by Aaron Hicks
Laurilli added, “Because of how he grew up.”
Uktesh nodded, “Right. So our dedication is good in some ways, but bad in others. “
Repus said, “Yeah, I’ll take the way I grew up over the way you grew up any day.”
Uktesh grinned, “I’m still growing up! I’m only sixteen! Don’t make me an old man in my thirty’s yet!” He grinned wider as everyone glared at him. He glanced at Laurilli, who smiled at him, and winked.
She said, “I think what Repus meant was that we are so mature that they keep thinking of us as wiser, more leveled headed, and more knowledgeable about life than they are.”
Tylor chimed in, “Or, he meant that now that you’re married your childhood is behind you.”
Uktesh shrugged and said, “Fair trade.”
They ate in a comfortable silence for a time, until Laurilli finished and said, “I’m going swimming in the lagoon, would anyone care to join me?”
She asked the question to everyone, but she stared directly at Uktesh while she said it. He felt his face show his shock when he realized what she was saying, so he replied, “Sure! I suddenly feel like taking a swim. You guys really should join us though, the lagoon is amazing.” He looked at Laurilli and added, “Unless I just ruined a well concealed request for us to be alone.”
She shook her head, started to gather her plate and his, and said, “No. Everyone’s invited, but you, husband, have to come.”
Uktesh smiled, took her two cups, stacked them with his two, and said, “I hear and obey.”
They rose and put their dishes in the dirty dishes bin before heading to their house. Uktesh walked in silence while he waited for her to say what she needed to say.
“I don’t like it, but if you’re going to check out the necrolans now is the time. You have about thirty minutes before anyone gets suspicious. You’re not going without me though. We should probably Shadow Walk there.”
Uktesh said, “Wait. I thought we were going to finish our discussion from earlier!”
Laurilli grinned at him, hit him with her hip, and said, “Well, I thought that since we can do that tonight, today we might as well meet the necrolans.” She glanced at him and said, “Don’t pout, we can do that later.”
He said, “I’m not pouting,” although he knew he had been.
Now who’s sulking?
Uktesh ignored the dragon, held Laurilli’s hand, and Walked inside their house. “Why here?”
Uktesh lifted the trap door under their bed and pulled out their swords. Next, he grabbed his bow and his quiver of arrows; then he reached in one more time for their minotaur hide jackets. He was disappointed to find that his was starting to be too small for him, and saw that Laurilli had a similar problem with her own. “Well, I’m glad I’m growing, but I didn’t think about this side effect.”
Laurilli frowned and said, “I haven’t grown any taller since I got this. Does that mean I’m getting fatter?”
Uktesh said, “No way. You’re probably putting on muscle from all the exercise we’ve been doing.”
Her frown deepened as she replied, “I don’t like that either!”
Uktesh said, “Hopefully we can have them fitted when we get back to Manori.”
She squeezed into her jacket and Uktesh said, “Hopefully this will be the last time we need them.” Laurilli just raised an eyebrow at him, and he added, “I said, ‘hopefully.’ It’s not my fault if things beyond my control cause us to be in danger again.” He strapped his swords across his back and tightened the straps that kept them in place.
Laurilli said, “No, but it is your fault when you go looking for trouble. Like now.”
Uktesh tightened his bracer of throwing knives across his chest, and said, “I guess, but it’s necessary. Even though they haven’t done anything that we know of, they may be on the verge of trying to take over the island.” He finished tightening his quiver to his left hip, strung his bow, and looped it around his shoulders.
“I know you’re exaggerating, but maybe they’re on the verge of a peaceful movement of Afflicted inclusion into society.”
He smiled at her mockery of his previous statement and looped a long knife into his belt. He gestured for her to finish tightening her quiver strap and said, “Let’s just agree to disagree then, and go prepared for either possibility.”
Though the former is far more likely than the later, the dragon thought to Uktesh.
Laurilli nodded that she was ready as he looped a second much thicker knife through his belt. He took her hand and Walked them to Abrym’s jewelry store. Uktesh went inside and saw that Abrym had a customer. He didn’t see Pippy so he backed out before he could possibly disrupt a sale. He had Walked them to this spot for two reasons; if the necrolans had a way to detect him as a fellow Afflicted, they would know he came to that store often and he hoped it wouldn’t alert them, and he wanted to see Pippy one last time, in case this went horribly wrong.
He felt Laurilli’s hand touch his and he gripped it tight, suddenly unsure of his course. Laurilli, however, spoke his fear aloud, “You’re worrying about me, aren’t you.”
He nodded, “I can Walk away, but you can’t.”
She said, “You need someone to watch your back. You can either choose me or my father.”
Uktesh only hesitated for a moment before he said, “You, but, as much as possible, stay behind me. Wife.”
She smiled and dimpled prettily, “I hear and obey.”
In the months leading up to their wedding they had decided to take out the honor and obey section of the vows and had instead decided that when either added husband or wife to a request it became a request that needed to by obeyed. If Laurilli didn’t obey, it meant that the she wasn’t honoring their deal. Uktesh then got two requests she had to obey. They also decided that they would reply, “I hear and obey,” if they were happy to do the request, and they wouldn’t if they were doing the request under protest.
Which is why Uktesh stepped closer to her, kissed the tip of her nose, and said, “Too bad, I have two requests of you, just waiting to be given.”
Laurilli smiled and said, “Well, you just wait. If you disobey me I’m going to have you massage my feet for an hour, twice.”
Uktesh felt his jaw drop slightly, I hadn’t thought of that! His mind spun with new possibilities of requests.
Laurilli frowned at him and said, “Why are you grinning like that?”
Uktesh just smiled widely at her, “Disobey me and you’ll find out.”
Laurilli smiled back at him predatorily, “This could quickly get out of hand.”
Uktesh nodded, and added, “But we won’t let it, or it loses all its fun.”
They walked down the street together and received more than a few stares from wary shop keepers, as not even the Justicers were as well armed as the two of them currently were. The street curved away from where the dragon had located the necrolans and there were no alleys between the buildings to walk through. Uktesh and Laurilli walked into a place called Haeir’s A Restaurant and asked if they had a back exit. The girl nodded, clearly too startled to lie. Uktesh thanked her and headed toward the kitchen. They were met at the door by a cook armed with two cleavers. Uktesh lifted his right arm with the dragon tattoo. The cook reacted with a stunned expression as Uktesh and Laurilli quickly found the rear door and left.
They made their way down to a beach that was quite different from the sandy beaches they were used to. This beach had more volcanic rocks than sand. As they made their way from rock to rock toward where the necrolans were, Uktesh kept a lookout for any corpses they may have to fight later. As they neared a cave Uktesh knew that the four necrolans would be in it. He looked back at Laurilli and nodded once he caught her eye.
They stood at the entrance to the cave and Uktesh shouted, “I’m Uktesh! I’m Afflicted! I know you’re in there! Come out so that we can talk!”
Uktesh saw several more than four forms move around the interior of the cave. A voice croake
d, “You’ve come armed and ready for battle. Why would we speak with you?”
Uktesh shouted back, “These are for our protection! We’re well aware that swords alone won’t kill you and we didn’t bring fire.”
Uktesh started to count as naked corpses started exiting the cave, but stopped when he reached fifty. Whatever the necrolans had done to hide the smell of that many corpses no longer worked once they reached the rocky sand. They circled around Uktesh and Laurilli, but left twenty feet of space between themselves and the two in the circle. Laurilli’s panicked voice came from right next to his ear as she leaned into him and whispered, “Uktesh.”
He murmured back, “Just hold onto my left hand.” He wanted to keep the dragon tattoo clearly visible. So far this situation had gone from bad to, “at least they’re talking.” He had thought that there might be twenty, but not nearly this many. How did they hide the fact that they were stealing corpses, or worse killing people, for so long? Laurilli gasped, and pointed at one of the corpses. It was Annabeth! Uktesh scanned the crowd and quickly found Guy. Hatred boiled inside him. While he hadn’t known Annabeth well at all, she had been a bright energetic woman who would have made a good friend for Heathyr. Guy, on the other hand, they had gotten to know over the week and a half they had searched for Annabeth. He was a quiet man, not prone to violence, or even anger, as they had found out when he explained that Annabeth would not have left him without telling him, because he would have let her go.
Four figures shuffled into view, two men and two women. Each woman was clothed in a bright kiekie made of either gold or gold cloth. The men each wore golden gho skirts and all four wore golden crowns. The man with the largest crown said, “This is my wife, and these are our children. How may we be of service to a dragon?”
You and all your kind could die.
Uktesh agreed wholeheartedly with the dragon. “We came to talk to the only other Afflicted we knew of on the island. We need to know if you know how to survive the change with your mind intact.”
The boy and girl giggled at that statement. The man silenced them with a glance, but as he turned back he couldn’t see the look that passed between his two children, it was one of pure hatred. “As you can see we’re fine. We live peacefully here. We are hidden from the outside world. We only take those foolish enough to walk into our territory. You understand why we can’t let them live once they see us-once they realize what we are. They’d bring the dragons down on us, and we’re uncertain we could come out victorious in that fight.”
The necrolan girl tittered, “Dayho, he’ll burn you up. That Dayho, he’ll burn you, that asshole. Burn you up, until you die. Burn you up, until you cry.”
Her father backhanded her to the ground, and Uktesh felt no sorrow for her treatment. The son leapt on his father who spun him to his wife who elbowed him in the face. It was such a practiced move that they must have done it hundreds of times before. The father said, “Forgive the intrusion. Children? Am I right?” Uktesh looked at Laurilli and shrugged.
The man continued, “Ah, but you’re too young to know the joys of raising an Afflicted child from two Afflicted parents. We four, you two, my wife, and I,” he said to clarify which four, “are solo Afflicted. The change is spontaneous for us. Six thousand days of normality and then we are no longer who we once were. These two have been Afflicted from birth! Bring new meaning to the terrible two’s! You’re correct in thinking that they are quite insane. Although it saddens me, they are.”
He scratched the daughter under her chin like a pet. She smiled and leaned into his hand, “Yes, who’s insane?”
The father said in a voice one might use on a pet or an infant, “You’re insane! Yes you are! Yes you are.” Uktesh heard the water swell behind him, but trusted Laurilli to warn him if it was something to worry about.
The wife spoke up in a similar croak of a voice, “You know I don’t like it when you do that.”
The man nodded and stopped, “Sometimes I think about ending them myself and just bringing them back as children who behave, but this one,” he nodded at his wife, “won’t let me. She says it’s wrong to kill your children, though she has no problem killing these poor wretches.” He gestured to the group circling Uktesh and Laurilli. “To answer your question though, yes, there is a way to shield your mind from the change. As a dragon I’m sure you’re aware of it. Which is why children won’t ever be safe from the change, they have no time to train in meditation. These two nimrods can’t even sit still for two minutes, much less hours each day!”
The man sighed and said, “I’ve forgotten how nice it is to talk to new people! We’ve been in this cave for decades!” He sighed again more regretfully, it sounded to Uktesh. “But all good things must come to an end. I recognize the anger I see in your eyes. You wouldn’t just leave and then leave us alone. No, you’d come back with enough of a force to destroy us. And you’d bring that damned Dayho.” Uktesh heard dripping water behind him as the father nodded at something or someone behind Uktesh and Laurilli. Uktesh didn’t wait to let whatever trap had been set up spring. He Walked to outside their house.
Uktesh realized he needed to do something he had hoped to avoid. “Thulmann! Repus! Esolc!” he shouted. “Grab your weapons now!”
All three doors burst open and the three of them exited in varying stages of undress. Thulmann wore nothing at all. Laurilli let go of Uktesh’s hand and spun away from the sight.
Uktesh felt the humor of the situation, but let it bounce off his focus. “The necrolans are about to attack. They have a hundred corpses plus the four of them.”
Laurilli said through her hands, “One of them can control Afflicted beasts, and one can control people. I saw the ambush being set up! A leviathan crawled out of the ocean and I couldn’t say anything to warn you!”
Uktesh nodded and said, “It’s fine.” Are there more than the four of them? Or are two of them doubly gifted?
I only sensed the six of you, but I could tell what they were. You, I can’t really tell.
Uktesh thought, did you read them while the trap was being set up?
No, but I’ve never heard of someone being able to change their Afflicted signature. I can read their signature, and it tells me what they are.
Maybe the two kids are like that.
This world has aged around me. Old legends walk the earth again, and new monsters emerge as well.
Uktesh said, “Okay from what I can tell there are just the four of them. Two seem to have the ability to shift their powers. Get dressed, armored, and armed. I’ll be back. I’m going to get some backup.” He Walked with Laurilli into the heart of the dragon training complex.
He found Dayho in a mediation, and as Uktesh walked to him he stood and said, “Is it time?”
Uktesh said, “Time for what?”
Dayho smiled and said, “Time for the reason you were brought here to perform.”
Uktesh paused at the implications of the last few words, steadied himself, and said, “Yes.” He paused to let it sink in. “Gather only those who have learned how to Step or Walk. We have some necrolans to hunt.”
Dayho nodded and flicked the air as a signal and Uktesh felt something pulse out of the elderly grand master. Soon they were surrounded by twelve master dragons and the five grand masters. Dayho said, “This is not a joke. Necrolans are on the island and are planning an attack I assume?”
Uktesh nodded and took over, “There are four of them, though two seem to be able to change their powers to be able to control leviathans and Laurilli. I don’t know if this will work, but if you feel yourself start to lose control, Shadow Step or Shadow Walk away, gather yourself and come back. They have over one hundred corpses in their army. My friends and I are going to whittle their numbers down from afar with arrows. Once our arrows are gone, don’t try to disable; try to destroy the skull. We don’t have much more time to explain. We have to move quickly. We’ll met you on the beach behind the, ‘Haeir’s a Restaurant,’ restaurant.”
He Walked out of the house as she shouted, “Uktesh!” She Soared out the door as he grabbed Thulmann and Walked to the beach behind Haeir’s a Restaurant.
Thulmann nodded his thanks and said, “She won’t thank you for that.”
Uktesh shrugged, “She’ll live to be angry with me. As for you two, you’ve stated that this isn’t your fight. You can still leave.”
Repus asked, “Tell me the truth. If they get past you guys Pippy, Pamfilo, Leilani, and thousands of other people are going to die?”
Uktesh nodded, “Yes, I think so.” They heard the sound of slapping flesh and saw the wave of naked corpses heading their way. Uktesh said, “When you think you can, fire your arrows, but make sure you hit their heads. Once we start fighting, Esolc and Repus, back away as much as possible and shoot those you can.” At four hundred yards away, one hundred further than the Beletarian grand master level test, he loosed his first arrow. As it soared through the air, he knew it would miss and fired a second, followed quickly by a third and fourth. At three hundred yards Thulmann fired his first shot as Uktesh’s first missed, his second killed, then his third and fourth killed two more. By the time they were too close for arrows Uktesh had killed twelve more, Thulman ten, Repus and Esolc both killed six.
Not close to enough. It doesn’t look like their numbers shrank at all. Uktesh and Thulmann spun into the remaining corpses. Each strike resulted in a kill. Uktesh saw Repus and Esolc back-to-back holding their own, unable to stick to the plan due to numbers of corpses left to deal with.
Where are the dragons? Just then they Walked into view and into the fray. Each wore gauntlets with a long spike on the knuckles. Uktesh saw that the two necrolan kids arrived as one of the dragons Stepped to Uktehs’s side and stabbed him in the chest. Uktesh fell the ground, shocked at the betrayal, and kicked the dragon away from him. He fended off two corpses and by the time he had killed them the dragon began attacking him. Uktesh realized this dragon was under the control of one of the children.