Free Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 by Brian Wilkerson Page A

Kallen, Nayr,
and Tolv were their flying metal animals and so they were always home. They
didn't feel Eric's longing. For him, home was a cozy little apartment in Roalt,
the capital of Ataidar. He was still days away and not getting any closer.
    Once all the elves
finished thanking Raguc for their freedom, they were escorted to the guest
quarters while their former captors were escorted to the brig. Then the good
captain talked with a cleric to confirm the bounty they were supposed to claim
and how this boosted the community’s income relative to the expenses of
repairing its craft. Finally, having noted Nayr and Tolv talking with Kallen,
he offered to give her a ride to Acemo’s southern border.
    “There’s a war going on
between it and Liclis right now. It’s something about monsters or civil rights
or trade barriers or something.”
    “It’s straight-up
conquest, captain,” the clerk said.
    “I don’t care what the
cause is as long as we can make money off it. Anyway, you’ll be safer in my
flying fortress than your golden dinghy.”
    Kallen scowled. “ Albatross
IX is not a dinghy.”
    “I call it a dinghy
because Wiol forbids me from plundering dinghies because people who fly them
are generally not worth the effort. If you insist that it’s not a dinghy, then
I’ll have to reconsider.”
    Kallen tensed, then
exhaled it all. “Fine, it’s a dinghy.”
    Raguc turned around
with his hands clasped behind his back. “I’m glad we could agree. By the way,
my daughter is a fan of yours. Do you mind giving her your autograph?”
    “You’re a father!?”
Eric explained.
    Raguc looked over his
shoulder at the young mage and he gulped.
    “She’s a lucky girl.”
    “Oh, sure,” Kallen said.
“What's her name?”
    Tasio appeared between
them, carrying a little girl in a pink dress. She jumped out of his arms, ran
to Kallen, and glomped her. The older girl smiled and patted her head. Eric
shook his own, but couldn't resist smiling too. Then Emily rushed from her
observation platform and tackled Tasio. Pinning him to the ground, she
demanded, “Tasio, send me home right now!”
    Tasio blinked. “‘Bend
the gnome night plow’? Kallen, I think your sidekick inhaled some of the
chaotic exhaust.”
    Without warning, he
disappeared. Emily looked around for him but didn’t find him. A cage appeared
above her head and clattered to the ground around her. Tasio’s head emerged
from the bars in front of her. He said, “Do you consider me your jailer?”
    “ Yes. ”
    “Jails are full of
people who committed crimes. This is because they have done something wrong.
You have done nothing wrong and so you are not a criminal, which means you are
not in a jail.”
    The bars melded
together and created transparent screens of many locations both urban and wild.
Emily recognized them from the many traveling pamphlets in her desk drawer.
From all of them came a single voice, like someone speaking over an intercom: “Thank
you for flying with Trickster Help Service, where we make dreams come true.”
    It took a moment for
Emily to process what Tasio said, and when she did, she screamed.
    “You kidnapped me
because I said I wanted to travel!? Well, I don’t anymore, so give me
heavy-duty help and send me home!”
    “A kidnapping is
resolved with ransom. The way out of jail is to post bail. A lock will only
open with a key. A child safety cap needs an adult.”
    “Milard, please humor
her,” Kallen said.
    The travel screens
vanished and Tasio, in his floating guise, appeared next to Kallen.
    “Okay, but only because
it’s you asking.”
    He ruffled her hair and
floated over to Emily. He sat cross-legged in the air and placed his right hand
on his left arm. From his “skin,” he pulled down a chart of Noitearc. It was a
tree with fruit of three colors: golden-brown, granite grey, and zebra stripes.
    “There are more colors,
but only these are relevant for this discussion: golden-brown is Chaos, grey is
Order, and