5 - Cast some Spells

Outside Gejta, Bellog wandered through the knot of gamblers, drunks, and pickpockets lingering around the entrance.

"Excuse me," he asked one rough-looking man leaning against a wall. "Have you seen a woman in a red velvet dress? A mage. I heard she spends time around here."

The man narrowed his eyes.
"What are you?" he asked suspiciously. "A town guard?"

Bellog let out a dry chuckle. "No. Just looking for an old friend."

The man snorted before raising his voice toward the entrance. "Hey, boys! This fellow says he wanna be your friend!"

The two enormous doormen looked over. Neither had many teeth left. One slowly cracked his knuckles, each pop echoing through the alley, while the other slammed one fist into his open palm with a grin that promised broken bones.

Bellog instinctively took half a step back.
Before either brute could move, the doors of Gejta burst open.

Two of Krux's goons stormed outside, dragging Malagam by the arms. Without a word, they hurled her into the muddy street. She landed face-first with a wet splash.

One thug spat after her. "Stay out, mage."
The heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

Bellog blinked. "...Well. That's the woman in red I was looking for."

Malagam slowly lifted her head, streaks of mud running down her face.

"Give me a break," she groaned. "It was the guards' fault that you landed in jail."

Bellog stepped over and offered her a hand.

She looked at it, then slapped it aside. She climbed to her feet, brushing mud from her dress with little success before starting down the street.

"Just move on," she muttered. "The world's unfair. Believe me, I know."

Bellog followed after her. "I didn't come to bring up the past."

"Oh?" She glanced over her shoulder with a teasing smile. "Then your little pecker finally twitched after seeing me again? A night with me costs ten thousand."

Bellog nearly choked. "What? For ten thousand I could probably sleep with the queen!"

"Exactly." She laughed at herself. "And now I'm back where I started. Maybe I should've just given up...But that would've been boring."

Bellog grabbed her wrist before she could walk away again. "I want your old partner's place."

Malagam wiped a smear of mud from beneath one eye. Instead of throwing it away, she flicked it directly into Bellog's face. "Why didn't you start with that?"

****

A short while later, the noise of the city faded behind them.

The crowded alleys gave way to the quieter outskirts of Talantum, where poorer families kept tiny vegetable patches beside their homes. Chickens wandered freely between crooked fences, and rows of vegetables struggled through the dry soil.

Waiting beside the road stood an enormous traveling wagon with two horse before it, the sort usually owned by merchant caravans or wandering performers.

Malagam climbed aboard first. She pushed open the door.

"Come in." Then she glanced back. "But don't touch anything."

Bellog climbed in behind her, rolling his eyes. "Like I'd want to touch your dirty laundry."

He stopped mid-sentence. This wasn't what he'd expected. There were no piles of clothes. No empty bottles scattered across the floor. Everything was spotless.

Shelves filled with carefully labeled jars lined the walls. Alchemical instruments gleamed under hanging lanterns. Glass tubing, polished brass tools, scales, and strange pieces of equipment covered sturdy workbenches.

It looked less like a wagon...and more like a wizard's laboratory squeezed onto four wheels.

Bellog slowly whistled. "By Merlo's beard..."

Merlo. The legendary mage who had won the kingdom's first great war through magic alone. Every apprentice dreamed of becoming another Merlo.

Malagam smiled proudly. "If you're going to do something..." She ran a hand across one of the polished tables. "...do it in a way people remember."

Bellog slowly nodded as he looked around. "I'll admit, I judged you too quickly."

Malagam folded her arms. "What did you think? That I got this far because I'm pretty instead of clever?"

Bellog scratched the back of his head. "No. I figured you just knew exactly where to put your tongue."

Malagam stared at him, one eyebrow rose.
Bellog immediately waved his hands. "That's not what I meant. I meant...you know whose ass to kiss."

Her expression remained completely unchanged. "That is somehow worse."

Bellog sighed. “You know what I mean."

"I do. Unfortunately." Then she clapped her hands once. "Enough talking. Let's work."

As she turned away, Bellog reached into his coat and proudly produced several small glass vials.

"I came prepared. I even brought supplies."

Malagam glanced at the handful of tiny bottles and chuckled. "That's adorable."

She walked to a workbench and slapped her palm against it. A hidden drawer slid open with a click.

Bellog's eyes widened. Inside were hundreds of crystal-clear glass vials, neatly arranged in rows that stretched from one end of the drawer to the other.

"Now…" She picked up the first empty vial and placed it on the table. "...let's cast some spells."