November 26, 2016
Celestial Citadel
?Archmage! Archmage!? The shrill shouts woke me from a deep sleep. I groaned, rolling over in bed. The goblin who woke me lowered his voice some, but not enough to keep it from my ears. ?Can we still call him the Archmage??
?He still has the title until tomorrow,? another, slightly deeper goblin voice answered.
?Archmage! Archmage!? The shouts resumed, and I tried to drown them out by covering my head with a nearby pillow. This effort was not successful. ?There is someone here to see you! She is very pretty and she is wearing dress clothes!?
?All right, all right,? I grumbled, throwing on some gray sweatpants and a maroon t-shirt. I fumbled with the drawstrings as I trudged across the sand floors from my bedroom to the foyer. A goblin handed me a coffee mug with the words ?World?s Best Archmage? wrapped around the center. I took a sip as I arrived in the entryway, pausing when I saw who my guest was.
?Mr. Raptis.? The elvish woman waiting in the entryway spoke my name with a raised eyebrow. She wore a greyish-black A-line skirt, a white blouse, velvet black pumps, and had a light brown leather messenger bag draped over her shoulder. Her brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and the only sign of make-up on her face was a smidge of purple eye shadow to bring out her bright green eyes.
?Miss Laoroth. Did you not get the memo about the Archmage challenge?? I tried to put a teasing tone into my words, but my curiosity took much of the playfulness away from them, and she wrinkled her nose.
?I am sorry, Mr. Raptis, but I pay no attention to the duels. Other than?I knew you were the Keeper of Water when you first hired me??
?And now I am the Archmage. Well, was. I was challenged for the title last night and lost. I actually have a very busy weekend ahead of me cleaning out my things and searching for a new place to stay, so unless this is urgent news, I am not sure why you have come all the way out to the Isle.?
Her nose wrinkled again. ?I would not be out here, this early in the morning- ?she paused to give my outfit a deliberate once-over, before continuing ?- if it were not urgent. We found your brother.?
She caught me mid-coffee sip, and I had to turn around so that I spit the liquid over my shoulder and not all over her clothes. An unfortunate goblin received an unexpected shower, and ran off screaming in shock. ?Sorry!? I called out to his back. I turned back to Miss Laoroth, coughing. ?Did you just say that you found my brother??
?Well-? She cut herself off to put the bag down on a nearby table, unzipping it and pulling out several sheets of paper. ?Here?s what we know. A little over a month ago, someone matching the description you gave us, with the name you gave us, showed up on a CCTV camera on the planet Z5456, commonly known as Hades. Per your orders, our source monitored him without contacting him, and confirmed that, as of two weeks ago, he was still on the planet. He appears to have rented a warehouse near the space port, and is living there as well.?
?Wait?did you say the last word you had on him was two weeks old??
?Yes. Mr. Raptis?do you know how far away Hades is from RhyDin?? I shook my head, and she continued. ?Hades is located on the Outer Rim of this galaxy. Unless you?re willing to spend a fortune for high-FTL communication ? which you didn?t say you were ? it takes about two weeks for our messages to get out there. Hell, you?ll be lucky if it you can get there in two weeks without experimental spacecraft. And you aren?t going to find any cruise ships or passenger vessels willing to go that far out of the way for a backwater planet with little tourism and trade.?
?Merda.? I gripped the cup tighter, watching my knuckles whiten, and then relaxed. ?Well, you have done precisely what I have asked you to do, and now I know why it took you so long to track him down. So he is at the edges of the galaxy??
?That?s what it appears like. The only other information we could find relates to him leaving RhyDin, but goes back to last December. We were unable to find any other evidence of his travels between then and now. Should we keep looking??
?Yeah, yeah,? I responded with a distracted wave. ?I am not sure what good it will do, but I suppose it would not hurt to at least have that information. Will there be a way to send me the information??
?What do you mean??
?I mean, I am going to Hades. Will there be a way to send me the information on a cellular phone or some other communication device I take with me??
?I?ll, uh, look into that and get back to you. You said you were moving?? I nodded. ?When will you be leaving? Where will you be staying until then??
?As soon as I can get everything settled here. I will probably rent a room at the Red Dragon Inn until then.?
?Good, good. Well, I will see you when I?ve got a better idea of what we can do for you when you travel out there. Good luck. Oh, and Mr. Raptis??
?Yes??
?Be careful. Hades is just as lawless as RhyDin is, and the planet has no ley lines or whatever it is that makes magic work here. Your Archmage powers won?t work there.?
I opened my mouth to correct her, then let it snap shut. Instead, I gave her shoulder a friendly pat. ?Thank you, Valadhiel.?
?Bailey.? She dipped her head in an acknowledging nod, before stepping out the door. I turned back around, and shouted for a goblin.
?What is it, Archmage? Wait, can I call you that??
?Yeah, yeah. You can call me whatever you want, as long as you get me a bottle of whiskey.?
?Right away, Archmage!?
?I will be in the study.? I trudged slowly through the front rooms of the citadel, heading for the small, book-lined room near the back of the tower. I flopped into the chair behind the desk, staring at the musty scrolls I had laid out on the wooden surface but never found the time to read. With a sigh, I shoved them off, set my mug down, and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Celestial Citadel
?Archmage! Archmage!? The shrill shouts woke me from a deep sleep. I groaned, rolling over in bed. The goblin who woke me lowered his voice some, but not enough to keep it from my ears. ?Can we still call him the Archmage??
?He still has the title until tomorrow,? another, slightly deeper goblin voice answered.
?Archmage! Archmage!? The shouts resumed, and I tried to drown them out by covering my head with a nearby pillow. This effort was not successful. ?There is someone here to see you! She is very pretty and she is wearing dress clothes!?
?All right, all right,? I grumbled, throwing on some gray sweatpants and a maroon t-shirt. I fumbled with the drawstrings as I trudged across the sand floors from my bedroom to the foyer. A goblin handed me a coffee mug with the words ?World?s Best Archmage? wrapped around the center. I took a sip as I arrived in the entryway, pausing when I saw who my guest was.
?Mr. Raptis.? The elvish woman waiting in the entryway spoke my name with a raised eyebrow. She wore a greyish-black A-line skirt, a white blouse, velvet black pumps, and had a light brown leather messenger bag draped over her shoulder. Her brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and the only sign of make-up on her face was a smidge of purple eye shadow to bring out her bright green eyes.
?Miss Laoroth. Did you not get the memo about the Archmage challenge?? I tried to put a teasing tone into my words, but my curiosity took much of the playfulness away from them, and she wrinkled her nose.
?I am sorry, Mr. Raptis, but I pay no attention to the duels. Other than?I knew you were the Keeper of Water when you first hired me??
?And now I am the Archmage. Well, was. I was challenged for the title last night and lost. I actually have a very busy weekend ahead of me cleaning out my things and searching for a new place to stay, so unless this is urgent news, I am not sure why you have come all the way out to the Isle.?
Her nose wrinkled again. ?I would not be out here, this early in the morning- ?she paused to give my outfit a deliberate once-over, before continuing ?- if it were not urgent. We found your brother.?
She caught me mid-coffee sip, and I had to turn around so that I spit the liquid over my shoulder and not all over her clothes. An unfortunate goblin received an unexpected shower, and ran off screaming in shock. ?Sorry!? I called out to his back. I turned back to Miss Laoroth, coughing. ?Did you just say that you found my brother??
?Well-? She cut herself off to put the bag down on a nearby table, unzipping it and pulling out several sheets of paper. ?Here?s what we know. A little over a month ago, someone matching the description you gave us, with the name you gave us, showed up on a CCTV camera on the planet Z5456, commonly known as Hades. Per your orders, our source monitored him without contacting him, and confirmed that, as of two weeks ago, he was still on the planet. He appears to have rented a warehouse near the space port, and is living there as well.?
?Wait?did you say the last word you had on him was two weeks old??
?Yes. Mr. Raptis?do you know how far away Hades is from RhyDin?? I shook my head, and she continued. ?Hades is located on the Outer Rim of this galaxy. Unless you?re willing to spend a fortune for high-FTL communication ? which you didn?t say you were ? it takes about two weeks for our messages to get out there. Hell, you?ll be lucky if it you can get there in two weeks without experimental spacecraft. And you aren?t going to find any cruise ships or passenger vessels willing to go that far out of the way for a backwater planet with little tourism and trade.?
?Merda.? I gripped the cup tighter, watching my knuckles whiten, and then relaxed. ?Well, you have done precisely what I have asked you to do, and now I know why it took you so long to track him down. So he is at the edges of the galaxy??
?That?s what it appears like. The only other information we could find relates to him leaving RhyDin, but goes back to last December. We were unable to find any other evidence of his travels between then and now. Should we keep looking??
?Yeah, yeah,? I responded with a distracted wave. ?I am not sure what good it will do, but I suppose it would not hurt to at least have that information. Will there be a way to send me the information??
?What do you mean??
?I mean, I am going to Hades. Will there be a way to send me the information on a cellular phone or some other communication device I take with me??
?I?ll, uh, look into that and get back to you. You said you were moving?? I nodded. ?When will you be leaving? Where will you be staying until then??
?As soon as I can get everything settled here. I will probably rent a room at the Red Dragon Inn until then.?
?Good, good. Well, I will see you when I?ve got a better idea of what we can do for you when you travel out there. Good luck. Oh, and Mr. Raptis??
?Yes??
?Be careful. Hades is just as lawless as RhyDin is, and the planet has no ley lines or whatever it is that makes magic work here. Your Archmage powers won?t work there.?
I opened my mouth to correct her, then let it snap shut. Instead, I gave her shoulder a friendly pat. ?Thank you, Valadhiel.?
?Bailey.? She dipped her head in an acknowledging nod, before stepping out the door. I turned back around, and shouted for a goblin.
?What is it, Archmage? Wait, can I call you that??
?Yeah, yeah. You can call me whatever you want, as long as you get me a bottle of whiskey.?
?Right away, Archmage!?
?I will be in the study.? I trudged slowly through the front rooms of the citadel, heading for the small, book-lined room near the back of the tower. I flopped into the chair behind the desk, staring at the musty scrolls I had laid out on the wooden surface but never found the time to read. With a sigh, I shoved them off, set my mug down, and pinched the bridge of my nose.