“Leech by a hundred,” James says.
The sphere flashes brightly as the man drops to the floor of the hold and begins writhing. Moaning, he looks to James as his fingers lose their grip on the knife and it flops to the deck when his arm twitches. Shortly after that, he lies still.
“Leech by zero,” he says and the sphere, now the size of a golf ball, stops its pulsing and becomes still. An amber glow comes from it, similar to crystals which contain stored magic.
“Is he dead?” asks the older girl.
He glances over to them and sees all the girls staring at him and the dead man with naked fear in their eyes. Nudging the man’s body with his foot, he nods, “I think so.”
“What did you do?” she asks.
James waves away the question as he takes his foot and snags the dead man’s body with his heel. Dragging him a little closer, he reaches out with his hands and pulls the dead body next to him.
Searching the dead man’s clothes, he finds a set of keys and as luck would have it, one fits the locks of his manacles. He removes first his wrist restraints, then his feet. Glancing up to the open hatch, he fears that someone up there had heard the man’s death. But when no one comes to investigate, he reaches over and picks up the glowing sphere, putting it in his pocket. Taking the rest of his things, he places the slug belt once more around his hip and then gets up, making his way over to the girls in the cage.
“Shhh!” he says, putting a finger to his lips. “We must be quiet.”
“How are we going to get out of here?” one of the other girls asks.
Turning the key in the lock, he says, “I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on being on board a ship.” Opening the door, he lets them out and has them move as far from the hatch as possible. They find a spot behind some barrels of tar to hide.
“Stay there and don’t come out for anything,” he tells them.
The girls just nod, fear on their faces.
Turning back to the hatch, he moves until he’s once more by the cage. Unsure what to do, he stands there in indecision as he ponders his next course of action. His mind still fuzzy from the drug, it’s hard for him to think properly.
He takes out the sphere and absentmindedly rolls it in his hand. When he had originally made the sphere he had only imbued it with a few simple commands. Leech was the first one, which would draw power from whoever it was near thereby infusing it with power for the other commands.
It was intended to use magic in circumstances when he was unable to, such as now. He only put one offensive spell in it and had he known that he was going to be aboard a ship, he never would have used that one.
Staggering slightly from the effects of the drug coursing through his system, he begins moving toward the stairs leading to the hatch. Suddenly from above, the light coming through the hatch is blocked as a guard begins descending down the stairs.
James halts his forward movement and begins backing up as the man stops abruptly on the stairs when he sees him there. The guard does a quick scan and takes in the scene: James no longer in manacles, the cage empty with the door open and the dead body lying on the floor.
The guard begins hollering up the stairs as he draws his sword. As the guard continues down the stairs, more guards come through the hatch.
Holding the sphere before him, he calls forth the lone offensive spell by saying, “Incinerate!”
The sphere pulses and he can almost feel the magic flow out of it toward the approaching guard. The guard’s clothes, hair and it seems his very skin ignites in a fireball. Screams of pain erupt out of the inferno as the man stumbles around until finally coming to rest on the deck. The nauseating odor of burnt hair and flesh permeates the hold. Within the sphere, the glow has been greatly reduced.
James looks to the other guards who have paused on the stairs after seeing the fate of their comrade. They look to him in fear as they back up the stairs and return to the deck above. Voices can be heard arguing up there and though he can’t understand the words being said, he has a pretty good idea. The Ambassador wants the guards to come down and subdue him while they feel that’s a bad idea.
Finally a decision is reached as the voices become quiet. James glances over to where the girls are hiding and can see their faces peering around and over the barrels they’re hiding behind. Turning his attention back to the hatch, he waits.
The light coming through the hatch is suddenly blocked again by several men coming down the stairs quickly. Each is carrying a crossbow and as soon as they clear the hatch, quickly fire.
When he realizes they are sending crossbowmen down, he says, “Shield.” The sphere pulses and a translucent, shimmering shield surrounds him. The glow within the sphere diminishes still further until there’s only a barely perceptible glow.
The first bolt fired glances harmlessly off the shield surrounding him and he begins making his way toward the stairs. Two more bolts are fired in rapid succession and they too are deflected by the protective shield.
“Leech by a hundred,” he says and the closest crossbowman falls to the stairs and suffers the same fate as had the man before. When the other two crossbowmen see their comrade fall, and him advancing they beat a hasty retreat up the stairs, slamming the hatch closed. “Leech by zero,” he says when the crossbowman at last lies still.
At the base of the stairs, he glances back to the girls and says, “Stay down here. No matter what happens, stay down here.”
An ‘okay’ comes from the girls and he begins making his way up the stairs. At the top, he finds the hatch has been secured to keep him from escaping the hold and gaining the ship’s deck.
Leech, shield and incinerate as well as the degree to which it does those commands, i.e. by ten and by a hundred are the only commands which he had imbued the sphere with when he created it. And until he regains the ability to do magic, those are all that he has at his command. If he ever gets out of here, he’ll work on creating something which he can carry that will be more flexible in differing circumstances.
The sphere glows with stored power once again as he tries to figure out what to do. The longer he remains aboard this ship, the closer and possibly further into the Empire he will go. He has to act and act now.
Holding the sphere before him, he gazes at the hatch and says, “Incinerate.” Nothing happens. He really didn’t think that would work, the spell had been intended for enemies, not inanimate objects.
Coming close to the hatch, he tries to hear what’s happening on the other side, but other than muted voices in a language he doesn’t understand, he can’t tell.
“Shield by zero,” he says and the shield surrounding him disappears.
Returning down the stairs, he stares at the grisly sight of the burnt corpse and shudders. He hates what these people make him do. The girls have come out of their hiding place and are coming toward him. “Now what?” one of them asks.
“I’m not sure,” he says. “But I’ll think of something. Try not to worry.” Looking around the hold, he sees many boxes and other paraphernalia which is useful on board a boat. A spare sail, some rope and a box full of tools! If only the A-Team were here! Laughing in spite of the gravity of the situation, he begins rummaging around the box of tools.
He finally comes up with a small five pound sledgehammer and takes it with him back to the hatch.
“What are you going to do with that?” one of the girls asks.
“Smash through the hatch and see about getting us off this ship,” he explains.
“What if they won’t let us?” Gwynne asks him.
His expression turning grim, he says, “Then I’ll have to convince them.”
“How?” Daria asks.
James glances at her but doesn’t reply. Then he resumes moving toward the stairs and up to the hatch. The angle is awkward and his arms aren’t all that strong to begin with. Balancing himself as best he can, he swings the sledgehammer with all his might and strikes the hatch with a resounding thud. The other side of the hatch becomes quiet as he brings the sledgehammer back for another strike.
Wham!
He hits the hatch again and begins to hear those on the other side running around.
Wham!
