there are Elves like you who want to help people Nick moved the last of the chairs into the corner of the room and Becky stretched out on the carpet With a gesture from Jardaine the Fire Sprites drew their flickering light down to a dim glow Becky was already asleep by the time Jardaine and Nick exited through the massive ballroom doors and hurried down the corridor How does that child know Princess Asra she said anxiously And why would she call the Princess her best friend If Macta and Asra are still alive they have the power to completely destroy our plans Nick We’ve got to get out of Helfratheim before the girl finds out what’s going on Jal-Maktar struck Macta and Asra with his fist and they vanished in a puff of smoke Aye but he didn’t kill them He said he was going to deal with them later He sent them somewhere else that’s all For all we know the three of them could be conspiring against me right now Halt a voice cried out Stop where you are both of you Weapons clattering a handful of Imperial Guards squeezed together midway up the stairs Their eyes darted around knowing that if Jardaine were here Jal-Maktar might well be nearby Jardaine sneered down at them from the banister She wasn’t sure which of them had dared to bark orders at her they all looked equally fearful and wary Fools don’t you know that Jal-Maktar is right behind me Which of you will order him to stop She put a hand on Nick’s shoulder and whispered I’m going to conjure up the image of one of Jal-Maktar’s monsters It takes an enormous amount of energy to do this Hold on to me in case I lose my balance I can’t afford to fall down Nick complied thrilled that his Master had confided her weakness to him Jardaine pressed her eyelids shut and bowed her head She pictured a huge tar skinned creature with a dozen bobbing heads and with a sharp exhalation of breath she sent the image of the monster into the minds of the guards cringing below Jardaine’s knees buckled as the guards shrieked and turned on the stairs panic-stricken and raced for the exit She opened her eyes and realized that Nick still had his arms around her shoulders She could feel his hot breath on her cheek Let go of me she hissed and pushed him away Are you all right Nick asked Aye Jardaine said stiffening Prashta’s stooges are gone aren’t they Nick’s eyes were wild with delight How did you do that my Mage There
was nothing there but the soldiers ran like frightened rabbits Can you teach me to make monsters with my mind Jardaine snorted Bah Tis magick not for the likes of you Don’t get too excited though The soldiers will be back Prashta will send them with reinforcements next time and I may not have the strength to fool them again We’ve got to get over to the techmagick labs and see if they have any weapons I can use against Prashta’s forces My bag of tricks will take us only so far The pair met no further resistance between the palace and the Techmagicians labs The door deep in shadows was ajar Is anyone here Jardaine cried There was no response Jardaine turned toward the narrow doorway in the corner We don’t want any surprises she said starting up the staircase We’ll take the back way Prashta’s troops could surprise us at any moment On the second floor they entered a glass-walled room stacked with mechanical gear A ghostly blue glow came from a box propped on a table Cables snaked their way from the back of the box down the table legs and across the floor In the gloom Jardaine could see a figure in a lab coat cowering under the table Come out of there she commanded Tis no use trying to hide Let me see your face Your Hi-Highness the Elf stammered creeping from his hiding place I mean Your Grace I mean my Mage I am at your command Indeed you are Jardaine said Though I’m the Mage of Helfratheim I have enemies within the palace I’ve come in search of weapons with which I may defend myself The Techmagician gulped His best weapons were already in factory production and there was little that remained in the Experimentalists labs to share with the Mage He placed a trembling finger on his chin and gazed around Then he crossed the room reached into a vat of liquid and fished out a ceramic rod A thin segmented worm was coiled around the tip He held it up for Jardaine to see Touch the end of this device to your enemy’s flesh he said and they’ll be shocked as if struck by lightning The worm holds an electric charge for twelve hours Indeed Jardaine said wrinkling her nose Is it lethal The Techmagician shrugged That depends on the length of contact Jardaine took the device in her hand What else What else The Techmagician’s heart was pounding Ah there are
protective medallions which you could wear around your neck They’ll prevent your enemies from approaching you and inflicting harm I am interested in offense not defense Jardaine said Perhaps I should look beneath the tables here to see if any of your cowardly associates are still hiding there Perhaps there are others who will prove more useful than you The Techmagician backed away I’m alone ma’am the others all went to witness the ritual in the courtyard And why did you remain here I’m squeamish about Blood my Mage What about books then There’s no Mage’s library in all of Helfratheim Have you got books of spells or curses Something that doesn’t require hardware As it happens the Techmagician said brightly there is something of a library here He moved to the end of the table and stood in the glow of the strange vertical box Any Human being would have immediately recognized it as an old computer monitor but the Elf and the Troll had never seen such a thing and they were transfixed as the Techmagician pushed some small rectangular buttons and an image appeared on the screen By the Gods Jardaine whispered Spells and curses enchantments and conjury right before my eyes What manner of magick is this The Techmagician chuckled scrolling down a long list Tis Human magick or at least a version of it We stole it from them and adapted it to our own uses We can find out just about anything we want to know concerning the Human world and some of us have been using the device to compile information from the Elfin libraries you’re interested in my Mage Stop Jardaine ordered as the Elf scrolled down the list of magick spells Right there it reads methods for using mental energy to conquer an enemy with the power of the mind that’s what I want Show me how it’s done The Techmagician pressed another button and a detailed description materialized on the screen laying out the method by which one could send bolts of pure mental energy into the brain of an enemy Jardaine glanced warily at Nick Step out into the hall she said This information is privileged not for you The Troll shuffled dejectedly from the room Jardaine peered into the computer monitor Silently she digested the words she read Once she was
certain she’d memorized the spell she looked away mouthed the words then checked the screen once again to make sure she had made no mistakes Does this magick work from afar she asked the Techmagician Ma’am it depends on the mental powers of the one uttering the spell Then I’ll have to see for myself Jardaine said narrowing her eyes at him Please my Mage he cried backing away have mercy All right she said with a sigh I won’t use it on you But is there a way According to our tests permanent damage can be avoided by leaving off to minimize the effect the last four lines of the text Very well Jardaine turned her gaze to the door and uttered the spell she’d memorized being careful to stop before she’d recited the last four lines There was a sound like a sack of grain hitting the floor She raced to the doorway and peered into the darkened corridor then went to Nick’s side and slapped his cheeks Nicholas wake up she cried wake up The Troll opened his eyes and groaned Every muscle in his body was aching Are you all right Jardaine asked You must have fainted from the stress of the evening Here see if you can get up I don’t know what happened Nick said I thought I was standing next to you in the lab looking at that box of blue light and the next thing I know I’m out here in the darkness and you’re slapping me You remember nothing else Nooo Nick grumbled Jardaine turned again to the Techmagician who stood trembling in the doorway I’ll take your lightning rod she said for what it’s worth But what I really want is all the information I saw revealed in your magick box You must copy it for me I’ll be back before morning to pick it up Do you understand Tis a simple task but if you fail I will have your head on a pike My Mage said the Elf moving toward another machine made of metal and plastic Human magick makes it a very simple task indeed With a push of a button the words will write themselves on sheets of paper which I feed into this device Twill be ready in no time Jardaine nodded then turned toward the stairway Come Nick We’re going to pay a little visit to Prashta and see how fast he’s willing to get us out of here
