four are the commando squad?”
“I never said commando,” Astrid protested.
“Don’t laugh, young man,” Clancy said. “I was dropping paratroopers on France when you weren’t yet a rude thought in your daddy’s knickers. Janet served as a nurse in Vietnam, which makes her tougher than all us put together.”
“No offense meant.” He eased his body language, consciously broadcasting warmth, openness. “If you four are going to help rescue my children, it makes you my new best friends.”
Igme grinned. “Have a look at our bus?”
Will stepped aboard. Most of the seats were gone, and the interior walls were lined with Peg-Board and covered in chantments. “Looks like a cross between a dollar store and a carpenter’s shop.”
Unlike Igme, whose speech was colored with just a trace of California surfer, Aquino had a strong Spanish accent: “You tell us where to go, Clancy takes us there. Janet, she keeps people from noticing us.”
“We’re going to be invisible?”
“Just sneaky.” Janet said, “Invisibility’s a power pig.”
“What if Sahara’s people are expecting us?” Will fingered the chantments dangling from the Peg-Board. “Are these … for combat?”
“I’d rather calm people down than fight them,” Astrid said.
“Casualties happen,” Will said, echoing Clancy.
“Janet will heal anyone who gets injured.”
“Okay, I believe you. Janet’s doing stealth and first aid; Clancy’s driving. The rest of us gently quell the opposition. Anything else?”
“We’ll leak a bit of vitagua—spread magic beyond the forest,” Astrid said. “But the primary goal is finding your kids.”
“And after that, Pike will find me a job?”
“If you’re willing,” she said. “Nobody’s obliged.”
Will frowned. “Before you escaped custody, you asked me to be your apprentice.”
“That’s up to you, Will.”
“Is it? You know the future—bits and pieces, anyway.”
“Nobody can force you to take on the magical well.”
“You’re ducking the question, Astrid. You believe I’ll do it, don’t you?”
She nodded.
He could feel the eyes of the others on him. So much responsibility had fallen on Astrid’s shoulders. As far as anyone knew, she was the last well wizard, the only one with access to the unreal and its seas of enchantment. It was up to her to return magic to the world.
Astrid was literally remaking the planet, and by her own admission struggling to hold off catastrophe. Expecting Will to be her backup … it was overwhelming, impossible.
But if it was the only way to recover Ellie and Carson?
He shook away the apprehension. Astrid wasn’t asking for anything. He’d forgotten this: her generosity of spirit, her willingness to let people be themselves.
“Let’s just collect the kids,” Astrid said. “The rest of our plan—”
“Mission,” Igme corrected.
“Raid,” Clancy said. “Into enemy territory, no less.”
“Oh! I’m really uncool with the word enemy, ” Astrid said.
“Operation?” Janet suggested, needling.
“Maybe we can leave the semantics for later,” Will said. “According to the seers, the kids are in St. Louis, Missouri.”
“Igme?” Astrid said. “You’ve been studying up on St. Louis?”
“You bet I have,” the young man said. “They’re okay for food and water. There’s been power brownouts, looting. It’s too hot, especially in the refugee camps. We could draw some heat—”
“Windstorms,” Janet objected.
“Might keep people indoors.”
“When you make things in a hot region very cold all of a sudden, Will, there’s side effects,” Astrid explained.
He had seen this when the army clashed with the Alchemites. Cold air took up less space than hot. When chantments drew heat, the air pressure dropped, causing the wind to rise.
“Katarina has a fancy weather model in Europe,” Aquino said. “In Bern.”
“Bern?”
“I’ll make chantments for the locals.” Astrid interrupted—hastily,
“I never said commando,” Astrid protested.
“Don’t laugh, young man,” Clancy said. “I was dropping paratroopers on France when you weren’t yet a rude thought in your daddy’s knickers. Janet served as a nurse in Vietnam, which makes her tougher than all us put together.”
“No offense meant.” He eased his body language, consciously broadcasting warmth, openness. “If you four are going to help rescue my children, it makes you my new best friends.”
Igme grinned. “Have a look at our bus?”
Will stepped aboard. Most of the seats were gone, and the interior walls were lined with Peg-Board and covered in chantments. “Looks like a cross between a dollar store and a carpenter’s shop.”
Unlike Igme, whose speech was colored with just a trace of California surfer, Aquino had a strong Spanish accent: “You tell us where to go, Clancy takes us there. Janet, she keeps people from noticing us.”
“We’re going to be invisible?”
“Just sneaky.” Janet said, “Invisibility’s a power pig.”
“What if Sahara’s people are expecting us?” Will fingered the chantments dangling from the Peg-Board. “Are these … for combat?”
“I’d rather calm people down than fight them,” Astrid said.
“Casualties happen,” Will said, echoing Clancy.
“Janet will heal anyone who gets injured.”
“Okay, I believe you. Janet’s doing stealth and first aid; Clancy’s driving. The rest of us gently quell the opposition. Anything else?”
“We’ll leak a bit of vitagua—spread magic beyond the forest,” Astrid said. “But the primary goal is finding your kids.”
“And after that, Pike will find me a job?”
“If you’re willing,” she said. “Nobody’s obliged.”
Will frowned. “Before you escaped custody, you asked me to be your apprentice.”
“That’s up to you, Will.”
“Is it? You know the future—bits and pieces, anyway.”
“Nobody can force you to take on the magical well.”
“You’re ducking the question, Astrid. You believe I’ll do it, don’t you?”
She nodded.
He could feel the eyes of the others on him. So much responsibility had fallen on Astrid’s shoulders. As far as anyone knew, she was the last well wizard, the only one with access to the unreal and its seas of enchantment. It was up to her to return magic to the world.
Astrid was literally remaking the planet, and by her own admission struggling to hold off catastrophe. Expecting Will to be her backup … it was overwhelming, impossible.
But if it was the only way to recover Ellie and Carson?
He shook away the apprehension. Astrid wasn’t asking for anything. He’d forgotten this: her generosity of spirit, her willingness to let people be themselves.
“Let’s just collect the kids,” Astrid said. “The rest of our plan—”
“Mission,” Igme corrected.
“Raid,” Clancy said. “Into enemy territory, no less.”
“Oh! I’m really uncool with the word enemy, ” Astrid said.
“Operation?” Janet suggested, needling.
“Maybe we can leave the semantics for later,” Will said. “According to the seers, the kids are in St. Louis, Missouri.”
“Igme?” Astrid said. “You’ve been studying up on St. Louis?”
“You bet I have,” the young man said. “They’re okay for food and water. There’s been power brownouts, looting. It’s too hot, especially in the refugee camps. We could draw some heat—”
“Windstorms,” Janet objected.
“Might keep people indoors.”
“When you make things in a hot region very cold all of a sudden, Will, there’s side effects,” Astrid explained.
He had seen this when the army clashed with the Alchemites. Cold air took up less space than hot. When chantments drew heat, the air pressure dropped, causing the wind to rise.
“Katarina has a fancy weather model in Europe,” Aquino said. “In Bern.”
“Bern?”
“I’ll make chantments for the locals.” Astrid interrupted—hastily,
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