The Magic Thieves (2 page)

"Obviously.” Parker grinned. “Science is going to play a role."

Elryk nodded.

"Goodbye, my friend.” Parker smiled and stepped away.

"Thank you for everything.” Elryk smiled and turned back towards the ocean for one last look.

It was time. He had to return to Tah'Nut to try and fight the oppressors more effectively than he had done previously. The gateway was the only way back. It was heavily guarded, so he had no hope of sneaking through without getting caught. Giving himself up would be faster, less painful, and would hopefully mean they'd leave him conscious. Every scrap of control was important.

Once through the gateway, his magic would hopefully come back fully and more quickly than if he stayed on Earth. He'd somehow have to find a way to escape the Law Forces before they erased his memory. Whether that was before they imprisoned him or after remained to be seen.

He took one last breath of the salty ocean air. Mentally reaching out to the currents emanating from the gateway to increase his power, he wove the spell that would transport him straight into the Tah'Nutian Law Forces Commander's temporary office on Earth. There was no point in dealing with anyone but the very tip of the command structure.

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then the pain stabbed into the very centre of his brain. It was harsh, blinding and incapacitating. He sank to his knees, uselessly gasping for breath. He squeezed his eyes shut against the suddenly hurtful intensity of the sunshine.

Shit
. This wasn't supposed to hurt. And why was he still on the beach?

"Are you okay?” Parker's voice sounded as if his friend were speaking through a layer of cotton.

"I have no idea.” He opened his eyes slowly enough to allow them to get used to the light. “This isn't what's supposed to happen."

"I guess not.” Parker came closer and reached out a hand to help him get up. “Do you have any idea what went wrong?"

"Not really.” The pain slowly ebbed away as he stood on the sand, trying to get his balance back. “There was a blinding flash of pain instead of the usual slight discomfort when using a transportation spell, and I'm dizzy."

"It almost sounds like you strained the ‘magic centre’ in your brain.” Parker shook his head and grinned. “I can't believe I just said that. We don't even know if that's how it works."

"It's as good an explanation as any.” He rubbed his temples to try and chase away the pain. It stubbornly remained almost as intense as it had been right after he'd attempted the spell. “The question is how to fix it?"

"Well, with a ‘normal’ strain it depends on the severity. You'd let the muscle rest, ice it if it's swollen and then do stretching exercises to rebuild strength.” Parker frowned. “These strains often happen when there's been no proper warm-up of the muscle. Maybe that's what happened here?"

"You mean that I went into it without proper preparation?” Elryk grinned. “That actually
does
make sense."

"It does?” Parker's eyes widened.

"Considering the fact that I haven't done any magic in three years, yeah. If you're right and there is a ‘magic centre’ in my brain, it's probably atrophied by now.” He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that. “And all I've done for the last few days is some minor experimenting to see how much of my ability had returned. So it's no wonder a transportation spell, as simple as it would have been for me to do under ‘normal’ circumstances, was too much."

"I can see how it happened.” Parker's grin revealed perfectly straight white teeth. “You're not used to thinking like that. From what you told me your magic has always been with you, as long as you can remember."

"That's it.” He nodded. “Now I know what to do. I need to run through the preparatory exercises we teach children when they first discover their magic. Like with any skill, doing magic requires practice. We don't let them jump into their first spell unprepared, so I shouldn't have tried that either."

Once he'd settled into the familiar rhythm, running through increasingly difficult exercises, he quickly became more confident. After less than an hour, he was ready and nodded at Parker one last time.

When he tried the spell again, it worked as expected.

Kaythan Vs'urr looked up from the magic-based three-dimensional map of Earth that he'd been studying. His teams had already searched more than half the planet. He knew it would be much easier to find the criminal once the gateway's energies expanded far enough to touch him, but Kaythan wanted no help for this. He was a trained member of the Law Forces, and he preferred not to have to rely on magic to do his job anymore than absolutely necessary.

But time was fast running out. The gateway's energies expanded more each day and would soon envelop the entire planet.

He wasn't sure what had interrupted him. There'd been a jolt of power, a crackling sizzle in the air. Almost like an attempted transportation spell. He frowned, irritated by the unexpected disturbance. It was highly irregular for anyone to transport straight into an office, even if this one had been hastily built and was only temporary. He'd probably imagined the whole thing. Who could possibly be attempting to transport into his office?

He went back to staring at the maps and quickly lost track of time as he developed new ideas and instructions for his search teams. A bright flash pulled him back into reality. This time he was sure it was a full transportation spell, the yellow flash accompanied by the distinct rumble undeniable signs.

He looked up and froze in place.

Smouldering black eyes stared at him. They belonged to a tall, muscular man with long black hair, a classically chiselled face with a high forehead and a strong, beardless chin and jaw. His skin was white, almost translucent. His lips were the deep red of winter roses just before spring. In short, Kaythan was looking at the wanted criminal he'd been sent to Earth to capture. The man—no, wizard—stood in the middle of the room, hands relaxed at his sides, acting as if he'd been invited over for some social occasion.

Kaythan's mouth dropped open.

Elryk was not at all what Kaythan had expected. His superiors had warned him about the potent wizard, who'd been branded an outlaw of the worst kind, headstrong and evil. He'd mentally prepared himself for any and all tricks the ‘traitor’ was going to throw at him.

The wizard in front of him fit the physical description he'd been given down to the last gorgeous molecule of his perfect body. Kaythan swallowed.
Crap
. He was going to have to be careful about betraying the undeniable attraction he felt. The pictures had been one thing, but the wizard's physical presence was ten times more powerful. It was too early to risk telling the wizard what was actually going on. He couldn't reveal his plans before he got them both to safety. Nobody in power could know about his real reason for taking this assignment until it was too late for them to do anything about it.

What surprised him, beyond the fact that the wizard had come here of his own free will, was the lack of aggression in his body language. Elryk's whole attitude radiated a quiet peacefulness that touched Kaythan's warrior heart. It didn't fit the image of a cruel outlaw that was the currently accepted truth on Tah'Nut. Not that he could show it. Their actions were being chronicled, so he was being watched and evaluated just as much as Elryk.

He closed his mouth and hardened his gaze. He had a role to play if he wanted to get them out of here alive. He walked up to the wizard, his heavy steps making Elryk wince. But the wizard stood his ground. His chin stayed up and his dark eyes were undeterred.

"So, wizard, you've come to turn yourself in?” Kaythan's voice sounded gruff even to his own ears.

"Why else would I be here?” Elryk shook his head and sneered. “I'm curious, is this the level of intelligence I can expect during the upcoming interrogations?"

"Not good enough for you?” Good, there was at least some fight left in him. They would need that if his plan was going to work.

"Hardly a challenge.” Elryk shrugged. “Not that I expected anyone of any intellectual ability to be part of this operation."

"Is that so?” Kaythan raised his eyebrows, presenting the right effect for the visual chronicling equipment. “You do realise that showing this sort of disrespect of the Law Forces will get you into trouble? Even a citizen of hitherto unblemished reputation can't get away with criticism like that."

"You don't say!” Elryk laughed. “I see that nothing has changed. Looks like the Xoh'kas have still got everyone, including the Law Forces, under their thumbs."

"Now, now, there's no need to insult us.” Kaythan had difficulty keeping a smile off his face. The wizard's reputation for impertinence towards authority was clearly not undeserved. “You're in enough trouble as it is."

"Would not insulting you reduce my predicament?” Elryk snorted. “Don't get me wrong, it's not that I care. I'd just like to know."

"Based on your file, I'd wager that nothing short of a miracle could reduce your ‘predicament.'” He grinned, making sure he seemed appropriately disdainful. “However, there's still plenty of potential for making it worse."

"Really?” Elryk crossed his muscular arms across his broad chest. “Do tell me what could possibly be worse than the painful Ray'loyst procedure which wipes people's personality?"

"You don't want to know.” He shuddered, careful to keep a neutral facial expression.

He'd seen some of the torture inflicted before the deletion of a prisoner's mind. Since the prisoners never remembered any of it after receiving the new ‘programming,’ some of the guards took that as licence to ‘experiment’ on the prisoners before they destroyed their memories and personalities. Nobody was ever the wiser because there were never any witnesses left to talk about what had really happened.

"Probably not.” Elryk nodded, agreeing with him for once. “So, to get back to why I'm here. Aren't you going to arrest me and put me into restraints or something?"

Oh, the wizard had no idea. Just thinking of him naked, all tied up, powerless to prevent anything that Kaythan was going to do to him, made him rock hard in his uniform pants.
Double crap
! He couldn't stand here sporting an erection. He was supposed to arrest the wizard and get him back to Tah'Nut. Even if it was for the benefit of his own agenda, he had a plan to follow and a job to do here.

"Why, are you going to try and run away after turning yourself in?” He pulled the magic-suppressant handcuffs from his belt and opened them.

"Maybe not right now.” Elryk shrugged and held out his hands. “But I might change my mind."

He ignored that last remark as he cuffed the wizard, making sure the device adjusted itself properly and didn't cut off the circulation. The words made him wonder whether the wizard was planning something other than giving up and turning himself in. It almost sounded as if he wasn't quite ready to truly surrender.

"Believe me, you can change your mind all you want,
wizard
.” He made sure the sneer was captured by the chronicling device in the corner. “There will be no escaping justice this time."

At least not in the way Elryk was possibly imagining it. He'd given as good as he got verbally, but a few brave words weren't going to convince Kaythan that the wizard would actually stand up and fight for what he believed in. His biggest worry was that Elryk would cave in, just like three years ago when he'd fled rather than confront his enemies.

"Well, stop your childish posturing, then,
commander
, and let's get moving.” Elryk grinned back, clearly unrepentant. “I'm sure your superiors are getting impatient."

Kaythan gritted his teeth with the effort not to tell his ‘prisoner’ the truth of what he thought about his superiors. He couldn't risk giving his plan away too soon. He left written instructions for his second in command before turning back to the ominously quiet wizard. Silently, he took the man's arm and started marching them towards the portal.

He'd have to get him out of here, take him to a location where they could talk without being overheard, and find out how prepared he was to stand up for what was right. Kaythan's plan for stopping the magic thieves and getting rid of the illegally ruling Xoh'kas would only work with the help of the most powerful lightning wizard currently alive. Now that he had that wizard under his control, he'd need to make sure the other man understood what was at stake.

The magic thieves needed to be stopped, that much was certain. By siphoning off the magic, they were able to spread magic abilities to more people. Many thought that was a good thing. But other than free magic, it also meant more and more unqualified people used it, including the elusive magic thieves who didn't care about the damage they did to the balance of the magical realm.

Kaythan couldn't stand the fact that those thieving vermin were only tracked down and punished when they stole from someone important to the Xoh'kas. Most people accepted that their Ruling Assembly had only ‘limited resources’ to pursue the thieves and that it was better to ‘focus on the big offenders,’ who stole magic in a major way. You couldn't really control something as intangible as magic anyway, or so the majority believed.

That sure as hell didn't make it right to let them go on unhindered, though.

"You found him, sir?” The young guard was wide-eyed as his hand inched towards the sword at his belt.

The second guard was a little older but looked no less shocked. His hand had reached his sword a lot faster, though.

"Indeed.” Kaythan glanced at both guards. “There is no need for weapons. As you can see, the criminal has been secured."

Elryk snorted and Kaythan had a hard time suppressing his amusement. The wizard obviously didn't know what was good for him. Anyone other than Kaythan would have punished him for the lack of respect. Kaythan let it slide.

The guards couldn't withdraw their hands from their weapons fast enough. Being slow to follow orders was not a trait for a survivor.

"I'll be escorting the prisoner through the gateway myself to avoid any further delays.” Not to mention a chance for anyone to interfere and take over from him. “I expect you to notify officer Ten'lasam immediately. He is to take over command until I return. There are instructions in my office."