Read Online Chasing A Spectre (War for Dominance Book 0) by Chris Kennedy - Free Book Online

The Poor Quarter
     
    “The Spectre went through there,” panted Dantes, pointing at a mirror at the end of the alley. The mirror’s surface shimmered once and then seemed to solidify before their eyes.
    Ghorza slowed to a walk as she approached it. The mirror’s glass made a ‘plink’ noise as the metal end of her staff tapped it, but remained otherwise unresponsive. “Well, whatever magic he used to go through it has already dissipated,” she replied, breathing heavily. The mirror appeared unremarkable amidst the refuse at the end of the dark alley. “It looks like a normal mirror now.”
    “Wonderful,” sighed Dantes, his breathing a little more under control. He wasn’t known for his speed and endurance; chasing the thief had taken a lot out of him. A teufling, Dantes had a devil in his lineage, which showed through in his brick-red skin, thick horns and prehensile tail. The purple eyes were especially disconcerting to look into, even if they did match his purple hair.
    Dantes pointed at the imitation gem stones that surrounded the glass on all four sides of the mirror. “There’s got to be at least 70 gems there. If it’s a four gem spell, there’s no way that we’re ever going to figure out the pattern. We were really close to catching the Spectre this time, but it looks like he’s gotten away.”
    “Again,” added Ghorza. A half-orc, she was an outsider anywhere she went, in human lands or orc. As if the pale green skin and tusked teeth didn’t set her apart enough on their own, the tufts of coarse hair covering her body made finding human companionship impossible unless she went to the taverns at closing time. Even then, she didn’t always get lucky...and no one stayed in the morning.
    Ghorza reached over to stroke the mirror, as if her hand could absorb the secret pattern necessary to activate the mirror’s travel spell. “Let’s get back to the Magistra,” she said, referring to the head of their order. “She will want to know what’s happened, even though we failed to catch the thief or find the queen’s crown. Bring the mirror. Maybe she knows a spell that will show us which gems he used to activate it. If nothing else, at least he won’t be able to use it to travel again.”
    “Don’t you think the Spectre would have put a spell on it to keep that kind of magic from working?” asked Dantes.
    Now it was Ghorza’s turn to sigh. The teufling always seemed to think things through better than she did, even though he wasn’t able to use magic as well. “Yeah, he probably did,” Ghorza said. “Still, we need to bring it back so he can’t travel back through it again. Besides, what can it hurt to bring it back?”
    “Besides my back carrying it?” grumbled Dantes. “Nothing.” He shook his head in frustration. “I really thought we had him this time, too. I’d pay all of the money I had to my name if we could get this mirror to work.”
    “Really?” asked a thin voice from the darkness of the alleyway’s corner. “And how much would that be?”
    Ghorza’s head snapped around. “Who’s there?” she demanded. “Come out now , before we blast you with a fireball!”
    “Such force is hardly necessary,” said the voice. “I surrender.”
    Ghorza and Dantes looked down in shock. The voice came from a little gray mouse that swaggered up to them and bowed. “So,” it asked again, “how much are you willing to pay for the combination to the mirror?”
     

Institute for the Arcane
     
    “We will discuss this in council and put together a team to go into the mirror after the thief,” said the Magistra. A snow elf, the Magistra was taller and wirier than most elves, standing almost three inches above six feet, with the light brown skin, long white hair, silver eyes and pointed ears that were common to her race. Typical of elves in general, who lived centuries the way humans lived decades, she was also slow to come to a decision.
    “But we’ve got to go after him now!”