented.

          “Yes, well, that’s to be expected,” Elder Jaelyn said. “You didn’t think those reserves of crystalized mana embedded in his body were going to last forever, did you?”

          Tony’s head darted around in confusion for a moment. “Who said that?” he asked the air. “Is there someone else with you, Andrea? Am I runnin’ out ‘o fuel for the magic?”

          Andrea chided herself for forgetting to lower her voice and making the human worry. “You’re fine,” she assured him. “We can provide as much mana as you need.” Andrea looked over her shoulder at the disembodied form of Elder Jaelyn. He was standing near the control for the Watchtower, which appeared to be at a spot near the frightened group of humans at the moment. “What are you waiting for?” Andrea hissed at him. “I thought you were going to give him the mana he needed. He’s going to run out soon if we don’t do anything.”

          May giggled. “That’s exactly what we’re waiting for, silly,” she said in her liquid smooth voice.

          “What?” Andrea demanded. Then more quietly but no less furiously she added, “Did you just say you want him to run out of mana? What if he gets himself killed fighting guards?”

          “At the moment our little city holds almost no power in the Outside world,” Elder Jaelyn explained in a low voice. “I am merely looking out for our best interests. Once this human needs us we will have complete control over his actions.”

          “That’s—Why do you have to—”

          “You wanted us to help him,” Jaelyn cut Andrea off. “Those are my terms.”

          Andrea didn’t like it, but she wasn’t exactly in a position of power herself. At least the stodgy old man was helping at all.

          “Look out!” one of the humans shouted. They pointed off into the distance, but Andrea couldn’t make out what they were pointing to. The image from the Watchtower was starting to fade; Andrea’s messy study was starting to peek through the veil of illusion in several places.

          “I can’t see,” Andrea complained. She craned her neck to try to get a better view. All she could make out was the glimmer of rows of guards approaching in bright red armor. “I think he’s in trouble. What’s wrong with the illusion?”

          “Come now,” Jaelyn said in a condescending tone. “Surely you must have noticed that the Watchtower isn’t supposed to work this way: filling up the entire room.”

          “I thought you modified it,” Andrea said.

          “I did,” Jaelyn said. “I increased the output by allowing it to draw on an abundant source of mana on the Outside.” He pointed to Tony’s concerned form. “Your mana-drenched human.”

          “You’ve been draining him?”

          “And it’s about time he ran out,” Jaelyn said without a hint of sympathy.

          Tony released another flash of flame towards the approaching guards and then all at once the illusion of the Outside world faded away. They were back to standing in Andrea’s study. The Watchtower was completely powered down.

          “He’s about to get himself killed!” Andrea shouted, pointing to where Tony’s image had just been a moment ago.

          “You don’t know that,” Jaelyn muttered. “And calm down, I need to put this back in order.” Jaelyn had the main panel open and was back to making changes to the runes. Andrea didn’t know what to do with herself. She ran over and stood in the Watchtower’s control chamber. A ring of runes engraved on the floor surrounded her and her feet settled into the two impressions meant for slightly bigger feet to stand on.

          “Hurry up! Hurry up!” she urged the old eldrin.

          Runes flickered through the air. “There. It should be working again, and I’m sending him a modest amount of mana as well.”

          Red flames lit up the ground around Andrea’s feet. She could feel a burning sensation this time, which reminded her of the cool sensation she’d felt earlier and not remarked on. She felt so stupid. She should have known to expect Jaelyn’s scheming! He always looked for ways to get an advantage over others.

          The scene returned to life around Andrea’s eyes. Tony was holding up Tel’Andrid and shouting out the command for the one spell he knew. A row of guards with raised shields were advancing on him.

          “…ᴠᴏ ɪɢɴɪs! Fᴀx ᴇᴛ ᴘᴀʀᴠᴏ ɪɢɴɪs!”

          On the second cast the spell worked. A pillar of flame exploded out of the spot where the guards had been standing. Andrea craned her head upward this time and saw that it was just a candle’s flame grown to an incredible size. She really needed to teach the human another spell at some point.

          The guards scattered. They were knocked aside like sticks from the force of Tony’s blast. Rather than burning to a crisp like the first set of guards Tony had encountered, these men all had protective indigo barriers surrounding their bodies. They fell to the ground rather forcefully but seemed none the worse for wear.

          “That was a close one,” Tony said. “It almost didn’t work that time.”

          “Sorry. Just some technical problems on our end,” Andrea told him.

          Tony scrunched up his face. Andrea noticed the distinct lack of scaly white crystals on Tony’s face now. Jaelyn’s plan had worked perfectly. Tony was now at his mercy. “What’s technical?” he asked.

          “Uh… complicated,” Andrea said. “You should be getting a constant supply of mana now. Don’t worry about it.”

          “You hear that?” Tony shouted at the guards. He received only confused and fearful glances from the soldiers that certainly couldn’t hear a thing Andrea had just said. “I got a constant supply o’ mana. I can do this all day.”

          “H-he’s with the Countess and her seer,” one of the guards said. He pointed backwards, and towards the manor. The man stepped out of the way. “Just don’t kill us. This is just a job for me.”

          “Me too,” another guard agreed. Several of the eldrin combatants stepped aside and held their hands up in surrender, but most of them reformed ranks as they recovered.

          Tony looked over his shoulder at the destroyed section of fence. “Run!” he told the huddled group of humans behind him. “I’ll hold these guys here until you’ve all gotten away.”

          Andrea watched as only half the humans ran through the fence. The others returned to the rundown shack they lived in. She couldn’t understand why anyone would choose servitude if they didn’t have to. Perhaps they were bad at running, or thought they’d just get caught? It was certainly their own choice to make; it just made Andrea second-guess these humans all the more. Some—like Tony—risked their lives for freedom while others weren’t even willing to take it when offered.

          Tony faced the guards. A few had slipped away while the humans made their escape, but the ones that remained held fast with shields raised. One of them stuck out their hand and shot a spear of ice at Tony. He reacted instantly and blocked the attack with a small flame. In his haste he seemed to be able to cast his single fire spell without even saying the words.

          Tony’s eyes went wide with surprise as the ice spear sizzled into steam before him. The eldrin guards held back from further attacks when they saw how well the first one fared. “That’s right,” Andrea encouraged him. “You’re faster than you realize. Let your instincts guide you.”

          Tony nodded, then furrowed his brows and stared down the guards before him. When another guard moved Tony slashed the air with one hand. Dozens of flames of Candlelight lit up all at once. Not randomly: two for each remaining guard, right on their knees.

          Screams of agony pierced the air and the guards all fell to the ground screaming and writhing in on the ground. Black smoke sizzled from their burning flesh. Tony had disabled all the guards in one fell swoop. They wouldn’t be going anywhere without kneecaps.

          “Sorry,” Tony hollered at them as he took off. He jogged off in the direction the scared guard had indicated. Towards the front of the manor.

          “Well, I’m glad you didn’t kill them,” Andrea said while he ran. She could admit that she’d probably gotten too involved in this one human’s plight, but that didn’t mean everyone he was fighting was necessarily evil. She didn’t know much of anything about this Outside world. It was probably not a good idea to run around killing people without good cause, or assisting in killing them in Andrea’s case.

          “I felt kinda bad about those two at the gate,” Tony said. “Didn’t mean to do that. Just sorta happened. I don’t wanna start killin’ everyone just cause I have magic now. Then I’d be no better than the masters.”

          “I’m so glad you feel that way, Tony,” Andrea agreed. From the divan next to her, Andrea heard May give a chortle of laughter.

          Tony got to the front door of the manor. He waved a hand at the door and it exploded open with a candle of flame. Two guards rushed him with weapons drawn. They collapsed onto the ground clutching their knees before the smoke even cleared. Tony walked past them with an attentive eye looking out for the next attack.

          Inside the manor’s front doors a large hall opened up with pillars of support to the sides and steps that led to a raised throne. It was a rather quaint imitation of a royal throne room. Like a throne room in miniature. It was constructed of wood. Despite that feeling like an extravagant expense Andrea had to remind herself that wood was plentiful Outside. If anything that only made the throne room less impressive.

          There was a female eldrin sitting upon the small throne in a humble dress of gold thread that featured bulging fabric at the shoulders. More guards stood at attention at either side of her seat but they didn’t move to attack Tony. An advisor leaned forward from behind her chair and whispered in her ear. She nodded and gestured with a lazy finger. A guard from the back of the room stepped forward holding a small child firmly by the neck. There was no question she was the person in charge.

          The man that had whispered in the woman’s ear announced loudly in a voice that echoed across the room. “You stand in the presence of Countess Fayse of the Duchy of Idith. State your intention, interloper.”

          “Interloper?” Tony asked. “It’s me. Tony. I just want my son back.”

          The Countess said something to the man beside her.

          “The Countess does not recognize you,” the man announced.

          Tony scratched the back of his head. “I, uh. I dig the mana wells.”

          There was more whispering.

          “Tony Fayseman. The Countess wishes to know where you got your new powers. She is prepared to trade your son and as many slaves as you wish in exchange for this information.”

          From within Tel’Andrid, Elder Jaelyn interjected to Andrea excitedly. “Tell Tony to tell her his power comes from the stone he carries.” Andrea couldn’t see where he was standing or how he was listening in to the Watchtower without standing in it. She supposed he had his ways.

          Andrea didn’t know what scheme Jaelyn was up to and wasn’t inclined to help him, but for the moment she couldn’t see what good refusing him would do. “It’s okay,” Andrea told Tony. “You can tell her about me.”

          Andrea was hopeful this conflict could end quickly. Her feet were starting to burn and she knew from experience that mana burns couldn’t be healed with magic. She didn’t want to have to stay inside the Watchtower any longer than she had to or she’d be hopping around on sensitive feet for weeks afterwards.

          “Screw her,” Tony said. “I don’t need her cooperation. If she’s actually willing to kill a child if she doesn’t get her way then I won’t even feel bad about killing her.”

          Andrea wasn’t really invested in the outcome one way or another, except insofar as it finished quickly. “You do make a good point, Tony,” she admitted.

          Jaelyn’s voice sounded in Andrea’s ear again. “Tell Tony that if he doesn’t reveal what he knows about Tel’Andrid we’ll cut off his mana supply.”

          “What?” Andrea hissed in the direction she thought Elder Jaelyn was standing. “Are you serious right now? Why does that even matter to you? A child’s life is on the line!”

          “And I would be heartbroken if he died,” Jaelyn replied in a perfectly calm voice that didn’t indicate that feeling in the slightest. “This little drama is irrelevant. We need Tel’Andrid to get into the hands of someone powerful so we can effect policy changes on a large scale. That means establishing our value. The Outsiders need to see how powerful our little city can be. If they do, getting it into the hands of a powerful governor or warlord will be inevitable.”

          “You just want to pull their strings from behind the curtain, don’t you?” Andrea hissed back at him.

          Elder Jaelyn didn’t express a hint of shame in his response. “Of course I do,” he answered. “And you should want that too. It will be the best way to prevent another Belorian from rising up and threatening our fair city again.”

          Andrea bared her teeth. She didn’t like it one bit, but Jaelyn did have a point. If they had been more involved in Outside politics from the start Belorian might never have grown powerful enough to threaten them in the first place. Genathor’s sacrifice wouldn’t have even been necessary… But coming up with a plan on paper was not the same as allowing someone she knew to come to harm—even if she’d only known this human for a short time.

          “No, sorry Tony,” Andrea said aloud. “You’re just going to have to tell her the truth. Trust me on this.” She left out the part about cutting off his mana supply. She didn’t believe Tony actually had a very good grasp of how the mana Tel’Andrid was sending him was related to his spell casting, but she sensed that anything that sounded like a threat from her would destroy the trust they’d built.

          “Fine,” Tony shouted across the hall. “They want me to tell you.” He held up the glowing stone that was Tel’Andrid. “I dug up this stone at the bottom of a well. It’s called Tel’Andrid and there is a whole city of powerful wizards inside it. It’s giving me as much mana as I want and one of the ladies inside gave me a spell I can use.” Andrea would have rather described it as teaching him a spell, but it was possible Tony didn’t really know the difference.

          The man who spoke for the Countess conferred with her for a moment before they offered their response. “The Countess has altered the deal. Give over the stone or the child dies.” At a signal from Countess Fayse, the guard holding the boy pulled out a small blade and set its point against his neck.

          Tony’s eyes went wide. He reached out a hand towards the guard, then stopped himself. He looked down at the stone in his hands, then back up. “WhadoIdo? WhadoIdo?” he muttered rapidly to himself over and over while bobbing from side to side.

          “Perfect!” Elder Jaelyn said from somewhere in front of Andrea that she couldn’t see. “Get him to take the deal!”

          “But what if—”

          “Do you really think there’s a scenario here where your pet human keeps Tel’Andrid and that child survives?” Jaelyn snapped. “It’s the only option. The fact that it’s exactly what we want too is just a happy coincidence.”

          Andrea hesitated, but she couldn’t see a flaw in Jaelyn’s argument. He was right. Casting Candlelight wouldn’t help here and there was no time to teach him a new spell.

          “Do it,” Andrea told Tony. “Don’t worry. I won’t let her use us to hurt you.”

          Tony’s face was a picture of agony. “I-I…I’ll do it!” he yelled across the room. “But you have to let him go!”

          “Of course,” the Countess’s announcer responded. “She swears no harm will come to either of you. The Countess does not care about a pair of disobedient slaves.”

          Tony approached the throne. When he got close enough he rolled Tel’Andrid across the room. It stopped at the first step, which was uncomfortably far away from both parties. The view from the Watchtower was a bit disorienting, but it only wobbled a little bit. The advanced enchantments did a good job of stabilizing the image.

          With her new angle Andrea was able to spot the rows of guards hiding behind the support columns lining the hall. They stepped out as soon as Tel’Andrid came to a stop.

          The Countess spoke herself. “Kill him,” she said.

          Andrea screamed. “No!”

          Her mind raced. She had to stop this. But how? She was—an Astral Projection! It had worked for Genathor, it could work for her too! She didn’t stop to consider how useful she’d be on the other side. She just cast the spell.

          Andrea wasn’t an archmage like Genathor, but she’d had plenty of years to practice and she’d figured out a version of a spell that allowed her to Astral Project Outside. She had tried to use it to figure out where Tel’Andrid was during the decades of darkness following Belorian’s defeat. She had never been able to get very far away with the spell, but it had worked. And it would have to do so now.

          There was no time for hand signs or incantations. The guards were moving in on Tony. The one holding the young boy looked around hesitantly, seemingly unsure if he was supposed to kill him as well. Though she knew her vision of the Outside didn’t go both ways Andrea locked eyes with the child. She let herself feel the particular flavor of fear that painted the corners of his eyes as he looked across the room at his father—fear that he would be all alone. Fear that he would lose all that he knew to be meaningful in his life.

          Andrea’s spell released. Her soul flew free of her body. In her last moments in Tel’Andrid Andrea saw a snarl of anger painting the face of Elder Jaelyn. She also saw her mother who had been watching events play out from her quiet corner of the room. At that moment she looked… just like that child. Andrea plunged into the red flames of the Watchtower. Her soul was stretched and squeezed and dipped in acid.

          Then darkness.

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