by Davis Ashura
“There is another potential we’ve recently discovered,” Isha said. “He, too, is a raha’asra. We must have them both.”
“Two raha’asras.” Dalton’s eyes widened in amazement. “You’ll have a Primeship for this,” he said, his tone far more respectful.
“I suppose I will,” Isha replied in a noncommittal tone.
Serena viewed her teacher with confusion. What higher posting could there be than a Primeship? Then again, he had mentioned the Servitor’s Chair.
The phone rang from the kitchen, and Isha tilted his head toward it, a silent command. Serena muttered under her breath. Isha hated using the phone.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Serena? Hey. It’s William.”
“Hi. What’s going on?” she asked, infusing her voice with girlish curiosity. She noticed Dalton watching intently, and she turned her back to him.
“Nothing much,” William said, “but movie night’s off.”
Serena frowned. “Why?” she asked, aiming for a puzzled tone with a tinge of hurt.
“Mr. Zeus got mad about my jug, and he wants me to break figurative bread with Jake tomorrow night.”
“Jake’s coming over to your house for dinner?”
“If he says yes,” William replied, sounding unhappy and resentful.
“Well, have fun with that,” Serena said with an involuntary grin.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”
“It won’t be so bad,” Serena said. “At least Jason and Mr. Zeus will be there.”
“I guess,” William said, still sounding unenthusiastic. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. Maybe we can do something on Sunday?”
“Sure. Catch a movie?”
“We’ll see. Later.”
“Bye.”
Isha and Dalton eyed her expectantly when she hung up, and Serena explained her conversation.
“Both of the raha’asras will be nearby tomorrow night?” Dalton mulled. “And we’re certain they’re both raha’asras?”
Serena castigated herself. She could already see the way Isha and Dalton would plan for William and Jake’s capture. Both raha’asras would be in one place tomorrow, and she’d told them so. Idiot! Why hadn’t she lied or remained silent? Anything other than tell the truth?
“I personally inspected Jake,” Isha answered, “and Serena did the same with William.”
“Meaning only one is truly known,” Dalton said.
“Meaning they both are. Serena confirmed William. It’s the same as if I had done so.”
“It isn’t the same.”
Their argument didn’t matter. Serena had already betrayed the one person in the world who she could have called a friend. There was no returning from what she’d done, and she steeled her heart to accept the burden she’d have to bear.
“It is since I trained her,” Isha countered. “She is my bishan. I trust her.”
“You trust her.” Dalton smirked. “How touching.”
“She knows how to do her task,” Isha said. “Don’t read more into it than exists.”
Dalton shrugged. “Regardless, I see a means for us to capture both raha’asras tomorrow night.”
Curiosity raised its head, but Serena paid it no attention. She didn’t care. She felt broken inside.
“How?” Isha asked.
“The reward for the ones who bring the raha’asras in will be enormous,” Dalton said, sounding crafty.
“Yes, and I’ll be sure to share my honor with you and your mahavans,” Isha countered.
Dalton grimaced, and Isha laughed. “Did you really think you’d be able to take the lion’s share of glory in this endeavor? After Serena barely survived a necrosed and had a large hand in that tainted creature’s demise? And never forget it was I who uncovered William Wilde to begin with.”
“Fine,” Dalton growled. “The glory is yours.”
“But I can be generous with those who ally with me,” Isha said. “Now tell me your plan.”
“Our prey are having dinner together tomorrow night,” Dalton began. “We attack them during their meal and secure our prizes.”
Despite her inner turmoil and self-loathing, Serena jeered at Dalton’s stupid plan. “Those two magi are going to be more than you and your two mahavans can handle,” she said. “And what if the other four are present as well? Five of us against six magi? On their ground? We’d lose. Badly.”
Dalton huffed in disdain. “You overestimate their chances,” he said, “or perhaps your time abroad has weakened your resolve.”
“Or perhaps you speak from ignorance,” Serena countered. “I saw them fight, remember? They defeated a necrosed. No mahavan in all of history can make such a claim.”
“Then what do you propose?” Dalton asked. He crossed his arms. “Ask them nicely if they’ll give us the raha’asras?”
“No,” Isha said. “But Serena’s right. Cunning is required here, not brute strength.” A moment later, he smiled. “We wreck Jake’s car. William is the only one who likes to drive. He’ll end up driving Jake home. Somewhere on the way, there’s likely to be a stretch of road with no one to witness our actions. We’ll take them there.”
PRIZED NEEDS
February 1987
* * *
The doorbell rang, and William looked up from where he’d been watching Wheel of Fortune. He checked the clock. Precisely six p.m.
“At least he’s prompt,” Jason noted from the kitchen where he’d organized the pizza for tonight’s meeting.
Mr. Zeus set aside his pipe. “One small point in his favor.” he said from his place in his ugly plaid recliner.
William opened the door, and Jake stood on the front stoop wearing his letterman’s jacket. Shadows from the weak porch light hid half his face, and his breath misted in the winter air. To William, Jake seemed nervous but trying hard not to show it.
“Come on in,” William offered. “Glad you could make it.”
“Thanks for inviting me.”
“Toss your coat on the couch.”
“You must be Jake Ridley,” Mr. Zeus said, rising from his chair. “Welcome.”
Jason nodded in greeting. “Jake,” he said.
His simple greeting seemed to carry shades of meaning, some of it threatening, and Jake noticed. He stiffened further.
Jason gave a knowing half-smile. “You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you here.”
“You say I’m safe, but I saw what you did to that creature,” Jake said.
“If you remember that, then you also remember my actions didn’t have much effect on it.” Jason pointed to William. “He’s the one who killed it. He’s the one you should fear.”
Jake stepped away from William, eyeing him warily.
“Enough. Stop trying to frighten him,” Mr. Zeus ordered Jason before returning to Jake. “My apologies for my grandson’s behavior. He thinks he’s being funny. You have nothing to fear from us.”
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Jake said, edging toward the door.
“Then you’ll never learn what you seek,” Mr. Zeus said. His words halted Jake’s retreat. “I meant what I said. You have nothing to fear from any of us. Not tonight. You’re a guest in our house. It means something where we come from.”
“And where exactly is that?” Jake asked. “It sure isn’t Alabama, or wherever you say you’re from.”
“Louisiana, actually,” William corrected. “But that’s not where they’re from either.”
Mr. Zeus snapped his fingers. “I understand now.”
“Understand what?” William asked in puzzlement.
“You see it?” Mr. Zeus asked Jason, disregarding William’s question. “Look at his lorethasra and compare the two of them.”
Jake looked from one of them to the other, appearing even more confused than William felt. “What’s going on?” Once more he appeared on the verge of flight.
“An explanation for why you were able to resist my braid, the one meant to w
ipe your memories,” Mr. Zeus said. “After you and your friends encountered the necrosed, I erased those memories, and it worked on everyone but you. Only someone with the potential to become an asrasin could be left unaffected.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jake said, sounding both frustrated and scared.
“You’ve got a lot to learn,” William said with a snort, remembering his own talks with Mr. Zeus and Jason. “Let’s talk over pizza. Pizza always makes things better.”
Jake gave a hesitant nod. “If you say so.”
“I say so,” William told him. “You’ll thank me after you hear what Mr. Zeus tells you.”
After passing Jake a plate piled high with pepperoni pizza and a can of Coke, William got his own food together and they all took seats in the family room. He’d barely settled in when Mr. Zeus launched into his explanation. Most of it William already knew, and he only half paid attention. He did chuckle, though, when Jake’s eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped when Mr. Zeus and Jason demonstrated some of their abilities.
“You’re saying I can learn to do all this?” Jake asked. “That I can become a magus?”
“Yes. And not any normal magus,” Mr. Zeus said, “but a raha’asra, a rare and sometimes powerful asrasin. In fact, your potential lorethasra is almost identical to William’s, only less powerful, less vibrant in its colors.”
Jake sat speechless.
“A lot to take in, isn’t it?” Jason asked, this time with a friendlier grin.
“Yeah,” Jake answered, sounding breathless. “How did this happen? Was I born like this?”
“No. You were changed,” Mr. Zeus answered. “As I said, your potential lorethasra is almost identical to William’s, but not as powerful.”
“William is powerful?”
Mr. Zeus nodded. “With study and practice, he has the potential to be more powerful than any asrasin born in centuries.”
William tried to appear modest, but he knew he sucked at lying. “I have the potential,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I’ll actually manage it.”
“And I’m like him?” Jake asked Mr. Zeus.
“No and yes. No, you’ll never be as powerful as him. But yes, you’re like him since your potential lorethasra was derived from William’s.”
“What?” William and Jake both exclaimed.
“The only way your potential lorethasra could be so identical to William’s is if it had its origin in his. That can only happen if his blood—only the blood of a raha’asra can effect such a transformation—somehow mixed with your own. Less than a drop is all that’s required.”
“You mean he infected me?” Jake asked, eyeing William in anger and disgust.
“He infected you with magic. I think you should thank him rather than curse him,” Jason noted dryly.
William, though, felt no less disgust than Jake. He, too, scowled as he tried to figure out how his blood might have gotten into Jake.
They figured it out at the same time. “The Oklahoma drill!” they said together.
“That’s why we couldn’t sense your lorethasra until a few days ago,” Jason said. “It was still gestating.”
Jake made a sound of loathing. “You make it sound like some kind of creature growing inside me.”
“I’m sure this is all quite repugnant to you,” Mr. Zeus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “But since you now know about us, we need to know about you. I couldn’t wipe your mind before, but now I know which levers to pull, it won’t be a problem.”
Jake swallowed. “What do you need me to say?”
“The truth,” William advised. “Don’t lie to them. They’ll figure it out.”
“Tell us who you are,” Mr. Zeus said, his face grave. “I have an idea, but I want to hear it from your own mouth. Prove you’re worthy to receive the knowledge because your reputation says that you’re a bully, and Arylyn has no room for such individuals.”
“I’m not a bully,” Jake said with an obstinate thrust of his jaw.
William rolled his eyes, making sure Jake saw.
“Okay. I mean I might have bullied you a few times, but it’s not who I am.”
“Then who are you?” Jason asked.
“And why do you care if you won’t remember any of this?” William asked. “If you step into a saha’asra, you have to leave the real world. You might never get to see your family and friends again. Your life the way it is now would be over, and I think you really like it the way it is now.”
“I’ve got to know the truth,” Jake insisted in a dogged, quiet tone. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“What about the rest of it?” Jason asked. “Sacrificing your life here?”
“I think I’ll pass,” Jake replied. “But can I think about it some before I give you my final decision?”
“Can you think about whether to come with us to Arylyn?” Mr. Zeus asked. “Absolutely, but I’ve made no such offer yet, and I won’t until I know who you are. As I said, word travels that you’re a bully. But words spoken about another are often nothing but rumor and gossip. I want solid information. Provide it. Prove yourself. Who are you?”
Jake’s face pinched as he seemed to gather his thoughts. “My father owns a large car dealership, so I’ve always been rich, and I love it. People think I’m conceited, which is probably true, but I’m not selfish.”
William snorted and Jason shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s true,” Jake said defensively. “I’m the one who organizes the football team’s food drives.”
William blinked in surprise. “You did that?”
Jake nodded. “Even as a freshman, it was me. Every summer since eighth grade I’ve volunteered at a center for handicapped kids. And most Saturday afternoons I volunteer at a nursing home. I spend time with the residents since their families don’t come by much.”
William found himself impressed. Last semester he’d made his peace with Jake, but he’d never really come to like him much, even before their most recent disagreement. But if he was telling the truth about all his volunteering, then Jake Ridley did have a generous heart, and William wished he could have known that other version of him better.
“Then there’s my brother, Pete,” Jake continued. “He’s got a type of muscular dystrophy. It means he’s always been weak and always will be. Ever since he was little, I’ve watched out for him as much as my parents have.”
The entire time Jake spoke, Mr. Zeus stared at him, wearing an enigmatic expression. William wondered at his thoughts.
“You don’t lie. You believe your heart to be as generous as you claim,” Mr. Zeus announced. “You’ve earned your grace period, but you’ll never again talk about what we told you, or what you saw of Kohl Obsidian.”
Jake breathed out in relief. “I promise not to say a thing,” he vowed before quirking a grin. “Besides, who’d believe me?”
“You misunderstand,” Mr. Zeus said, his voice growing chill. “You won’t speak because you won’t be able to, except to another magi. I know where the levers are, remember?”
Jake’s lips thinned in anger. “You can’t cast a spell on me.”
“We prefer to call them braids.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Life never is,” Mr. Zeus replied. “You have your answers. Consider your curiosity sated.”
Jake said his goodbyes to Mr. Zeus and Jason, and William accompanied him out to his car.
“Very enlightening evening,” Jake said in as laconic a fashion as he could manage. He leaned against his Corvette and tried to sort out his thoughts. His breath frosted in the cold, night air. William’s neighborhood, quiet and suburban, seemed to mock him with its sense of normality.
“You’re handling it better than I did,” William said.
Jake grunted acknowledgement, but his thoughts were elsewhere. As usual, they circled back to the monster at Winton Woods, the necrosed. “That thing really killed your parents?”
William nodded. �
�I thought he killed Landon too, but I guess my new world is one full of miracles.”
Jake spun his keyring around a finger. He caught it in mid-flight before spinning it in the opposite direction. So much of what he’d been told sounded ridiculous, fantastical, and impossible. But what about the necrosed and Jason and Mr. Zeus’ demonstrations of their abilities? “How do you deal with it?” Jake finally asked. “All these magical things. The monsters. The spells or braids, or whatever. I thought I was ready for anything, but this is too much.”
“It wasn’t easy,” William admitted. “At least not at first, but eventually you get used to it.”
“Are you really going to Arylyn?”
“Kohl made me an orphan. There’s not much holding me here any more. The only reason we haven’t already left is because I wanted to graduate from high school first.”
“Then I’ve got until graduation to decide what to do?” Jake asked.
“Only if they accept you,” William reminded him. “But no, you don’t have that long. Mr. Zeus says it’s gotten too dangerous for us to stay here. He plans on going to Arylyn in the next few days. All of us. Maybe next weekend.”
“Wait. Mr. Zeus is worried?”
William nodded.
“About what?” Jake asked in exasperation. “He’s a magus. Jason can blast fire out of his hands. You guys fight demons and monsters. What could be dangerous for someone like them?”
“Other creatures like Kohl.”
“Oh.” Jake fell silent as he considered what to do. “I’ve got two days to decide my future.” He chuckled in grim disbelief before unlocking the Corvette, and sliding into the driver’s seat. “That’s not much time.”
“It’s what it is,” William answered, offering no pity. “Besides, I still don’t get why it’s such a hard choice. You’ve got a great life. Why would you want to give all that away?”
“Why would you?” Jake asked, inserting the key into the ignition.
“I’ve got no choice,” William said. “Once my lorethasra was exposed to a saha’asra, it became Arylyn or death.”
Jake grunted understanding while he considered what he wanted. In the end, the decision wasn’t hard. While the lure of magic was great, he liked his life the way it was. He had good friends and a family who loved him. By most standards, his life was already magical enough, or at least blessed. There was no way he’d trade it away for anything, not even magic. “Should I call you when I’ve made my decision?”
