"What?" Erick blinked in confusion.
"Not the familial kind. You and she share the same Master Teacher. You are her senior brother and she is your junior sister. You should treat each other well. You are the only two who share the same Master Teacher."
"Who…" Erick's eyes widened. "Elsa Wiggins?"
Hubert Blackstone nodded. "My wife is known by many names to many people. You know her as Elsa Wiggins. Nana calls her Kim Asada. Neither is her real name."
"W---what is her real name?"
"I'd prefer she tell you that herself. It's not for me to say."
"I was taught how to be a First Class Necromancer by Elsa Wiggins. Is Nana Imara also a First Class Necromancer?"
"Hahahaha!"
Hubert Blackstone laughed for a long time. Tears streamed down his face.
"Nana Imara has no mage powers. She can't store any power inside her body at all."
"She's inert?" Erick gasped. "That means my poor junior sister is...disabled…"
He frowned in puzzlement. "If that is the case, what could Elsa Wiggins possibly teach her?"
"Nana can mind-meld with animals. She can connect and communicate with them telepathically."
"What's so special about that? Most mages can talk to animals."
"Yes but they can only speak to a single individual animal at a time. And even then, it is limited to single basic commands like no, sit, stay, roll over."
Erick shrugged. "Is there any other way to communicate with animals?"
"Oh yes. Nana can command thousands and thousands of animals all at once to do very complex things. She can also see through their mind's eyes to gather information from them."
"I thought you said she was disabled."
"I never said she was disabled. YOU said that."
Erick scratched his head. "My apologies. You're correct. I take it back. That is one serious mage. I've never heard of anyone who could do that before. What would you call her form of magik?"
Hubert Blackstone shrugged. "She would be known in ancient times as a Thiriomancer."
Erick nodded. "That makes sense since thirio means beast. It wouldn't be a stretch to call her a Beast Master either."
"Absolutely. In the same way that Zander, who is an aeromancer among other things, is called a Storm Lord, she could be called a Beast Master."
"I would love to meet her some day in the future. I have a few sisters, none of whom I'm fond of."
Blackstone sighed. "At the rate we're going, you may not get the chance to meet her at all. We are tumbling head-over-ass into a war and there's nothing we can do to stop it."
"I need to extract Zander before everything blows apart with a huge bang."
"You must do it tomorrow. It will be too late for you if you wait even one more day."
"Why is that?"
"Topaz will fall on Friday."
"I have men coming to hold the line. They are enroute now, on trains. They can get here in two days."
"They won't make it by Friday. There are no train tunnels going into Topaz from anywhere in Ashrya. Your men will be stuck at Jasper and Amethyst for at least two days."
"I sent orders for them to be deployed this morning. They should be in the vicinity within two days' travel time."
Hubert Blackstone shook his head. "The earliest they will be able to make it into Topaz would be Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on the direction they will be traveling from. It would be too late to save Topaz by then."
"We can port them through."
"A handful at a time through tiny portals? And wear out all your mages' powers? Is that even wise?"
"What can we do to help?"
"Nothing. There is nothing you can do. The only thing you can do is storm Topaz Palace and extract Zander with everything you have at your disposal. You cannot save Topaz, but you can definitely save your cousin."
Erick frowned. "There must be SOMETHING I can do to help you…"
"It's too late for Topaz. This kingdom has always been too isolated from all the other Ashryan kingdoms. There are benefits from that isolation, but there are also major disadvantages."
Hubert Blackstone's eyes were bleak. "Furthermore, Alastaire has had months to move his troops into Topaz AND he's taken all the warriors of House Montecito. He also took half the Primate Warriors from Topaz Academy's Primate Compound."
He waved his hand in a shooing motion. "Go now. The longer you stand there shooting the breeze with me, the less time you will have to rescue your cousin. That is of utmost importance. Go!"
Erick stared at the old wizard. With a fist to his heart, he bowed.
"Take care of yourself, old man. If you or anyone you know need to escape Topaz, please port directly to my palace. You are always welcomed there."
"Why would I need to do that? I can just port to my wife's bamboo forest if all I want to do is escape from danger. Nobody can enter the bamboo forest without my wife's approval."
"Be careful Wizard Blackstone."
Erick spoke a Command and opened a portal. With one last wave of his hand, he disappeared.
Hubert Blackstone sat back against his seat and heaved a heavy sigh.
His wife's favorite saying had always been: "There is nothing worse than seeing what is to pass and not being able to do anything to avert the crisis."
It was absolutely true in the case of the impending war that was about to rip through Topaz.
There was nothing he could do to avert the crisis.
Nothing!
🌺🌺🌺
"Mira. Mira honey, wake up." Someone was shaking her shoulders.
Mira blinked.
Her lids felt like sandpaper. Her head, like lead. Her body, like molasses.
"Erick?" she mumbled half-awake.
"Darling. We found where Zander's been kept. I'm going to go extract him now. You stay here until we return."
Suddenly all her fatigue vanished.
"I'm coming with you."
"It's too dangerous sweetheart. I'm only taking Alfric, Daran, Ziggy, Theo and Jana. If you come along, we will have to protect you too and that might make a difference whether Zander comes out or not."
As much as Mira wanted to protest, she knew he was right. She was not a true mage. All she had was a gun with a limited amount of bullets. Once those bullets ran out, she was a sitting duck.
The chance of her getting in their way was high if she was there. She had to trust in the people she brought along to do their jobs.
These were high level mages and warriors. If anyone could bring him back out, they would be able to.
Her face fell and her body slumped, but then the thought that they would be able to bring Zander back filled her with euphoria and she jumped up to grab his shoulders.
"Please stay safe. And please bring him back safely." She pressed her face into his chest.
"We will do our best. You just rest a bit and get ready to meet him."
Erick held her carefully as if she was a fragile precious thing and then gently dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. Then he separated from her.
Touching her face one last time with gentle fingers, he turned and left.
Once he left, she galvanized into action. Now was not the time to rest. She had not bathed in three days because of the scry-visual work. She needed to look her best for Zander.
Half an hour later, Mira had bathed and dressed in fresh California clothes. Hello Kitty was tucked neatly to her hips, along with the six spare clips she had secured onto her holster.
They were still within the danger zone and she could not afford to trip over the large folds of a dang blasted Queen gown.
🌺🌺🌺
In the War Room, the special ops force had convened. They had been briefed and knew what they needed to do. All the members were ready and waiting.
Daran Duluth and Ziggy Astrid were quietly chatting by the window. Jana and Theo stood together next to them not saying anything, but his hand was on her shoulder in a sign of protective familiarity.
Alfric was seated at the counter nearby with another person when Erick entered the place. Both seated men stood up to greet him.
"Your Royal Highness." The other man gave a slight bow of greetings.
"Cobalt Osiris." Erick bowed in return. "It's been awhile."
"Can't say I'm happy to see you in Topaz. We're in very tough times right now." The redhead male shook his head, setting off a tumble of long loose wavy tresses.
He was tall, at least 6'3".
At his full height, he looked Erick straight in the eyes. His long flowing tresses were a deep regal red and his eyes were a deep crystal blue. He looked like the de facto ruler of Topaz.
Erick nodded. "Nevertheless, I am truly glad you have joined us on this mission. I'm sure you know everyone here."
Erick gave brief introductions for everyone's benefit."Since you know the layout of Topaz Palace better than anyone, I'm hoping you can get us in and out quickly. My only goal is to rescue Zander."
Cobalt nodded. "Understood. Are we ready to leave at this moment?"
"Ready when you are."
Cobalt Osiris nodded and called forth a portal opening.
"Mashangjokai"
He nodded at the group and slipped through the portal.