TravelingDreamer

  Mahya and I decided to "milk" Vegas, but we did it differently this time. An i search revealed that the smallest try in the world after the Vati and Monaco is Nauru in Miesia, known for its phosphate mining operations. With only about 10,000 inhabitants, the ce of anyone disc our bullshit was zero. We looked up popur names in Nauru, ged our profile ransformed our look to a middle-aged couple, and jured up Nauru passports. Noere Mr. and Mrs. Tibwas and Anita Detudamo, with our beloved newly gmoured Saint Bernard.

  We both spoke Parshan—she from a trip to that world, and I from a book about magic—so we started talking only in Parshan.

  We chose Caesar's Pace as our target and booked The Julius Tower Penthouse. Pooling our money, we had 500,000. After tag the o host, we shared our pns and the bet amount, provided identification, and traded the cash for chips. Rue didn't want to stay in the room to watch TV for a ge but wao patrol the o. So now he was our beloved seizure-alert Saint Bernard. We spent the wo days in the "Laurel Lounge" fh rollers a with a profit of just over two million dolrs.

  While we didn't cheat actively, like Al with telekinesis, my Luck worked overtime.

  Did I care?

  Not really. I never cimed to be a saint.

  And as Mahya put it, "It will be useless soon anyway."

  After two days, it seemed like we were heading to the airport, but on the way, we hopped out of the taxi and transformed bato a young couple and Rue into a Tibetan Mastiff, this time bck. Over the couple of days, we just had a bst in Vegas. We checked out the Fremont Street Experieh its cool LED opy, live musid street performers. Then, we spun on the High Roller, the tallest observation wheel in the world, for an incredible view of the city. We also swung by the Mob Museum to learn about the history anized crime in America.

  O day before the rescue, I wrote two specifigs and posed the music for them. It was time to rod roll. I expio Rue that he couldn't e with us, and he was heartbroken. I had to scratch his ears a him for over an hour until he grudgingly fave me.

  On Wednesday, March 21, 2031, in the evening, Mahya and I drove ten miles from Area 51, stored the jeep, and tinued on foot. We found a nice secluded spot between two hills five miles from the base. While I retrieved my ahya grabbed a goblet drum. I split my mind, ected to the wind, sehe feeling of going wild, activated Rhythmic Resonance, and sang Sand Storm.

  Sand Storm

  Call of the Sand Storm, heed my call Stir the sands, rise and fall Desert dunes, begin to sway Let the storm have its way

  Oh mana, a and free Listen to this bard's plea Gather now, with mystic might Bring the sandstorm to life tonight

  Grains of gold, dan air Swirling patterns everywhere Veil the sun, obscure the sky Let the desert spirits fly

  Oh mana, a and free Listen to this bard's plea Gather now, with mystic might Bring the sandstorm to life tonight

  Howling gale, unleash your power In this fateful, mystic hour Sculpt the ndscape, wild and new Paint the world in sandy hue

  Oh mana, a and free Listen to this bard's plea Gather now, with mystic might Bring the sandstorm to life tonight

  The wind loved it very mud slowly picked up more and more momentum. Mahya and I put on protective masks and goggles, and I sang again. At this point, the sandsted, and the wind was having the time of her life. I kept sendihe feeling of "go wild" and "don't hold back."

  We walked to the base to the meeting point; Mahya pced the cealment poles, and we waited for the rest of the group. When Al and Sonak arrived, I removed my shoes and socks, drew the of e symbols on my feet, and released the first magic circle, the one on the ground.

  Sonak jumped when he saw me doing this. This was the first time I let him see me release a magic circle from my palm.

  By positioning my feet in the designated spots, I eled mana through them and activated the circle. I released the sed circle and split my mind into four. My mihrough a mini seizure but survived it.

  The first partition remained ected to the wind. In the sed partition, I created the fme I learned in Spain and held it in my right palm. I held a water-aspected crystal in my left palm and eled mana into it with the third partition until droplets accumuted in my palm. In the fourth partition, I achieved oneness with the earth. I stayed like that until all the elements banced, and I didn't feel like I was being pulled apart by invisible forces anymore. I alsained some ability to think and not only be aal representation.

  Pg my palms on the key runes on both sides of the h circle, I activated it. I was the liweewo circles, the one on the ground and the one in the air. It took another few seds for the circles to calibrate to each other, using my body as a duit, and they worked.

  I felt the mana accumuting around us, being pulled from all the elements and the world at rge, and gathering in the circles—more, more and more. I was gd I unraveled one of my spirals. Otherwise, my els would have been screaming. Even with two spirals, I felt the strain—more and more mana accumuted. When I felt the flow slowing down, I activated Rhythmic Resonand sang Rage of the Elements repeatedly, accumuting more and more mana in the circles and all around us. I poured more mana into my void sang again, stronger and louder, accumuting more mana.

  Rage of the Elements

  Wind, rage through the dunes, Swirl the sands in wilder tunes Fire, burn bright and high, Paint your passion 'cross the sky Water, surge and flow free, Carry whispers to the sea Earth, tremble and quake, A slumber now awake

  Elements, heed my song Join your voices, wild and strong Ahe bard's mystic call Nature's power, enthrall us all

  Wind, howl through yon deep, Secrets long fotten, keep Fire, dan primal might,Illumihe darkest night Water, crash on distant shore, Echo legends evermore Earth, rise in mountains tall, Stand as nature's mighty wall

  Elements, heed my song Join your voices, wild and strong Ahe bard's mystic call Nature's power, enthrall us all

  Wind, whisper through the leaves, Tales of time that no one grieves Fire, spark is so bold, Fe the new from stories old Water, mist on m's breath, Life and ge, not fear of death Earth, bloom in vibrant green, Life renewed in cycles seen

  Elements, heed my song Join your voices, wild and strong Ahe bard's mystic call Nature's power, enthrall us all

  I didn't know how much time passed, but at one point, I was standing in the middle of a raging tornado made of mana. It had all the colors of the rainbow as it swirled around me in a vortex. I felt the circles were close to their maximum capacity and moved to the stage. I broke the e to fire and water and ected two parts of my mind to the wind, and two parts sank into the earth.

  Although I still didn't achieve Unity with the earth, with profound oneness and the wind's help, it was enough. The wind grabbed all the mana accumuted in the h circle and carried it through the base like a passing wave. The earth absorbed all the mana from the ground circle and permeated the base. I didn't have to do much, only guide and direct with small nudges in the right dire.

  I was sendial thank-you notes and love letters to the dragon that told Lis about the golden rule throughout the entire process. She was right. You don't demand—you ask. You don't force—you guide. And the true power was in Unity.

  All the power in the base died, and I felt the Traveler.

  Finally, I could release three mind splits, leaving only one ected to the wind. My mi out a sigh of relief. I looked around and saw Mahya with a massive grin on her face, and Al and Sonak were looking at me with eyes so wide that I was afraid they would fall out.

  "I take it back," Al said. "You are not terrifying sometimes. It is safe to say that you are truly terrifying."

  "Let's go," I said, ughing, though the ughter sounded hollow with the howling wind. And putting my shoes ba.

  "How?" Sonak asked, his voice barely audible over the roar. "I hardly see anything from all the sand flying around. 't you do something about it?"

  "No. I created the sandstorm, and I have no iion of stopping it. I'll clear us ao jump over."

  "Do we o jump?" Mahya asked, eyes squinting through the swirling sands. "The power is down."

  "Yes, I don't feel like hugging barbed wire."

  As we moved, the storm's ferocity grew, each grain of sand a needle against our skin. Mahya collected the poles, aurned invisible. I ran to the fend sent the wind a feeling of a clear area without sand. Ihan a minute, we had a retively clear area. There was still a lot of sand flying around, but we could see the fence, and the wind was mild enough not to affect our jump-over. unication with her was getting easier by the day.

  I took out the trampoline, and we jumped over one by one. Each leap felt like ay, the ground below a blur of motion and danger. I spread my mana sense as far as possible and stored the trampoline. Sonak ran away iraveler's dire, and we followed at a slower pace. The darkness pressive, the sandstorm relentless, turning every shadow into a possible threat. The Traveler felt closer, but in the same pce. I guessed he was moving up toward the surface.

  As we advaowards the building, we telepathically coordinated who was shooting potion balls at which soldier. We left behind a trail of soldiers sleeping on the ground without ons; their ons were in our Ste. The sounds of shouting grew louder, blending with the storm's fury. We picked up the pace, then we heard gunshots. The sharp cracks of gunfire sliced through the air, sending adrenaline c through my veins. We crouched as low as we could and tio advao the designated building.

  Whe close to the building, we saw soldiers at the entrance looking from side to side and moving their ons with their gaze. I could see them from maybe two meters away, so I assumed they could see even less.

  We shot them one by one, collected the ons, aered the building. Soered a sed after us.

  "What made them shoot?" I asked mentally, aingling at the edges of my thoughts.

  He didn't answer—just passed me and moved toward the back of the building. Two soldiers came out of a door, and Mahya and Al shot them ahem to sleep. We looked beyond the door and saw stairs, or at least I thought those were stairs. It was so dark I could hardly see anything. I heard more soldiers ing up.

  "Let's wait for them here." Mahya sent. Her mental voice was tight with focus.

  "Sonak went downstairs." I sent.

  "His problem, not ours."

  I dragged one soldier to the side, and one of them dragged the other. Noaited, the tension palpable. Another four soldiers came out the door, swearing about the sandstorm that cut the power. I snickered in my mind—their equipment was RIP food. I didn't know enough about may, but the wave we sent to the base felt dehan the mana in Faerie.

  We shot them, dragged them to the side, and waited.

  It was too dark, and I could hardly see anything. I asked Mahya, "Should I send a small light ball above the door? I barely see anything."

  "No."

  Soldiers came in through the door from the outside. I felt Al moving toward them.

  "I sent Al to take care of the entrance," Mahya sent.

  We stayed positioned by the stairs. We heard some shouts and shots, but as Mahya said, it was his problem. Based on the white coats, we shot seven doctors or researchers and fifteen soldiers. Al took out another eleven. Every time we shot somebody, we dragged them to the side of the hall so they wouldn't block the passage. The air was thick with tension, and the st of the potion—it reminded me of trated ano. It was bizarre; I could smell it, but it didn't affect me—magic script circles were fantastic.

  Finally, Sonak came back up with his friend. He dropped the invisibility, and I saw he was bleeding.

  Idiot.

  I cast a diagnostic spell, the magical energy flowing through his body and revealing the internal damage. The spell firmed what I feared—he had a bullet lodged in his gut.

  "Lie down," I ordered. Even my mental voice was tight with tension. The urgen my to no room fument.

  I quickly put him to sleep with the Ahesia spell when he id down. His eyes fluttered closed as the magic took hold. I cut away his shirt with a sharp knife, exposing his blood-smeared skin. With steady hands, I made an incision across his lower abdomen, the darkness making the task even more challenging.

  My fingers probed into the wound, guided more by touch than sight in the near-darkness. His insides' warmth trasted with the bullet's etal when I finally located it. Grasping it carefully, I extracted the projectile, letting it fall on the floor with a soft k that sounded ominously loud.

  With the bullet removed, I focused my energy and cast Healing Touch. Magical energy flowed from my hands into the wound. With Diagnosis, I watched the torn flesh knit itself back together, blood vessels reeg and muscle fibers realigning. The skin closed st, leaving only a faint mark where the bullet had entered.

  Doing surgery half by feeling in almost total darkness was a nightmare, even with the aid of magic. The stress of the procedure, bined with the less-than-ideal ditions, left me exhausted and frustrated. I vowed o do it again. The memory of blood-slick hands fumbling inside a person in the dark would stay with me forever.

  After casting and Purify on him, I woke him up aggressively. I almost kicked him to vent some of my frustration.

  "Let's move out." Mahya sent, her voice urgent.

  Sonak whispered something to his friend in a fn nguage, and we moved toward the door.

  "There are many soldiers outside." Al souense.

  "How many?" I asked, feeling a knot of aighten in my chest.

  "Due to the darkness and sand, it is difficult to ascertain with certainty."

  "Everybody, get low in case they start shooting and take cover by the wall," I ordered, my tone sharp with urgency. "Mahya, get down on your belly beside me. Let's do some target practice."

  "First, load yun fully," she said.

  After I filled the balls, I cast Mana Shield; we y on our bellies and peeked out the door. The sandstorm was a chaotic maelstrom, the wind howling like a beast. The sand outlined many people, and I got what Al meant. It was impossible to tell in the darkness and all the sand. But I could tell that they all had ons. I spread my mana sense as wide as possible and tried to store their guns. It didn't work.

  "Why 't I store their guns?" I asked Mahya, frustration seeping into my tone.

  "Because they are in tact with them."

  Good to know.

  We started shooting them, and it was like dominos—hit one, five fall. The air filled with the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground. Unfortunately, they also started shooting. The sharp cracks of gunfire sliced through the storm's roar. But my Luck worked; they shot high. Still, my Mana Shield broke, and my head pounded for a few seds from the backsh. One bullet grazed my shoulder, and I heard Mahya grunt in pain. The st of blood mingled with the acrid tang of gunpowder and the smell of the potion. I rolled to the side behind the wall, healing myself and Mahya, who rolled beside me, her face pale and tense. Luckily, she only received a graze, so I didn't have to perform another surgery in the dark.

  "Shoot anyone who walks in the door," I sent to Sonak and Al, my thoughts taut with tension.

  The shots from outside stopped. Al dropped his invisibility, took out his mithril shield, and instructed, "Cover yourself with it, then cast invisibility again to include the shield."

  We covered ourselves with the shield, cast invisibility again, and belly-crawled to the door. The ground was gritty and unfortable, and eaent reminded us of the dangerous situation.

  We tio fire at the soldiers, and they again fired back. A few shots pihe shield, the sharp gs eg ominously. Those who fell dropped their ons, and I stored them with my mana sehe se outside was chaos—soldiers shouting ands, scrambling for cover, their movements frantid disahe sandstorm added to the fusion, turning the battlefield into a nightmarish blend of shadow and swirling sand.

  A soldier fell nearby, clutg his leg and screaming in pain, his voice a raw, agonized cry. One of his rades hit him. Aumbled, disoriented by the sand and darkness, only to be hit by our shots and colpse. The panic alpable, spreading through their ranks like wildfire. Some soldiers tried to help their fallen rades, only to be taken down themselves, their bodies crumpling in the sand.

  I caught glimpses of faces, eyes wide with fear and fusion, mouths open in silent shouts as the wind stole their voices. The entire area was a writhing mass of chaos, the sandstorm amplifying the terror and fusion.

  Despite the shield, a bullet clipped the edge, sending a jolt of fear through me. The sound of gunfire was relentless, a cacophony of dahat kept my nerves on edge. I knew we couldn't stay like this forever—we o finish this quickly.

  We kept firing, and our shots were precise ahodical. The soldiers' numbers were thinning, but the chaos outside showed no signs of abating. Every time a soldier fell, it added to the growing panic, fusion, and fear, turning the battlefield into a swirling vortex of chaos.

  Finally, after what felt like ay, the shooting slowed. The soldiers were retreating, their morale shattered by the relentless assault. We had a moment of respite, the storm's howl the only sound.

  "Did you give Rabban a potion proteask?" I asked Sonak.

  "Yes."

  "Move now!" I ordered, knowing we had to take advantage of the lull.

  I stored all the scattered ons, and we ran out in a crouch, guns in hand and ready. The storm's roar was deafening, the sand biting into our skin. I activated my Luck, intending to find the best path and the pce to go over the fence, a a dire.

  "Follow me," I told them.

  The feeling led me left and right between buildings. Each turn was a gamble, the darkness and storm masking potential threats. Although we were invisible, the sand outlined our bodies, so we had to be careful. We only entered six or seven now-sleeping soldiers who doheir guns to the cause. Every enter sent a jolt of adrenalihrough me, the fear of discovery ever-present. After ten minutes, we reached a deserted part of the base, the silence eerie pared to the chaos we had left behind. The only sound around us was the howling of the wind, without shouts or shots.

  "How are we going to get Rabbahe fence?" I asked, the wind stealing my words almost immediately leaving my mouth.

  "If Al and I jump together holding his arms and he helps by pushing himself, we get him over," Mahya suggested in a quiet tone. Or retively quiet, sidering the raging sand.

  "Why are you talking instead of telepathy?" Al asked, also in a quiet tone.

  "So Rabban learn English."

  Sonak said something to him, and I felt him spend the mana. The air around Rabban shimmered, and Sonak again said something. Rabban became visible for the first time. He was a big Viking-looking guy with blond hair and ruattooed on his body. His imposing figure made me worry about hoould get him over the fence.

  I took out the trampoline, and Mahya and Al grabbed Rabban's arms. Sonak walked over to them, and they talked quietly, their words lost in the wind. He became invisible again, and I saw the trampoline dip dangerously low. It dipped owice, and the third time was so low I was sure it would break, but it held. My heart pounded with each dip, the tension almost unbearable.

  It didn't dip again, and Mahya sent, "We're over. I think Rabban needs healing."

  I heard Sonak cursing and said, "Go over quickly so I heal him."

  He went over, and then I did. Rabban dropped the invisibility again, and his leg pointed in the wrong dire. The sight was gruesome, and I felt sympathy for him.

  "Let's lift him a away from the base; this is not a simple healing. I'll el Ahesia into him so he won't suffer. Sonak, expin this and tell him to go invisible again."

  "You 't put him to sleep," Mahya said. "The minute he's asleep, the invisibility will drop."

  I cursed under my breath, frustration and urgency warring within me.

  We lifted the poor and very heavy guy and moved away fast. The storm was uing, each step a struggle against the wind and sand. We couldn't run; the visibility was too bad. It was awkward as some of us pulled occasionally in a different dire, but we managed. Every sound seemed amplified, every shadootential danger.

  After ten minutes of fast walking, I said, "We are far enough. Let's stop for a few minutes."

  We id him on the ground, and he dropped the invisibility. I eled Ahesia into him, straightehe leg, and first cast Heal Bohe sound of the bone fusing was oddly satisfying amidst the chaos. After the bone had fused, I cast Healing Toutil the leg healed pletely, and then I stopped the Ahesia. The entire process was nerve-wrag, the storm's fury a stant reminder of our precarious situation.

  I tried to send the feeling to the wind that she could gradually stop the storm, but she was having too much fun and didn't feel like it. I just let it go. There was no point in arguing with a, even if Mahya said she knew a wizard whued with them.

  Sonak and Rabban hugged, and we said random words in English for a few minutes until he lifted his hand and said, "I okay this."

  "Introdus wait," Mahya said. "First, let's get out of the wind. John, Vegas or your house?"

  "Vegas. I don't want to be he base."

  We ran to the road, tinued running on the road for awenty mio make sure we were far enough, took out the Jeep, and drove slowly and carefully to Vegas.

  I felt eted. We rescued the Traveler, and I didn't o kill anybody. They were having a nice long nap in nature, or actually covered in nature. Sort of. I scratched my head. This thought got away from me.