A Mage's Power (Journey to Chaos) by Brian Wilkerson Read Free Book Online Page B

bodies. It only got worse from there: moping led
to teasing, which led to isolation, which led getting shoved into lockers and
having his homework stolen. Loser! Loser! Loser!
    His big brother usually put a swift end to it, but he wasn't
as good with words. He couldn't convince Eric that he didn't deserve this
treatment. So Eric stayed in lockers so he wouldn't get shoved into another
one. He hid from everyone. Who would want to be friends with a loser?
    Redstreak landed on a street lamp. “Hold up, Otherworlder.”
    Traffic was obstructed by a giant lying in the middle of the
road. A middle-aged woman in a tunic, pants, and white cloak examined the
fallen giant with a younger man at her side. He wore a white belt. The woman
jumped onto the giant's stomach in a single leap and sniffed his mouth. She
made a face and fanned the air.
    “He's only drunk!” she shouted to the gathered crowd. She
looked to the left, to the right, and then pulled a vial out of her sleeve.
    “Captain!” She froze. “Is that one of your concoctions?”
    “Of course not . . .” the woman replied shiftily. “ . . .I bought
it at the medicine man's house.” The man joined her on the giant's stomach and
held out his hand.
    “May I see it, Captain?”
    The woman clutched the vial to her chest and turned away. “No,
it's too powerful. The fumes will knock you out.”
    The man crossed his arms. “It's Paticion urine, isn't it?”
    “Whatever gave you that idea?”
    The man sighed. “Captain, that stuff is dangerous.”
    “In any other case . . .yes it would, but it's useful for
flushing alcohol out of a system.”
    “Yes, as well as everything else in the system. You could
make him bleed out.”
    “That could only happen to a human. Giants have too much
blood and too much weight.”
    “No, you think they have too much blood and weight.”
The tone of the young man puzzled Eric. If she was his superior, why was he
scolding her like a little girl with her hand in the cookie jar? “You're
experimenting again.” The woman shifted uneasily. “Captain, you can't do
these things.”
    “Well if I'm not getting paid to help him, I should get
something out of this!”
    “Captain, it's NOT ethical,” the man said, his voice firm.
    The woman rolled her eyes. “Ethical, semathical. Was the
Tasi-palics crisis ethical?” The man rubbed his forehead. She continued as if
she hadn't noticed. “No, but we discovered how to cure Manastina Reticos
intoxiscous, saving countless lives!”
    Redstreak hawed in impatience. “Oh, are we holding you up?” she
asked. Redstreak nodded. The woman hunched over the giant. “Lieutenant, please
explain the situation to Mr. . . .”
    “ Chief Redstreakof the Rose Forest Colony of
Red-tailed Hawks . . .and an Otherworlder.” 
    The woman's eyes lit up. “An Otherworlder, you say?”
    “Captain!” the young man shouted. “The giant.”
    “Oh, right.” The woman stood up to her full height. “Lieutenant,
explain the situation to Chief Breadbeak and the Otherworlder while I handle
the giant.” The man didn't move.
    “Captain, the vial please.” The woman was thoroughly
disgruntled, but she handed over the vial. Eric almost laughed; she looked like
she was returning stolen cookies!
     The man pocketed the vial, jumped off the giant, and made a
little bow of his head before Redstreak and Eric. “I am Dragon's Lair Squad Two
Lieutenant Jemas Wotan. Captain Hasina and I came across the giant on our way home
from Green Garden Herbs.” Eric noticed Hasina pull a second vial out of her
sleeve and hand a sheet of paper to the giant. He sloppily signed it and she
emptied the vial into his mouth. Just as Eric opened his own, Hasina flashed
him a look that chilled his insides and his mouth shut with a click. “The giant
blocked our path and so we stopped to assist him,” Jemas continued. “We
apologize if we caused you any inconvenience.”
    “You could make up for it by taking this human to the Silver
Dragon