“Let’s just stop talking about it,” suggested Elaine, still facing away from all of them.
“I already know the things you are going to tell me, Irene,” said Lynaralla, attempting to defend herself. “The image I produced was not meant to be taken seriously.”
“What?!” yelled Elaine.
“That was your idea of humor?” asked Karen incredulously. “Please never tell me a joke again,” she added earnestly.
Caught by the nervous tension and ridiculousness of it all, Matthew let out a half-snort, half-giggle. It quickly turned to strangled laughter as Karen and Irene both began hitting him. He fought to contain his laughing. “I can’t help it. It’s funny!” he cried as they pounded on him. “Why are you hitting me? She was the one that did it!”
Eventually they all calmed down and silence reigned for several minutes. “Are we ready to try again?” asked Matthew. “I have a better idea this time.” The response he got was a collection of suspicious glares, but after a time they consented to try once more. As they joined hands he explained, “This time focus on me. Ignore your inner feelings and just listen to my thoughts.” That will help avoid distractions, he added mentally as the link between them solidified.
Matt kept his own thoughts on the task at hand, letting the dimensional boundary fill his attention as the link with the other mages strengthened. He made a point of ignoring the variety of emotions that filtered through to him, letting it all pass him by unnoticed, like the wind on a mild afternoon. As the seconds dragged on the others began to resonate with him, as their own mental states matched his own.
Once everything felt right, he began to draw power from Zephyr, directing it toward the others and using their minds to tune it to the dimensional boundary. It was easiest with Irene and Lynaralla, whose gift matched his own. They had become almost transparent within the bond, extensions of his own power, while Karen and Elaine both exhibited different degrees of resistance.
He took his time, and as they relaxed the resistance seemed to wane until it was almost unnoticeable. When he was ready, the five of them, acting in unison, pushed their power outward and attached themselves to the vast boundary.
A note of satisfaction vibrated between them, a single thought with no definitive originator, step one complete. Then things got weird.
With a single thought, he shifted his—no, their—perspective, passing beyond the world and into the potential that lay between realities. Everything vanished, except the boundary, which was formed within that potential, both underlying and overlying the familiar world. Now they could see it in its entirety, not just the small section they had been standing beside. It was a giant lattice work of lines and planes, stretching out in every direction, dividing and organizing the physical reality they had been born within.
It was a vast matrix of power, and yet, built into its very structure, within each vertex, were the tools needed to control it.
Crouched inside, a sentience existed, an ancient mind, old, powerful, and slowly dying. The last of the gatekeepers. Its roots extended into the matrix, and its mind was connected to the potential that lay between worlds, an Illeniel elder. I am Kion, it announced suddenly. Why have you come?
They responded as one, for only Matthew remained. Because you have grown weak. Mistakes have begun to propagate through the structure.
It no longer matters, answered Kion. The seed has stolen my power. All is lost. That is why the errors appear.
No, Matthew declared. They began before your loss. Age has taken its toll on you.
That may be, but causes are no longer relevant. The end of beginnings is near. Your sire will destroy it all, the elder replied.
It is not gone yet. Help us repair it.
No.
Matt was genuinely surprised. Why?
Nothing but spite remains to me. Your progenitor ruined the only purpose I have lived for.
Then we will replace you, Matt warned.
Laughter echoed through the place that was no place at all. Even if your sire didn’t destroy us all, you would be dust before my death is finished.
Something stirred within him, and Lynaralla’s thoughts emerged. The She’Har have returned. A new elder will be found to take your place.
Do what you will then, child, said Kion. I will neither assist nor resist your effort.
That was enough. Refocusing their mind, Matthew returned to the specific portion of the dimensional matrix that needed shifting, and then he relaxed his boundaries, letting the potential blend itself with them. It absorbed his sense of self, destroying his ego, even as it accepted his purpose.
The power being drawn from Zephyr increased until it burned them, searing through their souls until even the infinity they had joined seemed to consist of nothing but fiery pain. Their aythar enveloped the boundary enclosing Lancaster and began to press.
For the briefest of instants, Matthew knew doubt, and with it came fear. Their power was barely sufficient and even the tiniest of mistakes, the slightest moment of hesitation would cause everything to unravel. The result of such a blunder would be annihilation.
That was why Kion didn’t interfere, he realized. He wants to die.
THEN HE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.
The voice that thundered through him was not that of the potential, nor was it any of the others that composed him now. He recognized it without being aware of where his recognition came from. Father!
DO IT, WHILE YOUR COURAGE HOLDS FIRM.
The power that resonated within those words was so great that it threatened to destroy them, but Matthew found comfort in his father’s presence nonetheless. Seizing the moment, he pushed his doubt aside and with one last surge of will, he inverted the boundary that Lancaster lay within.
He knew he had succeeded, and wasting no time, he released the power coming from Zephyr and shifted them back to the world they were familiar with. But things were still not back to normal. In the distance he could see the road stretching on toward Lancaster—the world had been repaired, but he perceived it now through five sets of eyes.
The bond that connected them was still in full force. He had five bodies, but his mind was still his own. Looking back and forth, he studied his bodies from all the perspectives available to him. Four of them were undeniably female, but he was still male. It was disconcerting and fascinating all at once.
Their minds were present, he could feel them, but their wills were gone. A sense of power washed over him. Is this how Moira feels? he wondered. How does she manage to control herself? The power was intoxicating. He could do anything.
Once again, he studied his subordinate bodies before fixing his attention on Lynaralla. She was perfect, her body without flaws, immortal and unchanging. Her physical form was also incredibly beautiful.
And it was his, to do with as he pleased.
In response to his unspoken will, Lynaralla’s face turned to him and smiled before licking her lips. The expression was unlike her, for it was entirely human, and it mirrored his subconscious desire.
He forced his attention away from her, and his many eyes came to rest upon Elaine. She was not perfect, but she was also desirable. Even her minor flaws held their own charm. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, and he saw himself through them.
The expression on his face was predatory. In his face he saw hunger—and evil.
For a moment—or to his shame, perhaps longer—he thought maybe he could live with that. Until he let his attention shift to Karen. She gazed back at him like the others, though with her blue skin and curly hair she was the most visibly different of them all. His heart moved when he saw her, and more importantly, he saw genuine emotion within her, true affection that wasn’t a product of his own will.
Angry at himself, he broke the bond and all four of the women around him collapsed, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Taking deep breaths, Matthew sat down in the grass, studying his unconscious friends.
“Damn. I hope they don’t remember any of
that,” he muttered, feeling incredibly tired.
Chapter 23
Karen woke after a short nap, feeling worn and exhausted. The others roused themselves not long after, and Gram, Cyhan, and Alyssa rejoined them a short while later, but Karen was in no shape to teleport them back to Matthew’s home just yet.
Matthew had been sitting nearby when she woke, but he had yet to speak. While he was usually quiet, his silence on this occasion was almost unnerving. His wan face looked tired, but there was something more there, as though he was haunted by something. Karen pulled him aside not long after they were all together again. “What’s wrong? It looks like it worked.”
His eyes met hers, but only for an instant before they shifted to something to one side. “It did work. I’m just tired.”
“You aren’t the only one,” she agreed, though she sensed something hidden in his words. “But something else is bothering you.”
“A little,” he admitted.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Was it something you saw on the other side?”
No, something on my inside, he thought sourly. “How much do you remember?”
“Not much,” she answered honestly. “After we joined, things were confusing at first, but once you started everything sort of faded away. I remember a lot of pain at one point, like I was holding a piece of red-hot iron. When we came back, I remember everyone staring at each other, but I think I passed out right after that. Did something happen?”
“No,” he said, perhaps a bit too sharply. Seeing the look on her face he softened his tone. “Do you think I’m a good person?”
He’s doubting himself, she realized. “What’s that?” she returned, her voice joking. When his face didn’t change, she went on, “Listen, I’m not a kid. I don’t believe in heroes and villains like they have in comic books.”
“Comic books?”
“Stories,” she supplied. “People aren’t that simple. We’re all a mixed bag. Even the definitions of good and evil are relative to the observer.”
Matthew nodded but didn’t respond. If anything, he looked worse than before. Karen kissed his cheek. “I didn’t fall in love with you because I thought you were a hero,” she added. “Although, if anyone fit that description, you certainly come damn close. You’ve ticked me off something fierce a few times, usually when you try to exclude me out of some misguided desire to protect me, but overall I think you’re a pretty decent human being.”
“I might be more mixed than you think,” he told her, understating his feeling.
She fixed her eyes on him. “Why do you say that?” When he didn’t answer, she pushed harder. “Come on, tell me. Don’t let it fester.”
He still didn’t reply right away, but after a long pause, followed by a tired sigh, he said, “I think I understand what Moira’s been going through a little better.”
Karen studied him for a minute. “From controlling us?”
Matt nodded. “After it was over, I waited a bit before releasing you and the others. I didn’t want to let go.”
“Not because of how close you felt to us,” she clarified.
He shook his head. “It was the power, absolute power.”
“It couldn’t have lasted forever,” she said, trying to divert his guilt.
“I’m not so sure. I think it could have been permanent.”
Karen frowned, causing her freckles to wrinkle. “So we’d have been what, your slaves?”
Matthew refused to look at her, studying his sleeve instead. “Something like that.”
The suggestion made her angry. The thought was repugnant, but the man in front of her was not. They had been through too much together. After gathering her thoughts, she responded, “But you chose to let it go.”
“What if I hadn’t?”
Karen wound her hand through his hair and then gripped it painfully, tugging until his face was in front of hers. “But you did. It’s what you do that counts. Should we start judging people by every ugly thought they have? If so, I’m probably a murderess at least three times over every day before I go to bed.”
“It’s not just what I did,” he insisted. “I didn’t want to let go.”
Lynaralla’s perfect face popped into her mind then, and Karen gritted her teeth. He hadn’t said it, but she had a fair idea what sort of depravity might have run through his head. She wanted to punch him, or worse. Later, she told herself. She suppressed the urge to bite and kissed him instead. “Let’s look at this from a different angle,” she began. “Think about your father.”
For the first time, Matt laughed. “Bad example. I know exactly how messed up he is.”
“Stop using your brain for a minute and think with your heart,” Karen explained. “Sure, you know he’s made a lot of mistakes. You know he’s done some bad things. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about how you feel about him.”
Matt pushed her hand away, freeing his head. “What do you mean?”
“In your heart, you’re a little boy,” she explained. “A little boy who idolizes him. He’s your hero, and he probably feels the same way about his father. You don’t think he’s evil, no matter what he’s done.”
“He’s saved the world several times over,” said Matt defensively. “I don’t think he’s perfect but he’s definitely not evil.”
“And he probably feels the same way about his dad,” added Karen. “And there are a lot of people who feel that way about you, myself included. Stop judging yourself by a higher standard.”
Matthew sat down but stayed quiet for a while after that. Karen found a seat beside him and let the silence soak in before she asked, “Feeling any better?”
“A little.”
“Good,” she pronounced, pulling him back to his feet. “Let’s go back before the others start making up stories about us.” They walked hand in hand on the way back, but just before they reached the group, she said something else, sending a cold chill up his spine. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were thinking. I’ll forgive you, but I’m still going to punish you later.”
***
They didn’t bother traveling home. There weren’t enough dragons to carry everyone, so even having to wait a few hours for Karen’s strength to recover was still faster than walking. When she felt ready, she took them in three groups.
Matthew was among the first, and something felt off as soon as he arrived. He glanced at Irene and stated his feeling, “Something’s not right, Rennie.”
Lynaralla, Irene, and Zephyr stood with him in the yard, and they looked back and forth at one another for several seconds. Karen reappeared with Gram, Alyssa, and Grace a moment later. Gram took one look at their faces before asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Moira’s not here,” said Matthew. “She was supposed to be here.”
Irene frowned. “You sent her to Albamarl, remember?”
Matt nodded. “This doesn’t match my vision. It was almost certain that she would be here when we returned.”
Alyssa and Gram looked at each another. As always, she was already armored, and with a word, his armor appeared and encased his body. The two of them strode in unison toward the door, while at the same time Karen returned with Elaine and Cyhan. After a few words, Elaine volunteered to scout the other side of the house where the workshop was.
“I’ll come with you,” suggested Sir Cyhan.
Elaine waved him away. “That would defeat the purpose of having a Prathion do it.” She vanished even as she said it, and the rest of them resigned themselves to waiting.
“I don’t like this,” said Karen.
“Me either,” responded Matthew. “It feels weird whenever Gram acts like he’s my bodyguard. I should have gone in with him.”
“You’re more important than the rest of us,” said Lynaralla matter-of-factly.
“Although clearly your omniscience isn’t everything you thought it was,” added Irene.
Gram stuck his head back out from inside the house. “It see
ms empty. Come use your magic sniffers to see if we missed anything.”
They all started forward immediately, though Matthew made sure he was the first to enter. “Magic sniffer?” he asked, giving Gram a curious look.
The young knight shrugged. “Whatever you want to call it.”
The house was empty, and after a thorough search they found nothing, though Karen was the first to note that the door leading to the portal to Albamarl had been propped open. Matt joined her and after rubbing his chin went to check on the portal room next to it. “They’ve all been damaged,” he announced.
Gram and Alyssa joined them, and a second later Elaine appeared behind them without warning. “The teleportation circle in the workshop was damaged too.”
Matthew and Karen jumped, but neither of the two warriors even flinched. Alyssa winked at Gram and then said, looking at the two mages, “You get too wrapped up in your thoughts. We heard her walk in.”
Karen scowled, but Matthew merely composed himself with a deep breath. “I’m sure everyone’s hungry. Why don’t you see if there’s anything to be had in the kitchen?”
Alyssa smiled wryly, then stood to attention. “Certainly, my lord. Your warrior-maid stands ready to serve.”
It turned out there wasn’t much in the pantry, but the garden still held vegetables. Karen and Cyhan helped gather and clean them while Alyssa got the kitchen stove burning. An hour and a half later they had a simple but filling soup.
The room was silent, but for the sounds of slurping. Everyone ate quickly, while Matthew sat staring into his bowl, hardly touching his spoon. “It was him,” he muttered. “It had to be.”
“Who?” asked Elaine.
“Tyrion,” said Lynaralla immediately.
“You think so too?” asked Matthew.
She nodded. “Who else would have cause to try and keep anyone from following him here? Moira must have succeeded, and he was forced to escape here.”
Sir Cyhan looked alarmed. “That means he escaped through the Queen’s chambers.”
Transcendence and Rebellion Page 19
