“Idiot Wes,” Stell hissed. “You should have run. Why don’t you ever run?”
“Because the woman telling me to keeps forgetting that she was the one to help restore my legs in the first place,” I answered. “You don’t get to cherry pick, Stell. You don’t get to convince me to believe in myself, and then tell me to turn and run away when you need my help. You missed your chance to make me a coward. Cavus and I fought, and it was close. Breena turned the tide. We beat him and knocked out another light.”
“Breena.” Stell gave a short, panicky laugh. The sound didn’t belong in her, but she kept talking. “A piece of me helped you fight off Cavus. A piece of me won against Cavus. That’s rich, Wes. That’s hilarious.”
“Your older sister’s name is Lucima,” I answered flatly. Her head rocked back as if I had hammered it. “She’s looking for you now, too. We last saw her in the Shelter’s Pathway between Avalon and the Woadlands. It was just a piece of Cavus, Stell, but the power that helped me in my second fight with him swept through Breena, and then she tore him apart. It wasn’t even close. That same power helped us conquer the Trial together, Stell. Breena is free. A piece of you has already conquered your worst nightmare.”
Stell scooted away from me.
“Wes,” she said. “I don’t understand half of the words out of your mouth. I think the stress is getting to me. I’m sorry. I can’t handle the rest of this. Let’s talk after I’ve had some time to think. Some time to rest.”
“Okay,” I answered. “How long are you staying here? Is this just a quick trip, or…” I trailed off, because I wasn’t sure if I could offer for her to spend the night here or if that would start another fight.
“Right,” she said. “Right, right. I came here to make a delivery. And to talk to the Icons. I wanted to tell them about you, because they’ve had to deal with imposters on this planet for almost fifty years, and they needed to know that the real Malcolm was on his way to help,” she sighed. “Glad I was able to help with that, Wes. Really glad I could be useful.”
“Can I point out that it’s my job to help you instead?” I asked. “You know, since you have half a dozen entire planets to manage?”
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.
“You could, Wes,” she said in an exasperated tone. “If I was actually doing a good job of that, instead of spending half of my time in hiding. And no, I’m not going back to Avalon,” she said flatly. “Not when there are so many people that can get killed there by my own problems.”
“You need to talk to Breena,” I growled, frustrated and unhappy. “Since I’m just making you upset.”
“Wes,” Stell said, wincing. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” She put her face in her hands and blew out a breath. “I’ve been yelling at you since I got here, and I hate myself for it. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’m sorry I’m such a mess, and that I don’t treat you better. Please forgive me,” she repeated, removing her hands and revealing her trembling face. “And please don’t go.”
Now I was the one who felt like a jerk.
“Stell,” I said, reaching out to take her hand, “I have nowhere left to go. I’m not leaving. But talk to Breena, okay?”
“I will.” She nodded, looking grateful and relieved. “And thank you. You don’t hear that enough.” She looked at me, smiled, and then quickly looked away. “Now let me go get Breena. So that you can get dressed.”
She slipped out of my grasp and walked over to her gently snoring Satellite. “Come on, Breena,” she said as she scooped the tiny sprite out from her new nest.
“Noo,” Breena moaned sleepily, trying to pull away from her Starsown’s hands. “No take cookies.”
“I can’t because you already ate them all,” Stell said tiredly, finally tugging the sleeping fairy free. “Now come on. Wes needs space to change. And you all need to quit messing with him when he sleeps,” she rebuked firmly. “That’s super not okay.”
“Can’t hear you,” Breena muttered. “Still sleeping.”
Stell sighed and carried the other part of herself out of the room.
“I’ll talk to you again before I leave,” the Starsown called from outside. “Okay, Wes?”
“That’s fine,” I called back as I grabbed my pants and leg armor. “I’ll just… go back to bed, I guess.”
I lay back down, sighed, and tried to think of daisies. It didn’t work. Then I remembered that I had just gained three Rises in one go, and pulled up my mindscreen. To get a better grasp of my gains, I activated all of my enhancement spells, and that number listed in parentheses. I whistled when I realized just how much my Dexterity was being enhanced by my Fire and Air magic.
Wes Malcolm
Origin: Earthborn (Dusk Era), Avalonian (Challenger), Woadfolk (Elder). Other bloodlines unknown
Rise Level: 18th Rise (Candle)
Saga: Unconquered Hero
Act 2: Unbowed Bones. +5 Con, Will, Str. General resistance to crushing damage and pressure-based attacks
Strength:267 (303)
Dexterity:232 (304)
Constitution:269 (305)
Intelligence:243 (279)
Wisdom:242 (278(
Charisma:253
Speed:281
Deftness:277
Wits:252
Will:294
Paths: War, Kings, Archmage
Skills (averaged): Weapons (18), Ideal Magic (18), Saga Magic (13) Misc Skills (11)
Profession: Leader (Rank: Noble)
Art: War (Newly Gained)
Science: Forming
Craft: Forming
Combined with the bonus for ending a planet’s Trial, everything but my Dexterity had increased by roughly a third of its original total. I went ahead and applied my spare Rise points there, and took a moment to let myself adjust to the sudden increase in coordination and flexibility. Then I allocated the rest of my points to make sure my combat and magic abilities were still keeping up, spending most of the points to raise my Testifier schools. I kept a few left over to help deal with any new types of skills I might have to learn.
I had learned enough by now to have a better appreciation about my power. There were a number of heroes, monsters, and Icons who had greater abilities than me. There were also quite a few that still had more Risen or Descended levels than I did. And the Malus Members were supposedly descending at a much faster rate than I was Rising. But the number that wielded the amount of power I did at my current Risen level was probably non-existent, in any area. That didn’t change the fact that I still needed to get stronger. The Woadlands were said to be the safest of the six worlds. From here on out, my enemies were going to get much more dangerous. Especially since I was going to lose the element of surprise sooner or later.
Speaking of surprise, I took another look at my mindscreen.
The Stag Lord is impressed with the Challenger’s success upon completion of the Trial. He now fully recognizes your authority as a planetary Lord over a world in command of his own planet. The Challenger has advanced in his Profession. The Challenger now has increased contact with his territory.
Increased contact? I wondered. That was kind of vague. Could that mean that I—
“Avalon greets its Planetary Lord,” a familiar voice said in my mind.
No way, I thought.
“Status report, Avalon,” I commanded.
“Confirming that citizens continue to successfully integrate into the new location. Confirming that supplies hold and that the Woadfather Kingtree continues to grow. Confirming that the Lord’s new tattoo has increased the bond between Kingtree and planetary Lord. Further updates available, if the Lord currently has time to hear.”
“Tell me about them,” I said, and as Avalon began to inform me of developments, a new plan began to form in my mind. Afterwards, I felt a pull on the device in my head…
CHAPTER NINETEEN: BRYTENWALDA
Request for monitoring detected. Checking authorization now. Recognizing Dracon
ic-Level Imprint. Authorization granted for Wes Malcolm. Access granted to current monitoring log regarding Chris Rhodes.
Chris’ perspective,
I floored the throttle until the gunshots were far off in the distance.
“Don’t call for backup!” I shouted at Davelon’s father. “They will kill us all if you call for backup!”
The large man turned to look at me in horror.
“Don’t give me that look,” I snapped, out of patience for this shit today. “You had to know they were keeping tabs on you. Dad would have made sure you got at least one sufficiently vague threat a month.”
“I didn’t believe they would go this far,” the investigator said numbly.
“What do you mean, honey?” Veronica Brown said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “What’s going on? Why are people shooting at us?”
“Davelon,” Thomas Brown whispered, horror creeping into his voice. “They could be after Davelon as well.”
“Davelon?” Stephanie Malcolm blinked, coming out of shock. “He said he was out with Rachel…” Her eyes widened, in the way a person’s did when their sanity had already taken a heavy battering. “Where is Rachel?”
“Where is Davelon?” the other mother in the car asked at the same time.
“On it!” I shouted, trying to prevent bedlam from erupting in my SUV. “I swear to God I’m already on it! They’re already safe!”
I really hoped I wasn’t exaggerating, but now wasn’t the time to admit that. I slowed down to avoid triggering one of the many speed traps on the outskirts of town.
“Where are you taking us?” Mother Malcolm demanded. “And where is my son? You said my son was alive. Where is my son? Where is my daughter? Where is my son? Where is my—”
“It’s okay, honey,” Veronica Brown soothed, hugging the other woman and trying to help her hold on to her sanity.
“I swear you’ll see him, okay?” I said, panic creeping into my own throat. “But only if I can keep us alive long enough to get us somewhere safe.”
I can’t believe it had come to this. Me, Chris Rhodes, valedictorian and title-winning quarterback, stuck in a car chase scene straight out of a bad B-movie that I wasn’t even the main character in.
“Just let me drive, and I swear to God that if we live through this you’ll get your answers.”
“I’m not sure I should believe you,” Thomas Brown said quietly, putting a hand near where he probably kept his concealed handgun.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. It was the most panicky, cracking sound I had ever made.
“Believe me?” I couldn’t stop. I kept cackling, looking like a total idiot. “Do you think I still believe this? Even after seeing it happen? Was I the only one that just saw a guy get shot in the forehead, and him shake off the first bullet? Yes? No?”
The cop sitting behind me suddenly hissed.
“That’s right,” I said, getting most of myself under control. “You’re going to see a lot more impossible things than that. And for the record? Don’t waste a bullet on me. If I go down, and you still have company, put all of your bullets into the other guy’s face. All of them. Until you see his brains leak out. Because if you stop before then, he’ll get back up and kill you.”
The massive man opened his mouth again to talk, closed it, then leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as well.
“Just let him drive,” he said finally. “And pray. Lord Jesus help us all…”
His wife began praying as well, still holding Wes’ mother as she did so. I tried not to sneer. My faith in any kind of heaven had been beaten out of me a long time ago. Absolute confidence in several kinds of hell had sort of taken its place.
I reached the end of the city limits, where the speed limit picked up, and I began to accelerate as much as I dared. Every fiber in me wanted to floor the damn thing for all it was worth, but I knew being inconspicuous was my best chance at survival right now. I had no idea how Malcolm had managed to get Dad’s people to fight each other but as long as his own team won they probably wouldn’t call in immediately. That was because if they actually defected they wouldn’t let the Malus Members know and if they had been tricked they weren’t about to announce that they had shut down an op. Aside from that, lots of people were probably calling 911 after so many loud gun shots.
…Which meant the police would get involved, and that my cover was about to be blown anyway.
I swore and began to speed.
#
After the vision with Chris, and doing what I could to ensure my people were alright, I finally fell asleep, and woke up on my own the next day. Someone had returned my clothing and armor, all laundered and even repaired. It finally occurred to me that I had no idea how Merada had gotten my laundry done in the middle of a previously corrupted forest. I’d add it to my list of things to find out about. For now, I had managed to get through a whole night without any nightmares or further awkwardness. I decided that was a huge victory. I took one more look over my gear and walked outside.
I found everyone waiting for me just outside the tree. They were all dressed and ready to go. My Gaelguard lined either side of the door, and the elves and fairies formed rows directly in front of me. Val and the Testifiers stood on one side, while Breena, Merada, and even Stell stood on the other, looking formal, dignified and patient. Directly hovering behind the gathering were all four Icons of the Woadlands, shining gloriously. As soon as I exited the cave, the natives all bowed, calling out with one voice.
“Hail to the Challenger, and Lord of Avalon!”
I tried not to flinch too visibly as the surprise greeting.
“Thank you,” I said, nodding my head as regally as I could. “I hope I didn’t keep everyone waiting for too long.”
And ladies, I projected to as many pieces of Stell as I could. What exactly is happening?
We all forgot to tell you last night, Breena sent me apologetically. It’s customary for a Challenger to be formally recognized after liberating a world from a Trial.
I get that, I replied, but I haven’t exactly finished saving it yet. How long is this going to be?
Not long, she told me, because of the very reasons you just mentioned. But remember that this isn’t Earth. Here, neglecting to show gratitude to heroes isn’t just an insult to them, but an insult to the people they rescued. Alright, the Icons are gonna talk to you now.
My fairy friend went silent as the four Icons drifted forward. They wore the same clothing from yesterday. Great Pan looked a tad fatigued, but somehow healthier. The Stag Lord had a number of cuts and bruises on his body that looked to have been already half-healed. Lady Titania and Mother Glade, however, glowed even brighter than they had before, as if they were flush with health and power.
“Lord Challenger,” the Stag Lord said, using that title for the first time with me and bowing his head. “We would like to formally thank you for your role in freeing our world from the grip of the Chaos Wound. We apologize for not having time for a more formal ceremony. But know that you have completely earned our trust. You will have the full support from us that a Challenger can be expected to receive during a Tumult. As you should have received earlier.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered honestly. “And thank you, everyone,” I said, looking around. “I didn’t do this on my own.”
Psst, I sent to Breena, since she was the only part of Stell willing to answer my questions right now. Do I need to say anything else?
No, that’s all of the ceremony. You’re good, we’re done.
Thanks, I thought back to her, addressing the local deities again.
“I suppose we should get back to work, then?” They nodded.
“Would the Challenger mind if we discussed our strategy inside his current quarters?” Mother Glade inquired respectfully, nodding toward the new Monarch.
“If the tree doesn’t mind, I don’t mind.” I turned and looked to the three bodies of the Starsown. “Would you mind accompanying us?”
>
“Yes, Challenger,” Stell finally said, and all three of her bodies began moving.
She followed in behind us, and then Val, the Testifiers, Alum and a few local leaders trickled in as well. The Icons all marveled as they looked around the wooden room.
“An actual Monarch,” Mother Glade breathed. “They had gone extinct. I never thought I would see one again. But where are our manners,” she said suddenly, bowing in no particular direction. “I greet thee, sacred tree.”
“Welcome to my abode, protectors,” a creaking voice said all around us. The four Icons all glowed brighter, Titania and Mother Glade especially.
“This is a glorious occurrence,” Titania said with a smile. “My people have done their best to look after the plants of this world ever since the Monarchs died out, and Mother Glade has done her best to manage forests as a whole. You have done something wondrous, Challenger. Mother Glade and I will both be able to do more for our world because of it.”
“Indeed,” Mother Glade said, glancing at her glowing hand. “This Monarch will increase our personal power in addition to birthing new life for our world. We will be better able to defend ourselves from Dark Icon attacks, and have more personal power to perform magic and miracles for our people. And all of this on top of overcoming a Trial. If we can survive long enough,” she breathed deeply. “But I am getting ahead of myself. Starsown, do you have anything to add?”
Stell slowly shook her dark curls.
“Not in regards to this. We were fortunate the Challenger didn’t take the easier route and just destroy the tree.”
“Huh?” I asked, confused.
“It was weak and dying,” Stell explained. “The easiest solution would have been to finish off the dying Woadfather itself, depriving the Chaos Wound of its sustenance and putting the poor tree out of its misery. Instead, you carefully attacked with light energy, which both damaged the parasite and strengthened the host. Then, instead of trying to reverse or even just halt the process, you found a way to change the mutation to where it benefited the tree instead. You did all of that, instead of just having your people help you blast the tree to death, which would have robbed the parasite of its host and made it almost completely helpless. So thank you, Challenger, for your diligence and care,” Stell finished, with just a touch of irony to her voice.
Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Page 51
