HDMGF book 2- Part 11

Jake’s POV

“So, who do we know who can do it?” I asked.

“I might know one person. She was a Court Mage.” Suma said.

“Who?” I asked.

“Lieutenant Datahu. She might be able to help us, and if not, we can just ask around the base.”

“She’s a court mage? Aren’t those like the highest ranking mages or something?”

“She was, but she isn’t any more. You can’t be a court mage and work as a Lieutenant in the King’s Armed Forces.” She explained.

“Okay, but why not?”

“A Court Mage must stand ready in the capital to defend members of the King’s Court, as well as be on standby should they be needed for other matters.”

“Oh, alright then. Do you think she’ll help?”

“… It is possible.” Suma said hesitantly.

“What about likely?”

“That… I cannot say.” Suma and I left the room and went searching for the Lieutenant. We bumped into Nine on the way, and he said he saw he at the pits, which was some kind of fighting arena Suma had told me about a week or so ago. As we neared the pits, we started to hear the sounds of battle.

“She must be training.” I said.

“Indeed. We should wait for her to finish.” I didn’t argue, I wanted to see what a Court Mage’s training looked like; also, the lieutenant is a little intimidating. We watched from above, Suma was perched on a metal bar, and I leaned over it. The Lieutenant’s training was impressive. She was doing maneuvers jet fighter piolets must dream about, all while casting spell after spell. Her movements were so quick, I couldn’t even follow them. She would turn on a dime, do a barrel roll, then fire of successive attacks. WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM! Four shots fired of and rang out as they hit their targets. Yeah, that’s targets, plural. She was facing off against three training summies, like the kind we used back at basic, and one other thing that looked like it was made of living rock.

“Is that some kind of golem?” I asked Suma.

“Do you mean the rock dummy?”

“Yeah.”

“I have never heard its name before, but I can attest that it is quite strong.” She said. “What is a golem?”

“It’s something that isn’t alive, but can move anyway. Usually it’s controlled from a distance by someone too weak to fight for themselves.” I said.

“Ah, then yes, it is a golem.” Suma said. We talked without looking away from the fight, not that it would have made much of a difference for me anyway. The lieutenant finished the fight with a Nature Spell. Magic circles appeared under each target, and vines shot up from the ground, impaling all four of her targets. The training dummies stopped moving and fell to the ground, while the rock golem shattered and crumbled to dust. For a second, I wondered if I should applaud.

“Are you going to keep perching there like knots on branches, or tell me what you wanted?” Lieutenant Datahu turned to us and called out.

“I- um… yes ma’am.” Suma stuttered nervously. I have to admit, even I was surprised she saw us during all that. “We had a request for you ma’am.”

“A request?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am, but first: do you know how to perform a memory delve?” I asked.

“I do.”

“Can you perform one on Jake and myself?” Suma asked.

She looked confused. “Why?”

“It’s related to my condition. The doctors on my world were able to confirm that there was no physical damage causing my hallucinations, so we think the reason lies in my mind.” I explained.

“What led you to that conclusion?” She wondered.

“Well, we think it was caused by memories that were implanted by that figure in flame.” I said.

“Figure in flame? What are you talking about?” The Lieutenant asked.

“Oh… I knew I was forgetting something.” Suma whispered to herself. We spent the next half an hour explaining everything from the beginning; starting with his first appearance, and all the way to Suma’s own visions.

“So let me get this straight,” Lieutenant Datahu sighed, “you both have been seeing visions of memories you don’t possess, and you are only telling me now, after all this time?”

“That… uh, sums it up, yeah.” I acknowledged.

“Do you two realize how many regulations this violates? Not just keeping medical conditions secret, Lady Suma, but the cause as well? I couldn’t even begin to list them.” She said shaking her head.

“So, can you help us?” Suma asked.

“Yes and no. I cannot perform the memory delve myself, that would violate regulations, but I can put in an official request for one to be performed by our base staff. We have a few members of permanent staff who can perform the spell safely.” She explained.

“Thank you ma’am.” I said.

“Thank me by reporting for training as soon as you are able, and by reporting any more sighting of this ‘figure in flame’.”

“Yes ma’am.” Suma and I agreed.

“Now, Sentinel, I have a request for you as well.” She said.

“Ma’am?”