by Jeff Kish
His eyes bulge as he runs his fingers over the imperceptibly tiny symbols. “Where in the world did you find a living runoid?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Era chimes in. “It’s only half of it, but the markings are intact. You’ll learn plenty from it.”
Luk studies the shard with a passionate intensity. “Where is the rest?”
“We sold it to Dean Marris,” he smugly replies.
“I should have known,” he moans.
“So, now that we have your attention,” Fire says, yanking the fragment from his hands, “I believe you were going to give us some interesting information.”
The Krypta boss doesn’t even ponder his options. He withdraws a detailed map of Alleria and spreads it out on his desk. “As I said, I made some findings while studying the artifacts found in the chamber, many of which I did not share with the royal upstart. One such discovery was a chart pointing to a runic chamber here,” he says with a tap of his finger. “At Lake Magnifica.”
“You know of a chamber, but you didn’t go see it for yourself?” Fire asks suspiciously.
“Of course I went there,” he clarifies, “but the door was sealed. We tried everything to get in, but it seems only runics can open the barrier, not unlike what we saw at Jeevits”
“So what are we looking for?” Era asks. “Are the entrances just sitting out in the open?”
“It seems to vary,” he says. “The first one we found was long abandoned, off the beaten path and covered in foliage. However, the one at the lake is inside a cavern, and it is easily accessible. Just watch for an open-mouthed cave amidst a patch of trees in the mountainside above the southern ridge.”
“Mountainside?” Fire repeats.
“Lake Magnifica is set against the Drakat Mountains, our tallest peaks,” Luk explains. “It’s absolutely beautiful. You’ll love the view.”
Fire watches Era as he studies the map before him, his eyes locked on the target location. “You get what you need?” she asks.
He nods, and Luk leans back, his arms folded in satisfaction. “I assume you’ll honor our agreement?”
“I will,” Fire says, shoving the rune into Era’s hand, “but that wasn’t interesting enough for me. There’s something else I want to know.”
Luk sighs in annoyance. “Such as?”
“Tell me where I can find Tema.”
The request startles him. “The assassin?”
Fire’s breath trembles. “So you do know her.”
“Of course I know her,” he says. “There’s not an assassin hired that isn’t through Krypta contract.” He pauses and adds, “Well, unless the assassin was hired to kill a Krypta member… but that’s only happened the one time.”
“You’re holding back!” Fire shouts. “Tema is your personal tool. She’s been hired by Krypta to do your dirty work. By all rights, she belongs to you.”
Luk expresses his displeasure. “Seems I’ve been sold out by some ‘friends’.”
Fire leans over his desk and strains her voice through clenched teeth. “Tell me where she is.”
“I’m afraid that would violate our-”
Fire jams a spike into the chair next to Luk’s neck. “I’m not messing around, old man. Tell me where she is or I will kill you.”
Luk fails to flinch. “Threatening my life? How quaint,” he mocks. “Then you can kill me, my dear runic. There’s hardly any way I can stop you, so I would rather die with my pride. Perhaps save the prince the trouble?”
“What about the runoid?” Era asks, flaunting it for him to see. “Just tell her what she wants to hear and this is yours.” The runoid enthusiast gazes at the shard, and Era adds, “Dean Marris has been studying the other half for two weeks. He has quite a head start.”
“And that is extremely irritating,” he admits. With a shrug, he says, “I mean, I suppose if you’re threatening me, I have no choice, right? I’ll tell you where she is, but I think you’ll be amused.”
Fire places her hand to her lips. “I’m listening.”
“She is presently stationed at Lake Magnifica.”
Era blinks in surprise. “She’s at the runic chamber?”
“She’s guarding it for me,” he explains. “If one of the prince’s scouts happen across it, she will silence him. If a sizeable force shows up, she’ll play the scout and report it.”
“You were setting us up!” Era accuses. “She was going to attack us the moment we arrived!”
“Oh, please,” he says, “as if she could defeat a runic.”
Fire studies his eyes, still inches away. “Is that the truth? That’s where she is?”
“It’s the truth.”
“How long will she be there?”
“Indefinitely. She awaits my word to abandon her post.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Proof of what?” he asks. “Contract papers? We work on a handshake basis.”
“How convenient,” Era quips.
“Clearly you haven’t a clue how the Allerian market works,” he vents. “Look, you asked- threatened, rather… and I answered your query.”
Fire hurries to the door, but she stops and points back at him. “Mark my words, old man. If I don’t find her, I’ll be back. And I won’t be in a good mood.” With that, she storms out.
“I’ve decided that, officially, I do not like her,” Luk says as he waves her off. “Now may I have the runoid?”
Era glances to the fragment in his hand. “Hmmm… not yet. There’s something else I need.”
Luk throws his hands in the air. “What now!?”
With a glimmer in his eye, Era points to Luk’s vest. “I want a deck of those cards.”
Exasperated, the gambler tosses a bound deck at Era’s feet. He tosses the fragment back at Luk, who scrambles to safely catch it. “Thanks!” Era exclaims as he snatches the treasure from the floor and retreats, leaving the sour yet anxious Krypta boss to study his new prize.
Era scurries down the stairs, surprised to find that Fire is already long gone. Jem awaits his arrival as he bursts onto the main floor, and she joins his side as they head for the entrance. “Did you-?”
“Yes,” Era quickly answers. “Where’s Fire?”
“Outside,” Jem says, and Era instantly gives chase. “Wait up!” she cries as her partner dashes outside the kajoni and into the bustling Gantz crowds. “Where are we going?”
Era spots Fire and calls out to her, then slows to let Jem catch up. “Lake Magnifica.”
Jem waits expectantly. “And we’re going there for…?”
Fire storms back impatiently. “No, this isn’t happening,” she fumes as she tosses Jem’s bag at her. “I’m not dealing with you slowpokes. I’m going alone.”
Era grabs her arm. “You’re not going alone, Fire. Tema will see you coming and kill you before you have a chance to defend yourself.”
“She won’t get the drop on me,” Fire promises while trying to loosen Era’s grip.
“Let me help!”
“No!”
“Everyone shut up!” Jem shouts as Ospif catches up with everyone. “You need to take a breath and explain the situation.”
“There’s no time,” Fire states. “It will take you a week to get there, and she might be gone by then. I’m going on my own.”
“No, you’re not,” Era argues.
“Then try to keep up,” she grunts, still pulling at her arm. “I won’t sleep until I arrive. I won’t stop running. I’ll be there in three days.”
“Then she’ll really get the drop on you!” Era claims. “You need rest if you’re-”
Fire flips Era over her shoulder and slams him against the ground, knocking the wind out of him. She rubs her wrist and offers him an apologetic glance before dashing away.
Jem watches her disappear into the thick crowds. “Guess she won that argument.”
Era tries in vain to catch his breath as he rolls to his side. “We can’t… let her go.”
“She’s gone
, Era.” Kicking his leg, she barks, “Now tell me what’s going on.”
Her partner sits and reluctantly stays put. “She found Tema.”
“And who is Tema?”
“The assassin Fire came here to kill, and she’s at Lake Magnifica. Pull out your map and I’ll show you.”
She starts to reach for it, but she stops and says, “No, Era. I don’t care.”
“What?”
“I don’t care about her stupid vendetta! She just left us again. She values her job more than you, so just LET HER GO already!”
“I can’t!” he shouts.
“Why not?” Jem screams. “She’s arrogant, conceited, and entirely selfish! Why can’t you see that?”
He meets her eyes, his voice quiet. “I… I don’t know, Jem. You’re right about those things. You are. But she needs me right now. I have to go with her.”
“Well, Fire disagrees,” Jem says bluntly. “She doesn’t care about you one bit, Era. She’s playing you!”
“Fire cares about me,” he insists, “and she wouldn’t have come back if she was playing me.” Frustrated, Jem sits and plants her elbows on her knees, and Era reluctantly scoots next to her. “You mad?”
“Extremely.” She looks up at Ospif and barks, “Go find something to do. I want to talk to my partner, alone.”
“With pleasure,” he says. “In fact, my dearest of friends, this is where we shall finally part ways. It is clear we will never travel to the Academy as I desire.”
Surprised, Era asks, “Of all places, you’re staying here?”
“I intend to do whatever it takes to get into Luk’s good graces,” he explains. “Even if I must enslave myself to the scoundrel, his Academy connections are extensive. This is the first time I have felt a true sense of hope for returning home. I must seize it.”
“He hates your professor, and he seems to hate you as well!” Jem exclaims. “Just what do you-” She cuts herself off and realizes, “You know what? Good riddance.”
“Right back at you, Allerian,” he growls. “And you, as well, you demonic earth shaper. You lack regard for common decency in nearly every manner, most notably when you…” With a shiver, he whispers, “Taboo” and disappears into the kajoni entrance.
Era sighs. “Guy knows how to give a goodbye.”
“Ugh, I hate him,” Jem says as she storms away from the towering establishment, motioning for her partner to follow. “So you got your answers?” she asks as they work their way through the crowds.
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?” Jem glares at him and asks, “Did you, or didn’t you?”
“Luk had a lot to say about runics,” he says. “He thinks I’m a rune, and he thinks I’m from the Third Kingdom.”
“So much for hard facts,” she gripes.
“He’s a runoid expert like Marris,” Era explains, “except that he was tapped by the monarch here, who has two runics, himself.”
Alarmed, she asks, “There are Allerian runics?”
“Seems so. They’re bound to the prince, and they’re forced to do his bidding, just like Di. It seems like this ‘binding’ thing is a part of who we are.”
Jem shakes her head. “How terrible.”
He shrugs. “Turns out the binding process comes with benefits. Remember how I was hoping to power up like Di did? Well, this is what makes a runic superhuman. Like Di.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she contends. “It’s not worth it, Era. Give up on that.”
“Give up?” he asks, aghast. “Jem, I can’t possibly save Di without becoming stronger. I have to see this through.”
“And just how exactly does it work?”
His eyes glaze over as he thinks back to his conversation with Luk. “Runics are bound in hidden, underground chambers, which seem to be scattered between the two nations. The Allerian prince has loaded one chamber up with hundreds of troops, but I was able to exchange your runoid fragment for the location of a-”
“WHAT?” she shouts as she yanks open her bag. “I thought it felt lighter!” She smacks him with the satchel and barks, “Now go be a master thief and STEAL IT BACK. That was worth half a million, Era!”
“I’m pretty sure that was a one-time deal,” Era groans. “Besides, it was a fair trade. He gave me what I wanted.”
“Which was?”
“The location of a chamber that’s, well, mostly unguarded.”
“Mostly?”
“It’s located at Lake Magnifica.”
“Lake Magnifica? Wait, isn’t that where-”
“Yep! Fire’s rival is guarding it.”
Jem rolls her eyes. “Lovely.”
The two pass through the town gate and enter into the dark night. The noise of the crowd fades along with the music of entertainers and laughs of the drunks. Truly alone with his partner, Era says, “Luk told me one other thing, Jem. He told me that I have free will, that I’m not bound by my programming.”
“You needed a drunken scholar to convince you of that?” she asks. “I’ve been telling you that for a month!”
“And you were right, Jem. You’ve been telling me to stay true to myself, and now I believe that’s possible. In fact, it’s why I’m going to that lake.” Confidently, he declares, “I’ll find that chamber, and them I’m going to save Di.”
Jem watches him closely. “Why, Era? What are you always chasing after Di and that… that dirty assassin girl?”
He looks to the starry sky and asks, “What else would I do? Become a master thief? My father was always my guiding light, but he was ripped away from me. All I have left are Fire and Di.”
Solemnly, she asks, “No one else?”
Realizing his error, he quickly clarifies, “I-I wasn’t excluding you, Jem! You’re always there for me, after all. It’s just that Fire and Di need me.”
Jem’s heart sinks, and she squeezes her eyes shut. “I can’t… I can’t keep going like this. When does it end?” She sets her bag down and withdraws her map and light rune.
Era watches her carefully. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not going to the lake, Era.” She taps a small peninsula on the nation’s northern border. “I’m going to Glouak.”
He stares at the map blankly. “What’s up there?”
“Turk,” she answers. “He told me he harbors there. Maybe he can get me home.”
He watches in disbelief as she packs her map. “You’re leaving me?”
“We used to be in this for one another,” she says quietly. “I wanted to support you with Di, and I even tolerated Fire! But it’s clear that you discarded our partnership long ago.”
“I haven’t!” he exclaims. “It’s just a little longer, Jem. And then we can go back to…” his voice trails off, realizing for himself how far they are from ever returning to their old way of life.
Jem plants her hand firmly on his shoulder. “I’ll make you an offer. Leave all this behind and come with me. Let Fire be consumed by her vengeance. Let Di be resigned to her fate. Come with me and let’s be partners again.”
His eyes bulge. “You seriously want me to just leave Di with that-”
“Has it ever occurred to you that, maybe, you can’t save everyone? That maybe Di’s fate was sealed the day she was taken from the Academy, and there was never anything you could have done to stop it?” With her arms spread, she asks, “So who will you chase? Me? Di? Fire?”
“Don’t make me choose, Jem,” he pleads.
“I’m not the one making you choose,” she says. “You continue to cling to a reality that can never exist. Even if we save Di, what then? Will the three of us find a place to be safe? Will Fire rejoin our merry group?” She grows quiet, and her heart races as she confesses, “I want you to come with me, Era. Our partnership and friendship is also worth saving, isn’t it?” Meeting his eyes in the soft glow of the city lights, she whispers, “Won’t you come with me?”
A wave of anxiety sweeps through Era’s body. He trembles as he grasps the weight of
Jem’s offer; to abandon Jem is to save Fire and Di, and to save Fire and Di is to abandon Jem. Yet, he’s surprised to find how quickly the words move to his tongue. “I’m sorry, Jem, but I can’t abandon them. I can’t.”
His words pierce Jem to her core, and she steps backward in awkward embarrassment while fighting back tears. “Okay, then.”
“But Jem, you can’t go! I-I still need you.”
“It’s clear you don’t need me, Era.”
Gently, he says, “I do. I need you to bind me.”
Her jaw drops. “Era, what in the-” She adamantly shakes her head and insists, “I will never do something like that. What would possess you to ask such a thing?”
“I need the power,” he explains. “Di is still so much stronger than I am. I need the power that comes from that binding process if I’m going to save her.” He scratches his head and continues, “I’d ask Fire, but I don’t know that she would ever help me save Di. You’re going to leave anyway, right? Just come to the lake and do me one last favor.”
She turns away from him. “How could you ask this? After everything I just said, I…” Hot with anger, she cries, “You’re using me, just like Luk said. Do you even care what I want anymore? Did you ever?”
Era bites his lip. “I’m a rune, Jem. What more do you want from me?”
In surrender, she says, “If that’s all you think you are, then you’ll never be anything more.” After stewing in silence for several, long moments, the conflicting desires waging war within her heart, she ultimately unfolds her map and studies it.
He swallows hard. “Jem, I-”
“I’ll do you one last favor, Era. Then our partnership is over.” She stuffs the map back into her bag and, compass in hand, starts marching along the main road that heads southeast.
Era follows at a distance, and it dawns on him that he may have just destroyed the last reason he had for clinging to his humanity. The notion is surprisingly freeing.
Chapter 19
Commander Marmela dashes through the barracks hallway in a mad race to get to the basement prison. She leaps down the stairs and finds the open entrance. Galen is already standing in front of the empty cell; he turns to her and shakes his head is dismay.