Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

“I still don’t understand the point… we’re getting married in a few months anyway, and it isn’t as though we have never… well you know,” I said. Since the events a year ago Penny had instituted a new policy regarding our physical relations, namely that there wouldn’t be any.

“Mordecai Eldridge!” she exclaimed. Penny often used my old name when she was lecturing me. “Do you think I want to show up to my wedding in a dress sized to fit a pregnant mare?”

“I told you, I’m fairly sure I can keep that from happening, if you’ll just let me…”

“Don’t you dare! I don’t want you experimenting with… with… that! What if I became barren?” she declared.

“No, no… I wouldn’t do anything to you! It would be purely a mechanical thing, a sort of shield to keep…”

“Don’t mess with that either! I like your tools as they are and I don’t trust you not to mess something up. I do want to have children after all.” Clearly we had some trust issues concerning my magic.

“Fine, fine, I can wait,” I replied. I wasn’t really sure about that, but the argument was old. No need to go over it all again, I’d just have to bide my time and catch her at an opportune moment. Hope springs eternal. “I’m going back out tonight,” I added. I figured I’d go ahead and get that out in the open ahead of time.

“I know,” she answered easily, which set off a warning in my head.

“I understand your feelings, but I’m responsible for these people and I can’t just sit around and do nothing,” I said defensively.

“You’re right.”

“I’ll take every precaution, and I’ll be armed so I don’t think I’ll be in any real danger,” I continued.

“I’m sure you will do everything you can.”

I glared at her suspiciously, “Something tells me that your words and your intentions are two different things.”

“Nope,” she said, “I realize I can’t keep you here when there’s something dark prowling the night.” She did her best to make her voice sound deep and ominous.

“Well… good then,” I said. Unusual as it was, it felt good to win one now and then. After dressing we went our separate ways. She had been busy with the architect lately; overseeing the construction of the kitchens and living quarters. I spent the afternoon helping my father. He had been working to produce a serviceable portcullis for the gatehouse.

The day passed quickly and that evening I calmly got ready for my night out. I didn’t have anything resembling proper armor but I hardly needed it with my magical shields. Instead I wore dark hunting leathers, buckling my sword on over them. I also carried a staff.

The staff warrants special attention. After discovering the secret of permanently enchanting things I thought I would try to recreate something I had read about in Vestrius’ journal. The specific details regarding what sort of staves wizards carried long ago was lost, along with the art of enchanting. Still I was drawn to the idea and I decided to try and create something similar to the descriptions I had read in Vestrius’ journal.

Supposedly the ancients had used them to channel and focus their powers to greater effect. I had no idea how they accomplished it but I tried a few things of my own anyway. The first was to enchant the head of the staff so that it would hold any spell I put there indefinitely, sort of a flexible enchantment. I could light it and not worry about maintaining the spell. Potentially I could do other things as well, but that was all I had thought of so far. The second thing I had done was encircle the entire length with a sort of hollow shell of wards and runes. I found that if I channeled my strength along the shaft I could direct my power out to much greater distances, or focus it more powerfully at short range.

Honestly I hadn’t had a need to do either so far, but I had great hopes that it would prove useful eventually. Plus it looked pretty nifty. “I’m off to save the village honey!” I shouted toward our bedroom, hoping to provoke a laugh.

“Ok, be careful,” she yelled back calmly, not even bothering to step out and give me a good-bye kiss. Obviously she had resigned herself to the situation. I stepped outside, looking around and trying to decide which way to head first. Penny showed up a moment later, walking around from the other side of the house.

She was wearing a soft gambeson and a long chain shirt. She also carried a bow and a slender sword. “Um… Penny, what are you doing?” I inquired.

“I’m going out to hunt for evil-doers,” she answered casually.

“You’re not coming with me,” I said firmly. Once in a while a man just has to put his foot down.

“That’s fine, you go that way, I’ll work my way south.” The smile on her face was positively diabolical.

I rephrased myself, “No… I mean you’re staying here.”

“Nope,” she replied.

She was missing the subtleties of my argument so I decided to try something more direct, “Shibal” I said, using a spell that should put her soundly to sleep.

Penny held up the amulet I had made her a few months previously, “Forget about something?” I had made it to protect her from mental assaults such as she had endured previously… such as I had just attempted.

“Goddammit, you’re not going out there alone!”

“Fine, you can come with me, but try not to make noise, I don’t want to scare them off,” she answered. Her attitude was one of indifference.

“This isn’t your job Penny,” I said stubbornly.

“Like hell it’s not! You may be the damned Count, but I’m about to be your wife. If you are responsible then I’m in this just as deeply as you are. Now you can go your own way or we can go together… what’s it going to be?” she said with resolve. She could be really beautiful when she was determined, but don’t tell her that, she’s hard enough to deal with already.

In the end I let her come with me. There really wasn’t any alternative, other than tying her up, which I did briefly consider. We headed north of the village, since all the missing persons had lived on that side, and found a nice quiet spot in the forest. Once we got under the trees the darkness intensified; neither moon nor the stars could be seen.

“Oof!” Penny had just tripped over a root and almost went down in a sprawl. I stifled the urge to laugh. I could have provided light but I had the wonderful excuse that we were trying to avoid tipping off our quarry. My magesight gave me a distinct advantage in the dark.

“Stop it,” she said.

“What?”

“You’re laughing at me… I can tell,” she answered.

“I was just wondering how you’re going to see to shoot that bow if something happens.” It was so dark there weren’t even shadows. She declined to answer so I dropped the subject and we kept walking. Soon enough we had reached my spot.

It was a location without anything to recommend it. There was nothing particularly comfortable about it, but it was in a place where, by stretching my senses I could cover most of the area that had lost people. We sat down, back to back and I began to relax. The art of sensing a large area requires a lot of effort, but most of that goes into not tensing up. I had to calm myself and let my mind expand, feeling as much as I could around me.

The first hour was the worst, after that we both gave up thinking about our daily lives and it got easier. I wasn’t sure but Penny might have gone to sleep. There really wasn’t anything else for her to do, and nothing could sneak up on us as we were. I could feel a field mouse moving around half a mile away.

Another hour drew slowly by and I began to wonder if this would be a repeat of the previous night. My thoughts were drifting, but my mind was still alert. If anything had moved I would have felt it, but I had no idea what I was looking for… I would learn that later. Penny had begun snoring, which probably hid the sound of its approach. Even if she had been silent I’m not sure I would have noticed. It was very quiet.