Etheric Knight

by P. J. Cherubino

  “Biting my tongue,” Vinnie quipped.

  “Once the word gets around,” Gormer continued. “We load a few wagons with fighters and equipment. We pretend we’re moving the Skrim under heavy guard.”

  “It’s very risky,” Tarkon cautioned. “And what’s the actual story. How do we make the lie convincing? Also, what do we tell all these fighters we’re loading into wagons?”

  “There are two ways to make you believe a lie,” Gormer instructed. “Best to use them both whenever you can: one is to make the lie too sweet not to eat, and the other is to repeat it enough times.” Gormer grew more animated as he went on. “But the real beauty of this is the way the rumor will spread. The more it’s repeated, the more it will be believed. We’ll gather the best fighters and tell them nothing. We’ll swear them to secrecy. When they start to hear rumors coming back to them about what they’re doing, they’ll start to talk themselves. It’ll be a thing of beauty.”

  “And dangerous,” Astrid asserted. “I’m not sure I like this plan. What about morale?”

  “Maybe apologies will be necessary,” Gormer considered. “The only way around that is to tell them once they’re on the road and hope morale comes back stronger.”

  “This is a twisted plan,” Tarkon noted. “But I kind of like it.”

  “I’ll start selecting my best Movers,” Hanif promised. “We should probably have some rifle troops in the mix.”

  Vinnie nodded his head. “My crafters have been improving the rifles for weeks. There are plenty of good shots to be had.”

  “We’re gonna need a bigger loudmouth,” Astrid directed. “So let’s find one.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I Love a Good Lie

  The watch commander had been shocked when Astrid asked her who her worst guard was. Against Gormer’s advice, Astrid felt she was obligated to tell the watch officer about the plan. She impressed upon the woman that secrecy was crucial.

  Even as she set the plan in motion, Astrid was tickled by the poetic irony of using their least reliable person as a tactic for the most important piece of the strategy.

  “Help me understand,” the Commander implored. “You are asking me to order one of my most trusted guard to spread a sensitive rumor to my least trusted guard. You’re asking me to break my security to save the Protectorate.”

  “Yes,” Astrid replied, completely stone-faced.

  “It’s brilliant,” the commander acknowledged. She never broke a smile, and her eyes remained stern. “I am honored that you came to me with this noble lie. I will send watch corporal Edgar to you. Expect him shortly.”

  They shook hands, and Astrid repressed a snicker. “Instruct him to go to the armory for a weapons check. Gormer will meet him there and link to him telepathically. He’ll need to be open to having someone else inside his head.”

  “Preferable to having your head owned by a monster, yes? He should be all right with that.” The commander finally smiled.

  Astrid left for her next task, which would be more difficult. She needed to explain to Charlie why he had to hide away from his cherished arboretum.

  Gormer and Vinnie were still working on their part of the plan—something that allowed for many people to witness Charlie getting onto a wagon. They couldn’t afford to leave anything to chance. But if Charlie had to actually get onto a wagon, he’d also have to get off without anyone seeing.

  She walked along the forest path in the middle of the Fortress. It was something she could not get accustomed to, no matter how much she enjoyed the beauty.

  Charlie found her. He very nearly snuck up on her. How a person that large could move so stealthily was beyond her. He made more noise indoors.

  The giant knelt to hug her and picked her up. He cooed and rubbed her head with his palm, then nearly knocked her over by patting her on the back.

  “Thank you, Charlie,” Astrid began, getting right down to business. “I hope you’ll understand me. I hate to ask you this, but I need you to—”

  “Hi-ed,” Charlie croaked in a voice that had grown deeper. “Hi-ed,” he squawked again and slapped his chest with his palm.

  He nodded his head sadly as he looked at the trees. Astrid knew exactly what he meant.

  “With any luck, it won’t be long,” Astrid nodded.

  Charlie grinned and patted her head again, then held one finger in the universal ‘wait’ sign. He ducked back into the trees. When he returned one of his massive hands was piled high with fruits and nuts.

  He gestured for Astrid to take them. She held out her hand, and Charlie tipped the pile. The food tumbled off her armor and fell at her feet.

  Charlie made a sad sound, then gently lifted both her arms.

  “Oh, ah…OK, then...”

  He scooped the food again and dumped it out, making sure Astrid had it all this time. She left the arboretum weighed down with more than twenty pounds of fruit.

  “Thank you, Charlie,” Astrid called as she left his home. What am I going to do with all this fruit?

  Preparations

  Astrid carried the awkward armload of food back to the war room in Vinnie’s office and dropped it onto the nearest cot. Gormer snored in the darkest corner while the others had broken down into smaller groups to ponder their next moves.

  Astrid found Tarkon, Hanif, and Jiri sitting at a table with a pitcher of ale and a set of maps. Jiri poured her a mug and flashed her a secret smile.

  The sun was setting, and they still didn’t have the lie they needed. Astrid wanted any potential attack to happen as far away from population centers as possible. To that end, she’d called for reinforcements from all the other Keeps in the region.

  If they assumed Varkos had eyes throughout the Protectorate–evidence was strong that he did–then they might as well use that to their advantage.

  Soldiers and guards were already stationing themselves throughout the fortress wards, especially along the roads.

  Vinnie’s crews were dispatched with equipment to try to find the portal critters. They could do so without drawing attention to themselves because all they needed to do was drive three wagons with detection equipment along the streets, stopping at set intervals.

  Vinnie expected to have the first report from the teams by morning.

  “My estate still looks like the best bet for setting the bait,” Hanif asserted. “It’s far enough away from the wards, and it’s a plausible location.”

  “It’s too close to Kostree,” Tarkon cautioned. “That reduces plausibility. Why would we bring Charlie so close to a lawless place that has already been invaded?”

  “It doesn’t have to make sense to us,” Astrid replied. “It just has to look attractive to Varkos.”

  She paused as she considered locations, then continued. “How can we be certain the attack will happen on the road? Is there any way to make that more likely?”

  “Not without knowing who his spies are,” Tarkon replied. “You told me how willing the mercs were to work with Varkos just for the empty promise of safety and riches.”

  She was surprised when Gormer sat down at the table with bleary eyes and a mug in his hand.

  “You’re drinking as soon as you wake up?” Astrid asked.

  “Water, boss,” Gormer pledged with a wink.

  “Good,” Astrid replied.

  “What are we talking about?”

  Astrid turned her face to each of them in kind. Even in Gormer’s exhausted eyes, she found determination and devotion to the cause. Astrid closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Uh-oh,” Gormer warned. “I’ve seen her do this before.”

  When she opened her eyes again, they fixed directly on Gormer. “I’m going to need you to search for a controlled creature.”

  “No problem. Mortsen can help. Who do you suspect.”

  “The Skrim,” Astrid replied.

  “Great. We can finally kill it.” Gormer took a long pull from his mug of water.

  “Yes,” Astrid agreed. �
��If it has one of those things in it or on it, we will kill it. If it doesn’t, I’m going to set it free.”

  The mystic choked mid-gulp and spat water all over the maps and Tarkon’s arm. The Forge Monk jerked back from the table and issued a stream of colorful curses.

  “Why the hell would you do that?” Gormer asked Astrid, trying to catch his breath.

  “The Code. And also because you are right. We need to make the bait too sweet for Varkos to resist. If the Skrim is not under the influence of a mind controller, then I will convince him to help us.”

  “If he is under the influence of a mindfucker, he’s probably worse,” Gormer argued.

  Jiri raised his hand. “Ah, when did we start calling them mindfuckers? Because I think it’s perfect.”

  That broke the tension just enough. Astrid covered Gormer’s hand with hers. “I just need you to trust me, Gormer. I know that’s hard for you. That Skrim is terrified of Varkos. He has been broken into obedience. Anything that can be broken can be mended.”

  “How?” Gormer demanded.

  “Love,” Astrid answered, and smiled without reservation at Jiri first, then the rest.

  Experiments

  Vinnie, Elise, and Oscar stood at the outside table again with the machine now their central focus. Everything depended on what happened next. Vinnie had merely suggested that he might find some way to disrupt the portal beasties.

  However, as often happened in the worlds of people who deal in technical matters, the suggestion became his mandate.

  It was Cole, of course, who came up with the idea of modifying a magitech rifle to emit a pulse. The solution he proposed was essentially the reverse of the collector mast that gathered pulses of energy from the air.

  Elise and Jakub had cobbled together something from spare calculator parts that took input from the big machine and turned it into output. The idea was to detect the signals coming from the beasties, then transmit modified signals to see how the things would react.

  “So, we’re using the input as a pattern just like I do on my looms back at the caves,” Elise explained to Cole.

  The boy shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t need to understand all that. I just need to know if my machine works.”

  “Oh! In that case, let’s find out. Turn it on!” Elise called. The call was repeated a few times before it got to the person operating the big machine.

  “Nothing’s happening,” Elise declared.

  An instant later, the intact beastie began to glow. The damaged one did not. Elise checked some tables in her notebook, then adjusted a dial. The globe at the end of the emitter mast cast off sparks.

  “That’s something!” Elise exclaimed. She moved more dials. The lightning increased.

  A sizzling sound came from the damaged beastie, and the gray noodle-like things twitched.

  “This is what we want,” Jakub assured them.

  “I guess,” Cole mumbled.

  Elise did some quick and complicated math in her notebook. She considered the numbers carefully.

  “Hmm,” she mused. “Let’s try this.”

  She flicked the power setting dial to the extreme right.

  An instant later, the critters exploded, covering them in bits of red shell and slimy, white goo.

  “I think that was it,” Cole declared, wiping the glop from his armor.

  Vinnie beamed proudly at his students. “We’re going to need more power. Gather all the spare magitech rifles. We’ll combine them for use as a power supply. You will also need one of your own because your team is coming with us.”

  Their faces were a mixture of fear and excitement.

  Vinnie wondered how Astrid would react to this, but no other team knew how to use this makeshift system—and they had no time to train anyone else. The fate of the mission rested in the hands of three very smart teenagers.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Leap of Faith

  “Can I count on you to be honest?” Astrid asked. Gormer hesitated. “If you’re not, it will hurt me like no weapon ever could.”

  “No fair,” Gormer chortled with a sheepish grin. “I’ll be honest.”

  Gormer stepped closer to the stall, his eyes glowing with a white intensity that Astrid had never seen before. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He stood perfectly still with an expressionless face as he channeled all his energy to the task.

  Finally, he released the magic. “I can’t read him. Nothing. No mindfuckers. One of the guards is having a fairly steamy daydream about you, though.”

  She gave him an affectionate punch in the shoulder, then turned to the stall door.

  “Give me the keys.” She extended her arm to Vinnie without taking her eyes off the bizarre creature clinging to the rough timbered ceiling in the darkest corner of the converted horse stall.

  Half its red body was exposed to the light, but its head was mostly in shadows. Its beady black eyes flashed, catching the scant light as they darted between Gormer, Astrid, and Vinnie.

  Vinnie handed her the keys, and she stepped forward very slowly.

  “Don’t go in there,” Gormer urged. He grabbed a magitech rifle that was leaning against the wall. “That thing’s going to rip you up.”

  “I’ll heal,” Astrid contended calmly. “Put the rifle away, Gormer.”

  “No way. If that thing comes at you, I’m gonna—”

  She rounded on him with something in her eyes he’d never seen before. She wasn’t angry, or frustrated or annoyed like she usually was when Gormer was difficult. She wore something on her face that was not quite a smile, but not a frown. But it was the look in her eyes that made Gormer stop dead. Those eyes displayed deep, unshakable permanence.

  “Read me,” she told him softly.

  Gormer’s eyes glowed white, and he lowered the weapon. “How can you be sure?” he asked. “I mean, I’ve never felt anyone so sure of anything. You can’t—”

  “No, I can’t read him,” Astrid chuckled. “It’s called faith. I don’t need to know what’s in his mind. All I know is the Code.” She seemed to look both into him and through him as she spoke. "Trust in the Well, and observe its intention, as the Well sustains all life. Because the Well gives to you, always give to others. Be ever and always the champion of right and good.”

  Gormer released the magic and carefully set the rifle against the wall.

  Astrid continued. “I know with all my heart that the being in there is a victim in all of this. The fact that he is not controlled by one of those evil things proves it beyond doubt. It had every chance to hurt both of us, but it didn’t. What does that tell you? It’s begging us to kill it. No living, thinking being wants to die that badly unless something is horribly wrong. That’s what the Well is telling me right now. I have to listen.”

  Gormer peered into the cell. “You hear that?” he called inside. “Even after all that’s happened, she wants to help you. That’s my friend. Don’t hurt her. Give her a chance, OK?”

  The creature didn’t move. Astrid unlocked the door and stepped into the makeshift confinement cell.

  It was fast. In the blink of an eye, its face was inches from Astrid. Its beady eyes nearly touched hers. All four of its arms were extended, and all its pincer-fingers were pointed at Astrid’s most vulnerable spots; her throat, her belly, her heart. But it didn't strike.

  Astrid did not flinch. She breathed deeply, slowly and steadily.

  “It was wrong of me to threaten you. I beg your forgiveness,” Astrid bowed her head.

  “You...beg...me...” it asked, then stood still for a moment.

  “Then you must kill me,” the creature demanded. “If you don’t, my master will. Give me mercy, please. You can kill me quickly. He will kill me for days, weeks, years because I failed. I beg you; do what he says. General Varkos will come for your hatchlings if you do not obey. Give him what he wants. It will be easier that way. You won’t have to suffer as much. But just kill me first, please...”

  “What is your nam
e?” Astrid asked gently. “I usually like to know the names of people who want me to kill them.”

  “You won’t kill me.” As suddenly as it had lunged, the creature deflated. It collapsed into a squat, and its arms clattered down against its shell and hung limply. “You couldn’t say my name. It’s just a number. We will all be dead soon. Why bother with names? Varkos will give you all numbers, even your hatchlings. He will kill many, but less if you just obey… just kill me...”

  “What about the human name you were using?”

  The Skrim lifted its head a bit, and its eye stalks picked up. “I picked this name.”

  “I will call you Boone, then.”

  His posture grew a little straighter. Astrid smiled. “That name is something you took for yourself. Varkos didn’t give you that. You found it, and you made it yours. Boone, if you can give yourself a name, what else can you do for yourself? Maybe you don’t have to obey, after all. Think about that.”

  The red-shelled creature sat there perfectly still with its eye stalks extended toward her. Astrid squatted on her hams and rested her hands on her knees.

  “Did Varkos come for your hatchlings, Boone?”

  A long pause stretched out across the cage. If Boone was a creature that breathed, it was impossible to tell. If someone came across him just then, they might think he was a hollow shell.

  “Yes,” Boone replied. Even with his voice that was so different, it was impossible to mistake the deep pit of sadness that produced his answer. “He killed them all to make me obey. My mate, my friends, my family. Killed. If I obey, he doesn’t kill as many others. If I do bad...like now…when I fail...he kills more, and it’s all my fault. The longer you let me live, the longer I have to live knowing that.”

  “I’m so sorry, Boone.” Her throat constricted, and tears ran down her cheeks. “No living being should have to go through that.”

  “There is no other way,” Boone answered nearly in a whisper. “Varkos is too strong.”

  “Boone, you are stronger,” Astrid replied. Her voice hardened.