Remnants Read online

  Wilkes looked a little new, barely a handful of years older than myself, and he likely had pulled the short straw on this assignment of babysitting Toh’sellor. I didn’t envy him the hike in to this desolate spot every single day to make sure nothing untoward had happened. He pulled his hat off and ran a hand through sandy blond hair, sending it in spikes every direction. “I’m relieved to hear it, Magus. You didn’t have to do anything to it?”

  “A little cleanup, but nothing substantial. It had picked up a few grains of sand.” Rena shrugged, casual and unconcerned. “The barrier can’t block absolutely everything. Still, this means that I can safely ignore it for about a year at a time. I’ll stop in and do a routine cleansing. We can reset the barrier if it needs it and we’ll go back to ignoring it.”

  I ran that math through my head. It had been roughly six months since we defeated Toh’sellor. Between my recovery, going to Vee and Chi’s wedding, preparing for our wedding, and actually getting married, it hadn’t seemed that long, but six months was about right. So, in that time, only a bit of sand had gotten through the barrier and been picked up by Toh’sellor? “Maybe we should just make it routine to come by on the anniversary of Toh’sellor’s defeat.”

  “That’s poetic. I like that.” Rena flashed me a smile, then turned to the mage on her right. “Trammel, how are your studies going?”

  “Swimmingly, considering the desolate situation I’ve been reduced to,” Trammel drawled, gesturing to the area in general. “I normally come in only to do a reading, check on a few things, then retreat again. It takes too long to come out here and ride back, and I don’t wish to stumble back in the dark. Rena, have you had any word on when they’ll move this thing?”

  “They’re designing a facility for it as we speak,” she soothed him. “It’s just taking a little longer than planned, as they had to get permission to build it first. No one’s really eager to host it, so it’s in debate on where to build.”

  I’d first met Magus Trammel, world famous mage, in Corcoran two years ago. He’d heard about Rena calling a human familiar and came to study us. It was he that figured out how her magic worked, the price of it, and that I was the solution to keep Rena from literally falling apart. I’d been very antagonistic with him in the beginning—defensive of Rena—but in the end, the man turned out to be one of the staunchest allies we had. Certainly, he’s one of those people who seemed to speak Rena’s language, and when those two got going, I barely understood one word in ten. Trammel had volunteered to study Toh’sellor, to somehow gain sense of how exactly it worked—the hope being he could give that answer to Rena so she could destroy it utterly. So far he seemed more frustrated than enlightened, and having to ride several hours out here to do any kind of study had to be slowing him down. For all our sakes, I wanted Trammel and Toh’sellor in the same building sooner rather than later.

  The irritable mage gave our MISD agent a curt nod. “Alright, Wilkes, let’s go back.”

  Everyone mounted back up on horseback, Rena riding with me, as she didn’t have a lot of experience riding. We went at a trot. No one wanted to do a leisurely saunter, not in this desolate place. It hadn’t changed much since we’d last been here. The land pitched and rolled, reminding everyone silently that we stood on top of a mountain. There was no direct view of anything, not even as we started toward the valley floor. The trees and vegetation were all gone, of course, used to make minions, but plenty of rocky outcroppings remained to obscure sightlines. I almost felt like we stood near a desert, but the color wasn’t right. It didn’t have the light tan, earthy color of dirt drained of water. This looked almost grey—an unhealthy, abnormal tone that silently spoke of something unnaturally leaching everything of value from it.

  At least the putrid smell was gone. That was a plus. Dirt still drifted through the air, cloying as it stuck to everything: skin and clothes. No one spoke, either, our mouths covered with handkerchiefs to avoid breathing in the dust. In just four short months, nothing had grown here, and the dirt still felt like powder. I wondered how long it would take for nature to overtake this place again.

  We eventually arrived back in town. I’d held fears that with Toh’sellor defeated, this place would become a ghost town, but it hadn’t happened. At least, not yet. Time would tell on that score. I hoped for Wilkes’ sake that the town stayed, as otherwise this post would become a nightmare.

  Rena couldn’t just come check in and then saunter back out, of course. The MISD would pitch a fit without some kind of report from her. So, we went back to Wilkes’ office and she borrowed pen and paper to sit and write a semi-formal report on Toh’sellor’s status. Trammel didn’t choose to follow us in, instead he returned to his own office.

  Wilkes went behind the counter and rifled through some packages and letters that had been dropped off. I knew that the MISD once had an official presence here, but apparently those buildings had been either shut down or sold off. This office of Wilkes reminded me of an old post office, with all of the cubbyhole shelves along the back wall and this huge counter dividing the room in half. Granted, it sat very close to the main road and the mountain, so maybe he’d chosen it for ease of location.

  “Magus, Master Hach, there’s a telegram for you.” Wilkes passed it over to me.

  Being a telegram, it didn’t say much. I read it aloud: “‘To B. and R. Hach. Congratulations on marriage. Request you come to MISD Headquarters soon. Wish to discuss contract.’ Signed H. Salvatore.”

  “Is that a good or bad thing?” Rena asked doubtfully. “I mean, we already had plans to go down there, but….”

  “Maybe something’s up and he wants us officially signed on first?” I offered, although I had my own doubts. Why hurry us along like this?

  She stared at the report for a moment before nodding to herself decisively, brown hair swinging. “I say we start that direction tomorrow. Wilkes, can you get us discounted tickets with your MISD badge?”

  “I’d be happy to, Magus. I can get an Around-the-World ticket that will cover you all the way to Headquarters,” he offered, looking inherently pleased to be helpful.

  “Bless you, that sounds perfect.”

  I knew that look on my wife’s face. When her jaw set like that, and her eyes turned more slate grey than clear, it meant she’d donned her thinking cap. She wasn’t going to be happy until she had this question settled. If the trains ran more than nine hours a day during the winter months, we might have been able to catch one tonight, but as it was, we’d get to the station well after the last train departed. Best we could do was aim for a dawn departure. “Tell you what, Wilkes. I’ll go with you and we can get the luggage sorted and at the station. Rena, you want to leave sooner rather than later, I take it? How long do you need to finish that report?”

  “Twenty minutes.”

  Mentally I gave her ten. She was entirely too antsy to stay still that long. “Meet us at the office, then.”

  The pleasant thing about traveling with Rena was that she kept entertained easily. Give her a few books and a box of chocolates, and she stayed happy as a clam. Now, I get antsy and bored, but I have no problem meeting new people and chatting. When you’re on a train for nine hours at a stretch, you can find a lot of equally bored people. I swapped stories, generally shooting the breeze, and only returned when I felt like finding something to eat.

  Wilkes did us a solid in buying us the MISD tickets, as traveling expenses were about half the cost and they covered as much baggage as we cared to bring. I harbored a suspicion we’d used tickets like these before, when we were traveling all over the place at the MISD’s orders, but I’d never handled the tickets during that time. Either Vee or Maksohm had. Funny, the things you don’t think to question until later.

  It took us eight days to get over to Headquarters. Winter hours sucked. During spring and summer months, the trains ran long, as they had the sunlight to work with. But in winter months, the days were shorter, and there was always the chance of s
now on the line blocking the trains. What took five days in summer took eight in winter, and Rena and I were not pleased about that. I did send Salvatore a telegram saying we were on our way, but other than that I had no other communication with him. We arrived in Foxboro mid-afternoon without fanfare, ordered our bags to be sent to Headquarters, then caught a rickshaw. I actually wouldn’t have minded the walk, but I wasn’t sure how to navigate from the station to MISD Headquarters.

  “Why,” Rena asked me, a smile of delight on her face, “have we not taken these things before? Rickshaws are lovely.”

  “Because we’re generally moving about in a group and rickshaws can only carry two people?” I responded logically.

  “From now on, I’m taking the rickshaw. I don’t care if everyone else has to walk.”

  Apparently, this was now a thing. I wasn’t surprised, though. Who would want to walk up this hill? I actually felt sorry for our ‘driver,’ (Did you call them a driver when they were actually the one pulling it?) as he had to haul us up it. The entire city basically sat on a series of hills, so I assumed he was used to this.

  No, I felt guilty; I needed to tip him after all.

  MISD Headquarters was as large, sprawling, and pink as usual. For an organization that used so much blue, it boggled my mind that they stayed in a pink stucco building. I could see traces of snow on the ground, mostly along the roof eaves and the corners of the building where direct sunlight didn’t reach, so they must have had snow recently. It felt cold enough for it, certainly, but that could be because of the sea breeze blowing in off the ocean. The driver knew precisely where to go and pulled up in front of the main door. I stepped out, paid him with a generous tip, then headed inside with Rena. We were barely ten feet in when I plowed right into Nora, who had her head buried in a report. I caught her shoulders in reflex, keeping us both upright. “Well hello to you too, Nora.”

  “Bannen, Rena!” She let the report drop to her side and gave us both a one-armed hug, smiling from ear to ear. Superficially, she looked like Maksohm—same dark hair, dark olive skin tone, the family resemblance clear to see. But then she smiled, more expressive and freer in her expressions, and it became a little harder to see the kinship. “I didn’t expect to see either of you so soon. Didn’t you just get married last week?”

  “Almost three weeks ago, now,” Rena corrected, returning the smile. “Actually, we got a message from the director saying we needed to see him. He didn’t give us any idea why, though.”

  “It might have something to do with this,” Nora said, waving the pages in her hands illustratively, “but I doubt it. He didn’t mention you were coming in to me. I put better odds on field reassignments. They tend to happen about this time of the year. It has been strongly suggested to him that you might sign on if you have a regular team. If he’s to pull you in, now would be the time to do it while he has the freedom to reassign people.”

  Now that made more sense. “If that’s all it is, I’m relieved. I didn’t want another disaster on our hands.”

  “Don’t be fooled,” Nora responded with a glib smile. “There’s always a disaster on hand.” Nora glanced at the report still in her hands and made a face. “I would love to catch up, but I have to solve this today before it explodes. Dinner tonight?”

  “Count on it,” I promised. We waved her off and I led the way toward the director’s office. It seemed a little busier than usual. Well, I’d only been here a handful of times, perhaps this was normal traffic, but it hadn’t been like this when we were meeting about Toh’sellor. Multiple agents came in and out, brushing past each other, a near constant wave of them, which suggested huge trouble in some corner of the world, but I gamely knocked on the door and stepped inside anyway. “Director Salvatore.”

  “Bannen and Rena. Excellent, come in.” Howard Salvatore looked just as pirate-like as usual, even with his blue uniform buttoned up and starched to within an inch of its life. His expression looked equal parts relieved and honestly glad to see us. His corner office did not look like last time. It still had a great deal of space without much furniture cluttering it up. A large conference table with eight chairs, then a desk with a single chair. But unlike the last few times I’d been here, the conference table seemed buried in reports and maps, so much so that I expected the wood to groan in protest under the weight. “I’m glad you made such good time. Sit, sit, I only have a few minutes.”

  Something was definitely wrong, then. I decided not to ask. Asking got you volunteered for things.

  “Before you left for Z’gher, you hinted that you would think about joining the MISD. We’re in recruitment season now, I want an official answer from you. Yes or no?”

  Rena glanced at me, head canted, and apparently read the question on my face perfectly. “Director, I have thought about it considerably, and I’m inclined to sign on with the MISD.”

  You’d think we’d just offered the man five years’ worth of birthday presents all at once, the way he lit up. “I am delighted to hear it. Do you have any questions or concerns to address first?”

  “A few questions and a few conditions.” Rena sat back in her chair, hands comfortably clasped in front of her stomach, at ease as if she were in her own home. “First, where would you have us stationed?”

  “We don’t have a precise location in mind for you. Somewhere more central would be our preference, as it’s easier to ship you out that way when we need you. Is there a place you have in mind?”

  “Not Z’gher or Corcoran,” we said in perfect unison.

  Salvatore actually chuckled, eyes crinkling up. “Trying to avoid too much interference with family?”

  “That and the stupid Corcoran Magic Council,” I grumbled. My thumb rubbed over my wedding ring and twisted it around on my finger. Even married, I believed the Council would give us grief.

  “I understand. We can certainly put that stipulation in. What else?”

  “Due to the nature of my magic, it’s best if I actually have a designated team to work with,” Rena explained, still all business. “I’d like to request that we be permanently assigned to Vee and Chi.”

  Salvatore hesitated. “I personally have no trouble with that, but you realize that I’ll have to get permission to add that in and verify with those two that they’re agreeable.”

  “Of course,” I assured him. Not that I expected trouble from Vee or Chi, but Salvatore’s bosses were another matter. “You expect a no?”

  “Not really. But protocol has to be followed.” He hesitated before asking, “Just those two?”

  “I’d dearly love to have Dah’lil Maksohm as well,” Rena admitted frankly, “but he’s a senior enough agent that I really can’t demand him.”

  Salvatore regarded her with a glint of amusement in his dark eyes. “I have been frankly informed by said agent that if he’s not assigned to you, he’ll give me no end of grief about it. He’s taken a definite shine to you two, and I personally feel you would benefit from having a barrier specialist with you.”

  This information elated me. We got to keep Maksohm? Really?! “I’m delighted to hear it, sir.”

  “I’m sure,” he drawled. “Just those three?”

  “Yes, sir,” Rena confirmed, eyes lifting at the corners in a happy manner.

  “You’re certainly not demanding, not like some other people,” he grumbled to no one in particular. “Alright, anything else?”

  “We’d of course like to discuss the wage, signing bonus, etcetera. But I have the sense you’re extremely busy today, sir. We can haggle about that part another day.”

  “Then I’ll get the contracts written up and leave that part blank. We can fill it in.” I saw no flaw in this plan, and Rena obviously didn’t either.

  “That’s what we’ll do, then. Also, Director, I stopped in and gave Toh’sellor a quick once-over while I was in the neighborhood. I will have to monitor it, but I think once a year will suffice. Even once a year might be overkill, honestly.
”

  “I prefer paranoia in this case.” A dark expression flashed in Salvatore’s eyes, hand briefly clenching into a fist. “That thing cost us far too much.”

  No one would disagree there, certainly not me.

  Shaking the mood off, Salvatore instructed us, “Leave word at the front desk where I can find you, but feel free to rest up today. We’ll do the official paperwork in a day or two, after I’ve confirmed with Agents Franklocke Inc. that they’re agreeable to a permanent team.”

  “Will do, Director.” Rena popped out of her seat and headed for the door before pausing with one hand on the frame. “One more thing, sir. We have a great deal of luggage that neither of us want to cart around. Can we store some of it here until we return?”

  “I don’t see an issue with that. Ask Hollensbrooke. He can show you an empty storage room to use.” He meant to add something more, but another agent slipped in past Rena with a slightly frantic look in her eye that we all knew how to interpret.

  Putting a hand in the small of Rena’s back, I urged her out of the room, even as I threw back, “We appreciate that, sir!”

  “Move fast,” Rena breathed, already lengthening her stride. “Whatever is going on, we don’t want to get caught up in it.”

  “Absolutely,” I agreed under my breath. “Go, go, go.”

  Part of being an adult was knowing when to run for it.

  Bannen and I found the same bed and breakfast we stayed in last time, taking only one essential suitcase each with us, and settled in there.

  I did send Nora a message to meet us here, because as far as I knew, this was the only decent place to eat within walking distance of Headquarters. I had every intention of diving straight into that packet and taking a look at it, but after days on a train with nothing but quick wash-ups here and there, I longed for a good soak in a tub. My hostess accommodated me, and after two hours of blissfully soaking in water hot enough to scald a lobster, I finally pulled myself out. I’d told Nora to meet us for dinner about five o’clock, after all, and it was already past four-thirty.