Fated av-1

by Benedict Jacka

  Talisid was silent. I sighed. ‘I’ll take that as a no. Anything else?’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Talisid said. ‘I wish I had some better news.’

  ‘I wish you did too.’

  ‘I’ll call you as soon as we learn anything.’

  ‘Please don’t. The last thing we need is our phone going off when we’re trying to avoid attention. We’ll call you.’

  Talisid nodded. ‘Good luck.’ The communicator winked off.

  I didn’t move. ‘What did you mean about the invisible thing?’ Luna asked after a moment.

  ‘Some sort of modified air elemental Levistus uses. I’m just wondering if that’s all he’s got.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The Council guards shouldn’t have done that badly,’ I said. ‘They were outclassed, but not that outclassed. And the way they were deployed, with no one between the Great Court and the statue … I think someone was trying to make sure the attack got through.’

  Luna frowned. ‘You mean Levistus? Why would he want to do that?’

  I remembered Levistus’ words from the ball, delivered with just a trace of a smile: ‘I have many agents, Mr Verus. Rest assured, they will be making sure everything goes to plan.’

  My heart sank. ‘Oh, crap.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Luna, was there anyone who stayed near the statue all the time you were there? As in, never going away for long?’

  Luna looked puzzled. ‘I suppose.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Sonder and Griff.’

  ‘No one else?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Why?’

  ‘Because the only reason Levistus would want Morden’s attack to go through would be so he could get his own people inside as well.’

  Luna looked at me for a few seconds, then her face changed. ‘Sonder?’

  I didn’t say anything. Luna looked out into the corridor after Sonder, then turned back with an uneasy look on her face. ‘Wait. No. Griff was the one who was supposed to be in charge of security, right? Isn’t it more likely to be him?’

  ‘Who says it’s only one of them?’

  Luna started to answer then stopped.

  ‘I don’t like the idea either,’ I said quietly. ‘But I don’t think Levistus would rely on just Thirteen. He’s got agents and he’ll have used them. You’re right; Griff sounds more likely, but he’s not here and Sonder is. Until we get out of here, watch your back.’

  We sat quietly for a moment, thinking. The torches cast Luna’s face in shadow, making it hard to know what she was thinking. ‘We don’t have many friends here, do we?’ Luna said at last.

  ‘What about Starbreeze?’

  ‘I called her. She came the first time, but when she saw me she ran away again. I called her again when I heard you coming but …’

  I’d been searching through the futures and as I did I felt my spirit lift. I smiled. ‘Huh.’

  ‘She’s here?’

  ‘She’s here. Looks like we’ve got one friend after all.’

  All of a sudden the lights came on. Luna and I stood up, blinking, and from out in the corridor I heard Sonder call excitedly, ‘I did it!’

  The room we were standing in was off-white, with a high ceiling. The edges of the walls and floor were rounded slightly so as to show no corners, making the room oddly featureless, and circular patches on the ceiling shed a bright light. I could sense that the lights were magical, which confirmed that this place was very, very old. Like I said, creating permanent magical items is a real hassle. It’s far less effort to use modern technology, which means the only places that use permanent effects like this are ones that were created before modern technology. Luna and I walked to the exit to see a curving corridor. Up ahead, we could just see that it opened into a T-junction. ‘Good job,’ I told Sonder as we approached.

  ‘I thought that would work,’ Sonder said. He looked pleased with himself. Next to him was the control panel he’d used to activate the lights. I touched my hand to the panel and focused, working out what Sonder had done. Meanwhile, Luna was looking around curiously. ‘What is this place?’

  ‘It was sealed up just after the end of the Dark Wars,’ Sonder said. ‘But there’s nothing saying why. I’m starting to think the records about this place were deliberately erased. All I could find was something about the “resting place of Abithriax”.’

  ‘You said this was his tomb,’ Luna said.

  Sonder hesitated. ‘Yes, but I’m starting to think I might have been wrong. I’ve been doing some reading, and it turns out the Precursors didn’t actually build tombs. Not like this.’

  ‘But if this was his resting place …’

  ‘I know, but it still doesn’t make sense. If you look at the studies that have been done of Precursor religion, the design-’

  ‘Sorry, Sonder, wait a second. Um, Alex?’

  I was busy with the control panel. Like most Precursor designs it was sparse; a few spheres that looked like glass, and some rods set into the wall. They were controlled with fine magical impulses. With my divination magic I could see how to make them do what I wanted, but I had no idea how they worked. Still, that was enough to-

  ‘Alex!’

  ‘Hm?’ I said absently.

  ‘What’s that on your arm?’

  I glanced down to see that the bracelet on my right wrist was crackling and spitting feebly. Black energy leaked from it, making my arm tingle. ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Looks like Onyx decided to kill me.’

  Luna and Sonder stared. ‘They’re called death bracelets,’ I said. ‘Dark mages use them to keep prisoners in line.’

  The bracelet was still crackling. ‘Um.’ Sonder said. ‘Shouldn’t you …?’

  ‘Oh, it’s fine. I dialled down the power by a factor of a hundred or so. Onyx must have fired it at maximum, otherwise you wouldn’t even see it.’

  ‘What does maximum do?’

  ‘Kills an adult human in ten to twenty seconds, depending how strong their heart is. Anyway, we’d better get moving. Don’t touch anything without checking with me first, don’t go anywhere I haven’t gone already, and if I tell you to do something, do it fast. Okay?’

  Luna nodded, Sonder a little slower. Both were still staring at the bracelet. As they watched it fizzled and fell silent. We headed to the T-junction and stopped while I stood between the two paths.

  ‘What’s he doing?’ I heard Sonder whisper after a minute.

  ‘He’s looking ahead to see what’ll happen if we go down each corridor,’ Luna said quietly.

  I smiled to myself and pointed. ‘Left.’

  It was an hour later and the three of us were clustered in a small room. In a small alcove, set into the wall, was a single recessed crystal sphere. Before us was a closed door.

  Sonder was examining the sphere while I leant against the wall next to him. Luna stood back, well out of range. ‘Sonder, we’re on a clock here,’ I said at last.

  ‘Sorry.’ Sonder stepped back. ‘Well, it’s definitely a focus for some kind of mind effect-’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘-and I think it might be telepathy-based. Anyway, it’s for communication.’

  ‘You said you could get the door open?’ Luna asked.

  ‘Probably, but there’s a trap, And after what happened last time I don’t want to take the chance if we can avoid it.’

  Sonder flinched slightly at that. The previous room had held an electrical trap that would have turned anyone who came close enough into a lightning rod. ‘So that leaves this thing?’ Luna asked.

  ‘That leaves this thing.’ I stared at the crystal sphere, frowning. ‘It’ll help us get past. I just don’t know how.’

  ‘What’ll happen if we touch it?’ Sonder asked.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Sonder and Luna looked at each other. ‘If I touch it, I’ll do nothing,’ I said. ‘I’ll stand still with my hand on this thing for maybe ten minutes, and I won’t move or say a word, no matter what
you do. And I don’t know why.’

  ‘That would make sense if it’s a telepathy focus.’ Sonder volunteered.

  I didn’t answer. The truth was that not knowing what would happen if I touched this thing made me uneasy. Normally I always know what’ll happen. You don’t realise how accustomed you get to something until it’s suddenly taken away from you.

  When I didn’t move, Sonder shifted. ‘I could try it …’

  ‘No,’ I said, and stepped forward. ‘You two watch my back. I don’t think I’ll be able to sense anything else while I’m using this. If you hear trouble coming, pull me off it. Kick me if you have to.’

  They nodded. ‘Be careful,’ Luna said.

  I turned to the sphere, took a deep breath, then placed my hand upon it. There was a moment of disorientation as the world seemed to flicker, then it was gone. I let my fingers rest on the sphere. Nothing happened.

  I tried a command word. ‘Annath.’

  Nothing.

  ‘Open. Transmit. Sagashiette.’

  Still nothing.

  I sighed and turned away. ‘Well, that was under-whelming.’

  Luna and Sonder looked past me. ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘Weird. I’m pretty sure it should have …’

  I trailed off. Sonder hadn’t moved. Luna glanced aside anxiously, then went back to looking over my shoulder, her eyes passing over me. ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘You guys okay?’

  No reaction. ‘What are you-?’ I began, turning round, and stopped dead. What Luna and Sonder were staring at was me. My body was standing right in front of me, my right hand clasped on the sphere. I looked down at my hand just to convince myself it was still there, looked up, and stared. ‘What the hell?’

  I reached forward hesitantly. My hand passed through my body as though it was light, and I jumped. This was really weird.

  I turned back to see Sonder’s lips moving. He was saying something to Luna, and now Luna turned aside slightly to reply, her eyes still fixed on my body, but I couldn’t hear their words. In fact, now I stopped to listen, I couldn’t hear anything at all. It was dead silent.

  ‘Good evening. Might I be of assistance?’

  I only barely managed to keep myself from jumping as the voice spoke from behind me. Standing in the doorway was an old man. He had a flowing beard and long hair, both snow-white, with thin streaks of red running through them. His clothes were red as well: robes, gathered at the waist, of several shades from blood-red to crimson.

  For a moment I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him before, then suddenly it clicked. I’d seen his face, but it had been stone, not flesh. ‘Abithriax,’ I said.

  Abithriax bowed. ‘And whom do I have the honour of addressing?’

  I stood staring at the mage in front of me. Abithriax stood looking back with an expression of mild inquiry. ‘How are you alive?’ I said at last. It wasn’t polite, but I was shaken.

  Abithriax didn’t seem particularly offended. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘that’s rather an interesting question. Perhaps you’d like to walk with me? One gets so little exercise cooped up in here.’

  I took a glance back at Luna and Sonder. They were talking to each other, although I still couldn’t hear them. They didn’t seem able to see Abithriax either. ‘You’ll be quite safe,’ Abithriax said, as though reading my thoughts. ‘No one is going to arrive for a little while.’

  I hesitated a moment, then fell into step beside Abithriax and we began walking back down the corridor. Despite his age, he moved smoothly, with no trace of stiffness. ‘How am I talking to you?’ I said.

  ‘The crystals on these walls form a communication network that extends throughout this facility,’ Abithriax said. ‘Mental projection only, I’m afraid; your body is still back in that room. The network works with your mind to translate the information.’

  ‘If I’m here, where are you?’

  ‘At the centre, of course.’

  I stared at Abithriax for a second before it clicked. ‘You’re the fateweaver.’

  Abithriax just smiled. I kept walking, my head spinning as everything fell into place. Of course. Something as powerful as the fateweaver would have to be an imbued item. And the more powerful it was, the stronger its own identity would be … I looked up at Abithriax. ‘How? You were supposed to have died.’

  ‘Oh, I did.’ Abithriax looked inquiringly at me. ‘Perhaps you’d like to hear the story?’

  I stared back at him and finally nodded.

  ‘Oh good. It really is so nice to have someone to talk to … Let’s see, where to begin? People still remember the Dark Wars, I hope? I’ve afraid I’ve rather lost track of time.’

  ‘You lived through them.’

  Abithriax nodded. ‘From the beginning to the end. I remember Syriathis, and its destruction. I fought through the retreats in the early campaigns, seeing my friends and allies die one by one. I was promoted, and promoted again. After our victory at the Ebon Fields I was granted my fateweaver. Years passed, the tide turned, the strongholds lost in the early years were retaken, and I was at the fore-front of every battle. When the final sieges began, I was battle commander of all the Light armies.’

  We’d come to a junction and Abithriax stopped. ‘And then I was betrayed.’ His eyes stared off into nothingness, distant. ‘The Council had become afraid of me. I was too famous, too powerful. So in the last months of the war, once victory was guaranteed, they sent me to my death.’

  Abithriax fell silent. I stood looking at him. ‘How did you do it?’ I said at last.

  Abithriax blinked, looked at me, then shook his head and turned left down the junction. I followed. ‘My fateweaver. All our generals carried one, but the craftsmen were never able to stabilise the design. They were always … unpredictable. But I learned the secret of investing myself into it, binding my identity into it a piece at a time, and as its power grew, so did mine. It was almost a part of me. Perhaps that was how I was able to make the final leap at the very end …’

  Abithriax shook his head and suddenly his voice became brisk. ‘Well then. I assume that’s what you’re here for? My fateweaver? Oh, there’s no need to hide it,’ he added as I hesitated. ‘It’s not as if you’d come here for any other reason. Besides, it’s not as if I can carry it myself any more.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And the others?’

  ‘Which others?’

  Abithriax raised his eyebrows. ‘The other mages attempting to reach me. I may lack a physical body, but I’m not entirely blind. Half a dozen or so, I believe?’

  I walked for a little while in silence. ‘Can you help me against them?’ I said at last.

  Abithriax snorted. ‘A handful of mages? I’ve defeated armies. However … without a wielder, I am nothing. And more to the point, there is no guarantee my wielder will be you. If one of those mages reaches me first, I’m afraid my powers will be at their disposal, not yours. In this form, I am a servant to my wielder.’

  Something made me look up at that, searching Abithriax’s face. He looked back at me calmly. ‘And I have no control over who that wielder is. So if you have any enemies within this facility, I would suggest you make sure they do not reach me first. Because if they take possession of me and order me to use my powers to hunt you down and kill you, I am very much afraid I will have no choice but to obey.’

  Abithriax and I had taken two turnings and we were almost back at the room we’d started from. The two of us stood looking at each other. ‘Then I guess I’d better get moving,’ I said at last.

  ‘Of course,’ Abithriax said with a nod. ‘Tell that scholarly-looking apprentice with you to try a command word in the right corner. I’m not sure of the password but I’m sure you can deduce it.’

  ‘Right. See you later.’

  ‘Hopefully so.’ Abithriax smiled slightly. ‘For what it’s worth, I hope you succeed.’ His image seemed to dissolve into mist and he was gone.

  I walked back into the room. Luna and Sonder were still there, throwing glances at m
y body. Somehow I knew how to break the connection. I walked into my body, layering my mental self over my physical one, placing my hand over where my real hand grasped the crystal. There was a moment of dizziness, then-

  ‘-be in trouble.’ Sonder’s voice.

  ‘He said not to do anything.’ It was Luna’s voice; to most people she would have sounded calm, but I could hear the trace of anxiety. ‘We could- Alex!’

  I turned around — really turned around, this time. Luna gave me a searching look, then let out a sigh of relief. ‘You’re okay.’

  ‘I’m okay,’ I said. ‘Sonder? Take a look at the right corner. While you’re doing that, I’ve got something to tell you both.’

  As Sonder worked, I relayed what I’d learned. I briefly considered keeping it a secret between me and Luna, but there wasn’t any good excuse to send Sonder out of earshot and anyway, I wanted his input. ‘That’s incredible,’ Sonder said once I’d finished. ‘I mean, just the idea of surviving that long … The Dark Wars were almost two thousand years ago! The things he’d be able to tell us!’

  ‘Sonder,’ I said. ‘Priorities. Survive first, research afterwards. Does what he said match with what you know?’

  Sonder thought for a minute. ‘We’ve never been able to recover a fateweaver before. It was just assumed they were all destroyed, but if they were unstable, that would explain it. And there’s always been a mystery about Abithriax’s death. Some writers did argue for the betrayal theory, but there’s never been any proof. The Old Council fell into infighting after the Dark Wars and most of the records were destroyed.’

  ‘Do you trust him?’ Luna asked.

  I hesitated. ‘I’m not sure,’ I said at last. ‘I had the feeling he was keeping something back. But I’m pretty sure he was telling the truth about what he’d do if Onyx found him first.’

  ‘So what should we do?’ Luna said.

  Sonder had stopped and both he and Luna were looking at me, waiting for my decision. ‘We go for the fateweaver,’ I said. ‘If we can take it for ourselves, we’ve got a chance. But I don’t want either of you involved in the fighting. Onyx and the rest are going to be after me, not you. Don’t do anything to draw their attention.’