Tenzen opened his eyes, looking at Kyp, one bushy eyebrow cocked. “I’m sorry?”
“You are just going to let yourself die because you see yourself dying? Why?”
“It is the Will of the Void. I cannot—”
“Can’t or won’t?” Kyp asked.
Tenzen looked at him, crinkling his eyebrows. “What are you trying to say, boy?”
“That this idea of the Will of the Void isn’t the only way. What if you are going to die because you saw yourself dying somewhere? You then find yourself in that spot and you know, ‘I am going to die,’ and you cause your own death?”
Tenzen smiled. “Ah, you speak of a paradox. Nature abhors a paradox.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it has never happened. If there were to be a paradox, then it would be stopped from happening.”
“That seems kinda weak. ‘It hasn’t happened, therefore it can’t happen?’ Seems like logic that would be fine for people who think that their lives are fated, and they can’t do anything. But you are an Emissary of the Void! You can do whatever you want,” Kyp said. “You are powerful wielders of such a force as the Void.”
“Pieter hasn’t taught you much of the Void, has he?”
“He has taught me about the Rift, about tapping into the Void.”
“Yet, he hasn’t taught you that the Void is interconnected to everything. That with that interconnection, the Seers can sense the shifting of possible futures, have done so for almost a thousand years. And the worlds have never been stronger.”
“Then, why did Pieter get taken to be severed if he didn't do anything?”
Tenzen opened his mouth, then stopped. “There are other forces at work as well. There are forces of chaos that want to do nothing more than to bring down the balance that the Void has brought to our lives.”
“Who? Who would want to do that?”
Tenzen shrugged. “I do not know; the Void hasn’t shown them to me. It does as it wills, and we are but servants to the Void.”
Kyp rolled his eyes. “That sounds stupid. You are servants to something that gives you power? Yet, you let it cow you and direct you without asking anything?”
“Pieter chose wisely,” Tenzen said with a smile. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, then sat up straight, his eyes distant and vacant.
Kyp wasn’t sure what to do. “Master Tenzen?”
“You must leave here,” Tenzen said, pushing his arms out. He pushed himself to his feet with the help of the staff. “There is danger. The pattern is changing. You have to go, now!”
“What are you talking about? You told me to—”
“Go!” Tenzen shouted.
The old man then leapt in front of Kyp, his staff whirling faster than Kyp thought possible for such an old man. There was a fusillade sound of thunk thunk thunk from the area of the spinning pole. When he stopped, seven small blades were stuck fast to the length of the wooden staff. Kyp blinked, and three forms appeared from the shadow of the alley. Two held daggers in their hands; one held a length of metal. All of them had glowing eyes of red.
“What are—”
“Rifters. You must flee, Kyp,” Tenzen said. He gave Kyp a warning look, shot back a hand, and Kyp was thrown clear of the alley. Kyp pushed himself to his feet and watched as Tenzen moved towards the three, faster than he thought the old man could move. He felt the power leaking from the man in the Seer’s robes, and oozing from the other three forms, who leapt upon the old man.
Run, while you can. The order thundered in Kyp’s head. He turned and bolted down a side street, away from the Embassy and the Rifters and Tenzen. He felt tears come to his eyes. He pushed them away. “I need to get out of here. Hopefully Pieter can find me again. But where?”
Before he answered himself, the image of Benny came to his head. He turned his feet towards the shipyard, hoping and praying that Benny was still there. He turned down another side street with hawkers of all kinds shouting for their wares, some with trays, some with carts. Kyp started to slow down when he saw Percy and three of his friends at one end of the market square he had wandered into. He stopped running and paused to look at the wares of a cabbage wagon.
“Ah, you have a fine eye, sir. These are the best cabbages in the system. Grow them myself.” The man was of middling height, with a small black goatee and a tooth missing when he smiled.
Kyp took one to feel the crispness of it. He wasn’t one for cabbage but anything to avoid the eyes of Percy.
“Oi, you riffraff!”
Kyp turned, then cursed himself when he saw one of Percy’s friends running towards him. He was a blocky youth, thick and dull-looking, with a double chin that wobbled as he ran. He held a length of wood in his hands. At least it wasn’t a blade. It looked more like a cudgel, though it had the same gray of a witchwood weapon. He thundered closer to Kyp, and brought down the cudgel in an overhand arc.
Kyp dodged to the side, the bigger youth smashing the cart with one blow. Kyp felt the power of the Void in the big bully. He also heard the cart owner scream, “My cabbages!”
Kyp darted off, across the square at an angle. He embraced the Void, hoping it would help. He saw Percy and the big guy behind him. Yet he wasn't sure where the other two were, until he ran right into one of them. Another big guy, an exact copy of the one who had smashed the cabbage cart, snatched Kyp before he could move away.
“I got him Percy. And before Leroy did. I win the shilling,” the big kid said with a goofy grin. He had a smaller version of the cudgel from the one who smashed the cart; Kyp guessed that had been Leroy.
Kyp balled up his fist and smashed it into the bully’s solar plexus. The youth gasped, letting of Kyp and clutching at his chest, trying to breathe. Kyp didn’t look back and bolted to the end of the market square. He saw the shipyards a half mile from where he was and started to run for that. He leapt over carts, sliding under one or two, constantly running. He pushed himself harder and harder. Lungs were burning, yet he was closer and closer to Benny and safety. He pushed the pain aside with the help of the Void. It gave him strength to move faster. He turned a corner, skidding to a stop. With a sigh of relief, Kyp found he was within eyesight of Benny.
And then there was a large explosion near Benny. The ship teetered for a moment, and Kyp felt a scream drill through his skull.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sarena felt the scream from Benny when the explosion tore into his side. She felt tears start to drip down her cheeks. She grabbed Toth, the Lasha overwhelmed by the blast of the psionic scream. Benny was in pain. Toth was unconscious, and she was about to be killed by Lightman.
What else could go wrong?
She launched herself into a dead sprint, holding tight to Toth in one arm. She knew the Lasha would hate to be carried in such a way, but he was unconscious, and he didn't have a choice in the matter. She whipped up her plasma thrower and squeezed off five rounds at Lightman and his men. They ducked behind their own small barrier and with them down, she was able to hit the side of Benny’s hull. She slapped the wooden surface. She felt a lance of pain as the DNA sequences had to be used. “Damn it Lightman, you hurt my ship. I’m going to see you cut to pieces and fed to the worms,” she screamed.
Lightman stood, his drone pistol ready. Sarena fell backwards into the ship and closed her eyes when she heard the buzz of the drone stop abruptly as it his Benny’s hull and bounce off. She smiled. Damn bastard didn’t have time to reset the timer. Good. There was another explosion, and Benny let out another scream. Sarena, being inside, felt the agony of her ship deep in her bones. It was an effort to stand up.
“Benny, I know you are in pain. I need you to start warming up the engines. And I need you to take care of Toth like you did for me on Centauri.”
She felt the ship was cold as she held Toth unconscious body up, waiting and hoping for the vines to come down and take him like they had taken her. Nothing happened.
She closed her eyes. Please Benny, you have to listen to me.
I know I am not Toth, but you know me. I am your captain. Dammit ship start up now! She felt the barest hint of warmth coming from the ship. She stood up, still holding onto Toth like he was rag doll and started to jog down the main hallway. She knew there was one place she could go. But she didn't want to think about it.
She reached the control room of Benny. It was a place of moss, vines, and an alcove that beckoned to her. A soft light glowed in the depth of the alcove, set right in the center of the room. It was a strange place for a load-bearing timber. She had always thought that.
There was a shudder as Benny was hit again, the scream not as loud inside, yet she still was taken back a step and almost dropped Toth. “Benny, please, you have to listen to me.”
A small set of vines crept out of the alcove. They moved back and forth, as if searching for something. The light grew a bit brighter. She moved a little closer.
Then, blackness.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kyp watched as the massive Ilvan ship started to rise. He was stunned by how the thing moved in atmo, without any kind of core to provide power. There was power in it, thrumming and causing lights and heat to be expelled. It had enough power to lift the huge tree ship into the sky. He moved closer to where the battle was, then heard something behind him.
“Stop peasant,” Percy shouted. He and his bully friends were behind him. He waved a hand, and the three large boys started to run towards Kyp again, their cudgels out and ready to smash him. Kyp looked around for something, anything, to use as a weapon. He reached out with his senses, channeling the Void. He seized a pot and threw it at the first bully. The target, Leroy, knocked it aside. Kyp grabbed up three more, holding them around him and threw them in quick succession. The first two were taken out by the two bullies, but the third took Leroy’s twin in the chin and knocked him down. He didn’t move, but Kyp knew he wasn’t dead, only unconscious. There was a part of Kyp that longed for more destruction, but he pushed that thought aside as the two bullies drew closer.
Kyp backpedaled, looking for something to throw at them or to hide behind. He turned at just the right moment to see a man in wooden armor with a sheen on it running towards him, a spear in hand. Three more came towards him and at first he thought they were there to help. Then, he felt a flash of recognition. They looked like the clansman that had been after Sarena. They snarled and charged right at him. He didn't ponder how they knew who he was, he turned and ran down a blind alley away from both groups that were trying to catch him. He felt panic swelling up inside him. He felt fear licking at his heels.
An Emissary doesn’t fear. Fear is the mind killer.
Pieter’s words rang a bit hollow at the moment. How was he supposed to not fear with all of these men coming after him. He was about to die, or be captured and beaten. Dammit, where are you Pieter? Where are you when I need your help.
Kyp turned a corner into another alley and found himself at a dead end. He gulped, turned around to try and run when he saw the bullies and the men in wooden armor coming closer and closer. They slowed down their advance, as if wanting to taste the fear they knew poured out of him.
He was truly fucked, and they knew it.
You mustn’t fear, apprentice, it isn’t good for you.
Kyp looked around. “Pieter?”
A shadow fell upon Kyp, something was falling towards him. Kyp blinked, and he saw Pieter land in front of him light as a feather, his sword out and ready.
“That is Sempai. You need to work on your etiquette,” Pieter said without looking.
Kyp felt relief hit him hard. He looked at Pieter as one of the men in the wooden armor approached, his spear thrusting forward. Pieter’s sword sheered the spearhead clean off, and he then sent an elbow into the clansman’s jaw. The clansman fell, and two more charged, their spears flickering out to thrust into Pieter’s side. One sweeping cut and the spears turned to kindling. The men with filed teeth dropped the remains of their weapons, trying to claw at Pieter. The Emissary grabbed one arm and spun him into the other man. He then kicked hard and the two men went flying backwards. Kyp watched as Pieter faced off against the last clansman, the three bullies cowed.
“You should take your wounded and leave this place. You will not find anything good here,” Pieter said in a gravelly voice. Kyp felt something like the red pulse of the Rift come off of Pieter for a moment, yet it was gone before he could fully register it.
The man who still held a spear growled and showed his teeth. ‘The Clan Vesh does not back down from a challenge, warlock! Turgan will kill you.”
The man held the spear in an underhand grip, the spearhead licking out again and again in test strikes. Pieter slashed at them, warding them off from him. Kyp wasn't sure what to do. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to distract Pieter from what he was doing.
“You cannot kill us, warlock,” Turgan snarled. He then slashed outward, throwing the spear underhand. He spun to his right as Pieter cut at the spear. Turgan pulled out a black iron dagger, trying to spin into a brutal stab that would have hit Pieter in the gut. Had Pieter been there.
Pieter cut the spear then spun with the clansman, catching the hand with the dagger in his own fist. He brought down the pommel of his sword onto the back of Turgan’s neck and the burly man went down like a sack of stones. Pieter looked at the bullies. “Get back to the Embassy.”
They leapt up like rabbits and ran from the alley. Pieter shook his head and looked at Kyp. “Looks like I came just in time to repay the debt I owe you,” he said with a smile.
“Yes Pieter, I mean Sempai.”
Pieter walked up to Kyp and planted a hand on the youth’s head. “Where is Benny? I felt the scream of pain and—”
Kyp pointed upwards, and the two watched as Benny started to break atmo. “Sodding hells, where is that woman going?” Pieter cursed. He looked around. “We need to find some kind of transport to get to Benny.”
“Why? I thought I was going to study at the—”
“No. That place is closed to us. We have to do something that is unusual.”
“What is that Sempai?”
“I have to take you as my apprentice alone. We cannot rely on the Embassy. Something corrupting has taken root there.”
“Yes, Sempai.”
Pieter turned around and kicked one of the clansman as he tried to stand up. “I think we should also get off the street. We do not want to bring any more undue attention here.”
Kyp nodded and followed after his Sempai.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Pieter looked at the small scout ship and then at the Martian who was trying to sell it. “This even your ship?” Pieter asked. He tried to reach out with the Void, yet something was blocking him.
“Yes, of course it is,” the Martian said in a chirping voice. His tall thin fragile looking frame loomed over Pieter. Pieter wasn’t use to many standing taller than him. Yet the Martians were taller from the lack of gravity. He remembered the name used by settlers from Earth, calling them Spiders. That wasn't something to call them in such a negotiation. “I want to see a bill of sale.”
The Martian laughed. “What is that? You need ship, I have ship. Simple trade. I ask for fifty pieces; you have fifty pieces. Simple trade, no?”
Pieter looked at the ship again. Something about it felt wrong, yet he wasn’t sure what. He wanted to look over it again, yet Kyp was already casting an eye over it. They couldn’t wait much longer. They needed to get back to Benny and that damn woman. Pieter was the only one who knew anything about the truth behind the Thalis attack. Why did she have to run off? What in the—
“Is good deal, no?” the Martian asked, trying to conclude the business.
“I suppose, here is—”
“Sempai, don’t. This ship is broken. The core is barely holding together and the stabilizers would fall off before we get out of atmo.”
Pieter looked at the Martian. “Is that true?” He channeled the Void and felt the Martian start to grow uneasy.
The lanky Martian held up his thin long fingers and waved them back and forth. “No, no, no. Is not true. I have good ship much better ship than this.”
Kyp turned to the other one that was on the lot. “That one is barely any better. At least we could get to Terra, or maybe to Mars with it.”
“See, it good ship,” the Martian said, jumping on what Kyp was saying.
“Well, it isn’t worth fifty. Maybe thirty.”
“You’re breaking fingers, no. Forty at the least. How else Azeen make profit?”
“Thirty five,” Kyp said with an arched eyebrow. “And Azeen can make profit by selling off the other pieces of that derelict to junkers.”
Azeen looked at Kyp and scowled. He then looked at Pieter. “Fine, thirty-five, but you are breaking my fingers, you take food from the mouths of my family.”
“Then I suggest you take this and buy food instead of spice,” Pieter said, smelling the telltale hint of the blue spice on his breath and the hint of a blue stain on his lips. The Martian gave Pieter a frown, then he took the bag of coins and walked off. Pieter turned to Kyp. “Is this one really that bad?”
“No, it is better than I let on. He doesn’t know much. We could have talked him down to getting both for fifty, scavenged that one,” Kyp thrust a thumb towards the first scouter, “And had spares in case this one does break down.”
“How likely is that?”
“Not very. It is a nice little sloop. The core feels intact, and with you and I we should be able to pilot this without much issue.”
“I don't know how to really pilot one of these—”
“Sempai, I know. That is why I will teach you how to man the rigging and the lines. I will pilot it.”
Twenty minutes later, Pieter was pulling and hauling the last of the rigging open. All of the sails unfurled, glinting in the light of the Eye of Jove. He felt the deep bone shaking power of the core pushing against the ground and felt the ship start to levitate off the ground.
Void Emissary: The Book of the Void Part 1 Page 11
