by Frank Morin
Verena nodded, her grip tight on his arms. “I didn’t understand a lot of what she said. It was so unexpected and things were happening so fast, but she mentioned you and said she hopes to be able to speak with you soon.”
“I hope so! This is amazing. I never imagined they could actually talk. Did she seem like a real person?”
“Real in my mind, at least.” Verena paused and leaned closer. “Connor, I think I discovered that there’s a Builder threshold.”
“What?” he exclaimed again. He hadn’t thought anything could surprise him more.
She laughed with delight. “I sensed it, Connor. Kirstin’s Defense took me right to the gateway. It unlocked so much more power than I’ve ever imagined possible. Connor, if there’s a threshold we can ascend through too, that might change so much!”
The possibilities were mind boggling, and if Verena was right, a Builder threshold challenged their fundamental understanding of the makeup of Builder powers. “I wonder if Kirstin ascended. Was that how she pushed the limits of Builder mechanicals so much farther than anyone else?”
“Maybe.”
The others had reached the Hawk and Kilian shouted back, “Connor, come on!”
“We need to share this with everyone else,” Connor said as he and Verena broke into a run toward the rest of the group.
“You don’t have time. Tell Hamish and Kilian about it while you travel. See if Kilian has any insights. We can discuss it when you return.”
They reached the Hawk and Connor paused to sweep Verena into his arms one last time, holding her tight. She clung to him for a couple seconds and whispered, “Be safe, Connor. I know you’ll get there in time and ascend. I’ll see you soon.”
He kissed her, then waved to the others and jumped aboard the Hawk just as Hamish activated thrusters and lifted rapidly into the air. He applied rear thrusters before they even rose above the wall, and accelerated fast. They shot over the heads of waving soldiers already returning to man the wall, and sped southeast on full throttle.
Connor settled into his seat and glanced back at Verena, standing in the square that fell away behind them. Verena touched two of her fingers to her lips in a sign she used sometimes instead of blowing a kiss. He grinned and returned the gesture, happy that she was okay.
Then he said, “You guys aren’t going to believe what Verena just told me.”
Hamish glanced over and said, “I knew it. Lunch was ready.”
46
History Gets Twisted in Funny Ways
Verena saw water as a living being?” Kilian asked incredulously.
“And she sensed a threshold for Builders?” Hamish exclaimed.
“That’s what she said,” Connor repeated.
He wished Verena was there to explain it to them in more detail. She would have loved to see the looks on their faces. They had tried connecting with her via speakstone, but she hadn’t responded. They’d reached Rory, and he said she was already working on rebuilding the Swift. He had promised to send someone to request she contact them as soon as possible.
They were flying high, speeding for Jagdish. Hamish had pushed the Hawk so high that if not for the shielding around the windows, coupled with some quartzite air to stabilize the pressure, they might have asphyxiated. He had also activated the marble stoves in the cabin to ward off the bitter chill.
The land spread beneath them for miles in every direction. Mountains looked tiny, and somehow flattened. With the help of Air, Connor had found a powerful wind rushing in the direction they needed to go and they’d ascended to it. Through his quartzite senses, he could feel how the air around the Hawk grew so thin the thrusters began struggling to find sufficient purchase.
Driven by those powerful thrusters and the roaring wind, they were hurtling over the land at speeds that would have seemed impossible only months ago. At the moment it still felt too slow. Connor had coaxed Air to help reduce wind drag to gain even more speed.
Air seemed a little offended as she pranced about in his mind. She did not seem to like the fact that they wanted to fly faster than her mighty wind, but Connor spent some time praising her, and that seemed to help. As a result, they shot across western Obrion and into Ravinder faster than anyone had probably ever traveled.
Even Kilian looked impressed as he gazed out the window. “And you see the elements like living beings in your mind?”
Connor nodded. He hadn’t shared that fact with anyone but Verena, and it felt strange discussing it aloud. He’d worried they would laugh at him, but Kilian only looked thoughtful.
Connor said, “I started seeing them as people after my first ascension, and they seemed even more solid after the second. Seeing them like that helps me feel more connected.”
“I encouraged you to visualize your connections, but hadn’t expected you to take it so far,” Kilian admitted with a grin.
“What are they like?” Aifric asked from where she reclined on cushions across the second row of seats.
“I see Water as a mature woman with long, flowing tresses like gentle waves.”
“And Verena saw something similar?” Kilian asked.
Connor nodded and Aifric asked, “Do you think she’s inventing an elemental person like that just because you told her about it?”
“I don’t know. She hadn’t planned to see anyone, but said Water just appeared to her when she activated Kirstin’s Defense.”
Kilian said thoughtfully, “Kirstin had started speaking of the elements as if they had personalities in the last days before my mother executed her. I thought she was just waxing poetic.”
“You’ve never seen them like people in your mind?” Hamish asked.
He shook his head. “Never.”
That seemed weird to Connor. Kilian was so much more experienced. If the elements were really were somehow real, why not manifest themselves to Kilian?
“Did your parents ever speak of the elements like living beings?” Connor asked.
“No, and honestly they urged extreme caution when tapping tertiary powers.”
“Really? I thought you said they focused more on tertiaries than any other power,” Connor said.
“They did. Especially my mother. I always thought she was just jealous that anyone else could access the same affinities, but maybe there was more. She once told me I wasn’t ready to learn the deeper secrets because I didn’t respect the dangers enough.”
“I wish she’d told you more about the dangers,” Aifric said. “Then maybe you’d know more about what Kirstin did to hurt your father.”
“Me too,” Kilian said softly.
“Did Kirstin ever talk about a Builder threshold?” Hamish asked.
Kilian shook his head. “I’m as astonished as you to hear about it. Kirstin and I were close, but she grew more distant when she moved to Merkland. I thought she was just grieving for the loss of her husband and focused on raising her boys.”
Connor felt deeply frustrated. “We need to know more.”
“We’ll learn a few things when we get to Jagdish,” Aifric assured him.
“We’d better,” Connor said glumly.
“Well, we already learned we can travel a lot faster than we’d realized,” Hamish said happily.
Kilian grinned as he looked out at the land scrolling past. “I can move very fast when I need to, but this . . .” He gestured at their comfortable cabin. It was warm and calm, although the entire vehicle thrummed from the quartzite thrusters. “I believe this will revolutionize how we think of travel.”
Hamish started and reached for one of the speakstone controls. “I’ve got a connection coming online. Hold on.”
Verena’s voice sounded through the cabin, but it was crackly, her words indistinct. “. . . Connor . . . Talk.”
“What’s wrong?” Connor asked, leaning forward, frowning as he tried to make out the garbled transmission. “Are they under attack again?” The thought filled him with dread. If they suffered another attack, could the weary defenders rea
lly fight off another wave of monsters, or an army? Could Connor’s team risk turning around to help again?
Hamish frowned as he concentrated over the speakstone. “I think it’s the distance.”
A moment later, Verena’s voice faded away. If she really was trying to ask for help, and if they didn’t turn back again, would he ever hear her voice again?
“Are you sure?” Kilian asked, also looking concerned.
Hamish nodded. “We’re pretty far away already and we’re moving away really fast. We haven’t set up signal boosters out this way yet.”
“Something to consider for the future,” Kilian said.
“Can we boost the signal to make sure they’re all right?” Connor asked, feeling tense.
“I could try linking in our spare thruster blocks. That would probably do it,” Hamish offered.
Connor liked that idea, but Kilian said, “I doubt they’re under attack again so soon. Besides, Ilse and her reinforcements should be almost there. With how much power we’re consuming, we’ll need those spare thrusters. No, let’s wait until our return.”
“I think we should try anyway,” Connor said. He didn’t like not knowing.
Kilian held his gaze and said simply, “If we did, and if we confirmed they are indeed under attack again, what would you have us do?”
The question hung in the air and Connor hesitated. Of course he wanted to know, and if Verena and the others were in danger again, he would want to help.
Could they risk it again?
He leaned back in his seat, folded his arms, and scowled at the panoramic view. “I know we can’t turn back, but I hate not knowing.”
“Trust our friends. Trust Ilse and her reinforcements,” Kilian said. “Our mission is fraught with enough danger, and we already took one calculated risk. We cannot afford to get distracted.”
He was right, Tallan take it. Connor still didn’t like it. Aifric placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be fine.”
Kilian said, “Where exactly is Jagdish?”
Connor pushed aside his lingering worries and decided that focusing on his mission to ascend was the fastest way to return to Verena. Besides, he really was eager to prepare for the attempt.
Aifric shifted to Student Eighteen, sitting up a little straighter, her features shifting subtly. She gestured slightly left of their current heading. “I’ve never approached it from this angle, but I think we’re on track to pass it a little to the north. It lies northeast of Maninder and east of the trading road from Granadure.”
“Okay. We can follow this wind stream for another half hour, and then we’ll probably have to drop lower and bank south,” Hamish said.
Student Eighteen added, “We’ll be looking for some rough, uneven hills, broken by a couple of mountains. Jagdish is located on the eastern side of the taller peak. It’s very difficult to access from the ground, and almost impossible to see until one has already passed through the outer defenses.”
That only made Connor want to see it even more. Keeping secrets was difficult. Keeping an entire community secret for three centuries seemed impossible, yet the Mhortair had somehow managed it. No doubt, they removed anyone who was unfortunate enough to stumble upon their stronghold. He hoped they didn’t try anything like that today.
“What else can you tell us about your people?” Connor asked.
“Jagdish has always remained fairly small. If the population grows too much, the kill council sends families out to infiltrate other parts of the continent and establish satellite bases for our assassins, spies, and informants.”
Hamish looked impressed. “That’s really smart. How many outposts do you have in Obrion?”
She only raised a single eyebrow. Hamish assumed that “I’m innocent” look that never worked on anyone Connor had ever seen and exclaimed, “You don’t trust me?”
She barked a laugh. “It’s not a matter of trust. I don’t even know all of the locations. Even if I did, and I shared them with you, what would happen if the queen picked them out of your mind the next time we faced her?”
Hamish shrugged. “I doubt she would bother. She hates Builders so much she would be too busy boiling me to sludge.”
“Even if that was true, the kill council wouldn’t be happy you knew too much.”
“Who are the kill council?” Connor asked. She had mentioned them before, but he knew too little about her people, and suddenly that worried him. They were on their way to try negotiating a peace accord.
“They rule every aspect of Jagdish life.” She explained how the Kill Academy was the premier school, where every child was tested and taught their first lessons, and where their ranks were winnowed down to the few skilled enough to eventually become assassins. The rest of the community was dedicated to supporting the mission of the assassins, providing the food, weapons, power stone, and everything else they needed to succeed.
Every other aspect of life was considered secondary to that mission. Such single-minded dedication to a cause would have been inspirational if the cause was perfecting omelets or fine-tuning recipes to maximize belch potential instead of killing.
Connor had been forced to fight a lot, and even to kill more than once, but he could not imagine dedicating his life to nothing but death. Then again, hadn’t they all dedicated all of their resources and pulled in vast support from Granadure and the Arishat League with the specific mission of killing? They had to kill the queen, and everything else in their lives was sacrificed as secondary to that mission.
He didn’t like the idea that his current life resembled the Mhortair so closely. What choice did they have, though?
“What do your people fear would happen if they lost focus a little?” He asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Your entire community is totally focused on the mission of murder, infiltration, and destruction. Why? What would happen if you lightened up a little?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but hesitated, her expression thoughtful. “We do a few other things too, you know. It’s not just a murder fest every day.”
“That’s good to hear. I bet you eat overcooked bacon just to toughen yourselves up,” Hamish said with a chuckle.
“Actually, one aspect of our missions to perfectly infiltrate other countries is to know their food. We’ve been compiling a master list of the best recipes from across the continent for over two centuries. Mister One, the supreme leader of the kill council, always encourages us to find more.”
Hamish turned in his seat, his expression eager. “Really? Your leader sounds really wise. I’ll share Schwinkendorf’s recipes with him.”
“Just like that?” Connor asked, surprised. Those recipes were probably Hamish’s greatest treasure beside his battle suit. Maybe he’d develop ways to incorporate some of the recipes into his suit. The idea made him smile to himself, imagining clever mechanicals built into the suit to rapid-fire produce omelets.
Student Eighteen chuckled. “I am sure he would love to trade recipes with you. He’s ancient and extremely powerful, and he loves good food.”
“He’d have to. A wise man like that understands that the more we share good recipes, the better we’ll all eat. And people who feast together are far more likely to focus on creating better desserts than trying to kill each other.”
Kilian chuckled. “When you speak with your stomach, you show uncommon wisdom.”
“I’m just a guy with an uncommon stomach affinity,” Hamish responded, patting his belly.
Connor laughed, hoping Hamish could help keep the mood light when they met the Mhortair. There was a very real chance the meeting could go badly, and he hated that he had to prepare to fight the people he so desperately needed to ally with.
Kilian chuckled. “Let’s hope Mister One responds positively. He’s descended from a long line of sometimes foolish men.”
“Please don’t speak to the kill council members like that,” Student Eighteen said carefully.
“I
have a long history with the Mhortair. It wasn’t always friendly, but I’m willing to let the past remain in the past in order to deal with the present,” Kilian replied calmly.
Connor hoped so. He wasn’t sure if the kill council understood that Kilian had known Mhortair, had been trained personally by him in battle tactics, and knew him as the queen’s most trusted bodyguard.
“Mhortair is revered as our great and first leader, and any insult to his memory will likely result in a fight to the death,” Student Eighteen added.
“I won’t reveal things that might upset your people’s memory of old Mhortair. Sometimes secrets are kept for a good reason.”
He would know. Kilian knew more secrets than anyone Connor had ever met.
“Can you explain how your society is structured and why you use such ridiculous titles?” Hamish asked.
Student Eighteen bristled. “They aren’t ridiculous. They date back to the great Mhortair himself.”
Kilian smiled. “He might not have been as great as you’re led to believe.”
She gave him a warning look, but Hamish said, “Seriously, why are your leaders called Mister One, Mister Five, and things like that? And you said your commanders are numbered too. And your kill instructors are called Sir. I thought at first maybe the purpose was to mask your true numbers from any potential enemies, but your titles actually accomplish the opposite.”
Kilian chuckled. “That’s one mystery I can answer for you. Mhortair was a great fighter, master of many of the subtle arts of assassination, deception, and murder. He also considered himself quite the poet, so he routinely came up with tongue-twisters and bits of poetry that he loved to recite during lessons. He was convinced they would help me and his other students internalize the lessons and master the skills he taught.”
“We use similar techniques in the kill academy,” Student Eighteen said proudly.
Kilian responded with a smile. “Some of old Mhortair’s were pretty bad. The one in question went like this:
One little Mister always draws a knife.
Two little Misters take the target’s life.
