Oblivion's Peril

by M. H. Johnson

  Then shadow froze stock-still before turning around, the crackling hum of a Psiblade activated as a shaft of absolute darkness cut through the air.

  But the intruder did not attack, merely peered from the doorway to the shadows that were Val.

  His voice was oddly mellifluous when he spoke. "Neither Highlord nor Magelord can hide with Dominion all-lights installed in this laboratory. A desperate attempt by a people who fear that which they do not understand, that avails them nothing, for we do not need the shadows to hide. We are the shadows. The darkness between all points of light." Val sensed the intruder carefully scanning the room. "I am on clan business, fulfilling a contract. If you are one of us, it is against the code to interfere. If you are one of the lost, you need but declare yourself and I will claim you. I will not strike you dead as I would a mundane, for daring to interfere."

  An endless moment, Val felt a curious tension as the intruder continued to stare.

  Test of skills engaged! Intruder fails to pierce your Shadowmind! You always were good at blending into the background when you didn't want anyone calling on you, weren't you, Val? Half your teachers didn't even know you were there!

  The intruder chuckled softly. "Either you are very good, or fear taints my insight. And I do not think this is the case. Yet even now, you do not attack. This is good." A careful pause. "If this house is claimed by our clan, it has not been declared. If kin or tribe do reside, it has not been declared." He tilted his head. "The contract does not demand I find, only that I search. What it does demand is that I leave this."

  Val felt his heart start to race as two silver cubes were discreetly placed atop Philip's pile. He did not know why, but he sensed peril from both.

  Shadow smiled. "No one not of my clan would know about the gift that I have left. No Highblood lackey will find it before it is too late. Only one of my tribe. If you are here and you claim this clan as your own... do what you see fit. And declare your clan. Either way, my contract is fulfilled."

  Val moved not a muscle as the blur of shadow and nothingness slowly stepped away, Psiblade sheathed once more, heading towards the door. Stopping for a single moment. Turning right towards him. Val almost thought he saw shadow smile.

  Then it was gone.

  Heart hammering, Val forced himself to move. To act.

  Flowing over to Philip's desk, seeing the pair of silver cubes half buried in the others, but plainly visible to Val's eye, having seen the intruder—his kin?—so purposefully drop them into the pile.

  A maneuver he had performed flawlessly, with the entire lab absent, so no one would suspect a thing. Because using the home cinema required so much processing power when rendering lifelike depictions in this world. Was there an added visual dimension to this universe? Was Earth somehow flat and he just never noticed? Was his body in both universes actually wildly different, but some odd dimensional relativity had them appear the same to his mind? Val shook his head, suspecting he would never know the answer, glad only that his martial skills translated fully, whatever twists to dimensional space might be in play. Are you so sure of that Val? Those first few swings of Sten's blade had felt horribly different, and your own odd gifts allow you to adapt quickly. You spent a full hour swinging your blade before daring to accompany the dwarves. And you did endure many days training under Halvar while Sten and Elise were seeking buyers for their Elementium. Perhaps you were doing more than simply remastering old skills. Perhaps you were also developing depths of perception in ways you can barely comprehend. Val shook his head. Again, it was irrelevant. All that mattered was keeping his loved ones safe now.

  But still, it had all been so convenient. Carlito showing up to mock Christine and take advantage of her hospitality even as he threw multiple insinuations, casting a shadow of suspicion over their gathering, and Christine's only counter was treating it all as a silly jest.

  Before suddenly insisting she entertain them with movies. Assuring her lab would be put on standby.

  And with the lab headed by Philip, who no doubt would far rather watch movies with his fellow lords then be stuck in the lab doing nothing, one could all but count on him shutting it entirely down.

  The perfect opportunity for an infiltrator to plant perhaps damning evidence in the form of the pair of silver cubes Val was even now very carefully plucking free of the pile, suddenly happy for the silk gloves Julia had insisted he wear with his odd outfit.

  It was time for him to decide upon his next move. As if he didn't already know.

  Pockets a bit heavier with what Val assumed was the most vile of planted evidence, he discreetly made his exit after one last careful glance to assure there were no other cubes that felt out of place.

  There were none.

  And the door softly closed as shadows coalesced then faded, heading to the sound of laughter and fists banging tables, the merriment of the cinema room just a short distance away.

  Val slipped in the back of the grand chamber, seeing what looked for all the world like high adventure in the depths of space, complete with brilliantly glowing versions of Psiblades, scarred warriors wearing jet black armor and crimson capes, and the obvious hero of the tale wearing only a tight-fitting suit of brilliant white. The entire movie was interspersed with Psiblade duels and fantastic looking space battles complete with sound-effects, for all that there was no sound in space.

  It was so very much like the films he had once loved watching with his brother when he was a very small boy that it was chilling.

  He could only wonder at what inspiration had guided the hands of this writer and producer, mirroring so perfectly tall cinematic tales told in his own world. And considering that jump gates were now a thing, part of him could only wonder if the producers of both movies just might be one and the same.

  Hell. The guests were even eating popcorn with their glasses of wine.

  Of course, the nubile young women cozying up to half the men in the darkness, doing things clearly beyond watching with lap blankets conveniently provided for all, wasn't something he normally saw in the theaters, though it did fit Earth stereotypes of decadent nobles to a tee.

  And it wasn't for Val to judge. Shadow had no opinions, it simply was. Flowing through the auditorium perfectly partitioned to allow for such indulgences while providing the illusion of privacy, Val sensed base hungers and rapt enjoyment both from the audience. But such things were of no interest to the darkness, only the lord who radiated such contempt, oddly free of any companion, glaring at the screen in his own dark corner of the chamber.

  "It is done," whispered a voice in the darkness.

  Carlito sneered, his bloodshot gaze coldly calculating. "Let me see it in your eyes then. Tell me you put it where they would find it, and that no one interfered!"

  And suddenly before Carlito and Val both was a young man with sandy blond hair and soft brown eyes. He would have been considered handsome in any college or senior class. It was only the exquisite, flawless symmetry enjoyed by almost every Dominion citizen that made him appear almost plain in comparison.

  And yet Val still sensed a part of his mind buried in shadow, even as his physical body manifested.

  A trick Val himself had used to excellent effect against Highlords that once sought to conquer his mind.

  Carlito frowned. "You are here but not here," he whispered, the sound effects of the movie and the distractions nubile young servants were providing so many lords nearby served to drown out all interest in his corner of the room. "Don't think I don't know your tricks. But your Psionic Oathbinding... if you dare to break it, you will suffer. Unending."

  The young man before him nodded. "Per my oath, the gift was placed on the young fool's table. Per my oath, I searched for the crystals you sought and found no new ones." He handed Carlito one of the cubic crystals. "This was the most recent one present. Perhaps it will avail you something."

  Carlito sneered, but pocketed the crystal nonetheless.

  "And per my oath, no one not of my clan had
cause to suspect me. No Highblood lackey was present who I did not dispose of. Now let me ask you something, Highlord Carlito. Are you aware that no Dauda will strike at an affiliated clan? Do you know of Dauda interests affiliated with the Highblood clan?" He flashed a cold smile. "Are you attempting to play us, Highlord Carlito?"

  Carlito paled at that. "Of course not! Do you really think I'd risk our association so foolishly? No Jordian affiliates have bothered with Christine's doomed clan for over twenty years!"

  The young man nodded. "I am still curious as to why you reached out to our Phoebian contacts."

  "Because your Jordian associates are nowhere to be found!" Carlito hissed. "And with Caligula controlling all exit points in the system, our mutual contact was the only way to get word out. And your fee is thrice what it should be."

  The youth's smile widened. "We are being offered prime rates to assist in... other matters."

  "Yes, I know, the conquest of Earth." Carlito smirked as the young man's gaze hardened. "We're not all fools, boy. We all know Caligula has stretched himself thin, trying to commandeer our election here as well as take over where Tytus fumbled. And no invasion is complete, no matter how seemingly benign, unless you've taken out all the pieces that could serve as figureheads for rebellion. Leaderless fools are far easier to control, particularly when their former heroes die under the most scandalous of circumstances, assuring that even their memory becomes a source of cultural shame, not martyrdom."

  The Dauda assassin said nothing. Carlito swallowed, shaking his head. "That is neither here nor there." He eyed the young man carefully. "Had you broken your oath, you'd be showing signs of extreme discomfort by now. And you are not." He jerked his head, imperiously gesturing with his hand.

  The youth carefully lowered his head, hand on his Psiblade still.

  "Not a very trusting lot, are you," Carlito commended as he gently laid his hand on the youth's curly brown hair, frowning in concentration before smiling with relief, a line of sweat upon his brow.

  "The Psionic Oath has been fulfilled. I assume payment by standard channels is acceptable?"

  The youth flashed a cold smile. "If you sought ill-thought concessions with the release of your binding, I am afraid I must disappoint. We both know how things might go if the Dominion continues to struggle in the south, and abstract concepts such as credit mean nothing if Caligula tightens his grip upon your broken council." His smile only grew as Carlito paled, all but trembling with outrage.

  "Elementium, Carlito. As we agreed." Voice chill as death, he played at being the bemused lad no longer.

  Carlito swallowed, outrage chilled instantly by fear. "Of... of course. One moment..." He seemed almost to panic as he fumbled with his pockets before deflating in sudden relief, trembling hands pulling out several small gold alloy flasks that Val sensed were brimming with Elementium flakes. "There. One million credits worth of Elementium. A small fortune."

  The young man carefully opened all three flasks, exquisitely dextrous hands plucking a single tiny flake from each one, putting it on his tongue, and all but shuddering with rapture. He opened his eyes moments later, smiling at the faintly disgusted look the Highlord gave him. "With all your vices, you would judge my eccentricity? I doubt a single one of the girls in this room lavishing your fellows' cocks is even thirty years old."

  Carlito violently shook his head. "Not at all. Not at all! I guess that's one way to tell I didn't cheat you."

  "Indeed it is," agreed the young Dauda, gaze hardening. "Tell me once more that no Dauda has claimed affiliation with the Highblood clan."

  Carlito swallowed. "I swear it's no more likely than an Overlord's top assassin deciding she'd rather screw her target than take her out."

  Absolute darkness. A sudden flash of scintillating death. Carlito trembled, Val tasting the crackling hum of a Psiblade, the shadows so thick that not a single one of the Highlords distracted by nubile pleasure and cinematic wonder even bothered to turn around. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were mocking my kind," shadow whispered.

  Utter silence save for Carlito's wheezing breath. A pause that seemed to stretch for eternity.

  "But you don't smell like you're lying. No. Perhaps you merely use an odd Jordian turn of phrase. And since we don't kill clients who act in good faith..." The Psiblade faded, deadly shadow once more turning to the dimness of a home theater auditorium near the size of any theater on Earth.

  The young man patted the flinching Highlord on the shoulder from behind, and Val noted he was more careful than ever not to let the Highlord glance his way.

  "I believe that concludes our business, Carlito. May our association prove as satisfactory for you as it did for me." He then turned and left, flashing a final cold smile not for Carlito, but for the emptiness between seats once known as Val, who had been looking on.

  Val thought carefully as the movie played on, Carlito waving to one of the young women circulating with fresh bowls of actual buttered popcorn and what looked to be fruit-filled pitchers of Sangria. Quickly enough he made his wants known. The buxom girl, far from being shocked, smiled happily, her desire not feigned, though certainly heightened by the gold coin Carlito palmed her. After the girl quickly passed her tray to a fellow servant who shared a teasing grin, the young blond began doing all she could to heighten Carlito's cinematic enjoyment as darkest shadow made its move, giving the distracted Highlord a gift quite fitting for a guest of his caliber.

  Time passed, and Val could feel the worried thoughts of Julia questing for him, those gold-flecked green eyes perhaps the only pair capable of piercing his Shadowmind with ease, showing him for the awkward young man curled between seats that he was, and a glaring Julia said not a word as Val sheepishly crawled to her side, doing his best with stealth and dimness alone not to distract the grunting lord or the girl mounting him so passionately.

  "So my lover's a voyeur, is that it?" whispered a less than pleased Julia. "Or are you so eager to play lord that you were going to grab one of those girls for yourself when all you had to do was tell me that you missed me?"

  Val shook his head, careful to keep his thoughts hidden in the shadows of his mind.

  Julia blinked, her teasing turning to genuine sorrow. "Val? I didn’t actually... I assumed there was some silly awkward reason for you to be just squatting there, like a Mr. Beam movie. But now you're totally avoiding my gaze. Why won't you open yourself to me?"

  Val squeezed her hand. "You're right. It's not what you think. But right now I have to keep my focus. Something's going down."

  "What?"

  Val frowned. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. But I'm keeping an eye on one of the main players. No! Don't stare, don't even think in his direction." He gently patted her hand. "I think, right now, in this crowd, your thoughts are almost as vulnerable as any Terran's."

  Julia flinched. "I know I was hurt. I know my defenses are porous. But now that I'm here, I'm going to get stronger. Tougher. I know Mother wants to train me with an intensity that's almost scary. But right now? I can't say I blame her. No one's ever going to do to me what that bastard did once before!"

  Though her words were a soft hiss, her eyes blazed with intensity, and Val could all but sense some lords picking up her fierce resolve washing over them, and Val did the only thing he could, lest she reveal herself before what might be a room full of future vultures delighting in her fall.

  He dove in and kissed her soft, furious lips, first gently, then passionately, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. Julia squeaked before sighing and falling into his kiss, returning it with interest, leaving him breathless in the private alcove she had pulled him into. Eyes sultry and hungry peered into his own, Val having buried every other thought save how much he adored this beautiful, fiery jewel. She blushed at the intensity of his desire for her. "Those silly girls have nothing on me, Val." And in very short order, she proved exactly how true that was.

  5

  "My, don't you two make a lovely couple," Christine t
eased her blushing daughter sometime later, as over a dozen smug, smiling lords chatting animatedly about the film they had seen, Val recognizing the code beneath the words as more than one lord nodded his admiration, Val supposed, for the girls who had pleased them, and no few of them had grinned at Val as if commending his feat, far too many of the lords present having sensed the fierce intensity of their lovemaking. Discreet and quiet as they had tried to be, his lover's mind had blazed brighter than his shadows could smother.

  Christine shook her head. "Your exotic origins and status assure your little exhibition will only add spice to your reputation. Most of our guests are still amazed by your arcane might. But next time, please try for discretion. Especially since you are not even twenty yet."

  Julia blushed a bright crimson, hiding behind a nonplussed Val.

  Christine flashed a knowing smile. "I won't peek, darling. Any more than I did with the other boys and girls you would sneak home, once upon a time."

  "God, Mother, please."

  Christine's smile turned tender. "Do you really think Val cares? He trained to kill people. He killed the boy who throttled his first lover when he was younger than you. I don't think he will judge youthful indiscretion. Not if he really loves you, and I can tell that he does."

  Val winced, speechless, feeling himself slip into darkness, avoiding her gaze. Christine was giving them both the oddest look. "I can read you two perfectly, but you still don't understand what I'm trying to say." She shook her head. "It must be all that Terran blood. Just accept each other, and everything will work out."

  Julia pouted as her mother quickly strode off to greet one of her many guests. "She never pulled out the thick-headed Terran card when we had arguments while I was growing up."

  Val couldn't help grinning. "No?"