The Wizard Killer - Season One: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Serial by Adam Dreece

“It’s more than that. This is amazing,” I say peeking underneath. “Someone cannibalized a few other levis to make this flatbed a functional part of the levi-car. Look at this… the cloth webbing is still clean and firm, and the sapphire tubes are laid out expertly. Someone really knew what they were doing.”
    The oner’s unmoved by my excitement. “We believe it was used to carry produce for trade, if it ever worked. That’s what we want.”
    “Oh, I’m sure it did.” I follow the webbing and tubes all the way back to the engine panel, which pops open easily. “These models…” I tap my fingers together and smile as a memory comes forward. “I worked one of these once. This engine’s about twice the size than what the model came with. Someone’s done this themselves. This panel’s probably from a levi-car a generation or two later.”
    “Do you think you can charge it?” she asks, the stiltedness more pronounced than before.
    “Yeah.”
    “Then get to work. We need that working immediately. The carn will be here shortly.”
    “Right.” I get up close to the panel. "You're sure this thing should be working? It's just the charge that's missing?"
    “Yes.”
    Her certainty throws me off a bit, but we don’t have time. The engine pieces remind me of the one I’d looked at a few days ago when I’d first met the carn. Instead of three discs, it has two, but these ones are a healthy silver. “The cloth webbing and tubes look great. Weird… I’d have expected the charging crystal to be visible, looks like they’re behind everything. Weird design.”
    “The mechanic One… we had… mentioned it was efficient. He considered modifying it.”
    “Huh, I wish he would have. No way to know what’s really behind all of this. It could be a waste of time.”
    “It’s not, get it done,” she commands, a hint of impatient irritation in her otherwise flat voice.
    Scratching my cheek, I talk myself through how I think it works. Flashes of working with the Old Man on one in a barn similar to this one keep popping into my mind. “What did he say? The song… find the song.” I stick my finger in my mouth to clean it, spitting out the gross remnants with extreme prejudice.  
    Cautiously, I touch the cloth webbing and follow it up to the first silver disc, and then the tubes from it to the second, and then, now up to my elbow, I finally feel something cool and flat. My face lights up as I hear the faint, sweet sound of the heart of the machine. “I found its song. That means there’s no broken connections. The river of energy can flow around it and come back to the heart.” The smile hurts it’s so big. Pausing for a moment, I think of the Old Man. Insecurity makes me tap the short sword on my side. “You always said to bring your own end to the party, but we’re not ending today. I’m coming to Banareal, and I’m going to find out what happened to you, Old Man.” Something dawns on me. “Hey, do you have my map?”
    The oner turns to me, her eyebrows up in a moment of surprise. She hesitates and then nods.
    “Okay, good. I’m going to charge it. If it explodes and kills me, send my remains to Banareal, will you?”
    She stares at me, a weird expression on her usually expressionless face. After several seconds she nods, and I start.
    Closing my eyes and taking a long, steady breath, I imagine a river flowing from my core, through my arm, into the machine’s heart. Sweat starts beading down my forehead and my breathing gets more intense. “Either this heart’s resisting… or it’s got ten hearts that all need to be awakened. Yig this is hard… Hey! Hey! The song’s getting louder!”
    I hear the barn door creak open. “Hurry, the carn’s almost here. Give it everything you have.” There’s a weird finality to her voice, but I don’t care. Her two serrated swords make a distinctive zing as they come out of their sheaths.
    “GAH! I need more time!” I yell through gritted teeth. What