The Astral Plane was still a fantastic place, still a place of incomparable beauty to the eyes, ears, and other senses, but now I was in a deadly hurry. Any distraction, any fascination that I paused for, was a step towards death. I put my cord on full tug, so that even when I was not consciously ordering my spirit towards my body, when I got distracted by some fascinating thing, my spirit was still moving at a good pace.
In spite of all my efforts, I was still a kilometer from my body when my astral cord dissolved—someone was disturbing my body! Fortunately there were no strong wonders in that last kilometer and I could see the way clearly. When I reached the tent, my companions were nowhere to be seen and a single Turkish soldier was busy prodding my body, trying to wake it up. My body responded like I was dead drunk, and just as I made my way back in, he poured his canteen over my head.
I regained control of my body slowly, moaning a bit and rolling over. Sadly for the Turk, as he waited for me to wake up enough to answer his questions, I Charmed and quizzed him instead.
I found out the Turks really were good horsemen! They had started out a day behind us but had closed the gap to a few hours. When they found our camp, my friends had fled before the much larger force, trusting me to take care of myself. The main detachment had given chase, but the commander was no fool, and he ordered this soldier to search the area around our camp. The man had just stumbled onto my tent, and me.
I was deeply tired from my astral journey and my rude awakening hadn’t helped. I felt as drunk and hungover as the Turk thought I looked, but I had to rescue my friends. My fatigue meant that I could throw only a few more spells, and those would have to be easy ones. Then I would have to rest, and rest long.
As long as he stayed Charmed this Turk was my boon companion, so I brought him along as I searched for my real friends. We found them an hour later in a campsite down the road. There were ten Turks visible, and my four friends were tied up next to a campfire. The irons in the fire made it look like torture was coming up.
I decided I would try tossing a Choking Cloud into the center of the group. That spell is surprisingly effective given its simplicity to cast. It would disable everyone near the campfire, including my friends, with fits of coughing as they tried to keep from breathing noxious fumes. Then I would lift my friends out of the immediate area—moving them with my mind power alone. This was not an easy spell, but it was useful for so many things that I had practiced it often over the last few months. And finally, I would throw that Mage’s Delight, a Fireball, which would badly burn and probably kill everyone still near the campfire—the spell I had so wanted my father to teach me when I was young.
It would have been a nearly foolproof plan … if I had been fresh. But I wasn’t, and there were two Turkish guards and my temporary friend who were not near the campfire. Would I have to throw any more Charm spells as well? I didn’t think I had the strength. As I saw one soldier check the irons, and declare them almost hot enough, I hit upon a better plan.
“My friend,” I said to my Turkish buddy, “when did you last get paid on time?”
As I hoped, his face turned sour.
“You should complain to your commander, right now!”
He headed off immediately.
As he confronted the commander about when they would get paid, the other soldiers joined in, some agreeing with his complaint, some counseling patience. Soon the two outliers too were gathered and arguing around the campfire. I was tired, deathly tired, but I got my spells off. Choking Cloud, lift my own men to me, and … with great satisfaction … Fireball!!! The campground lit up in a beautiful orange-red glow and the screams of my enemies were loud and deep-throated. I freed Niko from his ropes, then fell deep asleep.