Jake's Justice, Book Three of Wizards (29 page)

“You should have seen that. That thing on Farolan just flew away.”

[I did see it. I believe we all did.]

Farolan was unconscious. Elissia knelt before him and checked he was breathing, then she and the rest of the Council went into a huddle and talked so quietly I couldn’t hear them.

Power flooded into me and I shivered with relief. Being without magic is frightening. It would take another few seconds or so before I would be able to hop us out of there. Assuming I got the chance.

Elissia and the rest of the Council turned to face us.

“It appears that our actions have not been totally our own. We have no lore to explain what we saw and must investigate. Under the circumstances, we withdraw the charges against you and there will be no further attacks, though it may take some time to inform all those Farolan has used. Go in peace, Dragon Retnor and Wizard Morrissey.”

That was the politest ‘get lost’ I’ve ever heard.

I touched Fluffy and hopped us to the
Bat
Cave
.

29.
      
Surprise

What I wanted most was to sleep. Fluffy had already curled up on the floor and little puffs of smoke were coming from his nostrils. A sure sign he had already succumbed to tiredness. I wanted to hop to Jenny and Esmeralda and tell them I was safe, but I had neither the power nor the concentration. I fell on the mattress and the world faded away.

[Jake, wake up.]

The insistent voice in my head kept repeating itself until I abandoned the warm cozy place I’d been hiding and surfaced into the waking world.

[We have slept for nearly a day. There are things…]

I couldn’t be bothered with whatever he wanted to tell me. Jenny and Esmeralda would be worried as I knew we must have been away for a least a week, maybe two. There was no question about where I would go first.

“Where’s Jenny?”

[Jake, listen to me. We have…]

“Been away too long. Yes I know. Tell me where Jenny is and I’ll hop to her.”

My dragon gave a mental sigh. [She is with Inspector Thomas. They are approaching the police station where you were incarcerated. But Jake…]

I didn’t hear the rest of it, because I hopped.

There are several inconspicuous places I know around that building and I arrived at the one nearest the front door. Merging into the crowd of afternoon shoppers, I looked over and around their heads searching for my wife. Spotting them just about to go through the main door I ran to them and tapped Jenny on the shoulder.

She turned and looked enormous. It was difficult to believe how big the baby had grown in just a couple of weeks. How big would she be when she gave birth? She’d never be able to walk.

Jenny saw it was me and her face lit up before bursting into tears. She hugged me so hard it hurt, not to mention that her tummy pressed into me.

“You’re back. I knew Fluffy was alive, but it was difficult to see anything else but that for so long.”

Inspector Thomas coughed in an embarrassed sort of way. “Glad you’re safe, Jake. A lot of people have been worried about you.”

I couldn’t see why Jenny was so fussed. For me, it had been a long couple of days, but a week wasn’t a long time.

“It’s only been a week or two. We got caught in a time trap so it was much less time for us.”

Jenny held me at arm’s length in astonishment. “It’s been over two months. Our baby’s due in the next few days.”

‘Two months,’
no wonder Jenny was so huge. I felt the need to sit down. Inspector Thomas must have noticed how lost I looked because he squeezed me gently on the arm.

“Come up to my office. We were heading that way anyway. You can finally see that silver box and I can put it back in ‘evidence’. I’ve been using it as a paperweight, but it really needs to go back before someone accuses me of nicking it.”

We followed the Inspector into the police station. Sergeant Willis nodded at us as we headed towards the stairs. Jenny was keeping up a non-stop monologue, filling me in on everything that had happened while I was away.

“Salice is in a bad way. The main storehouse caught fire and half their remaining food went up in flames. A strange moon has appeared in the sky and everyone thinks it’s an ill omen. Oh, you missed Captain Cari’s funeral. It was wonderful and sad all at the same time. The King, Queen and Esmeralda spoke of the loss to the kingdom and I spoke of the personal loss you felt when he died. Urda’s been keeping me in touch with things and taking me over there until the last week or so. That was when Anna went missing and Urda’s been going crazy trying to find her.”

That stirred me enough to comment. “Urda can’t find Anna? She must have tried tracing her and there are lots of her personal things she can use.”

“It didn’t work. Urda’s in a state over it. But what are you going to do about the food. The people of Salice are on the verge of starvation and your Dad just says ‘Jake’s already fixed it’ when I ask. He won’t say how you’ve fixed it though.”

I grinned. Dad was sworn to secrecy, along with Mam. From what Jenny had told me, everything on that particular front was running to schedule.

“Jake, it isn’t funny. Esmeralda hasn’t been eating and you know she needs to. I was taking her food, but then I found she was giving it to the servants to give to those more desperate.”

I was about to tell her what I’d done, there and then, but Inspector Thomas was fumbling with his key to unlock the office door. Jenny talking about Esmeralda reminded me of what she said to me a couple of nights ago, about being wary of anything to do with the kidnapped boy.

“Let me go first,” I said to the Inspector and set up a protective shield in front of us. My energy levels were far from replenished, but I had the magic built up while I slept. It was probably a waste of time, but ignoring Esmeralda’s warning could be more than stupid, she was a bright lady.

I opened the door and saw the box on the Inspector’s desk. It glinted at me and I turned the shield into a bubble around us as the box exploded.

Protecting Jenny added urgency to increasing the power to the shield. The blast shook the building and I tied the bubble to the walls, which crumbled under the force of the blast. Most of the blast went outwards. The outer wall of the Inspector’s office disappeared completely, the floors above and below us began to fall and I created supports, trying desperately to keep the building in one piece. The bubble protecting us held and was strangely silent as I’d blocked out sound with it. I realized as I diverted magic to hold the building together that it was filled with people who didn’t deserve to die.

Water was beginning to pour through cracks in the ceiling. I looked at my reserves in horror. There was no way I could keep this up for long.

“Jake, what’s happening?” Jenny asked. She was a little pale, but otherwise fine.

“No time to talk. Inspector, I’m holding the building together, but it’s going to collapse soon. Get Jenny and everybody else out of here.”

The Inspector nodded and took my wife’s hand. Jenny pulled away and put her phone into my shirt pocket. “When that rings everybody will be safe.” She kissed my forehead and followed the Inspector.

If there had been an available supply of girders I could have propped the building up with them, but there was nothing I could use except pure force, and using that drained my magic. My reserves dropped like water in a bathtub with the plug out. The taps were adding magic, but the level dropped steadily. It was impossible to estimate how long I could continue to hold everything up.

Using magic puts a physical strain on the body. The longer I use it, the more it hurts. Holding things up was exhausting in a way that fighting the elves hadn’t been. Sweat formed as I struggled to keep the floors in place. The one below me sagged alarmingly and I increased the power holding it up.

I don’t know how long I kept the building in one piece. Probably less than five minutes though it felt like I’d been holding it for hours. I needed to retain enough magic to hop away and my reserves were dropping close to zero. It was already lower than the level I’d set myself as a minimum. Jenny’s phone buzzed and I hopped.

There was an almighty rumble as the police station collapsed. I was on the other side of the square. Nobody noticed me arrive, though there was a crowd around me. Their eyes fixed on the building opposite, most of them videoing its collapse with their phones.

Jenny’s phone buzzed again and I answered it.

“Jake, where are you?” It was Jenny’s voice. My heart skipped a beat with relief.

“Far side of the square. Where are you?”

“By the ambulances.”

“Wait there.”

A policeman tried to stop me crossing the line they’d set up, but a moment of control later he saluted me as I headed for the ambulance crews. Finding Jenny took another few moments.

“Are you all right? Is the baby okay?”

Jenny looked distressed, but she nodded as she took her phone from me. “I need to let Mum and Dad know I’m safe. I’ve given the Inspector back his phone. He needs it.”

I looked around and spotted the Inspector talking to the ambulance crews. He saw me and waved for me to come over to him.

“A dozen dead or seriously injured. It could have been hundreds.”

“I’m sorry. It was my fault.”

“Don’t talk stupid. The bastards who fastened that to the boy’s shirt are responsible. They meant you to find him and they weren’t the slightest bit bothered it would blow him to pieces. If you come across them, Jake, don’t feel guilty about killing the lot of them.”

I nodded, sharing his anger. However, there was nothing further I could do. Whoever the people behind this were, they had done an excellent job of protecting their identities. I shook the Inspector’s hand and returned to Jenny’s side.

“Do you have enough power to hop us to Salice?”

I checked. The answer was, barely. “Yes.”

“Take us there. Esmeralda needs to know you’re alive.”

I took her hand and we hopped.

Fuel was not something the locals were short of and a large log fire blazed away in our apartment keeping it warm as toast. As I expected, nobody was home. Jenny pulled on a bell rope while I went to look out of the window.

Winter had settled upon Salice. The country was a fairytale kingdom and like in all good fairytales, the snow fell thick and fast in winter, just as the summers were glorious and the autumns long and lingering. Two months since I was here last and the weather had changed completely.

Though there was a foot of snow on the ground the sky was clear. The world Salice was on had two moons and they were visible in the sky, even though the sun was in the process of setting. Today they had three moons; the third was lozenge shaped. It was a few miles away and a few miles up. It reflected light like silver, though I suspected it was stainless steel. I’d been expecting it.

“It’s looks artificial, like a spaceship,” Jenny said from behind me. “Is it another group of creatures come to kill you?”

I grinned into the night. Some things are best kept as a surprise.

“I expect we’ll find out soon enough.”

Ella entered the room and stopped dead when she saw me. She curtseyed; giving me the impression she would much sooner have turned and fled.

“Can you tell us where Esmeralda is?” Jenny asked.

Ella stammered a response. “She, she, she is with the King.”

“And where is the King?” I prompted when it was clear that was all we were going to get without asking.

“In the Ballroom. The King is negotiating with the k’k’kings of Dentor, Frode and Alegon to sell p’p’parts of the kingdom in exchange for f’f’food.”

“We need to go and put an end to that right now,” I said. “Come on, Jenny.”

We had to walk to the Ballroom as I wanted to let my magic reserves to fill a little more tonight. There was something I needed to do in the next hour or so that would take a bit of power.

The guards at the ballroom door sprang to attention and pulled the doors open as we approached. One of them darted inside to announce us.

“The Lord Wizard Morrissey, Protector of the Kingdom, and his consort Lady Jenny.”