The Wizard's War (8 page)

“I just woke up a few hours ago. No one has been in
here.”

I retreated to the middle of the cage to get as far
away from the bars and I could. I closed my eyes and focused on my brother. His
presence was absent. I tried releasing my magic to amplify my call, but it
still was not responding to me.
“Ron. Answer me if you can hear me.”

No answer. If I couldn’t use my magic, I couldn’t
call anyone or even summon Ikiru. If only I could get the griffin to my side…
Ikiru and Seimei could find each other from opposite ends of the universe and
they were smart. But I couldn’t call my griffin without my magic.

Just as I was wallowing in my despair, trying to stir
up even an ounce of my Iadnah magic, the door opened. The doctor and his
assistant entered the room. “You are awake,” the doctor said brightly. I stayed
where I was and watched how close he was willing to come to the bars. The fact
that he stayed by the door, much further from the bars than I could get,
worried me. “I am Kade-mas Togo. How are you feeling?”

“Alive,” I said. “Was that your intention?”

He smiled kindly, but I didn’t like the look in his
eyes… or the fact that I was in a cage. “Of course I want you alive. You would have
been dead if I wanted that.”

“Why have you kidnapped Sari and me?”

“Oh, the girl was a mistake. My assistant was only
supposed to get you, but your friend got in the way.”

“Why am I here, then?”

The doctor came closer and crouched right in front of
the bars. “Do you know where your mother is right now?”

Oh, shit.
Any question involving Mom was
dangerous. “At home, probably doing dishes or… I don’t know, sweeping
something. Whatever mothers do when they’re home alone.”

“So you believe she is at home, then? We went to your
home in Shomodii. We also went to your grandfather’s home and your uncle’s
home. To our surprise… we found nobody home anywhere. In fact, all three cabins
looked like they were closed up for storms, as if nobody would be home for a long
time. That is very surprising to me. Is that surprising to you, Yatunus-tai
Samhail.”

“Not really. My family likes to travel. My uncle is
on vacation with his girlfriend. It’s kind of the best time of year for
vacations, being fire weather and all.”

“Of course, I can understand that. Your name,
Samhail, is very exotic. Were you named after someone?”

He knew. My father was going to kill him for
threatening his family this way. “It is a dragon name,” I lied. Many people
believed dragons were fairytales and would have no idea what their names would
be like.

“Do you know where your father is?”

“Working.”

“Working where?”

“Mokii. Why are you asking me questions about my
family? Why have you kidnapped me and my girlfriend? This is illegal and you
know it. You could be sent to Canjii for this.”

He frowned. “Your uncle isn’t your biological uncle.
He is Ishte-mor Mordon.”

“He gave up the throne and was adopted by my
grandfather. This is about ransom?!”

“No, of course not,” he said, standing.

“Then why am I here?!”

“We believe your mother has dealings with the gods
and other worlds.”

Dad is going to be so mad. Nobody messed with our
family.
“That’s ridiculous. We are not even religious people.”

“Maybe you are not, but we know your entire family is
heavily into magic.”

“So is everyone else on Shomodii.”

“We searched your house.”

He shouldn’t have been able to get into the house.
The only way was if Ron forgot to set the wards before he left… or if he had to
leave suddenly and without warning. Really, though, either one was equally
likely. Ron forgot many of the mundane chores that he was supposed to do.

“There were many books and artifacts that are not
written in any Duran language or known to Duran. In fact, many of the foods in
your kitchen were strange. Now, I’m not saying you are involved, but you must
know. I believe your father is involved, as well. Maybe you grew up without
knowing any better than to consort with the gods. Maybe they made you do things
you didn’t want to do. We can help you if you help us.”

“Are you joking?!” I yelled, trying not to screech
like my brother. I stood, but didn’t get any closer to the bars. “You knock me
out, lock me up, threaten my family, and expect me to help you?! I will kill
you!”

“You have no magic. This stone is a foreign material
that absorbs the nominal energy of those exposed to it.”

It hindered my Iadnah energy as well. “You accuse my
mother of consorting with the gods when you are using alien magic?”

The doctor stepped back to stand next to his
assistant. She just kept looking at her tablet. “We tested your DNA.”

I wasn’t afraid. Sago didn’t have the right
technology. They had the skills to identify when a person is from a different
world, but they didn’t know what to look for. The DNA of people from every
world is very similar, because we are genetically compatible. The fact is that
if they tested any random person from the streets, that person would have
detectable traces from another world. It was just that most worlds, including
Duran, didn’t know how to determine what was sago and what wasn’t.

“And you found nothing. What? You thought my mother
had an affair with someone from another world?” I asked. I wasn’t as good with
the deflecting and distractions as my parents and brother… I was better at
making a threat and following through with it.

He wasn’t persuaded. “We believe your father,
Yatunus-mas Dylan, is one of the servants of Erono.” Well, he was close. He was
actually Mom’s Noquodi. Unfortunately, the doctor noticed my pause. “So I am
correct.”

“Of course not! My father is not a demon.” Which was
true. I mean, he owned a demon, and many of the people of Duran called the
Noquodi demons, but my dad was not actually a demon. The people were wrong when
they called the Guardians demons; a demon was a beast of the void.

“Your father was offered a level four title of cho,
yet he refused it and retained his level three title. I wondered why anyone
would refuse a higher title, so I looked into it deeper to see if it limited
any of his hobbies or aspirations. Your grandfather, Yatunus-mal Kirosado has a
level six title, while your mother, Vemie-sij Alia, has a level four title.

“Then I looked further into his records. Your
father’s mother is not listed. Now, placing your father’s age to your
grandfather’s history, I believe I found the reason your father is hesitant to
take a higher title. Yatunus-mal was not married within a year of your father’s
birth. That means he had a child with a woman he was not married to, which is
against the law.”

I sighed. “It is a minor crime warranting no more
than a fine and drop in title.”

“It would, however, raise questions.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anyone putting in the effort would
be disappointed. My grandfather has gotten involved with women in school
before. He met a woman and fell in love. She wanted to continue with her
schooling and be with him, too, so she applied for a schooling license. It was
approved, they got married, but then her school rejected her license, so they
got their marriage annulled and she demanded to have the marriage removed from
the records to clear her schooling history. They were already separated when
she found out she was pregnant. Kiro took his son and the woman went on with
her life.”

Mom, Dad, and Edward had spent countless hours of
drilling false story after false story into mine and Ron’s heads just in case
this very situation ever came up. Ron would roll his eyes and pick up every
detail perfectly the first time while I would stumble over my words and mix
elements of the stories in the most ridiculous ways. We had decided that if we
were ever interrogated, Ron would talk and I would just pretend to be an idiot.
Unfortunately, that didn’t work without my brother being here with me.

“If you and your family are innocent, then this stone
will only make you powerless. You will be released after a thorough
investigation has been completed. On the other hand, if your family is as
powerful as we suspect, they will find a way to rescue you.”

“And you will have a trap set?”

“Of course. None of them can sense you here, so if
they can find you, it can be with nothing but the assistance of the gods.” They
both left.

“Hail, is your father a servant of Erono?” Sari asked
hesitantly.

“No, of course not.” He didn’t even like Erono very
much.

She slumped against the bars as the fight left her.
“Then no one can save us.”

“Hey. Don’t give up. Ron will know by now that I’m
missing. He can outsmart anyone… maybe not my dad. Not yet anyway. But Ron will
get us out and home before our parents even know we’re missing.”

“My mom will not like you anymore if I’m not home by
the time she gets back from her trip. Actually… she will probably think we ran
off to get married. She’d love you forever for that.”

I laughed. Sari wanted to complete her schooling.
Neither of us were twenty-two yet, so our parents could actually marry us, but
I knew Mom and Dad wouldn’t make me do that. Her mother would. However, for the
most part, she respected Sari’s wishes.

“If you did get married, you could get a schooling
license.”

She looked at me. “Why would you say that? I have no
reason to get married. Who would I even marry?”

I shrugged. The only thing that popped into my head
was the obvious; her boyfriend. But since I was her boyfriend, I kept my mouth
shut and just looked away. This was normally the time when Ron would take the
attention off me.

*          *          *

For the next few hours, I tried to get my magic to do
anything. If I broke the bars without my magic, I would not only easily be
caught, but they would know I wasn’t sago. If I waited, Ron would either come
after me or he would tell Mom I was missing. The absolute worst case scenario,
and the one that I knew was most likely, was that Ron would try to contact me,
get desperate, and flash to me.
If he can make it, his magic will be sucked
away by the alien stone as well, and the doctor would know we deal with gods.

I had to find a way to get out before my brother
discovered I was missing, and I had to do it as if I were a mortal sago. “Hey,”
I said to Sari, sitting up. “You’re pretty thin.”

“What? That’s mean,” she said.

It is?
I knew saying a woman was fat was bad,
but I thought “thin” was a compliment. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I mean,
you’re in shape, but not muscular. You’re soft and flexible. Wait, that feels
like I said it wrong. I think I said that wrong.”

She sighed. “What is your point, Hail?”

“Can you fit through the bars?”

She paused before glaring at me. “Don’t you think if
I could fit through the bars that I would have already?”

I examined her cage carefully. It was nowhere near as
substantial as mine. They probably assumed the young woman couldn’t break
through, but a regular, young, sago man could. “Take off your shirt.”

“What?! I don’t think this is the time, Hail.”

Oh, hell.
Ron would have understood. “You’re
wearing a long-sleeved, shirt,” I explained. Fortunately, they hadn’t changed
or removed our clothing, so she was wearing the same shirt. “Tie the cuff of
one sleeve to the bar closest to me and toss the other sleeve out so I can get
it. Then go to the other side of the cage, stick your legs out, and push your
heels. That should be enough to move the cage within my reach. Then I can break
out one of your bars.”

“Can you break these bars?”

“I can.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I take off my pants?
They’re longer than my sleeves.”

“No, no, leave your pants on. I think that would be
too distracting. I’m sure I would reach your shirt cuffs. And if your shirt
tears, then you can take off your pants. And this conversation has gotten way
off the mark fast.”

“On the upside, I have completely forgiven you for
calling me scrawny.”

I didn’t recall calling her scrawny, but I didn’t
have much to say when she stripped off her shirt. I mean, there was nothing
scrawny about her. I wasn’t exactly watching her hands when she tied one sleeve
to the bar, but at least I reached out and caught the other on autopilot. The
heat from the stone bars that I was pressed against was nauseating, but I held
on. She turned around and stuck her feet out to push.

I pulled, faking how difficult it was. Even though
Sari was turned away, the doctor and his assistant could have been watching us.
Slowly, the cage slid closer to mine until the bars were comfortably within
arm’s reach.

“You are stronger than you look,” Sari said.

I gave her my best insulted face, which I copied from
Ron. “Are you calling me scrawny?” I asked, reaching through the stone bars to
get a firm grip on the metal ones. She laughed. With an exaggerated grunt, I
broke the metal between the bar and the floor plate. Sari took no time at all
contorting herself through the new hole. I kind of wished it took a little more
effort.

“Where is the key?” she asked, looking around the
dark basement.

“I don’t know that there is one. Don’t worry about
me, just get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you, but, I think I need to go find
a key.”

“Just don’t get caught. If it looks risky at all,
don’t come back. Go find my brother and tell him not to find me. Tell him I’m
safe and can get free on my own. You have to convince him not to look for me.”

“I’ve only met him twice, and while his words were
nothing but scathing, I can tell you there is nothing I could say to keep him
from looking for you if he knew you were in a cage somewhere.”

Sari cracked open the door just enough to peek. “What
do you see?” I asked.