The Krakos: Book Two of The Legend of the Artificer

Chapter 6

"Now hold on just a second, isn't Sorncrest nearly fifty-seven leagues to the south?" Tibalt demanded. "Wouldn't ze have been here?"

A long silence spilled out, and there was uncomfortable shifting.

"Local authorities have investigated and determined it was the same magic that flooded the south," Dwar explained and looked at zim with such disappointment. "Innes, laddie, ye shouldn't have let her tell ye to do that."

"Wait, hold on," Tibalt blurted. "Innes didn't even craft that spell."

"Oh, not you, too," Grim muttered and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I'm serious! It wasn't zim! The science doesn't back it up!"

"It's not science, Tibalt, it's magic," Angel cut in, and Tibalt looked between them all helplessly.

"It's Chiis magic, Tibalt. There's no one else that could have done it. We have a decided lack of krakos in this country. There's only a handful of them able to cast a spell like that," Dwar said sympathetically and looked at Innes like he pitied zim. "A gang war ain't worth yer life, Innes."

"How could I have casted it if I was here?" Innes demanded, and ze actually sounded upset. "Sofia wouldn't have even ordered something like that. We wouldn't drown a full town just to target the Yssilmu."

"The Syndicate has done a lot worse in the past, laddie."

"That was before Sofia was running things," Innes insisted. "She wouldn't ask me to do that. And I would have told her no, and she would have respected it."

"Laddie, it's out of my hands. I don't doubt ye," but he really sounded like he did, "but I'll have to be keeping ye here until they come to pick ye up. You'll have the chance to defend yourself this time."

Tibalt made a small screech of pure frustration as his emotions bubbled up and out.

"This isn't right," he insisted. "How are you going to arrest someone that isn't even there? Surely anyone would be able to tell you ze was here, in town, when it happened."

"Well, how are we meant to know the limitations of Chiis magic?" Dwar asked and Tibalt swung around helplessly to look at Innes standing there proudly, but he could see the tremor in zir body, like they were keeping zirself up with sheer willpower. "It could'a been a delayed counter. It could'a been casted from a great distance. We don't know."

"But it's not even an attack spell, if it was an attack spell, the intent holding pattern would have had an entirely different structure---"

"I have no idea what yer on about, Tibalt, but Innes will have the chance to defend zimself," Dwar said, though doubt was coloring his tone. "Now, Innes, ye've been nothing but polite, always have been, and I hate to do this, but..."

The cell door clanged shut, and Dwar walked to the wall, where there were sets of charms engraved in the stone, and slid his thumb across one circle. Innes made a ragged sound and collapsed to the ground in a pile of tentacles, zir static spell that kept zim afloat cut like strings on a puppet, and there was a dangerous hum shaking the bars as Tibalt watched in horror as Innes sat back up on the dirty floor.

"These are serious accusations," Dwar said and pursed his lips, like he hated to do this, and Tibalt made a muffled noise of sheer offense.

"You can't just take away zir means of walking! Or, floating, or whatever!" he protested, and Dwar just sighed.

"I'm afraid I have to, Tibalt. No magic for holding like this."

"Tibalt," Innes said softly and Tibalt whipped his head around to watch Innes haul zimself onto the bench. "It's alright. I appreciate the offense on my behalf, but it's unneeded."