OhmN

by M J Conlon

  Derick entered a room that at first appeared empty of all belongings, save for two people and two chairs, yet now that he was in the room he could feel hidden objects pressing on his mental vision granted by his psychic-viewing. Derick spent too long viewing the room and looking for the hidden components to realize that the other entity in the hidden chamber with him bore no semblance to the aged elfin queen who let him in. Instead upon seeing her, his mind felt as if it were attacked with a psychic backlash he instantly both knew and didn’t know the entity before him. He stared at her for what felt like an eternity, before dropping down to both knees, not for the aged queen who no doubt felt it was her due. Instead he did it for the devastating force of nature who still remained sitting in a chair this whole time.

  “So you do know who I am.” An aged voice called out from behind the elf queen. “I was wondering if we would have to tell you, then prove to you who I am. Then the inevitable wondering if you were going to be able to be alive after your revelation. Yet, you do appear to be a more capable psychic than any I have met over the years.”

  Derick felt his heart beat a little faster, trying to imagine what she meant by prove who she was. Derick could feel she was a being of immense power, but still had no way to describe what that meant.

  “Forgive me, but I do not know who you are,” Derick began, but the quickly continued upon seeing the being’s head move. Every fiber of his being was screaming for him to get out, to escape, yet Derick could feel her energy flows disrupting his calculations, it was almost as if the power that had been placed into this being was far greater than the world could hold. Just her presence made his skin crawl. “I know that you are a being of immense power, no doubt to provide stability for the world.” Derick finally finished. He could feel himself want to ramble on, much as she had, much as HAIL did, but forced himself to stop.

  She chuckled. Somewhere during the exchange the old elf queen had gone back to her throne, which was now silently rotating around the side and at 90 degrees so she was now able to view both Derick and the old being of power in the same view.

  “Smart enough to realize that you should show respect, but not strong enough in your own abilities to realize what you are looking at.” She mused to herself, her voice almost sounding like the mutterings of an old lady. Yet, Derick knew that he was meant to hear the words she muttered to herself. “I guess it will have to do.” She said, then looked back up at Derick, her eyes locking with his.

  Instantly Derick felt a feeling akin to mental fingers stretching out from the woman and digging their way down through his mind. “Ah there it is, the anomaly.” She said, and Derick could swear he felt fingers tapping on his mind, almost as if they were trying to figure out what to do from here. Finally she sighed, then seemed to speak only inside Derick’s mind. A voice that sounded like it was coming through water came to his mind, both sounding clear and echoing at the same time. “Your stolen ability psychic portal mastery is allowing you to apply your instant casting ability to your professions skills, Interesting. Had this been built from the beginning then we could force you to reassemble, but as most of your abilities were gained by chance…” The woman’s mental voice tapered off. It was only then that Derick realized just how serious of a situation this was.

  “Ah, yes” The powerful being’s mental thoughts continued. “You have invested quite a lot of power into your psychic vampirism ability, not really your fault for taking what was available. You also found a way to use the detriments assigned to the phase ability to kill off quite a few impressive enemies. Know this, we have ‘fixed’ the exploit you found in the phase ability.” Finally the mental onslaught ended. Derick could feel liquid pouring out of his nose, and gently gliding down his ears. The immense force that that he had been mentally pressing against, trying to maintain his balance even while on his knees finally dissipated. Derick first saw the ancient being, then saw spinning colors before a white blanket drowned out the other colors of the room.

  “Know that the vampirism ability has forever been removed from the tier six powers. Though also know that as a psychic litch, the only way for you to gain new powers is from your vampirism ability. There are no psychic trainers, nor will there ever be, you are a flawed template that was allowed by one of the other AIs. While your design follows the spirit of what was allowed, know that you are being watched. Friend of Parker.” The ancient being of power stated, the last words, Friend of Parker came out more of a snarl than anything.

  How did they know of my friend Parker? What does this mean.

  “Boss, boss. You must wake up Master!” HAIL’s voice came through, cutting through the white blanket that surrounded him like a large steak knife cutting through the plastic curtain in an old horror movie. The one that he remembered his grandfather making him watch. “Chocolate syrup.” His Grampy used to say when they watched it, “you see, back then the director knew the camera couldn’t tell the difference between blood and chocolate syrup. So they covered her in syrup and let the camera do the true magic of the scene.”

  “Get UP Master!” HAIL yelled into his mind that still felt as though it were swimming, as though he had done too many spins in a pool and he was now unable to find the surface.

  Finally he could feel his tiny arms spasming under him, while it felt like his spirit was allowed to re-enter his body and take control once more. He forced his head up, off the floor. Before Derick could open his eyes, he felt that the energy of the presence that had sat before him was no longer here, it had been replaced with the visage of a young woman wearing a deep red satin dress. Instantly Derick knew this was the princess that should have been here all along, before he was ambushed by the entity of immense power. Was that my Judge?

  HAIL remained quiet.

  “I have heard of being overcome with awe at my sight, but this is more than expected.” The queen said, her words covered in both honey and vinegar.

  Derick looked down at the ground, and saw the blood stains from where his nose bled onto the floor begin to disappear, almost as if the floor itself was drinking, absorbing my blood? Derick looked back up once the last of his blood particles had full disappeared into the ground.

  “It is an honor.” Derick forced himself, the words almost mechanically smooth coming from his lips, a sign of all the Army balls and banquets he had to attend in his wheel chair. So he could give a photo-op to the new Senators and Representatives that attended the Army ball that particular year. After the first few it became easier, selling his dignity for the knowledge that he would still be able to afford his house and medications.

  “You may rise.” The queen continued.

  Derick forced himself up to his feet. Instantly he looked around for his crutch but was unable to find it for a second, until it finally appeared in his periphery. Derick pulled it over with his psychic-telekinesis and used it to support his thin frame. Derick idly wondered is this me getting into the part I am trying to portray, or the fact that this was the part I was always meant to portray?

  HAIL remained quiet.

  “Quite impressive, your understanding of air magic is astounding.” The Queen said. Derick bowed, causing the blood in his head to spin around violently as it tried to find a hole to escape to, before circling back and crashing against his skull.

  “Thank you.”

  “Truth be told I didn’t even feel a breeze or any semblance of power being drawn.” The queen continued. “That and your unusual fighting style.” She added, while pointing to the pile of sword tips that lay in a pile next to Derick. Derick left them there are a warning and a sign that he could put them anywhere he wanted, and instead chose a sign of both power and peace. “Makes you a most interesting man. I do thank you for not killing my elite guards.” She added the last part almost as an after thought.

  “I did not, and do not wish to create an enemy from someone I hope to establish as one of my most trusted allies.” Derick said, in what he hoped came across as a sincere tone. The queen merely laughed
, before saying.

  “You were always going to be my slave.” She said the words my slave in such a way that Derick knew that something was supposed to be happening. “Bow before me slave,” the old elf demanded, pointing down at the ground. Derick did a quick inventory of his attack log and saw that he had been attacked by and resisted two different forms of mind control. Derick first felt shock, then anger, knowing that this woman had tried to control his mind. Derick made a mocking gesture to look around the room for anyone else. Then looked back at the queen and placed his hand on his chest as if to say, wait you were talking to me?

  “HAHAHA.” Derick laughed mockingly at the queen, before letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Now what would you do to someone who attacked you with powers Queeny?” Derick asked, while grabbing the eight different sword blades that lay in a pile next to him with his psychic-telekinesis before forcing each to spin around and fly forward at the queen. The Queen held up her hands and let out a large blast of what appeared to be water magic at him. Derick moved his spinning blades away from the water’s path, then waited. If I was able to resist the mental powers, I should be able to resist this. Derick thought to himself as he let the blades spin forward. In a second the wave of water was on him, then parted around him and reformed into a solid wave just behind his back. Once it was reformed the wave continued on, never slowing down. Only once it was forced through the opening of the balcony did it disappear from Derick’s mental eye.

  “Is this the famous Jalindan hospitality that I have heard so much about?” Derick said, letting three blades gently cut the queen. In a second Derick mentally felt a second red dot moving quickly toward him. Derick, never taking his eyes away from the queen let the other blades hover around her. In a second he felt the princess draw closer, then mentally saw her run into a portal at full speed whose exit appeared just beyond the end of the balcony forcing her to fall to the ground below, leaving him alone with the queen and his now five spinning blades. The queen looked down at her the three blades that each drew blood and each pinned a different part of her body to her chair by her thick clothing.

  “Most impressive.” She said. “You are no air mage, are you?”

  “Never claimed to be.”

  “So what now, you kill me?”

  “I could, I kill you ruin my reputation with Jalindan go to your nearest rivals claim a reward no doubt that they would make up on the spot. Lead an army against your daughters and burn every last book or tapestry with a word of your name to ash, forever wiping both your name and your legacy from the face of this planet.” Derick said, stating his contingency plan, if this speech went any more sideways.

  “That or we could talk, without one of us either being or pretending to be subservient to the other.” Derick added the last part, knowing that a woman as proud as the queen would never let herself be subservient. Nor would Derick let himself bargain from a position of weakness either. Right now he was an unknown quantity, and he needed to negotiate now, before the queen and her stooges realized just how many weaknesses he had.

  Derick’s mind began to spin from all of the mental energy he was using and from his altercation with the unknown entity that could take over any NPC at random. Such an act reminded Derick of a color movie, though Derick couldn’t recall which one.

  HAIL remained quiet.

  Damn, going to have to ask him about that later. I know that one was in color. Derick thought to himself, as he called back all the blades, letting the five still spinning blades come back and drop in a pile in front of Derick, while Derick created a portal that linked the three blades with the queen’s blood to a small opening in his bag of holding. Derick didn’t know if something should be possible, but it did seem to be possible, if only slightly mentally straining. The queen seeing that she was now no longer in danger of being killed, looked for the three blades that had cut her, all to see that they had disappeared in the spinning mass of blades that now lay at the portalists’ feet.

  “Agreed, let us talk as allies might.” The queen said the word allies as if it were laced with poison and vinegar.

  Derick felt his mind begin to relax the second the last blade hit the ground.

  “Though I do wonder how much longer you could have lasted.” The Queen said while looking at Derick. Derick could feel a trickle of blood still pouring from his nose. Instinctively Derick looked at his health bar to see that he had lost 122 hit points from both the powerful entity and no doubt pushing his body beyond its limit. Derick just smiled, wiping the blood with the back of his hand.

  “If I was to be your enemy I would let you think about it, spread out your resources looking for me, then strike you while you slept. Also knowing that you knew that is when I would strike, I would ensure that your last nights were miserable. I would take out a few of your daughters one by one to remind you that you were next. Finally you would become so irrational and irritable due to lack of sleep that your people would beg me to kill you.

  Only once your own people rose up against you and began burning this city to the ground would I show myself to you. I’d show for a second in a mirror, then disappear once you recognized me, spinning around to find empty air.

  When you didn’t take that seriously enough I would cut you before you turned. I would make your every waking moment a misery to be written about for years to come. In the end not only would your people beg for your death, you would welcome it, as death would be a mercy to your broken mind.” Derick said, calmly and coldly, remembering the psy-ops he had been trained to enact on an enemy force. Knowing that this time he could focus solely on the commander, versus the entire army. It was now that the queen finally seemed to look at Derick with anything but derision.

  “So you would.” She said, “well then, what would you like?”

  “You see, you say that as if you have already lost status, and while you have. I told you before that I want us to talk as equals, this time.” Derick said, adding a feeling of foreboding to the words this time.

  Chapter 10

  A few minutes into their negotiations, Derick felt the movement of many angry sentient beings coming up a hidden passageway to the left and behind of the hidden chamber. He also felt the presence of someone trying to climb up the wall behind him, though they were having a harder time than Derick would have.

  “We have guests.” Derick said, breaking off his conversation with the queen and assuming a relaxed pose against his wooden staff that now had a glowing red tip, due to blood? Derick thought looking at it, thinking back he had killed quite a few opponents with the simple wooden staff.

  One the guards entered the room, Derick felt a slight distortion fill his mind almost as if the spaces and dimensions in the little room were larger than they appeared. It was only after this, that he looked at the room and realized that the queen’s chair was back at the center of the chamber, no longer off to the side as it had been when he was talking to the ancient being of power. Was that a side effect of the portal distortion? My mind viewed and perceived the world to be shifting, even though it was all the same? Or had it only changed locally, thus messing up my potential landing destinations? Derick thought about these problems and waited for HAIL to respond.

  HAIL remained quiet.

  Come on man, I can’t do this without you.

  Silence.

  Finally the first of the guards ran into the room and ran in between the queen and Derick. Derick wondered what such a move would do to a portalist, but then figured they hadn’t fought too many instant casting portalists. Apparently it is an anomaly due to one of my acquired powers? Derick thought, remembering his conversation with the being of immense power, though psychic assault would probably be more accurate of a recounting of events.

  “Queen Mab, are you okay?” The Royal Guard Captain called out, positioning his large frame in between Derick and his queen. Queen Mab, like in Shakespeare? Derick paused as he couldn’t remember if the reference was to a Midsummer Night’s Dream, or Romeo and Juliet but he
could almost swear it was Romeo and Juliet. Derick thought about the name, then figured that it would be just as good of a name for an elf queen as any.

  “I am quite fine you fool.” Queen Mab said, before adding “now be gone.” She demanded. the royal guard captain flinched as if ready to strike, but then almost felt like a hand had hit him once he realized the true command that the queen had given him.

  “Leave?”

  “Do not make me repeat myself.” Queen Mab said with an icy tone to her voice.

  With that the guard that had surrounded Derick all began to leave quickly.

  The royal guard captain turned to say something to Mab, but Mab just stared at him, almost daring him to make her repeat the same command for a third time. He bowed, then followed his men out of the room.

  “There is one more.” Derick said, making a hand gesture, so the queen knew he was doing something, even though the hand gesture was completely unnecessary.

  One second Derick could feel a figure trying to sneak up a wall behind him. The next, the same figure appeared in the princess’ chair her back to Derick and the queen while making what appeared to be cat pawing motions at the chair. Derick knew it was not cat pawing motions, but her trying to climb silently, yet couldn’t help but find the situation comical.

  “If you are done playing with your seat, daughter, perhaps we could continue this treaty.” Mab said, her eyes never leaving Derick’s violet eyes.

  “Perhaps this is as good of a time as any to inform you of a recent development in your beloved city.” Derick began, adding an air of reproach to his words. “I have killed the leader of your local thieves guild, one Termeran Laithe. Alas I fear that his death, along with the deaths of his two archers he had in tow will no doubt cause the thieves in this city to strike out in retaliation. I am nearly certain that the thieves of this city will want to make their presence known.” Derick said, never taking his eyes off of the old Queen Mab.