"What the... are the lights dimming again?"
Justin asked, glancing around suspiciously.
Kali gave a soft groan. "Please not another light show."
A person might
think that a distinguished gathering of wizards, magi, sorceresses
and seers in a solemn and ancient hall would be a dignified affair.
The Most Ancient Lodge of Eternal Magicks had served as a gathering
place for masters and apprentices for centuries, if not a millenia.
The domed roof soared high overhead, inlaid with glittering mosaics.
Graceful pillars supported it, the capitals carved in subtle geometries
that at once seemed harmonius yet slightly disturbing. Long tables,
lit not by candles but with sorcerous light, swayed under piles of
savory foods and great bowls of drink.
However, the
Year of the Shattered Altar's Twenty Year Reunion had been getting
more and more rowdy as the night progressed. Not content with telling
their former friends and colleagues the heights they had achieved,
the mages felt compelled to show. Balls of sulphurous flame had exploded
up in the domed ceiling, raining down a fine ash on the partygoers.
Complex illusions of light and shadow had crawled up and down the
pillars and across the polished marble floors. Small spirits and sprites
were summoned and prompty ran amuck, spilling drinks and pinching
the guests. Ghostly music swelled in a cacaphony, as each wizard with
similar talents sought to outdo the others - while the first invisible
bands were still playing.
The table lights
dimmed in unison and a vast, bright illusion took over a good part
of the dome. Kali and Justin watched as it showed scenes of happy,
young wizards and sorceresses doing various magical things in this
very hall. It continued on with more mature magi holding meetings
here, or visiting the attached apothecary, or returning to take an
apprentice of their own. It ended with glowing runes that, thanks
to the mosaics underneath, shimmered and sparkled faintly.
"Give to
the Alumni Fund," Justin murmured, and shook his head as the
wizards around him clapped and the house lights came up. "Whatever."
Jessenia had
insisted that her twenty-year reunion would be a great place to do
some networking. Wizards often had grandiose plans and the need to
hire some evil. But Ker had insisted she not do the contacting herself
- he wanted additional layers of anonimity between the heads of Evil
for Hire and the clients. So Jessenia was there, regaling old friends
and enemies with tales of her adventuring years, but Kali and Justin
were here to do the real work. Mostly Justin, actually - Kali's time
with Hell's Belles might have made her too recognizable, and the pre-reunion
dirt-digging had definitely been more up Justin's alley. He had, in
fact, insisted that he could do the job alone, even if his ruse was
uncovered, but the Masterminds had ordered the backup.
Now, after the
mind-numbing boredom of two hours of someone else's reunion, he was
glad to have the familiar face along.
Across the room,
Jessenia caught Justin's eye and tipped her head slightly towards
the rail-thin man she was talking with. Moments later, she drifted
off to another knot of old friends. Justin allowed a quarter of an
hour or so to pass before making his way over, Kali trailing behind
him. Getting closer, he smiled and spread his arms. "Andreas!"
he called jovially.
The scarecrow
man jumped, spilling the drink he'd been refilling. Red wine trickled
slowly down his opulent, spangled robes, which seemed several sizes
too large for him. With wide, jittery eyes, he regarded Justin and
Kali. "Yes? D-do I know you?"
"You used
to! Jason! Remember? There was the time we..." he trailed off
as the thin wizard started shaking his head and backing away. Justin
sighed theatrically. "Nobody remembers. I'm still not sure if
that Cipher spell worked terribly well or failed terribly..."
"C-cipher?"
"An enigma!
A forgotten man, no face, no identity... useful in certain, eh, sticky
situations, don't you know? It was a brilliant piece of research,
if I do say so myself, but the lingering effects have made events
like these most awkward."
"Y-you're
kidding me." He looked around suspiciously. "Is this an
apprentice joke?"
"Andreas!"
Justin sounded wounded. "Remember when old Zirno assigned us
an elixer he knew none of us had the ingredients for, and we had to
break into the apothecary just to finish the assignment?"
The wizard gasped
and put a finger to his lips, shushing wildly. "Zirno's still
here! But how do you know about that? We all got away free and clear!"
"I was there,
Andreas." Justin narrated a few other incidents Jessenia had
told him about, and before long Andreas was nodding and shaking his
head in amazement. He introduced Kali, who smiled pleasantly, then
turned the discussion to the usual reunion topics: how've you been,
what've you been up to, any new earth-shaking magics you've heard
of? And Andreas had to admit, with a reluctant shrug, that his alchemical
business was not what it could be.
"I'm getting
by, after all," he hastened to add. "As long as there's
nobles who fear getting poisoned, I'll have work. But I used to do
such a business in healing draughts, liquid fire, and sleep elixers...
but the adventurers can't get work, so they're not buying from me.
I've tried cutting the prices on the healing draughts - you know,
appeal to the wider audience - but if I go much lower, I'll be losing
money on them. I've got some knights who're good customers, but the
regular soldiers just can't afford them. And I just refuse to sell
rose water and call it a love potion, like some people..."
"Andreas,"
Justin said, laying an arm over the man's shoulders with an air of
familiar conspiracy. "Since we're such good old friends - even
if I'm the only one who remembers that at the moment - I've got something
I think you'd like to hear. Kali, be a dear and keep a lookout for
prying ears?" He drew the wizard away from the banquet tables
and over towards the wall. "I've got some contacts who might
be interested in your wares. Lots of them."
"Really?"
the alchemist asked eagerly. "Like who?"
"The Temple
of Babu, for one. The Laturia Thieves' Guild, for another."
Andreas was aghast.
"You have contacts in those places?"
"Why do
you think I needed the Cipher spell?"
"Oh... but
then they don't remember you. How can you call them your contacts?"
"Maybe 'contacts'
is the wrong word. I know what they need. I know who you'd need to
contact to make the sales. I can impart this knowledge to you."
Andreas raised his eyebrows expectantly. Justin tilted his head slightly
in reply.
It took the alchemist
a moment to catch on that this was slightly more than an act of charity
towards an old friend. He hastened to add, "And I would be so
thankful to you for that! I insist that, should the deals go well,
you let me give you five percent."
The tilt increased.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly."
"Seven?"
Justin's chin
nearly touched his chest, now looking up at Andreas with raised eyebrows.
"Perish the thought."
"Ten?"
"Well, if
you insist. I'll make sure you get a list of contacts and their needs
within the fortnight." He gave the alchemist a slap on the back.
"It was good seeing you again, Andreas!"
"Nice to
meet you... er, see you again, Jason!"
"Well,"
Justin said, rejoining Kali, "that was most satisfactory. We'll
be collecting a finder's fee from the temple and and the guild, for
getting them their potions, a fee from the alchemist for getting him
business, and anyone tracing the poisons back to their source gets
Andreas, not us. Let's see if Jessenia's found anyone - "
"Look out,"
Kali said, almost bored. "Hellhound incoming." She gave
Justin a shove to the side and quickly followed as the infernal creature
galloped past. "Honestly," she asked, watching it leap onto
a table and begin to eat from the trays, "if you can conjure
a hellhound, shouldn't you be able to conjure a leash for it?"
"Ah... perhaps
we should be going now. They've all had a lot to drink..."
The hound finished
the appetizers and turned its baleful red eyes on the crowd. A red-nosed
enchantress made a few elaborate gestures and shouted out something
eldritch, and the hound stopped. Then it licked its nose and let loose
a howl that totally destroyed the mood of the evening.
The enchantress
muttered something that might have been, "Oops," as the
more quick-witted called for guards, magical or mundane. "Aw,
hell no," Kali grinned, producing weapons from gods-knew-where.
"Looks like the evening is just warming up!"
Link
to Chapter IX
Look
for it Next Issue!