Chapter 27

“Well now we have that settled, let us move on,” Ricky stated.

“Where do you people wish to be dropped off?” He asked the helpers.

Dylan stood, and after looking at his friends, he said, “We’ve not been paid.”

“Yes, I gathered that. Considering how you have damaged my property; I shall need you all to help me clean up this mess. I will give each of you a small bag of crystals once we part company. Will Amethyst Dale do, or do you wish me to send you to one of the other cities?”

After a murmured agreement, Dylan, as their spokesperson, agreed that Amethyst Dale would be good enough as most of them came from that area.

“Kirin, where do your people wish to go?” Ricky then asked.

“We need to go back to River City. However, we wish to take Lord Kerr into custody. He does have other crimes he has to answer to,” Kirin replied.

“Well, since your High Wizard has already handed out her punishment, I believe you can take Kerr off of your books.”

“How is making him look after Lady Dee’s properties for her a punishment?” Kirin asked perplexed.

Tricky chuckled. “You did hear that Kerr can no longer cheat, lie or steal, nor can he instigate the killing of or kill anyone, anymore?”

“Yes, but how is that a punishment?” Mira wanted to know. “He will still be free and not locked up.”

“Do you have any idea how often even so-called good people, tell lies on any given day? Just being forced to tell the truth will cause him a lot of pain in the years to come. Some people may not wish to hear the truths that come from his mouth, either.”

“Plus, he won’t be able to make up elaborate schemes or carry them out if it means they cause harm to others. He was also being coerced by Lord Jay, so not all of his actions were self-serving,” Ricky informed them.

When Kerr whimpered again and held his head, they realised that he was being punished by his own thoughts. He was going to have to change his very nature to keep the privilege of walking free without pain.

They all suddenly realised that forcing Kerr, to be honest, was a severe punishment, indeed; until he learnt how to be honest.

Ricky got them all moving to tear down their camp.

He wanted the helpers to pack the tents and camping gear into one of the flatbed wagons. Using his sceptre, he lifted the cage out of the wagon and placed it behind the shithouses.

He would deal with it later, he decided. He would most probably melt it down so he could reuse the steel. Kirin commented that they could use it as a jail cell when they were resting here if they were transporting prisoners between the cities.

Ricky had never really thought of that being a problem. He told Kirin that he would think about the idea. For now, it was out of the way and freed up the wagon for their purposes.

He, Kirin and the girls went over to find what it was that Lord Jay had been hiding in the other wagon. They soon had the tarps off and were examining the crates and barrels in the wagon.

“Guns!” Kirin stated. “Why has he got crates of longarms and barrels of bullets in here? Where did he intend for them to go and for what purpose?”

“Go get Kerr for me please,” Ricky said as he looked at the contents of the wagon. He didn’t have a good feeling about Lord Jay’s intentions.

Mira ran off to comply. She soon had Kerr and Miles beside the wagon. Both men looked as confused as the rest of them. Kerr anticipating the question said. “I have no idea. I was helping him get the dragon’s blood so I could gain magical abilities, not go to war with anyone.”

“Lord Kerr, didn’t this shipment come from Omicron Island? I remember going down to the wharves and collecting it for Lord Jay. He wanted it sent ahead to Amethyst Dale. I think the cage was also part of that shipment since I organised the hire of these two wagons.”

Ronan looked at the markings on the crates and frowned. “They are from the Tears Munitions Factory in Cape Tear. I remember my father saying that these longarms would make hunting easier than trying to kill the polar berserkers with spears and arrows.”

“He also mentioned that several of the Queens on the islands were looking at arming some of their guards with them due to increase unrest.”

“Why would they need to arm their guards with guns?” Micky wanted to know.

“Quaz Crystals,” Ricky answered grimly. “In the last fifty years, the demand I get for them had quadrupled. As I mentioned to you Micky, many of the Queens on our island and some of the others, haven’t looked after their caverns and the crystals have become harder to get.”

“Yes, and in more recent years we have been investigating a lot more reports as to the theft of them. Many dealers have been using mercenaries to protect their property. I bet that would increase the trade of weapons too,” Kirin informed the group.

“I may have to find some people to harvest more of them in the major cities and dales. Not that some of Queens will like the idea,” Ricky replied grimly.

Ronan added, “That would help a lot. I know that several new inventions require the crystals. They even use them in these guns. Mages spell the crystals to increase the firepower and accuracy of the bullets. Lord Jay was making a lot of money from training and then hiring out novices that have Physics as their discipline to do the spells.”

“I still don’t like the idea of having lots of guns being in general use. They are a very dangerous weapon,” Ricky stated. “Where was Lord Jay going after he left here?”

“Spirit City,” Ronan replied. “He told us he had business with his sister.”

“Was he getting the guns for his sister?” Ricky asked.

“Don’t know. I wasn’t on Lord Jay’s most trusted list, but I doubt it. He hated his sister. For some reason even though he had coercion spells on me he had a hard time making me do his foulest deeds,” Ronan said. He then blushed as he admitted, “I’d faint or freeze up if asked to do anything that would directly hurt another person.”

“That was because you were a potential High Wizard, and you are good at heart. I bet he had deliberately limited you to just wearing the medallion you had and wouldn’t trust you to touch other magical items either,” Ricky replied.

Ronan thought on that and then grinned. “You are correct. While I was his personal servant, he didn’t let me know what he was planning most of the time, and Simon was the one who looked after any magical items we had or came across.”

Ricky nodded as this information didn’t surprise him in the least. Looking at the cart, he said, “Let’s cover it up for now. I’ll transport it to a safe location and dispose of the contents later.”

So, saying he waved his wand and the covers flipped back over the guns. He waved his wand again, and the wagon disappeared. He chuckled at the gasps. “What?” he asked the group with him.

“That was very impressive, that cart must have weight a couple of tonnes,” Kirin replied.

Ricky shrugged, “Kirin, I’m practically a Regent Wizard, and for all intent, I have access to an almost unlimited supply of magic. What do you think will happen if I flood the market with Quaz crystals?”

They all looked at each other, and it was Kerr who answered, “You will piss off a lot of people who are trying to limit the supply for greater gain. You will also make a lot more people happy.” He didn’t act as if providing the information hurt him, so everyone believed him.