G.H.O.S.T. Teams: Book 1 - Magic (25 page)

“Was it that obvious we wanted to be on your good side?” I smiled at Tovaan.

He rewarded me with a small chuckle. His laugh sounded just like his voice, as if he was talking while drinking a glass of water. He downed the last remnants of his previous drink, happily slamming the empty mug down on the table before grabbing the drink we supplied. He gestured at us with the mug as he spoke.

“You are outlanders and in my experience outlanders visit me for one of three reasons. One,” one of his tentacles rose up, indicating the first, “you are on the run. But since neither of you carry yourselves as fugitives, this seems unlikely. Two, “another tentacle in the air, “you seek the companionship of the truly exotic ladies. But again I think no, neither of you have that twinkle of excitement in your eyes. Which makes me think you are here for number three,” third tentacle up, “it is after all why most people visit me. You seek something that you cannot acquire in your world. A rare artifact of some kind that is extremely difficult to procure. And everyone knows that when you need the rare and exotic…Tovaan is the man,” he rhymed, taking a sip of his new drink.

“They did say you were the man,” I replied.

He nodded his head towards me in agreement. I kept a smile on my face and Visine even looked friendly as he sat there quiet and content, happy to let me do most of the talking. It was now his job to keep a look out, occasionally glancing around the room and checking for prying eyes.

“So what do you gentlemen seek? Shall I hazard a guess?” Tovaan asked.

“Don’t tell me, you’re a mind reader?” I asked.

“No,” he sighed, “You are obviously thinking of another race. But no matter,” he continued, regaining his cheery disposition, “I am here to serve. What is it that you desire?”

“Tovaan, we are looking for an orbus.”

He reached his empty hand up and started scratching what I can only imagine we should call a chin. His two bottom tentacles were tapping on his wrists, clearly a subconscious gesture as he lost himself in thought.

“An orbus is a very rare and expensive item, very expensive indeed. How soon would you need it?” he smiled.

“The sooner the better. Today if possible,” I replied.

His fingers stopped scratching and his tentacles froze in place. His expression got very serious, almost apologetic.

“That might be a problem. I am afraid that such items take a great deal of time to track down. In fact the last one that I acquired took me months to find. Coincidentally I sold the item today, in fact not long before you…” he let the thought trail off.

He laid his mug down on the table and again he gave us the octopus smile. His eyes stared right into mine, never blinking. As he spoke he gestured about with his hand, a non-confrontational wave of acknowledgement.

“Gentlemen, I’d appreciate it if we were up front with each other. I am after all a businessman. If the price is right, I am sure that something can be worked out. So now, why don’t you tell me what you are really after,” he smiled.

“I like your candor, Mr. Tovaan, I think we can be friends. So here’s the deal. We know that you sold your orbus to some schmuck who calls himself the Servant of the Lady. He was traveling with two priestesses, dressed in purple robes. How about you tell us where they were headed,” I said.

“Oh, is that all you want from little old me?” he questioned with a smile.

“It would also be great if you could tell us what the orbus actually does. You know, in the interest of stopping the bad guys.”

“And that would make you the good guys, right,” he grinned with tentacle motions, “how am I to truly know who is good or bad in these situations?”

I looked over at Visine to get his take on things. He knew that I was thinking about telling Tovaan that we were with the GHOSTs in order to gain his trust. Visine subtly shook his head from side to side, clearly saying no. Out of respect for my sidekick, I waited a whole five seconds before doing it anyway.

“Look Tovaan, we are with the GHOST squad. That Lady Servant idiot is trying to destroy the world. We are here to stop him. You don’t want the world destroyed now do you?”

“And of course I should take your word for the fact that the world is in this mortal danger?” he smirked.

I was continually impressed with the facial expressions of a man with no lips and eight tentacles. Who could be more expressive without words, I wondered? It’s Tovaan’s tentacle face versus Visine’s shoulder shrugs, I thought in the voice of a boxing announcer. But somehow I didn’t think Visine or Tovaan would enjoy hearing about it. So I brought my focus back to the conversation at hand, hoping to appeal to Tovaan’s good nature.

“Tovaan,” I said stretching his name out, “Does this look like the kind of face that would lie to you?” I said pointing to myself.

He laughed out loud, almost to the point of tears. Then he took a few deep breaths and another swig of his drink before responding.

“Look kid, I don’t think you truly appreciate my situation. Do you know what would happen to my business if word got out that I was talking to the cops? I gotta think about my future,” he smiled.

Tovaan leaned back, crossed his arms and gave me his best “I’m sorry, I can’t help you” face. Like I said, dude was expressive. Visine reached into his coat and pulled out the rest of the money that we acquired from the highwaymen. He tossed the purse on the table in front of Tovaan. Picking it up, Tovaan hefted it a few times, clearly checking the weight.

“Feels a little light gentlemen. Especially if you want me to break my word to a former client,” he said.

“I also have about five hundred bucks in cash, will that ease your conscience?” I asked.

“It’s not worth as much here, exchange rates, you understand. But it helps,” he replied.

I looked over at Visine and his expression made it clear that he wasn’t very happy with me. But he reached into his pocket and produced a couple hundred bucks, tossing it onto the table. I turned back to Tovaan.

“That’s all we got.”

He sat there a moment, counting the cash and the coins. Then he looked up, first at me, then to Visine, then back to me.

“This Servant you are looking for wasn’t a very pleasant character. Perhaps in the spirit of cooperation I can allow you to make up the difference with a favor,” he said.

“What kind of favor?” I asked.

Visine was also eyeing him with suspicion. Part of me thought about dragging Tovaan outside and forcing him to tell us what we needed to know. But time was of the essence, especially now that our prey was only an hour ahead of us. So it seemed like the quickest way to get the information that we needed was to give Tovaan what he wanted. I gave him a look to make it clear that my patience was wearing thin.
 

“Nothing too extreme,” Tovaan quickly replied, waving his arms, clearly trying to calm our suspicions. He lowered his voice to a whisper as he continued, “But you work for the GHOSTs. Perhaps if I ever find myself in legal trouble on the other side, I can count on you to lend me a hand,” he finished.

I sighed and looked over at Visine. He gave me one of his classic shrugs, a gesture that basically said “just get the info already”. I gave my friendliest smile to Tovaan.

“Assuming that you are actually innocent of the crime in question, I will do what I can to help you.”

“That seems fair,” he smiled.

“Okay so, what the hell is an orbus and where did Lady Servant go?”

Tovaan leaned farther over the table, dropping the level of his voice even lower as he spoke.

“An orbus is a very complex device with many uses. While I do not know his exact intentions, I can assure you that it involves the collection of a great deal of magical power. The orbus acts as a conduit, a channel to focus magic. Where you come from magic is more rare, so the device would allow him to gather vast amounts in order to power a large ritual. This is a very dangerous device and not to be used lightly. Once a ritual is begun it cannot be halted until its completion. The magical process will most likely destroy the device,” he said.

Well so far so good. The information that Tovaan was giving us sounded in line with the guesses that Kara had made about the device. It gave me a little bit of confidence in the fact that our friend here wasn’t just pulling our chain. I was just hoping that this additional information might help Kara figure out what was happening and where it was going down. I gave Tovaan a look to make it clear that we were in a hurry. See, I can be expressive without words too.

“Yes, yes, you need to know where they went. Per the arrangement I provided a specially designed horse-drawn cart to take them on their way. The orbus is a fragile device and must be transported very carefully. They could not have been traveling very fast. They did not share their destination with me, but they did head east down Lewey’s Lane. I would guess that they were heading towards the stone arch,” he said.

“The stone arch?” I asked.

“A heavily traveled passage between worlds. Large enough for a cart,” Visine chimed in.

Tovaan nodded, “They are probably arriving at the arch as we speak.”

As always we were playing from behind. I stood up and turned towards Visine.

“Do you know how to get there from here?”

“Just head down Lewey’s, to the east, you can’t miss it,” Tovaan interjected.

“Fair enough,” I started to step away from the table and stopped myself, “Hey, since we are playing catch up here, any chance that you can give us some horses?”

Tovaan looked taken aback, “horses are not cheap. Especially one big enough to support your friend here,” he said looking at Visine.

“Come on, one friend helping out another?” I tried.

“I am sorry. While I sympathize, our arrangement was one of business. I am not in the business of charity. Unless you have something else of value, I cannot help you,” he stated.

I turned towards Visine, “You got anything else to trade?”

Visine opened his coat and revealed a pair of very nice pistols. Tovaan shook his head.

“I am sorry, those weapons are useless here and too much trouble to sell on the other side,” he responded.

“Crap. What about other weapons, I have blades and such?” I asked.

I laid one of my throwing knives down on the table. It was made from modern steel and I hoped that finding that quality of metal was difficult in this medieval setting. He picked it up and the expression on his face made it clear that he wasn’t impressed. Then it hit me.

“Wait, I have these,” I said, pulling out my two silver daggers, “silver has to be worth a lot here.”

Tovaan’s eyes lit up. It was clear that he liked the blades. And I knew that he had a good eye because they were very expensive. They were a foot long, weighed over a pound each and were expertly crafted. Between the price of silver and hiring a specialty craftsman you didn’t want to know what they cost. Tovaan tested the weight and quality, flexing each blade in his hands a few times.

“In honor of our working business relationship, I believe that these will do. Follow me, your horses are waiting in the stables,” he said standing up.

As the three of us headed out the front door I noted that our two friends were patiently waiting to follow us. Once we were out the door I was able to sneak a glance back and catch them getting to their feet. We walked into the stable and waited patiently as Tovaan spoke with the stable boy. The boy led us over to a pair of stables, one of which contained a normal sized gray and white spotted horse for me. The other held a large brown Clydesdale of a beast for Visine. Both horses were in good shape and although I didn’t think they would win the Kentucky Derby, I was fairly confident that they would get us where we needed to go. Tovaan walked over to me, taking one of my hands into both of his, and gave it a thank you shake.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. I look forward to seeing you again in the future,” he said.

Then he took a small bow before turning and heading for the door. He stopped abruptly as the two robed gentlemen from the bar turned the corner. Tovaan noted their blades and instantly threw his hands in the air, making it clear that he was not a threat.

“This is no affair of mine. My business here is concluded, please allow me to pass,” he said.

It was abundantly clear that the two men were here for Visine and me. They stepped to the side and allowed Tovaan and the stable boy to leave before walking towards us. Once the four of us were alone, the two men stopped and tossed their hoods back in order to reveal their faces. It struck me as an act of warrior’s pride, the desire to look their targets in the eyes. Their stark white hair stood out against the dark gray of their skin. I was about to ask Visine what our opponents were when he saved me the trouble.

“Dark Elves,” He spat out.

The two dark elves stood there, brandishing their swords and looking us over. The first carried two, short, heavily curved scimitars. The second held a single sword, longer, also curved, but with a much skinnier blade. It reminded me of a long cavalry saber. As they moved towards us they also started to move farther apart, almost as if they were trying to get into position to flank us. Then, as they were about twenty feet away, something strange happened.

The area that we were all standing in started to become very shaded and dark. Almost like something was choking the light out. Nothing seemed to be directly emanating from the elves, but it was clearly their doing. I figured I had a handful of seconds before the lights went out completely.

“They are born of darkness. They will be able to see, we will not,” Visine said.

My body was covered in bruises, the sword wound in my side hurt, and we were running out of time. Even though I respected Visine as a warrior, it seemed far more likely that fighting blind was going to be my forte. So in the interest of keeping him safe and out of my way, I decided to call dibs.
 

“Step back, these two are mine,” I stated.

Visine stepped back and kept our horses out of the fray as I drew my sword. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as the darkness surrounded me. While I obviously couldn’t see in the dark like the elves, I was pretty good at fighting without my vision. If we had more time, I would regale you with stories of training techniques and being forced to fight while blindfolded. But the truth is that you have probably seen it all in one martial arts movie or another. Sure they take some liberties in their stories, but at the core a lot of that is based on some real world stuff.