The Warlock's Gambit Read Free Page A

but this time without moving his lips. The words simply passed into Arthur’s mind.
    “Arthur Primus, I swear to you that should anything ill ever befall your parents, you will always be safe with me.”
    Arthur recognized the voice at last. It was the warlock.

Chapter Two
    More Than Just a Dream
    A rthur awoke, screaming, and shot off the couch in the Smoking Lounge. He had no idea what time it was; the lights were turned down so low they were almost off.
    “Arthur, lad, what the devil?” Vassalus’ stately voice, like a British radio host, called from his post beside the door.
    “My mother — I saw her — she was a companion — she left — and the warlock …”
    Had it been a memory, or just a dream? It had felt so real.
    “Yes?” Lexi prompted. She stood and arched her back in a cat stretch. A yawn muffled her normally smoky, Hollywood starlet voice. “What about him?”
    Morgan sat up on the couch across the room and groaned. “What the heck is going on?”
    Arthur didn’t respond. Without putting his boots on or grabbing his rayguns, he rushed out of the Smoking Lounge, crossed the now safe-to-travel Grand Hallway, and threw open the door to the Armory. Vassalus and Lexi chased after him, followed by Valet and Arms.
    Even though both servitors had been wounded in the battle to clear the Grand Hallway, they still insisted on guarding Arthur and Morgan. Of course, since they couldn't talk and had no faces, insisting meant that they either shook their heads or ignored Arthur’s requests altogether. Luckily, their injuries weren’t too bad, and they were healing fast. Vassalus and Lexi had taken some nasty wounds fighting wraiths, but they were healing even faster, and ought to be fine in a couple of days. Cook was pretty banged up, and Waiter had been gravely wounded. They were recovering in the Smoking Lounge. They’d all had one solid day of rest already, but could use several more.
    The Armory’s narrow hallway always reminded him of an old WWII bunker, or maybe a battleship, like the one Arthur had seen on a school field trip. But right now, all he cared about were the glass cases lining the walls. There were seven cases on the left side and six on the right, one each for the Multiversal Paladin and his twelve companions. Of course, Arthur only had Morgan. Theirs were the only ones illuminated; the rest were so dark inside that you really couldn't see what was in them. With all the danger they’d been in, he’d given no thought to the other lockers.
    Arthur started with the first one on his right, the case labeled COMPANION #12. The glass doors didn’t have any handles, but whenever he touched the locker that stored his gear, the door automatically swung open. Arthur touched his hand to the door. The interior didn’t light up, and the door didn’t open. I’m the Multiversal Paladin, and it won’t open for me? He put his face so close that his nose touched the glass, but he still couldn’t see inside it.
    “Arthur, what’s the matter?” Lexi said as she burst into the Armory along with Vassalus, Arms, and Valet.
    Not responding, he went to the other side and tried the locker for Companion #11, but it wouldn’t open or reveal its contents either.
    “Are you looking for something?” Vassalus asked.
    He went to Companion #10’s locker, saw nothing, and groaned. “Yes, I am.”
    Arms walked past him as Lexi said, “What are you —”
    Morgan stormed into the Armory and spat a word at Arthur that would have gotten him three days of detention or his mouth washed out with soap.
    “Goodness, Morgan,” said Vassalus. “Do you eat with that mouth?”
    She shrugged unapologetically.
    “Probably kisses her mother with it, too,” Lexi sniped.
    “I would — if she wasn’t dead.”
    Arthur didn’t know how to respond to that, and apparently no one else did either. He glanced at Morgan and the others, then returned to his search.
    “Arthur, what are you trying to do?” Morgan asked with