by R S Penney
She grabbed a fistful of his coat and pulled him close for a peck on the cheek. “Now, don’t go getting jealous, sweetheart,” she teased. “You know we both love you.”
“It’s nice to be reminded.”
“Mmm,” Miri agreed. “Well, help me get those cannons set up, and I’ll remind you again later.”
Lifting a dagger up in front of her face, Desa squinted as she examined the blade. “Not bad.” She tossed it up, caught the tip and held it upside-down. The balance was almost perfect. “Not bad at all.”
“Feeling satisfied with your purchase?” Kalia asked.
Desa sat upon a wooden table in the corner of a room with beige walls and red carpets. The golden light of early evening came in through the rectangular windows. The mayor had been kind enough to give them a place to work.
Mercy had set up an easel that she used to paint a strange picture. So far as Desa could tell, it was a rainbow, but instead of the usual arch-shape, the colours were stacked side by side. Red on the left, purple on the right.
The goddess had insisted that she wanted to be called by her human name – Nari – but Desa wasn’t sure if she could get used to that. At the very least, it would take some time. Still, she would humour the woman. No sense in causing a fuss.
Tommy stood a few paces back from the easel. Desa could tell, by the look on his face, that he was trying to figure out exactly what Mercy was up to. She decided to leave him to it. If he wanted to guess, he could guess, but Desa had no idea what was going on. And Mercy would tell them everything they needed to know in good time.
Kalia stood beside Desa with her arms folded, frowning pensively at the painting. “You really think a pair of knives will make a difference?”
Desa shrugged. “I used to carry a pair with me,” she muttered. “They melted when I fought Bendarian in the temple. I don’t know what Hanak Tuvar will send against us, but I will take any advantage I can get.”
She had purchased another pistol as well. Keeping two on her person just made sense: one for normal ammunition and one for her Infused bullets.
With a soft sigh, Mercy returned her paintbrush to the jar of water. She twisted around, looking over her shoulder. “You won’t need conventional weapons,” she said. “They will be of no use.”
Hopping off the table, Desa strode toward the other woman. “So,” she said. “What do you have planned?”
Mercy clapped her hands, grinning like a scientist who had just made some grand discovery. “We need a weapon that can penetrate Hanak Tuvar’s distortion field,” she said. “As you’ve seen, most projectile-based weapons are useless.”
“So, what should we use?” Tommy asked.
“To stop the darkness, we will call upon the light.”
Kalia strode up beside Desa, her face pinched into an expression of disapproval. “Very poetic,” she said. “But perhaps you could offer something more practical.”
To answer that, Mercy dabbed her brush in black paint and drew a wave underneath her sideways rainbow. A simple curve that rose up to a peak then down to a trough. She repeated that further down the page, only this wave had the peaks and troughs scrunched closer together. Finally, at the very bottom of the canvas, she drew one that was just a squiggly line.
“Light is a wave,” Mercy explained. “And in some ways, it is a particle as well. But we’ll keep things simple for now.”
“Sure,” Tommy cut in. “But how does that help us?”
“Red light,” Mercy said, pointing to the first wave, the one with only one peak and one trough. “Has a longer wavelength than violet light.” She pointed to the second wave, the one that looked like a series of rolling hills.
“Humans can only see a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The light we can perceive is this narrow band here.” She gestured to her rainbow, then slid her hand to the left side of the canvas. “This is called infrared light. The term literally means ‘below red.’ It is invisible to humans.”
Moving to the right side of the easel, she tapped the canvas several times. “This is called ultraviolet light.”
“Above violet?” Desa conjectured.
“Precisely,” Mercy replied. “The further you go into the ultraviolet spectrum, the more dangerous light becomes to living tissue. I am going to teach you how to create a very special kind of Light-Source. A Gamma-Source.”
Desa stepped forward, stroking her chin as she studied the easel. “And you think this can hurt Hanak Tuvar?”
“Hurt, yes,” Mercy said. “Kill, no. The light will be red-shifted by Hanak Tuvar’s distortion field. But if we choose a frequency well into the ultraviolet range, it should be sufficient. The goal is to divert Hanak Tuvar from the city and convince it to chase us into the desert, where we can use the crystal to return it to its prison.”
“Isn’t there some way we could destroy it?”
A scowl contorted Mercy’s face as she shook her head in dismay. “No,” she said. “It’s much too powerful for that. We must return the beast to its prison. Together, we can seal it in.
“Gamma rays are highly dangerous. We will need to apply directional modifiers to make sure they fire in the precise direction we need them to.”
“All right,” Desa said. “Show us what we need to do.”
Night had fallen by the time they were ready to test their new weapon. Under Mercy’s guidance, Desa had learned the new Infusion in less than half an hour. It wasn’t so different from an ordinary Light-Source. A few tweaks here and there. The directional modifiers were much more stringent than what she was used to. If she understood the situation correctly, they would project this “radiation” – that was the word Mercy had used – in a focused straight line about the thickness of her arm.
Infused bricks in the wall of the barracks provided more than enough light to see clearly. Kalia and Tommy had set them up while Desa completed her work. They had pointed a cannon at the wall that surrounded the building. Its tip now contained the new Gamma-Source.
For safety’s sake, she had also created a Gamma-Sink in a mirror that Dalen and Miri had set up. According to Mercy, gamma rays would pass easily through most solid objects. She claimed that lead would provide an adequate shield, but there was none to be had around here. Desa had been hesitant to use a mirror, afraid that the radiation would reflect as normal light did, but Mercy had assured her that wasn’t a concern. If the Sink failed – unlikely as that may be – the gamma rays would simply pass through the mirror. There was nothing on the other side of the wall except an open field. No one would be hurt if things went awry.
Mercy stood on a platform with her hands folded behind herself, frowning as she watched a pair of men setting up their target. They had placed a block of wood on a pile of stones stacked high enough to bring it in line with the cannon. “Make sure you get clear of the blast zone,” she said for the twentieth time. “If that radiation hits you, it will liquify your organs. I want you both at least ten paces behind the cannon.”
Having completed their work, the two men rose and cast furtive glances in Mercy’s direction. They hopped to obey, rushing off to hide near the entrance to the barrack.
“Are you ready, Desa?”
Stepping forward, Desa nodded once in confirmation but said nothing.
Her friends had joined Mercy on the platform, eager to see the results of this test. Her stomach churned. She was afraid. Not because she thought the test might fail, because she feared it would succeed. If Field Binding could be used to make weapons like this…
“Begin,” Mercy said.
Desa triggered the Gamma-Source and Gamma-Sink at the same time. The chunk of wood blackened and then ignited with a gout of flame that made her jump backward. The whole thing lasted all of three seconds before both Infusions burned themselves out.
Desa blinked. “That’s it?”
As if to answer her question, the block of burning wood crumbled, pieces of it falling to land in the grass. Mercy threw a pebble into the b
last zone, her Heat-Sink snuffing out the flames.
Turning on her heel, Desa marched to the base of the platform. She craned her neck to look up at the other woman. “A good Light-Source might survive hours of continuous use,” she began. “This thing didn’t even last five seconds.”
Mercy nodded absently like a mother listening to her two-year-old explaining that the sky was blue. “Yes,” she said. “The same amount of energy in a concentrated burst.”
“I see…”
“We must begin Infusing the other cannons,” Mercy said. “Positioning them in a perimeter around the city.”
Desa felt creases lining her brow. “Now?” she groaned. “Nari, we’re all exhausted from the long journey. If we spend the night Field Binding, we’ll be useless tomorrow.”
“You are most likely correct,” Mercy said. “Come. There is one more thing I must teach you.”
The barracks were all but deserted, which was why Zerena Dobrin thought it would be the perfect place to house Desa and her friends. For years a regiment of the Eradian Army had been permanently stationed at Ofalla, but they had cleared out ten weeks ago when Delarac sent them to Ithanar. No one had received word from them in all that time. Most likely, they were dead. Or halfway through the long march home. Assuming, of course, that they managed to get through Heldrid’s haunted forest. Desa shivered when she remembered that creature.
The soldiers slept in a long room with stone walls. Beds on metal frames were spaced at even intervals. Each one was just large enough to support a single person. Desa chose one in the corner, near the small, square window that looked out on the yard.
Seated on the edge of the mattress, she planted her elbow on her thigh and rested her chin on the knuckles of her fist. “So,” she said drowsily. “What is this lesson you have for us?”
Mercy stood in the aisle between beds, smiling beatifically. “Patience, my child,” she said. “Let the others gather.”
Kalia slipped past the former goddess, her mouth stretching into a yawn that she didn’t bother to hide. “Patience is for people who aren’t about to pass out,” she mumbled.
“I will only need the three of you,” Mercy replied. “Thomas, please join us.”
He came trudging over, head hanging, and then sat on the bed across from Desa. The poor lad looked like he was ready to collapse, and it wasn’t just physical exhaustion weighing him down. For days, he had been carrying the hopes and fears of all of those refugees on his shoulders.
The mayor had spent most of the afternoon trying to find room for all those people. Some would be billeted here. Others would be sent to the barracks on the north side of the city. Desa had heard reports of townspeople taking in a family. The various hotels and inns throughout the city were probably packed to bursting. And all of it would be for nothing if they didn’t survive the next few days.
Mercy chose the bed next to Tommy, folding her hands in her lap. Kalia seated herself beside Desa. The other woman was a comforting presence. She didn’t have to do anything; just being there was enough.
“Excellent,” Mercy said. “Now, we may begin. Commune with the Field.”
Desa did as she was asked, clearing her mind and losing herself in the Ether’s soothing embrace. She felt Kalia and Tommy doing the same. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense every contour of the room. Mercy was sitting cross-legged on her bed. “Now,” she said. “Follow my lead.”
Light erupted from the goddess as she made herself one with the Ether. Desa waited to see what she would do, but Mercy didn’t begin an Infusion. Instead, she created a series of pulses, surges in the Ether that emanated from her like ripples spreading across the surface of a pond.
Desa wasn’t sure how to duplicate that feat. She concentrated on the Ether, letting herself feel all the things she had grown accustomed to after years of Field Binding, all the things that her mind had learned to tune out. Yes, there it was. The Ether wasn’t still. There was a constant thrumming, and ebb and flow. If she could agitate that natural process…
The pulses erupted from Desa, surging out from her across the barracks, washing over Dalen and Miri as they stowed their bags under their beds. How could they not feel it? This was almost like…Like the crystal on top of Mercy’s pyramid.
A few moments passed before Tommy learned to imitate Mercy’s pulses. Then Kalia was the last to join in. All four of them were like beacons in the night, waves intersecting, crashing over one another.
Suddenly, the pulses around Mercy changed direction. No longer flowing out from her, they moved inward, converging on her body. Could Desa do the same? It should be a simple matter of changing the way she directed the Ether.
Yes!
The pulses began to flow into her. Kalia and Tommy figured it out a moment later, drawing the Ether into themselves.
Mercy severed her connection, the light around her vanishing. “Well done,” she said. “Now, instead of pulling it into yourselves, I want all of you to direct the Ether toward me, to a spot that I will indicate.”
She began to glow again, creating a new series of pulses that converged over the palm of her hand. Desa followed her example, directing the Ether toward that spot, amplifying the wave that Mercy had created. Then Kalia joined in. And finally, Tommy got the hang of it.
With four minds all focusing on a single wave, the surges were powerful, almost violent. They built upon each other, each one adding to the last until something began to grow in Mercy’s hand.
Desa continued her efforts, the Ether washing away some of her fatigue. She could almost feel the others. Their intensity, their focus. Five minutes passed and then ten. Her anticipation grew with every passing second.
Abruptly, Mercy let go of the Ether.
The others did the same an instant later.
Desa was breathing hard, heat suffusing her body. She hadn’t realized just how intently she had been focused on this task.
When she opened her eyes, Mercy was sitting on the edge of the bed she had claimed, smiling at something in the palm of her hand. “We did it,” she said. “Look.”
Desa stood up to see what it was they had created and gasped when she found a shard of glittering crystal. Mercy held it up so that it caught the light, refracting a rainbow of colours.
“That’s how we create it?”
“You focused the Field,” Mercy explained. “Gave it physical form and shape. It is a skill my people had only begun to manifest before Hanak Tuvar destroyed us. This is a task that requires all of us to work in concert. A single Field Binder will find it next to impossible to create even the smallest amount of crystal. Two might be able to make a few grams. But four? The greater our numbers, the more we can produce. Almost as if the Field wanted us to work together.”
Mercy stood, nodding to each of them. “Tomorrow, we will begin Infusing the cannons,” she said. “And we will create as many of these crystals as we can. Together, we will save this city.”
21
A ceiling of thick, gray clouds hung over the plains. The vast expanse of grassland seemed to go on forever, trees dotting the landscape here and there. From her perch atop one of the easternmost buildings, Desa kept an eye on the horizon.
Five days.
Five days had passed without incident since their arrival in Ofalla. She was starting to grow restless. What was Hanak Tuvar waiting for? Why didn’t it just attack? No doubt the creature had lingered in New Beloran, eating its fill of anyone who had not escaped the city. The thought turned Desa’s stomach, but she pushed her way through it to focus on the implications.
How long would it take to eat ten thousand people? Fifteen thousand? She had to figure that her group wasn’t the only one to escape. There had to have been other people who fled the city when they caught sight of a giant squid smashing the buildings. But where might they have gone?
She had been operating under the assumption that Hanak Tuvar would go west. Ofalla was the only other big city in the area, and a larger population meant m
ore food. But what if they had misjudged the creature’s intentions? What if it had gone in another direction? If so, the plan to lure it to Mercy’s pyramid would be much harder to execute.
Zerena Dobrin had become suspicious of Desa and her companions. Five days with no sign of the monster had given her the idea that this might all be a hoax, a scam to gain free food and comfortable lodgings. Luckily, the ships that came upriver had disabused her of such notions.
The first had arrived three days ago; the second had come in earlier this morning. Both crews carried tales of what they had seen on their journeys. Desa had taken the time to speak with them, and they all told her the same thing.
New Beloran was gone, reduced to a heap of rubble. According to the sailors, there wasn’t a single building left standing. She had asked about survivors, but neither ship had gone anywhere near the riverbank. When the captains noticed the strange, red haze that enveloped the city, they thought it best to steer clear.
No one had seen anything that resembled a giant squid demon. Hanak Tuvar was gone, but the distortion field it had created remained. That troubled her, though she should have expected as much. The demon had changed Mercy’s world, rendering it uninhabitable.
So, where was it? Might it have gone south, following the train tracks? Perhaps it was terrorizing some small, isolated village. If her suspicions were correct, if Hanak Tuvar was forced to remain inside the distortion field – and if expanding the field took a great deal of energy – then it might not be able to cross the countryside at great speed. Not yet, anyway.
Maybe she should have been grateful for the extra time. It had given her a chance to create more Infusions and to work with the others to make more crystals. They now had a couple dozen to spare. Miri had suggested that they pass them out to the Watch commanders with instructions to use them on those men who had suffered the most grievous injuries. Desa approved of that plan, though she had kept one crystal for herself, tucking it away in her pocket.