you track the magic users by the signatures they left behind?”
“Yes, but not without giving away the fact we know they’re involved. If they find out we’re on to them too soon, we might not figure out what they’ve done. We also don’t know if they have portals in the other universes.”
“I have a suggestion.”
“Go ahead Corbin,” Jason said.
“Can we put a small camera outside each portal and monitor it to see who is coming and going? Since it isn’t magic, and it’s outside, the games should work.”
“Yes, especially if we put them in camera range of the portal but not right next to it,” Tokem added.
“In the meantime, I’ll do some digging on my end. I’ll check to see if we have any wizards missing. Keep me updated.”
As soon as Jason left, Traygen and Tokem brainstormed on what equipment they’d need. Once they obtained it, I would transport them back to set things up. Corbin and I reviewed what he’d learned from the fae. I perceived Queen Aerlene knew more than she was sharing.
“Lauren, is there any way to tell who is manipulating the familiars?”
“If we could catch one, it should have runes engraved on it, which would tell us who created it. Sadly, I don’t like our odds against the jaguar or the spider.”
“Me either, but they can’t all be giants. It would be too obvious. I say we go on a hunt. Are you in?”
“As long as it doesn’t slither, count me in.”
“Good, I’ll leave a note for Traygen.”
We decided on the first universe, because we’d spent more time there than anywhere else. Honestly, it seemed the lesser of the four evil universes. I hoped I would never again have to set foot in any of the other creations. We armed ourselves with our usual battle gear, but this time Corbin added a tranquilizer gun. It would put anything up to sixty pounds to sleep or I could stun it with my bracelet. Stunning was trickier because I might hit something vital with my bracelet. We used one hovercraft, and I left the driving to Corbin. I used my sight to scan for magically induced energies. Any time magic is used, it leaves a telltale trace, like an invisible trail of breadcrumbs.
We were dropped off by the transport and Corbin made a high swing over the area to make sure there were no storms brewing in the immediate vicinity. Then he took us down below the cover of the trees. We inched along, moving cautiously, painstakingly, and slowly through and around the branches and treetops. There were too many types of birds to count, and there seemed to be monkeys and apes in large groups. I watched them move with my magically sensitive sight, looking for the flashy signature of the person responsible for the familiars.
I found nothing beneath the canopy, so Corbin took us down another twenty feet. We were now about fifteen feet in the air. There were more trees, but they were spaced further apart. We noticed anacondas and different snakes I hadn’t seen before. Then I saw a small flash out of the corner of my eye, and it was gone. I tapped Corbin on the shoulder and motioned for him to move off to our left. I kept my sight open and looked for what had caused the small flare. Then I saw it again, a frog about the size of a small house cat. What was up with all these animals? They all looked like they were on steroids. I pointed, and Corbin moved closer to our frog.
I leaned over, pointed my bracelet at the frog, and put it on stun. I squeezed off a round, but it jumped right as I shot at it. It adroitly avoided my small burst of energy. It dove into the smaller denser brush below us. We circled around looking for it, searching for any sign of our missing amphibian. Corbin tapped my arm and pointed to a small shrub directly below us. I sent out my senses, and that’s when I detected it, but it hid from my sight among the low, multi-colored vegetation. These types of familiars operate with the intelligence of their animator. I had an idea, and pulled my pack around,
“Yes, but not without giving away the fact we know they’re involved. If they find out we’re on to them too soon, we might not figure out what they’ve done. We also don’t know if they have portals in the other universes.”
“I have a suggestion.”
“Go ahead Corbin,” Jason said.
“Can we put a small camera outside each portal and monitor it to see who is coming and going? Since it isn’t magic, and it’s outside, the games should work.”
“Yes, especially if we put them in camera range of the portal but not right next to it,” Tokem added.
“In the meantime, I’ll do some digging on my end. I’ll check to see if we have any wizards missing. Keep me updated.”
As soon as Jason left, Traygen and Tokem brainstormed on what equipment they’d need. Once they obtained it, I would transport them back to set things up. Corbin and I reviewed what he’d learned from the fae. I perceived Queen Aerlene knew more than she was sharing.
“Lauren, is there any way to tell who is manipulating the familiars?”
“If we could catch one, it should have runes engraved on it, which would tell us who created it. Sadly, I don’t like our odds against the jaguar or the spider.”
“Me either, but they can’t all be giants. It would be too obvious. I say we go on a hunt. Are you in?”
“As long as it doesn’t slither, count me in.”
“Good, I’ll leave a note for Traygen.”
We decided on the first universe, because we’d spent more time there than anywhere else. Honestly, it seemed the lesser of the four evil universes. I hoped I would never again have to set foot in any of the other creations. We armed ourselves with our usual battle gear, but this time Corbin added a tranquilizer gun. It would put anything up to sixty pounds to sleep or I could stun it with my bracelet. Stunning was trickier because I might hit something vital with my bracelet. We used one hovercraft, and I left the driving to Corbin. I used my sight to scan for magically induced energies. Any time magic is used, it leaves a telltale trace, like an invisible trail of breadcrumbs.
We were dropped off by the transport and Corbin made a high swing over the area to make sure there were no storms brewing in the immediate vicinity. Then he took us down below the cover of the trees. We inched along, moving cautiously, painstakingly, and slowly through and around the branches and treetops. There were too many types of birds to count, and there seemed to be monkeys and apes in large groups. I watched them move with my magically sensitive sight, looking for the flashy signature of the person responsible for the familiars.
I found nothing beneath the canopy, so Corbin took us down another twenty feet. We were now about fifteen feet in the air. There were more trees, but they were spaced further apart. We noticed anacondas and different snakes I hadn’t seen before. Then I saw a small flash out of the corner of my eye, and it was gone. I tapped Corbin on the shoulder and motioned for him to move off to our left. I kept my sight open and looked for what had caused the small flare. Then I saw it again, a frog about the size of a small house cat. What was up with all these animals? They all looked like they were on steroids. I pointed, and Corbin moved closer to our frog.
I leaned over, pointed my bracelet at the frog, and put it on stun. I squeezed off a round, but it jumped right as I shot at it. It adroitly avoided my small burst of energy. It dove into the smaller denser brush below us. We circled around looking for it, searching for any sign of our missing amphibian. Corbin tapped my arm and pointed to a small shrub directly below us. I sent out my senses, and that’s when I detected it, but it hid from my sight among the low, multi-colored vegetation. These types of familiars operate with the intelligence of their animator. I had an idea, and pulled my pack around,
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