by Reiter
“Red Keel Melon,” Travis whispered. Valian grinned while Kethgeegan frowned. Annodia stepped back, throwing it at Travis. His head turned to his left as his right hand snatched the fruit out of the air. “I prefer the Purple Rinds, actually,” Travis commented.
“Annodia!” Valian chastised.
“It’s quite alright, Valian,” Travis said, tossing the fruit to Boris who threw a Purple Rind Melon at the blind man. He caught it with the same degree of accuracy as he had Annodia’s thrown fruit. “She’s been talking about doing that ever since you first told her about me. Kethgeegan was washing his hair at the time and he advised her against it, but, as you can see, she is very much her own woman.
“You will find the release tab at the center of the neck, dear,” Travis continued. “Though I would ask everyone else to look away when Annodia decides to reveal herself to me.”
It was a very close contest for Kethgeegan: seeing which he could open wider – his eyes or his mouth – and he stepped back at the invitation the man had given Annodia.
“I was washing my hair!” he declared.
“And using her shampoo,” Travis added.
“And using her- uhm... what?”
“I knew it!” Annodia barked,
“Children!” Ulreejun shouted without moving in his seat. “Because there is no way I can consider you to be Phyti at the moment!”
“Our apologies, Master,” Valian said, returning to the other side of the table. He gestured for the others to take a seat and Kethgeegan took the chair to the far left, Annodia took the one to the far right, leaving the remaining middle chair for Valian.
“You weren’t kidding,” Travis remarked, slowly retaking his seat. “Smooth and without hesitation.”
“It would be different if we had trained them to do that,” Ulreejun added.
“Agreed. But it is much better like this. With your permission, we should proceed.”
“Fine,” Jorkethian agreed. “You can begin this. I will then tell them what I can.”
“Then we will start with one order of business,” Travis said, leaning back in his chair. “Valian, the people seated at your sides are waiting for your answer. They have offered themselves to be your retainers. And before you ask, I will tell you this, I can see you moving forward with them and without them. This is entirely your decision.”
“It is difficult to answer, Travis,” Valian started. “I don’t know what trouble I will be getting them into if I say yes.”
“That is not for you to say, child,” Travis returned. “In their offer, they are saying that want that trouble... if only to make it so that such trouble never touches you.”
“I am not worthy of such things.”
“And more to the point, the trouble coming your way they can’t keep from you,” Travis added. “That is not to say you don’t need them... just as you should consider whether they need you.”
“The Test Tower was a long time ago,” Valian argued.
“And do you think you’ve all had the same training since then?” Travis asked. “Do you think a First-Class RoguE-AcrobaT or an even higher rated Shatter Caster could deliver the level of instruction Jorkethian brought to you?”
“No.”
“Good,” Travis snorted. “You are not too far gone... yet!”
“Then I have made my decision,” Valian said, looking at his Praeceptor. “Master, you have to be one of the most gifted individuals I am ever going to meet. Power seems to follow behind you asking for the right to get warm in your light!”
“That damn Olasson poetry,” Annodia whispered.
Valian smacked his hand against her leg as he spoke. “But for all of the power, skill, grace, and presence... forgive me, sire, but you seem to be irretrievably lonely. What good is it to have what you possess if you do not or cannot share it with someone?
“If you two are willing to risk your lives to be at my side,” Valian said, looking at Kethgeegan and Annodia. “... I will take that honor and covet it for as long as I am able.”
“Perhaps I will tell him later that I did not start out alone,” Jorkethian considered. “No, that would only serve to weaken him. Let that bitter lesson come when it will... if it will.”
“Congratulations!” Kethgeegan cheered. “You just gave birth to a pair of retainers!”
“More specifically,” Jorkethian corrected, “he’s managed to find himself a Squire and a Retainer Maiden or Master, depending on who is assigned to what task.”
“Squire?” Annodia asked.
“Retainer Maiden?” Kethgeegan inquired. “I mean, Retainer Master?”
Valian leaned forward, staring at Jorkethian. “Forgive me, Praeceptor... but aren’t those persons usually associated with a KnighT?”
“You are forgiven,” Jorkethian returned. “... and yes... they are!”
“But I am not of the necessary birth,” Valian pointed out.
“There is only one way one of questionable blood can enter the ranks of KnighTs, Valian. They must serve as a squire to a KnighT for a period of no less than four years, and they must be raised to the position by someone within the first three Tiers of Imperial Peerage. You remember your Civics, do you not? What are the first three tiers?”
“The Throne is first,” Valian stated, already knowing where this was going. Vaiyorl was more than a long-term thinker; he was a treacherous man who played his games eight to ten moves ahead. “That includes the Emperor, the Empress, and the Regalion. After that there are the Princes and Princesses. The third level would be a Duke or Duchess.”
“He didn’t,” Kethgeegan whispered.
“He did,” Ulreejun confirmed, getting up from his chair. “And by all accounts, I have been training my Squire for the past five years! The writs have already been recorded, Valian. The only thing that remains is for the First Sword of my Order to accept you, and you will be a KnighT. And trust me we have some work to do before that introduction can be made.
“But that is not all we have to tell you,” Jorkethian said, getting up from his chair. “Still, it is all that can be said in open company. Annodia, Kethgeegan, I will need you to come with me.”
“So they can fight and die for me but not know the truth, Master?”
“Make no mistake, Phytos, when they are better prepared, and you are ready to burden them with what you’re about to be told, that will be your option. But these two haven’t even initiated the disciplines of mental defense. That means telling them would ultimately prove to be irresponsible. Now, if you will excuse us, I will begin with them while you speak with Travis.”
“Yes, Master,” Valian said before turning to nod at his new retainers. They stood up from their chairs and followed behind the Elder KnighT.
Valian looked down at the table before his eyes slowly came up to Travis.
“For the last eighteen years,” Travis stated. “You wanted to know how long I’ve known. One of my first visions was this very meeting. I didn’t know who you were, of course, but the image made me feel comfortable... hopeful.”
“Because you knew you would live at least this long?”
“Bad assumption,” Travis stated. “My visions are very particular. Just because I am looking through the eyes of a person in the room, it doesn’t mean that person is me. I wasn’t on the Test Tower, but I saw you through the eyes of both Yorlson and Annodia.”
“Not Kethgeegan’s?”
“Here is where things get interesting,” Travis announced. “My visions of the Test Tower showed Kethgeegan falling. It turns out that vision was dependent on your young Kethgeegan remaining loyal to H’Tanvor Herthane... which he didn’t... but at the time of my viewing, it was more likely that he would.”
“What changed?”
“You changed him, Valian!”
“I did what?!”
“A little over twenty years ago, I was the Field Leader of a Strike Fire Team. Let me tell you, son, they didn’t come any tougher then Valkyrie! They sent us in on all kinds o
f runs... quick strikes... blockades... demolitions... hell, they even had us do a Search & Rescue op once.
“Your father was my Heavy Gunner,” Travis shared.
“And my mother was the team’s pilot,” Valian said. “... at least after you guys rescued her, that is.”
“So, you remember that?”
“I remember everything my parents ever told me,” Valian shared. “Before you received the team name of Valkyrie, you were 3T2K. The three T’s were you, Thomas and Tacita. The two K’s were Keisha and Kolinkar, my father.”
“That’s exactly right,” Travis nodded. “I forgot how no-nonsense your father could be about things. I should have known he would tell you about his time as a Marine.”
“He also told me about the Occurrence,” Valian mentioned, and he could see Travis shudder at hearing the word. “Yeah, I pretty much expected that reaction. He made me promise not to even mention it to Mother. Looking back, it’s funny how much those two were alike; hiding secrets from one another through me.”
“God only knows what Eagle told the boy,” Travis thought as he tried to recover from hearing a word his ears had not heard in many years.
“What are you trying your best not to tell me?” Valian asked.
“Valian, I-”
“Need to come clean, Uncle Travis,” Valian interrupted. “And please spare me the perspective of keeping things from me in order to protect me.”
“I’m not sure I appreciate the implication of your tone, Valian,” Travis said in a voice that conveyed he felt Valian had made a misstep.
“It’s been made very clear to me that none of this is about what you think, feel, or appreciate, Uncle Travis,” Valian returned. “One thing that not being involved with the details has allowed me is an outside-looking-in perspective. You say that you saw this conversation. If that’s the case, how is it that I surprised you? That reminds me of what you saw Kethgeegan doing... which he wound up not doing. Now, in that instance, you tell me that I was the thing that changed your vision of the future. I am thinking that’s also the difference between what you saw as our conversation and the one we’re actually having.
“I was just told that I’m being trained to be a KnighT,” Valian continued, his back straightening and eyes squinting slightly. “I don’t remember asking anyone asking me if I wanted to be a KnighT... and I’m pretty sure I’d remember something like that.”
“Valian-”
“It’s one thing to make decisions for a child,” the young man continued, looking down at the table as his hands came together. “It’s something else when that child is approaching adulthood and decisions are made without request or notification.
“And don’t worry, Uncle Travis, I’ve put it together. My parents couldn’t bring a child into this world on their own. They tried four times to do so, and I am Number Three. The only difference in the four pregnancies was The Occurrence. So the very same thing that took your eyesight and made you a Seer is what made it possible for my mother to give birth to me.”
“Just remember that I did try to warn you,” Jorkethian projected. “I put enough on the shoulders of that boy to destroy him. There were tears, of course, even one fit of rage. But just one fit, Seer. And it didn’t require anyone else to talk him down. He talked himself down.”
“Something that evaded my vision,” Travis projected.
“Let us be as honest as we can with each other, Travis. You can’t see that boy! You can only see others who are spending time with him. And be honest, Travis... because the boy’s words just gave me an idea. Just how many times have you seen something involving the boy only to come up wrong?”
“What did it do for my father?” Valian inquired, noticing a sudden change come over Travis. It was like he had been pulled away from their conversation. “Is everything alright, Uncle Travis?”
“I told him what would happen at the Test Tower,” Travis responded with his directed thoughts. “... as far as I could see it. I told him he would have to fall in order to fly... but that had more to do with the images of his mother I could see imposed over him. And I told him something that would give him hope because in my visions... he didn’t finish.”
“Uncle Travis?” Valian called to the man.
“Answer his questions, Seer,” Jorkethian directed. “The time where we are allowed to protect him is quickly coming to an end. Let’s not send him out into the fates unprepared. Answer his questions... all of them!”
Travis held up his hand to calm the young man, but it was clear he needed a moment. Between what Valian had said and the question Jorkethian had posed, the man’s world had been shaken.
“I should’ve known better,” he thought. “Who am I kidding? I did know better! When I was just a grunt receiving those one-way mission orders, I knew the officers were keeping the truth from us... and I hated it. And what did I do the moment I had a say in matters? The same damn thing!
“I won’t ask for your forgiveness, Valian,” Travis said calmly. “At the risk of sounding arrogant, it really doesn’t matter if you forgive me or not... I’m not sure I can forgive myself. Eighteen years ago, the ship we were on happened across... an event. Just some unremarkable area of space where an Ardrian transport happened to be steaming through.
“All of a sudden... BAM! A tear opened up in space. Before anyone knew anything, just touching the rift ripped half the paneling off the ship. The closer you were to the port side of the ship, the better it was for you: everything happened faster than the brain’s ability to consciously process.
“Most of Team Valkyrie had copped a squat on the starboard side of the ship.”
“Most of the team?” Valian pressed.
“The transport was our ride back to the world. We were signing out. Our Forward Pointe, the other K, she wanted to stay in the Corps,” Travis explained. “It made sense. My team was her first assignment out of Basic.”
“And you made her your scout?!”
“We made her the first that would find the trouble... the most likely to get zeroed and killed... saving us the trouble of getting to know her. Yeah, I know how that sounds.
“Well, Keisha wasn’t having it. Three drops in she starts showing she has a real instinct for the job. I started teaching her a few things on the sly... it took about two more drops before we learned that we all were teaching her... and she hadn’t broken the trust of any of us. Instant family credentials.
“Anyway, she stayed in. The rest of Valkyrie had seen and done enough. The Higher-Ups saw fit to give us clean discharges and a free ride home. That rift ripped into the ship and the ship ripped into the rift. It was an ugly trade-off... and that’s when I saw her.”
Valian was prepared to wait for this information. Travis had left a big hole in the story, but the young man was going to give him the opportunity to fill it.
“With Jorkethian being your teacher, I will presume he taught you History.”
Valian nodded yes, still listening intently.
“And do you know the two kinds of history there are, Valian?”
“I have seen only two kinds: the reported account and the truth.”
“Very good. Because the history of the Rims is a reported account. That day, we came face-to-face with the truth.
“Some time before the era of the Pirate King V’Lerro Oranuos, when technology embraced the ability of space-flight, another small discovery was made: while technology had just enabled the common man to travel from one planet to another, SpellCasteRs had been doing it for ages! You can imagine that didn’t rest well with the masses, and for nearly three hundred years, the public opinion of anyone wielding MannA plummeted.
“For the sake of time, I’ll try to keep this part short,” Travis stated. “The casters were already split into two factions: the Vythe and the Etasians. The non-casters were split into the Odelree and the Vohlterrans. The Odelree and the Etasians bowed out. They didn’t want any part of the shots that were about to be fired, so they took up together and
left.”
“Leaving the Vohlterrans and the Vythe,” Valian stated.
“Which is where the reported accounts tend to have their beginning,” Travis pointed out. “The war with the Vythe wasn’t quick or easy. In and out of war, it took thousands of years, but eventually the Vythe were beaten down.”
“Beaten down?” Valian quickly inquired.
Travis smiled at how the young man had heard that little detail. “They escaped, Valian. They weren’t destroyed. Over a thousand years of seeing them come and go; they have been on the run more than they have been invading.
“To add to their worries, the Etasians returned; their travels among the Stars had made them like gods. One of them goes by the name Tarranos.”
“The God of Light?!” Valian gasped. “You mean he’s mortal?!”
“I mean they all are,” Travis returned, “... they just don’t play by all of the mortality rules.”
“Tarranos!” Valian whispered.
“But even among the Etasians, there are factions,” Travis continued. “... splits where they don’t necessarily agree with one another. How Tarranos is able to manage it all earns him a godhood from me! Still, it was one of these split factions that was hard at work trying to cut the Vythe off from being able to invade again.
“The rift,” Valian sighed as his head lowered to his chest.
“It turns out the rift was the byproduct of the Etasians and the Vythe bumping heads,” Travis explained.
“At least, that is the account you were given,” Valian returned, but he did not receive a response from Travis – the man had stopped moving.
Everything went black, but Valian was still conscious.
“Valian Styrke,” a female’s voice called out to him from the depths of the darkness. It was soft, warm, and very comforting. “You have passed tests that even your Praeceptor does not feel you are ready to take. Travis Child cannot tell you a truth he himself was never given. Would you care to know the truth?”
“Before I give you that answer, I have inquiries,” Valian stated. “Not many, but perhaps for one who has exceeded the expectations of Jorkethian, a little latitude could be considered.”
