Ray arrived on the roof of the university library last. He supposed that was because

the channel had to be kept open from the far end of the line to the destination. He

flared into being and smiled.

“That was fast,” he said. “How are you guys?”

“I think I like Buble’s space folding better, Ray,” said Johnny Mac. He brushed off

his t-shirt.

Buble appeared with a brush. Two seconds later and the road dust had been cleaned

away. The brush vanished.

“That was excellent,” said Ishvar. “I usually summon a chariot to fly to my

destination. I have never thought to yank myself through the air like that.”

“Where I’m from, there’s no magic,” said Ray. “So people think about other ways to

get around other than walking. Now if we had magic, people would be riding

lightning all the time in my opinion.”

“I could see that,” said Ishvar. She looked at the scattered buildings of the campus.

“This is where you think your summoning will take place?”

“Buble said both walls have magic signs built into them,” said Johnny Mac.

The rabbit nodded in agreement.

“I will check it,” said Ishvar. “It should be easy enough to do.”

“Can you two find out who worked on the wall?,” asked Ray. He didn’t know if

Buble and Johnny Mac could work together, but he couldn’t baby them. “There might

be a clue there somewhere.”

“We’ll check it, Ray,” said Johnny Mac. “Matter of fact, we can start here at the

University for that. See, someone in their admin had to put the money up for the wall,

or know who did. I think Buble can find that person with a record check.”

“I have to make my meeting,” said Ray. “If you guys get in trouble, send up a flare.

I’ll come back to help you out.”

“How much trouble could there be?,” asked Ishvar.

“That’s the type of question you don’t ask,” said Johnny Mac. “Buble?”

“I am familiar with a flare,” said the rabbit. “I assure you that one will go up if I see

so much as a giant bug.”

“I know you’re a powerhouse, Ishvar,” said Ray. He didn’t know that, but she had to

have something with her TARDIS shack. “We don’t know if this guy is better than

you, and we don’t want to find out. Send up the flare. It’s a bright light. The viewers

will see it, and I will try to get here with help to put things down.”

“I will comply with this,” said Ishvar. “You’re very cautious for someone who knows

no fear.”

“Really?,” said Ray. “I always thought I had a good risk assessment.”

“If you say so,” said Ishvar. “Are you sure you don’t want to spend time with me?”

“I’m spending time with you right now,” said Ray. “But I still have my meeting.

Remember, stay out of trouble, but if you can’t do that, call me and I will bail you

out.”

“I think we can handle this,” said Johnny Mac. “Let’s do this, Buble. A simple drop

to the ground and a nice slow walk will be great.”

“Yes, Master John,” said Buble. He lifted the boy up and dropped over the side of the

building.

Ishvar summoned a cloud under her feet. She stepped in the direction of the wall. The

cloud stretched in front of her, and contracted behind as she moved.

“I hope I haven’t made a serious mistake,” said Ray. He turned and used the roofs of

the buildings to get close to the wall. Then he jumped over the wall to land in the

neighborhood surrounding the school. He started jogging toward the outer wall.

“Can you get me a horse of some kind?,” said Ray. “I think I need a bit more speed

with less flash than flying through the air.”

Affirmative.

Blue light condensed as Ray ran forward. It lifted him up off the ground. He looked

around for a moment as the flame became a horse with saddle and tack already

strapped on. The horse flew through the streets like a ghost.

He didn’t know if it was less attention getting than the flying, but at least people were

clearing the streets as he barreled along. And he hadn’t fallen off when the horse

jumped the outer wall without stopping. He smiled as the Blue Oak came into view.

The horse slowed to a walk, then a full stop in front of the saloon. It came apart

slowly so Ray was gently dropped to the ground. He shook his head. First

teleportation, and then horseback riding. Barbara was never going to believe this.

He wasn’t sure he believed it himself.

He went into the Oak and looked around. He spotted Lord Brian and the rest of his

people at his table. He saw Stella looking at him with a question in her eye. He held

up three fingers so she would bring him three dinners. Then he pointed at Lord Brian.

She nodded before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Ray walked over and grabbed an empty chair so he could sit down with the others.

They looked at him with silent questions.

“What do you guys have?,” asked Ray.

“The city has sent out an alert asking for help from all adventurers that might be in

the area,” said Lord Brian. “An evacuation plan has been set up with the Guard to

move citizens out of the way when the well opens.”

“The Magicians’ Union has been apprized of the threat, but they only have a spirit

here for their local representative,” said Neffer. “He assured me that a force would be

gathered if a threat appeared.”

“The threat is real,” said Ray. “Both walls around Grandview have already been

treated according to a guy I ran into. As soon as the stars are right, Grandview and the

university are going to go up in flames.”

“How sure is he?,” asked Neffer.

“Sure enough that I tried to find an expert to look the walls over, and see if she can

punch a hole in the spell,” said Ray. “If the area indicated shows the size of the

summoning beast, we could be in for a lot of trouble if we can’t find the guy.”

“It might take more than an army of adventurers,” said Lord Brian. “We might need

help from above.”

“How tough are these Abyssal things?,” said Ray. “Do they have weak points?”

“Their eyes are their weak points,” said Neffer. “The problem is hitting them with

anything that isn’t thrown through the air. Magical blades work wonders but they are

rare, and prone to rusting the more you use them.”

“So basically we need guns,” said Ray.

“Yes,” said Lightner. He held up both arms to represent artillery pieces.

“I’ll add that to my list,” said Ray. “As soon as I eat, I have to get back to my expert.

I left her all alone at the University, and I don’t trust her not to cause trouble.”

“How much of an expert is she?,” asked James.

“I’m confident she knows what she is talking about as far as magic goes,” said Ray.

“The problem is her personal habits. I don’t need the entanglements that could cause.”

“Do you want to elaborate?,” asked Lord Brian.

“Not really,” said Ray. He glanced at Pinkley and Lightner. “Here’s my dinner. Let

me wolf this down, and then I have to get back to the salt mines.”

“You and your minions might be on your own until help arrives if things go bad,”

said Lord Brian.

“They’re more like contractors,” said Ray. “I think we can delay things until you get

your army of adventurers together. Just don’t take too long.”

“Any idea how to track down your mystery magician?,” asked James. “It seems to me

if we can cut him off, then we can stop things in their tracks.”

“Not yet,” said Ray. “I’m hoping something will come to me before the night is over.”

“You’re the closest to this than anyone,” said Lord Brian. “Before you showed up, no

one thought there was brain behind this.”

“I can’t take credit for that,” said Ray. “The guy who called my marker is the guy who

put the thought in my head. The rest came from Johnny Mac and his rabbit.”

“Rabbit?,” asked James.

Ray shrugged in a not my problem way.

The waitresses arrived with the three dinners Ray had ordered. They gave the bill to

Lord Brian. The group made room in disbelief.

“You can’t keep billing me for you food,” said Lord Brian. “You eat more than a

horse.”

“Where are you putting all of it?,” asked Pinkley. She looked aghast.

“In my arm,” said Ray.

“No, you can’t cut off your arm to put food in a fake arm,” said Lord Brian.

“It would be great,” said Pinkley.

“No,” said Lightner. He shook his head.

“You never want me to have anything,” said Pinkley.

She might have stood up to run out but Lightner was on one side, and James was on

the other. Neither seemed inclined to move so she could storm away from the table.

“Keep your real arm as long as you can,” said Ray. “A fake arm is nothing but trouble

and misery.”

Negative.

Ray dug in. He had to refuel and get back out there. The clock on his inner vision was

still ticking toward the end of the city. That’s how long he had to stop things before

everything went into the pot.

“Are these contractors trustworthy, Ray?,” asked Neffer.

“I have no idea,” said Ray. “That’s why I have to get back out there after this meeting.

They might be zeroing on the guy and not know it. I doubt they would go over to his

side, but things happen.”

He doubted Johnny Mac would go over. He was in the same boat as Ray. He couldn’t

get his reward until the job was done, and giving that up didn’t seem in the boy’s

nature.

Ishvar might if the guy could give her more of what she wanted than Buble.

He didn’t want to test that theory in action. She was still the best thing he had for

figuring out how the summons worked and how to stop it. He didn’t know what her

real power was, and he didn’t want a betrayal being the way he found out.

Ray finished his last piece of whatever had been on his plate before he stood up. He

wiped his face with a cloth napkin. He looked at the assembled group.

“Is there anything else?,” asked Ray. “I have to check on my minions.”