Magic is Programming

Amber turned and began marching briskly along the road, much faster than the casual walking pace they had been using, and Carlos rushed to keep pace.

"Ok, I know one hundred gold is a lot, but help me understand just how much. What are the conversion factors?"

"One hundred copper is one silver. One hundred silver is one gold."

"So Darmelkon? Do I have his name right? He's offering one million copper for information about where we are. And three copper was enough for a full meal."

Amber glanced at Carlos briefly. "You know some decent math. Yes, in copper it would be one million. It's an utterly outrageous sum, and it means we need to get serious about escaping pursuit. I don't know why he wants us so badly, but it can't be good. I could speculate, but really all that matters is we have to escape."

"Agreed. Why are we still following the road? Surely the road will be the first place he looks once Mikil reports which direction we went."

"Because if we just disappear from the road, he'll search the wilderness around it second, and if he's putting that kind of money into hunting for us we won't be able to outpace his hunters or hide from them for long. We need to give him a false trail to follow. Actually, make that two false trails. One to be the obvious fake that he'll see through, and the second to actually trick him while he's congratulating himself on outwitting us. And the real trail needs to leave as few clues as possible. If we make good time, we can reach Trillen in an hour. We'll have maybe two or three hours at most after that before Darmelkon gets there. We need to be gone, with false trails laid, by then."

"Got it. Any ideas on how to do that?"

"Hmm. Actually, yes. Let me think about the details..."

Darmelkon sat straight and proud on his steed as he rode into Trillen. He cut an imposing figure, with magically enhanced muscles and the glittering metals and gems of the enchanted rings and necklace responsible for that enhancement, and he knew it. The enormous sword and finely crafted crossbow at his sides completed the picture to ensure that all who saw would know he was not to be trifled with.

The small army of servants following him would have seen to that anyway, but that was not what he had brought them here for. He held up his right hand and gestured, beckoning them forward, and the servants streamed into the small city. If Amber and this "Carlos" person had kept to the road this far, the servants would find someone who had seen them soon enough.

"So, um, you are going to pay me, right? The magistrate witnessed it, and everything."

Ah, right. That annoying pest, Mikil. Too incompetent, or perhaps it was laziness, to actually bring them in, or at least bring back proof.

"When I have proof of their presence here, then you will get your money. Not before. Until then, unless you have something actually useful to say, be silent."

Darmelkon frowned at the evening sky, the sun nearing the horizon. He was prepared to stay the night here if necessary, but he'd prefer to finish this business before then. He studiously refrained from tapping his feet or otherwise indicating impatience as he waited.

The first report did not take long to come back. Asking about people having been seen leaving Trillen recently was rather simple and obvious, after all. "Sir! Several witnesses claim to have personally seen a man and woman, the man wearing Carlos's distinctive clothing, leaving the city in a horse-drawn cart headed east."

Darmelkon nodded. "Excellent. Track the horse and cart back to whoever they bought them from. Amber is not so stupid as to think she can simply outrun me."

The servant bowed. "Already in progress, sir. If you'll come this way, we may reach the merchant before they close business for the night."

"Lead the way."

Mikil chose that moment to speak up. "So, my money?"

Darmelkon idly tossed a heavy pouch in the boy's direction and dismissed him. He disliked spending so much on such an incompetent fool, but he was a man of his word, and it would be more than worth the cost when this was over.

He didn't even reach the merchant before another servant found him with an important report. "Sir, multiple merchants report selling tents, bedrolls, and other camping supplies today to a man and woman matching the descriptions we gave, save that the man was not wearing the distinctive clothing Carlos had. We are questioning people on the city outskirts about seeing a couple departing for a camping trip."

Darmelkon nodded. "I've no doubt you will find reports of such, but Amber might have more than one trick to mislead me. Take me to the last of these stores. I have something else to use."

Soon, he stood in front of an unremarkable general store, and carefully took out two small items from his belt pouch. One was simply a small strand of hair, taken from Amber's pillow. The other was a small circular pane of glass, lined at the edge by a fine filigree arrangement of silver. To those learned in such things, the silver wrote out a complex incantation. Darmelkon left the learning of incantations to others, but he had trusted experts of every craft in his employ, and he knew what this one would do.

He carefully threaded the strand of hair into a crease in the center of the silver filigree rim, touched the center of the glass to activate it, and peered through. He saw a bright glow in the area in front of the store, and a brief glance showed the glow was also bright inside the store, but that just confirmed what he already knew, and that the device was working correctly.

Darmelkon continued peering through the small silver-rimmed glass circle as he turned away from the store, and he saw two trails. One trail glowed slightly brighter than the other, and he gestured for his servants to follow as he got back on his horse and took the reins.

The silver was showing a slight tinge of tarnish when he arrived at an inn where the glowing trail led inside. It was a shame he'd had to use up such a valuable tool, but he hadn't amassed his wealth by refusing to spend what it took to gain even greater prizes. The innkeeper tried to protest when Darmelkon barged in, but a quick menacing glare sufficed to silence him, and Darmelkon soon stood in front of a room door where the glowing trail he was following entered but did not leave.

He gestured his servants forward once more, and they quickly forced the door open and searched the room. The bed showed signs of being used recently, the covers rumpled and disorderly, and the glowing trail his tool showed him wandered all over the room, but did not leave and was brightest in the center. There, on the floor, some shreds of paper were slowly disintegrating. If he'd taken even one hour longer to find this room, even that bit of evidence would have been gone. He'd found it in time, however, and those shreds of paper told him all he needed from this room.

Darmelkon marched back out of the inn, and instructed his servants. "Quickly, bring me to the Enchanters Guild shop."

The storefront of the Enchanters Guild was a monumental edifice, adorned with riches enough to impress even Darmelkon, but he was well used to such things and ignored the display as he brushed past the guard at the door and walked directly up to the shopkeeper, getting straight to business. "You sold a teleportation scroll today. Within the past few hours. What was its destination?"

The shopkeeper grimaced momentarily, then covered it with a fake smile. "You should know that each customer's business here is private."

Darmelkon didn't even say a word as he simply placed a gold coin on the counter.

The shopkeeper glanced at the coin and raised an eyebrow. "You think a pittance like that matters to me? If you're going to offer a bribe, don't be insulting about it."

Nine more coins joined the first.

The shopkeeper crossed his arms and started tapping his foot.

Darmelkon put ten more coins on the counter.

"Hmm. You just want to know the destination?"

"Yes."

"Oh, very well." The shopkeeper pocketed the twenty gold coins with one swift motion. "The capital. I sold exactly one teleportation scroll today, and its destination was the capital."

"I see." Darmelkon frowned. This was going to take a lot longer than he'd hoped. He might have to call in some favors. He was still on their trail, however, and it was only a matter of time to sort through all the recent arrivals in the capital and trace them. They likely thought they'd lost him, and their guard would be down. He could be patient when he had to be. His prize would be his, in due time.

Enchanter Tornay smirked inwardly as the rude man angrily strutted out of the shop. Twenty gold was a good haul for a piece of information that would prove completely useless. Tornay knew what the man was after. The Enchanters Guild's security systems could hardly fail to detect an active, unanchored, and unbound dungeon core when it was carried through their front door, after all.

Those two fools who'd bought the scroll had surely used it by now, only to be greeted on arrival by a team of the Guild's best experts in... persuading... people to sell such valuable goods to the Guild for an advantageous price. Advantageous for the Guild, of course. He was looking forward to the bonus he'd get for his involvement in it.

He'd considered going directly for the acquisition, but that really wasn't his specialty, and it could have caused a disreputable scene in the shop. Yes, much better to send them practically gift-wrapped to the specialists, and their offer of the secret of mastering the ; was a good enough excuse to accept the otherwise inadequate price they could offer for the scroll. If their explanation turned out to be genuine, then even better!

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