by Jack Porter
Instead, I asked about Lady Gamma. “Has she always been so changeable?”
The huge troll-like creature looked down at me.
“Like, one moment she’s scolding you for carelessness and seems to be interested only in herself. And the next, she’s treating you like her best friend.”
“To be fair,” Ash replied, “the former is a result of her training, and the latter a reflection of who she was as a child. Bear in mind, before you judge her too harshly, the weight she carries on her shoulders. She didn’t choose to be on this quest. It is her obligation. The pressure of it is great, made even more with the loss of so many of her retinue. When she is unsure of herself, when she does not truly know how to act, she defaults to her training.” Ash shrugged her huge shoulders. “It makes her seem cold and selfish, but this is far from her true nature.”
I couldn’t help it. I had to let out a laugh. “I must make her very unsure of herself, then,” I said.
Without skipping a beat, Ash responded. “You do.”
I frowned, not knowing how to respond. I hadn’t expected Ash to reply.
But the giant hadn’t finished. “While she is a woman grown, she is young and lacks experience in certain areas. Even before we encountered the bandits, she didn’t know how to respond to you. You are Rogan Ward, a martial warrior of much renown, capable both with sword and without, and in possession of a chi gift that lets you combat spellcasters on an equal footing. You are famous, if that is something you have forgotten, and not unattractive. The Lady Gamma is not immune to your charms, and it was only your honor that let her interact with you with any comfort at all.”
Ash’s words were both surprising and intriguing. I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant about Lady Gamma not being immune to my charms. But when I followed up, that wasn’t the question I asked.
“My honor?” I said.
“You really do not remember any of it, do you?” Ash replied.
I shook my head. “I told you. As far as I know, I have been this Rogan Ward since waking up during the fight with the bandits.”
Ash studied me for a moment, then continued. “Yes. Honor. You swore the bond in part to give her confidence that you would never do or say anything against her. Even then, you made every effort to ensure she knew you were her servant, at least for the duration of this quest. You deferred to her in all things, offering no more than advice when it was asked. But now, it is like you are a different person entirely.”
And I was, I thought.
“I spoke to her while you were away hunting last night,” Ash continued. “Your sudden willingness to challenge her has caught her by surprise, and she doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t even know if the binding still holds, and that troubles her more than she cares to admit.”
I had some very negative thoughts about that binding but kept them to myself. Lady Gamma wasn’t the only one who was troubled. I didn’t like having my freedoms constrained, and even though it seemed the Lady’s quest might eventually lead us to the temple in my dreams, the thought of her being able to control me so completely was worrying.
Along with the words, ‘You can save them. You can save all of them,’ the image of the temple remained seared into my brain. If I was honest, I would probably have sought it regardless, and done whatever I could to learn what it meant.
It was just the lack of freedom that bugged me. The lack of any other choice.
“The binding still holds,” I grudgingly admitted. “I don’t know if there’s any way to remove it.”
“Lady Gamma will be pleased to hear it,” Ash rumbled. “As for the other, as far as I know, the binding will remain until the conditions of that binding are fulfilled.”
Great. Another rope binding me to this quest for the temple. Even less choice than I had before.
“What is this quest she is on?” I asked randomly. “What does she seek to gain?”
But Ash didn’t answer immediately. Finally, she said, “The Hidden Temple is a place where questions are answered. Pilgrims seeking it seldom share the question that drives them. Lady Gamma’s is not a secret, not really, but nor is it mine to share. If you wish to know, you will have to ask her.”
“And it is just over the Wastes?”
“The Wastes are only one part of our journey. For now, they are the only part that matters.”
26
While Lady Gamma remained inside the wagon during the day, Camille often left it. She either made her way to the driver’s seat or climbed down to stretch her legs for a walk.
During such times, she either glared daggers at me or refused to acknowledge my presence. Feeling a bit used, I figured it wouldn’t take much for her to throw daggers at my back instead, and decided not to give her such a target. So I made sure to keep her in front of me. Lady Gamma may have extended the branch of friendship her way, and maybe she had accepted that offer. But to me, she was still an unknown entity and had yet to earn my trust, mostly.
Unless of course, she needed her chi recharged again. I tried not to grin as I thought of the way her tongue had gripped me. And I tried even harder to make sure Ash no longer caught me looking at Camille. Because it seemed a bit weird now that I knew the trollish hybrid was a female.
At the same time, Camille’s unchanged attitude toward me was disappointing. Until last night, the Rogan Ward of this time may have been celibate for all I knew, but I had made a different choice. And despite everything, Camille was all sorts of my type.
Beautiful and athletic, her tail and scales made her seem more exotic than odd. And maybe it said something about me, but I found her fire and her murderous tendencies surprisingly appealing.
Back in my world, she would have been way out of my league. We would have been barely the same species, and I’m not talking about her tail. To me, she was an Amazon goddess, and while I hadn’t exactly been a weakling before, I was mostly just an average guy if you didn’t count my fucked-up leg.
But here, I was tall, strong, and capable. And, given that I was the only guy in the party, I liked my odds for another stolen moment or two.
Out of no more than idle curiosity, I paused for a moment and focused on my AC lens. Just to see what it might say about her ability to vanish.
I was getting better at it, activating the device’s display within moments. What I saw both surprised me and didn’t at the same time.
Class: Human hybrid/mutation
Dominant DNA: Human (91%)
Additional DNA: Chameleon, Hawke, Octopus, + assorted others (9%)
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 135 pounds
Age: 24 (approx.)
Gender: Female
Mutation: Chi power (visual manipulation)
Level: IV
Level IV hybrids show increased strength, coordination, stamina, etc…
* * *
I had seen that increased stamina and coordination in action during our chase. And of course, the reason was that she wasn’t fully human. Her tongue, tail, and scales could attest to that. Spliced with her DNA was that of several other species, including that of a hawk.
In a way, it made sense. While she showed no physical characteristics of a bird of prey, she absolutely showed the nature of one.
But that wasn’t the only nonhuman DNA in her system. She also had some octopus and chameleon as well. Couldn’t some chameleons glow under a blacklight? I wasn’t sure, but maybe that would explain her glowing skeleton when she absorbed my chi last night. Or maybe it had something to do with the increased radiation. I would probably never know.
But some octopus could camouflage themselves like chameleons. And since I couldn’t see any tentacles, I thought it might have something to do with her ability to vanish.
Then again, how would that work with her clothes?
The chi power. She had a chi gift like mine. Visual manipulation.
Just the sort of thing that would help her vanish into thin air.
I let the HUD fade into no
thing and regretted not being able to scan the spellcaster I had apparently killed. I expected that it would show a relationship to the wraiths from the spaceship, a genetic pairing that Camille didn’t seem possess.
But without seeing it for sure, I’d have to guess. Perhaps my chi gift, Camille’s, and even Ash’s all qualified as magic in this world.
I didn’t know.
27
At some point, my thoughts turned to the quest. Somewhere up ahead, beyond this wasteland, there was a temple which may or may not have been the same one I could still see in my mind.
At the risk of sounding like the kid in the back seat repeating, “Are we there yet?” all day long, I asked Ash how extensive the Wastes actually were, and how long it would take to cross them.
“It will take as long as it takes,” she said. “Several days at least, if we don’t lose our way or get waylaid. The path we follow is said to be the most direct route across.”
So, several days to reach the far end of the Wastes. And somewhere beyond that, the temple, although no one had been clear how far we had to go after crossing the wasteland. I’d asked again, only to be met with the same response.
“The Wastes are all that matters right now.”
I was anxious to get to the end, if only to rid myself of Lady Gamma’s compulsion. And to find the temple, of course.
If it was a place where questions were answered, then I had a few doozies of my own.
As evening approached again, Ash once again directed the wagons off to one side. This time, she parked the wagons against a tall, wide outcropping of boulders that would act as a wall behind our backs.
I elected to help Ash set up camp and let Camille head out to hunt.
When Camille returned with two surprisingly plump desert creatures, her entire demeanor was different. Instead of being friendly with Lady Gamma, slightly wary of Ash and openly hostile to me, she sat quietly with a grim expression, speaking little more than necessary.
It was only after the evening meal was done and Lady Gamma began making noises about turning in did the reason behind Camille’s changing nature become apparent.
Ash had already started her watch and was standing some distance away, when, as if coming to a decision, Camille nodded to herself and made her way over to me on the other side of the fire.
As she approached, my mind conjured all sorts of possible reasons why. Some of those reasons were straight out of my own fantasies, courtesy of last night’s antics. I was already agreeing to anything she wanted before she said her first word.
Yes, I knew she still resented me for capturing her. But if she wanted to jump my bones again, I wasn’t going to say no. Maybe, I thought hopefully, she used more chi than I did just by walking and needed a recharge every night.
While there didn’t seem to be much hope for a romantic interlude between myself and Lady Gamma—or even Ash, for that matter–I had more hope with Camille, and that was all I really needed. Even if I didn’t exactly trust this fierce, scaled woman.
“If I were you, I’d sleep with one eye open this night,” she began, pulling me away from my thoughts. “And when you stand guard, be especially vigilant.”
Well, that wasn’t what I’d been hoping for.
“Why?” I asked. “What did you see?”
She snarled in irritation, but at herself more than at me.
“I didn’t see anything. Not really. But these sand walkers have a scent to them. No, maybe scent isn’t the right word. It’s like the way they move through the Wastes, there is a pattern to it. You’ve felt it. I know you have. I was watching during the last couple of attacks. You reached for your sword before there was any reason to do so.”
I thought back to the moments she was talking about and knew she was right. The first time we were attacked, I’d been caught by surprise. But the second, I had not. Nor the third.
I nodded, and Camille continued.
“It isn’t just us who have sensed it, either,” she said. “The creatures in this place, this wasteland, there are more of them than it might seem, and they’re not difficult to hunt. Not for me, anyway. But this evening, it’s like something has spooked them.” She shrugged her perfect shoulders. “In the time it took me to bag these two, I could have caught half a dozen on another day.”
“What spooked them, do you think?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Guess. What do your instincts tell you?”
“I think sand walkers are gathering. I think they’re banding together in a single large group so they can attack all at once. You and Ash–you’ve beaten three of their smaller groups. I think they’ve learned from that and are doing their best to not let you beat them again.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but it seemed Camille wanted to say more.
“And?” I prompted.
She hesitated. When she spoke, her voice was sure, but there was fear in her eyes. “There’s something else out there as well. I spoke about it before. Something I’d seen in the distance that made me shiver even in the heat of the Wastes.”
“And you think this something could be out there now.”
“Yes. I do. I think it could be controlling the sand walkers. Like it’s in charge of them or something.”
In a flash of intuition, I understood why she had come to me instead of Ash.
“A spellcaster,” I said.
Camille drew a deep breath, and I had to admit, I found it distracting. “Yes. I fear so,” she said.
If she had been a fellow soldier and had gone to her CO with such a report, she would have been laughed at and accused of seeing monsters where there were none.
But she wasn’t a soldier from my time, and I wasn’t her CO. And I’d felt the same sensations she was talking about. On top of that, Camille was an assassin and thief, and seemed to be in tune with her instincts.
“What do you suggest we do about it?” I asked.
This time, she shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Shit,” I muttered. But really, there was nothing we could do except keep our eyes open and be as vigilant as possible.
Plan for the best, prepare for the worst.
“I’ll let Ash know,” I said. “Why would they bother to attack us at all?” I wondered out loud. “I mean, we must have killed, what, twenty of them already. Surely whatever we have can’t be worth that much to them?”
“Lady Gamma’s medicines,” Camille said. “They are worth more than food, more than water, more than anything. And besides, their lives are cheap. If one of them gets killed, that’s one less mouth to feed. Either they win a prize that is worth everything to them, or they have fewer mouths to feed. They can’t lose.”
With that, the fierce woman made her way back to the wagon.
Given what she’d just said, I wasn’t sure that was where I would choose to be. I almost called to her, to suggest other sleeping arrangements. But in truth, my motivations were far from altruistic. And anyway, if Camille’s assessment of the sand walkers’ motivation proved correct, then having her there to guard Lady Gamma’s medicines was probably a good thing.
So I watched her go, unable to take my eyes off the sway of her hips, and held my tongue.
28
The attack came during Ash’s watch.
One moment, I was comfortably asleep next to the evening fire, with my back to one of the wheels of the supply wagon.
In the next, Ash’s voice broke the stillness of the night.
“They come!” she bellowed, loudly enough to shatter my dreams into shards. “Stand ready!”
Ash’s words sent a jolt of energy right through me.
There was no sleepy, uncoordinated transition. I went from a deep, dream-filled state of restful sleep to wide awake and ready for battle.
Everything snapped into clear, sharp focus. Somehow, I was already on my feet with my oversized sword in my hands, my eyes, ears, and everything else I possessed seeking danger.
It wa
s a clear, crisp night, with the dawn still several hours away. There was no moon, but there was still more than enough light to see, courtesy of the fractured sky.
It was light enough that I could make out the wagons and Ash clearly, and beyond them, dim shapes moving toward us in the gloom.
Fuck.
I took a position next to Ash on the side of the camp unprotected by the boulder wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I was aware of both Lady Gamma and Camille emerging from their wagons, looking for danger.
“Stay back!” I said, directing my comment to Gamma. I figured that Camille could look after herself, if she didn’t simply vanish into the night. But Lady Gamma was, for reasons of a blood oath I hadn’t sworn, my responsibility.
Of course, she ignored me. A glance in her direction showed her standing defiant, her monkey silent but glaring out into the Wastes.
I gritted my teeth in irritation but said nothing. Instead, I sought balance and tapped into my chi. As soon as my AC lens powered up, I switched to night vision and gained a much clearer view of what we faced.
There were dozens for them. Hundreds, maybe. Mutated semi-humans of all shapes and sizes, some little more than slathering beasts, like dogs on a leash, and others monstrosities nearly as large as Ash herself.
Yet most of them were somewhere in between, human-ish, if you wanted to stretch the definition that far. Malevolent. Creatures strong enough and cunning enough to survive in the wastelands, able to use a variety of weapons, but little more than snarling beasts compared to true humans.
There were more of them than I wanted to believe, more than enough to deal with our tiny band. The Wastes were covered in them.
There was an eerie, unnatural silence to the gathering horde. There should have been growls and shouts, sand walkers calling out in challenges to bolster their own courage. But it was like they were a pack of shuffling zombies, and not a proper war band at all.