Jake's Justice, Book Three of Wizards (8 page)

I had hopped Fluffy places in the past and glimmed with him on a planet, but this was my first experience of glimming in Hop Space. When I stop in mid hop and experience Hop Space, it looks like mist with lights that represent whole universes. Riding on Fluffy’s back, Hop Space is unicorns running through luscious forests, water cascading over rocks, seagulls circling whirlpools, an endless stream of wonder and delight. It is no wonder Jenny loves to ride with him.

We passed through a circle of squeaking dolphins into a canyon whose walls were carved with the faces of ancient deities, each one looking sadder than the last as we progressed through them. We shot through an arch made of dove feathers sending them scattering in all directions and arrived in what looked like a Greek temple. Marble pillars held up an impossible roof of glass through which we could see galaxies spinning.

Fluffy landed on a perfectly smooth white stone floor.

It was impossible. This was a real place in Hop Space, but Hop Space is an absence of reality, not a reality in its own right. And yet here we were, in the nave of a
Temple
that seemed to run all the way to the horizon. I wondered if I could find this place again without Fluffy. I couldn’t hop here because it wasn’t anywhere and the route he’d brought us wouldn’t look remotely the same if I travelled it alone.

[Look between any of the pillars.]

There were an uncountable number of pillars running in parallel lines on either side of us. As I stared between the nearest of them an image formed. I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The longer I looked the more of her essence I saw. She wasn’t remotely human; though on the surface there were only subtle differences about the eyes and the ears.

As I looked longer I knew her name,
Issus
. Just one word that was somehow more significant than the lineage of a human would have been. She had lived for the best part of 100,000 years and was still considered young to have been selected as a representative by her people. I felt her pride. I understood her language, knew her values. There was no way I could compare myself with such an intellect. At that moment I knew who she was sufficiently to find her no matter where she was in the multiverse. It was no wonder I had been so easy to find if other wizards had access to this.

“How many delegates?” I whispered.

[One hundred and twenty three thousand four hundred and twenty two.]

“So many,” I said in awe.

[So few you mean. Less than a hundredth of one percent of the peoples of the multiverse are represented. Acceptance of representatives to the Conference Between the Worlds are incredibly rare. Tens of thousands of intelligent creatures have their delegates rejected every century. Millions of species have not yet reached the level of maturity where they might even discover that the Conference takes place.]

I shuddered as I finally began to realize the damage I had done. This was so much bigger than I had thought. How could I have been such a fool?

“And they would accept me?” It seemed insane.

[You are more than you know. They have already accepted you. Only representatives like you can see the information in the temple. That is why so many want your death. Until the conference starts they are safe and time is running out.]

“When
does
it start?”

[Soon, nobody knows the exact date. It will be decided by those who created and call the Conference. They provide no representative and even the dragons do not know who they are. Some believe they created the multiverse, for a purpose beyond our understanding.]

“What am I going to do, Fluffy?”

[Try to survive. It is what you do best.]

8.
          
Malevon

Fluffy and I prepared to leave. The place we were in was called the
Temple
of
Representatives
and Fluffy believed it might be one of the places where the Conference would be held. When I asked him how representatives would be summoned he shrugged.

[I do not know.]

“That’s one place you won’t be able to follow me.”

[I will be coming with you.] He sounded surprised as he said it.

“And how will you manage that miracle?”

[I have been nominated as the Dragon’s representative. The previous candidate has withdrawn.]

That was news.

Fluffy pointed at the gap between two pillars on the other side of the aisle. When I looked a familiar image formed.

[It would have been nice if they had informed me.]

“But you guys know everything about each other?”

[If we are told, or know to look. This change has happened since we arrived]

“Some strict vetting procedure then?”

Fluffy frowned in that way that suggested he was communicating with his fellow dragons.

[The change was anticipated by the Conference Organizers and was immediately approved. This anticipation has caused consternation. Dragons do not want to be predictable.]

I put out my hand as if expecting Fluffy to shake it. “Hello fellow representative. I hope we can get on together.”

I ducked and put up a shield as dragonfire burst towards me. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that Fluffy was laughing and not attacking me.

We rose above the ground and Fluffy aimed us back the way we had come. Eagles were flying in a vertical circle formation. As we entered the circle, lighting flashed at us from all directions. Hop Space turned dark and I felt Fluffy slump under me.

“Fluffy?”

There was no response. We were falling, though there was nothing against which I could reference our fall, but I still recognized the feeling. Fluffy was breathing but his head hung limply. Healing magic flowed out of me and into Fluffy. Urda had taught me how to heal a few weeks ago, though I would never be her equal.

Despite my best efforts I could sense nothing wrong with him. There was nothing to fix. He should be awake. I leaned forward and slapped his face, but it caused no response.

Something flipped us out of Hop Space into a real world.

We were tumbling, bright blue skies alternated with deep blue water. The air was hot and wet and sunlight blazed down on us. It was difficult to stay on Fluffy, it was difficult to think. Fluffy is heavy and dragon flesh resists wizard magic. I stopped us spinning just in time to see the sea rushing to meet us. I wrapped a shield around us shaped like a cone pointing in the direction of our trajectory just before we hit the water and we dived into the deep. That allowed me time to reduce our velocity in a survivable manner. Large fish gave us incredulous looks as I pulled us out of the dive before we hit the sea bottom.

Shaping our shield to form fins, I converted our velocity into horizontal motion. As the sea bed rose I steered us higher until we broke the surface and surfed towards the white sands ahead. I gave our shield a keel and we glided in a stately manner to shore. The shield lifted us above the water so it looked as though Fluffy was flying though his wings were limp at his sides.

On the beach were large white tents that looked like a circus. Blue flags barely flapped in the hot sticky breeze. Women in white togas came out of the tents and began to point at us. We were slowing, but it could not have been clear to them if we would stop before we hit the tents. Despite this they looked unbothered by the threat.

Their leader was a young woman, whose toga barely covered her groin. For a second I thought she might be
Issus
because her stance showed the same certainty of purpose. But as we got closer I could see her features were different and there was a haughtiness to her look that reminded me of Esmeralda. This was a woman used to getting her way.

When we reached the sand I dissolved our keel and allowed our momentum to be slowed by friction between the sand and shield. I applied the brakes at the last second so we slewed to a stop in front of the woman and her servants. It was an unfortunate coincidence that my braking effect shoveled a wave of sand over our host. I would never do something like that on purpose, now would I?

I stepped off Fluffy’s back and allowed his head to sink slowly onto the sand. Turning to face the woman coughing in front of me, I couldn’t help noticing that not only was her toga ridiculously short, it was all she was wearing. In my defense, she didn’t have to pull it up to shield her face.

“What have you done to Fluf… Retnor and why did you bring us here?”

I could feel her anger. A wave of magic flung sand back at me, but I was expecting that response and deflected it.

“I believe I asked you a question?”

The woman stopped coughing by what looked to be an act of sheer will power.

“Representative Lord Wizard Morrissey. I needed to talk to you, so I brought you to me.”

“What have you done to my dragon?”

She seemed surprised at my response. “You are not his rider so why are you so upset? It is unfortunate that the dragon survives as it might create diplomatic tensions.”

I was getting increasingly angry and strengthened the shield I’d put around Fluffy. Whoever these bastards were they couldn’t talk so casually about killing my friend without serious repercussions. The diplomatic problem they had to deal with right now was me.

It was at that point I got a clear look at the people I was dealing with. They were all women, apparently in their early twenties, and built like a young man’s wet-dream. Every single one of them. Under other circumstances I would be putting on the famous Morrissey charm at seeing so much barely dressed pulchritude. But not as things were.

“Why did you try and kill Retnor?” Damned if I was going to call him Fluffy in front of them.

“It is of no importance, this is a matter between Representatives.”

I had a good answer to that, but it occurred to me that it might be best to keep Fluffy’s new status quiet for a while. God, this woman was hot. I felt a wave of lust run through me. Reminding myself that I was not here to get laid I tried to focus on the matter at hand.

“Who are you and who do you represent?”

“My name is Alisandra and I represent the Malevon. Your fame is spreading through the multiverse and I thought it was time we met. Do not worry; I will not make any further attacks on your dragon now that I know he is under your protection. Perhaps we can take tea together?” She indicated the tent behind her.

I took one last look at Fluffy, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, before allowing myself to be led into the tent. As she turned, her pert backside showed from under the back of her toga and I felt another surprisingly strong surge of lust.

The tent was divided into rooms by elaborate tapestries. The space we entered was filled with large cushions tastefully arranged around a highly polished wooden table that sat on stubby legs raising its top less than four inches from the floor.

“Please sit, Lord Wizard.” Alisandra indicated a cushion and I sat on it. She moved to the other side of the table and descended onto her cushion to end up crossed legged. Her short toga lifted as she sat, revealing rather too much of her for me to feel comfortable. I looked anywhere but at her. The carpets that made up the wall turned out to have images with a sexual theme on them, which didn’t help. Something strange was going on and I struggled to figure out what it was.

She laughed. “Does my body displease you, Lord Wizard? Your profile suggested you were fond of the female form.”

“I am a married man with two wives.”

“And I three husbands. Would you like to meet them?

Before I could answer she clapped her hands twice and three men shuffled into the room, their eyes demurely looking at the floor. These guys were built like pumping iron was the only thing they did. If the women’s togas were revealing, what the men wore was little short of obscene. I have never seen so many glimpses of dangling wrinkly bits.

That was an instant turn-off and in the absence of lust that created I tuned my eyes for magic. She was casting a lust spell on me remarkably similar to the one my subconscious had been using on women that morning. It was easy to block it now I knew it was there. I felt violated.

The men lined up facing me. Alisandra stood and touched the bare shoulder of the man nearest to her.

“This is Josa. He has unusual endurance in performing methods of pleasure.” He bowed to me and I nodded in return. She moved to the guy in the middle.