Illusions in the Bar

Artifacts of the Arcane by Jake Kerr, Season two, The Coat of Invincibility, Episode fifteen, Illusions in the Bar. The next morning, I was lying in bed using the staff to create images on the ceiling as I waited for Naomi. A shirt knock made me jump, and I rushed over to the door. I opened it to find Naomi with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, something I had only seen her do once before the moment in her castle. When she came to talk to me in my room. It highlighted her face, especially her cheekbones. It's time Naomi smiled for the first time in a long time, and when she smiled, her dimples made an appearance and had changed her entire look from hard and serious to light and beautiful. I think you're only happy when you're causing trouble. That's not true. I moved out of the way and let her into the room. I'm only happy when I'm doing magic, and this is going to be some really challenging magic. She knocked on the door that connected my room to Arcadi's time to go Arkadie opened the door. I had never seen him so focused. He said something in Russian. I'm sorry, just concentrating. I'm ready. We left and I led the two magicians down the stairs and outside. We had paid a driver to take us to the bar and then wait for us for the return trip. Leningrad was entirely consumed with preparing for war. Troops were everywhere, and it seemed order in the face of impending violence was paramount. In such circumstances, often the only way for practical business to take place was to bribe people to look the other way so that you could operate outside these tight controls. That's what we did for transportation. The driver was a bearded jolly man who happily took our money and spoke in a torrent of Russian to ar Katie, he doesn't want to know anything. Despite his desire not to know anything, the driver kept up a steady conversation with Ur Katie during the whole trip, waving with his arms at traffic stops and laughing heartily at even the most succinct reply. When we finally stepped out of the car a block from the bar, I turned to our Katie, what was that all about? He knows we're up to something, so he trusts us and decided to spend the trip complaining about the Soviets. At least it made me feel better about trusting him. We walked slowly toward the bar. I was nervous as we passed a few groups of young men, but they paid us no mind. I had a thick coat with a wide collar that I pulled up around my face. Everyone near the bar seemed secretive. I glanced over at Naomi. She looks like she was a entrance, her eyes nearly motionless as they stared ahead. Her hands made barely perceptible movements that were so complicated that they didn't look quite real. Arkaide was just as focused. We finally reached the front door. Take my arm and lead me in. Tommy, please don't let anything hit my hands. Then go to a safe corner. I took her arm and opened the door, ushering her through. She continued to stare straight ahead, as if she wasn't even aware of the physical world around her. I guided her in and held the door for ur Katie. The bar was dimly lit, with booths around the back and right walls. The rest was full of bar tables with stools. A long wooden bar ran the length of the left wall with two bartenders behind it. The room was full of men of various ages, all of them rough looking with grim, weathered faces. There weren't any free seats, so I stood at the left of the bar, close enough to look like I belonged, but far enough out of the way that no one would bother me. Naomi crouched in the middle of the room, making a series of movements. It was like watching a ballerina who is forced to dance a complicated ballet without moving her. Despite the fact that she was lightly clothed in cold weather, no one paid any attention to her tapping the staff on the floor out of nervousness. I wondered if she was camouflaged by some illusion. Our Kitty walked up to a large man and grabbed him by the shoulder. The man turned around with a scowl on his face. He looked at Arkadie and his eyes went wide. Ar Katy said something and pointed in Naomi's direction. The man then looked back at Our Katie, nodded and stood up. I was excited at how well things were going. The man was going to walk right out of the bar and follow us to the car without so much as an objection. The spy was about five feet from Naomi when he sprinted ahead, knocking directly into her and sitting her sprawling on the ground. I had only one chance. I ran over and intercepted him. Just as he reached the door. I swung the cane with all the force I could muster and brought it down on the back of his head. He stumbled forward and instead of opening the door, slammed in to it. He slid to the ground, dazed but still conscious. It was a mess inside the bar. Men were gathered around Naomi, who was slowly getting up. R. Katie was fighting through men to help her, and as he did so, men were pushing him away. Once started to yell at him and rushing and pulled his arm back as if to punch him. R Katie, bring her this way. I held up the staff and filled the room with a blinding light. It didn't affect Naomi and Arkadi, but everyone else was shielding their eyes. Hurry. R Katie lifted Naomi, who was unsteady, in his arms, and helped her over to the door. Take the spy, I'll help her. I put my arms around Naomi, and as I helped her stand, I was shocked. She was extremely thin and light, mere skin and bones, even lighter than when I held her on the ship. R Katie grabbed the groggy spy and pushed him through the door. I can handle myself. Naomi said it through quenched teeth. She tossed her hand back, and there was a crash. I glanced backward and the room looked like a giant bowling ball had rolled through, with men and tables tossed all over the floor. Naomi pushed on the door to leave and stumbled. I put my arm around her again. No more magic, you're too weak. We walked out to the street where ur Katie was dragging the man toward the car. Naomi pulled herself from my arms and marched forward. She ran in front of our Kadie, stopping him in his tracks. Do you see this? Naomi held up her right hand and a deep red ball appeared. Unlike much of her magic, this didn't glow or crackle with energy. It hovered above her hand. I ran up to her and arcady. Naomi, No, Tommy, she held up a finger from her left hand. He has the sight. There's no other way he would have seen through my illusion. She poked her finger against the spy's forehead a few times, making him cringe and closed his eyes. You know what this is, don't you. She held up the red ball and the man cow. Naomi, we just need to question him. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed some men leaving the bar and looking our way. Also, we have company. I already cast an illusion. They see an empty street. She turned back to the spy. I glanced back at the bar again, and the men were looking up and down the street and pointing in various directions. The only reason you aren't dead is that you have value. The man didn't reply. Ur Katie, please translate. R Katie spoke some words in Russian and the man nodded his head. I stared at Naomi. Some of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and rather than look cute, it made her look almost crazed. Her eyes were blazing, and her mouth had the sneer of someone looking for the slightest excuse to unleash violence. Now you will tell me where the Germans. Are, Naomi. We don't need to know that. We're looking for the arch mage. Naomi turned to me, her eyes brimming with tears. Mister Eli died saving me because of them. We can get the coat later. She turned to face the spy and moved the red spell closer to his face. The man cried out. First, we take care of the Nazis Naomi. Something caught Naomi's eye and she looked up. Oh for crying out loud. I looked up, and a few men must have hurt us, and we're heading our way. Naomi raised her hand to cast her spell. At dem no I pushed her arm. The spell shot out and struck a motorcycle that was parked on the other side of the street. It started to glow and then burst into flame for a moment before falling to the ground in a pile of ashes. Sesh, Naomi, we're not murderers, ur Katie. Let's get to the car. We can interrogate the spy back at the hotel. Is that wise, Well, we don't have time to do it here unless you're okay with Naomi going on a murderous rampage. Naomi glared at me as our Katie nodded. She avoided my gaze. As we walked back to the car. The driver looked at the half conscious man in ar Katie's arms. Shook his head, but didn't say anything as we loaded him into the back seat. Between me and ar Katie, Naomi sat in the front seat. She was quiet during the drive back to the hotel, resting her head against the glass of the window. After all the spells she had cast, she must have been exhausted. We arrived at the hotel, and after our Katie and I had climbed out with a spy, I looked back. Naomi was sitting with her face in her hands. I couldn't tell if she had collapsed in exhaustion or was so angry that she didn't want to look at me. I walked over. I opened the door, and she looked up at me. Her face was red. Tommy, I'm really weak. Can you help me. I reached in and lifted her up. I helped her as we walked to our rooms, Naomi leaning on me for support. I escorted her into her room, where she fell on top of the bed. She rolled over and looked away from me. It was a quilt at the base of the bed, which I pulled up to cover her. I turned off the lamp and turned to leave. I'm sorry, Tommy, I can't do anything right. I turned to tell her that everything was all right, that I understood her anger, I didn't really think she was a murderer, and more than anything, I was also racked with pain over mister Lee. Before I could speak, however, I heard a small snore. I turned away and left, closing the door behind me. A podcast Alchemy Productions