Siege of Mortania by J.S. Morin

Author:J.S. Morin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-939233-76-9
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press

The barroom was dusty, clouded in murky light that pushed its way through grease-frosted windows. The décor was red brick and wrought iron, with real Earth-wood furniture—or imaginary real Earth-wood, if there was such a thing. At least in the context of Lloyd’s skull, it was real. Carl made a point to stop thinking about it before he hurt his brain. Tall chairs lined the bar while others rested upside down atop the tables. With a quick glance into the shadowed corners of the room to check for ambushes, he stepped inside and beckoned for Tanny to follow him.

“What is this place?” Tanny asked. She took in the pub with an Alice look in her eyes, as if she were expecting white rabbits and tea parties. “Are we still in that freak’s imagination?”

“Probably a memory,” Carl replied, drifting between the tables and continuing his sweep for unwelcome company. “I doubt Lloyd’s got the imagination to invent all this. All the places he stashed the crew were pretty basic.”

Tanny ran a hand along the bar, checking the labels on the wall of liquor bottles. “He’s got brand logos down perfectly. Look at this: Miller’s & Stanton Gold Label, Highlander’s Lament. There’s even a couple xeno brands here. And carved into the bar, there are someone’s initials. My memories don’t have this kind of detail.”

“You aren’t a mentalist wizard,” Carl said. “Apparently Lloyd is. My guess is this is a college bar—his old stomping grounds, if Lloyd ever stomped in his life. But I can’t even find a light switch, so I’m guessing he doesn’t pay this place much attention.”

“Lucky us,” Tanny said. She pulled out one of the bar chairs and settled in. “What now?”

“We wait for everyone else.”

“How will they know to find us here?”

“I’m bringing them,” Carl said. It looked as if there was no one else with them in the pub. For the first time since arriving in Lloyd’s mind, Carl wished he could believe in his surroundings. He needed a drink.

Tanny gave a curt nod. “I can hold down the fort.”

Carl grimaced. He knew this was going to come up, but it didn’t make the coming conversation any easier. “No, I mean I’m already bringing them. There are a few of me in here.”

“A few of… you? Like more than one Carl? How’d Lloyd pull that off?”

“I did it, actually,” Carl said. With a sigh he pulled out a chair and sat next to Tanny at the bar. “Remember back when I first got out of the navy? Remember how messed up I was?”

Tanny snorted. She reached over the bar for a glass and filled it from the nearest tap. “Yeah, civilian life wasn’t agreeing with you,” Tanny said. “I almost blew you off. I mean, we hadn’t seen each other in months, and you came off like a crackpot. If you hadn’t kept trying, I—”

“I saw Mort in between.”

“What do you mean, you saw Mort? I thought when we invited him to join us on the Mobius—”

“I told him to play dumb.

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