ã€ŠSwamp Boyã€‹


 Chapter 1: Spiders, Crocodiles and Snakes, Oh My!

    ¡°Milady Sorceress, your tea is ready.¡±  She slapped me but I had been expecting it.  My day was normally filled with slaps and punches.  A good day meant I hadn¡¯t been lashed or burned.

    ¡°You¡¯re late boy.  You better not have been drinking any of my special tea?  For, it¡¯s the only thing that will grant me any relief, from my daily pains and your stupidity!¡±

    I could barely remember living some place that wasn¡¯t filled with blows, lashes and harsh words.  It had been five or six winters since I had come to this place.  I think I am eight or nine years old now.  Up until last year I hadn¡¯t even had a name.  She finally took me to the nearby village and in the village she had referred to me a James.  It had startled me so much that I had nearly dropped the packages I had been carrying.  But it immediately became ¡°James do this,¡± and ¡°James do that¡±, the entire time we were there.  At least I had been fed better.  I am fairly sure that the reason she had called me James was to increase her standing in the eyes of the villagers.  A servant or slave named James made her look better than one called boy or rat.  To her face they called her the Sorceress Lauren but I heard a few of them refer to her as the Swamp Witch when they thought she couldn¡¯t hear.  In regards to myself; the villagers had either pretended like I wasn¡¯t there or had looked at me fearfully.  I think they were afraid of offending Milady and bringing a curse down upon themselves or their families.  On my second trip to Ester¡¯s Village, I found out that she had bought me a little over six years ago, even though slavery was supposed to be illegal in the Gulf Kingdom.

    The Sorceress liked to brag out loud to herself whenever she got the better of a deal, even if that deal was many years ago.  Many times she did well in her transactions by making threats during the bargaining process.  I think the only one that didn¡¯t succumb to those tactics was the owner of the general store.  She also seemed to have a long list of enemies that she would chortle over having made them regret crossing or offending her.  There were times though when she would suddenly get very angry and curse certain names.  I would normally have to stay out of sight when that happened or risk a terrible beating.

    Drunken comments that I heard her make more than once led me to believe that she had somehow gotten me very cheaply and by under handed means.

    There were days when she was very careful with her appearance and wore old but very rich and fancy looking clothing.  Like when we went to village, she would bathe and dress nicely.  But most times she dressed in just an old robe and her blood stained teeth would fill me with dread when they approached my wrists or neck.

    The last two years had been filled with work.  She had sent me out into the swamp time and time again to gather the plants, roots, animals and insects she needed for her potions, let alone those things she wanted to eat.  Lately she had been taking far more of my blood and drinking a tea made from poppy leaves.

    She has old spell books filled with tiny pictures, numbers and a few words.  I¡¯ve learned to understand most of the pictures, some of numbers and a few of the words.  Most of the pictures show plants and roots, some show actions like boiling, drying or mixing.

    ¡°Boy, we¡¯re running low on the roots and plants that I need to make swamp fever potions.  You take out the pirogue and get me some but don¡¯t you dare come back until you¡¯ve got full bags.  Do you hear me?¡±

    I was a tad upset at her request.  She hadn¡¯t let me eat yet today, however I could probably manage to find something out in the swamp.  My concern was that there were some big crocs hanging about our island and she had done nothing recently to chase them off.  I knew better than to bring that to her attention it would just make her angry and she could easily cast a spell upon me that would leave me twisted up on the floor in agony.  I put together a few tools and did as she told me.  We had two boats and I took the smallest one.  I poled the pirogue to the far side of where she and I normally looked for food and other things.

    I already knew that we had pretty much picked over the rare roots and plants needed for potions nearby her keep.  It was way past time to start searching in a new area.  I had asked on one occasion why we didn¡¯t do like the farmers do and try to raise our own rare plants.  That earned me a whipping.

    To fill up seven bags was going to take me more than one day, if I lived; I wonder if she knew that?  But I had no choice; I had to stay out in the swamp.  Worse yet it was already late morning and the first thing I had to do was set up a safe camp site for the night.  I just wish I only had to worry about crocs, swamp cats, poisonous insects and snakes.  There were worse things in Drake¡¯s Swamp, like giant spiders and swamp dragons.  Those few times when I was in town, I even heard people talking about the living dead.

    I didn¡¯t have much magic, I was pretty sure that the Sorceress sucked it out of me along with my blood whenever I built some back up.  But I did have witch sight which I had learned to use almost constantly.  Witch sight tells me things.  I know what¡¯s edible and what isn¡¯t, I also know if there is anything alive nearby and what it might be, though in a swamp there is so much life that it¡¯s hard to isolate things and identify exactly what I¡¯m looking at.

    I finally came to a good size piece of ground after I had been poling my flat-bottomed craft for over three hours.  I had to make my camp off the ground but swamp trees held dangers of their own, like tree cats, poisonous plants, strangle vines, venomous insects and snakes.  I used my sight to pick out a tree that seemed to have fewer dangers than the others.  First I cleared the tree of as many inhabitants as I could find.  I then used a small saw and a machete to build myself a small platform between two large branches.  I had been gathering edible plants, frogs, snakes and turtles throughout my journey and while working.  I had stuffed them into my sacks for latter.  I pulled my pirogue up into a tree using a fresh killed strangle vine, which was still flexible.  I carried my two clay pots up to my temporary home.  The next thing to be hauled up was a large flat thin stone that I found over a month ago.

    Now it was time to start gathering reeds and fire wood.  I needed wood for cooking, torches and to light a fire during the night if needed.  The tree was full of long dead strangle vines that I could use to make the torches and this particular kind of tree produced plenty of good sap that was ideal for soaking those torch heads.  The sap would make the torches last longer and burn brighter.  I just wish that I had more than two pots for my camp.

    It had taken me three hours to make my crude shelter up in that mighty tree.  My most urgent demand was for wood and I started gathering that first but I had some luck and also found a big old turtle shell which I could later use to hold the tree sap for making my torches.  I spent my first hour gathering and cutting wood; then I spent the next two, gathering reeds to make a roof for my small shelter and for making baskets.  When I felt I only had a little more than an hour of light left I stopped my gathering and using fresh killed strangle vines for ropes I hauled my gathered materials up into the tree.  Earlier I had setup my cooking pot to collect some sap from a wound that I had made in the tree¡¯s trunk.   I was pleased to see that I had almost half a pot of the gooey fluid.  I swapped out the old turtle shell for my pot.  I needed to use the pot to make my dinner.  I quickly wrapped four sticks with old dry vines and set their heads to soaking in the turtle shell.  Using less than half of my gathered reeds I built a roof for my shelter.

    It was starting to get dark now and I needed to make a fire quickly, so I could cook my dinner and also to let me see in the darkness, of the night.  I loaded my big old clay pot, the one with the holes in it, with small pieces of fire wood, poured a little of a fire starter potion on the wood and finally ignited it with a sprinkle of sparking dust.  My fire pot was set up on my flat stone which should hopefully prevent the floor from charring and burning.  I had used Milady¡¯s gathering bags to hold my food.  I decided to cook the three snakes first, they weren¡¯t very big and on top of that they were venomous so leaving them alive and close to me while I slept was a bad idea; besides that I liked snake.

    Fire roasted snake meat filled the aching hole in my gut.  I cleaned my cooking pot of the sap residue as best I could and put in some water from my water bags.  I would let the hot water remove the rest of the sap.  While that was going on I split and cleaned the two small turtles I had caught.  When the pot was clean as I could make it, I set to making turtle soup to which I added some plants and tubers.  It would be my meal for tonight and my breakfast tomorrow morning.  I pulled out the first four torches and set them to drying on the flat stone and next to my fire pot.  I wrapped five more torches and set them to soaking, after that I turned to making reed baskets for my gathering that would begin tomorrow.

    The insects were starting to get really fierce.  Milady had long since loaded me up with all manner of potions that made me immune to the diseases and some toxins that the local insects and snakes carried.  She hadn¡¯t done that out of the kindness of her heart, she just didn¡¯t want to lose her investment in a slave.  While I was long since inured to the insect bites I was starting to spit them out of my mouth, so I threw certain plants and flowers into my fire pot.  This produced a noxious smoke that repelled the insects and even most snakes.  I didn¡¯t like it either but I could get used to it.   Hopefully the smoke would penetrate my shelter and even my own body to repel the biters for a full day.

    My baskets weren¡¯t the best, since I was largely self taught.  I had learned by watching others do it, on my infrequent trips into Ester¡¯s village.  Basket weaving had seemed like such a useful skill that I had diligently worked at improving my own mastery of the subject.  I was now able to make ugly baskets that didn¡¯t immediately fall apart and could actually hold things.

    That night I made seven baskets, fourteen torches and cooked frog legs for my midday meal tomorrow.  I slept huddled up on four of my canvas gather bags which I had stuffed earlier with swamp grasses.  My blanket and the fire pot kept me reasonably warm throughout the night.  As is normal for Drake¡¯s swamp, the morning began with a light rain.  I finished the soup for my breakfast.  While it was far more dangerous out here in the swamp, especially living in such a crude shelter, I was eating much better than I usually did and I my stomach thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

    I spent the next two days filling my seven baskets.  I was nearly killed several times by spiders, snakes, strangler vines and crocs but that¡¯s normal for this place.  Once, a nest of six large gray spiders, with centers larger than my head, came swarming out of a pit trap after me.  It scared me so badly that I pissed myself.  That kind of spider has an extremely painful bite and while I do have some immunity to it, too many of their bites can still render me paralyzed.  Several times during the nights up in my tree, I could see the eyes of swamp cats watching me and hear their terrible screams.

    This was my first time that I had been sent out for so long with orders to only come back when my bags were filled.  In the past I had only stayed out when I was unable to make it back to the Sorceress¡¯s Keep, before dusk.

    She calls it a keep but it¡¯s actually an old stone ruin built on top of one of the highest spots in the swamp.  The building has three floors, four rooms on the first floor, two on the second and a single room at the top.  The Witch told me one time that it was shaped like a small step pyramid.  It was built of large heavy stone blocks that would even stop a swamp dragon.   The roof is very strong and made of a layered arrangement of large flat stones supported by stone arches.  The upstairs levels are hardly ever used anymore because of the rotten interior wooden floors.

    It was the morning of my fourth day away from my Milady and it was time to return.  My baskets were full and if I didn¡¯t return soon she was sure to send some spell or curse after me and take her revenge.  I had eaten better during the past few days than at any other time during my life.  When I made it back to Milady¡¯s island, I found that several large crocs had made it past her inner wards, which had never happened before to my knowledge.  I was scared, she was probably furious that I had been gone for so long.  I imagined that she might suck me dry of both blood and magic as soon as she set eyes on me.  Living as I had been for the last few days and eating my fill, had let my internal magical energy recover faster than normal.  I surely had enough in me right now to bring out Milady¡¯s hunger.  My knees were shaking in fear.

    Nervously, I entered the keep carrying two baskets filled with roots.  I dropped them off and made four more trips emptying the small boat.  But strangely, Milady never appeared and she never called out for me either.  I searched the building looking for her but she wasn¡¯t inside of it.  I already knew that the other boat was still here, so she must be somewhere on this very small island.  I searched it but I couldn¡¯t find her.  Though, I did discover five very large crocs and a host of smaller ones.  I began to hope that the huge reptiles might have made a meal out of her.  Crocs can move surprisingly fast and are ambush hunters on land.  Plus, she had been drinking a lot of her tea as of late.  If she had let the wards fail completely and then forgot to use her witch sight, a crocodile might have indeed been able to surprise her.  For the next two weeks I did my normal chores, just in case she came back.  Though, I did sneak more frequent looks at her spell and potion books.  I also ate much better food, all of which I gathered myself.

    Two weeks later I had to assume that she wasn¡¯t coming back, so I decided to try and make the fever potions that I knew that the villagers needed.  I already had experience in preparing all of the raw ingredients; she had been making me do that for years.  But I had never made a finished potion before because she had never left me enough magic to attempt it.  However with my witch sight I had watched her work and I thought I knew how to make them.

    She already had a crate of small clay jugs to hold the potions and I had long since whittled wooden corks for them.  I decided to only try small batches at first.  I brought out her potion book.  I could only really understand the pictures but it helped me to do things in the right order.   It took me three days of trying until I made a potion that looked right to my sight and tasted like I remembered.  I spent the next week making more of the magical fever medicine.  The hardest parts were harvesting and preparing the ingredients and I had already done that.

    I loaded up the big flat bottomed boat early the next morning and started poling for the village.  I probably wouldn¡¯t get there until dark.

    Just before dusk I arrived, tired and hungry.  I called out as I approached the village dock.  There are bad things in the swamp and some of them are human or once had been human according to the tales.

    ¡°Hello, the town.  It¡¯s me, James.  Milady Sorceress Lauren sent me to you with her fever potions and to pick up supplies.¡±  I had to call that out two more times before I heard an answer back.

    ¡°Come into the dock boy.  Your mistress is late and we¡¯ve got sick people already.¡±

    I explained or rather I made up a hopefully believable lie.  ¡°Some magical business had delayed her in making your potions.  She is still working on that other business even now or she would have come herself instead of sending me alone.  But I must hurry quickly back, with her magic she already knows that I have made it here.  She always knows exactly where I am.  I¡¯ve been marked by her and if I do not return in two or three days at most she will call a death curse upon me.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°You have my sympathy boy.  I don¡¯t know if your parents ever dreamed of the hard life you would be living when they sold you to her as an apprentice.¡±

    I poled silently to the dock because the man¡¯s words had shocked me.  I had never known that my own parents had sold me or even suspected that they might still be alive and nearby.  I decided to just keep quiet.  It was my goal to take over for the Swamp Witch.  I had only a little of her knowledge but I was a harder worker.  I had hopes that with her books I might figure out how to do enough to get by.  I thought I already knew how to create most of the potions that she sold and I think I can make some of her wards as well.  But if the villagers find out that she¡¯s gone then someone might just risk coming out to loot the keep or attempt to claim me as their slave.  I had had enough of being a slave!

    I was using reed baskets to transport the small potion jugs.  The clay bottles were cushioned with swamp grass which was more than the Witch had ever done.  It made it easier to move the jugs and prevented breakage as well.

    ¡°How much are the jugs boy?¡±  The man asking me was Mack Phelps, the owner of the village general store.

    ¡°She was so busy and angry that she didn¡¯t even tell me if she was changing the price this time.  So I think it has to be the same as before which was two silvers a jug.  Did she say anything to you about raising the price last time?  Because if she did and I don¡¯t get the additional coin then I¡¯ll be getting a whipping when I return if she doesn¡¯t just feed me to the crocs.¡±  I put a note of fear into my voice.

    ¡°No James, don¡¯t you be worried.  She mentioned the possibility and I told her that if she raised her prices anymore then I would start looking elsewhere.  I know that her potions are cheaper than anything from a real mage but hers aren¡¯t nearly as good.  Sometimes it takes twice as much of the Witch¡¯s concoctions to get the job done, as compared to a magic elixir from a real mage.  How many jugs have your brought me?¡±

    ¡°There are nine baskets and six jugs per basket.  I think you¡¯ll find this batch, of potions, are better than what Milady usually brings you.  The ingredients were freshly gathered and from new areas in the swamp too, so they seem to be extra potent.  I would be surprised if you have to double dose someone, in order to cure or to protect them from the fever this year.¡±

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.  Help me carry them to my cart and I¡¯ll pay you the money that I owe.  Do you know what the Witch wants you to buy from my store while you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I¡¯ll be making those purchases tomorrow and the day after that, I¡¯ll be heading back to her island.  Normally, I¡¯d stay in the inn with her but I don¡¯t think she would want me to be spending any of her money like that.  At least she didn¡¯t tell me that I could.  Do you know of a barn or something I could sleep in?¡±

    Mister Phelps looked at me for a long time.  ¡°Yeah, I figure she wouldn¡¯t like you spending any coin on yourself.  If you don¡¯t mind bugs, I¡¯ve got a shed that is half empty.  You can stay there for two nights, since you brought in these potions and will be buying things from me tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m much obliged Mister Phelps.  I¡¯ve got enough scars on my back and I don¡¯t need another whipping which will add to them.¡±  I gathered my bedroll and two sacks filled with my belongings and food.  I then followed the man back to his store and home.  He pointed out the outhouse and well; then he showed me to the shed.  I washed up with a bucket of water and ate a meal.  My food didn¡¯t need any cooking, so I didn¡¯t use any of Mack¡¯s firewood.

    The next morning I made the normal purchases for the keep except I only bought half as much whiskey.  I told Mister Phelps that the Sorceress now had a concoction of her own that she liked to drink just as much as whiskey.  He didn¡¯t seem to care.

    I spent the following afternoon hanging about town trying to learn more about math and reading. I would pester anyone that even displayed a little bit knowledge.  I needed to learn so that I could read and better understand the Witch¡¯s books.  The way I normally did math was to break things up into tens and using my fingers or pebbles I would count them up.  Some little boys who were years younger than me showed me how to count up to one hundred and a little girl taught me a song for the alphabet.  I gave them some smoked sausage made from swamp pig in trade.  The little girl even taught me how to read four words and wrote them down for me on a hunk of old hide with a piece of charcoal, along with the alphabet letters in the same order as the song.  I probably drove people crazy singing that alphabet song and counting out loud to a hundred.  I even pestered Mister Phelps some more and he got so tired of it that he gave me a little book about learning how to read.  It only had a dozen pages in it but he said that since I now knew the alphabet, that by using my new book I could learn how to sound words out.  Diane, his older daughter, spent a few minutes with me and showed me how to do that for some of the words in the book.  I promised to bring back the book or to give him something in trade for it when I returned.  He said that the book was only worth a single silver coin since it was so old and only had a dozen pages.

    The next morning he let me use his cart to take all of my purchases to my boat and I left for home.  When I got back I found even more crocs on the island, it was starting to get really dangerous.  It was time to redo the wards.  I got out her book on wards and brought in some of her ward signs to compare them to the pictures in the book.  Her signs didn¡¯t even have a spark of magic left in them.  I decided to saw some new wooden rounds to use as sign boards.  For some reason the idea of using my magic to refresh the Witch¡¯s magic made my guts twist up, I wanted to start afresh.

    I carved that first ward very carefully.  Using a special mixture that contained a drop of my own blood, I painted in the carved tracks in the wood and attempted to push my magic into the ward.  Fifteen days later I had my first success and I was pooped.  The Crocs were right at the front door by that time, so I hung the wooden round there to start.  The crocs didn¡¯t run away but they did move off at a steady walk.  The next day I was still tired so I was only able to do one more ward which I put on the back door.

    Wards are tricky; there are some creatures that are dangerous and some that you need, so the wards have to be selective.  Though, the ward for crocs was supposed to work at least a little bit against swamp dragons.  The next day I did two wards which I hung on the other sides of the house.  My thinking was that I would slowly put out more wards and chase all of the bad beasts off of my island.  I couldn¡¯t just put them on the edges of the island to start because if I did that I would trap a lot of those animals here with me and I didn¡¯t want that.  Once I had my first four croc wards out then I did four for spiders.  I was able to do all four in one day and it sure as hell scared me when I say so many of those big old spiders running off.  I knew life had been out there in the trees but since I wasn¡¯t getting too close I hadn¡¯t bothered to use my witch sight and find out exactly what was out there.  I still needed to create wards against cats, snakes, mosquitoes, flies, ticks, and dragons.   I wanted to keep swamp pigs, turtles, frogs and fish, ants and bees.  It was good thing that I needed only a drop of my blood for each ward.

    To push the creatures away took four wards to go around the keep but I needed wards for each kind of creature I wanted gone.  The next layer or middle ring would take eight rounds but again I needed eight of each type.  The final border at the island¡¯s edge would need sixteen wooden signs for each creature.  So I needed a lot of signs and I could only count up to a hundred.  It turned out to be over two, one hundred counts plus twenty four rounds that I had to make.  On my fall trip to town I¡¯m going to buy or order a new saw.

    Milady had only an inner and outer shield of wards but I thought that three layers should offer me far more protection.  It took me a month to put up all the wards and I would have to refresh them every two to six months.  At least that¡¯s what I saw the Witch do.

    Once I had my wards up, then my days became more regular.  During the mornings, I gathered food.  In the afternoon, I worked on fixing up the keep and after dinner I would study.  I found that Lauren had more books hidden away but they were mainly about other things like farming or pottery rather than magic.  Most of the books were labeled as being from the Royal University.

    I transplanted some small orange and lemon trees that I had found on other nearby islands.  Half of them died but half lived, so I considered it a win.  I thought if the fruit trees were close by then I could watch the trees and protect them and their fruit from harm.  I was eating better but I was working hard too, fixing up the keep and putting in my new garden.  Maybe I should buy some chickens?

    There was a different potion that the village bought, in the fall to prepare themselves for the winter, but they only wanted twenty of them.  I had a new ward that I had just put in the area immediately around the house and it was a ward against men, I had found it in a book.  So far my wards seemed to be retaining their magic better than the Witch¡¯s.  I wondered if that was because I had started with new wooden signs.

    I left mid-fall for the village.  I called again when I approached the dock.  Mack wasn¡¯t there this time, so I just carried three baskets filled with all of his order.  It was heavier than I thought; I stumbled and nearly dropped them before arriving at the store.

    ¡°Hello Mister Phelps.  I¡¯ve got your potions for you.¡±

    ¡°The Sorceress is still busy?¡±  He gave me a perplexed looked.

    ¡°She¡¯s still a little busier than normal but I think since I was able to handle things the last time, she decided to just send me out again.¡±  I shrugged my shoulders and then lowered my voice, like I was trying to keep a secret.  ¡°She is kind of lazy and doesn¡¯t like leaving the keep.  Were the fever potions I brought last time, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, just like you said, they seemed to work much better than what she regularly sells me.  Those fresh ingredients really seemed to make a huge difference.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s sending me out on my own now, to harvest the potion ingredients.  I¡¯ll make sure that they are just as fresh next year.  Mister Phelps, I owe you for that book and for letting me stay those two nights in your shed.  She¡¯s finally letting me do a little magic of my own now, even though I¡¯ve been watching her for years.  I just can¡¯t use any of her jugs and ingredients.   I found some clay and fired my own flasks.  I made four potions to repay you and for my next two nights sleeping in your shed.  My mistress only knows about one flask though; I had her check it to make sure I was doing things right.  I made four because I didn¡¯t think that one potion wasn¡¯t enough to repay you.¡±  I am such a liar but I need the village to believe that she is still alive and will get angry if her property, namely me, is stolen.

    ¡°Are you sure your potions are safe, James?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I¡¯ve been helping Milady for years.  I do all the preparation work and she was doing only the final mixing and magic work.  Now I¡¯m even helping her with the final stages.  If you want I¡¯ll take a dose from one of my flasks.  Though I¡¯ve taken so many test drinks lately; that it¡¯ll just go to waste on me.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I need you to do exactly that.  I¡¯ve got to protect my customers and make sure that I¡¯m not giving them anything that will make them ill.¡±

    ¡°Okay, no problem.  If you got a mug, I¡¯ll measure out one dose.  I don¡¯t want to waste more than a single dose by drinking it directly from the flask.¡±  My flasks were pretty crude and one was much larger than the others so I poured from that bottle.  Each flask should contain five doses this particular flask probably held seven.   This potion was a ¡°don¡¯t get sick medicine¡± or health concoction for the winter.  It made your body work better so you were less likely to get ill and weak during the cold and damp season here.

    I drank my dose and Mister Phelps surprised me by drinking one too.  ¡°James, my shed is full up with fire wood but if your four potions are just as good as the Sorceress¡¯s, then their value is eight silver coins.  But since you are only her apprentice let us say that they are only worth one silver per flask.  One potion easily clears your debt to me.  Another flask will get you a room and meals at the inn.  I¡¯ll take care of arranging that for you.  That leaves you with a credit of two silvers here in my shop.  So if you find anything you want to buy, you¡¯ve got some money to do it now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you Mister Phelps, that is very kind of you.  I¡¯ll do my shopping tomorrow.  But if you have any old books on reading, writing or simple math, I would really like to see them.¡±

    ¡°I might have an old math book.  I¡¯ll have to check.  I¡¯ll walk you to the inn and get you your room for the next two nights.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡±

    Mack did just that and I put my things in my room.  I had time before dinner so I ran to the blacksmith¡¯s job and caught him just as he was closing up.  He had a saw, a machete and some wood carving tools that he could have ready for me the morning of my departure.  He actually seemed to be anxious for the sale.   The saw would cost twenty silvers, the machete would be eight and the two carving tools would be a silver coin for each one.  I really needed a new machete and the one he showed me would be far superior to what I had now.  Of course I told him that the Sorceress wanted those items and not me, since she was paying for them.

    I pestered people again the next day trying to learn the spelling of some new words.  While I might speak very properly because of brutal instruction from my former mistress, she never had any desire to teach me how to read or write.

    Mack not only had a math book for me but a something called a dictionary.  He said that by using that book I could learn all kinds of new words.  His daughter showed me how to use it.  The only problem was that the books were more than the two silvers that I had on account with him.  He said that both the books; were each worth at least twenty silvers.  I don¡¯t know why but he decided to sell me the books on credit.  He also told me that if I ever wanted to sell them back to him that he would buy them, so long as they were still in good shape.

    The morning of my departure I saw him while picking up my purchases.  He told me that my potion seemed to be working and he felt better than ever that morning.  I got my tools from the blacksmith and departed for home.  I really liked my new machete.  I told the blacksmith that my mistress had an interest in purchasing at least one boar spear and perhaps a crossbow next spring.

 Chapter 2: Medicine Boy

    Medicine Boy

    (Revised version, fixed currency problem.)

    It hardly ever gets below freezing here but it can get pretty damp and miserable.  My new math book proved to be fully worth its price.  It taught me about fractions, which were used in all of my potion books.  The dictionary helped too but the math book made an almost immediate improvement in my work.

    All of my wards were stable for at least four months and most were good for five which was a lot better than what the Witch had been able to do.  I would walk the island every few days with eight fresh wards in a sack.  Any time I found a round with its sigil weakening; I would simply replace it and then refresh the weakening ward sign in my home and at my leisure.  That winter I finally managed to fix the floors in the second and third stories.  It looked very rough and ugly but the floors were strong.

    I tried making a bow but my first effort was a dismal failure.  So, I¡¯ve been catching swamp pigs with snares and finishing them off with a very crude spear.  I know the villagers think of them as cross between a swamp rat and a pig but I think they are good eating especially when smoked.  Their hides and fur are in my opinion excellent stuff and I made myself a nice warm coat, gloves and boots from them, though my stitching is pretty awful.

    I¡¯ve read about many useful potions, in my magic books, that Lauren never made and I have to wonder why?  Two of the potions that I really like are for quick and superior tanning of a hide and the other is for waterproofing.  Both potions have been of great use to me.

    I¡¯ve decided to master everything in my books on wards, runes, and potions before delving into pure spell casting.  But I have been occasionally glancing in my spell books, just to see if there is anything in them that can help me out with my other studies.

    The winter ended and I went off in search of ingredients for the potions ordered by Mack.  This time though I had a full set of wards to better protect me while harvesting.  I would hang them in an area and be able to work with a lot less worries.  I took the larger boat and I felt far better equipped.  My baskets were already woven and I had a rune; that made my boat lighter so I could drag it further ashore and sleep in it while under a canvas water proof cover.

    Gathering and potion manufacturing went smoothly this time and I made very few mistakes.  I loaded up my boat with the finished products and left for the village.  Mack happened to be at the dock when I arrived and he went to fetch his cart when he saw me coming in.  He had ordered sixty fever potions.

    ¡°Hello Mister Phelps.  I¡¯ve got your potions for you plus a few others that are new.  They are samples that I made myself and I¡¯m hoping that you can sell them.  I¡¯ll be staying an extra day this time as well.¡±

    We hauled my trade goods to his shop and I showed him what I had.  ¡°Fifty of the fever potions my mistress helped with and I did another fifteen on my own.  These other flasks are some potions that do different things and I made you two of each.  One potion can make any material waterproof for at least eight months.  There¡¯s another that you can use to quickly and easily tan a hide.¡±  I held up a flask.  ¡°This third one; is a glue that will even bond metal and is supposed to last for years.  I have another two potions that can purify a well that has been poisoned.  Sometimes a well can be poisoned with shit or dead and diseased animals.  Other times it can be poisoned with salts and metals.  One potion handles the first type of poisoning and the other handles the second kind.  I also have a potion that is supposed to cure the kind of blindness that comes to people in their old age but I haven¡¯t been able to test it.  I know that it doesn¡¯t hurt my eyes.  You can have these samples at no cost and place an order with me either before I leave or the next time I come by if you decide you want any of them.  The waterproofing potion is fifteen coppers a flask.  The tanning solution is one silver coin per flask but it should be more than that since it¡¯s so hard to make.  The glue is a silver piece per flask.  The well purifying and blindness potions are twenty silvers per flask and they should be more too because of the level of difficulty in finding the right ingredients and in making the concoctions. But while it will take a whole flask to cleanse a poisoned well, one flask of the blindness cure should treat at least five people like my other medicines do.¡±

    ¡°James if these potions do as you say they will, then I¡¯ll definitely be placing some orders with you.  How quickly do the potions take to work?

    ¡°The waterproofing potion takes two hours and the glue takes five minutes.  The tanning potion allows you to completely tan a hide in slightly less than a day.  I¡¯m not sure that it will be a big seller or even if it¡¯s worth my time making it, if I¡¯m only selling it for a silver.  The well potions take one to two days to work depending on how badly poisoned the wells are.  The blindness cure should take no more than two hours.  I am working on a potion for bad hearing but I am having some trouble with it.¡±

    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t your mistress ever offered me these kinds of potions before?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know and I¡¯m afraid to ask.  She might take the lash to me again.¡±

    ¡°James because of these samples, I am going to forget what you owe me and pay for your room at the inn.  In addition I¡¯m going to pay fifteen silver coins for your fifteen fever potions so you can spend your money wherever you want to instead of just at my store.¡±

    ¡°Mister Phelps you pretty much have the only store in town.  I have nowhere else to spend my money.¡±  He just grinned at me.

    After stopping by the inn, I then visited Marcus Daniels the village blacksmith.  He had a crossbow and the two boar spears ready to sell to me.   The crossbow was old but he had completely repaired it and it came with forty bolts.  I bought the bow, spears and a good dagger for sixty-five silver pieces.  With the crossbow, I finally had something that could maybe kill a crocodile from a distance.

    I was staying an extra day to give Mack time to test my new potions.  Ester¡¯s village did have a school teacher and I paid her three silvers to teach me for the next two days, it was money well spent.

    Before I left, Mack placed an order for forty water proofing potions, four well purifying potions, four blindness potions and forty of Lauren¡¯s health potions.  I did warn him that the well and blindness potions would probably soon be going up in price from twenty silver coins per flask to at least forty or maybe even eighty silver pieces which was the equal of one gold coin.   The ingredients, for those potions, were rare and hard to find; plus it was a lot of exacting work making them.  I probably wasted three times the ingredients needed, in botched attempts, to make the two samples of each that I had given Mack.

    The water proofing potion was easy to make, so it was a real money maker.  I estimated, that it would only take me three days to make the forty water proving potions that Mack had ordered and that¡¯s with making the clay flasks for the potions too.  Upon delivery, he would pay me six hundred copper pieces, when most people make less than seventy-five copper coins per day.  Using my new math skills, I divided six hundred by the value of one silver coin, which was fifty coppers, and got an answer of twelve.  Twelve whole silver coins for three days of easy work!  Maybe the next time I went to town I would buy some flasks or small jugs instead of making my own, digging and firing clay was a real time waster.

    For that entire summer I kept working and studying.  I mastered a handy new rune that allowed me to propel my boat without poling it anymore.  Another rune when placed on a wooden shield formed a protective man tall and three man wide barrier when the rune was invoked.  My attempts at making a bow were still awful, even with my magical glue.  My home was becoming quite comfortable nowadays.  I think I¡¯m going to buy some new blankets when I go back to the village this fall.

    Out of boredom, I began to study spell casting when I felt like looking at a different book.  Two spells interested me, one was a little spell for lighting fires and the other was for drying things out, since I lived in a swamp that last spell greatly attracted me.

    That fall I returned to Ester¡¯s Village.  I used my new rune to speed my way along but just before coming into sight of the little village, I switched back to poling my pirogue.  The new propulsion magic was great!  Instead of arriving around dusk, I easily got there at noon and I wasn¡¯t exhausted either.

    Mack was happy to see me.  Most of my special potions he had already pre-sold.  ¡°James there is a family, who lives west of the village, named Adams.  I don¡¯t suppose you have ever heard of them?¡± He looked at me strangely.

    I shook my head.  ¡°No, I can¡¯t recall ever hearing that name.¡±

    He sighed.  ¡°I guess you wouldn¡¯t remember them.  The well purifying and blindness potions you made; have really helped them.  I tested them at their place for free.  About eight years ago someone poisoned both of the wells on their property.  There were some suspects but no one knows for sure who did it.  It was a truly evil thing to do, to some nice people.  Everyone in the family got awfully sick and nearly died.  With both wells poisoned and no place to dig another one, it nearly destroyed their farm and their family.  Recently, both the parents of Mrs. Adams, who were living with her and her husband, developed extremely poor vision and needed to be cared for.  So knowing their misfortune, I took your potion samples out there and they both worked exactly like you said they would.  The well purifying potion worked so splendidly that it¡¯s become famous and those potions I ordered are already sold.  Contaminated wells are rare but they do happen, sometimes through natural means and other times unnatural.  I just wish I had told you to make more of them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great Mister Phelps but while I¡¯ll sell the potions I just brought you at the agreed upon price, I am going to have to increase what I charge for them, just like I warned you.  But as you extended me credit, for those books, I will do the same for you.  That¡¯s just in case you have a customer who needs a potion right away but doesn¡¯t have the money to immediately pay for it.  The purifying potion will be two gold pieces and the blindness cure will be one gold coin per flask but with that potion there are ten or more doses in each bottle, so that¡¯s at least ten eyes that can be treated.  The ingredients, for those potions, are just too hard to find and the concoctions are very difficult to make successfully.

    I was wondering; if I can buy jugs or flasks from you?  It seems to me that I could better spend my time by making potions rather than digging up clay and making my own bottles.¡±

    Mister Phelps had a frown on his face.  ¡°You warned me that the price would be going up but I didn¡¯t think that it would happen this fast, however I am grateful that you¡¯ll sell them to me on credit.  Most people don¡¯t have that kind of money lying around.  As for selling you little jugs, I¡¯ll sell you clean used ones for a copper coin each or you can buy new ones for three coppers per jug.  They¡¯ll even come with corks too.  Jugs are really much better than your flasks; they don¡¯t break nearly as easily.  I¡¯ll give you some job advice, stick with magic and stay away from making pottery.  How long are you going to be in town this time?¡±

    I should have been offended by Mack¡¯s criticism of my homemade bottles, but they had been pretty awful.  ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving in three days.  That¡¯s great about the jugs, my mistress is running low on them too or at least I haven¡¯t been able to find anymore in her keep.   How many do you think you can get me?¡±

    ¡°How many do you want?¡±

    ¡°What I want is two hundred of them.  What my boat can carry along with my other purchases is only about a hundred.¡±

    ¡°I should be able to dig up that many in old and new jugs.  But why don¡¯t you start coming by here more often?  That is if your mistress will allow it?  If you come back in a month or two, then you can have potions for me to buy and I¡¯ll have more jugs for you.¡±

    I had never really thought about coming to the village more than twice a year since that was the way that the Witch had always done it and because the journey was dangerous.  But with wards on my boat and a propulsion rune that made it move faster, the trip became safer and easier.  ¡°I¡¯ll try and do that Mister Phelps so long as my mistress allows it.  But if I can¡¯t make it, you¡¯ll have to understand.¡±

    He started to answer me when a big man burst into the shop with a small golden hair child in his arms.  ¡°Where¡¯s the Swamp Boy?¡±  He screamed out.

    I was suddenly fearful that I was going to be getting a beating.  I hadn¡¯t been yelled at, hit or lashed since the Witch had disappeared.  I could feel my knees start to shake.  It was funny; spiders, snakes and crocs didn¡¯t scare me but a yelling adult did.

    ¡°Jacob what¡¯s wrong?  Is that little Gloria?¡±

    ¡°She got bit by a big white spider.  Her leg is already turning purple.  I heard the Swamp Boy is here.  He¡¯s got to do something.¡±

    I had my shoulder bag with some of my emergency potions in it.  I pulled out a little cup and filled it with a dose of a spider anti-venom concoction that would work for white spider bites.  I guess I should charge for it but I wasn¡¯t going to let someone die because they didn¡¯t have the coin.  The man was blubbering and yelling at me to do something.  Mack was telling him to calm down and that there was nothing that I could do when I suddenly held up the little cup, offering it to the girl in his arms.  Both men suddenly shut up.

    The man, Mack had called Jacob, knelt down with the little girl and I slowly fed her the potion.  ¡°I¡¯ll need to look at the bite too.  Can you put her on the table?  Mister Phelps, I¡¯ll need one of those health potions that I just delivered to you.  The poison has already damaged her body and she¡¯ll need the potion to fully recover.   The potion I gave her just stops the poison; it doesn¡¯t fix the damage the poison causes.¡±

    Mack¡¯s voice took on a harsh tone.  ¡°Boy, you¡¯ve got a cure for white spider bites and you¡¯ve never even offered it to me?¡±

    I cringed.  ¡°I figured that since you never bought them from my mistress that you just didn¡¯t need any anti-poison potions.¡±

    Jacob intervened, ¡°Mack we can talk about this later.  Right now he needs to treat my little girl.¡±  He placed Gloria on the table.  Her pants were already slit open so I could easily see her leg.  I made two tiny cuts by the site where she was bit, I very slowly poured another dose of the anti-venom potion on the cuts and using a trick, that I could barely call a minor spell, I forced the liquid into her blood.  Mack brought out a health potion jug and I had her drink a dose.  I waited about twenty minutes and then I forced another dose of the same health potion through the cuts I had made in her leg.  Upon examining her limb, I saw that everything seemed good and that it might even heal without a scar.

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Mack and Jacob had been talking the entire time, while Jacob had held Gloria¡¯s hand and I had worked.

    ¡°She¡¯ll need some food now but only something light, like thin soup.  Later on she¡¯ll be really hungry and as long as she doesn¡¯t get an upset stomach you can feed her whatever she wants.  Sometimes two potions administered at nearly the same time can make you throw up but that health potion is a good one and it really shouldn¡¯t cause that.¡±

    Mack¡¯s daughter, Diane Phelps had been watching.  She rushed off towards the family living quarters while saying, ¡°I¡¯ll warm up some soup for her right now.¡±

    Mack turned to me and growled.  ¡°James, I asked your mistress years ago for potions that could help us against the snakes, bugs and frogs.  She said that she had nothing to sell me.  Now, I see you pull a potion out of your bag and cure a little girl who should be dead.  Why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡±  He roared.  ¡°Why didn¡¯t the Witch?  So many people have died here because of bites and no cure.  You had to know!  You¡¯ve been bringing me glues, and waterproofing potions, damn it.  Why haven¡¯t you been bringing me medicines?¡±  He was screaming at the end.

    I was trembling with fear.  I answered him very quietly.  ¡°Mister Phelps I¡¯ve only been here a few times and during those times I never heard of anyone dying of a bite.  So I just assumed that since my mistress never made you any poison cures that you must have your own ways of taking care of people that get bit.  I just thought that you wouldn¡¯t want any of those potions so I never brought them up.  If I had known you needed them, then I would have made those potions for you.  I just didn¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°James your mistress is a horrible person.¡±

    I wordlessly nodded my head.  I took off my shirt and showed him my scarred torso and back.  While I hadn¡¯t been beaten or burned in a long time I still had plenty of old scars.  The eyes of both men grew wide.

    Gloria¡¯s mother came rushing in, she and Diane slowly fed soup and tiny bits of bread to the little girl.  When they were done, the Hansen family took her home.  After they left, Mack and his daughter made me sit down.  Mister Phelps began talking.  ¡°James we are out here on the border of the Gulf Kingdom.  We are at the ass end of nowhere.  Mages and healers just don¡¯t come out here because they can make a much more comfortable living someplace else.¡±

    I tried to imagine a more comfortable living than what I had right now.  I had plenty of food, a safe place to sleep and no beatings.  Nope, I just couldn¡¯t imagine a better place than my swamp.

    ¡°The Swamp Witch has been our only source of potions that could help us, that is without us paying more than we could possibly afford.  Up until recently, her potions haven¡¯t even been that good and I had been considering buying the more expensive stuff.  I checked around and found that by going through other sources that I could get fever and health potions but the heath potions were extremely expensive and beyond the reach of most of us.  Besides that, the Witch¡¯s work has improved greatly since you¡¯ve begun making the deliveries.  As for anti-venom and anti-poison potions, I was told that they were next to impossible to find anywhere in the Kingdom and if I could buy them that they would be too expensive for us to afford.¡±

    I was curious why he had said anti-venom and anti-poison potions.  Weren¡¯t poisons, venoms and toxins, all the same things, I was confused?  He had stopped talking.  Mack had moved his furious face a hand away from my own and he was looking at me very oddly, his eyes glittered.  I did not like his expression, and I looked away from him in fear.  ¡°You know James; the potions in your flasks are just as good as the potions in the Witch¡¯s jugs.  I can¡¯t even tell them apart.  If you happened to pour one of your potions into one of her jugs, I would never know the difference.¡±

    I kept looking away and I heard couple of muffled words from Diane to her father but I couldn¡¯t understand them.  Then she softly asked me a question.  ¡°James what other kinds of anti-poison potions can you make?

    I started ticking the potions off on my fingers but then I ran out of fingers.  Mister Phelps and Diane were very quiet and I wasn¡¯t looking at them.

    ¡°How much would you charge us for those potions, James?¡±

    ¡°The ingredients are plentiful and easy to find but it¡¯s a little dangerous making them because I need the actual venom as a component.  So it would be two silvers a flask with five doses per flask.¡±

    Mister Phelps cursed; I think he thought my price was too high. I had better explain.  ¡°Mister Phelps those potions are more than a simple anti-venom cure they will also grant you limited immunity to the poison for one to two years after drinking it, depending on the circumstances.  So really two silvers isn¡¯t too much money to ask and I¡¯ll sell them on credit too, if people really need them.  I don¡¯t want anyone to die because of a lack of money.¡±

    Mister Phelps started swearing even louder, Diane finally got him to quiet down then she asked me another question.  ¡°James, I assume that you¡¯ve taken the same potions, to protect yourself from poisonous bites.  If that is the case, why do you still carry a jug of it with you?¡±

    ¡°Well the potion will work against one or two bites at the same time but if you get bit more than that, then there¡¯s too much venom in your body and you can still die.  So if you get swarmed by spiders or step into a nest of water snakes you need some more potion in order to save your own life.¡±

    She grew very quiet.  ¡°James have you ever been swarmed by spiders?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just three weeks ago while I was getting ingredients for your order.  I put too much trust in my new wards and six of those big black jumping spiders somehow made it past them.  They all got a piece of me and it really hurt too.  I seem to get bit by a mess of things at least once a year.  This year because of my wards I thought it wouldn¡¯t happen for once.¡±

    They both grew very quiet again.  Diane asked, ¡°What is a ward?¡±

    ¡°Oh it¡¯s a magic symbol that I engrave on something or put on a piece of wood like a sign.  The sign acts like a magic fence in the direction that it is facing.  It seems to work for about forty steps to either side of the sign and eighty steps straight out.  The wards I make, only last for about four to six months before they need to be refreshed.  Then too, I¡¯ve got to make a different one for each creature.  I make ones for cats, snakes, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, ticks, crocs, and dragons.  But the one I make for dragons has never really been tested and it¡¯ll probably only work against swamp dragons and not the greater kinds.   While wards do work, they don¡¯t work all the time and creatures sometimes make their way through, under, over and around them.  If you try to push the nasties out too fast from an area they can break through your wards or if you leave the creatures no other place to go they can do the same thing.  You see wards aren¡¯t a physical barrier they just frighten things away.  Wards don¡¯t work very well if they¡¯re moving like on a boat but they¡¯re better than nothing.¡±

    I heard some really loud unintelligible angry muttering from Mister Phelps.  I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes.  I was scared and I expected him to hit me at any time.

    Diane was trying to calm her father down.  Finally he got up and left.  I figured I should do the same thing.  I guess I was done coming to this village.  Word must have spread quickly.  There were a lot of angry faces looking at me when I left the store.  With the first thrown rock, I started running.  I ran by the inn when a rock to my head knocked me down with a glancing blow.  I was lying on the dirt road and trying to get back to me feet when I saw two sets of well made boots enter my vision.

    ¡°Why are all you people, throwing rocks at this boy?¡±  A loud male voice demanded.

    A voice screamed back.  ¡°He and that witch let our people die when they had a cure all along for those poisonous spiders and snakes.¡±

    The first voice asked, ¡°Is that true boy?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that they needed them.  I have only been here a few times and my mistress never made them any anti-poison potions, so how was I supposed to know?  I never heard of anyone dying during the times I visited here.  As soon as I saw that a girl was bit, I gave her the potion from my bag.  It¡¯s not like I hid it or even asked for any money first or afterwards.¡±

    I was hauled into the inn and people started questioning me.  I learned that one of the people with the fancy boots and the one that had spoken to me was Lieutenant Smith with the Royal Army.  Mister Phelps hung in the background but Diane spoke up frequently explaining things.

    Finally she told them to shut up.  ¡°James got sold to that witch eight years ago by a desperate family when he was only three years old.   At that time the Witch told his family and us that she was going to foster the child and raise him benevolently as her apprentice.  We didn¡¯t see him again for six years and when she did start bringing him around she never left him out of her sight, so he had no chance to talk with us and learn about our daily lives.  James, please take off your shirt.¡±

    I looked at her and she glared at me, so I did it.   There were some gasps and the room quieted down.

    ¡°It¡¯s not his fault that he doesn¡¯t know what we need.  My father only saw a barely trained apprentice and my dad didn¡¯t think to ask James for what his mistress had told us couldn¡¯t be made or done.  James, will you please make anti-poison potions and wards for us, so long as we pay you fair value for them?¡±

    I nodded my head.  I was too scared to speak.

    ¡°You see, all we had to do was ask.  Instead you threw rocks at him.  What happens if he flees into the swamp and never returns or if his mistress gets angry at us for damaging her property?  Without her fever potions, it would be hard for any of us to keep living here.¡±

    Mister Phelps spoke up.  ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to worry about his mistress anymore.  Almost two years ago the boy started coming here by himself.  At the same time the potions got better, much better than they had ever been before.  Now thinking back and after some of the answers he gave me just today, I have to wonder.  What did you do boy, did you kill her after one too many beatings?¡±

    The entire crowd of people gasped.  I covered my head with my arms and spoke very quietly.  ¡°No sir, I didn¡¯t kill her.  Every day she used to at least slap me.  I would get lashings or burnings at least twice a week.  She would drink my blood and drain my magic, so I felt weak all of the time.¡±  The gasp this time was even louder.

    ¡°While I harvested her ingredients, prepared them and saw her perform magic she never taught me anything beyond that.  She didn¡¯t even teach me to read or do simple math.  One day she realized that she hadn¡¯t done anything to prepare for Mister Phelps¡¯ spring order.  She had been drinking a lot of whiskey and poppy tea along with my blood at the time.  She had been acting even crazier than normal and had stopped taking care of the wards on her island.  The Sorceress only had a few wards for crocs, dragons and spiders that were still barely working.  I warned her that I had been seeing too many crocs lately but that just got me another beating.   She then sent me off into the swamp to get ingredients for the potions we needed to make.  She told me not to come back until all the gathering sacks were full.  All the islands close to the keep had been picked over long ago.  So I had to go deep into the swamp.  I didn¡¯t even know how to do wards at the time, so it was really dangerous.  It took me four days to get what she wanted.  I actually enjoyed it because I ate better out in the swamp than in her keep.

    When I got back to her island, I found that crocs were all over it and she was gone.  Using what I remembered seeing her do and by looking at her potion book I made the fever potions that Mister Phelps wanted.  I figured the village would need them and the Witch would be angry with me if I failed to make the delivery and she came back.  But she never came back.  I¡¯ve been slowly teaching myself magic using her books and the books that Mister Phelps got for me.  When I came here the first time I told Mister Phelps that I had to be careful because the Witch always knew wherever I was and could kill me at any time.  That is true, I think it¡¯s because she drank so much of my blood and magic.  In the past with a single thought she could leave me wracked with pain and puking out my guts worse than any beating.  So I could never escape from her and honestly, killing her never occurred to me.¡±

    The villagers didn¡¯t know whether to believe the words of the small boy or not, but his exposed chest and back filled with scars convinced them that he might indeed be speaking the truth.

    They began talking about what they were going to do with me.  I spoke up loudly.  ¡°No, I am not leaving my island.  Since she left, there is no one to harm me there or even speak harshly to me.  Nor will I be someone¡¯s slave, making potions and wards for them without compensation.  I know that I am young but I stopped being a child the moment the Witch bought me.   I like my home now.  There is plenty for me to eat and safety for me.  My magic may be slight but it is more than enough for me to escape if I¡¯m given enough time.  And if you force me to stay here, then once I escape, I will never return.¡±

    The still angry crowd looked at the new bloody wounds on James¡¯s body, that they themselves had inflicted and slowly stopped talking.

    Some of them tried to convince me that I should stay in town with this or that family but I refused, then most of the crowd quietly shuffled out of the room.

    The innkeeper offered me a free room and meal for the night, which I took because I aching with pain.  Sadly, a healing potion was yet beyond my skill.

 Chapter 3: Better Too Many Wards, Than Too Few

    Chapter 3: Better Too Many Wards, Than Too Few

    At dinner I met with the two people in army uniforms.  ¡°James, I¡¯m Lieutenant Alexander Smith and this is Sergeant Donna Simms.  We represent Princess Ellen who has been given command of the Fifth Regiment.  Sadly she has received little in the way of magical support.  We heard about your well purifying potions.  The poisoning of wells is a common military tactic used in wars and having clean water can save an entire army.  We would like you to come with us, you would work directly for the Princess and make potions for her and the Fifth Regiment; you will of course be paid handsomely.¡±

    ¡°If you want potions from me it would be impossible for me to leave this swamp.  I get all of my ingredients from it.  From my books I know just how rare those ingredients are.  Besides that, I still might have a business relationship with Mister Phelps, though he might not want to buy anything from me anymore.  If I have to, I can choose to never leave my swamp again.  It has everything I need to live a long and pain free life.¡±

    ¡°No, I can assure you that if Mister Phelps decides not to purchase from you anymore then we will buy directly from you.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but you mentioned a war.  Is the Kingdom at war with somebody?¡±

    Both soldiers looked at me with amazement and then exchanged looks with one another while slowly shaking their heads.

    Sergeant Simms spoke, ¡°you truly don¡¯t know what is going on outside of that swamp of yours, do you?  Yes, the Gulf Kingdom has been at war with the Eastern Empire for almost fifteen years now, though it has been mostly naval engagements.  They first launched surprise attacks at sea which destroyed nearly all of our fighting ships and killed the majority of our trained crews.  The Empire stages frequent raids on our ports and shipbuilding facilities, so we can never manage to adequately rebuild.  The mountains and your swamp prevent us from marching our army in and attacking them that way.  While they have always had a superior navy their army has been historically poorly equipped and trained.  Since they instituted the blockade our country has suffered and we must end it soon.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you mean the land on the other side of the swamp?  I almost tried trading there but I couldn¡¯t find any villages near the swamp like this one here.¡±

    I got wide eyed looks from the both of them.  Lieutenant Smith growled out.  ¡°You mean to tell me that you made it to the other side of that killer swamp?¡±

    I huddled back in my chair.  ¡°Yeah it¡¯s just the same swamp.  The only problem is the big lake that¡¯s in the center, it¡¯s wide and deep.  My flat bottomed boat is not the best for crossing it especially when the waves pick up.  I¡¯m pretty sure that there are some big beasts living in it too, maybe even some water dragons.¡±

    They were looking at me strangely and I was afraid again.  ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me I can take you there.¡±

    ¡°We need to know for sure; when can you take us,¡± asked Lieutenant Smith.

    ¡°Tomorrow but we¡¯ll have to stop by my home first.  It will be a rough trip, taking several days.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be ready in the morning.¡±  They both got up and hurriedly left.  I wondered if I should just pack up now and head for home.  This morning everything was great and now my life sucked again.  How did that happen?

    The next day we walked down to the dock and climbed into my pirogue.  Good thing I hadn¡¯t made any purchases because with three people it would have been a tight fit.  I didn¡¯t bother with the pole at all and just used the rune to move the boat.

    They both looked startled to have the boat move by itself and at about the pace at which a man could run.

    Sergeant Simms spoke.  ¡°How are you doing this?  I thought you told us that you didn¡¯t know any real magic.¡±

    ¡°This is just being done with a simple rune of movement.  It takes someone with magic to inscribe it and make it work.  It¡¯s not real magic.  I only know a few minor spells.  I¡¯m trying to master everything in my potion, rune and ward books before starting on my spell books.¡±

    I had my crossbow out and I was keeping a lookout for crocs. We chatted during the two hour journey.  They asked questions about living in the swamp and I asked questions about where they lived and the army.  Technically I found out that I wasn¡¯t even a citizen of the Kingdom since the King didn¡¯t claim the swamp.  Who would want a swamp?  I would!

    We arrived at my island and I invoked the rune to make the boat lighter so I could drag it further ashore, this action also raised eyebrows.  When we approached my keep they both suddenly stopped in fear and then backed up a step.  I was a bad person.  I had wanted to see if my wards against human intruders actually worked, so I hadn¡¯t warned them.

    ¡°My wards keep away all humans but me.  Let me go ahead and take them down.  Then you¡¯ll be free to approach.¡±  I got a few grumbles in return.

    I let them inside my home and checked on my chickens which I had bought this last spring.  After collecting eggs, I started preparing a meal of turtle soup and biscuits.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to dose you both, with a lot potions, to keep you safe and healthy while crossing the swamp.  If you don¡¯t drink them, I¡¯ll take you back to the village tomorrow because I doubt if you¡¯d make it alive to the other side without them.¡±

    First, I gave them each a small cup of health potion.  After dinner they had dose of fever potion.  Before bed they got their first anti-poison potion.  The next day I gave them five more potions and each was preceded by a small meal.  Even with the health potion they were pretty miserable.  I explained that it was mainly caused by the fact that I was giving the doses to them all in one day.  We stayed the following day in my keep to let them recover.  To make up for getting them so sick, I gave them each a wooden shield that was inscribed with wards and a rune   I had made extras for myself.  The rune for shielding I used would work for even non-magic users though it would not be nearly as powerful and would need to be refreshed fairly often.  But the shield also had warding symbols for crocs, dragons, spiders, cats and snakes; and those wards should last for months.  They liked their new shields even though the wood working was pretty crude.

    We started out three days after arriving at my island.  They seemed to be doing much better that day thanks to a day of rest and the health potion.

    When we got to the lake they were amazed.  It was so wide that you couldn¡¯t see the opposite side.  It would be a three hour journey across it at full speed but I didn¡¯t want to go that fast.  I wanted to give the wards inscribed on my boat time to work so I moved at a walking pace.  I could see, with my witch sight, immense creatures beneath the water moving off as my boat approached.  On occasion some of the beasts would not move off and I went around them.  It was probably, some animal that I didn¡¯t have a ward for.

    We made it to the other side and the two soldiers went ashore to scout around.  I hid back in the swamp and watched for their return.  It took them almost four days to make it back.  I fished, ate well and gathered potion ingredients while waiting.  They were surprised and relieved to find me still there.

    ¡°We never thought you would wait so long for us but you were our only hope.  Thank you for staying.¡±  Whispered Lieutenant Smith, Sergeant Simms nodded agreement.  I pulled the boat away and we set off for home.

    Sergeant Simms began talking.  ¡°The Empire is even worse than we thought, with secret police and spies watching even their smallest towns.  There is no joy for the common man or woman there.  Even dressed as we were in workmen like clothes the quality of our attire drew attention and we had to flee and hide for days while they searched for us.  If you hadn¡¯t have stayed and waited for us, I don¡¯t know what we would have done.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders.  It was just another day in the swamp for me with plenty of good eating.  Actually, I had found the past four days relaxing after my problems in the village.

    On the journey back we came to the large lake again.  We set up camp on the edge so we could start across in the morning.  I put out wards and prepared dinner.  I think Donna was starting to like snake.  The next morning we set off and I kept a look out.   I really didn¡¯t like those large creatures beneath the water that my witch sight revealed to me.  I didn¡¯t know what they were but they were certainly big and they scared me.

    We had almost made it across the lake when a large beast chose to approach my boat.  My wards proved to be completely ineffective against it; in desperation I increased our speed and tried to make for the swamp groves.  We skipped over the beast and I heard the water erupt behind us.  My passengers screamed but I didn¡¯t turn around to look, I had to guide the pirogue.  They yelled at me to go faster and even to keep going after I had passed through the first line of trees.

    Finally I yelled back, ¡°Can I slow down now?¡±

    Donna answered me, ¡°I think so.¡±

    Relieved at hearing her reply, I cut our speed way back while watching for threats.  ¡°What was that creature?  I never turned around to look and see because I had to steer the boat.¡±

    Smith answered me, ¡°it was a kraken, a gigantic kraken!  I thought those things were a myth or at least nowhere near the Gulf Kingdom.  When you made it into the trees it reached after us with its long tentacles and nearly got us too.  There is no way that I¡¯m ever going across that lake again.¡±

    ¡°I guess on the off chance that I ever come this way once more, I had better put a kraken ward on this boat.  Now I know why one of my magic books has that kind of ward in it.¡±

    Donna began talking.  ¡°I know that Drake¡¯s swamp drains into the gulf but there are no longer any channels that are navigable by anything larger than a small boat.  I wonder if long ago a kraken got itself trapped here and could never make it back out?¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders; I certainly didn¡¯t know the answer to that question.  We had to camp out for one more night before making it to my home.  The two soldiers now seemed to be very nervous while camping outside.

    We stopped at the keep because I had some stuff to pick up and make before returning to the village again.  I made two wooden disks that I hung on my front and back.  When activated they should shield me from any more thrown objects.  I also made several potions and packed some that I already had made.  Thinking why not, I also loaded my spare warded wooden rounds into my boat along with four newly made signs that would deter spiders.

    We left at noon the following day and it took us two hours to make it to the village dock.  When I pulled the boat up Mack was there waiting there with another person.

    ¡°James, I would like to apologize to you, about how I reacted the last time you were here.  I would also like to continue buying the things that you make.  The woman with me is Mayor Michelle Star.¡±

    ¡°James, I¡¯m sorry that people let their tempers get the best of them without thinking and I would like to apologize on behalf of the whole town for what happened.  I see you returned with our two visitors from the army.   Are you going to be going off with them?¡±  She seemed quite worried and very nervous for some reason.

    Alex wanted me to keep quiet about our trip so I lied.  ¡°No, they wanted me to show them what else I could do, so I took them home with me.  I have some anti-venom potions that Mister Phelps might like along with some wards inscribed into some wooden rounds.¡±

    The two soldiers made hasty goodbyes because even though it was mid-afternoon they needed to immediately get on the road and report back to the Princess as soon as was possible.  They had a few potions and their shields to show her.  I followed Mack back to his shop and I showed him what wards and potions I had.  To my surprise he bought everything.  I sold the wards for three silvers each, they were easy to make once I learned how but they were boring too.  So I didn¡¯t know if I was charging too much or too little for them.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Mack ordered more of the signs, even knowing that they wouldn¡¯t last longer than six months and might only last for four.   To make up for that I agreed to charge only a silver to refresh each round.  I guess I would have to start traveling with my carving tools and ward making potions.

    The soldiers had warned me about something though.  It turned out that it was illegal for anyone but a guild certified mage to practice in this kingdom.  The Guild or the King¡¯s Constables might come and cause me some problems, if I kept doing business in Ester¡¯s Village.  I brought that up with Mack.

    ¡°Mister Phelps, Lieutenant Smith told me that it¡¯s illegal for anyone but a Guild certified magician to sell magical goods or services within the Gulf Kingdom.  I might have to stop selling to you here.¡±

    He looked stricken.  ¡°James, if we made you angry, we¡¯re sorry but we desperately need what you sell us and those damn Guild mages would never come to a backwater village like this place.¡±

    ¡°Well those soldiers gave me an idea too.  It turns out that Drake¡¯s Swamp isn¡¯t part of the Gulf Kingdom.  I¡¯m thinking about opening up a small store and workshop on one of the little islands nearby.  In the future I¡¯ll pick you up at the dock and sell to you on the island.  Then I¡¯ll bring you back with your purchases and we should be within the law then.  You¡¯ll be buying from me outside of the Kingdom and you would just be bringing your purchases back home with you.  It¡¯s not like I¡¯m selling anything to you inside the Kingdom.¡±

    So that¡¯s what we agreed to do.  I had to get back home and start making everything to fill his rather large order.  But first I had to place an order for some lumber to build my store and pick out an island in the swamp that nobody seemed to care about.  Finally I was able to return home.  I was gone for a month and I worked twelve hour days to fill even a small part of Mack¡¯s order.  I didn¡¯t have it all done but I guessed that I had been away long enough and he might want what I had managed to complete.

    I arrived late one morning at the little island I had previously selected that was nearby Ester¡¯s Village.  The island was small and I only needed four wards of each type to protect it.  So I set them up and unloaded my goods.  In reaction to my wards, the island came alive with creatures slowly fleeing it.  I kept my witch sight active, looking out for any spiders, I really hated them.  I was forced to track down and kill some spiders since not all of them could figure a way off the island, even though there were paths filled with more mud than water that they could have used to get someplace else.

    When I thought that I had the area secured I left to fetch Mack.  I lent him an amulet that I had just made which would let him pass through my ward against humans.  We conducted our business and I brought him back to the dock with his purchases.  Then I showed him something nifty I had just figured out.

    ¡°Mack, leave your goods in the boat.  I¡¯ve got something to show you.¡±  I attached a wooden pole to the front of the boat then I reduced its weight using the appropriate rune and activated the movement rune.  I guided the boat and controlled the runes through the pole.  The boat came out of the water and slid along the ground like it had wheels.   I watched the ground carefully since I didn¡¯t want to put a hole in my boat.

    We hauled his stuff to his store and then I flipped the boat over to take a look and see what damage I might have done to it, oops.  I guess that was a bad idea.  I took my boat back to the dock empty and Mack laughed at me, the bastard.  I wondered how much a new boat will cost.  Maybe, I should just have somebody fix this one?  Well it hasn¡¯t sprung a leak yet; I guess I¡¯ll use it for the next few days and make some arrangements.

    I went to check on my lumber.  The lumberman had it all ready and he had three people that would build my store for me.  I would pay them each three silvers per day until it was done.  It should take four to five days.  I would also provide transport to and from the island.  I asked the lumberman who made the best boats around and he sent me to his sister.  A new boat but bigger than the current boat I was using would cost me two gold coins plus materials and four wards that would repel spiders and snakes.  It would take her about a month to complete my new pirogue.  When it was done she would repair my old boat, which should last the month, I hope.  I gave her a partial payment of two gold coins and left.

    I shuttled my workers back and forth from the island and stayed in the inn.  During the days, while my crew was building my store I inscribed wards on scrap pieces of lumber that the men produced.  I was going to give each person two wards as a bonus.  They had all asked for either spider or snake wards.

    The weather was getting colder and when they were done I painted the outside of the building with a water proofing potion and the inside in a potion that would prevent mold and decay.  Maybe I should make a ward to repel termites?  I closed the door on my new shop, checked the wards and headed for home.  I had a lot of studying to do and spring would be my busy time of the year.  I didn¡¯t plan on returning until then.  My boat builder would hold my new boat for me.  I was kind of tired of being around people all of the time.

    I finally succeeded in making one dose of a healing potion but it was wasted when I tested it.  That was a hell of a lot of work and I used up a lot of rare ingredients with my failed attempts.  I learned some new runes and wards, including one for kraken but I didn¡¯t test it.  I also began studying spell castings for those times when people are throwing rocks at me or a kraken tries to eat me.  You never know those spells might just come in handy.

    The next three months passed quickly and I soon had to start gathering ingredients again and making wards.  I¡¯m glad that I had that building crew cut me up a bunch of wooden boards to make signs out of, that way I didn¡¯t have to waste my time sawing rounds.  My days were spent doing more valuable things.

    I came back to my store with my pirogue completely loaded.  It¡¯s a good thing that it didn¡¯t spring a leak.  I fetched Mack and sold him what I had made and then I took him back to the village.

    Michelle had my new boat ready, so I dropped off my old one for her to fix.  Mack had placed another order for potions and more wards.  I had to refresh some of the ones that I had sold last year.  I took them to my store to do that.  I had stocked my little shop with the supplies needed for that task.  It took me a day to refresh the wards and then I returned home to work on Mack¡¯s order and study.  I decided that I had to spend more time studying and less time doing other things.  Mack would just have to be satisfied with smaller loads of merchandise from me.

    He was disappointed when I returned and informed him of my decision.  ¡°Mack I¡¯m sorry but I have to spend time studying my books too.  There is so much that I don¡¯t know but could be put to good use if I did know it.  Like my new potion to cure deafness.  I have to study, make goods for you, cook, clean, and maintain my home.  There just isn¡¯t enough time in the day for me to do everything.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you hire someone to do your housework for you?  You should have more than enough money.¡±

    ¡°Mack I live way out in the swamp and I like it that way.  Even if I hired someone just for the spring, summer and fall; still no one would want to risk living out there with me.¡±

    ¡°James just offer to pay them really well.  I¡¯d suggest offering four silvers per day for a month.  At the end of a month you bring them back and hire someone else.   That way no one feels abandoned and cut off out there for too long.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good, if you can find someone who will do it, you can hire them for me.  Besides cooking my meals they¡¯ll have to clean my clothes and house; as well as take care of my garden and chickens.  Cooking my meals means they¡¯ll have to prepare any game I trap and that includes snake, I like snake.¡±

    To my surprise he quickly found an older lady named Margaret Adams to work for me.  Before we left I gave her a dose of a health potion and a fever potion so she wouldn¡¯t get sick on me.  Then for her first six days I gave her a dose a day to protect her from bites.  I showed her how I liked snake and turtle prepared.  She already knew how to make really tasty frog legs.  I had an empty room which I turned into a bedroom for her.  She would look at me strangely at times with very big eyes.  I think all of this magic stuff looked pretty impressive to her.  As a bonus I was offering my temporary servants sixteen wards at the end of their month¡¯s work and they could pick what kind they wanted too.  The ingredients for wards were cheap and that was far less than a day¡¯s labor for me, whereas having a servant saved me at least three hours a day.

    I was studying late one night and without asking for it, Margaret brought me a snack of corn bread and honey with lemon flavored water.  It was good.  ¡°Margaret you are a gem.  Any other person I hire will be hard pressed to match the work that you have done for me.  Your husband and children are extremely lucky people to have you in their lives.¡±

    I went back to looking at my book and I started munching on the corn bread.  She made a funny sound but when I turned around she was gone.

    I have never seen a person work so hard.  I had to force her to take breaks, I was afraid she was going to make herself sick.  The keep and my gardens had never looked so good.  I had to go off into the swamp looking for ingredients and she got really nervous whenever I left, I guess she was fearful of being stranded on my tiny swamp island.  I suppose I really couldn¡¯t blame her but she was being paid for that slight risk.

    Her fear affected me so much that I decided to do something about it.  When I took her back to the village I also brought back my small pirogue that I didn¡¯t use anymore.  I left it with Michelle to refurbish and if she couldn¡¯t, to build me one of a similar size.

    Margaret surprised me though when I brought her back to the village, she gave me a big hug and cried.  I guess she really needed the money.  I had already agreed to let her oldest child take a turn at being my servant in two months time.  She promised to have him trained up by then.  Diane Phelps was going to be Margaret¡¯s replacement for the new month.

    Diane proved to be a hard worker too but I had to make and fetch my own snacks.

    ¡°James do you ever remember your mother or your father?¡±  Diane asked me one time at dinner.

    ¡°No, I only remember living in a place where I wasn¡¯t beaten.  I remember the Witch giving me all kinds of potions during my early days with her, the potions made me sick and cry.  In my books there are a couple of potions that will take your memories away.  They are especially effective on young children.  She might have given me one or I might have simply forgotten.  According to you I was only three at the time.¡±  I shrugged my shoulders and went back to eating.  My parents had sold me; if they wanted to talk to me it was up to them.  I certainly wouldn¡¯t go looking for someone who obviously didn¡¯t want me.

    The following month my boat builder¡¯s son Simon took over and my new pirogue, was ready as well.  I spent a week engraving runes and ward symbols into it.  I planned for it to be an escape boat for anyone on my island.  A person with the right amulet could activate it and it would take them safely back to the village, hopefully with no guidance on their part.  But if it got stuck, the passenger would have to work it back out into open water.  The magic on the little boat would only work because it was a very small craft and I would need to renew that magic every week.  I set up a policy with all of my hired hands that if I was absent for five straight days that they were to use that boat and return to Ester¡¯s village.  Every time I brought someone back to the village, they would follow me in that little boat thus proving to them and me that it would indeed work.  Simon was the first passenger.  His cooking left a lot to be desired however he did have a way with snake.  He did a great job cleaning up some of my attempts at woodworking around the keep.  I gave him a bonus.

    Frank Adams was my next hire.  His mother had trained him well and he brought me snacks.  The only problem I had with him was that he practically forced me to take him with me when I went gathering in the swamps.  I would only let him come though if he stayed in my boat which was heavily warded.  It could take someone back to my keep if necessary.  But for that to work I had to keep its magic touched up twice a day.

    ¡°James, aren¡¯t you afraid of being alone out here in this swamp?¡±

    ¡°No, the Witch scared me far more than this place.  This swamp is my home; it feeds me and protects me.  I don¡¯t think anyone would dare risk traveling deep into it just to hurt me.¡±

    He tried to start some conversations with me but I was always too busy to talk other than at dinner.  He didn¡¯t like my scars at all.   I had kept them covered up around his mother.  He said that next year he would bring a deck of cards and teach me how to play.  I shrugged my shoulders.

    At the end of the month I returned him to the village.  Bethany Hansen the mother of little Gloria was supposed to take over but I had surprise waiting for me.

 Chapter 4: Drakes Landing

    Oops, I made a mistake in the final editing of Chapter Two.  I was tired at the time and for some dumb reason I arbitrarily decided to change the value of a silver coin from fifty coppers to twenty. This is wrong and I¡¯ve changed it back, so one silver is now worth fifty copper pieces.  Sorry for the error.  I hope you are enjoying the story.

    Now about my screwy writing style, I change between first person and third person points of view.  When writing about the main character, James, it is almost always in first person.  But when writing about someone else it is ALWAYS in third person.  So if you see an ¡°I¡± you know it¡¯s about James.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 4: Drake¡¯s Landing

    ¡°James, I¡¯m Colonel Ellen Rivers, commander of the Fifth Regiment.  I understand that you have a way to cross Drake¡¯s Swamp?¡±

    ¡°I can go across the swamp but I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s a safe journey.  I never saw that kraken the Lieutenant and Sergeant saw, but it still scared me and there are probably more of them in that lake plus other dangerous creatures.¡±

    ¡°But you can make wards that will work against them?¡±

    ¡°Wards are not effective all of the time and I¡¯ve never tested my kraken ward.  With a croc you can still get away but with a kraken, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°How much will it cost for you to take me over to the other side?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll do it for free.  Lately, I¡¯ve been talking a lot more to people in this village and they¡¯ve explained to me how this war and the blockade, during the past fifteen years; has really hurt them and the Gulf Kingdom.  So if I can help a little, I will.  I just want you to know that we might not be coming back.¡±

    We talked some more and she and her party agreed to stay in the inn in town while they took the potions, I required them to take.  Smith and Simms should be okay but I gave them another dose of the health potion, just to be sure.  I would be back in eight days to take the four of them across.  The fourth person in their group was Captain Nancy Carter.

    I took Bethany home with me and she proved to be a fantastic cook who was absolutely brilliant at making rhubarb pies.  She told me that little Gloria was doing fine and barely had a scar on her leg.  Eight days later I returned her to the village with her full pay and bonus.  It wasn¡¯t her fault that I would be gone for longer than a week.  If I got back in time she would return and finish working the remainder of the month.

    For some reason Colonel Rivers seemed fascinated by my home and liked to poke into everything.  She pestered me with questions about what I could do and what I couldn¡¯t do.   I had made an anti kraken weapon but I had no idea if it would work or work quickly enough.  It consisted of a short spear which I had Marcus the blacksmith make for me.  There were holes in the spear head that were loaded with jellies made from some of the most potent venoms and poisons that I knew about.  I had further concentrated those toxic substances.  The short spear had a rune on it that would propel it through the air for at least a thousand long steps in my tests.  I had to glue on large feathers, to act like fletching to get it to fly reasonably straight.  The spear was loaded into a wooden tube to protect people, namely me, from being poisoned by it.  I could launch the spear by aiming the tube and invoking the rune.  I had made four of them and I prayed that I wouldn¡¯t have to use them.

    My new bigger boat held all five of us comfortably but without magic it would have been difficult for me to propel by myself.  I found out that the Colonel was squeamish and refused to eat frog legs.  When I offered her snake she just gave me a look that promised a painful death.

    ¡°James, what is your last name?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  The Swamp Witch bought me.  I never knew her last name and I don¡¯t know the name of my birth family.  For that matter I don¡¯t even know if James is my real name.  I think the Witch just pulled it out of the air one day.¡±

    This seemed to upset her quite a bit.  ¡°You must have a last name.  I¡¯ll need something to use in my report to the King.¡±

    Sergeant Simms spoke up.  ¡°Colonel, most of the villagers call him Swamp Boy.  Since this is Drake¡¯s Swamp.  Why don¡¯t we just call him James Drake?¡±

    This suggestion seemed to please the Colonel and she adopted it immediately.  I guess I had a last name now, I could think of worse names and in fact I rather liked it.

    ¡°James, I noticed your home was made of large stone blocks.  Do you have any idea how they got there?¡±

    ¡°Well Colonel, originally I thought that the place was built before the swamp formed here.  Lately I¡¯ve come up with another idea.  I think someone turned regular swamp soil into those stones and I¡¯ve almost got it figured out how they did it or how I could do something similar.  It takes both a potion and a spell but I¡¯ve almost got it working.  I plan to build a wall around my home for better protection and maybe a stone boat house and a dock too.  To make the stones, first you need to build a form to hold the dirt, then you pour on a bucket or two of a diluted potion and finally you use the spell.  I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ve got the potion right and it¡¯s an easy one to make but the spell is tricky and my books hint at another version, of the one that I¡¯m attempting to use, which might be better.¡±

    ¡°For a boy who was raised by an old witch in a swamp you seem to speak very well.  Can you explain that to me?¡±

    ¡°I speak the way I heard the Witch talk.  From notes that I¡¯ve found in my home, she was brought to this swamp by a real Sorceress.  But Lauren was lazy and the Sorceress suddenly died somehow.  I think that the Witch originally came from a wealthy family and only chose to serve as the apprentice of a true Sorceress because it was Lauren¡¯s last chance of becoming one herself.  But I could be wrong.  My reading still isn¡¯t the best and I¡¯m guessing at a lot of things based on a few scratches on some old parchments.¡±

    We camped out just before the great lake and the next morning we set off across it.  We went slowly to give the wards plenty of time to work.  The new kraken ward did seem to repel some of the larger creatures that I sensed in the depths but not all of them.  Those that failed to move, I steered around.  I reported as much to my passengers.  Two days later we landed and they departed my boat, I retreated back into the swamp to watch the shore.

    Colonel Rivers and Lieutenant Smith returned the next day.  The other two showed up two days later, I had been teaching the Colonel how to fish in the meantime.   She absolutely refused to eat snake, turtle, frogs or crawfish.  Poor girl doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s missing.

    We returned to my keep, where the four of them started making fanciful plans to invade the Eastern Empire via the swamp.  I had fun burning down their ideas until finally they came up with something that might work if they were lucky.  Though far too much of their plan depended on my cooperation.

    I returned them to the village and they had me introduce them to Michelle, my favorite boat maker.  They made Michelle a very happy woman.  I think their nuts.  The Colonel placed a big order with me for potions, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to even try and fill it.  I would probably never be paid and it was a lot of work.

    For her invasion plan to be a success she needed at least four potion makers, two ward makers, ten magic using boat pilots and some magic users who know construction. From the way they talked all they had was me.

    I hired some people to help me prepare potion ingredients and keep my house clean.  That winter and early spring sucked as I worked my ass off.

    An army came marching into town, early the following spring.  I met again with the Colonel.

    ¡°Colonel I¡¯ve prepared five thousand doses of fever potion and the same number of health potions.  But I¡¯ve only had time to make a thousand doses of each of the six main venoms or poisons that might be encountered in this swamp.  You¡¯ll have to decide what you are going to do with the available potions.  You probably don¡¯t have it now but if you can ever pay me, that amount of potions will cost you eighty gold pieces.¡±

    She seemed to be shocked at that figure, just like I expected.  I held out little hope of ever being paid.

    Later the Colonel talked with Major Annette Williams about the cost for the concoctions.  ¡°I can¡¯t believe it Ann, he not only made sixteen thousand doses of potion during the last six months but he¡¯s only charging me eighty gold coins.  He has absolutely no idea, how much that many potions would cost us in Sweet Port!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right Colonel; I estimate that it would be at least four hundred gold coins that is, if we could even get such a large order filled.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but most of the time the problem with potions is getting the ingredients.  At least, that¡¯s according to the excuses I¡¯ve always heard at the magic shops and from potion makers.  Young Drake gets all of his ingredients from this swamp and he¡¯s been living in it for years, so he knows where to find exactly what he needs.¡±

    I next had to start engraving wards into all of the boats that Michelle had made and was still making.  I had a month to get them done.  Oh my poor aching hands and back. Michelle had recruited every carpenter and boat builder that she knew about and had accomplished a small miracle in producing over sixty large flat bottom boats that could hold from fourteen to eighteen people each.  But that was only half of the number of pirogues that the Colonel needed.  While I was engraving the boats, three hundred soldiers were being taught how to live in the swamp by the some of the local people.  Frank, Simon and Diane, who had all helped me out at my place, helped teach the soldiers.  Those three hundred soldiers had all been given the anti-venom potions and they would all soon be grateful for that protection.

    ¡°Colonel, I need more help.  There are too many wards that your soldiers require.  There are boats to be guided across that lake and the fort you want to have constructed.  I can¡¯t do this all by myself.¡±  I was being run ragged and so far, I had only received a token payment from the Colonel; though it had been more than enough to pay the people that I had hired, to help prepare the potion ingredients for me.

    ¡°James I¡¯m sorry.  All of the Kingdom¡¯s available mages are being used to defend our coast or helping my brother with his assault, which is taking place over the mountains north of here, or they are involved with private concerns that they absolutely cannot be taken away from.¡±

    Ellen was worried, James looked exhausted.  She well knew how hard she was working him but she felt she had no choice.  Her father was only giving her minimal backing with her plan, while giving her older brother all he could ask for and even more.  She was tired of living in the shadows of her less intelligent brothers.  So much so that she was willing to gamble with this plan here.  It offered a real chance at finally striking a telling blow against their enemy.  She had been authorized to recruit her own regiment and because of certain prejudices and interference by her brothers, sixty percent of her soldiers were women with little experience and most of the men had no experience at all.  She had tried to correct things with a brutal training regimen but her soldiers were still mostly untested.

    ¡°James, originally we were supposed to start moving our forces across the swamp, a month after our arrival here and we estimated that it would take a slightly longer than thirty days to transport my entire regiment using the system that we¡¯ve worked out.  I¡¯ve decided to postpone things for two more months.  Which gives you time to make more wards and my soldiers more time to train and get adapted to the swamp.  It also gives Michelle more time to make the boats which I so desperately need.  Okay?¡±

    I wearily nodded my head and left her room in the inn which she had turned into an office.

    Ellen was extremely angry; she had a real chance of pulling this off despite the lack of support that her father was giving her in terms of troops, finances and magic.  The fact that this area was such a backwater and everything was so inexpensive, such as food, was the only thing saving her plans from utter ruin.

    When we set off after the two month delay, each group of forty men had a full set of wards to use when camping at night.  I led off the first group of fifteen boats. It took us three days to get to the lake.  The soldiers had to pole their pirogues through the swamp; I used the rune to move mine.  Major Williams was riding with me.  The trail behind us was being marked with colorful banners.  Each boat held fourteen soldiers, with six propelling their pirogues and the others resting.  The Colonel wanted all of her forces transferred in thirty days.   I think she was dreaming.

    When we got to the lake, I put a long tow bar across the back of my boat.  The fifteen boats attached themselves to the tow bar in three lines of five, using wooden poles rigidly connected between their pirogues.  It was a strain on me but by using that connection, I could invoke and power the movement runes on their boats and propel them across the lake.  Using my witch sight, I guided the boats across the vast lake steering around all the large creatures that wouldn¡¯t move out of our way.  I was worn out when we finally made it across that large body of water and promptly fell asleep.  Maybe I should only be moving twelve boats, but then the Colonel would yell at me. I don¡¯t do well when people yell at me.  I should have told her no when all this stuff first started but I had stupidly agreed to do it.  At the time I had been foolishly impressed with dealing with an actual princess.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    It took another three days before we made it to some islands that were close to the area, where the Colonel wanted to build her fort.  The soldiers would hide on the islands until all of her forces were brought from Ester¡¯s Village and then the entire Fifth Regiment would all be landed in a single day.  Many of the soldiers had been trained to find food in the swamps, each trooper had a week¡¯s worth of emergency rations, and in addition every boat carried two hundred pounds of supplies.

    Primarily because of bad weather we missed the Colonel¡¯s deadline.  It took us an extra ten days but we didn¡¯t lose a single soldier during the crossing which I thought to be impossible.

    We landed and started building the fort that our commander wanted.  Marker stakes had long since been pounded into the ground, by an advance party, laying out the design for the new fortress.  It could be plainly seen that there used to be a town located here on our planned building site but it had withered away long ago.  Forms had already been pre-built to make the stones for the fort.  I had teams helping me to mix the needed concoctions.  It was a good thing they were so easy to make.  Each form was eight steps long, four wide and three high.  When it was filled with dirt, two buckets of potion would be poured on top.  I would wait a quarter candle mark and then cast the first spell.

    I had found that the best way to make these blocks was to use a potion and two spells.  The first spell turned it into something like stone and the second made it permanent.  Two hours after the first spell I would cast the second.  Five thousand soldiers with wheelbarrows can move a lot of dirt but I could only cast spells for twenty blocks and two batches of stone locking pegs per day, before I got too tired to work.  We needed another magic user!

    Thirty days later, the outline of the fort was done and the Colonel was tired of waiting.  She sent out four thousand soldiers.   Three thousand were to attack a port on the coast.  The other thousand were to attack nearby villages and towns getting needed supplies for the fort; mostly wagons, horses, mules and oxen.

    Ellen had cautiously led her soldiers to the coastal town of Boxer.  It wasn¡¯t a big port but it did have some of the Imperial Navy stationed there.  She was going to return the favor they had given the Gulf Kingdom and teach them about surprise attacks.  James had made some twin potions for her regiment, when the potion flasks were broken the concoctions would mix and burst into flames.  She hoped to burn some of the Imperial Ships that night.  Scouts had gotten close to the town but not so close that they were spotted by the Imperial Secret Police.  She knew that her forces had to have been seen by at least some of locals, because they were simply far too large a group not to have been seen.  But to her relief, the Fifth had only come up against the occasional civilian patrol and not anyone from the Imperial Military.  She just couldn¡¯t understand her luck but she would play this hand for as long as she could.

    Admiral Corn, Baron of Lock, was hearing again those idiotic tall tales about an army marching from the north.  It was pure nonsense!  He was a navy man and he knew damn good and well that his navy had been keeping the Gulf Kingdom fenced in for years.

    Ellen had divided her regiment of five thousand soldiers into battalions of a thousand each.  Those battalions were commanded by majors.  The battalions were then divided evenly into a ten companies, each with a hundred troopers.  The companies were made up by four platoons, each consisting of twenty-five soldiers.  It wasn¡¯t exactly the way the rest of the army did things but people instinctively understood those sort of numbers and it made logistics and planning sessions far easier.  So until she saw a reason to change, the Princess would continue using those unit sizes for the Fifth Regiment.

    Two battalions were ordered to the harbor with instructions to destroy anything of military value, especially ships.  The other battalion was sent into the town and told to raise some hell but they were instructed to be careful and were ordered not to separate into anything less than company in strength.  All of the soldiers were informed about the need to acquire supplies.  They were also told to avoid unnecessary loss of civilian life.

    The soldiers started walking for the town at a quick pace and they had been told to only charge when ordered to.  The Royal Officers were expecting to be spotted and then challenged but that never happened.  Poorly trained Imperial troops didn¡¯t believe their eyes when they saw the approaching Royal Army.  They delayed so long that they realized it would mean their deaths if they then confronted the rapidly approaching soldiers.  Some of the Imperial soldiers ran off, some were quietly disarmed and a few died because they behaved stupidly.

    The Royal forces didn¡¯t have to run until they were within a quarter mile of the harbor and by then it was far too late.  Admiral Corn awoke to see his harbor and all of his ships in it, a sea of flame.  The civilians in the town were all fleeing to the east in panic.  Wagons, carts, horses, mules and oxen were being seized by the Fifth Regiment.  There had been casualties but they were few, four dead and thirty-five wounded.  It had gone so well that Ellen had decided to march on another port, which lay further to the east, in the morning.  First and second battalions were ordered to get some rest immediately.  Third battalion was to provide security and continue scavenging for supplies.

    According to reports they had successfully destroyed seven large vessels of the Imperial Navy and six smaller ships.

    The next morning four hundred mounted soldiers, leading remounts, started off for the Harbor of Sven.  Their orders were to infiltrate the town in force that night and to burn as many ships as they could.  They were told that the rest of the First and Second Battalions would be following at their best speed but not to expect them until late the following day.

    Captain Carter was leading the mounted forces and she wanted a little payback for what the Empire had been doing to the Gulf Kingdom for the past fifteen years.  They arrived that night and scouts found the best way to approach.  While the town seemed to be at higher level of alert their fast pace had beaten the majority of the refugees fleeing from Boxer.

    When Ellen arrived the following afternoon she saw smoke rising from the city.  Captain Carter was holed up in a walled estate west of the town center.  She had been wounded.  Of the four hundred soldiers, forty-two were dead and almost two hundred had been wounded.  But they had faced superior numbers of the Imperial Marines who were widely feared in the Gulf Kingdom because of their numerous raids on the Kingdom¡¯s coastal towns.

    Carter¡¯s forces had successfully set fire to at least four major warships and eight lesser vessels, perhaps more.  Colonel Rivers sent in her forces to finish the job.  While the Imperial forces had more marines than Captain Carter had soldiers, they didn¡¯t have more combatants than Ellen had with her.  The Royal Army crushed the Marines and destroyed several more ships.

    While the Colonel would have liked to have attacked another port, she decided that it would be pushing her luck far too far.  The Princess ordered her troops to head north and make a half loop through the enemy lands, eventually making their way back her new fortress, which for some reason her soldiers were calling Drake¡¯s Landing.

    She didn¡¯t take common Imperial Soldiers as prisoners, the Regiment didn¡¯t have the resources to handle them but she didn¡¯t have them killed either.  If the enemy combatants were unwounded she had one leg and one arm broken.  Yes, it was a cruel but it was better than death and she needed to keep those Imperial Marines and Soldiers out of the line of battle for as long as was possible.  But officers, nobility and the wealthy were taken prisoner.

    It took three months for the fort at Drake¡¯s Landing, to be as ready as Ellen wanted it to be.  Small scouting patrols from the Imperial Forces had been seen but there had been no attacks.  The Princess had sent out four of her five battalions in numerous raids and attacks in the meantime.  She had sent off several letters to her father and older brother telling them of her success but as of yet she had heard nothing back in reply which was worrisome, since more than enough time had passed, especially in her brother¡¯s case who was far closer, to answer her.

    Once a month I went back to Ester¡¯s Village for supplies and news but so far no news and no pay chests either.  It¡¯s a good thing that the Regiment had been able to loot so many wealthy buildings.  The Colonel had enough coin to pay her soldiers and she had already given them a share of what was looted.  I had time to make some potions for Mack and while on my visits to the village I would refresh the wards there.  Michelle was still churning out pirogues; the Colonel wanted at least two hundred and fifty of the boats.

    It was almost spring and still Ellen had no word from her father; in desperation she sent off Major Williams, a hundred soldiers, their prisoners and a quarter of the looted valuables, back to Sweet Port.

    Two months later the King was confronted with the truth.  He had been convinced by his advisors to ignore the letters from his daughter who had always been perceived by others, as being a bit headstrong.  They thought she had been lying in an attempt to get further support for her insane plan to invade across Drake¡¯s Swamp, especially since she was relying on the magic from a self taught twelve year old boy.  The chest of gold and silver coins and the long line of prisoners made the King look like a fool.  Major Williams was livid with anger at some of the things that she had heard from some of those in attendance that day in the King¡¯s Throne Room.  She had to wonder who in the hell she had been fighting and bleeding for.

    King Richard Rivers called a conference in his private chambers after the revelations in his throne room. ¡°We know now that my daughter has not been lying to us, it is to my everlasting shame that I failed to believe her and did not at least send someone there to verify her words to me.  General Ames you will immediately dispatch all available forces to Ester¡¯s Village to reinforce her.  You will transfer at least half of Prince Edward¡¯s army to her.  Since we failed to adequately make use of her success I am promoting her to General and she will command all forces that come into the Eastern Empire through the bridgehead that she has established.  I know that it is tight but I want at least a regiment to arrive in Ester¡¯s Village in six weeks.  We must get her more soldiers as quickly as possible, according to Major Williams my daughter will be under heavy attack within a month.¡±

    General Ames spoke.  ¡°My King, it may already be too late to reinforce her.  We will have better luck in continuing with our plan to force our way over the mountains.¡±

    ¡°General, I remember long and well who suggested to me that I not support my daughter and that she was only a young and foolish woman!  When I requested you to send an inspection party to verify her letters, you dissuaded me! You had better pray that it is not too late to reinforce her.  If you can¡¯t do your job, I¡¯ll find someone who can.  Those forces you send her had better include at least a third of the mages assigned to the Royal Army too.¡±

    General Ames left the room white faced in anger but also worried.  He had been supporting the Royal Heir, Prince Edward, for years and now that might have come back to bite him on the ass.  The King had many years left in him, more than enough to make sure that Ames regretted his mistakes.

    During the winter months James had built a second wall around the fort on Drake¡¯s Landing, the new outer wall gave their animals a sheltered area to graze in.  Then too, he had carved runes into the shields of many of the Colonel¡¯s soldiers.  Those runes had proven to be lifesaving device when the Imperial Wizards had finally attacked.  The wizards had sent in a fog full of poison that would have killed any other army but the entire Fifth Regiment had by this time all been dosed with various anti-poison potions and they simply shrugged off the choking fog.  Then a plague of biting insects was sent in to drive them insane but James¡¯s wards quickly chased off the bugs.  His tall and stout walls of stone shrugged off the fireballs launched by the enemy magic users.  In response to the enemy attacks, Ellen launched massive stones and flaming balls of fire using large trebuchets that she had previously had constructed.

    Potions were keeping the Soldiers healthy and James was even making healing potions every couple of days now.  It wasn¡¯t a miracle cure because it didn¡¯t instantly put a soldier back on their feet but a person who should have been dead would instead be back in action within two weeks or less.

    I seem to have invented my own healing potion.  It isn¡¯t as good as a real healing potion but it¡¯s easier to make and it doesn¡¯t need as many rare ingredients.  It was the wastage that had frustrated me in making the other potion.  I had discovered my new potion by experimenting with a concoction that included some of the ingredients from a healing potion in one of my book and the components from two different health potions from two other books.  My witch sight had informed me that it should work and it shouldn¡¯t be fatal to the recipient but I had been worried.  Sergeant Simms had been my first test subject but she had known the dangers and with burns over most of her body, she had immediately accepted the risk.  She was now completely healthy but for some reason her hair had changed color.  I wish I had time to make more of those potions but I¡¯m kept so very busy.  I also need to make potions for any reinforcements that might arrive; they will need them in order to survive crossing Drake¡¯s Swamp.

    The outlook was bleak and Ellen was considering a retreat into the swamp.  Now facing her fortress were fifteen thousand Imperial Marines backed up by an estimated fifty thousand conscripts from the Imperial Army.  The enemy also had a great deal of magical support.  The other day in desperation, she had used the kraken tubes on them.  These weapons had been made by her soldiers and James had engraved them with his runes.  The difficulty with them was that they worked best when fired on the level and not when pointing down from the walls of her fortress.  Captain Carter had led out four hundred soldiers with two hundred tubes.  The spears launched from the tubes were brutal weapons that could pass through two, three and even four of the enemy at five hundred steps.  But they did have their limitations.  You had to use the weapon within eight days or the magic had to be recast.  But it had put fear into even the much vaunted Imperial Marines.

    ¡°James we are down to less than three thousand soldiers, many of those are wounded and would be dead if not for you.  I don¡¯t know if we can hold out but I will send you back to the village once more with a full load of our most severely injured.  If necessary we will retreat back in to the swamp and wait for your return.¡±

    I left the room feeling saddened, the Colonel seemed almost broken, she had lost too many of her soldiers in this fight.

    I used my magic to propel eight pirogues through the swamp.  I couldn¡¯t handle any more boats in this tricky place.  When I came to the lake I doubled the boats up and shortened the chain for the voyage home.  Lieutenant Smith was keeping me company; he was missing an arm and two legs now.  I promised to research and develop a regeneration potion for him.

 Chapter 5; Reinforcements

    Chapter 5: Reinforcements

    I arrived at the dock to see a vast array of soldiers there.  If they had even come two weeks earlier, it might have been in time.  I said as such to the General there and he blanched.  There were over fifty magic users as part of the reinforcements, however something about them didn¡¯t fill me with much confidence in their abilities but having those mages was far better than holding an empty coin purse.

    ¡°Boy, I¡¯m ordering you to start taking my troops across this cursed swamp, right this very instant.¡±

    ¡°You are a fool aren¡¯t you?  You have no idea of what it entails to cross this swamp!  Your soldiers must be prepared to survive the journey, which takes time and potions.  Then I am only one man and I can guide only so many boats.  The trip normally takes at least seven days and that¡¯s just one way.  On top of that, we only have the nine boats, that you see here, which are prepared with the necessary wards to protect them and their passengers from the beasts that lie within this swamp.  If I take unprepared soldiers, I will arrive with a cargo of dead bodies!¡±

    The General took a couple of steps back from me.  I leveled a very small kraken tube at him.  It did not even look like a weapon but more like a scroll tube.  If he ordered my arrest, I would jump aboard my boat and flee into the swamp.

    Lieutenant Smith spoke up.  ¡°General Ames, he speaks nothing but the truth.  No one alive knows more about this swamp than this boy here.  His name is James Drake; Princess Ellen named him after the swamp.  She deemed it only fitting since he had no known last name and this place is so much a part of him.  If you want to get any troops across that great mire ask him how to do it.  You know all about fighting, well he knows about crossing this swamp and living to tell the tale.¡±

    General Ames was worried because he had delayed in following the King¡¯s orders and he should have had at least a regiment here over three weeks ago.  If Princess Ellen dies and loses her fortress, he will surely face the hangman¡¯s noose for his treason.  He changed his voice to a much more conciliatory tone.

    ¡°James my lad, can you please tell me how best to get aid to General Ellen?¡±

    This General Ames fellow referring to Colonel Rivers as a General, kind of threw me.  But I started listening to what he was saying as he told me what troops he had.  Primarily he had spell casters which were good in a fight but they knew nothing about potions and only a few wards and runes.  I had over two thousand doses of health and fever potions stocked in my little store offshore.  Michelle had eighty boats here, that we had never used but they needed wards and runes.

    I fetched the potions from the island and the General selected the first thousand soldiers that would be taking them.  The plan was that we would ward as many craft as we could in three days, fill them with soldiers and I would lead them across, they were to be piloted by his magic users.  Then I would return to make more potions for further reinforcements.  If we got enough mages and soldiers to Ellen she just might be able to hold out.  I crossed my fingers.

    In three days we had forty three boats ready, which completely sucked swamp dragon ass, considering that I had done twelve of them and we had already started with the nine that I had brought in.  The General¡¯s fifty-two mages couldn¡¯t even ward one boat a piece.  I hope they can fight better with their spell casting ability because they are all going over there on the very first trip.

    We started off and since I knew how desperate the situation was I rushed through the swamp.  The people following me never knew the danger that I placed them in.  I would tell them when we made it to the other side, maybe.

    We camped when we arrived at the lake and the men huddled in their boats, terrified at the size of the spiders, the snakes and the crocodiles that they saw.  The screams of the swamp cats particularly alarmed them.

    I cautioned the mages, piloting the boats, to follow me slowly on the great lake and avoid any large unmoving creatures they saw in its depths with their witch sight.  I found out then that many of them had extremely poor witch sight, so I paired them up with people that seemed to have at least adequate magical vision.  Many of them, no all of them were upset at taking orders from an untrained boy.  I kept my small kraken tube handy and I was wearing my large wooden shield amulets on my front and back at all times.

    General Ames was more than worried, while he had brought a good number of the Kingdom¡¯s mages with him; they were the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of power and skill.  He felt the noose tightening around his own neck.  He had in no way believed that the Princess had secured a landing in the Empire and if she had, he had expected it to be lost months ago.  He felt like he was neck deep in the very swamp that lay before him, with crocodiles readying to take a bite.  He only hoped that the King would generously permit his son to inherit the family Barony when he, General Ames, resigned because of his actions and disgrace.

    During the journey I picked out the people that I thought would make the best boat pilots.  Sadly they were probably the most powerful mages and the Colonel would surely need them.

    We arrived at the docks for Drake¡¯s Landing, and it looked like they were evacuating.  I rushed the new men into the center of the fort to meet with the Colonel.  She cursed when she saw me arrive.

    ¡°A week late and ten gold coins short aren¡¯t you James?¡±  I shrugged my shoulders.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry General.¡±

    ¡°So after screwing with me, now they want to bribe me so I can go down in a blaze of glory, those miserable bastards.  I guess though that I¡¯ll give it a try, too many have already died to throw this all away.  How many magic users have you got?¡±

    ¡°Fifty-two of them General, but they are mostly spell casters.  I would like to keep twelve of them to use as boat pilots.  They are gifted enough to tow at least four boats each.  I will need to partner six of them with the other six who have better witch sight.¡±

    ¡°Okay, grab your pilots and I¡¯ll start deploying the rest.  Hopefully our new magic users will put some fear into our enemies¡¯ hearts.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the pilots back to Ester¡¯s Village.  We¡¯ll take as many of your wounded, with us as we can and extra boats.  There should be enough potions stockpiled here in the fort for almost another thousand soldiers.  Taking some risks we¡¯ll speed through the swamp, except while crossing the lake.  With a little luck we can be back here with over six hundred soldiers in nine days.  After that there are only enough potions for another eight hundred soldiers.  None of the new mages are potion makers or much good with runes or wards.  There are almost twenty thousand soldiers waiting in Ester.  I¡¯ll need to stay there and make potions for them.  As they get dosed your new boat pilots can bring them to you.  Is that enough to give you a fighting chance?¡±

    The Colonel swore for a few minutes but then ordered Major Timmons to see to the deployment of the new men.  Major Williams was still in Ester helping to prepare the reinforcements for swamp travel.  She would probably return on the third trip with the company that had accompanied her.  ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s enough.  Two weeks ago it would have been.  It depends on how good the mages are, I guess.  You brought me six hundred soldiers and in nine days I¡¯ll have another thousand, then in another nine days, I¡¯ll get six hundred more or so, including the soldiers that Major Williams has with her.  It¡¯ll be close, that¡¯s for sure and it doesn¡¯t help that you won¡¯t be here.  How many potions can you make a day for the new soldiers?¡±

    ¡°My target is to send you two filled boats a day.  But it will take me time to ramp up to that.  I don¡¯t have any potion ingredients, so I¡¯ll need to gather them but I do have people trained in preparing the ingredients for me to mix.¡±

    ¡°I know that¡¯s your best but it¡¯s just a trickle of soldiers when I need a flood.  Maybe our mages will be good enough to let us hold out, I don¡¯t know but we¡¯ll give it a try.  I don¡¯t expect you¡¯ll be leaving until the morning.  If you can prepare some more kraken tubes for us, that will be a help.  Those things scare their marines; they¡¯ll even duck down when we bring out an empty one.¡±

    ¡°The rune on the spears is a bit tricky to make, since a non-magic user is activating it, but I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°Thank you James.¡±

    The mages piloting the boats made it back four days before I did.  There hadn¡¯t been enough wounded to fill all of their boats so I had taken mine off in search of ingredients for my potions.  Luckily the enemy side of the swamp had vast areas off precious potion components that had never been harvested.

    The battles during that summer were terrible at Drake¡¯s Landing.  I moved back there fairly soon since I despised General Ames to such a great extent.  I would make potions in the fort and then send them back with the boat pilots.  General Rivers liked that better since she could assign me other tasks if needed, like kraken tubes, wards or healing potions.

    General Ames finally got some potion makers in Ester¡¯s village; so I started sending back ingredients instead of finished potions.  His eleven potion concocters could make enough potions for over a hundred soldiers a day but they sucked at gathering their own ingredients, so I did it for them.  We also got stronger mages for our fort and slowly things started to turn against the enemy and improve for us.  General Rivers was severely wounded but I had been hoarding a real healing potion for months just in case, not one of my cheap copies.  The quick use of it saved her life but Major Williams was in command for over a week.  It had been easy to administer the healing concoction to the General.  I had just poured the potion into the big hole in her stomach.

    The next year was far better and General Ellen was able to break out of our fortress and attack those besieging us.  Though the enemy had mainly stopped attacking us and they were only trying to contain us at that point.  I along with two other mages made kraken tubes for a week straight.  General Rivers marched her troops out after an attack by our mages, her army closed on the enemy and when in range they brought out the six hundred tubes that they had been hiding.  The enemy broke and ran.

    Stolen story; please report.

    According to the Princess there was no way that any Imperial Wizard, would ever make a weapon like a kraken tube that could be used by a common foot soldier.  That is if they could figure out how to make the rune we were using in the first place.   She envisioned having tubes big enough that they could be used by ships to sink other vessels and even to attack ports.  She dreamed of crushing the Imperial Navy which had killed so many of our countrymen.  It should be possible to make her giant size kraken tubes but the range would be shorter and they would need a mage on the ship to keep the runes fresh.  But that was easier than making the rune anew.  Her eyes lit up when I told her my thoughts on the subject.

    By the fall of that year, most of the ports along the southern coast of the Empire were either destroyed or under the Kingdom¡¯s control and they were suing for peace.  It took another year to get the terms the King wanted.  Princess Ellen was made the Governor General of the captured territory.  The area was the size of several duchies and included four ports of varying strategic importance.  The Empire owed the Kingdom reparations for the war which they had started and for the blockade that they had enforced.  The size of the Imperial Military was now limited per the treaty.  The civilians in the new Kingdom lands seemed to like the change in rulers.  I know that for a fact, because I went out and I had talked to many of the local people.  I wanted to be sure that the Eastern Empire was run by bad people and that I had taken part in a good thing.

    I was called in to see Princess Ellen.  I took a knee, I was learning court etiquette.  She laughed at me, the bitch.  I didn¡¯t notice the clown sitting off to the side.

    ¡°James what do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°Go home to my swamp and never leave.¡±  I liked being by myself and frankly I had enough of people and of wars.

    The clown made a big harrumph noise.

    ¡°James, we have a slight problem.  Back before the war, Drake¡¯s Swamp was not part of the Kingdom nor obviously was this land here.  But now it is and the throne made a deal with the Mage Guild long ago, that all magic users that sold magical goods or services inside the Kingdom must be certified by the Guild, which means attending one of their small schools or the Royal University and taking their tests.¡±

    ¡°Well I could argue and I will argue that since I was a resident of Drake¡¯s Swamp before it became part of the Kingdom and as the only resident, I recognize myself as lawfully practicing mage in that Swamp.  How come your father didn¡¯t consult with me before claiming my swamp?  I can tell you that claiming and actually enforcing that claim are two different things.¡±

    The clown started to sound like a drowning duck.

    ¡°James, please don¡¯t talk that way, some people might take you seriously.¡±  Her eyes flashed.  She knew good and well that I was serious.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go home and I won¡¯t sell anymore magic to anybody ever again, not even potion ingredients.¡±

    The duck started drowning again.

    ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve made all that gold over the last few years, risking my life and working myself to the point of collapse.  In fact I¡¯ve been meaning to ask about that.  I¡¯m still owed a lot of gold, like four thousand coins.  Just when am I going to be paid?¡±

    The Princess winced and the duck died.

    ¡°James, there are problems with that.  I know we have taken in a lot of money but there are many people that the Kingdom owes and have owed for a very long time because of the blockade.  The Empire is slowly paying us reparations to make up for their actions.  Finally the King has a problem paying someone who is not a guild magician, especially not so much money.¡±

    ¡°Pardon me?¡±  I now knew that what I had done for the Kingdom was easily worth three or even four times what I had charged them.  I had worked myself like a slave for the entire time and I was still working for them; making fortifications, potions, runes and wards.

    The Princess looked away and then seemingly forced herself to meet my eyes.  ¡°James, I well know that we owe you for far more than what you¡¯ve charged us and I know that you aren¡¯t stupid.  You see people walking off with fat coin purses and yet we¡¯ve barely paid you for your years of service.  For that I am sorry.  But as Princess and as Governor General, I must obey my father the King.  If you will attend the Royal University in Sweet Port for two years and take the tests you will be admitted to the Guild and be fully compensated for everything that you have done for the Kingdom.  On top of that you will be ennobled but I am not sure what rank you will receive.  The lands that will be granted to you will be either a portion or the entirety of Drake¡¯s Swamp.  The size of that area demands that you be made at least a Duke but you are the only real resident at this time, so that calls for you to be only a Landed Knight.  But then we get back to the sheer size of the place.  So you could be ennobled as either a Baron or a Count.¡±

    ¡°Princess, the game already sounds crooked especially after everything that I have done and suffered through.  Remember the time that my legs were nearly burned off or the occasion when I had an arrow through my pelvis?  It¡¯s quite possible that I¡¯ll fail my classes or be made to fail them and the same with the tests.  Now that I am no longer so desperately needed here; already nobles, officers and mages are looking at me with scorn and treating me shabbily.  How should I react to your instructions?¡±

    Her face was white, possibly with rage, I just didn¡¯t know for sure.  ¡°James I know you¡¯ve worked hard, I know you suffered, I know you saved my life on many occasions, and I know if not for you we would not have won this war at this time.  I swear on my personal honor that you going to the Royal University; is almost a mere formality.  You will be expected to do your best there but you will never be flunked in any of your classes.  As for your magical tests, those are all practical examinations and the Guild wouldn¡¯t dare fail you because your skills and power are too well known now.  I will personally guarantee that you will be treated fairly and respectfully by the staff at the University, as your valiant actions and ceaseless work have earned you to be.¡±

    I knew that I had put her on the spot but I had done so much for her, like knocking her out of the way and taking a spelled arrow through the bladder.

    I looked over at duck man.  He seemed to shrink back into his seat.

    ¡°This is Lord Thomas; he is a member of the guild and an advisor to the King.¡±

    ¡°Mister Drake, I can assure you that you will be treated as fairly at the University as your upbringing demands.¡±  I guess he thought he was being smart and that I wouldn¡¯t understand him.

    ¡°Just how fairly would that be for a former child slave of the Witch of Drake¡¯s Swamp, Lord Thomas?¡±  The Princess had beaten me to that question.  She looked absolutely furious.

    I was ready to leave and start walking back to my swamp.

    Duck man stammered.

    ¡°Lord Thomas, this man here invented the kraken guns.  He gave us safe passage through the swamp which let us attack the empire.  He made countless potions, wards and runes for us, to keep us safe and healthy.  Finally he invented an entirely new kind of healing potion which is easier to make and cheaper too.  He is not an ignorant person.  Yet you think to play word games with him, when you know damn well what his childhood was like?  You play those games after I just gave him my personal guarantee that he would be treated fairly?   A guarantee that my father gave to me, because I recognized the unfairness of all this and challenged him on it.  You will speak carefully now and try to undo what you have done or you will surely regret it.¡±

    ¡°I apologize, Your Highness.  I indeed played word games.  Mister Drake will not have an easy time of it at the University.  Someone with his sort of upbringing has never attended there.¡±

    ¡°I know you made promises to my father in insisting that James becomes a Guild Mage.  You also made promises to me.  Are your promises no good?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry but I do not have the power to guarantee my promises.  There are others that control things at the University.¡±

    ¡°Yet you gave promises and guarantees.  I will contact my father and have him reverse himself.  He will be greatly angered with you and the Guild for causing him this embarrassment.¡±

    Three weeks later, I had to ask myself how I found myself on a ship bound for Sweet Port and the Royal University there.  Lord Thomas had sent off furious letters and so had the Princess.  Talks were held between them and others.  Dean Reynolds had sent letters, as well as his senior staff stating that I would be treated the same as any other student at the University.  He and they gave their words of honor.  The King and Princess accepted them.

    I was sharing a cabin with a young ensign.  He was bragging about the new kraken guns on the ship which the Mage Guild had invented.   According to him the inventor was Mage Bartholomew Thomas.  Oh yeah, I could really trust that guy.

 Chapter 6: Alex and Donna to the Rescue.

    I will be releasing two chapters today, six and seven, because of the sheer length of what I want to make available at one time, over 12,000 words.  I normally only submit single chapters from between four and six thousand words but that would fail to resolve some story/plot issues that are bothering some of my readers which I had promised them would be resolved with this release.

    I have probably not done the best job of editing, if you find any mistakes that annoy you, please leave a comment and I¡¯ll try to fix them.

    Thanks for reading.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 6: Alex and Donna to the Rescue.

    I arrived at the University during the early afternoon.  While waiting there, I was ignored by the University Registrar and his assistants, who obviously favored the better dressed new students that had servants accompanying them.  When I finally reached the Registrar¡¯s desk I was loudly informed that I was a charity case and that my tuition was being paid for by the Crown.  This was said quite snidely.  I was then told because of my being a ¡°charity case¡± and since the other ¡°on-time¡± students had already checked in, I would have to make due, with being assigned to a vacant room in the old servant¡¯s wing of the University Complex.  I was informed that the old wing was now being used for storage and that the University¡¯s general labor and service staff as well as the personal servants for the wealthy students, were now being housed in newer and much improved quarters.  The man remarked, ¡°Almost as good as what the real students have.¡±

    I was led to the old wing which, I found extremely dusty and damp.   My guide quickly ran off before I had even opened the door to my room.  It was quite large but it was packed full to the ceiling with old furniture and wooden crates.  I checked the other rooms that shared the same hallway and I found that several of them would have been a better option but I had been assigned to this room.   What to do?  I walked back to the Registrar¡¯s office and I found it closed.  I approached the cleaning staff and they ignored me.  I went back to the old wing and I selected the best room that was available there.  I did a superficial cleaning, set some wards, and ate my dinner, which I had wisely bought on my carriage ride from the ship that I had sailed aboard.

    Being the slave of a witch and living in a swamp and later on a battle zone had long since taught me how to wake up when I needed to.  I had gone to bed early the previous night and so I easily awoke well before dawn.  I found a functional washroom in another wing of the same building and I got cleaned up.  I returned to my room for my morning meal which consisted of hard biscuit and dried meat.  I could smell something wonderful cooking, somewhere about but I decided to ignore that for now.  After eating, I went back to the Registrar¡¯s office and waited until they opened up.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in your uniform and in your class you ignorant lout?¡±  Are the words that greeted me.

    ¡°Because you didn¡¯t tell me when we previously talked, what classes I¡¯ve been assigned to nor did you inform me about the requirement for a uniform.  I¡¯m here now to get that information, which you should have supplied me with yesterday and to ask why, I¡¯ve been assigned a storage room, filled to the ceiling with old desks and broken beds, as my bedroom.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you snap back at me; young man!  I¡¯ll take my cane to you.¡±

    ¡°The last person who tried to do that I killed; actually it was man with a spear but that¡¯s close enough.¡±  I gave the old fart a leveled glare; he took a step back and called for the school proctors.

    He told his version of events and I told mine.  The Assistant Proctors were going to lash me, saying that they didn¡¯t believe swamp trash like me.  I told them that I would leave the University first but if they tried to harm me in any way, that I would see them dead before I left.  I took off my shirt and showed them my scars.

    ¡°You see, I have had more than enough of people whipping me, burning me and beating me.¡±  They gulped and stepped back.

    It was at that point that the Head Proctor showed up.  ¡°What¡¯s going on here?  Why isn¡¯t this student in class?  Why isn¡¯t he in uniform?  Why does he have his shirt off?¡±

    The lies started once again, this time with the Junior Proctors adding a few.  They even said that I had drawn my dagger on them.  I didn¡¯t have a dagger, just a small cluster of insignificant harmless looking tubes, no bigger than my little finger, and the nonexistent darts inside the tubes were definitely not coated with an exceptionally strong, paralyzing, spider venom.

    ¡°Listen to me boy.  I don¡¯t know how you got into this school but we don¡¯t like your sort around here, not one little bit.  Now, hand over your dagger.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here either but Princess Ellen and the King both insisted.  As for my dagger, I don¡¯t have one.  Your men really should practice their lies more carefully so that they at least meet some of the observable facts.¡±

    The Head Proctor didn¡¯t like being made a fool of and he quickly turned on his men and the old man in the Registrar¡¯s office.  It turns out that I was stuck with my assigned room for some UNBELIEVABLE bureaucratic reason.  But I was told that I could empty it, of what was stored there and put it into one of the other rooms in that same wing.  I could also take anything that was stored in the old servants¡¯ wing and use it for my own needs, which didn¡¯t sound too bad.  As for emptying out the room it was expected that my own servants would take care of that task.  The University¡¯s servants were only for the common areas.

    Uniforms were custom ordered and I would have to arrange for my own.  I would also have to purchase my own books.  Finally, I was given my class schedule and I was walked to my class by the Head Proctor, Micah Powers.  I heard enough to learn, from loudly spoken whispers in the hallways, that the rumor going about was that I could not be given a failing grade or expelled from the University but I could be forced to quit, simply wonderful.

    Upon my arrival at the classroom, the first thing that I heard from Professor Greta Marks was, ¡°So Mister Drake you could not even bother to pretend to study for my class or buy a book?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I enjoy studying and I¡¯ve had little time to do it over the past few years.  I only arrived in Sweet Port yesterday and I was not informed about the need to buy books or the need to for a uniform.  None of the people that wanted me to attend this University informed me about either of those two things.  I will take care of those matters as soon as is possible.  Tonight though, I will need to empty out and clean my room, the Registrar¡¯s office has assigned me a storage closet in the old wing as my sleeping quarters.  I need to prepare it for both sleeping and studying.¡±

    Take your seat Mister Drake.  I see you at least have a notebook, so please be good enough to pretend to take some notes, though you¡¯ve already missed well over half my class.¡±

    The Professor resumed her lecture.  ¡°We were talking about the discovery of Lord Thomas¡¯s new healing potion which he learned to make while exploring the perilous Drake¡¯s Swamp.  Thus he named the concoction, Drake¡¯s Healing Potion.   That potion is far easier to make and is less expensive as well when compared to a traditional healing concoction.   It is not as powerful as other similar potions but its sheer economic cost benefits make it a brilliant achievement for Lord Thomas.¡±

    I¡¯m not one to let things slide but I saw no point in causing a spectacle.  I wrote a note at the end of class explaining things to the Professor.  I detailed how to make the potion in the note as well.  Sadly my writing is still terrible and barely legible.

    I followed my nose to the University dining hall for lunch.  It was served in something called buffet style which was like an army chow line.  There were no personal servants allowed in this area.  You walked up, filled a plate with what you wanted and found an empty seat.  My problem was that my fellow students kept blocking me from getting to any of the available foods there.  If there is one thing that I can¡¯t stand, is going hungry when others are not.  That happened to me too many times when the Witch was alive.

    I didn¡¯t want to start a fight and I finally managed to get some of the less appetizing foods located on the tables there.  There were many chuckles at my expense, especially since I had little time to eat my meal.

    The next day, Professor Marks looked at me strangely during class but she said nothing at all to me.  At week¡¯s end, I hated to do it but I wrote a letter to the Princess detailing my grievances with the University to date.  If I should leave this place, she should be aware of why I was doing it.  My letter would take as long as three weeks to reach her and then I would have to wait for her reply.  I in no way thought that the Princess held me in any sort of real regard, though many others said that she did.  I was just a tool that Ellen no longer needed, but she might have a use for it again, one day.

    King Rivers was in a quandary.   He had to finally acknowledge the brilliance of his daughter.   She was a tactical and strategic genius on the battlefield that had far eclipsed everyone else in the Kingdom, most especially her older brother.  She was now proving to be a skilled administrator too.  The problem was that her older brother had dealt her too many injustices over the years, for her to ever forgive.  Edward was more than a little spiteful and once he assumed the throne he might very well anger Ellen even further.  Taken too far that might lead to a civil war and the Army and Navy adored the Princess.  The best thing for the Kingdom was if Ellen was to be made the heir but the King didn¡¯t know the best way to accomplish that, he would have to give it some more thought.

    I was far behind in my math and composition classes.  But I devoured and enjoyed my math book.  Composition was proving to be a lot of work but I was trying my best.  Biology was extremely interesting and so was civil construction even though it needed a lot of math.  My Potion class was a breeze but I did learn some better techniques.  In my Wards class, I learned a few new ones but I found that many of the old wards that I knew; were not in my new school book.   My old books, I had hidden long ago in a special chest concealed in my keep.   Runes were the same, as it pertained to my classes and books.  Actually, I found that their way of doing runic magic was not nearly as powerful as the runes and methodology taught in my old books.

    I persevered for the next five weeks; I ate crappy food and I did my best to study.  Until one day that I came back to my room and I found my belongings destroyed.  The Head Proctor had told me that it was against University rules for me to ward my room and that I must rely on the locks that were provided.  I had verified that rule.

    There were potions and ink bottles smashed on top of my clothes.  Dried, powdered and liquid potion ingredients were mixed together.  Amulets and ward signs had been thrown into the cast iron stove that warmed my room and a fire had been lit inside.  I carefully searched and found that my hidden coin purse was missing.  What with my damaged possessions, I must be out at least sixty gold pieces.  It takes most people ten years to earn a sum so large.

    I went to the Proctor¡¯s office and I told them about what had happened to my room.  I left there feeling very unsatisfied with their response.

    A few hours later, I was in Dean Reynolds office with the Head Proctor Micah Powers.  ¡°I am withdrawing from this school, Dean Reynolds.  I¡¯ve put up with unwarranted harassment for the past six weeks but the destruction of my belongings in my assigned room was the final straw.  So I¡¯m leaving immediately, goodbye.¡±  I already had my few salvaged items in the remains up of a torn up blanket, so I left his office and headed for the front door.  Both the Dean and Head Proctor said some things but I just ignored them as they had been ignoring me since I arrived at this school.

    When I had earlier reported the vandalism to the Proctor¡¯s office, the Junior Proctors there had ignored me.  Micah Powers had only arrived at my room, after I had missed lunch and two classes.  At that point I had salvaged what I could which wasn¡¯t that much and I was getting ready to leave.  I think even he was surprised at the state of the destruction, in my room.  He had stooped so low as to accuse me of doing it myself.  I had ignored him and walked to the Dean¡¯s office to resign.  I really didn¡¯t care any longer, I guess I was supposedly disappointing Princess Ellen by withdrawing from the University but she would get over it.

    My family had sold me, the witch had fed off of me and Princess Ellen had only used me, I wasn¡¯t a person but a commodity.  This appointment to the school was supposed to be my great reward with the promise of a title at the end.  I had already predicted that they would never accept me. I was going back to my swamp.  Other people might fear the place but I found it comfortable and to me it was a home with plenty to eat, unlike this place.

    Dean Reynolds turned on Micah Powers.  ¡°What the hell happened?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just like he said, his room was vandalized.  Someone broke the lock and wrecked his stuff.  There must be hundreds of gold pieces in potions, ingredients, spell components, books and clothes that he has lost.  Well at least he¡¯s gone now.¡±

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°If he¡¯s gone then both of us are probably gone as well.  He¡¯s got the backing of the Princess and she¡¯s got the backing of the King ever since her great victory over the Empire.  I¡¯m hearing crazy stories that Drake was with her for every step of the way and even saved her life more than once.  I just received a slew of vitriol laced letters from her demanding answers to some of the complaints that Drake has shared with her.  She is after my head and she¡¯s threatening to send a detachment from the Fifth Regiment here to take it.  She¡¯s calling me to account for all the promises that I and this University made to her, the King and young Drake.  And then apparently broke starting the very first day he arrived here!  Her letters to me also indicate that she has sent copies of them to the King, so I might be hearing from him very soon now.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean oh shit?¡±

    ¡°I might have overheard some of the male students talking, they¡¯ve been planning on jumping Drake if they ever hear of him withdrawing and leaving this school.¡±

    ¡°Damn it, some of the rumors that I¡¯ve heard, say that he¡¯s a self taught war mage and a very good one too.¡±

    ¡°Why in the hell have I heard none of those rumors?  You should have told me!  I¡¯ve been treating that kid like shit; he might have gotten angry and killed my ass!  I was told that he was some poor orphan street thief that the Princess had found and thought had a little magical talent.   Now you¡¯re telling me that he might have been in combat for the past three years alongside the Princess.  I should have suspected something was up when I saw all those scars on his body.¡±

    ¡°What scars?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s got scars all over his body.  My men threatened to lash him and he pulled off his shirt and said he¡¯s had enough of being beaten and he¡¯ll kill anyone that tries to do it again.¡±

    ¡°You go out there and stop those boys from attacking him and if you can, you bring Drake back.  The University will even reimburse him for what he¡¯s lost due to the vandalism of his room. How in the hell did you let someone vandalize one of our student¡¯s rooms?¡±

    ¡°Your precious Registrar assigned him a storage room in the old servant¡¯s wing.  Even though we¡¯ve got plenty of vacancies in the student¡¯s building.¡±

    ¡°Oh, this keeps on getting better and better.  Go now and find him.  I need this job and you need yours.¡±

    I was walking out of town on a small quiet street.  An acquaintance, I met during the war, had told me about his favorite little restaurant in Sweet Port.  His descriptions had been so vivid and mouthwatering that I had decided to go there on my way out of town since I planned on never returning.

    Suddenly I heard the clip clop of a horse and the sound of wheels rubbing over cobblestones.  I turned around and saw not only one but two carriages rapidly approaching me.  I stepped further to the side, when I saw and recognized the driver of the first carriage, as one of the boys from school that would consistently block my access to the buffet tables.  So expecting some form of nastiness, I leaped further to the side and it was a good thing that I did.  He caused the horse to suddenly veer over and the carriage would have hit me if I hadn¡¯t have moved.

    He reined up his horse and the carriage stopped.  The horse didn¡¯t seem to be happy at the abrupt halt.  A second small carriage pulled in behind the first one.

    The driver of the first carriage was a big burly redhead.  He got out and started talking.  ¡°Well, look at what we¡¯ve got here, a lowborn swamp rat fleeing back to his momma.  I see you finally awoke to the fact that you had to stop hanging around with your betters.  Isn¡¯t that what you are doing boy, running off to momma?¡±

    The redhead was closely followed by a blonde and two dark haired boys.  I had no reason to fight them because I didn¡¯t place any value on them in the least and their words were similarly meaningless to me.  But thrown rocks could hurt and I think that two of the boys facing me had some magical ability.  So I backed away from them and I activated my shield amulets.  I guess my expression didn¡¯t hold enough fear, actually it might have shown the disdain I held them in because they seemed to get very upset with me.  I had to wonder what I had done to earn such hatred.  I mean I was leaving this town, what else could they ask for?

    I know what else I could ask for.  For the blonde not to have a heavy crossbow and for my witch sight not to be telling me that it was loaded with an enchanted bolt of some kind.

    ¡°So besides you four, being vandals you are also now murderers as well?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to kill you rat.  We are only going to teach you a lesson.  The crossbow is only if you get any funny ideas, like fighting back.¡±

    Sure Princess Ellen, force me to go to beautiful Sweet Port where you guarantee that I¡¯ll be treated fairly and respectfully by everyone I associate with.

    My room being vandalized had left me practically weaponless.  That might have been their idea in the first place.  The crossbow changed this situation drastically.  If I fought and killed any of them, I knew that the law would rule against someone like me.  On the other hand these assholes might be out to kill me and I won¡¯t hold still for a beating.  I never even made it to the restaurant, though I was tantalizingly close to someplace that smelled terrific.  I was continuing to back up when I heard a voice suddenly call out from behind me.

    ¡°Fifth Regiment!¡±

    I turned to look and there was Captain Alexander Smith and Lieutenant Donna Simms both had received promotions as a reward just before being released from the army because of medical reasons.  They both looked healthy now and they were together too.  Oh ho; I had long suspected something going on between the two of them.  I noticed the large wedding ring on Donna¡¯s hand.

    ¡°James, is that you?  David what¡¯s going on here and why are you pointing a crossbow at my friend,¡± asked Captain Smith, in a harsh commanding tone of voice.

    ¡°Cousin Alex, you claim this lowborn swamp muck as a friend?¡±

    ¡°James Drake is one of the finest men I know, so curb your tongue and I claim him as more than my friend.  He saved my life and that of my wife¡¯s on more than one occasion.  He restored our limbs to us as well, with extremely rare regeneration potions which he went to much trouble to develop and to gather the components for.  So I ask again, why are you pointing a crossbow at my friend?¡±

    Both dark haired boys had retreated to their coach and were now making their escape.  The redheaded boy seemed to be in an absolute panic and looked like he was preparing to run as well.

    At that moment Donna Simms put a brass whistle to her lips and started blowing on it furiously.  Alex looked at her, surprised by the sudden noise and then smiled.  He spoke, ¡°I guess we must now wait for the constables.¡±  Doors and windows of both shops and residences on the quiet street were now opening and people were peering out at the drama playing on the city street before them.

    The redheaded boy took off running, went down a narrow alley and was gone.  The only one left was the blonde, holding the crossbow and he looked ready to panic.  Donna was turning red in the face because she was blowing the whistle so energetically.  Alex gently took it from her hand and took over the chore.  A pair of constables finally came running up.  One was a large woman with red hair and the other was a man with dark hair.

    The woman started speaking.  ¡°What¡¯s going on here?  You boy, the one with the crossbow, put that down gently now.  We don¡¯t need anyone getting hurt.¡±

    David set down the bow and the male constable approached and snatched it off the ground.

    I spoke up, ¡°Constable, there is an enchanted bolt in that bow.  You might want to be careful with it; some enchanted bolts can kill you with only a nick.¡±  He blanched and as an alternative to carefully unloading it, he instead fired it into a patch of grass on the side of the street.  The green grass there quickly turned brown and withered away.  Holy shit!

    Both constables and my friends cursed upon seeing that.  David looked like he was ready to faint.

    ¡°James, why is my cousin hunting you with a death bolt?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Princess Ellen insisted that I attend the Royal University as a prerequisite for getting the money that the crown owes me.  When I arrived at the school, I was harassed and treated as an inferior by just about everyone there except for a few of the teachers.  Today my room was vandalized and my belongings destroyed.  So I decided I had had enough and I was returning home to the swamp but I decided to stop and eat at the restaurant you were always talking about.  A few moments ago four boys, came riding up in two small carriages.  Your cousin David pulled the crossbow out and the redhead said that they would use it on me, if I dared to fight back while they gave me a beating for having the effrontery to attend the Royal University while being a swamp rat.  I was just deciding what to do when you called out ¡®Fifth Regiment¡¯.  I knew if I decided to fight back that I would probably be forced to kill one of them because of that bow.  But I also knew that being a low born person without any family, would count against me.  So you really saved me by showing up.  Thank you, Captain Smith and thank you Lieutenant Smith, and congratulations on your marriage.¡±

    I don¡¯t believe in quietly suffering and covering things up.  If I have a complaint then I let people know about it.  How do they know when to fix things if you don¡¯t tell folks what is wrong when they ask?  And if they don¡¯t fix the bad things when they have the power to do so, then they will know or at least suspect why you stop associating with or doing business with them.

    Alex cursed.  The female constable went and questioned David after restraining him.  I didn¡¯t know for sure but shouldn¡¯t a death bolt be illegal to carry around inside a city?

    She came back to me.  ¡°I¡¯m Constable Victoria Ridge; can you please go over your story once more?¡±

    I introduced myself; I explained my history and I went over my problems at the University.  She asked some more detailed questions which I answered as best I could.

    ¡°I understand that you were leaving town but we need you to stay now.  That lad, David was caught carrying a death bolt and was prepared to use it, that¡¯s a serious crime and we must investigate it.¡±

    ¡°I understand that but when my room was vandalized most of my belongings were destroyed and my funds were stolen as well.  I¡¯ll have to look for a cheap place to stay since I withdrew from the school.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t realized it but Donna was behind me and had been listening in.  ¡°Nonsense James, we owe you far too much to see you put in a squalid room in some rat infested boarding house.  Alex has a fine home here in Sweet Port and we have plenty of room.  You¡¯ll be staying with us, I insist.¡±

    ¡°Thank you Lieutenant.  I¡¯ll gladly accept your kind offer.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no longer Lieutenant or even Sergeant.  Please call me Donna and you better not call me Countess.  Alex has gone off to alert his aunt and uncle about his cousin¡¯s difficulties.   You on the other hand are going to accompany me to a late lunch and then back to Alex¡¯s city house.  Agreed?¡±

    ¡°Agreed Donna,¡± she seemed very pleased with my response; she nodded her head, took my hand and led me into the restaurant.  I noticed the two constables leading the securely tied David away.

 Chapter 7: Just Desserts

    Chapter 7: Just Desserts

    Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s home wasn¡¯t the biggest I had ever seen but it was the best maintained.  I had seen plenty of captured grand homes while I was in the Empire but there was always something a bit too ostentatious about them; that made them look cheap and poorly constructed.  Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s mansion was simple, elegant and beautiful.  It sat in the middle of a small walled in estate within the city.  While the estate would be on the small side out in the country it was very large for being within the city confines.  The front lawns were beautifully manicured but the back area contained a large vegetable garden, another large fenced in area holding two cows and a chicken coop.   Alex had always been a food fanatic and loved more than anything else well prepared fine meals made with the freshest of ingredients.  So this home definitely suited him, a place where he could obviously grow and raise the fresh food that he desired for his table.  I imagine I would be able to find a pig or two about here somewhere.

    I saw at least eight servants working within the home and I recognized two of them as being former members of the Fifth Regiment.  Hannah and Frank had been severely wounded just as Alex and Donna had been; and likewise had to leave the Regiment because of medical reasons.   They now seemed to be healthy and whole, but they were extremely busy so I could only smile and exchange initial greetings with them.  I would talk with them later.

    Donna led me to a palatial bedroom that even had its own wash room.  Cold water was provided from a cistern on top of the building.  She told me that a series of pumps conveyed the water to the roof for the convenience of entire the household.  Donna saw the state of my wardrobe, which was nonexistent because of the destruction of my room and asked one of the maids to steal some of her husband¡¯s clothes for me, enough for the next two days.  Alex was considerably larger than I was, so I would probably look like a child dressed in an adult¡¯s shirt and pants but beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers.

    After I dropped off my ragged bag full of my salvaged belongings, Donna led me down to a luxurious sitting room where we were served tea.

    ¡°You never knew my history James.  I¡¯m two years younger than Ellen and I idolized her in the past.  My father is a baron and very conscious of his social standing.  When the Princess started forming the Fifth Regiment I immediately joined up.  I was to be an officer because of my background but there was a lot condescending talk about the Princess and the Fifth at the time.  How it wasn¡¯t a real army unit and just the toy of a spoiled princess.  My father who wanted to stay in the good graces of what he considered to be the elite of the Kingdom, put pressure on the military.  He wanted to punish me for the embarrassment I caused him when I joined the Princess¡¯s Regiment.  So it was ordered by Army Command that I could never be an officer.  It angered me at first but I now feel that I learned more and accomplished much more as sergeant than I ever would have as a lieutenant.

    My father is now trying desperately to get back into my good graces.  But his apologies are always twisted in such a way as to sound insulting to me and while making him look like a compassionate and loving parent, so I still haven¡¯t forgiven him and it might never happen unless he changes his tone.  Those formerly influential people, who used to denigrate the Princess, are now walking very small and talking very quietly when they are talking at all.  So that¡¯s my boring life story.

    Alex and I have never properly thanked you for the regeneration potions that you sent to us James.  How did you manage to make them during that final year of the war?¡±

    ¡°I spent a lot of the war in Drake¡¯s Landing because I needed access to the swamp so that I could gather the ingredients that I required, to make the potions that both Princess Ellen and Ester¡¯s village needed.  When I saw Count Smith¡¯s horrible wounds, I swore to myself that I would heal him one day.  I had been studying on how to concoct many different potions back in my keep so while I knew the formulas and recipes, I had yet to master them.  Actually, I ended up cheating on the regeneration concoction like I did with my healing potion.

    A true regeneration potion should only take a single dose and should completely restore a person¡¯s lost body parts, as long as they eat enough within the following month.  How much they have to eat is dependent on the amount that needs to be regenerated.  I feel that doing it that way, places too many demands on the body and can cause other complications as well.  There are warnings and stories in my books, about people dying during and shortly after the regeneration process is complete.

    So my concoctions are individually weaker and are divided into three to five stages which should optimally be taken fourteen to twenty days apart.  Your own injuries probably only needed three of the stages but I sent you all five just in case.  The first potion starts the process, the next two maintain the process and the final two stabilize and terminate the process.  All that you probably already know, from the instructions I sent you along with your potions.  The special couriers that the Princess arranged helped make this all possible because the ingredients in the potions are highly reactive and don¡¯t have much of a shelf life in comparison to the other concoctions that I make.

    By breaking the regeneration potion down into five separate concoctions, I was able to make this regeneration series with a far higher success rate than is the norm for a traditional regeneration potion.  The ingredients are still very rare though and difficult to find.  There are many people that still require the potion but I need to wait for certain plants to re-grow in the swamp before I can make any more of the concoctions, which might sadly take a year or more.  But I¡¯ve had no luck in finding those crucial items anywhere else but in two or three areas within that great mire, however I have certainly never searched the entire swamp.  It is obviously far too huge for me to do that.  In addition there are areas that even I fear to go, those locations with an over abundance of swamp dragons for one thing or worse yet, those locales where one might encounter a true greater dragon.¡±

    ¡°James, people always know that there are risks when going off to war and that they might not come back in one piece.  While the Kingdom offers some compensation for those that are maimed, it is often rather small.  To the best of my knowledge you haven¡¯t charged any of us for those regeneration potions, not even one copper coin.  Don¡¯t you need the money?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve just missed dying in that war by only the slimmest of margins.  In fact at the very end of my second year with the Fifth Regiment, I lost my left hand but it made me an excellent experimental subject for the various regeneration potions that I concocted.  There is no way that I can ask payment from someone who had fought in the same war as I but who unfortunately had just a little less luck.  What happened to the Count or you could very well have happened to me.  On top of that since I am not a member of the Mage Guild it is illegal for me to sell magical goods or services within the Kingdom but I can give them away.¡±

    ¡°You know James; I still can¡¯t get over how someone who was raised by an insane witch in a swamp and taught himself to read can speak as well as you do.¡±

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, I learned to speak based on how I heard the Witch talk.  She wasn¡¯t one to tolerate misspoken words or bad grammar.  After my attending the University for that short time and remembering certain things that Lauren had said or muttered in the past, I think that she once attended that very same school but I have no idea when.  She might have been considerably older than I had originally thought; there are several potions that can extend one¡¯s life.  In fact the health potions she used to produce and I still make, can easily give you another good ten, twenty or even more years if you just drink them every year or two.  They are relatively easy to concoct and the ingredients are plentiful in the swamp, if you know where to look.¡±

    Donna¡¯s eyes lit up with that bit of new knowledge but just then Alex entered the room, looking completely worn out.  He put a finger to his lips signifying that he didn¡¯t want to talk just yet.  He stumbled over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a large libation and then sat down heavily with a sigh.  Both Donna and I sat quietly and drank our tea.  Finally he spoke.

    ¡°My cousin David has fallen in with a bad crowd who are out to destroy you James.  The stories they are telling about you and the Princess are ludicrous.  You are an evil swamp witch, raised by crocodiles and swamp spiders.  Some of your ingredients for your potions come from sacrificed human babies or can only be grown with the blood from those babies.  That redheaded boy seems to be the instigator of all this and the constables are looking for him along with the other two.  His name is Derrick Thomas, do you recognize his name?¡±

    ¡°Could he be related to Lord Thomas, the King¡¯s advisor?  I know that he doesn¡¯t like me.  He is being given credit at the University for creating Drake¡¯s Healing Potion and the kraken tubes.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±  Both Alex and Donna shouted

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous, the potion is even named after you,¡± stated Alexander with a disbelieving look on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s being taught in my classes that Lord Thomas named the potion after Drake¡¯s Swamp because he invented it there, while exploring the swamp.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, I doubt he has never even stepped foot in that place,¡± remarked, Donna.

    I shrugged my shoulders.

    Alex got up.  ¡°I¡¯m going to write letters to the Constables, the Mage Guild, the Royal University, the Minister of Justice, Princess Ellen and the King.  I will not let someone else take credit for the things that you¡¯ve done.  And if that doesn¡¯t work, there a lot of former soldiers, and not only those from the Fifth, that owe you very their lives and they know it.  We¡¯ll loudly spread the truth from one end of this Kingdom to the other!  Let us see what Lord Thomas and the Mage Guild, does then!¡±  Before I could say anything, Alex strode from the room while muttering curses about the Guild and Lord Thomas.

    Donna spoke up, ¡°that¡¯s my husband.  We grew up together and played with one another as children.  He was sweet on me from the very beginning.  I almost made a bad mistake before the war and went off with someone else; at the time I didn¡¯t see Alex¡¯s true inner strength.  The war and how he handled his wounds clearly showed that to me.  I wake up thankful every day that I married him.¡±

    The next four days were filled with Alex attending meetings both in and out of his home.  During that time, Donna took me shopping so that I could replace some of my destroyed belongings.  I tried to go to the less expensive stores and pay for things myself but she wouldn¡¯t even consider it and she got quite fierce about it too.

    ¡°James you gave us potions that should have cost a hundred gold pieces or more.  Let us give you back something in return, especially since we can easily afford it.¡±

    Finally one night, Alex called me into his den, along with his wife.  ¡°We finally figured out what was going on.  We still have some details to fill in but we have the general outline.  Lord Thomas was the King¡¯s Advisor on magic.  James, whenever Princess Ellen¡¯s reports delved into magic or your part in the war, the King would have Lord Thomas read those portions in the hopes that the Kingdom¡¯s Magical Advisor could then better explain those things to him.  Apparently Lord Thomas was quite jealous of the brilliant discoveries made by a young boy, a boy with no family and who was raised in Drake¡¯s Swamp by a witch.  So he did not fully convey your accomplishments to the King when elucidating upon Ellen¡¯s letters.

    We don¡¯t know when exactly it started but he went back to the Guild and began claiming your inventions as his own.  Now the Guild doesn¡¯t trumpet the achievements of individual members outside of the Guild but instead claims those accomplishments on behalf of the whole organization to better improve their image with the public and the nobility.  However inside the Guild, that is another matter and this afforded Lord Thomas a great rise in status.  Furthermore the Guild started making financial claims against the Royal Treasury for their new inventions and the Treasury has already paid out great sums of money to them.

    From talking to Derrick, we¡¯ve learned that his much older brother expected you to die during the war and a time or two; he might have even sent assassins after you.  But the war ended and you didn¡¯t conveniently die.  So Lord Thomas then conspired to limit your ability to practice as a mage within the Kingdom but Princess Ellen put up a fight and the King supported her.  Evidently Lord Thomas was hoping that you would fade into obscurity, perhaps with the help of a blade in the back.  Suddenly he found that the King was sending you to the University and the only hope that he saw was to take control of the situation.  He enlisted his youngest brother but we¡¯re sure that he didn¡¯t tell Derrick the complete truth.  Derrick being quite charismatic rallied the students and many of the staff against you.

    Since this most recent failed attack against you, Lord Thomas has apparently fled the country; which is most alarming since he knows the runes we use on the kraken spears.  So that is what we know so far.  The King will never make an official or formal apology to you but something is in the works to make amends for this situation.

    The Guild is most humiliated, over this entire incident and they will probably attempt to talk with you sometime in the near future.  Right now they are scrambling to repay the gold that they already received, from the Royal Treasury for your inventions.

    The Dean of the Royal University would like to speak with you too but he probably won¡¯t be the Dean for very much longer and neither will any of the proctors be holding on to their jobs there.¡±

    ¡°Unbelievable, so can I go home to the swamp now?  I¡¯ve enjoyed staying here with you and Donna but Ester¡¯s village needs me to make their fall health potions for them.   They can¡¯t afford the ones from the Guild.  I had the ingredients to make their concoctions and actually had some of them finished, but before I could send them off to the village, my room was vandalized and the completed potions and ingredients to make more of them were ruined.  I like the swamp but it seems to breed diseases and the people who live near it, need those concoctions to remain healthy.  For that matter, some of the soldiers at Drake¡®s Landing might need a dose too.¡±

    ¡°Let me talk more with the others that are involved first.   It might not be a good idea for you to leave just yet.  We still haven¡¯t exactly learned where that death bolt came from but we have some suspicions.¡±

    I looked at him suspiciously.  ¡°Alex, I think I¡¯ve done right by a lot of people.  I don¡¯t mean to offend you but after everything that¡¯s recently happened to me, I only really care if my leaving for my home is a good idea to me.¡±

    Two days later a meeting was being held at the palace, in attendance was King Rivers, General Paul Howard, Admiral Samuel Taylor, High Mage Philip Wright, Minister of the Treasury Walter Cooper, Minister of Justice Clarence Robinson, Count Alexander Smith and the new Dean of the Royal University; Greta Marks.

    Count Smith was speaking.  ¡°James would like to return to Drake¡¯s Swamp and I don¡¯t think he ever intends on leaving there again.  What we would find to be a horrible place he finds to be a place of safety with abundant natural food resources.  As for practicing magic, he¡¯ll probably continue his own studies and research.  I know that he plans on gifting others that have been left damaged by the war, with potions that will repair their bodies just as he did for my wife and me.  The only reason he hasn¡¯t done it yet is that the ingredients are rare and he¡¯s waiting for them to naturally restock themselves in the swamp.  He considers all of those injured in the war to be his brothers and sisters in arms and he will not leave them lame.¡±

    General Howard remarked.  ¡°That¡¯s a good man there; I don¡¯t care about the circumstances of his upbringing.  His potions, and General Ellen¡¯s imagination and leadership have won us that damn war that the Empire started.¡±

    ¡°I concur,¡± spoke Admiral Taylor.

    The King was feeling awfully embarrassed by the entire situation, he had let Lord Thomas do this right under his very nose.  Bartholomew Thomas had long been in Prince Edwards¡¯s group of supporters.  The King had finally reached a decision about Ellen especially since Edward had turned to drinking and slapping his own children about.  During his campaign against the Empire, the Prince had not once ventured into the mountains himself to see the actual conditions there but instead he had stayed at a specially constructed and luxurious estate several miles within the Kingdom¡¯s borders.  What was worse was that Edward had repeatedly ordered his younger bookish brother forward, to the very tip of the spear and got him killed while doing it.

    No, it was past time for Prince Edward to retire to a quiet country estate for medical reasons.  The King already had the support of the majority of the Dukes and Duchesses that truly mattered for making such a drastic change.  If the group in this meeting supported his change in the Royal Heir, then all would run smoothly once the entire Kingdom learned of his decision.

    High Mage Wright began to speak. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m not jealous of the boy, because I am.  The simple idea of putting a rune marked spear with fletching in a tube allows for the smooth and accurate launching of the projectile.  Without the tube and the fletching there is no telling where the damn things would go.  His healing potion is another wonder and I would like to speak to him about it.  As for his regeneration potion that strains my mind and I would call it a fable if not for Count Smith being here with all four of his limbs.  Speaking for the Guild we must establish a cordial and respectful relationship with the boy or we face being discredited with the public.  To do that, we need time to establish such a relationship but if he goes back to the swamp that will never happen or happen far too late for us.

    May I remind you all, that up until this latest mess, that the Guild has been one of the staunchest supporters of this Kingdom.  We have protected both it and the public from threats both mundane and magical.  We ask the Kingdom¡¯s help in forming a relationship with the lad.  It won¡¯t be easy on either of our parts.  We have jealous members who will have difficulty looking at a boy of only sixteen years who was raised in a swamp as a slave.  He probably has many preconceived notions about us as well.  But there is much that we can teach him.  There is no doubting the fact that he is a skilled potion mixer, rune engraver and ward maker but he knows little of spell casting.  Just think of what he might do for the Kingdom if he gains more knowledge.  From what I¡¯ve learned of the boy he only cares about a full belly, a comfortable place to sleep, happy neighbors and the study of magic.  He is not the sort to become power mad and seek to enforce his will on other people.  We would be making a grave mistake in letting such a person drift away from us.  The next magical genius might be of another sort altogether just look at some of the Imperial Wizards.¡±

    The new Dean of the Royal University spoke next.  ¡°Morale at the University is abysmally low, especially amongst the students who were duped by Derrick Thomas.  Many of the staff; are in fear of losing their jobs though I¡¯ve told them that those needing to go have already left.  It will be years before we can recover our reputation unless we get James Drake to return.  The fact that we had the inventor of Drake¡¯s Healing Potion, the Kraken Tubes and Drake¡¯s Regeneration Potion attending our very own school and we didn¡¯t know it is making us look like fools and incompetents.

    Worse yet, he was publicly harassed by the staff, students and teachers.  Princess Ellen, in her letters to my predecessor, clearly told him about young Drake¡¯s accomplishments but the fool discounted all of her words as embellishments, exaggerations and lies.  Dean Reynolds made token promises to the Princess and then promptly forgot them, not caring if he failed in living up to his word.  If Drake does return, that will of course cause its own problems but they will be short term ones unlike the long term setback that we will have to face if he stays away.¡±

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itThe Minister of the Treasury spoke next.  ¡°Now that I know what the lad has done for us and seen his modest bills for the mountain of work that he has accomplished.  I must acknowledge that we owe him quite a bit of gold but not an unreasonable sum by any means.  In fact he was quite the bargain.  With the permission of the King, I would like to transfer some funds to an account at the Royal Bank set up in his name.  Apologies are good but if they are backed up by gold that is better, especially since he has rightfully earned those sums.  I think we should also include payment for his destroyed possessions and a bonus because of our late payment.  The Kingdom can certainly afford both.  I was thinking a bonus of fifteen percent over his base sum.¡±

    King Richard spoke.  ¡°We do have a problem with the legality of paying him since by the laws of this land, only the Guild can sell magical goods or services.¡±

    The Minister of Justice replied.  ¡°But your Majesty the bulk of his work occurred in Drake¡¯s Swamp and lands of the Empire.  At that time, neither was a part of this Kingdom.  I learned from Count Smith that Mister Drake even deliberately setup a shop, off shore in the swamp, so he wouldn¡¯t be breaking our laws. Nor has he been charging us for those marvelous regeneration potions that he has been giving to our injured soldiers, including my youngest daughter Lucille.  He has at all times sought to stay within the law once he has learned about those laws.  Admittedly, for his first year or two he was selling in Ester¡¯s Village but we at the Ministry will not seek to prosecute him for those actions.¡±

    Mage Wright spoke again.  ¡°Certainly your Majesty, the Guild has no objection to seeing Mister Drake paid since as Baron Robinson explained the lad did his work outside of the then existing Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Alright, take care of it Baron Cooper.  As you said, set up and account for him and transfer those monies you think that we owe him.  I will sign off on it.  Count Smith I would like for you to talk with the boy and try to convince him to stay in Sweet Port and return to the University.  I think you can promise him that his accommodations will drastically improve.  In fact I know that there are suites there with private kitchens for the upper nobility.  With Dean Marks¡¯ permission offer him one of those.  Since I¡¯m paying his tuition, I will provide him a personal servant or two that can do his cooking and assist him in other ways.  Inform him of his new account with the bank as well.¡±

    ¡°I can do that your Majesty but what about the potions that Ester¡¯s Village and our soldiers need.  He has no more ingredients.  Also you all here have repeatedly referred to him as a lad or boy.  I know that you mean no insult to him but after his experiences; man or young man is a far better term for him.

    The King was slightly taken aback by Count Smith¡¯s observation regarding the proper way to refer to young Drake but he had to concede the point that was made, however he decided not to do so out loud.  ¡°The crown will buy Drake the needed ingredients so long as he doesn¡¯t charge for the finished potions.  We will also make sure that they get to where they are needed.

    On to another important subject; I have decided to call back Princess Ellen and make her my heir instead of Prince Edward.  I think it would be better if he retired to an estate in the country.  Can I have your thoughts and any objections that you might have?¡±

    There were no objections regarding the Princess, but sadly High Mage Philip Wright felt he had something else to point out.  ¡°Your Majesty finding all of the potion ingredients that Young Drake will need; will prove to be difficult if not impossible.  There are very few places where those concoction components can be found and very few carefully tended gardens where they can be grown.

    While Drake¡¯s Swamp has perhaps an abundance of such components it remains a perilous place.  Young Drake has established a marked trail of sorts through the swamp, but it is only safe for people who move swiftly along the trail, in powerfully warded boats which don¡¯t stop until they reach a designated safe resting area.  General Howard can confirm my following words, while it is true that the Army has had few casualties while crossing the swamp there were some and on two occasions, convoys of consisting of two mages and over a hundred soldiers have been lost in their entirety.  That is a rather significant fighting force to completely disappear without a trace and because of sightings made by returning convoys, we know that those two convoys did not even make it to the Great Kraken Lake in the center of Drake¡¯s Swamp.  So it was something else, besides a giant kraken that killed them.

    Since the establishment of Drake¡¯s Trail through the swamp, attempts have been made at gathering rare plants and such along its edges but most of those attempts have ended in failure and all of those people that have participated in such attempts have refused to ever try again.  We all know that as soon as the blockade was lifted and General Ellen secured a port in the Empire for us, that we ceased using that highly dangerous trail.

    So getting back to my original thought, I think at best, that we might be able to provide a quarter of the potion ingredients that Drake needs.  For the rest, I think that we should gift him with finished health potions but they will be of an inferior quality because of their ingredients.  I¡¯ve heard that young Drake typically charges two silver coins for a five dose flask of potions.  Even an inferior health potion from most other potion concocters will cost at least a gold piece.  So for the Crown to make good on Drake¡¯s losses will cost no less than forty gold coins and more probably one hundred gold pieces and give him an inferior product when compared to his own work.¡±

    King looked morosely at the High Mage.  ¡°Please, do the best that you can.  It was at my insistence that certain things happened.  If my daughter returns here and finds her prot¨¦g¨¦, a boy who has saved her life on more than one occasion, has returned to Drake¡¯s Swamp because of the deplorable treatment he has received here in Sweet Port, none of us will be happy.¡±

    On that depressing note the meeting ended.

    ¡°Donna, I was promised by Princess Ellen and by the King that I would be treated fairly here.  I was promised by the Princess during the war that I would be paid as soon as the money was available; neither of those two things happened, have they?  I¡¯m through being a sucker.  I¡¯m going home, even if I have to walk the entire way and eat weeds.¡±

    James you wouldn¡¯t have to do something like that.  I¡¯ve told you, you¡¯re rich now.  The crown has opened an account for you in the Royal Bank and even paid you the estimated value of all of your belongings that were destroyed plus a bonus because they delayed in paying you.  I know that the Princess will be devastated once she learns how terribly you have been treated.  She¡¯s already been sent for and she should be back in no more than six weeks and probably much less.  Please wait for her return.  She thinks of you as her little brother, a brother that she actually likes.  But, if you do return home, Alex and I will take you.  I know he would insist on doing that and his county is on the way to Ester¡¯s Village.  You go to bed and we¡¯ll talk more about it in the morning.  Our chef will be preparing crepes, sausage and fruit for breakfast.¡±

    I thanked Donna and went off to my room.  She knew my weak spot; good food was always an excellent way to bribe me.  When I got to my room, I found my nightly snack already there waiting for me.  Beginning my second night in Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s home; Hannah who was a former soldier with the Fifth and now a servant working in this house, had started making sure that I had a snack in my room every night just in case I got hungry while the household was asleep.  Sometimes it was sliced smoked sausage, cheese and bread; other times it might be several pieces of fried fowl.  I lifted the cover from the tray.  Tonight, it was half of a cherry pie and some white holey cheese; I didn¡¯t like the orange stuff.

    Alex, Donna, Hannah and Frank sat around the dining table.  It was late but they had a problem.  James wanted to go home and they couldn¡¯t blame him.  While Alex and Donna were nobles and Hannah and Frank their servants, all four of them were former soldiers with the Fifth Regiment and all four of them had their limbs and bodies restored to them by James.  On the other hand they liked Crown Princess Ellen too and they recognized how much help James could be for her and the Kingdom.  They all thought that Ellen would be a talented monarch since she was so much more intelligent and compassionate than her own father.  They just knew that if they could get James to give the Kingdom and Ellen one more chance that she would make things right for the young man, but how to convince him?

    I reclined in my bed and debated whether I wanted to get up and eat some pie and cheese. I had been thinking about my situation.  I decided to get up and write my thoughts down on paper.

    ¡°Why am I so angry?

    Number 1; I wasn¡¯t paid promptly. But now I¡¯ve been paid and they¡¯ve given me a bonus as well.

    Number 2; The Crown has told me that I can no longer work as mage, not even in Drake¡¯s Swamp, until I become a member of the Mage Guild, which will mean attending the Royal University for the next two years.

    Number 3; Lord Thomas was taking credit for my inventions and until recently, nobody did anything about it.  Even though there had to have been a lot of mages that knew the truth.  On the other hand, those mages might have been afraid of challenging Lord Thomas because of his position within the Guild and his association with the King.

    Number 4; Despite promises made by the Dean of the Royal University and the senior teachers there, I was treated unfairly from the first day I arrived.

    Number 5; Every time I went to the school cafeteria for a meal, I was prevented by the students, cafeteria workers, cooks, staff members, proctors and even teachers from eating any of the well prepared foods served in the dining hall.  That is the one thing that really bites my butt!  Everybody else was eating delicious smelling meals, while I was stuck eating the same old bland stuff day after day.  I know for a fact that the cooks and servants were deliberately making extra bland and disgusting foods for the only buffet table that I could ever get to.

    Number 6; The Princess said I would be ennobled.  I¡¯m not sure I want to be a noble!  And if I¡¯m given Drake¡¯s Swamp, won¡¯t I have to pay yearly taxes on it?  How in the heck am I supposed to do that?  I guess I can always turn it down.

    If I didn¡¯t like Donna and Alex so much, I wouldn¡¯t even consider staying here in Sweet Port.  I also like seeing new places, going out to nice restaurants and eating wonderful meals.  But all of those jerks at the Royal University treated me like I was swamp muck that they needed to wipe off of their shoes and they¡¯re not going to be inconvenienced one bit because of what they did to me.  How would they like it if¡­¡­¡­.?  Now there¡¯s an idea.   Heh, heh, they would never do it.  But I just might mention it to Alex tomorrow; he would understand if anyone would.

    The next morning I sat down for a wonderful breakfast with Alex and Donna.  The meals here, was a big part of why I hadn¡¯t already left.  Alex began speaking.  ¡°James, is there anything that we can do to get you to return to the University?

    ¡°Alex, I was treated shabbily by most of the people there. There are two things; that really bothers me about this situation that I¡¯m currently in.  First, the Crown telling me that I can no longer work as mage in Drake¡¯s Swamp or the New Territories.  When I am the only true inhabitant of that swamp as far as I know; and for months, I was the only mage fighting alongside the Fifth Regiment in the Eastern Empire.  Now they tell me that I can¡¯t legally work in either place!  They should have told me that before I joined up with Princess Ellen.

    The second thing that gets me angry is what I was forced to eat while I was attending the University.  Students, teachers, cooks and others there, conspired to arrange that the only buffet table that I could ever reach was the one with only the blandest and worst cooked foods.  I swear, at the end of my stay at the University, that the cooks were competing to see who could make the most appalling food for that table.¡±

    Alex loved fine meals and he was enraged.  ¡°The Royal University is famed for the excellence of their kitchen and they fed you garbage!¡±  He was getting red in the face.  ¡°I don¡¯t blame you for leaving.  I¡¯ll bring this to Greta Marks¡¯s personal attention and she had better take some steps to rectify things and punish the guilty or she won¡¯t be Dean for very long.  I¡¯d like to round up some fellow veterans from the Fifth, kidnap all of those who are working at or attending the Royal University and dump them in your swamp.  Let¡¯s see how they would like that.  They would probably be crocodile food in short order.  Feeding you trash while they ate gourmet meals!  The cooks should be boiled in their own cooking oils.  Hanging is too good for them!¡±

    Donna was trying to get him to quiet down.  He was starting to draw the attention of the household servants.  While a lieutenant, Alex had been forced to eat Army rations and he hadn¡¯t liked that one bit.  He was a man that would go to almost any extreme to eat a fine meal.  He was the only one from the Fifth that would try eating anything that I ate.  Afterwards he had agreed with me that those exotic and unusual foods were certainly much better than the rations that he was normally stuck with eating.

    I decided to distract him.  ¡°Tell you what Alex.  I will return to the University on two conditions.  If the Crown restores my rights, to work as a mage in Drake¡¯s Swamp and the New Territories.  And if, for six weeks after I return to the University, that all of the people who were working or attending the school while I was being so humiliated there, have to eat what I was forced to eat; while I on the other hand, get to eat fine meals.¡±

    Alex stopped his rant, looked at me and began to grin.  I could see no way that the University would go for something like that but it was worth a shot.

    A week later I found myself back at school.  How was I supposed to know that the King was even a bigger food nut than Alex was?  His Majesty had come to the University and had personally issued a Royal Command to everyone there.  That wasn¡¯t counting the chefs and servants that he had dismissed.  How dare they deliberately serve inferior food to someone that was attending the school under his patronage!

    Things were much better in most ways and only slightly worse in couple of minor areas.  I now had a wonderful suite of six rooms which was normally only assigned to Dukes, their heirs or the extremely wealthy.  I had two servants and one was a fantastic chef.  But I am not a person skilled at socializing and I had a hard time relating to the upper crust students attending the University and who were now quite apologetic about their past behavior, particularly the female students.  I would rather be back with the Army or in Ester¡¯s village if not my swamp.

    Professor Marks was the new Dean but she was still teaching her classes.  Constable Victoria Ridge who had arrested David was the new Head Proctor.  I probably got along with those two the best.  Dean Marks was very interested in how I had developed some of my potions.  We got out some old potion books from the library and I showed her how I had combined certain elements from two health potions and one healing potion to make my weaker version of a healing concoction.  I think I lost some of my luster with her when she realized how simple my discovery truly was.

    Greta Marks returned to her own rooms, sighing with frustration.  James¡¯s healing potion was truly a marvel of efficiency and simplicity.  She couldn¡¯t believe that no one else had ever put it together before.  It would revolutionize health care in the Kingdom and other lands.  But his regeneration potion was his masterpiece.  He had broken down one cumbersome killer of a potion into three parts, and then he added other ingredients to stabilize, improve, and bolster those three new potions.  Traditional regeneration potions must be used within a week of their manufacture or they will lose their effectiveness.  James¡¯s version was completely stable for five months and was still partially effective for another two beyond that, it was simply astonishing.

    Successful use of the regeneration series, required potions two and three to be administered twice but those two concoctions had the least expensive and easiest to find ingredients when compared to the first potion.  It was the ingredients in potion one that were the most rare and difficult to find over all, although few of the components in all three of the potions were exactly common fare.

    What ruined the other regeneration potions was their immense cost because of the wastage of precious and rare ingredients generated in failed attempts to make the concoction.  With Drake¡¯s version there were hardly any failures, if you were careful when making it.  In fact James hadn¡¯t had a failure since the fourth time he had made that particular concoction.

    She was at times jealous of him, in awe of him and then stunned by his ignorance about the simplest of things.  For example he was an extremely poor spell caster, when it was the easiest of the magical arts.  She wondered if that was his problem, it was so simple that it bored him and thus he didn¡¯t practice it enough, which was the key to being a good spell caster.  Then too, spell casters normally learned and practiced the art by competing in games with other spell casters.  Recalling how James was treated when he first arrived at the University, she imagined that none of his fellow magic students were interested, at the time, in playing any magic spell practice games with him.  She made a mental note to speak to Drake¡¯s spell casting instructor.

    Greta sadly made her way to the University dining hall, for another meal of beans, rice, potatoes, and water.  The food was guaranteed to be poorly cooked, burned, or unseasoned; but most times it was all three.  She mentally made a check mark, only thirty-two more days to go.  The Dean passed many students who had similar looks of depression and disgust on their faces while on their own walks to the cafeteria.

    I was getting quite frustrated with my Spell Casting Instructor today.  Professor Sara Sanchez kept on interrupting my thoughts.  I nearly had a new combination of runes figured out and she wants me to cast that idiotic fireball spell again.

    ¡°James you must concentrate.  What will you do if an enemy mage attacks you with a magic spell?¡±

    ¡°Trust in my shield amulets and stab the spell slinging moron with an enchanted short spear.  It¡¯s worked plenty of times for me in the past, why should I change my tactics now?  Let me tell you, their eyes get really big just before you gut them with a spear.  It¡¯s almost like you can hear their thoughts.  It¡¯s like, ¡®Oh no, I¡¯m a great Eastern Empire Wizard and this little punk is immune to my magic however I don¡¯t have to worry because my own shields will stop his spear.  But why do I suddenly hurt so much and why is there a spear running through my stomach?¡¯  I tell you it¡¯s a laugh riot every time.¡±

    Professor Sanchez sighed; it was going to be another one of those days.

    I was working in the University conservatory with Professor Julia King, she taught both botany and potions.  Some of the ingredients I had found in her greenhouses were superior to what was in the swamp and some were inferior.  Most of the time that was due to the fact the there were different variants of the plants here.  The superior plants had been bred up to be better and at other times it was probably due to the nutrients provided.   There were many plants though that for some unexplainable reasons could not be cultivated and could only grow naturally.  I was hoping to learn more about plants so that I could make substitutions for the rarer potion ingredients.

    Professor King watched James walk out of the University Conservatory.  She thought of him as a joy to work with.  Looking around carefully, she didn¡¯t see anyone and she snuck the small apple that she had been hiding out of her jacket pocket and hurriedly devoured it.  She sighed, twenty-one more days to go.

 Author Request for Country Names.

    Author Request for Country Names.

    Sorry to disappoint those who were hoping for another chapter but I need some names for the various countries making up this world.  I like descriptive names or short names that are easy to remember.  I have a hard time with stories that make up names that I can¡¯t pronounce or remember.

    I especially need names for three rotten countries.  One country is supposedly a republic, but it has rigged elections and secret police.  In another country a greedy merchant class pulls the strings of a lazy puppet king.  The third country can be a kingdom or an empire and the ruler (might be female) is a nut job from a long line of nut jobs.  Right now in my draft chapters I am referring to them as One, Two and Three.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    I should start mentioning those three countries in forthcoming chapters so that when their story lines do appear it makes some sense and not like I¡¯m only now telling my readers about a nearby or powerful country that everybody in the Gulf Kingdom is very familiar with.

    Thanks for any replies.

 Chapter 8: Ellen Returns

    Chapter 8: Ellen Returns

    It took over seven weeks for the King¡¯s message to reach his daughter and for her to return by ship.  Two weeks for the letter to reach her, a little over two weeks to turn her job over to her successor, and slightly more than three weeks to sail back to Sweet Port.

    The letter her father had sent her had included several pages concerning what had happened to James and what was being done to make amends with him.  But at the time the letter was sent, that matter still hadn¡¯t been fully resolved.  She was more than a little angry about the situation and when her ship finally made port, she commandeered the Harbor Master¡¯s official carriage instead of waiting for one, from the Royal Palace.

    She had been grinding her teeth ever since she had first learned how terribly James was being treated at the University.  But she knew that she had to curb her temper or she would be the Royal Heir for the shortest time period in the history of the Gulf Kingdom.  Ellen wasn¡¯t a bad person but she did desire to be Queen and she thought that she could do a good job as the Reigning Monarch of the Kingdom.

    King Richard Rivers had been informed of his daughter¡¯s return and he found a sudden need to inspect the troops outside of the Capital.  He beseeched his wife, Queen Consort Grace Rivers to greet their eldest daughter and to brief her on what had been happening in the Kingdom and most especially as it concerned young James Drake.

    The Royal Consort dragged her almost constant companion along with her, her fourteen year old daughter Princess Rose Rivers.  Grace had not been able to raise her first three children as she would have liked.  Rose had been born seven years after her now deceased brother, Matthew.  With three potential heirs already, the King and his advisors had permitted Grace to raise Rose as she desired and not as political piece on a game board.  Grace was very familiar with how much Ellen and Rose liked one another and the Queen hoped that having Rose there would help to calm her oldest daughter.

    Dean Greta Marks was nonplused to be facing Crown Princess Ellen, Queen Consort Grace and Princess Rose.  She had already met with the King on several occasions and she had even faced him when he was angry because of the food that young Drake had been forced to eat for the first six weeks that he had attended the Royal University.  But Princess Ellen was another kind of beast altogether; she asked hard questions and spotted any obfuscations almost immediately.

    As the Princess walked the halls of the University with Dean Marks leading the way, she got angrier and angrier.  The hallways they walked were getting progressively more dismal and dirty.  The more traveled portions of the University had fine marbled floored, glossy rich woods and highly polished brass and silver fixtures.

    Where she tread now the floors were cheap tiles and bare wood which obviously had not been cleaned in at least a decade.  The walls were simple plaster and she could feel drafts coming in and around the warped window frames.  As for fixtures there were none, in fact most of the door knobs were missing.  The old servant¡¯s wing had been long forgotten and was just waiting for a spark to light it all ablaze, and perhaps take the whole University complex with it.

    Suddenly she heard a muffled ¡°whomp¡± noise coming from the end of the hall, which was in the direction in which James¡¯s new workshop was supposed to lay.  She had heard that type of sound before and she started to run.

    I had taken over the large kitchen and dining room in the old servant¡¯s wing as my private work space.  After my return here, it had taken over two weeks for the University to get the large room into decent shape, two other smaller rooms along the same hallway, had also been cleaned and repaired since then.

    Originally and for a very short time, I was using a room that was part of my private suite for my studies but for some reason that had caused the new Dean to be quite distressed and thus I got assigned this old dining area for my use.  When I had originally lived in this old wing, I had searched it thoroughly looking for things that I might salvage for my own needs.  So I already knew about this large room, and when the Dean got upset about me conducting my experiments in the student residential wing; it had been my suggestion that I move my workshop here and she had eagerly embraced the idea.  Really, a space with a large kitchen was almost perfect for my needs.

    Once the University was done with their repair work, I had hired some workmen to make my own modifications to the dining room. While the kitchen was made of stone and brick, so as to prevent fires, the dining room was made of wood and plaster, which I didn¡¯t have much faith in.  Sometimes my experiments could go sideways and I had come to trust the stone walls of my keep and of the fortress that I helped build at Drake¡¯s landing.

    So using the same magic that I had used in the construction of Ellen¡¯s fortress, some beach sand from the harbor and with the aid of several workmen; I had completely lined the dining room with stone, one small step thick.  I must say that using solely beach sand instead of the mud and muck which we had used back in the Empire had produced glazed stone walls which were quite beautiful, when they were not covered with soot or splattered with potion ingredients.  I had also enchanted the stone with various runes in an attempt to avoid any potential calamities.  It goes without saying that the workmen and I; had been forced to strengthen the floor but that hadn¡¯t been too difficult, we just had to tear up a small portion of the old flooring to gain access to what was beneath.  So far the Dean hadn¡¯t found out about my modifications and I hoped to keep it that way.  I had impressive looking ¡°No Admittance¡± signs hung on the doors and my private magical laboratory was of course fully warded.

    I only had one question who; in the great void, was knocking so hard on my door, and calling out my name so loudly.  In fact it sounded like an entire chorus of people.  My new personal servants had already delivered my dinner and were now as was their custom cowering behind some stone worktables which I had constructed at the same time as the stone walls.

    I walked over to the door, coughing a little because of the smoke.  I hoped that the breeze coming in through the now shattered windows would soon clear the fumes.   As soon as that took place my servants would be able to close both the interior and exterior wooden shutters that I had custom ordered.  Just using any old boards to temporarily repair my workshop would have been unsightly.  I would of course have to replace some of the glass panes, but it wasn¡¯t the first time.  In fact the glass maker and the glazier were quite happy with my business and I believe that they are now pre-making panes and windows for my laboratory in anticipation of new orders from me.  The first two times that a small oversight of mine had broken some windows, perhaps all of them, it had taken a week to get suitable replacements, but it only took two days after my most recent accident.

    As I approached the door, I could distinctly hear three feminine voices and one sounded familiar.  ¡°James, you had better open this door in two minutes or I¡¯ll have my guards knock it down.¡±

    Oh joy, Ellen was here.  Before I opened the door I made sure that nothing was still burning and I tried to wave a little more of the smoke away from my face.  Maybe I should learn a wind spell?  The pounding on the door had increased in both strength and volume.  Well there was no hope for it; I opened the door slowly while suppressing my need to cough.

    ¡°Princess Ellen it¡¯s so good to see you again, cough.  Cough, how was your trip back from the new territories, cough?  I must say, cough, that you are looking extraordinarily well today.  Cough, how do you keep, cough, yourself looking so posed, cough, confident and beautiful?¡± I tried to put a smile on my face.  Alex had been teaching me how to distract women through the use of compliments.  I hope it works, though it doesn¡¯t seem to be always successful for him, the few times I¡¯ve seen him use the tactic with Donna.

    Ellen looked at the slightly undersized young man that stood before her.  He had a soot covered face and it was obvious that he was unsuccessfully trying to hold back the urge to cough.  James had had a difficult life.  She well knew that without him her success against the Empire would not have happened and she also knew that without him she would be dead many times over.

    To save the Kingdom, she had worked him to the very bone and treated him quite unfairly but she had felt at the time that she had no other choice.  Even after her victory, on the orders of her father, she had not been able to reward James as she had wanted to or even been able to tell him how much she thought of him, because what were words when she couldn¡¯t back them up with deeds.  Now things were different; not only was Lord Thomas branded a traitor but her cruel and arrogant older brother was permanently exiled to a small estate and she was now the Royal Heir.

    She gently put her hand to his cheek not caring that it was getting filthy and spoke.  ¡°James it¡¯s good to see you, but what in the blazes are you setting fire to now?¡±

    Oops, there seems to be some fire in her eyes.  I burn down two little buildings by accident while I was in the Empire and she never lets me forget it.  ¡°Princess I seem to have burned my dinner.¡±  And I had burned it, along with the heavy wooden table on which it had sat, before I even had a chance to take a bite of it too.  My new flame potion proved to be much more powerful and energetic that I had thought it would be.  Who would believe that such a tiny amount of it when mixed with its activating agent could cause such a short lived but devastating inferno?  I would need to modify it a bit before offering it to the Navy, to use with their kraken spears.

    Her expression conveyed that she seemed to doubt my words.  I was hurt.

    The Princess looked at young James as he tried to look completely innocent.  His eyes were slightly tear filled but she suspected that it was the smoke that caused that.  James¡¯s harsh life had made him look older than his years but his short stature and his sooty makeup made him now look like a young chimney sweep.  Actually she found the look quite becoming and she wondered if there was perhaps a potion that could take the lines and weathering from his face?

    The time he had taken an arrow in her place, she had thought him dead or soon to be.  That ambush had seen some furious action and she had had no time to tend him or send anyone else to his aid.  She wasn¡¯t able to get back to his location for almost an hour and she had fully and fearfully expected to find a cooling corpse.  Instead she had found that he had dragged himself off and was tending his own wound with potions and bandages.  Seeing a bloody knife close by him, it was obvious to her at the time, that he had been forced to cut the arrow out of his own body.  He had looked so forlorn lying there.   After aiding so many people, yet again no one had come to his aid when he had needed help.  She had desired to mother him but the needs of the battlefield and the war had forced her to suppress her emotions.

    Now they weren¡¯t on the battlefield or in a war any longer.  She pulled him into a hug and crushed him against herself.  ¡°James we have won the war; there is no longer any need to place yourself; in any danger.  Please promise me that you¡¯ll start being a bit more careful.¡±

    A muffled response was all she heard back.  Dean Marks, Queen Consort Grace and Princess Rose all looked on in amazement.  Ellen could have cared less, James deserved some consideration and private acknowledgement of highly she truly regarded him.  He had been by her side for almost three years and providing a constant stream of magical miracles during the entire time.  To the Princess he was more than a friend, he was family.

    I couldn¡¯t breathe and because of a little smoke still in my lungs I started to cough just slightly into Ellen¡¯s chest.  She finally released me and I gulped air into my starved lungs.  I desperately needed to spit up a sooty film that was in the back of my throat but with four women present, I had no choice but to swallow it; yuck.

    Two hours later I was in my private suite, having a meal with Princess Ellen, the Queen Consort, Princess Rose and Dean Marks.  Dean Marks was done with her diet of gruel and water or worse.  She certainly seemed to be savoring the meal that my chef had prepared for us.

    Queen Grace and Princess Rose had given me more than one disconcerting glance since I had met them.  Princess Ellen was talking.

    ¡°James, things are much different now.  As the Royal Heir my words are no longer discounted so I want you to promise me that if you need any help or anything troubles you, that you will contact me immediately.  I will take steps to make sure that any messages from you will reach me in a most expeditious fashion.¡±

    ¡°Thank you Princess but everything seems to be just fine now.¡±

    ¡°That is another thing James when we are in an informal setting like this; please call me Ellen as you did in the Empire.  Being constantly called Princess by my friends, I find most disconcerting and uncomfortable.¡±

    ¡°Yes Ellen.¡±

    ¡°Very good, now you can you please tell your friend what you really did in your magical laboratory to cause such a fire?  Also I think Dean Marks is quite curious about the stone walls we saw through the doorway there, considering how all the other rooms in that wing are constructed of wood and plaster.¡±

    I decided to answer the second question first; it might help keep me out of trouble later on.  ¡°As you know I grew up in a small keep constructed of stone, afterwards I helped you build your fortress at Drake¡¯s Landing.  So twice now I have had workshops built of stone and I¡¯ve long since learned to appreciate the properties of stone.  Dean Marks gave me permission to modify the rooms that she assigned to me in that old wing and I did, using the same magic that we used to build your fort.  With the help of some men that I hired, I lined the room with a step¡¯s worth of enchanted stone.¡±

    There was a startled exclamation from Dean Marks, I knew good and well that she had expected only simple modifications and not what I had actually done.  Princess Ellen was giving me one of her ¡°looks,¡± which conveyed that she knew that I knew, that I had exceeded what Dean Marks¡¯s expectations had been when the Dean had granted me permission to modify the room.

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    ¡°As for the fire, I¡¯ve long held the thought that the twin bottle flame potions which the Navy now regularly uses with their kraken spears is too bulky, slows down the spears and makes them more inaccurate.  I am trying to develop a newer, lighter and smaller concoction.  The potion I tested a short while ago is much smaller and burns extremely hot but it burns too quickly and it has no persistence.  It might be useable as a weapon, but Naval experts would have to tell me if that was true or not.  However it is extremely unstable at this time, and I will need to make a much safer version of it before I can demonstrate it to anyone.¡±

    Dean Marks started to speak but she stopped herself.  She was quite concerned that James was experimenting with something so dangerous in her school but she felt that what with his recent history and the Princess¡¯s fondness for him that she wouldn¡¯t have any official support if she did decide to remonstrate with him.  To the contrary, she felt that if she rebuked him that she might just get herself into trouble.  She decided to accept the status quo and mollify herself with the thought of all that enchanted stone lining his workshop, which was hopefully making James¡¯s laboratory extremely fire resistant and less of a danger for the University.

    A pleasant evening passed as the Princess and James kept the Queen Consort, Princess Rose and Dean Marks entertained with their stories from the war.

    Dean Marks went back to her own suite with the knowledge that Princess Ellen had delivered a personal message with her visit and her actions.  The Dean understood that she was not to mess with James Drake and to do everything she could to support him.  If James had been anyone else the situation might have been intolerable for her but he wasn¡¯t even the littlest bit arrogant nor was he demanding or difficult.  She decided she could live with the situation for now and she did enjoy teaching the young man and working with him.

    The Admiralty was recruiting heavily among even the most marginal of magic users.  The Navy was looking for anyone with the ability to refresh the runes on a kraken spear, which because of the cleverness of James¡¯s runes, took little ability.

    I was playing at trying to make shield runes that could stop or hinder a kraken spear, I¡¯d had some successes.  My servants, Phillip Turner and John Cooke, had arranged to get a large wagon and carriage for me.  We were going almost a full day¡¯s travel outside of town to an estate owned by a friend of Alex¡¯s.  Getting aboard the carriage I noticed that it had what looked like a variation of the Royal Crest on the door.

    Alex¡¯s county was much further away and we would not have been able to get there without at least a week of traveling.  I needed to test something and I needed a lot of land on which to do it, thus Alex had beseeched a friend to help us.

    ¡°Hello Donna, hello Alex thanks for doing this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure James.  These are my good friends Duke Paul Howard and Count Samuel Taylor.   This is part of Duke Howard¡¯s Duchy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet both of you sirs.  My name is James Drake.  Thank you for allowing me to run my tests here Duke Howard.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all James and please call me Paul.¡±

    ¡°Call me Sam and it¡¯s nice to meet you too, James.¡±  My servants were starting to act in a peculiar fashion.  Phil and John were supposed to call me James when we were alone but I guess they had to go back to being all stiff and formal like when we were surrounded by nobles.

    Paul commented, ¡°I heard that you wanted to test a new kraken tube today?¡±

    ¡°Actually as you probably already know, the present tube does very little but I¡¯m working on improving that too.  I¡¯ve got a new kraken spear to test and a new rune shield that might stop a kraken spear.  Ever since Lord Thomas ran off I¡¯ve gotten worried about who else has learned the secret of the runes that we use.  So I want our side to have something that can stop any enemy spears and a better version of the kraken spear for us as well.¡±

    Sam remarked, ¡°I really like the way you think James.  I¡¯ve had the same worries.  The Empire and their secret allies would love to equal the odds against us and our growing fleet.¡±

    Paul led us over to a large hill that we could use as a backstop for any of the spears that overshoot or go through their targets.

    My wagon was full of kraken tubes, spears and large wide boards that had been framed together to give a surface area of about six steps by six steps.

    Paul asked, ¡°I don¡¯t see any runes.  I thought that you were going to test some new ones?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, we are testing new runes but they¡¯ve been disguised, that¡¯s one of the things that we are testing today.¡±

    It was Sam¡¯s turn.  ¡°But I thought that the engraved faces of runes or wards couldn¡¯t be covered for at least a hand¡¯s width or more?  And that if anyone did do that, then runes or wards would malfunction or fail to work entirely.¡±

    ¡°I think that I¡¯ve figured out a way to get around that limitation.  You see I thought that if I came up with a new shield rune or runes that the Kingdom¡¯s enemies would eventually copy them and our military would lose any advantage.  So I worked a long time on coming up with a solution for that problem.  The first improvement; is the paint or ink that is used to fill in runic engravings.  My new ink is superior and holds a magical charge far better.  But the mage has to be more powerful as well, to take best advantage of this new ink.  Then there is the over coat that protects the ink and makes it last so much longer.  Finally, there is the second coat which hides the rune.  So far I¡¯ve made brown, white, black, red, and gray disguise paints.  This process creates a rune that lasts a very long time in comparison to runes made the old way but necessarily these new runes are much harder to refresh.¡±

    ¡°How long will these new runes last?¡±  Paul wanted to know.

    ¡°The military¡¯s current kraken spears need their magic to be refreshed about every week.   All of my runes, prepared with the new process, have retained a full magical charge anywhere from one hundred and ten to one hundred and nineteen days, with the majority being towards the high end.  It has been one hundred and seventy days since I first started using my new inks to produce runes and all of them, still retain some of their magic.  We will be testing enchanted shields thirty days old, sixty days old, ninety days old, one hundred and twenty days old, one hundred and fifty days old, and finally one hundred and seventy days old.  The shields will be tested against the old style kraken spears and my new models.¡±

    ¡°What about your new spears, James;¡± asked Sam.

    ¡°I have new runes which I have also disguised and we will be testing their power today.  The new spear should travel further and hit harder than the old model.  I am also working on a kraken tube that will propel normal spears.  The enchantment is on the tube instead of being on the spear.  But I¡¯ve been having some problems during my tests.  I really need a place where I can do daily testing; it would significantly speed up my research.  My thought was that if we used my new kraken spears with the new kraken tube then we should be able to shoot a spear for a very long distance indeed.¡±

    ¡°James have I told you yet, that I like the way that you think;¡± said Sam.  We all laughed.

    First we tested the new spear and found that they had over twice the range of the old ones.  Then we tested the shields and found that fully charged runes could stop even my new spears.  It took some assembly time and a donation of lumber from Paul but we found that the runes could shield a wooden wall for twenty steps to either side of the magical symbols.  Sam and Paul thought that was wonderful.

    It was important though that everything be contiguous, any air gap could stop the effect.  Shield runes made one hundred and fifty days ago could stop both old and new model kraken spears but the shield made one hundred and seventy days ago could only stop the old model.

    Testing of the new kraken spears proved that they lost a lot of their effectiveness, past one hundred and twenty days.

    Paul, Sam, Alex and Donna were all very pleased with today¡¯s results.

    Paul commented, ¡°James I¡¯m sure that the Army and most especially the Navy will be interested in today¡¯s test results.  You¡¯ll probably being hearing from them soon.¡±

    Sam grinned and asked anxiously.  ¡°Can we see your new kraken tube?¡±

    My two servants shuddered and backed up.  I looked at them.  ¡°You two are just big babies.  You¡¯ve never really been hurt in testing and I¡¯ve got both healing and regeneration potions on hand, just in case.  So why don¡¯t you put on your armor and we¡¯ll show my new and old friends the tubes.¡±

    Glumly they strode off.  I turned towards the others.  ¡°They are wonderful at feeding me and keeping me clean but just one too many fires or explosions and they get all nervous.¡±  Donna and Alex were grinning.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got two tubes, the first requires a mage to operate and seems to work fine but I haven¡¯t tested it for distance yet.  The second tube sadly doesn¡¯t work right; it¡¯s for people who aren¡¯t magic users.  Most of the time it releases too little power but then sometimes it lets loose too much and it destroys itself, in a spectacular fashion.¡±

    I demonstrated the first tube and with a normal spear it would propel it, for a distance over one and a half times that of the old model kraken spears.  This tube was over twice as long when compared to the old powerless tubes.  When firing an old model kraken spear the new tube shot it three times as far.  When firing a new model kraken spear, it was five times as far.

    Sam asked.  ¡°How good does the mage have to be to use this new tube?¡±

    ¡°Not very, but his abilities do effect how often he can activate the tube.¡±

    ¡°I want it now, along with the shields and the new kraken spears.¡±

    ¡°So do I;¡± added Paul.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    I was then reintroduced to Baron Paul Howard, General of the Army and Count Samuel Taylor, Admiral of the Navy.  I gave Alex and Donna a dirty look.  My other model kraken tube was demonstrated and it didn¡¯t blow up.  But the results were comical.  The spear didn¡¯t even clear the tube.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to teach some people how to make the new runes.  Dean Marks knows how to make the inks and paints, those are actually magical potions.  I would recommend that you keep those a secret for as long as you can.  School will be ending in two months for the summer break but I¡¯ll be leaving a month early to go back to the swamp.  I need to hunt for ingredients and truthfully I miss the place.  I¡¯m almost getting fat with all of this luxurious living that I¡¯ve been doing lately.¡±

    Both senior military men looked dubiously at the skinny young man before them in response to his ¡°getting fat¡± comment.  But Alex seemed slightly alarmed.  ¡°James, how are you getting home?¡±

    ¡°The swamp runs all the way to the gulf.  I¡¯ve already hired a shop to make me a pirogue for me.  I thought that I would hire a merchant ship to drop me off just outside the swamp and then I¡¯d take my boat in the rest of the way.  In the fall, I¡¯ll leave the swamp the same way that I came in and I¡¯ll then try to flag down a passing ship for a ride back to Sweet Port or I just might travel along the coast in my own boat.¡±  I said with a shrug, of my shoulders.

    For some reason Paul and Sam blanched upon hearing my plans.  ¡°James when you¡¯re ready to go home you can hitch a ride on a Navy ship and if you give us an approximate date for when you might be returning, I¡¯ll have our patrol ships keep an eye out for you and they¡¯ll be ready to offer you a ride back.¡±

    Paul, Alex and Donna all seemed to think that was a much better idea.

 Chapter 9: Home Is Where The Muck Is.

    If you spot any glaring errors please leave a comment pointing them out, thank you.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter Nine: Home Is Where The Muck Is.

    After James, Alex and Donna left for their homes; Paul and Sam sat down in Paul¡¯s den and over a glass of brandy the two men began to have a discussion about their new favorite person.

    ¡°Paul, we have to protect him.  He¡¯s turning out invention after invention that¡¯s restoring this Kingdom¡¯s former standing and wealth.  Without him we would still be literally trapped here, with our Naval and merchant ships being sunk at the convenience of the Empire.  Those bastards attacked our ports, shipyards and coastal cities virtually at will and thanks to James and Princess Ellen that¡¯s a thing of the past.¡±

    ¡°I know that Sam.  Who would have ever believed that the Empire had so many spies amongst us and that we had so many traitors?   Hell we didn¡¯t even realize that Republic of Pyrus, and the Kingdoms of Shangren and Fata were behind many of our misfortunes, though we should have suspected it.  We should have known that not even the Empire could have afforded the massive fleet that was required to effectively blockade us for so many years.  Instead they had a smaller fleet and some auxiliaries from their secret allies, along with inside knowledge of the locations and deployments of almost all of our Naval and merchant vessels.

    They had their spy mages tag all of our ships with those little runes which, according to the Guild, acted more like wards in that they used only a tiny bit of energy.  Those runes allowed the Empire to somehow track, follow and attack our ships when it was at the most advantageous time for them.  Their spies could also communicate magically and let them know of any ship movements or ships under construction.  We still haven¡¯t figured out how that communication trick works or at least our mages haven¡¯t.  But if it wasn¡¯t for Princess Ellen and what she discovered during the war we wouldn¡¯t even know that much.¡±

    ¡°Well at least we¡¯ve figured out that tag system and can block it for now.  But thanks to Lord Thomas or I should say the Traitor Thomas the whole world knows about James Drake.  I¡¯ve been worrying about our enemies getting their own kraken tubes for months now but James comes along and almost resolves all of my worries in a single day.¡±

    ¡°Too bad we just can¡¯t leave the shields on all of the time. Sam.¡±

    ¡°I can perfectly understand how that would be impossible.  If the shields are active they use energy and if the shields are stopping incoming projectiles or magical attacks then they are using even more energy.  But they are far better than what we had and our new weapons will out range our enemies¡¯ tubes, catapults, ballista, archers and even their spell casters.  For defenses, I can foresee the shield runes being activated separately so if a craft only needs shields on the starboard side then the port side shields will be inactive and thus conserving magical energy for later use.¡±

    ¡°That will probably work.  I know that the runes used on the Fifth Regiment¡¯s shields saved many lives when they faced off against the Imperial mages even if those shields had to be frequently refreshed by James.  I suggest we consult with Countess Green about Drake¡¯s safety, internal security is supposed to be her bailiwick now.¡±

    ---------------------

    I was having dinner at Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s home.  It was a little over two weeks since the shield and kraken weapon tests at Duke Paul Howard¡¯s estate.  Ellen was dining with us; this is the fourth time in two weeks that I¡¯ve shared a meal with her.  Twice she¡¯s come by my suite for breakfast, just like we used to do when we were fighting the Eastern Empire.  By nature we are both early risers, and we fell into the habit of eating together in the morning, during the war.  Personally I think she always did it, because it gave her the best opportunity to place a request with me for this or that magical potion or enchantment.

    Donna paused in her meal to look at me.  ¡°James, your potions are unbelievably effective but why do you and so many of us still have scars?  I have never understood that.¡±

    ¡°That will take a few minutes to explain.  A health potion does simply that it keeps a body healthy.  It boost¡¯s a body¡¯s immune system and a body¡¯s recovery rate to illness and injury.  As a side effect, through keeping a body healthy and in essence giving an adult the recovery rate of a young child or better, it can extend the life span of a person if taken regularly.  The potions will diminish the rate a person acquires blemishes and helps wounds heal with less scarring.  It¡¯s exactly like how a young child may sometimes heal scar free from an injury but while saying that, even a little child can frequently acquire a scar or two that never fades away.

    As for fever potions, they work against diseases and many of them have to be customized for a particular disease.

    Healing potions heal the body but they cannot regenerate destroyed limbs or organs and they only work on relatively recent wounds or injuries; more importantly they cannot realign broken bones.  So someone must stabilize and adjust any broken bones in an injured person before or shortly after a healing potion is administered.  Healing concoctions cannot heal old skin blemishes or scars that have already naturally healed, thus a healing potion will not work on old skin imperfections to improve their appearance.

    Regeneration Potions are like a super healing potion and they will regenerate limbs and missing organs.  They will even repair painful scars or injuries that have not healed properly in the past.  They will even partially or completely fix misaligned bones if they are a source of pain.  But they will not heal superficial imperfections which don¡¯t represent a true defect in the body or cause pain.  I¡¯ve lost many of the deeper scars that the Witch gave me because of the regenerative potions that I¡¯ve drank during the past few years.  Those scars were painful and I¡¯m glad that they are gone now but my body still has many pain free scars which don¡¯t inconvenience me in the slightest.

    As for healing superficial skin imperfections, that can be done in one of two ways.  The first is painful, using a potion to strip off the layers of scarred skin and even pieces of deformed flesh away and then using a healing or regeneration concoction to repair the now newly damaged area.  The second method that my books have hinted at is to use a magical skin cream.  The cream works slowly and must be applied over varying lengths of time which is dependent upon the scar.  The time span is measured in months and can even be years.  A person stops using the cream when they are satisfied with the appearance of the scar or blemish.¡±

    Ellen perked up and made a request.  ¡°James I hate to ask you this but my face has weathered and been scarred during my years of combat.  Appearance does count when you are the Royal Heir.  Do you think you might produce a magical skin cream for me?  I will of course pay you for it.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps after my trip home this summer.  I¡¯ll need some different ingredients and I will also need to look at my books.¡±

    ¡°I would appreciate it James and it might be quite the money maker for you too, if you decide to market it.  Many people are extremely vain.¡±   Ellen was not that concerned about her own appearance but she knew that James always tested his own concoctions on himself first.  She wanted to see him with a young man¡¯s face and not one belonging to a combat soldier in his thirties.  She exchanged a secret look with Donna, the two women had conspired together to trick their friend into regaining his youthful appearance.  Neither woman liked how he was so frequently misjudged because of his weathered and scarred body.

    It was wonderful to be moving away from that Navy ship, in my own boat, back into the swamp, and master of my own fate once again.  Too many people had been telling me what to do or putting their expectations onto me and I was tired of it.  I was cautious about entering the swamp, because I had never been in this section of it before but I was going home.

    My new boat was half again as big as my old one.  I planned on stopping frequently to gather potion components while on the journey to my keep.  I even had, with the aid of Dean Marks, put together a portable set of potion making tools and equipment in a small watertight trunk; that was in case I wanted to make something before getting home.

    I was worried at first that I had lost my knack for living in the swamp but it only took a short while and I fell right back into the groove.  My first taste of fire broiled snake was heavenly.

    It took me almost three weeks before I made it back into the area by Ester¡¯s village.  My concocting skills, technique and efficiency had improved dramatically thanks to Dean Marks, so during my journey I had mixed the fever potions that I knew that the village needed.   The Dean had supplied me with over a hundred fancy glass bottles like the University used for its potion classes.  I pulled up to the dock slowly and I saw Diane Phelps hurrying to greet me.

    ¡°Hello Diane, how are you today?¡±

    ¡°James, it¡¯s so good to see you.  Dad was getting worried since we hadn¡¯t received any fever potions yet and we hadn¡¯t heard from you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got fifty of them right here.  But we¡¯ll have to conduct the transactions in my boat while it¡¯s off shore.  My shop island is probably overrun by nasty creatures since I haven¡¯t been around to renew the wards on it and I expect the shop itself to be in sad shape as well.  I have a special ruling from the Minister of Justice that says that I can once again conduct business if it is done within Drake¡¯s Swamp.  That¡¯s because I was selling magical merchandise here before the Kingdom claimed the area, and the Crown has now agreed to let me resume selling my magical wares here.  Both the King and the Mage Guild have approved of the Minister¡¯s ruling, so I¡¯m reopening my island store.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful, Dad was feeling guilty because you were providing all of those potions and wards to us for free but he did as you said to and he sold your magical creations at big discounts to our local residents.  He made sure that everybody got their fair share too and that no one was hoarding or trying to turn a profit by reselling them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good, I was worried about that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get Dad.¡±

    Mack showed up and I sold my potions.  He had a ton of wards for me to refresh but I had some wards of my own to repair first.  I stopped by my shop and it didn¡¯t look too bad but there were spiders, crocs and snakes all over the island.  I set up some new wards on the building and I left to give them time to work.  Then I returned to my keep and I found that my island too, had been completely overrun with beasties, including a swamp dragon.  Mix a dragon with a frog, give it wings and that¡¯s a swamp dragon.  They¡¯re not very smart and they can¡¯t really fly that well but they can take very long hops with the aid of their wings.  I¡¯ve seen them leap as far as four hundred steps.  I had a shoulder fired kraken tube but the spear head wasn¡¯t poisoned.  I hung the dragon ward around my neck and I slowly walked towards my home.  The swamp dragon shifted around a bit, the ward was making it uncomfortable and suddenly it made a giant leap away from me and my island.

    The keep was in terrible shape, the place was festooned with spider webs and there was a huge nest of very large green spiders.  If I didn¡¯t need their poison; I would have preferred to use a ward to just chase them all away.

    It took my two days, when I had only been intending to stop at my home for only a few hours to set up my first course of wards and then immediately return to Ester¡¯s village.  But I did get a lot of spider venom and I was only bitten twice which was damn good for there being so many spiders.  The greens are particularly aggressive arachnid and they tend to chase out all of the other spiders.  I would never tell this to anybody because it would probably gross them out but their large legs boiled and served with oil are mighty tasty.

    I finally had my first course of wards set up, and I had dropped off my belongings and most of the ingredients that I had gathered on my journey home, through the swamp.  I then headed back to my shop.  When I got there I first repainted the outside and inside with my potions.  After which I returned to Ester¡¯s to pick up a load of depleted ward signs that needed to be refreshed.  There were a lot of signs.  It took me a week to renew them all but during that time; I also made two trips back to my keep to emplace the second and third lines of wards.

    When I finally returned to my keep, Diane was with me.  I had hired her to be my servant for the next month.  I would be getting back to the University a little late this fall; I had already arranged that with the Dean.  The plan was for me to be a month late but I was going to be bad and I would probably push back my return date.  I already had my books for the next school year and I was expected to study on my own; which I did, along with gathering ingredients and making potions.  After a month I returned Diane home, I also dropped off some concoctions and wards; but then instead of picking up my next hire I headed for Drake¡¯s Landing, I knew that they needed potions too.    I found Major Nancy Carter in command there.  I delivered the potions and I spent a week with them renewing their wards.  I did warn her that in the future I might start charging for my work; she said that she would pass that information along to Governor General Annette Williams who had taken over for the new Royal Heir Princess Ellen.

    I still couldn¡¯t believe that Ellen was now the heir.  It had come as quite a shock to me when I had first heard the rumor back at school.  Sometimes I hadn¡¯t been too nice to the Princess and I had argued a lot with her as well, she might secretly be holding a grudge against me because of all my backtalk.  And now she was going to be the Queen, maybe I should stay in the swamp?

    I went back to Ester¡¯s and picked up Margaret Adams who was going to work again for me.  Her daughter who was two years older than me would be next.  Margaret once more spoiled me with snacks, which was very nice.  I was going to have to tell my people back in Sweet Port to work harder at keeping me fed.  Their meals were great but they didn¡¯t bring me enough between meal snacks.  I get to working, I forget about eating and my energy just plummets.

    I had to have Margaret help me with my tests of the magical beauty creams that I had created.  I had gathered different ingredients and mixed together various concoctions, but while I could reach the scars on my face and torso with no difficulty, I could not reach the ones on my back.  So Margaret had to apply the creams on different areas on my back and help me evaluate the results.  That woman is entirely too tender hearted, she would cry so frequently and that it turn would upset me.  I hope her daughter is made of tougher stuff because there is still a lot more testing to do.

    When I returned Margaret back to the village I got a big hug again and for some reason she kissed my cheek, she¡¯s a strange woman.  I went off to talk to Mack.

    ¡°Hey, Mack¡±

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Hello James, how are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m working on a new kind of health potion.  It will primarily be for those people over thirty.  I¡¯m taking it now and I¡¯m confident that it will not adversely affect someone¡¯s health but I need some people to test it on.  I¡¯ve already given it to Margaret Adams and I¡¯ve given her three more doses for her husband and parents.  If you know of ten or twenty elderly people that will be willing to meet with me, I¡¯ll give them the potions for free.

    I plan on getting a room at the inn for next two days, so if you know of anyone please send them over.¡±

    Mack promptly volunteered himself and the mother of his deceased wife.  I explained to him how the potion came in four parts and each fraction needed to be consumed seven to eleven days apart with eight through ten days being the optimum schedule.

    Instead of twenty volunteers I got over thirty and I had to refuse some people because I ran out of the concoction.  I¡¯ll bring some more on my next visit to the village.

    Margaret Adam¡¯s daughter Linda was almost as bad as her mother, she would cry at odd times.  I wasn¡¯t that scary was I?  But she fed me almost as good as her mom and she hugged me too, when I dropped her off.

    I had the fall potions ready for Mack and some more of my special health potions.  I now had almost ninety people in the test group.  The first group and Margaret¡¯s family seemed to be responding extremely well to the concoction when I examined them.  Margaret¡¯s husband and her parents were really odd ducks, the way they would stare at me and treat me so politely.

    I might sell the villagers a weaker version next year, but if the current potion works as well as think it is going to, they will never get the full strength version again because while it does work as a health potion, it is actually a longevity concoction of my own design.  Some of the ingredients are extremely rare and it is a lot of hard work to make the potion.   The weaker version will probably only be about half as good but it uses only a single rare ingredient and it isn¡¯t nearly as difficult to manufacture.  I¡¯ll test the weaker version when I¡¯m back in Sweet Port.

    While in the village I offered my old customers a deal.  I would refresh their wards for only half a silver piece each, using a new process that should make the wards last for eight months or more.  Wards don¡¯t physically stop things they just scare them away so they use a lot less power than a regular rune does.  My new process was actually an ink that I had developed for the new runes that I had showed to Paul and Sam, but this ink didn¡¯t work as well as I needed it to, so I had relegated it to my commercial use and not a military secret, though I was planning on keeping the weaker ink a secret just between Dean Marks and me.  I had to keep an economic edge over the competition somehow.

    My keep and shop had both gotten wards made with my premium military ink and I had no idea how long they would last, I was hoping for a year or more.  It had been a pain chasing all of those nasty creatures away from both my home and my store.

    After taking care of the village I returned to Drake¡¯s Landing and I dropped off their potions and refreshed their wards.  I asked Major Williams if she could get word to the Navy that I would be leaving the swamp in about three weeks.  I would be taking a new route out of the swamp since I wanted to do some more gathering.

    A little over three weeks later I left the swamp and I didn¡¯t find a single Navy ship waiting for me, I found three.  Why did I suspect that I was in trouble?

    Upon arriving at the largest vessel, I was immediately confronted by a stern faced woman in a captain¡¯s uniform.  I almost stood at attention.  Weakly I said, ¡°Hello¡± and wiggled my fingers at her.  Maybe I should turn around?

    ¡°You are late Mister Drake!  If you hadn¡¯t sent word through Major Williams I would have been forced to send sailors into that swamp to look for you, per my orders.¡±

    ¡°Then those were awfully dumb orders, Captain.  Going into that swamp unprepared and not knowing your way around is a death sentence.  If I don¡¯t come out of that place just assume that I¡¯m dead because the weak and injured don¡¯t last long there and by long, I mean no more than a single hour or two.¡±

    I got an angry glare and a grunt in return; then I was shown to a cabin after my boat was hoisted aboard.  The ship seemed to be moving pretty slowly because of the wind or the lack thereof, I could have made better time in my pirogue.  I wish I could put a rune of movement on this Naval vessel but it was simply too big and my magic didn¡¯t have enough juice to power it.  Maybe one day I would think of a solution, but I doubted it.

    I took to wandering the ship since the voyage was taking so long.  I had asked the captain to lower my boat so I could just go on ahead but she had given me a look that scared me more than a kraken.  I heard some of the crew talking about a magical tag system that the Empire had used to mark and track Kingdom vessels.  It sounded interesting; I would need to check into it.  I tried talking to the ship¡¯s mage but he would have nothing to do with me.

    It was night and I was enjoying a star filled sky, when suddenly a fireball exploded on the rear starboard quarter of our vessel.  I jumped startled by the light and the explosion; I saw two similar fireballs exploding on the two ships that were accompanying us.  It had to be an attack by enemy mages, it could be nothing else.  The night was lit up by the fires.  The two other ships, which were smaller than the one I was on, were obviously in much worse shape but we weren¡¯t much better off.  I had only been attracted to spell casting as a tool to make things and I hadn¡¯t really been interested in battle magic even though I had spent three years in a war zone.  I thought that spell casting was inefficient and you got far greater rewards from potions, runes and wards.  I was paying for that mistake now, though I was returning to Sweet Port with three old spell books that I had found and kept hidden in my keep.  The books had looked interesting and the spells they contained seemed to be far more sophisticated than the spells taught at school.

    However, I did know a few fire spells and one of them could extinguish fires but it was meant for cooking fires and the like and not for anything like what I was facing right now.  But the spell was fast and easy to cast so I threw more power into it and I started putting out fires.  Another fire ball was coming in and seeing no other choice I jumped on top of the ship¡¯s railing, grabbing a rope to steady myself and I stood in the path of the incoming fireball. Men were screaming and I think I heard the Captain yelling at me to get down.

    In one of my frequent trips to Ester¡¯s Village I had arranged for some clothes to be made for me.  They were a fantastic bargain and many of them were made out of the hides from the swamp pigs that I had killed and butchered.  Wanting to always have replacements in case any of my clothes ever got wrecked again; I had several vests, jackets, shirts, pants and pairs of boots created and I saved a bundle having them made in that little village too, when compared to Sweet Port.  Let me tell you, I don¡¯t care what anyone else says, leather or furs made from a swamp pig is premium stuff.  Most of my clothes but most especially my outerwear like the jacket I was currently wearing was festooned with several very large buttons.  They were on the cuffs, shoulders and the back hem of the jacket.  They were made to look functional, by holding down leather straps on the jacket, but the big buttons were there.

    I had gotten tired of being a target for people and while I was home I had decided to do something about it.  I had finally finished my designs of a new type of shield rune.  The rune would work with other runes of a similar type that were keyed the same way, together they produced a magical shield that was greater than the sum of their parts, that is if they were provided with enough magical energy from a strong enough mage.  A mage who knew what they were doing could shape and control the shield for maximum strength and versatility.   The runes on the buttons were of course disguised with my new potion-paint.

    The fireball came in and was stopped about ten feet from the ship where it exploded with none of the flames reaching our vessel or me.  Using normal vision I could not see where the fireball had come from but looking with my witch sight, I clearly saw a small ship between us and one of the other ships in our tiny fleet.  The enemy vessel was much smaller than any of ours.

    Not having a weapon, I could only call out and report the invisible ship¡¯s existence and point to its position.  Then I resumed putting out the fires that I saw still burning on our ship while intermittently shouting and pointing at our foe.  A remarkably short time later, I saw objects streak out from our vessel and hit around the general area where I was pointing at, two of those objects finally hit the enemy ship.  The two obviously kraken spears instead of penetrating the vessel burst into flames instead.  That was an idea of Princess Ellen¡¯s from during the war.  To take my twin flame potion and mount the bottles at the head of a kraken spear.  It had taken a little bit of experimentation but once we got it working it had proved a good and reliable weapon.   My flame bottles seemed to have far more persistence and release more heat than a traditional magical fireball launched through spell casting.  I was working on an improved flame bottle potion but it was proving to be annoyingly difficult.

    The enemy ship became visible with those initial hits.  I became aware of people screaming at me.

    ¡°Get down you damn fool before you get yourself killed.¡±  Seeing the enemy ship taking more and more kraken spears and feeling that our ship¡¯s rune shields were now on, I decided to retract my own shields so that they covered only my own body and I jumped down, facing a very angry ship¡¯s officer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what fool stunt you thought you were doing but if this ship¡¯s shields hadn¡¯t come on in time then you would have been dead.  Now we got at least one more of those invisible ships out there and we need you to point it out to us before they sink one of our other vessels.¡±  I didn¡¯t know who this officer was but she seemed like such a sweet and pleasant young lady, just like her Captain.  But she didn¡¯t seem to know that it was my shields that had stopped those fireballs and not the ship¡¯s magical defenses.  This vessel¡¯s shields were activated just a minute or two too late.  But I didn¡¯t plan on telling them what really happened, I wanted to keep my secrets.

    I said, ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am,¡± and I started running around the ship¡¯s sides looking for our other foes.  I began my search by looking towards the port rear quarter because that¡¯s where I expected to see the enemy and I did.  I shouted. ¡°There it is,¡± and pointed.  I am such a brilliant and witty conversationalist.  A few minutes later, kraken spears were launched towards the enemy boat which quickly took flame.  This was another small ship and it was speedily destroyed.  I ran around the ship¡¯s railing looking for any other hidden foes but I didn¡¯t locate any.

    One of our escorting ships was at least maintaining their own against the fire on board their craft, but the other vessel was in dire straits.  Captain Nelson was trying to maneuver us close to the stricken ship, and I saw a large gang operated water pump being uncovered on our ship¡¯s deck.  I imagine it was used to fight fires and when the ship sprung a leak.  We got within one hundred feet of the burning vessel and I started casting my little extinguish fire spell.  A single spell didn¡¯t do much but I cast a lot of them.  It was like a continuous chain of large buckets of water being poured on the fires.  When our ship¡¯s water pump got into action the fires were quickly extinguished.  We then went to help the other vessel which was still fighting their fires.  On the way over I ran to check on any injured crew members.  I found three severely injured sailors, one with a terribly burned face and another with a charred ruin of a hand.  I poured a healing potion on the destroyed face and I gave the other two sailors, doses of the same healing concoction.  Some of the agony that they were feeling seemed to diminish.

    ¡°My name is James Drake.  I¡¯m a potion maker.  I promise that I¡¯ll see the three of you fully healed.¡±  I gave a sailor a measured dose of potion and asked her to slowly feed it to the one with the burned face.  I then started handing out healing potions to the crew of our ship so they could use them on the wounded sailors aboard the two stricken vessels.  I was back to using little jugs again.  I found them tougher than the fancy glass flasks that the University and the Mage Guild liked so much.

    In the morning, we tallied up the butcher¡¯s bill.  There were five dead and fifteen injured.  I needed the injured to heal for at least a week before I could start the ones that needed it on a course of regeneration potions.  All of the injured might need that potion because of severe scarring but we would have to see.  On the other hand I might just give some of them that new beauty cream, it will take longer to be fully successful but it should work just as well and it would save those regeneration concoctions, and their extremely rare ingredients, for the people that truly needed them.

    In regards to our enemy, our counterattack had been so fierce that there were no survivors and their ships were charred ruins which had quickly sunk.

    All of the injured had been transferred to Captain Nelson¡¯s ship; the larger Gulf¡¯s Pride.  I was assisting the ship¡¯s healer in taking care of the wounded.  At the same time I was thinking about how we had been surprised.  If only I had been looking over the side instead of straight up, then I might have been able to give some warning before the attack and five sailors might not be dead now.  I had been cursing myself more than a little over my negligence.  The healer had given the injured something for their pain because my healing potions would in many instances increase the pain for a short while.  I was angry at myself and muttering.  A burned hand reached out and patted mine.

    A weak voice said, ¡°The stars were beautiful last night, I was looking up too.¡±  I hadn¡¯t realized that I had been talking loud enough to be heard.  I was immediately embarrassed.  I could only do one thing, I said, ¡°thank you,¡± and the hand withdrew.  I hoped that the person in the terribly burned body before me went to sleep but it was hard to tell.

    I started thinking about a warning system that ships could use to alert them to approaching foes.  Maybe something like a reverse ward that would alert the crew if something got to close?  But most wards only could reach out for around a hundred steps.  A magical warning system would have to have much greater range than that.  I was called in to see the Captain later that day.

    ¡°Mister Drake, at first I thought you were a pain in the ass mage with delusions of grandeur, despite all of the talk and rumor about you.  But you helped save my ship and the other two vessels under my command last night.  We paid a terrible price but the enemy paid even more, whoever they may have been.  Do you have any idea why they attacked us?¡±

    ¡°No Captain, no idea at all.  I don¡¯t know if invisibility is commonly used for sea battles or not.  I haven¡¯t run into it before.  If it¡¯s not a common tactic then maybe someone was trying out something new.  I¡¯ve got an idea for an early warning system but the range is extremely short and I have to figure out some way to extend it.  Then too I could plainly see their vessels with my witch sight.  If I could figure out how to give you and your crew witch sight then it would be much harder for any foe to use that same trick on this ship again.¡±

    ¡°Whatever you can come up with will be most appreciated Mister Drake.¡±

    If I just knew how they had made their vessels invisible that would help a lot.  Was it a rune?  Was it a spell?  Was it a ward, no it couldn¡¯t be a ward, could it?  Perhaps a ward telling our eyes to ignore what they were seeing?  That would take very little power; however it would only work at extremely short ranges.  But that¡¯s not what our enemy did, I knew that much.

 Chapter 10: A Pleasant Duck Dinner.

    I am tired of editing once again.  So I¡¯m releasing this now, sorry.

    If you spot any stupid annoying mistakes please leave a comment so I can fix them, thanks.

    I hope you enjoy this chapter; I might have put too much into and rushed things a little.  If you think that¡¯s the case leave a comment.  I might do something about it, maybe.

    I¡¯ve made frequent references to giant spiders in this chapter.  For a size comparison, look up things like the Japanese spider crab, Alaskan king crab and the like.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 10: A Pleasant Duck Dinner.

    When our three scorched vessels sailed into Sweet Port ten days later they caused quite a commotion.  I told Admiral Taylor, Dean Marks and High Mage Wright about the invisible ships and what I had seen.  It was Dean Marks¡¯s and Mage Wright¡¯s opinion that it was either a rune or a spell and they tended to think it was a spell.  The Dean was angry with me for being a month later than planned, but I had been doing a lot of self study and I should be alright except for my composition class, spell casting class and the practical hands on instruction that I had missed.  I guess I really did screw up.

    I returned to the University and I gave Professor King some plant samples, seeds, bulbs and seedlings that I had harvested in the swamps.  She was ecstatic with them and well over half of those plants she had never seen before.  She vowed to work me to the bone getting me caught back up to the rest of the class, oh joy.

    My biology teacher was annoyed that I didn¡¯t bring him anything.  When I asked him if he wanted a snake, spider or crocodile the next time I returned from the swamp, he said yes.  He is one sick individual.  I don¡¯t want to talk about my composition teacher.  My spell casting teacher made me learn and practice a wide area fire extinguishing spell, she is not amused by my lack of interest in spell casting.  I talked to her about the invisible ships and she promised to think about how it might have been done.

    I had two new assistants for my laboratory.  They were Marine Sergeant Roy Russell and Army Sergeant Richard Sanders.  Both men were formerly with the Fifth Regiment.  Roy had grown up on the coast and wanted to join the Navy but at the time our navy was practically nonexistent.  So he had joined the Army instead and after our victory he had tried to transfer to the Navy but upon hearing of his past experience they had asked him to join the Marines instead.  Both men had helped me with my potions and other things while I had been with the Fifth.  But many soldiers with the Fifth had done the same.  It seems though that both Sergeants have gotten to use being under arms and I still don¡¯t know how they got permission from their commanders but both men are heavily armed whenever we leave the University.  And even in the University they keep their weapons close to hand.  On the street they carry enchanted shields, short swords and small shoulder launched four barreled kraken tubes on slings, kind of like a crossbow without the bow and they launch arrows and not bolts.  The two men are so paranoid that when we go out they also put on chainmail shirts and steel kettle hats.  I keep the runes on their equipment fully charged since they are with me most of the time.  But I think both men need some emotional help.  There is just no logical reason for them to be so heavily armed.  Their superiors must be a little batty for letting them get away with it.

    Princess Ellen stopped by to have breakfast with me the third day I was back.  I gave her the beauty cream that I had developed and I told her about my reservations concerning my two new helpers but she just urged me to be tolerant of the two men.

    My new assistants helped me to test a new creation of mine that was a rune but sort of like a ward.  I had needed a large round wooden disk for my experiment and I dug up an old wooden table, in an abandoned storage room, that was ideal for my purposes.  The legs made it even more convenient for me to work on it.  Roy gave me some advice on what would be a good feature for my new creation.

    I went to dinner over at Donna¡¯s and Alex¡¯s home.  Princess Ellen was there as well.  We were having duck, I love duck.

    I gave Donna and Alex a supply of the beauty cream and then I brought out two sets of my two latest potions.

    ¡°Last school year I spent hours in the University Library looking at their old and new potion books.  I¡¯ve also practically memorized the books that are in my keep.  The Swamp Witch was fanatical about seeking out ways for extending her own life.  About the only time she would go ingredient gathering, far from her island, was when she was looking for some mythical item that would give her a few more years of life.  As a result I am quite familiar with what ingredients many longevity potions need and through watching the Witch with my witch sight; I know their effects of many of them on the human body.  Lauren wasn¡¯t the best potion concocter; in fact she was barely adequate when I knew her.  Donna because you seemed a little interested when I mentioned to you how a health potion can extend a person¡¯s life.¡±

    She interrupted me.  ¡°James, it did interest me but I didn¡¯t mean for you to do anything.¡±

    ¡°Well no matter, I already did.¡±  I held up a set of four jugs marked with blue paint and labeled one through four.  ¡°These potions are sort of like my regeneration concoction.  If you take them in their numbered order, eight to ten days apart, every year or two, then they should quadruple whatever time you have left on this planet.  Meaning that the earlier in life that you start taking them the longer you will potentially live.  It is made with some extremely rare ingredients.  I¡¯ve never been able to find very much of the needed the components.  Some of the ingredients used are the same ones I use in my regeneration potions.  By the way, I have a number of those concoctions ready to send off to the Kingdom¡¯s wounded veterans.

    Some people will need to take this longevity potion every year to have the desired affect and some can go two years between doses.  I¡¯ve got four full regimens for each of you.  You can do with them what you like.  But they will lose their potency in about six months.¡±

    James¡¯s small audience was stunned at what he had revealed and what he had gifted them with.  Princess Ellen began talking.

    ¡°James you must keep this a secret.  I know little of longevity potions but I do know that they are a hit or miss affair.  Frequently expensive potions are sold that do little or nothing but then an almost guaranteed concoction appears on the market, promising five or more years of life, and it will sell for thousands of gold pieces.  I am certain that the Mage Guild and the potion mixers keep the best for themselves.¡±

    ¡°That is why I am only telling you three.  I am not going to tell even Dean Marks.  I¡¯ll keep you supplied with the potions and you can do with them what you will.  You can tell those you give them to, that they are an extra special health potion.  But I also have another potion to tell you about.¡±  I pointed to a set of little jugs, labeled one through four in red paint.

    ¡°This potion taken the same way, will double the remaining years that someone has.  But it only requires a single rare ingredient.  The other components are quite common in Drake¡¯s Swamp and many of them can be found in the University¡¯s conservatory. The concoction is also doubles as a health potion the same as the first one.  I do have to admit that this one isn¡¯t fully tested yet, but I have full confidence in it.  It hasn¡¯t poisoned me and I¡¯ve given it to some of the crew on the Gulf¡¯s Pride (I was bored), my servants and my two new paranoid laboratory assistants.  I¡¯ll know more in a month or two.  Oh there is a slight age regeneration effect with both potions which varies from person to person.  The effect is twice as strong for the first one when compared to the second.  But some of my test subjects reported feeling and did seemingly look ten to fifteen years younger.  A few said twenty years but I think that they were just exaggerating.  But almost half of those who tried my first potion only reported feeling between five and ten years younger which is the same thing that all, of my test subjects, for concoction two reported.  I¡¯m not sure what will happen when my human volunteers take their second doses in a year.  I don¡¯t think we will see further age regeneration at that time but I¡¯m not completely sure.¡±

    Princess Ellen dropped her head into her hands.  Donna was gasping like a fish.  Alex began to carefully speak.  ¡°James; for now please keep this second potion a secret too.  Ellen, Donna and I will explore what might happen to the Kingdom if you announce the creation of such potions.  By the time you have completed your tests we¡¯ll have had time to formulate a strategy for you.  You said that it has only one rare ingredient.  Can your swamp make enough of that one ingredient for everyone in the Kingdom or for that matter the world?¡±

    ¡°I think that there is no way that there would be enough of the component for everyone in the world but there might be enough for everyone in the Kingdom, especially if I can cultivate or farm it.  I also gave a sample of the necessary plant and some of its seeds to Professor Julia King.  She said that she had never seen it before.  So it¡¯s possible that she¡¯ll be able to grow it in one of the University¡¯s greenhouses.¡±

    My announcement seems to have put them off their appetites.  Good, that left more duck for me.

    It took me three weeks to construct a version, of my new magical device, that I thought that the Navy might be interested in.  It was a lot of work just understanding what I had made.

    We set sail with my creation on the Gulf¡¯s Pride with Admiral Taylor and General Howard aboard.  It also gave me a chance to check on the test subjects that I had given my red longevity potion to.  Captain Nelson had allowed me to set up and calibrate the enchanted table with the help of my sergeants.  She had even allowed me to keep it a secret so I would be able to hopefully surprise her, Paul and Sam at the same time.  I hoped it was a pleasant surprise.

    ¡°Hello Admiral, Hello General, I hope that what I show you today, will prove beneficial for you and worth your valuable time in meeting with me.¡±

    ¡°It had better be James, we are both busy and at least last time we had some idea of what you had for us.¡±  Sam gave me a slightly chastising look, oops.

    ¡°When the Gulf¡¯s Pride was attacked, I was quite furious with myself that I had failed to give the crew any warning.  I was too busy looking up at the stars rather than at sea level.  I¡¯ve wanted to make up for that failure of mine.  I¡¯m still working on the problem of invisible ships but I think I¡¯ve got a partial answer.  If you¡¯ll look carefully at this old table you will see an outline of the Gulf¡¯s Pride in the center.  Radiating out from the center are circles labeled with their distances from the ship.  Those circles are divided into segments.  You will notice that there are a great many segments in each circle.  Right now, beyond those modifications that I just pointed out to you, the table looks like an ordinary table.  Now watch as those ships coming into port approach us.  You will notice that the segments that correspond to those ships¡¯ locations lights up with a yellow glow.  Within that glow you should see some blue dots.  As the ships get closer to us a different segment will light up and the old one will grow dark.   The blue dots signify that there are humans on those ships.  This table will show any objects within six hundred and ninety steps of it except for water.  Marine Sergeant Russell pointed out to me that if it showed water then rain, waves, or even fog might jam up this device.  He also recommended to me that I make a depth gauge using similar principles.  The depth gauge I created ignores most living things in addition to the water, but for the heck of it, I made it so that it will still detect humans.  Each table has to be calibrated for the ship it is installed on and it must remain in a permanent location within the ship.  It cannot be hung on a wall and it must be roughly horizontal.  Severe wave action can throw off the results simply because of the table being tilted but it should still provide some useable information.¡±

    It surprised me but General Howard asked the first question.  ¡°Will this work on land?¡±

    ¡°This table can¡¯t because just the land itself it would light up the table.  You¡¯ll see that when we sail closer in to shore.  But if you want one that only detects living things then I can make a table like that for you.  Would that really have any value for the Army?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it would be of great use to the Army.  It will be wonderful tool for forts or any other defensive locations.  I don¡¯t need the yellow glow.  I need one that shows only humans, horses, mules, and oxen.  Can you to that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah I think so; it¡¯ll just take me a little time.  I¡¯m not sure how much though.  It could be a couple of weeks or it could be several months.¡±

    Captain Nelson was next.  ¡°This is now my table along with the smaller depth gauge; is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Sure, if you and the Admiral and want it.¡±

    Sam spoke up, ¡°we want it James and you did not waste my time in the slightest.  I¡¯m sorry if I sounded a little rude to you earlier.  That depth gauge would have been more than enough reason for me to come out here.  Is there anything I can do for you in return?¡±

    ¡°Yes there is Admiral.  I heard something about a tag system that the enemy has been using but no one will tell me anything about it.  Actually the conversation I overheard about tag system, along with my own thoughts concerning wards that effect humans, led me to have the inspiration for this table.

    Can you get me any information regarding the Empire¡¯s tag system; it has really piqued my curiosity.  Oh, a word of warning about this table it will ignore all forms of water including ice so you can still run into an iceberg if you are relying on this device alone.  If you must have a warning system for them, I can probably make you something that will show icebergs but it will show you all water too even fog.¡±

    ¡°James, I¡¯ll do my best to get you that information regarding the tag system within a week.  Thank you once more for your service to the Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°This table uses relatively little power and it should last for at least six months before needing to be refreshed, even with constant activation.  Right now the runes are hidden; they¡¯re really more like wards though.  You need to make a decision if you want to keep the runes disguised.  A masked rune is much harder to recharge.  Normally anything that is in very close proximity to a rune, especially something covering it or partially covering it changes the nature of a rune or ward and thus the magic.  That¡¯s the reason why you can¡¯t cover them up and expect them to work if you do but these new coatings are special and don¡¯t change the nature of a rune or ward.  So what I¡¯m saying, is don¡¯t use this table as a table and put stuff on top of it, if you want it to work or work right that is.¡±

    --------------------------------------

    After James and his sergeants had taken the Captain¡¯s gig back to the pier; Captain Nelson, Admiral Taylor and General Howard continued to play with and learn about their new toy.

    ¡°Admiral Taylor, were the vessels that attacked my small flotilla, out to sink my ships or were they after James?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure Barbara.  That¡¯s why both the Army and the Navy assigned those two sergeants to him as bodyguards though he doesn¡¯t know it.  Both men worked with him when they were part of the Fifth Regiment, so they already had a good relationship with James.  Officially they¡¯ve been assigned to help him with testing and to coordinate things for him with the military but they are in fact his bodyguards.¡±

    ¡®I still can¡¯t understand why he jumped up on my ship¡¯s railing and right in the path of that fireball.  If my ship¡¯s shield hadn¡¯t come on in time he would have been cooked most likely.  I¡¯ve heard that he¡¯s not much of a spell caster.¡±

    General Howard remarked.  ¡°I¡¯m certain that James had his reasons.  He designed the shield runes on your ship perhaps he felt them activating and wanted a better vantage point from which to look for the enemy vessel.¡±

    They then resumed their discussion about the new table that James had made for them.

    -----------------------------

    It would shock my professors but I was actually studying spell casting a little.  The style that the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s Mage Guild practices is from what I can tell for the most part uses trained magical responses to various situations.  Very much like a martial artist might do, like Sergeant Sanders.  Why does that man insist that I spar with him every evening! Imperial Wizards practice a different style of magic, more like a skilled craftsman than martial artist.  If a Kingdom mage meets an Imperial wizard.  The mage will say, ¡°I¡¯m going to turn you into ash in two minutes.¡±  The wizard will respond, ¡°Just give me some time, it could be twenty minutes or it might be three hours.  But when I¡¯m ready I¡¯m going to kill you and that small army you brought with you.¡±  Of course both magic users might have shields which changes things but that¡¯s basically how they operate.  But there are exceptions and many mages can ¡°craft¡± some advanced magical spells it just takes them much longer than an Imperial wizard.

    My own style of magic is more as a crafter than martial artist.  The old spells books I brought back from my keep seem to be old books from the Kingdom of Fata.  People from there, founded the Eastern Empire.  In addition I acquired some Eastern Empire spell books and there is a selection of some of them in the University Library.  Too many of the books deal with nasty ways to acquire power but I ignore that crap.  If I look beyond their madness I can see the fundamental building blocks of their magic system that they started with.  My own older books hint of spells which if used in conjunction with fully powered runes can do some truly amazing things.  I¡¯m not trying to make my own system of magic, what I¡¯m trying to do, I think, is to discover a very old approach.  Or at least one not practiced here or in the Empire, and probably not in Fata as well.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    What the Navy and Guild sent me, a week later, was only half of the puzzle in regards to the tag system.  They sent me some small runes that the Imperial spies would apply to the side of our ships.  Normally this was done by a mage using a spell. I felt my hands clench a little in anger, if there is one group of people that I truly hate, it¡¯s the Imperial Wizards.  They are even more cruel and evil than the Swamp Witch in what they would do to obtain magical power and the way in which they would use it once they had it.  What they would do to both animals and humans alike should see all of them fed to a swamp dragon while still alive.

    The other piece information that I received, were the records of our ship movements that the Empire had kept and we had gotten copies of, when Princess Ellen had captured the City of Sven for the first time.  But how did the Imperial Wizards know where are ships were over such long distances using those tiny runes and how did they communicate the information back to their ships at sea, so they could then attack our vessels?   I had been thinking about how I would do it back when I had first overheard that conversation.  At the time, I had envisioned a magical map that would show the location of any runes linked to the map.  When I had tried to come up with a way to prevent sneak attacks on our vessels, I had blended that idea of the magical map and my wards to come up with the enchanted table.

    I refreshed the small magical tag rune and watched it with my witch sight.  It did nothing.

    I reversed a general purpose ward and instead of scaring away things that approached it, the ward instead reacted to things approaching it and with the aid of a table painted with some special potions the reversed ward made a certain area glow which corresponded to the rough location of the approaching object.  Now what if the approaching object was very loud in some magical way and the table was designed to detect these loud things.  While puzzling over that problem I worked on the new model table for the General.  His table would have segments that glowed white whenever something entered the corresponding real word location.  In the white area would be blue dots for humans, brown dots for horses, black dots for mules, green dots for oxen and red dots for dragons.  I figured everyone wants to know if a dragon is close by, I sure as hell would.  Thinking about it, I should probably change the Navy¡¯s tables to show the known types of sea monsters, especially krakens.  It might not be a bad idea for the General¡¯s table to show crocodiles, bears and wolves too.  A man riding a horse will generate a purple dot on the Army¡¯s table.  I tested this with my sergeants.  I arranged for the General to come by for a quick demonstration.   I think he was disappointed that I didn¡¯t set up a more elaborate test like I did with the Navy but he did seem pleased.  I gave him the rune designs and he would use Guild Mages to produce the tables, just like the Admiral was doing for his ships.  It was boring to make them and I had better things to do.

    I was in trouble at school since I had been skipping classes to work on the tables, the tag system, a communication system, and trying to figure out how to give normal people witch sight.  Dean Marks yelled at me for spending too much time working on those projects but they were so interesting.  Not like composition, the law, ethics, or Kingdom style spell casting, yawn.

    Alex and Donna showed up at school to take me out to dinner.  I couldn¡¯t refuse but they had a young lady with them and I had let my grooming slip.  My servants shaved and bathed me in less than half an hour; it was almost like they had a hot bath waiting for me.  The young woman was Shirley Gonzalez, she was a year younger than me and she too was a student at the University.  Though I couldn¡¯t remember seeing her at school, maybe I should start going back to class for everything but composition.  I was tongue tied and uncomfortable all evening long.  I¡¯m not a smooth talker and she¡¯s of noble birth from a lesser house.  If I offered her broiled snake or a boiled spider leg, she would probably barf.

    I was so close with the communication system in fact, I had it working but it was very inelegant and cumbersome.  However, I did have a magic detection system that could be added to future tables.

    --------------------

    Crown Princess Ellen Rivers was meeting with Countess Green, Sergeant Russell and Sergeant Sanders.  She began speaking.  ¡°Sergeant Russell and Sergeant Sanders can you give me your impressions regarding James Drake?¡±

    Both men looked at one another and Richard Sanders began.  ¡°Your Highness as you know, he is a brilliant and hard working young man.  I personally think he¡¯s too hard working and that he needs to take a break and have some fun.¡±

    Roy Russell added his opinion.  ¡°I don¡¯t think James likes being away from his swamp and that¡¯s why he¡¯s working so hard.  He¡¯s just trying to get done what he thinks needs doing so he can go back home.  I don¡¯t think he likes it here very much.  His first impression of the University and this city wasn¡¯t good one.  He does seem to enjoy figuring things out and creating new things, so maybe that¡¯s a form of relaxation for him.¡±

    Countess Green concurred with both men¡¯s observations.  ¡°My sources report the same thing to me that he is unhappy here and wants to go home to Drake¡¯s Swamp as soon as he graduates from school in less than a year.¡±

    ¡°I was afraid of that, when I¡¯ve dined with him he¡¯s frequently made reference to returning home,¡± said Crown Princess Ellen.  ¡°We have a problem then.  ¡°James has put us equal to and even a bit beyond the Imperial Wizards but we can expect them to develop new spells.  Beyond that we have other competition in the world and some of it extremely unfriendly.  For example the Kingdom of Fata and their mages, may I remind you all that the Empire was actually founded by disgruntled nobles and mages from Fata, over two hundred years ago, and that their styles of magic are extremely similar.  Also we have to worry about Shangren, prior to James they were our equals in the magical arts.  So we are going to need Mister Drake and his magical innovations for a long time to come.  Has there been any sign of his creativity failing him as of yet?¡±

    ¡°None at all your Highness, in fact he¡¯s got a dozen new ideas he¡¯s working on right now,¡± answered Sanders.  ¡°But I don¡¯t think using the term he dislikes it here is strong enough.  I think he hates being away from his swamp and as a result he hates it here too.  There are far too many people here, too many people that still treat him with contempt and James thinks that living here is making him soft and that it will then be even harder for him to adapt when he goes back to living in his real home which is the swamp.¡±

    ¡°Damn and blast,¡± the Princess cursed.  ¡°That¡¯s my sense of things too and I¡¯m not seeing him enough now as it is.  Gentlemen; whatever you can do to improve his mood has my blessings.  The Countess and I have to talk more about this matter if you could leave us?¡±

    Both sergeants stood, saluted and departed.

    ¡°Brenda, I have no idea on what to do here but I only know that we desperately need that young man.  I also know that I screwed up more than once in my own dealings with him, which is probably not helping the situation.  My father has given me a free hand in this matter and an open coin purse.  Do you have any ideas on how we can improve things for young Drake?¡±

    ¡°I was afraid you were going to ask me that.  My only thought is to resort to the one thing that works on so many young men and that is a young woman.  Somehow we steer young women both of noble and common birth into his path and hope that one or more of them give him a reason to stick around.  His swamp is obviously far too dangerous and isolated from us, for a man as necessary as he is to our security.  I think we might have much better luck with a girl of common birth rather than a noble.  They would have more in common and James would feel more comfortable with her.  I also think a fellow mage or a craft person of some type would be the best option.  I don¡¯t think a noble girl would be able to relate to James very well and I¡¯m not saying that is something that is his fault but the failing of our class.  Many of us are quite pampered.¡±

    ¡°Okay Brenda, find someone you can trust as a secret matchmaker and turn him or her loose.  I guess that¡¯s all we can do at this time.¡±  Ellen sighed because she didn¡¯t see a decent solution for this problem.  The Countess left and Ellen started berating herself for being such a liar.

    Oh it was true enough that the Kingdom needed James Drake but in Ellen¡¯s opinion he had done more than his share and there was no real prize or reward that they could use to entice him to do anything more, though he was still producing marvelous things.  No, Ellen had other reasons for wanting to keep James Drake close by.  The first reason being that she honestly liked the young man and considered him to be one of her few friends.  A friend that was honest with her and she could relax with.  And the second reason was that she hated Drake¡¯s Swamp!  A more terrifying and cursed place she could not imagine in her worst nightmares.  All through the war she had hid her fears of that place.  The first time she had seen a giant spider in that foul place she had nearly screamed in panic and soiled herself, but it got only worse.  The wards kept most of them away but as they traveled through the swamp spiders would scurry above the boats using either their webs or tree branches.  She had nearly fainted the first time the boat she was on pushed its way through a giant web.  Then there had been the slightly lesser fearsome creatures such as snakes, crocodiles, swamp cat, strangler vines, swamp dragons and krakens.  She had been so terrified that she had nearly taken her own life the first night she had slept there.  But instead she had to keep calm and show a controlled facade to those she was leading.

    Ellen thought of poor three year old James raised by a bloodsucking witch on a small island filled with spiders, snakes and crocodiles.  There was no way she was going to let him go back to such an awful place, on a permanent basis.  She thought of her own advisors who were all so amazed that anyone could call that swamp home.  Those imbeciles actually thought that James being able to live and thrive among such horrors was a good thing!  She needed to do something about all the frustration, anxiety and old fears that were resurfacing.  Ellen picked up her old practice sword and went off in search of something to whack.

    ----------------------------

    General Paul Howard and Admiral Samuel Taylor had taken time out from their busy schedules to see Drake¡¯s latest creation.  Both men were eagerly looking forward to seeing what James had made this time.  They were being guided to his new workshop by Sergeant Russell.

    ¡°Sirs, it¡¯s a bit messy in here because while these rooms used to be the old servant¡¯s wing for the University it has for the past several years only been used for storage.  James appropriated this wing primarily because as he said if he blew it up no one would care and his secondary reason is that there is still a lot of good junk stored here that he can be repurposed for his own uses.¡±

    Both men followed the Sergeant into a large stone lined work area.  It looked like a wall had either been removed deliberately or by accident.  The char marks supported the idea that it had been by accident.  The word ¡°Oops¡± written in the black char lent further credence to the idea.

    ¡°General Howard, Admiral Taylor, welcome to my shop.  I¡¯d like to introduce to you to my Composition Teacher and greatest nemesis, Professor Lee and my Math Teacher Professor Montgomery Tanner.  Both of them helped me with our new communication boards.  Professor Tanner provided additional help with my magical detector.¡±

    Professor Lee grimaced at being labeled as her worst student¡¯s nemesis in front of such important people.  She made a note to ask James for a ten page paper next week in revenge for her embarrassment.

    The two professors exchanged pleasantries with the two officers.

    James brought out two wide boards.  One was blue and the other was red.  ¡°These gentlemen are our new communication boards.  The blue board sends messages and the red board receives them.  You will notice six lines of runes with ten runes per line.  Per the recommendation of Professor Tanner I went with ten runes per line.  Per Professor Lee¡¯s recommendation I went with six lines but she would have liked more for both efficiency and clarity.  The problem with that is that the larger runes simply work better.   So doing more than six lines might be difficult.  When a rune is activated on the send board the corresponding rune will light up on the receive board.  According to Professor Tanner by using ten runes we have 1024 possible combinations to communicate different meanings.  You can have some combinations represent the alphabet, words or entire phrases.  Professors Lee and Tanner should be able to help you at devising the best communication codes to use with your boards.  You can have different kinds of boards too.  For example the Navy could have a board that will send messages to every Naval receive board that they have.  Or they could have keyed boards that will only send and receive to certain boards.  That way Admiral, you may communicate with an individual ship or flotilla.  I strongly suspect that this is basically the same idea that the Empire is using for their long distance communications.  I have tested this size board over a distance of ten leagues and it has worked perfectly.  I strongly suspect that it will work for at least one hundred leagues and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all if they will work even further apart than that.

    I have been talking a lot with my two Professors about the best utilization of these boards and they¡¯ve had some excellent ideas seeing as how both language and mathematical communications are their expertise and not mine.  I can just make runes light up; they can tell you how best to use these devices.¡±

    The two officers were stunned, their prayers had been answered and right away they could see the utility of the device.  But now they were worried that the Empire and their other enemies did indeed possess such a tool.  No wonder the Imperial Navy had been so successful.  James continued talking.

    ¡°There is a problem with sending messages and with invoking any magic even with a rune.  The sender can be detected; I know that because once I cleared some cobwebs from my brain I built a magical detector.  I have a new design for the lookout tables that incorporates the detector.  The problem is that just like a lookout table, it is range limited.  With Professor Tanner¡¯s help I designed a second detector that uses triangulation to determine the location and distance to the magical source of any emissions.  Triangulation works by.¡±

    General Howard interrupted.  ¡°James; Sam and I are both familiar with the concept of triangulation.  It is used for surveying, map making, construction and navigation.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, my new device can only detect an active magical source, such as an activated rune or spell casting.  The device is limited by how powerful the magic emitter is and how close it is.  Now for something scary, we fire our kraken tubes in a straight line because to do anything else would cause us to miss our targets.  I am pretty sure that I could make a kraken spear home in on a detected magic source.  Doing that you could fire your kraken tubes in a high arc so that the spears could travel further.  A secondary movement rune would guide the spear to the enemy target.  Someone else might figure out how to do this.  While activating a movement rune would probably be too brief for someone to target, lengthy exchanges of messages could certainly be risky.  But to the good only sending generates magic that can be detected.

    Also since magic send runes can be detected it is theoretically possible for our enemies to listen in our new communication boards.  So you should keep your codes as secret as is possible.  When I have time I¡¯ll work on tapping into their communications but it will probably take me a great deal of time and it sounds boring.¡±

    The two senior officers were astonished at the idea of self guiding kraken spears.  They weren¡¯t sure that it would work but James had delivered on everything else so they knew better than to doubt him.  But they rejected the idea that someone else, besides James Drake, could build such a weapon, so they refused to worry about it.

    ¡°I am working on letting a non-mage use witch sight and I¡¯ve had some success but it¡¯s not ready to show you yet.  It breaks far too easily but my new window will also let the user see at night once I get it working.

    As for invisibility, which nearly got me killed, I haven¡¯t been able to reproduce what our enemies did but I¡¯ve got something else.  I have an invisibility ward.  A person wearing this ward is invisible to most people within about fifty steps.  The ward works on the eyes of anyone close by, and basically it encourages them to think that they didn¡¯t see anything or too look elsewhere.  It needs a lot field testing to figure out how to use it best, but it uses very little power and it¡¯s relatively easy to make.  It will even work on people who have witch sight, which is most disconcerting to me.  If you will look around this room, please try and find Sergeants Russell and Sanders.  I assure you that they¡¯re in here somewhere.¡±

    Both the military officers and the professors tried to find the men but they couldn¡¯t locate them.   James thought he found them but he wasn¡¯t sure.  He had developed a trick but it wasn¡¯t foolproof.

    Admiral Taylor spoke.  ¡°James this could be disastrous, if any assassins or thieves ever got a hold of that rune.  We have to keep it a secret.  Someone could slip inside the palace and kill the King.¡±

    General Howard immediately agreed.

    ¡°What one person may dream up so can someone else, I¡¯m the only one who can make that rune at this time.  Anyone who tries to remove the masking paint will destroy the rune before they can examine it.  I thought it best to give samples to you so you could work on a defense for it.  It really was simple for me to develop; I¡¯ve just been too busy with other projects.  As far as defenses go, it only works on the eyes.  So don¡¯t put all your faith in your vision.  A short range magical detector will work, and so will someone with excellent hearing or even a sharp sense of a smell.  You could even cover a floor with flour and watch for footsteps in it.  I think I might be able to come up with a window which cancels the effect of that rune but I¡¯m still working on that idea.  The rune obviously works on witch sight because that also uses your eyes.  Sergeants if you will please cover the runes that you are wearing.¡±

    The officers and teachers were shocked to see how close to them the sergeants had been standing.  James was irritated because he had only gotten Sergeant Russell¡¯s location correct.

    The officers left with the professors for the palace.  They had the samples that James had produced as well his designs, excluding the invisibility rune that one scared them.  The King, the Princess and Countess Green needed to be notified immediately about Drake¡¯s latest inventions.  They might have been more worried if they knew why James had added such enormous buttons to all of his clothes and what those buttons could do.  He was still keeping the secret of his new shield rune; attempts on his life had made him wary and little more secretive.

 Chapter 11: Cone Island

    I¡¯m sorry this took so long; I was feeling a little poorly for a few weeks.  I should be posting the next chapter within a day, and the story will start to get a little more exciting, I think.  If you spot any mistakes please point them out, thank you.  This chapter might seem a little boring but it¡¯s setting things up for the next two or three chapters.

    Units of Measure

    One step equals one foot.

    I need a name for a smaller unit of measure instead of inch.  I almost used ¡°toe¡± which just sounds dumb.  If anyone has an idea for a good name please leave a comment.

    One long step equals one yard.

    One league equals one nautical league or 3.45 miles or 5.56 kilometers.

    Units of Time: seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc.

    Units of Weight: ounces, pounds and tons.

    Most coins are one ounce.

    A horse drawn carriage typically travels at 1.5 leagues per hour.

    James Drake¡¯s carriage: http://www.hansenwheel.com/custom-showcase/custom-vehicle-showcase/eastern-style-stagecoach/touring-concord-coach</a>

    I need some suggestions for a few good names for two oceans and two continents.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 11: Cone Island

    Two days after demonstrating the communication boards to Paul and Sam, I was working with Dean Marks and Professor King in my laboratory.  Though the Mage Guild probably wouldn¡¯t like to admit it, both ladies are probably the best two potion concocters in the Kingdom.

    I had finally invented an apparatus that gave witch sight to normal people.  There was only one slight hitch; it was exceedingly difficult to make the necessary potion that the magical device required, so hard in fact that I was forced to cheat when mixing it.  A potion concocter will sometimes put a drop of their own blood into a concoction that they are making.  The blood isn¡¯t actually part of the potion; it is instead a catalyst that gives a mage a much higher success rate when making said concoction.  By using their own blood, a mage is able to establish a better connection with the potion when they invoke their magic upon it.  The blood catalyst technique, besides granting a higher success rate, normally ensures that any potions made that way are more powerful as well.

    In school, I was taught that at least half of all potions are made using a blood catalyst but I had a mental problem with using that method too often.  I had far too many painful memories involving a Bloodsucking Witch!  As a result I rarely used my own blood when making a potion.  I did use it when I mixed my stone making concoctions however it only took a little drop of the catalyst for a whole vat of that particular potion.  And by using my own blood I was also able to cast an enchantment that made my stones partially resistant to the magical attacks from any other magic users.  Thus the Imperial Wizards we fought; had a harder time damaging the stone walls that I helped to build.

    I do sometimes, use my own blood when I¡¯m mastering or inventing a new potion.  Sadly, my witch sight concoction is proving to be an absolute dragon of a potion to make!  I¡¯m hoping that Dean Marks and Professor King can help me with modifying the concoction so it becomes at least a little easier to manufacture.

    In order to complete my new device, I got some old Shangren battle helms; they are equipped with drop down metal visors, unlike the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s open-faced lobster-tail and kettle hat style helmets.  I next had a glassmaker create some extremely thin, rectangular, clear glass bottles.

    After the bottles were made, I engraved some runes onto them, my potion was poured inside and the bottles permanently sealed with my glue.  When a normal person looks through the thin enchanted bottle it¡¯s just like as if they were born with fairly good witch sight.

    I had a blacksmith chop rectangular holes in the battle helms¡¯ visors and I used glue to affix the bottles into place.  I¡¯ve got four of the helms done now but I don¡¯t know if I should demonstrate them as of yet.  I don¡¯t know how long they are going to continue to function, since the concoctions do degrade over time and sunlight accelerates the process.

    There was a bright flash of fire by the work bench that Dean Marks was standing in front of; she started to curse, unintelligibly. ¡°#$ @%&*!  James, get over here!¡±

    ¡°Yes Dean,¡± I said upon my hurried arrival.

    ¡°I give up for now.  I can¡¯t even make this blasted potion when I follow your formula, let alone when I try to modify it.  How are you doing Julia?¡±  The Dean said looking towards the other work table.

    ¡°I gave up over an hour ago Greta.  I¡¯ve been keeping myself busy by making a good vegetable soup, while I¡¯ve been waiting for you.  It¡¯s done now would you like a cup?¡±  Professor King said brightly, while looking at her boss.  Greta resumed cursing.

    While the ladies had been experimenting, I had mixed enough potions for four more helms but I only had two bottles and two helmets left. The Royal Armory originally had just six of those Shangren helmets in stock; I wondered what else I could use?

    After we all ate some soup and the ladies left, I stood up and looked around my cluttered workshop.  Suddenly, I was sick of looking at the place.  I walked back to my suite trailed by my two well-armed assistants.  Why do they make me feel so old?  I¡¯m young; I should be out having fun.  I had an urge to go fishing.

    Once in my room and sitting down for dinner with my staff.  ¡°Guys, I need a break.  Tomorrow I¡¯m going to skip class.¡±

    I was interrupted by Army Sergeant Richard Sanders who said with a grin.  ¡°So what else is new, you¡¯re always skipping class.¡±

    I glowered at him.  ¡°Shut up, I was with Dean Marks and Professor King all day today, in my book that counts as going to class.  As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted.  I am going to take a break and go on a walk-about tomorrow.  My first stop will be at my shipwright¡¯s place, I need to check on the new boat that she¡¯s building for me.  Those slow sailing ships absolutely suck mud, and except for when I nearly got killed on my last trip, I was bored the entire time.  After I talk with my shipwright, I¡¯m going to walk to the coast. Probably to the deserted eastern side of the bay and go fishing.¡±  To say that my plans were greeted with applause would be a bold faced lie.

    The following day, Countess Green, Minister of Intelligence, had a very special visitor in her home.  Elizabeth Gomez was a commoner but she was a very well connected commoner despite her origins.  Even so, she was extremely flattered to be invited to the Countess¡¯s home.

    ¡°Thank you, Ms. Gomez for coming to see me.¡±

    ¡°It is my pleasure, Countess.¡±

    ¡°Please sit down, I hope you like green tea?¡±

    She didn¡¯t but she wasn¡¯t about to admit it.  ¡°Green tea sounds wonderful.¡±

    The Countess laughed.  ¡°You are a liar but you¡¯re very good at it.  We¡¯ll be having some nice cool lemonade instead; I know you¡¯d prefer that.¡±

    Elizabeth laughed too, ¡°So that was a test?¡±

    ¡°No, more of a little joke, I already know what kind of a person you are; I¡¯ve asked you here because I and in fact the Kingdom need your expertise.¡±

    Ms. Gomez was astonished, ¡°Why would the Kingdom need my help?¡±

    ¡°First off let me say that the Kingdom has already recognized your good works with various charities and the support you¡¯ve given to children orphaned by the war.  This is not a bribe but I thought you might like early word that per Princess Ellen¡¯s request you will be ennobled shortly.  You should in fact receive the formal notice either later today or tomorrow.¡±

    Elizabeth Gomez was stunned but not so much that she couldn¡¯t clearly see the hand of Princess Ellen.  The new heir had a lot of wisdom and intelligence, unlike her father.  ¡°Thank you for informing me Countess but you said that you needed my help?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you have a reputation for being an excellent and honorable matchmaker.  We have a young man that we need to keep happy and keep here in the Capital.  He doesn¡¯t like it here and I cannot say that I blame him, since he¡¯s been ill-used by far too many people.  However, his value to this Kingdom cannot be overstated.  And I think that there is no better way to keep him happy and here than a pretty girl.  This young man will be ennobled in less than year; the only question is whether he will be made a Baron or a Count.  That is no secret by the way.  Many powerful families, that are already in the know, have been trying for weeks to introduce their daughters to him.  However, I am afraid that those girls will all be poor matches for that young man.  The King and his advisors don¡¯t care if our distinguished gentleman partners with a noble or a common girl we just want him to be content.  To those ends, you would have an open purse from the King in this matter.  I¡¯ve prepared a file for you about your target.  I do hope that you¡¯ll accept this task, because I don¡¯t know what we will do without your aid.  We will also be compensating you for your help, Princess Ellen insisted on that.

    The King will formally name you Lady Gomez at the palace next week but unless you move to the newly captured territories, your title will not include any lands at this time and that may never happen, there are very few vacant landed titles west of Drake¡¯s Swamp.¡±

    In truth, Elizabeth Gomez wouldn¡¯t mind having an estate in the Eastern Territories.  She had heard that much of it was empty because of the Empire¡¯s cruelty and mismanagement.  But she would bring that up at a later time; she didn¡¯t want to appear to be too greedy.  ¡°I would be happy to help the Kingdom and find your young man a suitable partner or even partners, though the second case is rare even amongst nobles nowadays.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think James Drake is the type to appreciate more than one addition to his life but you never know.¡±

    I had planned on walking today, but to my disgust I found myself in a carriage riding towards my shipwright¡¯s place of business.  What the heck was that?!! I suddenly felt a shiver go up my spine like I was being eyed for lunch by a hungry swamp dragon!

    Yesterday, I told the Sergeants that I was going off to get away from everyone and that I planned on walking to the coast, in search of a quiet place to fish.  Instead upon leaving the dormitory building this morning, I had been followed by my entire staff and greeted with the sight of a fully loaded Royal Carriage.

    It took us nearly an hour to get to Sofia Overgaard¡¯s workplace and I grumbled at my overly helpful staff the entire way.

    ¡°Hey, Sofia how¡¯s my new pirogue coming along?¡±

    ¡°James, why do you insist on calling every flat bottomed boat that you see a pirogue?  For the hundredth time, a pirogue is skinny.  What I built for you the last time was a punt, which is a wide boat with a flat bottom and not at all skinny!   According to Sergeant Russell, punts are what you used when you were ferrying the Fifth Regiment across Drake¡¯s Swamp, so stop calling every blasted boat you see a pirogue!  As for this peculiar craft you had me make for you, I¡¯ve been calling it a cobble, since I cobbled it together out of various bit and pieces.  It¡¯s got the flat bottom of a punt, the sides of a dory and a weighted keel.  The keel is on a pivot which will allow it to swing up if it hits something or you can raise it when you need to.  If you hadn¡¯t given me that regeneration potion and promised to enchant my own sloop, I wouldn¡¯t have built this ghastly thing.  Whatever you do don¡¯t tell anyone who made your boat, I would never be able to live it down.

    I make no promises that you won¡¯t kill yourself while using it and whatever you do keep close to the coastline when you are traveling back and forth from that swamp of yours.  That way we¡¯ll be able to find your body when it washes up on shore.  As for your cobble it¡¯s done and ready to be enchanted.¡±

    ¡°Sofia I¡¯m glad to see that you so enthusiastically embraced my design ideas and I thank you for your suggestion about the keel.¡±

    She grumbled back at me and showed me to my new pirogue.  It was six steps wide and twenty-six steps long.  According to Sofia it should be wider for its length but I didn¡¯t think a wider pirogue would work that well back in the swamp.  On the other hand my boat¡¯s high sides, roof and keel should make it much more seaworthy, I hope.

    The bow and stern of my boat had a permanently fixed wooden cover on top, while the middle of my PIROGUE was covered by what looked like an upside down, two step tall wooden box with windows. There were hatches in the top of the wooden box that could be opened up, if I wanted to stand but in case of bad weather I could close the hatches and sit inside while looking out the windows.  There were a few other special features on my pirogue, like the bulge running down the center line of its roof.  I had already made some custom magical devices for my boat as well.  Now all I needed to do was enchant the craft.

    ¡°It looks great Sofia.  I¡¯ll be by tomorrow to enchant both of our pirogues.¡±  She growled at me in response, she really is a wonderful person.  I¡¯m truly glad that I gave her that regeneration potion because when she used to kick me in the past her old wooden leg would hurt me a lot more and she didn¡¯t even risk bruising a toe.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Walking with slight limp, I bid her goodbye and hopped back into my carriage.  I was ashamed to admit it but I rather liked the coach that I always seemed to get, it was painted a lustrous deep blue and had gold filigree.  The luxurious leather seats and the finely built springs on the vehicle; were extremely nice too.  I¡¯ve seen too many people throw up after a long bumpy ride in an inferior carriage.  But I was frequently embarrassed by some of the looks that I received while riding in the expensive coach.  Shrugging my shoulders, I decided to be decadent and let myself relax into the deep upholstery.

    Five minutes later my pleasure excursion, to the eastern side of the Gulf Grand Harbor, took a down turn.  It now appeared as if I was part of a bloody parade!  Ten mounted horsemen had suddenly shown up and they were at this moment leading the way for my carriage.  As they past my coach, they had exchanged nods of recognition with Rich and Roy; it seems that my sergeants had been expecting the troopers and keeping things from me too!

    Besides those horsemen, there were at least two more squads riding alongside my carriage and immediately behind it.  Following them was a supply wagon and with what looked like the command element for a horse platoon.  After my time with the Army I well knew how the Cavalry operated.

    Just what the heck was going on!  ¡°Rich, since all of the new people riding along with us look like regular Army to me; can you please explain what in the blazes is happening now?  I feel like I¡¯m part of a heavily armed convoy rather than being on a relaxing day trip to a secluded fishing spot.¡±

    Sergeant Richard Sanders mentally winced.  ¡°Well James as I told you when we started out this morning; last night Roy and I tried to figure out the best destination for you.  During the war, the eastern side of the mouth of the Gulf Grand Harbor was repeatedly attacked, blasted apart and burned by the Imperial Navy and Marines.  Despite what the Kingdom did to protect the area, the Empire was always able to sneak in and cause great devastation.  As a result people, shops, docks and all other activities withdrew from that area.  Many of those displaced people and businesses relocated to the better protected western side of the bay.

    When I put in the request for your personal carriage, somehow a high ranking Army Officer heard about our excursion and he arbitrarily decided that the Army should send along a platoon in order to get a general feel of the area since now that the war is over, people will soon start returning to that side of the harbor.

    Our destination has been practically abandoned for over twelve years because of the war.  Fires, growing plant life and returning wild animals have practically wiped out any signs of what was once a heavily populated outlying arm of Sweet Port.  I¡¯m astonished that the Army hasn¡¯t already sent a survey party out that way.  But manpower is still at a premium even with the hostilities being over.  The Kingdom lost too many people because of that damn war and what with rebuilding lost ships, destroyed infrastructure, and colonizing the new territories there are just far too many demands on the healthy people that we do have, to get everything done in a timely manner.  So that¡¯s why a mounted platoon just happens to be traveling along with us.  It¡¯s really just a coincidence of timing.¡±

    It was difficult for the two Sergeants to maintain such innocent expressions while James glowered at them, because Rich¡¯s explanation had been pure bullshit.  Countess Green¡¯s fledgling Royal Intelligence Service was certain that foreign elements wanted to either capture or kill James Drake.  When James had made his plans known about what he intended to do today, the Countess nearly had a conniption fit when she learned about them late last night.  The written orders she had sent back to the two Sergeants had been rather pointed.  The eastern arm of Sweet Port had been a ghost area for many years, with only a very small army fort and infrequent token patrols.  On top of that James was insisting on seeing the ocean and some unknown foe of the Kingdom had invisible warships.  Even a brigantine might have a complement of almost two hundred with at least fifty of those normally being marines.  All it would take would be to have a handy enemy ship off shore and a spy, equipped with some kind of magical communication device to imperil Drake¡¯s life.

    What the Countess wanted to do was lock him in the palace for his own protection but the Princess had given orders not to do anything that would upset Drake or reduce his quality of life.  The Minister of Intelligence had wanted to shout back ¡°what about his quantity of life?¡±  But she had known that saying something like that wouldn¡¯t be a smart thing to do, so she had kept her mouth shut.

    The roads that we were traveling on were badly overgrown but the infrequent Army patrols had them cut back enough that they were still barely useable.  We crossed an isthmus that was about three to four hundred long steps wide and less than half a league long, it led to what was called Cone Island, even though it wasn¡¯t really an island.  According to Marine Sergeant Roy Russell, who was one of my assistants along with Army Sergeant Richard Sanders, Cone Island was slightly over a league long, and it was about five hundred long steps wide at its widest point, with its length running parallel to the coastline.

    Roy began speaking.  ¡°There used to be a lighthouse at the western end of this island but it got destroyed early on in the war.  The Kingdom kept trying to rebuild it because it was an important navigational aid but the Imperial bastards would always show up as soon as we made any progress.  So instead the King had the Royal Spire Lighthouse built on the western side of the bay; that structure is over two hundred and fifty steps tall, with it being so large it could fill in for the destroyed Eastern Point Lighthouse.

    The spot where that lighthouse used to be has a great view of the gulf.  How about if we stop there for lunch, since it¡¯s been over four hours since we left the University?¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a good idea Roy, my stomach has been growling at me.¡±

    Folding tables and chairs were unloaded from the roof of my carriage and they were quickly set up by my two servants, Philip Turner and John Cooke.  While the driver and the footman for my carriage saw to the horses.  Riding in such a coach might be the height of luxury but I am not overly impressed with their speed.  I would have rather walked on this foray, since it would have only taken a little longer and I could have used the exercise.  I¡¯m afraid of getting soft and not being able to re-acclimate to living back in my swamp.

    I do get a little exercise most mornings but that¡¯s only when I practice with my spear or short sword with the Sergeants.  The nobles can keep their fancy long swords; I prefer a well made spear.  My favorite weapon is actually a glaive that is a little less than six steps long, it¡¯s longer than a sword yet short enough that I¡¯m pretty handy with it.

    Both Sergeants and my servants had responded with looks of shock when I had initially told them my plans to go on a one day walk-about by myself.  For spoiling my plans I think I¡¯ll be using the four of them as test subjects for some really foul tasting potion experiments.

    The seven of us dined on a table covered with a white linen cloth, while the Cavalry platoon ate what looked like a meal of dried meat and hard biscuits.  I had invited the Lieutenant and her two sergeants to eat with us but she had refused, saying that she always ate the same thing as the rest of her troopers did and seeing as how we didn¡¯t have enough food for an additional thirty-two people, she sadly had to turn down my offer.  I did feel a little guilty eating cold fried chicken, corn bread, sausage, beans and fresh fruit in front of the platoon; but my two sergeants seemed to relish showing off what they were dining on to their brethren in uniform.

    I had always heard that the Gulf Kingdom was particularly lucky when it came to food stuffs.  The Kingdom was located in the center of a vertical band on the Book Continent.  The Eastern Empire is, as one might easily guess, located on the eastern edge of the continent.  The Empire is confined on its western border by Drake¡¯s Swamp and the Mountains of Ria.  On the other side of the mountains lies the Gulf Kingdom which stretches for over six hundred leagues to the west until stopping at the Great Western Sky Mountains.  Beyond that mountain range is a collection of various city-states and small countries.

    The mountains protect the Gulf Kingdom and provide it with vast quantities of fresh water and mineral resources.  In the warm south; citrus fruits, olives and grapes are grown while further north wheat, rice and corn are all cultivated.  The rivers in the Kingdom, especially the Haven River which runs right through Sweet Port and into the Gulf, provide an excellent transportation network which has been augmented by many manmade canals.  It is my understanding that before the war, the Kingdom was making good money by shipping food stuffs to other countries.  But because of the virtual destruction of our navy and the blockade, our local merchants had been forced to sell their goods to only those people sailing on ships from neutral nations.  Those foreign buyers, knowing that the Kingdom¡¯s merchants had no other alternatives, had bargained hard thus reducing the local merchants¡¯ profits and the Kingdom¡¯s tax revenues to practically nothing.  Everyone had suffered economically because of the conflict.

    It would take years for the Kingdom to rebuild its Navy and merchant fleet, so things still aren¡¯t as good as they used to be.

    Nevertheless for the moment, even if I didn¡¯t have my desired solitude, I was still really enjoying the magnificent ocean view before me and the sound of the waves.  Living in the center of Sweet Port is something I would never be able to get used to, but I could definitely envision being comfortable living in locale like this.

    I suddenly sat up.  I was unquestionably returning to my swamp but I could foresee making frequent trips to and from Sweet Port.  I did have a few friends here, and there were some awfully good restaurants in town that I would miss.  However, while I liked Alex and Donna, I didn¡¯t wish to stay with them every time that I returned to Sweet Port, nor did I want to stay in an inn or a hotel.  Since no one was living on this island, I had to wonder if I could perhaps buy a small piece of it.  If I did, I could have my own dock here and use my new boat to travel back and forth.  For the first time in a long while I felt really excited about something besides a new magical invention.  I wondered who I should ask, maybe Donna.  I was supposed to have dinner with her and Alex in three days; I¡¯ll talk with her then.

    After our lunch we spent the next three hours slowly touring the island.  While the southern side didn¡¯t have any suitable sites to safely keep a boat; the northern side between the mainland and the island, had numerous small coves that were ideal, though many of them were choked with sand but I should be able to figure something out.

    Late in the afternoon we headed back to the University, I never did get any fishing in.  I skipped school for the following two days so I could enchant my cobble and Sofia¡¯s small sloop.

    Sofia was a borderline mage, the sort that was being recruited by the Navy to operate and charge their kraken tubes and spears.  Up until recently she had no real way to use the little magic that she had inside of her.  Many years ago, she was a Ship¡¯s Carpenter on a merchant vessel.  Her husband had been its Sailing Master.  When the war started their ship was out at sea; they almost made it safely back to Sweet Port.  But they didn¡¯t, Sofia lost her husband, their two oldest children, her lower right leg and her left eye.

    Today; Sofia, her two surviving children, Naja and Simon, as well as my two sergeants were whooping and hollering as I pushed my new pirogue along.  I had improved the runes of movement using almost the same method that I had used to create my new button shields.  My old boat could travel at a moderate running pace, my new boat could move twice as fast as a man¡¯s fast run.  The runes were still mass limited, so they couldn¡¯t move anything much bigger than Sofia¡¯s sloop but when they worked it was startling.  It had been necessary to engrave some runes into the boat¡¯s keel so my pirogue wouldn¡¯t be as fast when I retracted the keel but you couldn¡¯t have everything.

    We had slowly taken my boat out to a secluded place in the bay for testing.  I didn¡¯t want it generally known how fast my boat could truly go but even I had been shocked with its speed.

    Sofia was yelling at me again. ¡°James let me pilot this craft.  You said you would show me how to do it, I¡¯ll need to know for my own sloop.¡±

    ¡°You promise not to kick me anymore?¡±

    ¡°Those weren¡¯t kicks those were just pointed reminders about proper nautical terms.¡±

    Grumbling I showed her how to use the movement enchantments.  But I didn¡¯t show her how to activate the pirogue¡¯s shields, her sloop didn¡¯t have those.  As for the wards on both of our crafts they were entirely passive but our boats could move so quickly that I wasn¡¯t sure how effective the aversion wards would truly be.

    ¡°Sofia I have enough magic to keep the movement runes fully charged even while I¡¯m using it.  You have enough magic to control your sloop but you¡¯ll probably have to spend two or three hours charging them for every hour you use them.  Please keep them a secret as best you can.  I¡¯ve got the really critical ones disguised but I would prefer for them all to remain a secret.  As you already know, about every three months or so I will need to come by and touch up the runes but that¡¯s only if I¡¯m available, I¡¯m not making any promises.¡±

    She didn¡¯t seem to be listening to me; I swear the fierce grin on her face was going to be permanently affixed as she swung my cobble into another tight turn, throwing up a spray of water.  Both Naja and Simon, both had enough magic that I also ended up showing them how to operate my boat.  Roy and Rich on the other hand, were very disappointed that they were magically unable to control the movement runes.

    The next day while having dinner at Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s house, I spoke about Cone Island with my three dining companions, one of whom was the Princess.

    ¡°I skipped out on my classes a few days ago, the University walls had been closing in on me or at least it had been feeling that way to me.  So feeling the need for a little fresh air and sunshine, I took a day trip to the coast.  As you all know I plan on returning to my home as soon as I graduate.  But while visiting Cone Island, I had a thought. What if I purchased a piece of land out there and built myself a second home on the island.  I should be able to easily construct something using my magical stone making talents.  So, I was wondering if any of you know who I would need to speak with about making an offer on a piece of that island.¡±

    Alex and Donna both had to stifle exclamations of dismay while Princess Ellen felt her stomach plummet out from beneath her when she heard James mention returning to the swamp.  But their emotions were whipsawed when their friend brought up the subject of buying a piece of local property.

    Donna knowing the Kingdom¡¯s security concerns for her young friend spoke first.  ¡°James that area is terribly far from the city proper, my goodness it takes over four hours by carriage to get from this estate to Cone Island.  Are you sure that you want to live so far away?¡±

    ¡°Donna, I like everyone here but I¡¯m not too fond of city life; it is okay in small doses but every day for weeks or months at a time, would drive me insane.  Cone Island is abandoned as is most of that area; I thought if no one else has any interest in that land right now, then it was a good time for me to make an offer.¡±

    Ellen suddenly started to speak before anyone else said anything, she just had an idea and she didn¡¯t want anyone to possibly spoil it.  ¡°James, most if not all of Cone Island has reverted to the Kingdom.  Please allow me to check with the Royal Treasurer and I¡¯ll get back with you.  It should only take me two or three days at most.¡±

    ¡°Ellen, I would feel like I was taking advantage of your position to ask you to do something like that for me,¡± responded James.

    ¡°James, you saved my life more than once and I see the Treasurer almost daily, so it is no bother at all.¡±

    Reassured James dropped the subject but Donna exchanged a curious glance with the Princess.

 Chapter 12: The Invisible Attack

    Chapter 12: The Invisible Attack

    Two days later a meeting was held.  The King, Princess Ellen, Treasury Minister Walter Cooper, Intelligence Minister Brenda Green, Admiral Samuel Taylor and General Paul Howard were in attendance.  Princess Ellen was speaking.

    ¡°James has expressed an interest in purchasing a portion of Cone Island.  There are only a few people that have any remaining claim to any of the land there.  My recommendation is that we buy them out and give James the entirety of the island, except for its connecting isthmus.  He¡¯s always had difficulty with testing his devices within the confines of this city.  By giving him that island we give him both a local home which might encourage him to stay close by and a large plot of land on which he can perform his experiments.  I know there are security risks but I think that they can be overcome and that it is far better if he is on Cone Island rather than in that cursed swamp.¡±

    Admiral Taylor replied.  ¡°Cone Island is a windswept piece of land that is little better than an overgrown sandbar.  At one time, before the Imperials destroyed its breakwaters and seawalls, it had some value but now it¡¯s practically worthless.  However while saying that, we only have the one lighthouse presently, if we were to rebuild the Eastern Point Lighthouse or better yet, construct a third lighthouse on the eastern end of Cone Island too then the safety of our sailing vessels would be dramatically increased.¡±

    The King then spoke, ¡°We have too much building and rebuilding going on right now to construct another lighthouse or worse yet two.  We¡¯ve won the war but we may lose the peace with how hard we are working our people.  We have construction projects going on all over our newly expanded kingdom.  The only ones not working are the old and the lame.¡±

    General Howard joined the conversation.  ¡°Princess, for years the Imperials attacked our coasts at will.  I know now that they were so successful because of their blasted spies but it¡¯s still the truth.  I am not as confident as you are that we would be able to protect James Drake on Cone Island; that is if our enemies make a serious attempt against him.¡±

    ¡°I have to concur with Paul, Princess Ellen;¡± said Admiral Taylor.  ¡°You want us to protect James but you also insist that we do it in secret, even keeping it from him.  We would need a significant troop presence on that island in order to dissuade any of our foes from staging a kidnapping or an assassination.¡±

    Ellen felt her hopes being shredded by those in the meeting; however with the aid of her quick mind she rallied another argument for her proposal.  ¡°With the assistance of his magical potions, James helped build the fort at Drake¡¯s Landing in a little over four months time.  Then during the winter months he added a second wall to that fortress.  If he¡¯s given some help, I¡¯m sure that he can build the lighthouses that you want Admiral Taylor.  Once they are built, you can then staff them with Marines and equip the towers with kraken tubes.  I imagine that you¡¯ll also want to put enchanted lookout tables in the lighthouses as well.  I can tell James that for the price of him assisting us in the construction of those two lighthouses we¡¯ll give him the rest of the island.  I don¡¯t know how fast he is now at making those giant stone blocks but he certainly picked up speed in the Empire as he gained proficiency with the potion and those two spells that he used.  So it would be within my expectations that he¡¯ll have those two towers done so fast that it will positively shock you, that is so long as we can get him enough people to make the necessary wooden forms and haul sand.¡±

    It was General Howard that replied to Princess Ellen¡¯s proposal. ¡°Your Highness when James built your fortress and those other fortifications in the Empire, he had the aid of the Fifth Regiment and later on the additional soldiers that we sent you. Our forces are stretched thin patrolling the newly expanded Gulf Kingdom.  The platoon that was sent with young Drake the other day served multiple purposes on that journey besides just guarding him.  The small fort we have on Cone Island is only staffed with a single squad and they are only there to alert us in case of an enemy attack.

    The Soldiers, Sailors and Marines that we have at this present time, have been pushed to their very limits and they desire nothing more than to return home to their families now that the conflict is apparently over.  No matter how much I like you or James, I cannot in good conscience assign any military personnel to help build those lighthouses.  While this Kingdom¡¯s soldiers would certainly see the building of fortifications in the new territories as part of their job; I don¡¯t think that they would view the construction of a lighthouse just outside of Sweet Port as being a task that the military should engage in.  On the other hand, they and I would view James¡¯s security as being something of great import.  So if somehow you convince him to build two lighthouses on Cone Island then I will assign two squads to him, during the construction process, to act as his bodyguards; but that would include the squad that is already on that island.¡±

    ¡°I would also assign at least two squads of Marines to help protect young Drake, an assignment so close to Sweet Port would not be seen as a hardship posting by my Marines,¡± offered Admiral Taylor.

    The King and the Treasury Minister enthusiastically joined in the conversation, envisioning how the Kingdom would soon have two new lighthouses without any kind of financial outlay.

    Ellen got angry.  ¡°I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU PEOPLE!  James has done so much for us, and he has received scant payment in return.  Oh sure, we¡¯re promising to give him a part or all of Drake¡¯s Swamp but that place is worthless to anyone else but him.  Not only has he done wonderful things for this Kingdom, but he continues to present us with marvelous new inventions!  I know for a fact that he is close to a breakthrough in giving normal people witch sight and such a thing will be an invaluable tool for our scouts and lookouts.  I tried giving him an almost worthless tiny little island so that we could keep him nearby and now you want him to build two gigantic structures without any aid at all.  Come this summer James will be done with school and unless we give him a reason to stick around here, he¡¯ll be gone.  And I can¡¯t say that I can blame him with the way that he¡¯s been treated and so penuriously rewarded for his remarkable accomplishments.

    The King timidly spoke up.  ¡°I plan on making him a Count, shouldn¡¯t that make him happy?¡±

    ¡°Father would you be happy to be the Count of a swamp where the only income that it generates comes from the sweat of your own brow, a swamp with no other inhabitants?  Besides that I don¡¯t really think that James cares one whit about being a noble.  He has been impressed by so few of us.  He¡¯s given us gifts that would have emptied half the treasury if the Guild had invented them.  Those Mages would have insisted that we reward them properly with both lands and gold, yet you won¡¯t give James a windswept sandbar tinier than any of the Kingdom¡¯s baronies and less than half the size of most of the holdings of our landed knights.¡±

    ¡°What would you have me do my daughter?¡±

    ¡°The Mage Guild has been refusing to make and use of James¡¯s stone potions and spells.  They say it¡¯s because mere construction work is beneath them.  In truth I think that their excuse is only partially true.  It is my believe that they are unable to make the potion as easy and efficiently as James can, so as an excuse they say that Drake¡¯s stone potion is beneath them.  The Royal Spire Lighthouse took six years to build and cost this Kingdom over 135,000 gold pieces.  I propose that in compensation we offer my friend, one sixth of that amount to build a lighthouse half the size of the Spire.  If he builds us two lighthouses, then that amount would double which then make it approximately forty-five thousand gold coins that we would owe him, in addition to that we would also gift him with the remainder of Cone Island as well.  Knowing his abilities, it should take him only a year or two those structures, that is if he can acquire enough laborers.¡±

    The King turned to look at Baron Cooper, the Minister of the Treasury, who nodded his head back at the King.  Seeing his nod, His Royal Majesty responded.  ¡°You have my agreement and support so long as James agrees to it.  General Howard, Admiral Taylor and Countess Green, I expect you three to figure out the security arrangements for our Mister Drake.  I don¡¯t want him coming to any harm.¡±

    -------------------------

    Commodore Barbara Nelson was almost at the half way point in her voyage to the Kingdom of Fata.  She was commanding a convoy of eight vessels, four Navy ships and four merchant vessels loaded with magically preserved citrus fruits, olive, grapes, wine and olive oil.  The cold clime on the Great Island of Fata was not suited to growing such things.  Livestock, wheat and potatoes were their main staples.

    The Kingdom of Fata hadn¡¯t been paying a fair price for the Gulf¡¯s produce for almost two decades; it was past time for that to end, thought Commodore Nelson.  Recently, the Gulf merchants had for the first time ever, refused the visiting buyers from Fata.  Forcing a new deal to be struck; the Fata buyers would instead pay a much more agreeable price upon the delivery of the goods to their own country, instead of the paltry sums that they had been paying in Sweet Port.

    But there was a problem.  No one trusted the Kingdom of Fata, at least no one in the Gulf Kingdom.  So with the King¡¯s backing, a ridiculously strong escort force had been sent along to protect the merchant ships.  Barbara recalled the night her frigate was attacked by two invisible ships.  While the Eastern Empire was the primary suspect, the Kingdom of Fata was a close second on the list.

    Commodore Nelson had four Gulf Kingdom Ships; her own Gulf¡¯s Pride, the brig Nemesis and the brigantines Challenger and Sprint.  They were escorting four barques, which were laden with almost two thousand tons of cargo.

    Before the war, the height of naval power had been the giant carracks; and engagements had been primarily fought as boarding actions between ships once the combatants¡¯ mages had exhausted themselves.  Barbara thought of her first posting, on the original Gulf¡¯s Pride.  A huge vessel that towered over other craft which made it easy for the ship¡¯s archers, mages and ballista crews to launch attacks down upon enemy ships.  She had been a midshipwoman aboard the Pride, one of only a few females to actually achieve such an assignment.  The Gulf Kingdom had been much more patriarchal during those days.  The war had subsequently forced dramatic changes upon the Navy and the Army.

    The first Gulf¡¯s Pride had burned to the water line just off the coast of Sweet Port and Barbara had nearly gone down with it.  Since then, every attempt that the Kingdom had made to build more of those giant war carracks had ended in failure either because of an enemy attack or by sabotage.  The Gulf Navy had been forced to rely on smaller easier to build ships; such as sloops, schooners, brigantines and brigs.  They hadn¡¯t even been able to build anything as large as a frigate until recently.  Now the Kingdom¡¯s complete lack of large warships might turn out to be a good thing.  The invention of the kraken tube and ship based magical shields had changed the definition of a good warship.  Barbara now saw the great value of a fleet based on fast brigantines, brigs, and frigates; and she had to wonder if the costly and hard to produce giant warships of old had any value at all in this new modern era.  She well knew that her own Gulf¡¯s Pride cost less than a tenth of the original and it had taken less than a quarter of the time to build too.  As for brigs they could be built in less than six months and that was with a covered kraken tube deck, their only downside being that their narrow beam did not permit them to carry the new long range kraken tubes as part of their broadside, as a frigate could easily do.

    Commodore Nelson broke off her revery and returned her eyes to the ocean, she was worried and she wouldn¡¯t be content until her flotilla was safely back at home.  Barbara had the kraken tube crews on all of her ships training with the watchmen on the lookout tables. There was only one mage, in her entire convoy, that had even a modicum of talent with his witch sight ability and the Commodore definitely felt irritated with that lack of capability amongst her forces.  The Gulf Kingdom only had 158 mages available for military service and many of those were inferior to the five hundred or so, stay at home members of the mage guild.  While the Navy had recently recruited some more ¡°mages¡± those were people who only had enough magic to recharge and operate the new kraken tubes, spears and shields; some of those wondrous devices they couldn¡¯t even recharge, the ¡°mages¡± could only activate them.  Not a one of the new mages had the witch sight ability.

    -------------------------------

    The following morning, Ellen joined James for breakfast.  ¡°I spoke with my father last night about Cone Island.  The Crown is offering to pay you forty-five thousand gold pieces and gift you with almost the entire island, if you¡¯ll construct two lighthouses for the Kingdom, one at the eastern terminus of Cone Island and the other at the western end.  You¡¯ll be responsible for the design, materials and manpower; and the towers have to be at least half the height of the Royal Spire.  What do you think?¡±

    I looked back at Princess Ellen and said the first thing that came to mind.  ¡°If you¡¯re going to pay me forty-five thousand gold pieces for two lighthouses, then I was really undercharging you and the Kingdom all during that bloody war!¡±

    Ellen at least had the grace to look embarrassed.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry James back then I didn¡¯t have a lot of power to reward you properly, now I do.  If you do accept this job, you should know that your greatest problem will probably be finding enough able bodied workers.  The Kingdom has too many jobs and not enough people right now to do them.  You might also have some difficulty acquiring lumber, steel, copper, brass, tin and iron.¡±

    I slowly ate my meal as I pondered Ellen¡¯s offer and the limited support that I would have.  My thinking was sluggish because I was a little tired from working late last night on a new set of buttons for myself.  The other day, when riding around in my new boat, I had a sudden inspiration strike me, the kind of thing where I thought, why didn¡¯t I think of creating such a magical device before?  It had sounded so tremendous that I had to get to work on it right away because it was such an obvious idea that I didn¡¯t want to risk someone else coming up with it first.  The test results had been extremely good for a first attempt and I couldn¡¯t wait to get back to work on my project.  I had to solve two problems, one with the control and the other with comfort.

    As for Ellen¡¯s offer, frankly the gold didn¡¯t interest me all that much but the thought of building two giant lighthouses excited me.  But where would I find the construction crews and the materials?  I couldn¡¯t build everything by myself or out of stone.

    -------------------------------

    ¡°Commodore, the lookout table has multiple magical dots just coming in from the edge.  Estimated range is less than half a league,¡± shouted the table watchwoman.

    ¡°Communications board, send a signal to the rest of the convoy alerting them and calling them to full combat readiness. Then send a message back to the Admiralty reporting to them our magical contacts and my actions,¡± ordered Commodore Nelson, she turned to her first officer.

    ¡°Commander Bell, please check with our visual lookouts since it isn¡¯t even dusk yet, they should have long since seen something and reported it.   We can only assume that we have incoming enemy invisible ships, unless our lookouts are all asleep at their posts.¡±  The Commander did as ordered checking with each lookout and taking the opportunity to verify things with her own eyes, which is what she knew her superior really wanted her to do in the first place.

    ¡°Communications board, please verify that all escorts are taking station between the enemy and the merchant ship that they are designated to protect.  Also verify that they know to activate their shields when the enemy gets within an estimated 800 long steps.¡±

    The merchant ships had communication boards but they were being operated by Navy personnel in secure rooms within the cargo vessels.  The civilian sailors knew that messages came in and out of those rooms but they had no idea how it was all being done.

    ----------------------------

    ¡°Admiral,¡± Count Samuel Taylor looked up as his aide rushed into his office.  ¡°Commodore Nelson¡¯s flotilla is being approached by numerous invisible ships.¡±

    The Admiral rushed out of his office and to the Admiralty¡¯s brand new Communications Room.  The boards had only recently been created and Nelson¡¯s ships were among only a handful of vessels that had already received the new magical devices.  He once more thanked the heavens for James Drake; if Nelson was defeated the Kingdom would have never known what had really happened to her without the new boards.

    -----------------------------------

    Out on the ocean, with the lowering of the Sun, it was getting harder to see.  Commodore Nelson fully expected the invisible ships to rush in as soon full dark fell upon them.

    ---------------------------

    Landgrave Griffin Thorne cursed when he saw the GKS vessels maneuvering to protect their charges.  The invisibility magic that his people had recently rediscovered in the tomes of a famous deceased mad wizard was proof against those mages who possessed even marginal witch sight.  Unfortunately, those magic users with superior talents could see through the invisibility shields.  But according to the Landgrave¡¯s sources; his foes had no more than one or two gifted mages aboard the Gulf Kingdom ships.  Thorne decided to delay his attack and await for true midnight, until then his men could rest and conserve their strength, while their Gulf Kingdom adversaries would be forced to keep alert at their posts all the while, and all the time dreading what they knew was coming their way.  Thorne grinned malevolently and chuckled, he reveled in his believe that his actions were causing the Gulf Kingdom sailors to quake in fear.

    Griffin Thorne was greedy for new slaves and the cargo in the holds of the Gulf Kingdom ships.  While they might not be carrying gold, the exotic produce that the ships did carry would bring plenty of gold coin, once it arrived on Fata.  He would teach those ill bred mongrel Gulfies to never rise above themselves again!  The damn arrogance of such people, to refuse to sell to his Kingdom¡¯s merchants!  Little did those Gulfy degenerate, scum realize that even with the failure of the Eastern Empire, which was practically a secret client state of Fata, they were doomed.  In no more than a year or two, the entirety of the Gulf Kingdom would be under the yoke of the Kingdom of Fata.

    -------------------------------------

    Commodore Nelson was frustrated; the enemy vessels were simply keeping pace, with her ships.  Her invisible foes were just waiting out there in the darkness, a little more than a thousand long steps away.  She knew that the unseen Commander of those ships was just biding his time and waiting for her own forces to grow tired.  She just wished that the one mage that she had, who possessed witch sight, was actually able to see something with it.  If Barbara didn¡¯t have such faith in James Drake she would almost believe nothing was out there, but all of his devices had always worked and the red health potion that he had given her, had certainly put a spring back into her step.

    The Commodore had given orders for her communication people to send regular reports back to the Admiralty even if nothing was happening and when something did happen to report that as well and not wait for her to draft a formal message.  There was a possibility that her forces would be quickly defeated and the Admiralty would need to know as much as possible, as soon as possible.

    -----------------------------

    Admiral Samuel Taylor had ordered Commodore Nelson¡¯s convoy to turn around after learning that her most powerful mage couldn¡¯t see a blasted thing.  He was organizing a rescue force and he was busy acquiring the most powerful mages that he could lay his hands on, except for James Drake that is, he was simply too valuable to risk.  Admiral Taylor had two problems, he didn¡¯t have nearly enough ships and some of the mages were proving reluctant to accompany his rescue flotilla.  As far as ships went, the Navy had less than a third of what they were authorized to have by the Crown and too many of those vessels were sloops and schooners, thankfully the kraken tubes and magical shields had proved to be a heck of an equalizer.

    Sam had finally managed to put together a patch work force of ten ships, consisting of the sister ship of the Gulf¡¯s Pride, two brigs, three brigantines and four schooners.  He suddenly recalled Princess Ellen saying that James had almost cracked the witch sight problem.  He wrote off a hurried message sending for the young magical genius.

    -----------------------------

    I was working on my new harness when Sergeant Roy Russell came running into my workshop.  Good thing that it wasn¡¯t a minute earlier, it would have been embarrassing.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°James, a Naval Convoy is under attack by a fleet of invisible ships.  Admiral Taylor is requesting that you bring whatever witch sight devices you have, to the Admiralty.¡±

    Well no rest for the wicked.  I gathered up my six completed helms and we walked outside to find my carriage already waiting for me, maybe I could sleep on the way.

    Upon arriving at the Admiralty, I learned about the current situation and I showed the Admiral the magical visors.  ¡°I don¡¯t know how long they will last Sam.  I think it should be at least a couple of months but sunlight will make them fail faster.¡±

    He tried one of the ungainly looking things on.  They were pretty uncomfortable.  He seemed to be mesmerized by all the new things that he could suddenly see.  There were lines and collections of magic all about us and in us.  He walked into a darkened room and navigated through it perfectly.

    ¡°James this is wonderful.  When can the Mage Guild start production of them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the problem, this device requires a potion and so far, I¡¯m the only one that can make it.  Both Dean Marks and Professor Julia King have tried and failed.  I seriously doubt that there is anyone better in the Mage Guild than those two.  But both ladies have promised to keep on trying.¡±

    ¡°James we¡¯ve got to have more of these devices, even if we weren¡¯t suddenly facing invisible ships.  The ability to see at night alone would make them invaluable to us.¡±

    I sighed; I knew this was going to happen.  ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make more of them but I¡¯m not promising how many I¡¯ll create every day.  I¡¯ll just send you the glass bottles,¡± I tapped the glass visor, ¡°and you can figure out how to mount them onto something.  If Paul wants some of them, I¡¯ll give you each half of whatever I do make but I¡¯m going to charge you for them since I hate making the concoctions and I want you to appreciate these devices.  So each one will cost you twenty gold coins and I will probably raise my prices whenever I feel like it.  When you¡¯re not using them, keep them in a box so no light can reach the glass visors, that way they will last longer.¡±

    ¡°No problem James, the Navy really does appreciate what you have already done for us.  By the way, how has your work been going in the development of those magic seeking kraken spears?¡±

    Today just got even worse, I hadn¡¯t wanted to talk about that particular failure but I guess I had to.  ¡°Sam that was one of the dumbest ideas that I ever had for two reasons.  I could make a kraken spear detect magic; the problem was that the spears own runes of movement are fairly powerful when activated, so the only thing that my experimental kraken spear was able to detect was itself.  But even if I figured out that problem, I would still have to find a way for the kraken spear¡¯s detection magic to somehow control the movement runes and steer the spear towards a target.  When I seriously looked at that last problem, I discovered something, it¡¯s BLOODY IMPOSSIBLE AND I¡¯M AN IDIOT!  So please don¡¯t bring it up again or I might be forced to kill you.¡±

    Admiral Taylor didn¡¯t know what to make of an obviously upset James Drake.  So he did the only thing that he could think of, he decided to pretend that he had never asked that last question and he moved on to other things.  ¡°Thank you again James for these new visors, whatever the Navy can do for you just let me know.¡±  With that he let his aid escort an agitated young Drake from the building and the Admiral went back to planning for tomorrow¡¯s departure.

    I walked back to my carriage.  Rich looked at me, ¡°ready to get back to your suite?¡±

    ¡°Nope, DRIVER,¡± I called out in a loud voice.  ¡°You¡¯ve been to my shipwright¡¯s place; we need to go there now, please.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, I¡¯ll have you there in short order.¡±

    I leaned back in my seat and started making plans.  I wonder who I could drag into this.  I looked at my two sergeants and grinned evilly at them.

    Sofia was not happy when I woke her up by pounding on her door.

    ¡°What in the blazes do you want Drake?¡±

    ¡°How would you like me to put military grade enchantments on your sloop, and equip it with long range kraken tubes, so we can all go off and rescue a convoy of Gulf Kingdom ships which are four hundred leagues from here, in the open ocean?¡±

    She looked hungrily at me.  ¡°Who are we going to kill, maybe some Imperial snakes?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure yet, it could be them or it might be some people from Fata.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s where the snakes first came from; I guess that makes them snakes too.  What do I need to do?¡±  We spoke for over an hour making our plans.  After which, I was once more back in my coach and heading home to the University but not to sleep.  I needed to wake up my new crew; they were so new that they didn¡¯t even know that they were crew yet. There was no way that I could stand around while the Gulf¡¯s Pride was being threatened, that ship held far too many of my red longevity potion test subjects!

    My servants were busy in my quarters, packing up the things that were thought necessary for my trip, such as food, bedding and clothing.  I was in my workshop preparing what I needed for a pleasant ocean excursion.  Currently, I was selecting the best of my thin bottle rejects, in which I¡¯ll pour the last two of my witch sight potions.  Some of the bottles weren¡¯t thin enough or weren¡¯t clear enough but I was sure that I would find something useable.

    My sergeants finally returned with my invited guests, they all looked a little grouchy.

    ¡°Hello Dean Marks and Professors, I am sorry to disturb your slumber but I need your help.  I am prepared to appeal to your patriotism or pay you, whichever works is fine with me.  Right now, there is a Gulf Kingdom convoy that is being attacked by invisible enemy ships.  The Admiralty is sending off a rescue fleet with powerful mages on board but I don¡¯t think that they will make it in time.  I on the other hand, know of two small fast vessels; that can rendezvous with that besieged convoy in less than half the Navy¡¯s best estimated transit time.  The problem is that I need some help, your help to be exact.  So do any of you want to go on an ocean cruise, meet some nasty magical enemies and kill them?¡±

    Professor Heather Lee, my composition teacher, was the first one to speak.  ¡°But I¡¯m just a language teacher, why could you possibly want me to go with you?¡±

    ¡°I need you and Professor Tanner because you both worked on the military¡¯s new codes.  We have two boats and I need one of you on each of the craft to operate their communication boards.  Professor Tanner is also knowledgeable when it comes to the lookout tables.¡±

    It took some private conversations, some begging and a few minor bribes but after two hours of talking, I had my crew.  They left to pack small bags and to make arrangements for their absence from the University.

    -----------------------

    Landgrave Thorne was leading a force of nineteen schooners.  None of the ships were over eighty-four steps in length and crew sizes varied from seventy to one hundred men.  Courtesy of the recently deceased and possibly still screaming Lord Bartholomew Thomas, all of the ships were equipped with kraken spears.  Thorne, using his ship¡¯s message caster, sent a series of carefully timed pulses to his fleet, ordering them to begin the attack.

    He sent five vessels each against the frigate and the brig; as for the brigantines, each of them had four ships seeking to kill them.  Griffin planned on staying out of the battle for now, so that he could better control things.

    -------------------------------

    Commodore Nelson watched the lookout table as the enemy ships approached her flotilla.  She had earlier ordered her Captains to activate their shields when the enemy closed to eight hundred long steps and that they were to start shooting when their foes were three hundred and twenty long steps away from their own vessels.  Her ship with her long range tubes would start shooting as soon as one of her other vessels launched their spears.  Since the kraken tubes were silent she would have to play close attention to any visual clues the spears left.  Hopefully those clues would be enemy ships exploding into flames.

    The Captain of the GKS Sprint, a brigantine measuring 132 steps in length, was keeping his eyes glued to the lookout table.  It looked like his ship was to be the one opening the battle and launching the first spears.  Three hundred and twenty long steps was the maximum range of his vessel¡¯s broadside.  The Sprint did have four of the long range tubes but they were only in the bow and stern.  Captain Simms watched closely as the three enemy ships crossed a line on the table and he yelled out the order for the assigned tubes to ¡°Shoot!¡±

    His tube crews had been kept constantly informed about their approaching enemy¡¯s location and course.  The tube crews had also been given the appropriate assignments so that they would target the most suitable enemy vessel for their kraken tube.  All spears were carrying the flame concoctions and the crews had been told to space their shots since their foes were invisible.

    The first broadside was launched and astonishingly tubes one and three actually hit the same enemy ship.  But perhaps it wasn¡¯t so astonishing, since the enemy had been maintaining a constant speed and course; perhaps they had been too overly confident because of their invisibility and the darkness.  They had been certain that the convoy didn¡¯t have enough gifted witch sight users that could pierce their veils of invisibility.  Sadly, those were the only successes from the Sprint¡¯s first broadside but kraken tubes were very quick to reload.

    The Kingdom of Fata didn¡¯t name the schooners destined to be used in their invisible fleet, simply because they planned on constructing vast numbers of the cheap and easy to build vessels, and as a result all such schooners merely bore a number.  It was the ¡°His Supreme Majesty¡¯s Ship¡± 23 that took the first two blows.  The twin flame potions started fires in both the bow and stern of that vessel, destroying its invisibility and leaving it an easy target.

    Landgrave Thorne was shocked when he saw one of his schooners burst into flame.  How was that happening he asked himself?  The Gulf Ships were launching attacks from beyond the range of both kraken tubes and most mage¡¯s attack spells.  The Fata Island Wizards might be able to attack a stationary target from further away but certainly not a moving ship, purely because those types of long range spells took far too long to cast.

    The tube crews on the Gulf¡¯s Pride were very well trained, experienced at fighting invisible ships and while their tubes were loaded with old model kraken spears, those spears were loaded into long range kraken tubes which gave them an effective range of 480 long steps.  The Pride being the largest ship of Nelson¡¯s ¡°fleet¡± had a broadside of twenty-four tubes.

    Of the five schooners attacking the Gulf¡¯s Pride; HSMS 33, 7, and 21, were all hit once and lightly damaged.  Ship 8 was severely damaged and only the HSMS 18 escaped unharmed from the Pride¡¯s initial salvo.

    Commodore Nelson and her crew screamed with joy at their startling success.  They had all wanted some payback for what had happened earlier that year.  The wounded and now visible enemy vessels were easy meat for the Gulf¡¯s Pride jubilant crew.

    The Fata Fleet was beginning to panic.  Landgrave Thorne ordered a messaged sent off, requesting immediate reinforcements.  He knew that there was a fleet of twenty HSMS vessels, no more than one hundred leagues southeast of his current position.

    It was the GKS Challenger¡¯s turn next.  Sadly it only struck one blow against a single enemy craft but it succeeded in badly damaging the HSMS 12.

    Captain William Wong of the Nemesis was looking to get into the action too, and after an agonizing wait the enemy finally got within the range of his tubes.  The thirteen spears, launched by the GKS Nemesis had three successes.  One spear hit the HSMS 17, severely damaging it and two more struck the HSMS 42, turning it into a blazing inferno.

    The GKS Sprint launched its second salvo but it only succeeded in killing the ship that it had already wounded.  It failed to hit any of the other three ships that had attempted to attack it.  Those three HSMS vessels were all now frantically trying to safely withdraw from the area.

    Commodore Nelson¡¯s ship launched its second broadside.  The Pride put two spears into each of the vessels it had earlier damaged, turning them into blazing hulks.  The wizards on board those schooners futilely fought the flames, trying desperately to save their ships.  But once again James Drake¡¯s flame bottles showed their superiority to wizard launched fireballs, with their sheer persistence.  As for the HSMS 18 that had been trying so frantically to escape, it was struck four times and it didn¡¯t need any more follow up shots in order to kill it, it was already a blazing mass of flames, from stem to stern.

    The Challenger only succeeded in destroying the first ship it had struck, the other three enemy vessels were able to safely withdraw.

    Captain Wong¡¯s ship had almost as great a success as the much larger Gulf¡¯s Pride.  Its follow up salvo of thirteen tubes destroyed the already revealed vessels 17 and 42 while further damaging the HSMS 3.  But the Nemesis also struck blows against the HSMS 37, three times and the HSMS 48, twice.  Captain Wong grinned viciously at his burning foes.  His father had been the old Gulf¡¯s Pride Captain and whenever William Wong fought and destroyed an enemy of the Gulf Kingdom, he thought of it as getting back at those who had taken his father from him.

    Off the nineteen ships in the Landgrave¡¯s flotilla, ten were a mass of flames and two more were on fire and had been revealed.  This was a catastrophe for the Kingdom of Fata; it was too soon for the Gulfies to learn what nation commanded the invisible ships.  Thorne cursed long and loud, his spies had been deceived!  He reasoned that the damn mongrel bastards must have snuck two or even three highly skilled mages onto each of their ships, that being the only way that they could have seen through the invisibility shields, or at least the only way that he could think of.  He still hadn¡¯t figured out how they had managed to shoot their kraken spears so far, but he had confidence that his own nation¡¯s wizards would soon figure out that particular trick.

    Commodore Nelson seeing the enemy ships withdrawing, on the lookout table, ordered her ships¡¯ longboats to be lowered so that they might look for survivors.  She wanted answers and she was determined to get them.

    The second HSMS fleet, responding to an urgent message from Landgrave Thorne, decided to risk casting a dangerous weather spell in order to increase their speed.

    The Gulf Kingdom Marines, manning the longboats, were careful when picking up the few enemy survivors, chances were that at least one of them was a wizard, so the Marines blindfolded and bound them all.  Once that was done, they forced strong drink down their prisoners¡¯ throats in order to scramble their senses.  The Marines were also prepared to cosh them on the head if necessary.  All of the prisoners were brought to the Gulf¡¯s Pride since it was the largest ship.

    Admiral Taylor was overjoyed to learn of Nelson¡¯s success but he didn¡¯t pause in readying the rescue fleet, he knew how quickly fortunes could turn.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    The GKS fleet wasn¡¯t supposed to win!  I like to do things randomly so that I¡¯m surprised too.  The battle was rolled with a random number generator and what happened wasn¡¯t what I had been expecting; especially what the Nemesis did, since it¡¯s only a little larger than a brigantine warship.

    My warships classes are not how things were exactly done in our own past.

    The following list is based on size and sail plan/rig.

    Sloop: 21 to 50 steps long, single mast

    Ketch: 50 to 126 steps long, two masts

    Schooner: 50 to 154 steps long, two masts

    GKS Brigantine: 132 steps long, two masts, all of its tubes are on the weather deck, twenty standard kraken tubes on the sides and four long range tubes in the bow and stern.  Build time one to two months.

    GKS Brig: 165 steps long, two masts, dedicated tube deck, twenty-six standard kraken tubes on the sides and four long range tubes in the bow and stern.  Build time four to six months.

    GKS Frigate (heavy): 304 steps long, three masts, dedicated tube deck, forty-eight tubes on the sides and eight tubes in the bow and stern, all tubes are the long range version.  Build time fifteen to eighteen months.

    Gulf Kingdom Cargo Ship Sizes

    Ketch: 50 to 126 steps long, two masts.

    Schooner: 50 to 154 steps long, two masts.

    Barque: 143 steps long, three masts, 430 tons of cargo.

    Barque: 188 steps long, three masts, 500 tons of cargo.

    Nothing bigger at this time, they were destroyed.

    Ships are measured from stern to the tip of the bowsprit, and bowsprits can be as much as a third of the vessel¡¯s total length.  Wiki is a wonderful source of information and that is where I got most of mine from.

    Remember that kraken tubes are not cannons.  Tubes are built of wood and therefore they are much lighter than heavy iron, brass and steel cannons.  So the GKS warships are built a little differently than our own sailing warships.

    I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, if you see any flaws please leave a comment.

 Chapter 13: Just Sit Right Back and Youéˆ¥æª’l Hear a Tale.

    If you spot any mistakes, trust me they are there, please leave a comment pointing them out, thank you.

    I¡¯ve inserted dashed lines when the point of view changes.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 13: Just Sit Right Back and You¡¯ll Hear a Tale.

    We arrived at Sofia Overgaard¡¯s small dockyard about an hour before dawn.  She was busy stocking both of our vessels with supplies.  The ladies were all to sail on her sloop, while the men would be in my coble.  Both our crafts were quite small, especially mine, and while there are mixed crews nowadays on the larger vessels, to do the same on our small boats would be embarrassing what with our normal biological functions and all.

    Sofia¡¯s two adult children had insisted on going along with us.  Naja would be sailing with her mother and Gill would be with me.  I introduced Sofia to the rest of her crew; Dean Greta Marks, Professor Julia King, Professor Sara Sanchez, and Professor Heather Lee.  My crew consisted of Gill, my sergeants, Professor Quentin Black and Professor Montgomery Tanner.  I had looted the best of the University¡¯s magical staff for our adventure.  We still had to get our little vessels ready but unlike what happened in Ester¡¯s Village so long ago, this time I had competent mages to help me.

    We put shield runes on Sofia¡¯s sloop, and then installed the communications boards, lookout tables and long range kraken tubes on both of our boats and it only took a little over an hour to do all of that.

    I had another gift for my boat builder.  ¡°Sofia, this is a water purifying cask.¡±  I presented her with a small wooden barrel that had a tap in the bottom; the cask was one step in diameter and three steps long.  ¡°I use this type of thing in the swamp to purify my own drinking water but it works just fine for salt water too.  You just pour dirty water in the top part and the bottom half of the cask fills up with the clean water.  It takes about ten minutes for it to fill up completely.  Periodically you need to clean out all of the crud that gets left behind in the top half of the cask and of course you¡¯ll need to charge it with magic if you sense its energy is running low.

    This other thing I have here, is a pane for a witch sight visor.  If you look through it, it¡¯s just as if you were born with witch sight, Dean Marks and Professor King both know all about it and they can explain it to you on the way.  It normally goes on a helmet but we don¡¯t have any more of those left, so you¡¯ll have to figure out how to wear it or something.  I¡¯ve got another one for my pirogue.¡±

    I had acquired an audience while I was explaining the cask and visor pane to Sofia.  Professor Black spoke up, he seemed a little agitated.  ¡°James, how long have you been making these visors and casks?¡±

    ¡°The visors are new, but I¡¯ve been making the casks for years.   Swamp water is filled with all kinds of nasty stuff and I got tired of boiling water or wasting a potion while purifying only a single barrel of water, so after a little research and experimentation, I came up with these casks, they¡¯re much more convenient.¡±

    Professor Black looked at Dean Marks, who just shook her head and spoke.  ¡°I know Quentin but we can talk about this after the mission.  It¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s done something like this.¡±

    Sofia¡¯s sloop had at least three times the volume of my little Coble as a result the six ladies were fairly comfortable aboard, that little ship.  On the other hand, we six men were crammed into my little boat, along with a kraken tube, spears and all of our other supplies; it was going to be a miserable trip for us.  It was even my idea, which made it all the worse since I had no one that I could complain to.

    We headed out of the harbor, keeping our speed down, and we passed the rescue fleet along the way.  Once we were well on our way, I would send a message to Admiral Taylor explaining what we were doing, that way he wouldn¡¯t be able to yell at me.  I still react poorly when people shout at me.

    Everything was fine until we left the harbor; I increased the speed of my coble and then I looked to our rear, so as to see how Sofia was doing.  Oh Swamp Muck!  I could see that her sloop was falling quickly behind and was completely unable to keep up with us.  I had expected them to be slower but not by that much.  I guess we should have tested things first.  Gill spoke, ¡°My mother was wondering what she has to do to make her sloop go as fast as this boat.  Is there something she might be doing wrong, or does her vessel maybe need more magic?  We took it out yesterday and we could only make it go about half as fast as your boat.¡±

    I looked at him and then I exchanged looks with Professor Black.  ¡°Gill, I really wish your mother would have told me about this earlier.  The movement runes I have on her sloop are the best that I can make, I can do no better and her boat can¡¯t go any faster, I guess.  I was expecting it to be a little slower because her sloop is so much larger than my pirogue but not by that much, I¡¯m sorry.¡±  Professor Tanner was busy at our communications board, probably exchanging messages with Professor Lee about this very problem.  ¡°I¡¯ll take you all back to shore.  Sofia¡¯s vessel looks to be only a little faster than a regular sailing ship, so she won¡¯t be able to make it in time to help the convoy.  But her boat carries two of our three kraken tubes; and we¡¯ll be losing too much of our fighting power with the sloop not with us.  So our task becomes a lot more dangerous and I didn¡¯t recruit any of you for a suicide mission, so I¡¯ll drop you all off back at the Overgaard dock.¡±

    Sergeant Russell quickly spoke up.  ¡°But you¡¯re still going aren¡¯t you?  You¡¯ve never sailed across anything bigger than Kraken Lake, yet you¡¯re going off into the Vestalia Ocean, in something the size of a ship¡¯s pinnace, and by yourself yet.   To the blazes with that James, I wanted to be in the Navy all along, I was raised as a fisherman and I know how to navigate too.  You didn¡¯t even know that we needed an enchanted chronometer to plot and maintain our course. You¡¯ll never find that convoy on your own.

    My father and uncle disappeared at sea years ago, and the bastards we are heading for might have had a hand in it.   I¡¯m staying; we can drop the others off.¡±

    Gill spoke next, ¡°Oh hell no, I am not leaving. This is a solid little boat; I think we¡¯ve got at least a fifty percent chance of making it to the convoy alive.  I owe those bastards for my siblings and a father that I can¡¯t even remember.¡±

    The other three men on board quickly stated that they weren¡¯t getting off either.  I let Gill and Professor Tanner explain things to Sofia and the others.  If we make it back alive, I might drop the others off and just return directly to my swamp, it might be safer for me.  I really didn¡¯t need to finish my education at the University, I never wanted to be a noble and I can easily forget being a licensed mage; except for a few exceptions they all seem to be jerks.

    Professor Montgomery Tanner learned through our communications board of Nelson¡¯s surprising night-time victory and how the convoy was still being followed by at least seven invisible enemy ships.  Montgomery told us that news and also informed us about the enemy prisoners that Nelson¡¯s Marines had picked up.  Evidently, our invisible foes were from the Kingdom of Fata.

    We were three hours into our voyage when the weather started getting rough and my tiny ship was tossed.  If not for my courageously stupid crew and stoutness of my vessel, my coble would have been lost.

    We went upside down at one point but Professor Black used a spell to set us right side up again.  Maybe I should attend his class more often?  My boat has two chair style seats by the front windows and two benches behind them.  When the waves had first started to grow, Gill had affixed ropes and straps to our seats to hold us in place.  He and Sergeant Russell had also secured all of our gear too.  It¡¯s a very good thing that they did those things or we all might have been seriously injured.

    --------------------

    Viscountess Delphyne Gamble was disgusted by Landgrave Thorne¡¯s incompetence and her own role forced upon her by Fata¡¯s male dominated society.  By all rights she should have inherited her father¡¯s title and be a Countess but instead her rank was reduced only because she was a woman.  For years now she had been fighting attempts by the King, his court and the House of Nobles; to marry her off.  Only two things had prevented them from succeeding, the first being that her own county was almost completely self-sufficient and the second was that she was amongst the top five most powerful wizards on the Island of Fata.  So those powerful men couldn¡¯t bend the laws too much without fearing her revenge.  But as a result of all their patriarchal prejudice, Landgrave Thorne was her superior and that was even after she was the one to rediscover the invisibility shields.

    The dangerous weather spell that she and her wizards had cast had speeded up her ships by a least a league per hour but even with that, it would be at least thirty-five hours before her force would catch up to Thorne and the Gulf Kingdom Convoy.  More worrisome to her, was how the Fata spies in Sweet Port had reported the hurried departure of a modest yet powerful fleet of ten Gulf Kingdom Navy vessels that very morning.

    ----------------------

    Admiral Taylor aboard the GKS Frigate, City of Sweet Port, wanted to strangle someone.  It had been his intention to keep James Drake far from harm but because of that young man¡¯s willfulness, young Drake was instead sailing straight into harm¡¯s way, in nothing more than an overgrown dingy!

    Meanwhile Admiral Taylor had a new unasked for addition to his little fleet, a small sloop that was almost a league faster than any of his ships and that was without the little vessel using any sails at all!  The crew of the tiny ship had insisted that they were accompanying his flotilla and there wasn¡¯t a damn thing that he could do about.  What was worse to his mind was that he wasn¡¯t sure that he should do anything about it even if he could, not with their speed, two long range kraken tubes and three powerful mages aboard that craft.

    Because of his frustrations, Sam wanted to pound his head against the main-mast, the only reason he didn¡¯t was that he feared what kind of impression such an act would leave with the crew of the Sweetie.

    Yesterday, he had almost formalized the design for a new light frigate that would be built in place of the brigs.  The new ship would be two hundred steps long and of sufficient beam, so that both the port and starboard sides; could each be equipped with seventeen of the long range kraken tubes and with eight more of those tubes in the bow and stern.  Making the new vessel significantly more powerful than a brig and only taking two months longer to build, whereas the current GKS heavy frigates took at least fifteen months to construct.  Admiral Taylor sadly found himself agreeing with Commodore Nelson about the impracticality of building anymore of the giant War Carracks.  They simply cost too much and took too long to build.  But the huge stately ships had been magnificent to behold, even if they were at least a full league slower than anything else on the oceans.  However, the GKS heavy frigates would still continue to be built.  They were simply better able to make long voyages, project power and survive both storms and enemy attack, than anything else that the Gulf Kingdom had or was likely to have.  Admiral Taylor just wished that they didn¡¯t take so long to build.

    But his careful plans about what ships to build had been put into disarray by James Drake.  Because a little ship that could travel at nine leagues per hour and carry one or two long range kraken tubes, could change Naval Warfare.  Admiral Taylor¡¯s confusing new task was to figure out how things would change and build his fleet accordingly.  The mast started to look more attractive to his forehead.

    ------------------------------------

    It was truly a wonderful thing that I had thought to whip up a sea sickness potion before we left the University early this morning, because four of us had a great need for it.

    The storm had ended but we had other worries.  The oceans are large, particularly the Vestalia Ocean which we were in, as such there is plenty of room for sea monsters and giant sea creatures.  Normally, that is no problem for travelers because warded sailing vessels, travel slowly enough that their wards have time to work at chasing away those huge sea beasts.  We on the other hand were traveling much faster than anything else that has ever sailed the oceans and my witch sight was now showing me something very large moving beneath the waves.  Whatever it was, it was no more than a four hundred steps away from us.

    ¡°Sergeant Sanders,¡± I called out.  Please load our kraken tube with one of the special red spears; we might have a slight problem.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± he replied in a panicky tone of voice, he well knew what the red spears were for.

    ¡°Gill; please turn the boat to the left please.  I need to keep an eye on something.¡±  Professor Black was standing in the open hatch beside me, his eyes were very wide.  I think he was giggling a little. I could hear him muttering.

    ¡°It¡¯s at least one hundred steps long but what is it; Kraken, giant shark, snake whale, or leviathan?  It could be something no one has ever survived seeing before, I wonder if it¡¯s going to swallow us whole?

    My professor is such a funny guy and such a fine example for his students.  I felt a sudden urge to pee.

    We here heading away from the monster but it was following us.  I really should have put a standard kraken tube in the back of my pirogue.

    ¡°Sergeant Russell please hand me a red spear.¡±  Now my voice sounded panicky.  Why wasn¡¯t that beast turning away?  Our wards should work against it, unless it is a completely unknown creature.  Did we somehow make it angry or is it simply too hungry to veer off?

    I was given the spear and I un-wrapped its head.  This was the same kind of spear that I had made to kill krakens.  It was loaded with the most concentrated venoms that I knew about, the only problem was that I didn¡¯t have a launching tube to make it fly straight.  Just what was I going to do?

    Suddenly something immense broke the surface behind us.   It had a mouth wide enough to easily swallow two boats the size of my pirogue.

    Sergeant Russell screamed at Gill to ¡°turn to port!¡±

    Professor Black said ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a giant shark,¡± and fainted.

    We were practically inside its mouth, so I had no problem launching the spear and hitting it.  I think I peed, my pants.   The boat turned, and we weren¡¯t eaten.  I started to giggle.

    It followed us for far too long, as Gill flung our boat about the Ocean, doing his best to prevent us from being eaten.  Finally after maybe a minute or two, the shark suddenly stopped and silently sank away.  I¡¯m not sure if it died, or if it simply got too far away for my witch sight to work on it, but it was gone.  I needed to change my pants and wash what I was wearing.

    -------------------------

    Commodore Nelson didn¡¯t know if she should arrest James Drake or kiss him when he arrived.  But she doubted that a boat with only one kraken tube, no matter how fast it was (something she still couldn¡¯t quite believe), could be of much help to her flotilla.  That is until she saw the first enemy ship, amongst those seven vessels that had still been stalking her, burst into flames.

    -------------------------------

    Gill Overgaard was wearing the leather witch sight helmet and piloting the coble.  He had made the helmet himself using a little of Drake¡¯s glue and some spare leather.  Professor Black and Sergeant Russell were keeping a lookout.  Sergeant Sanders was prepared to load the kraken tube and James would activate it.  Professor Tanner was keeping Admiral Taylor and Commodore Nelson informed about what they were doing.

    The kraken tube was on a fixed mount so it was necessary for Gill to aim the entire craft at the enemy.  When he thought he had a foe in range and everything was lined up properly he would yell out ¡°Launch¡± to James.  Gill was having the time of his life and he didn¡¯t care, at that moment, that his life might be a very short one.

    -------------------------------------

    It was late afternoon, on the second day after the GKS convoy had been originally attacked.  Landgrave Thorne had his seven surviving schooners following the GKS convoy by less than one thousand long steps.  He was waiting for Dalphyne¡¯s ships to arrive and he was trying to figure out how he could blame her for this whole fiasco.

    Suddenly he looked to the side and slightly behind his vessel, his eyes had been drawn that way by something that had thrown up a large spray of water as it turned in behind his little flotilla.

    He could make out what looked like a pinnace but how was it travelling so swiftly?  It didn¡¯t even have sails or oars!  He could barely see the spear that shot out from the bow of the tiny craft and struck a schooner on the port side of his own vessel.  The stern of that ship, the HSMS 24, subsequently exploded into flame.  The narrow looking pinnace heeled over and turned away in a startling maneuver.  His crew was yelling and his ships were breaking formation.

    The pinnace was suddenly coming back but this time towards the schooners on his starboard side.  It launched another spear, catching the HSMS 28 amidships, it too caught fire.

    Thorne¡¯s fleet scattered in an attempt to flee from the small deadly predator.

    -------------------

    Commodore Nelson seeing two enemy ships on fire and five more fleeing ordered her fleet to slacken their pace as she brought her own ship about, so she could finish off the two stricken schooners as was the plan she had worked out with the crew of the Coble.  They were to mark the enemy and she was to sink them.

    ------------------------------------

    Thorne sent off a desperate plea for help to Viscountess Gamble but she was still almost five hours away and there was nothing that she could do.  In desperation he was going to cast his own weather magic but it was a difficult spell which usually took an hour or more to cast, as well as a skilled wizard or two; Griffin was not a particularly skilled wizard.

    In less than half an hour the Coble had marked all of HSMS vessels by setting them afire and the Gulf¡¯s Pride was coming down upon them to finish them off.  In desperation, Thorne had the colors stricken from the HSMS 38, while he and several of his crew waved white flags from the bow.  Seeing the 38 strike its colors, so did the HSMS 5 and the 43, it was too late for the other four schooners of the little Fata Navy Flotilla.

    ----------------------------------

    I didn¡¯t know if it was sad or funny that my new pirogue was now being referred to as the ¡°Coble,¡± Sofia had meant it as a disparaging name for my boat, so I didn¡¯t like it so much, on the other hand who names a pirogue?  Sure as heck it¡¯s not me.  I own five boats now, my small pirogue, my medium pirogue, my large pirogue, my larger pirogue and now my extra large pirogue.  What¡¯s wrong with those names?  Though if I went with numbers and just numbered them in the order that I got them that might make much more sense and be simpler too.  I could call this boat, Number Five.

    It would have been easier on us if those three ships hadn¡¯t surrendered.  Commodore Nelson turned her convoy around so they could rendezvous with us and the captured schooners.  Taking wizards prisoner is always a tricky business.  We had only done it a few times in the Empire; and as a result of my experiences there, I had developed a potion that suppresses magical abilities.  Without an antidote it will work for three to five days.  When I was making it, I had made sure to develop an antidote at the same time.  The scariest two weeks of my life was when I was testing that suppression concoction on myself but animal testing had been extremely successful, so I had decided to risk it last summer while I was home.  There aren¡¯t many creatures with an innate magical nature but there are some and I¡¯m not just talking about dragons.  The larger spiders, strangle vines, some snakes, and some of the swamp cats all have magic.  So I tested my potion on those kinds of creatures.  It was scary to find out that those big spiders and strangler vines needed magic in order to live, my concoction ended up killing them but the snakes and cats were fine after a week or even sooner if I gave them the antidote.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    A healing potion will also remove the suppression effect but it takes a few hours to work, instead of minutes as with the antidote.  Using myself as a frequent test subject allowed me to gain a partial immunity to my suppression concoction, which I maintain by periodically drinking a weak tea made with a small dose of the suppression antidote.  The tea while foul tasting, is rather invigorating and with enough honey and lemon, it doesn¡¯t make me gag.  I would hate for someone to be able to use my own magical suppression potion against me.

    That concoction can be administered orally or painted onto a dart like a spider¡¯s paralytic poison and shot into a target.  I had four small jugs of the potion and since a little of it goes a long ways, each jug had enough to dose ten wizards if administered orally, it took less if used on a dart but the suppression effect didn¡¯t last half as long.

    Since we were dealing with wizards, at Commodore Nelson¡¯s request, Professor Black and I led the convoy¡¯s Marines when boarding the enemy schooners.  We started with the one that surrendered first.  Sergeants Russell and Sanders went along with us, while Gill and Professor Tanner remained on Number Five.

    -------------------------

    Commodore Nelson watched nervously as the Mages James Drake and Quentin Black led a force of forty of her Marines onto the first schooner.  There were another thirty-two Marines standing by to reinforce the first group.  The only reason that they had not already boarded the schooner was because they didn¡¯t want to crowd the first five squads of Marines.

    Barbara silently cursed because if anything happened to Drake she knew that her career would probably be over but she felt that she had no choice, she didn¡¯t dare send lesser mages to shackle the Fata Island Wizards.

    -----------------------

    I was carrying my favorite glaive and my short sword was in its scabbard at my side, but in addition I had bracers on both of my forearms.  On the back of each bracer was a collection of twelve tiny tubes, each tube was a big as my index finger and they were stacked three wide and four high.  The tubes on my right arm were loaded with darts dipped in paralytic spider venom and the darts on my left arm were coated with my magical suppression potion.  The tubes provided the propulsive force but their effective range was only about sixty steps, which was good enough for me.

    Professor Black was angry with me.  When he saw my bracers and asked for his own set.  I was forced to tell him no, I explained to him that I only had the one pair and it was for me since I wasn¡¯t that accomplished of a spell caster like he was.  I sure as heck was not going to tell him about the shield buttons on my coat either.  I did give him a small enchanted shield which seemed to mollify him a little bit.

    We got on the smoldering boat and separated out the magic users from the normal sailors.  Some of the normal people actually seemed quite happy to see us, which was strange.  As for the wizards, there were two above average ones aboard and five that were below average.  The magic users were all forced to drink some of their own ale laced with the suppression potion, they just didn¡¯t know about the potion, yet.

    I saw some runes that looked interesting and a peculiar looking chest but we had no time to examine things just yet.  We had to get the first load of prisoners over to the Gulf Kingdom ships so we could then board the other two schooners.  It is never a wise idea to give a wizard time to plot or cast a major spell.  For now, the enemy schooners were targeted by every kraken tube in Nelson¡¯s little fleet, hopefully that would put enough fear into our foes so that they didn¡¯t try anything.

    It was dark, and the weather was becoming nasty but we were finally on the third enemy vessel.  We had everyone secured, however just as had happened on the other two ships, some of the enemy¡¯s ordinary seamen seemed extraordinarily glad to see us but I couldn¡¯t understand why.  They all looked like typical people from Fata with their unusually pale, almost albino like skin.  I heard that the Kingdom of Fata worships white pale skin to such a degree that its people use dyes, bleaches and even potions to keep their skin almost a brilliant alabaster white.  It is my understanding, that they even classify having a healthy tan as a major personal calamity.

    Sergeant Russell had a perplexed look on his face and he seemed to be interested in two of those strangely happy enemy seamen.  I walked over beside him, now that we had all three ships secured, I could begin to indulge my own curiosity.

    The two men, that Sergeant Russell was peering at, had the most puzzling expressions on their faces.  Their facial expressions alternated between looking so happy that they were ready to break out in song, to being in extreme pain as if from an intense headache.

    Roy got up right up in the face of one man, staring right into his eyes which were filled with tears.

    I spoke, ¡°Sergeant Russell what has you so interested in these two men?¡±

    Before he could answer, the strange man gasped out ¡°my baby boy,¡± blood suddenly poured from the man¡¯s nostrils and he collapsed at Roy¡¯s feet.

    Roy yelled out ¡°Daddy¡± and fell to his knees holding the enemy seaman.  He pulled out one of my healing potions which I had supplied him with earlier and poured it into the man¡¯s mouth.  By the color of his skin the man looked nothing like Roy but still somehow Roy thought him to be his father.

    I didn¡¯t think I would get any answers from this strange group of happy enemy seamen, so I decided to go to the top and I walked towards the newly shackled wizards.

    The language of Fata has things in common with the language of the Gulf Kingdom.  Enough so, that the people from both countries can generally make themselves understood, the same is also true with many of the other countries within two thousand leagues of Sweet Port.  In addition, Fata shares the same identical language with the Eastern Empire and I am quite familiar with that tongue, from my three years that I spent fighting there.  Besides that, many of my original magic books, which are back in my old keep, are in their written language, which is again to some extent similar to the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s written language.

    When I arrived in front of the wizards I spoke, sadly half of their number didn¡¯t look very impressed with me.  I would have to change that, I began talking to them.  ¡°I¡¯ve lost count of the number of wizards that I¡¯ve killed; adding to that unknown total will not bother me in the least even if I have to torture you all to death.  Actually I would enjoy it.  I consider all of the wizards from the Eastern Empire and the Kingdom of Fata to be poor quality shark food.  I need some questions answered or I will start inflicting pain and even death upon you.  Those happy prisoners over there; explain them to me and you know what I mean.  DO IT NOW YOU SCUM!¡±

    Surprisingly it was one of the braver looking ones that began to speak, probably because the truth didn¡¯t matter and we would soon find out anyways.

    ¡°They are slaves; they have been mentally and magically conditioned not to speak about their pasts, if they attempt to do so it causes them intense pain and can sometimes even result in their deaths.  I would guess that the one that fell is from your own Kingdom and he probably attempted to reveal as much to you.¡±

    ¡°I heard him speak, he had a Fata Island accent and his skin is so white, explain!¡±

    ¡°It is simple, during their initial conditioning process, to teach them to speak differently, as for their skin and hair color, why we just dip them once a month.  It works superbly and since it is a painful experience it serves wonderfully as a reminder about their status in life.¡±

    ¡°Why would you bother to go to such extremes?   That is stupid!¡±

    ¡°No you mongrel, you are stupid.  Spending months at sea is tiresome and most people don¡¯t like to do it.  Besides that an ordinary seaman makes almost three gold coins per month; additionally he will receive a share of the profits if on a merchant vessel and if on a warship he gets a share of the spoils; compare that to the dip, which only costs thirty silvers per slave per month.  Our methods make perfect sense and are entirely logical; it is perfect way to use you lesser species.

    By making them, look and sound like us, even if they were to temporarily escape their ship, while it was visiting some foreign port, they would not be believed even if they could speak the truth.  On more than one occasion even your own Kingdom¡¯s local constabulary has unknowingly returned one of its own enslaved seamen to us.  You are all such stupid and ignorant dogs.  We¡¯ve been doing this for over thirty years and you¡¯ve given us so much to laugh about, oh well I guess it had to end some time.¡±

    I was amazed at this Wizard¡¯s genius and convinced by his arguments; I decided to reward him.  I slammed the butt end of my glaive into his crotch, repeatedly.  As he puked on the deck, I spoke to all of the wizards present.  ¡°You will all spend every waking moment coming up with a plan to undo the conditioning done to those men.  I was raised as slave by a blood witch, she did all kinds of unpleasant things to me and I remember every one of them.  I will do things to you from your worst nightmares and I will do them gleefully, if you don¡¯t get me some answers.¡±

    Sergeant Sanders seemed a little stunned by my behavior; on the other hand, I think Professor Black was disgusted by my actions.  Oh well, you can¡¯t please everyone.  I knew absolutely nothing about magical or mental conditioning and I wasn¡¯t sure that anyone else in the Gulf Kingdom did either, so I would use the only sources of information that I had available.

    Just then the Coble pulled alongside the enemy schooner.  Professor Tanner who had his body sticking out through the hatch on my little boat, shouted out.  ¡°Quentin, there are many small incoming ships on the lookout table.  Commodore Nelson believes them to be from the Kingdom of Fata.  They should be here in five to ten minutes.¡±

    I looked at Professor Black.  ¡°James we¡¯ll never get everyone off of this ship in time.  I¡¯ll stay here with the Marines and we¡¯ll fight as best we can, this schooner has kraken tubes and I can use them as well as my own spells to fight.  You should fight from the Coble and set fire to as many of those enemy ships as you can.¡±

    A sensible plan, I was moving by the time he finished presenting it to me.  Sergeant Sanders followed me, but of course Sergeant Russell stayed behind with his father.

    Once on the Number Five, ¡°Sergeant Sanders please brief Professor Tanner about the mind conditioned and disguised slaves, so he can inform Commodore Nelson using the communications board.  Gill, the enemy ships have some of our own people on board as slaves.  It really infuriates me but we will probably have to send too many of them to the bottom of the Ocean during this coming battle, however I want to try something first which might save some of them.  Do you think you can get me within one hundred steps of one of their schooners?¡±

    Gill looked grim at my news, and before he replied he put my boat into a sharp turn.  ¡°Heck yes, I can get you that close.  You told my all about the shields you invented so they shouldn¡¯t be able to harm the Coble at least for awhile, even if I can¡¯t dodge all of their spears and spells.¡±

    ¡°I thought as much.  When we get that close, I¡¯m going to board whichever schooner you pick and take it under control.    While I¡¯m doing that you can go and mark another enemy ship or two for Commodore Nelson.

    When you see the schooner that I am on, drop its sails, come back and pick me up and then we¡¯ll do the same thing to another of their vessels. Sergeant Sanders, you¡¯ll need to load the kraken tube for Gill.  He has enough magic to pilot this boat and activate the tube.  Gill, I know it¡¯ll be a strain but do your best.¡±

    He resolutely nodded his head back at me.  While I had been talking, I had put on my new harness over my jacket and I had begun filling my coat pockets with the paralytic darts for the tubes that were attached to my bracers.  I just wish I had more darts that were prepared with my magic suppression potion.  As for the paralytic darts, they were easy to make since they were just dipped in spider venom, I had hundreds of them and I had brought a small box, filled with an uncounted number of the little projectiles, along with me on this trip.  I also stuffed my pockets full with potions.  It has always been my view that you can¡¯t have too many pockets.

    I was standing up with my head and shoulders poking out through the coble¡¯s open overhead hatch; Gill looked up at me with curiosity as we got close to the first enemy schooner.  This was going to be painful.  I activated my invisibility ward and then the harness.  I still hadn¡¯t figured out how to make it comfortable for me to use.

    The harness with its movement runes lifted me up and it hurt, but not quite as badly as a kick in the crotch.  At that point I didn¡¯t care about the enemy, what with it being dark they shouldn¡¯t be able to see me and when I got close enough, the invisibility ward should trick their eyes.  The only thing I wanted to do was to get back on my feet again, so I could relieve the pain between my legs.

    I should have set down in the stern of the vessel, but because of my clumsiness I instead landed amidships.  I sighed when the pain stopped and I launched paralytic darts at everyone who was nearby. I blamed them for the pain that I had just endured and I was furious.

    I was invisible and I had my button shields activated, these swamp leeches were in so much trouble.  When we had boarded those other three ships, we always found the ¡°happy to be captured by us¡± guys locked in a room below decks.  I imagine the slaves were only brought out for work when their masters didn¡¯t have to worry about them sabotaging things during a battle.  So that¡¯s where I decided to head to, on this ship.  Any magic users that I detected received two darts, one of them coated with magic suppressant.

    I don¡¯t know how it happened, maybe the wizard just guessed right, but I got hit with a fireball, that my jacket couldn¡¯t quite stop.  I smelled burning hair and it was mine.  In revenge, I hit him with four darts from each of my bracers and then I drank a dose of healing potion but it would take time for it to work.  I even splashed some on my face and hands, which should help speed things up a little.

    Being angry, I searched the vessel for anymore wizards.  I found two more mediocre ones, shot them and then I went off in search of slaves to free.  I vowed to be more careful and to take out all of the enemy wizards as fast as I could from then on.  I might need a new jacket because of that vile wizard!  It¡¯s a good thing that I have replacements back at the University.

    -----------------------

    Commodore Nelson was ready to pull her hair out.  She had just learned about the slaves and the fact that James, acting alone, had boarded an enemy vessel.  She sent a message to all of her ships, telling them to launch their spears so as to disable the enemy ships whenever possible because of the danger to their enslaved countrymen.

    ------------------------

    I unbarred a door below decks and inside were fifteen or more men. I dropped my invisibility.   ¡°Hello, I think you are slaves of the Kingdom of Fata.  Don¡¯t bother replying, I know how much it hurts.  I¡¯ve knocked out most of the crew and I know nothing about sailing; so could you all come up to weather deck and help me out?¡±

    They looked too stunned to move, so I turned to walk back to the top deck, I should be able to lower the sails myself, I thought.  Suddenly, I heard the pounding of feet, I turned and I saw that I was being followed by horde of grinning men.

    ¡°You will need pull down the colors, drop the sails and start waving white flags.  That way the Gulf Kingdom Navy will know that you are friendly.  You should also tie up anyone who is an enemy, even if they look like they are sleeping.¡±

    One of the men spoke.  ¡°Aye, aye sir, can we ask who you are?¡±

    ¡°Just a man who was once a slave too,¡± once we were all topside, I looked around, with no one at the ship¡¯s wheel the enemy schooner that had been behind and to our right was now nearby, close enough for my flight harness to be able carry me over to the other vessel.  It¡¯s a good thing that I can make regeneration potions or I might never be able to have children.  The men were doing as I had asked them to do.  I shouted at those that were closest to me.  ¡°I¡¯ve got another ship to free; I¡¯ll see you all later.¡±

    -----------------------

    Viscountess Delphyne Gamble saw her battle plan fall apart even before she had a chance to start her attack.  An unusually fast magically propelled small boat was launching spears at her vessels from the beyond the range of her own kraken tubes and just now a second ship from her fleet had dropped its sails for some unexplained reason and was failing to respond to her signals.

    ---------------------

    The enemy schooners were turning away from the GKS convoy.  They were also clustering together for some reason.  I had just freed my third ship and I was flying to my next target.   I might be walking bow-legged for the rest of my life just from the memory of this pain.

    -------------------------

    The Viscountess had, had enough!  Over half of her fleet was burning or had dropped their sails and her forces hadn¡¯t even struck a single blow against the Gulf Kingdom Navy.  The storm she and her fellow wizards had called to speed them on their way was still close by, using the wizards aboard her own vessel; she called that storm down upon the entire region.  If she was going to die or worst yet lose status back on Fata, then everyone was going to suffer.

    --------------------------------

    Professor Black aboard the captured enemy schooner said ¡°Uh, Oh.¡±

    ------------------------------------

    I had liberated the slaves on a fifth ship; I thought I could make it possibly to one more when there was a giant crack of lightening and skies opened up with a torrential downpour.

    The schooner started to roll violently and in a panic I wrapped myself around the main mast.  I looked to the men that I had freed only minutes ago.  ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    An old grizzled man laughed at me and then he shouted out, while letting his gaze fall on all of the nearby former slaves.  ¡°We¡¯re running before the wind boys!  We did it for them bastards and now we¡¯re doing it for ourselves and for freedom!¡±

    Joy filled shouts of ¡°aye, aye,¡± greeted his words.  With great difficulty, they somehow got my fingers to unlatch from about the mast and they got me below and into what I think was the Captain¡¯s cabin.  I was truly thankful that I had another sea sickness potion on me.

 Chapter 14: Seasick

    I know I don¡¯t have the best release rate for my chapters, but I hope it helps that most of them are at least five thousand words.  However I might have a little bad news for some of you.  I was attempting to release alternating chapters for the two stories that I am writing.  That hasn¡¯t been working for me since it takes me too long to switch my mind back and forth from the two wildly different fantasy worlds.  What I am going to be doing, from now on, is that I will only switch back to writing the other story when my muse sort of dries up for the one that I am currently working on, which normally takes one to three chapters.  For example, I just released three chapters of The Defective Hermit, in a fairly short time span.

    I am fairly confident that by making this sort of change to my writing schedule that I will in fact be more productive for both stories in the long run.  Despite my best efforts, I lose three days getting my mind to switch from world to world, so by doing it less often I can use those days to do more writing.

    I expect to crank out two chapters of Swamp Boy before switching back to DH, but it could be three.

    If you spot any mistakes please point them out, I would really appreciate it.

    A note to Jakyl who sent me a correction for DH by private message, I tried to send you a thank you but your profile has private message acceptance turned off.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 14: Seasick

    I don¡¯t like being in a storm at sea.  I DON¡¯T LIKE IT ONE LITTLE BIT!  I know that warships typically need larger crews than merchant ships because they need the additionally personnel in order to fight during sea battles.  But I had to wonder if the seventeen men that I had freed just a little while ago were truly enough to sail this schooner while in such a violent storm?  Because I didn¡¯t know enough to help them and honestly I was too scared right now to do anything even if I did know what to do.

    In the cabin in which I was in, there was a small bed just wide enough for one person; even though the bunk was tiny, it had bedposts which supported a large cabinet above the bed.  I was wrapped around one of those posts like a swamp possum on a tree branch.  I would almost rather be back facing that giant shark again.  At least I could hurt that beast!

    The howling winds didn¡¯t stop, and the gale just kept on raging.  I had been hanging on for what felt like a day, I realized that I had to do something.  As far as I knew all of the crewmen were now dead.  I stumbled out of the cabin and I made my way to the weather deck.  It was now daytime which could barely be discerned because of the heavy dark clouds overhead blocking the sunlight.  From the hatchway, I saw tired looking men roped to the ship doing their best to keep us all alive.

    I turned around and I went in search of the galley.  Finding the appropriate room, or is that cabin, I started searching for food and beverage ingredients.  I found a large kettle and I started brewing a rich broth made from dried beef and onions.  I may be an abysmal practitioner of the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s style of spell casting but I at least have enough talent to heat up a pot.  I poured one of my health potions into the mix and I used my concoction skills to add some additional magic as well.

    In a wooden box, I found some pewter drinking mugs with hinged tops; a person had to use their thumb to hold open the mugs¡¯ heavy lids.  I washed them first since they looked disgusting, and I filled seventeen of them with the brew that I had made.  I stacked the filled mugs in the same crate that I found them in and I topped off the box with some small loaves of some truly terrible hard bread.

    I got down on all fours and started pushing the crate before me.  I was crawling my way back to the stairway, or was it called the ship¡¯s ladder?  Going up that torture device was difficult but I made it with the crate intact and I only bruised my knuckles and bloodied my nose.

    First I went to the ship¡¯s wheel; I saw the old man and two other seamen working alongside him.  I handed them all broth and bread, they grinned back at me and nodded their heads in thanks.  Their words were swallowed by the storm.  I went off in search of the other men, still without rising to my feet, I didn¡¯t care that I looked undignified.

    I found cold and wet men clustered around each mast, doing things with ropes and sails. I handed out more mugs and bread; then I started making my way back to the ship¡¯s hatchway.  I had done what I could; it was time for me to wrap my arms once more around that beautiful bedpost.

    While crawling, I realized that I hadn¡¯t seen a single one of the real Fata crewmen, since I had been put below deck hours ago.  Where had they all gone to?  Did I care?

    I was almost back to the hatch when a huge wave over took the ship and crashed down upon it.  I could feel my hold break loose and I swear the wave put me fifteen or more steps into the air before sweeping me over the side.

    The wave spun me around and drove me deep beneath the surface of the water.  I struggled to remain conscious and I was barely able to guess which way us up thanks to my witch sight.  I was swallowing water as I desperately activated my flight harness which I had never removed.  I shot towards the surface; I thought that I would never be thankful for that terrible pain in my crotch again.  But that day and at that time, I was ready to sing out from the joy of it; however it would be in a terribly high pitched tone of voice.

    I shot up out of the water and beyond the height of the waves.  Using my witch sight I looked for my ship.  But I couldn¡¯t see it anywhere!  Had it gone down with that last massive wave?

    The duration that my harness can support me depends on how fast I am going and the weight that it is lifting.  My current harness was only a first experimental attempt and I had already thought of ways that I could improve it but it was what I had for now.  While I could feed my harness more energy, it was terribly inefficient but since I was only drifting with the wind, my air time was drastically increased.  Though I did have to expend; some additional energy in order to keep myself stable.  It took me over five minutes before I finally saw something that I thought might be my vessel. It looked to be almost half a league away already and the only reason that I saw anything at all was because it appeared to be briefly riding the crest of a massive wave.

    I personally had enough energy where I could put in the equivalent of at least three more full charges into my harness but I was still going to have to be careful, if I wanted to make it back to that schooner alive.  Slow speed kept me airborne longer, so I tried to optimize my flight to my ship.  If I went too fast, I would run out of energy long before I got there.  But if I went too slowly, I would never catch up.  I increased my velocity so that I could keep that object, which was hopefully my ship, in sight.  Using some of the math that Professor Tanner had taught me, I mentally calculated what would be my most advantageous speed.  I ran the calculation three times trying to get only a rough number.  Sadly, the answer was the same every time and it told me that I was out of luck, no matter what I did.  It would take the equivalent of six full harness charges, to get me to that ship and I thought I might be able to manage four, not counting the one that was already within my harness¡¯s energy reservoir.  Having no other option I increased my speed slightly, and I went in pursuit of that vessel.  While doing so, I tried to think of a plan that might save my life.

    My potions and short sword were of no use to me.  The only thing that might save me, were the shield buttons sewn onto my jacket.  I consider them to be my greatest achievement so far and one I don¡¯t plan on sharing with anyone else, if I could possibly help it.  The wizard on the first ship that I had liberated had only been able to burn me for two reasons.  One, he was freaking powerful and two, I had been wearing my shield like a suit of clothes with no air gap between me and it; so what had injured me was the energy radiating off my shield and not the wizard¡¯s spell itself.  His attack had briefly turned my shield into something like a frying pan and I had simply been too close to it.

    During the hours I had spent clinging to that bedpost I had fully recharged my buttons, but beyond that I was wearing my war jacket which had two complete sets of the extremely large buttons.  It looked ridiculous and slightly suspicious as well which was worse; because why would a magic user, be wearing a coat with so many stupid looking buttons?  I wanted to keep my buttons a secret in case I was attacked or challenged to a mage/wizard duel.  Right now while I was still in school, it was against Kingdom Law and Mage Code for me to be challenged but once I graduated or failed to graduate but still practiced magic, I will then be a valid opponent.  My jacket and my glaive will be the cards hidden up my sleeves.  I¡¯ll tell everyone that my glaive is my magic staff and they can accept it or not; I don¡¯t care what they think, I¡¯ll still carry it with me everywhere I go.  Except that my current glaive, is on that ship that is sailing away from me; sigh.

    While I was designing and creating the shield buttons, I had kept in mind all of my combat experiences but I had forgotten one lesson.  A secret does me no good if I¡¯m dead.  Instead of two sets of buttons on my war jacket I should have put on at least four and six sets probably would have been better.  Maybe I should just make a jacket or vest comprised of scale armor with each scale taking the place of one of my shield buttons?

    The wind was blowing me along, but it was taking me too long to catch up to what was definitely a ship, which was still over a third of a league downwind of me.  The vessel had some sails up, in fact it sort of looks like they¡¯ve put up more, after I was swept overboard.  Not a lot more but just a little.  I increased my pace yet again and I fed more power into my harness¡¯s energy reservoir.  This wasn¡¯t like my workshop where I had balance scales and measuring spoons to aid me while making a concoction; I was forced to do a lot of guessing about my harness¡¯s energy levels and my speed.

    The blast of heat that I had took earlier on seems to have damaged the water proofing potion that was applied to my clothes; so I was cold, wet and extremely miserable.

    I had steadily improved my shield buttons over the last several months.  A single set could last almost forty minutes if it was not under assault or under pressure of any kind.  Because my shield enchantment had been optimized, it took no more energy to recharge it than my flight harness did.

    I had been aloft for no more than twenty minutes and I had only had enough left inside of me for approximately one more charge into my harness.  I could trickle the energy into it or feed it all at once, it made no difference.  I was still over a fifth of a league from that schooner, so close yet so far.  It was time to head back into the drink.  I tried to time my descent and when I was no more than ten steps above a trough in the waves I activated my shield and deactivated my flight harness.  This time I made my shield its maximum most energy economical size which turned it into a sphere, approximately eight steps in diameter.  I needed the larger size to hold the air that I needed to breathe; I didn¡¯t plan on opening up any vent holes in my shield for quite a while.

    Because the shield projected away from my body it looked like I was hovering within it, which was always a creepy effect even when it wasn¡¯t an enemy wizard who was doing it. But it did make the ride far less jarring for me, what with the waves and all, but while the water was easily being forced around my shield, the powerful waves were draining its energy faster than calm air would have done.  By my best estimate I probably had thirty minutes instead of forty per shield charge.

    I was shivering and I had to warm up and get dry, using energy on something like that wasn¡¯t part of my plans.  I wasn¡¯t the most knowledgeable of spell casters but because of my life in the swamp I had long since mastered a drying spell.  However, since I was trapped within my shield I would have to direct that excess water someplace.  I pulled out my silver water flask, which had been a gift from Donna.  It was the type of thing that most people put wine or strong spirits in but I didn¡¯t normally consume alcohol.  It took me a few minutes to empty the flask into my stomach, now it was time to fill it back up.  I cast the spell using just a trickle of energy.  In very short order my small flask was filled back up again but I was still wet.   I ate some jerky and drank some more water.  I used a tiny bit of my magical energy to warm things up a little.  When I had the flask empty once more, I cast the drying spell again.

    I was dead; I was just using up my energy far too quickly.  I had to forget about using my flight harness for now.  My war jacket was the only thing that was going to save me.  I hadn¡¯t been paying attention to what was going on outside of my shield sphere but a wave caught it exactly right and drove it deep, causing a large dip in my jacket¡¯s energy reserves, Oh Swamp Muck!  Things just kept getting better and better.

    I activated the second set of buttons; the air in my sphere was feeling a little stuffy.  I promised myself that if I lived through this, that I would develop a spell that mimicked the action of plants and would rejuvenate the air inside a limited volume.  See Professor King, I had been paying attention to your lectures.

    The first thing I did when I activated my second set of buttons was recharge my first set,  I was still a little damp but now I had another problem because of all that water I had just drank.  I needed to pee.  While I was proud of how I could form my shield into many different shapes, what I was about to try now would be pushing my limits and it could be very painful. I gingerly opened my pants, what with my most recent disaster I had forgotten about what I had done to my crotch.  Things down below were quite tender.  I was tempted to use one of my healing potions but it would be overkill what with my limited resources.

    I carefully shaped the shield, and I attempted to pee out into the raging ocean.  Things didn¡¯t go very well, I got angry and acted rashly.  Even though it might mean my death I was casting drying spells and holding the water out with sheer magical will, which was a horrible waste of energy; all while attempting to shape air ventilation holes and I was still trying to aim my penis properly.  It was a humiliating experience that my foes would have surely enjoyed.

    I was now out of energy and my second set of buttons was almost empty but at least I was dry and my bladder was drained.  I reactivated my recharged first set, as my shield sphere was tossed about by the waves like a piece of discarded flotsam.

    When I had enough energy I dumped it into my second set of buttons, which was barely in time because my first set was running out.  My clumsy attempt to piss; might have put the final nail in my coffin.  I was exhausted and in desperation I drank one of my healing potions which should revitalize me, but as a replacement for tea it was an extremely expensive alternative, though it was more effective and my crotch stopped hurting.

    During next cycle I recharged my first set of buttons and I still had another ten minutes or more left in my second set, I might live.  Slowly I began to regain the ground I had lost, energy wise, because of my clumsy attempt to piss.  I had a full load out of concoctions because before I initiated my crazy rescue plan I hadn¡¯t known what I would need.  So while I had three of almost every type of my medical potions, I also had my glue and waterproofing concoctions.  Very carefully I cut off and tore off my shirt from beneath my coat, since I dare not take off my shield jacket.

    Using my glue I crafted some of the material into two fair size bags.  I then used a waterproofing potion to treat the bags and my damaged clothes.  I would now be able to use one bag to hold drinking water and other for urine if it was needed.  I should have thought of doing that earlier.  Now slightly better prepared, I ate some more of my dwindling supply of jerky.

    About four hours later, even with the crazy rolling motions of my sphere, I just had to get some sleep.  I had always been good about waking myself up in times of danger or at a set times because of my early life with the Witch and my experiences both in the swamp as well as on the battlefield but this would be putting that ingrained skill to an extreme test because I had to wake up before my current array of buttons was out of energy, so I could switch over to the other set.  If I failed to wake up in time, I could lose everything that I had gained or I might even die.

    I nervously fell asleep.   I woke up a short while later, not knowing where I was and I barely activated the second collection of buttons in time.  I recharged the empty buttons and I dozed off, taking another troubled nap.  I was able to do that nine times with only two close calls before I faced another problem.  I needed to defecate badly and I wasn¡¯t about do it within my sphere, I remembered what had happened with my attempt at peeing.  But at least this time I was fully charged up.  I took of my pants and underwear.  I carefully strapped them to my body.  I then activated my flight harness and after gaining sufficient altitude I dropped my shield.

    I must say that I felt quite peculiar flying in the air, at least one hundred steps above the ocean, while taking a dump.   I just wished that there was a seagull beneath me so I could get a little revenge for some past incidents.  Once I was empty, I made sure to let the driving wind and rain wash by backside clean.

    I scanned about looking for my former ship, not expecting to see anything and I didn¡¯t.  It might have been embarrassing if there had been vessel close by and they had seen me in all my half naked glory.  I stayed aloft unmoving to conserve my harness¡¯s energy and searched for land or any signs of any other ship.  To the best of my very limited knowledge there were no islands near me.   I had been hoping to find even an uncharted desert isle but I had absolutely no luck.  I was forced to wonder how Gill and Professor Tanner were faring on my tiny ship.

    Seeing nothing after nearly fifteen minutes of searching, I returned to the water below me and reactivated my shield.  I was almost out of jerky but I had three doses of my regeneration potions with me.  That potion is actually a series of three concoctions that are normally taken in five steps, with potions two and three being repeated once.  Concoction two maintains and sustains the regeneration process, and is in fact quite nourishing, having as much food energy as two or even three days worth of meals.  But it is not nearly as satisfying to the spirit.  So I had six doses of that nutritious medicine, but I hoped that I was not forced to use more than one or two of them.

    Once I had a routine in place which seemed to ensure my long term survival.  I had a new problem, boredom.  I had nothing to read, no ingredients for potions, and no tools, beyond some knives.  What could I possibly do to keep myself from going crazy inside this bubble?

    Then I had a brainstorm or it could be said that my dumbness diminished because I should have thought of this earlier.  My flight harness was covered in buttons which were just a slight variation of my coble¡¯s movement runes.  On top of that, I didn¡¯t have to form my shield into a sphere, I could instead make it more streamlined like a boat and by not using the harness to lift me, its energy should last far longer, if not nearly so long as my coble with its far larger runes.

    I altered the shape of my sphere so it became more like a pointed a cylinder and I began to move my magical boat in the same direction that the waves were going which was towards the northeast, as far as I could tell.  Eventually, if I hit nothing else, I should land somewhere on the Freed Continent, which should be far too big for me to miss.  But knowing my luck, I might be able to manage that task, and sail past Freed with me winding up in the Great Northern Vestalia Ocean.  Dragon Dung! I was made to live in a hot humid swamp and not the wastes of a frozen ocean!

    At first I had a problem because I wasn¡¯t steering my invisible boat properly; the shield was taking more damage and as a result using up more energy.  But I quickly started to read the ocean better and I got things to the point where it was using less energy while it was moving than if I had let it be battered about while being carried by the waves.  I certainly felt better without it twisting about so much, even if I was immune to any harm since I was suspended inside my shield.

    After what might have been an hour, moving at what I think was about three leagues per hour; my flight harness became exhausted.  That became my pattern, one hour of powered moving and two hours of drifting while I recharged.  I would also take flight briefly to look for any ships and then set back down again.

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    I think it was thirty hours later that I took flight and I saw my missing ship.   Luckily, it was now close enough for me to get to!  With practice, I had gotten better at flying and ignoring the pain in my crotch, I will now change my name from Drake to Iron-Balls.  While I have no desire to be ennobled, the idea of being called Lord Iron-Balls I find strangely attractive.  Ellen will hate it which makes it an even better idea.

    Flying along I noticed the schooner looked different from what I remembered but who cares.  I landed on the stern just behind the ship¡¯s wheel.  I didn¡¯t recognize the crewman at the wheel.  I looked around and for some reason I looked up.  Torn and tattered flying from the main mast was the flag of the Kingdom of Fata; I had found and boarded the wrong vessel.

    I immediately activated my invisibility ward and re-activated my shield but this time in the form fitting mode.

    I needed to find out if there were any slaves on board and then make a plan.  But first I needed to HANG ON TO SOMETHING or the storm would knock me off of this ship too.

    I crawled to a corner on the port side, grabbed hold of the railing and tried not to whimper.  I don¡¯t know why it was scarier for me being on a ship than in my shield bubble but it was; maybe the fact that I couldn¡¯t control this vessel was the problem.  Or it could be that I knew that there had to be at least three enemy wizards on this schooner.

    I noticed during my whimpering time that some of those sailors on deck were women, which is a very unusual thing for a vessel from the Kingdom of Fata.  About five hours later, around midmorning, the storm finally started to abate.  The sailors, who had been working so hard, looked to be exhausted and ready to collapse.   I finally un-wrapped my arm and legs from the ship¡¯s railing, if it had gone over the side, I would have too.

    Fresh sailors and what my witch sight told me were two wizards came up on deck.   Both wizards were wearing what looked like fancy dress officer uniforms.  The oldest looking one spoke, ¡°Alright you mongrel bitches get down below, eat something and get some sleep.  In a few hours we¡¯re going to wake you.  What with trying to rescue the Landgrave and this second storm, we¡¯ve been putting up with foul weather and no entertainment for over five days now.  I didn¡¯t buy you from that farm just because you were former sailors, no matter how short we are on trained male seamen. You were purchased to keep my crew happy and in four or five hours, I¡¯m expecting you to be back on your backs and doing your other job.¡±

    The newly arriving men cheered their Wizard Captain.  The exhausted sailors, who had been on deck and were mostly women, morosely retreated below.  I followed them as carefully as I could manage.

    I didn¡¯t have my glaive and as far as I knew the potions and venoms had been washed clean from the darts that were in my bracers.  I didn¡¯t feel like I had the slightest chance of winning a fight right now.

    I snuck down the passageway following the exhausted slaves.  When suddenly, ¡°What the blazes, is going on here?¡±  I turned around to look behind me and standing there was another fancy dressed wizard who was obviously staring at my wet boot prints.  I liked and normally wore the same kind of boots that the Kingdom¡¯s Army used and the soles of my boots had a rather unique and recognizable pattern; which was probably completely different from what anyone else on this vessel was wearing, especially considering that all of the slaves that were in front of me, were barefoot.

    What was worse, was that my boot prints led straight to me and then stopped.  The slaves turned to look at the wizard with confused expressions on their faces.  I activated my flight harness, and I stuck myself flat against the ceiling while trying to breathe as quietly as possible.

    The wizard came walking by right beneath me and stopped to look precisely where my boot prints ended.  He glanced at what was on the slaves¡¯ feet and told them to get moving.  The wizard¡¯s head was only three inches beneath my own belly.  I had my paralytic dart bracer aimed right at his face.  It finally occurred to the wizard that something was dripping water on him and he looked up, he started to raise his hand and I shot him with four darts.  He gave a little gurgle and fell.  Luckily, there was no one else in this passageway.  I lowered myself to the floor, wrapped my tired limbs around him and flew us both to the Captain¡¯s cabin.  I knew where that room was since all, of the enemy schooners, seemed to be designed the same way.  I also assumed that the Captain was that older fancy dressed wizard who was up on deck.

    I opened up the cabin, and flew inside.  Chained to the bunk within that room was a pretty girl, with far too many scars on her back.  I¡¯m not sure if she saw the man I was carrying or not.  My invisibility ward might be working for him too but she did see the door swing open.  Feeling like I had no choice, I shot the girl with a single dart.  I would try and make things up to her later, if we were both still alive that is.

    I set the man down and I closed the door behind me.  I then sat down and started examining my darts with all of my senses both magical and mundane; I needed to know if they were still effective or not.  My paralytic darts in both my bracer and my pockets seemed to be perfectly fine, which surprised me.  My magic suppression darts though had lost some of their potency.  I shot the wizard with two of them to play it safe.  I didn¡¯t bother tying him up.  Four paralytic darts should leave him unable to move for at least three hours and I had more important things to do.  I carefully repainted my suppression darts, which left me with twelve darts and half a flask of the suppression concoction left.

    I feel like I¡¯d been unbelievable lucky in that none of my rugged clay potion flasks had broken during this adventure.  But I had more than enough gold where I could and should be buying silver flasks for the potions that I carried on me.  A metal flask was obviously tougher and I could reuse them, transferring the contents of a glass or clay flask to them as needed.  Another change I vowed to make, if I lived to make it back to Sweet Port.

    After inspecting and preparing my darts, I dropped my invisibility and I finally went and checked on the naked girl who was collapsed on the bed.  I bent down closely to her face so I could whisper to her.

    ¡°I am sorry about paralyzing you, it will only be temporary but I could not risk having you call out to anyone.  I am here to free all of the slaves but I might fail.  I don¡¯t wish any blame to fall on you if that happens so I am going to tie you up.  That way if the worst happens, the Captain will know that you could do nothing to stop me.  If one of his wizards wasn¡¯t able to stop me how would you have been able to, will be what he¡¯ll ask himself.  I am sorry about how I am treating you.  I too was a slave when I was young.  I hope that soon, you will be able to yell at me for what I¡¯ve done to you.¡±

    I then started to carefully examine her scarred body.  I couldn¡¯t release her but I could do something about her injuries.  I proceeded to paint her fresh wounds with some of my healing potion.  Within minutes I could feel some of the tension leave her body.  I then carefully and gently as possible tied her up.

    Now I had to wait for at least two or three hours.  I needed the slaves to be fed and at least partially rested before I attempted to free them because I needed them fit so that they could sail this vessel.  I certainly didn¡¯t know how to do it and while the storm had lessened dramatically it was still present.

    I tied up the wizard and tried to hide his body as best as I could in the small cabin.  Normally I would have killed him but if I failed he would be a witness for the girl that she had done nothing to aid me.  Then I sat down on a chair with my invisibility ward reactivated.  I ate some terrible bread that I found in a sack, that was lying on the Captain¡¯s dining table and I watched the door.

    I could tell when the spider venom wore off on the girl, because she turned her head to look at me with wide unblinking eyes.  I put a finger to my lips, indicating that she should be quiet; she nodded her head back to me.

    It was three hours and no one had come into the cabin.  I had rather hoped that they would since I liked the idea of my prey coming to me. But I was out of time, in another hour or two at most they would begin raping those slaves, probably for the thousandth time, and I was going to put a stop to that.

    I went below decks first and looked for any of the regular ship¡¯s crew; as I located them, they each received two paralytic darts.  I only found twenty and they all seemed to look more like warriors than ordinary seamen, perhaps they were Marines.

    Taking a deep mental breath to strengthen my resolve, I decided it was past time to take my battle to the wizards.  I walked by the slave quarters and unbarred their door.  Perhaps I would end up being killed after slaying most of my enemies.  If so, by unbarring that door I gave the slaves a chance at freedom.  Right now I can¡¯t risk opening the door because they might make a commotion or one of them might even be a snitch.

    I took the ladder to the weather deck.  I then crept up the stairs to the slightly higher stern deck, where the ship¡¯s wheel was located.  The ship¡¯s Captain was there along with a wizard of modest power.  At the bow I could see another pair of wizards.  I really missed my glaive.  If they had time to cast a shield about themselves I would be almost powerless against them without my enchanted pole-arm.  Maybe I should had have taken one of the kraken spears I saw stored below decks but the ones used against ships were simply too thick and heavy for me to wield like a proper pole-arm.  I had also found some boarding pikes down below but I no longer had the time to enchant one of them.

    I had only two things going for me, surprise and the fact that it ordinarily took a wizard longer to cast a shield about himself than a mage.  But their shields were normally stronger and more efficient than a mage¡¯s protections.

    Getting close to my targets, I shot both wizards in their calves with two darts a piece.  I hoped by shooting them there no one would notice the darts until it was too late.  Both men crumbled to the deck, the sailors nearby let out shouts of alarm.

    The other two wizards came running, back to the stern.  The question was; would they instinctively raise their shields because of what had just happened to their fellow wizards.  I know that mine would be up in similar circumstances.  To do anything else is plain stupid.

    I launched four darts at both wizards, and they fell!  Yes, yes, yes!  You are all mine now, you Incompetent Swamp Leeches!  I started putting darts into every man that I saw except the one at the ship¡¯s wheel.  I was afraid of what would happen if I put him down.  Within ten minutes he was the only one left standing.  He must have realized that his location was protecting him because he never moved from it, though he was awfully twitchy and kept looking around in terror.

    Okay now what do I do?  I suddenly had an idea.  I had been in the Eastern Empire for three years; I knew both their language and the accent.  I spoke using my most arrogant tone of voice and whispered in the man¡¯s ear.  ¡°I don¡¯t know what you fools, were doing in my waters but all wizards know better than to venture here.  If you hope to live you better do exactly what I say.¡±

    The man nearly jumped out of his skin.  ¡°Yes Master, I will do exactly what you say.¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± I purred evilly, ¡°keep this ship steady.  I am going to look over my new toy.  There better be some women on board or I¡¯ll call a siren to feed my desires to, then once she takes care of me, I¡¯ll give her some of the men here to satisfy her appetite.¡±

    The man pissed himself.  I had no idea if sirens were real or not but many sailors were convinced that they were.  The man quickly spoke up.  ¡°There are fifteen female slaves below decks Master.   The Captain has a young one that is quite beautiful and some of the others aren¡¯t bad either.¡±

    ¡°Quiet, your voice annoys me.  I will be back shortly.¡±  Since arriving in Sweet Port I¡¯ve seen a few theatrical productions with the Princess, Donna and Alex.  During those performances forbidding music is always played whenever the villains appear.  I had a sudden urge to have some musicians following me around and have them playing that exact kind of music whenever it was appropriate.   I also needed a black cape and maybe a mustache that I could dramatically twirl.

    Going below decks, I dropped my invisibility and opened the door to the slave quarters, twenty anxious faces greeted me.  ¡°Hello, I need you all to listen carefully.  My name is James Drake.  I am a former slave and a potion concoctor.  I have disabled everyone on this vessel but the guy at the wheel and you all here within this room.  I want to go home to the Gulf Kingdom but I don¡¯t know how to sail and it¡¯s too far for me to swim.  Can you help me?¡±  I gave them my best smile.

    They looked at me like I was crazy.  I decided to give them some more information.  ¡°Right now, every one of the wizards and the free crewmen are paralyzed.  In about an hour some of them are going to start being able to move again.  It would be a good idea if they were dealt with before then, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    They still did nothing.  Well I tried; I better free that girl and kill the wizard.   I walked into the Captain¡¯s cabin, while loudly humming the most intimidating tune I could think of.  Having a terrible memory for those kinds of things, the only bit of music that I could come up with, was the song about the Pink Unicorn and the Silver Teapot.  The tune is actually a particularly inane children¡¯s ditty, commonly played during free puppet shows at Sweet Port¡¯s street markets but it was the only thing that I could remember.  It¡¯s the kind of musical piece that once you hear it you just can¡¯t drive it out of your head, no matter how much you try, so maybe it truly was evil?

    ¡°The Pink Unicorn, the Pink Unicorn, oh wouldn¡¯t you want to have tea with the Pink Unicorn.¡±  Yep, it was definitely evil; the person who wrote that absurd piece of drivel should be fed to a kraken.  It has gotten so bad that some markets even have an actor in a unicorn costume trying to lure children into their shops and thus capture their parents too.  Personally, I refuse to go into a shop with a pink unicorn traipsing around outside, unless of course they¡¯re giving out free food.  I did embarrass my sergeants once or twice and Alex used a scarf to hide his face.  I still have to wonder why everyone, especially the nearby children, got so upset when I asked for a unicorn steak at that one food stall.  If you have a unicorn prancing around, doesn¡¯t that mean your serving unicorn?  So what if they are extremely rare creatures doesn¡¯t that mean they must taste extra good?  They must be the favorite food of every predator on this planet.  Why else would they be on the verge of extinction?  I want to try their meat before they are all gone.

    I started untying the girl.  ¡°I won, I have defeated the evil wizards and you are now free, so don¡¯t hit me when I get you untied.  We only have one little problem, no one is steering the ship because I did the same thing to the crew that I did to you.¡±  Once I got her hands untied, I jumped back in case she had a hidden dagger.  ¡°Well, you have been liberated, I¡¯ll be leaving now¡± and I ran out the door before she could find a weapon.  I thought it a wise decision to leave her legs tied and her gag in place; with her hands unbound she could take care of those little things for herself.  As for myself, I needed to find the galley.  I was starving and I had done everything that I could for now.  On my way to grab some grub, whenever I went past a paralyzed crewman I shot them with another dart.  I had lots of those paralyzing darts left.

    I wish that there was a way that I could add more pockets to my clothes.  Next time something like this happens to me, I want to be carrying more food.

    ¡°Oh, the Pink Unicorn, the Pink Unicorn,¡± I quietly sang.  I soon found some salt pork, pepper, cooking oil and hard biscuits.  Using my magic I was frying up a mess of pork and when that was done, I fried the biscuits in the fat to soften them up, they kind of crumbled apart in the grease but I would still eat them.  I noticed some bugs in the biscuits, which was a good thing because of the extra nutrition that they offered; waste not, want not.

    I ate my fill and after belching, I decided it was time to make a decision in regards to the crew of this vessel.  I went in search of the Marines and I found them, but apparently while paralyzed they had somehow managed to coat their faces in pitch causing their mouths and noses to be blocked.  My, that was a particularly stupid thing for them to do, didn¡¯t they realize that they would probably die from doing such a thing.  It was certainly an ugly way to commit suicide.  Well I¡¯m glad that they picked that method for killing themselves because if they had used a knife or other sharp instrument, there would have been blood all over the place that someone would have been forced to clean up.  Heck this way their clothes could even be salvaged.  Actually it was really quite nice of them to execute themselves that way, when you think about it.

    Well not seeing anyone else about I decided that I had better do something and give them a proper burial at sea before their bodies started to stink.  I first took off all of their boots, next I grabbed a bag made out of sailcloth.

    I activated my flight harness, hovered over a body and grabbed it.  There was no way that I was going to hug a naked dead body, so I would leave their clothes on until I threw them overboard.

    Carefully I flew along the ship¡¯s passages carrying that first corpse.  To alert anyone who might be coming I decided to make a warning noise.  ¡°Oh please Miss Unicorn won¡¯t you have tea with me¡­..¡±  Two newly freed thralls saw me and they actually had the effrontery to look at their liberator as if I might be insane.

    I flew up to the weather deck and I took my cargo to the stern.  I was glad to see that the ex-slaves were on the weather deck and sailing the ship.  Even though they must be tired they seemed to be quite cheerful for some reason.  They had even removed debris that I had left lying on the deck and many of them were now wearing much better clothing.  I flew to the stern of the schooner, I collected a few startled glances; it might have been because my singing voice wasn¡¯t the best.  I dropped the man¡¯s body, stripped off his clothes and shoved them into the bag that I had brought along with me.  I was trying to figure out how I was going to get him over the side without hugging him again, when a couple of helping hands appeared.

    I nodded my thanks and I went off to get the next one.  I noticed on my way back that the man I had left at the wheel was now gone too, oh well.

    Once I had all of the bodies disposed of, I went back to the galley.   And just as I had done on the last ship, I started preparing a thick broth of meat and onions.  Again I added a magical pick me up with the aid of a health concoction and my potion making skills.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    I know I promised to get James back to Sweet Port before the end of this chapter but how was I to know that he would fall overboard?  I am writing the next chapter and I hope to have it out in three to four days.

    You might be wondering about the paragraph that mentioned using a kraken spear as a pole-arm.  That will be explained in the next chapter.

 Chapter 15: Sailing for Sweet Port

    It is back, it¡¯s better than ever, The New and Thrilling Adventures of James Drake.

    Watch as he flies without pants through the skies, ties up naked women, eats bugs and kills defenseless men.   He surely should be made a role model for all our young people.

    I really have to wonder about the direction that I¡¯m taking this story after I thought of that advertising blurb.  I¡¯m thinking about adding it to the Story description, do you think it will cause me to gain or lose readers?  For that matter have I lost you?

    As always if you spot any mistakes please point them out, thank you.

    The partial descriptions for the decks normally found on frigates, brigs, brigantines, and schooners in the Swamp Boy Universe.  Brigantines do not have forecastles or quarterdecks; they have a smooth unbroken spar deck from bow to stern, which is normally described or referred to as a flush deck.  Schooners do not possess forecastles.  I know this is different from the real world but it¡¯s how I¡¯m doing things.  Currently I am calling the largest warships Carracks or War Carracks, perhaps Galleon might have been a better word but I¡¯ve always associated that word with Galley.  I am looking for a new word to use for the giant warships in my story and I would rather not use the term, Ship-of the-Line.  If you have any ideas please leave a comment.

    Before I continue with the deck descriptions, just a note, sailing ships and all that they entail have become a part of the Swamp Boy story but just a part.  James is not going to become a sailor.  If you like sea sagas, you should read the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, it¡¯s out there free on the internet, just do a search for it.

    Deck Descriptions

    Forecastle Deck or Bow Deck:  Raised deck in the bow of a ship, beneath which the senior enlisted crew members may be housed.

    Quarterdeck or Stern Deck: Raised deck in the stern of a ship, above what is commonly called the aftercastle, sterncastle or aftcastle.  Captain¡¯s cabin is located within the aftercastle.  If the sterncastle is large enough it might also contain cabins for other officers, passengers, the ship¡¯s healer and/or the officer¡¯s dining room.

    Waist or Middle Deck:  The deck that lies between the forecastle and the aftcastle on a vessel.

    Spar, Weather or Upper Deck:  Any deck exposed to weather, topmost deck of any ship.

    Tube Deck: Lies below the middle deck.  The tube deck is used for kraken tubes and officer sleeping quarters.  Some enlisted may also be berthed there. This deck is a new addition to sailing vessels because of the recent invention of kraken spears, old ships have been converted and new ships built incorporating this deck.  The tube deck is not present on any warship that is smaller than a brig.  Kraken tubes on those smaller vessels are primarily kept on the upper deck, though some might be housed in a ship¡¯s sterncastle.

    Berthing or Lower Deck:  Main berthing area for enlisted men also contains the ship¡¯s galley/kitchen.

    Orlop Deck or Hold:  Contains provisions.

    # # # # # #

    Chapter 15: Sailing for Sweet Port

    The water was still rough but nothing like before.  I was able to carry my crate of mugs and bread to the weather deck this time instead of crawling with it like on the other ship.

    As I passed sailors I would hand them a mug and a loaf of bread.  I would normally receive a nod of their head in thanks, maybe it helped that I stopped singing that stupid song.  Behind the ship¡¯s wheel there were four sailors talking, they quieted as I approached.

    ¡°Hello, I mentioned my name before but you may not have heard.  I¡¯m James Drake and I¡¯m currently a student at the Royal University in the Gulf Kingdom.  The Gulf Navy has just learned how the Kingdom of Fata has been enslaving people and changing how they look as well as their speech so they can¡¯t go home again.  It is also known how they do some kind of mental conditioning to their slaves so that they are unable to talk about their pasts.  I¡¯m a magic user and I¡¯ve already helped liberate slaves from five HSMS schooners, not including this one.  I don¡¯t know what your plans are, however if you want to go to the Gulf Kingdom, you will be welcome there but as far as I¡¯m concerned this is your ship and you can do with it as you please.  I wouldn¡¯t mind getting a ride back home but if you want to go someplace else, I¡¯ll figure something out.

    Here¡¯s some broth that I made and some of this ship¡¯s lousy bread.  I¡¯m a potion concocter so I added a health booster to the brew; I hope it¡¯ll make you feel better.¡±

    They quickly took the mugs from me.  A tall skinny man began talking.  ¡°Please call me Reyes.  We would all like to return to the Gulf Kingdom, and we thank you for freeing us.¡±

    ¡°I was slave to a Blood Witch for over six years; so I might know a little about how you are feeling right now.   Who¡¯s going to be the Captain until we get home?¡±

    All four of them looked startled and Reyes spoke once more.  ¡°You¡¯re a magic user; we thought you¡¯d be in charge¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about sailing a ship.  If you need a potion or something enchanted please call on me.  To give you an example of how helpless I am, two days ago I was on another ship just like this one.  We were struck by the same storm as we¡¯re in right now.  Well, while delivering food and drink the freed crew of that vessel, I got swept overboard.  It was only thanks to my magic that I survived but I came close to dying too many times to count, despite my magic.  So telling you all, how to sail or for me to command is crazy.  I would just like to get back to Sweet Port and I¡¯ll support you in any way that I can.

    I do have a couple of questions.  Do you think we are in any danger from anything besides this storm?¡±

    The lone woman in the group of four answered me.  ¡°Hello James, my name is Margo and that¡¯s what we were just talking about.  This storm has driven us at least a third of the way to the Freed Continent.  By the time the wind finally stops we expect to be at least half way there.  We know that there were other HSMS vessels, caught up in this storm with us and we also know that there is a large HSMS fleet somewhere between us and Freed.  That fleet has at least four huge carracks and a number of frigates besides a whole host of smaller ships.  All those vessels have the new kraken tubes that the wizards invented.

    If that isn¡¯t bad enough there are many countries that will look at what we¡¯ve done onboard here as either mutiny or piracy.  There is danger all around us and if we¡¯re spotted before making it to Sweet Port, I don¡¯t think much of our chances.¡±

    I let out a big sigh.  ¡°Okay, you might not believe me but it wasn¡¯t the wizards who made the kraken spears, they were invented in the Gulf Kingdom.  You¡¯ve already seen me fly and some of you might know that I can make myself invisible.  I¡¯m not a very good spell caster but I do know runes, wards and potions.  I can probably put magical shields on this schooner and I can make the kraken spears work.  I¡¯ll need to find what supplies the wizards had on board but I should be able to do something.   Also if anyone is sick or hurt, I do have some medical concoctions and if there are any potion ingredients on this ship, which I kind of doubt, I can make more.¡±

    The group of four; were starting to look a little hopeful and less depressed.  Reyes looked at the others and they all nodded back to him.  He spoke, ¡°I guess I¡¯m the acting Captain then.  We do have some people that are feeling poorly, can we send them to see you?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be in the galley for now.  I can examine anyone and at the same time give them something to eat.  If possible I would also like to test everyone for their magical potential.  Even a person with minor abilities can activate some enchanted devices like the kraken spears, which would be a help to us all.  I doubt if anyone on board has such potential but you never know and it doesn¡¯t hurt to check.  I just have to sit and stare at them for a little while, as I ask them questions and to do various things.¡±

    We conversed for a few more minutes and then I went down below again, this time I made it without being swept over the side.

    Soon I had my first patient.  He was an old stoop shouldered man that obviously had trouble seeing.  ¡°Hello I¡¯m James,¡± I greeted him.

    He muttered hiding his mouth.  ¡°I¡¯m Emile, Lord James.¡± It looked like he was missing all of his teeth on the left side of his mouth.

    I snorted back at him.  ¡°I¡¯m no lord.  My parents sold me when I was three to a witch.  I grew up in Drake¡¯s Swamp, eating swamp pig.  Please sit down and have a bowl of this soup, while I examine you.¡±

    He did as I instructed and shyly answered questions as I asked him about his aches and pains.  I used true sight throughout my examination and I discovered something.  Emile had a tiny bit of magical power, almost none, but he had enough to activate many of the devices that I¡¯ve created over the years.  However, he did not have so much power that he could charge them.  I had a hard time getting him to let me examine his mouth but he finally let me do it.

    ¡°Emile, are you the oldest person on this ship?¡±

    Looking down at his feet, he mumbled, ¡°I guess so.¡±

    ¡°You see Emile; I have a special potion that¡¯s good for an older person.  Actually it¡¯s good for anyone but I normally only give it to someone that is older.  I call it my Red Health Concoction.  I will need to see you once a week to give you the four treatments but it should make you feel much better.  Here¡¯s the first dose, so please drink it.¡±

    I handed him concoction one from the Red series of longevity potions.  I nodded my head encouragingly when he looked at me suspiciously but he drank it down.  Next I brought out my blindness cure.  His left eye looked milky white from an injury and his right eye had a cataract.  I put a series of drops into both eyes.  ¡°Emile this potion will fix your right eye but it might not do anything for your left one.  It will take up to two hours for the concoction to work.  When we get back to Sweet Port, I have other medical potions that I can give you, that will make you feel even better.  Give me enough time and I¡¯ll give you back your pearly white teeth too.¡±

    He looked up at me with startled expression.

    ¡°There is one other thing.  Inside of you, you¡¯ve got a tiny bit of magic.  Enough magic to activate runes and wards.  Later on, I would like to train you to do that, so you can help me defend this ship if it becomes necessary.¡±

    His startled expression turned to absolute shock.  ¡°You¡¯re kidding me?¡±

    ¡°Nope, you¡¯ve got magic, not much but enough to activate most runes.  If you¡¯re not careful when we get back home, the Gulf Navy will recruit you as a kraken tube man.¡±

    He left with an almost cheerful expression on his face.  He was the first of twelve people that I saw.  I doled out healing, fever and health potions to all that came.  I wasn¡¯t so sure about the fever concoctions that I handed out because many of their illnesses weren¡¯t what my fever potions were designed for, at least the ones that I had with me.  But I could only use what I had and when combined with a dose of the health potion, I thought that they might work.

    There were far more women on board than men and many of them had infections in their nether regions courtesy of their rapists.  Almost all of those women were pretty damn miserable because of their illnesses too.

    My sixth woman patient got quite angry with me, when I presented her with a small clean stick and I asked her for a sample of the yucky stuff that was in her vagina.  I needed it in order to better match my available fever potions with her infection.  She was so angry that she almost didn¡¯t eat the soup I gave her.  She did give me the sample but she almost threw it at me. Upon examining it with my witch sight, I found that one of my fever potions was almost certain to cure her.  She got that concoction and a dose of my health potion.  But she had another surprise coming; I know I had been astonished.

    ¡°Delta, I had a little surprise today when I was examining Emile.  I discovered that he has a tiny amount of magic within him.  Enough magic where he can use enchanted devices if he gets proper training.  You¡¯ve given me an even bigger shock.  You almost have enough magic to be a mage.  You have more than enough to activate runes and you can even empower them too.  Along with Emile, I would like to train you during the next day or two, so if any wizards do show up; you can help me defend this ship.¡±

    She looked back at me with an almost feral expression.  ¡°Do we get to kill them?¡±

    ¡°We will certainly try.¡±

    She left the galley with a fierce and happy expression on her face.

    I needed a secluded place where I could work and store all of the magical paraphernalia that was on this vessel.  Reyes wanted me to have the Captain¡¯s cabin but I had refused.  Instead I took a smaller double cabin that was on the berthing deck.

    It was a dangerous chore for me to gather all of the magical books, tools, potions, and devices that the wizards had left behind but it was necessary one.  I needed much of what they had and in many of the trunks that the wizards had secreted their magical items, were also ordinary valuables such as gold, silver and rare gems, which were assets that the newly freed crew of this ship could use to rebuild their lives.  But those chests were warded to discourage people from even touching them and more dangerous still, they had both magical and mundane traps designed to incapacitate or kill anyone who tried to open those trunks without the owners¡¯ full cooperation.

    I had five tools to defeat those traps.  I had my personal shield and the correct keys.   I was knowledgeable on the subjects of runes as well as poisons.  But most importantly of all, I had the time to do things slowly and carefully.  I didn¡¯t have to worry about an angry wizard bursting in and killing my ass while I was robbing them.  I might make that my new maxim, ¡°If you¡¯re going to steal from someone, kill them first, it makes things less stressful and it also makes it easier to take their keys.¡±

    Reyes was very happy when I moved the former Captain¡¯s personal trunk out of his new cabin; it had been making him uncomfortable.  What I needed immediately were some inks for creating runes.  I had some on me but not nearly enough.  Once I found those materials I put all of the trunks in a corner of my room and I would get back to them later.  I had already destroyed some harmful runes and wards on the chests, and I disabled a couple of spring loaded poison traps too.  Well I didn¡¯t so much as disable them as trigger them while wearing my shield and maybe I was poked once but the poison was really lame and my immunity from being exposed to numerous poisons, venoms and their antidotes over the years, made it so I barely noticed anything more than the scratch that I was given.

    What with seeing patients, moving the wizard¡¯s former belongings and breaking into things, over twenty-four hours had passed and the storm had weakened even further.

    I was seeing a lot of Emile, he kept checking on me to see if I needed anything.  When I expressed an interest in finding something like a glaive, he got a big toothless grin and he returned in short order with this wicked looking winged spear that he called a partisan.  It wasn¡¯t a glaive and the blade wasn¡¯t enchanted, which can only be properly done while it is being forged, but it would do.  It would do very well.   Evidently the Fata Navy issues them to their Marine sergeants and corporals.  I had been afraid that the only thing that would be available would be boarding pike which while it is a good weapon, in my opinion it¡¯s not nearly as versatile.

    I needed to get to work on a shield for this schooner and in order to do that; I needed to make careful measurements so that I could figure out exactly where to place the required runes.  If I didn¡¯t do it correctly they could interfere with one another or leave a spot unshielded altogether.  Emile helped me with that chore, and even though he was still in bad shape, he moved much more adroitly about the ship than I did.

    The ship would need seven runes; three on each side and one on the stern.  I didn¡¯t have enough of my inks to make the runes, so I had to use the wizards¡¯ stuff to concoct an ink that I thought would do and that I could also mask.  It wouldn¡¯t be perfect but it was the best that I could do for now.  I certainly didn¡¯t want an enemy wizard getting a look at my shield runes.  As far as I knew the only way that they had to put a shield on a ship or structure was by using a spell, which took constant focus to maintain, wasn¡¯t as strong and frequently had weak spots.   But said ¡°shields¡± tend to stand off from or even surround what they were protecting; while my rune generated shields mainly propagate through solid matter and then radiate out from that matter, or at least that¡¯s what the runes I gave the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s Military do, the same ones that I¡¯ll put on this vessel.

    I found some wood in the ship¡¯s small carpentry shop as well as some tools.  I made seven sign boards which I engraved runes into; I applied the inks, filled them with energy and then disguised them with a masking paint.  They needed to dry but once they did and the storm stopped, I would then glue them at the top of the vessel¡¯s hull, in the spots that Emile and I had previously marked.

    During that same day, I had Emile find for me, two of the shields that the Marines had used, I placed runes upon them; they would be for Delta and Emile to practice with.   I would begin teaching them how to activate a rune, after I got some sleep.

    The following day the weather was much calmer.  Emile helped me as I leaned over the sides of the ship and glued the shield rune signs into the appropriate places.  I breathed a sigh of relief once I was done, because they would at least give us a chance to go down while fighting.

    I next began teaching Delta and Emile.  I showed them how to start then I let them work on their own while I engraved runes into my new partisan spear.  I would look up from time to time to correct what they were doing or offer encouragement.  Emile knew that it would take him longer to master the skill than Delta but he had a determined expression on his face.

    Delta seemed to be very interested in what I was doing to the spear.  To pierce through a powerful wizard¡¯s personal shields when they were at full strength takes massive force and an enchanted blade.  A normal blade will usually break when hitting a powerful shield what with the force necessary to puncture it.

    If an anti-ship, fifty-seven pound kraken spear hits a wizard¡¯s shield dead on, that wizard is normally going to wind up dead but if it hits at an angle there is a strong likelihood that the shield will withstand the blow.  Even a shoulder launched kraken spear can pierce the shields of the weaker wizards.  I learned that while fighting in the Eastern Empire.  Multiple spears can be used to weaken more powerful shields allowing subsequent spears to penetrate them.  The problem is staying alive while that is happening.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.One day, I was with a group of soldiers out in the field and we were being devastated by this one insanely strong wizard.  We tried killing him with kraken spears but we just couldn¡¯t get enough solid hits on him.  After watching another man be turned into a flaming torch, I got angry, stupidly angry.  I decided to deliver a kraken spear to that swamp leech up close and personal.  I charged him and my old crude shield runes withstood his magical strikes against me.  Now I am pretty sure, that his shield had weakened or what I did would not have worked.  But I thrust forward with the short spear, using my witch sight to align it perfectly, and just before it hit his shield, I triggered the spear¡¯s movement runes.

    The result put friction burns on my hands, dislocated my shoulders, damaged my elbows and put a hole through the wizard big enough for my leg to fit through.

    Two days later with the help of a blacksmith attached to the Fifth Regiment, I made my first enchanted spear.  It took us three days to make that pole-arm but it was worth it.  I needed to learn how to use that weapon to best effect while not injuring myself.  Since then I¡¯ve optimized a combination of movement runes for that type of use and I¡¯ve switched to using a glaive.  What I do, is not something that a normal person can do, because it requires more than simple activation of the runes, it is necessary to be able to control them.

    As for the partisan that I was enchanting, I could put some surface runes on its blade which would strengthen it slightly and help keep it sharp but it wouldn¡¯t be as good or as strong and sharp as a properly enchanted weapon.  However movement runes could be applied at any time, so there would be no deficiency in that respect.

    Delta spoke up.  ¡°If I learn how to activate runes, can I get a spear like that?¡±

    I looked at her and sighed.  ¡°Maybe, but I will have to think about it.  You see Delta, I am not as of yet a competent spell caster, actually I¡¯m pretty awful.  I don¡¯t like how wizards do it nor do I like how Gulf Kingdom mages cast their spells.  But what I can do well is enchant things.  You might know this already but magic duels are commonplace throughout the known world.  In a few months, I may very well be challenged to such a duel which I won¡¯t be able to refuse.  I know that there are wizards who want me dead and I think there are some mages that wish for exactly the same thing.  The only way for me to survive is to have better shields and a weapon like this spear.  The magic users who know what a pole-arm like this can do, are all dead but for me.  If I make you such a weapon, my secret will probably get out and I¡¯ll lose the edge that I might need in order to win a magic duel.¡±

    ¡°I swear to you James Drake that if you make me such a spear, that I will go my grave before I reveal its secrets.¡±

    ¡°I too Lord James, will gladly make the same vow.¡±  I glowered at Emile.  He kept on popping off with this Lord nonsense.  If he keeps on doing it, I¡¯ll make him call me Lord Iron-Balls.

    It took four hours before Delta learned to activate her personal shield, now she just had to practice.  I had my partisan done and I had improved the movement runes on three of the ship¡¯s kraken spears which should give us a range advantage in any fight.

    --------------------

    Viscountess Gamble was furious at the situation she was in.  Not only had she failed to save Landgrave Thorne and his fleet but she had also lost twelve of her own ships as well.  Five of them had simply lowered their flags and as far as she could tell, they hadn¡¯t even been attacked by that tiny enemy ship with its fearless crew.

    Of her eight surviving schooners, now the HSMS 31 was failing to check in, had it been lost in the storm?  She used her ship¡¯s message caster to send an order to all of her scattered fleet to start a search for the 31.   She hoped that one of her ships was close enough to the missing vessel, so that its enchanted tag could be detected.

    Two hours later, she got a report back from the HSMS 30, squadron mate of the 31, they had detected the missing vessel and it was no more than seven leagues away from them.  She ordered the 30 to make contact with the 31 and ascertain what was going on.  She did warn them that it was possible that the ship had been captured or perhaps the slaves on board had mutinied.  She also ordered the rest of her surviving fleet to rendezvous with the HSMS 30 but they were all at least thirty leagues away; with the 31 reportedly sailing due west and away from them all, towards the Book Continent.

    ------------------

    I took a walk around on the weather deck, looking carefully out to sea.  I still remembered how I had been surprised, that first time, by an invisible ship and I didn¡¯t want that to happen again, so I kept careful watch with my witch sight whenever I could.  Not seeing anything I went below, it was time to make a lookout table.

    ---------------

    The Captain of the HSMS 30 was frustrated, the winds were fickle and the 31 was drawing away from his ship.  He planned on remaining in pursuit but he hoped that the Viscountess; would be understanding if he failed.

    ------------------

    Hearing the 30¡¯s report, Dalphyne reluctantly contacted Admiral Sowell.  Perhaps one of his ships, out on patrol, had the 31 in range.

    ---------------------

    Admiral Sowell was in a foul mood.  He couldn¡¯t believe the storm that; that Stupid Bitch Viscountess Gamble had called up just because her entire pitiful little fleet of schooners had been in jeopardy of being defeated.  That cursed storm had nearly wrecked his fleet of warships which had taken decades to build, whereas her little ships had taken only months to construct.

    Now she wanted him to find one of her little lost chicks.  Reluctantly he sent a message to his ships out on patrol, and ordered them to perform the necessary complicated ritual to detect the HSMS 31¡¯s tag.  By his reckoning, only three of his patrol groups had a chance of finding anything, even with the aid of the tag system.

    --------------------

    Patrol group Manticore, based on the frigate HSMS Manticore along with the brigs Wolfhound and Staghound, was sailing far to the southwest, of Admiral¡¯s Sowell¡¯s fleet.  They had been hoping to collect a rich prize or two, such as a Gulf Kingdom merchant ship sailing to the Freed Continent.  Now they had to break off their money making venture and look for a little lost schooner.  All three Captains were angered by their orders but they knew better than to disobey.

    It took over a half an hour to perform the ritual to seek out the 31.   Captain Fisher of the Manticore muttered a curse, they had succeeded in locating the missing schooner and it was heading almost directly for them.  He estimated that at their current speed, the HSMS 31 should arrive in the vicinity of his forces an hour or two after dawn.  Instead of going to meet them he decided to wait.

    He didn¡¯t know what was going on but he would play the anvil and let Viscountess Gamble¡¯s pursuing schooners, be the hammer.

    It took me six hours to get a pilfered table enchanted into being a lookout table.  The area beneath the raised stern deck of our vessel was split into two rooms.  One being the Captain¡¯s cabin and the other was the officers¡¯ dining room.  Captain Reyes gave me permission to set up the table in the dining room.

    Margo, Delta, Emile and Vella, the girl who I had originally found in the Captain¡¯s cabin, were appointed by Reyes to watch the table in shifts.  Vella wouldn¡¯t meet my eyes, so I kept a look out in case she pulled a knife on me.

    We had a problem though, one I hadn¡¯t noticed until I had the table setup and working for awhile.  According to the table, somewhere on our vessel there might be a magical tag.  When I came up with my final design for the Gulf Navy, I thought it would be a good idea if their tables could detect those magical tags.  The only problem was that I had never possessed a tag that was still working and for some reason I couldn¡¯t reactivate one of the stupid things, which was very frustrating for me.  So I had guessed at what a magical tag detection system might need, not knowing if it would work or not.

    My new lookout table was showing me something that might be a tag but it was an extremely weak magical construct.  My best guess, was that it was hidden somewhere in the Captain¡¯s cabin which was right next door.

    It took me two hours to find the bloody thing, time I could have better spent sleeping.  I could barely sense it, even while holding it in my hand, so I had to wonder how the wizards could actually utilize such a tiny thing.  My thoughts turned to the possibility of sympathetic magic supported by a ritual with at least three or more wizards participating but that was just a wild guess.  One good thing was now that I had actually held and sensed an active tag, I could design a better detector but I would be surprised if I got very much range out of it.

    I got a jar out of the galley, put the tag inside and threw it overboard.  If anyone was using it against us, hopefully they will now be looking in the wrong place.

    Dawn came five hours later and the ship¡¯s lookout in the crow¡¯s nest reported seeing the sails of a vessel just on the horizon.  I guess I didn¡¯t get rid of that tag soon enough.

    I went to talk with Captain Reyes.  Emile was with me and explaining to me what it means. ¡°James it could be that the ship our lookout is seeing, hasn¡¯t seen us yet.  You see, if that¡¯s a taller ship, we can see the top of her sails before someone aboard her, can see our itty bitty ones.  But even if their lookouts have seen us, they¡¯re probably still a good five leagues away.¡±

    Captain Reyes was nervous but he still seemed to be in control.  ¡°Hello James, we¡¯re taking our ship further to the south now, in a bid to avoid that vessel.  We don¡¯t know who she is yet but we¡¯ll be taking no chances.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°Captain, I¡¯ll be either in my cabin or the carpentry shop making preparations in case we have to fight.  There are things that I might be able to do, even if we¡¯re confronted by a formidable foe.  But I¡¯ll need to be kept constantly informed about any threats that this ship might be facing.  I will also need Emile¡¯s and Delta¡¯s assistance in making my preparations.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep you informed James, you can be sure of that.¡±

    I departed for the spaces below decks, Delta and Emilie followed me.  We went to my cabin first and I spoke with them.  ¡°Do all the HSMS vessels have slaves on board them or are these schooners unique?¡±

    Emile answered me.  ¡°The bigger the ship, the more slaves aboard her, we¡¯re cheaper than freemen and they¡¯ll have us do the most dirtiest and hardest of jobs.¡±

    Delta nodded her head angrily in agreement.

    ¡°Okay then, we¡¯ll plan on me doing the same thing that I did on this ship here, to that one out there, if they¡¯re the enemy.  I have no desire to drown a bunch of our own countrymen.  I know that the Gulf Navy might have to do that and I won¡¯t condemn them for it, if that does happen but I¡¯ll avoid it, if it¡¯s at all possible.   In order to for me to have a chance of success, I¡¯ll need to improve my equipment and weapons.  To do that quickly, I¡¯ll need your help.  I¡¯ll also ask you to keep my secrets.

    You already know about the shield runes that I attached to this ship.  The ridiculously large and numerous buttons on my jacket serve the same purpose but they don¡¯t hold enough energy for a long battle against numerous powerful wizards.  I was going to make several more sets of buttons and sew them onto my jacket but I don¡¯t have time now and I thought of something better.  I¡¯m going to only replace one of the buttons from each set, with a larger piece of enchanted wood.  Those new pieces of wood will be large energy reservoirs for my war jacket.  If they¡¯re big enough, they can easily hold six times the energy of my small buttons.  I¡¯ll have to juggle the enchantment while I use it but my idea should work.  I need your help to charge them Delta, because we¡¯re short on time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to.¡±  She gave me a sharp and vigorous nod of her head.

    ¡°Now, this harness that I wear over my jacket is what allows me to fly, though it gives me a terrible pain in my man parts when I do.¡±  I grimaced and indicated where the harness straps crossed between my legs.  I need to add a large button or two, to the harness in order to provide it with more energy and thus give me more flying time.  As it is, my flying time can vary from seconds to minutes, depending on how fast I am going.¡±

    You both know now, how to launch a kraken spear and turn on this vessel¡¯s new shields.  What I need you to do now, is to find and shape the wood that I need for my extra large buttons, while I modify a few more of those kraken spears to give them longer range in case the worst happens.  Once I get a spear modified, I¡¯ll have you Delta charge it and Emile can keep on helping me with my personal gear.¡±

    I showed them what I needed in terms of button size, they quickly left and I went in search of an old style kraken spear.

    They were done before I was and they both seemed a little nervous.  Emile spoke, ¡°James I was thinking about the pain you suffer when you fly.  I was wondering if you could attach two really big buttons on your pants where each of your butt cheeks are.  If you did that do you think you might be able to fly sitting down on those buttons, instead of all your weight being on your balls?¡±

    I looked up startled.  ¡°That¡¯s a great idea Emile.  Yes, I am sure that would work, if the buttons were big enough.¡±

    ¡°It was really Delta¡¯s idea.¡±  He said with a grin, as Delta presented me with two pieces of wood that looked just perfect to my eyes.

    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to change my name to Iron-Balls any longer.¡±  I said with a smile.  They both laughed and we all set to work.  Emile fetched me tools and materials, while also keeping track of what was happening topside.  Delta helped me to charge what I was making; she didn¡¯t have as much energy as a real mage but every little bit helped.

    We started getting bad news.  The lookout was now seeing the sails of two other smaller ships, one of which was far closer to us than the first one that had been sighted.  And from what she could see of the first one, it had to be at least a frigate while the other two were probably brigs.  According to Emile, depending on the winds, all three ships had comparable speed to ours.  It was soon obvious that they were trying to cut us off from heading any further westward.

    ¡°Emile even if I could, I don¡¯t want to sink those ships and there is no way that I can capture one of those larger vessels by myself as I did this schooner.  What are their weak points, what single thing can I break or destroy on them, that will make it so they can no longer block our way or pursue us?¡±

    He looked thoughtful for a moment.  ¡°Either their rigging or their rudder, you wreck one of those two things and they won¡¯t be able to chase us.¡±

    With that answer, I set to making something new and I didn¡¯t have much time to do it, those three ships were drawing closer and our vessel¡¯s lookout had just reported seeing the flag for the Kingdom of Fata.

    Emile had installed leather reinforcement panels on my pants and he then attached those carefully shaped pieces of wood onto my pants with thick leather laces.  I had added a dollop of glue as well.

    As for myself, I had combined some things from my communications board design, with the idea of the tag system and made a magical device which I hoped would lead me back to this schooner eventually.

    It was time for me to leave.  The closest enemy ship was no more than a league behind us.  I had given Delta instructions on how to work the new device that I was leaving behind.  The three of us were each holding an old style kraken spear while standing on our ship¡¯s weather deck.

    Those three spears together weighed more than I did, which would drastically reduce my harness¡¯s propulsion time but it was the only weapon that I thought had a chance of doing what we needed done.

    I collected hopeful nods from all those that I was leaving behind as I gathered up the three fat spears into my arms.  Everyone stepped back, and I lifted off slightly before activating my shield.  I again made my shield as large as was practical, because I needed the air.  But this time I made the shield in the shape of a fish.  I flew over the side of the schooner and dove beneath the waves.  I didn¡¯t know the wizards¡¯ secret of invisibility yet and my own ward of invisibility only worked at short range.  Going under the ocean, was the only way that I thought I could use, to successfully sneak up on them.  But a person with witch sight might see me anyways; I just had to hope that they mistook me for a large fish.

    I also had to hope, that there were no large ocean creatures out there that might want to eat me.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    I know I said that James would make it home by the end of this chapter but how was I supposed to know that they would run into an HSMS patrol?  I promise that he will make it home by the next chapter, maybe.

    I should have the next chapter posted in two to four hours.  I¡¯m doing the final edit now, though I might take a nap first.

    Partisan Winged Spear, there is a YouTube video out there with a guy using it as a slashing weapon.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BgQTNOgr4</a>

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partisan_(weapon)</a>

 Chapter 16: I am

    There are probably a lot of mistakes; I wasn¡¯t at my best today.  If you spot any, please leave a comment.  Thank you.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 16: I am

    Navigating wasn¡¯t that hard, the closest ship was a large blob of magical energies that I could easily home in on.  Someone else might have started with the largest ship, but I had no idea if what I was attempting would work or not, so I simply started with the closest one.  The Navy¡¯s kraken spears back home weigh fifty-seven pounds and travel at the blazing speed of over seventy-four leagues per hour until their energy runs out.  The copies from the Kingdom of Fata seemed to be almost exactly the same, though they might be slightly heavier.  But ship¡¯s rudders are normally built of extremely tough and thick wood, would a single kraken spear be enough to severely damage one?  I didn¡¯t know the answer to that question but I guess I was going to find out.

    I had two problems.  Even with the weight of the added spears my fish shaped bubble wanted to float, so it took additional power from my flight harness to hold it down.  Furthermore, the water pressed on my shield far more than I had expected it would, so I was forced to use extra energy from my war jacket to compensate for that situation.  Of the two, the first problem was the worst but it was manageable so long as I kept feeding energy into my flight harness¡¯s two new larger butt reservoirs.  Controlling my personal shield and the movement runes, was much more like casting a tricky spell than anything else that I could think of, it took constant attention from me, especially since I had made some hurried unbalanced modifications to both enchantments.  The environment, that I was in, only made my task harder.

    I let the enemy ship do most of the work; if a wizard was watching me with witch sight it would look very suspicious if I ¡°swam¡± directly towards them.

    Getting behind the brig, I invoked my invisibility ward and I let my fish ship rise to the surface.  All three kraken spear were lying in the bottom of my personal ¡°sea creature,¡± with my hand I pushed two of them away from the third, so that they wouldn¡¯t interfere with its launching.

    I flew my fish upwards and held it no more than ten steps away from the top of the brig¡¯s rudder.  I opened up the front of my shield and launched the kraken spear.  The spear shattered the wood and actually did more damage than I had been hoping for.  As quickly as I could, I closed my shield and dove beneath the surface once again.  It was time for the frigate.

    ------------------

    Captain Fisher, aboard the HSMS Manticore, had just gotten word from the Wolfhound, that their rudder had been totally destroyed and that they were heaving to, in order to make repairs.   It was reported to him that many of the wizards on board that brig, had sensed some modest magic just before the rudder had been smashed to pieces and while they recognized that it might have been some sea monster that did it, their collective feeling was that it had been a deliberate attack by a human magic user however if that was the case, that person had not only attacked unseen but even now their current whereabouts remained completely unknown.  The invisible magic user might have fled or more worriedly, they might be preparing another attack on the brig or on another vessel in the little flotilla.

    Captain Fisher ordered all those with witch sight to the sides of his ship.  If something was coming for him, he wanted to kill it before it even scratched his vessel.

    Lieutenant Adolfo Vue was posted at the stern of the Manticore; he was nervously watching a large fish approaching.  The fish came closer and closer until suddenly, it disappeared from his witch sight altogether.  That shouldn¡¯t be possible!  Just minutes later the rudder of the Manticore took a tremendous blow.  It shook the frigate and startled Adolfo to such a degree that he fell down; when he regained his feet he saw the ¡°fish¡± swimming away and diving deeper into the water.

    How was he going to explain this to his Captain?¡±

    ---------------------

    This time the spear had done less damage than I had been hoping for but I¡¯m pretty certain that it had done enough.  As I approached the third vessel, I started hearing strange noises outside my fish bubble.  Suddenly I saw passing just in front of me, a kraken spear powering through the water.   Those Swamp Leeches were shooting at me!  They weren¡¯t very friendly at all.

    -----------------------

    Captain Tristan Locke watched as his starboard broadside launched twelve spears at the ¡°fish,¡± most of those spears missed but three or perhaps even four hit the peculiar creature, causing it to spin down and into the depths.  However, Tristan knew better than to let down his guard.  He would keep his crew alert and at full combat status while he chased down and captured that wandering schooner.

    Captain Fisher had ordered him to continue pursuit while the Manticore and the Wolfhound, made temporary repairs.  Such repairs would take ten hours at the minimum, according to what he was told.

    ----------------------

    When those spears hit my bubble I thought that I was in trouble but the water had slowed them down and lessened the impacts.  Deciding to dramatically die, I spun my bubble fish down into the depths, which nearly did kill me, because of the way my shields consumed energy while resisting the weight of the water that was above me.  It was so bad that I had to let my ¡°fish¡± contract in size.

    Then for some odd reason, once I ceased my panic dive, my bubble no longer wanted to float back up to the surface.  It wanted to continue to descend and I was forced to use quite a bit of energy to get it back near the surface once more.  I began to feel pretty crappy for some reason and not having the luxury of time to slowly get better, I instead drank a dose of healing potion.  Currently I was beneath the keel of the ship that had sunk me, and I was trying to figure out what to do and how to get revenge for their rude behavior.

    While the impacts of those three spears hadn¡¯t pierced or broken my shield, they had drained one reservoir considerably, which had forced me to switch to my second set of shield buttons.  The new huge energy reservoirs on my flight harness made the enchantment so imbalanced that I was only seeing a benefit of two thirds of that power in terms of flight/movement duration.  My war jacket was seeing a similar energy benefit ratio.  The result was that because of the kraken spear attack and my own journey into the depths that both my jacket and harness would be empty now, if I hadn¡¯t had poured more of my personal energy into them.  All things considered, I was down about half of my internal power, with my harness and jacket both holding only a small fraction of a full magical energy charge.  I needed time to recover and I needed fresh air to give me that time.

    I didn¡¯t think it would be smart to surface and fire my last kraken spear.  They were ready for me now and they were likely to blanket the area with spears and fireballs when I got too close, even if they couldn¡¯t see me when my invisibility ward became effective.  Additionally, to fire the spear I would have to drop a portion of my shield and stand off at least a minimum safe distance from the rudder.  I had no urge to commit suicide today, so what to do?

    I started inventorying my supplies; partisan, check; kraken spear, check; medical potions, check; short sword, check; knives, check; water flask, check; three pounds of jerky, check; piss bag, check; crafting potions, check; miscellaneous poisons, check; twelve suppression darts, check; two doses of suppression concoction, check; and a whole bunch of paralyzing darts.

    My mind focused on that last item.  I hadn¡¯t dared to attempt to capture a fleet of three ships with combined crews of perhaps a thousand men but there was only one ship now and those other two vessels were growing smaller in the distance.  How many free crewmen were there on the ship above me?  At a guess, somewhere between 150 and 200 considering that at least a quarter of the crew were probably slaves, at least according to Emile and Delta.  But did I dare do it?  On the other hand, I might not have any other choice.  Did they know that I was beneath their ship, or was everything that was between the wizards and me, blocking their witch sight?  I know that I certainly couldn¡¯t perceive them, through the hull and the many steps of solid matter that lay between us.

    Did I forget that I needed to refresh the air inside of my bubble?  The answer to that question was a definite yes, what with the headache I was developing.  Having no other choice I crept to the bow, thinking that it would be the one place where they might not have the best watch, keeping close to the hull I opened up some vent holes in my shield.

    One good thing happened; whoever launched that fireball missed me by a wide margin.  The bad thing was that they probably now knew that I wasn¡¯t a fish.

    -------------------

    Captain Tristan Locke came running to the bow after one of his midshipmen, a young wizard by the name of Maximo Prado, yelled and launched a fireball down into the water.

    ¡°Captain, it¡¯s a magic user inside some kind of shield, sir!  I saw him but I only caught a corner of his shield with my spell.¡±

    Suddenly, from the other side of the vessel a kraken spear came shooting out of the water and heading straight up.  Captain Locke cursed as he watched the spear rise high into the sky, the focus of all the ship¡¯s wizards had been drawn to the bow, instead of watching the ocean as they had been ordered them to do, all because of Prado¡¯s actions.

    Tristan ordered the brig hard to starboard because whatever goes up must come down, and while the spear would probably miss, he wasn¡¯t taking any changes with his vessel.  Once that was done, he yelled orders out to his wizard officers, for them to get back to watching the sea.

    -----------------------

    After launching my remaining spear on the port side of the brig, I had quickly propelled my fish under the vessel and to the other side.  There I used my flight harness to climb up the hull of the rear starboard quarter of the ship.  With the aid of my invisibility ward, I was soon hiding next to a dingy stored on deck. But I was worried that someone from outside the effective range of my ward might see me and call out.  I was definitely dressed differently from everyone else that I could see.  I needed to get below decks so that anyone who saw me would have to be within the range of my ward and thus not see me, did that last thought make any sense?   My bracer darts had about the same range so I certainly had to worry about any lookouts in this ship¡¯s crow¡¯s nest or those stationed on the masts¡¯ fighting tops.

    I wish that I had dared to enter through the stern windows and into the Captain¡¯s cabin but they were sure to be carefully watching that area since it was so near the rudder.  But if I now walked aft, any watchers would be within the range of my invisibility ward and I could then safely use my flight harness to descend to a window.  That should be a much more prudent course of action than if I tried sneaking to a ship¡¯s hatchway.  My ward will trick eyes and because of that it will defeat a magic user¡¯s witch sight as well.  As for other magical senses, those are ordinarily crude in comparison and if I don¡¯t magically draw attention to myself, I should be okay.

    I set off cautiously for the stern rail, which was mere steps away from my current location; once I was back over the side I should be safe at least for a little while.  Hopefully I will have enough time to fully recover my internal energy reserves, while also recharging my jacket and harness.

    As quietly as possible, I moved between the two wizard lookouts.  I was so nervous that I had stopped breathing.  Using my harness, I lifted myself over the railing and then lowered myself down the stern of the ship.  I stopped my descent when I reached the windows of the Captain¡¯s cabin.  There was actually a little balcony there on which I could stand, so I didn¡¯t even need my flight harness any longer.  I don¡¯t recall seeing balconies on the sterns of any GKS vessels; I think I was a little jealous.  I had been hoping for the window to be open or at least unlatched but it was both closed and latched.  However, a little work with my knife had it open and in short order.

    This time I was going to do things differently, I was going to wait for my prey.  I had gotten a look at the man, who I was sure was the Captain of this warship, powerful magic just roiled about him.  Besides that, the man was actually wearing armor and he looked extremely comfortable in it too, which is something I hadn¡¯t encountered in a wizard before.

    I looked around for the perfect place to ambush him.  In the starboard rear corner of the cabin was a tiny room that contained a private toilet.  I figured that despite how powerful and competent he appeared to be, he just had to take off his armor and lower his guard when he went to use his own privy.

    I looked at a large mirror that was on the wall before I entered that tiny bathroom.  I didn¡¯t know how I could look at myself.  I was very a bad man who fought using underhanded and despicable means, I knew that.  The last few days had driven that point home.  But that honest self appraisal of my character wasn¡¯t the problem.  I was still using my invisibility ward, so how come when I looked in the mirror my eyes weren¡¯t being tricked by the ward?  Oh well, something for later consideration, after I killed every single wizard that was aboard this vessel and looted their corpses.

    --------------------

    Delta and Emile looked behind the schooner.  Two of the pursuing HSMS vessels had lowered their sails and stopped, however according to their ship¡¯s lookout, the third vessel was still following them but it was very far behind.  Was James still alive?  They had no signal from him, so they didn¡¯t know his fate.  Anxiously they waited.

    ------------------------

    I had to wait three whole hours before I heard someone enter the cabin.  At least it gave me time to recover my magical energies.

    ------------------------

    Captain Tristan Locke was furious.  Not only couldn¡¯t his vessel catch up to the fleeing schooner but they might actually be falling further behind that craft.  As for the mystery magic user that Midshipman Prado had seen earlier, there was still no sign since the launch of the kraken spear into the air.

    Locke was tired, hungry and a little constipated. He took off his helmet, then his brigandine, bracers, hauberk, and finally the gambeson.   Just as he was about to enter his privy, the bloody door of his cabin opened!  Irritated, he looked over his shoulder and saw his two slave girls bringing in a covered silver serving tray.

    ¡°Not now, you damn scuts!  I¡¯ll ring for you when I want something and not before.  I hope you¡¯ve kept my whips well oiled because when I do call for you, I¡¯ll be vigorously applying them to your flesh.  NOW GET OUT!¡±  He roared.

    They ran out in fear, nearly dropping the tray.  Locke knew that they were only doing their job and exactly what he always told them to do, in regards to bringing him food but he didn¡¯t care; their primary job was to relieve his frustrations and if he killed one or both of them, it was no big deal, he could always purchase more.  The worthless female mongrel bitches didn¡¯t even have the value of a stray dog.  On the other hand, it would be better and cheaper if he could find some young foreign girls to enslave.  Suddenly his stomach clenched with pain, which curtailed his thinking about slaves, Tristan was out of time.  Deciding to take off his greaves later, he opened the door and stepped into his tiny toilet.  Why did he suddenly feel so weak, perhaps he should have eaten?

    ---------------------------

    How to take care of the Captain, I was almost tempted to use my partisan but the room was simply too small, so when he stepped inside he got four paralyzing and one suppression dart.

    The man was absurdly powerful as a wizard, so I decided to tie him up before I did anything else but I made a slight mistake.  In my terror, instead of tying his hands, I accidentally put his leather belt around his throat and now he¡¯s not breathing and I think his heart has stopped too.  Oh no, I was ready to cry, what will I do now?  Oh well, wizards you can¡¯t live with them and you can¡¯t kill them fast enough.

    A few moments ago, I had heard him talking to someone that I assumed had to be a slave.  I wanted to keep people out of my way as much as possible, so finding what looked like the same kind of bell pull that Donna and Alex had in their house, I decided to give it a yank.

    Within three minutes I heard running feet and two very young girls came in carrying a tray.  Their faces were all blotchy, as if they had just stopped crying.  They both looked around in confusion, probably because they didn¡¯t see anyone.  They closed the door and set the tray down which is what I had been waiting for.  I shot them both and controlled their falls so that they didn¡¯t get hurt.

    I carried one of the girls over to the large bed. On the bed was Captain Jerk¡¯s armor.  It looked like fairly nice stuff and it might even fit me since his body had looked to be, only a little larger than my own.  I laid the first girl on a corner of the bed and I moved all of the armor to make room for the second one.  His armor looked very flamboyant and expensive.  It was made of steel but it had been coated with a hard brilliant red enamel finish.  Certain parts of it had been gold plated, including the visor of his helmet. I checked the helmet with my witch sight and it looked all right.  On a whim I put it on, it fit perfectly and it didn¡¯t impair my vision in the least.  While I couldn¡¯t wear any of the other armor since it would cover my buttons, I could wear this helmet and while it couldn¡¯t hurt, it might just save my life.  I¡¯d keep it on for now.

    I moved the second girl to the bed and then tied them both up.  I stayed invisible but I tried to speak some comforting words to both of the very young ladies.  I lifted the visor on my helmet so that they could hear me clearly.  ¡°I am sorry for scaring both you.  It is my plan to release you in a little while and take you to a better place, a land where you¡¯ll both be free.  For now though, I have to leave you tied up.  Try to sleep and if you can, dream happy dreams.¡±

    I reloaded my bracers; it was now time to go hunting.  I floated myself flat along the ceilings of the passageways, that way if anyone came along they wouldn¡¯t bump into the invisible guy wearing their recently deceased Captain¡¯s helmet.  I am a bad man, stealing from the dead.   How low can I possibly go?  I had even promised myself that I would forgo robbing the people that I killed for the whole week but I had already broken that resolution.  I decided to punish myself by vowing not to eat liver for a week; it¡¯s a good thing that I hate liver.  Fore, I would hate to get the reputation that I was a man without even a shred of honor.

    I did a little bit of scouting.  I found that the slaves were kept in room, located in the hold of this vessel.   I think that they were all inside there, and for now I would leave them locked up.

    I went looking for wizards, if I took them all down then I would have an excellent chance of succeeding with my plans.  There have been a great many ships over the decades that have been defeated by a single magic user, when they didn¡¯t have one of their own.

    There were some private cabins on the tube deck, I started there.   The first cabin that I came to, there was no problem. I simply opened the door and shot the man inside with three darts.  I left him lying on the floor.

    Things went wrong at the second cabin.  I quietly opened the door and something fell down with a clatter.  The man inside made an alarmed sound but it wasn¡¯t quite a shout.  I fired two darts at him but he already had his shield up.  What the heck was going on?  Wizards shouldn¡¯t be able to raise their shields that quickly!  Hoping that he wasn¡¯t that tough of a magic user, I attacked him with my partisan but I didn¡¯t get a good hit in and his shield deflected my winged spear.  He yelled again but luckily no louder than the first time for some reason.  My second thrust was right through his throat and it nearly took his head off.

    I immediately put myself flat on the ceiling and watched the cabin door, waiting for someone to charge inside.  This could be really bad.

    A young man came inside the room.  I shot darts at him but he too had his shield up, he yelled loudly which made me cringe.  I dove down upon him with my spear and vertically bisected his spine.

    Unbelievably, no one came in response to his shout. I searched the other rooms and I finally came to the last door on this deck.  Upon opening it, I found two very young men sleeping soundly in their hammocks.  The cabin looked easily large enough to hold eight or more people. I shot them both with darts and departed.

    It was now time for the sterncastle.  I peeked inside the Captain¡¯s cabin and I discovered that the girls were still there, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

    I could hear the sounds of conversation and dishes clinking next door.  I reloaded my bracers.  When I opened the new door, I tried to mimic the action of a gust of wind performing the same job.  There were four wizards sitting at a dining table, with either glasses or forks half raised to their mouths.  While they looked over at the door with curiosity, there wasn¡¯t a trace of concern on their faces.  I shot each man with two paralyzing darts and one suppression dart; the same as I had done with those down below.

    I left the aftcastle, going onto the waist deck and from there I took the stairs to the quarterdeck.  I put myself behind the ship¡¯s wheel watching carefully.  There were two officers standing behind the helmsman.  The young seaman seemed nervous and kept his eyes straight ahead.  I crept up close to the officers, trying to be as quiet as possible.  I shot them both with darts and slowed their falls with my hands.  The nervous seaman twitched at the sounds but he didn¡¯t turn around.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.There were four normal sailors posted at the very stern of the ship.  They had their eyes glued to the sea.   I shot them all with one dart a piece as quickly as I could; none of the shots were further than fifteen steps.

    The nervous seaman at the ship¡¯s wheel still hadn¡¯t turned around.  I had to wonder what those officers had done to cause him to be so focused on his job.  I went back to those paralyzed officers and one at a time, I flew them to the side of the ship and sent them for a nice swim, after first searching them of course.  I felt better; at least I wasn¡¯t robbing the dead this time.  I stole from those two officers and then I killed them, which is a completely different thing.

    I started searching the weather deck.  I didn¡¯t find any more wizards until the bow.  I knew that I was feeling overconfident but I only had two more to go it seemed.  They were standing side by side.  I put three darts into each of them and they went down.  I flew up into rigging to look into the crow¡¯s nest and the fighting tops.  I only found one man in the nest and I gave him two darts.

    Sailors were gathering around the two fallen officers, I shot them with a single dart a piece and then I reloaded.  I walked back towards the quarter deck, shooting at every man I saw.  I tried to make sure that no one made it below decks but two men were able to gain the hatchway.

    The helmsman stayed at the wheel but he definitely knew that something was wrong.  Not seeing anyone else, I let myself go visible.  He noticeably jumped when he saw me.  It had been dark for a few hours but the moons gave him enough light where he could see my outline.  I flew towards him and with my witch sight I could see that the front of his pants had a growing wet spot.

    I landed on the deck to his right side and spoke.  ¡°Would You Like to Live?¡±  This was my first time speaking with the visor down on my new helmet and it made my voice sound powerful and menacing.  This was great; I should wear it when I attend my classes at the University or when I¡¯m ordering food in a restaurant, I bet I would get better service then.

    The man was nodding his head ¡°yes,¡± so fast that he looked like a woodpecker.  It seemed like his fear was so great that he couldn¡¯t even speak.  I tried to imagine myself in his shoes, the wizards were gone, everyone else looked dead and I was wearing his Captain¡¯s helmet.  Yep, I would be scared too.  I am a really bad man.

    ¡°Stay at Your Post and Guide this Ship Carefully.  I Will Return.¡±  Ooh, I sounded like I could command an army of the dead.

    I flew myself to the hatchway.  I started checking rooms as I went past them.  I didn¡¯t find anything until the dining room.  Someone had left four drunken wizards passed out around the table.   They were officers and wizards, had they no dignity, no shame? Why is it me that always has to clean up the messes?  After making sure to secure the men¡¯s valuables including their shoes, coats and belts.  I decided that a late night swim would sober them up.  Luckily this dining room shared the stern balcony with the Captain¡¯s cabin.  I hoped the men remembered to thank me in the morning and I wished them the best with their hangovers.  Personally I would have been terrified of diving into such deep, dark and cold water but they didn¡¯t say a word as I hoisted them over the railing.

    I checked on the girls and they seemed to be okay.  Deciding that I couldn¡¯t risk leaving them tied up any longer, I carefully undid the strips of cloth that I had used to bind them.  Being a nice guy, I made myself visible and I even lifted the visor of my new helmet.

    ¡°Do not be afraid, ladies.   I am in the process of securing this vessel.  I¡¯ve defeated thirteen wizards including the Captain and I think that¡¯s all of them.  Now, I have to take care of the free crewmen and release the slaves down on the orlop deck.  I want you two, to stay here and keep safe.  Okay?¡±

    The nodded their heads fearfully back at me.  They had tears in their eyes.  Surprisingly one of them spoke to me.  ¡°There were only thirteen wizards on this ship.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it.¡±  I wouldn¡¯t fully trust her but the information did help.

    For the next hour, I was running and flying all over the ship, while paralyzing crewmen.  Because of my shield they couldn¡¯t do a thing to stop me, unless they shot me with a kraken spear or doused me in burning oil but neither of those two things happened.  It was exhausting and I wouldn¡¯t have found them all, at least I think I found them all, without my witch sight.

    I checked on the helmsman twice but he was staying at his post.  Finally I was back down in the hold and opening the door to the prison.

    I had a lantern and lifted it high.  The place smelled and everyone woke up with expressions filled with despair.  I had deactivated my invisibility ward but I had decided to leave my helmet on, because I liked how I sounded when I spoke with the visor down.

    ¡°Hello, this vessel was threatening the schooner that I was on.  I disabled the two other ships that were sailing with it and I¡¯ve captured this one.  All of the crew except for the helmsman have been paralyzed or killed.

    I am from the Gulf Kingdom and we¡¯ve recently learned how the Kingdom of Fata has been enslaving people, changing their appearances and making it impossible for them to talk about their pasts.  If you wish to come with me, back to Sweet Port, you can but you will have to sail this vessel.  I¡¯ve left a lot of two legged trash lying around, deal with it as you see fit except for the helmsman.  Only send him for a late night swim if he¡¯s truly been cruel to you.¡±  Noticing all of the women in the room, I added something to that last statement.  ¡°I consider forced intercourse to be justification enough.

    We have no time to delay, this ship is without an active crew and you need to be doing something or I need to be leaving.  But I will not force you to do anything.¡±

    They quickly started getting out of their hammocks and moving at my words.  I knew that this helmet would work but I wasn¡¯t sure if I liked its colors.

    -------------------------

    Jillian Valdez had been a slave for over twenty years.  Before that she had been a young apprentice navigator on a merchant man.  She now answered to the name of Roka and couldn¡¯t say her real name without being stabbed by a blinding headache and getting a nosebleed.

    She looked at the strange man, who had just said such impossible things and was worst yet wearing the Captain¡¯s red and gold helmet.  ¡°Who are you sir?¡±

    ¡°I am Iron-Balls!¡±  The words came out in a deep, commanding, echoing voice.

    All of the slaves stood there in shock at such a ridiculous name. Suddenly they heard the sound of laughter coming from inside the helmet, the laughter grew in volume and finally the man raised his visor while still giggling.  He was very young and not bad looking either.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but you should have seen your faces.  My name is James Drake.  I too was once a slave.  But we don¡¯t have time for that right now.  I¡¯ve scared the helmsman, to stay at the ship¡¯s wheel but he¡¯s the only one that can move and I don¡¯t know anything about sailing.  I¡¯m an enchanter and a potion concocter, not a sailor.  Do any of you want to go to Sweet Port?¡±

    The cheer that answered his question nearly deafened James.

    --------------------

    Reyes, Margo, Emile and Delta were eating in the Captain¡¯s cabin.  Discussing what they should do since they hadn¡¯t received any message from James.  They were heading south and away from Sweet Port, soon they would be forced to turn once again to the west but would those HSMS vessels be able to intercept them and what was James¡¯s fate?

    Suddenly, one of the three very large runes that was engraved into a piece of wood that was three steps long by two steps wide, lit up.  That piece of wood was attached to the wall and it drew everyone¡¯s attention.  The rune glowed four times in a row, paused for three minutes and then did it again.  Delta walked to the board and put her hand on a different rune, closed her eyes and concentrated.  The rune she touched glowed twice in succession; then a few minutes later, she had it repeat that action.

    All those gathered in the dining cabin looked at one another with relieved expressions.  Delta spoke. ¡°Four flashes of that rune, tells us that James thinks it¡¯s safe for us to head for Sweet Port once more.  It also means that James is alive.  I sent him two flashes back, which tells him that we received his message.¡±  There were happy exclamations from Margo and Reyes.

    Emile though had a more somber expression.  ¡°But he didn¡¯t tell us to activate the magic beacon so that he could find us.  That worries me and he didn¡¯t give us the message to slow down either.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expression turned slightly somber but the only thing that they could do, was hope that their liberator was safe and well.

    ---------------------

    I had certainly freed one enraged group of former slaves.  The crew that I had liberated on that last schooner had been rather tidy while disposing of the garbage but this group was making a mess and I wasn¡¯t going to be the one cleaning it up and I told them so.  Death by drowning or strangulation is just as effective as hacking someone apart with an axe.  Frequently they didn¡¯t even wait to take the boots, clothes or any other valuables off of their prey.

    Don¡¯t they understand if you¡¯re going to kill someone, you might as well rob them too!   A slightly older woman named Roka was the acting Captain.  She seemed to understand my frustrations but I guess things had been really bad on this vessel.

    Well, at least she had half of the crew sailing this ship while the other half took care of vermin disposal.  I ignored them and did my own careful search of the brig.  I needed to find the tag or tags that might be hidden on board.  Even knowing what I was looking for, it took me over three hours to complete my search.  One was hidden in the forecastle and the other in the sterncastle.

    I appropriated the Healer¡¯s former cabin that was in the aftcastle.  It was also designed to berth up to four patients in bunk beds, so the quarters were almost as large as the Captain¡¯s cabin.   I was exhausted but there was still work to be done.  I had to collect the wizards¡¯ belongings.  It was probable that some of them or all of them were trapped, just like on the schooner, and bad things would happen if someone sprung one of them.

    I also needed the wizards¡¯ things for another reason.  I had used up quite a bit of my medical potions on the other ship but now I had a bunch of new patients.  So I needed potions and ingredients.  There were some things stocked in my new cabin but not enough in my opinion and their quality was low too, though I might be able to enhance them with a little bit of work.

    Once I had all the of the wizard¡¯s chests safely moved, thanks to my personal shield, and seeing that the ship¡¯s new crew still wasn¡¯t settling down.   I decided to finally get some sleep after informing Roka.  She was diligently trying to get us to Sweet Port as quickly as possible since we didn¡¯t know how long those other two vessels would be disabled or if there were other enemy ships nearby.

    The next morning I woke up and made my way down to the galley.  The bodies were all gone but there were too many freaking blood stains all over the place.  I guess if I have the time, I might make a potion that will help with the clean up but I doubt that I will have any spare time.

    I spoke with Franco, the new First Officer, before going back to my cabin.  I told him that I would be ready to start seeing the crew for health checkups in two hours but if he had any people with serious illnesses or injuries, to send them right away.

    Upon arriving at my room I sent three timed rune pulses, indicating that I was okay to Emile and Delta.  I got back two pulses showing that they had received my message.  Too bad we hadn¡¯t made up a code for saying ¡°hey, I¡¯ve captured another ship and I¡¯m heading towards Sweet Port.¡±  Well, maybe next time I¡¯d be better prepared.

    I took a better look at what I had to work with in this cabin and I wasn¡¯t impressed.  As for my personal stuff; I was out of health potions but I had seven doses of healing potion, two of the red longevity series, two regeneration series, thirteen doses of different kinds of fever concoctions, four doses of the blindness medicine, five doses of my hearing cure, miscellaneous anti-toxins, and two jars of beauty/scar cream.  Before I left the schooner I had given Emile a full set of the regeneration potions.  He was to alternate using it along with the red longevity series, taking a dose every for four days.  I had also warned him to do stretching exercises and to eat lots of meat.  I think that the two concoctions, taken in an alternating fashion might have an interesting and beneficial effect on that old man.

    I desperately needed some health potions, thankfully they are an easy concoction for me to make and while I know that I can make a far better one using ingredients found in my swamp, thanks to Professor King I knew how to make health potions while using more common lower-grade ingredients.

    By the time my first patient arrived, I had fives doses completed and five more simmering.  The name that her former masters had given her and she was stuck with for now was Nena.  She was going blind, possibly from too much glaring sunlight, being reflected off the ocean during her years as a sailor.  Nena¡¯s back and joints were also bothering her just like with Emile.  Also like him, she looked to be one of the oldest former slaves that I¡¯d met.  I dosed her eyes and started her on the red series.  I was delighted to discover that unlike Emile, she had the aptitude to be a better ¡°lesser mage¡± than Delta, which is saying something.  When I told her about her potential and how I needed her help, she seemed to come alive.

    She had no duties right now, so I put her in one of the vacant bunks with a simple light rune that I quickly engraved onto a small wooden box lid and then enchanted.  I gave her some instructions and let her play while I examined my other patients. Occasionally I would direct a tip her way.

    The next patient was a woman with an infection in her vagina; she had no problem giving me a sample.  I gave her dose of health potion, but as for her infection, I would have to concoct something special and she would need to check back with me that evening.  It could be that there was a proper fever potion somewhere in this cabin and I just needed to locate and identify it.  I mean the free crew had to be getting the same diseases, so the ship¡¯s healer had to have been at least treating them.

    I met a woman who was attractive but she too had an infection down below and someone had knocked her teeth out. She got some health potion and was also told to come back later.

    That is how my day went. I primarily dispensed health potions and fever concoctions.  I saw twenty-nine patients and everything went as I had sadly expected, that is if not counting five notable exceptions of which Nena was one.  I had thought Emile and Delta to be a fluke with them both being lesser mages amongst such a small group of people.  Back in the Gulf Kingdom, according to Dean Marks, only about one in a thousand has the potential to be a lesser mage, yet there were only twenty people back on that small schooner and two of them, were lesser magic users.  On this vessel, I had identified five people with the same or greater abilities.  There was one thing that they all had in common.  They had all been slaves for at least fifteen years and from what I could tell they had been routinely, physically and magically tortured during that time.  It could be that they had some magic all along and that magic helped them to survive such terrible conditions.  So what I was encountering was only the strongest of the survivors.

    My new temporary part-time apprentices included Nena, Roka the Captain, Franco her First Officer, Rudolf, and Minnie who was tiny a little thing but quite fierce.  She also had her teeth knocked out and was forced to wear an eye patch because of a missing eye.  I gave her a regeneration potion and Rudolf got my last red concoction.

    That evening, I sent another signal to the schooner that I was still safe and I got back two pulses in return.

    I was frustrated that I didn¡¯t have enough materials to heal all the ills of the crew on this vessel but they all seemed to understand that they would have to wait until we reached Sweet Port for me to fix things like bone and joint damage.  I know one thing for sure; all of them were getting a dose of the red longevity potion, as soon as I could arrange it and maybe some of the blue series too.  They deserved to get back some years.

    It took me two days to break into those deceased wizards¡¯ chests and equip the former HSMS Staghound with shield runes.

    I decided that I should finally make a return trip back to the schooner, so I sent them the signal to activate the third rune, so I could locate them.  The magical beacon was over nine leagues away, which was further than I wanted to travel by bubble fish; I was afraid of sea monsters, and it was far too distant for me to fly.  I sent a second message, asking them to slow down.  They sent back six pulses, saying that they would.

    -------------------

    Reyes, Margo, Delta and Emile were all confused.  For days now, James had been sending the ¡°he¡¯s okay¡± signal every morning and evening.  But how could that be?  According to him the maximum range of his pulse rune signal board was at most one hundred leagues.  Yet, he was still sending them pulses, which meant that he had to be following them.

    Emile for some reason was sporting a secret smile, like he had figured out what was going on. He had been doing a lot of that lately, despite the fact that he was essentially teething.

    -----------------

    Finally, the lookout in the crow¡¯s nest spotted the schooner far ahead of us.  I didn¡¯t want them to panic, so I decided that I should leave now while the brig was still distant from them.  In that way, I could get to the schooner and explain what was going on before they got upset, when they saw the Staghound.  Reluctantly, I flew into the ocean and sped off after the small ship inside my fish bubble.  I had made a few wards to carry with me but I would be traveling too fast for them to be very effective.

    About forty minutes later I was at the schooner and flying myself on to its upper deck.  I was greeted by a happy group of people.

    I was forced to tell them about my adventures.  Reyes kept the ship¡¯s speed down so that the Staghound could catch up to us.  When I described what had happened, when I first released the slaves on board the brig and said that my name was Iron-Balls, they found it so hilarious that some of them nearly fell down laughing. They were sorry that I hadn¡¯t brought the helmet with me, so that I could show them it and they could all hear my Deep Commanding Voice.

    I spent the night on the schooner and the next day I flew back to the now far closer brig.  For the remainder of our trip back to Sweet Port, I planned on spending alternating nights on the two ships.  For some reason, my presence seemed to help with the general mood on board both vessels.

    I made a lookout table for the brig and a signal board.  I discovered how the wizards were making their small ships invisible; it required at least three magic users and some peculiar runes to cast the spell.  I also found their magical communication device, which according to some notes that I found; they called it a message caster.  It¡¯s very similar to the crude signal board that I made just recently.

    It took me a full day to make two large send and receive communications boards.  I didn¡¯t know the codes the Navy used and the ¡°send¡± board that I made would talk to all Naval boards; within range as my reception board should receive from their ¡°all GKS¡± transmit boards.

    Using an extremely simple code developed by Professors Tanner and Lee, one that even I could remember, I sent a message spelling out ¡°James Drake, returning to Sweet Port with two captured ships.¡±

    # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Okay, so he¡¯s not home yet.  But my muse needs some time to percolate, so please forgive me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s7_WbiR79E</a>

    Captain Tristan Locke¡¯s Personal Armor

    http://www.darkknightarmoury.com/p-16148-visored-barbuta-helmet.aspx</a>

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigandine</a>

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauberk</a>

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson</a>

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greave</a>

 Chapter17: In the Belly of the Beast

    I¡¯m going to list some underappreciated stories here.  I mean there are lots of good stories on this website but here are three that I think aren¡¯t getting nearly enough average views even though they are such high quality flights of fantasy.   If you haven¡¯t tried them, I urge you to give them a shot.

    Loser of Tarinath by S. Zaplosky, lousy name but a great story:

    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/3468</a>

    Slip Hero by PerfectDeath, professional quality, very long chapters:

    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/1931</a>

    We dream of Worlds by Knave, extremely interesting perspective, back story and story line:

    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/3652</a>

    To those of you who are reading The Defective Hermit, you will notice that there is a character in this story named ¡°Nena.¡±  However, it is pure random chance and you should not think of it, as being anything more than that.  I used that name in this story first and when a random name generator (I use two different ones, http://random-name-generator.info/</a>  and http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/the-sims.php</a>) gave me the name for a young girl for TDH, it presented me with ¡°Nina¡± and I stupidly forgot that there was a ¡°Nena,¡± who was going to be a slightly important character, in Swamp Boy.   So there are two females with almost identical names but it¡¯s honestly just a coincidence.

    If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter17: In the Belly of the Beast

    Admiral Samuel Taylor communicating by message board: ¡°James where are you?¡±

    Former HSMS Staghound: ¡°On a ship.¡±

    ¡°Where specifically are you?

    ¡°In the Healer¡¯s Cabin on a ship, it¡¯s mine now.¡±

    ¡°James, we need more information than that.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m on a brig, it used to be the HSMS Staghound.  The former slaves, who are crewing this vessel now; renamed it the Iron-Balls.¡±

    ¡°You captured a brig and the crew renamed it the Iron-Balls?¡±

    ¡°Yep, but don¡¯t blame that name on me.¡±

    ¡°Where is your ship?¡±

    ¡°Next to a schooner.¡±

    ¡°What schooner?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the other ship that I liberated, do you know if any of those other five schooners that I captured made it safely to Sweet Port?  The fifth one has my glaive on board and I would really like it back.¡±

    ¡°That ship straggled in here a day ago.  When they told us you had been swept overboard we feared that you were dead.  Crown Princess Ellen was quite distraught at the news.  Now, where are your two ships and don¡¯t say in the ocean or some other such nonsense like that.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s my glaive?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll look for it or buy you a new one.¡±

    ¡°It took me three days to enchant that glaive, I genuinely want it back.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll find it.¡±

    ¡°James this is Ellen.  I thought you were dead.  Now you tell me where you are this very instant or you will be dead.¡±

    ¡°Off the southern coast of the Book Continent, we are almost at Drake¡¯s Swamp.  I¡¯m thinking about being dropped off there so I can gather supplies for a week or two, since I¡¯m already nearby.  Besides that, I haven¡¯t had any good snake in a while and I really miss it.  This is just too good an opportunity to pass up, I could gather potion ingredients and eat snake.  It would be a complete waste of travel time for me not to stop.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare and stop talking about eating snake!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m out of concoction components and there are some really good pickings, just a day¡¯s travel into the swamp.  I won¡¯t be long.¡±

    Nena was manning the communications board; it took time to send messages back and forth what with the crude code we were forced to use.  She was giggling with every answer that I gave and calling me a bad boy.

    Yes, I was messing with them but it was fun.  However, I was serious about going into the swamp; I needed ingredients for all of my potions but most especially those required to make my red longevity concoctions and regeneration potions.  I was making my preparations right now and I had already put movement runes on a couple of the ship¡¯s dinghies; I planned on towing an extra one behind me when I left the brig.

    My discussion with Ellen went on for quite some time and I finally had to tell her that I was going to end all message board communications with her, if she didn¡¯t cease arguing with me.

    Admiral Taylor informed me that GKS vessels would be rendezvousing with my tiny flotilla within three days.  By that time, I should be well within the swamp.  When I told the crews of the two ships that I was going into the great marsh and to go on to Sweet Port without me, they all unanimously and loudly refused to depart if I wasn¡¯t on board one of the two vessels.  I really hate it when people yell at me.

    Emile and Nena had begged to go with me but I told them that there was absolutely no way that I would or could take them along on my excursion.  I would need to move fast and having them with me would only slow me down, especially since I would have to split my attention between keeping them and myself alive.  Both of them pouted like little children when I told them that and they were quite visibly upset with me.

    When I began my journey into that vast stinking quagmire, I couldn¡¯t help but think; ¡°ah, the smells of home.¡±  I felt all of the tension that I had acquired from dealing with people leave my body.  Now new ones or rather old ones resumed their rightful place, I had to be alert within this swamp or I would soon be some creature¡¯s lunch.  There were some large marsh islands that I hadn¡¯t tried harvesting from before, mainly because stepping foot on them would be a lot more dangerous than normal.  I was hoping that my war jacket and new flight harness would solve the safety issue.

    Ten days later I left the swamp.  I saw upon my exit that there were now six more vessels accompanying my own two and two of them were frigates, which was pretty astonishing since the Gulf Kingdom only had four seaworthy frigates, though many more were in various stages of construction.  I saw a flurry of activity, when we came into mutual sight of one another, like someone had knocked down a beehive from a tree.  I had kept in contact with Nena and Emile during my time in the marsh, by using our signal boards; we had exchanged twice daily ¡°I¡¯m okay¡± messages.

    I arrived at the Iron Balls and my two dinghies were hoisted aboard.  Nena came stalking up to me and grabbed my chin with her hand, thus holding me in place, so she could better examine my face.  ¡°What happened?  She asked.

    ¡°Nothing much; another day in the swamp, that¡¯s all.¡±  I garbled out, it¡¯s hard to speak when someone holds you that way.

    I was trying to pick up a bag with my left hand and having a little difficulty with that minor chore.

    She looked down and gasped.  ¡°James what happened to your hand?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s mostly still there and I¡¯ve already started taking a regeneration potion, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±

    ----------------------

    Nena looked at the young man that had freed her and was still aiding her with rare potions and more importantly, the gift of knowledge.   By teaching her how to be a lesser mage, he had helped her to feel like more than an old broken down slave.  For the first time in decades, she could look at her own reflection and feel pride and self respect because of the actions of James Drake.  When she had learned that he was in essence an orphan, she had started to think of him as the child that she would never have.

    The right side of his face was badly scarred now and his right eye was milky white.  His rugged leather jacket was torn, burned and badly patched back together into some semblance to a coat.  There looked to be bandages beneath the left sleeve of it as well.  As for his left hand, it was badly burned with three fingers completely missing.  James also seemed to be having some difficulty with simply standing upright; she looked down and saw that his right boot had been crudely repaired.  Nena had to wonder what the foot that boot contained now looked like.

    She looked at him with tears in her eyes.  ¡°James, I need to know.  What happened to you?¡±

    ¡°I was in a hurry which is a mistake in the swamp and I might have run into a pair of nesting swamp dragons with a dozen or more young.¡±  Instead of acting fearful or boasting at surviving such an experience he seemed to be more embarrassed if anything else.  Nena was quite annoyed with his almost flippant attitude regarding what must have been a near death experience for him.

    -------------------

    I had been monumentally stupid.  It was always my philosophy to avoid and run away from swamp dragons.  But I found this one large island overflowing with the rare plants that I needed.  There were obvious signs of swamp dragons living on the island but I counted on my flight harness to get me in and out quickly, which it did.  I had also assumed that if things went wrong my war jacket would protect me, which it sort of did.  I had never tried gathering in locations nearby known swamp dragons or their territories which is an excellent policy when living in Drake¡¯s Swamp.  A strategy that I stupidly thought, I no longer needed to strictly adhere to.

    I was harvesting ingredients when suddenly I was in shadow.  I didn¡¯t even bother to look up; I knew what such a large shadow had to mean.  Instead, having time to do nothing else, I quickly stood up straight and fashioned my personal shield into something like a giant spear point.  The dragon crashed down upon me, driving the invisible spear deep into its belly, my shield held but just barely.   The beast started going into convulsions, its thrashing put a further drain on my shield.  I started classifying my decision to visit that particular island as one of my all time idiotic moves.

    My shield along with my own body was wedged deep within the monster, its gyrations were worse than any storm that I had ever been in, I swallowed my rising gorge and tried to prevent myself from puking.  I was pushing more energy into my jacket when the dragon finally fell over on its side, ceasing all movement.

    I wormed my way back out, where I found myself looking straight into the eyes of what I now suspect was the mate of the dragon that I had just killed.  A clawed foreleg swatted the side of my shield.   I flew a great number of long steps and stopped when I hit some large trees.  My shield was low on energy and I was feeling sicker than ever.  I remembered one of Ellen¡¯s last communications to me before I basically told her to shut up.  ¡°You are going to go into that swamp and get eaten by a swamp dragon!¡±  Hah, she was wrong.  I¡¯m going to be crushed by a swamp dragon!

    Before my departure, I had loaded my wrist bracers with darts coated with the most virulent toxins that I possessed.  I dropped my shield and shot all of my darts at the monster that was stalking towards me.  They all just plinked off her armored hide.  I immediately restored my shield and attempted to fly away.  She opened her mouth and shot out her tongue at me.  If I hadn¡¯t stupidly and in a panic shot off all of my darts that tongue and her open mouth would have been a fantastic target for them, though they might not have done much of anything.

    The long tongue of a swamp dragon is coated with thick, sticky goo which is highly corrosive.  According to my University Biology Teacher, Professor Brown, that gunk is both a weapon and a digestive aid for the monstrous amphibian.  The tongue is also blindingly fast.

    Before I could fly more than a few steps or even do more than blink, the immense creature had wrapped her tongue around my shield and reeled me back into its mouth.  I was dazed, things had happened too quickly and my shield was low on energy or I might have had it grow spikes to puncture the huge disgusting tongue that was coiled about me.  As it was, the only thing that I could do was catch a brief glance as a huge open mouth approached and then swallowed me whole.  I guess Ellen had been right.

    The beast¡¯s throat muscles were powerful and put additional pressure on my shield, as I was forced down into its stomach.  I had shaped my shield into a cylinder with rounded ends during that very brief journey to better prevent my limbs from being crushed.  Once I was in the stomach I took out three very small bottles of poison, all that I had left, set them down within my shield bubble after pulling their corks, and then I reshaped the shield so those flasks were outside of it, exposing the creature¡¯s stomach to the contents of that trio of tiny bottles.

    My underwater experiences had driven home to me the importance of air quality and quantity.  I knew that I had no time to waste, sitting around inside the monster¡¯s stomach.  I reshaped my shield so that it was more like a giant mole with very large claws.  Using my own strength and by reshaping my shield appropriately to match my movements, I began to dig my way out.

    This second dragon now went into convulsions.  I was hoping that it might vomit me out but that didn¡¯t happen.  Throughout its strange contortions, I just kept digging.  I had to reach air soon or I wasn¡¯t going to reach it at all.  Digging through the swamp dragon¡¯s tough body was painfully slow.  I was getting a fierce headache when I had a new notion.  I still had my almost fully charged flight harness, which while it couldn¡¯t propel me fast enough to burst out of the dragon, it just might help me in another way.

    Struggling to keep my focus, I formed my shield into something like a crude carpenter¡¯s auger bit and not having a giant brace, I used my flight harness to turn me round and round, while simultaneously pushing me forward.  I had vomited all over myself and my headache was absolutely monumental by the time I saw glorious daylight once again.  I dropped my nearly exhausted shield, gulped air and that¡¯s when Momma¡¯s little babies showed up.  I think that they might have been clinging to her body the entire time.

    Not having my partisan, I used my short sword to fight my way free of them and I flew away.  Before making my escape, they landed a tongue on my right cheek and left hand.  Additionally one of the little mutant tadpoles bit off half of my right foot.

    I treated my injuries as best as I could and rested that night.   The following day, with my war jacket recharged, I went back to that island and I killed every one of those freakish mutant polliwogs.  After which I harvested rare ingredients until I had both of my boats packed to the brim.  The over abundance of rare plants and such on that island has got me curious now.  Are swamp dragons attracted to such plants, or do they grow so prolifically because of the huge creatures?  Perhaps dragon poop makes good fertilizer?

    I definitely need some offensive spells or some exceedingly powerful portable enchanted weaponry that I can carry, because using my own body as a melee weapon, does not seem to be a winning tactic for long term survival.

    Nena helped me to my room, while others stowed my two small boats and their contents.  I could hear Captain Roka giving the orders to raise the sails; I guess they were anxious to get to Sweet Port.  Nena helped me off with my clothes and she hissed when she saw what was left of my foot.

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.  Give me three to five weeks and lots of good meals and I¡¯ll be back in one piece soon enough.¡±

    She grumbled something under her breath about me being a ¡°stupid and reckless child.¡±

    Since we were going against the prevailing winds it would be long voyage back to Sweet Port.  Well, I had plenty to do on the ship to keep myself busy.

    The next day, I took a trip over to the schooner.  Nena insisted on accompanying me and I found out upon our arrival that she and Emile had apparently met long ago while they had been both slaves.  During my excursion into the swamp, they had apparently renewed their friendship.  Today, it was my plan to examine the information that I had gathered about the invisibility spell that the wizards had used on their schooners.  I had looked at their spell notes before but it was now time to really delve into what the wizards had accomplished, mainly because I was so intrigued by what they had done.

    I found five runes on the vessel, two on each side and one on the stern.  The runes seemed to be rather convoluted.  At first glance, I thought them to be an overly complex mess mixed with gibberish.  From what I had learned, the wizards¡¯ spell in conjunction with the runes, could force light to bend around an object.   The wizards could choose to have all portions of a ship invisible or just one side.  The problem was that if they did do it to an entire vessel then it became very dark on board unless lanterns are lit and it additionally requires someone who has witch sight to now guide the ship.

    Emile and Nena chatted while I worked; always keeping me in sight for some reason, my wounds seemed to be their primary topic of conversation.  Once I thought I understood the wizards¡¯ spell and the logic behind it; I set out trying to make a rune of my own, that did the same thing but better rather than attempt to duplicate their twisted rune.  The wizards¡¯ invisibility rune, if this makes any sense, looked too turbulent to me; like it couldn¡¯t possibly handle magic or light, smoothly or efficiently.

    I worked at if for about six hours when I decided to give up for the day and get back to making potions.  I wanted to switch Nena from taking the red longevity concoction series to the blue.  It shouldn¡¯t harm her so long as she gets enough nourishment and those few red doses that she has already taken should serve nicely as a slight booster for the blue series.  She and many other people aboard the two liberated vessels would also benefit if they were given the full regeneration course of potions.

    The following day I returned to the Iron-Balls, I am never going to live that name down.  I was certainly surprised to find Emile, accompanying Nena and I on the way back, he seemed to be almost embarrassed by the situation.  Emile was a pretty decent carpenter, so I put him to work making some sign boards for me, while I resumed tinkering with the light-bending invisibility rune.  While I was working, Nena showed up with some sugar cookies and tea for me, her behavior reminded me of Margaret Adams.  I gave Nena, the first dose of the blue series the previous night, in four days time she will get a dose of the regeneration series.

    While I lost three fingers, half a foot and one eye, I made out when it came to collecting potion ingredients.  I also acquired some wood and cork that I wanted for another project.  Seeing as how Emile is such a good carpenter he might be able to help me with it too.

    I made a little more progress with my invisibility research before I gave up for the day and started mixing more concoctions.

    The next morning, we returned to the schooner, I had Emile bring the blank sign boards.  While he and Nena held hands, I started engraving the new rune that I had finally figured out.

    I ended up doing eight rune boards, three more than the wizards had used because I wanted additional runes on the bowsprit and the two mast tops.

    That night, I swore everyone on board the schooner to secrecy.  I then showed Nena, Emile and Delta how to activate the runes without actually activating them.  Vella who had volunteered to be an observer and myself were lowered over the side in one my dinghies.  When we were far enough away, I used my signal board to tell my magical assistants, or one of them rather, to activate the runes.

    Even though it was a dark night, Vella gasped when the schooner disappeared.  Not only was it invisible to normal sight but it was even difficult to see with my witch sight.  Pooh-pooh on you, you stupid wizards!  I knew that their spell and the rune implementation that they had used was a chaotic mess.  They might have come up with the idea first but I made it better.  Now to time how long it lasts, with only the single energy charge.   Hopefully the GKS vessels in our flotilla don¡¯t start wondering where the schooner has gone to before I complete my tests.  I¡¯ve already told Nena and Emile to discontinue the experiment if they start receiving frantic messages from the rest of the convoy about the schooner¡¯s ¡°disappearance.¡±  I also hope that Captain Reyes can maintain station with the rest of the ships by only using the lookout table that I had made.

    I was soon thinking that it was a mistake to bring Vella along with me.  Because she wanted to talk about when I had first encountered her, chained naked to the Captain¡¯s bunk aboard the schooner and how grateful she was now to me, for freeing her and how no man had ever touched her with her willing consent.

    I¡¯ve been called a swamp rat and I guess that¡¯s all I¡¯ll ever be.  While I was glad that she was free and that I had killed those bastards.  What she was saying to me was going in one ear and pouring out the other.  I tried to make appropriate sounds of sympathy but to my ears what I said all sounded pretty hollow.

    --------------------

    Vella had been born a slave on the Island of Fata though her parents were from the Gulf Kingdom.  Except for her mother, she had never had anyone treat her so kindly before.  Lord James had given her potions for her health and a cream to smooth away her scars.  When they had boarded the little boat that evening, he had made sure that there were blankets and food on board to see to her comfort and when she had shivered; he personally had wrapped two of those blankets tightly about her.  He had given her hot tea to drink as well.  Now he was listening with a kindly ear as she told him of her life.  Occasionally he would reach out and stroke her hair or pat her back in sympathy.

    ------------------------

    I really wish that Vella would just shut up.  I kept on giving her food so as to keep her mouth full and thus quiet her that way but it didn¡¯t seem to be working.  I am a bad man.

    To my witch sight, the schooner appeared to be only a cloudy, ship-shaped, haze on the water before us; it was something that even a magic user might easily over look.  Dumb stupid wizards; they steal my kraken spears; then they think, that they can make a rune that can beat me!  I muttered a curse; there was never a wizard around when you want to kill one.  I looked at Vella; she smiled at me and started telling me another tale of woe and misery.  Would I be a terrible person, if I shot her with a paralyzing dart?  I mean, I know her life has been terrible, but instead of telling me all about it, let¡¯s make some plans to kill all of those swamp leeches who have hurt you and your family.

    The runes lasted for almost forty minutes before the invisibility effect started to fall apart.  Hmmm, I could increase the charge capacity, I already knew that.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.The wizards kept their ships invisible for hours, but according to the notes that I¡¯ve read; they always use a minimum of three spell casters plus their inferior runes, so that would certainly explain the duration difference.

    Still, their implementation was so clumsy; I wondered if I could make a bigger ship invisible?

    I maneuvered the dinghy back alongside the schooner.  Vella hooked up the forward ropes and I took care of the aft lines, we were then hoisted aboard.  I complimented everyone for an excellent job, especially Captain Reyes who had been steering blind except for the lookout table.  They did tell me that a message was sent asking if they were alright since lookouts on the other ships had lost sight of them, but a simple reply had calmed things down and the rune charge had exhausted itself shortly after, so I think we got away with performing my secret test.

    I decided to make a few more potions and then go to bed early for the evening.  Nena and Vella seemed to be talking now, better Nena than me.

    The next day we were back on the brig, and Vella had tagged along with us, groan.  I had Emile hanging twelve rune boards on the vessel; one on each mast, one on the bowsprit, one on the stern, and four on each side.

    The brief test that evening, worked just as successfully as with the schooner the previous night.  Though we didn¡¯t test for duration, I thought that my slight redesign should last at least twice as long but it was a lot trickier balancing out twelve runes on the brig as compared to eight on the schooner.  I¡¯m not certain that light bending would be possible for any craft larger than the Iron-Balls.

    The war jacket, I had tailored for me in Ester¡¯s Village, had worked wonderfully for carrying all of my potions, compared to the large clanking bag that I had carried while fighting in the Eastern Empire.  But while the weight hadn¡¯t been too bad, the bulkiness caused by all of the potions was more than inconvenient and it had almost gotten me killed because I couldn¡¯t keep myself as flat as I would have liked to, when I was hiding aboard enemy ships.  I think it¡¯s time to start experimenting with that one bit of magic that I read about so long ago.  There was little information, just the fact that some magic users were formally able to accomplish it, but I think a combination of runes and sympathetic magic might just do the trick, the only thing that I can do, is try.

    I had Emile making wooden boxes for me that measured one step in all dimensions.  The problem was that the boxes had to be nearly identical as possible and he couldn¡¯t use any of the wood that I had brought from the swamp either, that was for later on, once I had figured out what I was doing.  Nena and Vella brought me molasses cookies today and I gave Nena a dose of regeneration potion.  I think Nena has introduced Vella to those two young slave/servant girls the Captain of this vessel had been abusing.  Perhaps the three of them can talk out their troubles and not bother me with them.

    I was sort of surprised that the senior GKS Naval Officer for this flotilla hadn¡¯t insisted on seeing me yet.  But I was probably overinflating my own importance, besides that I liked it better this way.

    -----------------

    Admiral Taylor was reading the latest message from Captain Ni Tien who was commanding the Gulf Protector.  She was worried about offending young Drake and she was seeking advice on how best to handle him.

    Admiral Taylor sent back.  ¡°Be honest with him and treat him with respect at all times.  If you need something from him, simply ask but it never hurts to stuff him with good food before doing so.¡±

    ------------------

    I spent the rest of the trip making potions and trying to get my great invention to work.  I know Emile is sick of making boxes and sanding off the runes from failed attempts.  We even had to request some appropriate wood from other ships for him to continue making boxes.  I think he hates me now.

    I did meet with Captain Ni Tien who was the overall commander of this little fleet.  I have but one thing to say about her, SHE IS A PRETTY LADY.  Everything she did was so graceful and refined.  I felt like a deformed swamp frog as I stuffed food in my face at her ship¡¯s dining table.  I presented her the red series and a jar of scar/beauty cream as gifts.  I also adjusted some of the runes on her vessel.  The mages who had originally inscribed them could have done a better job, especially with her ship¡¯s lookout table, I nearly rebuilt that thingamajig.

    We came into sight of Sweet Port, where I was hoping to be reunited with my glaive and my new pirogue.  Instead, as soon as we docked, some very stern faced Royal Guardsmen greeted me; I was almost carried to the royal blue carriage that was waiting for me.  Even before I could put my behind on a seat, the carriage was rolling briskly down the cobblestone streets, preceded and followed by a large escort of Royal Horsemen.  I think I¡¯m in trouble.

    It felt like I was on the way to prison and I was beginning to really regret the fact that I had left my war jacket, bracers, partisan, and flight harness behind on the brig.

    When we arrived at the palace; two big, Royal Guardswomen got on either side of me and escorted me in.  I guess I was moving too slowly for them because suddenly each of them reached their left and right hands out respectively, picked me up by my arm pits and carried me along with my feet just skimming the ground.  I let out an ¡°Eep.¡±  In response, both women gave me a stern eyed look, so I quickly shut my mouth.   Though I was certain that they were both former soldiers with the Fifth Regiment, they didn¡¯t seem very friendly at all.

    I was finally brought to a part of the palace that I had never seen before and it seemed much more comfortable than the official areas where Court and Governmental functions were typically done.  There stood two more Guardswomen on either side of a double set of ornate doors.  Upon seeing us approach, they swiftly opened them, and I swear that they smirked at me.

    I was brought into a large private sitting room filled with overstuffed furniture and even a large dining table.  Before me stood Princess Ellen and she looked furious.  My two escorts dropped me off in front of her, saluted, turned about and left the room.

    Ellen did as Nena had done weeks ago; she grasped my chin and turned it so she could be better look at my cheek and my still nonfunctioning right eye.  Then she took a hold of my left hand and inspected the fingers that were almost re-grown.  Still without saying a word she twisted me about and pushed me so that I fell down onto a large couch that had been on my right.

    Kneeling at my feet, she pulled out a dagger and cut the bindings on my boot.  As soon as that was done, she ripped the boot off, tossing it over her shoulder.  I heard something shatter.  I wish she would have tossed that dagger instead of my boot because she looked positively volcanic with rage.

    My damaged foot was given a hasty but complete inspection.  She then stood up once more and looked down upon me.

    ¡°JAMES DRAKE YOU ARE THE MOST MISERABLE STUPID SELFISH PERSON IN THIS WORLD!  You go off in a tiny rowboat to do battle with fleet of invisible warships stuffed full with evil wizards.  Surprisingly you survive an insane voyage of over five hundred leagues to get there, though for some idiotic reason you did decide to personally inspect the teeth of a giant shark while on the way.  On meeting Commodore Nelson¡¯s fleet, you succeeded in defeating those few enemy ships that still remained, miraculously surviving yet again.

    BUT WHEN THE SECOND ENEMY FLEET ARRIVED, FOR SOME REASON YOU DECIDED TO PROVE WHAT A BLITHERING IDIOT YOU ARE BY PERSONALLY BOARDING A NUMBER OF SAID ENEMY SHIPS BY YOURSELF.  DO YOU PERHAPS THINK YOU ARE A GREAT HERO FROM THE MYTHS, PERCHANCE A DEMIGOD?  I HAVE SEEN YOU CLOSE TO DEATH ON TOO MANY OCCASIONS.  AT TIMES, I STILL HAVE TERRIBLE NIGHTMARES WITH YOU DYING BEFORE MY EYES AND I WILL NOT HAVE IT ANY LONGER!

    THEN THE VESSEL YOU WERE ON WAS SWEPT AWAY BY THAT DAMN STORM THE WIZARDS CALLED UP.  BUT WERE YOU CONTENT TO WAIT BELOW DECKS AND LET THE PROFESSIONALS DO THEIR JOBS?  NO, YOU WERE NOT!  YOU BREWED TEA FOR THEM AND DECIDED TO BRING THAT AND COOKIES TO THOSE ON THE WEATHER DECK, YOU COLOSSAL IMBECILE!¡±

    I decided to speak up in my own defense; she did have some of her facts wrong.  ¡°It wasn¡¯t tea and cookies; it was broth and stale bread.¡±

    ¡°SHUT UP!  YOU WERE SWEPT OVERBOARD, YOU BLOODY FOOL AND I WAS TOLD THAT YOU HAD DROWNED AND WERE DEAD.¡±

    She started to cry.  ¡°James I don¡¯t have many friends, at least friends near my own station.  My brothers were horrid to me and my father used to ignore and dismiss me as a mere female.  As for my mother, I love her but she concentrated on my younger sister, who is a sweet person.  You don¡¯t care about my station in life; those breakfasts we¡¯ve had together over the years, are amongst the greatest stress relievers and joys that I can recall.

    I find out you are alive and what do you do.  You immediately start talking about going back into that horrid swamp of yours.  When I try to quite reasonably dissuade you, you threaten to cut off all communication with me if I don¡¯t shut up.  Do you have any idea how much that hurt me?  Having one of the few people that I count as a true friend telling me to shut up!  Then just as I had feared, you nearly got yourself killed there and don¡¯t try and tell me anything different.  If not for your own skill with magical medicines, you would be missing pieces of your body for the rest of your life!¡±  She plopped herself down beside me, on the couch and then she really started to cry.

    I took Ellen¡¯s right hand with my damaged left and clumsily began to pet it, like I¡¯ve seen some people do.  She turned abruptly, stuck her face in the crook of my neck and astonishingly her sobbing was actually able to increase in volume and intensity.

    One of the doors opened but it quickly shut, I couldn¡¯t see who had done it because Ellen¡¯s body was blocking my view.

    I patted her back and said stupid things.  ¡°There, there, everything will be alright.  I will heal just fine and I won¡¯t even have a scar.  Think of all the people your Navy just saved.  They did a wonderful job didn¡¯t they?  Blah, blah, blah¡­.¡±  Swamp Muck!  I was wasting all kinds of time here.  I could be working on my great experiment or stuffing my face with food.  It was nice to be hugged and all that but really, isn¡¯t this all just a little bit too much?  Which got me to wondering; has this ever happened to me before?  I recalled Margaret and Linda Adams each having hugged me, Nena too has given me a brief hold that might have been a hug but this was the first time that anyone has ever hugged me for any length of time.  My left shoulder was certainly getting wet though.   Now if Captain Ni Tien hugged me, I wouldn¡¯t have minded that one bit.

    After what seemed like a ridiculously long time, Ellen finally calmed down and there was a meal brought in for us; citrus salad, fried sweet squash, lobster with drawn butter, corn, fresh bread rolls and blueberry cobbler.   I was going to live!  Surely she wouldn¡¯t have me executed after feeding me like that or was that to be my last meal?

    Princess Ellen showed me to a room, where she urged me to take a brief nap.  There was going to be some kind of meeting that evening and my attendance was required.

    After a nap and a bath, I was brought into a large ornate conference room and I was seated at a very large oval table between Dean Marks and Princess Ellen.  My chair was quite comfortable; I wondered where I could get one.  Dean Marks began talking.

    ¡°James, I am so happy to see you safe.  Though I feel like you are a bit of a rat for leaving us behind and you had better watch out for your boat builder because she¡¯s really quite angry with you.

    Professor Sanchez, Black and I have been looking at some papers, describing the Wizard¡¯s invisibility shield and we¡¯ve almost got it figured out.  Perhaps you can help us with our work?¡±

    ¡°Mumble, mumble¡±

    Princess Ellen was listening.  ¡°James what did you say, and please speak clearly?¡±  She punctuated her words by taking a firm hold of my ear; I think she¡¯s still angry about my recent swamp excursion.  I better never tell her, that I did get eaten by a swamp dragon.

    ¡°I already got it figured out.   Once I understood the general idea, I saw how clumsily the wizards were doing it.  I¡¯ve already made the brig invisible.¡±

    Admiral Taylor shot out of his chair; I guess he was listening too.  ¡°You what, now you can make bigger ships invisible!¡±  He threw some papers in the air that had been sitting before him on the table.  ¡°I just got the Navy¡¯s future building plans all figured out and now I have to rethink them again.¡±  He sat back down and scowled at me.  ¡°How big a ship can you make invisible James?¡±

    At that point the King was announced, it seems that he had just walked in the door when Sam asked that question.  We all stood, and bid his Majesty welcome but we didn¡¯t resume our own seats until he had first gained his.  King Richard Rivers then spoke.  ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you back with us James but I too would like an answer to Admiral Taylor¡¯s question.¡±

    I had a lot of people staring at me; Dean Marks¡¯s expression was particularly confusing for me to interpret.  At least no one was yelling and Ellen had released my ear.  ¡°The wizards developed a shield that bends light.  It isn¡¯t very good because someone with decent wizard sight can easily see something hiding behind such a shield.  Their shield is about eighty percent spell casting and twenty percent rune work.  They use five runes on one of their schooners and I¡¯m amazed that those runes even work because they are so badly crafted.  To make the Iron-Balls invisible¡­..¡±

    There were bursts of laughter around the table and even the King guffawed.  ¡°What did you just say James?¡±

    I was forced to repeat the name and then tell the whole Iron-Balls story.

    King Richard, with laughter filling his voice, spoke.  ¡°Admiral Taylor, I want the Navy to purchase the Iron-Balls and I absolutely forbid you to change its name.  James, you need to collect that red and gold helmet at your earliest convenience and you are to repeat some of the words you just related to us while you¡¯re wearing it.  Iron-Balls¡­¡±  He started to snicker.  I looked around at the other people sitting at the table.  General Howard was almost as bad as the King.  Countess Green who had a delicate looking handkerchief covering her lower face had tear filled eyes, I think from suppressed laughter.  Dean Marks was giggling and even Ellen who already knew about the name had eyes dancing with amusement.  The King resumed speaking; ¡°please James, continue with telling us how you made the Iron-Balls,¡± snort, ¡°invisible?¡±

    I almost scowled at the King but then I remembered myself.  ¡°I made a more efficient rune which only needs to be invoked like a proper rune and not that cumbersome hodgepodge that the wizards made.  To make a small schooner invisible, takes eight of my runes: one on the bowsprit, one on each mast, one on the stern and two on each side of the vessel.  To make the captured brig invisible; required two additional runes on each side, so a total of twelve for a ship that size.  I haven¡¯t done a proper duration test with my new runes but I suspect that they will last for approximately one and a half hours on a full charge.  Which I feel isn¡¯t too bad, considering that it takes a minimum of three wizards to make and keep a schooner invisible and from what I¡¯ve read; they normally preferred to use five or more wizards for that task.¡±

    Admiral Taylor asked a question.  ¡°James, are our Naval Rune Wrights sufficient to keep your invisibility runes charged?¡±

    I was confused; ¡°the, who?¡±

    Dean Marks spoke.  ¡°The Mage Guild protested all of the new magic users being referred to as ¡®mages.¡¯  And actually the lesser magic users didn¡¯t like it either since it might make them vulnerable to the magical dueling codes and laws practiced in most countries.  Since lesser magic users can only activate and possibly charge already existing runes and wards, it was decided to come up with the name focusing on that ability alone.  Wright as you should know means worker, a Rune Wright is someone who purely works with runes and is incapable of doing any spell casting; thus they do not fall under or have to comply with the magical dueling laws.  Everyone is quite happy now with that clarification and the new job title.¡±

    I shrugged my shoulders, I didn¡¯t care and honestly I thought the new name sounded better than ¡°lesser mage.¡±  I answered the Admiral¡¯s question.  ¡°It all depends on the Rune Wright.  Some of them almost have the power of a mage, while others can barely activate a rune.  You will just have to individually test them and find out.  But the rune masking paints will have to be different from those used on kraken spears, kraken tubes and the normal ship¡¯s shield since the invisibility runes, if you plan on using them, will need frequent recharging.  Those old paints of mine prevent that, so we might want to rethink how they are used, though a change will make it easier for some enemy to copy our runes.  But for that matter, maybe you want to change the masking on the standard ship shield runes as well.¡±

    He nodded his head in understanding but his brow suddenly gained some furrows as he realized that had I brought him a new headache.  ¡°James, do you think you can make a frigate invisible?¡±

    ¡°No, I was barely able to do the Iron-Balls.¡±  More giggles ran around the table.

    He sighed, ¡°we¡¯ll have to have you test one of our brigs since they¡¯re slightly larger than the,¡± he paused dramatically before saying the word with relish, ¡°IRON-BALLS.¡±  The King and General Howard exploded with laughter and Countess Green barely got her handkerchief back up to cover her mouth.  Even the staid Minister of Justice, Baron Clarence Robinson, laughed this time along with the Minister of the Treasury, Baron Walter Cooper.

    What a bunch for children!  I thought to myself.  Ellen and Dean Marks were both grinning at me.  I should have stayed in the swamp.

    Baron Robinson then spoke, ¡°All levity aside, this Kingdom is facing a grave crisis.  We know now that at a very minimum, that tens of thousands of our people and probably their offspring as well, have been enslaved.

    Because of that cursed magical conditioning that they¡¯ve undergone, we don¡¯t even know the true names of those unfortunates that we¡¯ve freed so far or how many more of ours are enslaved back on Fata or on their other ships.  Work is being done to remove their mental blocks but by law no one within this Kingdom knows very much about that subject, so it will take considerable time if it can be done at all.

    Now we face a terrible moral decision.  How many enemy ships do we sink with our own countrymen imprisoned aboard them?¡±

    I spoke up because I¡¯d been worried about the very same thing.  ¡°I have some runes that I¡¯ve never revealed and some that I have just developed; runes, that will encase someone within magical armor and let them fly; runes which can turn a pole-arm, in the hands of a gifted and trained Rune Wright, into a weapon that can kill a shielded magic user.  Additionally, I have magical suppression potions and paralyzing poisons that can be used to coat small darts which can then be launched by miniature kraken tubes.  I have held back some of these things because of the magical dueling laws.  In a few months time, when I graduate from the University, other magic users will be able to legally challenge me to a duel and I will be almost forced to accept when that happens.  I was hoping my enchanted weapons and tools would grant me edge in those circumstances since I am still deplorable at spell work.

    But I¡¯m willing to reveal some of my private research to a select few mages, for this Kingdom¡¯s benefit, if those secrets are used to arm a force of Marine Rune Wrights who will be used to board enemy ships, as I have already done, and liberate those people who have been enslaved.  Small invisible ships propelled by movement runes, like my own coble, can get the Marines close and then they can board those enemy vessels by using a flight harness.¡±

    There was dead silence in the room and I looked up to see eight wide-eyed faces staring back at me.

    The discussion went long into the night.  The only mages that I would trust right, for the time being, were those employed by the Royal University.  They were already ill at ease and aggravated with the Mage Guild.  The Guild is fully as powerful, if not more so, than any Duchy.  The senior mages, who run things, all come from old established mage families.  The Guild is also a highly patriarchal association; women do not hold positions of power and are generally treated as inferior magic users despite their skills.  It¡¯s not quite as bad as it sounds but females are generally one or sometimes even two ranks beneath a male magic user of similar abilities.

    Within the noble houses and skipping a few steps, a person¡¯s loyalty goes from: commoner to Baron to Count to Duke and finally to the King.  For anything less than the King, what noble a plebian might look to, is dependent upon where they live.  The mages, of the Mage Guild, should legally be part of the same system but it is an accepted fact that they are not.  Their allegiance goes from mage to senior mage to the Guild to the King and the last one is a maybe.  Even those mages who are nobles have questionable loyalty.  Though to the best of my knowledge there is no mage who has a titled rank of greater than Count.

    The Mage Guild acts as a buyer and seller of magic and magic related items.  They set their own prices and if you don¡¯t like them, you may buy or sell somewhere else which is frequently an extremely difficult thing to do.  There are independent mages but even they must give the Guild a part of their profits in order to maintain their status as legal magic users.  The percentage that they give depends on their physical location, what they are selling or buying, and who they are selling to or buying from.

    Young talented mages from non-established mage families generally get quite frustrated with the Guild and the inferior treatment that they receive.  Females from even established families have been growing angry as of late, after seeing how normal women have generally advanced themselves within this Kingdom in recent years.  It is also my belief, from a few hints that Ellen has dropped, that the Crown is worried about the Guild.  While they don¡¯t feel the Guild is exactly traitorous, she and her father do think that the Guild does not keep the best interests of the Kingdom in mind as they should.  This is clearly evidenced in two ways, the exorbitant prices that they charge for such things as kraken spears for example and how they usually, only provide the services of inferior mages to the Navy and Army.   Though many of those people are only inferior because of a lack of education, since the majority of them come from normal, non-magical families; which means that their magical education lags behind those from established magical families.

    I have freely given too many of my inventions to the Guild and they have profited greatly from them, that ends today.

    I along with the mages from the University, are going to set up a little company.  Excluding my potions, we will not compete against the Guild, but sell our own unique products, at least to start.  Later on we might sell other things once we are better established.  Truly, what the Guild charges for rune inscribed items, is outrageous but any kind of conflict with them at this time would be ill advised.

    Before I left the room, for my borrowed bed in the Palace, I was pushed into accepting the Crown¡¯s proposal regarding Cone Island.  I had been thinking about it but I hadn¡¯t been quite ready to commit, until I did some more research into its economic feasibility.  The current labor and material shortages had me hesitant.  But being so desperate for my bed, I wearily nodded my head in agreement when the King and Treasury Minister brought the subject up.  They seemed quite happy with my response.

    I was dragging when I left the conference room.  Ellen was pushing and guiding me while speaking with Countess Green and Dean Marks, who all sounded disgustingly wide awake.  The ladies were discussing having tea and a snack in Ellen¡¯s private suite.  Ellen pushed me a little too hard which caused me to stumble but I caught myself before falling.  She gasped; I turned to her with one eyebrow raised and she started to apologize.  I held out my arms and said ¡°carry me.¡±

    I meant it as sort of a joke, so as to get her to let me go at my own foot dragging speed.  But I forgot something, I am on the small side and Ellen is well over a head taller than I am.  She also keeps herself in shape by partaking in intense physical workouts at least every other day.

    She got this funny expression on her face, swept me up in her arms and started taking long strides down the hallway with me along for the ride.

    All three ladies started to laugh and Countess Green made a definite off color joke about Lord Iron-Balls which not only caused them to let loose with great peals of laughter but the Royal Guardswomen who were accompanying us, joined in as well.  I being a man decided to perform a valiant act.  I closed my eye, rested my head against Ellen¡¯s bosom and went to sleep.  My last thought before doing so, was that I hoped that I drooled on her dress so as to teach her lesson.

    # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Carpenter¡¯s Brace:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brace_(tool)</a>

 Chapter 18: Fashion Accessories

    Map of Sweet Port:

    I suck at art and using map making programs.  So what I did was search the internet for famous harbors throughout the world.  It turns out that New York Harbor is pretty close to what I had in mind for Sweet Port and I found an excellent map at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5_Boroughs_New_York_City_Ma.png</a> which can be freely used so long as it is attributed to its author (Julius Schorzman) properly.  I have modified this map slightly, it is terribly incomplete and a little inaccurate as pertains to Sweet Port, but it should give you a general idea of where things are.  Please be aware that this is a work in progress.  For a scale of reference, Cone Island is slightly over one league long.

    The top of the map is North.

    If you see any flaws in this chapter, please leave a comment.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 18: Fashion Accessories

    I awoke late the next morning finding myself wearing only my thin underclothes.  The regeneration series, until a body fully heals, can really take a lot out of a person.  For the next two or three weeks, I would need much more sleep than normal.  The bedroom that I had been led to yesterday had an outer sitting room and I heard voices coming from that location, voices that I quickly recognized; my two sergeants and my two servants.

    Upon arising from my borrowed bed, I was fortunate to find that they had food and clean clothes ready for me, after eating, bathing and dressing we set off.  First thing I needed to do was to return to those two captured ships.  It was imperative, that I secure all of those rare potion ingredients that I brought back yesterday before someone else, recognizing their value, permanently borrowed them. Equally as important, I needed to make sure that the two crews were being treated properly.

    Sergeant Russell and Sergeant Sanders both seemed on edge for some reason and they must have been feeling a little more paranoid than usual, because they were both wearing full armor and lugging those big nine-tube kraken shooters that I had made for them and not the smaller four-tube version.  I was amazed that the Royal Guard had let such heavily armed men inside the Palace, let alone the private environs where I had been sleeping.

    ¡°Sergeant Russell, the last time I saw you, you had just reunited with your father and uncle.  How are things going for your family and is there anything that I can do, to help?¡±

    ¡°I hate to ask this Milord but do you think that you can give my father, mother and uncle some of your potions so that might all get back into good health.  My mother is ready to burst with joy with my father back but both of them could be in better health.  As for my uncle, his wife or former wife remarried a few years after he disappeared. She has children now with her new husband.  So my uncle needs whatever boost to his spirits that he can get, though he privately told me that he had hoped while he was enslaved that his wife would go on to find someone else but it¡¯s still a sad situation.¡±

    ¡°Certainly Roy, I had planned all along to give potions to all of those former slaves.  That¡¯s the primary reason why I stopped off in Drake¡¯s Swamp, so as to harvest the needed concoction ingredients.¡±

    It was only a short carriage ride to the docks and it¡¯s a good thing that we returned to the ships when we did.  I found both crews now on the brig and they were having a heated discussion with some Navy personnel, one of whom was Admiral Taylor.  They all looked relieved when I arrived on board.

    Emile, Nena, Vella and those two young servant girls came hurrying over to my side.  They all looked very upset and flustered.   Captain Roka and Captain Reyes were right behind them.  Admiral Taylor and his people followed at a much more sedate pace.

    Nena began talking as Vella clutched my hand.  ¡°James they want us to give them your ships and they¡¯re going to put us all in some kind of military prison until they find out who we were.¡±

    Her words had me confused.  ¡°Nena, these are not my ships.  I told everyone that before.  These ships belong to the people who were slaves aboard them, and are to be disposed of as you all see fit.  I know for a fact that the King wants to buy the Iron-Balls, because I heard him say so last night.  As for putting you all in a military prison, it will be over my dead body.  But I don¡¯t think they plan anything like that and it must be some kind of misunderstanding.¡±

    She had tears in her eyes.  ¡°Oh James, we know that you are an important young man.  Can¡¯t we all go with you?¡±

    Even Emile was giving me a helpless look and Vella now had two young assistants clutching at me, what were their names again?

    Admiral Taylor spoke.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry James this is my fault, one of my aides misunderstood and she confused the situation.  I arrived just a few minutes before you did and I still haven¡¯t straightened things out.¡±  He then proceeded to speak in a louder tone of voice.  ¡°PLEASE EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME.  There is nothing to worry about, you are not going to prison and we will buy these two ships from you.  Many of this Kingdom¡¯s soldiers are in the new territories or they have been released from service.  As a consequence there are many empty Army barracks buildings located near the palace.  For the time being we would like you to stay there but we will not force you to, you are free now and you can make up your own minds about where you will stay.  However, the former slaves from the other eight ships that were liberated are already residing in one of those buildings.  So you will not be alone. We have people who are working to undo what has been done to your minds but we don¡¯t know how long that will take since it¡¯s not something that we¡¯re familiar with, here in the Gulf Kingdom.¡±

    It took a while but finally everyone was calmed down.  The Navy people that Admiral Taylor left behind to see to the efficient transfer of the former crews and their belongings were much more polite now.  It was decided not to rush things and that they could take as long as a week to move to one of the empty Army dormitories.  Since both vessels were almost new and had been designed as kraken tube carrying warships, the former slaves were being offered three quarters of the cost of what it would take the Gulf Navy to purchase a similar ship from this Kingdom¡¯s shipyards.  But that still had to be determined however the brig was obviously worth much more than the schooner.

    The Admiral lent me some Marines and a large freight wagon to get my things back to the University. I thought that I had everything smoothed out with Nena and Emile but upon my arrival at school, I found that they and the three girls had managed to sneak aboard and hide themselves inside the large canvass covered wagon.

    It was late afternoon by that time, so it would be difficult to send them anywhere else that day.  Oh, what the heck, the old University Servant¡¯s wing, where my workshop was located, was still mostly empty and even though it was old, many of its rooms were still nicer than the brig¡¯s shipboard cabins.  I finally learned the names of the two other girls, Patria and Bari.

    Seeing as how both Emile and Nena were both rune wrights and since Emile was a carpenter, I decided to just admit defeat and hire them permanently.  As such I could house them in the University as my assistants without getting into any trouble.  As for the girls, I would worry about their official status later, for now they could stay with Emile and Nena.

    During my time at the University, other rooms in the old wing had been cleaned and refurbished.  My two original servants, who knew their way around the school, acquired beds for the five new additions, as for other furniture there was already plenty of serviceable stuff that had been kept stored within the old wing, it was just matter of shifting the items over to the clean rooms.  Emile and Nena shared one room, and the girls took another.  My servants would provide them with meals and there were two large functional washrooms located nearby their rooms.  It was by no means a palace for them but I¡¯ve lived in worse places until the last year or two.

    We all went to my private quarters for a large dinner.  I warned them about some areas of the University and how it wasn¡¯t wise to go around unescorted since some of the nobles, teachers, staff members, and the wealthy attending the school were morons who tended to look down and cause trouble for those they thought were beneath them.  Sadly they all understood; I made clear to my two servants and the Sergeants that they were to keep an eye out for my friends¡¯ well being until they all learned their way around here and in Sweet Port in general.

    -----------------

    Nena was quite pleased with herself.  Everything had worked out perfectly, she just knew those practice runes of invisibility that James had discarded would come in handy and it¡¯s a good thing that she had saved them.  It had allowed her and the others to slip inside the wagon and ride the entire way to the University without being detected.  Now she had her new family with her and she wasn¡¯t going to give them up for anything.

    -------------------

    The next day I decided that I had better go to all of my classes since I had missed so many of them.  I was really taking advantage of that fact that I had been guaranteed to graduate but what I had been doing was so flagrant that even I was getting embarrassed by it.  All of my teachers were especially hard on me which I completely understood, I mean how could they possibly maintain discipline with the rest of their students if they didn¡¯t hold me to same standards.  I was given a pile of work to make up and publicly scolded for my lack of attendance.

    It wasn¡¯t too bad except for spell casting and composition; I might be caught up in those two subjects in time to graduate.  As for the rest of my classes, I should be alright within a week or two.

    I was in my workshop and at my desk, writing a composition paper for class when all of my cruel oppressors walked in.  Dean Marks led the way.

    ¡°James, we¡¯re here to have our first company meeting.  The Crown is anxious for our products so there is time to waste.  Professor Tanner has agreed to be our accountant and Professor Lee is going to be our secretary.¡±

    I sat up with hope.  ¡°Does that mean that I can have her do all of the homework that she assigned me?¡±

    All my teachers frowned at me and Professor Lee immediately replied.  ¡°No, you have to do all of your homework and on your own too, not only that but you¡¯ve attended my class so infrequently that I will also grade any company correspondence that you might write.¡±

    I groaned.  I was chivied out of my chair by Dean Marks and led to a different room in the same wing.  Someone had turned it into some semblance of a poor man¡¯s conference room without my knowing.

    Mage Greta Marks began the meeting.  ¡°The first thing we need to do is to establish a place in which we can work.  While we can temporarily use this wing, at least until James graduates because of the urgent need for our products, we must find a new location both for appearances and for later work.  Sadly because of the shortages in Sweet Port that might be difficult to do. Since the Army has many vacant facilities, I¡¯ve made an inquiry with General Howard to see if he has something that we might rent or purchase, I expect to have an answer from him within a day or two.

    We also need to discuss what we will call ourselves, what we will make, pricing, wages, shares and who does what labor.¡±

    I am never going to get my homework done now.  I know that some of my fellow students have been calling me a fake from the very beginning and I¡¯ve certainly lived up to or rather down to, their expectations.

    I didn¡¯t contribute very much during the discussion.  I just told them what products I had to offer.  I was surprised when all of the other mages there also had their own things that we could make and market.  I shouldn¡¯t have been and I castigated myself once more for being overly arrogant.  In my opinion the four mages gathered here were among the best in the Kingdom despite how much they tried to hide it.  With my witch sight I had seen the powerful undercurrents deep within their own personal magical fields and I¡¯ve seen the magical auras of many of the posers at the Guild, including Philip Wright the High Mage.  Well I guess he wasn¡¯t exactly a poser but my four teachers here, were all at least two ranks his superior.

    Besides describing their own inventions, they all loudly insisted that I get three times as many shares in our business as they each received.   I wasn¡¯t even able to argue them down to twice as many.  Professors Tanner and Lee were each given a quarter of one share.

    A bathroom break was called for; with the meeting resuming in twenty minutes.  Deep in thought, I wandered next door to my workshop.  I started digging out, some of the potions that I had made after classes were done for the day.  Those four accomplished mages seemed to be giving me their very best and it was only fair that I do the same for them.

    When everyone resumed their seats, I began speaking.  ¡°Professor Lee and Professor Tanner, I mean no insult to you but I must relate a private magical matter to the Mages gathered here.  The information that I will give them pertains to their safety while doing magical work, it was something that I learned through personal experience and it concerns a matter that I would rather keep confidential.  Could you please grant us fifteen minutes or so of privacy, while I speak with them?¡±

    Both Professors looked curious but not insulted and they complied with my request.

    After they left, Professor Black intoned some words and sketched some symbols in the air while releasing a stream of magic.  ¡°I¡¯ve just sealed this room James, so you may speak freely.¡±

    ¡°You might already know this but when Princess Ellen was fighting the Eastern Empire, I was her only magic user and even when the Army mages showed up, I was still heavily involved with the war effort.  When I look back at all the work that I did during those years, I can scarcely believe it.  You have all mentioned in your classes, how important it is for mages not to overly strain themselves and how a careless magic user can seriously and sometimes permanently injure their own body and mind if they don¡¯t know their own limitations.¡±

    I snorted, ¡°I probably did that within three months of my first meeting with the Princess.  I had and still have a lot of anger towards the Witch that had enslaved me.  I readily and without realizing it for many years, transferred that anger to the Wizards of the Eastern Empire, even though I had no personal experience with them at the time.   Don¡¯t get me wrong they are a horrid and evil bunch but being young and dumb, I leaped to strike back at something similar to the Witch Lauren.

    As a result of my attitude I pushed myself to do too much and I hurt myself quite badly.  I was my own best customer when it came to health and fever potions; and I was frequently plagued by headaches and nosebleeds.  In essence because of my actions, I felt like crud for years and only this most recent summer did I feel healthy and completely pain free once more.  I know that you are all much more experienced than I am, but this Kingdom is now in another desperate situation where they need every tool that they can grasp a hold of.  They are going to want as many of our products as they can possibly get and what I have to say to you, is don¡¯t let them push you too far or too fast.   Loyalty can be a powerful thing and I know, from comments that you¡¯ve all made, that everyone of you are extremely loyal to this Kingdom.

    You must ask yourselves, if you work yourselves to death during the first few months, who will then assume the jobs that you can no longer do?  The Guild might do so, but only at a very steep price and I¡¯m already afraid of their power and greed.

    While I want those who are enslaved to be free and I want this Kingdom to win any conflict with the Kingdom of Fata.  I am not going to devote all of my time to producing potions and enchanting equipment to serve towards that purpose.  I have my own goals to work towards and my own magical research that I will not put on hold, just as I am sure you all do.¡±

    I pulled out sixteen little bottles from the box that I had brought back from my workshop, four sets with four bottles each.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t start feeling better on my own this summer; this concoction series here, is what finally did the trick.  I would like you to all take a set and please consume the contents of one bottle every ten days, you can see how their numbered in blue ink and that¡¯s the order you should take them in.¡±

    Bottles were passed around the table.  Dean Marks and Professor King opened theirs and sniffed the bottles.  Professor King¡¯s eyebrows went up.  ¡°What is it?  She asked.

    Swearing them to secrecy, I then told them about the blue and red series longevity potions.  Later on I would give Professors Tanner and Lee, the red series but they would be told that it was simply a powerful health potion and not a life extension concoction.  If they had significant others, I would also provide potions for them.

    --------------------

    His Supreme Majesty Ambroos Von Legion sat upon his ornate yet comfortable golden throne reading the report that Consul Count Fabian De Leest had brought him.

    Consul De Leest was the head of the Institute for Cooperation, sometimes referred to as ¡°Icy,¡± in informal situations.  The Institute was in charge of the police, the secret police, intelligence gathering and special actions, whether on the Island of Fata or abroad.

    After reading the report King Ambroos incinerated it with a touch of fire magic, dropping the still burning document into the hands of an attractive female slave who was chained to his throne.  The slave winced only slightly from the pain.  She knew better than to drop it and let the charred paper strike the valuable rugs surrounding the throne.

    The King snarled, ¡°Count De Leest, it is insufferable that I had to wait almost two days to learn that, that cursed deformed swamp rat of unknown parentage survived being swept overboard!  Tell me, when will we strike back at those decadent mongrels in the Gulf and you had better tell me that James Drake has been added to the list!¡±

    ¡°Your Supreme Majesty, as soon as we learned that Drake was alive, we of course put him as one of our primary targets.   The team that was supposed to go after either Countess Green or General Howard will be assigned the task of his execution.

    As for the problem with communications, Countess Green has swept up many of our agents during the past year, believing them to be of Imperial origin.  Also, as you already know our safe havens within the Gulf Kingdom and our powerful message caster relay stations have been destroyed under my orders so that Countess Green¡¯s Counter Intelligence Service wouldn¡¯t learn about our own involvement.  Now we are forced to rely on ships traveling nearby Sweet Port to relay the messages from our spies, which has become increasing hazardous because of the GKS Navy during the last two weeks.  Luckily we have some foreign flagged vessels that we can use but not as many as I would like and even those are at risk.

    As for the planned special action against the Gulf Kingdom, I have successfully suborned the three surviving Imperial spy cells within that country and along with six of our IC teams that should be enough to instruct those fools that it wasn¡¯t wise for them to anger you or your kingdom, your Supreme Majesty.   As we earlier agreed, the spy cell that we have within their Mage Guild is considered to be, too valuable to risk at this time.  We might lose all nine teams but even with a fifty percent success rate, these actions taken under your orders will strike terror into the hearts of those Gulf scum!  The confusion caused will give our military more time to prepare and give the Institute time to send in additional special action teams.¡±

    ¡°See that your words to me prove true, De Leest.  I will not brook failure!  As for our spies within the Gulf Mage Guild, do they have any progress to report?¡±

    ¡°The Guild does not keep secrets because of Gulf Kingdom Security but for their own economic benefit which makes them even more cautious.  Most of their advanced knowledge is controlled by the established mage families who reap the lion¡¯s share of any gold coin generated.  The senior mages and their families are greedy for coin and penurious when sharing their knowledge.  Thus our visiting ¡°mages¡± have had no success so far at learning the secrets for Gulf¡¯s new communication system, watch system or long range kraken tubes.  However they have learned a little about the new ship shield runes and the new kraken spears.  We already have our own research wizards working on developing our own variations of those two magical devices for our Navy¡¯s use and results look quite promising.  While we possess the formulas for Drake¡¯s healing and regeneration potions, we don¡¯t have sufficient quantities of the required ingredients to put them into general use.¡±

    -------------------------------------

    My third day back home and I was having breakfast with Ellen.

    ¡°James, I am depressed at the thought that I won¡¯t be able to use the new magical tools and weapons that you are developing.  Is there truly no way for me to use a flight harness, shield coat or enchanted spear?¡±

    ¡°Both an enchanted pole-arm and a shield coat requires you to be able to control the runes.  As for a shield coat, I might be able to make something that you can activate but it will have to exhaust all of its energy for it to deactivate which might be very inconvenient for you.  Just think if you need to go to the bathroom.  I suppose you can physically cover the shield runes, to bring down the magical barrier but weird things can happen when you do that, especially when you have a number of runes working in concert.  In fact, it might possibly be dangerous and you would need to simultaneously cover all of the shield buttons which is an impossible task.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!  I¡¯ll take whatever I can get, how about a set of pipes that will take down a shield?¡±

    ¡°Pipes¡± I asked, looking at her with a confused expression?

    ¡°I am referring to the weapons that your own sergeants and the Royal Guard are now carrying.  You know, those four-tube, crossbow-like kraken launchers that shoot tiny spears or arrows.¡±

    ¡°Well I suppose, if you had some enchanted arrowheads and if I boosted the speed a little they might penetrate a magic user¡¯s shield.  But enchanted arrowheads are expensive and really time consuming to make, especially since you can¡¯t reuse them.  And in your role as Princess, how could you carry one around without upsetting people?  A sword is acceptable for you to carry about but a kraken launcher would cause people to wonder.  And since when have people started calling them pipes?¡±

    ¡°I can get the arrowheads; we already have some in the Palace Armory.  As for how I carry it about, let me worry about that.  Oh, the pipes name is the most popular slang term for your invention, taken from a musical instrument called the Adrial pipes which are commonly used on that Great Isle.  But I¡¯ve also heard them called kraken pipes and Drake¡¯s pipes; at other times the word flute is substituted for the word pipe.  You must admit that ¡®multi-tube kraken arrow launcher¡¯ is a mouth full to say.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get working on a set of shield buttons for you, but you¡¯ll need to get your own tailor to make you a coat to put them on.¡±

    ¡°I want a witch sight visor too.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°I hate making that potion and it simply takes up so much time when compared to other things.   But okay, I¡¯ll make the concoction however you¡¯ll have to figure out a way to hold the witch sight visor before your eyes, which means getting your own glass blower too, to make the little window.¡±

    ¡°James, if you get me the magical components, I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±

    After breakfast Ellen left, promising to return in two days so she could pick up her magical desires.  I sighed, nothing like a little pressure; I would now have to come up with a personal shield array that would work for a normal person.  I guess I can always experiment on my two sergeants.  I wonder if I can make their shields¡¯ glow slightly and give them bunny ears.

    I attended my classes since I was so far behind, after which I went to my workshop to make witch sight potions, which were difficult, boring and very time consuming.   After spending almost five hours, making only three concoctions; I switched to playing teacher, as I showed Dean Marks, Professor Black and Professor Sanchez how to engrave the runes for a flight harness and a personal shield array.

    Besides a shield variation for normal people like Ellen, I would also need to come up with one for Rune Wrights since they don¡¯t have the same level of control that a mage possesses.

    While my students were practicing, I worked on a simple set of test shield buttons for the Princess.  It wasn¡¯t until late at night that I came up with something that I thought might work.  I had Sergeant Richard Sanders test them out while Sergeant Roy Russell pounded on him with a stick, to test the strength and durability of the shield.  I guess Rich lost the coin toss or something.  While I was dozing; in my chair, a sudden yelp from Sergeant Sanders woke me.  It seems his shield exhausted itself after about half an hour of furious pounding by Roy, who looked pretty tuckered out too.  Considering that I only put a partial charge into that set of buttons, I thought for the magical barrier to withstand a half an hour of blunt force blows was pretty good.

    Now that I have a successful design, I can stop worrying and make a prettier set of buttons for the Princess to pick up.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The following day, I again went to classes and then went to work afterwards.  I made shield button sets for Roy, Princess Ellen and the King.  After which I called it quits because there was no way I wanted to overstrain my body again.

    The next morning I was woken up by servants even earlier than normal, they informed me that the Princess had already arrived seeking her magical presents.

    I stumbled out into my sitting room wearing only my robe.  I figured since she had seen in my worse and woken up me up too, that she didn¡¯t deserve any better.  The Crown Princess completely ignored my appearance.  Ellen was wearing a beautiful lavender dress and a matching top hat of all things, and for some odd reason she was holding a similarly colored open umbrella over her head.  Was the roof leaking?

    ¡°What do you think James?  I talked with my personal tailor and he recommended this ensemble.  There are places on this type of dress where buttons can be easily attached, the parasol has a hollow tube for its center shaft which is the same diameter as a kraken pipe and as for my hat, which is the latest style by the way, my tailor is certain that he can attach some kind of hidden visor to the brim, which I can drop down at need.  Are you really certain that I can¡¯t use a flying harness?¡±

    I scratched my head, yawned and then spoke.  ¡°You look like a plum, I need hot tea and no, you can¡¯t manage a flight harness.¡±  Scratching my butt, I returned to my bedroom.

    An hour later she left with two sets of shield buttons and a bottle of witch sight potion.  She was rather dismayed with the appearance of the buttons that I had made for her but too bad, if she wants them to look more stylish, then she can bring her own buttons and maybe some gold or silver paint to use on them.  She in turn left me her umbrella and a great number of arrows with enchanted heads for me to add my own magical touches to.  I would be sure to steal a few for my own sergeants.

    ----------------

    That evening, Princess Ellen was dining with her parents and sister.

    ¡°Father, I had James make a set of shield buttons for you and me. They are similar to what he wears on his own jackets but they can be invoked by a non-magic user, the only problem is that we can¡¯t adjust the shield or turn it off; we have to wait until the magical charge dissipates.  The buttons James made for us generate a contoured shield a third of a step from our bodies except for our hands.  And we have to wear two enchanted rings on each of our hands that go with the shield button set.¡±

    ¡°Sounds interesting, let¡¯s see them Ell.¡±  A moment later she brought out the small box full of buttons and rings.  ¡°Daughter those have to be the most awful things that I¡¯ve ever seen in my life.  There is no way that I¡¯m going to wear them even if they would save my life, the entire Court would not only laugh at me behind my back; they would laugh at me to my face too.¡±

    ¡°I know Dad, they are ghastly.¡±  Her mother and sister chimed in with comments that magical accessories were horrid looking and yucky, respectively.  ¡°I¡¯ve got my tailor looking for some nice big wooden buttons and wooden rings that James can engrave, and we¡¯ll get him some proper decorative paints too, like royal blue, forest green, silver and gold.  But you really should keep your set handy just for emergencies.¡±

    ¡°Ellen, how about you keep my set handy for me, that way I¡¯ll always know where they are.¡±  The King said with a laugh.

    The Crown Princess frowned at her father but there was nothing more that she could do.  She tried to get her other family members interested in the magical items but they weren¡¯t interested in the hideous things either.

    ---------------------

    Victoria Ridge, former Constable and now Head Proctor at my school, turned out to have the makings of a rune wright, she along with Nena and Emile have become my test subjects for equipment that will be issued to the new Marine Rune Wrights, once they¡¯ve been selected.  The shield arrays that the three of them have been testing have four limited barrier modes.  Mode one: is perfectly form fitting, Mode two: radiates one-third step from their body, Mode three: radiates one step from their body and finally Mode four: forms a spherical shield when things get really desperate which has a radius of five steps.  Air vents are designed into the shield and they can be open or closed as the rune wright requires.  The shield array that I constructed for Ellen has vents which can¡¯t be closed.

    I still can¡¯t believe she doesn¡¯t like the buttons and rings that I made, she brought me some other ones that she wants me to enchant but it will take a few days for me to get to them.

    My rune wright test subjects were practicing with their flight harnesses, shield coats and some enchanted wooden staffs which are supposed to be used for glaive training exercises, there was no way that it was safe to let them use a real enchanted glaive, they could easily kill someone while using one of those and beside that we only had my glaive.  The company I was now a part of still needed to recruit a couple of good blacksmiths if we were going to make enchanted pole-arms but that was proving to be difficult because of the labor shortage.

    ----------------------

    Wizard Dylan Payne led his team of mules into the walled compound that contained the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s Admiralty Building.  His business there that morning was what he did every day, alongside the other members of his spy cell.

    He curled his lips thinking of the stupidity of the Gulf mongrels.  If he succeeded with this mission he would be elevated to the nobility as a Baronet and when the Gulf Kingdom was conquered, he would be granted a large estate and be elevated yet again but at that time it would be to at least the level of a Count.  He had made his own promises to his team which consisted of one junior wizard and six immunes, what the Gulfies were now calling rune wrights.  He snorted; thinking how the fools had only now discovered the usefulness of such people like the immunes.  Once he and his team successfully completed this mission there was a little sloop waiting off of Western Bear Island, all of the IC teams would rendezvous there for a voyage out to a merchant barque flying a false flag, which would then take them home.

    Dylan almost laughed when Marine guards at the gate inspected the garbage already loaded onto his wagons, didn¡¯t the fools realize that sometimes even garbage can be a weapon.  The piles of discarded notes and documents that he had brought out from this compound, week after week had been invaluable for his Kingdom¡¯s cause, but what he was bringing in today would be devastating for the Gulf Navy!

    An hour later he left the compound, it had all gone so smoothly that he and his team had a hard time hiding their grins and smothering their laughter.

    --------------------------

    Princess Ellen sighed before she got out of her carriage outside the Royal University.  James had been peeved, is the only word, when she had asked him to do the two new sets of shield buttons for her and her father.  She giggled a little remembering his affronted face, ¡°that man definitely needs a fashion advisor,¡± she thought to herself.  Sighing again, with the help of one of her guardswomen she attached a set of those ugly buttons to her dress.  It wouldn¡¯t do for her to arrive at his suite without her wearing them; she feared causing him to pout for the entire day if she did that.  It was not like she hadn¡¯t been using them, in fact earlier that morning, well before dawn, she had been in the training yard, practicing how to fight while magically shielded.  She was the first to admit that she needed to improve but she had been getting better during the last few days.   Ellen then gathered up her top hat and umbrella.  Those last two items were just what she had envisioned them being.  With a flick of a finger the glass lenses would deploy from her hat and before her eyes, granting her witch sight.  Crafters working for the Navy had determined it was better and more efficient to use one small potion filled lens for each eye rather than a single wide pane.  The vision afforded was better and it used less than half as much of the valuable magical concoction which was even more important.   As for her parasol, though it distressed her that it was only a single shot as compared to a proper set of pipes, it did allow her to carry extra arrows within the furled canopy fabric, so long as she didn¡¯t open it.

    She was assisted down from the carriage and walked into the Royal University.  She nodded politely to Head Proctor Ridge as she walked by.

    --------------------

    Victoria Ridge bowed slightly as Princess Ellen walked by; she always made it a point to be about when the Crown Princess visited.  The former Constable was not trying to suck up, but only doing what she thought of as her duty, and that was seeing to the safety of one of the University¡¯s sponsors.

    When the Princess walked past, Proctor Ridge couldn¡¯t help but snicker at seeing her also wearing the same kind of hideous accessories that also adorned her own clothing.  ¡°Oh well,¡± she thought to herself, ¡°you can¡¯t have everything.¡±  She idly twirled her enchanted practice staff.  It was only supposed to be for training purposes but it was so darn effective and well made that she hated to let it out of her grasp.

    ------------------

    The IC team led by Paul Lanteigne was targeting one the many shipyards used to construct warships for the Gulf Navy, specifically those yards constructing the GKS heavy frigates.  Those kinds of ship took well over a year to complete and the destruction of any one of them would be serious blow to the Gulf Kingdom.  His cell¡¯s goal was destroy three heavy frigates, and if they achieved that, Paul was assured of being named a Baronet.  His men infiltrated the shipyard while looking like ordinary workmen.  They delivered miscellaneous supplies here and there; and everywhere they went they left small innocuous little pieces of wood lying next things that were highly flammable like tar, pitch, oil, dry wood, rope and canvas.  Two hours later they left, well pleased that they had successfully visited five ships under construction, all of them less than four months from being completed.

    As they were leaving they heard an alarm bell being rung from the other side of the enormous shipyard.  They quickened their pace out the shipyard¡¯s northern gate.

    ------------------

    Imperial Wizard Zachary Miles¡¯ task this morning was that he along with his cell; were to destroy the Swan and Otter Bridges which crossed the Swan River.  The problem being that both bridges, as were almost all such in Sweet Port, were fine examples of stone arch construction, and as such they were difficult to damage even when using magic.

    Luckily they had days to prepare and both bridges were unguarded, it had been ridiculously easy for them to place their runes and special concoctions on, about, and under both bridges.

    Two other Imperial spy cells would be taking care of the Pelican, Black Stone and Red Stone bridges in the exact same fashion.

    -----------------

    King Richard Rivers loved sailing ships and frequently bemoaned the fact that he couldn¡¯t sail as often as he liked.  During the long war, he was never even able to leave the harbor because of the threat from the Imperial Navy.  Today, he was inspecting two new heavy frigates that were set to launch in less than ten days time.  He missed the giant carracks that the Navy used to have, but he agreed that they were too time consuming and costly to build, and what with the new magical inventions, they might also be impractical nowadays.

    ------------------

    The IC team led by the Wizard Alexander Johnson had been assigned the most difficult task, to assassinate King Rivers.  Wizard Olger Bomhof¡¯s IC cell was tasked with destroying as many frigates as they could.  Both teams were working together today because thanks to information gathered by Dylan Payne, they knew that the King would be inspecting some newly built ships this morning.  In point of fact that was why the Kingdom of Fata¡¯s attack had been put off for this day rather than occurring earlier, for today they had their best chance at killing Richard Rivers.  Both Wizards were eager to succeed, for if they did, they would be accorded the rank of un-landed Barons back on Fata and once the Gulf Kingdom was conquered they had both been assured that they would be elevated to at least the rank of Landgrave and receive lands in the newly acquired country in accordance with such noble rank.

    The two frigates almost ready to be launched were right next to one another in order to speed their construction, they were also nearby two other frigates which had nearly another month to go before they were completed.  The two teams of Fata agents had snuck aboard those two unfinished vessels which were empty now, as all the workmen were outside hoping to greet and see their King.  The IC assassins had brought with them kraken tubes and spears of their own manufacture and right now, they waited on the tube deck for sight of His Majesty, Richard Rivers.  The plan was for them to wait, until the King entered the designated ¡°kill zone¡± of either of the two teams.  Once he did, the appropriate team would launch all of their kraken spears at him, upon seeing the flames and hearing the resulting tumult, the second cell would then shoot their spears at the partially completed vessels in the immediate area.  Both teams had four tubes and eight spears, and all of the spears were equipped with fiery concoctions that were only slightly inferior to the one that James Drake had invented.

    ------------------

    Teams led by the wizards, Wolters and Lalonde were working together that day as they had expected to be.  The cell led by Alex Wolters, had Princess Ellen as their target and the one commanded by Pierre Lalonde was out to terminate James Drake.  While the other teams had been dressed in working clothes, these two teams wore attire appropriate for high class servants and were carrying bundles of still more expensive clothing and other fine things into the Royal University wing that housed the students.  Obviously the sixteen men were the retainers for some wealthy person or noble who was sending some gifts to a family member, thus they were not to be stopped or questioned as they seemed to know their way about the large building.

    Lalonde was more than a bit angry that his reward was going to be less than Wolter¡¯s, since his target was the commoner but he was still resolved to do his very best.

    ------------------

    Proctor Victoria Ridge attempted to keep herself nearby the dormitory wing just in case the Princess required her presence, sadly she was frequently drawn away at times because of other duties or she might have questioned why so many men had arrived while bearing gifts this morning.  Normally that type of thing happened after classes and not before.  But she was back inside that wing when she heard shouts and screams coming from upstairs, where the children of great wealth and nobility were housed.  Blanching white, she ran for the staircase while blowing her whistle.

    ------------------

    Ellen was so very pleased when James presented her with the new buttons.  They were painted gold and would go with most of her wardrobe; with some assistance she quickly changed those that were on her dress.  ¡°Perhaps,¡± she thought, ¡°I can get James to make me some different colored ones when he has more time.¡±  Just then, she heard yells coming from outside the luxurious suite.  She stood up in alarm watching the door, there were more yells and she invoked her buttons.  A split second later the door exploded into a mass of flames.

    --------------------------

    Royal Guards Sergeant Coahoma (Red Panther) Oklahombi was in charge of the Princess¡¯s security detail this morning.  As a newly recognized rune wright, the Princess had loaned her a set of witch sight goggles which were made in the new Navy fashion.  The Crown Princess had used the extra witch sight potion, left over from making her own special spectacles, to make the goggles.  The Sergeant liked the new eye-ware but she was anxious to receive a full set of the rune wright magical combat gear that she heard whispers of; presently she was only armed with her enchanted shield, a set of pipes and a sword.

    The Sergeant saw a large party of men coming down the hallway towards young Drake¡¯s suite.  They were all dressed like servants of the nobility but because of her goggles she could plainly see that magic curled about four of the men, identifying them as experienced magic users.  She yelled out an order to her squad, ¡°Defensive Positions!¡±  Then calling out to the approaching servants, ¡°You men; stop where you are and identify yourselves!¡±

    The four magic users started sketching hasty symbols before them, Sergeant Oklahombi saw the magic change shape and she launched all of her kraken arrows at the one with the most powerful magical aura, while screaming at her fellow Guardswomen, ¡°They¡¯re wizards, shoot your arrows!¡±  Red Panther was thankful that because of the Princess¡¯s actions, half of the arrows in her squads¡¯ pipes were equipped with enchanted heads.

    Three of her squad fired a second after her own shots and before the approaching magic users completed their spells.  Two of the women aimed their pipes at the same target as their Sergeant, half of their arrows hit, bringing down his shield and killing him.  The other Guardswomen just by happenstance and without knowing; targeted the second most powerful wizard amongst the attacking group.  It probably didn¡¯t help him any that he was leading the way.

    ------------------

    Alex Wolters cursed when he saw Lalonde go down and his own shield be depleted by over half its energy, muttering a vindictive he launched a fireball at the woman who had just shot him.  At the same time the other four women emptied their pipes at the approaching men.

    -------------------

    While the enchanted shields of the Royal Guard were not as versatile or had the resilience and longevity of Drake¡¯s shield buttons, on a very short term basis they were in fact tougher since the runes were actually engraved into and radiated outward from a physical steel shield.

    Once activated the shield runes projected a magical barrier two steps above, below and out to the sides from the center point of the steel shield.  The only problem being the Guardswomen had to make sure that their enchanted shields didn¡¯t interfere with one another.

    The single large fireball hit the shield, forcing the Royal Guardswoman back three steps and depleting the energy in her shield.

    Pipes were fired by the four slow to react, Guardswomen.  Two of them fired at the magic user, who had just launched the fireball, killing him instantly.  One shot at a minor wizard who possessed a very poor personal shield, instantly slaying the man with two lucky shots.  The other launched her arrows at an immune, who while he could not generate a magical barrier; he did possess an enchanted buckler.  He managed to deflect one shot but another seriously wounded him, causing him to fall.

    --------------------

    The attacking IC teams were dismayed to see three of their four wizards dead but they knew better than to break off and retreat.  The Kingdom of Fata would only make them slaves upon their return and chances were, unless they killed the Guardswomen in front of them, that they wouldn¡¯t be able to safely escape anyways.

    The men started to hurl potion bottles at the women and the door to Drake¡¯s quarters.  The flasks shattered, and the hallway and the door exploded into a mass of flames.

    ----------------

    Here I was eating my breakfast, when all this commotion starts outside my own suite.  It being early and me being still sleepy, my thoughts were kind of slow, so I wasted precious time deciding what to do.  My glaive was hanging on the wall nearby but should I get my shield jacket first which is back in my bedroom, or should I have another sip of tea?

    Just then my door exploded inwards and I decided that maybe diving behind my couch was a better idea.

    ---------------

    Ellen saw a man come hurtling through the wall of flames where the door had once been.  The man threw a bottle which hit a sofa to her left, splashing fire on and behind that piece of furniture.  She pointed her new parasol at the intruder, and pierced him through the heart with the arrow shot from it.   She grinned fiercely and strode over to James¡¯s enchanted pole-arm which was hanging on the wall.  The Crown Princess then walked out the door to greet her visitors.  While she couldn¡¯t activate the movement runes on the weapon, it didn¡¯t take any magical ability to use its enchanted blade.

    -------------------

    Proctor Ridge had just arrived on scene and she attacked the backs of the men with her ¡°practice¡± staff.  While she may not have been the best of swordswomen, she was an expert at wielding a truncheon or a staff.   Coupled with her new magical personal shield and the movement runes on the staff, she was a force to be reckoned with, especially when attacking someone¡¯s rear.

    -----------------

    Sergeants Russell and Sanders had been in the kitchen of the small suite, eating their own breakfasts along with James¡¯s two servants, Philip Turner and John Cooke.  They heard the yells outside and just made it to the outer sitting room in time to see the Princess deal with the single intruder.   But they didn¡¯t see James; anxiously they began to search the room.  They found him on the other side of the couch, a burned and twisted figured.  In desperation, they started pouring the emergency healing potions that they constantly carried with them, onto his body and into his open mouth that looked to be frozen mid-scream.  They took those actions without even knowing if he was still alive.

    ------------------

    Thanks to her shield, Ellen easily strode through the flames without getting burned, but she did feel some heat.  The Princess saw that her Guardswomen had been forced back by the flames and so she started to lay into her foes with James¡¯s glaive.  While she normally carried a sword for the sake of convenience and appearances, her preferred weapon was indeed a pole-arm almost exactly like what she was currently wielding.  There had been sixteen men in the assault force with twelve still alive when the Princess first appeared.   Thanks to her, Proctor Ridge and her Guardswomen acting as snipers, they finished off those men in seven minutes of furious combat with thankfully few injuries amongst the Royal Guardswomen.

    The hallway was burning well but a few short minutes later Dean Marks, and then Professors King and Black appeared.  The three powerful mages immediately began casting spells to extinguish the fires that the immunes had started.

    Ellen returned to the suite ready to boast to James about her easy victory over the assassins.   She saw his two servants extinguishing the flames in the smoke-filled apartment with buckets of water.  But what the Princess saw next caused her stomach to plummet.  James¡¯s two bodyguards were both desperately working on a burned twisted human figure lying behind the burned out remains of a piece of furniture.

    Ellen started to scream.

    --------------------

    It was almost an hour after dawn and Olger Bomhof watched as the Mongrel King approached the first frigate on his inspection tour.  The IC Wizard smiled to himself as he realized that he would be the lucky one to slay that pitiful excuse for a nobleman.  The King stopped at various times to talk and shake the hands of the ship workers who had all gathered to greet their King.

    When Richard Rivers was in the center of the ¡°kill zone,¡± Olger gave the order for his cell to launch four spears loaded with flaming death shot towards the Monarch at the center of the gathered throng of officials, guards and shipyard workers.

    It only took a fraction of a second for the spears to cross the slightly over one hundred long steps to their target.  King Richards didn¡¯t even have time to regret not wearing those ugly shield buttons; they wouldn¡¯t have done any good anyways, since he would not have had time to activate them.

    That section of the shipyard exploded into flames as both IC teams now expended their spears.  Olger¡¯s cell having fired first; was done first as well and they quickly fled from the other side of the ship that they had staged their attack from.  But Alexander Johnson¡¯s team was not nearly as lucky, they were caught by a shipyard full of enraged workers, Marines and two mages who were also employed by the shipyard.  It seems that Johnson¡¯s unit would not be returning to Fata.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    If you see any mistakes please leave a comment. I didn¡¯t spend as much time editing this chapter as I should have.

    The RNG rolled a really bad number for James; I wonder what is going to happen now?

 Chapter 19: Queen Ellen

    Hello, a request to those who read Swamp Boy.  As some of you might have noticed this story just got a review that absolutely tanked its ¡°Character Rating.¡±  I sent a private message off to the reviewer, I told him (At least I think it¡¯s a him?) I have no objection to his review, people take away different things from a story and different people have different perspectives.  We discussed some points in my story and I feel that I adequately explained what was going on my main character¡¯s personality and emotional state, he on other stuck by his review which is his right.

    But despite the fact that my story has received many glowing reviews (which I hope it still deserves) because his review was one of only three ¡°Advanced Reviews,¡± and since he only gave my story a HALF STAR ¡°Character Rating¡± (which I am not upset about and if you believe that I¡¯ve got some golden magic pickles to sell you) that rating was destroyed and many people look at the ¡°Character Rating¡± to decide if they are even going to read a story.  So if some of you who have already reviewed Swamp Boy could alter your reviews to the ¡°Advanced Format¡± or if a few of you who have not yet reviewed the story would do so, I would appreciate it.  To those of you who don¡¯t like my story, Please Don¡¯t Review it!  ;)  Thank you.

    I have received negative comments and a review regarding James¡¯s actions, development and maturity.  Below is a spoiler with my justifications for his behavior.  Remember he is still several months away from turning eighteen when this chapter ends.

    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''> Because this story is coming out piece meal, it is easy for people to forget things that happened earlier unless they reread previous chapters whenever a new chapter is released.  Besides this most recent critical review, I¡¯ve gotten other comments which make me believe that some readers have simply forgotten some things or not picked up on others.  Thus I am releasing this spoiler.

    The Life of James Drake

    At the age of three James was sold to the Swamp Witch Lauren.  His family was forced to sell him because they had all been poisoned and they needed the cure that the Witch offered them.  Lauren promised to treat their child kindly and raise him as her apprentice but instead she used him cruelly and sucked both blood and magic from him.

    When he was eight and a half years old he made his first trip back to Ester¡¯s Village.  At that time, because of his behavior and scrawny bruised appearance it was easy for the villagers to guess that he wasn¡¯t being well treated but the locals did not personally witness any physical abuse.  That fall he made his second trip to the village and the locals saw the same thing.  While this village is far from Sweet Port or any other major Gulf Kingdom city, the villagers (the Mayor or Mack Phelps) could have sent off a message that would have eventually brought an investigator from the Mage Guild.  Instead they did nothing because they were worried about losing their cheap source of magical potions.

    When James was nine and a half, the Witch disappeared while he was away.  He guessed and hopes that she was probably eaten by a crocodile.  Needing to trade for supplies, he made and delivered the needed spring fever potions to the village.  James did not tell the villagers about Lauren¡¯s disappearance, because he was afraid that someone else would seek to enslave him.  He makes a few comments to Mack Phelps (the general store owner, chapter one) about the cruel conditions under which he lives.  All he gets back are some empty words and nothing else.

    In chapter three, James has just turned eleven and he saves a young girl who was bitten by a poisonous spider.  Because of that action the villagers find out that the Witch and he; had possessed poison cures all along which they had never offered to sell.  James never made the offer because Lauren never did and he didn¡¯t know that the local inhabitants needed them.  When James attempts to leave the village he is surrounded by an angry crowd and knocked down by thrown stone. He might have been stoned to death except for the intervention of Lieutenant Alex Smith and Sergeant Donna Simms.

    In chapter four he is almost twelve and he meets, for the first time, Colonel Ellen Rivers in the early fall. She is a high ranking Army Officer and she treats him respectfully.  While she does get a lot of magical items from James at bargain prices when compared to the cost of the same things in Sweet Port, she pays exactly what the villagers have been paying all along.

    When he is twelve and a half, Ellen launches her attack on the Eastern Empire and for the next three years James helps the Fifth Regiment.  After which he is coerced into attending the Royal University, when he arrives at the school, he is almost sixteen.  At the end of chapter nineteen, James is around seventeen and a half.

    James¡¯s Motivations

    The Swamp Witch died when James was about nine.  He lived in fear (for the next 2.5 years) of her return or of someone else attempting to enslave him and thus ending his freedom.  That is why he remained distant from the people of Ester¡¯s Village.  Remember they never did anything to protect him from the Swamp Witch but even so, he never cheated them and he sold them excellent products for a better than fair price.

    Additionally, he was sold by his parents, who are considered to be locals by the inhabitants of Ester¡¯s village, another reason not to fully trust them.  As for James¡¯s parents motivation in selling him as an ¡°apprentice¡± he doesn¡¯t know the full story or of their desperation.

    (End of chapter 2) Two of Ellen¡¯s people, Lieutenant Alex Smith and Sergeant Donna Smith step in and prevent James from being quite possibly stoned to death by the inhabitant of Ester¡¯s village.   This causes James to be even more wary of the villagers but he now begins to see Alex, Donna, Ellen and even the Army in a slightly positive light, remember they are the first people to actively step and save him from any pain.  Alex¡¯s and Donna¡¯s actions make quite an impression on him.

    During the war while he wasn¡¯t paid promptly and in immediate combat situations he did not always receive all of the help that he deserved (something that happens to too many people in combat) he was always treated with respect by members of the Fifth Regiment and by Ellen.  The common soldiers with the Army also treated him well.  It was some of the mages and noble officers with other units that treated him disrespectfully.

    Excerpt from chapter 18, James is speaking.  ¡°I had and still have a lot of anger towards the Witch that had enslaved me.  I readily and without realizing it for many years, transferred that anger to the Wizards of the Eastern Empire, even though I had no personal experience with them at the time.   Don¡¯t get me wrong they are a horrid and evil bunch but being young and dumb, I leaped to strike back at something similar to the Witch Lauren.¡±

    As for him making magical items that is activity and profession that James clings to; it is his identity, with it he can see that others value him and without it, he worries that he¡¯s just an ex-slave swamp rat.  While James can handle being alone for months at a time, he is not by nature a hermit and he subconsciously yearns for human interaction and wants something to replace the family that sold him.  A family that he can¡¯t even remember and a family, who as far as he knows has never tried to reestablish contact with him even though he is now free and fairly successful.  While saying all of that he does enjoy making new things and figuring out puzzles.  He is very much like an absent minded professor.

    James is still maturing and growing wiser but he like the story Swamp Boy; are a work in progress.  I hope you continue to enjoy this story.

    There is a character list at the end of this chapter that too is a work in progress.

    If you spot any flaws in this chapter please leave a comment, thank you.

    I am now working on the next few chapters of The Defective Hermit, I hope to release one fairly soon.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    Chapter 19: Queen Ellen

    Dean Marks and Professor Julia King upon hearing Ellen¡¯s screams hurried into James¡¯s suite.

    They stepped around the weeping Princess to see the sight that had so affected her.  The arrival of both mages was a fortunate thing for James Drake.  The two women were magically powerful, and skilled with both potions and healing spells.  While healing spells were inferior and less effective when compared to magical concoctions, they could be adjusted on the fly, so to speak, and tailored to better suit the immediate needs of a patient, if the magic user casting the spell was both powerful enough and skilled enough, that is.

    If Drake had been so gravely injured anywhere else he probably would have died even with the potions that were being so wastefully used on his body but the attack had occurred in the Royal University where four of the most preeminent mages in the Gulf Kingdom lived and worked.

    Mage Julia King took charge, ordering the Sergeants to cease administering potions, since she had to get control of the magical mess that they had created.  She mentally conceded that the men had probably saved young Drake¡¯s life but now it was time for more precise work.

    Using her own highly trained witch sight she examined his body.  His right arm and both legs had been essentially destroyed but thankfully his torso and left arm had only minor burns, while his head was almost completely untouched.   She let her own magical field or aura seep into the young man¡¯s body before her.  He was in shock and she took steps to stave it off while keeping him unconscious.  She became aware of her friend Greta coming to her side and magically linking with her, so as to bolster what she was doing with James.

    Next Julia used her expertise and senses to determine what potions the desperate bodyguards had used on James; seeing the empty potion flasks on the floor simplified matters for her.  The Sergeants had apparently used two large five dose flasks of the Drake¡¯s Healing Concoction and the first three doses from his regeneration series.  She snorted, it was a waste of potions, especially the large number of healing doses used on the scorched body but it was nothing too outlandish and she could work with the resultant magical muddle.

    For the next hour, she labored on her patient.  Professors Black and Sanchez arrived as well and they too lent their power and skill to stabilize the severely injured young man.  It would take months for James to heal; their goal now was to bring him back from the brink of death so that the regeneration series would have a chance to repair all of the damage to his charred body.

    ------------------

    Head Proctor Ridge and her Assistant Proctors were securing the scene along with the Royal Guardswomen.  Most of the assassins were dead but two of those attacked by Victoria had been merely clubbed unconscious.  The former Constable was now desperate to hear what her new prisoners had to say.  This school was her responsibility and she was furious that some group had dared to launch an attack on the Crown Princess here.  Fearing that the unconscious men were wizards, she sent one of her assistants into the suite to acquire some of the magical suppression potion that she knew James¡¯s bodyguards always carried with them.

    Her assistant returned with the requested concoction, and also conveyed a warning about how a healing potion would remove the magical suppression effect.

    ----------------------

    Ellen was watching fretfully as the mages worked on her dear friend, when she got word of large columns of smoke rising from the direction of the Navy shipyards.

    Sighing, she once more assumed the controlled demeanor of a Crown Princess and General; she left two of her Royal Guard behind to help protect James, and then left for the Royal Palace with her six remaining Guardswomen.

    Upon arriving at the Palace she found the patrolling Palace Guards had been increased fourfold.  She was welcomed home by her noticeably upset mother and younger sister.   They all went to the Royal Heir¡¯s official office, to await news of what was going on.  Crown Princess Ellen¡¯s first action upon sitting down at her desk was to write out an order, instructing the Army to send soldiers to secure and protect the Royal University as well as the severely injured James Drake.

    The Colonel who received the written order, liking how the Royal University was located almost directly between the Pelican and Swan Bridges sent two full companies to protect the prestigious school and the famous young magical genius.

    The Royal Family became increasingly worried that nearly an hour after Ellen¡¯s own return that they still had no word about or from the King.  Fifteen minutes later word did arrive in the form of an soot and ash covered Navy Lieutenant who with halting speech informed them that the King along with others, had been killed and that a great number of Navy ships that were under construction had been completely destroyed.

    During the preceding hour, other nobles or their representatives had also gathered at the Palace for news about what was happening.

    The Queen, the Royal Heir and the Crown Ministers set aside their anguish and immediately began discussing the situation, if perhaps not quite as calmly as they should have been doing.  Young Princess Rose sat, holding hands with her mother and quietly cried throughout the short meeting.  A decision was reached, it was irregular but there was a sufficient number of the nobility present and what with the Kingdom apparently under attack it was decided that there was simply no time to lose, so.....

    Ten minutes later, Baron Clarence Robinson the Minister of Justice, appeared on a balcony that overlooked the large Palace Ballroom where the many of the Gulf Kingdom¡¯s Nobles were gathered together waiting for news.  He began to address the crowd.

    ¡°My Lords and Ladies, I come before you to give you sad news.  Today our King was slayed using foul means.  Teams of assassins who we suspect were either from the Eastern Empire or the Kingdom of Fata launched a cowardly attack on our Monarch while he was inspecting two warships soon to be launched.  Numerous other innocents were killed as well and a great number of our almost completed warships were destroyed.  The surviving Royal Family, the available Crown Ministers and the Royal Advisors upon hearing of this sneak attack, fear that there is no time to waste in securing the necessary Royal Authority to respond and make decisions for our Kingdom.

    Over a year ago and with wide acclaim, Princess Ellen Rivers was named the Royal Heir to the throne.  Today I ask you to confirm, accept and acknowledge her as your new Monarch.  I will grant you privacy and return in one hour¡¯s time, if any of you have an objection or seek a delay in naming Crown Princess Ellen as our Queen, please present it then.¡±

    An hour later, no objections were raised and Crown Princess Ellen walked out onto the very same balcony, with her were her mother and sister, both of whom were dressed in black mourning dresses.  As for Ellen, she was dressed in black as well but she was wearing her old General¡¯s Uniform which had been hastily dyed black by her tailor with the assistance of a mage who worked in the palace.  The late wife of King Rivers with shaking hands and tear filled eyes, crowned her oldest daughter to the cheers of those gathered below on the ballroom floor.

    ------------------

    Queen Ellen put aside her grief and worries over James¡¯s condition and set to the task of getting her Kingdom¡¯s Capital back in order.

    One of her first visitors was Countess Brenda Green, Minister of Intelligence.  ¡°Your Majesty, please accept my profound condolences on the loss of your father.  Also I would like to tender my resignation for my failure in keeping him and this Kingdom safe.¡±

    Queen Ellen looked at her sharply.  ¡°Nonsense Brenda, the Royal Intelligence Service is barely a year old.  We have no experience with these types of things and we are all, having to learn while on the job.  This was a costly lesson and I¡¯m sad to say that I expect that there will be more of them but we will never get any better, if those people who learn these harsh lessons quit and move onto other things.  I know that you¡¯ve had little time but have you learned anything yet?¡±

    ¡°Angry Marines and workmen caught one of the groups of assassins and all of them were killed save one, but he is sorely injured, when he is fit to talk he will be questioned.

    When we fought the Eastern Empire their attacks on Sweet Port were either more subtle or more overt.  Ships under construction were delayed, damaged or destroyed through means that almost seemed like bad luck at times.  Then there were the frequent raids by their Imperial Marines, where they destroyed much of the older sections of Sweet Port along with docks located there.   Now we have enemy forces that sneak into our Capital and then launch military style overt attacks.  A subtle attack can be defeated by an alert sentry while we have our own Navy and Army to defend against conventional military style assaults.

    But to face this new threat, I or someone else will need a different kind of armed force for internal security within this Kingdom, a force that can catch small powerful groups that have snuck in and defeat them with superior training, arms and magic.  James mentioned equipping Royal Marines so that they might board enemy ships and free our enslaved countrymen.  I think and I fear that is exactly the type of soldier or guard that we will need now to protect ourselves here.¡±

    Ellen sighed.  ¡°Brenda, get with General Howard, we need more rune wrights if that is the case but we¡¯ve barely even started our search for people who have that kind of ability.  Perhaps the General can send out recruiters to locate those with any sort of magical potential and return them here to Sweet Port for training.  Normally it takes a mage with witch sight to find such people but thanks to James¡¯s new visors and goggles, a trained person without magic should be able to make the same determination, though we will need a great many more of his witch sight concoctions to make such magical eye-ware which might be a long time in coming thanks to his severe injuries.¡±  The new Queen finished sadly with tears in her eyes.

    ¡°How is he Ellen?¡±  The Countess asked softly.

    ¡°He¡¯s lost both legs and his right arm.  Greta told me that if he makes it through the next twelve hours or so, that he should live but it will take months for him to heal and get his full strength back.

    Oh, I just remembered, I am certain that Head Proctor Ridge captured a few of our assailants and I think that they are in better shape than the one that you already have in custody.¡±

    Hearing that new bit of knowledge, Countess Green bid a hasty goodbye and immediately left for the University.  She briefly thought of that matchmaker that she had previously contacted regarding James Drake.  Perhaps in a few weeks time, if Dame Elizabeth has found the right girl, they might somehow arrange an introduction while the young mage is a captive of his own sick bed.

    --------------------------

    Late in the evening of that same terrible day; the Queen, the Crown Ministers and the Royal Advisors all gathered in the Palace to hear the final a report about what damage had been down to the Kingdom.

    Admiral Taylor began, ¡°Besides the loss of our Monarch and his Guards; sixty-two craftsmen and forty-seven Navy personnel were also killed.  There are at least another sixty-eight people that have been injured with varying degrees of severity.  Of the fourteen heavy frigates that were set to launch during the next six months, twelve of them have been completely destroyed.  The financial loss alone; is almost 200,000 gold pieces.

    I am not ignoring the dead but we must persevere and go forward if we hope to remain free.  It had been my plan to equip those frigates with a new type of small auxiliary boat based on Drake¡¯s own Coble which was used so effectively in two different sea battles.  Six or even four of such craft on each frigate; would make a formidable addition to our forces.   Thanks to young Drake, I know that our own brigs can be made invisible if we make some slight modifications to their bowsprits.  Two such vessels are even now being altered and James¡¯s shipwright has been contracted to build cobles for us.  Two of those small magical boats will be given to each brig, being swapped out for two other small craft that those vessels normally carry.

    The first keels for our new light frigates were laid only four days ago, hopefully they should be ready within seven months time and each of them will carry two to four cobles.

    As you might expect, we have a desperate need for rune wrights and enchanted items in order to defend this Kingdom and attack our enemies.  So, somehow we must find a way to acquire those resources.¡±

    He sat back down and Dean Marks rose to her feet.  ¡°It has been an awful and tiring day.  I am pleased to announce that it appears that Mister Drake will live.¡±  Subdued and brief cheers ran around the conference table, it was more for forms sake rather than anything else because everyone was simply too emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted for anything else.  ¡°The company that we University Mages have formed with James should be able to meet many of your magical needs except for two of his potions.  We currently are unable to make his stone making concoction as effortlessly and efficiently as he can and we are completely unable to make his witch sight potion.¡±  Mere seconds ago polite cheers were voiced, now there were several vocal expressions of dismay, Greta Marks continued.  ¡°Hopefully within two weeks James will be healthy enough where he can once again, with aid, be able to make that concoction.¡±  She resumed her seat.

    High Mage of the Mage Guild, Baron Philip Wright now stood, he was the only person who had not cheered Greta¡¯s first announcement.  The Baron¡¯s daughter was married to one of the Dean¡¯s estranged brothers.  Greta had severed all ties with her birth family and changed her last name to that of her maternal non-magical grandparents when her father, Mage Baron Wolfgang Faust, for the fifth time stole one of her magical accomplishments and credited it to one of her two less gifted brothers.

    It had taken Greta Marks years to establish herself as independent of the Guild and become Dean of the Royal University, despite the many roadblocks the Mage Guild and her birth family had thrown up in her way.  But now she was a huge thorn in the Guild¡¯s side.  What with the treachery of the former Mage Guild Representative, Greta was now frequently called on, instead of the new Guild Representative and even High Mage Wright, to advise the Throne.   Philip mentally sighed, he was fairly honest with himself and he had to concede that Dean Marks had a right to her anger and more worryingly for revenge too.  She was highly skilled in all the magical arts and over the years she had vanquished many foes in magical duels but now with that new company she would be even more formidable.  The High Mage began speaking.

    ¡°Dean Marks your student¡¯s invention of a witch sight potion is truly a wondrous thing.  Might you not urge him to share its formula with the Guild so that we can help with its production during these desperate times?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry High Mage, but James feels that he has given enough to the Guild for which he has received no share of the profits.  However, because of this new conflict, he might have shared that new concoction¡¯s recipe with the Guild but despite his best efforts he has been unable to teach either Julia King or myself in how to concoct that potion.  We have wasted hundreds of gold coins worth of precious ingredients, during our attempts to manufacture that concoction and we have failed every time.  We have not given up but I must say that if Professor King cannot learn to make that potion, then there is no other magic user within this country, besides James Drake, that can do it either.¡±

    Philip Wright barely suppressed a sigh.  Mage Julia King was another accomplished magic user that the Guild had angered and even though she wasn¡¯t acknowledged as such, she was indeed the foremost potion concoctor within the Gulf Kingdom, so great was her skill that the High Mage was astonished that she was unable to make Drake¡¯s witch sight potion.  ¡°What about his new runes of movement?¡±

    ¡°The new company has the ability to fill all of the orders for all of the items requiring the new runes.  We feel that the Guild has enough rune work what with all the kraken spears, kraken tubes, ship shields, lookout tables, and communication boards that our Kingdom¡¯s military forces need.¡±

    This time, the High Mage wasn¡¯t able to suppress his sigh, as he sat back down.

    Countess Green now stood.  ¡°Thanks to the actions of University Proctor Ridge and a ¡°spill your guts¡± potion from Professor Julia King we now know who some of our attackers were.  It seems that our country has been penetrated by groups, composed of both wizards and immunes.  An immune is apparently what the Kingdom of Fata calls a rune wright.  These groups or teams work for the Institute of Cooperation.  That ministry or department controls the Police and Secret Police within the Kingdom of Fata.  The Institute is also in charge of intelligence gathering and special actions, meaning sabotage and assassination, both inside and outside of that Kingdom.  The immunes that I and Proctor Ridge questioned; knew that all the IC teams that launched those attacks today would be withdrawing afterwards but they are almost certain that there are still other IC teams within the Gulf Kingdom.  Both men were fairly low level and not told everything but they did overhear enough to convince me of that fact.

    I also learned something else; some of the IC teams work for or even own garbage hauling concerns which remove trash from governmental buildings and from the offices of the powerful within this Kingdom. To put it bluntly they search through our waste looking for discarded documents and even hastily written notes that might provide them with information that they can use either strategically or tactically against us.  I recommend that from now on, that all paperwork in any office, no matter how innocuous, be incinerated on site.¡±

    Exclamations of consternation and outrage now swept the table.

    Just then there was a knock at the Conference Room door.  This being a secured meeting and since Countess Green was already on her feet, she answered it.  After a quick whispered conversation, Admiral Taylor was called over to speak with the visitor.

    He listened for a moment and then shouted a single invective that a nobleman and officer shouldn¡¯t know.  He turned to the others there.  ¡°I have just been informed that several hundred Navy personnel, mostly those who work or regularly visit the Admiralty Building have fallen ill over the past few hours.   The Healers that are tending to them say that they have been poisoned and that there is nothing that we can do.  If you will forgive me, I must leave and see if there is anything that I can personally do, to comfort those poor souls.¡±

    Dean Marks rose to her feet.  ¡°Let me go with you, perhaps I can help and someone should send for Professor King, she might be tired now, but she is one of this Kingdom¡¯s foremost potion experts and healers.¡±

    After those two left, Ellen called for Chief Constable Osyka George to be sent for.  More poisonings might have already happened or will happen and steps must be taken to limit any loss of life.

    --------------------

    Potions had been painted onto the undersides of the five major bridges within Sweet Port.  Runes had been engraved as well and small wooden potion casks had been hidden next to those solidly constructed stone bridges.  Those tiny barrels had been painted with a concoction that was slowly dissolving the wood and releasing their contents.

    There was always moisture near a bridge, so no one would take it amiss if they saw the undersides of those bridges coated with water.  But this night things were a little different.  The water was seeking out every crack in the bridges, where the liquid would then suddenly freeze forcing the cracks to become just a little bit wider.  Then the water would just as abruptly thaw and penetrate still deeper into the now larger cracks, where it would freeze yet again.  This occurred on average about five times per hour, on bridges that because of Sweet Port¡¯s mild climate might only see freezing temperatures once every two or three years.

    The majestic Pelican Bridge was one of the greatest engineering achievements of the Gulf Kingdom.  It was over three times as wide and over twice as long as any other bridge within the city, and it rose over forty feet above the water level of the Haven River even during the spring thaw, when run off from the Great Western Sky Mountains made the river swell.

    The most skilled Imperial spy and sabotage cell had been assigned that glorious edifice and they had spent two weeks working on that one bridge whereas the other two cells had only taken one week performing their destructive preparations on the four bridges that they had been assigned to obliterate.

    ------------------------

    Mages Marks and King worked tirelessly at finding a cure for the poison that was literally eating away at the bodies of those people who had ingested it.  They and the other people skilled in magical healing lost patient after patient despite giving them healing and even regeneration potions.  The poison had a necrotic effect and absolutely refused to be purged from the bodies of those affected.

    Julia and Greta were busy in James¡¯s workshop and they did have some success with one of his poison antidotes, while not able to affect a complete cure it did seem to slow down the poison and delay death.  Working with that as a basis and the rare ingredients that James had recently brought back, the two women performed a miracle and just before dawn they invented a way to eradicate that terrible poison from a human body. But it would also take healing potions and the regeneration series to return those terribly ill people to full health.  Sadly, too many of them were so far gone that because of organ failure they didn¡¯t have enough time for those magical restoratives to work.

    It was at about the same time that the Constables realized that the stone bridges throughout the City were falling apart.  The destructive process had started eight hours ago, so when it was finally discovered that something was wrong, it was long past the point of no return.  Not only did the collapse of those bridges eliminate the ability to cross four rivers without the aid of a boat but it also caused those associated rivers to be blocked, so small craft and barges could not now travel up and down them.

    -------------------

    Late that afternoon, after that terrible night and morning of poison death, another meeting was held in that same Royal Conference Room that hosted yesterday¡¯s meeting.

    Just as yesterday, Admiral Taylor began the meeting; his eyes were sunken from lack of sleep.  ¡°To my profound regret I must inform this Council that last night and this morning, the Navy lost 122 officers and 127 sailors of various ranks.  Without the skill, dedication and knowledge of Mage Greta Marks and Mage Julia King that number would have been over twice as large.  Many of our people will take a month or more to heal and will need almost constant nursing during that time.  Those two mages along with others that they recruited, have performed and are performing, prodigious work making the antidotes, the healing concoctions and the first dose of the regeneration series that were and are necessary for this life saving miracle.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Both these gifted ladies are either too busy, or perhaps they¡¯ve rightfully collapsed from exhaustion, to attend this meeting.¡±

    Countess Green rose to her feet.  ¡°We¡¯ve only started to investigate this poisoning but preliminary results seem to indicate that ¡°IC¡± trash haulers poisoned the food or water within the Navy cafeteria that is located in a wing of the Admiralty Building.  As you might expect, those workmen did not show up for this morning¡¯s refuse pickup.

    As everyone must know by now, there are five fewer bridges within this city.  I would like to point out how the attacks yesterday morning and perhaps the poisoning as well, all seem to be extremely blatant assaults on us but how the demolishment of our bridges, in comparison, seems to be an almost casual thing, which reminds me of how our old Imperial foes used to operate.  So much so, that while we know that yesterday¡¯s actions were performed by Fata¡¯s IC teams, I suspect that it was Imperial Agents that destroyed our bridges.  If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that all five of our major bridges, collapsed at nearly the same time we might have possibly labeled this odd event as natural occurrence, just like all of those other misfortunate things that happened to this Kingdom during our long war with the Eastern Empire.  So there is a possibility that our Kingdom will soon be at war with the Eastern Empire once again.  I have little evidence at this time but so much has caught me by surprise that I decided to give voice to my worries so that all here might be ready if the Empire does break the recent treaty that they signed with us.¡±

    -----------------

    I woke up and I really hurt.  Emile was sitting by my bed, except it wasn¡¯t my bed it was someplace even more ornate though it didn¡¯t look like the Royal Palace.  He nearly jumped out of his skin when he caught me staring at him.

    ¡°James, how are you doing lad?  You gave us all a terrible fright, but Mage Julia says you¡¯ll heal with time.  Countess Donna Smith has been by daily to check on you, and even the new Queen has come by when she¡¯s had time to, though she¡¯s awfully busy now what with her father¡¯s death.¡±

    ¡°Water,¡± I croaked.

    ¡°Of course my boy, I¡¯m sorry, I should have known.¡±  Emile looked quite distressed for not having guessed my need.  He gently lifted me up and helped me slowly sip from a cup.  He took his time and he didn¡¯t let me drink too much.  He set the cup back down and then shifted some pillows to prop my back up.

    ¡°Nena has been worried sick about you.  We¡¯ve been taking shifts seeing to your needs, those three girls of ours have been helping out as well but don¡¯t you worry, Nena and I have been taking care of all the nasty bits.  Everyone will be happy to see you finally awake.  Them mage friends of yours, kept you sleeping for the first two days because they were afraid of the pain that you might experience, if you woke too soon.  But you¡¯ve been asleep for over three and half days, so we were beginning to worry.

    The Dean herself compounded a new burn ointment out of your scar cream and we¡¯ve been putting that on your body.  Those two servants of yours will be happy to bring you a meal once we get a little more moisture into you.  Nena hates to admit it but they¡¯re both better cooks than she is, although she¡¯s not too bad herself and no one would ever throw her off a ship after sampling her food.¡±

    I looked at the stump where my arm had once been and sighed; then using my left hand I flipped off the blanket covering my lower body and let out a bigger sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry James, you lost your legs and right arm but your own potion will soon have you set to rights, just like it gave me back my teeth.¡±  He gave me a big grin, showing off his new chompers.

    Emile gave me some more water; I sipped it and then I took control of the cup with my left hand.  ¡°You said that Ellen is now Queen?¡±

    ¡°Yep, the same day you were attacked, so was the King.  Not only was he assassinated but some saboteurs from Fata poisoned a whole bunch of Navy folk, destroyed fourteen new frigates and demolished five bridges, including the Great Pelican Bridge.

    Because of all that, the Minister of Justice and the Nobles all got together and crowned Ellen as Queen as soon as they could.  They all knew that it¡¯s not a good idea to leave a ship without a captain during a storm and it looks like we¡¯ve got a heck of a blow coming our way.¡±

    ---------------

    King Ambroos Von Legion read the report that Consul De Leest had sent him.  The Monarch had to admit that he was both impressed and pleased with the destruction wrought on the five Sweet Port bridges by the Imperial spy cells.  All five bridges had been completely obliterated without a stone left standing, even the enormous Pelican Bridge, while the technique and the magic used by the Imperial Agents hadn¡¯t been very dramatic the results certainly had been.

    As for De Leest¡¯s IC teams, Ambroos was just a tad disappointed.  He had been hoping for a slightly higher mission success rate with more of the teams escaping, such results would have put greater fear into the Gulf Kingdom.  He mentally tallied up the score in his mind; twelve heavy frigates had been destroyed where he would have considered six a success, so that was definitely a win.  King Rivers had been eliminated but his daughter was still alive, which left Ambroos feeling somewhat dissatisfied.  On the other hand, she was a mere female even though she was credited with defeating the Eastern Empire, the King of Fata was convinced that it was only her stroke of luck in finding James Drake, a gifted magic user, and enlisting him to her cause that granted her victory over the Empire.  The King was by nature and his upbringing, dismissive of non-magical people and he was more than a bit angry at the failure of the two IC teams to assassinate Drake and the Crown Princess.  He consoled himself with the fact that at least that particular inventive mongrel mage would be healing for many months and thus causing him no more headaches for a time.  Though he was bothered by how Mages Marks and King were able to develop an antidote for the poison that Payne¡¯s team had used.  That particular toxin was a product of years of research and was intended to be an unstoppable terror weapon.  It was also expensive and dangerous to make.

    --------------------

    I couldn¡¯t get rid of Emile, Nena or the girls.  There was always at least one of them in my presence, offering to get me something to eat, fluffing my pillows, tucking me in or helping me to wipe my ass.  They were driving me nuts!  Nena would softly sing to me and stroke my head when she thought I was sleeping.  The girls who never seemed to be apart, would always talk about how they were really good girls despite the things they had been forced to do.  Emile would call me a good lad and seemed intent on telling me his life¡¯s story, in a foolish attempt to impart some wisdom into my poor beleaguered brain.  Sergeants Sanders and Russell seemed to be highly amused by all of it.

    My old suite had been badly damaged and I had been moved to the Dean¡¯s Apartment in the Royal University.  When Greta took over the job she didn¡¯t want to move since she was perfectly comfortable in her old suite which was only slightly smaller and less luxurious compared to what I was ensconced in now.

    Emile was looking much better nowadays after the red longevity potions and the regeneration series.  He could now stand up straight, he had all of his teeth, his skin looked wrinkle free and he had only a hint of gray in his hair.  Nena who had both the blue and the regeneration series looked even better.

    Four days after I awoke, my business partners came walking into my bedroom, Dean Marks began speaking.

    ¡°James, we know that we should give you at least another week to recover before bothering you but the Kingdom desperately needs your aid.  The five bridges that were destroyed have caused untold difficulties with travel here in the city and the common people are terrified, of the possibility, of enemy wizard assassins lurking behind every corner.

    Because of that fear and other factors, there is a desperate need for your witch sight potion.  Julia and I have already recruited certain members of our advanced potion classes for our new company.  And we were wondering, if we assigned a few of them to you as your assistants, do you think that you could make some potions for us whenever you feel physically up to the task, of course we want you to take frequent rest breaks whenever you grow weary.  We certainly don¡¯t want you straining yourself.¡±

    I was so bored and my new family was driving me so crazy that I leaped at the opportunity.  ¡°I would be happy to help Dean Marks.  Is it only the witch sight potion that you need?¡±

    ¡°No, we would also like your stone making concoctions as well. The city desperately needs replacements for the Pelican and Otter Bridges.  Additionally, there is another matter that Professors Black, Sanchez and I would like your aid with.  We were wondering about your movement runes, how they can propel things quite efficiently and powerfully through various mediums like air and water.  Would it be possible to adapt them and place them on leather fire hoses so that water or perhaps even sand might magically flow through those hoses?  If it is feasible, it would greatly aid with the bridge rebuilding projects that Professor Tanner is in charge of.¡±

    I closed my eyes, thought about her query for a moment and then spoke.  ¡°The runes would have to be on the inside of the hoses and they should be customized for whatever they are moving but it should be possible.  While moving water, perhaps only one section in a very long hose, might need runes but if moving sand, I suspect that the entire hose would need to be enchanted.¡±

    We talked some more, and when we ended our conversation, I wanted to start back to work immediately but they say me yawn.  I was told firmly that I should resume resting and that things wouldn¡¯t be ready for me until midmorning, tomorrow.  How does one resume getting some rest?  That almost sounds like a contradictory statement to me.

    The next day I was brought to my workshop in a palanquin chair, where I met my two new assistants.  Li Mei Tsao and Valentina Colombo, both girls were taking the advanced potion class and from what I saw of their interactions with one another, they seemed to be friends.

    It seems that Professor King had them well trained.  My first day with them, we were only able to make one witch sight potion, before I had to take a nap.  Upon waking up, they helped me with getting caught up on my homework.  The next day we made two witch sight concoctions with me taking a nap between each one.  It seems that both girls have parents that own and operate successful restaurants within Sweet Port; amazingly I¡¯ve been to neither eatery.  Valentina brought me in a sample of food which she reheated as a snack for me.  It was made of layers of meat, cheese, and noodles, and it was covered with tomato sauce.  It was delicious.

    Emile¡¯s and Nena¡¯s adopted daughters at first didn¡¯t seem to like my new assistants but at the end of the day things seemed to be better.  Once again the two girls aided me with my homework and even helped the trio with basic reading.

    The third day, Li Mei brought in some food.  It seemed to be her family¡¯s restaurant¡¯s signature dish.  It was small pieces of fried boneless chicken covered with a spicy, sweet, orange sauce and served over a bed of rice.  It was beyond delicious!

    ------------------

    Baronetess Elizabeth Gomez read the report forwarded to her from Countess Green about James Drake¡¯s current behavior and daily routine.  She was pleased with how things seemed to be going.  With the aid of Countess Green, Elizabeth had carefully investigated all of those females deemed suitable to be his laboratory assistants.  After careful consideration she found Valentina and Li Mei to be the most suitable for the job.  Both girls were born of common non-magical parents.  The two young ladies were also intelligent, gifted magically and were excellent cooks.  Elizabeth had always ascribed to the theory that the fastest way to a man¡¯s heart was through his stomach and thanks to Count Alexander Smith she knew that James Drake had voracious appetite for well cooked meals.  The two young females and their families had no idea about Elizabeth¡¯s plans which made its chance of long term success even better.  Of course Julia and Greta had some information but even they thought that James needed some friends, so neither mage had disagreed when Countess Green requested that they assign Li Mei and Valentina to James.

    -----------------

    It was over three weeks since her father¡¯s murder.  Queen Ellen was attending the launching ceremony for one of the two heavy frigates that had survived that terrible day.  The workmen had labored hard to get the ship ready, in another week her sister ship would be completed.

    Drawing her sword she touched the bow of the ship and said.  ¡°I NAME THEE GULF¡¯S REVENGE!¡±  Next week, her younger sister would launch the GKS Vengeance.

    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

    A partial character list, if you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.

    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''> Swamp Witch Lauren, dies when James is nine.

    James ¡°Iron Balls¡± Drake, Current Age: 17

    **Personal Servants:

    Phillip Turner

    John Cooke

    **Assistants:

    Marine Sergeant Roy Russell, formerly with the Fifth

    Former Slaves who are related to Roy

    Felix, Theo Russell, RW, father of Sergeant Roy Russell

    Oscar, Hunter Russell, RW, younger brother of Theo, wife remarried, an angry man.

    Army Sergeant Richard Sanders, formerly with the Fifth

    Li Mei Tsao, student mage Royal University, 17

    Parents own successful restaurant in Sweet Port, made friends with Valentina at the Royal University because of similar background.

    Valentina Colombo, student mage Royal University, 17

    Parents own successful restaurant in Sweet Port, made friends with Li Mei at the Royal University because of similar background.

    Emile, former Fata slave

    Nena, former Fata Slave

    Miscellaneous:

    Vella, 16

    Bari, 15

    Patria, 14

    **Ester¡¯s Village Characters:

    Mack Phelps General Store

    Diane Phelps daughter

    Jacob Hansen

    Bethany Hansen

    Gloria Hansen, daughter, poisoned by spider and saved by James

    Marcus Daniels Blacksmith

    Innkeeper Rebecca Marshall

    Mayor Michelle Star

    Boat Builder Michelle Powell, her brother is the local lumberman.

    Son, Simon

    The Adam¡¯s Family

    Benjamin Adams Father

    Margaret Adams Mother

    Frank Adams seventeen

    Linda Adams fourteen

    Hope Adams eight

    Karl Adams four

    They sold James for medicine which he had also needed, they also received a few coins.  The Witch or their neighbor might have poisoned their well or they might have been working together.  James does not know who they are at this time.

    **Royal Family

    King Richard Rivers, deceased chapter 18.

    Queen Consort Grace Rivers

    Princess Rose Rivers: 18 years old.

    Prince Edward: 32 years old, in forced retirement and confined to a small estate.

    Crown Princess Ellen: 28 years old

    Prince Matthew 21, deceased.

    **King Richard Rivers (dead 18), Ministers and Close Advisors

    Crown Princess Ellen Rivers crowned Queen in chapter 19.

    Paul Howard, General of the Army, Duke

    Samuel Taylor Admiral of the Navy, Count

    Philip Wright High Mage of the Mage Guild, Baron

    Walter Cooper Minister of the Treasury, Baron

    Clarence Robinson Minister of Justice, Baron, daughter Lucille

    Countess Brenda Green, Ministry of Intelligence, Royal Intelligence Service

    Dean Greta Marks of the Royal University

    **Sweet Port

    Shipwright: Sofia Overgaard

    Nicklas Overgaard, husband, lost 19 years ago, presumed deceased

    Daniel Overgaard, was 11 lost 19 years ago, presumed deceased

    Hannah Overgaard, was 8 lost 19 years ago, presumed deceased

    Naja Overgaard, age 24

    Gill Overgaard, age 21

    Chief Constable Osyka (Eagle) George, female

    **Royal University

    Old List:

    Dean Reynolds, dismissed

    Proctor Micah Powers, dismissed,

    Professor Greta Marks, now Dean Greta Marks

    New List:

    Dean Greta Marks teaches potions but she is expert in all form of magic.

    Professor Mage Julia King specializes in botanist and potions.

    Professor Justin Brown, Biology

    Professor Mage Sara Sanchez specializes in spell casting and runes.

    Professor Mage Quentin Black specializes in spell Casting and runes.

    Professor Montgomery Tanner, Mathematics and Engineering

    Professor Heather Lee, Composition

    Head Proctor Victoria Ridge, Former Constable, Rune Wright

    **Personal Friends:

    Lieutenant Alexander Smith, Now Captain (retired) he is a count.  His cousin David (blonde hair) tried to hurt/kill James.

    Sergeant Donna Simms, Now Lieutenant (retired) she married Alex and they both received promotions and medical discharges.

    Shirley Gonzalez: student and family friend of Donna Simms.  One year younger than James.

    **Fifth Regiment:

    Colonel Ellen Rivers, now Queen?

    Captain Nancy Carter, now a major

    Major Annette Williams, now Governor General of captured territories.

    Major Frank Timmons

    **Matchmaker Dame or Lady Elizabeth Gomez, Baronetess

    **Gulf Kingdom Navy

    Ship: Gulf¡¯s Pride, Heavy Frigate

    Commodore Barbara Nelson

    Commander Rachel Bell

    Ship: Gulf¡¯s Pride

    Ship: City of Sweet Port (Sweetie), Heavy Frigate

    Ship: The Gulf Protector, Heavy Frigate

    Captain Ni Tien (female), very pretty and graceful

    Ship: Nemesis, Brig

    Captain William Wong, father was Captain of the first Gulf¡¯s Pride.

    Ship: Challenger, Brigantine

    Ship: Sprint, Brigantine

    Captain Rong Simms (male)

    Ship: Gulf¡¯s Revenge, Heavy Frigate

    Ship: The Vengeance, Heavy Frigate

    **Royal Guard

    Sergeant Coahoma (Red Panther) Oklahombi, formerly with the Fifth

    **Sixth Liberated Schooner:

    Reyes, acting Captain

    Emile, blind in one eye, missing teeth and old, now with James, chapter 18

    Jarvis

    Margo

    Delta angry and has magic

    Vella, young girl 16, now with Emile and Nena

    **Liberated Brig: Staghound/Iron Balls

    Roka, Captain

    Nena, oldest female slave on board, with Emile and James

    Minnie

    Patria 14, former Captain¡¯s slave

    Bari 15, former Captain¡¯s slave

    Franco, first officer

    Rudolf

    Personal Enemies:

    Lord Bartholomew Thomas, Mage Guild representative with the King, deceased.  His younger brother is Derrick Thomas who tried to injure/kill James.

    **The Kingdom of Fata

    The King of Fata Ambroos Von Legion, age 48

    Wives 3:

    Madeleine, age 46

    Elise, age 44

    Olivia, age 43

    Concubines 12:

    Children:

    Four boys

    Braam, age 28

    Aart, age 25

    Aldert, age 18

    Diede, age 16

    Two girls

    Elke, age 24

    Aleid, age 17

    Known Bastard children:

    6 boys

    6 girls

    Departments within the Kingdom of Fata

    Office of Taxation: Compulsor Landgrave Orville Cormier

    Department for Revenue Assessment and Tax Collection: Legate Baron

    Department for the Education of Supervised Peoples, Legate Baron

    War Office: Imperator Landgrave Andre Talon

    Department of the Navy: Navarch Duke Andrew Hyde

    Marines: General Count

    Department of the Army: Marshal Baron

    Institute for Cooperation: Police, Secret Police, Intelligence Gathering and Special Actions, Consul Count Fabian De Leest.

    Police/Secret Police: Marshal Baron Valiant Clavet

    Intelligence Gathering and Special Actions: Legate Viscount Arnou Rouleau

    IC Team Leaders within the Gulf Kingdom during chapter 18.

    Wizard Dylan Payne, Target Admiralty Building, success/escaped

    Wizard Alexander Johnson, Target King and Shipyard, success/unknown

    Wizard Paul Lanteigne, Target Shipyard, success/escaped

    Wizard Pierre Lalonde, Target James Drake, failed/deceased

    Wizard Olger Bomhof, Target Shipyard and King, success/escaped

    Wizard Alex Wolters, Target the Princess, failed/deceased

    Landgrave Griffin Thorne, commanded first invisible schooner fleet.

    Viscountess Dalphyne Gamble, commanded second invisible schooner

    Eastern Empire Spy Cells, chapter 18

    Wizard Zachary Miles, Targets Otter and Swan Bridges

    Wizard Spencer Dobson, Target Pelican Bridge

    Wizard Robert O''Neill, Target Red Stone and Black Stone Bridges