"Are you of the Jamiso family?" Another silent, careful nod from Crinnan left Sage grinning.
"The Fyres tattoo on your lip helped me piece it all together," Sage informed him, "I should say I remember your parents. Your mother had the same tattoo. She was of the great house Fyres?"
Crinnan remained silent; he was uncertain where Sage's inquiry was heading and did not want to give up too much personal information. He had not entirely ruled the Elf out as an enemy and did not want to leave himself vulnerable any more than he already had.
"Fyres and Jamiso then," Sage nonchalantly shrugged as he gazed at the soldier across from him. He went silent and seemed to think to himself for a moment. After taking a sip from the glass cup before him, Sage shifted in his seat and reached out to grab the knife that sat next to the cake. He cut into it and removed a triangle of the cake which he promptly placed on one of the two small plates he had set aside. He wanted to see if Crinnan would initiate any conversation, but the boy seemed a bit sullen and did not appear to be interested in talking. Sage pursed his lips together and leaned forward on the table.
"Your father was something of a swordsman I should say," Sage gestured to gain the boy's attention, "He gave me this in Exgrane," He moved aside his jacket to reveal his pale chest. A long, pink scar stretched from the base of his neck down to just below his bottom rib. Sage shook his head at it and let his jacket fall back down. He leaned back in his chair and waited for a response from his guest. Crinnan, between bites of bacon, nodded his head in affirmation.
"You… seem very much unlike your father," Sage confirmed as he eyed the boy, "He and I enjoyed a night of drinking before we met in battle. He was a lively fellow, sociable and likable. He spoke highly of his children, though if you were conceived in Exgrane, I do not believe he spoke anything of you."
"My brother takes after him," Crinnan didn't bother looking up from his plate. He stuffed another piece of blackened bacon into his mouth and washed it down with a drink of his water.
"Your brother?" Sage quizzed, "Your… older brother?"
"Same age," Crinnan corrected, his mouth once again full, "Twin."
"Twin brother?" Sage repeated. Crinnan nodded, and Sage paused thoughtfully, "Interesting,"
"Your father is a good man," Sage affirmed, nodding and staring at the glass of water in his hand. "The night he and I spent together, the drinks we shared it all determined the outcome of the Exgrane Liberation War." Crinnan glanced up at Sage and then quickly looked away. He swallowed his bacon and grabbed another piece. Sage felt he had gained the boy's attention and so he continued.
"I was employed by the Govian army," he launched into his personal history, "I had never experienced the front lines of war from the perspective of a soldier and, well, I should say I thought that considering the world we live in and how long I have lived in it without having experienced combat… it was an itch I wanted to scratch. The Empire shipped me off to Exgrane under the command of General Hralsta."
Sage chuckled wryly and rubbed his chin, "The girl had so much anger and emotion bottled up inside of her. It all came out in the bedroom. She was quite good. Anyway, the night your father and I spoke was the night that General Hralsta breathed her last breath. I, unfortunately, happened to be in the same room as she was when your father and his squad raided her encampment. Your father struck me first, giving me this scar and then knocked me unconscious. I awoke in a pile of dead bodies outside the city with a note in my pocket saying 'you owe me.'"
Crinnan set down his glass and wiped the excess water from his lips. He nodded at Sage and pushed his chair away from the table, "Good job." he cheerlessly intoned as he stood. Sage looked up at him and smiled. The boy was a brick wall, stubborn and calloused — Nothing at all like his father.
"Well, Crinnan," Sage also stood, seemingly with the intent of parting ways, "I thank you for your company, and I wish you good health."
Crinnan nodded at the Elf and walked toward the door, "If you have, but a moment more I do have an old sword in the back that may serve you better than it has me… I have never really required weapons."
"Sure," Crinnan agreed, looking over at the Elf.
Sage nodded and walked past him, lightly patting his shoulder. Crinnan watched the Elf walk up the two stairs that led to the hallway and then take a right.
While Sage was gone, Crinnan could not help but think of his parents.
Crinnan, being a half-blood, was a mixture of races that was strictly forbidden by Govian law. His father was Humaan, a race of people who originally came from the stars. They arrived on Duraan nearly two thousand years prior and brought with them amazing technology which they shared in exchange for permission to establish colonies on the planet. Initially, they were not able to reproduce with the planet's natives, despite being nearly identical genetically speaking. The Humaan people expected that, however, and brought with them the technology to modify their own genes so that they could reproduce with the races of Duraan if the need arose. It was another way, you could say, of expanding their race.
Crinnan's mother was pure-blood Elf. He felt that he had inherited more from her than from his father as she, though loving, was just as serious and seemingly despondent as he was. His twin brother was playful and excitable like their father, a clear contrast. Crinnan recalled being referred to on more than one occasion as the "evil twin" by his father. He smiled slightly at that thought.
As he leaned against the edge of the table and waited for Sage, Crinnan could not help but think he could hear some kind of commotion going on outside. As he listened closer, he felt as if he heard footsteps, a rustling of some type. He heard the sound of heavy boots on aged wood, the undeniable creaking. As he listened for a moment more, he heard something tap the front of the wooden door. It wasn't a knock, but more like something was being leaned up against it.
Crinnan looked over at the door and listened one final time. He heard a high pitched whirring noise and knew exactly what was about to happen. His revolvers slid clear of their holsters only a moment before a loud explosion erupted. The door blasted off its hinges and rocketed past him. He heard the sound of voices shouting outside and then watched a grenade fly through the hole that was once the door. The explosive landed on top of the pink cake that Sage had placed on the table and sunk about halfway in. Crinnan looked down at it and swore as he scrambled to find cover.
He had been found. By whom, he did not know, but he was sure he would find out shortly. He hurried for cover and had no doubt in his mind that the Elf had somehow tricked him. As he found a defensible position, he scanned the room and saw that Sage, of course, was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Four
Cade I
22nd of Ramlia – 346AG
08:00 – Village of Lithaan
The Govian-protected town of Lithaan, which was once nothing more than just another of the Agra Triangle Corporation's archaeological sites, had stood safely from the woes of the world within its reinforced concrete walls for nearly two centuries. Throughout those two hundred years, Lithaan, which rested on the Canrom side of the Canrom-Izla'Axi border, had grown from a simple point of interest to the Agra Triangle Corporation to a self-sustained community populated by plain-folk of varying levels of simple-mindedness.
The simple thatched roofs of the shops and houses did not stretch to the skies like those of the great structures of Canrom City or Cidroska. Nor were the cobbled streets designed to accommodate any great deal of automotive traffic. What made Lithaan unique was that despite their two centuries of failure, the "Point of Reclamation" of the Agra Triangle Corporation still had its eye upon the town.
In the two hundred years that had passed since the Agra Triangle first got word of the potential relic that may have rested beneath the ground, they had not yet located it. Despite that fact, however, a garrison of reclusive Agra archaeologists and their guards remained, and they were under direct command of President Cade himself.
The Agra Triangle Cor
poration was founded to reclaim, research, and reintegrate technology from the Ancient days into the modern world. This tri-fold purpose led to the companies structure into three business units, each led by their own Vice President and aligned with one of these pillars. Under the leadership of the late President Karna, the corporation had risen to exceptional levels of power, becoming the single largest privately owned corporation in the Govian Empire.
This power was not unchecked, however, as the Empire maintained strict oversight on the corporation in matters of the Empire laws, taxation, and adherence to the technology restrictions for the populace. In matters of day to day operations, they were surprisingly hands-off allowing AGRA to operate as they saw fit.
With the mysterious death of President Karna, that power shattered into three different factions with each of her three VPs, Deliing, Trabiaa and Cade disputing the leadership. At Karna's passing, her successor would typically have been elected by the board of directors of the corporation, but they were all found dead on the morning of the vote. Cade, her heir apparent and the youngest of the three, was accused of murdering Karna, and subsequently the board, thus sabotaging the company. However nothing was ever proven and the investors, caring more for their profits than justice, pressed all three into joint service as co-Presidents.
Over the course of four years, the three divisions of the company developed unique ways of operating. President Trabiaa's point of the triangle, "Reintegrate," was responsible for the production of goods, and he focused largely upon supplying the Empire with the tools of war. Trabiaa pushed for faster, more efficient methods of production to satisfy the Empire's seemingly endless demand for weapons. On many occasions, the Empire turned a blind eye to Trabiaa's questionable actions, as Trabiaa was able to keep a steady flow of weapons and ammunition headed to the front lines.
President Deliing, head of the "Research" point of the triangle, was more interested in expanding the Agra Triangle Corporations portfolio by creating new products for the consumer market. Such products historically included communications equipment, weapons, and computers for the Empire, and home appliances and automotive parts for the average consumer.
President Cade, represented the "Reclaim" side of the triangle and focused solely on the search for Ancient technology. Cade had invested nearly all his resources in his "guaranteed" rise to the presidency of the Agra Triangle Corporation. With the accusations claiming he murdered President Karna and the Board, he not only lost credibility with many of his investors but also most of the resources he put into his rise to power. Accordingly, the "Reclaim" point of the triangle was left crippled, limited in their efforts to recover Ancient technologies.
In spite of the recent clash between himself and his two associates, Presidents Trabiaa and Deliing, Cade's spirits had remained positive. While he had not achieved his intended goal of succeeding President Karna following her untimely death, he had at least been able to maintain his position of President of The Point of Reclamation. His perhaps overzealous actions in preparing for his takeover of the company paired with the smear campaign that launched against him following the death of Karna had not only financially weakened the Point of Reclamation, but he also found that his influence in the corporation had diminished. Cade maintained high spirits however and felt that he only needed to be patient, and it would all eventually blow over.
He sat in his transport and gazed out the window to his right. Lithaan was in view for only a few moments before his pilot Nida had flown their craft past the town. President Cade sighed and raised a gloved hand and rubbed an itch on the left side of his face which had only recently healed from a severe burn wound. He scratched his beard, which only wrapped around three-fourths of his head due to the burn, barely making it all the way up his jaw on the left side. He thought of the circumstances that had disfigured him, the "Ancient" he and his Govian associates were forced to dispatch, and ultimately, the remorse he felt for having done so.
Cade shook the thoughts from his mind and turned his head to look at the person sitting across the aisle from him. His name was Ebren, and he was in command of the Agra garrison at Lithaan. He was a fat, expensively dressed, balding Humaan who at the time was slouching in his seat and fast asleep with half of his meal still resting on his belly. Cade raised his good eyebrow at the sight of the man and shook his head. He released an audible groan of disgust at the state of his company. He did not like Ebren, neither the way his tongue slightly poked out between his lips, nor the way he handled the management of the Lithaan dig. Everything about him was simply irritating,
Cade would have him removed from the company if he were able, but unfortunately for Cade, he was employed by President Trabiaa and outside Cade's jurisdiction. Ebren was also the nephew of the late President Karna, the woman who had mentored and essentially mothered Cade after she found him when he was but a teenager.
As his aircraft descended to land, Cade could not help but think of the late President Karna. He thought of how he had grown to love her more than his mother, how truly wonderful their relationship had been. He missed her terribly. Since she was Humaan and he a half-blood, he knew he would never see her again in any form of consciousness. Another sigh escaped his lungs as they touched down and he got to his feet. Ebren jerked in his seat, tossed the remnants of his meal into the air above him, and smacked his lips together, just as he let out a giant yawn.
"My, now that was speedy!" Ebren bellowed with a gruff, cheerful voice as he wiggled himself up out of his seat. He looked down at the food and drink he had spilled onto the floor and chuckled lightly, "I suppose you must have somebody to take care of that for us, do you not?" He smacked his lips together again, and Cade looked away, scratching the back of his neck.
"Do not worry about it." Cade deflected, his voice so deep and clear that you would expect an echo to follow. Cade reached into the compartment above his seat and grabbed his sword belt and then his rifle, a nameless weapon he had reclaimed from an archaeological dig in South Barus. It was an Ancient magazine-fed long gun with a high powered digital scope that had no makers mark or identifier of any sort. It had taken him no time to restore it as it was primarily made of "Humaan's Alloy," a variation of steel that they had not been able to replicate. Humaan's alloy was virtually corrosion resistant, and in Cade's experience had a formidable chance of lasting at least a thousand years of use without any sign of degradation.
Cade slung his weapon over his chest so that it hung on his back, and buckled the sword belt around his waist. Ebren squeezed past him, slightly bumping him with his large belly in doing so. Cade closed his eyes and deeply sighed with disgust while Ebren seemed completely oblivious of his intrusion. The two made their way to the hatch in the center of the craft, which was only a few steps away. It was just in time for Nida, their pilot, to emerge from the cockpit.
"Well if it isn't the lovely bird herself!" Ebren chirped with his arms outstretched in delight. His eyes scanned her petite body, stopping at her breasts for a moment, and he licked his lips as the short brown haired Humaan pilot approached. She had an obviously swollen belly, a sign that she was carrying a child.
Ebren snatched Nida's hand and raised it to his lips, "Floating above all Duraan with the majesty and beauty of an eagle. Perhaps she would honor her company with a bird's song?" He kissed Nida's hand with a wink and a nod and excused himself from the craft, not bothering to wait for her to reply. Nida shook her head and looked at Cade.
"I hate that guy," She shuddered, wiping his saliva off on her pant leg. Her outfit was plain, a pair of brown pants and knee-high boots, and a white long sleeved v-neck shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She had a pair of polarized goggles hanging from her neck so that she could see through Sym's light as she piloted Cade's ship. "His lips felt like two slugs trying to fuck my hand."
Cade checked to make sure Ebren was gone and approached Nida, "That fucking pig..." he reached out an arm and pulled her toward him, "Maybe this will get your mind off him," he
leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and for a split second went limp in his arms.
"Ok," she came to and pushed him away with a giggle. "I've got work to do! Plus you would never live it down if anyone saw us." Cade let out a chuckle and released Nida.
She walked over to where Ebren had been sitting and knelt to clean up the mess of food he had left behind. Cade watched her for a moment before she turned around and glared at him.
"Stop looking at my ass, and go do your job!" she snapped as she reached out and pointed at the door. Cade smiled and waved as he walked toward the hatch.
"Next time you see me, I may be beautiful again," he waved and inadvertently turned the disfigured side of his face toward her, "Be good."
"I am always good," she smiled as she shooed him once again.
President Cade walked down the metal grate stairs, the heels of his heavy boots producing a metallic thump with every step. He found himself standing on the orange and brown dry, cracked ground that made up most of the Country of Canrom's landscape. Sym's light shone from the heavens, gently caressing Cade's skin. He permitted himself a brief moment of peace and closed his eyes as he took in the pleasant warmth that only the sun could provide.
"Are we ready Mister President?" Ebren asked impatiently. Cade opened his eyes and formed them into a glare. He wished to snap his hand out and wrap his fingers around his bumbling assistant's throat. He wanted to watch as his fat jelly-filled face turned blue and fantasized about it popping like a pimple.
"Lead the way then," Cade shook the thought from his head and directed himself toward his portly subordinate. Ebren nodded and turned to lead Cade onward.
Before the duo was a mound rising from the otherwise flat landscape, the mound stood nearly twice as tall as Cade who stood just over six feet, well above average among his Elvish and Half-Blood kin. As they neared their destination, the ground beneath them went from being the typical dried up orangish-brown to a lush green grass covered scape that made a perfect circle nearly twenty yards from the center of the mound. As Cade and Ebren approached the base of the mound, they briefly looked up at the giant tree that arose from the top of it. It was the Lithaani Sentinel; its trunk was a rich chocolate colored bark and a beautiful plume of green leaves decorated the top.
The Black Knight Box Set Page 5