The Undying Champions (The Eternal War Book 1)

by Brennan C. Adams

  “Considering Daevetch is only composed of liars and manipulators, no. I don’t trust you,” Bright said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m hurt,” Dim pouted while sticking a finger close to Bright once again.

  Would you two SHUT UP and godsdamn EXPLAIN yourselves?

  The question blazed in Raimie’s mind hotly. It wasn’t something he’d intended for the splinters to hear as he’d have worded it differently before speaking, but as it was, their teeth clicked together and they immediately faced him. Their mouths worked to open and speak, but nothing came forth.

  Raimie narrowed his eyes at them, trying to decipher their strange behavior, and their somewhat disappointed and frustrated looks reminded him of what they’d been discussing. He reversed the command while at the same time marveling that the splinters had been forced to follow it in the first place.

  “Thank you,” Bright murmured while rubbing his jaw.

  Meanwhile, Dim spat off to the side, gagging from revulsion.

  I’m sorry, Raimie thought at the dark splinter.

  Dim spun to make an angry retort, but the response died on his lips at the look of distress on his human’s face. He hugged his arms around his torso and grimaced.

  “Sometimes your ignorance astonishes me,” he muttered darkly.

  Is that really my fault? Raimie asked, cocking his head.

  Dim actually took the time to ponder the question instead of blurting the first answer that came to mind.

  “No, you’ve been sheltered to a ridiculous extreme your whole life. You can’t be blamed for a lack of knowledge when it was never provided or even intimated at.”

  “Can we get back to the original question?” Bright interrupted impatiently before Raimie could ask the next question dangling from the tip of his tongue.

  The splinter continued once he’d received permission from the other two.

  “We can’t read your mind in its entirety, Raimie. You don’t have to worry about an intrusion of privacy. The only thoughts we catch from you are any connected to Ele and Daevetch which you’re actively considering or those that are directed specifically at us.”

  Raimie had to admit that he was a bit relieved at that revelation. The idea that the splinters had been listening in on his every thought since they’d first appeared would have disturbed him greatly. Speaking of which.

  Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning? he asked.

  “Over the eons,” Dim answered this time, “we pieces of our separate wholes have determined that, for some reason, physical beings find it more comfortable to actively speak to us rather than to employ a simpler method, although we don’t understand why that is. Do you all enjoy the sound of your voice that much?”

  Dim seemed genuinely curious, and Raimie smiled.

  Some of us do.

  He glanced pointedly at Eledis. The old man had returned to staring at the view of the city through their window.

  “After we’d been with you a few weeks, we thought that you might be receptive to this form of communication, considering how often you complain about the feasibility of talking to us around those who cannot see us,” Bright continued, smiling proudly. “The hand signaling was a good idea. Some of Ele’s primeancers have used it in the past.”

  But this is more efficient, Raimie thought. I like it, although it might take some getting used to.

  He would continue to audibly speak to them when alone because the two were right about that. It was distinctly more comforting to speak aloud with Bright and Dim than to think at them.

  “We’ll be happy with whatever you decide to do,” Bright said. “We only wanted to provide another option.”

  Gods, that was creepy. He shuddered before moving on.

  So, did it work? he asked. Are the communication pathways fully open?

  “It seems that way, but we won’t know for sure until we try to explain,” Bright answered.

  Let’s get started, then. What do you want from me?

  Bright opened his mouth to begin. He stopped, choking on the words, closed his mouth exasperatedly, and gestured for Dim to take over.

  “Our wholes indeed have a purpose for you, but we,” Dim pointed to himself and Bright, “have come to the conclusion that… you… can… do… something more.”

  Dim gasped out each word, struggling to push them through.

  You’re disagreeing with your wholes? Raimie asked with surprise. Can you even do that?

  “We shouldn’t be able to,” Bright said, taking over for Dim who was gagging to the side. “It’s never happened before, but things have never before been as bad as they are now.”

  Bad as they are… Raimie thought with curiosity. No, we’ll get back to that. So what do the two of you, Bright and Dim, want from me?

  Bright blanched and stumbled. Dim attempted to speak, but he doubled over, heaves making his form shudder.

  Stop! Raimie commanded. Will you be able to tell me without keeling over?

  “Kid, each of us is a tiny, insignificant piece of a force of nature, trying to defy the vast power that makes up the remainder,” Dim muttered, clutching his stomach. “Our entire existence derives from our wholes, and we’ve decided on a course of action that may break us from them. Yes, we’ve having trouble even speaking of it currently.”

  Then let’s talk about what Ele and Daevetch want .

  “I thought their desire would be fairly obvious to you by now,” Bright said faintly. “They want you to pick a side, get rid of the enemy splinter, and assist in the eternal war between them.”

  WHAT?!

  Raimie shook from the anger flooding his system. He’d accepted a role in one war, and now, another attempted to drag him in? He slammed a fist into the mattress.

  He considered his splinters: Bright who was gaining a mischievous sense of humor and always attempted to protect him and Dim whose love of fun had carried him through many difficult situations.

  “No! Sorry, but no, I’m not doing that,” he snapped.

  The splinters’ surprise was palpable, but they beamed proudly and respectfully bowed from the waist.

  Stop that! Raimie commanded, and the splinters immediately rose.

  He flushed an even deeper red.

  Is there anything else you need to tell me right now? he asked, trying to control the embarrassment. I know we need to figure out how to discuss this other purpose the two of you believe I may serve, but unless there’s something else that needs my attentions at this very moment, I’d like to rest and find a way out of the castle.

  “We’ll remain as unobtrusive as possible,” Bright quietly said.

  Thank you.

  The splinters faded into the periphery.

  The conversation had finally provided an answer to the question Raimie had most feared, but it had raised even more questions as well, to his frustration.

  Sometimes, he wondered at how similar his life had become to the stories he’d loved most as a kid. The characters in those tales had also had answers fed to them in a trickle, constantly distracted from pursuing them by problems that seemed significant at the time. A life such as that was not at all how he’d imagined it, and his ideal childhood dreams to be the story’s hero seemed foolish now.

  “Who were you speaking to?” Eledis asked by the window.

  Raimie panicked for a moment, sure his grandfather had somehow overheard the conversation, before remembering that he’d spoken aloud at one point out of emphatic denial of what had been requested of him.

  “Contemplating escape plans. I only spoke to myself,” he lied.

  Before his grandfather could say anything else, he dove into bed and pulled the covers over his head. The hard mattress and rough sheets weren’t normally conducive to sleep, but in his case, it hardly mattered. He was asleep within seconds.

  * * *

  Days turned into weeks which stretched into months. During this period, Kaedesa called on Raimie many times. They never again spoke of the reason for his impr
isonment, instead focusing on inane topics such as what it was like to grow up on a farm, how Raimie would handle certain social situation, and to his great amusement, which of the monsters made famous by fairytale stories would prevail in combat.

  Eledis also had a single meeting with the Queen. It didn’t end well for him. When he was dragged unconscious to their room, he was covered head to toe in bruises and cuts that took weeks to fully heal. Many other officials asked for him after that meeting, making it so that Eledis rarely occupied their one room prison.

  Raimie was content with that. He was rarely there as well, but most of his excursions from the room were unescorted. After all, he needed to keep the Queen’s attention somehow, and he hoped the trick that had initially sparked her interest would continue to cultivate it.

  The first time he snuck out, he walked right past the guard keeping watch at the door. It hadn’t required any magical assistance, which Raimie found highly amusing. The single palace guard assigned to keep watch during the small hours of the morning had simply fallen asleep while on duty.

  He used those early hours to locate the palace library. Kaedesa’s personal library was said to rival the Great Library of Sur which held a copy of every book of substance widely distributed throughout the continent. It didn’t disappoint.

  The tower it occupied stretched high into the sky, every level lined with bookshelves and chairs. In the middle of the night, the library was essentially abandoned, and Raimie had his pick of reading material. Unnerved by the quiet, he’d quickly make his choices and return to his room. He devoured a voluminous number of dusty books and tomes before the guards recognized that his ever present piles of books changed too often for how few requests he made. After that, the sleeping guard was replaced with another who was more attentive, and Raimie had to sulkily devise another way out.

  The window proved to be his next escape route. Once he slipped outside, he used Ele’s energy to nimbly maneuver down the window sills and buttresses and Daevetch’s to gouge tiny holes wherever the wall transformed into a sheer drop.

  At this point, he varied his destinations in order to avoid detection. He occasionally visited the library, but he also explored the castle and on rare occasions, made hazardous trips to the barracks.

  The purpose of his visits to this last destination was simply for weapons practice. He missed his evening training sessions with Kheled and practicing what forms he’d been taught was the closest he came to them. As an added bonus, it kept his skills sharp.

  Unfortunately, the guards caught on to his visits to their home. He carelessly forgot sometimes, in his haste to return to his room before the changing of the watch, to sharpen blades or to return weapons exactly where he’d found them. After two months of sporadic visits, the guards successfully ambushed him and brought him to Kaedesa who was both intrigued and none too pleased. It was the first and only time he was caught outside of his room.

  He never attempted to return to the tear. He knew that as one of the major sources of the Daira’s wealth, it would be extremely well guarded, especially after the last infraction of its security.

  As the months passed, Kaedesa’s visits came less frequently, and when she did request Raimie’s presence, she snapped easily and lost her temper at the slightest provocation. Raimie knew it was only a matter of time before she lost interest entirely, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to retain her curiosity.

  Tonight, he’d implement his first idea, one of several flimsy plans he’d devised. As usual, he crawled out of the window and descended to the ground below. He vaulted off of the second floor sill, tumbling gracefully in the grass to avoid twisting his ankle like he had the first night he’d taken this route out.

  As with every other excursion, he gazed longingly at the city below, so easily within reach and so violently tearing at his soul with temptation. He turned his back on the lights and snuck to the closest door into the palace.

  Silently, he asked Dim to scout the hall beyond. While Raimie impatiently waited for his return, Bright stepped closer.

  “I have a suggestion, if I may,” he whispered.

  Raimie cocked his head questioningly. He always accepted whatever help his splinters provided, but Bright had never volunteered before.

  “There’s a technique that might be useful in our current situation,” Bright continued hesitantly.

  Well, now Raimie was confused.

  Is there some way I can use Ele to sneak? he asked. Isn’t that more, I don’t know, Daevetch territory?

  “Technically, this technique is supposed to be used to hide items of great value, like Shadowsteal, away from the enemy and its agents,” Bright explained, his entire demeanor radiating discomfort, “but you might be able to use it to get past other people unseen. I only thought of the application now, or I might have said something earlier.”

  What is it? Raimie asked eagerly.

  “You hide in a pocket of Ele,” Bright mumbled.

  Raimie took a moment to simply stare at the splinter, letting the silence do the talking.

  I’m going to need more than that.

  Bright hummed.

  “The whole suffuses everything, yes? So then, why can’t you see it?” he asked.

  Raimie shrugged, not caring to guess the answer.

  “Because there’s a physical world covering us up,” Bright continued in answer to his own question. “We influence the physical world in whatever small ways we can, whether that be by causing natural disasters, playing on living being’s emotions, or using primeancers, but both wholes are unable to exert full control in this realm.”

  Fascinating, but what does that have to do with what you’re suggesting?

  Raimie hoped the splinter would get to the point soon.

  “As a primeancer, you bend the physical world through your splinter, reaching past that layer of reality to gain access to the whole,” Bright answered. “It’s what you do every time you draw from our life force. You can also-”

  What?! Life force?! Am I killing off a force of nature when I use its energy? Raimie asked, his eyes wide with horror.

  “Of course you are. What else would you be doing?” Bright shook his head. “Don’t fret. Both wholes’ life forces are basically infinite. There’s no way a single primeancer could completely drain either of us.”

  Suddenly, Raimie didn’t feel so secure about drawing on Ele and Daevetch simply to skulk about the palace as he had the last few months.

  Maybe you shouldn’t tell me about this technique.

  “Don’t be silly, and stop it with the guilt! I promise, to the whole you’re a mosquito that occasionally lands to drink of our blood.”

  All right, Raimie thought reluctantly, not liking the comparison but giving Bright permission to continue.

  “As I was saying, you bend the physical world to gain access to the whole, but you can also bend reality around yourself, essentially hiding behind the veil as we are. If you completely close that bubble, whatever it envelops becomes invisible to the residents of the physical world.”

  And exactly how do I do that? Raimie asked doubtfully.

  “What do you do when you ‘draw from Ele’ as you call it?”

  There’s a point within you that has a well of calm and peace lurking behind it. I pull some of that peace through to me and direct it wherever I want it to go, Raimie answered.

  “That’s how you see it?” Bright asked with interest before he shook his head. “Instead of pulling on what’s beyond it, draw the point inside of me around yourself. That’s your break in the physical world. You can manipulate that source as well as the whole’s life force.”

  Raimie considered.

  I suppose there’s no harm in trying, he concluded. Why can I do this with you and not with Dim?

  “You could try it with the idiot, but I fear it might hasten your descent into madness.”

  Wait. Are you implying drawing from Daevetch could drive me insane?

  When Bright nodded, Raimie b
it back a laugh.

  I thought you weren’t trying to recruit me.

  “No, the bore’s right,” Dim said from immediately behind Raimie who jumped. “Everyone associated with my whole has unbelievable power at their disposal, but we eventually all go barking mad.”

  To emphasize the point, Dim barked like a dog right in his ear. Raimie winced and frowned back at the splinter.

  “For someone who’s supposed to keep an eye on his surroundings, you’re not very observant if you allowed me to sneak up on you,” Dim smirked back.

  Ele it is.

  “Wait, what?” Dim asked in a panic.

  Ignoring him, Raimie reached for that point somewhere within and beyond Bright and tugged on it. It pulled toward him, and he willed it up and over his head while at the same time down and under his feet. The two edges met at his midsection, and they popped together.

  “Ah, I see,” Dim remarked with relief. “That’s actually pretty damn smart.”

  “Thank you,” Bright said quietly.

  “This was your idea?!” Dim sputtered. “I take it back. Idiotic plan. He’s going to be seen immediately.”

  I take that to mean it’s working.

  “I believe so,” Bright confirmed.

  Then, if you two would quit fighting, maybe we can find Shadowsteal.

  Bright practically beamed, and Dim grinned ferally.

  Raimie cracked the palace door open, peering into the hall beyond. He might pass unseen, but a door opening by itself would most definitely be noticed. He slipped through upon observing that the coast was clear and eased it closed behind him. Padding down the hallway silently, he headed to the Queen’s quarters.

  He cringed past the first guard he encountered, certain that he’d hear a shout of alarm at any moment, but he made it to the next turn without a single peep. After that, he strode past each following guard confidently while continuing to ensure his own silence. After all, he didn’t know whether this technique blocked sound or if it was merely sight.