Chapter 34
The boy turned to him and spoke directly into Scythe’s mind, Teach me, Father. Teach me of your world. Remember for me.
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Morgan stood over the body of the man who had somehow made it into the underground caverns, through the labyrinth of caves, through the halls of the city and into the laboratory. When he looked closely, he could see that Edillian had attached himself to the man and was drawing on his power.
Edillian, what are your intentions?
I have already begun to share.
You don’t have enough power to do a complete lifeshare. Your mother would want you to heal yourself. If you share, you may run out of energy and perish. That would hurt your mother and me very much.
I will not die now. I have found my lifegiver. I will use his power for the sharing, and save my own for the end. He is very strong.
Morgan sighed. He was as stubborn as his mother.
I will honor his life and then he will honor me. This is the way of our people, when sacrifice is needed. Isn’t that right, Morgan?
Sigh. It is. However, if you find it is too much, you must promise that you will save yourself.
I will.
Morgan punched in the code on the column’s display. The thick cylinder rose to the ceiling and held there while he pulled the body into the enclosure. There was just enough room for the big man in the space in front of Edillian’s chamber. He spared a quick look at the boy floating in the tank. He was all curled up with his thin arms wrapped around his legs tightly, but his head was turned and he looked down at the body of the man below him.
Morgan had recognized him immediately, and not just from the broadcasts of the star of the recent Family scandals. Scythe, who was supposed to be with the Youngs, who Jaelyn had gone herself to pick up, had somehow found his way to their city on his own. Morgan couldn’t for the life of him figure out how.
Edillian, how did you find him?
I called, and he came, Edillian explained proudly and then added, He’s perfect, isn’t he, Morgan?
Edillian’s excitement washed over him and he couldn’t help but smile, but Morgan’s pleasure was short lived. Jaelyn was going to be furious about the lifesharing…
Edillian, you know that the lifeshare can be dangerous. We don’t know enough about this man. Morgan brushed the stranger with his power and glimpsed...suffering, loneliness, courage, love, a destructive illness. This is a strange match, a difficult life, Edillian. It may taint you. Your mother would not approve. She would want you to take what he can give you and...honor him another way.
No. Anything less would be an insult. Besides, I know everything about him. He is my choice. He is strong, Morgan. I want to be strong, too.
Sigh. The boy had made up his mind.
Morgan was having trouble arguing with him because he hadn’t seen any of the children that animated for a long time. It warmed him to talk to one that wasn’t slowly dropping into either apathy or despair.
All right. Morgan stepped back and brought the column back down.
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There were two types of weariness that Jaelyn fought with constantly, and at the moment the most mundane was proving to be the most problematic. She had not been able to get more than a few short hours of sleep in many days. She had wanted the two trucks, laden with their invaluable cargo, to arrive at their destination as soon as possible, so they had been driving long hours both day and night.
She was used to working ceaselessly, with few breaks, and had ways of reenergizing herself to keep up with the demands she put on her body. However, her current situation made that very difficult, and she had been forced to draw on her last energy reserves over a day ago. Now, she was reaching a point where she would have to take some risks, one way or the other, if she was going to be able to see them all the way home without incident.
She sighed and opened her eyes. She could see it in her mind, just ahead of them, but it was hidden from her lesser sight: her mountain home. The peak that rose above it was just a gray shadow in the distance. It was still a full day’s drive to the bottom, and then half the night winding through the passes to the entrance: a small cave, really little more than a dimple in the mountainside. Just beyond it, a deep, intricate cave system spread in all directions: down into the earth, up into the mountain, straight back into its heart.
One curved route would take an informed traveler around and out again into the light. The hidden, earthbound road was the only way to reach the shallow bowl surrounded on all sides by the high, steep terrain. Rows of terraces rose up, making their way from the entrance near the bottom to the cliffs that stretched upwards for hundreds of feet all around.
In the distant past, her people had lived well in the valley, their advanced farming taking advantage of careful management of the soil and resources, and their inventive technology reducing the labor required while boosting production of what plants could be coaxed to grow in the difficult environment. Animals, also, were kept in substantial numbers; they were easier to tend and provided more than just food. For the rest of their needs, they had bartered through secret channels, with the very few Humans and Kin that knew of them.
At that time, less than a handful of outsiders were even aware of their existence, because they were very few, and they feared becoming fewer. With good reason, as it turned out.
The ones who desired it made their homes out on the terraces, sometimes spending over half the year there and seeking the more sheltered home the mountain provided during the rougher months. Within the earth’s embrace, in the strong arms of the Great Mother, a small city, no bigger than the least of the current Kin cities, was carved with tender care and artful intent: a magnificent opus, the most splendid of all achievements.
It had been built by the greatest minds that had ever flourished on the planet, peopled by a talented, peaceful race, hidden by design, protected by anonymity, deceit and manipulation. Emptied by disease.
They had misjudged the identity of their enemy, thinking it would be one of the two primitive races that fought with each other outside their safe hall like dogs over scraps of meat. But while they shook their heads disapprovingly or laughed at the foolishness of their distant kin, death wove its way through their city on the lips of their loved ones.
It was a terrible burden to return there, to heartbreak and loneliness and the crushing, appalling weight of her responsibility. But, return there she had, and did, and would continue to do, because if she didn’t, then they would be dust, indeed.
This was the first time in years that she brought some small hope with her, so she took a deep breath and steadied herself.
She would not have worn herself to such low levels if it hadn't been for the nature of her traveling partners. The irony of her situation had not been lost on her. If they had not been such brilliant specimens, she would not have had so much trouble getting and then keeping their compliance. In all her years working with those that shared the gift, she had never had such difficulties. Strong willed, curious, independent, disdainful of tradition: all the qualities a lifetime in their respective cultures should have weaned out of them stubbornly ruled them; they were so poorly educated. Even their basic thought patterns battled with her suggestions. Most others would have just accepted the very plausible explanations, followed along nicely and let her have her rest when she needed it. As if their natures weren’t enough, the rare gifts of the worst offenders continued to unravel the ties she had bound them with. She was constantly retying, reshaping, redoing every little thing. It was exhausting.
However, it was the strong power that made them so valuable to her, that highlighted their genetic link to her people, that made them children to her. It was the glow that shone through their skin when she looked at them, the waves of power that washed up against her when they walked by, the tiny embers that had yet to burst into flame in the bodies of the young ones, that had made her set out for their home in the first place and take the
ir lives, yet another responsibility, into her hands.
She could have tried to forge her way back without the stop she was now making, hoping that she would be strong enough to make it with all of them still in tow, but she was a consummate planner. Leaving things to chance was not in her nature and had proven to be a wasteful way to operate. Making sure things worked by covering every angle and anticipating each possibility for trouble had much better results. Besides, she wouldn’t be getting much rest when she arrived at home, anyway. If anything, she’d be working harder. No, she had to take care of things now.
“We must make a quick stop, I’m afraid. Perhaps we could use this opportunity to fill the tanks?” she asked the Kin, Smoke, who had taken over driving for her. It had been a relief to have the unpowered and therefore muted man as her partner for the latest leg of their trip. It was as much rest as she could get, short of sleep, even with the constant monitoring of the rest of the trucks’ occupants. He had a pleasant personality that reminded her of a friend she had spent a lot of time with many years ago. Of course, the compulsion on him dampened much of it, but the little that shone through brought a nostalgic smile to her lips.
“Sure. There’s a town right up here.”
“I will need to run an errand, but I want you to keep everyone in the trucks, as usual.”
He nodded and used the radio to contact the other driver. Soon, they were pulling into a refueling station, one truck lined up behind the other.
A woman’s voice came over the speaker. “Smoke, ask Jaelyn if we could do a bathroom break, at least for the kids.”
Smoke raised his eyebrows inquiringly and then spoke into the microphone after seeing her response, “That’s a no, Faith, sorry. Have them use the ones set up inside.”
There was a little pause, which made him smile as he imagined what she was saying that she didn’t want broadcast, and then a short response that didn’t hide her reaction, “Fine.”
Smoke lent Jaelyn his easy smile and a shrug, and then got out of the truck and crossed over to the pump.
She had already located what she needed, a matter of a quick scan of the area, so she stepped down from the truck and crossed the parking lot on her way to a nearby store. She had already checked on the most troublesome of her traveling companions and was sure that they would be fine without her for the short time it would take her to complete her business. She was especially pleased to see Mercy working diligently on improving her newest technique. The girl was really a marvel; she was singleminded in her desire to improve her abilities and possessed the tenacity that, paired with her natural talent, made her the most promising student she had seen in a long, long time. She was the image of her forefathers.
A small bell announced her entrance, which was an adorably aesthetic device in a Kin shop where the attendant would have heard her step from the back room. She looked up at it. The little bronze bell was obviously an antique, and was decorated with lovely geometric patterns on the outside; the tiny clapper was cast in the shape of a raindrop with an eye staring down from its wide bottom. She smiled, thinking that the superstitious owner could have spent his money elsewhere. The guardian eye wasn’t very good at spotting monsters.
“Your bell is ringing at me,” she said pleasantly, weaving the image of a Kin woman in the man’s mind.
“Yeah, sorry if it offends, just a little fun to keep things lively. How can I help you?”
“I’m looking for a... Do you have one?” She let his imagination insert what he wanted, which happened to be a rare clock that he had picked up at an auction a few years back and had been unable to sell at the price he wanted.
His eyes bulged and he clapped his hands once, very loudly, in excitement. He was clearly a settlement man. “I have just the thing! It’s at my place, though. Could you wait ten minutes? I’ll just send my boy after it.”
“You trust a Human with your Usterie?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and pushing ever so slightly.
“Oh! Of course not. I’ll go get it myself, naturally.”
“Naturally.”
“Please, wait here. I’ll be back in just a handful of minutes.”
“Please hurry. I’m just passing through.”
He nodded and rushed to the back, shouting at his worker, “Mind the store, and don’t let her leave, or it will be your job.”
“Yes, sir,” a bored voice answered. She was looking up at the most gruesome sight when he strode through the workroom doorway and nearly walked into her, his eyes on the book he was reading. “Oh, excuse me, ma’am.”
It was a shame, really, because his children, if he chose his wife well, might have had some potential. As it was, he was barely powered at all, just a little dim, flickering light.
She ended up buying the bell, after helping the owner understand that the clock wasn’t really what she was looking for. It was tragic–just another reason why she didn’t concern herself too much with the problems of the other races–that he was more torn up about losing the sale than he was about the accident that lost him a stock boy.
“It was his own fault for being so clumsy on that ladder.”
“But, I feel responsible, because I wanted to see that stuffed...what is it?”
“That is a genuine boar’s head, in great condition and straight from Ariua. Might you be interested? No? Well that’s too bad. Maybe next time. In any case, don’t worry another minute about him. There are plenty where he came from, and he wasn’t much of a worker anyway.”
She was appalled. She took her bell and returned to the truck and the road that would carry her to more civilized places.
Chapter 35
“Mercy will ride with me, I think. That way, she can continue her lessons. Please keep close behind us. The path is not lit and the roads that we will be turning onto are not marked.”
Ian objected unexpectedly to her retreating back, “Actually, I’d like her to spend some time with me, Jaelyn. She has been doing your exercises nonstop for days. I think she can take a little break for tonight. Besides, I would like to speak with her.”
The woman took a deep breath and huffed it out noisily. Ian glanced over at his sister, who raised her eyebrow at him. They had both noticed that Jaelyn’s uncharacteristic impatience, which had shown itself for the first time that morning, had only gotten worse since they had started up the mountain.
“I don’t have the energy to argue with you, Ian. Please let Mercy ride with me, just for a bit.”
He couldn’t explain it, but something about the woman was bothering him. It was a feeling that had been growing for several hours and had spiked at what was otherwise a simple and completely reasonable request. Lena hadn’t said a thing to him, even silently, but he knew her well enough to know that she felt the same way. He thought it was strange that he was the one stirring up trouble instead of his sister, who was notorious for it. It was probably because the topic of discussion was his daughter, and he was very protective of her.
“Well, I’ll just join you, then.”
“In the cab?” Mercy asked in disbelief, speaking up for the first time and turning her red, droopy eyes on him. She was exhausted because she had been training like some kind of mindless creature since they had left their home. She only ate when they made her, and she only stopped when she fell unconscious from the strain. When she was ordered to stop, she refused, and when the situation became explosive, she had merely pretended to take a break, sitting quietly and talking, but all the while continuing with a lesser form of Jaelyn’s exercise.
When he had gotten desperate enough, he attempted to interfere with her power, and he was shocked to find that he couldn’t touch her, even when he exerted himself. The fact that he would even try to stop her forcibly was what finally got though to her, though, and she had made herself listen to him. However, after acknowledging that he had a point, and promising to take better care of herself, he had caught her starting up again just minutes later. She acted like she couldn’t control herself, an
d that really worried him.
His anxiety for her had caused him to reexamine a few other things that were going on as well, all of which left him irritated. “Yes, Mercy. There is room for three, if we don’t mind it a little close.”
Jaelyn closed her eyes, rubbed her hand back and forth across her forehead, and then turned her back on them again on her way to the lead truck. “Fine. Let’s go. We will arrive within the next hour anyway. We would be there already if we hadn’t made this stop.”
Ian didn’t mention that she had called the stop, apparently just to speak with Mercy on the last leg of the trip. What she wanted to talk about, he didn’t know, but he didn’t like that she had taken a very peculiar interest in his daughter.
He frowned. Was he being paranoid? Was he just overtired? Why was everything strange to him, as if he’d been working on a puzzle for hours and just then realized that all the pieces were from the wrong box?
He decided to use the rest of the drive to ask a few questions that had been on his mind, but he had neglected to bring up earlier for reasons which didn’t seem important now.
“Ian,” Lena started, with her I’m not liking how things are going tone, but then blinked and stared at him as if she had forgotten what she was going to say. She shook her head, blinked a few more times, and then said, “We’ll talk about it later, but...I’m not one hundred percent on this anymore.”
Ian nodded. “Talk sounds good, but first, a couple of nights’ sleep...or, if things don't look better in the morning, maybe just one night’s sleep.” It was very possible, he thought on his way to the passenger side door, that they were all just beat up from the stressful move and the long hours of travel.
He climbed in behind Mercy and pulled the door closed. It was a tight fit, as predicted, but not undoable, especially for just an hour. “Thank you, Jaelyn.”
She nodded, put the truck in gear and, looking in the rear mirrors, pulled out onto the road. They had not seen any traffic since they had taken the last turn off the highway; that, and the overgrown path they were taking, matched the woman’s description of her secluded home.
Halfblood Legacy Page 49