The Death Ray

21

Considering the many setbacks of the previous night, his lack of sleep, and a dreary turn in the weather, Vargussel felt sure he radiated an aura of confidence as he strode into the duke's private office for the second time in as many days. Even after making arrangements to secure the slaughterhouse, he had at least had the opportunity to go home, clean himself up a bit, and change before he received the duke's summons. A trail of cologne wafted behind him, and his clean, crisp robe rustled as he walked.

Vargussel bowed deeply to the duke and said, "Your Highness, I attend you at your request."

The duke, who was seated behind his desk, motioned to a chair and watched with an appraising eye as Vargussel sat.

"You're well?" the duke asked.

Vargussel sighed inwardly, finding no patience left for the duke's imbecilic questions.

"I am most fit, Your Highness," he answered. "Again, I find myself deep in study and experimentation. I understand that His Highness is a busy man as well, so please do not allow a few scrapes and bumps to distract you from the matter at hand, a matter I am sure is one of utmost urgency and with dire consequences for us all."

The duke smiled, and Vargussel returned the expression. His groveling before his master's image had left Vargussel with the odd scrape, cut, and bruise, but what little pain there had been had turned to an irritating itch. That didn't do much for Vargussel's patience.

Vargussel again suppressed a sigh-this time of relief-when the duke reached into a drawer and didn't ask after his health again.

"Lord Constable Regdar has found something," the duke said.

Vargussel tipped an eyebrow up, not having to feign interest in the progress of the new lord constable.

The duke set something hard and heavy down on the desk in front of Vargussel. When his hand came away from it, Vargussel let slip a slight gasp at the sight of a jagged chunk of his shield guardian's armor.

"Did he see what this came from?" Vargussel asked.

"You recognize it?"

Vargussel stopped himself before he answered. Instead, he shook his head and reached for the piece of metal.

"May I?" the wizard asked.

The duke nodded and said, "Be my guest."

The piece of armor wasn't big and hadn't obviously effected the shield guardian's functioning, but a piece of the construct in the duke's possession could be troublesome for Vargussel. If the duke summoned a wizard to "You want me to tell you what it is," Vargussel said, holding back a relieved giggle.

"I do," the duke replied. "The lord constable didn't get a clear look at the thing but he managed to slice a chunk out of it. Looks like armorer's steel to me, but we need to know more. I'm told there's a spell…?"

"Legend lore," the wizard said.

"That's the one," replied the duke. "Can you do it?"

"Indeed I can, Your Highness. Indeed I can."

"The duchy will, of course, reimburse you for your trouble," the duke said.

Vargussel smiled and let the piece of his own construct roll around in his palm.

"Please, Your Highness," he said. "I am a loyal subject of the duchy and her duke. It would only be my pleasure and honor to cast a spell for you, that we might bring these heinous acts of senseless murder to a close."

"Very well," said the duke. "The duchy thanks you. Now…"

"Ah, yes," Vargussel said, "with all due haste. I can cast the spell at once if that meets with your approval. There isn't much to it but some muttering and waving about of hands. A picture will form in my mind, and I will know the origin of this steel."

The duke nodded, and Vargussel held the piece of metal out in front of him.

Legend lore, indeed, the wizard thought.

He began to speak a string of nonsense that he made up as he went along but which he was sure the duke would mistake for the language of magic. The spell he actually intended to cast could be done in seconds, but when one is performing for royalty, best make a show of it. After a suitable period of time mumbling nonsense and wiggling his fingers over the steel, Vargussel uttered the real words of power and twisted his fingers just so.

A faint, blue glow sprang from his palm, lighting the steel from below.

The duke sat forward, peering at the effect with undisguised awe. It was all Vargussel could do not to laugh at him. The glow was a meaningless prestidigitation, a parlor trick for the amusement of children. It told Vargussel nothing and would tell the duke no more.

He let the glow persist until the duke was solidly at the edge of his seat, then he pretended to see something in the air between them. The duke followed his eyes, of course seeing nothing, but seemed to fully believe that Vargussel was reading something written in eldritch script in the very air itself.

When he thought he'd laid it on thick enough, Vargussel let the glow fade away, and he curled his fingers around the piece of his shield guardian.

"Alas," he said, taking care to add a tone of dire seriousness to his voice, "our opponent is powerful indeed."

"What did you see?" asked the duke.

Vargussel shook his head and narrowed his eyes.

"Vargussel," the duke prodded. "Speak, for the love of-"

"It is warded," the wizard said.

"Warded?" asked the duke.

"Protected," Vargussel said. "This comes from a most capable spellcaster, I can assure you, Your Highness. It has been made proof against spells such as the one I cast upon it. It is as if a wall of shadow has descended over its history and its maker."

The duke sighed and all but sagged back into his chair.

"But all is not lost, Your Highness," Vargussel said.

"There's another spell?"

"There is always another spell, sire," said the wizard. "I will need time, though, and resources from my laboratory."

"How long?"

"A day," Vargussel lied, "perhaps longer. The magic is powerful and carefully masked."

The duke nodded, looking down at nothing, thinking.

"May I take it with me?" the wizard prompted.

"You had best," answered the duke. "Keep it in your sight at all times, though."

"I will," Vargussel agreed.

"A day, you said?" asked the duke.

"Perhaps more," the wizard answered.

The duke frowned and said, "Do your best to tell me something sooner. The lives of a score of city watchmen and Lord Constable Regdar may depend on it."

"Indeed?" Vargussel asked, feigning surprise.

"They pursue the creature from which this steel was severed even now," the duke said, his face lined and gray.

"Do they?" Vargussel murmured. "Do they indeed…"