Third Power
Page 11
Tippen’s face went from insulted, to suspicious, to wary in the same number of seconds. “All right,” the pike said at last. Without a word, the remaining pikes took to the air, leaving their kinsman to continue the discussion in private. When they had gone he asked, “So how did you plan to do this?”
Steve wasted no time. Jiv could be an entertaining fellow but he knew the sprite would not be able to keep Lavari away from him for long. “Okay, pixies are naturally attracted to those whom have proven themselves, right?”
“That is so.”
“Jiv tells me it confers status. So what if you were to challenge me to some sort of contest and win?”
Tippen shrugged. “The right contest would prove my skills to be superior, but I do not see how the two of us could compete since our sizes tip the odds slightly in your favor.”
“True, but Jiv says pixie magic can fix that.”
Tippen’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why would you do this for me? She is yours uncontested.”
“Are you kidding me with this?” Steve replied. “I’m human, I don’t belong here, I already have someone waiting for me back home…take your pick! Besides, Lavari cares for you, too—I can tell just by the way she talks about you.”
“Did care for me,” Tippen corrected.
“Does,” Steve corrected right back. “She is only following the tradition set by your ancestors—and a very lame one it is, I might add.”
Tippen was shaking his head. “It is the way of our people. She must select the male who will bring the most distinction to her family—which would have been me, but now it is you.”
“Not if you compete with me.”
“And why should I do that?”
Steve struck the boulder with the palm of his hand because slapping the stubborn pike would have probably killed him. “Damn it, why the hell do you think? Because she cares about you, and you for her! But, you know what, you’re right; if you are willing to just roll over the moment things get tough then perhaps you never deserved her to begin with.” The pike stared straight ahead but his brow furrowed at such a thought. Steve could see he had the little pike on the cusp, and he pressed the point. “You and I can turn this whole thing around without breaking with your tradition. Jiv told me everything. If you compete with me in a test of strength and skill, and win, then that would show Lavari and all the others that you are a more worthy man than I.”
Tippen looked up to where Lavari stood speaking with the sprite and then to the rest of his clan in turn. The sullenness faded from his features then, replaced by hope and determination and his gaze met Steve’s own with resolve. He nodded slowly, a slight smile on his lips. “I have to admit, I never thought much of humans before today. But you are right; I have to fight for her.”
Steve’s mouth split in an ear-to-ear grin.
“But there is one stipulation to our contest,” Tippen added. “Anything with a predetermined outcome is no victory at all. Therefore you must swear to do your utmost to defeat me.”
Steve’s smile faded just like that. “You sure you want me to swear to that?”
Tippen nodded. “You have proven yourself honorable, so if you give me your word I will believe you.”
Steve’s plan hinged on his making a good show of it, and then taking a dive at a critical point in the contest. If he gave his word, he would have no choice but to try his best, but if he didn’t there would be no convincing Tippen to compete.
Reluctantly, Steve nodded. In the end there was no other choice. “Agreed.”
Tippen rose to his feet and brushed the dust off his backside. “You may be a human, but I know you will keep your word. If it were otherwise, you would not attempt to help me in the first place.” He paused then. Swallowing his pride he added, “For that I am grateful to you.”
Steve shook hand to finger with the pike and smiled. “It’s the least I can do for a friend.”
Tippen’s smile matched Steve’s own. “Friends,” he agreed.
Steve stood beside one of the great trees of the forest and listened carefully to Jiv’s instructions.
“Now when Lavari starts workin’ her magic ya’ve got ta’ place your hands on the tree and the Mem will do the rest. The wood has no power to do this unless yer willing. Got it?”
Steve gave a quick nod. “Got it.” Though he was supposed to be a wizard, the idea of magic—particularly used on him—made his palms sweat.
“All right, it’s going ta’ be a foot race along the shores a’ the lake—no flying.” Tippen nodded his agreement, this last obviously meant for him. “There are several obstacles in yer way and it’ll be up ta’ ya to navigate around or through em’ as best ya’ can. Ta the other side and back, got it?”
“Got it,” Steve nodded again. Both he and Tippen had agreed upon this event because it would require cunning, speed, and agility in order to win; three key characteristics every pixie looked for in her choice for a mate. Should Tippen emerge the victor, it will show Lavari the pike is every bit the man she believes Steve himself to be.
“All right, lass,” Jiv said stepping back, “he’s all yours.”
Lavari stepped forward, her hips swaying sensuously as she approached, and Steve swallowed hard as she began weaving her hands in the air before him. Steve turned and placed his hands squarely on the tree and then a brief sensation of vertigo washed over him. He expected there to be a flash of light, or a strange sound...
“Ya’ can open yer eyes now, lad.”
Steve remained with his eyes shut a moment more, but then slowly peeked one eye open, then the other. Jiv was there, and standing nearly as tall as himself.
“Say, lad, ya’ don’t look half bad. Ya’ coulda’ made a alfway’ decent sprite, if ah do say so meself.”
Steve looked himself over cautiously. “Well I’ll be a son-of-a-gun,” he remarked amazed. The trees were impressively huge when he stood his full height, but now he looked around open-mouthed at the sheer gigantic proportions of absolutely everything around him. The nearby lake now seemed more a sea, and the waterfall reminded him of Niagara.
“It worked.”
“Course it did,” Jiv said clapping him on the shoulder.
Clearly, Jiv was not the only one pleased with his new size. Lavari stepped forward as she looked him up and down and smiled more than a little seductively. Tippen looked on envious and, to be honest, Steve was somewhat glad for it. If all went well, the pike’s jealousy would fuel his spirit and drive him not only to victory, but into the direct line of sight of Lavari’s attentions.
Before the young pixie could do anything to embarrass him, Steve clapped his hands and rubbed them together saying, “So what say we get this show on the road?”
“Agreed,” Tippen said.
A cloud of pixies and pikes followed them to the water’s edge and all watched anxiously as human and pike took their places at the start.
“Prepare!” Jiv exclaimed suddenly.
Steve and Tippen crouched down, lowering their centers of gravity, Steve touching his hands to the ground. With muscles tensed, they waited.
And then he felt it again. Steve felt from somewhere behind him the unmistakable sensation of eyes watching him, and they were close. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed nothing, but the proximity told him they were decidedly non-human. He pushed the thought from his mind, for he had not time for it now.
Everyone went silent as the sprite slowly brought his hand into the air. With a swift downward chop he shouted, “Go!”
A cheer erupted as the two sprinted away. At Steve’s normal size the grass was nothing more than a fine carpet. Now he ran in a sea of green stalks a hand span wide and reaching past his knees.
They raced together side-by-side, dead even as they approached the first set of obstacles: three horizontal logs lying across their path and thick enough to reach as high as their thighs. Tippen met this obstacle with agility, hurtling each log in turn without slowing. Steve, however, met it with cunning
. He jumped on top of the first log and jumped again for all he was worth, clearing the remaining two and landing several paces in the lead. Those pixies and pikes rooting for him gave a great cheer but Lavari herself looked concerned rather than jubilant.
Steve hated to do it, but Tippen insisted on his word to do his best.
Ahead a wide, knee-deep channel cut across their path, fed from the lake on their left. Tramping through the shallow water would take far too much time, so Steve decided to jump this obstacle as well. He surged forward, sprinting for the momentum to carry him across, then tripped on the vine cleverly hidden in the grass and tumbled instead headlong into the channel. The very same line caught Tippen at the ankle and he somersaulted into the chill waters right behind Steve. Human and pike regained their feet and erupted out of the water together, dripping wet and flustered by the unexpected plunge.
Steve paused to wipe his hand across his face from forehead to chin; and Tippen unhurriedly did the same, throwing in a shake of his translucent wings to boot. Human and pike couldn’t help but chuckle at first, then their mirth quickly escalated until together they laughed—not just at the plunge, but at the sorry circumstances and expectations that brought them to this point to begin with.
“Okay,” Tippen said finally gaining some measure of his composure back. He crouched low and then said, “One.”
Steve nodded and took a runner’s start position in the shallow channel. “Two.”
“Three!” they shouted together.
“There they are!” Lavari exclaimed.
Steve and Tippen scrambled up the sandy wall of the opposite bank and raced toward the next obstacle plainly visible to them in the distance.
“What took them so long?” she asked. Jiv shrugged noncommittally.
Their breathing came more labored now; solid, rhythmic breaths in cadence with their pace.
“See you at the finish line, pike,” Steve taunted between breaths.
Tippen smiled amidst his exertion. “Try not to keep me waiting long, human.”
Steve grinned. Judging by how easily his friend spoke, the pike probably had better cardio than he did.
Together they had nearly reached the next obstacle, balance beams, when a full-sized human stepped out from the wood and planted his boot down firmly in front of the pair, bringing them both to a skidding halt. An older looking man, he sported long ashen hair and tough leather armor covering his brown tunic and trousers. Most telling of all was the painted red moon over his right breast.
“Soldiers!” Tippen hissed. “A servant of the Dark One; but how can he be here?”
Behind them, pixies and pikes scattered into the air as more men rushed out of the wood. The soldiers snared a few of the Pixish folk in the nets they carried and stuffed them quickly into sacks. Some pikes and pixies flew for safety over the lake but several large crows swooped out of the sky in pursuit. Trained by Azinon’s men, the birds herded the smaller winged folk back toward the beach.
“How convenient,” the first soldier remarked on Steve’s present size. “Much easier than I thought.” His large calloused hand reached down but Steve and Tippen were already moving. The pike soared upward and then disappeared into the canopy while Steve ran and dived into the lake.
The man turned up his head and laughed. “And just where are you going, tiny man?” He waded in after and plucked Steve out of the water with ease. “Yes,” he said satisfactorily, “very convenient.”
The man’s strength was a thousand times Steve’s own but that did not stop the young man from punching and kicking at anything he could reach. The soldier only threw back his head and laughed again, coarse and booming at his captive’s futile attempts. “Are you trying to tickle me, boy? If it’s pain you are after, perhaps I can show you how it is done.” Curling his index finger and thumb of his free hand together, he prepared to flick the young man in the head. Steve held up his hands defensively, knowing such a blow at his present size could very well crack his skull.
“Does this tickle, human?”
The leather-armored man looked up just as Tippen dive-bombed the point of broken twig through his eye. The soldier screamed in pure agony and outrage, his hands releasing Steve as they covered his face. Steve hit the water and then made for the shore as fast as his tiny arms and legs would carry him. The leather-clad giant continued to scream, churning the water with his staggering footfalls as the blood flowed freely between his fingers.
“To the trees!” Tippen shouted. “The Memsherar can restore you!”
Steve climbed to his feet as he reached the shore and sprinted to the nearest tree. He placed both his hands squarely against the trunk muttering, “Now, would be a good time.” The upward surge of vertigo lasted but an instant and he was once more his full height.
The soldier pulled the thin branch from his eye with a terrible howl and whirled, staring with unmitigated hatred with his one good eye remaining. He unleashed a wild cry of rage as he drew forth the two foot long-knife at his side and charged. Steve retreated to the far side of the tree and maneuvered from left to right as the glistening blade darted after him.
“Coward!” the man shrieked angrily. “Come out and fight me, you son of a nameless whore!” He dodged left, attempting to circle around but the young man was quicker.
Steve remained oddly calm, thinking the man’s insult ironic. An armed, professional soldier against an unarmed, eighteen year-old high school senior; yeah, I can see how that makes me a coward. He glanced up then and jumped, breaking off a stout tree branch overhead just as the enraged soldier stepped into view. The blade swung outward and Steve jumped back, holding the branch before him defensively like a club in both hands.
Unseen from above, Tippen dropped out of the sky like a ray of light. He zipped straight to the back of the man’s head and then, gathering up two fistfuls of dingy hair, pulled with all his might. The unexpected diversion interrupted the soldier’s attack and Steve leaped forward with a baseball bat swing to his stomach. The man doubled over and threw Tippen forward, the little pike barely managing a controlled crash and roll into the grass. Steve then raised his weapon high and dropped the soldier with a blow to the back of the head.
Tippen was back in the air in a moment. “If I can reach my bow I will be of more use. The arrows are laced with sleep poison.”
“Do what you can,” Steve replied, taking up the soldier’s long-knife. Tippen soared back into the protection of the canopy as Steve hefted the blade experimentally, eyes straight ahead. “And I will too.”
Dozens of pikes and pixies—and one sprite—caught unawares and unarmed, struggled futilely within rough leather satchels while still other of the winged folk were herded back toward the other soldiers by the swooping crows. One man smiled as he stuffed yet another pike into his bag, thinking on the handsome price these winged prizes would garner on the market block.
Steve moved quickly and silently from tree to tree as he approached one of Azinon’s men from behind. He drew within ten feet, however, and another soldier stepped out, startling them both. The second soldier nearly dropped the silver rapier he carried in his right hand; the very blade Steve left behind on the shore before the race. Seeing the young adversary, the soldier drew it forth from its scabbard with a menacing scowl but handled the unfamiliar blade awkwardly.
“Careful, boy,” he warned. Two of his companions moved up behind Steve and pressed closer—but not unnoticed. “We have orders to take you alive if we can; but dead is just as good.”
Steve glanced quickly left and right and found himself effectively surrounded. He doubted he could defeat all three without a better weapon than a redcrest knife in his hands.
“Unpleasant dreams, dark slave!” Tippen unleashed a bolt from his bow and struck one of the soldiers standing behind his human friend square in the throat. The wound was hardly a mortal one, given the toothpick-sized arrow, but the man blinked several times and then dropped to the ground as though stricken dead in his tracks.
The two men rushed together and blades clashed in a series of attacks and parries from both sides. Steve pressed his advantage of reach with the rapier and used the sword-knife for defense. The improvised style soon proved too much and Steve’s blade slashed the man’s shoulder but the leather armor spared him the worst of the blow.
The soldier back-stepped clutching his free hand over the minor wound with a curse. Lips pulled back, baring his teeth in rage, he then charged forward with a wild cry just as a second bolt left Tippen’s bow. The tiny shaft struck home and the soldier’s charge turned instead to a stagger, then he hit the ground, skidding to an unconscious stop at Steve’s feet.
“Behind you!” Tippen shouted.
The crystal around Steve’s neck flared like a miniature sun and he moved. Guided by an unseen hand, Steve ducked and whirled under the horizontal slash that would have torn through his neck. The edge of the rapier whirled with him, biting through the flesh of the soldier’s leg behind him and severing the tendons clean away.
Steve stood straight as the light of the crystal faded, leaving the soldier writhing in pain on the ground, his mind only now processing what happened after the fact.
“You are a wizard!” Tippen exclaimed. “By the Third! You possess magic!”
Or magic possessed me, he thought unnerved. Even so, whatever had happened, it had undoubtedly just saved his life.
“Use your talisman, wizard. Strike our enemies down!”
Steve did not know what to say to that. He had no time to explain the magic—his magic—was wholly uncontrolled, and skill and plain dumb luck would just have to suffice for a little while longer. Without a word he turned and sprinted for the remaining two soldiers still standing.