The Fate: Book 1: Tournament Wysteria

by Ko, John

  “I can’t,” Zzan says, hunched over in laughter. “You humans are so preposterous sometimes.” His laughter turns to confusion when he notices the single claw at his throat.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Now, it’s the young Slithering Man’s eyes that are large with fear.

  “Not another word … or else,” Ieiri whispers. Sense had thought the Glissade was pale before, but now he is truly colorless. The Colorless Race; that’s what they’re called in the West, Sense remembers. Though, it’s probably more for the fact that they can’t be Teared than the color of their skin.

  “Ieiri,” Wake says, “He already sent the guards away. I don’t think …”

  “We can’t trust him, “ she says. For the first time tonight, she looks unsure.

  “I’ll take the Oath of Understanding,” the young Glissade says desperately. “You’ll be able to trust me then.”

  “Is that the same Oath that the Fate took?” Wake asks, “What does it mean.”

  “It is our most sacred oath,” the Glissade says. “By taking it, a Glissade swears support of a human in exchange for being able to view the world through their eyes. It is a great honor for both. Any of my people would sooner die a thousand deaths than betray one they have sworn to understand.”

  Sense nods. He’s always known the Glissade are neutral, but it is not by remaining uninvolved. They remained neutral by offering an equal amount of assistance to all. Nearly every man or woman to have sat the Conqueror’s Throne did so with the assistance of the Glissade. But in the same token, the Slithering Men also played a hand in each of their dethronements, as well.

  Ieiri doesn’t look as convinced. “You better be sure about this, Sense,” she says before finally lowering her claws. The Glissade brings his hands to his neck as if to reassure it is still in one piece. “Oh, thank you, thank you,” he says. “You will not regret this, I swear.”

  He smiles nervously. “I actually wished for something like this to happen,” Zzan says, “Not the almost losing my head part of course, but to find my first to-understand on this journey.”

  This is beyond lucky, Sense thinks as the young Glissade blathers on.

  “Time is short, however. Let us begin.” Zzan lays down his spear and rubs his hands together excitedly.

  He faces Sense and begins to speak. “I come before you as Zzan, son of High Lord Chezza. The paths we have traveled are our own …”

  When he finishes, Sense answers, “I do.”

  Zzan smiles and clasps Sense’s hands within his own. “This has all come about in a very unusual way, but I believe this is a good thing—a very good thing indeed. Now we are brothers, and your friends are my friends and shall be until the end of days.” He eyes Ieiri warily.

  “I wish we had more time to share, but that time will come,” Zzan tells them. “Already, the others of the main party are headed for the Palace. If I do not join them soon, I will be missed.”

  Zzan turns to Sense and adds, “But what you should know is that now I can see the world through your eyes whenever you activate your Tear. If you need to ever speak to me directly just do so and I will hear your every word. For now, I will not be able answer, but hopefully that time will come. I will never be able to assist you with direct action, but what I will do is provide any information at my disposal—which I assure you is most vast.”

  It’s more than Sense could’ve hoped for. Glissade are known as information gatherers and now Sense knows the how and why. They must make such relationships with many Criers and use the knowledge gained to gain even more. Sense smiles and Zzan smiles back warmly.

  “Very good, you understand,” Zzan tells him. “We will speak again soon, but for now I must go before I am missed. Please tell no one of our meeting, especially the Fate, at least not just yet. It will be a delicate matter informing my father of this. I prefer he learn it from me. I will need some time to find the right moment, however.”

  Sense assures him it will be so.

  “One more question, please?” Wake asks. “That wasn’t the usual Challenge of Honor that the Fate accepted, was it?”

  Zzan shakes his head. “If you wish, I could tell you more, but that would most assuredly mean his failure. But is it not obvious what is at stake?”

  The three decide it best to leave it at that.

  “This whole compound will be empty within the hour. All you have to do is wait until then and then you may leave by whichever way you entered.” Zzan turns off the light and opens the door. “We should turn this off to avoid any suspicion. Also, I have one more piece of information that you may find valuable. Your friend the musician has gone missing.”

  “Poe?” Wake asks. “Poe is missing?”

  “How do you know this?” Sense asks.

  “We keep tabs on the people that we have interest in. Your Captain is one such person and the bard is as well. Poe, as you call the bard, was last seen talking to two males, a large one and smaller one. Since then, we have not been able to locate … him.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’m sorry, it was my first time sent to observe. It was much more exhilarating than I ever anticipated, but I digress,” Zzan says. “I do not know exactly what was taking place. All I can say for sure is that the bard did not look happy, but left willingly with the pair.

  “My people hate conjecture, but I think I can safely say something wasn’t right.”

  While they wait in the darkness, Wake and Sense explain to Ieiri that even though Poe is not officially on the Team, he is just as important as any other teammate. They answer all her other questions, too.

  “You must know by now that Fate lives only for one goal—to be the Captain of a team to win one hundred in a row?” she tells them more than asks.

  “Of course, it’s all he ever talks about,” Wake says.

  “Even I don’t know who put the notion into his head, but he’s been obsessed with the idea since long before I met him,” she tells them. “I know it wasn’t from the Old Man either. He hates the idea. What else I know is that—his every breath, his every thought and action is dedicated toward achieving that goal. Do you understand what that means?”

  “Yes,” Sense says, just as Wake says, “No.”

  “It means he wouldn’t have accepted the Challenge unless it has something to do with his goal,” Sense explains.

  “Oh yeah, of course,” Wake says quietly. “I knew that.”

  “Do you think it has something to do with …” Sense begins to ask.

  “It doesn’t matter what we think,” she says. “What matters is what I know. And what I know is that Fate has always been there for me, so I will always be there for him. I do not have to understand why he does what he does, because I have never known him to be wrong, at least not when it matters.”

  “I agree,” Wake says. “But I can’t help but wonder …”

  “If you want to waste your time wondering, so be it,” she says. “But if I ever catch you not believing in him, I’ll …”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Sense says. “Wake and I know better than anyone that if there’s one thing we can believe in, it’s the Captain. He believed in us when we didn’t even know we needed it.”

  “Good,” she says as she stands and dusts herself off. “The hour’s up; it’s time to make our leave.”

  Ieiri cracks the door and investigates the corridor.

  Just as Zzan said, the tunnel is empty. The torches have been extinguished and silence and darkness surround them. They make their way through the pitch-black hall, wondering if it took this long on the way down. Eventually, they come upon the entrance, and a near-full moon greets them as they reach its top.

  “I should be going now,” Ieiri tells them under the moonlight. “This isn’t a social visit. I am still in training, and Master Enada is awaiting my return. Do not tell anyone that you met me tonight. I’m under strict orders to observe and lend aid to Fate without alerting him of my presence. I think my second mas
ter finds it amusing. She has somewhat of a dark side.”

  “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Wake says.

  “She’s not my mother,” Ieiri replies flatly.

  Sense assures her that they will tell no one. “We’ll do what we can to help Fate on our end. But first we have to find out more on what happened to Poe.”

  “You two just concentrate on the games. I’ll find the bard and bring him back before the final match,” she says.

  “What should we tell the others?”

  “Tell them what you have to,” she says before disappearing into the night.

  “I blame you.” Esperanza shoves her finger into Wake’s chest. “Disappearing like that to talk to some girl.

  “And now you think that you can just come waltzing back and tell us that Fate’s not going to fight in Flag? You have some nerve, Wake—expecting us to accept that with no further explanation?” she says, looking for something to take her anger out on. The poor bush next to her takes the brunt of it.

  It’s the wee hours of the night and finally everyone’s returned to the Seven Corner’s Inn. The Fate is fast asleep on his bench, while the others are huddled around the small fire pit, sipping warm cider. The sweetly sour aftertaste on his tongue is a small comfort to how tired Sense is feeling. He takes another sip and swishes it in his mouth until it turns cool. Hopefully, the Daughter will do the same.

  “I’m sorry, Riser,” Wake says. “I should’ve stayed with everybody.”

  “It’s not your fault, Wake. I’m pretty sure things would’ve turned out the same either way. At least, we learned something important this way.” Sense says.

  “Riser, I’m sorry that we can’t tell you more, but this is important and you have to trust us. I wish we could tell you everything that we saw and heard, but if we do, we may be causing more harm than good,” Sense says. “Things could be much worse. We could’ve shown up for our first Flag match and found out then that the Captain wouldn’t be stepping onto the field.”

  “This is unthinkable, beyond unthinkable. It’s un … ununderstandable,’ Riser says, pulling the poor bush right out of the ground and throwing it against a tree. Brother Monster picks it up and begins replanting it.

  “I’m sure there’s a good reason for all this,” the Half-Orc says. “This can’t be easy for him either. Actually, I can’t think of a single thing that he would find more torturous.”

  He’s exactly right about that, Sense thinks. This Challenge is really tailor-made to be as difficult for the Captain as possible. The strategist couldn’t have come up with a more agonizing scenario for the Fate if he tried.

  “Monster’s right. This must be harder on the Captain than anyone,” Sense says. “He’s been taking on our burdens as if they were nothing, but he never talks about his. Now that we know he’s in trouble, we have to do our best to help him.”

  “Sure looks like it,” Riser says, gesturing towards their Captain snoring on the other side of the courtyard. She stops pacing and sits back down. “Argh! I know I’m not helping matters. I’m just hungry and tired and aching all over and hungry.”

  “You said hungry twice.”

  “Well, it’s that important!” She grabs Wake’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “Sorry for blaming you. It’s just a lot to take in all at once. But to be honest, I always knew something like this was bound to happen.” Just as her anger towards Wake wanes, it grows again at the thought of their Captain. “It’s why I should’ve been Captain!”

  Monster moves to block her path towards the closest remaining bush. He looks over at the others and says, “She’ll be fine in the morning. We all will. A good night’s rest and all of this will be easier to accept. But what’s this about Poe leaving?”

  “I’m worried about Poe too,” Shine says, sharing her cup with the chipmunk in her lap. “Could you please read the note he left again?”

  Upon their arrival back at the inn, there was a message waiting for them from their friend. Sense pulls the note from his pocket and reads it once again. “‘Friends, I have to go now. Thank you for everything. My two greatest hopes are for you to remain ever victorious and that I will see you all again soon.’ Signed, Poe.”

  “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Shine says, shaking her head. “Poe wouldn’t just leave like that, would he? He would at least tell us face-to-face, right? It just doesn’t feel right.”

  “It is a lot to take in. Especially with everything else going on right now,” Sense says. “But I talked to someone who saw Poe leave with two fellows after our match. A rather large fellow and a small one, both of whom Poe seemed to be well acquainted with.’

  “Hopefully, he’ll take care of whatever business he has elsewhere and comes back to us soon,” Wake says.

  Ieiri will surely find out exactly what happened to Poe, Sense thinks to himself. “I know it seems callous, but right now we have to concentrate on Flag. I’m sure that is what Poe would want, too.”

  “Squeak, Squeak.” Spikey climbs onto Shine’s head. “Squeak, Squeak!”

  “It sounds like he has something to say,” Shine says. The chipmunk continues to chirp at them excitedly. Spikey jumps into Shine’s cupped hands and she lowers him down to eye-level. “You want to help too, don’t you, Spikey?”

  “Squeak, Squeak!”

  “Two squeaks usually means yes,” she tells everybody. To the chipmunk, she asks, “But you don’t like Tear Battling very much, do you?”

  “Squeeaak,” the chipmunk says.

  “One long squeak means no,” she says quietly. “Does that mean you want to Tear Battle with us?”

  “Squeak, Squeak!”

  “That reminds me of something Fate told me when we first met. He said that Spikey’s strong, but that he took a vow to never fight with him,” Shine says. “Maybe now that Fate won’t be out there …”

  “Yeah, he said something along the same lines to me too,” Riser says. “And I know for a fact that the little pipsqueak’s not as useless as he looks.”

  Spikey growls. Riser growls back. “Actually, if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be Captain right now.”

  “Spikey, are you really going to help us in place of the Captain?” Shine asks.

  “Squeak, Squeak!”

  He’s just a chipmunk, but at least it’s something. I’ll have to come up with all new formations and strategies, Sense realizes.

  “We can make this work. We have to.” He manages to sound almost confident. “It’s been a long couple of days. For now, let’s get some sleep.” But for him there will be no rest, only preparations to make.

  As the sun comes up, Sense puts the finishing touches on their new game plan. He’s done his best to include Spikey, but in reality they’re losing their strongest and replacing him with a chipmunk.

  It’s more than fitting that the formations and strategies that they’ll implement during their final practice together in Wysteria are based on the words the Fate said during their very first. “Others may view our conditions as weaknesses, but they are what make us unique. This uniqueness is what gives us our true strength, our incomparable strength …”

  And what makes their newest addition unique is his size. There’s no other pet on Tour that can fit in a pocket. That combined with the way they have seen the chipmunk defend should be enough.

  Spikey possesses no real attacks to speak of, but he can block all but the most powerful of attacks. He can only do it a couple times a match, though. We’ll have to make sure to only use his ability when it matters most.

  An apple lands on his lap and all else is forgotten. “Have you been up all night?” the Fate asks him, crunching into his own.

  “I couldn’t go to sleep,” Sense tells him.

  “Have you seen Poe?” Fate asks. “I cannot find him anywhere?”

  “He had something to take care of, but hopefully he’ll be back soon,” Sense says, rifling through his pockets. “He left a note, though. Here, take a look.”


  The Fate looks it over and nods absently.

  “Thanks for the apple.” Sense brings the fruit right up to his nose and inhales deeply. It smells delicious and tastes even better. “Captain, I’ve been doing some thinking and in order to beat The Royal Team, I believe we are going to need a totally new game plan.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Well, the way the Princess set up their lineup for King’s Corridor shows that defeating you is their primary focus.” This much is true even though it’s not really the reason behind the switch. “We will be utilizing a new formation to take advantage of this. One where you will be fighting apart from the rest of the Team.”

  “I see,” the Fate says. “Very well, I approve. What do I need to do?”

  “I’ll be implementing the new formations during today’s practice,” Sense tells him. “But you don’t really need to be there for that, since none of the new strategies will include you. It may be a better use of your time if you were to practice by yourself today.”

  “So you all will be practicing fighting without me for the next couple days?” The Fate looks at him curiously. “I did not tell you anything I was not supposed to, did I?”

  “Of course not, Captain. You would never do that.”

  While the Fate trains alone on the other side of the courtyard, the rest of the Team gathers around Sense. They look better, but they still look tired, he thinks as he looks into their faces. In their eyes he sees determination, though. And they listen attentively as he begins to explain what is to come.

  “As you all know, Spikey will be replacing the Captain. We will be losing our strongest attacker, but we will be gaining Spikey’s unique strengths. First of which is his size. He is small, easy to carry, and easy to hide. The enemy will have a hard time figuring out where he is or who’s holding him. And that crazy block that Spikey does is almost as strong a defense as Riser’s Air Petals and Shine’s Orb.

  “Spikey’s ability to defend is limited, however. He can only use it a couple times per match, but with it, he can nullify all but the strongest attacks. If used wisely, it may mean the difference between victory and defeat.