The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1) (15 page)

“
Instructor, instruction dream number one augmented please”

“I am happy to instruct.”

Assassinate Tanner Artifact’s head magetech and destroy the company’s artifact activator; the Crown was out of control.  This was one of many reasons that Stafford was quitting the game.  The laws were bad enough but to begin killing the competition just because you were the ruling class and wanted it all for yourself?  That was not what he had signed up for.

Stafford knocked lightly on the door that read “Constantine Roget”.  When no answer was forth coming he carefully unlocked the door with a set of stolen keys and entered the room.  Seeing the room was clear except for a slumbering man face down on his desk Stafford motioned for Wendell to enter the room. 

“Here he is Wendell; all in a pretty package.  All this time you wanted to know what secret work I did for the King, here it is.  I kill traitors that threaten the crown.  It appears the king wants someone to be able to take my place; should anything happen to me, so he asked me to bring you along and sho
w you how it’s done.  Intelligence work is a dirty business; it isn’t all chasing ministers mistresses, snooping through mail, and hiding in closets, you better get used to it.”

Stafford pulled a large gleaming knife with a wicked looking edge and offered it hilt first to
Wendell.”  Go ahead, you can tell the king you were the one to end the head magetech at Tanner industries.  I promise not to tell Allion that I had him drugged first. 

Wendell paled and backed up a step.  “I’ll pass this time
, you show me what to do,” he stammered.

“This job is not just whining to the king and tattling on your fellow ministers,
Wendell it has a dark side and you need to man up.  If it’s any consolation this man has a room full of smuggled unlicensed artifacts behind a secret panel on the other side of the room.  He’s a criminal and by the artifact laws against smuggling and willingly producing unlicensed artifacts he is guilty of treason and subject to summary justice and capital punishment.

The man stirred.

“Hurry Wendell, he’s waking up.”

Wendell said nothing he paled even further and silently shook his head negatively.

Stafford gave the sniveling intelligence officer a scathing look of disgust and reversed the knife as he quickly walked behind the sleeping mage.  He wrapped his arm around the head of the sleeping victim and lifted the mage bodily from the chair by the head exposing his bare throat.  Stafford smiled at the horror in Wendell’s eyes and he spun the body away from the agents view and brought the knife to the exposed throat and made a slicing motion.  There was a gasp and large spurt of crimson and Stafford let the body fall to the ground.

Wendell hated Stafford for that look; just as Stafford hoped he would.

Wiping the knife on the man’s tunic Stafford walked to the wall.  He pressed a knot in the paneling and a door slid to the side exposing a large room littered with artifacts.

“Come on Wendell, bring that bag I gave you,” said Stafford as he entered the room.

Hesitating for a few moments the paled agent picked up a duffle bag and follow
ed the senior agent into the hidden room.

The Stadium was packed
the crowd louder than usual; it was the championship.  Shane huddled with his team on the sideline listening to the coach’s last second advice, waiting for the game to begin.  He looked around at the myriad of fans decked out in the schools colors of red white and gold, many with their faces painted as well.  On the opposite side of the stadium the other team’s fans were dressed in a like manner of yellow and purple.

The Officials walked out onto the field and soon blew their whistles indicating it was time for the teams to take the field.  Shane whooped and shouted with his team and ran to the starting positions.

Shane as team captain walked with his ball handler Bernard and his co-captain, the other receiver, Rene to the center circle of the field or “eye” as it was called to meet with the head official; the other team captain and his co-captain approached with his handler as well.

“
I’ll make it easy for you gentlemen.  I have just two things.  First I want a clean game,” spoke the official in a no-nonsense tone glancing at the U of J players.  If I see any cheap shots the penalty flags are going to fly.  Secondly, if I see any artifacts, I’ll give a technical to the man with the artifact and a team technical resulting in a two free kicks for the other team.  Is that clear?”  The official looked at Shane and his team mate as if just because they were the Wizards they would be the ones to try something using magetech.

Shane and the others all nodded yes.
  Shane consciously rubbed the neutral colored glyphs on his sleeve and gulped.

“Take your places.”  Shane and the other captain hustled out of the eye and into the field section ready to begin.

As the official took the
small melon sized grey and white warball and readied the toss Bernard shouted the play. Shane and the other receiver started running to the outside of the field toward the zone and the planned goals; followed by a battler each from the U of J Lions.  Two other Wizard battlers assumed warrior roles and immediately shadowed the other team’s receivers.  The remaining two Wizard battlers stayed near the eye.

The whistle blew and the ball went skyward.  Bernard out leapt the
Lions handler snagged the ball with a large right hand and ran towards and then past his two unguarded lone defensive battlers.  Bumping and nearly tripping on his own man as he flew by Bernard hurriedly pulled his hands into his midriff and wrapped both arms inward to avoid fumbling or being stripped as he tried to regain his stride.  Seeing he was off balance the U of J players left their defensive coverage and began to collapse around the staggering Wizard handler with the other defensive Lions players.  Just as the swarm of Lions players were about to pile on the doomed Wizards handler, one of the Wizards battlers that had held back and was yet to move pivoted and hurled a cleverly handed off ball to a now wide open Shane.  Shane quickly pulled down the pass ran, the short distance to the undefended five point goal, and leaped high for a jam and thrust the ball through the opening.

The crowd roared as the outside official nearest the goal raised his arms signifying the score.

“Terrific,” yelled the king standing and applauding with the rest of his retinue.  “Did you see that play, Stafford?  What splendid execution.”

“Yes your majesty,” commented the agent, his eyes roving the crowd and not paying as much attention to the game as the rest of the spectators.

Noticing his in attention to the game the king tried to see if he could catch his top agent off guard.  “Who was that that just scored, did you catch the name?”

“That was Shane Chason,” Sire, “He is the Wizards star receiver and Captain of the team,” responded Stafford still scanning the crowd.

“How does he know so much,” wondered Allion.  The man seemed to observe so little but missed nothing.  “What do you know about him, Stafford?”

“He is one of the top students at Wonstrowd and
is
the top magetech student that will graduate at the end of this term.  If he hadn’t been on the warball team he would no doubt be with your expedition of researchers that you commissioned from the college a few weeks ago, Sire”

“Why didn’t he go?”

“He was highly recommended by his professor and the dean of the collegium, but he turned it down due to his scholarship as a warball player.”

“Where is he from?  Is his family someone I should know?”

“Not likely, your highness, he is from the province of Pierre, their largest city; Colline Verte.  His mother is a widow who has a small dress shop.”

“Sounds like someone with a lot of drive.  I’m sure we will see him as a future leader if he remains that motivated.”
  The king changed the subject.  “Are you ready with the presentation that I will be giving Tanner at the end of the game?”

“Yes your majesty.”

The King returned his attention to the game.  “Excellent he said with a cruel smile, Excellent.”

The Wizards hurried back into starting position.  This time when the whistle blew Bernard missed the toss and the U of J Handler threw the ball to an outside battler who tipped it to a
warrior that had just pushed off the Wizard battler guarding him.

Shane was tightly defending the receiver near him and saw the tip to the freed up warrior and saw that he was facing an open goal; fortunately the other
team’s receiver was not yet in position but was out running Shane’s co-receiver to a location where he could get the pass.  Shane gambled and broke away from his receiver and sprinted across the far side on the blind side of the warrior on an intercept course of where he thought the other receiver would be to make the catch from the warrior. 

The
Lions warrior was now in trouble; the battler that he had shaken earlier had recovered and was about to tackle him.  With no choice the Lions warrior hurled the ball to where his receiver was running.  As the ball was descending from its trajectory to a now wide open Lions receiver, from out of nowhere Shane, who was running full speed leapt wildly and picked off the pass.  The Lions receiver who was traveling nearly the opposite direction was unable to change direction quickly enough and by the time he could react Shane had run into the zone and slammed another goal home for another five points.