Lost and Found

Chapter 11: Lost and Found

With the addition of the Deranged to my miniature Wizardry school, I have no choice but to share teaching duties with Marinelle and Edon. This is hardly ideal, as they are still students themselves, but it's unfortunately necessary. I sometimes wonder about exploring the Northern continent, to see if any of the Wizardry Deranged might be able to join us... but there are two many unknowns and too many risks.

We fall into a fixed schedule, the three of us: I share basic teaching (connecting with wands and basic spell casting) with Nelle and Edon and then continue their lessons in the evenings while the rest of the Deranged practice on their own. Each night, the three of us watch over the Deranged in shifts: none of us, not even Edon, trusts them, especially not Eduarda, the woman who so openly challenged me when the Deranged first found us.

Marinelle has first shift tonight, so Edon and I sleep on opposite sides of the Deranged. Sometimes, I sneak away up towards the stars to check for the arrival of those who must be searching for me, but most nights, I don't. The newly-magical Deranged feel like more of an immediate threat, and I don't feel comfortable leaving Edon and Marinelle alone with them. And, of course, with the perceptiveness of Eduarda watching and analyzing my every move, I don't want her asking questions about how I survive up there and what I'm doing.

Tonight, like most nights, I fall asleep as soon as I can. My dreams flicker with memories: the starkness of my home in the Military, the dancing wands under the technoscope, the first time I met Yesaré, the surgeries I underwent to acquire my body-mods... but most of all, my dreams are filled with freedom.

I feel Marinelle's frantic touch on my shoulder before I'm fully able to pull myself out of my dream. Her voice breaks through into my dream, coming out of the mouth of dream Marinelle.

"Eduarda's gone!"

Those words yank me from my dream as I look up at Nelle's anxious face.

"When? How? Did she take her wand?" I throw questions, desperate for answers. The only question that really matters, though, is the one Nelle can't answer: why.

"I'm not sure how long ago. The other Deranged, they were in on her plan. They kept lying to me, saying she was in the woods going to the bathroom or taking a bath in the stream. I'd guess she's been gone at least an hour. And as far as I know, she took her wand."

"Saroyan's mother of a technoscope!" Nelle's eyes widen as I combine Wizardry and Military swears.

"Have you woken Edon yet?"

"No, I came to you first."

Options, I need options. To not track Eduarda is not an option. To leave these Deranged unpunished for their betrayal is not an option. To leave Nelle or Edon in danger: not an option. But neither of them is capable of casting any spells over such a large group at once. Even together, I doubt they could cover more than 4 or 5 of these Deranged at once.

There is no choice: I have to stay here.

"Nelle, which of you is the better tracker, you or Edon?" Her eyes widen with understanding at the implications of the question.

"Edon, he can run faster and quieter than I can. And he also knows Eduarda better than I do."

"Alright. Bring me the wands Altares, Clifenda, Qend, and Romita. Then, I want you to wake up Edon and have him follow Eduarda to see what she's up to, once I give him the signal. He's just to follow her, not engage her in any way...make sure he understands that! Tell him to send me a message via wand when he has any idea of what she's up to or if he needs help." She nods. "One more thing: try to do this without drawing any attention from the Deranged. I don't want them to know we know Eduarda's missing."

"Right. I'll be back with the wands in just a minute."

She leaves me, walking as if she were merely doing her normal night-time rounds. I pretend to fall back asleep, though my mind prepares itself for the complexity of the spell I will soon be casting.

Nelle returns in moments and slips the wands into my hands. Nonchalantly, she leaves and walks over to where Edon is sleeping. As soon as she bends down to wake him, I stand up, each hand holding two wands.

I chose these wands specifically because they are expendable. They are just powerful enough to do what needs to be done tonight. Liara, as always, rests in my sleeve, but I would not drain her to this extent unless I had no choice. As I connect to the four wands, I feel her energy intruding and have to mentally block her out. Once connected to the four wands, I focus my attention on each apparently sleeping Deranged, being sure not to miss any. The magic radiates through me, gathering in my mind. I release it with the silent command KËNANAL!

The Deranged are in an unwakeable sleep now, as long as I can maintain the spell. I raise my hand to Edon, see him leave out of the corner of my eye.

Nelle returns to my side then. She should know by now the level of concentration necessary for this kind of spell, but this is Marinelle and Marinelle loves to talk.

"Do you..."

I cut her off with a short shake of my head.

"Need to concentrate," I force out, feeling the spell momentarily weaken as I speak.

"Can I help?"

"Stay quiet."

She nods with reluctance and stands next to me, wrapping her arm around me to support my body as the spell tires me. All we can do is wait, and I am grateful for her support.

After the night deepens to its darkest, Edon's voice whispers into my ears: "She went to find the rest of the Deranged. She showed them a spell. They are heading back to our camp. I don't know what her motives are. No immediate signs of aggression, though. They are coming unarmed, with the exception of Eduarda's wand. Orders?"

What is she up to? Will she steal wands for the other Deranged and challenge my leadership? But why wouldn't she have taken the wands before she left? With the surplus of wands we have now, surely she could have stolen a few without anyone noticing, not right away.

I feel the spell weaken again as my concentration is pulled from the bodies of the sleeping Deranged. I'm glad Nelle's by my side because I need her now. Without her, there's no way I could keep this spell going while connecting to Liara to reply to Edon's message. Some of these Deranged must be fighting the spell: I feel their efforts as a push into my head like a headache threatening to start.

"Nelle, reply Edon for me: 'Come back quickly. Will need you here.'"

She nods. Peripherally, I see her face tense in concentration as she casts the spell non-verbally. I can't help but beam with pride at her non-verbal casting. This is so new to her, and she learns so quickly.

The moments pass as I continue the spell to keep the Deranged asleep. Whatever Eduarda's planning, she's not going to come back to a squad of alert and ready co-conspirators.

Finally, Edon returns.

"They're just behind me and should be showing up any second now."

I say nothing, hoping Nelle will notice how tired I am and ask Edon the obvious questions.

"How many are coming? All of them?" Nelle asks when she notices my silence.

Edon glances at me, seeing the wands in my hand and my focus on the sleeping Deranged.

"All of them. Another 12." They both look to me for leadership, but what can I offer them? To cast a spell over 24 people all at one time is beyond what I can do, no matter how many wands we have.

"No choice. We must hide and see what she plans."

I surge the power through me, hitting the Deranged with enough sleep to make them unwakeable for at least a few more minutes, and then release the spell.

No time for elaborate plans. The trees at the edge of the camp will have to do.

"Follow me." The three of us reach the trees.

Nelle and Edon imitate my spell as I verbally cast "UP!" to reach a high branch of a tree. We three sit, looking down on our camp, waiting.

Within moments, we see the Deranged stir from their spelled sleep. Moments later, Eduarda and her new band of Deranged breach camp, finding her friends groggy and slightly confused.

"Where's Capella?" she demands the first Deranged she reaches. They look around, realize I'm gone. Then, I see the confusion begin to spread as they realize it's the three of us who are missing.

The Deranged that came with Eduarda are beginning to look annoyed.

"You said there was a Wizard here. Well, where is she?"

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"Are y'all truly Deranged now? What is with that grove of trees you got there?"

A possibility that I had not originally considered slips into my mind. Maybe Eduarda wasn't betraying us after all. I wait to hear how she responds to the growing anxiety of her Deranged.

"No, look, I told you the truth. There's a Wizard here who's been teaching us," she motions to the still-groggy Deranged on the ground, "magic. Ask any of them!"

The sleepy Deranged nod their agreement.

"Look, don't panic! This wasn't a trick. I told you I'd bring you to the Wizard, told you we could get off this planet, and I wasn't lying. She's around here somewhere, but when she comes back, she'll explain everything."

Time for me to make a grand entrance.

I cast UP! one more and then gracefully float down in front of Eduarda.

"You brought more Deranged to be trained as Wizards?"

She nods and smiles.

Loudly, I say, "Nelle, Edon, you can come down; it's safe."

They drop from the trees, joining us.

"And these new Deranged, Eduarda, you're sure they're all wizards?"

There's a noticeable stir then that answers my question as the new Deranged react to the thrumming of the nearby wands. So many wands calling out to them, their heads must be full of names. I smile widely and tell them, "Go to the names."

And they do.

As the days pass, the new Deranged mingle with the original Deranged. The daily lessons have become too much for even the three of us...Nelle, Edon, and myself...to handle. The teaching duties are shared amongst everyone: the original Deranged teach the very basics to the group I always call Eduarda's Deranged, I continue teaching Nelle and Edon in the evenings, and the three of us walk around during the day answering questions and demonstrating techniques where necessary. As grateful as I am to have more Wizards at my command, the reality is that teaching has become a problem. There's just too many of them, far more than one fully-trained wizard can handle on her own. The truth is that I need help.

In those rare moments of time to myself, I consider again visiting the Northern continent. The risks are still the same, but the need is increasing as the Deranged move past basics. One night as I am again considering a trip to the Northern planet, I feel a sudden tug from Liara.

It's been a long time, I suddenly realize, since I've breached the atmosphere to check for ships. A sense of sudden necessity hits me that I need to do this right now.

Walking into the trees, I levitate by spell, switching to Space Mode and casting AIR BAG! as I breach the atmosphere. And just after I switch, I feel a rush of magical energy powerful enough to force my nanos into overdrive. A Baobab ship has just dropped out of dimension-space.

I've been found.