by Alan Baxter
She looked from Lars back to the window where the crow hopped ever more vigorously back and forth. It seemed angry about something. ‘I hope I’m up to it,’ she said.
‘Up to it?’
‘I hope I’m at least part of what you think I am, treating me like I’m special all the time, but telling me nothing. I’m not even sure why I put up with so much mystery from you.’
Lars stood and walked around the table. He crouched beside Faith’s chair, looking up at her. ‘You recognise the power and the truth of our way. And you recognise love.’
The familiar feeling that she had learned to associate with Lars swelled within her again. He was a powerful and charismatic man. He had shown her incredible things. What harm was there in seeing this thing through? It might all turn out to be bullshit and she could just walk away. But if it wasn’t, she might be a part of something truly wonderful. She couldn’t bring herself to be quite as passionate as Lars. She wasn’t so sure that this event would be quite as earth-shattering as he claimed, but you never knew.
There was a sharp intrusion of sound as Lars’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and flipped it open. ‘Yes?’ He listened for a moment, a grin spreading across face. ‘Excellent. I’m looking forward to it, my brother.’
As Lars slid the phone back out of sight Faith raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s to look forward to?’
Lars continued grinning broadly. ‘I can‘t remember the last time we were all together. That was Frank. He’ll be here soon. As will Jake and Chris. Raul will land in about an hour and Dieter is on his way from the airport right now.’
‘Who are all these people?’
‘Who are they? Second only to the Dominus himself, these people are the most powerful in the ONC. Optimates of the Eighth Degree. We used to be seven, now there are six of us. And we will be together for the first time in years. Which is just as well, as we have something to take care of.’
Four young men wearing leather wristbands with dark red spots gathered around a table in a pub in Adelaide. They drank bottled beer and laughed, speaking loudly in German to the annoyance of other patrons. A mobile phone beeped its tone to alert the owner that a text message had arrived. The conversation between the men died out as one of them read the message. ‘It’s time,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘The Optimates has sent us a place to meet.’
‘Now?’ asked another.
The first man nodded and all four stood, draining their beers, and headed for the door.
In a Youth Hostel on the Gold Coast in Queensland a group of a dozen or so men and women stood around on the pavement, chatting and laughing. A minibus pulled up to the kerb and they all piled in. ‘Where are we going, Optimates?’ one asked cheerily.
‘We’re going to change the world,’ the driver replied. Among the laughter he added, ‘But we have a few more people to pick up yet.’
At Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport a tall man with craggy features emerged into the arrivals hall. He was approached by two young men. ‘Optimates Raul. Your flight was good?’ one said in Spanish.
The tall man shrugged. ‘Colombia to Sydney is a long journey, but it was uneventful. You are here to take me to Lars?’
‘We are. Please, this way.’
Along a strip of hot tarmac a rented coach raced through the orange desert. Forty ONC members aboard talked excitedly about where they were going and what would happen when they got there. After several hours of driving their enthusiasm waned, but assurance from their Optimates that the Dominus himself would greet them when they finally reached their destination revived their spirits.
Across the country, people began to move.
14
Faith blinked, feeling herself waking from a sleep that she had not noticed falling into. Music was playing close by. Right in her ears, in fact. She reached up and pulled ear buds out, her MP3 player sounding as a whisper against her chest now. A large, strong face swam into view, shoulder length shaggy black hair, concerned eyes. ‘You...?’
‘Are you all right?’
A woman’s face appeared beside the man, beautiful, Eurasian. Faith recognised this woman, then memory flooded back. She gasped a deep breath. ‘You two. Isiah. Petra...’
Petra stroked the hair back from Faith’s brow. ‘Easy, child. How do you feel?’
‘I’m okay. I went out for a walk. I thought I could figure out... Oh, man, what’s happening?’
Isiah sat beside her. She was laid out on a couch somewhere. It was vaguely familiar and a familiar scent hung in the air. A skinny, tattooed man appeared behind Isiah. ‘Can I get her some water?’ he asked.
Isiah shook his head. ‘Not for a minute, thanks.’
‘Cone?’
‘No, mate, that really wouldn’t help. Thanks though.’
Faith smiled. ‘Herb?’ It was all coming back now. Isiah nodded. ‘You two look so concerned. What happened?’
Petra crouched down beside her. ‘We tailed you for a long time when you appeared from the house, to be sure that no one was watching you, and then we approached you. Do you remember that we talked before and then hid the conversation away, even from you?’
‘I remember. Now I can remember talking to Lars when I got back. He was angry. But I didn’t remember you guys then. Now I remember everything. This is so confusing.’
Petra nodded. ‘I know. I’m sorry. When we approached you it was confusing for you too. You were scared. When Isiah removed the protection from your memory, something was triggered. You went into a kind of seizure. Mild, but it was a concern.
Faith was alarmed. ‘A seizure?’
‘A booby trap. Obviously someone, presumably Lars, suspected something. He laid a trap in your mind.’
Faith sat up, angry and offended. ‘I am sick of all you people fucking about with my mind! Apparently Lars has me brainwashed, then you tell me all kinds of shit and then you brainwash me again. Then I see Lars and he suspects something and puts fucking booby traps in my mind. And I’m unaware of all of this happening? I’ve had enough, really!’
As she tried to stand, Isiah held her back against the sofa. ‘Don’t try to get up. You’re weak.’
Faith bored holes through Isiah with her eyes. ‘Let me go.’ Her voice was low, threatening.
Isiah shrugged, taking his hand away. Faith swung her legs off the sofa and stood up. She strode purposefully for the front door, making a good three steps before she keeled over. Isiah put out one hand as if to catch her even though he couldn’t reach. But his power could and Faith seemed to bounce on an invisible bubble then float to the floor. Isiah walked over, picked her up from the floor and placed her back on the couch. After a moment her eyes fluttered open again.
He smiled thinly. ‘I warned you.’
Faith seemed to slump deeper into the cushions. ‘Get fucked.’
Petra stroked Faith’s brow again. ‘Tell us what happened.’
Faith looked from Isiah to Petra and back again. ‘There’s no way out of this, is there?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, I’m in too deep, aren’t I? I couldn’t just walk away from this now if I tried.’
Isiah shook his head. ‘To be honest, I think Lars would kill you if you left now. Or try to.’
Faith missed the disapproving look that Petra flashed at Isiah. She stared at her hands for a moment before looking up again. ‘I talked to Lars.’ Her voice was resigned, deflated.
Petra nodded, drawing Faith’s attention away from Isiah. ‘What did you talk about?’
‘I told him that I wanted some answers. I thought I was speaking my own mind, as I couldn’t remember you two then. But I did want answers.’
‘Answers to which questions in particular?’
‘I asked him why he was so keen to fast-track me. What was happening exactly and how it was going to happen.’
Isiah sat beside Faith. ‘And what did he tell you?’
Faith made a noise of annoyance. ‘Sod all, really. He said that he
wanted me with him when the big thing went down, that’s why he was fast-tracking me. He does seem to genuinely care about me, but only when I’m with him. Talking to you guys, here and now, it seems absurd. When I’m with him there’s this kind of fog in my head and I feel his love. And my own love. But from here it seems so contrived.’
‘Did he tell you much about the big plans?’ Isiah wanted to draw Faith’s thoughts away from her concerns over the truth of Lars’s feelings. He didn’t want her to dwell on how much around her might be artificial.
‘No.’ Faith sighed. ‘He said that we would see the dawn of a new age, that our faith would return Yath-vados to his glory. He compared him to the god of the Old Testament, vengeful and powerful.’
Isiah laughed without humour. ‘That’s all we need. Yahweh is a royal pain in the arse. Like a big toddler, always throwing some tantrum or other.’ Petra and Faith both looked at Isiah with raised eyebrows. ‘Never mind. Go on.’
‘Well,’ Faith continued. ‘He said that people are starting to move and that there will be the greatest Gather in the history of the ONC.’
‘Where?’
‘I don’t know. Oh, actually, I do know something. When I asked Lars where he had been going he said he had been to the outback.’
‘The outback?’
‘Yeah. So it’s not in the city.’
Isiah slumped. ‘The outback refers to about ninety per cent of Australia. In some ways that makes our search harder. If it was in a city, we would have more chance of finding it.’
‘How far away can it be though?’ Faith asked. ‘Lars disappears for a day or two at a time, no more than that. If he’s been going to the outback, it can’t be very far out back.’
Isiah shook his head. ‘It’s not that simple.’
‘Do we know if the ONC have the ability to Shift?’ Petra asked.
‘I don’t know, but we have to assume some of them do. Their Dominus is very powerful, so I would venture a guess that he could. I knew one of their senior members before and I nearly broke him by Shifting with him, but he wasn’t even in his own body then.’
Petra’s brows knitted together. ‘Not in his own body?’
‘It’s a long story. Regardless, we have to assume that some members can Shift because it’s dangerous to assume they can’t. Lars is really the one we need to watch. But, if he’s as powerful as he seems, he will be very hard to watch unnoticed.’ Isiah turned to look at Faith. ‘Did you get any idea from him when this Gather is going down?’
Faith shrugged. ‘Not in any detail. But soon. Apparently everything is drawing near to completion. Oh, and he was very excited that some of his friends are arriving.’
‘Did he say who?’
She frowned as she tried to remember. ‘He got a call from someone called Frank, saying he would be here soon.’ Isiah and Petra looked at each other and nodded. ‘You know this Frank guy?’
‘Sort of. He’s a nasty piece of work. Who else?’
Faith thought hard. ‘Frank is on his way, Jake and Chris were two more. He said there were six. Oh, Raul and a German name. Began with a D. I can’t remember.’
‘Six of them?’
‘Yeah. He said they used to be seven, but now they were six. Apparently this six are second only to the Dominus in the ONC.’
Isiah looked out the wide open doors at the back of the house, Herb swinging in his hammock. ‘There were seven but now they’re six, eh? Seems like I barely started the job.’
‘If these six are coming together, that could spell trouble,’ Petra said.
‘Oh, that definitely spells trouble.’ Isiah looked to Faith again. ‘They’re coming here, are they? To Sydney?’
‘As far as I can tell, yes. Lars seemed very excited at the prospect.’
Isiah was perturbed by the whole arrangement. The warrior in him wanted to storm in and start thrashing whoever he came across. If six people were all going to be in the same house and they were the most senior members of this cult other than its leader, then it made sense to take them out. He was fairly certain that the seventh member that Lars had alluded to was Samuel Harrigan. He had been a powerful bloodmage, but was he the most powerful of that group or the least? Did they all know similar things or were they coached by the Sorcerer in different skills? Isiah had to concede that they were powerful and therefore commanded caution. But however he looked at it, waiting until all six of them were in the same house and then storming in seemed like a grand option. He was itching for a good fight, for one thing. All this sneaking around and placing spies was frustrating. He had long ago learned that a good arse-whipping could solve a lot of frustrations. Then again, he had also learned that it could cause more problems than it solved. And these guys might not be so easy to whip, particularly together.
The Gather they were preparing for was drawing close. He had wanted to interrupt proceedings before they got that far, but perhaps that was a luxury he would not be able to enjoy. With the help of the Umbra Magi he might have to face the whole thing head on. These Optimates were too sensitive to be followed easily, so he and Petra would have to continue to rely on Faith to feed them information. And hopefully the other Umbra Magi watching the other Optimates would come up with something. Perhaps one of the lesser Optimates, less skilled and less likely to notice himself being followed, would lead them to a clue. Or perhaps even lead them to the site of the Gather itself.
‘I’m scared.’ Faith’s voice broke Isiah’s reverie.
He looked down at her and saw tears in her eyes. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘Of course you are.’
‘What have I got myself into?’
‘Don’t panic. We’ll watch you.’
Faith stared at him for a long time. One tear rolled down her smooth cheek, almost accusatory. He looked away, looking to Petra for help.
Petra caught the tear on her finger. ‘We’ll watch over you, child. We’ll do everything we can to protect you.’
‘What if that isn’t enough? What if you can’t protect me?’
Isiah put his hand on Faith’s shoulder. ‘Everybody’s destiny is their own, Faith. But the actions of others change the course of life for people all the time. The one thing you can rely on is yourself. Stay true to your heart and look out for yourself. Protect yourself. And we’ll be there to help in any way we can.’
‘I feel like I’ve got myself into something that I won’t get out of. Something that’ll finish me for good.’
‘What does it really mean to be finished, though?’ Isiah asked. ‘Where does anything really begin and end? Live up to your name. Believe in yourself. Remember that Lars picked you because you have great potential. He’s right. You have the potential within you for great power. When you really need it, don’t think too little of yourself.’
Faith looked to Petra but Petra just smiled, stroking Faith’s cheek again.
‘How long have I been here,’ Faith asked.
Isiah nodded. ‘Too long. We need to get you back. I’ll cover our tracks more carefully this time, if I can. But you need to be aware that Lars is onto the fact that something is happening. We’re all on thin ice here.’
‘He told me that I had disappeared off his radar. He said that as Optimates he had a connection to everyone in his Gather and that I had disappeared to him for a while. He was really angry and knew that something was going on, but he couldn’t find anything.’
Isiah nodded. ‘Hence the little booby trap we set off earlier.’
Petra looked up. ‘Isiah...’
He held up a hand. ‘We have to stay the course. Everything is tenuous, everything is risky. But if we make drastic changes now we could lose any edge we may have gained.’
Petra was shaking her head. ‘What edge? Isiah, I think it’s too...’
He interrupted her. ‘Enough. We need to get Faith back.’ He was pained to snap at Petra and his eyes softened as he looked at her again. ‘You know that we can’t really change anything.’
‘We could get her out.’
/>
They stared at each other for a long moment, both their faces stern. He knew that Petra wanted to get Faith far away from the ONC. She feared that the Morrigan’s prophecy was correct. And well it might be. They could get Faith out, they could spirit her far away and keep her far away until all this was over. They would protect one person that way. Could he really get Petra to understand that protecting one person could cause the suffering of hundreds? Or thousands? He had been in situations like this before and he didn’t like it, but he recognised it for what it was. Petra did not.
He was also aware that they could be risking Faith’s life for nothing. She could turn out to be worthless in the grand scheme of things, feeding them nothing of any worth and ending up dead anyway. But the chance that she might be of use to them was more important to him than the chance that she may not. Either way, her life was at risk.
‘I want to help.’ Faith’s voice was defiant.
‘What?’
‘I want to help. I want to be your spy on the inside. Everyone is manipulating me, but at least you guys seem to be doing it for the right reasons. I know there’s power in our society. I know the ONC could really see its goals realised. When I’m with them I like that idea. I like the thought of being part of something anti-social, outside the norm. I like the power I can feel there and the power I know can be mine if I stay with them.
‘I also know that when I’m with you guys I think more clearly. With them I don’t remember you and I feel part of something special. When I’m with you I can remember them and it seems wrong. Broken somehow. They’re using me more than you and if I can’t walk away, then I want to help you.’
Petra sighed and looked at the floor. Isiah watched her for a moment, feeling her pain. Eventually he looked back to Faith. ‘So be it,’ he said quietly. ‘Let’s get you back. If you can, try to find out where this Gather will be and when. These are the two most important things and I’ll leave those thoughts uppermost in your mind.’
Faith nodded, her expression determined. ‘Right. Let’s do it.’
