by R. J. Batla
Stepping outside, the noise from the monster’s camp was deafening. Opposite the line of hissing, roaring, spitting, and grunting, the defenders of the East Side were busy making preparations. Lines upon lines of defenses were being put up out in front of the Wall gate. Trenches were being dug. Traps were being set. Water placed here and there for the Water Senturians to use, as there was no large body of water nearby for them to be effective.
Ames Talco and Royn Crowell strolled through the bustling activity, surveying the plans and preparations. “Will it be enough?” Royn asked, watching a line of catapults being put into place, soldiers adjusting things here and there.
“I hope and pray that it will, but you know my views,” Ames replied. “Twelve lines of defense, plus the huge field in front with all its atrocities being put in place. Twelve lines of defense against ten million or more of the worst creatures in Terraunum. God be with us.”
Of course there were plans in place, traps and fall back positions at the West Gate, all through the Break Pass, then again at the East Gate. It was a great defensive position – only one way in or out from the West, but with those numbers, it would still be difficult if they were ever to breach the Wall. And Ames feared they would.
Royn’s badge chirped. He checked it. “Queen Aurora, sir. She wants to meet at the same place. She must have come to a decision already.” Turning back to where they came, Royn held the door open of the same pieced-together building, filed in, then waited.
One second, there was nothing there, then suddenly the beautiful Queen Aurora faded into view with a small pop. Royn chuckled. Shimmer was definitely quieter than his teleportation.
Ames and he both bowed as she approached, and she kissed them both on the cheek. “Welcome again, your highness,” Ames said. “I take it you have come to a decision?”
“I have a question first – how do I know I won’t be attacked like I was when I tried to Shimmer to the West Side?”
“You won’t be.”
“You can guarantee it?”
Ames said, “Everywhere we will send you will be on the East Side, out of Malstrak’ s reach. I can guarantee your safety here, just as you were able to safely Shimmer to us just now.”
Aurora thought for a second. “Then you have my support. So what is this plan of yours?”
Ames gave her a smile. “Excellent! First, this mission requires absolute secrecy to be successful. The plan is to set up supply and weapons caches all over the East Side. I’ll provide the goods, you’ll supply the transport. If the worst happens, then our troops will be able to resupply or at least have a hideout until we can regroup. I’ll only tell certain personnel of a just few caches. The only ones who will know all their locations are myself and Royn here.”
“You’re the only one who can get into and out of these places quickly, quietly, and with none the wiser. Many are in very well protected or hard to reach places. To get to them, you will need certain skills or certain knowledge, none of which everyone will have.”
“We’re trusting you not to venture outside of the enclosed spaces you’ll be Shimmering into. It’s strictly for security and the safety of all involved. You might be able to get a good idea of where you are based on the weather or terrain, but the exact location must remain a mystery. If you agree, then every two days, from now on, you’ll bring ten of your most trusted associates to this location,” Ames said, handing over a picture of what looked to be a painting on a wall. “In the room, there will be supplies with a photograph of where to store those supplies. Will that work?”
“Yes, sir.” She took the photo. She smiled slyly and nodded. Royn saw why Jayton had dated the girl…er, woman.
“Very well.” Ames stood and shook her hand. “Let’s hope we never have to use them.”
***
Two days later, eleven blue Reka slowly faded into view in a secret room within Harlingon. At least, that was where she assumed they were, given the gray stone walls. Aurora stared at a picture of a large ship with the name “Titanic” on the bow, per the photograph Councilman Talco had given her. Odd name for a boat though. Where were the sails? And the thrusters? How did it move? It must have sunk – there was smoke coming out the top.
The entire group turned and found boxes upon boxes of supplies of some kind – large wooden crates, none of which were labeled. On the center box sat another picture of a painting on a stone wall, this one of some lady smiling. Not very pretty; kind of plain. Odd little smile too.
“All right, everyone touch a box,” Aurora commanded in a whisper. Her elite soldiers complied quickly. “Make sure everything is in contact with skin, or it won’t move when we Shimmer,” she said, extending her leg to touch her lieutenant, her bare feet making the required contact with his. She’d made them go shoeless for this very reason: more touch points allowing them to carry more gear.
“Yes, my Queen,” the others said. Everyone grabbed or touched some items, making sure to stay in contact with each other. As long as no one was left out of the connection, everyone and all the gear would teleport.
“Clear?”
“Clear!” came the call from around the room, and then they all disappeared.
Chapter 37
“Aw, come on, Royn,” I said, as the others walked off, having just been dismissed by our commander. “Now you’re taking me all day? I thought I needed more group training?”
Royn put his hand on my shoulder. “Jay, I’m truly impressed and happy you’ve gotten as far as you have. I’m proud of you, kid. Everything they’re going to learn, I think you already know or have mastered, and you’ll fit right in. But that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods – these people you’re going to fight in the tournament, they’re…well, they’re skilled, for one, and they are generally…not good people.”
“So if all this goes right, how many times will I have to fight?”
“Assuming you win every round? Ten.”
“So some could be easier, then, at the start?”
He shook his head. “Kind of. Come over here; let me show you something.”
We walked over to one of the walls of the training grounds, and he plunked his badge in the dirt and raised his hand. A cylinder of stone raised the badge to hip level with the jewel facing the wall. Lighting up, the badge projected an image on the wall – it was the bracket for the tournament. Every single entry, with all kinds of numbers and data beside each one.
“Holy cow, that’s a lot of names. Wait – why’s the whole thing filled out? Shouldn’t it only be the first round? I thought you said I have to fight to advance?”
Nodding, he said, “Of course you do. All the names you see filled in are just the outcomes we expect. We secured you a spot here,” he said, pointing to one of the lines on the bottom right corner. My name was there with the number three hundred forty-three. “As far away from the Uland as we possibly could get.” Then he pointed to the opposite corner on the very top with a number one beside the name. “If you face him, it will be in the finals.”
“Well that’s a relief!” Don’t think I missed the if in that statement.
“No doubt. Now, there’s no way we can imitate the power of the Uland, but we’ll try later on. The first person you will face is here.” He pointed to the name above mine, with the number six hundred eighty-two beside it. It dawned on me that these were ranking numbers. “This is the only opponent we know for sure, as the others will have to win their way up. From my scouts, you shouldn’t have much problem with him – he’s only a level four in air with no other powers. That being said, we’ll train a day on him anyway, just to cover our bases. Let’s head over here and work on it.”
“Um, Royn?”
“Yes, Jay?”
“Do I have to kill them?”
He scowled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if I win, do I have to kill my opponent?”
He shook his head. “Technically, no, only incapacitate, by whatever means you feel necessary.”
“OK, good. I don’t want to kill anyone if I don’t have to.”
Pulling me around to face him, he said, “Jay, you listen to me right now. Every opponent, every single one, will be trying to end you. If you don’t have that same mentality, you could get yourself killed. If you hesitate, even for a fraction of a second, you could die. Do you understand?”
I gulped. “Yes, sir. But that still doesn’t mean –”
“There’s something else,” he continued. “There are conditions for a just war, or a just fight, or a time when it’s OK to kill.”
“Really? Because it doesn’t seem like it…”
Royn slashed his hand in front him. “Killing a person is never the best idea. It…changes you. You’ll never be the same. But there are times when it’s necessary. To protect innocents or your friends. Don’t you think that’s just?”
“Yeah, but –”
“To prevent needless bloodshed, to sacrifice one’s self for his friends. Isn’t that right? Protecting yourself from harm, isn’t that the same thing, and a right every human has? War and fights are not evil, in and of themselves, as long as your motives are pure and just. Think on that,” he said, letting go and walking off, beckoning me to follow him.
Royn brought me to a squared-off area in the training grounds that we hadn’t been to yet. “These are the boundaries. In the tournament, these will be walls, thirty feet high.” He looked at me. “So make your walls, fighter.”
I smiled, rooted my stance, and lifted my hands. The walls rose up around us, leaving the space in the middle – a hundred yards square – open for combat.
“So for today, since we’re training on your round one opponent, I’ll only be using air at a level four, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use other weapons or hand-to-hand techniques.”
“Does everyone know everyone else’s level before the fight?” I asked as I limbered up and got ready to battle. Fighting Royn for training. I feel like I’m not going to do so well.
Chuckling, he said, “Everyone must submit their powers in order to enter the tournament. That being said, almost everyone lies to some degree, or at least doesn’t reveal everything. They may have an extra power they keep to themselves or they’re at a higher level than what they’ve turned in.”
“But why would they lie?”
“Well, money goes a long way, and everyone is looking for some kind of advantage over the other fighters.”
I laughed. “So what are my modified stats?
“Oh, you’re a five at everything with five Quantum powers, which are yet to be named.”
“Sweet! Surprise attack then, huh?”
“Yes. We’ll go with that. OK, for the purposes of our training, you’re able to do or use anything you want, even the Ignis. But if I catch you using the Ignis, you have to run laps and whatever other kind of physical torture…I mean exercise…I can think of. Remember: the Fire Eyes is your secret weapon and it’s the whole point of the sunglasses. Got it?”
“Got it!” I said, flicking the glasses on and off. “But, Royn, won’t they, you know, know that I have the Ignis? It’s not like it hasn’t been broadcast all over the East Side or anything.”
“You know the East and West sides don’t communicate.”
“And you know that we have spies over there. Wouldn’t Malstrak have spies over here?”
“Good point. I’m sure he does, but I don’t think everyone involved in the tournament cares two bits about what’s going on over here. Any more questions?”
I grinned. “Of course! Any more strategy I need to know?”
“It’s a four-step process. Get trained up, win the tournament, and win the war.”
“Uh, that’s only three, sir?”
Royn clapped me on the shoulder. “The fourth is more of an overarching goal than a step.”
“And?”
“Survive.”
The rest of the day was a beat down. Even though Royn was only using one element, he was able to best me at least half of the time. About the only time I was able to defeat him was using the Ignis, which I was proud to say he never caught me using the power. OK, maybe he caught me. A few times.
Five o’clock rolled around and I watched the rest of the squad wave and head up to dinner while Royn and I worked on my Quantum powers. This same process made me late every night. But this type of training was worth it, if it meant my survival.
November thirtieth.
That day was going to come too fast. Forty-seven days left.
On day two of my new training regimen, Royn imitated my probable second opponent, ranked one-seventy-one, who was an eight in air, six in earth. Day three, another possible second opponent, who was eight in fire.
By day four, things started getting interesting. My probable third round opponent had a Quantum power, which was Copy, meaning he could make copies of himself. Many in fact. He was also a four in earth, three in fire, and seven in energy. I was curious how we were going to duplicate this – ba dum, ching!
Ambling up to the walled training square, Royn was already there talking with another Ranger. When I got close, he shook the other Ranger’s hand, and the stranger jumped up on top of the wall and sat there. Didn’t speak, didn’t do anything.
“Who’s that? And how are we going to mimic this ‘Copy’ Quantum?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about any of that. Worry about me,” Royn said, and then promptly duplicated himself. Then doubled that. Then doubled that. Then they all came at me! The same Ranger showed up for days five and six, as we continued working on the same opponent. Then the stranger Ranger disappeared, on days seven and eight, when we worked on other potential round three opponents who had no Quantums. Weird.
Day nine was my probable round four opponent, who had some odd powers, along with a ten in energy. Royn brought yet another Ranger with him, who again, sat on the wall and did nothing. Then we trained, Royn using the Quantum he described for the opponent. How many powers did Royn have? By my count, that was at least six, but…he kept me too busy to count powers, attacking and teaching and what not. We spent two days on that, then two on possible alternates for round four, each day Royn bringing another Ranger with him, and each day expressing a different Quantum.
Day fourteen, round five, same thing, with three Rangers this time. And three new Quantum Powers.
Day nineteen, round six, four Rangers, four new Quantums.
Day twenty-four, round seven, two Rangers, two new Quantums.
Day thirty-four, round eight, two new Rangers. And Katy?
“All right, for your eighth round opponent, we expect the number two ranked fighter in the tournament, and he’s a tough one – ten Energy, ten Fire, ten Water, Burst, Shadow, and Speed Quantums,” Royn started to tell me.
Ding! Duh! Made total sense now. “Wait a minute.”
“Yes?” Royn asked, eyebrows creased as he paused mid explanation.
“You’re a Mimic! That’s how you’ve been able to do all these things! You bring a Ranger with the correct Quantum, and you mimic their powers!”
Royn put his head in his hand. “Ugh, it took me bringing Katy for you to figure it out my power? Geesh. Sometimes you’re the dumbest smart guy I’ve ever met.” He sighed. “But, yes, that is one of my Quantums…how do you think I know how to operate everyone else’s powers? It’s because I’ve used them all at some point in time.”
“Makes way more sense,” I said, rather embarrassed. “Wait, so you’ve used the Morsenube then?”
Royn nodded. “It’s not a pleasant power, Jayton Baird. I’m sorry you have it. And I’m so happy you finally figured out how my power works,” Royn replied. “Are you quite ready now?”
Turned out, I was not. The Speed I could deal with by now – I wasn’t as fast as Katy, but my reaction time and quickness made up for it. So I could keep up with Royn there. The Burst wasn’t too bad either – Burst meant he could charge objects with energy and they would explode, so it wasn’t too different from some of t
he other powers I’d dealt with before.
But the Shadow gave me trouble. Any shadow, no matter how small, became a hazard. Royn would be moving one way, and then disappear, only to reappear right in my own damn shadow! Or I’d fire something at him, which he would direct into a shadow and then it would come up in my shadow and clock me in the face! It was frustrating! All five training days, I never won a single round. That didn’t inspire confidence in me.
“Oomph,” I said, as Royn picked me up after knocking me down again.
“Don’t worry, Jay, we’ll figure out a way for you to get around this. We’ve got time,” Royn said, though I could see he was worried.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said, though I could tell that I was worried.
He gave me the rest of the day off to nurse my wounds, only to come back on day thirty-seven for my ninth-round opponent, ranked number four.
Wasn’t really fair I had to fight number two before number four, but hey, who’s complaining? I guess technically I was…
This opponent was almost as bad as number two, with four Quantums, though I was actually able to win a few rounds this time. OK maybe a couple. OK maybe just one. OK, Royn tripped on a rock, but it counted to me, damnit!
And then came day forty-one – one week of training left. One week before we left. One week concentrating on the Uland. For this, Royn brought ten other Rangers, in addition to my whole squad.
“All right, Jay, listen up,” Royn began, as the others looked down from their perch on the wall. “You’ve done amazing. Even though the last few days haven’t gone that well, you’re as prepared as you can be for all the other opponents. But there’s no way we can prepare you for the Uland. There just isn’t. He’s big. He’s fast. He’s strong. Here’s his card.” Royn extended the Uland’s scorecard to me.
“What are y’all so worried about? It’s all ones!” I exclaimed, seeing the Six Powers all at the lowest level.
“Look at the Quantums,” Royn said.
“Oh. Oh no.”
