Gemini Warrior

by J D Cowan

  “I didn’t remember anything until my last fight but never mind that right now. All I saw in my dreams was a cute girl.”

  “A girl?”

  “She just floated there in this void. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “And that’s all you saw? Nothing about the seed?”

  “Just . . . a name. Zelana.”

  That name sounded familiar. “Zelana?”

  “Look out!”

  The contracting walls suddenly sped up. Dirt chunks fell from the ceiling, and the ground broke up into jagged pieces.

  “Looks like we’re about to see how well I can transform with you inside.”

  Even the thoughts in Matthew’s heads were shaking. “I fought Richter with Pollux while you were inside. It should work.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I suggest you pray.”

  He kept an eye on the shrinking tunnel. The space once wide enough to fit a large fighting force now only spanned the width of a narrow walkway. Stone tore against the elbows of his armor.

  “Hold your breath, Jason.”

  Matthew leaped up and the stone crushed in. His puddle form splashed between squeezed plates that ground into each other. He sunk into the earth, allowing him no recourse but to push upward. Red flashes of pain erupted through his vibrating molecules. It wouldn’t throw him out of the form—not yet, anyway—but Castor didn’t like being used this way. He had to fight gravity and nature itself with its power.

  Unlike his mist form which allowed him to fly, his water transformation allowed him to be absorbed into other materials. The stealth and speed it gave him were invaluable, but it offered nothing in the way of defense. He could very well break apart.

  The earth crushing in gave him a compressed and heavy feeling in his atoms. It was as if the dirt were pushing him out like water in a flooded garden.

  “Can you move?” Jason asked.

  Despite extra weight from Jason, the strain did not fully grind him to a halt. He concentrated, keeping his form in one piece. This wouldn’t be enough to stop him.

  “I can move,” he replied in his head. That was true, he could move. Even though he shouldn’t have been able to. Did Castor just allow him to become water and air, or did it become one with him? These bracelets were about pushing the limits of physicality. A simple transformation wasn’t all they were. They merged two things together that were never meant to be one. “It’s not just a question of moving. It’s about becoming my surroundings.”

  “I thought you were water. Isn’t that like being one with everything?”

  “More than that, Jason,” he thought back. “Castor melds me with the elements. I just have to learn how to make it work.”

  If he could smile, Matthew would have done so. He understood it now! Just as Castor could let him become air and water, Matthew could, in turn, become other forms of each. Changing his properties sent lightning flashes of red pain, and winded Castor as much as him, but it could be done.

  Humidity heated his very being, pushing him through the earth. Within seconds he steamed up into the dark night, his mass crying out to be reformed. It began to drift apart.

  Matthew reconstituted and landed on his hands and boots. Hard breaths rocked through him and his pounding headache as sweat poured from him. His heart beat against the inside of his armor.

  At the same moment, Jason stepped outside. He leaned against one of the many knotted trees surrounding them, his face pale.

  “Those freaks led us backwards,” he said. “We’re in that forest at the base of the mountain. I can’t see anything through this fog.”

  “Don’t care where we are.” Matthew gulped down his breaths and stood tall again. “The tunnel leads this way, so we keep going.”

  “Not that I don’t want to help Ordopha, but we should go back and get Sir Orach and Alain. They can only help.”

  “We only have a day, Jason. Not only that, but Shaula’s lackeys don’t know how close we are. Going back now lowers our chances of surprise. And if this forest is as poisonous as I’ve heard, then we can’t wait any longer. She’s in trouble now.”

  Matthew traced the path. Dark trees cluttered the green fog surrounding them. If that tunnel only just closed, it meant they were near the end. But before he could make any further plan, Jason shoved him.

  “Don’t be so reckless,” the boy barked. “I knew you wanted to get home as soon as possible, but this is ridiculous. It’s like you want us to die.”

  Matthew shoved him aside. “Stop being stupid. Ordopha and the others are the only reason we’re still alive. We owe them.”

  The forest encroached on him the further Matthew went. The fogged green air was not like that in the mountains. This atmosphere contained a sharp material that felt like breathing in tacks.

  “You’re doing this because you owe them one? Boy, Alain has been quite a bad influence.”

  “We can’t all rush into battle as blindly as you. I saw them take her, and I followed them. Running away now would only let the trail grow cold.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’s why you’re doing this.”

  Matthew spun around and grabbed Jason by the shoulders. He slammed the boy into a nearby tree, pinning him. The trunk shook, and several birds scattered from the branches.

  “Are you getting stupid on me?” Matthew asked. “Someone was taken, and I went after them. That’s it. You’re getting on my damn nerves with your self-righteous crap. You couldn’t even tell us about that dream.”

  “Because it meant nothing!”

  “How do you know? You don’t get to make that call. Do something like that again, and I’ll put you back in the ground.”

  “Then do it,” Jason snapped. “If you think you did this for any other reason than your own wants then you’re lying to yourself.”

  “I don’t care what you think my motives are. I do care that you’re wasting my time. Is preaching embedded into your tiny brain or are you going out of your way to annoy me?”

  “Don’t act like I don’t want to help her, Matthew. You know I do.”

  “Then shut up and help me, or turn around and go back. Your choice.”

  “You know very well that it’s not. The bracelets won’t let us go separate ways. Since we’re here, I’m fully willing to go with you. But I’m telling you to think this through. You nearly got us both crushed to death!”

  Matthew let the boy go and retraced his path. The longer they argued, the further away Shaula’s goons got. They had already wasted enough time. But tracking the thugs would not be simple.

  The dark green mist threatened to choke the breath right out of him. Heavy knots of trees outstretched over the dark sky above them, keeping the air stagnant. The humidity pushed down against the cramped forest.

  “This way,” Jason said. He pointed through the thick brush to his left. “There’s a lot of people gathering over there.”

  “And you know this.”

  The boy tapped his ears. That was right, Matthew had nearly forgotten about Jason’s physical enhancements. Jason led him onward.

  Crows called off in the distance and the musty smell ground into his nostrils. Nature’s graveyard could not be too different from this place. The pair plodded through it in silence.

  The treeline ended where fog flowed freely across a dark grass grove. Across it lay a town of broken down houses, empty fields, and a road that split the entire area in two. Men in dark clothes walked beside and rode cat-trals toward a few brightly lit buildings. They traced the vague size of the village the size of a city block. However, three-quarters of it had been destroyed. The homes crumbled and the dirt upturned, it looked as if twelve landslides had their way with it.

  Matthew mused it over. Shaula would definitely be comfortable in a place like this.

  “I’m going to go check it out,” Matthew said.

  “Me, too.”

  “No, you’re not. In case you haven’t realized, or perhaps have the memory of a mentally deficient goldfish, powers are hard
er to use if we’re joined together. The last thing we need is to show up in the middle of enemy territory with nowhere to run and no energy. I’ll do reconnaissance and see what I can find. In the meantime, you keep an eye out if anyone comes by.”

  “Are you really still going with this John Wayne crap?”

  “You know John Wayne?” Matthew couldn’t hide his curiosity. “Your parents taught you well.”

  “It’s nothing to do with that. I just like Westerns.”

  “That’s the first thing you’ve actually told me without being coaxed.”

  “Can’t whine about things forever, can I?”

  Matthew transformed to water and splashed into the grass, whipping along at a breakneck speed. He sped through the taller grove and slid out under a broken fence which bent out over the dug up street. He skidded over fissures and passed laughing drunks and wandering cat-trals too busy being steered to bother with him. Eventually, he reached the noisy inn and tavern where the light spilled out into the street. He slid inside the same moment a beaten-up looking passerby crossed the threshold.

  The place boomed with song, drink, and loud bodies at every table. It had a feel like a funeral for an enemy. The songs were bitter, and the laughs scornful. This was not his sort of bar.

  But at the back of the tavern there sat one man with an honest laugh. He laughed from the gut and bellowed songs with gusto. The voice reminded Matthew of someone. He slid under the table. Several minutes passed before the drunk finally calmed and began speaking normally.

  “Many good thanks for the drink, Reg. A fantastic warrior deserves a fantastic bounty!”

  The man beside him laughed. “Oh, come now, Rantan, tell me more about the beauty you acquired. Who is the lucky one that takes her?”

  The name was familiar to Matthew, but not the face attached to it. This man’s thick beard and weather-beaten features held no similarity to the lizard that attacked the abbey. Not to mention that Matthew had severed its arm clean off. He kept listening as the oaf went on.

  “She’s too small for my tastes,” Rantan said. “I prefer women with more meat on their bones. But, aye, she is not unpleasant to look at. I suppose she’s pretty if you like scrawny women.”

  “Perhaps I do. Is there a chance I can have this one?”

  “No one will have this one, Reg. The Queen wants her as a trade.”

  “Hopefully you will then allow me a chance afterwards. It’s cruel that you magic-born can be awarded such prizes. We all support the Great Sorcerer King here.”

  Heat grew inside Matthew. It took all his willpower to resist transforming and begin cracking skulls. But not yet.

  “Aye, I understand, Reg. You are not like the riff-raff in the Deep Woods. But the Queen wanted her taken to the caves.”

  The large man sighed. Rantan downed a glass.

  “Was she so easy to take?” Reg asked.

  “Yes, I expected more from the Gemini Bracelets. Castor especially was a disappointment. I took his woman, and all he could do was take my arm. Laughable.”

  “All Earthwalkers outside the mountains are weaklings. I am more surprised that the two fools escaped the mountains in the first place, never mind reached an abbey. Your mother must be beside herself.”

  “Do not presume to understand her, Reg. Being in the company of filth has turned her livid.”

  “Was she really captured by those prisoners? I find that hard to believe.”

  “She used them to find some trinket. They stole it from under her nose before escaping. But regardless of all that, today was a success. What say we have another round?”

  That was half of what Matthew needed. Shaula’s men were here, but he still had no direction to search. This whole village gave a mood of a people infected with mad fever. None of them would jump at the chance to help a stranger. Had this town been abandoned and taken over by Shaula’s agents, or were these travelers and passersby? He couldn’t confirm either.

  Matthew listened longer. The two of them talked about all sorts of asinine things, but finally, the subject came up of where the big idiot lived.

  “I am not carrying you home this time, Rantan.”

  “Then be sure to have one of the wenches get another. I am not leaving until I have my fill.”

  “They won’t carry you that far. You outweigh everyone here. Wouldn’t you rather sleep in that large mansion of yours?”

  “A mansion?” Rantan cackled. “Please. It’s a poor place to hang one’s hat. The Queen insisted I sleep somewhere that would do her proud. She built that hoary hovel which smells of old things and death. It is like living on a graveyard. You must not judge how impressive a home is on its size, Reg. This shambling tavern is more of a home.”

  “Was that supposed to be a compliment? It did not feel like one.”

  “Aye, I’m only being truthful. That sort of things I find in my home after being away so long would surprise you. Some of those bandits really believe those rumors of treasure. My maps lead to nothing they want, I’ll tell you that much.”

  Reg groaned. “There is not enough gold in all of Tyndarus to convince me to go inside. I’ve heard tales of what lurks in your halls.”

  “Oh, have you?” He laughed. “But enough about me. Tell me about your cousin. Did he solve that problem with his neighbor yet? I say just steal the chicken back.”

  “That is your solution for just about every problem, Rantan. Steal this, steal that. We do not all have the power to do what we want.”

  Matthew’s form quivered. The bit of knowledge gained would have to be enough. Matthew had at least something to go on. He couldn’t wait in this place forever, not with Castor fading on him. He zipped back out under the table and towards the exit. Stomping drunks obliviously thumped the boards around him.

  He swam back along the ground. A cat-tral paw slammed down beside him. It hissed as he swirled along. The rider swore at the creature, thankfully unaware of him.

  Matthew slipped back into the tall grass and toward where he last left Jason.

  The idea of leaving that scumbag Rantan alone did not sit well, but Matthew had no choice. If he caused a scene, it would alert the other criminals and possibly Shaula herself. At that point, Ordopha would certainly be dead. Where would he find those caves? That was the reigning question.

  Matthew arrived back at the treeline and morphed back to normal. He called into the brush and Jason emerged. Matthew told him all he had heard, and the boy nodded along.

  “So we go to Rantan’s place and see if we can find anything,” Jason said. “He has to have something, maps, notes, or clues of some kind. Shaula built that place, after all.”

  “We’re not both going. I already told you it takes more effort to carry other people when transformed and we can’t walk in there wearing armor like this.”

  “That’s why we wear these.” Jason brought forth two heavy cloaks from behind his back. They were tall enough that they should cover even the tall pair. “I filched them from that house over there while you were gone. Had to look around a bit, but I don’t think anyone will miss ‘em.”

  “Stealing, boy scout?”

  “You really don’t know much about me.”

  “And whose fault is that? Are you dumb enough to not know what they’ll do to Ordopha if they know we’re here?”

  “They won’t do anything. They need her alive. But, yes, yes, I get it. As long as I’m not seen it shouldn’t matter, right? Well, I wasn’t seen.”

  Matthew tried to make heads or tails of the idiot. He sighed and shook his head. As long as Jason wasn’t seen, there was no sense harping on it.

  They threw the cloaks on over their armor. The rough visibility around the perimeter of the village meant they should be fine, but Matthew could not escape the feeling that they should avoid it. A distinct rotting stink wafted around this dead space. It didn’t appear like this fog would poison them, as it hadn’t hurt any of those here. However, Matthew felt like they should leave soon. Some presence remai
ning in the fog froze the pumping blood in his heart.

  The pair moved at a decent pace through the broken hovels surrounding the main road. The drunks avoided them as did most of the passersby. Every now and then one or two leaning against the ancient stone would watch them but only for a moment. None in this place wanted to cause a scene.

  But that did not mean the two of them would be left alone.

  “Keep close,” Matthew whispered.

  “I can handle myself.”

  “If they think we’re together they are less likely to try anything.”

  “You used to things like this?”

  Matthew grinned. “You really don’t know much about me.”

  “I guess that’s my fault.”

  No one had followed them, not yet, but there was no sense waiting to see if a dreg was trying to catch up. Up ahead and across the field lay a large wooden structure masked by the green air.

  He turned a corner around a shattered building and kept moving. They weren’t any different from common scum. Nothing other than thieves, drunkards, and murderers roamed this place.

  Finally the two arrived at the front of the mansion, or at least what those goons called a mansion. It went up three stories, with round stone towers in each corner. Tall grass stretched along the length of the property. The surrounding buildings were broken and abandoned like everything else in this town. This mansion looked impressive compared to its neighbors, but it was just as empty as the hovels. The oversized structure loomed like a gargoyle over the pair.

  “Multiple ways in,” Jason mumbled more to himself than Matthew. “I could break down the door, or you could slip in and find what we need while I wait out here. Obviously, it would be smarter for you to go, but it would be faster if I went.”

  “We’re both going.”

  Jason blinked at him and glanced around the barren area illuminated by muted green light. “I’m not sure about that. Isn’t it better to be separate?”

  “There’s no argument about this. Whoever stays out here is a sitting duck for the guys following us—and don’t think one or two aren’t following us. They’re probably still unsure of what we are. We need to go before they figure it out. Splitting up is silly.”