The Woodward Academy, Year 6

Chapter 10: March

David, Joe and Vivian all waited in a conference room off a hallway outside the throne room.  With them were two guards and one of the king's advisors.

After half an hour, the door opened and the king entered the room.  Everyone rose to their feet and bowed their heads.  The king sighed quietly.

"Okay, let's get started," the king said.  "You three have something you claim is urgent to discuss.  You wouldn't even tell my advisors what it was about.  So, out with it."

Joe said, "Your Majesty, we apologize for interrupting your day, but we felt we had to bring this directly to you, and as immediately as possible.  Your Majesty, your life is in danger."

"What?" the advisor interjected. 

The king waved him down.  "You'd better explain that comment, Agent."

Joe waved to David, who was still taking point on this matter, because the District Chief wanted it that way.

"Your Majesty," David said.

"Nice to see you again," the king interrupted.

David jolted.  "Thank you, sir.  It's an honor to be in your presence, as well.  I just wish it was for a happier reason."

The king nodded for him to continue.

"Your Majesty... to explain a little, I am currently a Rimohr intern.  While I'm in my training phase, I am also working as the Chief of Security for Woodward Academy."

"Yes, I'm aware.  Go ahead."

David nodded.  "In the middle of last week, one of the students brought to me a letter he had received from his cousin.  In the letter, the cousin claimed to have overheard two men discussing a plot.

"We went to interview the cousin directly, sir, to get more information.  The cousin was in a restaurant and overheard two men discussing their plans to, in their words, 'hit their target.'  They referred to movement between Bolmont and Senesty, and also referred to the palace security staff.  These facts, among other smaller things that were said, lead us to believe that they mean to target you, Your Majesty."

"That's crazy," the advisor said.  "How would technos even get here?"

"Who said they were technos?" David replied.  "I just said they were in Earth.  There are plenty of wizards in Earth, sir."

"Okay," the king said after a long moment of silence.  "You say they're plotting to kill me.  I think it's a bit of a stretch, but I'll give you, for the moment, the benefit of the doubt.  How do you want to proceed?  You want me to hide myself away somewhere and cower in fear?"

David looked to Joe.  He was far too junior to be giving the king advice.

Joe said, "No, Your Majesty.  At this point, we don't have enough information to advise you on a course of action, other than to perhaps increase your security detail somewhat, and be more vigilant.  We are going to be investigating this matter much more thoroughly.  We just wanted to make sure that you were aware of the situation as immediately as possible."

"Why didn't you just mirror us, then?" the advisor demanded.

"Are you sure those are secure communications?" David asked him.  "This cannot be transmitted via an insecure method.  If the wrong people find out about this, the best thing that would happen would be to panic the citizens."

"I can't even imagine how one would intercept a mirror communication."

"I can," David told him.  "All it takes is a good diviner and the right tools."

The king was more interested in this.  "Is there a way to protect our communications?"

"Not yet, Your Majesty.  I'm working on it with my faculty advisor in Divination at the Academy."

"Who is your faculty advisor?" the king wanted to know.

"Prof. Casie Zoroaster.  We are also getting the assistance of Prof. Amus Dartson."

The king nodded, recognizing both names.  "You will let me know if you develop something."

"Yes, sir."

"Very well.  Agent Garibaldi, if this really is a plot against me, then it's a plot against the entire kingdom.  You will find out the truth, and do so quickly.  If these people are really trying to kill anyone, you will run them to ground.  If it's something other than that, I want to dismiss this as quickly as possible.  You use whatever resources you need to, is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Joe said.  "The three of us will be on this case full-time until it is solved.  Other investigators will be called in as needed."

"Very good.  Keep me informed."  The king strode out the door as everyone bowed to him.

David looked at Joe and asked, "Now what?"

"I was just about to ask you that," Joe admitted.

"I really hate those damned airplane rides," Joe said.

David grunted.  "Would you rather have spent eight hours straight in my truck?"

"Um... no."

"Okay, then."

"I love flying," Vivian said.  "It's such a fun experience to watch the world go by."

"You should try flying on a pegasus sometime," David told her.

"I've never done that," she admitted.  "Is it difficult to do?"

David snorted.  "Not if your peg likes you."

The three were walking along a street in Ocean City, Maryland.  After a few more minutes, they turned and went into Sharky's Diner.  Finding an empty booth wasn't too tough, and they looked over the menu while they waited.

After they had ordered, David pulled out the image that he'd taken of the illusion-bust of their suspect.  He looked down at it, and looked around the restaurant.

"I don't see him here," David said.

"It would have been amazing luck for that," Vivian said.

David replied, "True, but I like easy over hard."

Vivian grinned.

When the waitress returned with their orders, David waited for her to set everyone's plate down, and then he said, "Excuse me, Miss.  Have you ever seen this man in here?" he held up the image he'd taken.

"Hell, yeah, he's in here all the time.  You a cop?"

"Something like that," David said.  "Do you know his name?"

"Jared Hallerin," she said.  "I dated him once.  And only once."

"That bad?" Joe asked.

"His version of creepy makes stalkers look normal."

"Would you know if he has a bald friend?"

"He's got lots of friends, more than one of them bald.  They all look like skinhead types to me.  Anything else?"

"When was the last time you saw Hallerin in here?"

"Last week sometime.  He's a regular, but not a 'regular' regular, if you know what I mean."

David nodded.  "Thank you very much for your help."

"Sure."

When the waitress left, David turned to Joe.  "So, we can sit here and wait for him for the next week or so, or we can go out looking for him."

"Which do you think is better?" Joe asked David, clearly testing him.

"Both, actually.  But if we can only do one, then sitting here is probably not the best course of action.  If he's really involved in an assassination plot, then he might not come back in here before that's done.  We don't know how long we've got before they intend to make their attempt.  It could be days.  Hell, in truth, it could be hours."

"So what do you suggest?" Joe asked.

"Can we get someone from the Cormatsen office to come and watch this place?"

"Sure."

"Okay, then we do that, while we are out looking for him.  That way, if he does come back here, that's still covered."

"So, what's our next step in finding him?" Vivian asked.

David knew they were pushing him, testing his abilities.  He was quite certain they knew how this was supposed to go.  "We contact the local police to try to get an address.  If that doesn't work, we try state police, then the FBI.  Once we've got an address, we can go there looking for him.  If nothing else, we can look around his home."

"We don't have a warrant," Joe objected.

"You know better than that," David replied.  Joe nodded.  An assassination plot on the king was a national security matter, and those investigations, while still handled by the Rimohrs, were run under far looser rules.  David had taken the time to brush up on all of this while on the flight down from Boston.

"So, for right now..." Vivian prompted.

"For right now, enjoy your lunch."

"Can I ask you something?" Joe asked David.

"Sure."

"Why do you always order a meal when we come to a restaurant to ask questions?  Why don't we just ask the damned questions?"

"Weren't you hungry?" David asked.

"Well, kind of, but I could easily have waited."

"Technos don't like having their time wasted.  Us asking her questions doesn't earn her a penny if we're not ordering food.  Since we've placed an order, she has an expectation that we'll leave a tip.  She also has an expectation that, if she cooperates with our questions, we will leave a bigger tip."

"So we're paying for her cooperation."

"In a sense, yes.  We're giving her some motivation to not blow us off."

Vivian asked, "And will you leave her a bigger tip because she was helpful?"

"Hell, yes.  That's just a courtesy to our fellow law enforcement officers.  If we stiff her on the tip, then that makes it harder for the next cop who comes in here to get anything out of her."

"Earthers and their money," Joe grumbled.

David walked into Hallerin's apartment.  He said quietly, "Hello, Rimohr officers, we are here to search your apartment."

Vivian said, "No one's going to hear you in that tone of voice."

"That was kind of my point," David replied.  "We're required to say it, but if I scream it, then the neighbors will hear me.  No point in giving Hallerin more information than necessary."

The three of them fanned out, each taking different sections of the apartment.  After about five minutes, they reconvened in the living room.

"Nothing," Joe said.  Vivian indicated likewise.

"If the dishes in the sink are any indication, he hasn't been here for several days, at least.  There's mold on them."

"Ugh," Vivian said.

"Did you find anything that said where he might be?" Joe asked David.

"No.  You?"

"Nope."

Vivian hadn't either.  "Now what?"

"Now we try to make up a list of known associates, I guess," David said.  "We'll go back to the cops and see if they can help with that."

"This is going to be a long one," Joe said with a sigh.

"Hopefully not too long.  We don't have an open timeframe here."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Morning, David," Joe said when he finished yawning.  "You sleep okay?"

"Ugh," David said.  "On the whole, I'd rather have been in Vivian's room.  You snore like a chainsaw."

Joe grinned and asked, "How do you know Vivian doesn't snore just as bad?"

"Why would I care?" David replied with a grin.

Joe laughed.

The three of them met up for breakfast and discussed their plan for the day.

"Running these four down shouldn't take too long, unless they're off with our boy," Joe said.

"Yeah.  If we don't find them, or if we find them and they're not associating with Hallerin, then what?" David asked.

Joe shrugged.  "In that case, we'll have to go back to Bolmont and regroup, try to find another way to find him."

"We might need to get the FBI to put out an APB on him."

"What's that?" Joe asked.

"Earth version of a King's Order," Vivian explained.

"Oh, okay.  That's probably a good idea, anyway.  They've got a lot more eyes and ears to search with."

David nodded.

Another eight hours hadn't turned up anything useful in the search for Hallerin's accomplice.  Having exhausted their leads in Maryland, they decided to head back home to rethink their approach.

"Don't get so upset.  You can't expect to find what you need so quickly," Vivian said.  Joe had asked her to sit next to David on the flight back to Boston.  He knew that David would want to discuss the case, and Joe needed a break from it all.

"I know, but this is important, dammit."

"Aren't they all important?" Vivian asked.

"Well, yes, but this is prevention, not justice.  If we let the king get killed, it's a really big thing."

"I see your point.  Still, you can only do what you can do.  The rest is up to fate."

David grunted in discontent at that remark, and looked out the window.

David grumbled as he entered Alton Hall.  It was seven o'clock in the morning, and he didn't like being summoned before breakfast.

"Hey, Tanya," David said.  "Good morning, Prof. Herbert.  What seems to be the problem?"

Prof. Herbert merely motioned to the pedestal in front of where he was standing.

"It's... an empty pedestal," David said.

"Precisely the point," Prof. Herbert said.  "It's not supposed to be empty!  There should be a glass cover over the pedestal, and a very rare and expensive potion within!"

"So it was stolen?"

"Yes, obviously!"

"What was the potion?"

"It is called Bink's Aid."

David blinked.  "Okay... what does it do?"

"It protects the user from magic - all magic - for a time.  No spell cast upon the user will have any effect.  The effects are short-lived, but very potent."

"I can imagine it would be quite useful under certain circumstances.  Why was it kept here, instead of someplace more secure?"

"It has always been here in the potions archive.  It was created by Prof. Binkorlas Roogna, shortly after the academy was founded.  The formula is damned-near impossible to produce."

"You said there was a glass cover?"

"Yes, it was fastened to the pedestal by these bolts.  But, as you can see, the bolts are still in place."

"They must have vaporized the glass, or morphed it into air or something."

"Not possible.  Any spell such as that would not have worked.  We did have protections on the pedestal, you know."

David nodded.  "So, what we know is that the glass cover is missing, but the bolts holding it in place are still here.  The potion was valuable, difficult to make, and widely known to be here."

"Yes."

Just then, one of David's security officers showed up.  "Chief, I think you'd better see this."

They all followed the officer to an outer door.  The door separated the main portion of the building from the "midnight lab", the area where students were allowed to work on potions in the evenings.

The door was still solid, and still in place, but one of the window panes in its upper half was now completely missing.

"This hasn't been broken or cut out," David said.  "This is just... gone."

"Just like the pedestal," Prof. Herbert said.

"Is this normal glass?"

"A bit thicker than usual, but yes," Prof. Herbert said.

"Hmm," David replied.  "And the same with the pedestal?"

"Yes."

"So someone has learned to remove glass.  That's something to look into.  We'll get right on this, Professor."

"Good deal," the professor said, and headed off.  David then dismissed the security officer who'd found the door.

To Tanya, David said, "I'll help you as much as I can, but this is your case.  I don't have the time to take this on."

"I didn't think you were working on anything.  You said you'd wrapped up that serial killer case."

"I did, but I have something else working.  It's urgent and... well, it's also need-to-know, sorry."

Tanya nodded.

"I'm in a bit of a holding pattern with the other thing right now, however, so I'll do what I can to help you figure this one out."

"Where do you figure to start?" Tanya asked.

"Researching ways to get rid of glass."

Tanya nodded again, and the two left for their offices.

"How did they come up with these names?" David asked Vivian, who was riding with him.

"They pooled together with neighboring departments and the state police.  The FBI didn't come up with anything new, however.  But they did say they would be looking out for our guy."

David nodded.

The two arrived at the location of their first suspect.  It was a garage.  They walked into the back area, looking for the man who matched the picture they had.

"Hey, you can't come back here," one guy said to them.

"We're looking for Anthony Runedar," David said.

"Yeah?  And just who the hell are you?" the man demanded.

"The guy who's looking for Anthony Runedar," David replied.  "Is he here?"

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.  What's it to you?"

"I need to speak with him.  Now why don't you go find him and let him know that, before I actually get annoyed?"

"Big words, little man," the guy said, picking up a long-handled socket wrench.  "I think maybe you should take your bitch and leave, before I get annoyed."

"Go ahead and get annoyed," David replied.  "I'll happily put you in the hospital, if you like."

The man advanced threateningly.  David pulled his staff from off his waist, waited until the man was just close enough, then extended it.  The staff's tip connected with the bottom of the man's chin, and the force of the expansion was enough to send him crumpling to the floor.

Others in the room had watched what was going on, and they now moved in on the two.

Vivian screamed.  As David turned, she hollered, "Get your hands off me!"

David glared at the man holding her.  "Ooh, we could have a lot of fun here," the guy said.

David looked at him calmly.  "If you don't let her go, in ten seconds, you will be dead."

"You try it, and I can hurt her so bad before you ever get near me."

"Who said I needed to get near you?" David asked.  Just then, a flash of blue shot from the end of his staff.  It impacted the man full in the face, throwing him out the doorway of the garage and actually tumbling into the street.  Cars swerved and panic-stopped to avoid hitting him.

David now turned to the others, in full undead glare.  "Now, if I don't see Anthony Runedar in front of me in the next ten seconds, more people are going to start getting seriously hurt.  You so much as touch one of us again, and you will all be dead.  You think I'm bluffing?  Try me."

"Okay, okay, I'm back here.  You didn't have to kill Frankie, he was only messin'."

"He's not dead.  Just in a lot of pain.  I assume you recognize us?" he asked.

"Yeah.  What you want?"

"Jared Hallerin."

"He's not here."

"No shit, Sherlock," David replied.  "Where is he?"

"I don't know.  I ain't seen him in a couple weeks."

"He say anything to you about going out of town?  Maybe to do a job?"

"I say anything to you and he finds out, he'll break my knees."

"You don't say anything to me, and I'll break a lot more than that," David replied coldly.

"Hey, this ain't Dugerra, you can't just..."

"I can, I will, and I will get away with it," David replied.  "You're going to tell me what I want to know, or you will spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.  Got it, punk?"

The guy looked at David for a long moment.  "You're not as young as you look, are you."  It wasn't a question.

"No.  I'm a demighost."  David enjoyed watching the man pale.  "So you know that I can get away with just about anything."

The man was shaking his head.  He went over and sat down on a stool.  "Okay, look, Jared says he's got a job, needs someone to help him out.  He says it pays fifty thousand granas, but it has to be done in Dugerra.

"I hate Dugerra.  I told him that.  I don't know what the job is, or when he plans on doing it.  I left before he got that far."

"When he asked you about it, were there others?"

"No.  But I know he was going to ask others."

"Who?" David demanded.

Anthony gave him a list of several names.  Vivian made sure to write them down.

"Just one last question.  How can you hate Dugerra with a name like Runedar?"

"Just because I grew up there, doesn't mean I enjoyed the place."

"Fair enough."

The two Rimohrs headed back out to their rental car.  Vivian was driving this time.

"Got a little rough in there, didn't you?" Vivian asked.

"We don't have time to pussyfoot around with these assholes.  We need information and we need it fast.  Plus, nobody threatens my partner."

"But those guys now know about magic."

"The things I did could be written off as fancy technology.  People at that education level don't know what is and isn't possible with machinery and lasers."

Vivian nodded.

David asked, "Did he give us any new names?"

"Two.  You want to go check them out?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks for saving my butt, by the way," she said after a few moments.

"Well, it's such a cute butt," David told her with a grin.

Vivian smiled at him, but didn't say anything.

"Figure we'll have to bust heads today?" Vivian asked.  "By which, I mean you, of course."

David smirked.  "That all depends on whether they're cooperative or want to be dicks.  Don't answer me, fine.  Lie to me, okay... but don't disrespect the uniform."

Vivian nodded as David pulled in to a metalworking shop.  The two stepped out of the car and headed in.

A large man, over six feet tall and wide in the shoulder, stepped in front of them.  "Can I help you?"

"Looking for Samuel Woloczek," David said, without being intimidated by the man's bulk.

"Get lost," the big guy said.

From behind the big guy, a voice said, "Andy, you'd best let them past before you get hurt."

Andy snorted.  "It's just a runt and a bitch."

The man stepped up, a little pale.  "And either one of them could plant you in the cemetery.  They're not what they look like.  Go help Zeke with that cargo box."

Andy glared at the Rimohrs one last time, then headed off.

"Sorry about that," the man said.  "He doesn't know who you are.  I'm Sam."

The man appeared nervous and fidgety, so David kept his hand near his wand.  He said, "We're looking for Jared Hallerin."

"I know.  Tony called me yesterday, said you might be around to talk to me.  I don't want any trouble.  I'm tryin' to clean up my act."

"Commendable," David said neutrally.

"Yeah, well, eighteen months in Brockridge convinced me it was time to do something different.  When I got out, I started learning metalworking."

David said, "Good for you.  Did Hallerin come to see you?"

"Yeah.  But I told him I wasn't in.  Yeah, sure, I could use fifty G's, but anything that's paying that well is either really dangerous, or really stupid."

"You know if he's asking anyone else?"

"Actually, one of the other guys who works here, Randy, said he was interested.  I don't know if Jared hired him, but I ain't seen him since."

"Is he a wizard?"

"Yeah.  He's the one that got me the job here."

"What's his full name?"

"Randy Johnson."

"Know where he lives?"

"No, but you can get that info from Janine, in the office.  Just tell her I said to tell you."

David nodded.  "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Woloczek."

"No problem.  What's Jared into, anyway?"

"Trust me, you're better off not knowing."

"That bad, huh?"

"Let's just say that it is both stupid, and dangerous."

"Gotcha."

The Rimohrs got the information from Janine that they needed, and immediately headed off to search through Randy Johnson's home.  They found no sign of him, but there were indications he'd gone on a trip somewhere.

"We need to check the airlines for these two assholes.  If Johnson's with him, and he was only looking for one person, then that's the entire crew."

"What about the bald guy?  If he only needed one, then why not him?"

"Maybe they needed one more.  Or maybe the bald guy's not a wizard, and is only helping plan things."

"Why get someone else involved that way?"

David shrugged.  "Not knowing who the bald guy is, it's hard to say.  Maybe he's good at planning something like this.  He could be former military or something.  In any case, until we find Johnson, we have to assume he's involved."

"Yeah.  And since it seems as though Hallerin was only looking for one more, we're not going to get any more information this way."

"But what if he wasn't?"

"Wasn't what?"

"Looking for just one more?  What if he was only dealing with one person at a time for security reasons?"

"Well, we haven't got any more names of people to look for, anyway."

"That's true.  So now what?" David asked in frustration.

"I was hoping you'd have an idea," Vivian admitted.

"Yeah, lock the king in a solid metal box for the next year or so."

Vivian grunted.  "I don't think he'd enjoy that."

"Ungrateful bastard," David replied with a grin.  "I guess the only thing we can do is call the FBI and see if they can get anything on travel records."

Vivian nodded.  "I guess we get to go home for a while, then."

"Tanya will appreciate that.  At least she'll get a few days off."

 "I thought I was supposed to be getting some days off," Tanya said, needling her boss as she walked up to Santana Hall.

"Well, you are, but since this looks like it's probably the same perp from last week, and that's your case, that makes this your case."

"Hmph," Tanya said in mock-grump.  "What've we got?"

"So far, just this missing window pane, with, once again, no clue as to how it went missing."

"Didn't you find anything about removing glass?"

"Sure.  The problem is, I found about two dozen ways to do it, and only a couple of them leave any clue as to what was done.  There's just no way to tell what they did.  It was done magically, we know that, because any physical method of removal would leave behind clues."

"So what did they take?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet.  I wanted to wait for you to arrive."

"Wait... so, all we know is that the window pane is gone?  What if nothing's been stolen?"

"Then you get to go back and eat breakfast."

"Well, let's go, then."

"We're waiting for Prof. Bahkeir.  She's the only one that will know what's missing.  She's the head of the arts department."

Prof. Bahkeir showed up a few minutes later, her long black hair flowing in the breeze, its blue tinge obvious in the sunshine.

"Good morning, Professor," David said.

"Good morning, David," she said.  "Please, call me Keisha, if you would.  I've never liked the sound of 'professor'."

"As you wish.  This window pane was reported missing about a half-hour ago.  This matches the nature of a theft in Alton Hall last weekend.  We were hoping you'd be able to take a quick look through the department and see if anything is missing."

"Well, I can look for major items, but if they stole something small, I won't notice."

"Of course.  But the theft last week was something very major, so it's likely that they took something of value this time, too."

Keisha nodded.  She led them into Santana Hall and immediately started looking around.

It took twenty minutes, for Santana Hall was a big building, but she finally found it.

"You weren't kidding when you said they'd take something of value," Keisha said.

"What's missing?" Tanya asked.

"The Hamelin Flute," she said.

"Should we just naturally assume this flute does what one would expect?"

Keisha grinned.  "Yes.  It is, in fact, the actual flute of the Pied Piper.  When joined with a hex, the flute can essentially hypnotize the targeted group, be it rats or people or centaurs.  The only group that seems immune to the flute - apart from the deaf, of course - are dragons."

"How did this end up in the academy?" David asked.

"The Pied Piper's descendant attended the school.  The flute had been passed down through his family.  The person who attended here felt the flute shouldn't be left to float around, lest someone new try to misuse it, so he gave it to the academy to watch over."

"Wonderful job we're doing," Tanya groused.

Keisha frowned.  "Yes."

"The flute was kept right here?"

"Yes."

"They didn't dissolve the glass this time," Tanya pointed out.

"There was no need," David replied.  He fingered the lock.  "This would have been child's play to get through."  Looking at the professor, David asked, "Why was this so weakly protected?"

Keisha shrugged.  "It's been here so long that no one really took its security seriously."

David muttered to himself, then took a deep breath and let it out.  "Okay, we appear to have no clues.  Let's see if we get anything in the way of fingerprints."

A quick forensic examination turned up only the professor's fingerprints on the cabinet, and no other clues were found nearby.

"We'll let you know if we turn anything," David said.  "If you can think of anyone who's asked about the flute recently... or even not so recently... please let us know."

"Of course."

As David and Tanya left Santana Hall, David said, "I don't like the trend."

"Theft is never good," Tanya agreed.

"It's not just theft.  Look at what's been taken so far.  A potion that protects you against magic, and a flute that controls people.  This sounds very much like someone's planning something major, and they want to make sure they can get away with it."

Tanya looked at him.  "You just turned something annoying into something very scary."

David grinned in self-derision.  "It's a knack I have."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, it's your case."

"Thanks a lot.  Any suggestions?"

"Yeah.  Find out what other goodies are floating around this school that someone might want to steal."

"Good idea."

David felt slightly guilty.  He had promised Tanya time off, and so he was on duty now, but the time he'd given her off fell during Spring Break, so there wasn't anything for security to do, anyway.  But at least she didn't have to come in to the office.

David wasn't in the office, either.  He was currently on top of Thunderbird Dorm, helping Miss J move around the plants in preparation for the Seedling Festival.  They had, of course, reacquainted themselves properly before starting their work.

The two had settled their relationship into a comfortable, if not entirely happy, routine.  They would get together when Miss J needed David's help, and during that time, they would screw like bunnies.  When the task was finished, they wouldn't see each other.  Miss J needed it to be that way.  David tolerated it because he had other outlets for his needs, and because it was the only way he got to see his friend.

As they were returning to the greenhouse to retrieve more plants, they were joined by Sam.

"Hey, you two.  Getting everything ready for the Seedling Festival?"

"With David's help, as usual," Miss J replied with a smile.

"How the hell do you have the energy to help out with this after all the other stuff you're doing?" Sam asked David.

"I always have time to help my friends," David replied.  "I'll rest when I'm dead."

"But you'll never be fully dead," Sam objected, knowing where this was going.

"Well, then I guess I'm not going to be resting," David replied with a grin.

"Uh-huh.  Well, I came to invite you to a dinner party.  Emile is throwing a little get-together tonight, and since you haven't really spent much time with us professors this year, we thought maybe you could come and catch up with us."

"Sure, no problem.  When and where?"

"Seven o'clock, in the- Aagh!"

David saw a bright flash hit Sam in the chest.  His first instinct was to look around for an attacker, but he couldn't see anyone.  The hex could have come from a number of places.

His attention was refocused, however, when Sam collapsed to the ground.

"Sam!" he screamed, kneeling down next to her.  Blood was oozing from every orifice of her body.  "Holy shit," he breathed.  He was thinking as hard and as fast as he could.  He couldn't give her Bloodbank; she was bleeding too steadily from her mouth to swallow it.  He knew he had to do something quickly, or she would bleed out in only a couple minutes.  Already, she was looking intensely pale.

Finally, David pulled something up from his deepest memory.  "Sifungarey amatos!" he growled fiercely, placing his hand on her chest.  The blood immediately started to retreat back into her body.

"Did that fix her?" Miss J asked worriedly.

"Unlikely.  I'd bet there's more wrong within her.  Shit, Annie's on vacation again.  Why does this shit keep happening when she's not around?  Is there any healer on campus?"

"I don't know," Miss J admitted.

Sam groaned in pain, her hands going to her abdomen.

"Shit.  Obviously, there's more wrong.  We need to get her to the infirmary, but we also need to get a healer up here."

"What about Rusty, from down in town?"

David snorted.  "That bastard was sent to prison for refusing to heal a werecat, who then died.  They haven't replaced him yet.  Goddammit, I need help with this.  I don't know the healing arts."

David called the infirmary, but no one answered.  He then placed a call to Emile.

"David?  What's the matter?  You look frantic."

"I know Annie's on vacation.  Is there any healer here on campus?"

"No one with any kind of license, no.  What's wrong?"

"Sam has been hexed.  Badly hexed.  I'm going to get her up to the infirmary, but Emile, I don't know that much about healing."

"I don't know what to tell you, David.  Do what you can."

"Shit," he replied, then fogged off.  After a long moment's thought, he closed his eyes, opened his mind, and thought very hard, Cupcake, I need your help.

Given the proximity of the Savage Hall Annex, Cupcake was at David's side in less than a minute.  Upon seeing Sam, Cupcake let out a snort of distress.

To Miss J, David said, "I'm going to use Cupcake to get Sam to the infirmary, and then I'm going to send for help.  Is there anything you can do for her?"

"I don't even know what's wrong.  I have no spellcasting ability, David, I'm just a fairy."

David nodded.  "I need to get moving."

David bent down and picked Sam up off the ground.  He unceremoniously shoved her up on top of Cupcake, and then climbed onto the peg himself.  "Cupcake, very easy, please, we need to get to the infirmary."

In an instant, Cupcake was in the air.  She'd taken a couple running steps instead of her usual leap, but it didn't make much difference in her speed.  In seconds, they'd reached Belleci Hall.

David pulled Sam off of Cupcake and settled her to the ground once more.  He then turned to Cupcake.

"I need you to do me a big favor.  I need you to go get Olissa.  She's at my home in Bolmont.  Bring her back here, as fast as you can.  I need help, or Sam's going to die.  Can you do that?"

Cupcake whinnied in response.  As soon as David stepped away from her, she was in the air and heading south.  David then picked Sam up and carried her into the infirmary, which was completely empty at the moment.

David mirrored Olissa, to let her know that Cupcake was coming for her, then he turned to the resources he had in the infirmary.  He pulled down a healing encyclopedia, and looked for spells concerning internal scans of the body.  He found one after just a few minutes, and so took the book over to where Sam was lying.

Sam was awake, but in so much discomfort she was unable to speak.  David set the book down on the table beside the bed, and placed his hands over her body.  He said the charm, closing his eyes and waiting to see what, if anything, would come of it.

What David saw was devastating.  He nearly collapsed from the emotional horror of it.  He slumped as he opened his eyes, catching himself on the edge of her bed.

Suddenly, he felt hands on him.  He turned to see Emile holding him up.  Behind her, Miss J and Prof. Rutherford were standing.

"Are you okay?" Emile asked.  David nodded, rubbing his eyes.  "What's wrong with her?"

David motioned them away from her bed.  He sat down on the edge of a table to steady himself.

"Every system in her body is failing.  All of them.  Liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, the whole nine yards.  The heart is already starting to show signs of problems, and the lungs won't be far behind."

"Can you fix her?" Prof. Rutherford asked.

David nearly snorted.  "I'm way over my head here.  Where are the professors who teach the healing classes?"

"Away at a convention, which is where Annie went."

"Goddammit," David replied.  "I've sent for Olissa.  She's been taking healing classes.  That's the best we've got?  Really?  A school with fifty or more professors, and we're relying on two students, only one of which knows squat?"

"Most of the professors are gone, David.  Not a lot of them stick around after orientation."

"Fucking great.  I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Emile.  I'm getting this shit from a book!"

"Which is as much as any of the rest of us would be doing," Prof. Rutherford said.  "What can we do to help you?"

"Find me a goddamned healer!" he snarled.  "Until then, I'm just going to have to pretend I know what I'm doing."

He got up to go back to Sam, but then turned to Emile.  "This makes four."

Emile nodded seriously.  As David went back to Sam, Miss J asked, "Four what?"

Emile explained about David's concern for his friends.  Miss J frowned.  "That does seem like a lot to be just coincidence."

"Yeah," Emile agreed.  "Niobi, let's see if we can't find him some help."

Prof. Rutherford nodded, and the two went off to start mirroring people.

Meanwhile, David was frantically searching through the books in the infirmary, trying to find ways to keep Sam alive long enough for him to find the fix.  Gelert Potion wasn't an option: he'd tried it, and she vomited it back up immediately.  Nothing would stay down.  Her system was rejecting all attempts to help except through spells.

David found and enacted various charms to keep her organs functioning, but another scan showed that it was a stopgap measure.  Even the bleeding had come back once, and though the spell had forced it to stop, David knew he had to find the cure for the hex.

Olissa showed up soon, and David explained the situation to her.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Look through these books.  See if you can find out what hex we're dealing with here.  I've got a handle on these sustaining spells, so I'll keep doing these while you look."

Olissa nodded and immediately turned to the references there in the infirmary.  David hoped she would hurry; it seemed as though he was having to cast the spells more frequently as time went on.  If they didn't find a fix soon, there might not be one.

David mirrored Prof. Phillips and Prof. Thropp, but neither of them had any idea what hex this was.  Prof. Thropp was still on campus, but Prof. Phillips had taken Cat and the kids to Earth for a trip to Disney World.  Prof. Thropp offered to look through her own spellbooks to see if she could find anything.  David gratefully accepted her help.

After having cast all of the sustaining spells for the fifth time, David took another look through the healing encyclopedia for stronger sustaining spells.  He found one, and decided to try that the next time he needed to cast spells.  If it didn't work, he could always fall back on the others.  If Olissa or Prof. Thropp didn't figure out what this was, though, it was all going to be a waste.  Sustaining spells would only work for just so long.

Olissa was flipping pages in books like mad, skimming sections to see if she could find anything.  She was in a bit of a panic herself; she knew what Sam meant to David, and she couldn't handle the idea of him losing such a close friend this way.  She knew he would blame himself, and that could not be allowed to happen.

At the next round of spells, David cast the stronger spell, which did seem to push the hex back quite a bit.  It gave him a breather, but that only gave him more time to ponder what would happen if they didn't find an answer soon.

Whoever did this is going to wish I'd killed them, he thought to himself.

Finally, after six hours, Olissa found a possibility.

"David?" she asked, holding up the book.  The look of fatigue on David's face scared her.  She had never seen him so exhausted.

"What have you got?" he asked.

Olissa set the book down on the table next to the bed.  "It's the Zayinga hex, I think.  It matches all the symptoms."

"What's the countercurse?"

"That's the problem.  There isn't one listed."

"Fuck!" David snarled.  Olissa actually stepped back.

David pulled out his mirror, and contacted Prof. Thropp.

"Professor, we think we're dealing with the Zayinga hex.  Do you know of a countercurse for this?"

"I will look it up and get back to you as quickly as I can," Prof. Thropp told him.  The look on his face had scared her, too.

David set his mirror down on the table.  He turned to Olissa and tried to smile.  It failed miserably.  "Thanks," he said anyway.

"What else can I do?  Can I take your place casting the spells?"

"Have you done these before?" he asked.

She looked at the pages he had marked.  "No."

David shook his head.  "Then I don't want to risk it.  I've gotten fairly confident with them."

"But you're exhausted."

"I'll rest when she can," he replied.

Olissa knew there was no arguing with that statement.  David had never once let one of his friends remain in trouble without doing whatever he could to help them.  She knew he wasn't about to start now.  Not with Sam.

It took another three hours, and four castings of the sustaining charms, before Prof. Thropp got back to him.

"David, there was no countercurse to Zayinga.  At least, not one known to me."

"Shit," He replied.

"Now, don't give up hope.  When I couldn't find one, I set about crafting one myself.  It is, of course, untried, but it is the only thing I can offer."

"How confident are you that it will work?"

"No new spell is a sure thing, but countercurses are the ones most likely to work the first time used, because they are targeting something very specific."

"Well, it's not like we've got much choice, anyway.  I can't keep doing these sustaining spells much longer.  What has to be done?"

Prof. Thropp explained the process to him.  David sent Olissa off to collect the necessary talismans, not all of which were available in the infirmary.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Thank me if it works."

David nodded, then fogged off.  He cast the sustaining charms one last time.  It wasn't time yet, but he hoped it would push the hex back even further, giving him a chance to rest some before he'd have to attempt a wholly novel countercurse.

After Olissa had come back with the items, David had her scan Sam.  He didn't want to do it himself, because he couldn't risk running down his magical energy, and he also didn't think he could handle the emotional toll again.

"You've got some time," she said to him.  "I think you need to wait just as long as you can get away with.  Give it at least another hour, to get your energy back."

David nodded.

Forty-five minutes was all David could give himself.  He couldn't deal with listening to Sam's discomfort any longer than that, and he wasn't about to leave the room.

Dean Lengel, Prof. Rutherford, Miss J and Prof. Thropp were all present for the attempt.

David carefully positioned a hexagram medallion on Sam's chest.  He then pressed a crystal firmly against her forehead.  Similar crystals were placed on her hands and feet.  A large river stone was placed on her stomach, with two fern leaves set, crossed, on top of it.

David closed his eyes for a long moment, and then he raised his hands over Sam's body.  He had spent the last forty-five minutes memorizing the countercurse, and he could see it behind his eyelids now.  He uttered the spell clearly, enunciating each syllable and speaking strongly.  He felt the magical energy surround Sam, and the currents of magic flowed over his hands.  He made the prescribed movements with his hands, directing the magic to move within Sam, healing her and driving the negative magic of the hex from inside her body.

The talismans placed on Sam's body began to glow with a crimson light, not that David could see that.  His eyes were still closed, his mind completely focused on the task of healing Sam.  He recited the spell over and over.  The others in the room said not a word, but simply watched for over ten minutes as David worked.  They knew that, despite his lack of skill as a healer, and despite their many years of additional training, he was still the only one in the room who had a chance of pulling this off.

The crimson light surrounding the talismans grew and grew, until finally it burst outward, filling the room with an intense flash.  David lowered his hands, and then nearly collapsed, catching himself at the last second, before hands were holding him up.

"I'm okay," he said.  "Just... very tired.  Olissa, check her."

"Yes, sir," Olissa said.  The others were a bit surprised at her tone of voice, but wrote it off to the moment.  Olissa scanned Sam three times, just to make sure.  "She's clean."

"Then why isn't she awake?" Emile asked.

David replied, "She's free of the hex, but she still needs to heal.  She's going to be here a little while.  Two, three days or so."  David turned and sat on the edge of her bed, so he could look at the others in the room.  He looked to all of them like he was just barely staying conscious.  "She'll be okay, as long as nothing else goes wrong.  I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to help you with the Seedling Festival anymore, Miss J.  I need to stay here."

Miss J nodded in understanding.  "Don't worry about it.  I'll get it done."

"We'll help you with it," Prof. Rutherford said.  "Since David's not available."

Emile gave David a hug.  "That was some fancy spellcasting.  I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Emile."

She headed off.  Prof. Rutherford shook his hand and left as well.

Prof. Thropp stepped up.  "Marvelous job with the spell, David."

"Thanks, Professor."

"Endora," she said, holding out her hand.

David took it.  "Thanks for the help, too."

"Sam's a good friend of mine, as well."

"You could have cast this spell better than I could have.  Why didn't you?"

"Actually, no, I couldn't.  It's a very tricky thing, to work with the healing arts.  I've tried it before, and I usually end up making things worse instead of better.  I couldn't risk that in this case.  If any of us could have taken this off you, David, we would have.  I can see how much it's taken out of you to manage it.  Get yourself some rest.  You need it almost as much as she does."

David smirked.  "I'll do that.  Thanks again."

Endora nodded and then headed off.  Miss J stepped close and hugged him, then gave him a kiss.  "Take good care of her," she said.

"I will," David promised.  "Sorry I can't help you now."

"You know it's not the Seedling Festival help that I'll miss," she said, smiling.  "I'll manage."  She kissed him one last time, then she, too, left.

Olissa slid one of the other infirmary beds over so it was next to Sam's.

"I know you're not going anywhere, Master, but you do need to rest yourself.  I'll keep an eye on her while you sleep, and I'll wake you if anything bad happens."

David nodded.  "Thanks."

Olissa kissed him as he lay down.  "That was a hell of a spell, by the way," she told him.

"I didn't write it, I just cast it," he said.

"And you always say you suck at spellcasting," she said.  "Guess you just need to be motivated strongly enough."

David smirked.  "I love you, Olissa," he said.

"I love you, too, Master.  Now please get some rest."

David settled his head down onto the pillow, and he was asleep before he exhaled his first breath.

For the next two days, "Healer Stroud" was running the infirmary.  It had only one patient, but he wasn't going to leave her side.  It took most of the first day before she woke up.  Even then, she was very weak.  David found several healing potions, and even tried some healing charms, and Sam's recovery was rapid.  By the third day, she was able to be up and moving around.

She could see that David was still pained, however.  The spellcasting had truly pushed David right to his limits, and as such things do, his mind and body were taking a while to recover from the exertion.  His recovery paralleled her recovery, and by the end of the third day, he seemed to be better.

During one of Emile's visits to check in on Sam, David decided to take a walk.  He wouldn't go far, but he hadn't seen the sun in days.  Jailla swooped down to join him.

"How is Sam?" he asked.  He didn't like the infirmary, so he didn't go in there.

"She's better.  Just a little weak now."

"How are you?"

"Still have a headache from Hell."

"This should pass."

"I hope so.  Naproxen Ghostium isn't working on it."

"I was wondering if you had tried that."

"Annie keeps a supply in the infirmary, just in case."

"Wise of her."

"I'm getting worried."

"About?"

"My friends.  This is the fourth one so far this year.  Flo, then Lydia, then Gwen, now Sam.  People around me are being attacked."

"Lydia's attack seems different.  Far less dangerous."

"Only because I was there to help her.  Imagine floating away in that bubble, and then the bubble pops when you're five thousand feet above the ground.  Or hell, it doesn't pop, just keeps rising, and takes you to thirty thousand feet, where you can't breathe.  Don't kid yourself; that could have killed her."

"Perhaps you're right," Jailla conceded.  "What will you do about it?"

"Not much I can do.  I have already been doing seeings on it, with no luck.  I've confiscated the talismans from the countercurse.  Maybe I can learn something by studying the energy they collected."

"Not exactly your strong suit."

"No, but investigating is."

"True."

David sat down on a bench.  "Something else has been kind of troubling me lately, as well."

"What's that?"

"Do you ever plan to talk to Olissa?"

"I don't understand how this ties in to the current problem."

"When I sent Cupcake to pick up Olissa, she didn't even hesitate to let Olissa ride her.  Yet you still don't talk to her.  Will you ever?"

Jailla ruffled his feathers.  "That would be a very difficult thing for me to do."

"You talk to Lise..."

"Though both are in love with you, Lise and Olissa have completely different mindsets.  Lise is submissive because she is insecure.  She loves you, but wishes to be treated as your equal.  She knows that the incompleteness of her life comes from within herself.

"Olissa is submissive because she is submissive.  She loves you more than she loves herself.  She doesn't even see herself as your equal.  That isn't insecurity on her part, but an actual reasoned choice.  Many would find that hard to understand, but she doesn't really care.  She knows that the incompleteness of her life came from her constantly rejecting you, a situation she has since resolved.

"To be brief, I have an affinity with Lise, which made the connection with her almost as easy as with you.  For me to connect with Olissa would be highly difficult.  Not because I do not like her; in fact, I like her quite a lot.  It is just that she and I are not directly compatible."

"Oh.  Okay."

"That is... acceptable?"

"As long as you had a reason other than, 'I don't want to,' it was good enough."

David rose and headed back into the infirmary.  He met Sam, who was on her way out.

"You're coming with me," She said strongly.

"Yes, ma'am," David replied.

The two entered faculty housing and made their way to Sam's apartment.  Jailla immediately flew to a window ledge and studiously examined the landscape.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked.

"Isn't that my question?" David replied.

"I'm fine, thanks to you.  But you've been pained these last few days."

"I have a headache, nothing more."

"Good.  Sex is good for headaches."

David raised an eyebrow.

"You think I'm going to let you save my life without saying thank you properly?  Why do you still have on clothes?" she said, repeating a line she'd used several years before.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" David asked, moving close to her.  Instead of taking off his own clothes, he started to unbutton her blouse.

"I'm fine," she assured him.  "You did a hell of a job fixing me up.  Annie couldn't have done it better."

"I highly doubt that," David replied, finishing up with the buttons on her blouse and pushing it gently off her shoulders.  He allowed his hands to slide over her shoulders and down onto her back, pulling her close to him and reaching for the clasp on her bra.  Soon it was undone, but David continued to hold Sam close to him.

Pulling back to look her in the eyes, David told Sam, "I was terrified of losing you."

"I know," she said quietly.  "But you fixed things.  You've shown your love for me, now let me show my love for you."  With that, Sam kissed him, her tongue slithering its way into his mouth while her hands worked over his shirt.  In short order his shirt was on the floor, and she was working at his pants.

David kicked off his shoes while Sam finished unfastening his slacks.  In a few more seconds, he was completely nude.  He continued to kiss her, but he pushed Sam back toward her bedroom.  He kicked the door closed behind them, to make the scene more intimate.

Sam's pants were quickly disposed of, and her panties followed suit, with David's hands now roaming her bare ass.  The two fell down onto the bed, continuing to kiss and fondle each other.  They rolled back and forth until Sam rolled on top of David and stopped, breaking their kiss and sitting up.

Reaching down, Sam took David's already-hard cock in hand and held it upright while she positioned herself.  She then slid down onto him in a very slow motion, squeezing her pussy repeatedly as she descended.

David slid his hands up onto her breasts, gently caressing them and sliding his thumbs over her nipples, which were hard and standing proud from her chest.

Once Sam had fully impaled herself, she stopped and looked down at David.  For a long moment, neither of them said or did anything, they just looked at each other.  As the moment passed, Sam started to rock her hips back and forth, moving herself on David's cock.  David moaned in pleasure, enjoying the feel of her around him.

Leaning down, Sam let her nipples drag along David's chest as she moved up and down on his dick.  David groaned, trying to hold back his arousal, wanting the moment to last.

"You know you can't resist me," Sam said with a mischievous grin.  "Let it loose.  It's not like I plan on letting you leave anytime soon."

David smiled and then thrust his hips up into her just once, freezing as he was fully inside and blasting her pussy with his juices.  Sam closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of it, letting him pull her down against him.  He held her tightly and finally let loose the terror, the anxiety, and the frustration he'd felt at seeing her in mortal danger.  He cried for a long time, and Sam just let him hold her.

"I love you, Sam.  If anything ever happened to you, I would probably go completely insane."

"Hey now," she said quietly, with a light tone.  "We agreed, no long-term commitments."

"We agreed to no romantic commitments," he corrected her.  "That won't stop me from always being at your side when you need me."

"I know," she said, and kissed him.  After a long moment, she asked, "You want to take a bath with me?"

"Of course I do," he replied.

The two got up and made their way to the bathroom, with its oversized tub.  Sam filled it, and then slid down into the water.  David watched as her body took on its slick sheen, just begging him to slip his hands over her skin.  He entered the tub with her, and did just that, letting his hands slide over every curve, every sensitive bump.  As his hand slid between her legs, Sam squeaked, and then settled back, spreading her legs and letting him work.

David worked slowly and gently, first sliding his finger deep into her pussy, then gliding it along the side of her clit.  He took the tip of his finger and rolled her clit, driving Sam higher towards her apex.

Leaning down, David took Sam's nipple into his mouth while his finger continued to do its work below.  Sam moaned and mewled, resting her one hand on the back of David's head.  Her hips began to roll as her climax approached, but David kept up his steady pace.  Finally Sam could take no more, and she cried out as she reached her peak, her body shivering in pleasure.

David slid his hand from between her legs, slipping it up her body to first cup her breast, and then to pull her against him, her back resting against his chest.  He could still feel her heaving, recovering from her most pleasant exertions.

"God, I missed you," Sam said once she could talk again.  "You know all the right buttons to push."

"You taught me well, and I was a very interested student," he replied.

Sam giggled and pressed herself back against him more tightly.

"I do love you, too, David," she said after a few minutes.  "In a certain way that I can't quite describe."

David kissed the base of her neck.  "I know," he told her.  "Are you recovered yet?"

"Mm.  Don't wear yourself out.  We have all weekend."

"Have I been kidnapped?" David asked with a smile.

"Hell, yes," she replied.  "And your ransom is orgasms.  When I've had enough of them, I'll let you go."

"I see," David said with mock-seriousness.  "In that case, I'd better get back to work."

David gently pushed Sam forward until she was kneeling in the tub, her hands on the wall of the enclosure.  David got up himself, and then slowly slid his cock inside of her warm wetness.  Sam mewled as he entered her.  Once he was fully inside, he set up a rhythm, driving her toward her orgasm.  As aroused as he had her, that climax wasn't long in coming.  She cried out again, her pussy squeezing down on him as she shoved her hips back into him.

David pulled out of Sam, and then shifted, pressing the head of his dick to her asshole.  He started to press in slowly, and the lubrication spell did its magic, allowing him to slide in with ease.

Sam, who hadn't yet settled from her last orgasm, was suddenly beset with another small climax, her body shuddering as David pressed deeper and deeper into her bowel.  When he had reached bottom, he paused, running his hands along her sides and across her back.

"Oh, god, I missed that," she told him.  "You can fuck my ass any time," she told him.

David grinned and began to move his hips back and forth.  While he wasn't ramming into her, his movements were not slow.  He gripped her hips for better leverage and he felt her pushing back with each of his forward thrusts.  She was definitely climbing the ladder of ecstasy one more time.

David fondled Sam's ass as her arousal rose, and then, as she screamed out her orgasm, he grabbed her hips and slammed himself fully inside of her, locking his hips against her and spewing his load deep into her.  The two shuddered together for a long moment before they finally settled down.

David carefully pulled out of Sam, then sat back against the side of the tub.  Sam took a longer moment to be able to move, but then she settled against David.  He wrapped his arm around her, his hand resting on her abdomen, her back against his side.

"You really want me to stay the weekend?" David asked.

"Yes," Sam said.  She turned and kissed him passionately.  They both needed a rest, but they also both knew that, before the evening was over, they'd be at it again.

As they sat in the tub, just relaxing, David said, "Now might not be the best time to mention it, but do you want to know who it was that was watching us that day?"

"Can you tell me now?"

"Yes."

"Who was it?"

"Olissa."  David explained the entire shift in their relationship while Sam listened intently.

"Well.  And I thought I had a unique set of relationships," she said light-heartedly.  "So, at least you've finally found someone."

"Someone who insists that I find someone else," David said with a smirk.

"Well, I'm perfectly happy that she's willing to share," Sam said, and kissed him passionately.  After that, a long, slow session of lovemaking occupied their attention.

David spent the entire weekend with Sam, never leaving her side.  He had checked in with Olissa via mirror each day, but other than that, he and Sam had been inseparable.  They missed the Seedling Festival, but neither of them really cared that much.

On Monday morning, Sam had to get back to work, so David knew that he'd have to leave after breakfast.

It turned out that he would be leaving sooner than that.  As he stepped out of the shower with Sam, he heard his mirror making a dinging noise.  It did this when he'd missed a call.

David grabbed the mirror and said, "Return call."  He looked to make sure Sam wasn't behind him, able to be seen by whoever was on the other end.

When the person appeared, David was not surprised to see Joe.

"Good morning, David."

"Hey, Joe.  What's up?  Be aware I'm not alone."

"Oh.  Okay.  Those... people... we've been looking for have turned up.  You need to get down here so we can begin surveillance."

David nodded.  "On my way in less than fifteen."

"Right."

David fogged off, and then turned to grab his clothes.  He saw Sam looking at him.

"Sorry to run off.  This one is kind of urgent."

"And apparently a secret," she said, eyeing him curiously.

"Yeah, sorry.  It's a... sensitive matter," he said.  "Don't worry, it doesn't involve the school directly."

Sam nodded.  She waited for David to finish dressing, then came over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Have I thanked you for saving my life?"

"Only about fifty times," he said with a soft smile, then kissed her.  "I couldn't let my favorite professor of all time die, now could I?"

Sam snuggled tightly against him for a long moment, then finally let him go.  "Go on, go arrest your bad guy."

David kissed her again, then left.  He asked Jailla to make his own way back to the dorm, and he headed down the rock lift off the mountain himself.  In another minute, he was speeding his way to Bolmont.

"This is boring," Vivian said.  She and David were sitting in his truck across from a motel where their suspects were staying.  "Why don't we just go bust them now?"

"For what?" David asked.

"Conspiracy to assassinate the king?"

"On what evidence?  All we have is McCoy's testimony, and they could simply say he was lying.  Without anything more, I doubt the prosecutor would even show up for the trial."

Vivian sighed.  "But this is boring."

David grunted in agreement.  They had rushed like mad to get there as fast as they could, only to find that their targets had no plan of going anywhere for the rest of the day.  They had pizza delivered, so they didn't even leave to eat.

"Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting," David offered.

"It couldn't be less so.  I'd have to sleep through it."

David grunted again.

"How did we find these guys?" David asked.

"The FBI tracked them down through credit card records."

"Remind me to add Agent Deline to my Christmas Card list."

Vivian snorted.

"Okay, I'm about to go out of my mind here," Vivian said.  "Five days so far, and nothing!"

"Not true.  They've eaten a lot of pizza.  So have we."

"Oh, great.  So I'm gonna get fat."

"Little chance of that," David told her.  "Besides, they did go somewhere yesterday..."

"And yet we can't bust them for that?"

"It was legal."

"They were doing target practice!" she fumed.

"Which is legal, when you're doing it at a gun range," David replied.  "Why are you so upset?  You've got to have done this before..."

"I hate sitting still," Vivian said.  "Doing nothing drives me crazy."

"Learn to knit," David offered.

"Not funny."

"I'm not kidding," David replied.  "Learn to do something with your hands that you can take with you.  That way, you're not 'doing nothing', you're just doing your hobby in a strange place."

"Uh-huh.  How can you be so calm about all this?  Doesn't it bother you, wasting day after day watching these bastards?"

"These days aren't wasted.  Every second we sit here watching them is another second they can't get a shot off at the king."

"Hmph," Vivian replied, slumping back in her seat.

Secretly, David agreed with her in wishing they'd get on with things.  He had school work to do, which he couldn't practice in the confines of a vehicle, nor in public in Earth.

After another half hour, David's mirror buzzed.  He picked it up and answered it.

"Hey, Tanya.  What's up?"

"Got another burglary.  This time they hit Imahara Hall."

"Same MO?"

"Yeah.  Removed a pane of glass from one of the back doors, then just walked right in."

"What'd they take?"

"A device Prof. Hatch recently completed.  It renders every computer in the vicinity useless by slowing it to a crawl and making it unstable."

"Damn.  This just looks nastier and nastier."

"Tell me about it."

"Well... It's your case.  Figure out who's taking this shit.  Barring that, start patrolling the buildings at night."

"We don't have the manpower for that," she objected.

"You've got over thirty people to draw on.  Use them.  I'll back whatever plan you come up with, but we have got to catch this bastard."

"Yes, sir.  We'll get it done for you."

"I know I can count on you, Tanya.  Good luck."

As David put away his mirror, Vivian asked, "Troubles at the school?"

"Thief who seems to be planning something very nasty with some of the more valuable relics at the school."

"I think I'd rather be there," Vivian said.  "At least Tanya's got work to do."

"So do we.  We're supposed to watch that door."

Vivian growled at him, but he chose to ignore it.

"Happy now?" David asked.  They were following the suspects' car down the interstate.

"Not really.  This is just a new kind of boring."

David shook his head at her ruefully.  They had entered Georgia a few minutes ago, and David was pretty sure he knew where they were headed.  It would be tricky to follow them through the travel gate.

"Is someone watching this gate from the other side?"

"The military is.  They insisted on taking over security this close to the king."

"Uh-huh.  Do they know what these guys look like?"

"I don't know."

"Wonderful."

"The Senesty travel gate isn't so busy that they should have trouble figuring it out, if we mirror them at the right time."

"Yeah.  You know who to call?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

David focused on following the suspects, but keeping a distance, so they wouldn't notice him.  It wasn't overly hard, but as they entered the Atlanta area, he had to tighten up his surveillance, lest he lose them in the traffic.  There was a minute of sheer panic when they lost sight of the vehicle, but after clearing Atlanta, they found them again, traveling along sedately on I-75 bound for Macon.

David stopped his truck across the street from the pet store a few seconds after the suspects walked inside.

"Call the military now.  They've got to be entering the travel gate."

Vivian made the call, and she kept the connection open.

"Okay, we've got two people coming through the gate.  We have a man on them... Okay, hold up a minute... we now have two more people coming through the gate.  I'm sending another man to follow.  Crap... two more people... and another two."

David said to Vivian, "Coordinated.  I bet they changed their appearance, too."

Vivian nodded.  "Can you follow all of them, Colonel?" Vivian asked.

"No way.  Too many people.  I've already sent all my men off to follow groups, and there are still people coming out of the gate.  Always in pairs."

"Yeah, that way you can't guess which ones by number," David said sourly.  To Vivian, he said, "Let's go inside and look.  Maybe they're still waiting in there."

"You said we can't arrest them," Vivian pointed out.

"Right, but we can follow them our own damned selves."

Vivian nodded, fogged off with the colonel, and then followed David into the pet store.  He looked around, and saw a couple dozen people walking around in pairs, looking at stuff.  David and Vivian split up, to look at the people, but found no one who resembled their suspects.

"Fuck," David muttered quietly when they joined back up.  Vivian did not disagree with the sentiment.

"Now what?" she asked.

David walked over to the clerk of the shop.

"Can I help you folks?" the man asked cheerfully.

"You see these two guys come in here today?" David asked, holding up a parchment.

The man looked at the image, then shook his head.  "No, I don't remember them.  But it got real busy here the last hour or so, so I might have missed them.  You cops?"

"Rimohrs," David said.  He knew the man had to be a wizard; they wouldn't let a techno be the guardian of a travel gate.

The man nodded.  "Seems like all these folks are traveling back to Dugerra.  I guess there's some kind of to-do going on."

"Not that we're aware of," David said.  "A 'to-do' is precisely what we're trying to prevent.  You're sure you didn't see them?"

"Nope.  Feel free to look around, if you like."

"We already have," David said.  Turning to Vivian, he said, "Let's go to the back room."

As they arrived at the back room, two people were just departing through the travel gate.  They waited patiently, and soon another two entered the room.

David stepped in front of them.  "Rimohrs," he said.  "Over here."

The two looked at him in concern, then walked with him to the side of the room, out of the way of the travel gate.

"Have we done something wrong, Officer?" one of the men asked.

"Why are you traveling to Senesty today?"

"We were paid to do so," he said calmly.

"By whom?"

"Honestly?  I have no idea.  He said his name was Harvey Pookah... but we both know that's a put-on, right?"

"So why'd you take the job?" Vivian asked.

"C'mon, wouldn't you?  A thousand granas each, just to go to Senesty, walk around for a day, and come back?"

"That's all he asked you to do.  Walk around."

"Well, he did tell us that, when we left the gate, we were to walk north.  But other than that, he just said to stay gone at least an hour, then we could do whatever we wanted.  He gave us the thousand granas in advance."

"How did he find you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Earth is not, relatively speaking, crawling with wizards.  You don't just randomly ask an Earth resident to go to Dugerra.  How did he know you were a wizard?  Why did he pick you?"

"Don't know.  He contacted me by email."

"His email address?"

"Was a Gmail account."  The man gave it to David.  "Look, are we in trouble?"

"No.  But the person who paid you is.  Give Officer Columbo your names and contact information, and you're free to go."

David stepped away, watching another pair go through the travel gate.

"Shit," he muttered.

When Vivian was done with the pair, she rejoined David.  "Now what the hell do we do?" she asked.

"Protect the king," David replied.  "Come on."

"Where we going?"

"A gun shop."

"The king will see you now," the page said.  They all rose to follow him.  Joe, Agent Wilson, and the Bolmont District Chief had all joined David and Vivian to brief the king.  A general from the military was there, as well.

The group did not enter the throne room, but instead the same conference room as before.  The king was already there with other military personnel.

After the formalities, David said, "Your majesty, I assume you've already been briefed on the danger?"

"What they told me is that you've confirmed... at least to your satisfaction... that two men are planning to assassinate me.  They also said that these men are no longer being watched.  Why is this?"

"My mistake, Your Majesty," David said honestly.  "The military insisted on covering the Dugerran side of the travel gate, but our suspects had a plan to evade such a surveillance.  If I had followed the suspects through the gate, their plan would not have worked.  I take full responsibility for that failure, sir."

The king nodded.  "So, can you explain to me the exact nature of the danger?"

"The two men in question are armed, and they mean to kill you.  They do have the training necessary to make that happen."

"What do you mean, 'armed'?" one of the generals asked.

"They do not intend to kill the king magically.  They intend to do so using an Earth weapon.  A gun."

The king shook his head.  "I'm not familiar with this 'gun' thing."

"Your Majesty, I've arranged for a demonstration, if you'd care to join us on the archery range."

"Very well," the king said.

The entire group adjourned to the fortress hidden behind the palace, inside of which was all manner of military things, including an archery range.  As they walked up, they saw, down near the targets, that a watermelon had been set upon a pedestal.

"What's the watermelon for?" the king asked.

David looked a little embarrassed.  "Well, sir... no offense, but that's your head."

"Oh?" the king said with a grin.

"Yes, sir.  It's not the best representation of a human head, but there were lots of them in the kitchen, and it's close enough to make my point."

"I see."

"Now, Your Majesty, you said you're not at all familiar with firearms?"

"I don't even know what that is.  You mentioned a 'gun', so what's a firearm?"

David picked up the rifle in front of him.  "The term gun and the term firearm are, at least for our purposes, the same thing.  This is a firearm, sir.  It's called a rifle."  Picking up a cartridge, he continued, "This is a bullet.  The front part here is what leaves the rifle.  This back part, the shiny brass portion, contains a small amount of explosive.  The explosive pushes the front part out of the rifle toward the target at very high speed."

"How fast?" the king inquired.

"Fast enough that you would get hit by the bullet before you heard the shot.  This isn't something you can dodge out of the way of, like an energy ball.  You wouldn't even be able to see it coming, because it is so small, and traveling so fast."

"And what would it do if it hit me?" the king asked.

David gestured to everyone to look at the watermelon, then shouldered the weapon.  He lined up the fruit in his scope, took a deep breath, let it out, and then pulled the trigger.  The watermelon seemingly disappeared in an instant, having been blown to little pieces all over the archery range.

"Dear god," one of the king's guards whispered.  The king looked a little pale.

"What we need to know, Your Majesty, is whether your protective detail's shielding can stop a bullet.  My basic research says that it can't."

"You want to shoot at me?" the king asked with a grin.  His voice was a bit shaky.

David smiled back.  "No, Your Majesty.  I will shoot at another watermelon.  But this time, I would like your guards to attempt to protect it as if it was you."

The king nodded, and then gestured to his guards.  They moved down range while another watermelon was being set up, but David stopped them when they got halfway.

"Don't get any closer than that.  And if you can move further to the sides, it would be better."

"They would stand much closer than that when protecting me," the king objected.

"Does it matter to the strength of the spell's protection?"

"No.  They do it so that one of them can grab me and haul me away if danger shows up."

David nodded.  "I'm not an expert with this weapon, Your Majesty.  In fact, I've only practiced with it for a couple hours.  I don't want to put their lives in danger if I should happen to miss... or if the bullet does something weird when it hits their shield.  I need them to keep as far out of my line of fire as possible."

The king nodded in agreement, then motioned the guards to step back.

"Shield in place?" David asked one of the guards.  The guard nodded in reply.  "Well, here goes."

David shouldered the rifle again, once more going through the steps he'd been taught.  At the right time, he squeezed the trigger gently, and the rifle jerked in his hands as the bullet left the barrel.

As before, the watermelon was blown to bits.  The magical shield hadn't even slowed it down.

"Tivaru help us," another guard muttered.

"You see, Your Majesty, if they resort to these kinds of weapons, your guards can't do anything to stop them from hitting you."

"I understand that.  But how easy would it be to get that weapon this close to me without someone noticing?"

David then pointed to the very farthest corner of the range, which was a thousand feet off.  "Do you see the watermelon, sir?"

"Yes...  You're not saying you can hit that from here?"

David simply shouldered the weapon, took very careful aim, and fired.  Once more, watermelon was flung everywhere.  The king stared in astonishment.

"Sir, this weapon has a range of thousands of feet.  In the right hands, this weapon could hit you, while you were walking, at a half-mile.  There are other, more powerful rifles, that could hit you at over a mile away.  This is a very powerful weapon, Your Majesty."

"So what are you suggesting?" the king asked.

David turned to the other Rimohrs, who all stared back at him blankly.  They had no idea what to recommend; they were just as stunned as the king with the power of the weapon.

David turned back to the king.  "Until we can find something to charge them with, you need to stay out of public."

"You're telling me to hide."

"Your Majesty, there's no easy way to protect you from this weapon.  The best protection we have is to make sure it's never fired at you.  Until we can do that, anytime you're seen in public will make you a very inviting target."

"I cannot hide.  I will be making a speech tomorrow, in fact."

"Can it be postponed?" the Bolmont District Chief of the Rimohrs asked.

"No, it cannot," the king replied.

"Why not?" the Chief asked.

The king looked to his general and said, "Tell them."

"Sir?"

"They need to know.  In order to catch these assassins, they need to understand what's going on."

"Yes, sir."  The man turned to face the group.  "The information I'm about to give you is not to leave this group.

"This morning, we received a diplomatic communication from Alpha Hurovlad.  Vrudena is officially demanding the return of Northern Callamandia to their possession.  He claims that the treaty giving the land to Callamandia was never ratified by Vrudena, and therefore our possession of the land is tantamount to theft."

"He can't really make that stick, can he?" Joe asked.

"He doesn't have to convince us," the general said.  "Only his own people.  It is the opinion of the Intelligence Division that Hurovlad is trying to cover up his own inadequacies as a leader by giving the Vrudenans a different target for their anger."

"How serious do you think he is?" David asked the king.

"You know that better than I do," the king replied.  "You're the one who had the visions."

"Visions?" Joe asked David.

David just shook his head.  "There's no way out of this, then?"

"Not that we've found.  None short of giving back Northern Callamandia, which would displace an awful lot of people."

"Why make a speech, if the public doesn't know about it yet?" the district chief asked.

"Because Vrudena will soon make this public.  I want to preempt them."

"You know that's what they want you to do, right?" David asked.  "They threaten you like this, you go out and make a speech, they assassinate you... then... the resulting chaos in Callamandia... let's them do whatever it is they want to do."

The general looked sharply at David.  "I don't like the scenario you just put together.  Your Majesty, you can't make that speech.  Do it as a mirror broadcast."

"I refuse to live my life in fear.  Are there any alternatives?"

"None that are guaranteed to work," David replied after a very long moment of thought and internal decision making.

"Nothing is guaranteed, son," the king said.  "You have an idea?"

"Can I see the place where you plan to make your speech from?"

The entire group moved back to the palace, into the courtyard.

"The podium will be set up here," the general said.

David looked around.  "I count at least seven buildings tall enough to make a good place to shoot from.  You need to put men on top of each of those buildings."

"Simple enough.  So, that's solved," the king said.

"No, sir," David replied.  "You have to assume they will kill your guards.  You can't leave something this crucial to chance.  Can we build out the stage, so that the king is standing on a... um... a peninsula?"

"Yes..." the general said.

"Can we then surround that peninsula with a deep trough of water?"

"Certainly, but what are you getting at?"

"The only way to protect you, Your Majesty, is to put something between you and the gun firing the bullet."

"So... what do you plan to put between me and the bullet?"

David took a deep breath, but his voice was still a bit shaky when he replied, "Myself."

"What?" Joe cried in alarm.  Others showed general distress at the idea, as well.

The king said, "I can't ask you to sacrifice your life for mine, son."

"Your Majesty, I'm not looking to get shot any more than the next guy, but there are a couple of very important things to consider here.  First, we have to catch these guys.  We can't leave them floating out there; the paranoia would tear you apart.

"Next, as far as we know, I cannot be killed."

"As far as we know?" Joe asked.

David looked at him and shrugged.  "No one's ever shot a demighost in the head with a high-powered rifle, that I'm aware of.  I can only assume I'll live through it."

"And if you don't?" Joe demanded.

"Then I died doing my duty to my king," David said simply.  Turning back to the king, he said, "Your Majesty, I don't plan on just blithely getting shot.  I do plan some precautions.  The water around the stage, you see, I can form into a shield of sorts.  I am not sure if it will stop a bullet or not, but it might at least slow it down.

"Second, I have purchased a special helmet, from Earth.  It's designed to stop bullet rounds, even rifle rounds.  My hope is that, even if the bullet enters me, it won't be able to get out again.  Rifle rounds are actually so powerful that they can go through more than one person."

"This is crazy," Vivian said.  "You're talking about being a human shield."

"No, I'm talking about being a demighost shield," David quipped, trying to lighten the mood.  It wasn't as effective as it could have been, due to the very slight quiver in his voice.  Everyone knew he wasn't looking forward to this, but that he was going to do it, anyway.

"Why wouldn't the shooter just wait until you're out of his way, then take the shot?" the general asked.

"Because he'll never know I'm there.  I will remain invisible, Your Majesty.  Unless it becomes necessary, no one will even see me.  I will need to get my familiar down here, however."

"Why?" the king wondered.

"In order for this plan to work, I have to know the instant that the killer pulls the trigger.  My familiar and I can work together so that I can see this happen."

"I don't like this plan, Your Majesty," Joe said.  "There has to be another way."

"I'm not particularly fond of the plan myself, Agent Garibaldi.  But I don't see that we have any other options.  I will not live in isolation.  Officer Stroud, we will go with your plan.  Is there anything else you will need?"

"Yes.  Healer Hall, from Woodward Academy, on standby.  Just in case."

"We have excellent healers in the palace, I assure you," the king objected.

"Sir, no offense, but if I'm about to have my head blown off, I'd prefer to be treated by someone I know and trust."

"Very well.  General, you will confer with Officer Stroud to implement his plan immediately.  David... good luck."  He offered his hand.

"To both of us, Your Majesty," David said, shaking the king's hand firmly.  The king nodded and left.

"You are out of your motherfucking mind," Joe said, once the king was out of earshot.

"Perhaps quite literally," David quipped shakily.  "Joe, if you've got a better idea, let's hear it.  I swore an oath to protect Callamandia and its king.  I am, right now, the only person here who can do anything to stop this.  The best hope is that Jailla sees the men take down the guards on top of the building.  Then I can communicate that to other guards, who can rush in and stop them."

"And if they don't?" Vivian asked, worried.

"Then we'll have to hope my reflexes are up to the task."

"Are you totally insane?" Jailla asked him.

"Jailla, it can't kill me."

"For once, you don't actually know that.  You are talking about the complete destruction of your brain."

"Okay, maybe that's true.  But it's a lot better if it's me that dies, than the king."

"I'm afraid I can't quite see it that way.  Kings are plentiful.  Demighosts are rare.  David Strouds are one-of-a-kind."

David went over and stroked Jailla affectionately.  "Thanks, Jailla.  But there's more to it than that.  If they kill the king, it would allow Vrudena to cause all sorts of chaos in the nation.  Thousands could be hurt."

"From your visions, it seems likely that happens, anyway."

"But what if my visions are based on the idea that the king was assassinated?"

Jailla paused for a long moment.  "I see your point," he finally replied.  "But I am still not happy with this plan."

"Then come up with a better one."

"In three hours?"

"Generals have been trying since yesterday.  No one's done it yet.  This is a situation they weren't prepared for.  They're used to magical weapons, which are, in one sense, much more powerful than guns, but in another sense, just aren't nearly as troublesome."

Jailla nodded.

"Now, you do understand what I need you to do, right?"

"Yes."

"If you can spot them killing the guards, then I don't have to be shot at," David said.  "So... try to keep your eyes open."

"That I will do."

"Jailla... um... I hate to talk about this.  If I do get shot, I've arranged for Healer Hall to bring you back to the school with me, then you can stay either with Olissa, or at the Animal Annex until I recover.  If something... worse... should happen..."

Jailla squawked at that notion, but David wasn't deterred.

"I've written a letter to Lise, asking her if she would look after you."

"I don't want another wizard, David.  I have one already."

"And I hope like hell that you'll still have one tomorrow.  But I have to consider the possibility, for your sake."

Jailla rubbed up against David's hand, then reached up and nipped him on the finger.

"Ow!  You bastard, what was that for?"

"For making me worry about you."

"Geez, when did you become my wife?"

David stepped out into the area in front of the podium.  The stage outcropping had been built so that David could easily move all the way around the podium.  He had on dragonscale armor, a protection amulet, and the helmet he'd purchased in Earth.  It was the best he could do.  His knees were still shaking.

Jailla was already circling the area, watching the buildings.  He saw two guards on each one, looking down into the crowd, and around at the other buildings.  David was receiving the images from Jailla, so he could see what his familiar saw.

As the king was about to step out onto the stage, David concentrated, and he raised the water in the trough around the podium into his water shield.  He lifted it only up to waist level.  At this point, it was intended to look more like a decoration than a defense.

The king stepped out to applause from the crowd.  Meanwhile, David's head was on a swivel.  He could see the guards on the buildings from where he stood, as well as through Jailla's eyes.  He tried to keep looking with his eyes where Jailla was not looking, giving himself, he hoped, twice as much of a chance of spotting the shooter in time.

David had moved his eyes right-to-left, and he was just about to sweep them back to the right, when he saw one of the guards on the leftmost building bend down.

Jailla, who had just turned, saw that the guard was moving.  He took a closer look, and suddenly he saw in shadow that there were two guards lying in pools of their own blood.

Shit, they killed the guards before we ever got out here! David thought to himself.  He moved between the king and the building.  He pulled his mirror up to his face and uttered the phrase, "Building 1," but David knew it was too late.  The guard was standing now, and David could see something in his hands.

Jailla flew down closer.  He landed on the parapet of the building, staring at the gunman.  His instinct was actually to attack the man, but Jailla knew that wouldn't stop him, and it would prevent him from helping his wizard.  Jailla's eyes were focused intently on the man's trigger finger.

At the very last possible instant, just as David saw the man's finger depress the trigger, he solidified himself and raised his water shield.  It would take a quarter second for the bullet to reach the shield, which gave it just enough time to reach full height.  David stood up straight, facing the bullet, making certain he was shielding the king.

The bullet struck the water shield, penetrating easily.  Though it lost a little speed, it exited the shield still traveling at lethal velocity.

David did not have time to register this fact.  The bullet impacted his skull just above his left eye.

For a brief instant, David registered intense, searing pain.

After that, he registered nothing at all.