Paul Collins - The Spell of Undoing

Tab's heart thudded with sudden realisation. Judging by what the boy-leader had said, the Tolrushians blamed Quentaris for their misfortune.

Which could only mean…

Tab sat bolt upright.

She dressed hurriedly and ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the Navigators’ Guild headquarters. She didn't stop at the gates. A guard yelled a warning and she felt an arrow hiss swiftly past her shoulder. Angry shouts followed. She ran faster.

Breathless, she skidded to a stop outside the operations room. By now alarms were clanging. The doorway opened suddenly, revealing several guards.

‘Gotcha!’ someone snarled from behind. Tab was whisked off her feet.

‘Put her down,’ said a calm voice.

The guard dropped her and Tab went sprawling. When she looked up she saw a navigator staring quizzically down at her. She's scanning me – seeing if there's any danger, Tab realised.

‘What is it, child, that brings you here in the dead of night?’ The woman's face was gentle and her voice soothing. But Tab knew that with one flick of her finger, the magician could kill her.

Tab took a deep breath. ‘I've seen Tolrush,’ she said quickly. ‘It was pulled into the rift worlds at the same time we were. They're after icefire and… they blame us for what's happened to them. We have to do something, they're coming for us!’

One of the guards sniggered but was cut short by a stern glance from the navigator. ‘How is it that you know these things? You're a clerical assistant, are you not?’

Tab looked down at her feet. ‘Yes, ma'am.’

‘You were tested for ability with mage-craft?’

Tab's voice grew smaller. ‘Yes, ma'am.’ It had been one of the worst days of her life. She had actually managed to persuade Dorissa to have her tested, only to discover that she lacked even a speck of magical skill. She had cried for a week.

‘And you say you had a vision?’

Tab paused before answering. So far she had told no one about her odd ability, not even Philmon. At first, it had scared her. She thought she was going mad. And then she had feared what others might think. Mind-melding with animals was almost unheard of. She was scared that people would think she must be evil to have such a talent. Sometimes she thought that too.

And so she lied. ‘I had a vision – yes… ’

The magician did not appear to be angry. She patted Tab's shoulder. ‘Your heart was in the right place, child. You feared for your city and for your friends and family -’

And why should this child fear?’

Tab gaped. Stelka had arrived. Tab had seen the Chief Navigator many times, but never this close. She didn't seem too pleased either.

Her hair was dishevelled and her usually powdered face was pasty, her pouting lips pallid. The middle of the night was not kind to Stelka, and she knew it.

‘Answer my question,’ demanded the head magician.

The kindly navigator, who seemed a little cowed by Stelka's presence herself, quickly related Tab's story.

Stelka eyed Tab for several long moments. Tab found herself blushing.

‘Is this so?’ she finally asked, directing her question at Tab.

Tab nodded, then blurted, ‘And they're really close. We have to do something.’

Stelka snorted, and signalled two guards over. ‘Escort this girl back to her lodgings.’ To Tab she said, ‘You had a nightmare, child. Quentaris is the only enchanted city in this rift world. And no one is coming after us.’

‘But it seemed so – real,’ Tab protested.

‘As the best nightmares are,’ said Stelka. ‘Go now, and be thankful I don't have you flogged for charging in here and waking everyone.’

When Tab reported for duty the next morning, Quartermaster Dorissa looked up tiredly from her charts. Tab saw immediately that all was not well.

‘Sit down, Tab,’ Dorissa said, indicating a chair.

Tab felt her insides go cold.

‘I'm really sorry, Tab, but I must relieve you of your duties.’ She held up a hand when Tab opened her mouth to speak. ‘It isn't just about last night. Yes, I've heard. I don't know what you were thinking!’

She sighed. ‘But this other matter… I gave you an important duty yesterday. I was obviously in error to do so. I have been duly chastised.’

‘But I -’ ‘The scrollarrived too late, were observed could forgive your dalliance, as I have on previous occasions. But added to the events of last night… ‘ She shrugged.

‘You caused quite a stir. Wild talk of Tolrush. Our imminent peril. We simply cannot have guild members, no matter how insignificant, opening us to such ridicule.’

‘But it's true,’ cried Tab. ‘Tolrush is out there, and they're coming after us!’

‘Enough,’ said Dorissa. She almost glowered, which Tab had never seen her do before.

‘But what I saw -’

‘Was nothing more than a bad dream. Face it, child.’ Dorissa's voice grew stern, though not unkind. ‘Don't you think I know it broke your heart when you failed the magicians’ test?’

‘But -’

‘I have no choice in this matter,’ said Dorissa sadly. ‘Stelka has spoken. I'm sorry, Tab, but you can no longer serve this guild.’

Tab's vision blurred. She got to her feet unsteadily, blinking back tears. Slowly, in a kind of stupefied trance, she walked to the door. There she stopped, turning.

‘They're coming,’ she said quietly, then ran from the guildhall as fast as she could.

Tab fled through the streets of Quentaris. She didn't stop till she had reached the fifth floor of the lodging house where she lived. She collided with Philmon as he was leaving his room. Philmon was tall and skinny with a mop of brown hair. He was wearing his sky sailor's uniform.

‘Ho, Tab,’ he said. ‘Sorry, can't stop. My shift starts in twenty minutes.’

Tab puffed like a pair of bellows.

‘You all right?’ asked Philmon.

‘Nothing's all right,’ Tab gasped. She quickly told him everything that had happened, including the truth about the visions. He looked hurt when she admitted that she had been getting strange ‘visions’ through the eyes of animals for quite some time.

‘Philmon, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.’

He scowled. ‘I thought we were friends.’

‘You know as well as I do that Tolrushians are reviled for their mind-casting. They control animals with their minds, hideous race that they are. So I was scared… ’

‘Of what I'd think? Of me?’

Tab looked away. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Of me… I thought I was going crazy… I thought you might not… ’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Might not what?’ asked Philmon, hands on his hips. ‘Might not want to be friends with somebody who can see what animals see? Sometimes, Tab, you're as thick as two planks, you know that. I know you're not Tolrushian. It's plain to see!’

Tab smiled, and wiped at her eyes.

‘So you'll help me?’

Philmon blinked. ‘What can I possibly do?’

‘You can get me in to see First Lieutenant Crankshaft.’

Philmon's eyes boggled. ‘Are you joking? He'd have me tossed overboard!’

‘It's important, Philmon. The safety of Quentaris rests on us alerting somebody.’

Philmon was shaking his head. ‘You're asking too much. I mean, what you've told me is so fantastical, even I don't know what to think. Is there any proof?’

He looked at her hopefully. She shook her head. ‘I'm not lying,’ she said stubbornly.

‘I'm not saying you are,’ said Philmon. ‘But you could be wrong. Stelka could be right. Maybe it was just a nightmare.’

‘I'd know the difference,’ said Tab. ‘This was real. They're coming, Philmon. And they're going to catch us unprepared, ‘like sitting ducks.’

Philmon gave a small shuddering sigh. He could imagine what would happen to Quentaris if Tolrush attacked right now. Total panic, and defeat. They would all be killed. And those who weren't would end up as slaves.