Fists of Justice (Schooled in Magic #12)

And they have…something…on their side, Emily thought. If Justice drew energy from the spells hurled at him, the wards protecting the street will be an all-you-can-eat buffet. The sorcerers won’t stand a chance.

Hundreds of wards drifted through the air as they turned into Sorcerers Row. Emily sensed a dozen sorcerers looking at her – looking at everyone – through the wards; she shivered, helplessly, as the wards drifted over her skin. They felt formidable, but they might prove worse than useless against Justice. She hoped the wardcrafters had enough sense not to hook themselves directly to the wards. The feedback from one or more of them breaking would be enough to kill their creators.

Sienna stopped to speak to one of the sorcerers on the barricade. Emily glanced at Caleb, then took one of the pamphlets and tested it for hidden surprises. The rune on her chest warmed as soon as she opened it, warning her of subtle magic. She tested the paper carefully, trying to find the rune. Someone had drawn the pattern out so carefully that it only formed when the pamphlet was opened. It was a very low-power rune, so subtle that it might pass unnoticed, but given time it would have an effect on anyone close by.

“Clever,” she muttered.

“Whoever designed this was disgustingly inventive,” Caleb agreed. “That’s nasty.”

Emily nodded. On one hand, it was reassuring. The Hands of Justice – the Fists, now – seemed to think they needed to force people to convert to their faith. They weren’t confident enough to believe otherwise. But on the other hand…most of the city’s population, even the strong-willed, wouldn’t realize the rune existed, let alone what it did. They might not convert immediately, but their resistance would slowly wear down to a nub. Just leaving the pamphlet open in the wrong place might prove disastrous.

“We can destroy the rune,” she said. She silently cursed the unknown designer under her breath. She’d seen her fair share of charmed or cursed books, including one that was supposed to drive its readers insane, but this was obnoxious. Even an experienced sorcerer might miss the rune unless he had special protections. “And we can warn others to destroy it too.”

“Unless it’s charmed to react badly when the rune is broken,” Caleb said. He cast a series of spells over the pamphlet. “It doesn’t look to be charmed, but there could be something else hidden between the pages.”

“Keep an eye on me,” Emily ordered. She peered down at the pamphlet, carefully. “And don’t let me do anything stupid.”

“That’s a full-time job,” Caleb teased.

Emily ignored him as she read the pamphlet. The writer had used the New Learning – a combination of English letters and phonic spelling – to make a simple case for justice. And Justice. An indictment of the guildmasters and their rule, a condemnation of the other religions and their gods, a simple statement that Justice was the sole god of Beneficence…and a set of rules and regulations intended to keep the population in line. If anything, it was worse than she’d feared. The entire population would be re-educated until resistance was not only futile, but inconceivable.

“Crap,” she muttered.

Frieda hurried over to join them. “What now?”

“Good question,” Emily said. The Fists of Justice had to be stopped. Once they had the city in an iron grip, they’d start advancing into Zangaria. She had no doubt that advance parties of priests were already preparing the true believers for the next step. King Randor would not react calmly when he heard the news. “I don’t know.”

She contemplated possibilities as Sienna led them back to the house. Attacking Justice directly would be futile, at least until they devised a way to defeat the entity. It would just get them killed. Starving the entity of magic might work – she’d defeated the Manavores using something similar – but Justice might be able to break free of any traps before he ran out of power. The Mimic had lasted for quite some time between feeding sessions…

“This cannot go on,” General Pollack said, once they were inside. His glamour had been removed. “I’ll have to find out just how many councillors are actually left.”

“The guildmasters were killed,” Caleb said.

“There will be others who survived,” General Pollack told him. “Even if the standing guildmasters are dead, they will have successors.”

“Who will think that there is a real live god walking the streets,” Sienna said. “We might be alone.”

“We need help,” General Pollack said. “If no one tries to resist, they’ll have all the time in the world to tighten their grip on the city.”

Emily nodded. She’d been in Alexis when King Randor had nearly been overthrown by a coup. The plotters would have won if they’d had a chance to take control of the rest of the city, crushing resistance before it could take shape. But they hadn’t…

Her lips twitched. They would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for us meddlesome kids.

“The moment you step outside the street, you’ll be challenged,” Sienna pointed out. “They already have men watching Sorcerers Row.”

“I’ll sneak through the gap.” General Pollack sounded enthused by the chance for real action, despite the risks. He hadn’t led from the front during the last war against the necromancers. “I have plenty of experience in sneaking around.”

He looked at Caleb. “I’ll take Caleb with me. His magic can help us avoid detection.”

“Be careful.” Sienna shared a long look with her husband. “And make sure you trust the people you find.”

Emily winced. The sheer power of the entity was terrifying. Someone who might be trustworthy at one point might be converted into an implacable enemy, just by constant exposure to the presence. She looked at the pamphlet in her hand and cursed the unknown writer under her breath. There was so much subtle magic involved that it would be very difficult to muster resistance.

And they have had plenty of time to plant spies everywhere, she thought, grimly. The general might walk into a trap.

“Be very careful,” she said to Caleb. She held up the pamphlet. “And make sure you warn them to burn these.”

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