Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2)

by Power, P. S.

  He smiled, and to his surprise, Tim nodded.

  "I already have those. I ran up a hundred, but forty is probably about right. The rest are slated for Tiera. Are you running that directly, or planning to shuffle it off on space fleet?"

  He stopped, since he didn't know. Rather than admit being stupid, he smiled.

  "That's up to Alice. I'll get with her in a bit. Oh... Um, there is one more thing? If I'm going around asking for vast things anyway?" Because asking for free jump ships wasn't enough, as anyone could easily tell.

  Timon gave him a slightly strained look. It was a bit silly seeming however, rather than angry.

  "Yes?"

  Taking a deep breath, he nodded, trying to set a positive mood for the whole thing.

  "That time trick you and Tor used? Can you teach me how to do that?"

  The man went silent for a bit, but then locked eyes with Dareg. His face slipped into being suddenly serious.

  "I can. More to the point, you can learn it. That won't be easy. Then, you didn't ask for that, did you?"

  It had never even occurred to him that it wouldn't be nearly impossible. Just that it had been the only thing that kept him alive. That, and a sacrifice of lives in exchange for his own.

  Chapter two

  They worked out that Dare needed to get the new crew of pilots, and find some kind of real training for them, before he took possession of the jump ships. Not that Timon refused to give them to him, but carrying them all around in his pocket wasn't that brilliant of an idea, all things considered. That would make them subject to loss, or theft, so it made sense to him. If the price of one of them wasn't about the same as buying a county in Noram, then it was greater.

  It would be much better to lose the things one at a time, with someone else being responsible for it happening, to his mind. That meant he was able to get out of the shop a bit faster than he'd thought would happen, after being pounded on the back by Tim, and felt up a bit by Patricia, who wasn't that subtle about it. Luckily her husband just snickered at the move and helped Dareg get to the door, being followed by the equipment case, which navigated the door very well. Almost as if it knew the thing was there, and what it had to do in order to not bump into anything.

  That meant he was over an hour early for his luncheon with Taman. Rather than waste time, he started walking that general direction, which was back the way he'd come from, and started to call up Alice Orange. Just as he was about to tap the sigil he recalled that he was wearing his own face at the moment. That was far too good looking for the Ancient. She had some kind of mental issue that made her dislike, or at least not trust, attractive men. Not women, or good looking people in general, just men that were too fine. It was a powerful effect, and highly conditional. Thankfully, he had a disguise for that, and the amulet on him, being part of his normal gear now. It would hide his beard, but that was fine.

  As he tapped it into play he felt sad for a moment. The lumpy and rather asymmetrical features that laid over his own were just shy of comical, at least if you knew what he normally looked like. That wasn't a problem however, since it was kind of nice, not being the center of attention all the time. It was that Kolb had done the work on it. In a way, his face, at least his false one, was a creation of the man. One of the last things he'd ever done.

  That hit him harder than he would have expected it to. So Dare found a wall and leaned against it for a bit, breathing a bit harder than normal. He must have looked pretty miserable, since a rather tall lady, clearly a noble, wearing a very nice red and black velvet dress, stopped as she walked past and held out her left hand.

  "Sorry if this is out of place, but are you well? A healing device could be found for you?" Her eyes scanned him, then the case which had moved in alongside of him. The blond wood looking thing was steady, and attractive. He was dressed in plain brown, like a school student, which was probably why the lady had said anything. It was kind of her anyway, since he might have been having troubles.

  "No... I... A friend of mine died recently. I..." He waved at his face. "This disguise. He made it for me."

  The lady, who was youthful, and made up, took a step closer to him. There was no hint of shock over him wearing a disguise, which was interesting.

  "Oh... That's horrible. That your friend died. Do you want to come in?" She pointed at the door nearest him, then explained. "It's the whore house, but we also make a nice cup of tea?"

  He glanced at the door, which boldly said what the place was right above it, and shook his head.

  "Thank you. I can't. I need to get with someone. The space fleet commander? Hence the disguise. It just hit me. I'll be fine in a second." Then he bowed, assuming that it was the right thing to do. This woman was special at least, even if she worked as a whore.

  "Sorry. I'm Dareg Canton." He went about halfway down, which was probably too far, but he didn't care at the moment. This woman had bothered to be nice to him, and there wasn't anyone stopping to look at them or anything.

  She bowed back, and went deeper than he had, but not too much.

  "Sherrilyn Bonner. Madam of this place, and Ancient of the prime farm space station. You left out that you're a prince, which is kind of a big deal in some places. I'm a friend of Tiera's?" She winked at him, and reached out to touch his shoulder. It had to look cozy, being he was pinned against the wall. She was taller than he was, by ten inches or so, but seemed gentle enough, so it wasn't overwhelming.

  "Who did the disguise for you?"

  "Sir Kolbrin. I don't know if you knew him."

  She stopped, her face going sad in response to the words.

  "I did. We weren't close, but he was around for a long time. Are you sure you're all right? I could take some time off and talk? They don't really need me here. I just like to pretend I'm important by coming in randomly, and supporting my people here."

  He shook his head, and pushed off the wall. Her hand was still on his shoulder but she moved back then, dropping it.

  "I'm good. I'll be fine. There was a thing. An attack, and... You heard about that? You're an Ancient?" That meant immortal, or at least very long lived. What he didn't know is if the farming head, or the madam, was going to be included in everything. Even though it made sense to him.

  "Tiera got me up to speed on all of that. The Adversaries and what we know of them. It isn't much. You were there right? For the fight, where everyone..." She avoided saying that so many had died in it.

  "Yeah. I nearly died. This is my first day out of bed really. I'm about to go off to see Taman. She's my Aunt." He realized that had to sound silly, but there was no laughing at him over it, just a nod.

  "Oh? Well, she's very sweet, isn't she? Smart, too. Are you thinking about marriage? I think the bloodlines would work out that way, if I have it right."

  He smiled then and wrinkled his nose. It didn't work right with the disguise on.

  "I'm engaged. Karina Cordes? Speaking of which I need to get with her today, too. After Alice. I'm trying to set up regular ships to... Pretty much everywhere. We have the jump ships for it, but I need to get the pilots trained first. We're adding your space station to the list, right?"

  She clapped, happily enough.

  "Good. We don't get a lot of visitors there. That might help. The science and magic stations, too?"

  He just nodded, and only felt a bit surprised when the kind woman gave him a hug.

  "Yay. Great. Well, feel free to call me? I'll get in to work then, and bother my people here, but we should get together? We know people in common. That makes sense, right?"

  "It does. Thank you, for stopping? Not everyone would have. I don't even look that good right now. Normally I look different than this. So I'll probably have to reintroduce myself, when we meet next?" It wouldn't have been hard for him to take the disguise off, but the woman just patted him again, in a friendly fashion, and moved off.

  "I look forward to it?" Then she went inside her place of work. Her movements were quick, and graceful, unlike
his own as he turned and hit the sigil to see if Alice was around at all. That could run hot or cold, and she might even be sleeping. Whatever time schedule fleet kept, he didn't know.

  This time however she came right up, her face looking a bit tense, but not angry. Her gem like green eyes shone a bit, as she glanced at him from his palm.

  "Orange, go."

  "Dareg Canton, here. Can I get you to train up forty or so jump pilots? I managed to get ships for them, if they can be trained. To do the daily runs to all the ports and bases? You can run that, if you want? We also have Tam-Comps coming for them, to organize it all?"

  Rather than say no, or even yes, the woman leaned in. Her skin was perfect, but pale. Tan, but lightly so, in the golden range. Really she was just a bit darker than he was, which was on the lower end of how light people got.

  "Tam-Comps? Explain this." Her accent was a bit thicker for some reason, as she waited for him to go into it. So he just spoke, walking very slowly as he did it. When he got to the end, the woman smiled.

  "We get guidance and ship based A.I.? I hadn't thought to see that coming any time soon. Excellent. You say a month for that? If we run it through fleet, which we should, that being part of our job, I can have that up inside a week. The Tam-Comps can come later. It isn't that hard to do. We have many more pilots than we do ships, or we would have set that up already."

  That was a surprise, but he nodded, not letting it show.

  "Good. I'll get those to you. Timon has them, if you want to pick them up directly? Or... I can do it. Either way."

  "Ya. You get on that for us? The sooner we get that done, the faster things can be set to going. I'm on the Ranford right now. We're in O-seventeen, which... You don't know of, being an amateur pilot. Um... Get with the training school, and they'll be able to make the delivery for you. When can we expect that?"

  He didn't really know, but shrugged, and made something up, that sounded real enough.

  "Soon? Tim has them, I just didn't pick them up, since carrying them around for a month would be asking for them to be stolen. I can get them after luncheon? I'm meeting Taman for that in about forty minutes. Then I need to stuff food in my face, until I can't any longer. Pick those up, catch a nap for a while... Call it six hours?"

  It probably wouldn't take that long, but he really did feel like having a lie down, if possible. Doing that could come after the delivery, however.

  Instead of seeming impressed, there was just a grunt.

  "Do it. I'll set up the schedule on this end. Do you have all the ports ready?"

  "Nope. I think you can land at them, but most of them aren't improved yet. That whole nearly dead thing set me back by a few weeks. This is my first day back." He looked around, but while there were people passing, looking better dressed than he was for the most part, even if they were just in black Tellerand dresses, like some of the women were, no one seemed to care he was there at all.

  So he held the stone device a little closer to his face.

  "I set up training for that time trick that Tor and the others used. With Tim? I need to learn to fight better, too. You mentioned some trainer at Lairdgren?" The name escaped him just then, but it had been mentioned right after the attack.

  "Remy? He might be a someone for you to look into that with. Not human, regardless of how he looks. They're pretty much the best killers humanity has ever created. Good plan. Get with him and explain it all. He might not help, or he might. That will depend on how you present it to him." She looked at him, and then smirked a bit. "At least one of us is actually trying to come up with a plan. I can arrange armor for you, too. Like mine? We can't use magic directly on this new foe, so we need to work around that. Keep that in mind. As soon as you have that set up, we need a real program for it. One fighter isn't enough. We need one in ten or so able to do all of that, and more. You first though. To make sure this isn't a dead end. Six hours on those ships. Keep in touch."

  The device went dead, so he called Timon.

  That went more smoothly. The instant the device picked up, Tim smiled.

  "Alice told you she has pilots, so you need the ships?"

  He managed a tired smile for the man, who did that kind of thing.

  "Yeah. I still have luncheon. I can run get those now though, since I have some time still."

  That got a laugh, and a gentle suggestion he head back to the magic shop, since they were there, in the back. It killed some time, but not that much, and they just loaded them into the blond wood case, so he didn't have to carry anything in his own hands.

  Then he had to stop and chat again, since it would be rude otherwise, until Tim pushed him out the door, so he wouldn't be late. He had to change as he walked, his clothing not being appropriate for a nice place like Marisa's. It was free, and anyone was allowed to eat there, but it was still a special event. Even at that, there was a bit of a line when he got there. He was met by a nice looking older man, not the owner of the place like he had been the last time.

  "Table for one? Or are you being joined by others?" The man seemed fine with both of those options. Interested, but only to the level that it affected his job.

  Dare smiled.

  "I'm meeting someone? Taman Baker?" He was about to describe her, but the man smiled, and nodded.

  "Princess Taman is already here. May I tell her who has come to meet her?" The idea was clear. Just saying he was supposed to be there with her wasn't enough to get him taken to a princess. Even if he could get a seat all on his own.

  "Dareg. Canton. She's expecting me." He smiled, his face feeling a bit stiff thanks to his disguise. That got him to tap it off, to let his skin breathe. The man stepped back a bit, staring, but he knew what had happened, or figured it out fast enough.

  "Ah. Very good. One moment please?" The man left him there, at the door, and hurried off, coming back about three minutes later. Then he waved, while seeming pleased about the whole thing. "This way, sir. Please forgive the delay. People make... claims at times, where royalty is concerned." The older man seemed a bit stuffy, but had a straight spine and a healthy glow about him. Everyone had that now though. Most of his life had been like that.

  Before, there were people that had been missing teeth as adults. That still happened, but normally only for a while. Like with him. Really, that had been a special case, more or less. Most people had to find a healing amulet they could use, and that was the problem. With him it had been that he didn't have anything left to grow things that weren't needed.

  So, while the man at the door was old, possibly better than seventy, and short enough that he seemed like a merchant, he moved toward the back of the room at a nice pace. One that forced Dare to hurry along behind him, in order not to get lost.

  The decorations had changed in the last month, with the silk wall hangings having shifted from blues and reds to greens and browns. There were new statues all over the place too, done in what had to be jade. The tables were still made of focus stone, or seemed to be, but black silk covered each one, making the whole place seem uncommonly rich. The lights, coming from above, weren't exactly brilliant. At a guess it was about half of what the hallway had going on. That however was most of the way to daylight, making the restaurant dimmer, but not hard to see in.

  The man in gray and black stopped at a table that had three others sitting at it already, not just Taman like he'd suspected would be happening. The thing there was that each of the others were new to him, but felt familiar, which was strange. They were both tall, showing they were nobles from Noram, or had at least been forced to become taller by magic. Their faces were similar to Taman or Tiera. Not exactly the same, and the man sitting there was just a bit rougher looking than say, Timon was. They all had black hair, and brown eyes, as well as skin that was just a bit darker than his own. Not much, however.

  Tam smiled up at him and waved cutely. She seemed tiny compared to the others.

  "Dareg! There you are. I invited Tess and Tenet to come meet you? I hope you don't mi
nd?" She sounded polite, but flicked a tiny glare at Tess, who ignored it. That part was very clear.

  Tenet, the man, looked about twenty or so, Tess seemed about the same, leaving Taman seeming like a tiny child in comparison.

  It was the man who spoke, his voice very deep. Then, he was very large. Tall, and thin, but probably eight feet at least, if it was possible to judge while he sat.

  "Tam means to say that Tess invited us along. It was rather a bit of an ambush. Sorry about that. We missed out last time, so figured it was only fair. Please, sit. Here, by me? That way I can protect you from these two if I have to." That came with a stern look that had Tess laughing and Taman actually blushing.

  That got noticed, but no one mentioned it.

  "Hello. Um, nice to meet you both? I... We're related?" He thought that was the case, but hadn't met them before. It could be different than he thought and not asking was stupid. Plus, it was a bit pressing to bring people to the meal like that, if they were there just to meet him. Family might get a pass, but if they were just friends...

  Then he'd deal with that, too.

  Fighting with Taman wasn't in the works if he could help it. She was a princess after all.

  Tess grinned at him, which was happy, rather than flirtatious or even playful.

  "Aunt Tess, and Uncle Tenet. Tor is our brother." It was really clear that she was about to ask how he was doing, but she stopped herself, waiting for something else to happen.

  That ended up being Marisa coming up to the table herself. The woman who was blacker than night, in every part of her being, seemed nearly unreal to him. Pretty, on a level that was hard to see. Her eyes shone, and she smiled, but her teeth were the same color as her skin, with her eyes being the same. She was dressed in bright red, however. Silk, that was a deep color that reminded him of blood for a moment. Freezing, he didn't let that show on his face, forcing a smile instead.