Elementary

- Title Page

- Part One: Elements

- Part Two: Hero of the People

- Part Three: A Plague Upon Your House

- Part Four: Village of the Dead

- Part Five: Elemental

- Epilogue

Elementary

By Niall Teasdale

Copyright 2023 Niall Teasdale

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Contents

Part One: Elements

Part Two: Hero of the People

Part Three: A Plague Upon Your House

Part Four: Village of the Dead

Part Five: Elemental

Epilogue

About the Author

Part One: Elements

Lorentine, Capital of Maritania, 8 Earth 2189.

Calista opened her eyes and spent several seconds wondering how.

The last thing she remembered clearly was being told to assume a braced posture. There had been noise. There had been a lot of noise, some of it crying. Had she been crying? That… seemed likely. After that… Everything was a bit of a blur after that. She could not remember anything clearly, but just that last bit of clarity suggested that she had probably been about to become a statistic in someone’s crash report and maybe headline news on various news channels. It had been a sucky way to start a holiday. Had she somehow survived?

If she had, she was in the weirdest hospital she had ever heard of. Her bed had posts at the corners and drapes all around. There was not too much light, but she could tell that the posts were carved wood. Various forms of imaginary beasts curled around the thick columns, and they were holding up a wooden canopy. The drapes looked like they were red. Some sort of brocade? There was a pattern woven in which was difficult to work out since she was looking at the back of it. You just did not get beds like that in hospitals, and where were all the machines with beeping noises and graphs of her vital functions?

Something caught her eye, up in one corner of the canopy. It was small and indistinct, more of a distortion in the air than an object. As she saw it, it moved. The drapes at the foot of the bed moved and it was gone. Intending to follow, Calista pulled aside the heavy blankets. Then she came to a dead stop.

‘These aren’t my legs.’ Thick, black hair fell forward over her face, and she struggled to push it back. Wait… ‘This isn’t my hair!’ She realised that she was starting to panic. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. ‘Fuck! These aren’t my tits!’

The drapes on her left side were pulled open and a woman was standing there. ‘Please, madam, remain calm.’ She was…

‘Calm! What’ve you done to me?! Where am I? What’s going on?’

‘Everything will be explained. You’re the last to wake up. As soon as you’re dressed, I’ll take you to–’

‘Tell me now!’

The woman took a deep breath. ‘Madam, you were brought here to save the world.’

Calista stared at her. This had to be a joke, but the woman in the maid-like outfit appeared quite serious. ‘The fuck?’

~~~

Calista was led through corridors which suggested that she was in a medieval castle. But not if you looked beyond the superficial. The walls were stone, frequently covered over with tapestries which looked old and expensive. The doors she passed were wooden and solid-looking with arched tops. So far, so fantasy castle. But the lighting did not seem right. There were sconces on the walls – there had been several in the room she had woken up in – with screened lights mounted on them. The shield which prevented you from seeing the light source could have been paper or bone. However, the light within was steady and white. Calista wanted to stop and take one apart to see whether there was a bulb inside it, but she had somewhere to be, so she kept walking.

Coming to a door guarded by two men in some sort of military uniform, the maid knocked, opened the door, and ushered Calista through, not following herself. The guards, Calista noticed, were wearing swords, which further suggested a medieval society, except that the blue-and-white tunics looked like they might have been made from a synthetic fabric. The emblem on the left breast of each tunic featured a sailing ship with three masts and full sails picked out in gold embroidery. A maritime nation then?

Six pairs of eyes turned to look at Calista as she entered. She pulled the rather thin robe she had been given around her and frowned. There were five men and one woman in the group, and they seemed to fall into two groups. Two of the men and the woman were also wearing robes, though Calista felt theirs looked thicker. The other three men were in suits with something of a Victorian bent to them, though there were no ties in evidence, whether straight or bow. Maybe a fashion statement, or maybe this place did not have ties. That could only be a plus point.

The room itself was clearly set up for meetings. There was a conference table of reddish wood in the middle, surrounded by ten chairs. The walls had been rendered over and then papered with something like a flock wallpaper. This was dark blue with a repeating ship design in gold, like the emblems the guards were wearing. Everyone else was sitting. Well, everyone except for a very large man who looked kind of ridiculous in a white robe.

One of the suited men got to his feet. ‘Now that we are all here, I believe some formal introductions are in order.’ He was probably in his early- to mid-thirties, moderately good-looking with fine, blonde hair and clear blue eyes. His nose was strong and straight, but his jawline was a little weak and there was little chance that he got regular exercise. ‘My name is David Aritza. For my sins, I’m the current monarch of Maritania, which is the name of the country you find yourselves in.’

‘You’re a king?’ the other woman in the room asked.

He shrugged. ‘While true, Maritania is a democratic monarchy. I’m the head of state, but this gentleman holds the real power.’

The gentleman in question was tall and thin. Thin body, thin face, and a pinched, rather long, nose. He was also blonde, though his hair was thicker and shorter than the king’s. His green eyes suggested intelligence, or maybe shrewdness. Calista suspected that he was a politician, even without the introduction. He was probably a decade older than the king but ageing well; a few more wrinkles, especially on his brow and around his eyes, gave his age away. He stood up and bowed from the waist. ‘Geoffroy Abarca, Prime Minister of Maritania. Welcome to our world.’

‘You say that like it’s possible,’ Calista said. ‘How am I suddenly on a different world? And this isn’t my body. Hell, this isn’t even my voice!’

‘We found ourselves in need of some special people,’ Abarca said. ‘Heroes, if you will. As for how you were summoned here… Nereo?’

The third man-in-a-suit stepped up. He was the studious sort, though he lacked glasses and was fairly easy on the eye. Around the king’s age, perhaps a little older, he was a redhead, on the paler end of the spectrum which went with skin that suggested he rarely saw daylight. As thin as Abarca, he lacked his height which made him look better proportioned. His eyes were also green, and if Abarca’s were intelligent, this one had them beaten. This was a smart man. Maybe a nerd. ‘I’m Nereo Blanchet,’ he said, ‘assistant to– I mean I’m the Royal High Mage. You were brought here by a magic ritual, one discovered in documents dating back two thousand years and little understood.’

‘Someone must’ve understood it enough to–’ Calista stopped herself as what he had actually said hit her. ‘Wait. Magic?’

‘Uh, yes. Elemental magic.’

‘Magic is what we call things we don’t understand because we’re superstitious and know no better.’

‘We have a good understanding of the use of elemental magic. The system was formulated–’

‘Everyone knows about magic, woman,’ the biggest of the robed figures said.

‘Know it and hate it,’ the other woman muttered.

‘I have to agree with Miss…’ the second robed man began. He was tall and handsome, but not as big as the other one who was very big.

‘Calista. Calista Hogarth.’

‘Miss Hogarth.’ He smiled. There were a lot of very white teeth. ‘I agree with you.’ At least someone had a brain. ‘Magic is what we called psionic abilities prior to gaining an understanding of them.’

Calista’s sudden hope was dashed in an instant. ‘Psionic… So, the laws of physics aren’t the same where you’re from. We’re all from different dimensions. And movement between those dimensions should be impossible…’ Calista looked at Blanchet. ‘You performed this “ritual?”’

‘Ah. No.’

‘Then I’d like to talk to the person who did.’

‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible,’ Aritza said. ‘Nereo’s appointment to the position of Royal High Mage is very recent. It happened today, in fact, because we needed someone to take on the role immediately. He was the old one’s assistant, but only Master Porcher knew how the ritual really worked… and he died performing it.’

‘Uh, High Savant Sastre helped Master Porcher with the preparations,’ Blanchet said. ‘He may–’

‘That is beside the point,’ Abarca said. ‘The four of you were brought here to resolve a situation we find ourselves in and are unable to solve ourselves.’

‘What makes you think we can?’ the smaller of the robed men asked.

‘Your summoning is supposed to have ensured it. You were each imbued with the abilities needed to meet our needs, or you had those abilities in your old lives.’

‘Well, I was a doctor. Uh, I’m Roman Stacy. I’m a doctor.’

‘And you were imbued with the Life element by your passage here,’ Blanchet said. ‘We’ll need to see what you can do, but I would expect that you can heal others.’ He turned his attention to the bigger man. ‘You, sir, have the Earth element, which likely explains your stature. You will probably be strong and resilient.’ The other woman was next. ‘You have the Light element. And I’m honestly not sure what that might mean, but we can find out.’ Calista figured she was next, but the mage did not even look at her.

‘Strong and resilient,’ the big man said. ‘That I like. Of course, I was both of those before I came here. My name is Wolfgang Reiner Manz. People call me Wolf.’

‘Nikole,’ the woman said. ‘My name is Nikole.’ She did not seem the type to share anything she did not have to.

‘What about my “element?”’ Calista asked.

Blanchet looked at her. ‘I… can’t sense anything about you. I’d have expected a powerful mage, but I can’t sense… anything. Nothing suggesting that you–’

‘I don’t believe in magic. How could I be a magician? I can’t see what help I’m going to be in this… What emergency are we supposed to rid you of?’

‘We… aren’t entirely sure.’

Calista dropped her head to the table. ‘I’m pretty sure I died to get here. I guess I should be grateful for the second chance, but frankly, could someone kill me now and put me out of my misery?’

~~~

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask your name. I’m Calista.’

The maid was walking Calista back to her room – rooms; there was a suite waiting for her – and conversation seemed like an idea. Besides, the anger had worn off and she was going to have to live in this place it seemed.

‘My name is Dalila,’ said the maid. ‘I will be looking after you, madam.’

‘Just you?’

‘I am your personal maid, madam.’

Calista winced. ‘I don’t think I need a personal maid. I mean, I can get dressed myself. Unless there are corsets. I hope there aren’t corsets.’

‘Corsets are not currently in fashion. His Majesty suggested that all of the heroes should have an attendant to help them adjust. I would imagine our culture is different from yours.’

‘Oh. Probably. You have magic, apparently. I don’t think I can imagine how that would change a culture. I used to read fantasy books, but I honestly don’t think many of them portrayed a realistic world with magic. It’s…’ Calista shook her head. ‘I don’t believe it.’

‘Don’t believe what, madam?’ Dalila asked.

‘I don’t believe in magic. I’m a scientist. Magic is… It’s just the exact opposite of what I see as the truth.’

The blonde maid frowned. Her brow barely wrinkled in the process. ‘That is going to make life here hard, madam. Elemental magic is the cornerstone of our world. Society relies upon it, but it is also the very basis of our existence.’

‘People in my world felt the same until we discovered the truth.’

‘Hm. Perhaps a light supper, followed by some rest. In the morning, you can see more of this world and, perhaps, come to a different conclusion.’

‘Well, the food sounds good. Just don’t hold your breath about the revelation tomorrow.’

9 Earth.

Dalila walked into Calista’s bedroom with a tray. Upon the tray was a teapot and a cup on a saucer. There was also a small plate with biscuits on it. What caught Calista’s attention, however, was the blurry shape which followed behind the maid.

While it was blurry, the thing kind of looked like a small tornado, a swirl of air which grew from a narrow base at ground level. The top bent back inward to form a smaller funnel. It was there, and it was moving, and it seemed as though Dalila was ignoring it. Could she not see it?

‘I thought you might like some tea,’ Dalila said before Calista could mention the thing following her.

‘Sure.’

‘If you don’t mind, I’ll do some dusting.’ Dalila poured something which looked pretty much like tea into the cup. There was no milk or sugar available, but Calista took neither. ‘We had little time to prepare rooms for you and the others, so the job was not thoroughly done.’

‘Be my guest. Dalila–’

A gesture from the maid cut Calista off and sent the little tornado off toward the fireplace. The room had a bed, a large wardrobe, a small table with two chairs, which Calista was currently sitting at, and a stone fireplace with a marble lintel. The tornado lifted into the air and began working its way over the marble. Dust lifted up to form a ball within the upper trunk of the thing.

‘Okay,’ Calista said, ‘what is that?’

‘It’s an Air elemental. I summoned it a few minutes ago and tasked it with cleaning for me.’

‘I’d have liked to have seen this summoning.’

‘I assure you that you would not, madam. I’m not a very good magician. It takes time to perform the ritual, and all you would see is me concentrating very hard for several minutes while repeating some words I’ve memorised.’

‘Chanting? No dancing or impressive gestures? I thought magic would need impressive gestures.’

‘Perhaps in your world. Here, it just takes a lot of concentration. There are words, but I’m told they just focus your mind in the right way. I don’t even understand them. You need to visualise what you want to happen very precisely.’

‘There has to be…’ Calista shook her head and, to give herself something else to think about, sipped her tea. It tasted more or less like tea, albeit the kind you could stand a spoon up in. She grabbed a biscuit to ease the bitterness. ‘Do they all look like small tornadoes?’

‘I… You can see the elemental? Not just the dust?’

‘I can see a shape, a bit blurry but sort of like a twisting column of air. A tornado.’

‘Most people can’t see them.’

Calista shrugged. ‘Your Royal High Mage said he couldn’t “sense” anything different about me, but maybe just being from another world lets me see them.’

‘Perhaps. Air elementals look like that, the smaller ones anyway. Larger elementals tend to take on a form like a human. Smaller ones have a form related to their element. You’re going to see a lot of them around the palace.’

That got a grin. ‘Not if I never leave this room.’

‘You should, I think, try to leave your bedroom at some point. A tailor will be here after lunch to take your measurements. You’ll have clothes soon. Then–’

‘Then I might make it out into the lounge.’ The biscuits were a very sweet counterpoint to the tea. The one she was eating reminded her of the Jammie Dodgers from back home, soft biscuit with a fruit syrup in the centre. ‘I’m making no promises.’

‘Madam…’

‘I’m still trying to process what happened, Dalila. I died. I can’t stress this enough. I died. My death was pretty traumatic, even if I don’t remember exactly what happened. I was in a plane crash. That probably means being crushed, smashed to pieces, or burned. I don’t remember it, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I haven’t even got to the point where I can process waking up on a different planet!’ The little tornado was now sweeping over the top of the wardrobe. Calista gestured to it. ‘What happens when the bag’s full?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘What do you do when it’s collected a lot of dust?’

‘Oh, I’ll open a window and it will expel what it’s collected.’

‘Huh. So mundane, considering the thing that’s doing it.’

Dalila gave a small shrug. ‘Madam, this is mundane to me and most of the people of Ar.’

‘Ar?’

‘That is what we call our world.’

‘Right. Ar. My world now… Nope, still can’t get my head around it. And I’m staying right here until I have.’

10 Earth.

Dalila stepped into Calista’s bedroom with the intention of waking her charge, only to discover that she was too late. ‘Madam?’

Calista was standing in front of a full-length mirror, which was fixed to the inside of the wardrobe door, staring at her naked body. She glanced at Dalila briefly, and then she went back to her staring. ‘I’m trying to memorise myself.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘You were born into that body. You grew up with it. You probably don’t know it as well as you think you do, but you know it intimately. I, on the other hand, was born into a different body and suddenly woke up in this one. I remember the body I had. I realised I don’t even really know what I look like.’ Calista grimaced. ‘And I kind of look like a blow-up doll. How did I end up like this? The other woman wasn’t this… pneumatic.’

It was not simply the breasts, which were large, firm, and very full. Her legs were long, her hips were fairly broad, and her waist was narrow. She was attractive, maybe even beautiful. Her face was sort of heart shaped with large, angular eyes which featured rather large irises in a pale shade of violet. Her nose was perky. Yes, perky. Her lips were full and pouting. Pouting! Seriously, open her mouth wide and she would look just like…

‘I used to be shorter than this. I had boobs, but they weren’t large. I barely had hips. My hair and eyes were brown, and not an interesting shade in either case. I did not have this mass of black hair that gets in the way all the time. This body isn’t practical!’

‘It’s… very attractive, madam.’ When Calista looked, Dalila was blushing. Dalila was always very composed, so that was a new sight. ‘Though, blonde hair and paler skin is favoured at the moment. Your colouring is a little dark to fit the current aesthetic.’

‘Whereas you fit right in.’

Dalila was slim and attractive and very blonde. Her hair was long, but always worn trussed up into a bun at the back of her head. She had blue eyes and sufficient bust to adequately fill out her rather functional black dresses. She always wore flat boots which did not look right with the dresses but did seem eminently practical. Her face was kind of round, but her jawline looked like it had been carved. Her nose was flat with an upcurved tip, and her lips were quite full enough without the exaggerated quality Calista’s had. She had blue eyes, clear blue, like a winter sky.

‘I could not possibly comment, madam.’

‘Hm, well, I’d prefer to look like you. Maybe if we could do something with this hair.’

‘I’m quite sure I can arrange it in a manner to your liking, madam.’

Calista closed the wardrobe door and turned away from the mirror. ‘I’ll get used to it eventually. I hope.’

11 Earth.

‘I’m bored, Dalila!’ Calista had clothes now, a short dress in white which she would probably have never selected for herself. It was, apparently, all the fashion in the city. Her hair was pulled back into a broad ponytail, which worked to keep it out of her way, mostly. Stray wisps tended to escape and hang around her face, but she could mostly cope with that. She was sitting on a seat in the lounge of her small suite. She was also wondering why she had bothered since she had absolutely nothing to do. No one had been to see her since she had gone out to meet the bigwigs. She was being left to her own devices, and she had no local knowledge to make that work. ‘Does this world have books?’

‘Of course,’ Dalila replied.

Calista narrowed her eyes and examined the woman pouring tea for her. ‘Printed books? Not hand-copied ones?’

Dalila fairly obviously suppressed a laugh. ‘We have had printing presses for several hundred years, madam.’

‘Right. So, where would I find the books?’

‘The palace library? I would imagine there are a lot there, though I’ve never personally been in it.’

‘Take me!’ Pause. ‘After I’ve had my tea and biscuits.’

Dalila nodded. Getting Calista out of her rooms was a good thing, no matter where they might go. ‘Priorities are important, madam.’

‘Whoever it is that makes these biscuits, they’re a culinary genius. Even a reduction in boredom isn’t enough to skip morning tea for.’

~~~

The palace was more of a complex than a building. Getting from the guest apartments, where Calista was living, to the library was quite a walk. Calista got the impression that there had been less planning than growing involved in the construction. Individual parts of the structure had been designed, or at least put together in a consistent style to meet a purpose. They were, however, connected together by various covered walkways, from solid-walled corridors through to just something to keep the rain off. The library was about thirty metres from the nearest other building, near to a tall castle-style wall, and connected to the rest of the buildings by a path with an iron-framed, glass-topped shelter over it which could have been part of a Victorian train station.

It was the first time Calista had been outside since she had arrived on Ar. The thick walls of the palace buildings tended to insulate you from the outside weather. It was not unpleasant outside. There was a crisp element to the air which suggested autumn or winter, but it was not uncomfortable, and it was not raining. The sky above was blue and very clear.

As for the library building, Calista felt that someone had gone a little overboard on the Gothic. There were flying buttresses, tall, arched windows, and even gargoyles of some sort on the roof. To be fair, maybe the gargoyles were alive and living there instead of part of the architecture; if there was magic here, why not living statues? Entry was gained through a large double door in something like oak which opened onto an unoccupied foyer with smaller doors off it. At the back, stairs led up to the floor above. The place had to have three floors to it at least, but there was no sign of how you reached the top one.

Dalila led the way through one of the side doors, and Calista came to a sudden stop as what she was seeing hit her. Books. Lots of books. Red books. Blue books. Big books and small ones. The ground floor was a warren of bookshelves, all packed with books. A mezzanine level ran around the walls above them, and those walls were lined with shelves of books.

‘There has to be something here I can read,’ Calista said. Her face fell. ‘What if I can’t read your language? I don’t even know how I can speak it.’

‘Try one,’ Dalila suggested.

So, Calista plucked a random volume off the shelf and opened it to the title page: A History of the Aritza Dynasty. ‘Okay, I can read your language. I’ll have to remember to ask that mage guy how, though I expect he’ll invoke the “wizard did it” clause.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Doesn’t matter. Now I just need to figure out what I want to read.’

‘Perhaps we could ask the librarian.’

Calista grinned. ‘You’re full of good ideas today, Dalila.’

The librarian was a mid-height man with dark-blonde hair, green eyes, and no glasses. The last point was disappointing. He also smiled as they approached and did not look at all disapproving which, to Calista’s mind, went against type. ‘Welcome to the palace library,’ he said. ‘I am Lorenzo Basurto, librarian. How may I be of assistance?’

‘I need something to read,’ Calista replied. ‘Several things. Urgently. My sanity is on the line.’

‘Er… I see, well, do you have any idea what you’re looking for? Fiction or non-fiction would be a start.’

‘Some of both. Let’s say I’d like to learn a little about Ar and Maritania. History and geography would both be good, but fiction often teaches more about a culture than dry facts do.’

‘I see. Uh, then you must be one of– Very well, I’ll find some suitable textbooks. If you go up to the next floor, the majority of the fiction is there. There are labels, so finding something to your taste should be easy enough.’

‘Okay, on it.’

~~~

An hour or so later, Calista returned to the librarian’s desk with a pile of ten books of various sizes and thicknesses. A couple were cheap, paper-bound volumes. Most were leather-bound, but they looked like novels rather than anything more esoteric. Given that she had been hunting through the fiction shelves, that made sense.

The pile of books already on the desk was smaller, but the sizes were a lot more variable. All of them were bound in leather, and they gave off a vibe of learnedness. These were textbooks of one form or another.

‘I’ve collected together three volumes on history,’ Basurto said, ‘one covering the world in general, one on Maritania, and one on magic. I also have an atlas of Maritania and a study of the ecology of the country.’

‘That sounds perfect,’ Calista replied.

‘Let’s see what you have…’ The librarian began checking off the books Calista had found. ‘General fiction, drama, romance, epic…’

‘I wanted a wide range. You don’t seem to have anything like the books I prefer, unless “epic” counts, so I need to find a new genre.’

‘What kind of fiction do you normally read?’

‘Speculative.’

‘I… No, I’m not aware of anyone writing in that genre.’

‘Mm. Shame.’

‘Wait, you can read this one?’ Basurto held up a fairly thick volume bound in scuffed blue leather.

‘Uh, yes. It’s some sort of romance. Not sure I’ll like it, to be honest, but it seemed a little more fantastical, so I figured I’d give it a go. Is there a problem?’

‘It’s in Old Maritanian. It uses a twenty-eight-letter alphabet rather than the twenty-one we currently use, so most people find it difficult. Wait, this one’s in Abeshki! You can read Abeshki?’

‘I, um, guess. That one was a bit harder. I’m not sure I’ll know all the words. Look, I don’t know how I can read the language we’re speaking. Or speak the language we’re speaking. That I can read others isn’t that surprising.’

Basurto frowned. ‘Master Porcher could read those languages. As I recall, he was not perfect in Abeshki. Perhaps you know the languages he knew.’

‘That’s possible, I guess.’

‘Which means… Please come with me.’ The librarian turned and started off toward a door on one side of the room.

‘Huh?’ Calista said, but she ran a couple of steps to catch up, Dalila following behind at a more sedate pace.

The door was opened with a key which Basurto kept hung around his neck under his clothes. That suggested this room held something special, and the librarian explained as he was unlocking. ‘This is the special and restricted section. Some of the books are considered dangerous for one reason or another. Most are simply too rare or valuable to be allowed out on the shelves.’

‘When you say dangerous, do you mean the contents aren’t safe for most people to look at, or that the books will actually try to harm you?’

‘Uh, the contents are restricted. How could a book hurt someone?’

‘This world has magic. I am discounting no possibilities.’

‘Yes, well… The book I want you to look at is quite safe, but it is also extremely rare and hence very valuable.’

‘Okay.’

‘Do not touch it. I will handle it.’

‘Okay. What’s so special about it?’

The door opened up and beyond was a room which looked like something out of a medieval book collection. All of the books were chained to the shelves. Some of them were clearly locked by various means. That did not help alleviate Calista’s fears regarding dangerous books at all.

One volume was set in pride of place on a lectern in the centre of the room. There were a couple of others so displayed, but this one faced the door and so looked like it was more important. At first glance, it was nothing special. It was not locked, and its binding was unimpressive. There was no lettering at all on the brown leather cover. Basurto treated it as though it were the most delicate of flowers, however, taking white gloves from a shelf under the lectern before he opened the cover and flipped to the first page with a lot of writing on it. Now Calista could see something special about it: this was a hand-copied book, though there was no illumination she could see. That had to make it old at the very least.

‘Please attempt to read this,’ Basurto said.

Calista put her hands behind her back to avoid the temptation of touching the pages and looked down. ‘On the Nature of Magic and the Elements,’ she read, ‘by Sotiris Dalmaeus.’ Behind her, Dalila gasped. ‘“In this volume, a collection of my thoughts and discoveries, I will set down a new way of thinking about magic and the nature of our world based around the five Elements.” What is this, Mister Basurto?’

‘I-it’s On the Nature of Magic and the Elements,’ Dalila replied before the librarian could respond. ‘It’s the book Dalmaeus wrote which changed the entire world.’

‘One of the few first edition copies still in existence,’ Basurto added. ‘We are very lucky to have it. The librarian at the academy would give his right eye to have this in their collection.’ There was a rather mean glint in Basurto’s eye as he said this. ‘Ahem. The point, however, is that this book is written in Teyradi, a language now only used in magic. Anyone who can work magic knows a few words, but they are usually learned by rote and not understood. To improvise your own rituals, you need a good grasp of Teyradi, and there are certain texts which may be better read without someone else’s translation getting in the way. Master Porcher was fluent in Teyradi.’

‘So, this guy summons me to this world. Summons us. And we’ve ended up knowing the languages he knew as well as he knew them.’

‘It’s conjecture, but it would seem to be the case.’

‘Hm. So, if I wanted to sit down and read this thing, what would I have to do?’

‘I would need to teach you proper book handling, and you should obtain permission from the king. I can’t stay here with you while you read, so you would need permission to be in the restricted library without supervision.’

‘Right. It’s only hypothetical anyway. I don’t think I’ll be reading up on some ancient magician’s views on reality any time soon. For now, we’ll stick with what I picked and you found.’

‘There’s certainly plenty to read.’

‘Ah, well, I’m a fast reader.’

13 Earth.

For the next two and a half days, Calista read nothing but history books. She also used the geography text for reference, but her focus was on history. Dalila seemed quite surprised at how focused Calista was. The maid brought in tea and biscuits periodically, and there were mealtimes as well. Calista continued reading through all of them, reading quite late into the night which Dalila thought might be unhealthy. At the end of it all, however, Calista thought she had a fair grasp of the key points of Ar’s history, especially related to Maritania.

The importance of the Dalmaeus text she had looked at was driven home by the division of the calendar into two eras. There was Before Dalmaeus and there was the Elemental Age. Dalmaeus had changed so much in the world with his new way of doing magic that they had literally divided time up based on when he had lived. The parallels with the Gregorian calendar were obvious, but no one worshipped Dalmaeus. Revered him, certainly, but there was no religion based on his teachings.

Further, what happened prior to Dalmaeus’s life was largely myth and legend. According to the books Calista read, there had been a time some five thousand years ago when humans had been free to wield magic as they wished. Or some of them had. People known as Magi had walked the land, capable of directly manipulating the elements. They were creatures of myth, and their age was said to have ended in some form of catastrophe. Magic had been lost to humans, and it had not been regained until Dalmaeus formulated his theories. Or that was one story. Another said that humans had worked magic, but of an entirely different type, not that used by the Magi, and not the elemental magic used in modern times. In that recounting, Dalmaeus did not give magic back to humans, but he did come up with a way for everyone to work magic through the use of elementals. Which was correct? Calista could not see particularly solid evidence for either story given in the books.

With the rise of elemental magic, however, humans had begun to develop technology based around it. Using elementals, it became possible to smelt metals, to shape rock, and to increase agricultural production. Cities rapidly developed because they could when it became possible to supply larger numbers of people from agricultural land. Civilisation had developed apace. Society had gone from tribal rule to monarchy, at least in the majority of cases. Countries were formed and died.

Maritania had become a kingdom in 476, following the consolidation of various smaller nations through politics and war. The rulers of the smaller lands had become lords under the Maritanian king. The country had run on a feudal system for about five hundred years until three successive kings had enacted a plan to turn it into an uncontested monarchy, the lords reduced to advisors the king listened to when convenient. At that time, the capital had moved from a coastal city to the newly built city of Lorentine.

The nation had thrived. Technology using elementals had increased in power, particularly due to the discovery of a process which allowed ‘magic crystals’ to be grown through an alchemical process. These crystals allowed the storage and use of elemental energy, which made it possible to build various machines that, to Calista’s eye, mimicked the technology of her old world. Railways had been built to connect the country, the trains powered by Fire magic. There were even telephones, wireless ones! They seemed to operate more like radios, but they used magic to transmit someone’s voice from one location to another. There did not seem to be any computers, but a lot of the technology she expected to see had been invented, just from a totally different basis to the one she was used to.

On the first day of the year 2101, Maritania had officially become a constitutional monarchy after some years of manoeuvring by the king. The nobility had not been entirely aboard since the move eroded their already tenuous power, but it had been pushed through. Now there was voting and politics, and there was a king sitting there as a figurehead. It was not that different from the United Kingdom’s system, so Calista was quite used to the idea. The details were all different, but the general shape of society was the same. Except that Maritania appeared to be more steampunk than anything that had ever existed back on Earth.

As far as the rest of the world went, the main competitor to Maritania on the northern continent was the Red Star Confederacy. The name invoked nothing good, and it seemed like first impressions were not entirely wrong. The RSC was to the west of Maritania, with seas and mountains providing a barrier between the two states. Prior to 2130, the region had been composed of various states of varying importance. Then a small political movement in one country had blossomed into a vast social upheaval and six years of war. The result was that the Red Star Confederacy fairly strongly resembled Communist Russia, except that it seemed to be more efficient. A well-run state like that could be a real threat. So far, the threat had not turned into any form of invasion.

There was also the region to the north of Maritania, but that was still composed of small nations with minor kings or tribal societies. Many of those countries were client states of Maritania, or trading partners where Maritania definitely had the upper hand. And there was a southern continent, though there was not much in the histories Calista read about it. Supposedly, a great empire lived across the waters to the south, but no one knew for sure whether that information was still accurate, or whether it had been accurate in the first place.

It all piqued Calista’s curiosity. She had been holed up in her rooms for a week, almost, and maybe it would be a good idea to go out and do something. Even if it was just finding out more about Lorentine, it would be a start. Right after she got through at least a couple of the fiction books she had borrowed. It was not that warm outside. Sightseeing could wait.

14 Earth.

The history of magic was intricately tied up with the history of the world. It was kind of difficult for Calista to ignore magic, because it was clear that magic did exist in this universe. It had from the very beginning, though it seemed like it had been more accessible a long time ago. Why had the so-called Mythic Age come to an end? Why had the majority of people lost the ability to interact directly with the elements? Had that ever really been the case?

Whatever, along had come Dalmaeus, and he had found a way for everyone to work magic. To this day, that was the system everyone used. Well, sort of. Dalmaeus had described five elements as being the basis of everything: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Magic. Then, later in life, he had written a second volume to his thesis in which he added the Spirit element. He had also suggested that all elements derived from what he called the Prime Element, but he had been rather vague about the concept, no one had ever found evidence of it, and it was now considered by many to be a purely conceptual thing.

The burgeoning of elements continued in the years after Dalmaeus’s death. Ice, Metal, and Wood had been described around the year 112. Electricity, Life, Light, and Shadow had followed between 232 and 235, and then Shadow had been dropped as simply a negative aspect of Light in 311. Calista was unsurprised to discover that Ice had been folded into Fire – from which it had originally been split – in 522, though she was a little surprised that it had taken so long.

Electricity and Light had originally just been parts of Fire, and Calista could not really see why they needed to be separate elements. Fire was the element of energy, right? Why did you need three of those? She did not know too much about the detailed nature of the elements but having them be separate just seemed like an overcomplication. Still, they were different things for now and seemed like they were going to stay that way. A lot of modern research on elementary magic was carried out in Lorentine, at the Elementary Academy. They had been the ones to declare Ice unnecessary; they had yet to do the same with Electricity and Light.

Speaking of light…

A young man dressed in one of the ubiquitous suits all the men seemed to wear entered Calista’s lounge, looking awkward. Unlike most of the men she had seen, this one did not do up the top button on his shirt, and the suit looked of relatively mediocre quality. It did not fit as well as Calista was used to seeing. Otherwise, the man was unremarkable: light-brown hair, hazel eyes, kind of studious in appearance. He was lacking glasses, but the rest of his features, including pale skin, suggested a lot of time reading.

‘Can I help you at all?’ Calista asked because he was just standing there and it was getting in the way of her reading.

‘Ah! Uh, sorry. No. Uh, that is, sorry to disturb you, I’m just here to top up your light crystals.’

‘That sounds like an important job. I won’t be able to read if it suddenly goes dark. Please continue.’

‘Uh, right.’ He set off to the nearest sconce and lifted the cover off it. Inside was a hexagonal crystal about five centimetres tall and maybe the same across. It was transparent with a hint of white streaking, not unlike quartz. Unlike quartz, it was glowing without any sign of a source for the light.

Reaching up, he placed his hand on the crystal – so it was not hot – and closed his eyes. Nothing seemed to happen, but Calista could sense that something was happening. There was a flow of some sort. Energy was being directed into the crystal. She could feel it somehow, and that feeling said that Light was being pushed into the crystal, and that the crystal itself had more Light energy within it now.

‘Okay, I have some questions,’ Calista said when the magician opened his eyes again.

‘Uh, yes?’

‘How often do you have to do that?’

‘Once a week. S-some of the big crystals in the halls can last a month, but these smaller ones need it once a week.’

‘And what, exactly, is it that you’re doing?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Assume I know nothing about magic or what a light crystal is. Because I don’t. Tell me what you’re doing?’

The man’s face scrunched up. ‘Oh, this feels like a test. Is this a test?’

‘Are you a student? At the Elementary Academy, I assume.’

‘Uh, yes, I am.’

‘I used to be a student. I feel for your plight. This isn’t a test, I just want to know.’

‘Uh, well, l-light crystals, a-and all the other types of magic crystals, are made from ambrosite.’

‘Right, that’s the stuff that changed the world when they worked out how to manufacture it.’

‘Uh, yes. Ambrosite can store elemental energy, so light crystals store Light magic and it leaks out slowly, giving you the light you see by. I summoned a Light elemental earlier and I’m using it to charge the crystals. It’s a fairly basic spell. I, uh, earn some extra money doing this in the palace.’

‘Well, don’t let me stop you. Thank you for the educational chat.’

‘Uh, m-my pleasure.’ He began putting the shield back in place over the crystal.

‘Oh, one more thing. Do you have spares?’

‘Spares?’

‘Those crystals must get broken every now and again, right? So are there spares that can be used to replace them?’

‘I, uh, suppose so.’

Calista flashed him a bright smile. ‘Thank you, that’s all I needed to know.’

~~~

‘Here it is, madam,’ Dalila said, placing a non-glowing crystal on the table. ‘I don’t know why you want one, but this is one of the spare light crystals.’

‘Thanks, Dalila,’ Calista replied. ‘I just want to examine one, preferably without getting spots in front of my eyes.’

‘They are not very interesting.’

‘To you, sure? To me, they’re a puzzle.’

‘A puzzle?’

‘Yes. Magic flies in the face of everything I know. Here I have a lump of silica, or something, which can store magic and give out light. I want to examine it. Though, now I’ve got it, I’m really not sure how I’ll examine it. It’s a project.’

‘Madam has developed a hobby?’

‘I’d call it a calling, or a vocation, but yes. I have to do something to stave off the boredom.’ Calista picked up the crystal and began to turn it over in her hands.

‘I’ll make some tea.’

‘With biscuits?’

‘Of course.’

‘Great!’

15 Earth.

‘Today,’ Dalila said, ‘is Life Day, a day of rest.’

‘So, um, why are you here putting out my breakfast?’

‘Because servants don’t get days of rest, madam.’

‘Well, that’s just wrong. I suppose the guards are stuck with guard duty, and there are bound to be other people that don’t take the day off.’ Calista flashed her personal maid a smile. ‘I’ll try to avoid calling on you today. Try to get some time to yourself.’

‘Madam doesn’t really call upon me most days.’

‘Oh. I suppose I don’t.’

‘And you will be most forlorn without your tea and biscuits.’

‘Oh. I suppose I will. Still… Um, would you mind explaining the calendar? I know about the eras. But not really much about dates. Or what year it is.’

‘Today is fifteen Earth in the year twenty-one eighty-nine. Our calendar has twelve months, named after the elements in alphabetical order.’

‘But there are only eleven elements.’

‘Ah. When the calendar was devised, there were twelve.’

‘Okay, so that makes it Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Life, Light, Magic, Metal, Spirit, Water, and then Wood.’

‘Yes, madam. I see that your reading is going well.’

Calista grinned. ‘Pretty well, yes.’

‘Each month has thirty days, based on the time it takes for our largest moon, Paramelcus, to go from new to new. Weeks have seven days, based on the same transitions of our smallest moon, Garanalus. The days are Life, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Magic, and Spirit. As I said, today is Life Day, the first day of the week and a day of rest for those able to take the time to rest.’

‘Is it a day of worship? Do you have religions?’

‘Some go to church on Life Day. Religion is not particularly strong in Maritania. I have no deity I look to.’

‘Right. Thanks. I’m not religious either, by the way.’

‘I would imagine that the gods of this world would not be yours anyway, madam.’

‘True, but the gods of my world didn’t interest me either. Um, why don’t you go and put your feet up for a bit. I’ll have a leisurely breakfast and get on with my reading. You don’t have to clear away in a hurry.’

‘I’ll consider it, madam,’ Dalila said, and set off out of the room.

‘She won’t,’ Calista predicted.

16 Earth.

Of course, Dalila was as attentive as usual all through Life Day. It made Calista feel guilty. All she did was sit in her rooms, read books, and fruitlessly examine her spare light crystal. She did not consider herself particularly active, but she was just sitting around doing basically nothing while Dalila waited on her hand and foot. She was running out of books to read and would need another trip to the library soon, but that just felt like perpetuating her hermit life.

And that was why, come Earth Day morning, Calista was standing in an office-like room in the apartment reserved for Nereo Blanchet, the Royal High Mage. Dalila had arranged the appointment without trouble, but Blanchet was looking confused after Calista explained what she wanted.

‘You wish to learn magic? But I still can’t detect anything magical about you.’

‘I don’t want to learn how to do magic. I want to learn about magic. I want to study it. I may not be a magician, but I am a scientist. If I put my mind to it, I may be able to work out how magic works, and that could lead to new innovations. Maybe my role here is to improve magic or magical technology in some way. Perhaps that’s why I was summoned.’

‘I, uh, see.’ Blanchet frowned at his desk for a few seconds. ‘Sastre won’t take you on under those circumstances, so there’s no point in you going to the academy.’ He seemed to be talking mostly to himself, so Calista let him get on with it. ‘Their courses are really more to do with practical magic anyway, at least until you graduate. Research in magic is… hm… very well, I’ll provide you with two days’ tuition a week, starting next Earth Day. I’ll need to make up the lessons as we go, I’d imagine. I’m glad to see you taking an interest in Ar, Miss Hogarth. I’m sure the king and prime minister will be likewise pleased.’

‘I’m not really doing this for them. Like I said, I’m a scientist. I became a scientist to discover how my universe works. I guess I just realised that I have a massive opportunity here. I’m the first of my kind to get the opportunity to study a whole new universe. I shouldn’t squander it.’

‘That sounds very–’

‘And, quite frankly, I’ll die of boredom if I spend much longer reading in my rooms.’

‘Ah. Well, that’s a good motivation too, I suppose.’

~~~

The trip to see Blanchet was doing double duty because his office and apartments were in the same building as the library. By the time Calista walked into the library followed by Dalila, both of them carrying books to be returned, Calista had an additional mission.

‘Mister Basurto,’ she said as soon as her book pile was on the librarian’s desk, ‘I need anything you have on monsters and strange magical occurrences.’

‘Uh…’

‘I need some sort of primer on what’s known about monsters, and whatever information you have on magical events of an abnormal nature in the past century or so. And I can’t believe I’m saying that. To me, anything magical would be abnormal.’

‘Uh, yes. Well, I can get you a couple of natural history books on monsters.’

‘And “natural” history is the last thing that should apply to monsters.’

‘That I can actually agree with. The other matters are more restricted. You would need–’

Calista handed him a folded piece of paper with a wax seal closing it. ‘This should help. I came straight from the Royal High Mage. I’m, um, I suppose I’m doing a literary review to see what I make of it all.’

‘Oh.’ Basurto took the letter, checked the seal, opened it up, and read. ‘Very well. I’ll get the records we have and the unnatural history texts. Will you be–’

Calista grinned. ‘I’ll be going up to find some more novels. Oh, I’ve brought everything back except the history of magic books. Those I may still find useful. I really must ask if I can see that Dalmaeus text.’

‘If you’re learning magic, reading Dalmaeus is not really necessary, and a translation would likely suffice.’

‘I’m not learning magic.’

‘You’re not?’

‘No, I’m learning about magic, and reading the original text is always better than a translation. Assuming you can read the original language, obviously. Anyway, I’ll be upstairs finding more to read. All work and no play makes Calista a dull student.’

Basurto watched her heading for the stairs with Dalila following after. ‘Somehow, I can’t imagine you ever being dull,’ he said, but he made sure it was quiet enough that he was not heard.

~~~

‘Okay, monsters, what have we got?’ Calista settled into her chair with a large book titled A Compendium of Monsters. It sounded like a rulebook for a tabletop roleplaying game, but she doubted they had those on Ar. She had tea and biscuits. She had a book to read. She was set for the afternoon. ‘Manticores, perhaps.’

‘What is a manticore, madam?’ Dalila asked.

‘It’s, um, I think it was a lion with the tail of a scorpion. Or was that a cockatrice? No, a cockatrice was a chicken that could turn you to stone.’

‘We don’t have either, as far as I know. Perhaps you could clarify. What is a lion and what is a scorpion?’

‘Huh. Well, if you don’t know those, then I think we can safely say that you don’t have manticores here. What about dragons? There have to be dragons.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know what a dragon is either, madam.’

‘It’s– Actually, it depended on where you lived. Western dragons were huge lizards with wings. They could breathe fire and liked to sleep on beds of gold.’

‘Ah. Well, we have a large lizard which breathes fire. Or they have appeared from time to time. They are known as fire lizards, however, and they don’t have wings.’

‘Dalila, I’m crushed. I get zapped into a world with magic, and there are no dragons. It’s… sad.’

‘My apologies, madam.’

Calista flashed a grin. ‘Maybe I should read this and find out what I’m actually dealing with.’

‘That sounds like a wise course of action.’

~~~

Back on Earth, ‘monster’ was really something of a vague term. Monsters could be all sorts of things. There was no real definition of what a monster was, you just knew it when you saw it.

On Ar, ‘monster’ meant something specific. Monsters on Ar were creatures infused with elemental energy. The infusion took the form of an ambrosite crystal which formed within the beast, storing energy and empowering the creature. Just about anything could become a monster, though humans seemed to be exempt for some reason, and they could have all sorts of elemental abilities, so it was common for each monster to be quite unique. But they all had a crystal, and that made them very difficult to kill.

Apparently, so long as their crystal survived, you could reduce monsters to ashes and they would, eventually, return to life. Many a would-be hero had been caught off-guard by a monster which recovered from death unusually quickly. It generally took several hours and there was plenty of time to find and crush the crystal, but it could happen in a matter of seconds. With those, the only way to finish them was to shatter their crystal in one blow – which was a pretty unlikely occurrence – or to incinerate the corpse. The latter did not ensure victory on its own, but it was usually easier to find the crystal that way.

As for what you could get, the options were almost innumerable. The fire lizards Dalila had mentioned were not entirely uncommon. They came about when a very large lizard called a lacerta turned into a monster with Fire infusion. The lizards sounded bad enough, adding fire breath was just an addition to powerful jaws and sharp claws and a hide thick enough to turn swords. They had been seen in Electricity and Metal variants too. Neither sounded fun to meet.

Wolves seemed to turn into monsters quite often. Shadow wolves were invisible, nocturnal predators. Ice wolves had freezing breath. Ethereal wolves were, thankfully, rare, but they were kind of like ghost creatures capable of running on the air. They only materialised to attack and eat their prey and always recovered from fatal wounds within seconds.

The list went on. Monster bears, monster boars, and monster big cats. There was nothing like a lion on Ar, but there were plenty of other large felines, and they could become monsters like most other things. There were even monster plants, and reading a few of the pages on those had Calista thinking she would have nightmares. The one thing all of them had in common was the crystal and not knowing how they came about. There were theories about ‘magical storms’ prompting the formation of ambrosite crystals, but no one had ever been able to figure out the mechanism. There had, apparently, been experiments performed to see whether exposure to large amounts of elemental energy turned animals into monsters. Generally, the result was a dead animal, and Calista was less than impressed with the method described for the few cases where details were given. Ar, it seemed, had never really heard of the scientific method.

It was intriguing. Calista decided that she would have liked to conduct a few experiments herself, but she was generally against animal testing. Coming up with a way to prevent the creation of monsters seemed like a good idea, but she had a strong feeling that it would be impossible to achieve, even if you knew the mechanism. Monsters appeared in the wild where it was difficult to control conditions, so it was unlikely that there was a way to stop it happening. Besides, according to the more restricted papers Basurto had provided, the problem was that their numbers were increasing.

Over the course of the last century or so – some analysts said longer, but the evidence was sparse that far back – monster sightings had increased. The individual strength of the monsters was also increasing. The range of power was wide, but the average seemed to be sliding upward. There had been new monsters no one had ever seen before as well. Ethereal wolves had never been seen prior to 2100, for example.

This was the problem facing Ar and Maritania in the specific case. Increasing numbers of stronger monsters went along with a rise in the number of what the Elementary Academy’s researchers termed ‘elemental anomalies.’ These had even more variety than monsters. Magical weather phenomena seemed to form the largest group. Fire storms, fantastically violent lightning storms, and enormously powerful tornadoes were not entirely uncommon. Calista assumed these were the magical storms which turned beasts into monsters, though she could not imagine many things surviving them as described.

Other events she read reports on included the petrification of an entire forest, a lake catching fire, and the sudden growth of gigantic metal columns from the ground for no apparent reason. The latter had happened in a matter of minutes, which was certainly no natural event. At least the forest had turned to stone over the course of several weeks, which might have been some sort of weird disease. And she recalled hearing about polluted lakes on Earth catching fire, but they had generally burned out after a time. It had taken most of a year for the burning lake to die, and dry, out. You had been able to scoop out buckets of the stuff and it still kept on burning.

Something was making all this magical freakery happen more often and, often, with more serious results. That was why the four of them had been summoned to this world. What they were expected to do about it, Calista had no idea. On the other hand, it might be really interesting to find out.

There was maybe another reason for the summoning. Blanchet had said a couple of things which suggested there was some politics involved, but he had changed the subject when Calista had asked what he meant. She had decided not to press it since the magical anomalies seemed more up her street. A thorough review of all the available data was needed, and then she could start creating plans to understand the real nature of the problem.

Of course, she was probably going to have to educate Maritania on proper scientific procedure to get anywhere. That was going to be fun.

18 Earth.

‘Okay,’ Calista said, ‘I really should’ve done this before now.’

The thing she was doing was going outside the palace complex. Dalila had put up no objections when Calista had suggested that she might like to take a look at the city beyond the palace gates. Calista suspected that her maid had been told to accommodate her should this come up. It seemed that the government, or maybe just the king, was still hoping that Calista would turn around and make herself useful, and she thought she was heading in that direction, though probably not in the way they might want. There was no way she was going to turn into a magician of superlative power, but she could possibly make other contributions.

‘It is nice to see you stepping outside of your rooms, madam,’ Dalila said.

‘Hm. Say, Dalila, do you think you could call me Calista while we’re out doing this? We’re supposed to be sort of incognito, and I don’t want everyone thinking I’m some toff out on the town with her maid.’

‘I am not sure what a “toff” is, but I think I understand the meaning. I will do my best to call you by name.’

‘You’ll do your best?’

‘I have been well trained. It’s more difficult than you might think to avoid using more polite modes of addressing someone.’

‘Huh. Well, I think it’s polite to use my name, but I suppose it’s a cultural thing.’

Unlike, say, Buckingham Palace or the White House, the palace here had an actual fortified wall around it. Yes, it was not easy to get into either of those places back on Earth without an appointment, but here you had to negotiate serious levels of medieval construction to go in or out.

At least, that was the theory. The gatehouse Dalila took Calista to was huge and very imposing, but the gates in it were wide open and the guards were smiling. No one stopped the two women from leaving, even to check identification. That was good from Calista’s viewpoint because – and she only realised it as she was walking out through the gate – she had no identification. For that matter, she had no money!

‘Um, Dalila?’

‘Yes, ma– Calista?’

Calista suppressed a grin. ‘I was just thinking that I don’t actually have any money. I don’t even know what money is around here.’

‘Which is why I have been given charge of your funds for this trip.’ Dalila was carrying a shoulder bag. Reaching into it, she took out a purse, rummaged in it, and produced a coin about a centimetre and a half across, fairly thin, and a dull gold in colour. ‘This is a Maritanian gilter.’ She handed the coin over to Calista. It had a head on one side, probably that of the king, and the Maritanian crest on the other along with ‘1g.’ ‘One hundred centers make a gilter.’ A smaller coin with a bronze or copper colour was produced. Aside from the colour, the only other difference in design was ‘1c’ replacing ‘1g.’

‘Okay. Aside from learning how much they’re worth, I guess that’s easy to remember. We had a similar coinage system. Do you have paper money too?’

‘There are coins valued at five, ten, twenty, and fifty gilters. There are also notes issued against the Bank of Lorentine valued at twenty, fifty, one hundred, and one thousand gilters.’

‘I’m guessing most people never see a thousand-gilter note.’

‘We rarely see hundred-gilter notes. Most shops have trouble giving change for them.’

Calista nodded. ‘Sounds about right.’

‘These days, everyone uses money cards anyway. I felt you should see the coins, however, as part of your education.’

‘Yeah, thanks, I– Wait, “money cards?” You have debit cards here?’

‘I don’t know what a debit card is.’ Dalila produced a thin card which looked an awful lot like a debit or credit card from Earth. It was black and sleek, and it had a logo which looked more or less like the Maritanian one, but a little different. ‘This is a money card. An amount of gilter is imprinted onto the material using Earth magic. Shops have devices which can read and change the amount. Each transaction is logged to the card too. Uh, it is best to be careful with these. If you lose it, that’s your money gone, and thieves can gain access to whatever money is on the card just by stealing it. It’s no different from coins, but it’s more convenient when carrying a lot of money.’

‘Not perfect, but that’s… We have things like this, but there’s a lot of machinery behind it to make it work. Actually, I suppose we do have money cards just like this, but they don’t use magic to work.’ A bit like the light crystals, this was magic being used to replace a technology Calista was used to. She was going to have to rethink her notions on just about everything if she was going to make headway in this world.

Meanwhile, the area they were walking through looked like something out of a medieval European town. The buildings were stone with sloped, tiled roofs. The stonework looked good, like it had been done by some serious craftspeople. It was, Calista supposed, picturesque, almost like a tourist area, and the map set on a couple of metal posts on one of the street corners did not disabuse her of that idea.

‘You’ll find these all through this part of the city,’ Dalila said. ‘We’re in the Old City. Here.’ The area was pointed out, a region just off the centre to the east. To the east of that was a section marked ‘Elementary Academy.’ There was more or less no city to the east of the academy; growth had taken place out from the Old City in all the other directions. ‘The Old City is kept more or less as it was five hundred years ago. People come from all over the country to see the architecture.’ So, it was being kept for tourists. ‘There are guided tours of the palace on Fire and Spirit Days. Other notable locations are the Cathedral of Radix and the Museum of Maritanian History and the Museum of the Elements.’

‘There’s a cathedral?’

Dalila nodded. ‘To Radix, the creator of the world, if you believe that sort of thing. Seven hundred years ago, when the cathedral was built, his worship was a lot stronger.’

‘Okay. I’d like to see the museums, but maybe not today. Getting a feel for the city in general seems like a better idea for today.’

‘In which case, we will take a public carriage out to the main commercial district.’

‘Retail therapy? Well, it’ll give me a chance to see whether these clothes are really in fashion.’

~~~

The public carriage was a bus in everything except name. In fact, the one they took was a tourist bus with an open upper deck to allow unobstructed views of what they were going past. Calista was a little annoyed that she could see no indication of what was powering the vehicle. It had to be something to do with magic, probably to do with magic crystals, but that was all hidden away and she could not study it. She studied architecture instead.

Beyond the stone-built structures of the Old City, there was a mix. Stone and timber could be seen, some buildings having stone walls at ground level with timber frames for the upper floors. The place still looked a bit medieval. The full-timber buildings in particular looked like they could have been on any Middle Ages high street, though the streets themselves were another matter.

She had not noticed it in the Old City, but the roads were all covered in something which looked like tarmac. Certainly, it was a black or dark-grey surface composed of some form of bituminous substance binding small stones. That was pretty modern. The technology of Ar was all over the place. Magic ought to make sense, and this place’s technology, based on magic, varied wildly in what it seemed to be capable of.

And then they passed out of the stone-and-wood region and into the commercial district, and there was more incongruity. At first, Calista thought she was looking at more timber-framed buildings, but it did not take too long to realise that she was seeing façades. The buildings out here, in the newer parts of the city, were concrete, or something very similar to it, rendered over and decorated to resemble timber buildings. There were massive float-glass windows. There were mannequins of various types in the windows which looked for all the world like they were made of plastic.

‘We should disembark here,’ Dalila said. ‘There is a department store nearby which should give you a very good picture of what goods are for sale in Lorentine.’

‘Right.’ And then something passed overhead causing Calista to look up. ‘What the hell is that?’

The object was huge, apparently made of metal, and shaped roughly like a rugby ball or American football but elongated. Six conical structures were mounted around its circumference, the points oriented downward and truncated. Longer cones mounted above the body pointed backward. It looked like an airship, but building an airship out of steel was ridiculous.

‘It’s an airship,’ Dalila said.

‘How does something that must weigh several hundred… I don’t know how you measure mass. How does something that heavy stay in the air without wings?’

‘I believe Air elementals drive air through the engine nacelles. That is one of the largest currently in operation. It is probably hauling cargo, but there are quite large passenger liners. For long distances, airships are faster than trains.’

Calista shook her head. ‘This place makes my head hurt. Let’s go see this department store of yours.’

~~~

It was a department store. Maybe a little more chaotic than Calista was used to, and the perfume department was not just inside the front doors. It was refreshing to not have someone wanting to spray you with smelly liquid as soon as you walked in.

There was a lack of clearly marked differentiation between the departments. You could be looking at cooking equipment one minute and underwear the next. What they did seem to have was a lot of things Calista would have considered modern appliances, except they ran on magic somehow. There were washing machines. They used Water elementals to wash and Air elementals to dry, but they were washing machines. Dalila said they were expensive and most people did their laundry manually, though manually might mean summoning your own elementals to do the work. Room heaters used Fire elementals, obviously, and they were popular in winter; apparently the concept of central heating had not been invented. In summer, Air elementals could provide air conditioning, though that was considered a luxury.

And if magic was not involved in something, alchemy probably was. In the underwear department – though Calista felt lingerie was a better term once she had seen it – Calista found herself facing what the general populace wore under their clothes. She was currently wearing silk, or something like silk since she had never owned silk underwear in her life and was not sure she would be able to tell the difference between, say, silk and satin. Whatever, she had been monumentally happy to discover that underwired bras had been invented here, but less happy with the bloomer-like knickers. Well, maybe not bloomers. Bloomers evoked an image of huge, frilly sorts of things. Maybe these were more like French knickers or tap pants. Calista was more into cotton briefs, boring but reliable. Now she was faced with…

‘What are these made from?’

Dalila looked at the briefs Calista was holding. ‘It’s called soyer. It’s plant fibres treated with alchemy to create a stretch fabric with good resilience. There is a finer version of it for, um, more intimate apparel, but it’s used in most undergarments these days, one way or another.’

‘Then why am I wearing silk bloomers?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know what either of those words mean, but your garments are suitable for an upper-class lady.’

Calista shook her head. ‘Setting aside the fact that I’m neither upper class nor a lady, this lady wants some nice soyer briefs. What’s my budget? Maybe we should look at bras too.’

Dalila looked like she wanted to object. ‘Mad– Ahem. Calista, you should really think of yourself as…’ She trailed off as she realised she was onto a losing battle. ‘I find this style more comfortable. I suppose I can’t object to you wanting to wear them.’

‘That’s my girl! If it helps, I’ll look at the more expensive stuff first, but I can’t guarantee I’ll prefer it over the cheap stuff.’

‘No,’ Dalila said in a resigned sort of tone, ‘I can’t guarantee that either.’

~~~

In truth, the briefs were a bit narrow at the back for Calista’s tastes. A bit on the thong-ish side, but they weren’t too narrow, except for the ones which were, so she figured she could cope. She had more of a butt to work with now, so maybe something a little more expressive would be better anyway. She was also walking away from the ‘flimsies’ department with a couple of new bras which were actually not much better than the ones she had. The fact they referred to lingerie as ‘flimsies’ had forced Calista to bite back a laugh.

Next up was the general clothing section, and there she found herself looking at a much greater variety of garments than the palace’s tailors had presented for her approval. Most of this stuff was downright ordinary. There were jeans. Probably not actually denim jeans, but something remarkably close. The range of dyes in use was extensive, presumably thanks to more alchemy. Back in her world, alchemy had been a precursor to chemistry. It was quite possible that the same was true here, but with the addition of magic allowing for transformations and reactions impossible on Earth. Maybe they really could turn lead into gold. Calista decided to keep questions like that for Blanchet when her lessons started next week.

‘So, what I’m wearing is fashionable, but most people couldn’t afford this fashion?’

‘Not entirely true,’ Dalila replied. ‘Nothing you are wearing is truly designer. The cost was higher since the garments were tailored to you, but the designs have been current for the last year or so.’

Right now, Calista was in a black, long-sleeved jersey dress and thigh-high boots. It was actually pretty comfortable, but she would have liked the hem to be lower. She was not used to having legs that could pull off an outfit like this. She was not used to wearing high-heeled boots for extended periods. Actually, the latter point was starting to have an increasingly noticeable effect.

‘Could we sit down for a bit? I’m not used to heels.’

Dalila gave a nod. She was in her usual flat boots, so she was fine. ‘There is a rather nice tea room on the top floor. And there is an elevator, so you won’t have to climb the stairs.’

‘Perfect.’

It was perfect until she saw the elevator. It was like a giant version of those vacuum tube devices shops used to have to send money from the tills to the accounts department. There was a car with an attendant driving it and, according to Dalila, a pair of Air elementals provided the motive power. One created a vacuum, the other created higher pressure. The attendant was there to balance the thrust and make sure the car stopped correctly at each floor.

‘Is that thing safe?’ Calista asked.

‘Elevators have been in use for over a century. There are barely ever any accidents.’

‘That is not as encouraging as you think it is, Dalila.’

‘You are going to have to get used to magic eventually, Calista.’

‘That… is a very good point which I do not wish to hear right now. Oh well, if it saves my feet from the stairs, I guess I can try not to freak out.’

‘Your self-control is appreciated.’

~~~

The tea room was nice, as Dalila had said, but Calista found herself wishing for coffee. Coffee seemed to be something Ar did not have. And there was the other thing.

The shop was using a Water elemental to make the water for the tea, a Fire elemental to heat the water to the perfect temperature, and a second Fire elemental to control the temperature in the pastries display. Calista could see neither because they were hidden away in the equipment, but she could sense them. Somehow, she knew they were there and what kind of magic was flowing around them. This magic sense had been getting more obvious the more she was exposed to magic, and she did not think it was simply to do with being from another world.

She could see elementals normal people could not. She could sense magic in a way normal people could not. All that seemed to imply that, while Calista would have said she was quite normal, she was not. That was not something she really wanted to entertain, but…

‘Dalila, will you be summoning an elemental tomorrow?’

‘I think there’s some dusting to do, so yes. Why do you ask?’

‘Get me up before you summon it. I’d like to see this ritual you use. We can have breakfast after, that’s not a problem. I’d just like to see some magic performed.’

‘It isn’t very exciting, but if you insist.’

‘Thanks, Dalila.’

19 Earth.

It was easily an hour earlier than usual when Dalila came to get Calista out of bed. Calista was unenthusiastic, despite having requested this, but that was mostly because she was not sure what she was going to see when she watched the ritual.

Then came perhaps the most interesting part of the enterprise: the servants’ quarters. Calista had, obviously, never been backstage at the palace. She had something of an expectation of what she would see, mostly from TV programmes, which she did not really expect to be correct. As Dalila took her through an unobtrusive door in one of the corridors near her rooms, Calista found herself a bit excited to see what was there.

And her first impression was that there was a shadow palace hidden away behind the façade of nobility. The corridors were not as well decorated here. The walls were painted. There were none of the crests and gilt you saw in the main corridors. This was a functional sort of place, but everything was clean, tidy, and well maintained.

They passed open doors into rooms which appeared to be for preparing food. Calista sensed the same arrangement of Fire and Water elementals there, heating water for morning tea. Closed doors, Dalila explained, were mostly storage for non-perishable supplies. Accommodation seemed to be elsewhere, possibly in the basement if Calista’s expectations had any basis in reality.

The door they went through was unmarked, like all the others, but the room behind it was unlike the various kitchen units. Inside, the room was split into four areas, each containing what Calista could only describe as a magic circle. There was a double circle with runic sort of glyphs between them. No pentagram of anything similar within that, but there were candles set in candlesticks at equidistant points around the circle which Calista suspected were the cardinal points. Looking more closely at the runes on the nearest circle, Calista realised that she could read them. They were Teyradi inscriptions. This one said, ‘I call upon the power of Great Hyosantha and the element of Water.’

‘We have two circles for Air,’ Dalila said, ‘and one each for Water and Fire. Um, it’s possible to set all of this up yourself, anywhere you need it, but it’s not something you want to do in a hurry, or every day, so we have these ones prepared for the staff. There are several more rooms like this throughout the palace. Some have other elements. Some have circles for complex spells involving multiple elements.’

‘Right.’ Calista had walked to the middle of the room and was looking down at the circles there. The two at the back were the same, so they were probably the air ones, but the inscription confirmed that. ‘Air’ replaced ‘Water’ and ‘Sythosalna’ replaced ‘Hyosantha.’ ‘So, you want one of these two. Who is Sythosalna?’

‘That would be the Greater Air Elemental Sythosalna, known as the queen of the Air elementals. It’s said that through her power do we work Air magic. You can read what it says here?’

‘Yeah. It’s Teyradi. Okay, well, do what you need to do and try to ignore me being here.’

‘Of course, madam.’ After having Dalila use Calista’s name for a lot of the day before, it was a little jarring to go back to ‘madam.’ Then again, here in the servants’ quarters, it was maybe even more important to follow etiquette.

Starting with one candle and then working clockwise, Dalila lit the candles. While she did this, she was chanting the same phrase over and over. ‘I call upon Sythosalna, Greatest of the Elementals of Air.’ The words were in Teyradi, not Maritanian. Calista doubted that Dalila knew what she was saying, but maybe that did not matter. Certainly, after a few seconds and about the time the last candle was lit, two things happened. One was purely physical: a rather fresh scent reached Calista’s nose, presumably from the candles. It was something like the scent of a wildflower meadow on a windy day with the commingled smells of all the flowers hitting you all at once. The other thing was the sudden flow of magic around the circle.

It was Air magic. Calista was not sure how she knew, but she knew. It was not, she thought, a feeling. It was more analytical than that. She could sense that this was Air magic, sense how it was flowing, clockwise around the perimeter of the circle. Sense its shape, like a circular wall or, perhaps, a whirlwind. What had caused it to appear? Was it the words themselves, spoken in a dead language? That seemed unlikely, but possible. Was it the thoughts the words created in Dalila’s mind? Except she could not know what the words meant. There had to be something to do with all the trappings, otherwise just using Teyradi as a normal language would have been dangerous. You could have triggered all sorts of trouble just by using the wrong phrase. And, finally, was it actually this Sythosalna who was responding to the beginning of the ritual? That seemed impossible, but then there was magic…

Stepping to the centre of the circle, Dalila folded her skirt carefully under her bottom and knelt down. Her hands rested on her knees and her eyes closed, and she began to repeat another chant. ‘Sythosalna, Queen of the Air, grant me a servant to do my bidding.’ Just that, over and over again, but the effect was a change in the flow of magic. Now it began to sweep inward toward Dalila while still circulating around the circle. It took about a minute for the flow to change once again. At that point, as Dalila raised her hands in front of her, about thirty centimetres apart with her fingers spread, the magic narrowed in toward the space between her hands, and Calista saw an Air elemental form there.

Dalila opened her eyes, nodded, and then began a different chant. ‘Elemental of Air, do as I command until the setting of the sun.’ Once again, this was repeated over and over for a full minute. Calista figured that what Dalila needed was a slave to do her bidding for the day, so the spell itself was pretty simple. Maybe things got more complicated when you needed the swirling creature to do something more specific. Were elementals creatures? Whatever, the magic was flowing again, swirling around both Dalila and the elemental until the chant was done and Dalila got to her feet. The elemental hovered beside her, though she could not see it.

Then Dalila pointed at the first candle she had lit and the elemental swept over it, blowing out the flame. Turning clockwise, the maid had her little servant blow out each candle in turn. Then she turned to Calista and smiled. ‘I am glad nothing went wrong. I sometimes fail in one way or another, but it seems everything worked. Did you learn anything useful?’

‘Hm. Difficult to say. I have more questions for Blanchet next week, so I don’t think you can say I got nothing from it. And… I confirmed that I can sense magic somehow. I knew how the magic was flowing all the way through that performance.’

‘Some mages can do that, but you aren’t a mage.’

‘I can see elementals. I think, maybe, I was supposed to be a magician. The problem is that I just don’t believe I can do it. I’m pretty sure you have to believe you can do it before it’s possible.’

‘Perhaps your lessons with the Royal High Mage will change your perceptions.’

‘Maybe. Don’t hold your breath.’

23 Earth.

‘What is magic?’

Calista grinned at Blanchet. The Royal High Mage was getting his lecture on and it was cute. ‘That’s what I want you to tell me?’

‘Indulge me. What do you think magic is?’

‘Okay.’ There was a pause while Calista collected her thoughts. ‘What I want to say is that magic is doing something we can’t currently explain. It’s doing something which should be physically impossible given our understanding of physics. However, you don’t even know what physics is, and it’s readily apparent that the way this universe works isn’t the same as the way my old universe does. So, magic as I’ve been able to observe is using elementals to perform acts which humans aren’t capable of. Or, I suppose, doing things you could do yourself but you’re too lazy to bother. All sorts of technologies in my world are like that. It’s easier to get a machine to do it, so we don’t bother. You use elementals the same way.’

‘Oh. That is actually fairly accurate, if superficial. You’ve observed magic in use?’

‘My maid uses an Air elemental for dusting. I got her to let me watch her cast the spell.’

‘And you still don’t believe in magic?’

‘Belief is not required when there is physical evidence to be observed. I know that magic exists in this world. The issue is not whether magic exists. I think you need to believe you can work magic in order to do it, and I don’t believe I can cast spells. Ergo, the chances of me succeeding are slim to none.’

‘Hm.’ Now Blanchet paused to think. ‘I have never encountered someone who doesn’t believe they can cast, so I can’t actually state that your idea is correct. It does, however, seem reasonable. Very well, we’ll progress from here and see whether your analysis of magic bears fruit, even if you yourself are unable to use it.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

‘As you have stated, magic is the use of elementals to perform whatever the caster wishes. Within reason. It is possible to do quite extraordinary things, but there are some things which are simply impossible. We can neither look into nor travel to the past or future, for example.’

‘No Time element.’

‘Correct. The coverage of the elements is quite broad, but they don’t cover everything one might wish for. There are still mysteries we cannot fathom.’

Once more, Calista grinned. ‘Yes, but that’s what I’m here for.’

‘If that is true, you may be more valuable than the other three heroes put together.’

‘Obviously. I’m a scientist.’

~~~

‘Air is the element of motion, freedom.’ It was after lunch. Before, they had covered the basics of magic, or what Blanchet thought of as the basics and Calista characterised as some waffle describing the basic idea of summoning, controlling, and utilising elementals. Now they were getting to specifics: what each element was actually for. ‘In a more concrete sense, Air governs gases, which can get complicated, but then the same is true of all three of the psychical elements.’

‘Let me guess. Water is governed by Water, but if it’s frozen, it’s Earth. If it’s steam, it’s Air.’

‘Correct.’

‘Okay, so is it possible to get an Air elemental to turn water into steam? Do you need to use a Fire elemental, or a fire, to heat the water and make steam?’

‘It’s easier, but slower, to use a Fire elemental. If you want to simply transform water into steam, you would need both a Water elemental and an Air elemental. Obviously, if you aren’t good at magic, or Fire magic specifically, it’s easier still to use a flame and heat the water normally, but that does require fuel, a source of ignition, and proper controls to ensure the fire is contained.’

‘Fire elementals don’t have an urge to burn everything in sight?’

‘No, they– Hm. There have been cases where elementals go out of control, but they have generally resulted from their use by people with underlying mental health issues.’

‘It’s not wise to teach arsonists Fire magic then.’

‘No, but it’s an unfortunate fact that arsonists frequently gravitate to Fire magic on their own. Back to Air. You mentioned that your maid uses it for cleaning. We also use it to support and propel airships. Air elementals can increase or decrease air pressure. Powerful magicians can use them to control the wind. Uh, full weather control is possible, but it requires many elements. Water and Air at a minimum, but also Earth and Electricity when countering or encouraging snow and lightning. Fire may be used to raise or lower temperatures.’

‘Well, our technology couldn’t control the weather at all, so you’re doing better than we did.’

‘I suspect there are things your people could do that we cannot.’

‘Hm. Computers. I’ve seen no evidence of computers. Machines that can do calculations very quickly, but the way they’ve advanced even during my lifetime, they’ve basically got to the point where they do your thinking for you.’

‘And that’s a good thing?’

‘Ah, well. That is something to be determined, and I’m here now, so I’ll never get to find out. I do know that the number-crunching aspect of computers will be something I miss once I get to the point of hypothesising about magic. I’ll have models I want to test, and there’s nothing better than a computer for trying out models.’

‘I’ll take your word for it. We don’t have anything like that, to my knowledge.’

‘Shame. Let’s continue with the Air lecture.’

24 Earth.

There was a second man in Blanchet’s office when Calista arrived the next morning. He was tall and slim, and dressed in a grey suit. His hair was short and black and immaculately cut. His eyes were blue and somewhat hooded. He had a square sort of face, thin lips, and a nose with a high bridge and a hooked tip. He gave off a palpable air of magical power and a general impression of intelligence, but there was also an impression of arrogance in the way he stood and looked down upon Blanchet. On seeing Calista, his expression did not change. Maybe he looked down upon everyone.

‘This is the fourth summons?’ he asked. ‘The one who can’t do magic?’

‘That would be me,’ Calista replied. She held out her hand. ‘Calista Hogarth. Scientist.’

He looked at her hand as though it held a wet fish. Then he ignored her, turning back to Blanchet. ‘Hm. As I was saying, there was a magical disturbance last night. Several of the Stulti reported it.’ He stared at Calista for a second as she giggled. ‘All evidence suggests that it was something to do with the palace library.’

‘I sensed nothing,’ Blanchet replied, ‘and there is no evidence of anything happening here. To be on the safe side, I’ll instruct Basurto to survey the library.’

‘That would be wise. As you know, the Stulti…’ He paused briefly to stare at a giggling Calista. ‘The Stulti are never wrong. I’ll take my leave.’ And then he marched out of the office without another word.

‘Why were you laughing?’ Blanchet said as soon as the door was closed behind the tall man. ‘He won’t appreciate it.’

‘I couldn’t care less. He didn’t even introduce himself.’

‘That was Eladio Sastre, High Savant of the Elementary Academy.’

‘Really? That title is laughable too.’

‘Not an opinion it’s wise to share. He’s a powerful man.’

‘Yes, I could feel it. Who or what are the Stulti?’

‘They’re the academy’s security force. The academy polices its own. They get some leeway regarding civil laws, but they have their own rules which are just as strict, and the Stulti enforce them. You find them funny? They aren’t.’

‘It’s the name. That’s not a Maritanian word, right?’

‘It’s derived from a Ceshtavi word for “guardian.”’

‘It also happens to be a word in a language from my old world, Latin. It means “fools.”’

‘Oh. Try to suppress your urge to giggle whenever you hear it.’

Calista sat down and got ready for her lesson. ‘Well, I’ll try, but it’s going to be really hard if they’re all like him.’

~~~

Dalila walked into Calista’s lounge carrying a tray of tea and biscuits to discover that her charge was working through three books at once and there was barely any space to put the tray down.

‘Is madam still working?’

‘What?’ A bemused Calista looked up, spotted the tray, and hurriedly cleared a space for it. ‘Thanks, Dalila, I could use this.’

‘It is quite late in the evening, madam. Perhaps it would be best to stop for now.’

‘Oh, it’s not that late. I…’ Calista’s shoulders sagged. ‘A new world, a new body, but still the same old mind, I guess.’

‘Madam?’

‘I have a tendency to keep working on things as long as I possibly can, sometimes right through the night if there’s nothing to stop me.’

‘That cannot be good for you.’

‘No, probably not. When I get the bit between my teeth, I lose track of time. I’ll, um…’ Very carefully, she closed the book in her hands and put it aside. ‘I’ll have my tea and then go to bed. I’ll read a little in bed, but I promise it’ll be fiction.’

Dalila nodded. ‘You won’t be working all night on my watch, madam. Not unless the situation really demands it.’

Calista flashed a grin. ‘I could’ve really used a Dalila in my old life.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m a rare commodity, only available here.’

‘Did you just make a joke, Dalila?’

‘I don’t believe so, madam…’

7 Electricity.

‘And that covers Fire,’ Blanchet said, ‘which means we’ve covered the four basic elements. On Magic Day we’ll go on to Metal.’

They had been through the workings of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water in the past week, which did indeed cover what Calista considered the classical elements. Air was movement, Earth was static, Water was fluid, and Fire was energetic. There was more to it than that, but she was formulating the hypothesis that the elements were more concept than actuality. Each embodied characteristics more than being a thing. Earth did not mean earth or rock; it meant solid objects, resistance to change. You used it for strength and defence. But then, what was Metal for? She would have to wait until Magic Day to find out. Wait…

‘Magic Day? What about tomorrow?’

Blanchet smiled. ‘And so we move on to another lesson. Magic flows across Ar. It’s everywhere, but it is not always equally everywhere. It is stronger at the poles. That effect is a constant though the exact variance from what we consider normal can change.’

‘Okay.’

‘The strength of magic in any given area is referred to as the Elementary Magic Pressure or EMP, measured in units named for Dalmaeus. One Dalmaeus is the normal strength of magic at the equator, but we usually quote that figure as one thousand miliDalmaeuses.’

‘That’s a mouthful, but okay. What’s the figure at the poles?’

‘Normal is classified as anything between nine hundred and fifty and one thousand and fifty. At the poles you’ll see a figure between sixteen hundred and eighteen hundred, sometimes higher. There are also a few places where the figure drops to below five hundred, but they are usually transitory. Working magic in such areas is difficult.’

‘All that seems logical, but I’m not seeing how this relates to us not having a lesson tomorrow.’

‘That is because a high-pressure region is moving down from the north-east and will arrive in Lorentine tomorrow, probably just before dawn. We have observers all over the continent, watching for high-pressure systems, and the occasional low-pressure ones. Most such events raise the EMP by two hundred miliDalmaeuses or so. They make magic a little easier to work, but that’s about it. This one has been measured at sixteen hundred miliDalmaeuses. It’s decreasing as it moves south, but it’s still expected to be over fifteen hundred by the time it reaches us. Such storms are the major source of monsters and can cause other disruptions. Tomorrow, I will be standing by to handle any problems the storm directly causes, and I’ll probably be helping with clean-up for a couple of days after. Hence, our next lesson will be delayed until Magic Day.’

‘Okay. I have books to read. Is there anything I should do to prepare for this magic storm?’

‘No. Just do what you would normally do when you’re not seeing me. That being said, I would expect that you will take this opportunity to observe what happens. You may wish to take particular note of the light crystals in your vicinity.’

‘Why?’

Blanchet grinned. ‘Won’t it be more fun for you to wait and see?’

‘That kind of depends on whether they’re going to explode or not.’

8 Electricity.

Something woke Calista early. Her room was dark and there was no Dalila there urging her to get out of bed, but she felt restless. Staying in bed was not going to happen, so she got up, threw on a robe, and went out into the lounge.

Pretty much immediately, she realised what was happening. The spare light crystal she had obtained was sitting on the table beside her favourite chair alongside a pile of books. It was glowing. No one could have charged it. It had been dark when she had gone to bed. Now it was glowing, not brightly, but enough that she had light to see by so that she could lift the shade on another of the crystals to give her more light. Her eyes narrowed as she did so; the crystal under the shade was brighter than usual.

Now she thought about it, the reason for her restlessness became obvious. She was sensing an increase in the local magic level, the EMP. There was enough magic in the air that it was actually charging an empty light crystal and overcharging a charged one. The storm was here and it had woken her up.

She went to the window and opened the shutters. It was basically dark outside but there was a little light in the sky. The brighter stars were still visible along with the smaller of the two moons, Garanalus. There was almost no cloud cover. The storm was entirely divorced from the weather, it seemed, which felt wrong. Now that she had realised what was happening, the pressure from the magic storm seemed rather overbearing, like the dull pressure of a thunderstorm. There should have been thick, black clouds overhead, but it looked like it would be another bright spring morning. Late spring. Ar’s calendar started with the first day of spring, Electricity was the third month, so this was now late spring and the temperature had been going up for a while. It would be a nice day in spring, but it felt like thunder and lightning might blast across the sky at any moment.

The lounge door opened and Dalila stepped in. ‘Oh, you’re already up?’

‘The storm woke me.’ Calista frowned. ‘It’s weird. I was dreaming that I was in the library, reading. Anyway, the storm woke me. I can feel the increased pressure. It’s making me kind of restless. Hopefully, I’ll feel better after breakfast.’

‘Then we’ll get you dressed, and I’ll make you a nice cup of tea.’

~~~

After lunch, things had not improved. In fact, if anything, they were getting worse.

‘It feels like something is crawling around under my skin,’ Calista said as she paced the lounge.

‘You do seem oddly sensitive to the storm,’ Dalila said. She was spending a lot of time waiting upon her lady today, as though she were worried. That was exactly what she was, but she was not going to expressly state the fact. She had a feeling that Calista would not have enjoyed knowing.

‘Does this happen often?’

‘Magic storms? They aren’t frequent. Though I think there are more of them now than when I was a child.’

Calista paused her pacing briefly, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she set off again. ‘Interesting. So, there are more monsters than there used to be, and there are more high EMP events. The two are, of course, related, since monsters tend to be triggered during high EMP events, but are the other magical anomalies in the reports also connected to the storms? Or do they have the same underlying cause? And are monsters directly the result of increasing magical activity, or does the cause of the storms influence the rate of monster genesis?’

‘I couldn’t possibly pass an opinion, madam.’

‘Of course not. I’m just thinking out loud because what I really want to do is scream.’

As though the world had heard her, there was a sound somewhere between a scream and a thunderclap. The windows shuddered. Dalila jumped while Calista winced, once again stopping her pacing.

‘What was that?’ Calista asked. ‘I could feel it…’ She pointed. ‘Somewhere over that way.’

‘A magic discharge,’ Dalila replied. ‘Magic lightning, if you will. They can cause considerable damage as well as… other effects.’

‘Other effects?’

‘Random, magical effects. Strange transformations. Though, mostly, being hit by one will just kill you. That was not forecast for this storm. It has a high pressure, but they were not expecting discharges.’

‘It hit somewhere on the palace grounds.’ Calista came to a decision and started moving before Dalila could stop her. ‘I’m going to take a look.’

‘Madam! That’s dangerous. Stop! You can’t–’ But Calista was already out the door.

~~~

There were several more window-clattering noises before Calista made it to the covered walkway leading to the library. By that time, Dalila had caught up, but stopping Calista from going out had proven difficult. Wound up by the storm, Calista wanted to do something, anything, to offset the pressure from the storm.

As soon as she walked out the door, however, Calista stopped in her tracks. ‘Wow.’

Part of the walkway was gone. The glass ceiling had been shattered about ten metres from the doorway. The framework and one of the support posts in that area looked like they had been hit with a heat ray or something. The iron was melted and, when Calista got closer and could see, so had a lot of the glass.

There was still no visible storm overhead: the sky was a clear blue with a few scudding clouds in it. But there was something. Calista could see something moving overhead. Twisting bands of colour swept through the air. Reds, purples, and pale blues were visible, twisting around each other like coloured ribbons, except that these were not solid.

‘Dalila, can you see various coloured streams in the air overhead?’

Dalila already knew what she was going to say, but she looked up anyway, just to be sure she was not missing something. ‘No, madam. I see a blue sky overhead. Can we go back inside now?’

‘Do you really think it’s much safer in there? These discharges can do that to iron.’

‘The stonework contains ambrosite ore which acts as a barrier to the storms and discharges.’

‘Really? Well, I can safely say that it doesn’t work for the storm in general. The pressure out here is exactly the same as the pressure inside. As for the discharges, are you sure?’ Calista pointed toward the library building. Part of the stonework was blackened and cracked where a discharge had hit it.

‘I am sure it will be safer than being outside.’

The door to the library opened and someone stepped out. He looked like one of the palace’s general staff, dressed in a dark suit, but Calista did not recognise him. He started hurrying forward, only noticing they were there as he approached the fallen part of the weather shield. ‘Hey! You there! Get back inside before–’

What happened was not really like lightning. Calista had expected it to be like bolts of purple lightning or something falling from the sky, and she saw a streamer of purple light twist down to contact one of the support posts, but she figured everyone else just saw what happened next. A ball of violet light swelled into existence where the streamer had contacted. Arcs of something like electricity, but not, danced out of the ball to contact the glass, the metalwork, and the man. Briefly, the world was illumined in violet light, and the sound the discharge produced reverberated through the courtyard. The man was thrown bodily out from under the now disintegrating walkway to land like a rag doll half a dozen metres away. Calista was moving before her brain could decide to stop her.

As she ran toward the man, another streamer wound its way down toward her, apparently making for the man or the walkway again. She figured this was going to be bad, but then it whipped away, twisting off toward one of the outer walls where another discharge blew chunks out of the masonry. She was aware of footfalls behind her: Dalila was following, even if she thought this was a bad idea.

‘Grab him,’ Calista said. ‘We’ll drag him into the library.’

‘Yes, madam.’

Strangely, the man did not look burned or wounded in any way, but he was unconscious. Calista could sense magic around him, over and above the magic she could feel all around her. That could not be a good thing. Hooking an arm under his armpit and, with Dalila taking the other side, she lifted and dragged him back the way he had come. Another discharge hit the ground about twenty metres away as they got the door open and pulled him through.

‘Miss Hogarth?’ Basurto, the librarian, was there in the hall, looking concerned. He started looking more concerned when he saw who Calista and Dalila were dragging in. ‘Allard? What– He was hit by a discharge?’

‘Not directly,’ Calista said. ‘The walkway outside is going to need entirely replacing. He was under it when the discharge exploded. He’s… He’s kind of charged with magic. There doesn’t seem to be any injury, but he’s unconscious and glowing like a radioactive watch face.’

‘A what?’

‘Doesn’t matter. I think he needs medical attention.’

‘I’ll call Master Blanchet. What are you doing here? It’s dangerous out there.’

‘Hm, yes, obviously. Except I’m not the one that’s unconscious. Oh well, since I’m here, I think I’ll go look at some books in the library. I really can’t sit still today. Can you arrange some tea, Dalila?’

‘Madam, I can arrange tea anywhere.’

‘For some reason, no matter how unlikely that statement is, I find myself believing you.’

9 Electricity.

‘You have a visitor, madam,’ Dalila said from the lounge door.

Calista looked up from the book she had pretty much just opened since it was not long after breakfast. The storm had left early enough the night before that she had got enough sleep. For a while, she thought it would keep going into the morning, but no. ‘I have? Uh, okay. Show them in. Good thing I put clothes on.’ She got to her feet to greet whoever it was because that seemed like the kind of thing you did here.

Dalila stepped back and, a second later, a tall, dark man stepped through the doorway. His skin was dark, basically black; he had full lips and a fairly broad nose. His eyes were a little small, but very dark, and the overall look of him was handsome. There was definitely a firm body under the dark suit he was wearing. His hair was short and tightly curled, longer on top and in front, shaved around the sides and back. And that was new; he had changed his hairstyle since Calista had last seen him, maybe to match what he had worn on his home world.

‘It’s Roman, right?’ Calista asked. ‘Roman… Stacy.’

‘Good memory,’ he replied with a smile.

‘It isn’t like I have to remember a lot of names here. Come in. Have a seat.’

‘I shall prepare some tea,’ Dalila said from behind Roman. Then she vanished.

‘Thanks, Dalila,’ Calista called out. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without her. Do you have a Dalila?’

Roman took a seat across the short table from Calista. ‘I have a Virgile. I persuaded him to stop helping me get dressed after about a week. I have to admit that I don’t mind him cleaning up after me, and he has helped with assimilating the culture.’

‘Mm. Same with Dalila. Plus she brings me tea and biscuits. So, to what do I owe the honour of this visit, Roman? Do you prefer Doctor Stacy?’

‘Roman is fine. Doctors here don’t have a title. Actually, they don’t really have doctors, just magicians with a speciality in Life magic. Uh, I came to check on you because I was asked to. After the storm. Also because the academy isn’t holding lessons today and it’s the first chance I’ve had to come and say hello.’

‘You’re training at the Elementary Academy?’

‘I am. So is Nikole. I think she’s learning Light magic. They have me learning Life and Spirit, though it seems that I can heal people without using magic at all. Something to do with this magic infusion business Blanchet mentioned that time.’

‘Okay. So, you came to give me a check-up?’

‘Ah, no. I mean, is there anything wrong with you? Did the storm affect you somehow?’

‘Nothing I’m aware of. Well, while it was happening, it was bad. It felt like there was something inside me trying to crawl out. I was restless, uncomfortable. I’m sensitive to magic, apparently. I can sense it when it’s worked near me. I can even tell what elements are involved and the like.’

‘But you don’t believe in magic.’

‘As I told Blanchet, I don’t need to believe in it. It’s there, right in front of me. I can see it. That’s not something which requires belief. On the other hand, I think I need to believe I can do it before I might be able to, and that’s not happening. So, the Royal High Mage is teaching me about magic. Not how to work magic, but what it is and what they know about it.’

‘Which isn’t that much. It seems like all this element stuff is basically a means of breaking up a practical skill into procedures affecting different kinds of material or energy.’

‘Ha! That’s precisely what I was thinking. I’m hoping to be able to improve things once I understand it all better.’

‘Hm. I’m not sure how well that will go down at the academy. They’re rather formulaic, rigid. Hidebound, in fact. New ideas are not necessarily well received.’

Calista shrugged. ‘Like I care what they think. What about the other guy? Wolfgang?’

‘Wolf. He likes to be called Wolf. He’s out hunting monsters. He’s basically about as good at magic as anyone else here, so they helped him unlock some inherent powers and then he’s been going out and fighting monsters wherever he can find them. After the storm, there have been a number of new sightings, so he’ll probably be out there for a while.’

‘Okay. Was there much damage at the academy? The library here took a few hits.’

‘I heard. There was some damage. They have Earth mages dealing with it. Repairing stonework is a lot easier with Earth magic.’

‘I suppose it would be. I’d imagine repairing people is a lot easier with Life magic.’

‘It is, yes. On the other hand, I think my knowledge of anatomy and medicine helps with my healing and my Life magic. If you could get yourself through this block you have, you might find that your science makes it easier to work magic.’

Calista pursed her lips. After a second or two she said, ‘No, I don’t think so. The physical laws this place works on are fundamentally different from the world I knew. What I can bring to it is methodology. As far as I can tell, they have no idea what the scientific method is. Maybe I can do magic, or will do at some point, but I don’t think any of the physics I know will be of much use here. That being said, I’m determined to work out what the laws of physics are here. That’s my goal. I just want to explain the world.’

Roman grinned. ‘So, you’re aiming low then?’

‘Oh yeah. I don’t want to get too ambitious.’ The lounge door began to open. ‘Oh! Here come the biscuits.’

‘Don’t you mean the tea?’

‘Oh, yeah, of course, the tea…’

13 Electricity.

Calista’s hypothesis regarding the nature of the elements was shaping up well and, as Roman had said, they seemed more like methods of compartmentalising practical applications of an underlying, more complex magic system so that humans could handle it. Yes, there was the use of elementals, but she was coming to the conclusion that the elementals she had seen were not so much independent entities summoned to do your bidding as constructs created to do what needed to be done. If the greater elementals actually existed, they might be something else, but the ones people used for magic were, in Calista’s opinion, tools. They were part of the system Dalmaeus had come up with to make magic more usable by the general populace.

Still, there had to be some mechanism behind it all which allowed anyone to do any of it. That was what Calista was looking for after a few weeks of study with Blanchet. He was rather pleased with her progress. Surprised even. She was progressing faster than he had expected. In truth, she was also a bit surprised about how easily the information was going in and coming together. She was studying hard into the evenings and all day when she was not with Blanchet. Dalila had tried to make her take Life Days off, but Calista was just not that kind of woman. Still, a couple of times Calista had caught herself remembering something she had read, but not being sure when or where she had read it. That was weird, but she had been basically ignoring it because it was working for her.

Something else was coming to mind this evening. It was Life Day and Calista had insisted that Dalila go enjoy herself for a while. What the maid would be doing with her free time, Calista had no clue, but Calista was determined that she should have some. That left Calista alone to read, which was just fine by her, but a nagging thought had surfaced and it refused to go away.

‘I was created to be part of this world,’ she said aloud, voicing her concern. ‘Everyone in this world can do magic. Even if I think I can’t do magic, I probably can. It’s even possible that I’m very good at it, given that I was probably summoned here to be some sort of magician.’

So, that was it. She should be able to do magic. What was really stopping her was not a belief that she could not do it. Instead, she was fairly certain that the problem was that if she could cast spells, that would be a final nail in the coffin of her being a scientist. Magic and science were anathema to each other.

‘But not here. Magic here is part of the natural world. It’s not supernatural. Everything works on magic. I am a scientist who wishes to study magic, and it would be a lot easier to do that if I could do it myself.’

She had seen any number of rituals now. She had watched Dalila casting, and Blanchet had shown her a few spells. She knew some magicians did not need all the trappings of candle and circle to cast. They could visualise all of that, negating the need for the physical objects. Just for the hell of it, Calista visualised the circle Dalila used. Now, what was the incantation? It had to be in Teyradi, and you repeated it until the elemental appeared.

‘Sythosalna, Queen of the Air, grant me a servant to do my bidding.’

There was a flicker of magic and a twisting form of air appeared in front of Calista, hovering about a metre above the carpet. Calista blinked at it, but it just kept on hovering there, waiting for instructions. That had not taken anything like the time it took for Dalila to cast the same spell. No one had said anything about taking seconds instead of minutes to make an elemental appear.

‘We’re going to just keep this between us, okay?’ Calista said to the elemental. The elemental did not react, but why would it? ‘I don’t really need you, so you can go.’ And the twisting shape evaporated as quickly as it had come. ‘Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to mention this to anyone for now. Doing so would complicate things.’

Yes, for now, she would not be telling anyone she could work magic. They would probably find out soon enough, but for right now, Calista was quite sure it was better that she kept what she could do to herself. When she knew more about magic, she would reveal that she could work it. Until then, she would remain the useless summons.

Part Two: Hero of the People

Arbermet, Maritania, 17 Electricity 2189.

The monster had probably been a bear at some point. The shape was basically right. It had four limbs, no tail, a big head full of sharp teeth. There were claws. It could stand on its rear legs to add emphasis to the idea that it was something you should mess with only if you were very brave or very stupid.

Recently, however, it had become infused with the Metal element, and that had changed a few things. Its claws and teeth were iron, for one thing. It no longer had fur; iron quills decorated its hide, and it could launch them at anyone getting too close to considerable effect. Just to add to the fun, its quills gave it considerable resilience against most weapons, so it had been impossible to kill up to this point. To add insult to injury, of course, if anyone did manage to put it down, if they failed to destroy the crystal somewhere in its body, it would rise up again to once more roam the countryside, killing and maiming at will.

Right now, it was on the outskirts of the village of Arbermet. The village was fairly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, a farming community of around two hundred people. It was quite possible that many of them would die if the bear-thing got into the village. Wolfgang Manz was not about to let that happen.

He was not using a shield for this job. Shields were not necessary for these minor monsters, and he looked more heroic battling the creature with just a sword. Of course, since his Earth powers had shown themselves, beyond sheer strength, he could generally manage without a shield anyway. No shield, no real armour. He wore a rather dashing greatcoat of black leather, black slacks, and a pair of armoured boots which he thought looked pretty good. His sword had a crosspiece shaped like wings and it had been imbued with Metal magic to make it supernaturally sharp and to cause more harm to monsters. The king himself had presented Wolf with the weapon. Wolf had been putting it to good use.

The monster seemed to recognise Wolf as a threat as soon as it spotted him waiting in the middle of a street which led directly to the centre of town. It reared up on its hind legs and bellowed.

Wolf grinned. ‘Now that’s scary. If you’re not me anyway. Come on, monster, let’s see the colour of your entrails.’

Since Wolf was not running away at its threat, the monster charged. It had yet to encounter anyone capable of harming it since its transformation. It had encountered humans who did not run away, but they had all ended up being torn apart and eaten. This one would be no exception. Especially since it seemed this one was going to take its charge head-on. Its jaws snapped at Wolf’s head at the end of the charge, but Wolf was not where he had been a second ago. He had side-stepped, turned, and brought his sword up and around, striking at the bear’s neck. The monster had no time to register its surprise as the blow carved right through its neck, severed its spine, and sent a spray of blood skyward. The beastly thing fell, headless, to the ground and a cheer went up from the villagers who had braved the streets to watch their hero defend them.

‘It’s not over,’ Wolf called out. ‘We have to find its crystal and destroy it.’ He set about slashing into the monster’s body while his escort of twelve soldiers rushed forward with gutting knives and set to work more systematically. He had made it sound dramatic, but this was not an especially strong monster; they probably had hours to find the stone before it could regenerate. The beast was dead, and all that was left was the part he enjoyed the most: the adulation of the citizens he had just saved.

Lorentine, 19 Electricity.

‘Your colleague is making quite the name for himself, madam.’ Dalila was putting out breakfast and had apparently got some news to impart.

‘Uh, which colleague are we talking about? Do I have colleagues?’

‘The big blonde man. People call him Wolf, the Earth Hero.’

‘Oh, him. Roman said he was out slaying monsters.’

‘Indeed. There have been a number of them roaming the area around Lorentine since the storm. He has been instrumental in killing several. I believe the count is up to seven. He killed a bear-monster in the village of Arbermet the day before yesterday.’

‘Well, he seemed like the kind who would enjoy being a hero.’

Dalila poured the tea. ‘You don’t seem impressed, madam.’

‘I’m impressed that he’s killing presumably dangerous monsters. I’m generally less impressed by muscleheads. There’s usually a limit to how far brute force will take you, and that’s all he has.’

‘I understand he is more or less impervious to harm now. His abilities have grown since his arrival here.’

‘He’s a tank. Well, good for him. Maybe if a monster turns up in Lorentine, I’ll get to see one, and him in action. It’s a shame you don’t have dragons. I’m sure he would really like to be known as a dragon-slayer.’

‘If something appears in the city, it would be best to stay away from it, madam. Monsters are dangerous when you don’t have the means to protect yourself from them.’

Calista smiled. ‘I’d imagine that’s true, Dalila. I’ll leave the monster slaying to the professionals.’

Wolbar, 21 Electricity.

Wolbar was another inconsequential village, but it had quite a good inn thanks to being on a wagon route into Lorentine. Wolf had spent Life Day there, taking it easy for a while. That was mainly because there had been no more monster reports for him to chase up. Things had been quiet since the bear-thing, and he was thinking it was time to head back to the city where the beds were softer.

That was until the officer in charge of his escort burst into his room unannounced. This was embarrassing because Wolf had just managed to get one of the maids out of her dress, and the girl screeched like a cat which had just had a bucket of water dumped over it before grabbing said dress and making a run for it.

‘This had better be good,’ Wolf said.

‘Sir, we’ve received reports of a fire lizard about a day’s travel north of here. It seems to be making its way toward the capital.’

‘A fire lizard? A dragon?!’

‘I don’t know what a dragon is, sir. Fire lizards are fire-breathing–’

‘Sounds like a dragon to me!’ This was something. This was excellent! ‘We have to hunt it down. When can we be ready to leave?’

‘Half an hour, sir. We’re getting the horses ready now.’

‘Good. Putting dragon-slayer on my list of achievements will be good. Even if you people don’t know what a dragon is, that would be good.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the officer said. Then he backed out of the room to let Wolf get dressed.

Lorentine, 22 Electricity.

‘What is Magic?’

Calista looked at Blanchet somewhat quizzically. ‘Didn’t we already do this one? I say, “That’s what you’re supposed to tell me.”’ You say, “Humour me.”’

‘That was magic in general. This is Magic, the element.’

‘Oh. I still say that’s what you should be telling me, but… Magic is the meta-element, the part of magic that deals with magic. Or I would say that, except that magic is also a thing which causes weird things to happen, so it is actually an element. The Magic element deals with manipulating the flow of magic in the world?’

‘Both, actually. Magic is the study of how to manipulate the flow of magic, which includes manipulating elementary magic and its application in altering spells. If you want to defend against a spell, Magic is the element of choice. Generally, you can also counter spells with an opposing element, or even the same element. Earth and Metal are good at making barriers.’

‘Yeah. Magic elementals have to be really weird. What does a Magic elemental even look like? What does a Life elemental look like for that matter?’

‘Life elementals tend to take on natural forms. Plants or animals, usually. Magic elementals… No one knows. No one has seen a Magic elemental in several thousand years. We speak the words and the magic responds. Magic is the only element we do not work through an elemental for.’

‘Huh. So, there used to be Magic elementals?’

‘Supposedly. It’s a matter of legend. It’s believed that the Greater Magic Elemental died around three thousand BD. Stories differ on how and why. His or her name is also a matter of conjecture, though most stories suggest a female form. Whatever the case, however she died, no one has seen a Magic elemental since then, and that ended the age of the Magi too.’

‘I know this one. The Magi were magicians able to work magic without elementals.’

‘They were more than that, but yes. Magi were capable of extraordinary feats of magic, but they are as much a part of legend as the Greater Magic Elemental. It’s quite possible that they never existed. Flights of fancy and nothing more.’

‘Right.’ Except that Calista’s magic did not seem to need elementals, and it was faster than the kind she had seen since coming here. But then, why was Magic the one element which worked without elementals now?

‘And with that out of the way, let’s discuss what you can do with the Magic element. I’m quite sure you’ll find it interesting. It is, as you said, meta-magic. Magic dealing with magic.’

‘Yup. Sounds fascinating.’ And it might explain more about what was happening to Calista herself. She doubted it, but it might.

~~~

‘The latest reports suggest that Wolfgang is chasing a fire lizard toward Lorentine,’ Blanchet said as they wrapped up for the day. ‘That sounds wrong. He’s chasing it. It’s heading this way.’

‘A fire lizard? He’ll like that. This is a big lizard which breathes fire and isn’t good news at all, right?’

‘That is an accurate description, if a little vague. Fire lizards are among the most dangerous of monsters. They probably are the most dangerous regularly occurring monster. The unique ones tend to be worse, but far less common.’

‘I’d like to see it.’

‘You want to place yourself in the near vicinity of a fire lizard? Out of curiosity?’

‘That about covers it.’

‘I’d caution against it, but you are supposed to be a hero. That’s the kind of thing heroes do, according to the legends.’

‘I’m no hero, I’m just a scientist. I want to observe a monster. If it gets to Lorentine, I’ll probably see Wolf taking it on. It should be safe enough. I mean, it’ll be more interested in killing him than in slaughtering some random observer.’

‘Hm. Fire lizards tend to be indiscriminate, but if you keep your distance, it should be relatively safe.’

‘Relatively?’

‘This is a fire lizard we’re talking about, and a fight with a hero. Nothing about it is safe.’

Calista nodded. ‘That’s what I thought.’

Overbarn, 24 Electricity.

The centre of Overbarn was burning. The village was, like many of the others in the region, not that large, so a fairly substantial portion of the place was on fire. People were running around frantically trying to put out the fires. People were wounded, mostly burns but some claw wounds. Those with the latter were not that likely to survive, and the former were not unlikely to get infections and follow them.

‘It was here an hour ago,’ Captain Bouchard said. He was the officer in charge of Wolf’s escort. Wolf considered him to be a subordinate.

‘Then we go after it. We can catch up and–’

‘Sir, there are a lot of wounded people here and we have a mage with Life magic. There are fires to put out.’

‘If we miss this chance, there’ll be more people killed or injured.’ The death toll in Overbarn was, thus far, unknown. There were definitely some corpses, mostly charred ones, about the village, but there would probably be more once a reckoning had been performed.

Bouchard lowered his voice. ‘If we don’t help, sir, it will reflect badly on your image. Your strength and our training will be of great assistance here.’

Wolf scowled. The man had a point. The Earth Hero had more to his duty than just hunting down a dragon. Of course, Wolf knew his point was solid too. Move on now and they might stop the thing before it did the same somewhere else. Then again, if he fought it away from spectators, it would not increase his reputation as much…

‘Okay, we help. Deploy your men, Captain Bouchard. Let me know when I can be of assistance.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Bouchard turned and headed off toward his unit. Manz was an arrogant arsehole, but he was not that hard to manipulate. Of course, he was right: not chasing the lizard down now would likely lead to more casualties down the road. But a soldier of the Maritanian Army could not stand by and watch people suffer. That was the kind of thing heroes did.

Little Bridgewater, 25 Electricity.

The town was little. It had had a wooden bridge over a moderately wide river, but that was now burning along with a number of buildings and several of the inhabitants. They had, once again, missed the fire lizard, by a matter of minutes this time.

‘We go after it,’ Wolf said when Bouchard approached him. ‘It can’t be far ahead. We can double back if we can’t find it in–’

‘It’s headed for the Bridgewater Forest, sir,’ Bouchard said. ‘Even something as large as a fire lizard can make itself scarce in an environment like that. It could easily take hours to find it, and we’d end up fighting it in the dark.’

‘We can go as far as the forest and check. Leave some of your people here to help. You won’t be much use if we find the thing anyway.’

Bouchard looked like he wanted to argue, but it was not entirely untrue, and the plan was not entirely without merit. ‘I’ll make arrangements.’

‘Make them fast. At this rate, it’ll get to Lorentine before we catch it. You know what’ll happen if it gets its teeth into that many people.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Lorentine, 26 Electricity.

‘Any news on the fire lizard?’ Calista asked as Dalila set out breakfast.

‘Nothing new. There was a report that it had escaped into Bridgewater Forest after attacking the town of Little Bridgewater. Fifteen people died; considerably more were injured. There was considerable property damage.’

‘How hard is it to track down a massive lizard that breathes fire?’

‘They can move quite fast. They can easily run down a man if they feel so inclined, and Bridgewater Forest is quite dense and fairly large. It could emerge anywhere across a large area. The opinions I’ve heard suggest it will arrive in Lorentine tomorrow or the day after. Hopefully, the Earth Hero will be close on its tail.’

‘The Earth Hero. Right.’

‘He is probably the best hope we have of stopping it with relatively few casualties, madam. The army will deploy to contain the monster, but killing it will be difficult.’

‘Hm. Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel a lot better. On the other hand, I might get to see my first monster.’

‘You are really thinking of going out to see it?’

‘I certainly am. I’m a scientist, Dalila. In science, observation is key.’

‘Even if it gets you killed?’

‘Obviously, that’s not the most favourable outcome…’

27 Electricity.

The first sighting of the fire lizard was two miles outside the city’s limits. It was moving at a steady pace, a bit slower than a typical horse, and heading straight for the city across open fields. That gave the army all of six minutes to mobilise and try to hold it back which was not going to happen. Evacuation was ongoing when the monster made it to the first buildings, but they had the significant advantage of being largely constructed from concrete. Fire was of limited use against something like that, and the monster seemed displeased with the results.

As several army units gathered ahead of it, hoping they could hold it back from more flammable areas until the hero got there, the fire lizard marched onward, ignoring the people scattering before it.

~~~

‘I’m not really sure I should tell you this, madam,’ Dalila said, ‘but the fire lizard has arrived in the outskirts of the city.’

Calista was on her feet in an instant. ‘What? Since when?’

‘Less than an hour. The army has deployed to try to hold it back. There are no reports of casualties so far, but it hasn’t reached anywhere particularly flammable. Madam, you can’t go like that. You aren’t even dressed!’

‘Oh. Uh. Well, yes, obviously. A-and some food would be a good idea before I chase after it. Can we get a bus out there?’

Dalila sighed. ‘I believe a carriage can be made available. Eat something. I will ask about transport.’

‘A carriage?’ Calista grabbed some toast and began to butter it in a slapdash manner which spoke of her hurry. ‘It’ll take ages to get horses–’

‘Madam, we have not used horses to draw carriages for over fifty years.’

~~~

Sure enough, the ‘carriage’ the palace provided with relatively little fuss had a magical engine. Calista could feel the Fire magic being used to drive the wheels somehow, but the engine itself was hidden, just like the one on the bus had been, so she could not determine the actual mechanism. She would have called it a car. Quite a plush car at that, like a limo or something.

Dalila was along for the ride, though Calista had suggested she stay in the palace. Calista was her responsibility, it seemed, so the maid sat uncomfortably in the back of the vehicle as it sped through the streets to where the army were mounting their defence.

This turned out to involve men with spears and shields forming a barricade across one of the main streets leading toward the Old City. There were archers firing arrows at the beast, but that was about as effective as the spears. Clearly, the fire lizard’s hide was tough.

Calista practically jumped out of the carriage as soon as it stopped and rushed toward the front line with Dalila trailing behind and looking concerned. As they approached, the fire lizard swept its tail across the shield wall, battering several of the shields down, and Calista got her first look at the creature.

It was as big as described with a body maybe five metres in length, excluding a tail which was maybe another three metres and quite thick. Its neck was short and the head mounted on it looked more like that of a monitor lizard than a dragon. Wide jaws showed off a set of long, sharp teeth. It probably had a nasty bite.

What caused Calista to pause and stare, however, was the flow of magic around the creature. Fire magic. There was Fire magic flowing through it, permeating every part of it but concentrating in the upper chest, neck, and head. All of it seemed to originate in a small area in its chest; the flow moved out from that spot. That, she figured, was the ambrosite crystal which made this thing a monster rather than an oversized gecko.

Then, from those wide-open jaws, fire spewed. It was more like the jet of a blowtorch than a stream from a flamethrower. A very big, very long blowtorch flame which swept over the gap in the shield wall. Men screamed and, burning, fell back, leaving a wider hole in the wall. The shields, it seemed, were treated to hold back fire. Looking more closely, Calista could sense the magic in them; someone had infused them with Water magic to resist the fire, but that was not helping those directly struck by the monster’s flame.

‘Are there no mages?’ Dalila said from somewhere just behind Calista. She was talking to a man with more metalwork on his uniform than the others, probably an officer.

‘There are some on the way,’ the officer said, ‘but I’m not sure we can hold it until they get here. I’m going to have to insist that you leave–’

‘You’ll have to persuade her of that, Captain, and I assure you that she won’t listen.’

‘Too damn right,’ Calista said. She turned back toward the fray to discover that the fire lizard was using its advantage to claw its way into the shield wall. It had talons like swords to do that with. Maybe not swords, but a bit long for knives, and they looked sharp and vicious. The armour the soldiers were wearing was not going to stop a strike from those claws, and if it used its fire again…

‘I didn’t want to do this so soon,’ Calista muttered. She lifted an arm toward the creature. Briefly, she wondered whether she could really do this, but she had no choice. She had to do this, or people were going to die. She spoke in Teyradi. ‘Wall!’ The ground in front of the fire lizard erupted upward as the rock and soil beneath the roadway rose up to form a wall around three metres high which crossed the entire roadway, curling around at the sides to encircle the monster. Pushed back by the sudden intrusion, the lizard roared and flame burst over the top of the wall, but it was being held back, and that was what Calista had wanted.

‘Madam?’ Dalila said from behind her.

‘Uh, surprise! I can do magic.’

‘Clearly. And you seem to be quite powerful.’

‘Who is she?’ the officer asked.

‘Miss Hogarth is–’

‘Actually, I don’t care. Can you make more of those walls?’

‘I guess so. You want it held back from the buildings?’

‘I need you to block the side streets back from here. We have to keep it here until the Earth Hero arrives.’

‘Well, point where you need me.’

They ran down a side road, along the next street over, and then back toward the main street. By the time they were there, the fire lizard was trying to climb the wall Calista had created. It was doing a pretty good job of it too.

‘Wall.’ A second barrier grew up to buttress the first, this one covering a smaller area but twice the height of the first one. The lizard fell back with a roar. ‘Wall.’ Another wall was raised, covering the street across the main street from where Calista and the officer were now standing. The lizard recovered its footing and turned, black eyes coming to rest on the source of its current problems. Its jaws opened.

The sound of hoofbeats rang out, rapidly growing louder. Wolf practically vaulted from his mount and ran toward the beast he had been hunting for the last few days. ‘Stand back! I’ll deal with this.’

‘Oh good,’ Calista said, ‘the cavalry is here.’

‘I know you,’ Wolf said. ‘You’re the magician who can’t work magic.’

‘That’s me.’ Calista raised her arm. ‘Fire shield,’ she said in Teyradi and a dull red shimmer danced over Wolf. ‘You’re fireproof. Get on with the killing.’

‘What?’ Wolf shook his head, pulled his sword from its sheath, and charged at the fire lizard.

The monster seemed to recognise it should change targets just a little too late. Its head shifted to aim at Wolf, but his sword met its jaw. The effect was stunning, for the lizard at least. It reeled back and then fell; Wolf had carved through several tendons and muscles animating the monster’s jaw. Fire burst from its mouth, first at the sky, then sweeping down to hit Wolf and the ground. Wolf barely seemed to notice. As the lizard tried to recover, Wolf drove his sword into the monster’s nearest eye. It sank deep and the fire died to nothing in an instant.

‘Well done,’ Calista said, approaching the dead beast and its killer.

‘Stay back, it’s not over yet. We need to find its crystal. These things are supposed to recover quickly if we don’t–’

‘It’s about so far back from the nape of its neck and so far down.’ Calista measured distances with her hands. ‘That sword of yours should be able to get in there fast enough. You’ve probably got twenty or thirty minutes, but best to assume ten.’

Wolf frowned at her. ‘How do you know? How are you working magic? You said–’

‘I learned. And I can see where its crystal is, more or less. And I know how long it’ll take to recover because I read books. Are you going to start cutting or not?’

Turning, Wolf slashed his sword into the creature’s neck. Well, it was probably about the fastest way to get to where he was going.

Calista watched him, watched the flow of Earth magic through his body as he powered his blade through the monster’s flesh. The sword itself was enchanted; it looked like Metal had been used to infuse the blade somehow, probably making it sharper given the way it was easily carving through the tough hide. But it was Wolf’s own infusion which bothered Calista. It looked a lot like the same sort of flow as she had seen in the fire lizard, and it all flowed in and out of a core area deep within Wolf’s chest.

To Calista, it looked a lot like Wolf was just as much a monster as the fire lizard, at least in the technical sense. Was that what the summoned heroes were? Their bodies had been created in the ritual which brought them here, infused with magic in various ways. But that power seemed to stem from an ambrosite crystal, at least in Wolf. Was he, was she, a monster too?

28 Electricity.

‘You look,’ Calista said, ‘like someone just kicked your puppy off a cliff.’

Blanchet looked back at her with an expression which was equal parts annoyance and bemusement. ‘Why did you not tell me you could work magic?’

It was a lesson day, but it seemed they were going to have to get this out of the way first. That was fine with Calista; she had her own thing to bring up. ‘I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to know. Then the fire lizard happened. People were going to die if I did nothing. I’m a little surprised that no one said anything yesterday.’

‘It was Life Day, everyone was busy trying to avoid working. Geoffroy and the king both contacted me about it, however. They left me to deal with it.’

‘Geoffroy? Oh, the prime minister guy. Blonde with a face like an axe.’

Blanchet coughed. ‘Yes, well, he wanted me to thank you for your efforts. Both of them did. They also wanted me to find out why you stayed silent about your magic. It’s clearly quite advanced. You can already use held spells and–’

‘What’s that? I don’t think you’ve covered that.’

‘Magicians, some of them, can, um, pre-cast a spell in such a way as to make it immediately available when required. Rituals take minutes to perform, so they aren’t generally useful in situations which demand immediate casting. Casting a ritual as a held spell allows you to perform the ritual ahead of time and then cast it again instantly when you want to use it.’

‘Oh. Sounds useful. That’s not what I was doing.’

‘But you created walls of solidified earth with a single word.’

‘Um, yup.’

‘That’s impossible. That’s– You’re a Magus!’

Calista shrugged. ‘I guess it fits the legends. I just imagine what I want and how it should happen, and then I make it work.’

Blanchet slumped in his chair. ‘I never imagined that old Porcher would be able to create a Magus. That’s incredible. That’s–’

‘What he created, as far as I can see, is four monsters.’

‘Pardon?’ Blanchet asked, frowning.

‘I got a good look at Wolf and the fire lizard. The flow of magic in both is the same. I could see where the lizard’s ambrosite crystal was in its body. Wolf confirmed it when he cut it out and crushed it. Thing is, Wolf has the same flow of magic, just Earth instead of Fire. Wolf has an ambrosite crystal in his chest.’ She frowned. ‘I can’t see the same thing in me, but maybe that’s… I don’t know, but it’s there in Wolf and explains how we can be “infused with elemental magic.” We’re monsters. Maybe friendly monsters, but still monsters.’

‘Oh.’ Blanchet was silent for a second. ‘Well, that does make sense. I don’t think it changes anything, but I think we should keep this to ourselves.’

‘Maybe.’ Calista sat down across the desk from Blanchet. She was feeling about as grumpy as he looked. ‘Um, do you know how we ended up looking the way we do? I mean, I look nothing like my original body. Then again, I haven’t seen anyone with black skin like Roman around here, so I figure he must have been African American in his old world. So, why do I look totally different from the way I did, and he possibly looks the same?’

‘Honestly, I’m not sure. You all fit into the current aesthetic quite well. Nikole is, perhaps, the most attractive. Blondes are favoured over brunettes, and pale skin is in fashion. I think, however, that Master Porcher’s preferences may have played a part in defining your looks. Especially you. He had a thing for brunettes with, um…’

‘Um? No, wait, brunettes with big boobs, right? I look like a blow-up doll because an old mage had a thing for this look. He’d have been spending time teaching me if he’d lived. I was to be eye-candy for a creepy old mage.’

‘He was only sixty-one.’

‘That’s not old? You wonder why I didn’t tell you I could do magic? Well, now I feel justified in trusting not a single one of you.’

‘Ah, but the cats are out of the sack now. There’s no going back.’

Calista favoured him with a glower. ‘Of that I am quite aware.’

~~~

They ate a working lunch on teaching days. Blanchet was more keen on taking a break, but Calista tended to ask questions as they ate sandwiches and drank tea. Sometimes, when she was feeling generous, she let him eat something between words. On this particular day, they had just finished when Sastre burst in through the office door as though he owned the place.

‘So, you are here,’ he said, looking at Calista.

‘It’s Earth Day,’ she replied. ‘I’m always here on Earth Day.’

‘Not going forward. You’ll be enrolled into the Elementary Academy to–’

‘No, I won’t.’

Sastre stared at her as though she had just turned into a dragon or something. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Why would I enrol at your academy?’

‘You’re a mage. You need to learn to use magic properly. The Elementary Academy is–’

‘Completely unsuitable for my needs.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘The Elementary Academy is the premier teaching institution for magic on the continent, possibly in all of Ar.’ At least he was not insisting on it being the best in the world without evidence.

‘That may be true were I learning magic rituals, working magic through elementals. I’m not. What I need is a deeper understanding of magic in general, not being taught your rote techniques for utilising elemental magic. Master Blanchet is able to give me one-on-one tuition in this matter. It’s the best fit.’

The narrowed eyes became more of a frown. ‘What do you mean, you’re not using elemental magic?’

‘She’s a Magus,’ Blanchet said. ‘Porcher managed to create a Magus with his summoning.’

‘I don’t believe it.’

Calista raised her right hand. ‘Light,’ she said in Teyradi, and a ball of light appeared in her palm. Maybe three centimetres across, it glowed brightly enough to illuminate a room, and it sat there, unmoving, while Sastre stared at it.

‘I see,’ Sastre said. ‘The Elementary Academy is still the best place for you to–’

‘No,’ Calista said. She shook her hand and the light vanished. ‘I’d like to continue my lesson now, so if you have nothing else to say…’

The High Savant’s expression hardened, but he turned and walked back out the way he had come in, not bothering to close the door.

Calista waved a hand at the door. ‘Close.’ The door slammed shut, driven by a sudden gust of wind. Calista winced. ‘That may have been a bit too much force.’

‘The way you closed the door, or the way you brushed off Sastre?’

‘The door. I am quite happy with the way I talked to Sastre.’

‘Perhaps, but he won’t be.’

30 Electricity.

Dalila was looking a little disquieted when she entered Calista’s lounge. That was not a good sign; Dalila was generally unflappable. The reason became clear as soon as she spoke. ‘Madam, the king and Prime Minister Abarca are asking if you are free to receive them.’

Calista raised an eyebrow. ‘Seriously? They’re asking?’ She looked down at her table, which was covered in books, and herself. She was wearing a robe and it was late morning… ‘I’ll get changed quickly. Could you clear these books aside and then ask them in?’

‘Of course, madam.’

When Calista returned, the two men were standing there in her lounge, both in suits. She figured suits were the standard armour of politicians, so that was hardly a surprise. She had seen neither since the meeting on the day she arrived. Thinking about it, they both looked about the same as then. The king looked a little sheepish. Abarca looked like a politician: somewhat indecipherable.

‘Please,’ she said, ‘have a seat. Has Dalila gone to make tea?’

‘I believe so,’ Abarca said.

‘Great.’ Calista took her own seat, carefully crossed her legs since her skirt was shorter than she really liked, and smiled. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?’

‘We have received the reports of your sudden ability to cast spells,’ Abarca said. He crossed his legs after sitting too. It made him look relaxed, but he was not. ‘We wish to discuss your education in the magical arts.’

‘Ah, so Sastre decided to pull strings.’

‘He… requested that we intervene,’ the king said.

‘Did he tell you that I refused to join his academy?’

‘He claimed you were being stubborn.’

‘He’s right. On the other hand, I have no desire to learn any “magical arts.” I need to learn about magic and his academy teaches people to cast spells.’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘The Elementary Academy teaches people to cast spells the way they have been cast for about five thousand years.’ She waved a hand. ‘Two thousand if you’re just talking about elementary magic. I’d need to do more research on pre-Dalmaeus magic to be sure, but I suspect that was all the rote performance of rituals passed down from master to student too. Did Sastre tell you that I’m a Magus?’

‘Nereo told us that.’

‘Even if it is somewhat unbelievable,’ Abarca added.

‘Believe it,’ Calista responded flatly. ‘I’m not really sure what a Magus is, but I fit the definition. I work magic using only my own abilities, far faster than ritual magic allows. I’m doing it intuitively, based on what I’ve determined from my discussions with Master Blanchet. That is working very well. Changing our arrangement would be counterproductive.’

‘But the academy is–’

‘And beyond that, I have no intention of putting myself in a position where Sastre has control over what I learn and do. I don’t like him. He’s an arrogant arsehole.’

‘Ah,’ said the king.

There was a moment or two of silence. No one was actually defending Sastre, Calista noticed.

‘The Elementary Academy,’ Abarca said, ‘is the premier teaching institution for magic in–’

‘That’s what Sastre says, but he’s never taught a Magus. And I note you’re not denying that he’s an arrogant arsehole.’

‘He can be rather…’ The king trailed off, presumably trying to find a diplomatic way of saying that Calista was right.

Abarca seemed to come to a decision. ‘We tried. I see no reason to disturb your current arrangement. There is one other matter.’

‘Oh?’ Calista asked.

‘Mister Manz expressed some concerns regarding your actions against the fire lizard.’

‘He did? What kind of concerns?’

Abarca looked at the king. The king shrugged. Abarca said, ‘He is concerned that your actions may have diminished his reputation as a hero to the people.’

‘The army is rather pleased with your intervention,’ the king said. ‘I’ve had reports praising your actions. Lives saved. Swift action to find and destroy the creature’s crystal. That kind of thing. Apparently, Mister Manz feels he should be getting all the glory for killing the beast.’

Calista looked between the two men. ‘That’s just stupid.’

‘Um, yes. Don’t worry about it. We’ll come up with a way to make him feel better.’

‘Okay… Ah, here’s Dalila with the tea. And biscuits! The biscuits here are gorgeous.’

King David grinned. ‘I have one of the best chefs in the country when it comes to baked goods. It’s nice that their work is appreciated.’

‘Oh, I appreciate it. Don’t I, Dalila?’

‘Yes, madam. Greatly.’

‘That didn’t sound so good, now you say it, but it is what it is. If that’s all the business taken care of, perhaps you could tell me more about the magical problems you’ve been having recently? Master Blanchet has told me some of it, I’ve read more, but it would be interesting to get the political take on things.’

‘If you’re showing an interest in our problems,’ the king said, ‘I see no reason not to provide whatever information you may need.’

‘I’ll tell you what I can then,’ Abarca said. ‘I don’t have a full briefing with me, but I’ll tell you what comes to mind.’

‘Perfect,’ Calista said. ‘Please inform away.’

~~~

More visitors arrived after lunch. Calista had not seen one of them since the day she had arrived. The other she had seen more recently. Roman looked the same as he had when he visited after the storm. Nikole had somehow escaped the dresses Calista seemed to be fated to wear; she was dressed in slacks tucked into shin-high boots and a T-shirt of some sort. Maybe she was better at saying no to her maid. Otherwise, she looked as pale and blonde as she had on their day of arrival. She was a pretty, blue-eyed woman a little taller than Calista with a lithe body. She looked a lot like she did not want to be there. Then again, the same could be said for Roman.

Beyond the surface looks, Calista could now see the flow of magic in their bodies. As she had suspected, both showed signs of having ambrosite crystals in their chests. Roman’s body flowed with Life magic, Nikole’s with Light. Calista decided not to mention the whole monster thing to them, but she had to wonder why they were visiting her at all.

‘Well,’ Roman said when Calista asked, ‘we were asked to come and persuade you to join the academy.’

‘You too? Sastre is really pushing this. I can’t help but wonder what he gains from having me join his little school.’

‘I wonder that too,’ Nikole said.

‘Huh. You don’t trust him either?’

‘No. But… I don’t really trust anyone. They’ve taught me a little magic. I’m not much good at it, but I can do it. I’ve learned more about what I can do by myself.’

‘Well, ditto, I guess. Blanchet has been a lot of help, but I think I learned more by studying between lessons. Uh, what can you do? You’re infused with Light, so, um, I have no clue.’

A smile ghosted over Nikole’s lips. Then she vanished. Her voice came from the same space when she spoke. ‘I wish I’d had this back on my own world. It would’ve made things a lot easier.’ She reappeared again in an instant. ‘I can also make flashes of light to blind people. Then I can go invisible while they can’t see. There may be other tricks I can do, but that’s what I’ve found out so far.’

‘Neat! So, that would make you the scout.’

‘That seems to be the role I’ve been designed to fill. Scout, spy, infiltrator. Not that different from what I did before.’ The last sentence was more of a mutter, but they all heard it.

‘And Roman can heal people.’

‘Heal injuries and cure diseases,’ Roman said. ‘If I can touch someone, I can put them to sleep. I can also cure mental ailments, though that one is a little double-edged.’

‘How so?’

‘I could also give people mental ailments. It’s like brainwashing. I could, technically, make someone into an entirely different person, if I can get unrestricted access to them. It takes time and effort, but it could be done. I’m avoiding using that.’

Calista nodded. ‘That could be used for some unscrupulous things. It’s something you can’t do with magic, from what I understand. Then again, magic can’t cure things like addictions.’

‘Couldn’t Spirit magic–’

Calista shook her head. ‘Spirit doesn’t deal directly with the mind. You can influence people through it, as well as manipulating spirits. You could yank someone’s spirit out of their body more easily than you could persuade them to stop smoking.’ Calista’s nose wrinkled. ‘Do they have tobacco here?’

‘No, but they have lotus leaf. Just as addictive. Just as bad for your health. Wolf’s on it. It’s a stimulant which has some valid uses in alchemy, apparently. Smoking it makes you feel enervated for a while, but the long-term effects include respiratory problems and general reduction in health. That might not affect Wolf, of course, and he refuses to stop anyway.’

Calista shrugged. ‘So long as he doesn’t do it around me. Anyway, back on topic, you can tell Sastre that you tried and failed. I’m not joining the academy. I don’t see any point in doing so, for me or him.’

1 Fire.

The first day of Fire was, by the calendar, the first day of summer. Calista could see little difference, just like back on Earth, so at least the seasons worked more or less the same here. It was Air Day, so she was studying her books from right after breakfast until Wolf pushed through the door into the lounge with Dalila fretting about it behind him.

‘I want to talk to you,’ he stated flatly.

‘I’m sorry, madam. He would not wait,’ Dalila said.

‘Don’t worry about it, Dalila,’ Calista replied. ‘You do whatever you were doing. No need to make tea.’ She smiled at Wolf. ‘And what was it you wanted to talk about?’

‘You,’ Wolf replied. He began pacing across the room.

‘You’re going to have to be more specific.’

‘Everyone’s talking about you. How you saved those soldiers. They should be talking about me, but they’re all yammering on about how you made walls out of dirt and fended off the dragon.’

‘Fire lizard.’

‘Whatever. And now I hear you’re just going to go back to studying magic. What for? You can already do it, so what’s there to study?’

‘Plenty, I–’

‘What you should be doing is coming out with me as my support. Things like that fireproofing spell, enhancing my strength, healing.’

‘I take it Roman isn’t going out with you either? He’d be better at healing.’

‘He’s studying to be a better healer.’

‘So, what’s the problem with me studying to be a better magician?’

Wolf scowled at her. ‘I need support. I need you out there with me where I can–’

Calista waited a second or two for him to continue, but he just looked angry. The man had control issues. ‘So you can control how I’m exposed to the public and take all the limelight?’

‘I am the hero here. All the rest of you were summoned to support me! You–’

‘You’re a monster, Manz. How can a monster be a hero?’

‘What are you talking about? I’m not a monster!’

‘Technically, you are. Just like me, and Roman, and Nikole. We all have lumps of ambrosite in us. That’s how you’re infused with Earth, Roman’s infused with Life, and Nikole is infused with Light. And, presumably, I’m infused with Magic. You’re physically no different from the fire lizard you killed. Huh, on the bright side, if you die, you’ll probably come back to life unless someone cuts the crystal out of your body and destroys it. That sounds like a useful trick for a hero, don’t you think? You’re an immortal monster. Congratulations.’

‘I– You– We’ll see about this!’ Turning, he stormed out of the room.

Calista sighed. ‘Oh well.’ She raised her voice. ‘Dalila? I’ll have that tea now.’

Dalila appeared in the doorway. ‘As you wish, madam. He did not seem happy when he left.’

‘I told him he’s a monster. That would make anyone unhappy.’

~~~

The reaction to Calista’s revelation came at dinner time. That, Calista thought, was annoying, but she went to the same meeting room as she had on the first day. The only difference was that there were no robes. Everyone was there. To her surprise, Sastre was not. This had to be about the monster thing rather than her not wanting to go near the Elementary Academy.

‘It seems,’ the king said once everyone was seated, ‘that Miss Hogarth believes the four of you are monsters.’

It had taken some time to get Wolf into a seat. Now he jumped to his feet again. ‘She’s lying! That can’t be true!’

‘It’s easy enough to confirm,’ Calista said. ‘Master Blanchet can detect ambrosite with magic, can’t you?’

‘Uh, yes,’ Blanchet said rather as though he did not wish to be dragged into the situation. But he already had been, so… ‘It’ll take me a minute or two to cast the spell.’

‘Please do, Nereo,’ King David said with a smile. ‘It doesn’t seem like something Master Porcher would have done, but we know relatively little about the details of the ritual he performed.’

‘It seems logical to me,’ Calista said. ‘How else do you “imbue” someone with magic? Monsters are created when, for reasons not entirely clear, ambrosite crystals form in their bodies and are saturated with one of the elements. Normal beasts and humans don’t have the same capacity to store elemental energy or express it in any way. The best you have is magic, and that involves summoning elementals to do the work. Roman is capable of doing things impossible to known magic. There must be another mechanism at play. And our bodies were created for us here. I did not look like this on Earth, and I certainly didn’t have the ability to make walls grow out of the ground with a thought. That has to be something to do with the way we were created. It may not have been something Porcher could control, though he apparently had an influence over the way I look.’

‘You look somewhat like his wife,’ Abarca said. ‘She died young. He was devastated at the time and never remarried.’

‘That isn’t helping.’ Calista glanced at Blanchet, who was frowning. ‘You got results?’

‘You’re right, at least partially. I can sense ambrosite in three of you. I can’t find any in you, Calista, but your magic… The power is overwhelming. It’s no surprise that you’re able to work quite difficult spells with basically no training.’

Calista shrugged. ‘I’m a Magus, right? They were supposed to be hideously powerful. Another kind of monster.’

‘No, this is… What are you?’

‘You’re likely to have more of an idea than me. The point is, we’re all some sort of monster, in the technical sense. I don’t see that it makes any difference to what we’re doing. And I have no intention of becoming Wolf’s sidekick and buff engine. I’ll be continuing my studies. There’s a lot to uncover, and I’d like to get back to it.’ Calista flashed a scowl. ‘You could’ve laid on some snacks at least.’

‘I am hungry,’ Roman said. He looked kind of like he was saying it to avoid thinking about what he was.

‘We’re not leaving here until I’ve had an explanation,’ Wolf snapped.

Nikole looked at him. ‘Learn to read the room,’ she said.

2 Fire.

Wolf was incapable of reading a room. It took another hour of back and forth for him to finally give up and leave. Most of that was spent with him demanding that Calista and Blanchet take it back, but the overall outcome was that no one was going to say anything about it. The optics would not be good. That was the impression Calista got. She was not entirely surprised when Roman and Nikole came to see her the following morning, just after breakfast.

‘Don’t you people have studies to attend to?’ she asked.

‘Our schedule is somewhat fluid,’ Roman replied.

‘I’m free most of the morning,’ Nikole added. ‘We want to discuss this monster thing with you.’

‘You seem to know about it,’ Roman continued, ‘and we can probably trust you not to spin it into something it’s not.’

‘Okay. Well, it’s not anything. It’s a technicality, like I said yesterday. I wasn’t even going to mention it. Wolf pushed some buttons and I wanted to take him down a peg.’

‘What do you mean by technicality?’

‘It’s like, um, scientific theories.’

‘Sorry?’

‘I’m not much of a scientist,’ Nikole said.

Calista shrugged. ‘The word “theory” has a colloquial meaning. It’s something which isn’t proven. That’s caused all sorts of problems in the past, uh, on my world. It sort of means the same to a scientist, but not quite. A theory isn’t proven because everything in science is only as proven as it can be with current knowledge. In science, a theory is something which all the evidence says is correct, but it could turn out to need revision if new evidence comes along. What most people call a theory, scientists call a hypothesis, something waiting for the evidence needed to indicate that it’s correct.’

‘Uh, okay.’

‘People here view a monster as being some sort of creature which kills people and destroys property, but it’s also a technical definition. A monster is an entity infused with elemental energy by housing an ambrosite crystal somewhere in its body. There’s no actual reason why a monster goes on a rampage. It’s possible that not all monsters do. People only ever hear about the rampaging monsters, so that’s the popular conception of what they are, but it doesn’t have to be so. The fact is, there are no sentient monsters on record. All of them are animals or plants. No one knows why humans can’t become monsters, but no one has ever identified a human monster either. If one did appear, it’s possible that they would be just like anyone else, except for the elemental infusion. Basically, so long as you don’t decide to start killing people for fun or profit, you’re not a monster in the colloquial sense.’

‘Just in the technical one,’ Roman said.

‘Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’m not.’

‘Blanchet couldn’t sense ambrosite in you.’

‘True, but that might be just my “overwhelming magical power.” Maybe I’m so infused with Magic that he couldn’t sense anything else.’ Calista gave a shrug. ‘I’ve decided that I don’t care. It’s low on my list of weird shit that I’ve been exposed to here. Discovering that I’m basically a copy of old Porcher’s dead wife is currently topping the poll. I swear, if he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him myself.’

Roman shrugged. ‘At least the old man had good taste. Uh, I mean, both of you came out looking attractive. Uh, I mean–’

Calista smiled. ‘Quit while you’re ahead, Roman.’

‘Uh, yeah. I wonder where the tea’s got to.’

‘Good save.’

‘From the look Nikole’s giving me, I’m not sure it was.’

‘Wait until the biscuits arrive. She’ll cool down then.’

Nikole stopped glaring at Roman. ‘Yes, the biscuits probably are that good…’

Part Three: A Plague Upon Your House

Lorentine, Maritania, 26 Fire 2189.

Vital Nicolas was not a doctor. Doctors did not really exist on Ar and there was no title of doctor, but there were people like Vital who worked Life magic to fix injuries and cure diseases. Of those, Vital was something of an oddity. Most of them worked in hospitals or private practice, earned quite a lot of money, and rarely saw anyone who could not pay for their treatment. Vital had his own business treating those able to afford it, but he also spent two days a week, one of them Life Day, treating people in Lorentine’s slums.

Slum was actually not an accurate description of the poorer districts of Lorentine. Magic made it far easier to produce a healthy environment with decent housing and a safe water supply. People were poor, but true poverty was not common in the city. You could find it elsewhere in Maritania, but the government did its best to see that everyone in the city was happy to vote for them every few years. Thus far, that had not extended to the provision of free medical services, which Vital and several others were campaigning for, hence Vital’s pro bono work in the Dust Valley district.

This was also not one of his usual days there. It was Earth Day, but he had been so concerned about what he was seeing the day before that he had decided to return to check on things. A number of patients with the same symptoms were coming in. These symptoms were similar to a cold: coughing and congested lungs. These progressed into pain in the joints and headaches. A few were now showing more extreme signs. They were having trouble staying awake despite increasing amounts of pain, and the coughing was getting worse.

What was most worrying about this was that Vital had tried a number of standard techniques to cure the disease, and none of them were working. Spells which could easily cure practically any ailment were failing against this one. Alchemical remedies also failed, and he had brought something from his own clinic which cost more than he generally allocated for free work, but that was not showing any signs of curing the disease.

‘Word is, it’s spreading,’ one of the nurses told him. ‘There are a lot of cases all over the Valley, and it’s showing up in other districts now. I’ve heard reports of people dying.’

Vital nodded. ‘It’s time I called in additional help.’

‘Help from where? No one wants to treat poor people.’

‘I’m here, so that’s not entirely true. I take your point, however. I’m still going to make use of some of my contacts. This disease resists magical attempts to cure it and it’s spreading to other areas. It will reach someone important eventually and, unless they’re lucky, they’ll die. That is the kind of thing which galvanises people to act.’

‘Selfishness?’

‘Don’t put it down if it gets us help. I’m going out. I’m no use here and face-to-face meetings often produce better results.’

27 Fire.

‘We lost our first patient last night,’ Vital explained to the man who had come to the clinic after he had spent most of the day before pleading for help. The newcomer was a little different from the usual, having very dark skin and a somewhat strange haircut, but he came with considerable recommendation from the Minister for Public Safety. Health was really a secondary concern of the Public Safety Ministry: they mainly handled problems like monsters and magical storms. This was another reason that a public health bill had yet to get through parliament. ‘He drowned in his own body fluids.’

‘A respiratory disease then. What kind of precautions are you taking?’

‘Precautions? To prevent us getting infected? The usual magic to make us less susceptible to disease.’

‘But it resists magic.’

‘Ah, yes. Well, no one has caught it on the staff yet.’

‘Hm. And you can’t identify the disease?’

‘It resists magic. I’ve never seen anything like this, so the best I can do is use a diagnostic spell, and that gives me nothing.’

Roman sighed. ‘Magic is a wonderful resource, but it’s resulted in a world where the actual skills associated with medicine are sorely lacking. Uh, that’s not meant to be a put-down. You all do a remarkable job.’

‘Until something comes along which our magic is of no use on. I’m very aware of the situation, Master Stacy.’

‘I’m sure. Okay, let’s see if this Life power of mine can make a difference. Who’s in the worst condition?’

‘This way.’

Vital took Roman to a bed in the corner of the room. The clinic was a concrete block with a few consultation rooms in one part and a ward of sorts at the back. Upstairs were administrative and storage rooms. Those were guarded since medicine was expensive and the clinic could not afford to replace it if it was stolen. The ward was a bare room with some iron beds. Not enough beds for the number of patients who needed them at the moment, but Vital was trying to avoid thinking about that too much.

The man in the corner bed was barely awake. Every so often, he woke up to a massive coughing fit which left him racked with pain for several minutes. Then he would drift off again, unable to stay awake. Roman sat down beside the bed and took the man’s hand. He concentrated, drawing upon the Life magic running through his body and sinking it into the sick man. Strain began to show on his face and, after a second or two, he was sweating. He let go of the man’s hand.

‘No. Whatever it is, it’s resisting my attempts to cure it like nothing else I’ve tried this on. I basically just used everything I have, and I’m pretty sure he’s still infected. Just what is this disease?’

‘As I said, I don’t know of anything like it. The symptoms are common enough, but this resistance to magic… Is there nothing you can do? I’m at a total loss.’

Roman frowned. ‘If it’s just resistant to magic, there may be someone who can cure it. I’ll go see her.’

‘Someone from the Elementary Academy?’

‘No, she refuses to be part of the academy, but if there’s anyone in Maritania capable of overcoming its resistance, it’s her.’

~~~

‘Are you sure disease works the same way here as it does where you come from?’ Calista asked as she stepped out of the carriage Roman had requisitioned to transport them across Lorentine. ‘I mean, this place has elements which mean something, are you sure diseases are microorganisms? Maybe the miasma theory is correct here.’

‘I know diseases respond to Life magic,’ Roman said. ‘That doesn’t preclude something other than bacteria and viruses, but it suggests something similar.’

‘You’re the doctor. This is a dismal sort of place.’

‘Dust Valley is an industrial district, madam,’ Dalila supplied. ‘It gets its name from the dust produced in ambrosite ore processing. The workers are not well paid, and the district suffers for that. It might have been wise to bring a guard.’

‘Not very good optics. Then again, turning up in this rich person’s ride is probably not that great either. Okay, Roman, I’ll give this a go. I’ve never used Life magic before, but I guess that’s true for most things magical.’

‘If your power is as strong as the royal mage guy said, then you’re the best hope we have,’ Roman said.

‘Yeah. Show me to a patient. Dalila, you’re waiting somewhere away from the sick people.’

‘Madam, I–’

‘No arguments. Assuming Roman is right about the bugs here, this is a respiratory disease like SARS or COVID, but with added tenacity. If you catch it, it may not be curable, and there’s no need for you to risk breathing the air in there.’

‘What about you, madam?’

Calista looked at Roman. ‘Do we have masks?’

Roman pulled some strips of cloth from his pocket. ‘I had to improvise. I wasn’t wearing one the first time I visited, but I was using a spell. I’ll cast that on you too. Belt and braces, you know?’

‘Sounds good to me.’

‘This is the young lady you mentioned?’ Vital said when they walked into the clinic. He had been waiting. What else did he have to do?

‘This is Calista Hogarth,’ Roman said. ‘She’s, um, a powerful mage.’

‘You don’t sound too sure.’

‘He’s sure about the power, but not about the mage part,’ Calista said. It was a little muffled since she was busy tying Roman’s makeshift mask over her nose and mouth. ‘To be honest, I’ve never tried curing a disease before. I read up a little on the way here, and I think I get it, but we won’t know until I try. Plus, if this disease is totally impervious to magic, you’ll need to rely on Roman’s other skills to handle this situation. I am no kind of doctor.’

‘Oh. Well, let’s try at least.’

‘Lead the way.’

Calista’s nose wrinkled as she stepped into the ward. She was thankful the mask hid that, but there was the undeniable stench of sick people here. There were people dying here. She had managed to avoid COVID in its various forms thanks to avoiding anyone who might have it and the ability to work from home most of the time. Someone she knew at her university had died of it, however. She had a healthy respect for respiratory diseases and, quite frankly, the thought of a magical COVID was not something she wanted anything to do with. Still, if she could help, she had to do so, right?

Vital led the way to the same ashen-faced patient Roman had tried to heal. He was not looking any better than he had been that morning.

‘Okay, so it seems like I need to identify the disease in order to cure it. That’s a pretty easy spell. I doubt I’ll know what I’m actually identifying once I see it, but it should be enough for me to cast the cure spell. So, um…’ Reaching out, she put her hand on the patient’s exposed left hand. ‘Diagnosis,’ she said in Teyradi. Magic flowed. She could feel it, see it, but it came up against something in the patient which blocked it. There was a definite flow of magic through the patient’s body which did not match anything she had seen before. There was a distinct concentration of Magic energy in the chest, in the lungs if she was imagining it right, but the effect was spread to a lesser extent throughout his body. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Diagnosis!’ This time, her magic pierced the protection, and she got something back. She could not have really described what she got back, but it was a sort of call sign for the disease she was being asked to cure.

‘You got something?’ Roman asked.

‘I did. It took two tries. He’s saturated with Magic. The element, I mean. That’s what’s resisting your attempts to cure it. I guess I got through with that one, so let’s try a cure.’

‘Wait,’ Vital said. ‘You cast the spell twice in a few seconds?’

‘I’m special,’ Calista said. ‘Cure Disease.’ Magic flowed, driving past the wall of Magic trying to stop it. Something changed in her patient, something died, but the weird thing was that the magic barrier did not disperse. There was still a flow of Magic through the patient’s body, but it seemed that the disease was no longer functioning. ‘I think… I think he’s cured. Whatever this is, though, it’s weird. The Magic energy in him is still there. It’s like that’s some sort of wrapper and I’ve killed the germ within it, but he’s still infused with Magic.’

‘That’s amazing. Can you do the others here?’

‘Yeah, I can, but that’s not an answer, is it?’ Getting to her feet, she started for the next bed in the room.

‘We can’t have Calista running around the entire city trying to eradicate this thing,’ Roman said.

‘No,’ Vital said. ‘No, it’s spreading too fast for one person to be an effective solution. And she says there’s still some lingering effect. We don’t know whether it could make a resurgence.’

‘We need to come up with a non-magical solution. Calista says it’s not easy to cure, even for her.’

‘It’s not,’ Calista said, ‘but that’s another one done.’

‘So fast,’ Vital said softly. He shook his head. ‘A non-magical solution? Is there a non-magical solution?’

Roman shrugged. ‘In this world, with this technology, I don’t know, but we need to find one. The alternative is that Calista becomes a very busy woman.’

~~~

It was all difficult to do. By late evening, they had a blood sample. This had involved cutting one of the patients, collecting the blood, and then healing the wound. The hypodermic needle had never been invented because everyone used magic to detect pathogens and blood disorders.

Dalila had been tasked with sourcing masks, and she had managed to obtain the services of several seamstresses to manufacture them. They were not exactly up to the standards of modern medicine on Earth – Calista’s Earth or Roman’s – but they provided some protection. With this basic protection, Dalila was being allowed to assist Roman and Calista in one of the offices upstairs as they tried to analyse the blood sample.

This was, of course, not simple. The microscope had never been invented because everyone used magic to analyse things. The virus, or whatever it was, could not be seen with magic, so Calista had spent most of the afternoon trying to work out how to create a microscope out of Light magic. And that turned out to not be as easy as it might have been.

‘Light isn’t light,’ Calista said at some point in the afternoon.

‘That doesn’t make sense,’ Roman had replied.

‘It doesn’t behave like light should. I have a bad feeling that it’s neither a wave nor a particle. I’ll have to try some experiments when I get the chance.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘I think it’s literally rays of light. Like point-source beams that always travel in a straight line. I’ll have to collect them and bend them, which shouldn’t be impossible, but I’m having to work out the physics from scratch.’

‘I’ll stick to the medical stuff.’

‘Good idea. Wish I could.’

At this point, well past time for their evening meal, Calista had a spell she thought would work, perhaps even better than a traditional microscope. ‘And the secret was to stop thinking about physics and start treating it as a thought exercise,’ Calista said.

‘How do you mean?’ Roman asked.

‘Magic is more about conceptualising what you want to happen than knowing exactly how it should work. You have to want the results to come out the way you need them to. I want the light from a small area to be gathered together, amplified, and projected onto the wall here much larger than the focal point I’m trying to display. So, I focus on that happening, do the magic thing, and it does. Dalila, could you close the light crystals?’

‘Of course, madam.’ Dalila went around shutting the covers on the two crystals in the room.

‘Right then. Light.’ A ball of light appeared over the sample plate they had set up with its drop of red liquid. ‘Magnify.’ There was a slight pause, and then a circle of light appeared on the wall above the sample. The image was perfectly focused because Calista wanted it to be. The first really obvious things were the blood corpuscles which looked pretty much like what Calista was expecting: concave discs. However, there were other things in the plasma, rodlike shapes, puffballs with hair, and a few other random bits and pieces.

‘That’s not normal,’ Roman said.

‘Which? I only recognise the blood cells.’

‘Ah. They’re all blood cells. You mean the red ones, erythrocytes. And I’m glad to see them there because otherwise what I know about biology would be useless here. Anyway, there are also leukocytes, white blood cells.’

‘Oh, I’ve heard of those.’

‘And thrombocytes, platelets, are the smaller masses. Those rod things are not supposed to be there, however. Those are probably our pathogen.’

‘Okay, let me see if I can narrow the focus.’ Calista concentrated and the image began to shift.

‘Pardon my inquiry,’ Dalila said, ‘but is that really what blood looks like close up?’

‘Yes, except without those rods,’ Roman replied. ‘Your whole body is made up of cells. Lots of different types of cells, each doing some job to make the whole of you work properly. These ones transport oxygen around your body, fight off diseases, and repair injuries. It’s quite fascinating how complex a machine the human body is.’

‘Meh,’ Calista said, ‘that’s all biology. How’s that?’ The image had been narrowed down to show a magnified section with several of the rodlike features in it. They were sort of cigar-shaped, semi-transparent crystalline structures with something inside them which looked more organic.

‘Those look like diatoms.’

‘I know the word, but that’s about it.’

‘I’m not exactly a marine biologist. Diatoms are unicellular organisms which, back on Earth, make up a huge percentage of the world’s biomass. They have a unique feature. The organic part is surrounded by a shell of silica. If I’m remembering it right, they synthesise the shell internally.’

‘Okay.’ Calista frowned at the image on the wall. ‘So, these things are synthesising ambrosite somehow. It’s the only explanation. They’re creating an ambrosite shell that’s absorbing Magic and creating the resistance effect.’

‘That’s… Is that even possible?’

Calista grinned. ‘In this world? Just about anything is possible if you’re working with magic, I’d imagine. I’m still working on what the limitations are. Time travel is impossible. Anything else is so far still on the table.’

‘Huh. Okay. Well, it must be possible since we’re seeing it. Now all we have to do is find a way to kill it.’

‘Might I suggest a break for refreshment?’ Dalila said. ‘Both of you have been working non-stop since lunch.’

‘That’s all three of us,’ Calista said. ‘Your suggestion is a good one, Dalila, as usual. Besides, eating and drinking does not preclude thinking. Let’s get out of here and find some food.’

28 Fire.

Calista had a feeling that their time could have been better spent, but the following morning, they were in a meeting room in the palace, briefing the Royal High Mage and Prime Minister concerning the disease. Abarca was paying attention, that was something. It seemed that the disease was spreading quite widely now. Important people were concerned, but they mostly seemed to want the government to send a healer who could actually cure them, i.e. Calista.

‘The disease is caused by a microorganism related to the seasonal respiratory disease you see every autumn,’ Roman explained. ‘I believe you call it “metal lung.”’

‘Metal lung is not immune to magic,’ Abarca said, ‘and it appears in the months of Magic, Metal, and Spirit. It also rarely kills people.’

‘Yes, this is a mutated version, likely the result of the storm we had recently. It’s able to form a shell of ambrosite around it which absorbs magic and prevents other forms of magic from affecting the organism within.’

‘But not Miss Hogarth’s magic.’

‘It resists me too,’ Calista said. ‘For some reason, I’m stupidly powerful and can break through its resistance. Most of the time anyway. It’s possible that a stronger variant could develop which I can’t affect. Diseases are like that.’

‘So, you wish to find another way of eradicating this problem?’

‘A chemical solution.’

‘Alchemy? But that uses–’

Calista shook her head. ‘Yes, an alchemist is going to be needed, but that’s because, from what I’ve read, a really good alchemist should be capable of making a non-magical, um, material which can dissolve the ambrosite shell and expose the organism within. Producing something which works on the disease but doesn’t harm the patient is going to be difficult. We are going to need a very skilled alchemist.’

‘Thibaud Ibarra,’ Blanchet said. ‘He’s the professor of alchemy at the academy. He’s the best alchemist in Maritania. Probably anyway. Certainly the academy will tell you he is, and they’re probably right, to be honest.’

‘Sastre is protective of his professors’ time,’ Abarca said. ‘I’ll make arrangements. You’ll have Ibarra.’ He frowned. ‘Just to be clear, there’s no indication that this disease was somehow artificially created?’

‘Artificially?’ Calista asked.

‘A bioweapon?’ Roman’s expression somehow gave the impression that he had encountered something like that before. ‘No. We’ve encountered nothing to suggest that. Frankly, I’m more concerned about controlling the infection now. When we have it beaten, then we can start looking for the source.’

Abarca nodded. ‘Yes, that should be your priority. I’ll talk to Sastre.’

~~~

Giving credit where it was due, it only took a couple of hours before Roman and Calista were entering the academy to speak to the professor of alchemy. Calista had expected Sastre to stall longer, but maybe he had a heart, or maybe Abarca was better at applying pressure than it seemed from the way he had spoken before lunch.

The Elementary Academy was the only other walled compound in the city. The walls looked more like defensive walls than the ones around the palace. They were taller and thicker, and the gatehouse was formidable. Guards waited to check on anyone entering or leaving, and those guards appeared to belong to the academy’s own police force, the Stulti. Calista had to try hard to keep the smirk off her face for the entire time they were being checked. Or, the time it took to check on her; Roman was a student there, of sorts, and the Stulti were used to him coming and going. Calista was new to them. Questions were asked. Roman looked annoyed.

‘The Fools do seem to act just like I’d expect them to,’ Calista said once they were past the gate and heading for the alchemy building.

‘Please don’t let them hear you calling them that.’

‘I’m not stupid. Never sass people with power which exceeds their intelligence.’ The buildings within the walls were all of stone and looked like they belonged in an old university like Oxford or Cambridge. More like Cambridge, now she thought about it. Someone had designed the whole campus rather than it being down to piecemeal designers like at the palace. There was one notable thing about the alchemy building, however. ‘I have a question. Why is the alchemy building over a hundred metres from anything else?’

‘Hm,’ Roman said. ‘You know, I asked the same question when I saw it.’

‘And did you get an answer?’

‘I did. It’s because alchemy isn’t very safe. Explosions are not uncommon.’

‘Oh. And we’re relying on the top guy in this place to save our arses? This should be fun.’

~~~

Thibaud Ibarra did not quite fit the stereotype. He was a fairly big man, tall with broad shoulders. This seemed to be a natural inclination of his body rather than gained through exercise because his belly was expanding into middle age and protruded over the belt on his leather slacks. Calista suspected the leather was something to do with the use of dangerous chemicals and the possibility of explosions. His hair was thinning, giving him a high forehead, but his eyebrows were anything but thinning. His grey eyes were a little on the small side and had laughter lines at the corners. He smiled quite a lot, even when discussing lethal diseases.

‘If this disease is basically immune to magic,’ he said, ‘I don’t see what use I’ll be to you. Alchemy is a way to infuse magic into common materials. The effect is magical.’

‘It’s the common materials we want,’ Calista replied. ‘You’re aware of who we are?’

‘Of course. I’ll be providing basic instruction in alchemy to Mister Stacy soon. The rumours about you have been circulating like wildfire. Even I’ve heard them.’

‘Rumours?’ Calista shook her head. ‘Never mind that. I don’t want to know. In my world, we also had alchemy. It didn’t work, exactly, but the people who did it knew a lot about chemicals and, eventually, their studies became what I know as chemistry.’

‘The same in my world,’ Roman said.

‘Right. You know a lot about ordinary materials, and I bet you know about the way ambrosite crystals are grown.’

‘Obviously,’ Ibarra agreed.

‘What we need from you then is a chemical agent which can be introduced into a patient’s body. Once there, it will attack the ambrosite crystals the virus is hiding behind. With the ambrosite gone, it should be possible to cure the disease using Life magic, just like a case of metal lung.’

‘Right.’ Ibarra looked down at his desk thoughtfully. His office was full of clutter. There were shelves everywhere, some of them holding books which appeared to have no known ordering system, others piled with loose paper. His desk was just as cluttered. More books, more papers. He probably has a system. Or he just took forever to find anything. ‘I’m assuming you’d prefer the patient to survive the treatment?’

‘That would obviously be the optimal solution,’ Roman said.

‘Indeed. I can think of many things which could dissolve ambrosite. They’ll dissolve human flesh just as easily. This will take some thought.’

‘How is ambrosite grown?’ Calista asked.

‘Alchemy. Well, the last stage is alchemical. First, ambrosite ore is crushed into fine powder, ambrosite dust. There are two or three minerals commonly containing ambrosite, so it was determined that the easiest way to handle the dust was to dissolve the ambrosite into solution, leaving the base rock behind. The solution is washed out of the dust. Hm, with current technology, we can only extract about eighty-five percent of the ambrosite from any given amount of ore, but it’s deemed sufficient. There are more efficient methods, but the materials are too expensive to make it cost-effective. Once we have the solution, we use alchemical transformation to form crystals from the solution and infuse those crystals with whatever element we need.’

‘It seems like you could make a good start by examining the methods you use to dissolve the ambrosite out of the ore.’

Ibarra nodded. ‘Agreed, but most of those methods would definitely not be usable on a living body. I’ll see what I can do. I’m not going to promise anything, but I’ll put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.’

Roman nodded. ‘If you need assistance, or advice on the medical concerns, please contact me.’

‘Will do. This should be an interesting project. And it’s probably not going to result in any explosions.’

‘Probably?’ Calista asked.

‘Well, you never can tell…’

29 Fire.

Noise from outside the consultation room stopped Calista from doing what she was doing and drove her to go find out what was happening. She had been at a clinic not too far from Dust Valley the entire morning and now most of the afternoon, treating people with the diatom disease. It was tough work, highly repetitive, but the people she was seeing seemed grateful. She also had Dalila on hand to keep control of the queue and provide tea at regular intervals. Unfortunately, the biscuits were substantially worse than the ones at the palace.

Now there was shouting, a lot of shouting. When Calista opened the door and looked out, Dalila gave her an expression which might have been a warning, but also looked very resigned.

‘You!’ The man at the centre of the argument had apparently noticed Calista emerging. ‘You’ll treat my son. Now!’ He was well dressed, obviously well fed, and gave off the strong impression that people did what he wanted because he said so. Behind him was a boy of around thirteen or fourteen, equally well dressed but with a substantially smaller stomach and a face which was rather pale. Calista got the impression that his pallor was not natural, so he probably did have the disease.

Calista looked from them to the line of people waiting to be seen. It was not a short line. It was all the way down the corridor and out through reception. The clinic was Vital Nicolas’s, along with a few other, less altruistic, doctors. Vital had practically begged his partners to let people come there to be treated. Most of them were not happy to be giving away free medical treatment. Roman, apparently used to this attitude, had pointed out all the free publicity they would be getting if theirs was the only clinic in the city able to treat the disease. That had worked better than begging.

‘There’s a queue,’ Calista said. ‘When did your son start coughing?’

‘Coughing? He’s clearly ill and–’

‘He’s not an urgent case, so he can join the queue and be seen when I get to him.’

‘Do you know who I am?!’ There was that rising, outraged tone which Calista had thought only happened in melodramas. People really said that?

‘No. More importantly, I don’t care. Back of the queue.’

‘I won’t stand for this.’

‘Then get a servant to bring you a chair, but your son is not getting treated before all the people with manners.’

‘You–’

‘Poppa, let’s just go to the back,’ the boy said. ‘I’m really not as sick as most of the others here.’ At least his son could read the room.

‘I will be speaking to the prime minister about this,’ the man snapped.

‘What’s your name? I’ll ask him about you the next time I talk to him. I’m guessing that’ll be soon since this bug is still spreading, and it’s reached rich people.’

That seemed to surprise him. His jaw worked, and then he started off toward the back of the queue. Probably. Maybe he was just going to leave.

‘He doesn’t know who you are either,’ Dalila said.

‘I figured. People like that always figure they’re more important than anyone else in the room. Okay, who’s next?’ A little old lady looked up and smiled. Her eyes were watering and she moved like every action caused her pain. She was coughing before she got through the door. ‘I hope I’m getting overtime for this,’ Calista muttered.

‘What’s “overtime,” madam.’

‘I knew you’d say that.’

30 Fire.

The consultation room had become a meeting room briefly. Ibarra had come down from the academy to discuss his concept for the cure with Roman and Calista. This cut down on the time Calista spent not treating patients, but she was not entirely sure why she was being included anyway.

‘Because,’ Roman explained, ‘two heads are better than one.’

‘Two?’

‘You and me. Thibaud is going to be spending the next couple of days turning his concept into something we can test. We need to come up with a way of administering it. Injection is out. It would take too long to produce needles. Oral methods aren’t likely to be effective.’

‘Okay, so what is it that we have to get into people’s bodies?’

‘The basic chemicals will come out as a dry powder,’ Ibarra said. ‘That could be dissolved in water or another solvent without affecting the results. In fact, they really need to be in solution to make proper contact with the ambrosite.’

‘Human bodies have a lot of fluid in them,’ Calista said. ‘Getting a powder into solution shouldn’t be an issue, but it needs to get into their blood stream… Why am I thinking about this? I’m a physicist.’

‘Yes,’ Roman said, ‘but that means you’ll come at it from a different perspective to me. Like I said, two heads are better. You can think about it between patients.’

‘Thanks. Have you seen the queue here?’

‘Yes, it’s getting worse faster than I thought it would. I wish I could help, but you’re really the only person with the power to cure them.’

‘Huh, I find that hard to believe. The academy is full of skilled magicians, some of them have to be able to break through the resistance.’

‘It’s possible,’ Ibarra agreed. ‘Getting them to help, however, is an entirely different matter.’

‘They’ll also be slower,’ Roman said. ‘It takes you seconds to cure someone. It’ll be minutes for them. It doesn’t sound much, but it all adds up.’

Calista sighed. ‘Get that first trial dose ready as soon as possible. I’ll keep working on it here, but I can’t keep this up forever.’

3 Ice.

The next patient in through the door looked like he was on his last legs. He was wheezing like a busted steam engine, and wincing as he walked, in between coughs. ‘How long have you been waiting to be seen?’ Calista asked.

‘Only a day.’ He was not that old, but he was thin and possibly a little malnourished. His skin was more or less grey. ‘My… My lungs have never been very good.’

Asthma or something, and probably not wealthy enough to be treated for it. What they needed was some sort of inhaler he could use, but that kind of thing had probably not been invented. ‘Okay, well, I’ll cure you of this problem. You’ll probably still have bad lungs afterward, however.’

He gave her a weak smile. ‘I’m used to it.’

As he left to let the next one in, Calista’s thoughts went to the inhaler idea again. The disease affected the lungs, and the lungs were the major area infected. If the compound Ibarra was producing could be aerosolised, it was possible that introducing it into the lungs would also get it into the blood stream. That was how nicotine inhalers worked, right? Aerosolising it… would not be a problem since they had magic. Actually making an inhaler was probably not going to happen, but Air magic could direct the drug to where it was needed. They might even be able to do mass treatments if they could get enough of the stuff and the right spells.

Roman had to have thought of this, surely. Well, if not, then his idea about two heads was a good one. ‘Dalila? I need someone to take a message to Roman for me.’

‘I’ll make arrangements, madam,’ Dalila said.

‘Great. Get me a pen and paper and send the next one in while I’m waiting.’

5 Ice.

The numbers outside the clinic were growing, so it was a good thing that, the day after Calista had come up with her inhaler idea, Ibarra had come through with the first trial dose of his compound. The morning after that, they had someone sick enough for it to be a good test, but not sick enough that something might go horribly wrong just trying to get the stuff into him. He was a worker from the ambrosite mill north of Dust Valley, a big man laid low by coughing and muscle pain. Most importantly, he was willing to be a guinea pig for the medicine.

Incidentally, Calista had asked Dalila, and there was no such thing as a guinea pig on Ar. Even after hearing the description, the maid had not been able to think of anything that matched it. The closest she knew of was a rat. Calista considered it likely that every planet in every universe had something analogous to a rat.

‘Dry powder inhalers are a thing,’ Roman said as they considered the best way to use Calista’s idea. He was looking at a small jar containing a beige-coloured powder. ‘It looks like it’s finely milled enough to work. DPIs usually work by the patient basically sucking the powder into their lungs.’

‘I think,’ Calista said, ‘that we can do a little better than that. We need an Air elemental. Dalila uses one to do dusting, so I know what I’m after. In this case, we just need it to push the dust in as he breathes in. Okay, Mister Soto, I’m going to have this stuff fed to you by an elemental. It should synchronise with your breathing. Just breathe normally but as deeply as you can.’

Soto gave her a somewhat weak grin. ‘I’ll try. Breathing isn’t one of my strong suits just now.’

‘Hopefully, it’ll be a lot better soon.’ Calista opened the jar. ‘Air elemental,’ she said in Teyradi. Then she watched as a small tornado appeared above the jar. ‘Okay. Suck up the contents of the jar. Then I want you to blow it into this man’s mouth, but only when he breathes in.’

‘You’re talking to an elemental?’ Ibarra asked.

‘It seems polite to. I think they do what you subconsciously instruct them to do, but telling them what I want seems nicer.’

‘Huh.’

Whatever was the truth, the elemental did as instructed, sucking the powder out of the jar and then moving over to Soto. Soto opened his mouth and pulled in as deep a breath as he could, and the elemental squirted dust down his throat. Another breath and all the powder was gone, but Soto’s eyes were watering and he began to cough.

Roman rushed over to him, supporting him as he coughed up his guts for several seconds. Meanwhile, Calista was dismissing the elemental and casting another spell. ‘It’s working! The stuff in his lungs is already free of ambrosite. I guess it’ll take another few seconds, or minutes, before it goes further.’

‘Maybe I could come up with a way of making it less caustic on the lungs,’ Ibarra said, half to himself.

‘That might be useful,’ Roman said, ‘but I think we can go ahead and start producing your compound for wider testing. If we can get enough of it, we can take the pressure off Calista.’

‘That’d be nice,’ Calista said, ‘but shouldn’t you wait until you’ve cured this guy properly before saying that.’

‘Probably, but I’m getting a good feeling.’

8 Ice.

They had a working system now. Several skilled Air magicians had been drafted in from various places, including the academy, at the instruction of the Ministry for Public Safety, and there were now several locations throughout the northern city where people could receive treatment. The difficult part was administering the compound. After that had done its work, just about any Life mage could cure the underlying disease.

It took the pressure off Calista. She could actually take breaks. She was still faster than everyone else at doing the work, so she was still at Vital Nicolas’s clinic where the workload was highest, but she was working in parallel with two other teams to shift the backlog of cases. Dust Valley remained the worst-hit area. The patients there were more numerous, and a lot of the cases they were seeing were more advanced simply because people waited longer before coming to see a doctor.

Calista was on one of her breaks in the staff room at the back of reception when all hell broke loose outside. She sipped her tea one last time. ‘Bugger,’ she said, then she got up and rushed out to find out what was happening.

The trail led to one of the treatment rooms and Roman who was working on a patient who looked a lot like he was dead. It looked like he was administering CPR. The Life and Air mages who had been treating the man were standing around looking shocked. Maybe they did not get to see patients die on them very often. In truth, Calista had never seen anyone die either, but it looked a lot like Roman had seen this happen more than once. This time, however…

The patient lying on a narrow bench in the room took in a shuddering breath. Relief flooded the features of the two mages. Roman straightened his back and sighed.

‘What happened?’ Calista asked.

‘He was really ill when he came in,’ one of the mages said. ‘A friend had to support him. I gave him the dust. He started coughing, like they do, but he didn’t stop. Then he…’

‘Stopped breathing,’ the second mage said.

‘It’s a problem with the compound,’ Roman said. ‘It damages the lungs. It’s okay if they haven’t been too badly affected by the disease, but in bad cases, it’s too much. I managed to repair the damage before he was too far gone and get his heart going again. Calista, could you cure him? I don’t want to risk more of the compound on him. We’re going to have to triage the cases coming in and send the worst to you.’

‘Thibaud is working on something to fix the damage issue anyway, isn’t he?’ Calista asked.

‘He is. I’ll give him a push on it. We’re going to have to issue an advisory to all the treatment centres.’

‘Wh-what was that thing you were doing?’ the Life mage asked. ‘Pressing on his chest like that.’

‘CPR. Huh, you wouldn’t know what that is. It’s a method of keeping blood circulating through the body when the heart’s stopped. It can be enough to let someone recover from that kind of condition. Maybe I should start giving first aid classes.’

‘Probably not worth it,’ Calista said, moving over to the sick man. ‘They’ll just say magic is better.’

‘Well, I did have to do some work on his ribs after finishing and he’s bruised to hell and back. They might be right.’

10 Ice.

Instead of going to the clinic again the following Earth Day, Calista found herself in a meeting room in the parliament building, outside the palace, with a bunch of people she did not really want to be with. Well, she was fine with Roman, and Thibaud Ibarra was there. Both of them looked about as pleased with the situation as she felt. However, there was also Geoffroy Abarca, the PM, Eladio Sastre, who was looking kind of smug, and another guy she did not know. The last was dressed in an army uniform with a lot of metalwork suggesting high rank. That could not be a good thing.

‘Introductions first,’ Abarca said. ‘This is General Erasmo Cabrera, current head of the Royal Maritanian Army. General, we have here Roman Stacy and Calista Hogarth, two of our summoned heroes, and Professor Thibaud Ibarra, the academy’s best alchemist.’

Cabrera gave a nod but said nothing else. He was a large man, broad in the chest. His blonde hair was cut short and, somewhat against type, he was clean shaven. Calista wanted him to have a huge moustache. He looked the sort to wear a huge moustache and spend hours clipping it every day. He looked gruff. That was the best word for him. He had probably been a mean sergeant major, assuming he had ever had to climb through the ranks. He did not look that smart. There was a gleam of something in his blue eyes, but Calista did not think it was intelligence.

‘We are meeting today to discuss the disease ravaging our city,’ Abarca went on. ‘I have read the briefings. There has been some progress, but Miss Hogarth is still required to cure some of the worst affected. We need a plan to move forward from here.’

‘We have–’ Roman began.

‘It is a shame this alternative method does not seem to be efficacious in all cases,’ Sastre said. ‘Magic has always proven effective in all situations. I’m sure that, if Thibaud had been able to use his full skills, he could have created a suitable cure without the danger of killing the patients.’

‘Really?’ Calista asked before Roman could respond. ‘Because magic is useless against this disease unless you happen to be very powerful or really skilled. You could have dispatched your best Life magicians to help me out at the treatment centres. They would have been slower than me, but they probably could have worked through the disease’s resistance. Instead, you did the minimal possible until the government decided to pay for you to do more, and even then you only sent students.’

Sastre glared at her, but Roman got in before anything else could be said. ‘We have a plan to go forward. Thibaud is working on a new version of his compound which will have less effect on the patients’ lungs. That will negate the need for Calista to cure the worst cases, though she is still faster at treating people than the other mages, so we will continue to use her.’

‘The new compound should be ready tomorrow,’ Ibarra said. ‘The day after at the latest. The High Savant is right, it would be easier if I could use proper alchemy. However, an alchemical compound would not work against this ailment, and the exercise has been an interesting one, setting aside the need to work quickly to save lives. This “chemistry” may have some interesting applications in other areas.’

Sastre did not look pleased with that, but he said nothing.

Instead, the military man spoke up. ‘I am interested in how this got started. Intelligence suggests RSC involvement.’

‘RSC?’ Calista asked.

‘Red Star Confederacy,’ Abarca supplied. ‘Our neighbours in the west. We know they have agents of various sorts in Maritania. They have a doctrine which calls for the expansion of their ideology across the globe. We are their main target at this time, largely because we are closest.’

‘And because Maritania represents freedom,’ Cabrera said. ‘The army will be conducting an exercise to discover the agents responsible for spreading this disease. We will require your complete cooperation.’

‘Hm,’ Roman said. ‘I’ll cooperate, but there’s nothing I’ve seen which suggests an engineered disease.’

‘A disease which uses ambrosite to protect itself from magic? You don’t think that could naturally occur, surely?’

‘Why not?’ Calista said. ‘Monsters “naturally” occur, don’t they? Are you suggesting that the Confederacy is responsible for all the monsters in the world?’

‘They may be responsible for the increase in monster activity,’ Cabrera said.

‘That is unproven,’ Abarca said. ‘Your own intelligence indicates a similar rise in monster activity in all of their territories.’

‘We believe that is to ensure no one thinks they’re responsible.’

‘As I said, it’s unproven. The government will direct all involved to cooperate with your investigation. We’ll see what comes of it.’

‘When we have a proper handle on the disease,’ Roman said, ‘I’d like to conduct my own investigation into the source of the disease. I’m not trained as an epidemiologist, but the only other people who even know what that is on this world are Calista and Nikole.’

‘I’d like to help with that,’ Calista said.

‘The government will be most interested in your findings,’ Abarca said. ‘One of our hopes for the summoned heroes was that they could provide insight not native to Ar. This seems to be one such situation. Professor Ibarra, if there is anything we can do to speed up your work, please inform my office. I believe that concludes this meeting. We’ll let the people doing the work get back to doing what they should be doing.’

~~~

‘I don’t really like politicians,’ Calista said, ‘but Abarca seems like one of the good ones.’

They were in a carriage, heading for the clinic. It had been waiting outside the parliament building, ready to whisk them away as soon as they got out. There had been an interruption in treatment, but Abarca seemed to have done his best to minimise it.

‘He’s not too bad,’ Roman said. He sounded wary.

‘Prime Minister Abarca has been a very successful prime minister,’ Dalila supplied. ‘He has been in the position for eleven years. During that time, he has pushed through a number of controversial bills and improved life in Maritania in several ways.’

‘Good for him,’ Roman said. ‘It’s the army man I’m worried about. Nothing good ever came from mixing the military and lethal, untreatable diseases.’

‘That sounds too much like someone talking from experience,’ Calista commented.

‘I did a lot of work in war zones. Back on my own world. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the military forces to use bioweapons. Nasty ones.’

‘Huh. That kind of thing wasn’t common on Earth. Not unheard of, especially historically, but not common. It was too easy for whatever you spread to turn around and bite you.’

‘It didn’t stop them on my Earth.’

‘Oh.’ They were silent for a while, and then Calista asked, ‘If you don’t mind me asking, how did you die?’

‘Ah. Well, it wasn’t some warped pathogen. I was in a transport, heading for a triage outpost, and we ran over an IED. Uh, you know what an IED is, right?’

‘Improvised explosive device.’ Calista looked at Dalila. ‘Think a spell trap which sets off a massive Fire magic detonation.’

‘That sounds bad,’ Dalila said. ‘You have my sympathies, Mister Stacy.’

Roman shrugged. ‘It was quick. I’ve seen people take days to die after getting caught by an IED. I’m pretty sure I only lasted a couple of minutes.’

‘You can remember?’ Calista asked. ‘I only have really vague memories of what happened to me.’

‘Yeah,’ Roman said, ‘I remember…’

11 Ice.

‘Seriously,’ Calista said, ‘how is this month called Ice?’

‘It is warm,’ Dalila agreed, though she was also sort of disagreeing.

Still… ‘Whoever named the month in the middle of summer Ice was an idiot. Just taking the elements in alphabetical order…’ Calista shook her head. ‘No wonder the Ice element was dropped. Who’s next?’

‘I’ll have him carried in. He waited far too long.’

Except that the person who came into the room was not a patient being carried by nurses. Ibarra was clutching a jar of powder and looking cautiously triumphant. ‘This is going to work,’ he said. ‘We need someone really ill to test it on.’

‘Well, aren’t you lucky,’ Calista replied. ‘Dalila, get Roman in here, just in case.’

The patient was actually wheeled in in a chair, barely conscious. That was not ideal. Informed consent was probably not going to be easy to get. Still, Calista explained that they wanted to try a new treatment on him. His reply was, ‘Anything… to… fix me.’ There was a long gap between words; he really had taken far too long to get himself treated.

With Roman in the room, Calista summoned an elemental to feed the new compound, and they set to work. There was coughing and gasping, but he had been doing that before the powder was introduced. He did not go into respiratory arrest after the drug was administered. That was a good sign.

After about a minute, Calista said, ‘Give it a try, Roman. I think it’s worked.’

Roman reached out and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. There was a brief pause, and then, ‘Yes, it worked.’

‘I d-don’t feel… much better,’ the man said.

‘That’s because you waited until the last moment to come here,’ Calista said. ‘We’ve cured the disease, but it’s going to take you weeks to fully recover. Next time you catch a lethal lung disease, come sooner.’

‘Uh… Uh, right.’

‘Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired,’ Roman said.

‘He’s not in a bed. And after all the people I’ve seen walking in here at death’s door, I’ve got kind of tired of seeing it. Whenever I got ill, I went to see a doctor pretty much immediately.’

Roman looked at Calista, one eyebrow steadily rising. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, of course. Well, usually. Most of the time. Okay, so maybe I could be a little more sympathetic.’

14 Ice.

There were five people in the room with Calista, unlike the usual case where she treated one at a time. Well, five plus Roman and Ibarra, neither of which were ill, but they were very interested in the outcome of the next experiment. None of the five patients were seriously ill yet either; what they were about to do was to try to take out large numbers of the early cases in swift order. Ibarra had a production line going for the updated compound, so they had enough to try something a little out of the box to see whether treatment could be sped up.

‘Alright, everyone,’ Roman said. ‘We’ll start the treatment shortly. I want you all to close your eyes. Breathe deeply but normally through your mouth. We’ll tell you when it’s over.’

There were some affirmative sounds, but everyone got on with the eye-closing bit immediately. There were three men and two women. Calista had noticed that there was a disproportionate number of men who needed treatment, but she was usually seeing just the worst cases. Men were notorious for putting off going to the doctor until it could not be avoided. They were sitting around a table upon which was a large jar containing Ibarra’s compound. Above it, an Air elemental hovered.

‘Here we go,’ Calista said, and the elemental sucked up the compound. It then spread it out, filling the air in front of each patient with the beige dust. They breathed it in. One started coughing but quickly recovered. After a few seconds, the dust was gone, and Calista dismissed the elemental. ‘Okay, you can open your eyes now. There will be a short wait while we make sure the medicine is working, and then we can administer the cure for the disease.’

‘I, um, thought this was the cure,’ one of the women said.

‘It’s half of the cure,’ Roman said. ‘We have to strip the disease of its resistance to magic using this compound. Then we can cure the actual disease.’

‘W-will you be doing that?’ The woman’s cheeks coloured a little as she asked. Well, he was a rather handsome man.

Roman smiled. ‘I’ll be handling it with Miss Hogarth.’

‘I’ll make sure he treats you,’ Calista said. ‘Call it thanks for being part of this test.’

The blush got more obvious. ‘Uh, um, thanks.’

‘Oh, my pleasure.’

23 Ice.

A week later, after a major effort on the part of the government and various clinics throughout the city, the disease was declared contained. There were still cases being treated, but the new cases being discovered were getting scarce. It was under control and expected to be eradicated within a month.

The king, it seemed, did not believe he or his ministers should rest if people were working. It was Life Day, but he called a meeting to hear an update on the situation and make plans from there. This was held in the palace, so Calista was less bothered by the prospect of going to it. There was also tea and biscuits laid on, even though it was right after lunch. And Sastre was not present. Far less to complain about.

‘Let’s get to it then,’ King David said. ‘I’m told that this outbreak is under control. I’ve told the people it’s under control. Did I just lie to a hundred and twenty million people?’

‘Barring unforeseen circumstances, Your Majesty, you did not,’ Abarca said.

‘That’s a relief. Well, without Mister Stacy and Professor Ibarra, we would not have been able to do this. And without Miss Hogarth to give the professor time to create this compound of his, we would have had many more deaths before a solution was ready. Well done, all of you. Now, where did the disease come from?’

‘We don’t know yet,’ Roman said. ‘Now that we have things under control, I’d like to conduct a study to find that out.’

‘It was the RSC,’ Cabrera said. Oh yes, he was there. So were Blanchet and Abarca, but the fact that the military man was there was disturbing. Cabrera had backup this time too, another man in uniform who had been introduced as Major General Rosendo Fosse, Cabrera’s assistant and something to do with military intelligence. He was a handsome man a decade or so younger than his boss. His hair was blonde and regulation cut, his nose was straight, his lips full, and his blue-green eyes sparkled with intelligence. Calista decided that she did not like him almost immediately.

‘What evidence do you have for that?’ Calista asked.

‘That’s a secret. We can’t reveal the nature of our intelligence in front of just anyone.’

‘So, you don’t have any.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘If you can’t reveal it, it doesn’t exist. Or it might as well not exist. You’re talking to the king, General. Are you willing to state in front of him that you know that the RSC somehow introduced a magical plague into Maritania?’

Fosse leaned over and muttered something into Cabrera’s ear. ‘We have evidence, but it is not clear enough to state with certainty that the disease originated in the Confederacy. We do know that they have secret facilities in the region around Goshtopol dedicated to unconventional military research. We have presented the details on those sites to suitable governmental eyes.’

‘They have,’ Abarca confirmed. ‘Nothing in them mentioned disease research, as far as I recall.’

‘No, but it’s not something I’d put past them.’

‘That’s just an emotive response to an enemy nation,’ Calista said. ‘What we need is a proper study into where this started. Roman is the logical choice for handling that. I’ll assist in whatever way I can.’

‘And just how are you going to be of assistance, Miss Hogarth?’

‘I’m a scientist. I’ll use the one thing I’ve seen no evidence of in this world: the scientific method. Observe, hypothesise, test.’

Roman nodded. ‘We’re looking for the source of a monster disease, an inherently magical pathogen. Miss Hogarth will be invaluable in the search, I’m sure. She’s probably also more of a stickler for best scientific practice than I am. We’ll get to the bottom of this. It just might take a while.’

‘While you’re doing that,’ Cabrera said, ‘we will be tracking down the agent involved. Let’s see who finds an answer first.’

24 Ice.

It took only a day to track down the first known case of the disease. It seemed like everyone in Dust Valley knew who the first person to be infected was. Or, to be more exact, they knew of about five people who had died first, and then it was a case of checking up on each of those cases in turn to find out which of them had first shown symptoms.

The eventual winner was Josue Garrido, a worker at the ambrosite mill. He had first shown symptoms on twenty Fire, a full two days before anyone else. Not that that had stopped him going to work more or less until the day he died. There had, apparently, been more deaths, earlier, than anyone had noticed. Most thought they had caught a case of metal lung and that it would pass.

Interestingly, the other five contenders for patient zero had all been workers in the mill. It was maybe not too surprising, if Garrido had caught the bug and then passed it on at work, but it was still something that had to be looked into.

‘I’ll report back to Abarca and get him to get us clearance to go around this mill,’ Roman said as they headed back toward the palace in a carriage.

‘I’d like to see what goes on there anyway,’ Calista replied. ‘It sounds interesting. Maybe they’ll give us a tour.’

‘I don’t think you’ll find it as nice as you seem to think, madam,’ Dalila said. She had escorted them around various places in Dust Valley, along with three soldiers as guards. Calista suspected the soldiers were going to get thoroughly debriefed about what they had heard once they got back to barracks.

‘Oh, I don’t think it’ll be nice. Actually, I rather think it’ll be terrible. I have a feeling that Maritania doesn’t have a Health and Safety at Work Act. But I also think it’ll be interesting.’

25 Ice.

It was another hot day. There was not a cloud in the sky as Calista stepped out of a carriage in front of the ambrosite mill to the north of Dust Valley, but she had dressed for summer so it was not too bad. Maybe there was a way to use Air to cool herself. Or Fire. Fire could cool as well as heat, counterintuitive as that might seem. Fire was about controlling temperature. Or that was one of its things. Whatever, the heat was high, but she was more concerned about something else she was sensing as she looked around at the industrial buildings of the plant.

‘Dust Valley is right,’ she said.

‘Huh?’ Roman asked.

‘The entire area is covered in ambrosite dust particles. It’s doing some, uh, really weird things to the magic flow around here. I’d say the EMP is higher here, pretty much all the time. Damn, I think the air has dust floating in it.’

‘Hm. Let’s get inside and see what we can see.’

They were met by a manager and a couple of his subordinates. Calista had come to the conclusion that Maritanian society was not exactly misogynistic, but men seemed to hold most of the important jobs anyway. There was no reason for this other than history; the men had been at the top for so long that no one questioned it. She made a note to look into how many women were in the parliament.

‘We’re happy to see you, of course,’ said the manager, ‘but we don’t understand why you’re coming here to investigate a disease.’ He was not happy they were there. It was kind of obvious.

And Roman had done a little research the evening before and had a good idea why. ‘There’s a statistical anomaly involved,’ he said. ‘A disproportionate number of the cases we’ve examined have involved men working here, including the first cases we know of. On top of that, were you aware that a number of your workers retire early with respiratory conditions making it impossible to continue?’

‘I was not aware of that, no. I can’t imagine that it’s above average for manual workers.’

Roman smiled. ‘It is, and you have a pension scheme organised for such situations.’

‘Ah. That would be a human resources issue.’

‘I see. Perhaps we could take a look around your facility and see what we can see.’

The mill was composed of three large buildings, all made of the concrete-like substance found throughout the city. It did seem to indicate that the mill was a recent creation, but there were a few smaller buildings made of stone around which suggested the site had been occupied for a while, the newer buildings having replaced older ones at some point.

According to the manager, who looked like a pencil pusher, one of the buildings was administrative, the other two were essentially identical, both concerned with turning ambrosite ore into ambrosite crystals. The ore went in one end, was processed through the building, and then crystals of various sorts were taken out the other end. They accepted the idea of just looking around one of them.

The building was divided up into three sections, four if you included the storage area where the ore was offloaded. Ambrosite ore was a boring grey rock to most people’s eyes, but Calista could sense the ambrosite within it and the effect it had on the local magic field, the EMP. Magic flowed less well around ambrosite ore, presumably because the rock absorbed whatever magic was near it. It made it harder to work magic in the storage room, which was interesting.

They went through that to reach the next section, which was rightly a mill. The ore was put through various machines which crushed it ever finer until what came out was fine dust. Calista stopped in the doorway, shook her head, and pulled out the mask she was still carrying around with her, just in case.

‘Is something wrong?’ Roman asked. He was reaching for his own mask having seen Calista get hers out.

‘This room is an industrial accident waiting to happen,’ she replied.

‘I beg your pardon,’ said the manager.

‘The air is saturated with fine ambrosite dust. I’d have thought you’d have fixed this just because you’re losing product, but whatever. Everyone here is constantly breathing in ambrosite. Get the right kind of magic in here, and you could be looking at a serious dust explosion too.’

‘A dust explosion?’ the manager asked.

‘Yes. Tell me, why did you have to replace the buildings here with new ones?’

‘That would be before my time.’

‘I see. Well, what’s happening is that the machines are generating such fine dust that some of it is floating off into the air. Fine particulate matter like that can generate an explosion if it has an ignition source. In this case, I’d imagine that getting an influx of Fire magic would be perfect.’

‘We don’t use Fire anywhere in this facility. It’s been like that since I started working here.’

‘Good choice.’

‘Beyond that,’ Roman said, ‘dust like this getting into your workers’ lungs is the probable cause of the respiratory ailments we’re seeing. Everyone needs to start wearing dust masks. It’ll cost you less in the long run. You won’t be pensioning off your workers.’

‘But enclosing the machines and extracting the dust from the air would probably net you more ambrosite too,’ Calista added.

‘I’ll take that under advisement.’

The next room was basically a chemical works. The smell was awful. The powdered ore was fed through a number of baths which dissolved out the ambrosite, then the resulting fluid was piped into the next room. The waste was fed out into bins to be disposed of. For some reason, Calista was not feeling positive about the disposal methods. It was probably ending up as a mountain of waste which was not, from what she was observing, entirely clear of ambrosite. The process seemed to be fairly efficient, but wherever the waste was going was probably another potential accident in waiting. She remembered something about a coal mine which had dumped waste above a village in Wales. Too much rain had made the entire tip unstable, and the town had been inundated with a slurry of contaminated mud. Here, they had the potential for that, plus Water and Fire magic. She hoped no one was living near the tip location.

And finally, you came to the room where the alchemy happened. It smelled pretty bad too, but it was largely free of dust. There were probably all sorts of dangerous reactions going on here, and Calista doubted the place was entirely safe to be in. Of course, they had been doing this for centuries. The process was probably as safe as it was ever going to get. Essentially, alchemical processes were used to get the ambrosite out of the solution, crystalising it into the forms they needed in bulk.

It was the first time Calista had seen alchemy being performed, and it was clear it was a magical process. Earth and Water magic hummed through the place, though the people doing the processing were not magicians and not working magic. However it worked, the process involved transformation from a Water element, the solution, to an Earth element, the crystals. Other elements were involved to shape the way the ambrosite held magic. Light was being used to make light crystals. Fire was being used, presumably to store energy for vehicle engines, but it was alchemical fire, not magical Fire. That possibly made a difference, and there was no way the plant could function without it.

‘Maybe we should’ve brought Thibaud with us,’ Roman said. ‘He’d know if best practice was being followed here.’

Calista shrugged. ‘It’s probably as good as it gets. Despite it being alchemy, this room is safer than the other two. It’s not clear of dust, but there’s a lot less. My worry is that the stuff gets out into the atmosphere.’ She turned to the manager. ‘Do you happen to know which way the prevailing wind blows over this plant?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t.’

‘Well, we can look into that. You know, Roman, I think I have a pretty good idea about how this disease originated, and I’m not even a biologist.’

Roman nodded. ‘I think I can see how it happened too. We’ll talk to Abarca.’ At mention of the prime minister’s name, the manager’s face paled. Roman smiled. ‘That should be an interesting conversation.’

~~~

It took surprisingly little time for another meeting to be arranged, possibly because the king got involved with it and had the meeting set up in a room at the palace. Once again, Cabrera was there with his adjutant. They were not looking happy. No, Cabrera was not looking happy; Fosse was looking calm and collected.

Also present was Rodolphe Petit, the Minister for Public Safety, a small man with tight features and greying hair. He did not look especially pleased to be there either.

‘I understand,’ the king said to open things up, ‘that you’ve come to a conclusion regarding the disease’s origins.’

‘It’s not a complex problem,’ Roman said. ‘It’s quite common back on my original world. No, that’s not true since we did not have magic or ambrosite, but the same sort of thing could happen. The ambrosite mill is full of dust with ambrosite particles in it. The workers are constantly breathing in this dust. It eventually causes them to suffer from respiratory conditions and possibly other ailments.’

‘Several of them showed clear signs of having ambrosite throughout their system,’ Calista said. ‘I’m amazed no one has noticed weird problems to do with these plants before now.’

‘We have figures on workers in ambrosite mills,’ Petit said. ‘Nothing we’ve seen suggests a problem.’

‘Mm,’ said Roman. ‘Anyway, one of the workers contracted metal lung. Diseases naturally mutate. They change to make themselves more effective at doing what they do. I’m sure it’s been noticed that metal lung shows slightly different symptoms year on year. Some years it’s worse than others; some years it’s barely a problem at all. This year, a mutation occurred because the disease found itself surrounded by ambrosite. It managed to create a shell for itself by metabolising ambrosite in solution, perhaps as a result of the recent storm. We can’t know for sure because the man this probably happened in is dead and we can’t ask him what he did during the storm. A random event created a disease which magic has no effect on. Without Calista, we would likely have been unable to put an end to it before it claimed many more lives than it did.’

‘I think you helped,’ Calista said, grinning.

‘It was a joint effort,’ King David said, ‘and we are very grateful for it.’

‘Yes, but it’s unlikely to ever happen again,’ Petit said. ‘You said yourself that it required specific circumstances. The right man in the right place, and a storm to trigger it. Legislating specifically on the matter would be difficult, probably impossible.’

‘The working practices in the mill are intolerable,’ Roman stated flatly. ‘The workers are subjected to conditions which harm their health. The mill even has a pension scheme organised to handle people they have to lay off due to “mill lung.” It’s clearly a known problem which needs to be addressed. We checked, and there’s a common northerly wind over this city which is carrying that dust into Dust Valley. The name should be a dead giveaway. That means this is affecting people who have nothing directly to do with the mill.’

‘It’s not even efficient,’ Calista said. ‘All that dust could be being processed into crystals. If you don’t want to help the poor folks in Dust Valley, think of how much more money you could be making if you weren’t spraying your product over half the city.’

‘The Ministry for Public Safety makes no distinction between poor and rich citizens!’ Petit said, all outrage.

‘Of course not.’

‘We will, of course, conduct a thorough evaluation of current working conditions and ordinances,’ Abarca said. ‘It does seem unlikely that such a situation could arise again, but we should examine the situation and improve conditions where economically possible.’ He glanced at Calista. ‘The efficiency angle may be useful in persuading people.’

‘I still think it’s ridiculous to assume that the RSC isn’t involved in this,’ Cabrera said. ‘Random chance? Is that really what we’re going with?’

‘Have you managed to uncover any evidence of Confederacy involvement?’ Abarca asked.

‘Investigation is still ongoing.’

‘I see. Please keep us informed of any developments.’ And that was Cabrera’s concerns dismissed. ‘We should celebrate our victory over this disease. I believe it’s time our citizenry met our summoned heroes anyway. Mister Manz is fairly well known at this point, but the others have remained in the background. I don’t think most of the people Mister Stacy and Miss Hogarth have saved know who they are.’

The king nodded. ‘We’ll make arrangements. Something formal we can invite the press to. I’ll have my staff coordinate with the parliamentary PR department.’

‘That sounds wonderful,’ Calista said.

‘Oh, it will be horrendous. I think you in particular will hate it.’

Abarca shook his head. ‘Miss Abasolo will hate it more.’

‘Yeah,’ Roman said. ‘Nikole is the quiet sort. Being exposed like that will be against everything she believes in.’

‘She can hang with me,’ Calista said. ‘I’m going to try to get through the entire thing without too much exposure. Though I haven’t seen the dresses people wear to formal balls yet. I’m hoping that the exposure won’t be too literal.’

Part Four: Village of the Dead

Lorentine, Maritania, 30 Ice 2189.

Obviously, the palace was equipped to entertain guests on a grand scale. It did not have a ballroom, it had a ball complex. There was a massive ballroom with a stage for an orchestra. Off that were additional rooms which could be used for various purposes including the laying out of food and drink, and serving as more quiet locations where people could conduct conversations. Basically, you could invite hundreds of people and they would have plenty of space to do whatever they needed or wanted to do while being entertained in various ways.

There was also the reception room, which was where everyone filed in, and it was where Calista found herself standing in the reception line to greet the partygoers as they entered. This was not her kind of thing. It was also not really Roman’s kind of thing, and Nikole was entirely out of her element. Wolf rather seemed to be enjoying himself.

‘It may be just me, but are “the people” all rather rich?’ Calista asked as they waited for the next in line to arrive. There was a bit of a holdup as Wolf and some guy in military uniform got too enthusiastic over how great Wolf was. Each to their own.

‘Not necessarily rich,’ Roman said, ‘but I think we’re seeing nobles, rich merchants, and general influencers.’

‘Common people like us at an event like this would not know where to put themselves,’ Nikole said.

The trio were gathered together for support. You met the king and his consort, then Abarca, then Wolf, and then the other three heroes. This largely meant that Nikole, who was a rather secretive person, did not have to say much. It turned out that Calista had the most experience of schmoozing, a relic of attending rather less fancy events at university, but that was not much. Roman could hold his own thanks to meeting various benefactors for work in between war zones.

The military man more or less snubbed them but did them all a favour by giving them his name and a bow, saying a few words something like a welcome to Ar, and then leaving. He was obviously more interested in Wolf. The person after him, however, said hello to Wolf and then moved on as quickly as decorum would allow.

She was a moderately small woman, blonde and attractive with a ready smile. She had a fairly expansive bust and a dress which emphasised it, and she gave Roman an especially bright smile as she introduced herself. ‘I’m Marisa Viteri. I’m the society columnist for the Lorentine Tribune, but don’t let that worry you.’

Roman took the hint and made himself the centre of attention. Or maybe he liked small, blonde, and stacked. ‘Good evening, Miss Viteri. I’m Roman Stacy. My companions are Calista Hogarth and Nikole Abasolo.’ Nikole apparently had a middle name, Osane, but it had taken several weeks to get her surname out of her, so no one used her middle name. She apparently did not like it. Something to do with an old relative she was not fond of despite being named for her.

‘Oh, I know about all of you. Miss Abasolo less than you and Miss Hogarth, but I’ve collected as much information on all of you as I can.’

‘Wolf as well, I assume?’ Calista asked.

‘It’s not hard to collect information on Mister Manz. He’s been putting himself out there as much as possible. And yet, somehow you came out as the hero of the fire lizard incident.’

‘Don’t let him hear you say that.’

‘Ha, yes. And then you and Mister Stacy were the core of the team who solved the recent plague. Any reporter worth the name would be looking at you very closely. Especially since none of you seem to be putting yourselves in the public eye.’

‘We just did what needed to be done,’ Roman said. ‘We applied knowledge from our home worlds to a situation the mages of Ar were ill-equipped to deal with.’

‘Isn’t all that rather, um, technical for a society reporter?’ Calista asked.

‘Well, yes. I’ll find you and ask about your dresses later. I’m trying to branch out a little. I don’t want to be covering parties and formalwear for the rest of my career.’

Calista grinned. ‘That sounds like something it would be interesting to discuss.’

And so it went on. Most of the people in attendance were basically there to be seen at the right party. They were politicians, industrialists, military higher-ups, and nobles. Plus the press. There were a number of people there from various news outlets, primarily newspapers. Maritania’s media was primarily print based. There was no television, though a device which recorded still images provided photographs, and there was some sort of radio system, but that was rather limited since the only station currently available was state run and the receivers were expensive magical devices. The people likely to have one of those were probably at the party and probably had a title.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the reception line was closed down and the centre of the event was moved to the ballroom where King David presented the summoned heroes to the assembled ‘populace.’ Maritania was a democracy, but it was apparent that it still had a long way to go before it became an egalitarian country. If you had money, power, or some other way to influence things, you got priority. Then again, the same was true of the Earth Calista had left behind, so she was in no place to look down upon her adopted country because of it. It did mean that Calista was just not used to meeting people like this, particularly the members of the press. The nobles she could just talk to as though they were anyone else. She did not really care that much if she offended them. The press were a minefield.

‘That’s a very nice dress,’ Viteri the society columnist said, having caught up with Calista, as she had said she would. ‘It’s a Quijano, isn’t it?’

Calista looked down at her frock. It was basically a black, ankle-length gown with a lot of silver sequins glued all over it but fading out toward the knees. The top was very low cut, and the straps were thin enough to use as cheese wire. Nikole had said she could garotte someone with them. Calista thought she might have been joking. Nikole had got away with something significantly less insubstantial. Her gown was long and black with a square yoke. It did have a slightly translucent panel over her chest and stomach, but you basically couldn’t see anything through it. It helped that she did not have Calista’s exaggerated bust.

‘You tell me,’ Calista said. ‘Is he or she famous?’

Viteri grinned. ‘Spoken like someone who doesn’t come from Ar. Adrián Quijano designs dresses for people with a lot more money than most people ever see.’

‘Huh. I just wear what they give me. Most of my clothes are a lot less extravagant than this, though I get the feeling several of the dresses were designed by someone, and they were all tailored to fit me. I guess the king feels obligated to take care of us after we were summoned here out of the blue.’

‘That must have been a shock.’

‘You could say that. I couldn’t accept it at first. I’m what they call a scientist. I’ve spent my life trying to figure out how the universe works. The idea of being moved to a different universe is… It shouldn’t be possible. But, now that I’m here, I have a new universe to work out. Hopefully, along the way, I’ll come up with ways to improve things here, even if it’s just with a better understanding of how magic works.’

Viteri looked a little perplexed. ‘Magic just works. What’s to find out?’

‘Once upon a time, it worked in a different way. At least, your legends say it did. Why did it change? Was it better? Can we go back?’

‘Oh. You mean the Magi.’

‘Yes. When humans didn’t need elementals to work magic.’

‘Which is what you do, from the reports I’ve heard. Almost instant magic which you appear to make up on the spot. Casting spells by speaking a word or two in Teyradi. Are you a Magus, Miss Hogarth?’

Calista was considering her answer to that one when they were interrupted. ‘You’re here to provide copy on the latest fashions, Viteri. I’ll ask questions like that.’ The speaker was a tall, slim man with dark-blonde hair and muddy green eyes. He was, like all the men, in a suit. His was grey and distinctly boring.

‘Good evening to you, Patrice,’ Viteri said a little sourly.

‘You’re the other reporter from the Tribune, right?’ Calista asked. ‘Patrice Faucher, if I’m remembering right.’

‘You remember his name? You must have just met several hundred people.’

‘If I put my mind to it, I can remember anything I need to. It comes in useful for work, or for remembering people I’ll probably have to talk to later.’

‘That’s quite a talent,’ Faucher said, ‘but what we all want to know is how much power you have as a mage. The evidence from the recent disease outbreak suggests a lot, though the idea that you’re a Magus is… fanciful.’ Viteri flashed a scowl at her colleague. ‘No one else was able to overcome the magical resistance of the disease, Miss Hogarth, but you were.’

‘Apparently I have a lot of raw power,’ Calista replied. ‘However, I have little in the way of training. There are other people who probably could have worked through the resistance. They really just called on me because Doctor Stacy knew that if I couldn’t do it, no one would be able to. And it was a close thing. I was only just powerful enough.’

‘So, you’re saying that the Elementary Academy could have provided mages capable of curing people, but chose not to?’

‘The academy provided us with Professor Ibarra. Without him, we would not have been able to produce the compound which solved the problem. And academy mages were made available to cure people once that compound had done its work.’

‘Yes, that’s what Mister Stacy said. Almost like you’d rehearsed the answer.’

Calista smiled. ‘Well, Mister Faucher, you certainly are what I expect of a reporter. You must be very high up on the ladder at the Tribune.’

Faucher’s back straightened. ‘I am, as it happens. Unlike Viteri here.’

‘Yes, you really are a reporter. I have other people to talk to. If you’ll excuse me.’

Behind her, as Calista walked away, she could hear Faucher asking pointed questions of Viteri about the part of the discussion he had not heard. He was an arrogant man, a consummate reporter. Calista could do without talking to him.

~~~

Benita Patenaude was a bright, attractive woman, quite slight with no bust to speak of and a narrow waist. She had glorious, golden-blonde hair and intelligent blue eyes. She had no actual title, but she was David Aritza’s wife, the king’s consort. She took a moment away from the nobles who seemed to flock around her and her husband like gulls to speak to Calista and Nikole in one of the side rooms while her attendants did their best to keep everyone else away from them.

‘How are you two coping?’ she asked, smiling. ‘I know this must be something of a trial. I’ve been doing it for a decade or more now and it’s still a trial for me.’

‘You didn’t grow up with this?’ Calista asked.

‘Oh no. It was a bit of a scandal at the time. David and I met at the academy. I was a commoner; he was the crown prince. Classic love story fraught with palace intrigue and such. Various people felt he should have married a noble, of course. He wanted me, and I almost said no. He was convincing.’

‘Wow. Uh, well, I’m coping. The reporters are a little…’

‘Persistent,’ Nikole said.

‘That’s a good word for it.’

‘Politely brush them off,’ Benita said. ‘Direct them to Abarca if they’re asking questions you don’t want to answer. Claim it’s a national security issue.’

‘That’s pretty much what I have been doing,’ Nikole said.

‘I hadn’t thought of that one,’ Calista admitted.

‘Experience helps,’ said Benita. ‘How are you coping more generally? Do you have everything you need? We dragged you here from entirely different worlds. There must be things you’re missing.’

‘Nothing,’ Nikole said. ‘There’s nothing I left behind that I miss.’

‘I guess there are things,’ Calista said. ‘Books, mostly. I’ve found things here to take their place, for the most part. And I have Dalila. She keeps me organised and provides tea and biscuits. I’d be lost without her.’

‘If there’s anything you need and she can’t get for you, contact me,’ Benita said. ‘What about family? Did you leave family behind.’

‘Yes, but they all think I died in a plane crash. I mean, I did. I miss them, I guess. I haven’t really thought about it.’

‘I had no family left,’ Nikole said. She was something of a dark horse, but her life before arriving on Ar had not been great. Somehow, Calista doubted that all of her family had died through natural causes. ‘There’s no one I left behind.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Benita said.

Nikole shrugged. ‘It is what it is. At least no one was left behind to miss me.’

‘Mother, are you going to introduce me now?’ A teenage girl had made it past the attendants, possibly because, if she was calling Benita mother, she was a princess. In fact, she was Abril Aritza, David and Benita’s eldest child, and they had already been introduced before the reception line started up. She had to mean something more specific.

Or not. ‘You’ve already been introduced, Abril,’ Benita said.

‘Yes, but not properly.’

Benita gave a small sigh. ‘Very well, ladies, this is Princess Abril Aritza. Abril, this is Calista Hogarth and Nikole Abasolo, two of our summoned heroes.’

The princess’s dress was not designed for a proper curtsey, having a pencil skirt which dropped below the knee, but she managed something approximating to one. ‘It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,’ she said. She was a pretty girl, at fourteen almost a young woman. Her hair took after her mother’s: a shining gold. She had it cut to shoulder length and it framed a narrow face which still had a little youthful plumpness about it. Her eyes were a clear blue. She had the kind of button nose people might describe as cute.

Calista and Nikole bowed; neither had learned to curtsey at any time in their past. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Princess,’ Calista said. ‘Was there some specific reason you want to meet us?’

‘Well… Tell me about Doctor Stacy.’ There was a distinct gleam in the young woman’s eyes. Calista had to admit that Roman was a good-looking man, but she figured he would likely think Abril was too young for him. What was the legal marriage age in Maritania? Roman could be in for a tough time.

‘My daughter has developed a bit of a crush on Mister Stacy,’ Benita said.

This, of course, produced glowing red cheeks. ‘Mother!’

‘I’m not absolutely sure about Roman’s world,’ Calista said, ‘but it seems to have the same sort of morals as mine, so I think he may consider you a bit young, Princess.’

Abril grinned, even if she was still blushing. ‘That’s okay. I can wait.’

~~~

‘So, yeah, Roman might have a problem,’ Calista said. She stepped out of her dress and handed it to Dalila. There was no way she could have worn a bra under it, so she was not. She had a sudden thought that stripping down to her knickers in front of another woman would have bothered her a month or two ago. Now it just seemed like something she did.

‘Princess Abril has had such crushes before,’ Dalila said. She took the dress and folded it neatly over her arm. ‘She will have found another before it becomes an issue. She can’t marry until she’s sixteen, so she has to remain infatuated for almost two years.’

‘She looked really infatuated, but it should be okay. Take care of that dress. I understand it’s from some famous designer and costs a fortune.’

‘A Quijano. Yes, it is quite expensive. I’ll see to its care. It is not, I think, entirely to your liking.’

Calista stripped off her knickers and reached for a robe. The nightdresses in Maritania were not to her liking at all. She tended to end up with tangled legs and slept badly. Dalila had not commented when she had started sleeping nude. ‘I wouldn’t have bought it myself. Then again, it does look fairly good on me, and I’m playing the part of a celebrity, so wearing flashy dresses is something I’m supposed to do, I guess.’

‘Yes, madam. It is expected.’

‘Huh. Are we ready for the move?’

‘There is little to be made ready. The palace is supplying footmen to handle the carrying. Furniture has already been put in place. Everything will go without a hitch. You can just walk into your new rooms, and I’ll have a pot of tea ready.’

Calista grimaced. ‘That has never been my experience of moving home, but I’ll take your word for it.’

2 Life.

Calista walked into her new lounge to find Dalila pouring a cup of tea. ‘Okay, so it did go without a hitch. I guess having a royal household to handle the move makes things a lot easier.’

‘I’d imagine it would, madam.’

The new rooms were on the top floor of the library building, nearer to both the books and Blanchet’s office. Calista had asked about getting some space to do experiments and Blanchet had suggested the new location. It was supposed to belong to the assistant to the Royal High Mage, but a new one had not been assigned following Blanchet’s sudden promotion, and there was a case to be made for having Calista fill the role. Blanchet had not actually said what the case was, but Calista had developed the strong impression that she was being groomed to take over from Blanchet at some point.

Whatever, along with a lounge and bedroom, Calista now had an office and two rooms meant primarily for summoning elementals. She did not need to summon elementals, and certainly did not need the paraphernalia normally associated with the process, so she was going to use them for experiments. Scientific experiments. Or as scientific as she could manage anyway. She was going to end up using magic, partially because magic was what she was experimenting on.

‘This is going to be great. I’m going to get back to doing what I used to do. I’m going to get to do practical experiments again.’

‘So long as you don’t blow anything up, madam, I’m sure your efforts will be fruitful.’

‘Hey! I’ve never blown anything up in my life!’

Dalila nodded. ‘Of course, madam. There is always a first time.’

~~~

Two workmen slid a barrel off the handcart they had brought it up on. ‘There y’go, madam,’ one of the two said. ‘If you could just sign here to say it’s been delivered.’

‘Of course,’ Calista said. Then she realised this was the first time she had ever had to sign her name in this world, so she did it with a bit of a flourish. ‘There you are and thank you for delivering this.’

‘Just doing our job, madam.’

‘I was under the impression you were not going to blow anything up,’ Dalila said when the men were gone. They were in one of the lab rooms which now had a barrel and a square table in it. ‘Why would you order an entire barrel of ambrosite solution? That requires alchemy to use, and alchemy–’

‘Isn’t needed. What alchemy does is take the ambrosite out of solution and form crystals with the right elemental resonance. There’s no actual need for alchemy to do that. Earth magic will work fine.’ Calista frowned. ‘Earth and Water. We’re taking a liquid and converting it into a solid. That’s Earth and Water. Anyway, I need it to form into a rather unusual configuration, so magic is going to work a lot better than alchemy. Which is a form of magic, but that’s beside the point.’

‘What sort of unusual configuration?’

‘A ring with some spurs. It’s going to be– You know, explaining it would be really difficult. Basically, I’m going to smash elements together at very high velocities and see what happens.’

‘And this won’t result in an explosion?’

‘No! Well, not in the conventional sense.’ Pause. ‘Probably.’

‘Perhaps some safety measures might be employed, madam.’

‘Well, yes. I was going to do that anyway.’ Pause. ‘Honest I was!’

4 Life.

‘What is it?’ Blanchet asked.

‘I’m calling it the magictron,’ Calista replied. ‘It’s based on a particle accelerator design called a synchrotron. It’s, um, complicated, but the basic idea is that I inject elemental energy in through here, then it gets accelerated around here, and when it’s fast enough, it leaves through here to hit whatever target I’ve placed here. And then I watch the results of the collision.’

What they were looking at was a ring-shaped crystal with a pair of spurs coming off it. Perhaps a racetrack shape was a better analogy. There were two straight sections linked by curves at either end. The spurs came off the curved sections. The idea was that the energy would be accelerated along the straights, turned back around and be accelerated again until they reached the right speed. It was conceptually a synchrotron, though the actual operation was something else entirely.

‘And what are you hoping to get out of this?’

‘Well, back in my world, we used accelerators like this to explore the composition of matter. I suppose I’m looking for evidence of a deeper level of structure to the elements.’

‘A deeper level of structure…’

‘The elements as they stand are kind of arbitrary. They seem more like concepts created to make magic workable. I’m hoping to probe deeper and see what underlies the current set, but maybe all I’ll do is uncover something about whatever the Prime Element is.’

‘You think that’s possible?’

Calista grinned. ‘I don’t have the faintest clue. I’m going to do the experiments, see what happens, and then form a hypothesis based upon my observations. That’s what science is. Once I have a hypothesis, I’ll make predictions and create new experiments to test those predictions. Then I’ll refine my hypothesis and repeat. It should be fascinating.’

‘Just so long as you don’t blow up the building.’

‘You sound just like Dalila.’

Blanchet smiled. ‘Clearly, Dalila has a good head on her shoulders.’

‘I am not going to blow up anything!’

‘You say that now…’

8 Life.

Cabrera and Fosse were in the meeting room in the parliament building. That did not make Calista feel any better about being there. She was having trouble getting the magictron working the way she wanted. There had been no explosions, which was a plus, but there had been no results either. It was frustrating, and then along had come a messenger requesting her presence at this meeting. That was even more frustrating.

‘Perhaps a break will help you get your thoughts organised,’ Roman suggested.

‘Way to put a positive spin on this. Did you know Princess Abril has a crush on you?’

Roman winced. ‘I was aware, yes.’

‘Well, she can’t propose for a couple of years.’

‘That’s not helping.’

Calista flashed a grin. ‘I like to spread the pain.’

And that was when Abarca walked in, so the fun part of the day was over. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending. We’ll get right down to business. No, one question. Miss Hogarth, are the biscuits up to standard?’

Calista raised one of the aforementioned biscuits in salute. ‘Not quite up to the palace’s standard, but certainly better than nothing.’

‘Excellent. Four days ago, we lost contact with a mining town in the east called Salpetra. An airship was dispatched with a contingent of soldiers to investigate on Spirit Day. We lost contact with them that same day. We will be dispatching another expedition today, and we will be sending more troops along with our heroes. This may be a matter of national security, so we need to get to the bottom of it as swiftly as possible.’

And yet, they had waited two days after losing contact with the scouting party. Spirit Day and Earth Day were separated by Life Day. Had they really put off a further response because no one wanted to work on Life Day?

‘We’re handing out what information we have on the situation,’ Abarca went on. ‘There are indications that monsters may be involved. General Cabrera, have you anything to add to the written briefing?’

A file of paperwork was put down in front of Calista, so she opened it up and began to read.

Cabrera got to his feet. ‘Salpetra is an important mining town. It’s produced ambrosite, both crystals and ore, for the past three centuries. It’s abundantly clear that the Red Star Confederacy are involved in this matter. We believe that they may have deployed some form of weapon to silence the populace, and our troops, so that our ambrosite production suffers.’

The first sheet of paper in the file was a map showing the position of Salpetra. It was all the way on the far side of the continent, nestled in a small mountain range. Calista frowned at the map for a second. ‘Is Salpetra the only source of ambrosite in Maritania?’

‘Of course not.’

‘There are several mines in the country,’ Abarca said. ‘Most of them are in the western range you’ll see on the map.’

‘The one between us and the Confederacy?’ Calista asked. She got a nod from Abarca. ‘Then why would the Confederacy attack Salpetra? Aren’t there easier targets closer to home?’

‘Misdirection,’ Cabrera said. ‘They don’t want us knowing they’re behind the attack.’

Calista gave a small shrug. It was possible, she supposed.

‘You currently have no information suggesting an attack,’ Nikole said. ‘There is a report indicating a problem in the mine on the second of Life. Two days later, all contact is lost. There was a fragmentary message late on the last day with the word “monsters” in it. The scout team reported back that the town was empty. No further reports came after that. The evidence presented here suggests another magical incident, not an attack by external aggressors.’

‘What we need,’ Abarca said before Cabrera could reply, ‘is an explanation for the loss of contact, and a resolution to whatever the situation is. You will be gathering further evidence to uncover the truth. If it turns out to be the Confederacy… We will deal with that when we can prove it.’

‘When are we leaving?’ Roman asked.

‘As soon as we can gather what you need and arrange a suitable escort. Before midday.’

‘We should get ready then.’

‘Yes,’ Calista said. ‘Looks like I’ll have a few days to sort out my problems with the magictron.’

‘Think of it as a holiday.’

‘Somehow, I really doubt it’s going to be that.’

~~~

Unfortunately, the airship did not have a name. It was designated ALF-307, indicating that it was a light frigate, whatever that meant. Calista decided to refer to it as Alf, though it brought on images of ugly red-brown alien puppets and this Alf was sleek and silver. It followed the design she had seen in all airships thus far: it was a cigar shape with six vertical thrust nacelles, and a pair of larger drive nacelles at the rear. This time, however, she was getting to see the interior and it was, sadly, kind of boring.

It was clear that the basic design rules had been taken from sailing ships. Much of the interior was wood with metal bracing. It was a military ship, so there were plenty of sailors available to keep it shipshape. There was not a speck of dust to be seen, but you could usually find at least one young seaman – if that was what you called airship crew – swabbing a deck somewhere. The forward section was given over to command and control, primarily the bridge, but also equipment rooms for communications and detection gear. Aft of that were the crew quarters and a couple of decks allowing people with ranged weapons to deploy to attack the ground below. There was no engine room; all of the engineering was external and magical. There was a room stacked with enormous ambrosite crystals which could be used to charge the smaller batteries in the engines. Calling that an engine room, however, was stretching the term to breaking point. Calista figured it was a little like the battery rooms in conventional submarines. Practically, the recharge operation required a landing, but it could be carried out in flight in emergencies. That seemed like something of a tactical problem, but apparently it was not.

‘We don’t carry weapons we can practically use for large-scale combat,’ the captain explained. He was a tall man who looked very much like he belonged on a fully rigged sailing ship bristling with cannons. He did have a moustache, and he wore his grey uniform with pride. His name was Roger Sourd, and he was showing the summoned heroes around his ship. Well, he was showing three of them around and Wolf was following along.

‘You rely purely on personal weapons and magic?’ Wolf asked.

‘Light frigates are primarily used to transport troops to where they’re needed. We also provide ground suppression on arrival. With a contingent of suitable mages, we can lay down effective fire. From the reports I’ve read, that won’t be necessary in Salpetra. The first expedition encountered no one on arrival.’

‘Yes,’ Calista said, ‘and then they stopped reporting back.’

‘Hopefully, you can identify the threat before the same happens to us.’

‘Hopefully. Your ship is wonderful, Captain. It would be impossible back where I come from. It’s all so… simple.’

Sourd grinned. ‘Ha! I’ve never heard it described that way before. The engineers don’t seem to think it is.’

‘Engineers? You have some engineers aboard? Can I talk to them?’

‘Unless something goes wrong, they won’t be needed until we get to Salpetra and recharge the engines. They should be free.’

Calista’s grin broadened. ‘Excellent. When are we likely to get there?’

‘Early evening. It’s about a six-hour flight.’

‘Plenty of time.’

~~~

Talking to the engineers gained Calista very little. It did confirm some assumptions, but that was about it.

The engines were basically funnels. An air elemental in each of them drove air through the funnel to create thrust. That was what Calista had assumed, and the only details were in the battery crystals and the mechanism used to take Air magic from the internal batteries to the external ones.

Each engine’s vector could be controlled by cables and pulleys. Not exactly high-tech. Thrust control took the form of a mage commanding the elementals. That was a bit of a skilled job since the thrust in the engines had to be balanced, especially on take-off and landing. Not very exciting, however, and not very informative. It was all either mundane mechanics or magic.

So, having talked to the engineering staff, Calista got permission to stand on the bridge since it had a large window through which she could look down upon the land of Maritania.

It was a largely flat land. There were rises and falls, like anywhere, but it seemed to be more like the central part of America, basically flat with some hills. All the mountains were around the edges. That was the case on this side of the continent anyway. Over on the other side, the lands of the Red Star Confederacy, there was a massive mountain range in the centre from which much of the Confederacy’s ambrosite was mined.

The continent was kind of U-shaped, divided in the middle by a land-locked sea known only as the Inner Sea. The stretch of land cutting off the top of that sea was small and connected to the rest of the continent by narrow bridges of solid ground, hence the idea of a U shape. According to the maps, pretty much no one lived up there. On the eastern side of the U was Maritania in the south, and north of that was the Free Nations, divided by a dense forest called the Gran Bosque. Over on the west, the entire side had been sucked into the Confederacy.

After a couple of hours of flight, Alf was flying over a river, a fairly wide river which stretched as far as Calista could see from the north to the south. From the maps she had seen, this was the Grand Canal, and it divided the country in two, starting somewhere in the Gran Bosque and ending at the sea. To either side of it was farmland. Maritania had little trouble feeding its population of around a hundred and twenty million people. Now, anyway. The increase in magical events was starting to take something of a toll. More people were heading to the cities where it was, comparatively, safer. Increasingly, magic was having to be used to increase crop yields and replace lost workers. The people moving to the cities had trouble finding work they could do, and that increased the tax burden as the state had to support them.

After about forty minutes, Calista gave up on watching the scenery because it was kind of boring. You got yourself transported to another world, the least they could do was have interesting scenery, but no. Instead, she headed back into the habitation areas and found her way to what was basically the mess hall. It was a larger room with a few windows – though all you could see from them was sky – and a lot of tables. A hatch in one of the walls provided access to the kitchen, from which you could obtain food and/or drink. Calista ordered some tea. The biscuits she saw sitting out did not look worth trying. Then she sat down at a table to relax.

Relaxation was getting harder, she realised. Part of the reason she had given up on watching the world go by was that she was getting nervous. This was her first time going out into the world, and she was going to a town which had, apparently, been depopulated by some sort of event. From the reports, something had happened in the mine. Then the entire town had gone quiet. It could have been an industrial accident of some sort, but that would not have explained the loss of the scout mission. Something had happened in Salpetra, and that something was continuing to happen, and now she was going to be dumped right in the middle of it.

After a few minutes, Nikole joined her. She said nothing, and Calista got the impression that her colleague was kind of nervous too. Another few minutes and Roman came to the table. Calista went and got more tea. The trio sat in silence, drinking tea.

‘Why all the long faces?’ Wolf said as he appeared beside them. He was grinning. He stopped grinning to put the stem of a pipe in his mouth and then blow smoke out which smelled like something scraped off the floor of a stable.

Calista’s nose wrinkled. ‘If you’re going to smoke that shit, take it somewhere else, please.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s an addictive stimulant and it smells like horse shit.’

‘Ha!’ Wolf sat himself down at the table and, a second later, another plume of smoke joined the first in filtering through the air. ‘It’s relaxing and keeps me going through the day. I’ll not be stopping.’

‘You will if you’re going to sit at this table. That’s just a matter of manners.’

He looked at her. ‘Make me.’

‘You asked for it.’ Calista raised a hand. ‘Water,’ she said in Teyradi. About a bucketful of water fell out of the air above Wolf’s head, drenching him and his pipe. It ran rather freely off his hair, she noted; he needed to wash that more. His pipe hissed and produced a small plume of fetid smoke as it died.

‘You b–’

‘You did ask for it,’ Roman said. ‘You shouldn’t smoke that stuff anyway. It’ll ruin your health. I don’t want it near me.’

‘Same,’ Nikole said. ‘Smoke in private if you’re going to at all.’

Glowering, Wolf got to his feet and stalked off toward the mess’s door.

‘Great start to the mission,’ Calista said. ‘Is it just me, or did you all think he was doing that just to be annoying?’

‘Not just you,’ Roman said. ‘It’s not like he can just stop, however. Lotus leaf is very addictive. Probably worse than tobacco.’

‘He can fuck up his own body if he wants to. Damn, that stuff stinks.’ She waved a hand. ‘Clear the air.’ Something wafted around the table, gathering the smoke and whisking it away toward an air vent in the wall. ‘Next time, I’ll just trap the smoke around him. How much longer do you think we’ve got before we get there?’

‘A couple of hours,’ Nikole replied.

‘And then the real fun begins,’ Roman added.

‘I think your definition of fun needs some work,’ Calista suggested.

‘Don’t they have sarcasm where you’re from?’

‘Yes, I’m English. All we have is sarcasm, and yet I still think your definition of fun needs attention.’

Salpetra.

‘There it is,’ Captain Sourd said. ‘Salpetra.’

‘Where?’ Calista asked. Visible through the bridge’s window was a mountain range. Not a huge range, but large enough. The mountains looked old and kind of worn down, but there were a few jagged peaks among them. Nothing with a cap of snow, but then it was not really that time of year. What she could not see was any form of town.

‘There,’ Nikole said, pointing.

Calista narrowed her eyes and… Yes, there was a town. It was practically the same colour as the mountains, set on some sort of plateau surrounded by mountains on three sides with a slope leading down to the west, the direction they were coming from. It looked like a fairly steep slope; moving ore in and out of Salpetra had to be a chore.

As they got closer, the town became clearer. Everything looked to be built of stone. Most of the buildings were houses, but there were a few larger buildings. The largest looked to Calista like it was an ambrosite processing plant. It had a similar layout to the one she had visited with Roman including a couple of large vents on the roof which had probably been disgorging tons of ambrosite dust since it had been built.

‘The entire town is probably covered in a layer of ambrosite dust,’ Calista said.

‘Do you think that may be something to do with the problem?’ Roman asked.

‘Hard to see how. Then again, this is magic we’re dealing with. The problem could be anything, and the dust may have played a part. I guess we’ll see when we get down there.’

‘What’s that?’ Wolf asked, pointing generally toward the edge of town. ‘Is that an airship?’

It was a smaller ship than Alf, and it was resting on the ground apparently undamaged. As they closed the distance, they could see a couple of open doors on the side of it. It was just sitting there with no one around it, as though it had landed and then everyone had walked out and vanished.

‘There’s no one nearby,’ Roman said. ‘I can’t see anyone in any of the streets. The entire place is dead.’

‘On the bright side,’ Calista said, ‘I can’t see any bodies either.’

‘That’s looking a little too much on the bright side, if you ask me.’

‘We’ll put down beside the other ship,’ Sourd said. ‘We should have ninety minutes before it gets dark. I’d like to have the engines recharged by then, just in case.’

‘Mm,’ Calista said. ‘I don’t want to be in the spooky ghost town after dark either.’

~~~

The military unit they had with them consisted of thirty men commanded by a lieutenant. That was three squads of eight, each led by a sergeant, a communications officer, a sergeant major, and the lieutenant. Each squad had a mage as well as a couple of others with some magic. The communications officer was a mage too but specialising in magic which let him relay orders to others in the unit. One of the squads was dispatched to check out the downed scout ship; everyone else went with the heroes to look around the town.

It was, well, a town. It was laid out in a rough square, except that one corner bulged thanks to the ambrosite plant. There was a cross of roads dividing the place into four quarters, and it looked like someone had laid it out on grid paper. Everything was regular, everything was stone, and everything was covered in grime. Some of the buildings which had looked like houses were actually shops. The windows of those were dirty. It was not making Calista happy.

‘This place is magic city,’ she said. ‘There’s ambrosite dust everywhere. There’s no objective way for me to measure it, but the EMP here is higher than back in Lorentine. Significantly higher. Not like a storm, maybe, but much higher than average.’

‘Try not to kick up the dirt,’ Roman said. ‘Do you think we need masks?’

‘Surprisingly, there’s basically nothing in the air. The plant must have been shut down for a while and everything’s settled.’ Calista’s gaze scanned the buildings nearby. ‘You know, we could probably use Ibarra’s compound to flush the crap out of our system if we did breathe it in.’

‘True. I’ll look into it. Where is everyone?’

‘That is what I was wondering. Look, that shop’s door is open.’

They walked over to the shop in question which turned out to be some sort of grocery store. You could tell from the smell of rotting vegetables as soon as you got close.

‘This has to have been like this for a week or so,’ Calista said. ‘No bodies. Rotting fruit, but no bodies. And the door’s just sitting open like someone walked out and just didn’t care. If I hadn’t seen any number of horror movies, this place would be freaking me out.’

‘I have not seen these horror movies,’ Nikole said. ‘It is, as you say, freaking me out. I’m going to scout ahead.’ And then she vanished from sight. There was the sound of footfalls moving away, and then nothing.

‘I guess that’s what she’s good at,’ Calista said. ‘We should check a few more buildings and wait for her to get back.’

~~~

‘We’ve found no one,’ Lieutenant Roche said. He was the man in charge of the troops. He was reporting on what had been discovered in both the downed scout airship and the town. ‘There are signs of a fight in the airship, and we have seen some indications of a struggle in various homes, but there’s no sign of anyone. No one alive and no corpses.’

‘The same,’ Nikole said. ‘I went as far as the mine entrance and saw not a living thing, or a dead one.’ She frowned. ‘Actually, I didn’t see or hear anything alive. There are no birds, not even a rat. I did not, however, cover every building.’

‘We won’t be able to cover everywhere before it gets dark,’ Roche said.

‘True, and I don’t want to be here when it gets dark.’

Wolf grinned. ‘Afraid of the dark?’

Nikole stared at him for a second. ‘Here, yes. There was something about the mine which made me not want to enter it either.’

‘Well,’ Calista said, ‘maybe we can shortcut a thorough search of the town.’

‘Magic?’ Roman asked.

In reply, Calista spoke in Teyradi. ‘Seek Life.’ She stood there for a second, and then she said, ‘There’s one live signature nearby.’

‘One human?’ Roche asked.

‘One of anything. I searched out to– I have no idea what you use as distance measurements. I searched out to around two thousand metres, which you won’t understand, but it’s the whole town and then some. There’s nothing living aside from one target about two hundred metres that way. About two hundred paces?’

‘A pace I can understand. So, everything in the town is dead? Humans, animals, bugs.’

‘Basically, it’s dead or missing. I’m guessing the latter.’

‘They left,’ Nikole said. ‘Everything left this area because something happened they did not want to be near.’

‘Which is not ominous at all. Let’s find this lone survivor. Hopefully it’s not someone’s pet dog and we can get some information.’

~~~

Calista’s magic led them to a boring house on a boring street in the north-east segment of town. Like every other building, it had stone walls and a slate roof. The windows were shuttered, and the door was solid wood. The door was locked, possibly barred.

‘We’ll have to break in,’ Roche said.

‘Let’s try the less violent approach first,’ Roman said. He raised his voice. ‘Is anyone in there? We’re here to rescue you?’

Something happened. There was a sound from inside, but the door did not open.

‘Hello?’ Calista called out.

And the door opened up. It was more or less flung open, actually, revealing the sole survivor of Salpetra. This turned out to be a girl, probably a late teen, thin and fairly pretty with pale-blonde hair which fell just past her shoulders as well as over her blue-green eyes. She was wearing work boots along with a loose white blouse and a short black skirt, linked together by a leather corset around her middle. And Dalila had said that corsets were not in fashion. She looked scared.

‘Y-you shouldn’t be here,’ she said. ‘I-it’s almost dark.’ Her gaze took in the soldiers. ‘Th-there isn’t r-room in here for all of you.’

It was getting dark. The light was fading rapidly. ‘Come back to our airship,’ Calista said. ‘We need to know what happened here, and you’re our only source of information. What’s your name?’

‘Pilar,’ the girl said. ‘Pilar Noyer.’ Her gaze was on the sky. ‘I don’t know whether we can get to your ship before they come out.’

‘We’ve got thirty soldiers here, Pilar. Whoever “they” are, I’m sure–’

‘It won’t make any difference. B-but I don’t want to stay here. We should hurry.’

‘Is there anything you need from–’

‘We should hurry.’

Something about Pilar’s urgency rubbed off on everyone. No one was running, but everyone was maintaining a fast pace as they headed back toward the airship. They had a fair distance to cover, and the light was going fast. They made it through the centre of town before light crystals had to be brought out in shielded lanterns.

Pilar became even more nervous as soon as the first lantern was lit. ‘They can s-sense you. People. They can sense p-people. We have to hurry.’

‘We found no one anywhere near this area,’ Roche said.

‘They hide. In cellars. They don’t like the light.’

‘But–’

‘Contact!’ one of the soldiers called out. ‘Three individuals. They’re–’

‘Contact! Four individuals. They look weird.’

Calista looked in the direction of the second shout and spotted four people coming their way at a fast walk. They looked vacant. They barely seemed to be looking at the soldiers they were advancing on. They looked, in fact, for all the world like… ‘Zombies?’

‘Seriously?’ Roman asked. ‘But, well, yes, they look like zombies.’

‘What’s a zomboy?’ Roche asked.

‘Undead?’ Calista tried. ‘The living dead? The walking dead? Nothing? Okay, so you don’t have undead here.’

‘Don’t let them touch you,’ Pilar said. ‘We need to hurry before more of them come.’

‘That could be a problem,’ Nikole said. She pointed toward the airship. Between their transport and the party was a growing number of zombies. They looked like they had been heading for the ship, but they were turning. The landing party seemed to be more attractive.

‘They don’t like the light, right?’ Calista asked.

‘They hide from it,’ Pilar said.

‘Right then.’ Calista raised an arm above her head. ‘Sunlight!’ And then there was light. It blazed down out of a near-dark sky as though the sun had suddenly come out. Almost immediately, the nearby zombies shielded their eyes and stopped moving. ‘Let’s go,’ Calista said. Everyone started running toward the zombies ahead of them.

‘How wide did you make this?’ Roman asked.

‘A thousand metres or so. It should get us most of the way there.’

‘What about the wall of zombies ahead of us.’

‘Well, I have something that might work.’

There was a scream from one side and they stopped running to check on the source. A zombie had come out of nowhere and grabbed one of the soldiers. It was just grappling the man, holding on as though its life depended upon it. In life, the zombie had probably been a miner, not a small man, and the soldier was having a lot of trouble breaking free. Plus, he seemed to be in pain. Two of his friends rushed over to stab at the zombie with swords, but that seemed to be having limited effect. One of them grabbed at the zombie to pull it off only to rear back with a shriek.

Calista stepped in close, aimed a finger at the zombie’s head and said, ‘Light blast.’ A beam of white light shot from her finger, hitting the side of the zombie’s skull. The effect was dramatic, very dramatic. The zombie disintegrated, its head vanishing first, followed rapidly by the rest of its body as a wave of light washed over it.

The soldier was free, but badly weakened. Whatever had happened to him, he had been badly hurt by just touching the creature. ‘Pick him up,’ Roche said. ‘Stick to the middle of the road. I want an orderly but rapid retreat to the airship. Miss Hogarth, I’m counting on you to get us past that crowd.’

‘On it,’ Calista said, rushing forward to put herself close to the front of the unit as it advanced on the zombie horde. She got to around twenty metres from them, raised her arm, and said, ‘Firestorm.’ An area some twenty metres across, right in the middle of the zombie forward line, turned into a maelstrom of flame for a second. What was left when the fire died away was a collection of burning corpses. She took a step forward and repeated the spell, aiming to the right. Another pace and a hit to the left. There was now a gap roughly sixty metres wide in the zombie line, and the troops moved through it with all due speed.

‘We get into the ship and take off, right?’ Roman said.

‘I sure hope they finished the recharge,’ Calista replied.

‘This is what happened to the scout ship. They didn’t know about the zombies and were overrun.’

‘Probably, but that doesn’t explain what happened to the bodies. We can work that out when we’re out of reach of these things. There’s something very wrong about them.’

‘Aside from the zombie thing.’

‘Aside from that, yes.’

~~~

‘It looks like a damn town meeting down there,’ Captain Sourd said.

They were looking down from the bridge having evacuated to several hundred metres above the landing site. There were now several hundred zombies milling about beneath them, seemingly able to sense the living things above them, but entirely unable to get to them. At first, the zombies had scattered away from Calista’s light, but that had shut down about twenty minutes ago, and now the searchlights from the ship were illuminating the nightmare below.

‘What are they?’ the captain asked.

‘They were humans,’ Calista replied. ‘Now… There’s Life magic flowing around them like a shell.’

‘It’s normal for humans to have Life in them.’

‘It’s normal for humans to have Life in them. You can’t detect it as Life magic. I can sense the Life magic around them, in them. I think it’s the ambrosite.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘These people have been living in an environment saturated with ambrosite dust their entire lives. Pilar, is it common for people in Salpetra to end up with lung diseases as they get older?’

‘Uh, yes, I suppose. A lot of people end up having trouble with their breathing.’ The blonde girl was looking down upon her hometown as though she was glad to see the back of it. She also seemed to be doing her best to avoid being noticed.

‘Mm. Pilar’s the same. Her body is full of ambrosite. What I think has happened is that something has triggered the ambrosite in everyone’s bodies, and it has absorbed all the Life in their bodies. They all died, but then the Life in the ambrosite is animating their corpses.’

‘All except for Miss Noyer,’ Roche said. ‘Pilar Noyer, I am arresting you on suspicion of being a Red Star Confederacy spy. Please do not resist. You will be taken–’

‘Don’t be an idiot, Lieutenant,’ Roman said.

‘What? She’s the only survivor of a town of twelve hundred people. The only explanation is–’

‘How does a girl who has clearly been living in this town since her birth end up as a Confederacy spy?’

‘How did she escape turning into one of those things?’

‘I don’t know. Let’s ask her before you slap the cuffs on.’

‘She’s not a spy,’ Nikole said. ‘I know spies. She isn’t one.’

‘Right.’ Roman turned to Pilar, who was doing her best to shrink into the woodwork, and smiled. ‘Pilar, why do you think you weren’t affected by whatever happened here?’

‘I d-don’t know. M-maybe because I’m a Null?’

‘A Null? What’s that?’

Roche had developed a faintly disgusted look. ‘Someone incapable of magic. Magic doesn’t work for them or on them.’

‘That has to just about be a death sentence in this world,’ Calista said. ‘It does explain the weird flow of magic around her. It’s like magic just avoids her. She has all that ambrosite in her, but it’s entirely inactive. It’s still going to trash her system given a few more years. We can treat that.’

‘B-but magic doesn’t work on me,’ Pilar said.

‘The treatment isn’t magical. It was developed to treat a disease that was resistant to magic. Which you appear to have never heard of. Do you even know about the summoned heroes? Us.’

‘Summoned heroes?’

‘Salpetra is a pretty isolated place,’ Captain Sourd said. ‘They’d have heard about it all eventually, but…’

‘Huh. Well, it’s probably a good thing in this case. Eventually, those things are going to start wandering. That could be bad for any nearby community, but if there are no nearby communities, it’ll take a long time for them to reach anywhere else.’

‘Pilar,’ Roman said, ‘could you tell us how this started? The reports we have are incomplete at best.’

‘Wait,’ Calista said. ‘Let’s go to the mess and get some food. We can discuss how this started after we’ve eaten.’

‘Good plan.’

Calista could tell it was a good plan, because Pilar was looking at her with such gratitude…

~~~

‘You were running out of food, right?’ Calista asked.

‘I was rationing myself,’ Pilar said between mouthfuls of stew and bread. ‘I could’ve lasted maybe another week.’

‘We saw a lot of rotten food in the shops,’ Roman said.

‘That’s them. I mean, it would have rotted by now anyway, but anything I didn’t grab the first day was useless after they’d been around it for too long.’

‘Makes sense,’ Calista said.

‘The soldiers who came into contact with them basically had Life energy drawn out of them,’ Roman said. ‘They’ll recover, but too much longer and one of them would’ve been in dangerous condition.’

‘And that’s what happened to the townsfolk?’

‘No,’ Pilar said. ‘Not most of them anyway. S-some of the children…’

‘You don’t have to talk about it right now.’

‘It started not quite a week ago. No, actually it started a while back. People have been saying that the magic pressure in the mine has been increasing for a while, but last week it suddenly went up a lot.’

‘Worth looking into,’ Calista said.

‘Then, last Fire Day, something happened, and people started changing. People came out of the mine feeling sick. As night came, they changed and started attacking others. Everyone they attacked changed too, except for the youngest children. They… just died.’

‘The youngest children?’ Roman asked. ‘Why would they be different?’

‘It’s the ambrosite,’ Calista said. ‘They haven’t had the time to accumulate enough in their system.’

Roche, sitting nearby, looked around at her. ‘You seem to be blaming ambrosite for all of this.’

‘I can’t blame an inanimate object. There’s no blame involved. The ambrosite in their systems made people vulnerable to whatever effect is causing this.’

‘Well,’ Pilar said, ‘they just kind of ignored me. It’s like they can sense living people, but not me because I’m a Null. They didn’t attack me, but after the first night, after my parents turned into those things, I holed up in my house and stayed quiet all through the nights. They come out every night, but there’s no one left for them to eat. I don’t know whether they need living people to feed on. Maybe they’ll start leaving to find more food soon.’

‘What happened to the bodies?’ Roche asked. ‘The scout unit can’t have been turned. Where did their bodies go? Were they eaten?’

‘Uh, no. I mean they don’t actually eat anything. They suck the Life out of people, I guess. Then… I think they take the bodies to the mine. I haven’t been there to find out what happens to them after.’

‘Another reason to check out the mine then,’ Calista said. ‘I couldn’t see anyone in uniform below, so it’s not that the mine is turning them into zombies.’

‘What’s this “zombie” thing you keep talking about?’ Roche asked.

‘It’s a term from Haitian folklore,’ Roman said. ‘A corpse animated by some form of magic. Haiti is a country in my world and, I’m guessing, Calista’s.’

‘Yup,’ Calista agreed. ‘Zombies are a staple of horror movies ever since, um, Night of the Living Dead, I think.’

‘Not in my world. It was a movie called The Dead Walk Abroad.’

‘Well, there’s a difference. These things aren’t actually undead, but they are magically animated corpses. I think zombie is a good term for them if you people don’t have the concept otherwise.’

Roche nodded. ‘I’ll designate them as zombies in my report. I don’t have another name for them.’

‘Somehow,’ Calista said sourly, ‘bringing that kind of loan word from English is not how I expected to change Maritania. Now all we need to do is get rid of them before they start leaving town.’

‘We go in and cut them down,’ Wolf said.

‘There were twelve hundred people in Salpetra, and most of them are down there, wandering around and just hoping for a chance to latch onto a living body. Stabbing them did next to nothing. Do you really think you can carve them up without losing half our people?’

‘Then what do you suggest?’ Wolf made it sound like a challenge. He was a competitive sort of man.

‘Your Fire magic seemed to work,’ Roche said, ‘and that light beam spell.’

‘Firestorm was a bit of a risk, actually.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, there’s only one thing worse than a horde of zombies.’

‘I’ll bite. What?’

‘A horde of zombies on fire, obviously. I have an idea, but we need to talk to Lorentine and get permission to try it.’

Roche’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why?’ he asked warily.

‘It’s a little on the destructive side.’

‘What we need is destruction,’ Wolf said. ‘Why is that a problem?’

‘Because I was lying when I said it was a little on the destructive side.’

9 Life.

‘So, I think I have a way of killing them all,’ Calista said, ‘but the collateral damage is likely to be extensive. It’s also risky. I mean, getting in position to do it will be risky.’

‘But you think this will solve the problem?’ Abarca asked. He was in Lorentine still. His voice was coming to them from a globe of magic hanging over the table in the airship’s briefing room. It was Air magic. Calista planned to ask the communications officer how it worked after the meeting.

‘It will probably kill everything in town. Destroy everything. They’re already dead, so it’s not like we can kill them again.’

‘We don’t know how the Confederacy did this yet,’ Cabrera said. ‘We need to take prisoners and–’

‘Perhaps you did not hear her say that they are already dead,’ Abarca said. ‘I find it difficult to believe that a dead person will provide useful information, and I don’t want any of those things in Lorentine if it can be avoided. Ideally, we would prevent them ever leaving Salpetra.’

‘It may already be too late,’ Captain Sourd said. ‘We did a rough head count and there were only around eight hundred people below us last night. That’s four hundred we can’t account for. Some may have set off to other towns.’

‘We’ll issue an advisory to all the nearby communities.’

‘They’ll need mages to combat them,’ Calista said. ‘Light magic seems to work best on individuals. They’re affected by sunlight, so I guess that makes sense.’

‘At least it seems it’s unlikely that they can make more of them. And they can only travel at night. We’ll take appropriate measures. As for your solution, Miss Hogarth, the situation is drastic enough that drastic measures may be our only recourse. You have permission to do whatever is necessary.’

‘Thanks,’ Calista said. ‘I think. I’m not really sure I want to do this, to be honest.’

‘When the worst of situations arises, the worst of solutions is all we have to rely upon.’

‘Yeah. I’m pretty sure Oppenheimer would disagree with you.’

~~~

‘If there’s anything you want from your home,’ Calista said, ‘we should grab it now. Tomorrow, it may be too late.’

Pilar nodded. ‘There are a few things. Thank you for thinking of me.’

‘Why wouldn’t I?’

‘Nulls are not generally considered by anyone.’

‘Well, I’m not from this world, so I don’t have this world’s prejudices. I’d imagine being unable to use magic would be tough enough without being discriminated against.’

‘Oh. Well, thank you anyway.’

‘And thank you for being our guide. Aside from your stuff, we want any records we can grab. It might appease the military brass a bit if we can prove there was no Confederacy involvement here.’

‘You think?’ Roman asked. ‘I don’t think Cabrera will be happy unless we can prove there was.’

‘You may have a point.’

‘Why would they think the Red Star Confederacy caused this?’ Pilar asked. ‘I just don’t get it.’

‘You’re not alone. I guess they think it’s a plan to disrupt Maritania’s ambrosite supply.’

‘But the mine is almost worked out.’

‘Sorry?’

‘All the miners have been saying it for a while. The veins are getting harder to find. They say that if they don’t find a new seam soon, the town will have to pack up and move somewhere else. The biggest seam was almost entirely worked out already. They’ve dug about as much ambrosite out as it’s possible to.’

‘Really? That’s interesting. Well, I suppose the Confederacy might not know that, but there are still easier places to attack than Salpetra.’

‘Cabrera sees agents for the RSC under every bed,’ Roman said.

‘I can understand that,’ Nikole said.

‘So can I, but he seems to be taking it too far.’

‘I won’t argue with that either. What we need is mining reports.’

‘Then we can go to the ambrosite mill,’ Pilar said. ‘The mining office is there. There may be zombies there too, however. The building is quite dark.’

‘That won’t be a problem,’ Calista said. ‘I’ll light it up nice and bright. If we’re lucky, we can thin their numbers before we come back tonight.’

‘I didn’t know you were that much of an optimist,’ Roman said, grinning.

‘Under the circumstances, I’ll take any optimism I can get.’

~~~

There were around fifty zombies hiding in the various rooms in the mill, but after Calista lit the place up with her sunlight spells, they kind of melted. The soldiers acting as escort to Calista, Roman, Nikole, and Pilar all looked rather relieved. Wolf had decided not to come on the document search, saying he had better things to do. Calista suspected that ‘better things’ involved smoking in his cabin.

There were also a lot of records in the mill’s office, and those included EMP measurements taken in the mine. Calista found those very interesting. ‘The pressure has been rising for a while, like Pilar said. In the last month, things have got really bad.’

‘How so?’ Roman asked.

‘Three months ago, they were measuring about thirteen hundred miliDalmaeuses fairly consistently. Last month it had risen to fourteen fifty. Two weeks ago it was up to eighteen hundred.’

‘Seriously? That’s–’

‘And the final entry is one thousand, nine hundred, and sixty-eight. That was on the second. There’s no entry on the third. Almost two thousand miliDalmaeuses is… That’s dangerous levels of EMP.’

‘But what’s causing it? Storms don’t normally reach those sorts of levels, do they?’

‘Not normally. The poles average seventeen hundred. They can get up to nineteen fifty. Storms can get as high as sixteen hundred, maybe a little higher on rare occasions. EMP close to two thousand is pretty likely to raise monsters.’

‘You think that’s what triggered the changes in people here?’

‘It’s a working hypothesis. We need to check out the mine. You won’t be coming with us for that, Pilar.’

‘I can take you to the entrance,’ Pilar said.

‘I think we can find it on our own. You can stay safe on the airship. Is there somewhere in town with a list of the population? We should at least have names we can report when this is over.’

‘The town hall. There are definitely zombies there.’

‘There won’t be after I’m done with the place.’

~~~

As night fell, Calista stood in the middle of town with a small contingent of volunteer troops, Roman, and Wolf. Nikole was a stealth and recon specialist, so Calista had suggested she stay behind. It had also been suggested that Roman was not really needed, but he had stated flatly that medical assistance might be necessary, so he was going. If Calista’s plan worked, he was wrong, but she was aware of the adage that no plan ever survived contact with the enemy, so she had not argued much. She had considered arguing that Wolf was unnecessary, but he seemed to make the soldiers feel happier, so whatever.

‘We just stand here and wait for them?’ Wolf asked.

‘Basically, yes,’ Calista replied. ‘If anyone sees any of them, call out. I need a few seconds to put up the barrier. And no one is to stray too far from me. Ten paces away, no more. I’ll make the barrier wider than that, but we want a gap between us and the shield.’

‘Why?’

‘You’ll understand when I do it.’

It was no more than another minute before someone spotted the first zombie. Four of them were walking out of a building not far away, clearly looking for the source of Life they could somehow sense nearby.

Calista raised her arms. ‘Explosion barrier,’ she said in Teyradi. Nothing visibly happened, but as the zombies approached, they came to a sudden stop about twenty metres from Calista, their approach halted by an invisible wall which they began beating against to no effect.

More of the creatures appeared and, after about ten minutes, almost everyone was getting nervous as hundreds of zombies gathered around the wall, fists beating uselessly against it.

‘Are you going to do something?’ Wolf asked.

‘Yeah. I think we’ve waited long enough,’ Calista replied. Once again, she raised her arms. As she did so, a mist began to lift from the ground outside the barrier, rising quickly until it was obscuring the buildings behind the zombies and even making it hard to see all the monsters.

‘What is that?’ Roche asked.

‘Ambrosite dust,’ Calista replied. ‘The town is covered in it. Tons of the stuff has been settling here for a very long time. I’m just lifting it out of the ground and charging it with Fire magic.’

Roman turned and looked at her. ‘You’re going to–’

‘Yes, I am. Now, Dust Explosion!’

The world turned into hell on earth. Fire enveloped the town with a roar and the barrier rang like a bell. The soldiers, Roman, and Wolf all ducked, covering their ears. And the zombies, at least the ones visible against the barrier, vanished into the hellscape Calista had created.

‘Oh my god,’ Roman said. With the initial blast over with, the world still seemed to be burning. The explosion had torn through the town. Most of the buildings were still standing, but every last one of them was burning. The entire world was burning around them, and the zombies… There was nothing standing in sight of the central crossroads. The zombies had been blown apart and incinerated in an instant. All that was left was the burning town. Salpetra was, effectively, gone.

10 Life.

‘I don’t like this,’ Wolf said. It was possibly the most perceptive thing Calista had ever heard him say.

They were standing about a hundred metres into the mine. It was brightly lit because Calista was using light magic to make sure it was brightly lit. If it had been dark, she doubted that she would have been able to continue because there was an oppressive quality to the air in that mine. Something was very definitely not right about the place.

Calista glanced at the instrument she was holding. They had found it in the mining office in the mill. It was the device used to measure the EMP in the mine. ‘Fourteen twenty-five. It was already high outside, but it’s gone up a hundred points since we walked in.’

‘That magic pressure thing?’ Wolf asked. ‘What’s so bad about it?’

‘Nothing. Yet. This will make it easier for people to work magic. But if the figures they measured last week hold true, we could be getting to dangerous levels as we go deeper. This is already enough to produce monsters. This is mid-range magic storm levels.’

‘I think you already killed all the monsters.’ Something about the way he said it sounded a little bitter.

‘Not necessarily. Some of them could have been hiding in the mine. Besides, we don’t know that the zombies are the only thing here.’

‘I could scout ahead,’ Nikole said.

‘No. We don’t know what’s here, and we don’t want you straying into somewhere with too high an EMP.’

‘Thanks. I didn’t really want to.’

They moved on as a group. Four summoned heroes and a squad of eight soldiers. The rest of the unit was in the town, making sure no zombies remained in the cellars and larger buildings. It was pretty unlikely. Calista’s dust explosion and the fires it had started had gutted Salpetra. Several buildings had collapsed. Everything else was left a burned shell. It was pretty likely that even the cellars had been on fire, and the zombies were not immune to fire. Still, it was a necessary job that no one had been looking forward to.

After about ten minutes, Calista checked her instrument. ‘Sixteen hundred. Storms in Lorentine rarely get this high.’

‘That can’t be good,’ Roman said.

‘It’s not. What I’m not seeing is any traces of ambrosite. The magic flow is random, unconstrained, just like a storm. It’s everywhere rather than being confined to ambrosite in the rocks. They really have dug out everything they could.’

‘There could be deposits deeper in,’ Roche said. He had decided that this was the more important mission for him to command. He could have directed the search in town, but he had decided to go with the riskier option. That had to be worth a few points.

‘Maybe. I guess we’ll see.’

It was another twenty minutes before they found something. And ‘something’ was the appropriate term, though Calista was getting a really bad feeling as she looked at it.

‘What is it?’ Roche asked.

‘I have no idea,’ Roman said. ‘It looks organic, but…’

It kind of looked like a tree root, or a Lovecraftian nightmare version of one. It was a long tendril stretching back into the tunnel they were following. It was black and fibrous, and there were black fibres branching out of it at various points to anchor it to the rock. Calista could sense Life magic flowing through it, but there was no indication of ambrosite. Also, for a root, it looked alarmingly fleshy.

‘Don’t touch it,’ Calista said. ‘It might have the same Life-draining ability as the zombies.’

‘I was not planning to,’ Roman replied, flashing a weak grin. ‘Even without your magic sense, it does not look like something I want to touch.’

‘According to the map,’ Nikole said, ‘we should be close to the central vault. The scale means nothing to me, but it can’t be much further.’

‘Let me see,’ Roche said. He checked the map as Nikole held it out for him. ‘About two hundred of those pace measurements, if I’m reading this right. It’s thirty-four lengths.’

‘I really must learn this stuff,’ Calista said. ‘Okay, so let’s get to that vault place, and we can see where we go from there.’

More of the root-like things appeared as they moved deeper. The tunnel was fairly wide. It had tracks laid along it, so it was obviously used for transporting ore out of the mine, and for the miners to come and go through. It had to be reasonably wide. But the weird creepers were making it narrower. The party ended up walking in single file down the tracks soon enough. That might not have been entirely necessary, but no one wanted to get near the roots which were now growing along the walls and ceiling.

They paused just before the vault and Calista checked the meter. ‘Damn,’ she said.

‘What’s it reading?’ Roman asked.

‘Well, two thousand, but that’s because that’s as high as the needle goes. It’s jammed against the stop.’

‘Two thousand? Is that even possible?’

‘I don’t see why not. It’s just unheard of, that’s why the scale only goes that high. Something here is causing a lot of magic to flow through the mine. Can’t you feel it?’

‘There’s something,’ Wolf said. ‘Feels like my skin’s tingling.’

‘Like static charge,’ Roman said. ‘Yes, I can feel that. Is it dangerous?’

‘To us, probably not. I think we’ve found the reason why people started turning into zombies. The ambrosite in their systems reacted to all this magic.’

‘People don’t become monsters,’ Roche said. ‘That’s never happened in any recorded storm.’

‘This,’ Calista said, ‘is not a storm. This is something else. We’ll check the vault. I’m not sure it’ll be safe to go deeper. I don’t want to think about what this much magic could do to us long term.’

‘If these roots get thicker,’ Wolf said, ‘it may not be passable.’

‘We could cut through,’ Roche said.

‘Maybe, but do you want to? Something about those things makes me not want to damage them.’

‘I think it would be unwise,’ Calista agreed. ‘I think I’ve seen this movie, and it ends badly.’

They moved the last few metres down the tunnel, and suddenly it opened out into a wide, high cavern, the main vault. The tracks here went to a turntable in the centre. Other tracks went off from that down various other tunnels. Wooden props had been used to brace the ceiling, and there was a wooden shed against one of the walls, presumably a place for the shift supervisors to sit and handle paperwork.

No one was really looking at any of that, however, because the space was dominated by the roots and the thing they came from. Tendrils stretched in all directions, twined into the props and worming down the tunnels. They came from a mass of black, fleshy material, an enormous mass of protoplasm hanging in the props and attached to the ceiling via its tendrils. It seemed to pulse in the light from Calista’s spells. It was alive, just not in the sense that most people thought of life.

‘What is that?’ Roche asked. His voice was low and his apparent desire to not make too much noise was catching.

‘I have no idea,’ Wolf said, ‘but it’s evil.’

‘I think,’ Roman said, ‘I’m getting an idea of what happened to the missing people.’

Calista looked at him. ‘You don’t mean–’

A scream rang out and everyone turned to see one of the soldiers being dragged into the air by a tendril. He was thrashing violently, hacking at the thing with his sword, but the material of the tendril seemed largely impervious to his blows. Wolf let out a roar and rushed forward, but it was too late – the man in the tendril’s grasp was pulled out of reach and into the protoplasmic mass. His scream was suddenly cut off.

‘We’re getting out of here,’ Calista said. She turned, only to see the tendrils in the tunnel they had come from writhing and curling back toward them. ‘Firestorm!’ Flame blasted through the corridor. Above them, the monster cell shuddered and more of the tendrils began to detach from the rock to curl toward them. ‘Run!’

They ran. Smoke and the stench of burned flesh filled their lungs as they ran back the way they had come. The longer tendrils were still there as they passed the section Calista had burned, but they were no longer attached to the host entity and they were not moving. But there was a sound behind them suggesting that other tendrils were following. No one looked back. No one dared to look back. They just ran until they reached the entrance to the mine.

‘What do we do now?’ Nikole asked. ‘We can’t leave it like that. Who knows how that thing is going to develop. And if anyone walks in there…’

Calista turned and looked back into the mine entrance. She raised an arm toward it. ‘Collapse,’ she said in Teyradi. A second later, the entrance of the mine was caving in. A few seconds after that, there was nothing to see of the mine entrance aside from rubble. ‘That… should hold it. I hope. I collapsed it for a couple of hundred metres. Are there any other ways into the mine?’

‘Not on the map. They must’ve used Air magic to keep the air fresh in the deeper parts. There’s not even any air shafts shown.’

‘Let’s hope they didn’t just leave those off the map.’

‘The government isn’t going to like this,’ Roche said. ‘Salpetra is a valuable source of ambrosite.’

‘It was just about worked out,’ Calista said, ‘and with that thing sitting in there, it’s not any kind of valuable right now.’

‘I didn’t say I was unhappy. I’ll put in my report that I think your action was justified. Maybe they’ll listen.’

Lorentine, 11 Life.

There was, of course, a meeting the morning after they got back to Lorentine. Cabrera was fuming and wanted to arrest Calista and Pilar, but Abarca and the king both vetoed that. Having discussed what had happened, the conversation turned to what had caused it.

‘I have a hypothesis,’ Calista said, ‘but I’d like to do some more research before I present it.’

‘It was the Confederacy,’ Cabrera stated flatly.

‘How?’

‘What?’

‘How did they fill a mine with magic and create a monster which absorbs living things to increase its mass?’

‘Some form of secret weapon, obviously.’

‘Obviously? And why use it on a mine which all the records we collected show was basically worked out? Another year or two and Salpetra would be producing nothing. They decided to use their weapon, which there is no evidence of, to destroy a worked-out mine on the opposite side of the continent from their territory. Does that really make any sense to you?’

Cabrera glared at her.

‘For the sake of argument,’ Abarca said, ‘why would the military intelligence be so wrong, Miss Hogarth? You’ve presented no evidence which denies the existence of such a weapon.’

‘That’s simple,’ Roman said. ‘Funding. It’s happened several times in my world.’

‘Funding, Mister Stacy?’

‘Yeah. You base your military spending on the need to contain the threat of the Confederacy. The greater the threat, the more you spend on the army. It’s obviously to the advantage of the military to hype up the threat.’

Calista nodded. ‘The same in my world. We had a period in history called the Cold War. Our largest military powers estimated the strength of their opponents, and then they based their military spending on those estimates. No one lied, exactly, but the estimates tended to inflate the military spending of the opposition. It’s all statistics, and statistics can be used to justify just about anything. I don’t believe what happened in Salpetra was a natural event. It was caused by human activity.’

‘Exactly!’ Cabrera barked. ‘The Red Star–’

‘No. I believe this was caused by Maritania’s own mining.’

‘What?!’

‘Please explain, Miss Hogarth,’ Abarca said.

Calista sighed. ‘This is a working hypothesis and needs further exploration. It’s my understanding that it’s common to use a core of crushed ambrosite within the walls of buildings. Is that correct?’

‘It acts as a barrier to magic,’ Blanchet said. He was there to provide magical input and had not said much so far. ‘It results in fewer injuries during storms.’

‘Right. Now, Ar has its own magical field, the, um, force which causes the flow of magic through the world. It’s measured as EMP. It wells up from the poles where the pressure is highest and flows out over the rest of the planet. It follows that there is a source of very high magical pressure within the core of the planet. Why does it only come out at the poles?’

‘That’s unknown.’

‘How about, because there’s less ambrosite in the crust in those regions? I have no idea why that would be the case, but it’s at least a possibility. Less ambrosite there results in weak points the magic can come out through.’

‘Oh,’ the mage said. The colour was draining from his face.

‘Yeah. And this is why I said it needs more research. If it’s true, then mining out the ambrosite is creating more weak spots. In Salpetra, they’ve managed to reduce the shield between the core and the surface to minimal levels. The magic found that hole and welled up, creating a massive surge in magical energy. Chances are that it will grow. And this is happening all over the continent, maybe all over the world. Ambrosite is a key component in your technology. Everyone needs it, and the mining of it has increased markedly over the past few centuries since the crystallisation technique was invented. If my hypothesis is correct, the increase in monsters, storms, and other magical events is directly attributable to the mining of ambrosite.’

Silence fell across the room. It was eventually broken by Abarca. ‘You’re suggesting that we have to stop mining ambrosite. It would mean an end to our civilisation.’

‘I’m not suggesting anything,’ Calista replied. ‘I’m a scientist, I don’t suggest policy. I present my findings and it’s up to you what you do with them. And I’m not presenting my findings here. This is a hypothesis, a working theory. It needs investigation and testing. I currently have no idea how to do that. It would be really convenient if this was some incredible plot by the Confederacy, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening.’

‘We’ll need to consider how we proceed from here.’

‘I thought you’d say that. I have other things to be looking into, so I can wait. Just don’t delay too long. My world has a bit of a bad history of politicians and vested industrial interests ignoring the warnings of scientists. Try not to be as bad as them.’

~~~

Calista sipped her tea, smiled, and let out a soft sigh. ‘The tea on the airship was nowhere near as good as this.’

‘Of course not, madam,’ Dalila replied.

‘As for the biscuits…’

‘I can imagine, madam.’

Calista flashed her maid a grin and turned her attention to the other occupant of the lounge. ‘And so, on to what’s going to happen to you, Pilar.’

Pilar shuffled a little in her seat. Thus far, she had not touched her tea. She was nervous. That seemed natural. ‘What is going to happen to me? I’m a Null. I can’t use magic, and I don’t have skills that I can use here.’

‘Skills? Perhaps not, but you have a talent. You’re resistant to magic. Try to think of that as an advantage.’

‘An advantage? But–’

‘Dalila is going to train you up as a maid, but you’ll have a different role to her. Assuming you’ll accept the position, it’s been agreed that I can employ you as my lab assistant. You’ll help with my experiments.’

‘I d-don’t know anything about doing experiments.’

‘Of course not. I’ll be training you too. I’m going to be flinging a lot of high-energy magic around. Your ability to resist that is going to be very useful. You’ll be relatively safe where Dalila might be hurt. I’ll train you to take appropriate notes. You’ll help with heavy lifting and general work. You’ll have an income and a place to stay, and you’ll be contributing to increasing the world’s understanding of magic, even as a Null. I hate that term, by the way. It suggests there’s something missing. Given that the world is going through a magical upheaval, people like you are likely to have higher survival potential than everyone else.’

‘Oh.’

‘It would be nice to be able to take more time for myself,’ Dalila said. ‘Having help would be useful.’

‘Precisely,’ Calista said. ‘I feel guilty having you at my beck and call all the time. Will you take this on, Pilar?’

‘Yes! If you think I’ll be useful, I’ll gladly do it.’

‘Great.’ Calista’s expression shifted to a frown. ‘Now all I have to do is get the damn magictron to work.’

‘Okay! Um, what’s a magictron?’

Part Five: Elemental

Lorentine, Maritania, 27 Life 2189.

The magictron throbbed with power. It actually seemed to be throbbing as Earth magic worked to drive Earth energy around the crystal circuit at ever-increasing speed. Pilar was kind of used to it now, but she still watched it with some apprehension. Calista had explained the idea behind it. Pilar did not understand even half of it, but it still sounded kind of dangerous.

‘And we throw the switch,’ Calista said.

The throbbing came to an abrupt end and, to Pilar at least, nothing happened. Calista, however, looked mildly crestfallen.

‘Well, it works,’ Calista said. ‘It’s just a bit… uneventful.’

‘I couldn’t tell anything had happened,’ Pilar said.

‘You’re not using a bunch of detection spells. The Earth energy in the circuit collided with the Earth energy in the target crystal. There was a reaction, and I need to analyse what I detected, but it wasn’t anything I’d describe as earth-shattering. I’m missing something… There has to be a way to do this with other elements, but I can only get Earth to cycle properly. I’ll try using something different as the target. Maybe Fire.’

‘Do you think you could try Water or Air first?’

‘Well, sure, but why?’

‘Um, hitting Fire really hard with something else sounds a lot more dangerous than Water or Air.’

‘Well, you may have a point. I’ll save that one for last.’ Calista gave a sigh. ‘If I can’t get it moving faster in the magictron circuit, I’m not sure I’m going to get anywhere with anything. There must be something I’m missing. Oh well, I’ll set it up with a Water target and see what that does.’

‘I’ll go tell Dalila it’s safe to bring in some tea.’

‘Now that’s the best idea any of us have had all day.’

28 Life.

Lorenzo Basurto lived next to the library. He was the librarian, so that was useful. He had a really short commute to work every day. It did have the downside that, when his insomnia kicked in, he would end up going to the library to take care of things he had not had time to do during the day. Frequently, his insomnia was caused by things he had not finished up at work, so getting them done helped. But, of course, that left him sleep-deprived and less efficient the following day. Swings and roundabouts, he supposed.

He would frequently work by the light of a single crystal at these times. Some would have considered the dark library with its stacks and stacks of books a bit spooky when lit by a single crystal at the librarian’s desk, but Lorenzo was not a man who worried overmuch about ghosts and spirits. There were various rumours of ghosts in various parts of the castle. Several dead kings were said to walk the halls at night. Most were said to be rather polite and entirely benign. There was the ghost of one king’s mistress, poisoned by a rival, who was said to scare the wits out of some of the staff on occasion, but that one never came near the library. There was also the ‘weeping lady,’ the ghost of a maid who had killed herself over a love affair gone wrong, but all she did was cry a lot and randomly dust rooms. She actually dusted, so she was generally considered a good, if disquieting, thing.

There were no ghosts in the library. None of the previous librarians had returned to watch over the place. There were no ancient ladies in grey fond of reading romance novels. Lorenzo generally felt rather comfortable working at night, though he knew he should be sleeping. The latter bothered him more than his chances of being interrupted by a wayward spirit. Which made it all the more disturbing when something made him look up and he saw something floating across the library floor.

It was dark, and the thing he was seeing was not helpfully glowing, but he got the impression of a female shape with long hair blowing in a wind which could not be there. The impression of a female form was strong since, so far as Lorenzo could tell, she was not wearing a stitch of clothing. And she was floating, gliding along perhaps a royal foot above the floor.

Grabbing his light crystal, Lorenzo raised it to get a better view. He got the impression of blue skin and white hair before the figure looked his way and vanished. One instant she was there, barely caught in the light, and the next she was gone. He rushed over to the spot she had been in, but there was no evidence of her. He looked around, but the only thing he managed to determine was that she seemed to have been headed toward the secure room where the rare volumes were kept.

Not really wanting to, he went to the room, unlocked it, and looked inside. Still nothing. ‘Maybe I scared her away,’ he said aloud because it felt like breaking the library’s silence was a good idea just then. ‘Huh, I scared off a ghost.’

He locked the room and went back to his desk, but he gave up on work after a few minutes and returned to his room. The question in his head right now was whether he should tell anyone about his strange encounter.

29 Life.

Calista had been sitting on her hands all through Life Day. The previous morning, she had awoken with a bright idea, but it was rest day, so she had refrained from rushing to the laboratory. Dalila and Pilar would have felt obliged to help, and they only got one day a week with any kind of rest in it. Now it was Earth Day and Calista planned to try out her bright idea.

Using Water as a target had produced some interesting results, but it had taken a night’s rest for the implications to percolate through Calista’s brain and form a hypothesis. There had been energy released in the collision which did not match anything she had previously encountered. Two kinds, actually, though one of the signals had been so small that she suspected it might have resulted from some error in her magic. She was still not that good at magic, even if she was improving faster than Blanchet thought she should.

The main out-of-band signal was large enough that she suspected it might be something new. A new element. Well, not a new element, but one not in the standard collection of elements used in magic. She had a strong suspicion as to what it might be, and now she was going to test it out.

Pilar was dubious. She had no magical education, given that she could not have used it if she had, but she knew as much as anyone about the basics. ‘A new element? But how can there be a new element? The elements have been unchanging since–’

‘You, at least, I can accept that from since you wouldn’t know, but the elements have not been a static thing since Dalmaeus formulated them. He only had five, six later in life. Things like Electricity and Light were added later.’

‘Uh, oh. I didn’t know that.’

‘There’s no reason you should. Even trained magicians seem to be oblivious of the fact, but it’s all there if you read the history books. In this case, just as with particle physics in my old world, this particular element doesn’t seem to show itself normally.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to. What I think is that this is the element that makes gravity work. It’s what keeps you stuck to the ground, and that’s why Earth seems to be the source of it. That’s why I’ve been using Earth magic to drive the magictron. However, if I’m right, it’s more than just gravity. Let’s call it Attraction. I think it’s the element which makes gravity work at long range, and at short range it’s responsible for holding together complex objects.’

Pilar frowned and looked guilty at the same time. ‘I still don’t understand.’

‘Let’s take… you.’

‘M-me?’

‘Yes, or any other living thing. Aside from plants, which are different. You are composed of Earth, Water, Spirit, and Life, but you are clearly not just those elements glued together. You aren’t living mud.’

‘Uh, no. At least, I don’t think so.’

‘You’re not. You are a complex arrangement of those elements, acting together to create a living thing. Those are the main components. There’s Electricity, Fire, and Air in there too, but in lesser quantities. Magic is part of it too. I think Magic is inherent in all animate objects.’

‘You said plants were different?’

‘They’re just Wood and Life. Well, except for some which also have Magic in them like ambrosium flowers. The roots of ambrosium flowers concentrate a fair bit of magic and are used as the basis for alchemical potions and the like.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Pilar was being educated. She had no idea what she would do with this education, but since no one else had ever bothered to tell her any of this, she was happy Calista felt the need to do so.

‘Attraction, I believe, is the force which binds together those elements which make up your body, or my body, or a tree, or an ambrosium flower. It pulls elements together, very strongly at very short distances. Very short distances. Like the weak and strong nuclear forces, which you can now forget I mentioned because they don’t exist in this world. It’s all down to Attraction.’

‘I’m getting confused. Wait… So, this Attraction binds all the elements in our bodies into, um, us? And it also pulls on us to keep us from falling off Ar?’

‘Exactly. On that basis, I believe I can use it in the magictron to accelerate the energy and hold it in the ring. If I put Attraction into the crystal, it will evenly pull from all sides so that energy passing through the middle is constrained. And creating a ramping level of attraction in the straight sections will more efficiently accelerate whatever I’m using and let me use things other than Earth.’

‘If you can make it work.’

‘If. Yes. I know what it’s supposed to look like, however, so now it’s just a matter of reconfiguring the entire ring and coming up with a spell to make it work.’

Pilar grinned. ‘Just a matter?’

‘I probably made it sound easier than it’s going to be.’

‘Should I get some tea in here?’

‘Brilliant idea! And you can probably tell Dalila that it’s going to be safe in here for the rest of today at least.’

1 Light.

The magictron was throbbing again, but this time the effect was faster. Fast enough, in fact, to look more like a continuous stream of light was flowing around the ring. Calista was using Electricity this time rather than Earth. Pilar was not sure what she thought about that. The target was still Water. She had a feeling that mixing Electricity and Water at high speed might be explosive, but Calista said it would be safe and Pilar trusted Calista. She was not so sure that Calista trusted Calista, however.

‘Okay,’ Calista said. ‘Cross your fingers.’

‘What good will that do?’

‘Not something you do here? Okay. Wish me luck then.’

‘Good luck.’

For a brief instant, the light in the circuit glowed along the outbound path to the reaction crystal. Then the reaction crystal glowed with a lot of light and the heat from it could be felt across the room. That seemed to last for a lot longer than all the previous experiments, but it eventually stopped, and when it did it seemed as though nothing had happened.

Calista, however, was standing there with her mouth open.

‘You got good results?’ Pilar asked.

‘To be entirely honest, I’m not totally sure. Everything worked. The results were… I’m going to go with complicated.’ Calista’s expression shifted toward a grin. ‘I like complicated. It’s going to take a while to work it all out, but the magictron is working the way I want it to, and I think this might reveal some really interesting physics.’

‘I still don’t know what that word means.’

‘Physics? Well, it’s probably not the right word for this anyway, I’m just used to using it. Maybe I should come up with a better word. I’m going to the lounge to think about this. Tell Dalila to put on a couple of extra biscuits and the best tea. I think this could be a major breakthrough!’

Pilar grinned. ‘Of course, madam.’

2 Light.

Having a visitor turn up right then was not improving Calista’s mood. She was still working through all the signals she had detected in her last experiment, and she was plotting out what she needed to do to confirm a few things. She needed time to think, not someone coming to ask her questions. The fact that the visitor was Major General Fosse just made it worse.

‘What does the Royal Maritanian Army want with me?’ Calista asked once everyone was sitting down with a cup of tea.

‘I’ve been tasked with evaluating the magic you used to destroy Salpetra,’ Fosse replied. ‘I’ve received reports from Lieutenant Roche and Captain Sourd. Captain Sourd’s report was particularly interesting since he was able to observe the effects from outside. I’m sure you’re aware that the military applications of such a spell are clear.’

‘Not really. I don’t think it’s applicable at all.’

Fosse smiled. It was one of those smiles you gave someone who was clearly in denial. It said something like, ‘You are obviously a pacifist, but it should be obvious that you’ve created a weapon.’ What he said was, ‘You incinerated everything in an area over a league across. Every building in the town was left ablaze. You don’t consider that applicable in a battlefield situation?’

‘Only if the battlefield happens to have a few centuries of ambrosite dust production deposited on it before the battle.’

‘Please explain.’

‘Salpetra has been producing ambrosite for centuries. It’s one of the oldest ambrosite mines, which is why it’s practically worked out. In all that time, the plant there has been spewing out fine ambrosite particles which either ended up in people’s lungs, or it was deposited on the ground and buildings. The place was saturated in the stuff. What I did was lift it into the air and then saturate it with Fire magic. Then I ignited it. It’s called a fuel–air explosive, or a thermobaric bomb. It creates massive overpressure and a lot of heat. Back in my world, it could happen by accident in certain places where some kinds of dust were a problem, or it could be produced using certain kinds of explosives. I doubt the chemistry is the same here, and recreating the circumstances at Salpetra artificially would be extremely difficult.’

‘I see.’

‘I’d be keeping it all secret, if I were you. If the RSC got hold of how to do it, they could likely repeat it at any of Maritania’s mining towns. Of course, you might be able to do it to them too, but only in specific locations and assuming their processing practices are the same as yours.’

‘I see. I’ll recommend that all the reports are sealed.’

‘Good plan. Also, the only person able to do that at the moment is me. If you asked me to do it where there are living people, I’d tell you to get lost. Except I’d not be so polite about saying it. I’m not in the business of making superweapons for the RMA.’

Fosse got to his feet. His tea was untouched. ‘I’m sure you’re not, but you have to realise that you are a superweapon, and there will come a time when we call upon you to use that power.’

‘You should probably prepare yourself for disappointment.’

He smiled. ‘We’ll see when the time comes, I suppose.’

4 Light.

There was another ball being held and this time Calista had no idea why she had been asked to attend. She had not even known that the Red Star Confederacy had an embassy in Lorentine, so the arrival of a new ambassador really did not concern her. But here she was in a black gown cut so low in the front that she had to move carefully. No one on Ar had invented double-sided tape for this kind of thing.

‘It’s a good dress,’ Roman commented on seeing her. ‘It’s very…’

‘I think the term you’re looking for is “low cut,” though I’ll accept anything which suggests it shows off my boobs.’

‘Hm, I think it’s best if I just don’t say what I like about it.’

‘Probably for the best,’ Nikole said. She was with Roman and Calista because, once again, the heroes were part of the reception line for the various people attending the ball. This had the unfortunate effect of them not actually meeting the ambassador so far. Hopefully, that would change later. Well, Calista thought that hopefully was the right word; she was yet to meet the woman, so she was not sure.

Wolf was doing his own thing again. Calista had the feeling he did not like her. Well, she had dumped a bucket of water on his head to stop him smoking. He kept claiming she was upstaging him, which she did not understand. No, she did not want to understand. They were supposed to be a team, at least when they worked together. He had had the run of things for a time before Calista had got going. The fame seemed to have gone to his head, and now that others were taking some of it from him, he was not happy. It was stupid, and she did not want to understand his point of view.

‘How’s your particle accelerator going?’ Roman asked.

‘It’s working. I’m trying to work out what my first set of results mean.’

‘Anything revolutionary on the horizon? Are you going to change the way Ar looks at magic?’

‘Technically, I’ve already done that. I discovered a new element. That’s how I got the magictron working.’

‘Seriously? A new element? What–’

‘What will have to wait. Some important noble has finally finished with Wolf.’

‘You can’t make a statement like that and just leave us hanging!’

Calista flashed a grin. ‘Can and have. I’m mean like that.’

~~~

‘And this is Ambassador Axelsen Merthe Gundrun,’ King David said.

‘Please, Miss Hogarth, call me Merthe.’ The ambassador was not especially tall but beat Calista by a couple of centimetres. She was a blonde with blue-green eyes and a beautiful face. She had a narrow nose with a slight upturn and full lips. Her cheekbones looked like they had been sculpted by someone famous. What her figure was like was an open question. Or at least, what her figure was normally like was an unknown thanks to her outfit which looked like something out of a French revolutionary play. It was red and consisted of a corset and bell skirt. The top was off-the-shoulder and boned, and it winched her chest into something of mountainous proportions, as good corsetry of that type did. She was probably not small without, but exactly how her bust and waist would have looked without it was unknown, and how her legs looked were, of course, anyone’s guess.

‘I seem to recall reading that you put your family name before your personal name,’ Calista said.

‘That’s right, and Gundrun is my father’s name, which is always the case with Confederacy citizens.’

‘Is that outfit another Confederacy thing? I’ve been told that corsets aren’t in fashion.’

‘They are in Poltolis. Perhaps when I’ve had some time to settle in, I’ll be able to find something more comfortable locally. Your dress is–’

‘Revealing. My dress is revealing.’

‘It is,’ Queen Benita said. ‘My husband doesn’t know where to put his eyes at the moment.’ The king, of course, went red around the cheeks. ‘Sadly, I’m not equipped to compete with either of you, so he can’t just concentrate on me.’

‘Could we possibly pick a different topic?’ the king asked.

‘I suppose I should take pity on you. The problem, of course, is selecting a safe topic when our military leader is staring daggers at us just for introducing Merthe to Calista.’

‘Does he really expect me to try to subvert Maritania’s heroes at my own diplomatic reception?’ Merthe asked.

‘Cabrera is paranoid,’ Calista said. ‘He sees Red Star agents under every bed and around every corner. Of course he thinks you’d do that.’

‘And what, may I ask, do you think of us, Miss Hogarth?’

‘Oh, I don’t believe what Cabrera says.’

‘That’s–’

‘I need evidence to make an informed decision on something. It’s the way I’m built. Cabrera hasn’t ever provided any evidence, so I have no real opinion of the Red Star Confederacy. For all I know, you would try to subvert me or one of the others here. That being said, I’d hope you’d be more subtle.’

Merthe smiled. ‘Well then, when I do try to subvert you, I’ll be sure to keep it as subtle as possible.’

~~~

‘You’re looking beautiful tonight, Miss Hogarth. That dress is stunning.’

Calista was not entirely sure how to take that from Marisa Viteri, the reporter. ‘Well, you are a society columnist, so I suppose you’d know.’

‘You don’t agree?’

‘I think it makes me look like the wicked witch’s sexy sister. The main advantage of it is that I can’t dance without revealing more of myself than I’d like, so I have an excuse.’

Viteri grinned. ‘Good point. What you need is a way to stick it in place. With the current fashion being for that kind of neckline…’ She waved a hand at her own décolletage which was a little less plunging than Calista’s, but not by much. ‘Let’s just say that a solution to the slippage problem would benefit fashionable women everywhere.’

Calista pursed her lips. ‘I’ll talk to an alchemist.’

‘You have a solution?’

‘Maybe. I’m saying no more until I’ve discussed it with a professional.’

‘Intriguing.’ Viteri grinned, but her gaze strayed across the room. ‘The Earth Hero seems to be enamoured with a different kind of neckline.’

‘Wolf?’ Calista looked the way Viteri’s gaze pointed and she spotted Wolf together with the new ambassador.

‘He’s been spending quite a lot of time with her, but can you blame him when he has such a spectacular mountain view to talk to.’

Calista let out a rather unladylike snort. ‘Well, that’s what corsets do to you.’

‘Yes. Let’s just hope none of the designers get it into their heads that that would be a good look for the winter season.’

6 Light.

It was very early on Earth Day morning, and Lorenzo Basurto lay in wait behind the librarian’s desk with Nereo Blanchet. They were waiting for a ghost. Well…

‘Are you really sure about this?’ Blanchet said in a whisper.

‘Well, I saw it. I saw her floating across the library, and she just vanished when she noticed I was there.’

‘I suppose that’s ghostlike.’

‘Are you sure this trap of yours will catch her?’

‘Making several assumptions, yes.’

‘Assumptions?’

‘Assuming that what you saw was a spirit. Assuming that the spirit isn’t powerful enough to break through the barrier.’

‘You’re the most powerful magician I know. Surely any spell you cast–’

‘That’s an assumption. I don’t specialise in Spirit magic. Sastre is more powerful, and he specialises in Spirit.’

‘Maybe, but I’m not going to ask him.’

Blanchet grinned. ‘I doubt he’d be willing to come out here at night anyway.’ Something impinged upon his senses, and not the normal ones. Lifting his head, he looked out across the desk. ‘Well, I believe you saw something.’

Basurto looked up and, sure enough, a blue figure was floating across the library. She looked just as she had the previous time the librarian had seen her. There was little detail to be seen, but a naked blue woman was floating across the library and right into the area Blanchet had set up to trap spirits.

‘She’s in the trap,’ Blanchet said. ‘She’s… She’s floating right through the trap. And she’s out the other side.’

Oblivious to her destined fate as a prisoner, the blue lady carried on going, floated through a bank of shelves, and disappeared in the direction of the restricted section.

‘What happened?’ Basurto asked.

‘The spell didn’t activate,’ Blanchet replied thoughtfully. ‘So, the one thing we have established tonight is that your ghost is not a ghost.’

‘What? But what else–’

‘I have no idea, but I’ll tell you one other thing I think I can say with some certainty.’

‘What?’

‘If the spell had activated, I doubt it would’ve contained her. The magic flow around that, um, entity was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Well, it was on the same sort of level as Calista Hogarth, but it was different. That thing’s resistance to magic is remarkable. I doubt even Sastre’s magic could stop her doing whatever she wanted.’

‘Oh. Well then, I suppose it’s a good thing that all she seems to want to do is read.’

~~~

Brilliant light and heat emanated from the target crystal of the magictron. The effect lasted for less than a second, but it was definitely nothing to do with the elements Calista had just slammed together because she had used Water with Earth as a target. And, when she looked, she was left with Water and Earth in the target crystal, just not enough of it. And there had been another signal during the ‘explosion.’

‘Okay,’ she said. Pilar was in the room with her, so she technically said it to Pilar, but what she was really doing was thinking aloud. ‘Okay, so the variant signal could be Prime. Given that it’s been there in the last few runs, always the same, and always gone by the time the light dies, I’d push the probability to, um, eighty-five, maybe ninety percent.’

‘Prime?’ Pilar asked. ‘You mean the Prime Element? I thought that was some sort of myth.’

‘Dalmaeus didn’t. He suggested that Prime was what the universe consisted of originally, but that Prime decays into the other elements. What we’re seeing is the creation of something which decays into other elements, especially Fire, Light, and Magic. I also think it forms Earth and Water. There’s been Earth and Water left in the target crystal no matter what I used in the experiment. And that makes a certain amount of sense…’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Imagine a universe made of only Prime, one big mass of Prime. Parts of it decay to form other elements. There’s a lot of heat, and that causes it all to expand, but not evenly. There’s Earth in the mix, which results in Attraction drawing together clumps of Prime along with the Earth. Those clumps aggregate into stars and proto-planetary discs. The stars work because they’re massive Prime reactors, constantly spewing out Fire and Light and Magic. There’s Earth formation, but the Water is more or less instantly vaporised by the Fire. Planets form as the disc collapses under Attraction. On the planets, the Prime converts into Earth and Water. The Water is, again, vaporised, forming an atmosphere. Fire, Light, and Magic are created, but eventually overcome by the shell of Earth the Prime is creating. Or, partially overcome. Magic still leaks out. The Fire and Light are contained within the crust, and some of the Water turns back into liquid water as the planet cools.’

Pilar looked a little shellshocked. ‘Do you think that’s really how everything came to be?’

Calista grinned. ‘It’s a hypothesis. It fits the currently observed facts, including ones from outside my experiments.’

‘From outside?’

‘Salpetra. The miners opened a hole in the protection between the Prime core of the planet and the surface. Magic flooded out into the mine. Down there in the planet’s core, there’s still a lump of Prime slowly decaying into other elements. That’s why you still have volcanoes and magic. Well, there must be Magic flowing out from the sun too, but I think it’d be pretty weak when it got here, so the planet must still be supplying its own. Like I said, though, it’s a hypothesis, and I currently have no idea how I’d test it. We can start with a few more runs of the magictron. Different combinations of elements may give different results.’

‘I’m glad I’m still in summer clothes then,’ Pilar said. ‘It’s like the sun comes out every time you do one of these experiments.’

‘Ah, well, if I’m right about all this, that’s because, in a very small-scale sense, it does.’

9 Light.

Word of the coming storm had been sent down from the northern part of Maritania the previous evening. It was a bad one but moving quite fast. The problem was that it seemed to be slowing as it moved south, and with the slower rate of travel had come a higher EMP. It was expected to reach Lorentine in the evening with an estimated EMP of seventeen hundred miliDalmaeuses. The entire city was going into lockdown by late afternoon as the pressure passed twelve hundred. Calista had already shut down all her experiments by then because the increased EMP was affecting them.

‘Remind me to get an instrument to check the EMP in the lab,’ Calista said as she sipped tea and waited for the storm to hit. ‘That could affect things in ways I haven’t calculated.’

‘I’m sure that can be arranged, madam,’ Dalila said.

‘Do you and Pilar have somewhere to stay in this building tonight? It won’t be safe for you to go over to the main servants’ quarters soon.’

‘Those arrangements have already been made. Actually, we will both be moving over to this building permanently soon.’

‘Good. That’ll cut down on the amount of walking you’ll be doing. This is going to be a bad one. The pressure’s still rising, and it’s higher than it was last time already.’

‘Yes, this is going to be a bad storm. The army will be busy for the next few days.’

‘Hm, yeah. With storms come monsters.’

‘Indeed, madam, and with bad storms come bad monsters.’

‘Are there any good monsters?’

‘Well, I suppose it’s a matter of perspective.’

10 Life.

Outside, the storm was raging silently. Silently aside from the occasional thunderous sound of a magical lightning bolt hitting somewhere nearby. Calista had given up on sleeping, thrown on a robe, and was sitting in the lounge. It was not the noises from outside but the aura of magic which was keeping her awake. Her skin felt like it was tingling, like something beneath her skin was trying to get out.

She could sense the intense flow of magic through the room, and she knew that it was muted by the ambrosite core in the walls. She had a suspicion that the estimate of the EMP in the storm might be a little low. As she sat there, contemplating how much damage might be done before the storm passed, she noticed something odd about the magic flow, got to her feet, and followed it.

Her investigation took her to the lab. Inside, the magictron was glowing with an eerie, bluish light. The crystal it was formed from had no specific elemental affinity, but here it was giving off light not unlike a light crystal. It was just about bright enough to read by, and it made Calista feel uncomfortable. Just as she thought that, the light dimmed and the feeling of discomfort subsided. Oddly, the tingling in her skin died away too, as though the EMP had suddenly dropped.

‘Hm,’ she said to the now dark and empty room, ‘no point in looking a gift horse in the mouth. I’ll try to sleep.’ She turned away from the lab, closing the door behind her, and headed back to her bedroom. This meant she did not see the magictron starting to glow again, more or less as soon as it was out of her sight.

~~~

Dalila had woken Calista far too early in the morning with a cup of tea and the news that the army was being deployed to contain an outbreak of monsters in Lorentine. They were asking for support from the heroes. It sounded bad, so Calista was not inclined to turn over and go back to sleep. Well, she was inclined, but decided that she had better get up.

Now, when she actually got a look at one of the creatures the army had cornered in the backyard of a pub, she was wishing she had stayed in bed. ‘No one said it was a giant rat. If someone had told me it was a giant rat, I’d have left it to Wolf.’

‘Wait until you get a whiff of the thing,’ Nikole said. ‘It stinks. Also, it’s not the only one. There are at least three more of them.’

‘Oh, swell. Wolf, you’re up. Want some buffs?’

‘Buffs?’ Wolf asked.

‘Enhancement magic. Extra protection or increased strength, or whatever.’

‘I think I can handle an oversized rat without.’ He hefted his sword and set off toward the corner the rat had backed itself into.

‘Let’s hope those aren’t famous last words. Looks like it has Air magic, which is an odd sort of thing for a rat.’

‘It can fly?’ Nikole asked.

‘No idea. No, if it could, it wouldn’t be stuck in this courtyard. Must be something else.’

The rat was about the size of a big dog, but it otherwise looked pretty much like a typical rat. Rats, it seemed, were the same here as they were on Earth. It was brownish, verging on black. Its claws looked nastier than a normal rat’s, but maybe that was the scale. Calista had no doubt that it had a nasty bite. What else did she know about rats? She was no biologist, but she had watched natural history programmes. Rats were fairly smart. They tended to operate in packs, but this was a monster rat so maybe that did not apply. Rats lived in sewers and other dark places, so they had sonar to judge distances. Sonar?

‘Wolf, be careful. It might be able to–’

The rat opened its mouth and let out an ear-splitting shriek as Wolf approached it. Wolf seemed entirely oblivious to it, but ten metres away, Calista and Nikole felt the impact as a pressure wave. Very suddenly, Calista could hear nothing but a ringing in her ears. Nikole was saying something, but Calista was more concerned about her hearing loss and the bruises she could feel developing across her chest.

Then Roman was there behind her, pulling her back from the courtyard’s entrance. He said something to her, but she heard nothing more than muffled mumbling. ‘I can’t hear,’ she said too loudly. He nodded. ‘My chest’s bruised,’ she added, also too loudly. Not being able to hear herself speak was really annoying.

He took her hand and, quite suddenly, the pain in her chest vanished. Sound rushed back in and she heard another shriek from the rat, this one cut off rather suddenly as, presumably, Wolf got to it with his sword.

‘Better?’ Roman asked.

‘I can hear again and the pain’s gone. And it sounds like Wolf killed the rat. That makes me feel better too.’

‘There are more of them.’

Calista scowled. ‘I know, and they’re not getting a chance to do that again.’

~~~

Two of the giant rats were turning over bins in an alley. Apparently, you could turn a rat into a monster, but it was still going to be a rat. Calista stepped into the alley, raised her arm, and spoke in Teyradi. ‘Isolate.’ The sound of metal canisters full of rubbish suddenly went very quiet. As one, the rats turned their heads and opened their mouths, but there was no deafening shriek, just silence.

‘What did you do?’ Wolf asked.

‘I created an area of static air around them,’ Calista replied. ‘The noisy little beggars won’t be able to scream at us now. It shouldn’t stop you doing what you do best, so get in there and hack.’

‘Don’t need to tell me twice.’ And he set off toward the rats.

‘That’s a clever idea,’ Roman said.

‘It’s not exactly rocket science,’ Calista replied. ‘Actually, it’s not any kind of science, it’s magic. If I were using science… Maybe could be done with destructive interference, but that wouldn’t be easy. I have to admit that magic is easier to use than technology. I just have to be able to describe what’s supposed to happen. In this case, I just don’t want vibrations transmitted through the air.’

‘You could’ve just taken the compliment,’ Nikole suggested.

‘Oh, um, yeah. Thanks, Roman.’

Roman grinned. ‘My pleasure. I wonder how many more of these things there are? And how do they have ultrasonic screams anyway?’

‘No idea on the first one. Rats have a form of sonar. Becoming a monster just ramped that up to eleven.’ Calista glanced at Nikole. ‘That means your invisibility isn’t going to be much use against them.’

‘I can live with that. Let Wolf deal with the smell.’

They all looked back to where Wolf was slicing open a dead rat and looking for its crystal.

‘He seems to be dealing with it pretty well.’

~~~

Almost two hours into the rat hunt, a soldier arrived at a run as Wolf was disposing of another of the creatures and announced that the ‘nest’ had been found. That did not sound like great news, and it turned out that it was worse than expected. Several rats were occupying a warehouse. One of them was, according to the report, larger than the others and had already severely wounded the soldier who had found them. He had managed to crawl away before they came after him, and the warehouse had been locked down, but sending troops in to take the monsters out was going to cause a lot of casualties.

‘So, we get to do it,’ Calista said as they waited for one of the doors to be unbarred.

‘That’s what heroes do,’ Wolf replied.

‘Hm. How many are we dealing with?’

A sergeant was handling the containment operation. He appeared to be somewhat in awe of Wolf, but he rallied to answer the question. ‘Our injured man said he saw six of the smaller ones, two a bit bigger, and one huge one.’

‘Define huge.’

‘Maybe fifteen feet long, minus the tail.’

‘That,’ Calista said flatly, ‘is not a rat. That is an elephant in a rat disguise.’

‘Uh, what’s an elephant?’

‘Never mind. It’s a big mammal which rats are not. This is going to be hard work. Or maybe not.’ She switched to Teyradi. ‘Armour.’ There was a shimmer around her body which quickly vanished into nothing. ‘You’d better stay out here, Nikole.’ Roman was dealing with the injured man who was, apparently, really quite injured, suggesting that the big rat had a much worse scream than the smaller ones.

‘I won’t argue,’ Nikole said.

‘You’re coming in with me?’ Wolf asked. ‘It’s not going to be safe.’

‘No, but it’s what heroes do, right? I’ve got protection and offensive capability. I’ll be useful.’

‘Your funeral. Just remember you can’t use fire in there.’ The door opened and Wolf started in, followed by Calista at a rather slower pace.

The rats had trashed various crates and other stored items toward the centre of the warehouse, but they were now aware that they were in a siege situation, so they had posted lookouts in a wider ring. One of them let out a shriek as soon as it saw the two humans walking in, and Wolf bolted forward to eliminate it. Calista enjoyed the fact that the shriek had not reached her through the armour she had manufactured out of Earth magic. It had to work much like Wolf’s more innate armour field and he was not being affected by the rats’ shrieks.

Of course, that first scream cost one rat its life, but the others now knew they had trouble. Four of the dog-sized ones came charging through among the racks of crates, but they were constrained in how they could get at the two humans, and it was not hard for Wolf to hold them back and do considerable damage. Calista added to the carnage by dropping a guillotine of Air magic on the pair bringing up the rear. Then she almost lost her breakfast when they were sliced in two. And then she remembered that she had not really had breakfast yet.

‘That leaves three or four,’ Wolf said. ‘They must be hanging back in the middle.’

‘Where it’ll be more open and easier for them to flank us.’

‘I don’t think they can do me any damage anyway. They’re nothing like that fire lizard.’

‘And aren’t we all glad of that. Let’s get on with this, the smell really is pretty atrocious.’

‘Where I come from, this is normal.’

‘I’m sorry for you.’

They moved forward and, soon enough, found an area where the shelves had been thrown over and wrecked. In the middle of it was the king rat and it was impressive. Calista guessed it was about five metres long, minus the tail, which was about as long as its body, thick, hairless, and somehow more disgusting than usual thanks to its size. Besides the sheer mass of the thing, it was jet black with glowing red eyes, and its incisors were elongated to hang over its lower lip. If that bit you, it would be like having a pair of giant chisels driven into your body.

‘What a beauty,’ Wolf said.

The rat turned its head at the sound and shrieked. Beside Calista, the side of a crate was smashed in by the shockwave.

‘Nope,’ Calista said, raising her arm. ‘Not doing this. Destroy!’ And the rat died. It did not just die: one second it was there, a big, threatening, demonic rat, the next it was a pile of wet sludge, collapsing to the floor.

There were two other larger rats, maybe the size of a small bear, and one of the dog-size ones. As one, they turned and screamed, but the effect was nothing like that of the king rat. Calista switched her aim. ‘Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.’

‘W-what?’ Wolf said. ‘What did you–’

‘I reduced them to their component elements. The crystals will be intact. We need to find them and destroy them. Or maybe we could get the soldiers to do that.’ Pause. ‘What? I wasn’t going to tangle with that monster. This way is cleaner and easier. And I didn’t burn the warehouse down.’

Scowling, Wolf turned and started back toward the door.

~~~

‘That’s all that’s left of them?’ Roman asked, watching as a contingent of soldiers searched through the sludge for monster crystals.

‘Most living things, animals anyway, are composed of Earth, Water, and Life. If you break them up into those components, the Life energy just evaporates, so you’re left with Earth and Water. Mud, basically.’

‘And you can do that to anything?’

‘Anything with more than one element. Do it to a plant and you’re left with a dead plant. Wood. Animals, humans, monsters, they turn into sludge. I didn’t entirely know it would work, so I tried the experiment.’

‘No one’s ever mentioned magic capable of something like that,’ Nikole said.

‘Because they don’t know about Attraction, the element of pulling things together. I discovered it using the magictron. All the magic you’re being taught is based around the rote use of known methods of using elements. If they don’t know about it, they can’t use it. And I honestly wouldn’t know how to teach someone to use it. It should be possible to do it. Maybe I’ll mention it to Blanchet.’

‘Or don’t,’ Roman suggested. ‘Do we need a battlefield weapon like this?’

‘Perhaps not.’ Calista looked around. ‘Wolf’s not happy again.’

‘You upstaged him. Again.’

‘I suppose I did. Idiot. Are we finished here? I want some breakfast, and then I should probably try to get some more sleep. The storm kept me awake last night.’

‘And you’ll need the rest,’ Nikole said. ‘I heard some officers talking. There are more monsters turning up in the track of the storm and they want help getting rid of them.’

‘What did they do before we turned up?’

‘Um, died a lot, I think.’

12 Light.

Calista opened the tent flap and walked in. It was a pretty big tent. She was sharing it with Nikole, and that was who looked up at her from a cot when she entered. The encampment had just eaten, but Nikole had pushed her food around for a while before heading for the tent.

‘You okay?’ Calista asked.

‘Fine.’

‘Okay.’ Calista dropped onto her own cot and picked up a novel she was currently reading. They had spent the last two days hunting various monsters. It was tiring but mostly boring. So far, three of the things had met untimely ends, all relatively weak monsters which Wolf cut into pieces with ease.

‘Okay, so I’m not entirely okay,’ Nikole said after about a minute. ‘I started bleeding this afternoon.’

‘Bleeding? Oh! Oh. Roman could probably do something about the pain.’

‘Like I’m going to tell him about it.’

‘Fair enough.’ Calista put her novel down and picked up a textbook. ‘I’ll see if I can do something about it.’

‘You don’t have to– Huh, if you can, it would be nice.’

There was silence for a while as Calista checked her book. She frowned. ‘I haven’t had a period since I got here.’

‘Who’s the father?’

‘I haven’t had sex since I got here either. I didn’t really notice until you mentioned it, but I don’t think I have a menstrual cycle. I’d put it down to being a magical construct created by an old, male mage, but if you have them…’

‘That’s kind of weird. Um, Blanchet said he couldn’t detect ambrosite in you. The rest of us have it. You’re different somehow.’

‘Apparently. This should work.’ Calista stretched out an arm toward Nikole. ‘Painless.’

‘That’s… Yeah, that’s better. Like I took a couple of aspirin or something.’

‘This world does have painkillers, you know. They’re alchemical, but they exist.’

‘And are stupidly expensive. Besides, I don’t need them if I can come see you. And magic works faster.’

‘Huh, glad to be of help. I wonder what sort of monster we’ll be after tomorrow.’

‘As long as it doesn’t smell as bad as those rats, I don’t really care.’

13 Light.

‘A lake monster?’ Calista asked. She was looking out at a very calm lake with a village beside it. It was a fairly large lake, and the villagers survived by fishing. Normally.

‘That’s correct,’ Captain Bouchard said. He had been Wolf’s escort after the earlier storm, and he was doing the same job for all four heroes this time. ‘It’s destroyed three fishing boats so far. One man died. Um, he was eaten. It’s apparently a large fish, bigger than a man, and it can control water creating massive waves.’

‘So, how are we supposed to fight it?’ Wolf asked. ‘Do we get our fishing rods out?’

Calista started toward the water’s edge.

‘Honestly,’ Bouchard said, ‘I have no idea. We normally use spears from boats for this kind of thing, but this one swamps boats easily.’

At the water’s edge, Calista raised her arm. ‘Search.’

‘Maybe there’s some way to use magic to breathe underwater,’ Wolf suggested.

‘It’s a deep lake. And fighting in water is difficult,’ Bouchard countered.

‘You’re not wrong…’

‘Lift,’ said Calista. Out in the lake a hundred or so metres away, the water bulged and then a massive fish somewhat like a salmon burst from the water, thrashing wildly. It floated over to the gravel beach, and then it dropped with a loud crunch. It was, however, still thrashing. ‘Guillotine.’ The monster’s head separated neatly from its body and, after a couple of seconds, the thrashing stopped.

Calista turned and started walking back toward Wolf and Bouchard. ‘The crystal is at the base of its skull. There’s a lot of energy in there, so you might want to work fast. I think this one might regenerate quickly.’ Then she walked past them toward the village.

~~~

‘Wolf’s grumpy,’ Roman commented.

‘I think it was me killing the lake monster,’ Calista replied. ‘Maybe a bit too easily.’

‘We are supposed to be a team.’

‘Yes, but I think he’s starting to realise that my DPS is better than his.’

‘Ah.’

‘What’s dee-pee-ess?’ Nikole asked. They were eating lunch in the house of the village’s leader. Calista might have described the guy as a mayor, but he did not seem to think of himself that way.

‘Damage per second,’ Roman supplied. ‘It’s a term from video games. Well, two related terms, I suppose. It’s a statistic, indicating how much damage your character can do in a second, and it’s a term for your main damage-dealing character. It stands to reason that Calista’s burst DPS is going to be higher than Wolf’s. She has magic; he has a sword. But, magic DPS characters are usually glass cannons. Their defence is weak, so they need support to keep the enemies from attacking. Calista can mount fairly high defence too.’

‘Right. I think I got most of that. What’s a video game?’

‘It’s a– You know, it’s not something you really need to worry about. It’s not like you’re ever going to see one here.’

‘Fair enough. So, Wolf is jealous of Calista’s power.’ Nikole gave a shrug. ‘We all have different talents. Of course, Calista can probably heal as well as you can, and she can turn invisible if she wants.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t have Roman’s skill at medicine, and I can’t match your experience with being sneaky.’ Calista shook her head. ‘Wolf just wants to be the hero.’

‘He is a hero.’

‘He wants to be the hero.’

‘Oh. Yeah, you’re probably right. He’ll have to get used to being disappointed, I guess.’

Greater Carver, 15 Light.

‘This one’s a weird one,’ Bouchard said.

‘Weirder than the mass of squirming tentacles?’ Calista asked.

‘Uh, differently weird. No one’s actually seen this one. It’s roaming the forest here, causing strange things to happen. It hasn’t exactly attacked anyone. I mean, no one’s been injured. Three men returned from cutting wood with green skin. Someone else reported having an extended conversation with a talking tree. There have been multiple reports of strange lights.’

‘Surely, the talking tree is the monster,’ Wolf said. ‘I’ll go chop it down and we’ll be done.’

Bouchard shook his head. ‘It’s been checked. It may have talked to the witness, but it’s just a tree now.’

‘Hmph.’

‘So,’ Roman said, ‘we have an invisible monster capable of a wide range of random effects.’

‘Sounds like its element is Magic,’ Calista said. ‘It could be that it’s just applying random transformations to whatever it comes into contact with. And the lights could simply be random illusory effects.’

‘Do you think you can find it?’ Bouchard asked.

‘Well, it must have a pretty big elementary signature. It shouldn’t be too hard.’

The captain nodded. ‘We’ll set out after lunch.’

Carver Forest.

Greater Carver was a small town dominated by forestry and carpentry. Carver Forest was not that big a forest, and it was almost entirely managed now. There was supposed to be a small area in its core which still had old trees in it, but everything else had been cut down and replaced time after time over the years. Furniture from Greater Carver was quite sought after in Lorentine and other places throughout Maritania. Currently, the foresters were going into the forest only if they had to, however, which was going to hit the local economy soon enough if the monster was not eliminated.

About two hours after lunch, Calista was still tracking the monster. She was there along with a dozen soldiers, Bouchard, and the other three heroes. They were all following her lead as she tracked an intense Magic source, but that source was not keeping still so that they could catch it. It seemed to be able to move very fast.

‘This entire forest is a bit strange,’ Calista said as they pressed forward. ‘There’s more magic than there should be. I mean, the EMP is higher than average.’

‘Maybe the forest is the monster,’ Roman suggested. ‘Some trees are connected through their root system, or it could be a huge fungal organism that’s become a monster.’

‘Fungal?’ Wolf asked. ‘You’re saying we could be fighting a giant mushroom?’

‘Sort of, but I don’t currently have any evidence for that. It’s just an idea.’

‘If you give me something to fight, I’ll fight it.’

‘That could be kind of difficult if–’

‘Damn it! It’s moved again.’ Calista appeared frustrated to say the least. ‘Damn, damn, damn. Captain, do you have a map of this forest?’

A map was produced and laid out on the ground, and Calista stared at it for a second before measuring off a distance with her fingers and then on the map itself. ‘So, it was about here. And then it moved to… about here. Huh.’

‘That’s the core of the forest,’ Bouchard said.

‘Yeah, and I think it’s been there several times. It’s jumping about all over the place, but it keeps going back there.’

‘Then we head for there and ambush it.’

‘I’m no tactician, but that sounds easier than wandering aimlessly in the hope of catching it. Somehow, I doubt we’re going to have much luck with an ambush. Something tells me this is no ordinary monster.’

‘If we can catch it, we can kill it,’ Wolf said confidently.

‘I guess we’ll see when we find it.’

~~~

There was a point where it became obvious that they had left the managed part of the forest and entered the older, wilder part. For most of them, it was simply a matter of observation. The forest was denser, the trees more gnarled. It was darker because the canopy was thicker. Movement became slower as they had to pick their way through it.

For Calista, there was another factor. Magic was everywhere. Thick strands of it wound between the trees. Her senses were almost overwhelmed by it all, though the pressure did not seem to be excessively high. It was not simply Magic either; Life washed through the environment in a way Calista had yet to encounter anywhere else on Ar. This was nothing like the mine at Salpetra. This felt natural, somehow, as though she had just found a little slice of what Ar was supposed to be like.

‘This place makes me uneasy,’ Wolf said as they moved deeper.

‘Really?’ Roman asked. ‘It feels oddly relaxing to me.’

‘It has a rather spooky atmosphere,’ Nikole said, ‘but I don’t find that unpleasant for some reason.’

‘There’s magic everywhere,’ Calista said. ‘You’re probably reacting to that. It’s, um, old magic. It’s been like this for a long time, and it’s settled, comfortable. I don’t know, it’s difficult to get a handle on what I’m sensing.’

‘Lights!’ someone called out from Calista’s right. She turned and looked and, sure enough, there were lights floating in the air among the trees. Blues, purples, and a few greens, they looked like bright orbs just drifting randomly through the air. But around those lights…

‘The monster,’ Wolf said, drawing his sword.

‘It’s not a monster,’ Calista said.

‘What?’

‘It’s an elemental. A big elemental.’

‘What kind?’ Roman asked. ‘I’ve never seen a visible elemental before.’

‘Technically, you aren’t seeing one now.’ Calista was watching the twisting of the world’s magic around and between the lights, the way it formed a sort of knot, a twisting, constantly moving, ball of magicness. ‘The lights are something it’s projecting. An illusion of some kind. It looks like… It’s hard to describe. It’s a Magic elemental.’

‘There are no Magic elementals,’ Bouchard said. ‘It’s something everyone’s taught.’

‘Yes, well, someone changed the rules. That’s a Magic elemental, and you can put your sword away, Wolf. Physical attacks are going to do absolutely nothing to it. To be honest, it doesn’t really seem to be threatening.’

‘So, what do we do about it?’ Wolf asked. He sounded annoyed. Again.

‘I guess I can work out how to banish it or something. I’ll need to look some stuff up and I don’t have my books here.’

‘How powerful do you think it is?’ Bouchard asked.

‘Well, I’ve never seen a Magic elemental before, so I’m not really sure, but it looks a lot bigger than most of the other elementals I’ve seen.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s just floating there, watching us. Huh, well, it feels like it’s watching us. I mean, it’s not like I can see eyes or anything.’

‘We’ll make our way back to town. You can consult your books and, hopefully, we can come back tomorrow and do something about it.’

‘It’s going to be pretty late by the time we get back into town. I’ll see what I can do.’

Greater Carver.

Technically, it would probably not be difficult to eliminate the elemental. It was probably going to be more resistant to dismissal than other elementals, but it would return to the general pool of Magic if Calista tried hard enough. The problem she had was not that she could do it. Rather, she was worried over whether she should do it. There had been a definite feeling of sentience about the thing in the forest. Destroying a sentient being simply because it was, at worst, playing pranks upon the foresters seemed wrong.

They were staying in an inn tonight, so Calista had her own bed in her own room. She worked late into the evening, as she tended to do, examining and re-examining the same information. All it said was that elementals could be dismissed using control over their element. It was considered trivial. It still did not give her any ideas on the ethics of doing so to sentient elementals. It seemed like most mages viewed elementals as tools and nothing more. When a tool was no longer needed, you disposed of it.

She went to bed not long before midnight, still not sure what she should do in the morning.

16 Light.

It was still dark when Calista opened her eyes. Sort of dark. There was no light coming in through the shuttered window, but there was light in the room. Orbs of blue, purple, and green floated in the air and, to Calista’s eyes, bands of other colours twisted through the air between the orbs. These were colours she could not have readily described. They were green, purple, red, pink, and blue, but they were also not those colours. She had the feeling that her mind was assigning the colours of the Magic flowing through the room, and someone else seeing them would have said that they were entirely different.

Whatever, the Magic elemental was there in the inn with her. It was not doing anything. It was there, and it was, she thought, watching, but it was making no move to attack.

‘What do you want?’ Calista asked.

‘Want?’ The sound came out of the air, a light voice which might have been classified as female, but it could have been a young male voice, and there was a reverberation behind it which made it sound distinctly alien.

‘Why did you come here?’ Calista tried. The fact that it seemed to understand her was something.

‘To see. You. To see you.’

‘Why are you interested in me?’

‘Same. You, me, same. But not. Not same. Same, but not same.’

‘We’re the same? What does that even– Not important. You’re scaring the townsfolk. I’d rather not have to dismiss you, but you’re scaring the townsfolk. If you would stay in the centre of the forest, maybe that would be good enough. Could you do that?’

‘They destroy. They hurt Magic. In the forest. Destroy trees. Cut trees and destroy Magic. Stop them.’

Calista nodded slowly. ‘They’re destroying your habitat, the old forest which is dense with Magic. You’re fighting back.’ The elemental did not answer, so it seemed that she was right. And she did not want to destroy this being which only wanted to protect the little land it had left. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

‘Good,’ the elemental said, and then it was gone. The lights vanished; the Magic twisting through the room vanished. It was, she suspected, back in its forest. Now all she had to do was persuade the humans of Greater Carver to play ball.

~~~

‘So,’ Calista said, ‘that’s the situation. The elemental lives in the old forest at the middle of Carver Forest, and it would prefer it if you stopped cutting trees there. Leave it alone, and it will leave you alone.’

‘And we are just supposed to accept that?’ The speaker was Wilfredo Roussel, the mayor of Greater Carver. He had interests in forestry and was, perhaps, not too interested in curtailing logging activities.

‘We really need to get rid of it,’ Bouchard said. ‘That’s what we’re here for.’

‘We are here to kill monsters,’ Calista countered. ‘This is not a monster. It hasn’t actually harmed anyone, has it?’

‘Well, no.’

‘I don’t see that you need to cut trees in the middle of the forest. You could leave that area to nature. It’s the only thing natural anywhere around here, so far as I can tell. Let the world have this.’

‘That is not acceptable,’ Roussel announced flatly. ‘We can’t allow some magical beast to dictate what we can and can’t do on our land.’

‘Huh. That seems to be the general attitude here. Do as you wish and damn the consequences. Fine, have it your way.’ Roussel’s expression shifted to a rather triumphant smile. ‘However, I’m not going to be responsible for killing a sentient being so that you can make money. If you want it removed, find someone else to do it.’

Roussel’s smile shattered. ‘What? You can’t do that!’

‘Miss Hogarth,’ Bouchard said, ‘we really must–’

‘I’m not doing it, Captain. I spoke to it. I said I’d do what I can. I think Mister Roussel is being unreasonable. Actually, I think Mister Roussel is being more than unreasonable, but I’ll keep my exact thoughts to myself. If you want that elemental destroyed, get someone from the Elementary Academy to try to dismiss it. We, those of us summoned here, are supposed to be heroes. Heroes don’t kill living beings just because someone wants to carve up the world for profit. Get another assassin.’

Lorentine, 19 Light.

Having dispatched three more monsters, the heroes returned to Lorentine with no more said about the Magic elemental. Calista had the feeling that Bouchard was not happy. Wolf was also not happy because Calista had demolished the last three monsters with magic before he could do anything. She was in something of a bad mood, and destroying creatures which were overtly malevolent let off some steam. When she finally got to sleep in her own bed again, it was with some relief.

And then she had the dream…

She was in bed and, once again, the Magic elemental appeared. It was a long way outside its normal range here in the capital, so Calista figured she had to be dreaming. There were the usual lights and twisting bands of not-quite light. The voice she had heard in the inn in Greater Carver spoke.

‘Thanks,’ it said. ‘Share.’

‘Share what?’

Instead of answering, the elemental changed. Its bands brightened and shifted. They twisted toward Calista and she was briefly worried about what was going on. And then there was information and power flowing into her. She could not immediately understand what was happening, but her body stiffened, her back bowed. Her mind filled to breaking point and, when she came back from the blinding light of knowledge, she was floating above the bed.

‘Done. Become more.’ So saying, the dream elemental vanished as it had done in the inn.

‘More?’ Calista said, but there was obviously no one to hear her. She was dreaming anyway. She was dreaming, right?

~~~

Lorenzo Basurto had had a full week of not being disturbed by insomnia or naked blue women, but tonight, it seemed, was not to be his night. He had managed to get to sleep, but had woken after little more than an hour to find that returning to sleep was not going to happen immediately. That was not entirely uncommon. He had been tired, had gone to bed, and now that his body had had a little rest, it refused to waste time on sleeping more. Eventually, that situation would end and he would sleep, but until then, he intended to get some work done.

Opening the door to the library, he stepped inside carrying a light crystal. He turned and closed the door behind him. He turned back toward his desk and found his field of view largely filled with a blue face. A grinning blue face, in fact. The blue lady was right there, right in front of him, staring at him with a grin on her face. She had a vaguely heart-shaped face with large, angular eyes in a violet colour. She had a perky sort of nose and full, pouting lips. Her eyebrows were white to go with her hair. Her skin was definitely blue, a sort of powder-blue colour with darker, almost purple lips. White hair drifted lazily in a wind which Basurto could not feel.

‘You–’ Basurto said.

The blue lady let out a giggle, and then she turned and flew upwards, right through the ceiling of the library.

Lorenzo Basurto spent a minute or so staring at the space she had flown through, not sure what to do next. The weird thing was that he really thought he should recognise her. She looked like…

20 Light.

‘Ah! It’s M-Miss Hogarth. Welcome b-back to the library.’

Calista put a stack of books down on the librarian’s desk and regarded Basurto. He looked flustered. His cheeks were red. ‘Thanks, Mister Basurto. Is something wrong?’

‘No! N-no, nothing’s wrong. Why would anything be wrong?’

‘I have no idea. Okay, well, I’m going up to the fiction stacks. I’ll be back.’

‘Of course. Of course. I’ll see you, um, when you come back down.’

‘Weird,’ Calista muttered as she headed off toward the stairs. Whatever could be bothering the man? Had he been having naughty dreams with her in them? It might explain the blushing.

Calista shrugged. She had been designed as a replacement for an old man’s rather pneumatic wife; becoming the subject of a few wet dreams was probably to be expected.

~~~

When Pilar showed Basurto and Blanchet into Calista’s lounge, she was in the middle of a number of books and a notepad, but she still managed to notice that both of them looked a little bemused. Basurto was still blushing. That had to be some dream.

‘Good afternoon, gentlemen,’ Calista said. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?’

‘This is going to be difficult,’ Blanchet said.

‘Hm. At least sit down. Then you can start from the beginning and, hopefully, that’ll make things easier.’

‘Not really,’ Blanchet said, now from a seated position. ‘Well, for a while now, Lorenzo has been seeing something in the library at night.’

‘I suffer from insomnia,’ Basurto explained. ‘If I can’t sleep, I work at my desk in the library until I can.’

‘It’s a good strategy,’ Calista said, nodding.

‘Yes, well, on several occasions, I’ve seen a figure floating through the library. A female figure with blue skin and white hair.’

‘A ghost? I’d say I don’t believe in ghosts, but on Ar, I suppose all bets are off.’

‘It’s not a ghost,’ Blanchet said. ‘Lorenzo came to me to see whether I could capture the spirit so that we could find out what she wanted.’

‘So, you’ve seen it too?’

‘I have, but a standard spirit trapping spell failed to react to her. She is not a ghost. Beyond that, the power I detected from her was extraordinary.’

Calista frowned. ‘Not a ghost. What then?’

‘I have no idea, but last night, Lorenzo got a really good look at her. Up close. He is quite sure that the figure which has been roaming the library at night looks like you.’

‘I’m not blue. My hair is black.’

‘Yes,’ Basurto said, ‘but the features were yours. And the, um, figure.’

‘She always appears naked,’ Blanchet said. Basurto’s cheeks reddened further.

Calista’s frown deepened. ‘So, your supposition is that I’m turning into a blue woman with white hair and floating around the library at night? I think I’d have noticed. I think I’d be rather more tired in the mornings. I have no memory of any night-time excursions. Though…’

‘Miss Hogarth?’

‘Well, I do sometimes remember things I’ve read, but I have no memory of reading whatever book they came from.’

Blanchet nodded. ‘Your progress with magic has been quite remarkable. But I think you’re right. I think you’d have more evidence of going out at night, even if you’re unable to remember doing so. You would be tired in the mornings. Perhaps some sort of mental sending…’ He shook his head. ‘Why would that be visible at all?’

‘Is this… entity causing any harm?’ Calista asked.

‘Aside from scaring me last night,’ Basurto said, ‘she seems to just read. Or anyway, reading is what I think she’s doing. Often in the restricted section.’

‘Then what’s the harm in letting her get on with it? If it’s somehow helping me improve, all the better.’

‘I’d like to get to the bottom of this,’ Blanchet said, ‘but I suppose you’re right.’

‘And if it is me, somehow, I’ll try to avoid scaring you from now on, Mister Basurto.’

‘Uh, thank you. That would be appreciated.’

27 Light.

Fosse was back. This time, Calista decided not to have any tea made. If he was here, then it was probably about exactly one thing: he had heard about her ability to disassemble monsters with a word. He was, once again, going to be disappointed.

‘I can’t teach it to anyone else,’ Calista said. ‘It’s not elemental magic in the form you know it.’

‘My magical talents are meagre,’ Fosse said. ‘I have a basic education in ritual casting, but that’s about it.’

‘Okay, but you know that magic generally uses elementals to make it work. You summon an elemental of the right type, and it does the magic.’

‘Of course.’

‘Well, there are no Attraction elementals.’

Fosse frowned. ‘I’m sorry, “Attraction” elementals.’

Calista gave a small shrug. ‘That’s what I’m calling it. Attraction is the element responsible for gravity, but it also holds together the elements in complex objects, like monsters, humans, and living plants. If you take it away from a monster, you get left with Earth and Water. And the ambrosite crystal which empowered it. I can’t even begin to think how you would create a ritual to do that when there’s no such thing as an Attraction elemental. Besides, there are plenty of ways to kill people with magic. I honestly don’t think adding another to your collection makes a difference.’

‘That would be for us to decide. However, if you are actually the only person able to perform the spell, it makes such an evaluation pointless.’

‘I’m glad we agree.’

Fosse got to his feet. ‘You seem to be making a habit of creating very effective weapons, Miss Hogarth. Perhaps the next one you invent might be useful to the army.’

Calista flashed him a smile. ‘Well, I can certainly hope not.’

29 Light.

Calista had no idea why she had been summoned to a meeting in the palace, but she had, and it was annoying. She had planned to spend the morning running the magictron up and seeing what fell out, but now she was heading out under the rebuilt walkway from the library building to the main palace building. It was not really a long walk. She would have preferred not to be making it, but it would be fairly quick. Hopefully, the meeting would be a short one, and then she could get on with what she should be doing. There was a, relatively weak, magical storm coming in in the next thirty-six hours, and that would cause problems with her experiments, so she really wanted to be getting on with it while she could.

Apparently, someone else was also making the walk between the two buildings. Two workmen carrying a large trunk between them were walking in the opposite direction. Calista nodded to them as she passed them and they nodded back. Vaguely, she wondered what was in the trunk. It looked like one of those old-fashioned steamer trunks you saw in period movies. Or the kind you hid a body in in a murder mystery.

Pain blossomed across the back of her head, and she stumbled forward. She had just about enough time to wonder whether she was about to get stuffed into the trunk before she blacked out.

~~~

‘She was notified of this meeting, wasn’t she?’ King David asked. The meeting was due to start, and there was no sign of Calista. Generally, she would have been there ahead of time.

‘She was notified, Your Majesty,’ Fosse said.

‘The rest of us are here,’ Wolf said.

‘Well,’ the king said, ‘we’ll start. I don’t suppose she’ll have trouble catching up.’ He looked toward Cabrera. ‘General?’

Cabrera did not look happy, but he picked up his notes and began. Ten minutes later, however, there was still no sign of Calista and Cabrera had run out of things to say about the current threat to the country posed by Red Star Confederacy insurgents.

‘This isn’t like her,’ Roman said.

‘No,’ Abarca agreed. ‘She is generally punctual, even if she doesn’t want to be here.’

King David turned in his seat and waved over one of his guards. ‘Please go to the library building and determine where Miss Hogarth is.’

Fifteen minutes later, the army was conducting a thorough search of the palace, but by that time, Calista was no longer in the palace for them to find.

~~~

Calista awoke to a throbbing head and a general feeling of discomfort. It took her a few seconds to get over the pain and figure out what else was wrong, but she got there. She was hogtied. Her ankles and wrists had been tied together. Thankfully, she seemed to be lying on a mattress, otherwise her boobs would have been crushed against the floor, which would have just added insult to injury. There was also a thick cloth gag in her mouth, which was an added inconvenience.

She figured all this was to prevent her using magic, and it was pretty effective. If she could have spoken, she could have been out of her bindings in a second. As it was, she was stuck.

She was stuck in a dark room, apparently lying on a bed. There was some light coming in around the edges of a door, but that just revealed wooden floorboards. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, so she had no idea whether she had been moved out of the city. It was likely that people were searching for her, but that could take a while, and all she could do was wait.

As she waited, she began to hear voices through the door. Two men. Probably the two men with the trunk. Damn! She really had been knocked on the head and stuffed into a steamer trunk. And then the palace guard had just let the two kidnappers walk out through one of the gates. Great.

‘Are you sure she’s secure?’ one voice asked.

‘Mages can’t cast unless they can speak,’ said the second.

‘Most mages, sure, but what about her?’

‘No one’s ever seen her cast without saying something. Stop worrying.’

‘I’m going to keep worrying until Grey Fox gets here and tells us we can move her. The sooner we’re out of this city, the better.’

So, they were still in Lorentine. Grey Fox sounded like some sort of codename, but it told Calista nothing about who had grabbed her. Of course, Cabrera would say it was the Confederacy, and she could think of no one else who might have done it, but she was the kind of woman who liked more evidence before calling something a fact. It was possible that she had been grabbed to ransom back to the government…

‘We’re going to have to feed her eventually,’ said the first speaker.

‘She can last a day without,’ said number two, the bastard. ‘If it takes longer than that… We’ll worry about that when we have to.’

Oh great, not only was she going to be stuck like this for goodness knew how long, but she was going to be hungry the whole time too!

~~~

There was a third voice. Calista had surprised herself by nodding off after a while, even if her position was far from comfortable. It was uncomfortable, but very boring; sleeping was about all she had to do. Now she was awake, and there was a third voice on the other side of the door.

‘The storm is making travel to the west difficult,’ said speaker number three. Weirdly, his voice seemed familiar, but Calista was not sure where she had heard it before.

‘How long?’ speaker two asked.

‘Probably two days. The best estimate for now is that it’ll hit before dawn tomorrow, but it’s not just a normal storm. The EMP isn’t very high, but it’s high enough, and the rain is making the roads difficult.’

‘Can’t we use a train?’ speaker one asked. He was sounding even more nervous than he had been earlier.

‘You want to put a woman in a trunk, on a train, and hope she doesn’t manage to attract any attention while you transport her all the way to the border?’

Well, that pretty much locked it down as a Confederacy plot.

‘W-what do we do about feeding her? She’s going to be dead before she gets there at this rate.’

There was a sound which might have been a sigh. ‘You put a knife to her throat and tell her you’ll slit it if she says a word. Do I have to think of everything?’

‘No, Grey Fox. We can do that.’

‘What about the searches?’ speaker two asked.

‘They’re concentrating on the area around the palace for now,’ Grey Fox said. ‘When they start widening the search, they’ll be directed toward the poorer districts first. They won’t check here before you can move her. Just remember to conceal the trunk. They will be checking anything like that leaving the city.’

‘Of course.’

So, she had a couple of days to be found at best. That seemed too short a time for the army to locate her. Grey Fox seemed pretty sure she would be gone before the troops got to her. Grey Fox seemed to know a lot about what the army was doing, actually. A spy? A spy within the Maritanian army? Well, there almost certainly had to be some…

Calista began to pull at her bonds. If the army was not going to find her in time, maybe she could break out herself.

30 Light.

Calista had no idea what the time was, probably sometime after midnight, but exactly when she had no clue. She had sore wrists but had made no further progress in freeing herself. One of her two captors was very good at tying knots.

Now, however, something was changing. She had been feeling the EMP around her rising for maybe an hour, but it suddenly spiked and, outside somewhere, thunder rolled across the sky. This was normal thunder; there was not sufficient magical pressure for magical lightning. There was enough for the now-familiar skin-crawling feeling to begin. Added to the raw skin on her wrists, it was close to being painful.

Instead of a rumble of thunder, there was a crash. Something pretty close to where Calista was lying had to have been hit. There was the sound of glass rattling.

‘Fuck!’ Speaker one was, apparently, a little freaked out by the close call.

‘What are you, ten?’ Speaker two was, apparently, fed up with his colleague’s attitude. ‘It’s just thunder. Get a grip.’

‘There’s something not right about this storm. You can’t feel that?’

‘You’re being stupid. It’s just a storm. EMP isn’t even that high. Okay, so there’s a natural storm along with the magic one, but there’s nothing weird about it.’

There was something different about this storm, however. Calista could see it in the air around her. It took a little time to figure out what was going on, but she got there. This was not the palace where every wall had a core of ambrosite ore. There might be some ambrosite filler in the walls here, but not nearly as much as in the palace. The magic of the storm was basically flowing through this building unhindered. It was probably going to be an uncomfortable night, even if she stopped trying to get out of her ropes.

~~~

A couple of hours later, Calista was hoping that the storm was reaching its peak. She could no longer feel the soreness in her wrists because it felt as though her entire skin was crawling off her body.

Outside, thunder continued to crash and boom, sometimes accompanied by the more shrieking sound of magical discharges. She could hear rain hammering down on tiles overhead. It was close to the end of the month of Light and, she supposed, autumn was now in full swing. If this was an example of an autumn storm on Ar, she did not really want to know what winter storms were like. It could be that the coincidence of natural and unnatural storms was making it worse, however.

In the other room, one and two were not in agreement over the storm. They had been taking breaks to sleep, one at a time while the other watched. That had meant they were mostly quiet, but they were both awake right now and number one was not happy.

‘That’s not normal. The rain is really bad. I’m not sure we’ll be able to head west once it passes. The roads might be washed out.’

There was a grunt from number two which might have been agreement. ‘This country doesn’t maintain its roads properly, that’s for sure. They rely too much on the rail system and airships.’

‘So–’

‘But we’re still leaving as soon as the storm passes. She needs to be moved. The search is suspended now, but they’ll start looking this way as soon as they can get out on the streets again.’

How long was that going to be? A couple of hours, maybe. No more than four hours, certainly. Calista tugged uselessly on her ropes again. She needed to get out of this mess sooner rather than later. She was sure she could disable her captors if she could get free. She just had to get out of the ropes. The desire to rip her own skin off was not helping her concentration. If that would stop, maybe she could–

Two things happened at more or less the same time. The itching, crawling, irritating feeling washed away to leave a sudden sense of total calm. The ropes and gag that had been bothering Calista so much dropped onto the mattress. Calista floated up off the bed and then lowered herself down onto the floor beside it, rubbing at her wrists as she did so.

Then she thought about that and started to freak out. She had floated off the bed. Plus, she had not escaped the ropes – the ropes had fallen off her, or through her to set her free. Neither of those things were normal. Now, however, was not the time to worry over how she was free; she had to focus on the fact that she was. She had to leave, and that meant dealing with her two captors.

She headed for the door, reached for the handle, and found her hand passing right through it. That was… wrong. On the other hand, if her hand had gone through a metal doorknob, hopefully her body could pass through the door. She stepped forward and into the dimly lit outer room.

There was a moment when she had a chance to take in the scene before the two kidnappers noticed her. The room was simple, a basic lounge/dining room arrangement with a small kitchen bolted on at one side. The walls were likely concrete with a layer of painted plaster over it. Light came from a single crystal in the middle of a four-person dining table which the two men were sitting at maybe two metres away from the door Calista had just walked through. Beyond that there was a couch with blankets lying crumpled upon on it; that was presumably where they had been sleeping since Calista had been in the bedroom.

She looked down and saw her own hand. Her skin was blue. Rather absently, she lifted that hand and found some strands of hair which she pulled into view. Her hair was white. Well, it seemed like she had some apologising to do to the librarian, but that was going to have to wait.

‘What the fuck is that?!’ Speaker one had noticed her and was reacting about as expected.

Speaker two took a brief second to decide that he neither knew nor cared what Calista was, he was going to slug her. He was a beefier man than his colleague; Calista was rather pleased with that since she had characterised him as a short, stocky man from his voice. He balled a fist and erupted out of his chair to swing at Calista’s face. His fist passed clean through her and he let out a grunt as he punched the door rather hard.

‘Float,’ Calista said in Teyradi.

‘She’s using magic!’ number one said on a rising tone of panic. He jumped to his feet and then his body kept going upward until he collided with the ceiling. Calista lifted gently into the air and glided forward and, when number two got his act back together, his second swing-and-miss sent him spiralling into the air.

‘Count yourselves lucky we’re inside,’ Calista said. ‘Gravity doesn’t work on you two at the moment. If we were outside, thrashing around like that would probably have you floating off into the storm. I’m leaving now.’ And with that, she floated upward, through the ceiling and the attic space above it, through the slates of the roof, and out into the night air.

It was pitch black, the sky filled with rolling clouds obscuring any source of light from above. At street level, there were a few light crystals blazing in their overcharged state from the storm, but no one was out in the driving rain which passed right through Calista.

More light seemed to come from the twisting bands of colour of the magic flowing through the sky. Except that this was not like the other storms Calista had seen. The magic was not just Magic. There was Air magic flowing through the city in twisting streamers. It glowed in the clouds overhead. It was interesting, but Calista figured she would be better off back within the palace walls.

She took stock and found that the palace was off to the east. She was in a middle-class area on the west side of the city. Not one of the better buildings in the area, but the area itself was fairly well-off. Turning, she began to fly eastward, discovering that she was not exactly fast. She could fly at maybe twice her speed on foot. On the other hand, she could fly straight there instead of having to follow the roads.

She was only about five hundred metres from the castle walls when something much faster than she was swept down out of the sky to hover in front of her. It looked kind of like a woman in white robes, but it also looked like the robes were part of the woman. Flowing white hair was the same colour as perfect white skin. Her eyes were violet, rather like Calista’s. She had an angular face with rather indistinct features, and a slim body with thin arms and legs. She flowed, almost as though she was part of the air itself.

‘Welcome,’ she said in a soft voice which still managed to reverberate through Calista’s chest. ‘I am Sythosalna. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.’

‘Uh, I’m Calista. Wait. Sythosalna? Sythosalna the greater Air elemental?’

The elemental smiled. ‘That would be me. And I know who you are, though… You aren’t strong enough yet. We’ll speak again when you’ve grown stronger.’

‘I don’t understand what’s going on.’

‘No, neither do we. We thought you were lost.’

‘We?’

‘Change is coming to Ar, Calista,’ Sythosalna said, apparently ignoring the question. ‘You need to be ready for it.’

‘But how–’ Just as swiftly as she had come, Sythosalna vanished up into the clouds, leaving Calista wondering what was going on.

Lightning flared up ahead of her. Something on the palace had been hit, but this was mundane lightning and lightning rods had been invented here. Maybe there was a way to make magical lightning rods. Something to think about, but for now she just wanted to be inside, and she was hoping that everyone at the palace was asleep because it was going to be really embarrassing if anyone saw her in her current state. What if she could not turn back?! One problem at a time. Get back inside and worry about returning to normal then.

At least getting in was no problem. She flew straight through the wall of her apartment’s lounge and was greeted by a sudden shriek from Pilar. Both of her maids were awake and waiting for news of their mistress. Great.

Hovering in the air above her lounge carpet, white hair blowing in a wind which was not actually there, Calista looked between the two maids and forced a smile. ‘Uh, surprise? Turns out I’m even weirder than the other heroes.’

‘Madam,’ Dalila said, apparently calming herself far faster than Pilar. ‘You’re blue.’

‘Yeah, about that…’

1 Magic.

‘I see,’ King David said. It was the day after the storm and Calista had spent the last twenty-four or so hours hiding in her rooms and refusing visitors. In particular, the military had been keen to interview her, but she had refused. She had provided them with the location of the house she had been held in, but that was about all she was saying until she had sorted out her feelings about what had happened to her. Now the king and Blanchet had turned up to see her and she had decided she could not refuse them. Besides, she was more or less sure of how she felt. She had just finished recounting her story to them. Everything except her meeting with Sythosalna anyway.

Blanchet had been taking notes. He tapped his pen on his notebook. ‘Grey Fox. That seems like someone we need to find. Well, that Cabrera needs to find.’

‘He was in charge,’ Calista said. ‘I got the impression he was somehow in charge of all the Confederacy spies in Lorentine. Maybe all of them in Maritania. It’s weird. I’m sure I’ve heard his voice before, but I couldn’t place it.’

‘And then,’ the king said, ‘at the height of the storm, you turned into a Magic elemental and escaped.’

‘The blue lady,’ Blanchet added. ‘Your story would be almost unbelievable if I hadn’t seen her for myself. You were sleepwalking in elemental form.’

‘Yeah,’ Calista said, ‘I’m a Magic elemental. Sort of. Sometimes. I can’t control it. I returned to normal about ten minutes after I got back here. The combination of the storm and my need to escape seems to have triggered the change. I haven’t been able to make it happen again.’

‘We’ll keep that part quiet,’ the king said. ‘You slipped your bonds and used magic to escape. It’s believable, and no one else needs to know what you truly are.’

‘We’ll probably have to tell Lorenzo,’ Blanchet said. ‘He’s seen Calista several times as the blue lady. He’s already quite sure they’re one and the same.’

‘I’ll leave that to you then. Be sure to tell him that this be kept secret.’

‘Of course.’

‘Well, I’m not happy that I’m not even human,’ Calista said, ‘so keeping it to myself is fine. Dalila and Pilar can be trusted to keep it quiet. I think I should tell Roman and Nikole.’

‘Not Wolf?’ the king asked.

‘I don’t like Wolf that much. I’m not sure I trust him. Uh, they didn’t catch the kidnappers, did they?’

The king shook his head. ‘They were gone by the time the army found the apartment they were using. It was rented under a fake name.’

‘Of course. The spell I used only lasted something like half an hour. But that means the Confederacy knows I’m something other than human. Or they will as soon as those two give their report.’

‘Agreed, but for now they probably don’t know exactly what you are.’

‘Besides,’ Blanchet said, ‘until you can control the change, your elemental state is not that useful and probably nothing they can use against you.’

‘Well, we can certainly hope so,’ Calista said.

Epilogue

Lorentine, Maritania, 3 Magic 2189.

Calista sipped her tea and let out a sigh. ‘So, yeah, the reason I don’t have ambrosite in my body is that I’m not even as human as you two.’

‘You’re an elemental?’ Nikole asked.

‘Or some sort of hybrid. I can’t just change into my blue version at will, but it’s there, inside me.’

‘Not that it changes anything,’ Roman said. ‘We aren’t really monsters, and you aren’t really an elemental. Or both are true, but we’re all still us.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Calista said. ‘It’s still a bit difficult to take in.’ She shrugged. ‘I died, got reincarnated here, and now I’m not actually a human. I think it’ll take a while to sink in. Anyway, it seems like Cabrera is partially right and we are under threat from the Red Star Confederacy. You should watch your backs.’

‘I always do,’ Nikole replied.

‘It’s a bit of a habit when you frequent war zones,’ Roman said.

‘Oh.’ Calista frowned. ‘Just me then. I guess I’ll have to come up with a way of creating defensive magic. I’ll talk to Blanchet about it.’ She grinned and picked up a biscuit. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying that. A few months ago, I didn’t believe in magic.’ She bit into the biscuit, chewed for a second, and then sighed. ‘And I didn’t believe in biscuits this good either.’

Roman flashed a grin. ‘The biscuits are easier to believe in.’

‘I don’t know. I can make magic. If I tried to make biscuits like this, I don’t think they’d turn out the same.’

Nikole swallowed a bite of her own biscuit. ‘I have to agree with Calista. These biscuits are unbelievable.’

Roman bit into his own soft, mouth-watering pastry. After a second, he swallowed. ‘Well, you may have a point.’

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.

I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

Recently I took the big step of quitting my day job and taking up full-time writing. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, J.D. Robb, and Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.

For More Information

Take a look at the Witches and Ray-guns blog: http://witchesandrayguns.wordpress.com

Links to book vendors and other information can be found there, along with a view on what I’m up to and when it might happen.

Other Books by this Author

The Thaumatology Series

Thaumatology 101

Demon’s Moon

Legacy

Dragon’s Blood

Disturbia

Hammer of Witches

Eagle’s Shadow

Ancient

Dragonfall

The Other Side of Hell

For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll

Vengeance

Anthologies in the Thaumatology Universe

Tales from High Towers’ Study

Tales from the Dubh Linn

The Aneka Jansen Books

Steel Beneath The Skin

The Cold Steel Mind

Steel Heart

The Winter War

The Greatest Heights of Honour

The Lowest Depths of Shame

Hope

The Ultrahuman Books

Ugly

Shadows

Hunting Mink

Frostburn

Guardian

True Dark

Liberty

Royal Flush

The Unobtainium Books

Kate on a Hot Tin Roof

King Solamet’s Mines

The Fox Meridian Books

Fox Hunt

Inescapable

DeathWeb

Criminal Minds

Emergence

The Ghost in the Doll

Eden Burning

Dominance

The Hellas Find

Dancing with The Devil

The Princeps Venator Books

Hunter’s Kiss

Be My Valentine

Blood Magic

The Misfits Series

Misfit Magic

Misfit Witchcraft

The Twilight Empress Trilogy

The Iron Princess

The Death’s Handmaiden Series

Death’s Handmaiden

Bitter Wind

Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions

Futures

The Aquaria Incident

Loyalty

The Tatsu Yamada Series

Sign of the Dragon

Mask of the Demon

The Fallen Goddess Series

Fallen

Demonscourge

Other

Reality Hack

The Zanari Inheritance

The Vanity Case

The Eyes of the Huntress

Gunwitch: Rebirth

The Girl Who Dreamed of a Different World

Age of Atlantis: Return

The Empress’s Mage

Titans

Starlight

Elementary