Deadly Wands Read online

CHAPTER 3

  The castle, built upon a high volcanic outcropping, dominated the Edinburgh skyline. Sheer cliffs to the north and south, and a steep ascent from the west, meant the castle only had to defend itself on the ground from the east. A six-ton siege cannon called Mons Meg, built in 1449, could hit targets two Scottish miles away. Since everyone used the metric system, no one knew how far a Scottish mile was.

  "I see why your uncle stores his money there," William commented dryly.

  Indeed, the place looked impregnable. It was first fortified by the legendary Briton King Ebraucus 2500 years before, who had fifty children by twenty women. Ebraucus' father killed his own brother, ruled as a tyrant for twenty years, then, like the Roman dictator Sulla, gave up power to pursue sodomy.

  "The vault lies in David's Tower, near St. Margaret's Chapel. John married into Scottish royalty to get the castle. All we have to do is remove some blocks around the arrow slit, fill up the backpacks, and fly away."

  Yes, as if anything is as easy as it should be.

  They flew in from the north and knocked out a few sleepy guards. They used three wands to hover around the arrow slit, each using a blade to slice into the mortar that bound each block. It still took several exhausting minutes to remove enough blocks to slip in. The wealth stunned them. Each quickly filled up a backpack, starting with the gold and precious jewels.

  All too soon they heard someone yelling. A moment later, a uniformed guard flew to the opening and saw the wand-torches. Liz extended steel in the shape of a hammer to smash his helmet, but he sounded an alarm as he fell down. The high piercing noise echoed over the castle. William assumed they’d leave at once, but Liz kept filling her backpack until a quad started blasting them.

  "That's an idiot, so it must be my cousin," Liz informed him. "He's Keeper of the Castle, so it's his hide if we get away." She seemed remarkably calm given the partial blasts coming in, and William suddenly realized that she wanted this confrontation. The prospect of her kicking ass really turned him on.

  A blast widens over time, so the farther away, the more it disperses, losing lethality. Firing closer in would have cooked them alive.

  "Let me buy us some time." She tapped her wand to her vocal cords to multiply the sound of her voice. "Aidian!”

  "I know that voice. Who are you?" Aidian shouted back.

  "What's grandma gonna do when she learns how much you stole from her?"

  "Identify yourself!" he screamed.

  Blasts from a few dozen wands now struck them, but they were fired from too far away to hurt them. Fools.

  "They're lined up along the rampart," she guessed, getting up after getting knocked down from a pressure wave. "Help me with my backpack. It's heavier than I thought."

  Even with her back against the wall, she could barely stand upright.

  "How do super-quads carry twice their weight?" she asked in disbelief.

  "The stronger the wands, the more you can carry," William reassured her, himself dubious she could haul so much.

  "Aidian," she called out to pause the firing. "Neither you nor yours will ever be king."

  "Elizabeth?" he asked in stunned disbelief. "What the hell are you thinking?"

  "I'm thinking of blasting you to hell!" she yelled with the laugh of a drunk to mislead him. "It's time to settle things between us."

  Aidian chuckled, all his arrogance showing. "This is a better gift than that trifle you gave me for my wedding."

  William turned her to face him. “You are incredibly sexy.” She looked at him bewildered, so he put her hand on his erection. Liz had never felt more flattered.

  She flew around the tower to scan the castle for warriors. "The roof is clear and I don't see anyone to the south. I'll lead them north and meet you at the tree. And don’t worry: I’m not gonna die before I marry you!”

  William was not so sure. It’s hard to fight when carrying so much weight, so he took off his backpack in case he had to rescue her.

  "Come and get me, cousin!"

  She fired two-meter-long flames so Aidian would underestimate her. Then, with a scream, she flew high to meet him.

  From higher up he fired continuously. She let one graze her so she could pretend to lose her balance. Sure enough, he dived to finish her off. Flailing a few hundred meters above ground, she almost lost her balance while pretending to lose her balance.

  Liz barely managed to avoid the next blast by maximizing thrust from every wand. They closed quickly and extended blades, but Liz had double his range and crushed his groin with a spiked ball a second before he chopped her head off. He had tormented her all her life -- leaving him alive but impotent was the most satisfying thing she had ever done.

  The pain cost him his concentration. She risked her life to grab him before he fell to his death. Something deep inside her screamed that he must die. Life is precious, but lives are cheap, and not every death is a tragedy. Instead, she dropped him into the moat so the guards would have to save him instead of pursue her, never knowing the great price William would pay for this mistake.

  Hidden in the tower, William marveled at his new fiancée. He found himself looking forward to their wedding with un-William-like enthusiasm.

  "Holy crap," he whispered to himself as he escaped. "I'm actually getting married!”