TBC: Chapter Forty-Three

Malik's gaze sharpened as he reappeared at the southern edge of Mordán's palace near a set of large bushes. He quickly scanned the area to make sure it was clear. Silver-white light flashed through his eyes, and in an instant, he shrunk slightly in height. His chrome eyes transformed to a light blue as his flesh darkened and his white hair reduced to a short and spiked style. The wrinkles and markings disappeared from his skin, leaving him with the appearance of an adolescent boy.

He pulled a small, silver flask from the inside of his robe and took a swig of the whiskey inside, then splashed some on his shirt. He put the flask back in the long, black coat his robe had transformed into. After giving the area a quick scan, he strolled casually beside the palace wall and rounded the corner to the front of the palace.

An Androsan guard called out. "Hey—you there! What are you doing out here?"

Malik blinked lazily as he looked at the guard. He faked a stumble forward. "I—I was lookin' for the kitchen entrance," he said with a drunkard's slur.

The guard advanced and grabbed Malik by the collar of his shirt. His face twisted in disgust. "You smell like a tavern. Do you know where you are, son?"

Malik glared at the guard. "Yeh." He yanked his shirt back from the guard's grasp. "I'm Mordán's cousin, Sendál. My mother is in charge of the crew that handles the palace, so you better open the gates for me or you'll—" Malik lifted his finger and stumbled backward.

Another guard nearby laughed. "Get him out of here," he called out. "It's not a good night to be outdoors if the light warriors show."

"Light warriors?" Malik slurred. He hiccupped. "What are they comin' for?"

The guard studied Malik in silence for several moments. "Your mother's name, boy?"

"Raslia Filane," Malik said, repeating the name the Order spies had told him. His expression turned to one of fright. "But, please don't wake her. She'll kill me for sneaking out of the palace."

The guard stared at Malik with a skeptical gaze.

"Go on and let him in, Dresíl," the other guard said. "The Vaznaun will arrive any minute to surround the palace. We can go home when they get here."

"Vaznaun?" Malik asked. "Why?"

"Enough questions," Dresíl replied, ignoring Malik. "Follow me, boy." The guard led Malik through the front gates and east across the grounds to the kitchen entrance. He took a small, silver stone block from his uniform and slid it into a rectangular slot next to the door. The keyhole lit up with white light. The door clicked open and slid sideways into the wall.

"Don't be out so late next time," he said.

"Thank you, guard, sir," Malik said quietly. He went through the door, and the guard turned the key behind him to close the door.

"That went better than expected," Malik mumbled to himself. "Now—the dungeons."

He hurried through the hallways of the large palace undetected, making his way along the lower floors until he reached a set of large red doors—the entrance to Mordán's council room. Malik scanned the hallway before touching the door entrance. His eyes lit up briefly, and the doors slowly opened out wide. He moved swiftly past the long, rectangular council table and up to the large bookshelf that spread the length of the room's back wall. He held his hand close to the books and muttered a detection spell as he slowly walked, stepping around a large, potted green and purple plant as he neared the edge of the shelf.

Malik glanced at the front doors. "No time to worry about him," he mumbled as he kept searching.

The large doors opened, and a voice called out from the entrance. "Decided to read rather than sleep, I take it?"

Malik glanced briefly at Dresíl. "Something like that," he replied with a casual wave.

"Got to thinking," Dresíl said as he approached Malik slowly. "Raslia doesn't have a son. She only has a daughter."

"I'm adopted," Malik replied casually as he continued his search.

"Who are you really?" Dresíl demanded as he drew a long, electrical rod from a loop at his hip and continued toward Malik. A spark of electricity snapped around the end of the rod.

"Just a visitor needing to borrow a book." Malik smiled. "Ah! Here's the one." He pulled a large book from its place. The potted plant slid a couple of inches to the side, revealing a small hole in the floor.

Dresíl failed to notice the motion of the plant. He sneered at Malik. "Back up is already on the way, spy."

A dozen more guards entered the room as Dresíl finished. Malik's eyes came to rest on one dark-skinned guard in particular.

"Anything to say for yourself now, son?" Dresíl said.

Malik smiled. A flicker of silver-white light shone in his gaze. The doors behind the guards slammed and locked. "Only that I'm a little too old to be called son."

Dresíl's expression changed to shock as Malik transformed into his original appearance. "There…that's better." He took a deep breath. "Holding a disguise and attempting to suppress power at the same time takes up a lot of energy." He stretched. "Master Jabari, if you will join me in doing the honors."

A spark of blue-white light burst from the eyes of the shorter guard in the group as Jabari transformed into his original appearance and drew his blue-glowing gladaé. The surrounding guards jumped back in surprise as their gaze alternated from Malik to Jabari.

In a flash, Jabari maneuvered the hilt of his gladaé, and the two guards closest to him dropped to floor, unconscious. Malik disappeared in a burst of starlight and reappeared behind the guards that were now advancing on Jabari. Before the guards could turn, Malik placed a hand on the shoulder of each guard. Light shot from his fingers, and the guards dropped to the ground.

Jabari's eyes lit up the room as he leapt into the air and kicked straight out to either side of him. As the guards flew back and hit the ground hard, Jabari made a sweeping motion with his gladaé. The glowing light from his sword extended beyond its tip and lightly grazed each forehead of the four guards before him. Each dropped to the ground—the shock from the gladaé's vibration rendering their bodies immobile.

Malik dusted his hands together as the last of the remaining warriors went down. "It was a good time for them to take a nap. Don't you agree, Master?" Glittering silver fog floated over the guards as he extended one hand and muttered a spell to erase the memory of the event.

Jabari flashed Malik a grim smile. "I don't believe our comrades on the outside will be so lucky as to spare the lives of the Vaznaun as we have the soldiers here."

"I don't think so either. It is not in the nature of Vaznaun to avoid opportunities to kill," Malik answered. "Mersán and the others are about to reach the edge of the palace grounds now. I cannot release the full use of my power until they enter the grounds or Akila will detect it inside of the castle. I will know when she appears before the warriors through Mersán's vision. It should not be long before she senses him. For now, we remain out of sight in the dungeon tunnels and then get to work as soon as she goes after Mersán."

Jabari nodded and followed Malik to the bookshelf along the wall. Malik reached into the hole formally hidden by the potted plant and placed a glowing palm over an iridescent scanner. The bookshelf shifted. A large stone door behind the shelf opened, and the two slid into the dark tunnel before them.

***