Defying Destiny

by Andrew Rowe

  “Nice. I still think it’s hilarious you made a spell to look through his clothes. And I’m glad you had to be the one to do it. Don’t think I could have kept from laughing. Barely managed it just knowing you were there. I kept wondering if you’d make his clothes totally invisible by accident.”

  “Right. Now, let us never speak of that again.” Jonan tucked his notebook back away. “Do you still happen to have access to any of Edon’s other enchanted items?”

  Velas winced. “I have the dominion marked armor he gave me, but I have no desire to put that back on.”

  “Memories you’d rather let go of?”

  Velas snorted. “Nothing so sentimental. That armor was a trap. One of the functions was teleportation, and he used it to drop me miles outside of the city when I tried to team up with Taelien to fight him. Now that I know it was sabotaged, I’m not wearing it. Kept it because it was too valuable not to, of course.”

  “It may not have been a trap. He could have just added that function in case he needed to teleport you to safety or something.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I don’t like the idea of wearing something that can be remotely activated by someone else. Not worth the risks, even if it had some other nice enchantments.”

  “Such as?”

  “Sound modification on the helmet. I can use sound shaping on my own, of course, but it saved me some effort and boosted my effective range. It also had some high-end durability enchantments. Held up against virtually anything that hit me. Not against Taelien, but well, that’s Taelien for you.” She sighed.

  “That sword of his is a problem.” Jonan shook his head. “We’ll worry about that another time, however. For the moment, the armor. What if you didn’t have to wear it?”

  Velas frowned. “You want to rune me up?”

  Jonan grinned. It was refreshing to have someone who could follow his line of logic for a change. “Both of us, in fact.”

  “You sure you can manage that? I know you’ve read some of his notes, but dominion marking on humans is...”

  Jonan rolled up his sleeve.

  Velas blinked. “How long have you had that?”

  “Better part of a year. It works. No noticeable side effects.”

  Velas gave an appreciative whistle. “Gotta say, that’s unexpected. It took Morella and Edon years to crack making those.”

  “The notes contained almost everything I needed, at least for artifacts that they’d already tested. Making a mark for any other item would be exponentially more difficult...but I suspect the armor will be in the notes. And now that we know which marks were on Edon’s body, we can narrow things down significantly. He clearly had a mark for the armor’s teleportation rune, at least, since he used it on you.”

  “Wait, hold on. What’s that rune connected to?”

  Jonan winced. “Um...”

  “That’s from the Heartlance, isn’t it? Have you been robbing my baby, Jonan?”

  He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “In fairness, I haven’t really used the mark much. But yes, it’s from the Heartlance. The motion function.”

  Velas frowned. “Hm.”

  “Hm?”

  “Well, if you’ve been stealing essence from the Heartlance, has that helped you figure out what else it can do?”

  Jonan gave a wave of his hand indicating ‘sort of’. “That process didn’t, but I found some notes. It really does interfere with healing, for example, it just doesn’t prevent it entirely. It’s a blood sorcery effect.”

  “Boring. What else?”

  Jonan shrugged his shoulder. “There’s a big one, but I haven’t tested it. I’d have to physically hold the lance, and, uh, it’s kind of creepy.”

  “Creepy how?”

  Jonan dug into the bag at his side. “The activation phrase. Don’t read it out loud, obviously.”

  Velas read the note.

  Blood of the fallen, ignite my spirit.

  “A little theatrical, isn’t it?” Velas snorted, tucking the note away. “Less creepy, more, uh, like something a child would come up with. Or Sal, maybe.”

  “Maybe, but I’m still a little concerned about anything that might set our spirits on fire. Sounds uncomfortable.”

  Velas rolled her eyes. “Think you’re being a little too literal there.”

  “Obviously. But I don’t like the idea of messing with spirit sorcery in general, and mixing it with blood sorcery sounds even worse. Keep in mind the Heartlance was probably built for esharen — and they’re a different species. Something that was beneficial to them, like say pulling spirit and blood essence from inside the Heartlance, could, you know, kill us. Like a lot.”

  “Worth considering. I can handle a lot of things that kill ordinary folks.”

  Then it was Jonan’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’d still advise against it. Maybe get a spirit sorcerer to look at it, at least?”

  “Eh, maybe. I’ll think about it.” Velas shrugged, indicating she would not, in fact, think about it. “In the meantime, yeah, let’s rune me up. Wouldn’t mind one for the Heartlance, even if that phrase is ludicrous. We can tinker with the armor stuff, too. Could have started this earlier if you’d told me about it sooner.”

  “Perhaps, but looking at Edon will reduce the number of attempts we need to make. I prefer to minimize trial and error when it comes to potentially fatal sorcerous experiments.”

  “And you didn’t trust me.”

  Jonan shrugged. “Well, yes.”

  “Does that imply you trust me now?”

  “Don’t be absurd, of course I don’t trust you. But I do like you a good bit more now.” He gave her an exaggerated wink.

  Velas laughed. “Fair enough, Kestrian. Fair enough.” She took a breath. “One problem. I do have the armor, but it might be, uh, somewhat damaged.”

  “Damaged?”

  “I was...unhappy about being teleported.”

  I guess Taelien wasn’t the only one capable of breaking the armor after all.

  Jonan sighed. “We’ll take a look at it later. Hopefully some of the runes are salvageable, at least.”

  Velas gave him a nod. “Right. For now, maybe we should discuss the main thing we were here for?”

  “Not much to talk about, I’m afraid. He knew very little about the Shrouded One.”

  “Eh, pretty much what I expected. We knew any connection with Edon was tenuous at best. At least we’ve planted an idea in Edon’s head that we can grow later if we need to. I don’t think freeing him later would be difficult.”

  Jonan rubbed his temples. “Sure, if we think we can point his ire in the right direction.”

  “Seems like you did a pretty good job of getting all of us pointed the way you wanted last time around.” Velas gave him an accusatory look.

  Jonan simply shrugged. “I had a good amount of prep time for that. And for what it’s worth, you weren’t one of my targets. Your involvement was incidental.”

  “Should I be flattered that I didn’t warrant your consideration?” Velas laughed, then seemed to notice Jonan’s growing concern and waved a hand. “Relax. I don’t hold it against you. I didn’t know you were involved, either. It does say something that Auntie Ess deployed both of us into the same city at the same time, though. I wonder if she was expecting us to have to play against each other?”

  “Guess we’ll never know.” Jonan leaned back in his chair. He was being dismissive, but he did have some ideas of his own on the subject. Not the types of ideas he wanted to share, of course. Velas seemed much more talkative about these sorts of matters than he was.

  Maybe she could afford to be — he wasn’t any sort of physical threat to her, and she clearly knew it. Conversely, if she decided that he was an obstacle, he was going to have more than headaches and eyestrain to worry about.

  “Right. I suppose so.” Velas whispered wistfully. She frowned, then blinked it away and returned to the conversation with renewed cheer. “Okay, where’re we headed next?”

  �
��We are not headed anywhere, I’m afraid.” He reached into the bag at his left hip, retrieving a mirror. It was the wrong one, so he sighed and dug through the rest of the mirrors in the bag until he found the right one. “New orders.” He offered the mirror to Velas and she accepted it.

  Velas took a moment to scan over the text of the letter that was visible in the mirror’s surface. “Bah. We had a good thing going, you know? It was nice to finally have a partner that could keep up with me.”

  Jonan blinked. He was not accustomed to dealing with any sort of flattery. “...Yes. It was, uh, pleasant.”

  Velas snorted. “You’re a strange one, Kestrian. But I think I’ll miss you.” She handed the mirror back to him. “Especially because heading back south on my own is going to be incredibly boring.”

  “Well, at least that’ll be a temporary problem. You’re apparently getting a new partner for a while once you arrive.”

  “Oh?” Velas looked sincerely curious. “That wasn’t in the letter.”

  Jonan smiled, tucking the mirror away. “No. I heard from your partner-to-be. I’d tell you who it is, but I’d hate to ruin the surprise.”

  Chapter I – Velas I – Old Friends

  Seven months later, Velas Jaldin cautiously stepped through the beginnings of a vegetable garden and arrived at the front door of a small home. It was too large to call a hut, too small to call a house, at least in her mind.

  She knocked on the door politely, waiting with a hand by her side.

  A timid looking young girl answered it a few moments later.

  Velas gazed down at the girl, perplexed, and hesitated just a moment before regaining enough of her bearings to ask a question. “Is your mommy home?”

  The little girl shook her head. “I don’t have a mommy anymore. Daddy is here, though.”

  “Can you go get your daddy, then?”

  The little girl nodded and gave her a bright smile. “One minute, please!”

  Velas took a couple steps back from the door, her hand still hovering near her hip.

  This complicates things.

  But not much.

  The figure that arrived at the door a few moments later was familiar in spite of some minor alterations.

  Hair trimmed and dyed, loose fitting clothes, a simple peasant cap. Enough to pass a casual inspection, certainly.

  Velas’ hand rested on her hilt, but she didn’t draw her weapon just yet. The little girl was still right behind her target.

  Irritating.

  Velas grinned brightly. “Cassius! It’s so good to see you. It’s been too long. Can we talk outside for a moment?”

  The figure’s eyes narrowed. “It’s Morgan Stern right now, actually. But I applaud your effort. As for your request, I’ll have to politely decline. Good day.”

  Cassius Morn — or Morgan Stern, or whoever his current identity was— moved to shut the door.

  Rude.

  Velas blurred forward, putting a hand on the door. “But I’ve come such a long way! Surely, you can spare a few moments for an old friend.”

  Cassius tightened his jaw, then tilted his head toward the little girl. “Head back inside, Elizabeth. Go play with your sister. I need to talk to my old friend for a few minutes.”

  “Kay!” The little girl headed deeper inside.

  Cassius waved a hand for Velas to move, so she stepped back.

  He stepped outside and closed the door.

  Velas scratched her chin. “Okay, humor me. Cassius Morn? Morgan Stern? Susan Crimson? All basically anagrams, or close to them, but which is the original?”

  Cassius shook his head, giving Velas a sad smile. “If I answer that, will you leave me in peace?”

  Velas laughed. “Oh, gods, no. But I am curious. You’re much better at the disguise bit than I’ve ever been. I don’t know which—”

  Velas saw the glint of metal in a sleeve as Cassius’ hand moved upward. It wasn’t a quick motion, no jerk of an abrupt shoulder rising.

  With less experience, it would have been easy to miss.

  Velas didn’t bother parrying — she just stepped to the side and let the hurled needle miss her entirely. “That was a mistake.”

  Cassius raised both hands. “Had to try. You have me at a sincere disadvantage, and I have children to protect.”

  “Nope, not going to go easy on you because you’ve picked up some strays. I’m not Taelien, remember?”

  Cassius tilted his head to the side. “No, but I did assume you’d still behave like a paladin.”

  “Oh, Sterling never told you?” Velas stepped back, out of reach, then bowed theatrically. “You can call me Silk.”

  Cassius’ eyes narrowed. “You’re an ‘ess’? I suppose that explains how you found me, but not why you’re here. I told Sterling I wanted out. He signed the papers. I’m clear.”

  Velas’ tilted her head to the side. “Wait, did you actually think we could retire? After working for vae’kes? Serious question, I need to know if you’re sincerely that naïve.”

  “I figured there might be an extra assignment here or there, true. I was hoping to at least have a few years, get these kids into a school.”

  “They yours? I’m guessing not, but...”

  Cassius shook his head. “Strays, as you said.”

  “I can respect that. Wouldn’t want to deal with them myself, mind you, but someone has to do it. You know, Luria sincerely believed you’d come back for him.”

  Cassius flinched, that statement seeming to affect him more than threat of violence. “I looked into it. Too secure. If I’d known we had someone else on the inside... Did you take care of it?”

  Velas shook her head. “By myself? I’m not crazy. That’s why I’m here. You’re coming with me.”

  Cassius sighed. “I can’t. Like I said, I’m done. If you’ll check with the Thornguard office in Selyr—”

  Velas tilted her head downward, then made a show of glancing side to side.

  This home was located a good two hundred miles west of Velthryn — on the side of a mountain.

  Selyr was hundreds of miles in the other direction. And also north.

  Cassius pressed his hands together. “Look, I’d really like to help Luria out, but I’ve got responsibilities now.”

  “We can drop your kids off with Bertram. Don’t worry, he’s fine. He got out of town before the paladins could catch up to him.”

  “Shame, Mythralis would be a better place with that bastard in a cell.” Cassius tightened his jaw. “Sorry you came all this way, but the answer remains the same. You could check in with the Thornguard office in Velthryn for some muscle?”

  Velas waved a hand dismissively. “You know I can’t get quality that way. I’m looking for subtlety, not a raid on the facility.” She folded her arms. “Maybe I could get Sterling to help get Luria out of this mess? Do you know where he is?”

  Cassius shook his head. “Not a word. Let me ask you something, though. What’s a shadow mean to you?”

  “Loyalty. And loyalty is like a crystal blade, yes, yes. I know the speech. Good of you to check, even if you’re a bit late.”

  Cassius nodded slowly. “Luria did mention that he’d seen you use some of our hand signs, but he couldn’t figure out who you were. I’m surprised they had more than one group of us in there.”

  Velas ran a hand through her hair. “You aren’t the only one. Sterling is lucky my vae’kes didn’t come calling after the resh job he pulled with that last assassination attempt.”

  Cassius frowned at that. “You think your vae’kes set us up to fight each other? Before I got out, I heard there was some kind of schism going on in Liadra.”

  “Doubt it was deliberate, unless you’ve heard something about ‘esses’ going up against each other specifically. We tussle with the jewelers every once in a while, but I’ve never seen any conflict between ‘esses’.”

  “Ah, I see what you mean.” Cassius nodded thoughtfully. “And I think I’ve about sorted this out.”

&nb
sp; “Oh?” Velas put a hand to her chin. “Thought of something helpful?”

  “Maybe. The name Silk has something of a reputation.” Cassius stretched his arms. “Is it true that you’re one of Aayara’s personal apprentices?”

  Velas nodded, noting something still inside one of Cassius’ sleeves as he moved. No, both sleeves. “Quite true. Where’d you hear that?”

  “Heard all sorts of stories about Silk when I was growing up. Or several Silks, really. All sorts of daring escapes, training exercises...think I might have even read a book about one of them.”

  “Most people would be humble and say it’s nothing like the stories. Truth is? It’s just like the stories.”

  Cassius laughed. “That’s wonderful. Thing is, though, there’s no chance that Aayara’s personal apprentice needs my help to break someone out of prison.”

  A knife slid from a sleeve into Cassius hand. “So, what are you actually here for?”

  “Information, mostly.” Velas waved at the knife. “No need to be rude.”

  “I prefer to be prepared, thank you. Especially since you’ve already been lying to me.”

  Velas shrugged, taking a step back. “It’s the business.”

  The conversation wasn’t going the way she’d wanted, but that was fine. She’d already picked up a few pieces of information.

  And she never minded a good fight.

  The knife isn’t much of a threat, unless it’s enchanted. He’s a former Thornguard, so it might be, but I doubt it.

  Her hand sat on the hilt of her sword, but she didn’t draw just yet. “As I said, just here for information. Aayara wants to know where Sterling ran off to. He’s supposed to be an ‘ess’, but he’s misbehaving.”

  Mostly true, at least from what Aayara claimed.

  “Sorry, not selling him out. Nothing personal, but Sterling is much more likely to come back here and chop me to bits than Aayara is. Your mentor is too busy to bother with someone like me.”

  Velas tapped the hilt at her side meaningfully. “That’s what I’m for, silly.”

  “I’ll take my chances—”

  Velas didn’t let him finish the sentence; she just blurred forward with a burst of motion sorcery and punched him in the gut. While Cassius was falling back, she grabbed the wrist of his knife hand.