Call of Destiny

by P. R. Adams

  Javika was already up, standing in the door of their room with her back to him. “They designed it well enough to drain away.”

  There was no sneaking up on her. “The house?”

  “The city. The rain has been coming down hard, yet the stairs leading up are dry.”

  He joined her at the door, not doubting what she said but wishing to see the rain for himself. Laughter drifted from the room down the hall. “Sounds like Lonar and Hirvok must have sneaked a keg from the Lyceum.”

  “Or found one here.” The Biwali warrior frowned. “It puts us at unnecessary risk.”

  “They need to blow off steam. This has been hard on everyone.”

  “And what if something attacks while we sleep?”

  Lightning flashed in the opening atop the stairs, followed quickly by a deep rumble of thunder. “I trust your senses.”

  “It is still bad for discipline.”

  “Javika, it’s how they cope with things.”

  “How hard a life it must be to come from the Inner Sphere.”

  “When did you figure that out?”

  She headed back into the room and began pulling her armor on. “After you did the background check. Hirvok has always smelled of privilege.”

  “I never let anyone else see that report.”

  “I saw it.”

  “You broke into my system?”

  “Security as weak as yours, it is no effort to break in.”

  “Naru said the same thing. I need to work on that.”

  Javika slid her sword sheath onto her back. “If you truly wish to keep me out of your system, improve the security.”

  Riyun chuckled. “I don’t normally keep any secrets from you.”

  “It is why I trust you.” She tested her flashlight, then slipped it into its brace on her hip.

  “You’re going out in this?” Thunder boomed again. “It’s messy out.”

  “I trust you. Nothing else.”

  Once she was gone, he drifted across the hall and to the other doorway. Light from a candle shone through the blanket the old wizard had hung. Deep, slurred whispers followed by snorts told Riyun that the two men were close to finishing off whatever they were drinking. Javika was right—the two of them would be impaired in battle. The problem was, Lonar needed frequent cooldowns to deal with all of his issues, and the only time anyone really liked Hirvok was when he was drunk.

  There was no going back to sleep, not with the thunder like it was, so Riyun pulled his armor on and splashed through the puddles until he stood before Fassyl’s home. Candles still burned in the large common room that faced the street. That room was where the old man had served them dinner, the artifact now leaning against the wall next to the stone oven. A quick glance through a crack in one of the shutters confirmed that Naru and Quil were still up. They sat on either side of the rickety dinner table, bracketing the wizard.

  Riyun circled the house once, then returned to the front door and knocked.

  Quil answered, blinking in mild surprise. “You are up at this hour, Lieutenant?”

  “Thunder woke me. Mind if I come in?”

  The pseudo stepped aside, revealing the smiling, chubby wizard.

  Fassyl pushed up from his chair with a soft groan and shuffled over to the oven. “Come for the conversation or for more tea?” He took a heavy, stained stoneware mug from the low table beside the oven door, then poured steaming water from a copper pot.

  Riyun wiped his boots on the soiled rug just inside the door. “I’ve already had too much tea, thanks.”

  “It warms the bones on a cold night like this.”

  “Are those bones going to be able to handle days on the trail?”

  “Hm? Oh! Pursuing Meriscoya?” Fassyl returned to his chair, which groaned when he sat. “I have managed the discomfort of travel in the past. I can manage it again.”

  “Our guide won’t tell us exactly where this wizard is. Maybe you could.”

  The old man wrapped his beefy hands around the mug. “And an interesting guide you have, indeed. Is it truly Alush the Enlightened?”

  “Tarlayn seemed convinced.”

  “Yes, well, she had problems with trust, now didn’t she?” Fassyl’s face darkened and twisted.

  “Whatever issues you had with her, you’ll need to set them aside. She’s gone, and apparently Alush sees you as our only option.”

  That drew the old wizard out of his sour moment. His bushy eyebrows arched. “The prophet said that, did he?”

  “Not directly. But he brought us here, and there was no other reason given. But if he had a problem with you, he would have said something. He always says something.”

  “That is the way of prophets, now isn’t it?”

  Quil leaned in close to Riyun’s ear. “It would seem advisable to do a final perimeter check before we retire for the night.”

  Subterfuge wasn’t one of the pseudo’s strong suits, but Riyun understood. “Naru, could you check on Symbra? I think we can at least walk the western edge of the ruins.”

  The hacker excused herself and headed into the adjoining room, then the sound of her boots receded as she moved deeper into the house.

  Fassyl blew steam from his mug. “The night is miserable. I did tell you it is safe here.”

  “And I believe you.” Riyun couldn’t imagine the old man abandoning his home for the dangers of hunting down Meriscoya, but there was obviously history between the two. “It’s important for us to maintain our discipline, that’s all.”

  The old man harrumphed and sipped his tea. Naru entered the kitchen, carrying her and Quil’s armor; Symbra was already halfway into hers. The wizard’s eyes jumped between the two women appreciatively. He might be old, but he obviously still enjoyed female company.

  Symbra yawned. “Perimeter check in this—?”

  Riyun held up a hand to quiet her. “Training and discipline.”

  She nodded slowly. “I guess I’ll have some tea when we get back.”

  He waited with her in the rain while Naru and Quil armored up.

  Lightning stitched across the black sky, and the young woman shivered. “Everything okay?”

  “We’ll see once we’re on patrol.”

  “Oh.”

  When the other two joined them. Riyun took them north, to the edge of the ruins, then headed west. Once they were far enough away from the old wizard’s place, Riyun nodded at Quil. “You had something you wanted to talk about?”

  The pseudo bowed his head. Even with the faceplate of his helmet lifted, his features were impossible to read. “There are concerns.”

  “I should hope so. Mind listing them for me?”

  “About Fassyl. Naru and I have talked about the implications of having a new teacher arrive after the old one has failed.”

  Symbra groaned. “Are we still evaluating this threat as if it’s a game?”

  Riyun winced. They needed to get past petty differences causing friction. “I want to see this from every angle possible. We all know we’re not in a game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to evaluate the enemy using every form of intelligence.”

  “But your intelligence is flawed.”

  “All intelligence is flawed.” Riyun trudged along in silence for a moment, boots sloshing in the rainwater. “What about this: Do any of you fully trust Alush?”

  The other three shook their heads, and Symbra glanced over her shoulder. “The way he just comes and goes and refuses to answer questions directly? No. I don’t trust him at all.”

  “All right, and what about Fassyl?”

  Naru and Quil looked to the older woman, who groaned. “Okay. I get it. Convenient doesn’t go far enough to describe stumbling across someone who claims to know more about this artifact than our previous wizard knew. Not all coincidence supports the idea that this is a game.”

  “Let’s set aside whether or not fate played a role. The question is whether or not you trust him.”

  Quil cleared his throat. “If I cou
ld speak?”

  Riyun smiled. “That’s what I’m looking for.”

  “Setting aside game and other fiction influences, there is still the concern of motivation. We have only Fassyl’s claim of association with Tarlayn and animus towards Meriscoya.”

  Naru rolled her eyes. “That was all we had with Tarlayn. What’s the difference?”

  The pseudo looked around. “Tarlayn sought us out. She protected us from certain death.”

  “Yeah? That’s the perfect way to earn trust. Villains do it all the time.”

  Annoyance rolled off Symbra like heat at the argument between the other two.

  Riyun held a finger up to stop the discussion. “Let’s stick with just what we have in front of us. Quil, you had a chance to examine the artifact.”

  The pseudo tensed. “There is little more to do than measure and observe without—”

  “Measuring and observing is excellent. These are starting points. You saw some of what Tarlayn was able to do.”

  “Not as much as you, but I do understand what you saw.”

  “And you saw her use her own…staff?”

  “Staff is an appropriate description. She said at one point that all wizards use them to focus and sometimes to store magical energy.”

  “Good. And you talked to Fassyl about the artifact?”

  “He seems well-versed in its history and capabilities. In that regard, he would appear to be authentic.”

  Riyun pointed to Naru. “Does that match your assessment?”

  The hacker seemed ready to crawl under a rock. “Well, it’s hard for me to be fair to him.”

  “Why? What’s the matter?”

  “Well, I mean, he’s lived out here for a long time, and I guess he’s lonely, and…”

  Symbra grunted. “He’s a horny old bastard. And he got handsy during dinner.”

  Riyun wasn’t sure what to make of that. He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, and he’d been focusing mostly on the old man’s house and belongings. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I thought you wanted us to just get along?”

  “Not like that. If something happens like that, you come straight to me. I’ll sort it out.”

  “And lose the one resource we have right now who might be able to use this—”

  “I’ll sort it out. You have to trust your commander to do the right thing.”

  The Onath’s face twisted, then relaxed, then twisted again. She seemed to be wrestling with trust or maybe with her own beliefs and experiences. Finally, she shook out her shoulders. “All right. I don’t think this eliminates him as a potential ally. If you’re asking do we trust him to be the one to use this artifact to destroy Meriscoya, then my answer is: We don’t have a choice.” She shot a look to Naru.

  “I—” The hacker puffed out her cheeks. “I think he wants to destroy Meriscoya. If I had to guess, I think there’s a lot of jealousy and resentment. These wizards have a really twisted master-student dynamic.”

  Riyun nearly slipped when he spun around to examine her face. “That sounds like you’re leaving a big ‘but’ unspoken.”

  “Well…”

  Quil bit his lip. “There is the possibility that we do not need him.”

  The hacker nodded. “So, on our way out here, I tried to spend some time with Alush. He’s just a drone, after all.”

  That seemed an odd assessment to Riyun. “A drone that’s been completely reprogrammed.”

  “But a drone. I mean, I can connect to him. Using my tablet.”

  “He let you connect?”

  “A few times now. He’s actually curious about the technology we have. And when I connect, he lets me see some of the data: images and maps and things.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “I–” Naru looked away. “I thought you might not approve. I mean, I didn’t ask first.”

  Riyun tried not to let his frustration show. “Showing initiative is a good thing.”

  “But I should have told you from the start. Right?”

  “Trust and communication. That’s how a team stays functional.”

  “I-I’ll do better. But, the thing is, I think I know where we’re going. It’s not that far away, maybe another couple weeks.”

  “And what makes you think we won’t need Fassyl?”

  “Well, Quil and I…” Naru’s voice broke.

  Quil straightened. “We believe that Alush might be able to teach us how to use the artifact ourselves. It seems possible that Outworlders come through to this world with high potential for magic.”

  Symbra gasped. “That sounds horribly irresponsible. This Fassyl might be somewhat unreliable, but at least he’s part of this world, and by all accounts, he’s someone who knows what he’s doing. Relying on one of you—”

  “Hold on.” Although Riyun understood what she was saying, she was doing a poor job of it. “Tarlayn said there were Outworlders coming to the Lyceum for training. That supports what Quil’s saying about magical potential.”

  “Maybe some of us have the potential, but we didn’t go through training.”

  “But if Alush can act as a trainer for one or more of us, then at the very least we have a backup if something happens to Fassyl.”

  Tension tightened Symbra’s face. “I’d rather have someone more experienced using the artifact when we go up against this mad wizard.”

  “Sure. Experience matters. I like to have alternatives when possible.”

  “Alternatives. Fine. But I think we should have Fassyl as our primary.”

  Symbra’s argument was solid, and Riyun liked that she was fighting for it, but there was no reason to pass on a potential backup. “Let’s pursue the training—”

  Something moved in the dark beyond Riyun’s flashlight; he reached for his long knife.

  Javika stepped into the light. “You stomp around loud enough to wake the dead.”

  Riyun relaxed. “Did you see any dead on your patrol?”

  “They are long ago rendered nothing more than dust. That is no excuse to be so clumsy.”

  “I’m assuming you heard our discussion?”

  The Biwali warrior scowled. “There are no good options for us. You are all right and all wrong. Let the two of them study with this drone, but the fat wizard gives us the best chance of killing our enemy.”

  Bluntness. It was as integral to Javika as fearlessness. It was something Riyun admired about her, even if it complicated managing the team. “Then I think we have consensus. We’ll see if Fassyl agrees to travel with us in the morning. If he does, he’s our primary, and Naru and Quil will study with Alush. Agreed?”

  The others nodded, although Symbra took her time doing so.

  There was a lot for Riyun to digest, but he at least had a feeling of confidence now. His hacker could connect to the enigmatic drone–prophet. There was a chance one or two of his people could learn to use the artifact. And they all seemed to agree that Fassyl probably represented their best chance to kill Meriscoya.

  All that remained was finding the mad wizard and destroying him and his dragons.

  But could they do that before Meriscoya destroyed the world?

  48

  Riyun woke to birdsong and surprising warmth. He climbed out of his bedroll just as Javika sat up in hers. The candles had burned out during the night, leaving wax puddles in the corners and a pleasant floral aroma, yet there was a faint hint of light. It was enough to reveal just how close their bedrolls had been, closer than he’d intended.

  Rather than complain or demand an apology, the Biwali warrior immediately turned to preparing her backpack. “The sun is bright today.”

  “No rain.” Riyun stretched. “I’m going to scout the ruins.”

  “Find a place also for me to ‘scout.’ I had too much to drink last night.”

  He snorted, then he dressed in shirt and pants, eschewing armor but taking his Devastator. Snoring rumbled from the blanket-covered doorway of Lonar and Hi
rvok’s room, and the slightest smell of ale hung in the air. They would regret their partying soon, but they would survive.

  There was still a breeze, but there was no more of the whistling through the ruins. Riyun’s boots scuffed over chunks of ancient stone and squished where mud covered the ground. After a quick recon, he headed down the steps into the basement trench the bearded wizard used as a toilet. It was foul smelling but seemed like a reasonable solution for someone living alone in ruins. Even the risk of contaminating the lake from flooding seemed remote, given the precautions taken.

  That reason and precaution seemed to make the strongest argument for working with the old man. In a crazy world teetering toward disaster, someone reasonable and cautious was exactly what was needed.

  As Riyun climbed the final steps, still belting his pants, the old man shuffled from the house. Rather than annoyance, he chuckled. “Poor form of me not to tell you to make yourselves at home. I’m not used to having guests, though.”

  “People in my profession tend to be self-starters.”

  “I’m relieved to hear that. And I’ll be more relieved in just a moment.” The wizard winked and made his way down the stone steps into the area that held the trench. “Good news, by the way.”

  Riyun turned away. “What’s that?”

  “I thought about your offer last night and have decided to accept.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “Your team really brings back memories of youth.” Fassyl raised his voice over the sound of splashing. “As a young man, there was a time where I would embrace such an opportunity joyously. The smiles of the young ladies—”

  “Yeah, about that. You need to keep your hands to yourself.”

  The tinkling sound tapered off. “Keep my…” The wizard sighed. “Outworlders and their bedeviling nonsense. I made no advances. Can a man not simply touch a woman in conversation?”

  “If she says so, sure. Otherwise, hands off.”

  After a moment of grumbling, the old guy stomped up the steps, red-faced. “Our world is different from yours. Perhaps you should remember that you are a guest here.”

  “We can’t forget. That doesn’t change the rules: Hands off.”