The Last of the Ageless

by Traci Loudin

  “What?” Korreth met him away from the tent, guessing the Purebred man would speak more freely away from the Changeling and the Joey—hybrid, he reminded himself.

  “The large man was covered in metal parts,” Yarren shifted from foot to foot. “He defiled his own body. And the other is slowly… I don’t know what to call it. He’s growing younger, minute by minute, though we’re sure he’s dead.”

  “Surely the Advisor de-aged as well,” Korreth pointed out.

  Yarren turned away. “I wanted to let you know... unfortunately, Governor Lozoya has decided that we cannot allow you back into the city. You understand, don’t you? There’s been a lot of structural damage. It’s not safe.”

  Korreth narrowed his eyes, guessing there was more to it than that. “I’ll tell the others.”

  Yarren let out a breath and smiled. “Thank you. And thank you for all that you did…” He gestured toward the two holes.

  “Of course. They were a danger to us all.”

  “We’ll bring you some food and supplies. For your travels.”

  “Thank you.”

  When Yarren walked away, Korreth joined Nyr and Ti’rros. A healer tended to Ti’rros, wrapping her tail over and over with gauze. A splint supported Nyr’s arm, wrapped to double its size in gauze.

  “How are you both?” Korreth ducked under the tent.

  Nyr glanced at Ti’rros before answering. “It hurts—it’ll be fine, though. I’m put back together well enough. I see you and Jorrim didn’t need any patching up.”

  He heard the question behind her words, so he sat down beside her. “When—” he started, but then realized Nyr had no idea what their battlefield had been like. “Soledad always told us that we were enslaved by a spell, but we found out it was something else. Some kind of miniature technology inside our bodies.” He lifted an arm and scrutinized it.

  Nyr’s eyebrows rose. The motion stretched the cuts on her face, and she winced. The healer had cleaned them, but the wounds gaped open.

  “Why didn’t you get that stitched up?”

  Nyr’s eyes narrowed with impatience. “You were saying?”

  He surmised the healer intended to care for the worst injuries first. “She took her nanotech from us and put it into Zen somehow. After Jorrim killed Zen, Soledad fled, and Jorrim chased her. When he told her I was dying, she gave it back.”

  “So that’s the reason you both healed so fast.”

  “I believe so.”

  “Then it looks like you’re no longer a Purebreed.”

  He shook his head. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Nyr gave a small smile. “I don’t know if I’d call you a Changeling, though.” Their eyes met. Even fully human, Nyr’s pupils remained little more than slits. “What did you really come over here to talk about?”

  “Ti’rros, you should probably hear this, too,” he said. At the sound of her name, the hybrid faced them. “The people of Searchtown have informed us we’re not welcome.”

  When the healer looked up, Korreth amended that. “They said it’s not safe, with the damage Zen caused.”

  “The temple most of all,” the healer said.

  “Right. So they’re going to give us traveling supplies as thanks for our help.”

  “Too bad some of us won’t be traveling.” Her mouth trembling, Nyr nodded toward Caetl’s cairn.

  Her expression surprised him. He’d thought Dalan suffered the most from Caetl’s death, but perhaps he’d been mistaken. “Look, Nyr… I have to go home to my tribe and see my children. Along the way, I thought of stopping back at an abandoned Ageless stronghold where we might get some Ancient weapons and ammunition. If you wanted to come with us…”

  Since Nyr was in human form, he caught her look of surprise as it appeared and then disappeared. He saw how much his offer meant to her.

  “I—I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. Thank you, though.”

  Korreth patted her good shoulder, then got to his feet.

  “But you should ask Ti’rros,” Nyr said.

  The healer gathered up the remaining medical supplies, and said to Ti’rros, “If you heal like us, you should be good as new in a few weeks.”

  Without another glance at Nyr, the healer withdrew from the tent. The procession of townspeople past Kaia’s pyre dwindled.

  “Wait—” Korreth started, but Nyr gestured at him to stop.

  “It’s fine.”

  “But your face…”

  The hybrid interrupted, “Korreth, I would like to come with you, but it’s Dalan I must talk to first.”

  With her backward knees and injured tail, Ti’rros awkwardly got to her feet. She contemplated her tail as though it were unfamiliar. The hybrid’s expression never changed, but her tentative steps revealed her consternation.

  Korreth exchanged a grin with Nyr, thinking that the bindings on her tail must throw Ti’rros off balance. Dalan’s pet dragonfly rose from its position in sight of Ti’rros and zoomed off toward its master.

  “Let’s go talk to Dalan, then.” Korreth accompanied Ti’rros, and Nyr trailed behind.

  Any playfulness disappeared as they entered Dalan’s vicinity. His solemn aura infected Korreth.

  “Dalan,” Ti’rros said once they were near enough.

  The Changeling got to his feet, and the four of them silently regarded Caetl’s grave. Korreth found himself wondering where the mystic had come from. They’d never heard what tribe he belonged to. Before meeting him, Korreth had believed mystics were nothing more than legends.

  He was glad when Jorrim joined them, interrupting their reflection.

  “They said we can’t go into Searchtown,” Korreth said. Bringing it up near Caetl’s grave felt irreverent, but he needed to relay the message. “It’s too dangerous, with all the damage Zen caused. But they’re going to give us supplies before we leave.”

  “Actually…” Jorrim said. “Edanna welcomed me in for the night. I…”

  “You didn’t bother asking her about us.” Though Nyr’s words were confrontational, her tone remained bland.

  “It’s alright,” Korreth said before the two of them ended up at each other’s throats. “We can spend the night under the tent and set out at first light. Ti’rros said she’d like to accompany us to Cerrit’s cabin before we return to our tribes.”

  Jorrim bowed his head.

  “You… have other plans?” Korreth couldn’t believe Jorrim would abandon his duty. “We’ve got to warn our people about the Badlands Army. It might already be headed north.”

  “Army?” Ti’rros and Nyr said at the same time.

  Korreth didn’t take his eyes off Jorrim’s chagrined expression. “Before Soledad, our masters used us to help train and exercise young Changelings they recruited for their army. We weren’t privy to their strategy, but we did overhear that they planned to march north soon. We don’t know where they’ll strike first.”

  Jorrim touched the blue and white necklace Edanna had given him. “I will warn them. But I’m going to stay here a few days first.” He met Korreth’s gaze. “I’m a free man, aren’t I?”

  Dalan beckoned them away from Caetl’s cairn. The others followed him beneath the tent.

  “Is there anything else you can tell us?” Dalan’s voice was low. “Want to warn my people as well.”

  Korreth couldn’t understand the depth of sorrow in the boy’s eyes. When they’d first met him, Dalan’s only companions had been Nyr and Ti’rros, which meant he couldn’t have known Caetl for long.

  “They’re at least 300 strong,” Korreth said. “They have every Changeling power imaginable, but they’ve also been trained in hand-to-hand combat and every weapon they could find.”

  “It is my wish to travel with Korreth before returning to my own people,” Ti’rros’s tail swished in the grasses behind her as she faced Dalan.

  “Thought you were exiled…” the boy said.

  “I’ve learned a great deal about my people. If none of us are act
ually Purebred K’inTesh, it is my understanding that I’m no less pure than any of my people. All of us are hybrids. It is my desire to teach them what I’ve learned about our past. Perhaps with some evidence, they’ll be more willing to believe me.”

  “And Nyr?” Dalan turned to her.

  Nyr’s gaze darted away. “The villagers are letting me stay.”

  Jorrim’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Korreth hadn’t noticed Nyr striking a bargain with anyone. He knew she was lying, but decided not to pry.

  Dalan’s expression remained grim. “Am glad everyone has a plan. Tomorrow I return to the Omdecu Tribe to confess my shortcomings in following the Ancient Teachings—”

  Nyr interrupted, “But you know the Ancients didn’t believe all that stuff, now. So shouldn’t you—”

  Dalan’s expression revealed nothing, but he interrupted her in turn. “Of course. But when I tell them that none of it—the Ancients, the Joeys, the Ancient Teachings, the All-Seeing Eye—none of it is what we thought, who’s to say they’ll believe me?”

  Several Searchtown residents carried satchels and canteens in their direction, and Korreth stepped forward to help them with their burdens.

  “Thank you for what you did, protecting Searchtown.” The firelight cast shadows across the young woman’s features. “It’s the least we can do.”

  A well-dressed man drew himself up as the others dispersed the satchels among all of them, even Jorrim and Nyr. “It is with humble thanks that we, the people of Searchtown, offer you these traveling supplies. Governor Lozoya asks me to beg your forgiveness that she could not be present to accord you her farewells in person. She is at the temple, praying for the soul of our beloved Advisor, that she might pass over into the next world, avoiding the rebirth that awaits us all.”

  Nyr smirked at the man’s flowery speech.

  “I, Nicolaik Jacobsen, act on behalf of all the people of Searchtown, by presenting you with our gratitude, in the form of these items. We wish you the safest of journeys, and the best of luck in this and your future lives.”

  Korreth and the rest mumbled their thanks. They breathed a collective sigh of relief once Nicolaik and the other townspeople started the long walk back to their town in the near darkness.

  A small smile escaped Dalan’s somber mood. “Am happy to have met you all, but not sure how to feel now that we’re parting ways. Especially you two,” he looked over at Ti’rros and Nyr, neither of whom met his gaze, “since we never succeeded in taking off the necklaces.”

  Ti’rros raised her tail at Dalan’s last words. “The knowledge of the past has been hoarded by so many tribes, including the Ageless. But something has become clear to me… Ancient technology is only as evil as the people who use it. No one was harmed by Kaia or Gryid’s technology.”

  Ti’rros raised her hand, and from her palm dropped a purple talisman, identical to the ones that Dalan, Nyr, and Ti’rros wore, except that no dots glowed within. “Before burying Caetl, I took this from around his neck.”

  Dalan gasped and tried to pull his own necklace over his head. It stopped at his chin.

  The boy’s eyes smoldered as Ti’rros went on. “It has become clear that they can be removed only upon death. Knowing that, I wondered if Korreth or Jorrim might want it.”

  Korreth stepped back, but before either he or Jorrim could answer, Nyr spoke up.

  “To wear? Doesn’t Gryid have the amplifier?” Nyr’s voice was incredulous.

  Ti’rros nodded. “Gryid told me he would help us figure out how to take them off, but in the meantime, he said we might use them as communication devices.”

  Dalan’s expression softened. “Caetl told us they could be used as such… Hadn’t thought to give away the extra, but…” He regarded the two of them, as though sizing them up.

  Jorrim opened his mouth to reply, and from his expression, Korreth knew he would decline. Something moved in the darkness near his friend, a little child tugging on his pant-leg to get his attention.

  Korreth scanned the area toward Searchtown, thinking he might see two terrified parents calling for their lost offspring, but the figures in the field all continued away. He wondered how the toddler had escaped notice while everyone else returned to town.

  Then the red-headed kid grew in size until he was as tall as Jorrim, who said, “Gryid, what a surprise.”

  “Ti’rros is so thoughtful.” Gryid nodded at the hybrid. “That was forward-thinking of you, to take it off the body before Caetl was buried. And very kind of you to offer it to these two fellows.”

  “Do you still have the amplifier?” Nyr demanded.

  Jorrim took a step forward, putting himself between Nyr and the Ageless. Gryid had helped them fight Zen, and Korreth understood Jorrim’s goodwill toward him. Anyone who could go through what Gryid had and come out sane deserved their respect.

  “I do indeed.” Gryid extended an arm out to Ti’rros. In his palm was the amplifier, a pink, globular stone. “Try it out, Ti’rros. Close your eyes and concentrate. See if you can view the world from our devices.”

  In the darkness, a faint pink glow below Gryid’s face highlighted his scraggly beard.

  Ti’rros did as the Ageless man asked. “Yes, I can see from the vantage point of each of the talismans, even my own.”

  “That was their original purpose, apparently.” Gryid aged, his beard disappearing and then regrowing. “I never fully understood their function, but now I believe the K’inTesh used them for communicating over distances. They weren’t intended for what Liang did with them.”

  He dipped his head at Nyr. “Which is why I forgive you for what you did to me and to Mapleton. You were only acting under Liang’s influence.”

  Despite Gryid’s earlier alliance with them, Korreth puzzled over his words, trying to discern both their meaning and whether or not he might be trying to trick them, as all the other Ageless had done. They’d gotten so many of Gryid’s followers killed...

  “If they weren’t intended for torture like that, then how…” Jorrim crossed his arms.

  Gryid shook his head. “Liang figured out how to harness the mystic’s power in conjunction with the amplifier, which allowed him to torture us mentally.”

  “Yes, yes, we know all that,” Nyr said.

  Gryid frowned. “Then you realize without him,” he nodded toward Caetl’s grave, “we can’t penetrate each other’s minds, even with the amplifier. But we could still use them for their original purpose—as communication devices—without the amplifier.”

  Dalan tipped his head. “What do you mean, without the amplifier?”

  Nyr gave Gryid a sidelong look, and Korreth jumped in. “Look, Gryid helped us fight Zen, and Ti’rros is right. Though the Wizard and Zen and Soledad were corrupted by their power, Cerrit, Kaia, and Gryid weren’t. The villagers of Mapleton once said any one of them would have sacrificed themselves to save Gryid, so let’s at least hear what he has to say.”

  “Korreth is right about Gryid.” Jorrim’s words came slowly. “Korreth, I’m going to stay here, so it doesn’t make sense for me to take the pendant. It’s yours if you want it.”

  He held out a hand, and Korreth clasped it with a firm grip. Meeting his friend’s gaze, he couldn’t believe that after all their time together, this was goodbye.

  “Farewell to the rest of you, as well.” Jorrim tipped his head. Without another word, he headed toward Searchtown. Korreth hoped the sentries wouldn’t mistake him for an intruder in the darkness.

  Dalan sat down beneath the tent and took a long swig from a canteen the townspeople had provided. Korreth seated himself opposite the boy, and the others followed suit. Only Gryid remained standing. He put a hand on Korreth’s shoulder. “Thank you for saving my life.” He smiled. “That’s not something an Ageless says very often.”

  Korreth nodded, not knowing what to say. And he still hadn’t decided whether to take the pendant from Ti’rros. He’d seen the horrors those pendants had wrought, and even with the Wizar
d dead, he couldn’t quite bring himself to touch the thing.

  Gryid took a deep breath. “I have always tried to share my knowledge with the people of my tribe. But what I’m about to do is blasphemy, and completely against the Prophet’s Mandate, at least as I interpret it. Liang wronged you with the technology we meant to safeguard, so I’m going to try this for you. Ti’rros, please let me take the amplifier.”

  The Ageless placed the amplifier on a box the townspeople had left behind. He took a clear vial from his clothing and removed the stopper, and then poured the solution over the amplifier, which began smoking and shrinking. The pink stone transformed into a black liquid, ran down the side of the box, and pooled on the ground before absorbing into the grasslands’ soil.

  Nyr and Dalan immediately tried to pull the pendants over their heads, but to no avail.

  Gryid replaced the stopper and looked at each of them. “As long as it still existed, a mystic could’ve abused it as the Wizard once did. Now, Ti’rros, try to see from one of the devices again. Without the amplifier, it may require deeper concentration.”

  Ti’rros closed her eyes. The hairs on her head ceased undulating.

  “Yes. Yes, I can still do it.” She opened her eyes. “My ancestors… they used them to explore new lands?”

  “I believe so, though in their case, it would’ve been to explore new seas, which would explain why they needed to make them so difficult to remove.” Gryid frowned. “The Prophet never gave me the amplifier, so I was unaware that such a thing existed until after Liang found it. The devices themselves seem to have been part of a long-range communication network. The amplifiers must have extended the range, perhaps so they could communicate between ships.”

  Korreth observed everyone’s expressions as they each puzzled out Gryid’s words and his reasons for telling them all this.

  “Before the battle,” Dalan said, “Caetl told me that the Advisor, Kaia, wasn’t our enemy. Also said we could trust Gryid.”

  Gryid held up the vial, which contained a third of the solution. “It’s up to you. I believe I have enough to destroy one or two more of the devices, though we would have to be careful not to get any of the solution on you. I can make more, if necessary.”