She turned back to the rest of the group. "Right, what else do we have?" She looked at Xain. “You look like you have something to say. Out with it.”
He shrugged casually. “As you know, I can copy myself. Five is the maximum I have managed with any real success. I do think, however, that Tas’s and my Talents complement each other nicely.”
Tas, who looked like himself once more, was pensive. “You mean, I copy you and then I can copy myself. That would work, but I think my Talent would be better spent impersonating Kadin and drawing the attention away from him.”
Xain nodded along as he spoke. “True, but they might well realise what you are doing and then there would be no point in it. I think you should copy me, just to be ready, in case.”
“You should copy all your companions.” Markai broke in. “We will not know exactly what we have to face until the fighting starts, but having you able to impersonate every one of them will be an advantage. We must use all our resources. I am surprised that you have not done this already.”
What she said was true, but I had one more suggestion. “Should he not copy you as well Markai?”
I could feel her surprise at my suggestion, but her body language revealed nothing. “I do not think that will be possible.”
There was a hint of indignation in her voice, but I pressed on. “I think it is worth a try. As you say, we must use any advantage we can find.”
The image I got from her was of a gnashing of teeth in frustration, but what she said in a level voice was, “Very well, we shall try.”
“I think my Talent’s use is quite obvious as well. I can go where no one else can safely. I can go and see what it is like down there. We can get a fair idea from here, but there is nothing like being in amongst them. Of course, I would be able to go into the castle as well. See what the layout is like. See exactly where Rakadamon is holed up in there.” Excitement filled Roscien’s voice, he sounded as though he wished he could be off doing just that.
If he could go in there first, I realised, that would give me a great advantage when I went. “There is one more use for what you do,” Markai broke in. “When Kadin goes in there, you will be going with him. You can go ahead of him and make sure the way is clear, warn him if enemies approach.” He smiled enthusiastically at this. “We will start that later today then.” There was still a sour note in her voice. She was not very happy with me.
Suddenly, we were no longer sitting in a dense forest, but exposed on a bare hilltop, a lone wisp of a tree blowing in the wind. Markai jumped up snarling, which made Malion laugh. He was always one for dramatic demonstrations as Roscien and I had learned. Markai though, was not all too impressed with the surprise. She snarled at him again. Still laughing he held up his hands as if in surrender. Just as suddenly, we were back in the forest. “You made your point. That would be a bit disorientating in battle.” Markai said in a dry tone. “I would want to as far as possible, decide beforehand what landscapes you will use. We do not want to disorientate our own people.”
A sly smile crept across Dhillion’s face. “Markai, you should eat that rock over there.” He pointed to a stone the size of my two fists together.
She looked from him to where he pointed. I could feel her anger bubbling below the surface. “Dhillion, I understand you are young, but this is no time for games.”
He looked so shocked; I would have sworn there were suddenly two suns in the sky. Clearly, his ‘Talent’ did not work on Qupari, possibly, not on any of the Fae. His face tightened. “I said you must eat that rock.” He jerked his hand, pointing to the rock.
A low grumble came from deep in her chest. “What are you trying to do, compel me to eat the rock? Well, sorry to disappoint, but Compulsion does not work on any of the Fae. That is also why I have been meaning to speak with you. You will not be coming into battle. Correct me if I am wrong, but you have not received any training with sword or bow and as you just found out, your Talent will not be much use to us out there.” His face contorted in rage and he jumped up to his feet. He glared at her before stomping away. Trissa had been trying to hide her obvious relief that he would not be following us into danger. Relief now warred with sympathy and she followed him.
Seran looked after Trissa, but spoke to Markai. “Trissa’s Talent has saved our lives several times, but she does not know how to control it. It tends to kick in at the right times, but it would be comforting if we could rely on it.”
Markai nodded her massive head. “Laskia, I believe you can help her with it. Go now.”
Laskia grumbled a bit, but stood none the less and walked off in the direction that Trissa had gone.
Markai turned back to Seran. “You are quicker to point out her use than your own.”
He shrugged. “There is only one use for a Talent such as mine; the battle itself.”
“True, and yours is another reason I think Tas should be able to copy everyone. Do you have extra whips that he can carry to use when copying you?” He nodded. “Good. Having two highly skilled whip warriors who do not tire and can effectively steal the enemies’ energy can only be to our advantage. Now, Alathaya… are you able to deliver short messages to your past self without too much of an effect on your health?”
She shook her head. “I have never done it without feeling sick afterward. It is proportional to the time I spend delivering the message, so presumably I should be able to deliver a quick message and have minimal effect.”
Her blue eyes narrowed in thought. “We will have to test that also later today.”
She turned her gaze to me. “Finally, Kadin, you obviously have the most pivotal role of all. You will kill Rakadamon. Whatever plan we decide on will be aimed at giving you the best possible chance at success.”
I nodded, my stomach in a twist. However I looked at it, it was a daunting prospect.
We continued discussing plans and strategies for the rest of that day only stopping for food late in the afternoon. After coming up with, and discarding dozens of ideas, two common elements became apparent: distraction and surprise. I was fervently wishing that we still had the latter, but with Brant missing and possibly working for the other side, there was no way to be certain. Even if he had been captured as opposed to turning on us, they could have tortured him, forced him to reveal every last secret about us. I shivered at the thought.
Markai finally called a halt to the day’s discussions, but held Roscien and me back. “I know your spirit self cannot be injured, but we would for obvious reasons prefer if they did not know we had surveyed their camp. Start with the most important part, the castle. Find the safest route there and try to explore as much of it as possible. Fix what you see in your mind for I will ask you to sketch the layout once you return. Critically, we need to know where he sleeps, where he eats, where he spends his time. Get as much information as possible. Wait until dark and then go.” He nodded, his face a mixture of determination and eagerness.
That night whoever was on watch, had to sit with Roscien’s body while his spirit travelled. He lay down on his bedroll and slowed his breathing. It almost looked like he was sleeping, except that his breathing was so shallow and infrequent. A few times, I was afraid it had stopped altogether. He did not move at all, not even to respond to Dhillion’s sudden loud whoop at something that Trissa had said to him. Watching him like that made even time feel slow. What he learned would lend us a great advantage and I was eager to hear it. The end of my shift came before he returned and I tried to get some sleep.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
When I woke the next morning, he was already sitting up and talking with Markai. I hurried over and seeing my eager expression, he smiled. “Don’t worry, I have not said anything. Markai thought it best if we wait for everyone to join us before we discuss it. It will save me repeating it.” I relaxed.
A large pot was bubbling over a cook fire and the aroma that rose from it made my mouth water. I guessed it was the Jerieghen’s porridge and I tried not to show my interest in
it. They were already insufferable and I did not want to give them another reason to feel superior. But then they surprised me by inviting us to have some of their food, with only the barest hint of smugness, before they went on their way to eat in seclusion.
After breakfast, which tasted even better than it had smelled, we all gathered to hear what Roscien had to report. His white hair was loose this morning and he looked somewhat dishevelled.
He cleared his throat. “Last night, I explored the castle.” He gestured vaguely over his shoulder. “First of all, it is much bigger than it looks. It has several underground levels and four above ground. There is only one set of stairs going up and down, which will make it that much more difficult to escape detection. Luckily, you will have my special skills assisting you with that.” He looked at me and gave a cheeky smile.
“I did not find anything I would call a bedroom. Several rooms held couches big enough to lie flat on, but that was it. I did however find a throne room. The room was massive and unfurnished apart from one huge throne made of gold if I do not miss my guess completely. I did not see anyone apart from catching a glimpse of a man rounding a corner. I followed carefully, but by the time I glanced around the corner he had disappeared. I only saw him from the back, but he appeared to be very human-like if not human." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out to me. "I have drawn a sketch of the layout as best I could from memory. I think everyone should copy that and keep it with them just in case."
That seemed like a sensible idea and I nodded, but all of a sudden, he looked very uneasy. He stood dry washing his hands and shuffling from foot to foot. Markai noticed it as well. "Roscien, there is clearly more that you haven't said. We do not have all day."
He cleared his throat several times and ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "As I was leaving the castle, I came across, umm, Brant."
"What?" Several of us asked it at the same time.
"What did he say when you saw him?" Markai asked.
He shook his. "He was trying to convince me that he was playing them foul. That he is pretending to be their follower, but that he has only given them false information."
"You did not believe him." I said it half question, half statement.
He shrugged and rubbed his shoulders as if cold all of a sudden. "I do not know to be honest. I did not know him all that long before he left, but he looked sincere. So... I agreed to meet him again tonight. I said I would see if I could bring you along."
Markai took a step forward and he shrank back from her. "Fool! They will have a trap ready. Now they know for certain that Kadin is close by. Fool!"
His face betrayed a strange mix of embarrassment and outrage. "He looked sincere and I thought if Kadin did come, I would go ahead and scout around first to make sure I am not leading him into a trap. Otherwise, if he did not want to come, I could still go. They cannot hurt me and if Brant is still on our side it will be worth seeing what he has to say."
She stared at him icily for a long moment before conceding. "Fine. The rabbit is downwind now anyway. But, you go ahead alone first and then call Kadin if it is safe. I will be coming as well." A small smile crept onto Roscien's face.
Once everyone had a copy of the layout of the castle, Roscien went through it with us. It seemed a maze and I could not help but think that even with the map I could very easily be turned around in there.
Tas had spent his day copying everyone’s ability. Markai had been first in line, growling that she wanted to get it over and done with. She sat down in front of him. I was aware of a very rare emotion in her. Fear. She suppressed it viciously and without my bond with her, I would not have been able to detect even a glimpse of it. Tas stood in front of her and placed his hands on her massive shoulders. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. For a few moments, nothing happened. I was just starting to think that nothing would happen, when his hands took on that sickly melting appearance. It started creeping up her shoulders and chest, but then it halted and started to reverse. Tas’ eyes remained closed, but a deep frown furrowed his brow. The flow did not stop though; it started creeping up his own arms. His eyes shot open and his mouth opened in a silent scream.
I took a step forward. “Stop, let it go, Tas!” His eyes found mine; terror was writ large in them.
“Markai, step back now!” I ran the short distance to them and pulled at her with all my might.
I knew she was trying to back off as well. I kept pulling at her until suddenly, we were released and I sat down heavily with Markai landing next to me. I scrambled back to my feet and rushed over to Tas. His hands still had the melted appearance, but I could see they were reverting to normal. He lay flat on his back, breathing heavily.
Markai stood next to me and looked down at him. I could feel her worry over him, but all she said was, “I knew that it was a bad idea.” She stood watching him a while longer and when she was certain that he would be fine, she walked off without another word.
Tas took a while to recover fully. He was obviously reluctant to continue with copying, but I admired the fact that he did not voice a single complaint. I watched the first two, Roscien and Xain, but stepped away after that. Being the one that he was copying had been disturbing, but watching it happen to someone else was even more so. Laskia was working with Trissa. They had walked a small distance away from the camp and its distractions. I did not know how he hoped to teach her to control her Talent, but several times I heard exclamations of frustration as well as some curses I did not even know she knew, come from their direction.
Once Tas had copied everyone, he started trying them all out. He was as happy as a Lady with a completely new wardrobe of ball gowns. Seran was spellbound when Tas transformed into him. Tas took two whips from him and started trying out his newfound Talent. Seran challenged him to a friendly whip duel. I sighed in relief when they picked up the sheep herding whips for their exercise. It was clear that although Tas knew what to do and how to fight with the whips, it was all muscle memory or lack of it. His mind knew what to do, but his body had trouble keeping up. They sparred for the better part of two hours before, drenched in sweat, they put their whips away. It fascinated me, because it was the exact opposite of my experience when I first started to practise the Shea-Rin; my body had flown through it with little input necessary from my mind.
Dhillion was very quiet that day. It seemed as though he had compelled Trissa to argue his case for going with us into battle. I knew that she would have been happy with the decision to leave him in relative safety, but since she had come back from her training with Laskia, she had been relentless and finally Markai snapped at her.
“Enough! He will not go and that is final.”
She looked at Dhillion as she spoke. She also knew that it was not really Trissa asking. “Take Dhillion and go and gather more firewood. We are running low.” When Trissa did not immediately move, she growled, “Now!” and they both scampered like scared rabbits into the forest.
I knew we had enough firewood to last another week. I tried to hide my smile, but she still glared at me as she stalked past.
Alathaya came walking up to me. “Just to let you know, I am coming with you tonight.”
I frowned and shook my head. “No, it is too dangerous.”
She patted my shoulder soothingly. “I have already spoken to Markai and she agrees that it is a good idea. If something does go wrong, if it is a trap, I can come back and tell us all not to go.”
I kept shaking my head. “You cannot come back if you are dead. I don’t…”
She put a hand over my mouth. “I am here to help make sure we are successful. As we all are. I have a role to play here and I cannot hide out when my Talent could save us all.”
I clenched my teeth to stop from arguing further. I knew what she said was true, but it did not make accepting it any easier.
After casting about for a while, I realised why I could not find Tas. He was impersonating Trissa. I should have realise
d, but he was sitting down so I did not notice that ‘she’ was wearing breeches and a shirt.
“Tas?” He jumped when I spoke.
He ran a hand through his hair and then looked at it strangely as if for a moment, he had forgotten why he had such long hair. “I don’t know what it is. Everyone else I just copied and I had easy access to their Talent. With Trissa though, it is as if I can feel it there in me somewhere, but it is like trying to catch bee with a lasso.”
“Perhaps you should ask Laskia if you could sit in on his lessons with Trissa. Might just turn out to be useful,” I suggested and he nodded thoughtfully.
“Listen, since you are working on perfecting your use of everyone’s talent, I was wondering whether you wanted to come along tonight. As Roscien, I mean. What I mean is, you impersonate him and spirit walk with us. It will be useful to have another set of eyes and ears out there,” I continued.
His face lit up. “I was going to ask Markai if I could go with you. I think it would be a good chance to try out his Talent.” I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder before walking away.
The day was passing quickly and light was already starting to fade. I called together Alathaya, Tas, Roscien, and Markai. “This is how it is going to work. Tas you transform into Roscien and you both spirit walk to the meeting place. We will follow, but at a safe distance. If you see anything suspicious, come back to us and we abandon the plan.” With great effort, I did not look at Alathaya. “We protect Alathaya at all costs.”
She started to protest that she could take care of herself, but I held up a hand. “If something does go seriously wrong, the only way to remedy it is by you using your Talent. Correct me if I am wrong, but that entails you being alive.”
She pouted prettily, but did not argue.
“Anybody want to add anything else?” I asked.
They shook their heads and all looked to Markai, but she kept her silence as well and I nodded.
“We leave at nightfall.”
Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One Page 35