Evolve

by Derek Belfield

  "Even the palace is somewhat of a mystery. There are whole storerooms and vaults in the lower level with materials that we have no immediate use for." He put his chin in his hand as he looked over the relevant document. "It would seem that Lucidus has set them aside for us, but as of yet even the Guardians who used to be tradesmen and women have no idea what they're for." He returned the paper to the stock towering on the side of his desk and looked up at his wife.

  "All we can do now is inventory them and hope we'll discover a use for them someday." He shrugged. "If anyone can figure out what they're for, it'll probably be the Lord Heritor." His wife moved his tea out of the way and sat down on the edge of the desk. Its shoddy construction made it wobble dangerously, but it held.

  "What do you think about the Lord Heritor?" she asked. Merus leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. He stared at the ceiling and thought about how to put into words what he was thinking. "I don't know." He started, "he has certainly been busy since he arrived in the forest."

  Lucelynia nodded at that. "He has brought many changes to our people. I look around, and I don't recognize them anymore." She gave a light laugh that sounded like wind chimes. "Most days, I don't recognize myself."

  Merus studied her. It was true. She had once had hair the color of a raven's plumage with beautiful olive-toned skin. She was still beautiful, but now it was different. She had been transformed into a sepia version of herself. She had platinum blonde hair that shone like spun gold. It accentuated her pale, pearlescent skin. Her eyes had changed from the deepest viridescence of the forest to a sky blue that shone with unearthly intensity. Her eyes seemed to shift colors with her mood. When she was angry it took on the tone of a stormy sea, when she was joyful it took on the vibrancy of a morning sky, and when they made love, it had all of the complexity of the twilight hour.

  It hadn't been just the apparent features that had changed either. Her bone structure had grown finer and more symmetrical, she had gotten taller and more elegant, and the softness from before had turned into the athletic and toned body of a Numerian Wind Dancer. He could still recognize his wife. Her expressions, movements, and body language were still familiar. Her patient love for his distracted ways had endured with all of the permanence of the earthly bedrock. Now though, there was a predatory disposition to his wife that he couldn't recognize from before. It manifested itself in the economy of her motion, the grace of her movements, and alertness that was palpable even now. Merus recognized the same changes in himself.

  The conversion had wrought transfigurations on their entire people. They all held that same predatory disposition. The transformation hadn't been solely physical, either. Becoming a Guardian meant something. Their people were no longer as individualistic, and they venerated anything to do with the Scourge with a religious fervor. Some had found the change in attitude off-putting as even their own thoughts and feelings felt manipulated.

  It didn't truly matter though. Merus had Guardians that volunteered to pull extra duties at the hatchery. When they were watching over the first clutch, they felt fulfilled in a way that roaming the perimeter didn't. If that wasn't a sign of supernatural influence, then Merus didn't know what was. Despite the thoughts about his people that percolated in his mind, he was sure to assuage his wife's doubts.

  "I can recognize you, love. Your appearance may have changed, but all it did was make the most beautiful elf the village now the most enchanting Guardian in the compound." He grinned at her in a way that suggested they should try and take this conversation to another place.

  Lucelynia teased him back. "Is that so, Governor?" She gave him a devilish grin and turned in such a way to put her nature-perfected curves on mock display.

  "Well, if that's the case…" She said suggestively. "…you should…" She leaned in closer to him, putting her lips inches from his own. "Finish your paperwork." She whispered, and then laughed out loud at his expression.

  Merus gave her a long-suffering sigh, feeling uncomfortably tight in his trousers. "I know," he groaned. "Why haven't you helped me with this?" He gestured to the dangerously leaning mountain of parchment. "You've always been better at this sort of thing than I have. You used to assist the elders all the time."

  Lucelynia coyly tapped a finger to her lips. "Well, for one, I wasn't asked to by the Lord Heritor." She smiled.

  "…and two, this will be good for you."

  Merus frowned. "How's that?" He asked. She shrugged and spoke as if the answer should be obvious.

  "You're essentially the number two man in the Scourge. Shale isn't in any rush to give any orders and Slate would prefer to be on the battlefield rather than a throne room."

  Merus cut in, "Yes but I don't care about being the number two man in the Scourge. I don't care about being the Governor of anything much less something like Lighthaven. It feels too…big."

  Lucelynia gave him a severe look. "But it's not. Right now, the organization is as small as it has ever going to get, and this is the perfect time for you to get your feet underneath you before it grows into something larger. Once that happens, I'll give you a hand. But this…" She pointed to the paperwork. "Is the price you pay for being a good man." She continued, not letting him protest over her. "I don't know much about Slate, but I do know quite a bit about you, husband. The Lord Heritor gave you this position because he knew you didn't want it. More so, he killed every person in the village who would have lusted after it."

  Merus frowned in thought, letting her continue. "I don't know how much of that was Shale's vengeance or his insight, but the fact remains that he trusts you to do a good job. He was in your skull and shared all of your thoughts and feelings. He picked you, because of your inexperience with leadership and not in spite of it. So don't be worried that you're feeling a little overwhelmed." He sighed, but this time it was an appreciative one.

  "You're right, I—"

  Abruptly Guard Lieutenant Burnheel rushed into his office and shouted breathlessly. "Governor! We're being attacked!" Lucelynia and Merus both clambered to their feet, eyes wild. Every instinct within them drove them to run towards the threat and destroy it. Merus had to visibly calm himself instead of rushing to follow the lieutenant out into battle.

  "Details. Now." He said.

  The lieutenant took stock of the situation and noticed that the Governor was responding calmly. The observation allowed him to slow down and do the same before communicating everything he knew. "Our forward scouts picked up the trail of a large party moving campaign through the woods to the east of Lighthaven. They were moving in the direction of the compound, and so the scouts picked up speed until they could get a closer look. They discovered about five hundred armed attackers wearing a combination of darkened plate and chainmail."

  Merus grabbed a blank sheet of paper and started writing notes as the lieutenant spoke. "Weapons?" he asked.

  "Crossbows, pikes, and shields with assorted small weaponry." The Guardian said promptly.

  "No cavalry or siege equipment?"

  The Guardian looked uncomfortable. "What?" Merus demanded. "Governor, there's one man on a horse, but he doesn't look…right."

  Merus glared. "Be specific, Lieutenant."

  The man shuffled his feet. "The person was on a horse that looked…dead. Purple light came from the eyes of the mount, and it looked like the man was in charge."

  Merus looked thoughtful. "What was odd about the rider?"

  "Well, that's the thing, Governor. The scouts reported that he looked dead as well. They said it looked like a corpse on horseback." Merus considered the information. It wasn't enough to worry about right now.

  "How far away are they?" He asked. The officer paused to consider. "They're moving at a slow enough pace that it will take them another day to make it here. The leader seems able to move fast enough, but the soldiers with him are slow. The forest seems to be impeding their progress."

  Merus nodded. It made sense. He had to think about what his priorities were right
now. Both logic and his emotions told him the clutch was the most critical thing they possessed. The second would have to be the city management token. As far as he knew, if the enemy couldn't acquire that, then they couldn't actually conquer the compound. Five hundred enemies weren't that much if they had been at full strength and could defend from within the temple. He could imagine a scenario where the Guardians stalled the troops while Slate and Shale wreaked havoc on their numbers. However, that number was simply too much for the hundred and change defenders that they had. Even with the advanced warning that they had received, they couldn't wholly destroy such a force.

  He spoke up. "Our first priority is to protect the clutch." He looked at the guard lieutenant seriously. "Lieutenant Burnheel, you and your royal guard will take the clutch and flee towards Bastion. Hopefully, you can meet up with the Heritor and his Consort." The lieutenant nodded gravely. They both knew that leaving the second corps behind would be consigning them to their deaths.

  "Aye, Governor. Anything else?" Moisture was building in his eyes, but he refused to shed any tears.

  "Yes," He said, quietly. "Two things. First," he paused and looked at Lucelynia. "You need to take this," he pulled the blue crystal token from his pocket. He held it out to Lucelynia and she looked him in the eye.

  "No, Merus," she whispered. She knew what he intended to do, and she didn't want to do it.

  "Guardian. You will take this." His face hardened as emotion roughened his command.

  Lucelynia took the crystal from him, tears flowing freely as the lieutenant looked on. "Aye Commander," she choked out. She refused to take this moment from him. This was the reason that Slate had put him in charge after all.

  He would do the right thing, even if it cost him his life.

  After Merus handed off the token, he looked up at Lieutenant Burnheel."You have two primary missions. The first is to protect the clutch and rendezvous with the Lord Heritor. The second," he glanced meaningfully at Lucelynia. "Is to protect the city token and escort it to him as well." He took a shuddering breath before continuing. "If your missions conflict, you must protect the clutch first." He left what he wanted to say unsaid. He was selfish by sending Lucelynia with the token, but he couldn't stand to watch her die.

  The lieutenant pressed his fist on his chest in a salute. "Aye Governor. I'll grab the clutch and make haste." He turned on his heel to exit the room.

  "Send me Captain Stonebringer," Merus shouted at the lieutenant’s back. He yelled his assent and rushed from the room. As soon as he left something broke in Merus's face. "Please don't make this harder than it is," he whispered. He had refused to make eye contact with her since she had accepted the order. He was afraid that he would find something there that would weaken his resolve.

  "I wouldn't," her voice was soft as walked closer to Merus and put her arms around him. She looked up at him and stared deeply into his golden eyes. They, like everything else, had been changed with the coming of the Scourge. She leaned up and kissed him chastely on the lips. "I love you," she whispered.

  "I love you, too," he replied. "That's why I need you to leave."

  She nodded once and left the chamber. She refused to look over her shoulder, she wouldn't do that to him. Instead, she clenched the token in her fist until she could feel the sharp edges draw blood. She resolved to make this sacrifice mean something.

  Captain Stonebringer walked in as Lucelynia left. Sensing the mood, he waited for his commander to address him. "Sumnu," Merus said roughly.

  Sumnu saluted. "Yes, Governor."

  Merus nodded and gestured for him to relax before continuing. "You don't need to do that Sumnu, the Heritor trusts you. I'm sure you've heard the news?" He asked heavily.

  "I have," the man replied.

  "Good, then how are we going to defend the compound?"

  Captain Stonebringer paused as if weighing his words. "Well, I think the best way to defend in this instance is first to attack."

  "Go on," Merus nodded.

  "We know the terrain better than our enemy, I suggest we send out harrying forces to molest the enemy all the way until they arrive at the temple." He continued, "if we split our forces, we can leave half them here in the temple protecting the entrance, and use the rest siphon off their numbers."

  Merus grinned savagely, belaying his bookish personality. "Yes. If we're lucky, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive." He said, hope coloring his voice.

  The Captain nodded gravely. "Or… at least bleed them enough to make holding the temple too costly."

  Merus's face sobered. "Of course, I guess I shouldn't be thinking of surviving this engagement."

  Captain Stonebringer shrugged. "To be honest, Merus I don't think it will be enough to hold them here, but we should put up enough of a fight to keep them from catching up to the clutch."

  Merus sighed, hearing the truth in the man's voice. "If that's the case, I want you to organize the defense here. I'm going to need your experience in the coming days. Please assign Captain Riverrun to the harrying force."

  Sumnu saluted. He knew this was difficult for Merus and he knew that he needed to respect their relative positions now more than ever. If Merus believed that Sumnu supported him, then it was more likely that he would believe in himself. "Aye, Governor" He left, hearing the dismissal in Merus's orders.

  Merus sat in his chair, exhausted. The paperwork on his desk looked meaningless in the face of the coming disaster. The best that he could hope for is that Lucelynia would escape safely and the clutch would have the opportunity to hatch. If he could accomplish that with his life, then he would consider it a life well spent. He gave a silent prayer to the Lord of Light for their protection and then stood up. He would need to make sure that the Guardians were organized and that he wished luck upon the forces that would be departing soon.

  When he walked out of the palace and onto the marshaling ground, he could see the various lieutenants issuing orders under the watchful eyes of their respective captains. The air was somber and determined. Guardians rushed about the compound, collecting necessary supplies and equipping their weapons and armor. Merus frowned, he should've donned his own. Instead of a warrior, he looked like a librarian.

  When the rest of the guardians noticed him, they stopped in their tracks. As one they rapped their fists against their chests in salute. Three beats they gave him. Three beats for the sacrifice they knew they would have to provide. To a man, they all looked proud of the role they were about to play. To them, this is why the Lord of Light had blessed them in the first place. It wasn't so that they could live and die quietly on the farm or at the loom. No, they had been blessed so that they could fight for the Scourge. They had been blessed so that they could fight for their Governor. Never had they been so proud to be a Guardian.

  Chapter 23: The Fall of Bastion

  Slate inhaled and then breathed out a river of white fire. It crashed over the golem, and it began to scream in agony. Twenty-five voices overlapping each other was jarring. It was a hellish and discordant combination of sounds that set his teeth on edge. He stopped breathing fire and then launched himself at the golem.

  The golem recovered quickly even though flames were still licking across its metallic body. From what Slate could tell, his fire hadn't been able to melt its frame, but the cleansing attribute of the fire pained its spiritual essence. Slate threw a right cross at the face of the golem and hit it right on in the jaw. The force was enough to budge the metal being a fraction, but its dense figure didn't move nearly as much as Slate hoped.

  With blinding speed, the golem began to throw punches at Slate. The force behind them was strong enough to make cracking noises as the air was displaced. Slate drifted into a form of consciousness that allowed to dodge the punches. If he were asked to describe to someone the location of the fists relative to his body, he would be unable to. His reflexes were reacting at speeds faster than his conscious thought. In a way, it was a blessing because it freed his mind to focus on the only a
dvantage he had in this fight.

  As he dodged and whipped around the golem's strike, he increased the temperature around his body. He could feel the ground below him starting to soften, and he hoped the heat would have a similar effect on the metallic being in front of him. With a thought, his tail blade burst into flame. It had been evolved into what had been described as a monomolecular edge. Slate doubted the veracity of the claim because had it been genuinely monomolecular, it would have slid through any and all substances without resistance. The effect would have been akin to air splitting over and under the wing of an aircraft.