by Stone Thomas
She was too far for me to reach, but I stepped toward her anyway without calculating the distance. Before I could get close, two of those bulging globes slipped from her grasp and darted through to our world. She dropped her armful of other orbs and turned her head, as if she couldn’t bear to watch the damage those two escapees would cause. Moments later, the rifts sealed back up, leaving each pulsating orb to float above the fray. I had missed my chance this time, but next time I wouldn’t hesitate. Next time, I’d lead that shadowy woman into the light.
“Dammit,” I said, watching the orbs she had dropped morph into new shining warriors. “More of those glowy bastards.”
“I recognize that getup from historical texts,” Greggin said. “Those ‘glowy bastards’ are dressed like they’re reenacting the first god war. What a blast from the past. I would stop to study them, but this is my chance to get into the city unnoticed.
“It has been a pleasure speaking with a head priest. Perhaps you’ll find your way into a footnote in my research.”
And with that, he was off. Greggin sprinted toward the city’s southern wall as the archers focused their attention west toward the city’s main gate. When he reached the wall, the odd blue elf pulled another small stone from the pouch that hung from his belt. Something in the center of the stone burned bright with green light this time, then the stone crumbled apart.
As the remnants fell to the ground, Greggin’s body turned the same gray as the stones he climbed. As he rounded the top of the wall, he looked like a small stone statue, an elven gargoyle perched on the city’s wall. Then he climbed down the other side, magically camouflaged.
Another man charged through the doorway now, dressed more vibrantly than the others. His shirt was long, draping well past his waist, with every button cinched up to his neck. Its multi-colored design was besmirched and bedirted by smirchy dirt.
“Well, girls,” I said. “If it isn’t your dear old dad.”
+8
Mayor Ingriss, the city’s leader, was also the girls’ father. Not that it stopped him from telling them to take a hike for having minds of their own. He’d rather send his daughters packing than face the fact that he was leading the city astray.
“We have to help him,” Lily said through clenched teeth. “Because morals.”
“And because having the Mayor on our team may give us a leg up when we get our army inside,” I said.
Already more cretins were rushing from the city’s gateway. The archers turned their aim backward, shooting into the city and blocking other citizens from escaping through a curtain of arrows.
“A dozen cretins,” I said, “but it’s not them I’m worried about. It’s the ones that came from the rift. This morning’s attacker said he needed more time, so maybe there’s a limit to whatever brought them here. They’ll absorb the energy we spend on special skills though, so don’t use those. Also, physical attacks are useless, so don’t use those either. Ready?”
“What does that leave us with?” Lily asked.
“Luck,” I said. I jumped up from the bushes, lifted my spear in the air, and charged toward the open space in front of the city.
A cretin chased after the Mayor, its black tongue writhing inside a gaping mouth. As it ran headlong, it prepared to channel its dark magic attack. My Resolve was powerful enough to withstand Duul’s smallest minion, but the Mayor’s wasn’t. I dove into its path, absorbing the impact of that dire spell myself.
“You!” the Mayor yelled. “You’ve been banished!”
“Now is hardly the time,” I said. “We need to get you to Halcyon through the portal arch.”
“How?” the Mayor asked. “Even I can’t open the portals.”
Ambry came to my side while Lily tossed a snowball at a cretin that raised a sword against a terrified man. A manic smile crept up her face as she pulled back her axe. I looked away in time to avoid the geyser of black sludge that erupted from its neck after she relieved it of its head.
“Special privileges,” Ambry said.
“Fine,” the Mayor replied, “I’ll allow you to take me to Halcyon temporarily, but only because so many of my people are there waiting for leadership.”
Two other cretins came near, but at least Ambry had the glowing warriors under wraps. She conjured a wall of flame in the center of the battlefield and attracted the strange fighters toward it. The magic flame distracted them, enticing them the same way Vix’s and my special skills had. They reached toward the flames to drain the energy from them, but Ambry controlled that fire and she wouldn’t let it feed them so easily. She constricted the circular wall, tightening its radius until it had completely closed in on itself and snuffed out. It took a moment for them to realize they had been duped.
Three Valleyvale citizens were scattered in the open space in front of the city. They had cretins shooting curses at them, and while two dodged and fought back, one man made a break for it. He rushed to his Mayor’s side, a young guy with messy hair and bags under his eyes.
“Come,” the Mayor said, waving toward me.
“We can’t just leave them,” I said, gesturing to the other two Valleyvale men in the clearing. The ghostly warriors had each taken one as a target and they moved in now on their prey. Ambry summoned another wave of flame, but that trick didn’t seem to work a second time.
“They’re not with me,” he said, “just tagalongs. I’m the one that matters here.”
“Tagalongs?” I asked. “They ran from the city first! You were just running to save yourself under the distraction of other people’s bravery. You’re leaving your people to suffer at the hands of a very awkward god. You, Mayor Ingriss, have failed this city!”
Two cretins came after us, and while I was able to spear through one of them, the other chased the Mayor a few paces back. It screeched and held out a hand to charge up a dark curse.
The Mayor peered into the eyeless face of Duul’s henchman. Black magic erupted from that small creature, snaking its way toward the Mayor. At the last second, he looked back at the young man that had rushed to his side.
There was nothing to block that curse as it arced toward the Mayor.
Ambry tried in vain to distract the glowing warriors, and Lily threw an ice ball that missed its mark. I was still pulling my weapon free of the first cretin’s broken body.
Mayor Ingriss could have dodged. He could have run. He could even have stood there and accepted the curse that Duul’s minion tossed his way. Instead, he reached out, grabbed the Valleyvale citizen behind him, and used the man for a human shield.
As ribbons of black magic wrapped around the poor young guy that had just escaped the besieged city, his skin grayed and his eyes darkened. He stopped struggling to escape and turned on the Mayor instead. Already, the curse had filled him with rage, and he lashed out at the old man with his bare hands.
“Get to the portal arch,” I yelled. “Now!”
The Mayor ran in short, uneven strides as he left the clearing and began swatting away low-hanging branches on his way to the portal arch.
I stabbed the cretin through the face, ending its miserable life in a gush of black sludge, then spun back and grabbed the cursed man by his shirt. I held him at bay while the Mayor ran.
“Lily!” I yelled.
“On it,” she said, freezing the cursed man solid, then dragging his body toward the portal.
“Arden!” Ambry yelled. Her finger was aimed at the spectral fighters. They looked faint. Their shapes were already starting to dissolve as pinpricks of light drifted from their faded bodies.
“Run!” I yelled to the two disheveled citizens that fought against cretins. “Now’s your chance!”
One of the spectral warriors turned and sank his blade into the glistening black body of a nearby cretin, drawing its energy into itself. It took the cretin away from its task, giving one man a chance to run. He limped toward us with a deep gash in his leg while the glowing warrior chased after a second cretin.
The other ma
n, however, was held down by cretins preparing to curse him. The glowing warrior near him didn’t aim a blade at Duul’s familiars; he sank his glowing sword through the man’s back and held it there.
The man convulsed as his life force drained, then his body crumpled to the ground. I started toward him, but Ambry put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. The man lay still on the ground, but his attacker wasn’t finished with him. He pulled his blade from the man’s still body.
Then, he climbed inside it.
My mouth fell open in disbelief. The man’s body stood again, then looked over his arms and legs. He apprised his body the way a man might glance over a new pair of pants in a dressing room — craning his neck to see if his ass looked good, but realizing he wasn’t sure what a “good” ass looked like on a man. Then he smiled at us.
“Duul delivers on his promises!” he yelled. “What does your god do?” The man turned and walked back through the city gate.
He had commandeered the body of an unwilling hostage. Those luminescent fighters could drain a person of their action points, even their experience points. What happened when those tallies hit zero? What happened when a man’s energy was totally and completely gone? Now we knew. The body became an empty vessel, waiting for one of those glowy bastards to take it for himself.
I ran to the center of the clearing and struck down the two cretins chasing the wounded escapee. Ambry grabbed his arm to help him limp away from the battlefield.
Inside Valleyvale, a handful of other glowing warriors stood idle in the shadows cast by the buildings that lined the city’s main street. Beyond, one of Duul’s generals and a handful of cretins guarded a few dozen workers surrounding a large metal spire in the city’s center. Whatever Kāya was doing, she had a plan.
“Let’s get home,” I said. I took the other arm of the man Ambry assisted and together we hobbled toward the stone arch. After the slow quarter-mile trek, I reached inside and said, “Halcyon.”
The air rippled with green energy, and then we were gone.
+9
“The infirmary is down those stairs, inside the temple,” I said to the poor young guy still reeling from the aftereffects of Duul’s curse. Ambry had thawed him out of Lily’s ice magic, but his body was still wet and cold. “Can you help each other down?”
“Yes,” he said, stepping in to help the injured man I had been half-carrying, “and thank you.”
I turned to the Mayor next. “You would have left them there. You’re a coward.”
“I don’t expect you to understand matters of state,” he replied. “My safety is paramount. I couldn’t risk being controlled by Duul’s lackeys. If a hostile power had conscripted me, Valleyvale’s hope would be lost.”
“Your definition of hope is broken,” I said. “I’ll allow you to stay in Halcyon, for now, but if you interfere with our progress I’ll have no choice but to banish you. We’re building an army to free your city, so just sit back and let me do all the heavy lifting. That’s what you’re best at.”
“Girls,” he said, “we won’t indulge this behavior. Gather our people. I’m aware that a hundred or so left for your floundering commune last night. We’ll show Kāya that we are a unified front and use our one last bargaining chip to negotiate a tolerable position. She needs workers, after all, and if I bring her back the ones she lost she may be willing to strike a deal.
“Then, when the next mailrunner arrives, I plan to send a letter to the emperor accepting the terms of the Imperial Vassal Treaty and paying tribute in exchange for protection.”
“No,” Ambry said. The Mayor looked at her as if she had two heads that both exploded into a cloud of confetti that coalesced midair into a giant middle finger.
“This boy has been a bad influence,” he replied. “You will shut your mouth and do as you’re told.”
“Arden is building a real plan,” Lily said. “What you’re suggesting won’t work, and we won’t pretend that it will. The empire isn’t coming.”
“The way you speak to your own father,” he said. “Your mother would be so disappointed.”
“You only ever mention her when you want to hurt us,” Lily said. “Where is she? Why haven’t you told us what happened to her?”
“It’s to protect her dignity, and yours,” he said.
“Can you tell us anything about Kāya’s attack that would help us?” I asked. “Anything about what she’s building? Or about any of the powerful books she might have gotten ahold of, like, what was it called… Practical Economics of Necromancing Instant Servants?”
The Mayor folded his hands across his chest. “I prefer not to dwell on the loss of my library.”
“Fine,” I said. “We don’t need your help, just stay out of our way. Lily, Ambry, show your father to our guest house. It’s where all of our favorite guests go.”
I had barely taken two steps before a telepathic sneeze erupted in my mind.
Nola?, I asked. Are you okay?
It builds inside me, An urge I cannot deny, A snot explosion, she said. I call that ‘Achoo Haiku.’ Does it capture the essence of my frustration? I’m tired of frickin’ sneezing! I think I’ve figured out the problem though.
I jogged down the carved stone steps that led from the top of our hill to the ground-level entry to Nola’s temple. The long path that led away from the front door was lined with our defensive towers, and ended in wooden gates that Vix had sent repair workers to. I ducked inside the temple.
“Look at my bush,” Nola said. “I tried trimming it this morning, but it’s growing back too quickly.”
“That’s natural,” Grucio said, standing before Nola’s altar. “It is meant to grow strong and luxuriant.”
“I don’t care if it’s natural,” she said, “it’s out of control. If you love it so much you take it, make topiary out of it for all I care, just get it out of here. I need you to remove it.”
“Should I ask?” I said, approaching them both. “I probably shouldn’t ask, right?”
“That plant Gowes got me as a temple-warming gift?” Nola said. “It tickles the insides of my nose. It’s evil.”
“Are you allergic to it?” I asked.
“Hmm. I’ve never been allergic to something before,” she said. “I don’t like it.”
Grucio, our head farmer, held the shaggy potted plant in his hands. Its dense green leaves did a poor job of hiding a dozen brown seed pods that had grown plump and heavy on the plant’s thin branches.
“But your grace,” he said, concern creasing his already-wrinkled forehead, “this is a plethorchid bush, a rare shrub guarded closely by gods and royals. It grows with unique properties depending on the circumstances of its planting. If cultivated with care, its flowers may be among the most remarkable in the world.
“The elves are known to plant them alongside the graves of famous bards to produce flowers capable of constant melody. The beastkin favor planting them with honey and ripened fruit to produce a scent that lures rare prey to their hunting grounds.
“I have farmed this world far and wide,” he said, quickening his pace. “I’ve seen plethorchid petals feed the hungry, light the dark, and love the unlovable, though the plants themselves are fragile. If not tended with devotion they wither and die.”
“What does this one do?” I asked.
“This plant is undifferentiated,” he said. “That means its seed was allowed to sprout without interference, leaving it fertile. Seeds planted for special purposes become neutered by the magic their roots absorb.” He turned back toward Nola. “This is a rare opportunity, your grace. I recommend weighing our options carefully and planting these near the temple where your divine aura will surely improve their power.”
“It’s making me sneeze though,” she said. “I don’t want a sneeze plant to take root in the temple. Get rid of it please.”
“Yes, your grace,” our head farmer said. He bowed slightly, sending a lock of his gray hair down his forehead. He turned toward me next. “Master Arde
n, perhaps you would care for it in Nola’s stead?”
“I hate to point this out,” I said, “but there’s no ‘Arden’ in ‘garden.’ If Nola wants it gone, you’re on your own. Why don’t you take it out to the farms and find a nice safe place for it? We can decide how to plant the seeds later.”
“You would trust this precious plant to a common farmer?” he asked.
“You’re our least common farmer,” I said, “if that makes it any better for you?”
“It would be an honor,” he said. He bowed again, then turned toward the door. The plant was already twice the size of the pot it was planted in, and Grucio struggled to see past its thick leaves. As he climbed over our fallen front doors, a seed pod fell from the plant and hit the floor.
“Grucio!” I said. “Your plant just spilled it seed.”
“I’m out of hands,” he said. “I can’t tuck it into this plant’s pot or it may take root and tangle itself with its parent plant. These seeds grow very quickly once they find compatible conditions. Kindly bring it to the farms when you have a moment.”
At the rate Grucio was walking, it would take forever to follow him there, just to hand him a single seed pod. As a wise philosopher once said, “ain’t nobody got time for that.” I tucked the pod into my pocket and waited for the farmer to leave.
“Better?” I asked.
“Much,” Nola said. “How did things go in Valleyvale?”
“Oh, you know, just watched an angry luminescent wraith possess an innocent person’s body. Oh, and Mayor Ingriss is here now.”
“And it goes from bad to worse,” she said. “He was hardly decent.”
“He still isn’t,” I said, “but he’s Lily and Ambry’s father. He’s all talk though. Harmless.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Nola said. “Some of the Valleyvale folks may still be loyal to him. They’ve been at odds with the other residents here.”