Revenge: The Gray-Matter Chrolicles: Book 1 (The Matter Chronicles 4)

by P. G. Thomas

  Steve finished his drink, “Half mile, hitting guys in the eyes. What are they, elf snipers? A longbow can’t fire that far and be that accurate.”

  Ryan held up three fingers for more drinks, “I don’t think they used longbows, most likely short bows. If they could’ve shot from the other side of the river, they would’ve used their long bows.”

  “Okay, you might be able to get the distance,” began Steve, “but you would never be able to see any target as small as an eye.”

  Eric shook his head, “Ever heard the joke about somebody living in the mid-west. Where they say it’s so flat, a farmer can watch his dog run away for three days. Elves could watch it for over a week, maybe more, so it had to be elf archers. Let’s get a couple of kegs and head back to the house.” When the waiter returned, they ordered three kegs of ale, paid their bill, and after the wagon had been loaded, headed back.

  They were about halfway home when Steve suddenly thrust the reins of the horses into Ryan’s hands. “Turn north at the intersection and wait around the corner for me. I’ll be right back.”

  Ryan looked back to try and find him, but he had vanished into the shadows, so he turned the wagon north at the intersection as directed.

  “What just happened?” Eric asked as he jumped into the front seat.

  “Weak bladder?”

  *******

  Having noticed the lone horseman following, Steve was concerned that it might shadow them until they were back at the house, trying to find out where they were staying. Knowing organized crime, he felt sure the thief guilds would be upset with his actions from the last visit. Waiting patiently in the shadows of the dark alley, when he heard the hooves on the dirt road get closer, he slipped on his brass knuckles. Just as the horse looked him in the eye, he stepped out to confront their inquisitive friend, but instead of one, there were now three, and one of the riders was either very tall or had really long legs.

  “Are you boys lost?”

  The first rider, caught off guard by Steve’s sudden appearance, stammered his reply, “No—we just heading back—back to—”

  The second horseman cut him off, “Not any of his business.”

  “You’ve been following us for a while, and it seems strange to me that we would both be taking the same route.” Steve pulled the long knife out from under his coat, “Why don’t you turn around and find a new path.”

  As the second horseman rode to the front, the third nudged his horse forward, “You gots a permit for muggings?”

  “This isn’t a mugging, just some friendly advice.”

  The third horseman shook his head, “Pullin’ a knife on strange, robbery only thing it can be, but you need a permits for which ya doing, guild law and all.”

  “This isn’t a mugging.” Steve was uncertain when the two additional riders had joined the first, and he realized they were most likely enforcers. “I’m not looking for trouble, but I don’t like being followed. A man has a right to feel safe, doesn’t he?”

  “Nothin’ in guild laws about that,” replied the first.

  The second looked down at Steve, “You ain’t answered friend’s question. Youse got a permit?”

  Reaching out, Steve grabbed the saddle strap of the first rider, and sliding the knife under it as he cut it, pushed him off to the far side.

  The second rider jumped down to the ground, and with his sword, lunged at Steve. However, the attacks were deflected by his armored forearms, and with a quick right jab, he sent the brass knuckles into the jawbone of the new attacker, who fell silent to the ground.

  The third man raised his leg over the back of his horse, lowering himself to the ground. “Big mistakes. That be my little brother, and I don’t likes it when strange beats on my family.”

  Steve turned to the large man, who blocked the light from the far end of the street. Not much taller than Steve, he was big, solid, at least three-hundred pounds. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you. Wait here and after I leave, put your brother back on his horse and go your own way.”

  The large man wrapped his right fist around his open left hand, cracked his knuckles, and smiled, “Try. Goes ahead. I gives ya first punch.”

  “Look, just leave!” Steve, holding his long knife in front of him in a threatening manner, felt like he was ordering a mountain to move.

  “None hits my brother and lives to talk about it.”

  Glancing quickly to his right, Steve hoped to cause the menacing threat to be distracted, and then he thrust the long knife forward, but the large man caught his hand and squeezed. Steve clenched his teeth in pain, tried to keep his eyes open, but the agony was intense, and then he felt the massive left jab slam into the right side of his head. Looking up from the ground, he saw the gigantic figure smile. Damn, how do I get out of this?

  “If thats all ye gots, I done guess its time I beats the crap out of ya. Ya done broken guild laws, gots to pay da price.”

  Steve was crawling backwards, taking an inventory of his weapons: the brass knuckles, the shorter blade on his left forearm, the butterfly and throwing knives. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out the balanced knives, and threw two in quick succession. When he looked up at the hulking figure, he watched the large man pull one knife from his hand and the other from his shoulder.

  “Now ya done made me upset.”

  Steve watched the imposing figure pull a board off of a building, swinging it like a bat, and then he remembered his ankle.

  “Ifin ya wants a chance, ya can runs. Matters not to me. Still gonna kill ya.”

  Reaching down, he undid the snap that held the snub-nosed revolver in place, trained the gun on his approaching assailant, and pulled the trigger back. He heard the hammer slam into the bullet, but nothing happened. Squeezing the trigger again, he saw the large man grab his chest, but the location was absent of blood, and he realized that the enforcer most likely wore armor under his shirt.

  “Ya keep hurtin’ me, just gonna means more pains for ya all.”

  Raising the gun, Steve sighted the bridge of his assailant’s nose. He issued a silent prayer to any that would hear it, hoping that the magic would be unable to interrupt his off-world technology, and squeezed the trigger twice. The shots rang out. The giant in front of him reached up to his forehead, wiping the red liquid away that obscured his vision. Then Steve watched as the man fell forward with a thud and lay motionless on the ground. “Sons of bitches,” Raising himself up, rubbing his right cheek, he retrieved the knives. Walking over to the first rider, he bent down, “Tell the guild that you delivered your message, but if you come after us again, nobody will return.” As he headed back, he stopped to make sure the last guild member had no plans to act, tucked the revolver into his pocket, and went to the wagon.

  “What happened to you?” asked Ryan.

  Steve jumped into the back, “We were being followed, and I asked them not to.”

  “With what?” Eric was looking at the large red cluster of broken blood vessels, “Your face?”

  “I tripped over some garbage in the alley and hit a building.”

  Ryan looked back to Eric and then to Steve, “We thought we heard gun shots?”

  “In this world? It was probably fireworks. Let’s get back to the house.” For the rest of the ride, other than directions, Steve remained quiet, but he kept looking over his shoulder.

  That night, as they gathered around the table for the last meal, Mirtza thought it was breakfast. Having become accustomed to the strangers, he occasionally called them names that none recognized. Quite often, they found him sitting alone having a discussion with somebody, but nobody was present.

  As Steve had headed to the front room, avoiding the questions, Ryan and Eric told the group what they had seen that day. John and Fodu were at the table as well, but their focused discussions revolved on fixing the machine.

  *******

  The next morning, pushing himself out of bed, Logan stepped on an empty wine bottle, which he kicked under the bed, h
earing it clink against the others. Have to do something about those. Then he headed to the kitchen, hoping that somebody had put on a pot of hot bean juice.

  John, tired, was almost falling asleep in the crude shower, so he turned the mechanism to increase the flow of cold water. After toweling off and getting dressed, he headed down the stairs, having a quick breakfast before going down to the basement. Once there, he went over to the root, and after turning the valve to drain the now yellow water, he added more, being still uncertain of what he was looking for. The day before, frustrated with the machine, he had pulled the cheesecloth back, and using one of Fodu’s magnifying glasses, he examined the severed end. While an electronic microscope would have been better, he did notice that the plant structure seemed unusual. Its appearance more like a fungus than a plant, but it was too early to jump to conclusions, and the machine was the first priority.

  Steve walked out onto the patio and saw Lauren sitting. Trying to step back into the house, when she called to him, he headed over and sat down.

  She looked at the large bruise on his face, “Are you going to tell us what happened yesterday?” When he failed to respond, she continued, “I was thinking about what Tranquil said, about what is happening here; my daughters, Zymse, and the suffering. She also said that I was still an Earth Mother, maybe the last in the lands, and I can’t relinquish it. Part of me feels like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what that something is.”

  Ryan walked out with a pot of hot bean juice, “Can I join you two?”

  Lauren patted the chair beside her. Ryan filled the three mugs and sat down next to her, wrapping his left hand over her right.

  Steve took a sip of the hot liquid, “What did this Tranquil person, god, whatever mean when she said,’ I told you what to do, but you changed it.’ When you asked what it was, she replied she didn’t know because it wasn’t there anymore. It’s been bugging me.”

  “It was the final day of the battle. The month before, so many things had gone wrong. I received word that an army was marching our way, but with it, midlanders, elves, and dwarves. I couldn’t understand why they would do that, and thought I could—I don’t know, do something. I jumped on a Mountain Eagle, and Logan took to a second. When we saw the army, I issued an Earth Bond telling them to flee, but it didn’t work. I thought it was because I was flying and told the sky elf to land. Then something happened. It’s like there is a hole in my mind, or like John would say, a bad sector on my hard drive. It’s like Tranquil said: ‘I do not know because it is no longer there.’ Long story short, Logan, Ryan, Zack, and some of the Ironhouse brothers rescued me, but even their recall is foggy. They met up with more, and Panry Moonshadow, the Captain of my Earth Guard, flew me back to Alron on one of those winged horses that John had created. I guess I was in bad shape, but I just don’t remember anything.”

  “There was no guessing involved,” added Ryan. “She almost died, but we don’t remember how or why. Logan used his magic to keep her warm, but John thinks as her life started to fade, his gift found another source to sustain her: his life essence. I remember giving Logan a magic transfusion, John’s idea, but the rest is like Lauren said, all a fog.”

  “John tamed magic and figured out how to free the innocents,” continued Lauren. “It involved me using mosquitos to deliver a sleeping potion to the black-clad army, but I pushed it since I had seen enough death. Maybe I knew if I tried too hard, I would miss the final battle, I don’t know, and yes, I’m allowed to say those three words.”

  Ryan rubbed Lauren’s hand, “She went into a coma, and Logan was still unresponsive. Eric had fought for the first three days, but on the third, something happened. The next day, I took to the field because they had released these huge magic metal men. I took them all out, and then it’s like she said, there’s a hole in my hard drive. I remember being filled with rage, attacking somebody, but I don’t remember who. I had spent all of my magic, and then they took me back to recover with Lauren and Logan.”

  “This is where Tranquil comes in, I think?” said Lauren. “Gingaar was healing us, but it was taking time. I think Tranquil stepped into her body, commanding Mother and Sister to heal us. I remember waking up, knowing exactly what I had to do, but right now, I can’t recall what it was. Then I ended the war, issuing an Earth Bond to declare peace, and everybody lived happily ever after, for a couple of years or so. It’s like a director had made a movie too long, editing out parts to make it shorter. However, those parts were significant to the story, but they’re gone, like they never existed.”

  “Well, what do we do now?” asked Steve.

  “I know we can’t rescue our daughters right now,” began Lauren. “I just hope that one day…. If I saw them right now, I don’t know if it would make me feel better or worse. However, like Tranquil said, I’m still an Earth Mother, and there’s so much misery here, some of which my daughters are causing. Logan helped me clear my mind yesterday, and I was wondering if there was a way we could lessen some of the discomforts for the people. Ryan said the docks had lots of ships loaded with food. Is there any way we can liberate some of it?”

  Steve shrugged his shoulders, “A few IED’s then—”

  “What is an IED?” asked Lauren.

  “Improvised explosive device. A couple of diversions to distract the soldiers, sailors, and any people away from the wall. Then blow it up. Not sure what’ll happen, and there’ll most likely be casualties of some kind, including collateral damage, but there’s no guarantee that those who make off with the food will share, or how Darkpaye will retaliate.”

  There was a small glimmer in Lauren’s eye, “What do we have to do?”

  “Stake out the docks for a few days to learn their patterns, seeing if there are any weaknesses that we can exploit. There doesn’t seem to be any tech in this town, so I guess blasting powder is the best we can get our hands on? We can check it out, seeing if there’s a way we can do something.”

  “Why do you want to do this?” asked Ryan.

  “If the people start believing in Mother, maybe they’ll talk to her again. Tranquil gave me that staff, and if there was a volcano around here, maybe I could do something different. I don’t know how to fight an invasion with plants and insects in a city. Maybe the answer will come to me, but I just feel so useless sitting around here, and I need to do something.”

  “No offense,” Steve began, “but I thought your daughters issued an Earth Bond to worship this Zymse guy? Why would they start thinking of Mother now?”

  “If John is right, Zymse poisoned the forests, but they thought she turned her back on them. If they start believing, it might be something. As for the worship part, they can worship whomever they want, but I just need them to believe in Mother again. So the only thing we have to do is incorporate a message that looks like it came from her. I don’t know what that is right now, but when I think of something, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I would like to see those docks,” then Lauren headed back into the house.

  “She seems in better spirits today,” said Steve.

  “She’s walking a tightrope, and the smallest distraction can break her concentration, but there’s no safety net below it, and it spans an unimaginable Hell. This isn’t like I had kidnaped our daughters with the cops are looking for me, and all she has to do is wait. Throw in all of the pain in this land, caused in part by our daughters and the images of what they did. We can’t just sit here. If they were still babies, maybe we could bust into Zymse place and take them back, but right now—I don’t even know what we should do. If you say the wrong thing to her, you’ll get a quick reaction because she’ll think of what her daughters are now. Looking behind her on that tightrope, she is the mother of three missing girls, and when she looks straight ahead, she is an Earth Mother again. It doesn’t matter what direction she faces, she’s in conflict with herself. To be honest, I don’t think there are any other directions we can go, so she’s right and forward is better. We help heal Mother,
and then maybe she can help us.”

  “What about you? How’re you doing?”

  “I’m just waiting for the magic to come back, and then I’m going to—,” the frustration was apparent in Ryan’s voice, “When it does, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  *******

  Each morning, over the next week, John and Fodu would go down to the basement, and Danex would come over to watch Mirtza when the rest headed down to the docks.

  Logan dismissed any interest in their plan, and instead, he offered to stay to help Danex with Mirtza. However, when the others had left, he would go down and chat with John for a few minutes. Before heading back up, he would quietly enter the wine cellar, and from the back rows, pull out a bottle—to both confuse his mind and diminish the sensation in his arms.

  During the first days, Lauren and the three dwarves would sit under a tree to watch the events up close, and the rest scouted for a position with a better vantage point. It meant going through the dangerous back streets, meeting the desperate citizens who greeted them with weapons drawn. The size of the three persuaded most that showed any interest to leave them alone, but twice, small gangs stepped out of dark alleys. Steve’s non-lethal and quick actions instantly changing their minds—faster than merchants counted back incorrect change in this part of town. On the third day, they found an abandoned three-story building, and for the next four days, all watched the events from morning to dusk. They saw the starving people arrive at first light, watched the laughing Darkpaye guards throw rotting food over the walls, and saw desperate people fight for life-sustaining gifts, which were quickly expiring much like their hope. The numerous docks stretched far out into the ocean, and each day, an equal number of ships arrived and left. To see farther down the wharfs, Eric and Steve would often climb onto the roof through a hole in the ceiling. From their vantage point, they often saw Calicon citizens being whipped, and Steve suggested it was for stealing food. After seven days, having observed enough, it was time to plan.