by Reiter
“Hold!” Ulreejun commanded. Kurshigg halted his actions, but took a defensive stance with his weapon. The Elder KnighT strode onto the corridor and over the moaning bodies. He was followed by Sir Evard Bruntelior and Lady Threesha Sildermun.
“Evard, is that you?” Kurshigg asked, straining his eyes. “My word, boy, have you actually gone and bathed?!”
“Arrest that imp!” Bruntelior ordered.
“Belay that order!” the Elder KnighT shouted. “The first one who moves on my friend should first move on me!”
“That can be arranged, Jorkethian,” Evard hissed, reaching for his blade. A bronze-toned gauntlet pressed down on his and Evard looked over at Threesha who was shaking her head ‘no’.
“Your men are impetuous and overconfident,” she stated softly. “This residence is the property of the Marquise Worlengarde, and Ulreejun is her guest. His man was well within his right to defend the property against an unannounced and overly-aggressive entry. Our business is the boy, Bruntelior. You’d be wise to remember that.
“With your permission?” Threesha asked, looking at Jorkethian who nodded before looking at his Delman friend.
“Stand aside, Kursh.”
“By your will, my Master.”
Threesha was the first to enter the room and she quickly held up the stone that had been fixed to detect the presence of Jorkethian’s student. “He was here, but no longer.”
“My Master had provided for him a meeting place so that he could receive those hopeful to be in his service. I went there looking for him, but he isn’t there. The only things there now are two Terrans laid out unconscious on the floor.”
“That will be all, Kurshigg,” Jorkethian declared.
“It will not!” Threesha insisted walking over to the Delman. “On your honor as a man of the forge, can you say you do not know where the one called Valian Styrke is?”
“As an Armiger of the Eleven Standards, and a master of its many means, I swear I do not know where he is.”
Threesha turned and looked at her squire. The stone he held in his hand had been charmed to detect duplicity, but it remained dark in the large man’s palm. She then turned to look at the Elder KnighT and he shrugged his shoulders.
“Evard was at the Nexus of Wonder when the boy went in,” Jorkethian stated. “As you know, he has yet to emerge from that place. I did send his retainers to–”
“He has no retainers!” Evard shouted. “He is not a KnighT!”
“The laws and ways of Primuson would take issue with your statement, Bruntelior,” Jorkethian said, adjusting his grip on Brick. “The boy is a Ward of a standing Duke, entrusted to me for his training. He has received that training... and upon my honor, I say he has the standing of a KnighT. Perhaps you care to press your point.”
“He does not,” Threesha said as she put her hand to Evard’s chest. “We are done here. Thank you, Ulreejun. I shall inform the Master of our Order of your cooperation in this matter. Good day.”
Waiting for a moment for the room to clear and the staff to tell him they could not be overheard, Kurshigg nudged against Jorkethian’s hip. “Since when does your order involve itself in matters regarding students?”
“Since today, I’m afraid,” Jorkethian replied. “How did you manage to lie in the presence of a Truth Stone?”
“I didn’t lie,” Kurshigg testified. “When I received your warning, I asked the staff where would be the best place to take him. It has yet to tell me where that is.”
“Then it is a secret we shall both have to keep for a time, my friend.”
Kurshigg handed the Elder KnighT the staff on his way to the door. “You keep your secrets, I am due in the forge.”
“You’re forging again?! It has been some time.”
“We wear the same pain, you and I,” Kurshigg relayed. “My last construct killed your last student. And we both know it was a just effort and blow that took his life. You stopped teaching and I... I stopped building. That boy has brought the both of us back to who and what we are. You are an Elder KnighT and an excellent teacher. I am an Armiger and we should both be about the business of continuing our paths.” The Delman said nothing more, huffing once before turning to leave the room.
Ulreejun stood for a moment in silence, listening to the words of a trusted friend over and over again. He then looked at the staff and tapped it twice to the ground. It created another portal and Jorkethian’s eyes glistened as he looked at it.
“Come, Brick, let’s go and find some students!”
Valian stood against the wall, looking at what had become of his life. With every turn the mysteries surrounding his life seemed to grow in intensity and overall number. With folded arms, his mind mulled over the most recent events and he was licking his lips when Annodia approached.
“Is this a bad time for introductions, my lord?” she asked.
“No, not at all.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“It just seems that some rather interesting steps have been taken to make sure that we complete this journey without Jorkethian.”
“Do you think we will never see him again?” Annodia asked.
“I think I will see Kurshigg before I see our Praeceptor again,” he replied. “And that will not be until after our next troublesome issue, whatever it may be. We have proven ourselves to be too observant, Annodia, and thus the distractions must be much more extravagant. For the moment, we are the playthings of the gods.”
“When are we not?” Annodia chuckled her question as she started walking. Valian walked with her, a smile forming on his face.
“Good point.”
“Why don’t we start with Sandra McIntosh, since the two of you have already met.”
“How long did you serve?” Valian asked, offering his hand. Seeing the confused look slowly take over the woman’s face, he smiled. “Both of my parents were Marines... grew up a bit around them. That and the insignia on the back side of the tool case.”
“Good eye,” Sandra said, slapping her hand into his. “I gave the Ardrians sixteen years; started in the Motor Pool, finished up a Deck Master’s Chief.”
“That grip feels more like twenty years, Chief,” Valian remarked. “And this might sound a little off...”
“Par for the course from what I’ve seen so far,” the woman replied.
“Where did you report to for your interview?”
“Sub-Level Two, Black Gate Station,” she replied. “That’s where we all were.” The woman folded her arms and smiled. “You don’t know where you are, do you?”
“No, we don’t. I personally was waiting for sunset before trying to take a guess.”
“Well, according to my reader,” the woman said, looking at her wrist, “... we’re still in the Middle Rim, just not Black Gate. I think we’re in the Phalmeen System, but this isn’t the Terran Triangle. Could be one of the outer moons though.”
“And what are you going to do for us, McIntosh?”
“Well, according to your people, you need just about everything a KnighT uses,” Sandra’s shoulders gave a slight twisting motion as she smiled devilishly. “... but I was going to start with building you a car... a ground racer!”
“Welcome to the family!” Valian said intently. He embraced the woman as she laughed at his reaction.
“Now with me, I’ve got a couple of young geniuses that have been attached to my hip ever since I got booted out of the Corps.” Sandra motioned for the twins to join her.
Moving quickly at her anticipated gesture, Cedric and Kyle Gorrie ran up to her side. They looked up at Valian with hopeful eyes.
“And these two brains are going to make you a champion,” Sandra boasted. “You see, I can fix just about anything with a bolt and a circuit to it. But you’re not really at the fix-it stage yet. You’re at the building stage, and that’s where they come in. They were all that was left on a settlement on the edges of the Chaos Corridor.”
Valian closed his eyes and s
hook his head. How many rescue missions had been sent into the Corridor? In his mother’s memory, missions to the region had come to be called the Trueblood Retirement Plan. But it was a tantalizing find. So many planets and moons capable of sustaining human life. When the Ardrians had first come across them, the holders of the settlement deeds were paid off and the Ardrians expanded their borders, believing they had made the find of a millennium. It turned out to be the scam of the century, and the families of those deed holders were still among the wealthiest families in the Middle Rim.
“Ardrians and their ‘never say die’ mentality,” he thought. There were life forms scattered throughout that region. Boris was one of the nicer examples, but even among his kind, his temperament was rare.
“When the fleet I served came across their plot, there was an incredibly sophisticated network of stick-line traps and repulsion fields that these two kids had jury-rigged... and it was powered by anyone getting caught in it struggling to get free.”
“Now that’s clever,” Valian admitted. “And I take it the predators of the area weren’t smart enough to wait it out.”
“We never gave them the chance,” Cedric stated. “Me and Kyle would make daylight raids on their caves. Soon as the sun set, here they come.”
“Do you have a notion of what you’re getting into?” Valian asked.
“Trouble,” Sandra quickly answered. “And you needn’t worry about us... we’ve seen our share of it.”
“And you’re looking for more?” Valian asked.
“No, just not afraid of it,” Sandra replied confidently. “Your man made this sound like a chance to show our stuff and maybe make a few changes in the way things are done.”
“Normally I would be against people so young signing up to risk their lives,” Valian said, facing the twins.
“Normally?” Kyle asked, sounding hopefully.
Squatting down, Valian looked at the boys. “I was six the first time I was in a firefight,” he revealed and three pairs of eyes lit up. “My mother made a set of range goggles for me. I had a knife... a grenade launcher programmed into those goggles... and a backpack full of grenades. And I had three types in that bag: fragmentation, Willy-Ps, and flash-bangs. The only other thing I had was a pair of hoverskates worked into my boots so that I could always be on the move. That first firefight I only got off one shot, a flash-bang. I was on the run the entire time... didn’t even have time to reload. I kept drawing enemy fire, and my parents kept dropping them.
“When it was all said and done, my father snatched me up from the ground and yelled, ‘What the hell did you think you were doing?!’ I guess I told that story a bit out of order. You see, I got the goggles and the grenades after that first fight. And do you want to know why?”
Both of the boys nodded and Valian kept from laughing at seeing Sandra and Annodia nodding too.
“I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘Do you think I am just going to watch you die? What’s gonna happen to me if they kill you?’ I have to admit, when it comes to parents, I’ve had it better than most. My father just looked at me and knew I wasn’t going to change... not unless he locked me away somewhere when the fighting started. And don’t think he didn’t try a time or two. But he just looked at me and said, ‘Well, if you’re going to fight, you need to know how to do it right.’ I’ve been at it ever since.”
“That explains so much,” Annodia thought.
“So, the last thing I want to do is be a hypocrite. But your first job is not fighting... it’s engineering. Still, if you’re going to travel with us, you’re going to know how to fight. Maybe even a couple of other things. How does that sit with you?” Valian smiled to see the boys nod emphatically. “Sandra, you and Quilori are our Den Mothers. Think you can handle that?”
“Consider it handled, sir,” Sandra said, beaming a smile. “And if it’s not too touchy a point–”
“They were Team Valkyrie,” Valian said, anticipating her question. “My father was Heavy Gunner and Back Guard. My mother was the pilot for the team conveyance. Call sign: Eagle.”
“Never heard of Eagle,” Sandra shared, “but Valkyrie’s a name that got around in my part of the Corps.”
Valian nodded, adding, “They spent a bit of time in and around the Corridor.”
“They sure as hell did! And you’re their boy?”
“I am.”
“Then we’ve got work to do,” Sandra said, grabbing both of the twins. “We may not have materials, but we do have power. That’s enough to start on designs. Damn fine meeting you. And my friends call me Sandy.”
“Good meeting you, Sandy.” Valian smiled as the three people walked away. He then turned to look at Annodia. “Who’s next?”
Annodia ushered him toward a man who had taken a position off to himself, wrapped in an old blanket, and he was seated on the floor with his back to most of the people. As Annodia and Valian approached, the man stood up and allowed the blanket to fall to the floor. It was easy to see that he had started a small fire. It was brighter than a normal fire, but very well contained to his area. At one time, the man’s shoulders had been very broad, and the passage of life had taken only some of their measure. His long, thick gray hair was moved out of his yellow-skinned face.
“Ho-we-ah-gah,” Valian said, holding up his left hand, his palm facing the man who was surprised to hear his native tongue coming out of another sort of Terran. Valian then touched his palm to his sternum, then to his face, and then out in a half-circle motion at chest level.
A light twinkled in the man’s maroon eyes as he smiled brightly and nodded. He stepped forward, opening his arms to embrace Valian.
“Have I found a brother in my wanderings?” the man said softly.
“If I may live to be worthy of such an honor, Elder,” Valian replied.
“You spoke of your parents being Ardrian Marines.”
“I did, and they were. But that didn’t keep my father from befriending a Waking Dream of a L’Konno woman. Against orders, his team returned that woman to her tribal ship. My parents were taken into the smoke, and the elders said they had been well named.”
“What is your father’s name?”
“Kolinkar,” Valian answered. “It translates to ‘born to the conquering people’.”
“And I think I see the one for whom those words were meant. I am N’Char and the Great Mother bid me find you and make you a true warrior. I shall teach you how to ride like a L’Konno War Chief.”
“Did you bring a horse?” Valian said, looking around the area. He did not see any animals.
“The Great Mother sent me... she will send your war brother as well.”
“I have no doubt,” Valian said, putting his hand on the older man’s shoulder. “You are welcome here.”
“Then I will share my fire,” N’Char said, tossing his blanket into the fire. When he pulled it out, the fire was gone, leaving only slightly charred concrete. The man turned and approached the center of the group. He looked at each person in turn before throwing his blanket to the floor. When he pulled it back, his fire had returned, and it burned even more brightly.
“So, he’s a SpellCasteR too,” Annodia observed.
“No, to the L’Konno, that wasn’t a spell. That was a brief discussion with the element of fire. Who’s next?”
“Your trainer,” Annodia announced.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Valian said, reaching into his pocket. “Something that Kurshigg gave me before he left. I think I know what it might be.” Valian tossed the cube to the ground where it cracked open in a burst of bronze, electric fire. Three bodies rolled free of the burst, and Valian smiled to see Larry, Kayjoe, and the young woman. Only the first two were conscious. Valian signaled for Annodia to bring the trainer, and he was only slightly surprised to see a woman walk up. She was an older woman, but it was incredibly difficult to see that age in her face or her gait. Her skin was dark brown and still very tight across her face and muscled form. Her long black h
air did not appear as if it had been treated, and only when she had drawn close could Valian see any gray. She kept it in two large braids wrapped around to the back of her head – above her ears – where it was tied into a ponytail. Her strong brown eyes gazed upon Valian and never wavered from his eyes.
“Sir Valian, this is Lady Gilestra DuZurne.”
“My lord,” the woman said, taking hold of Valian’s hand, placing her forehead to the back of his hand.
“Well met, madam,” Valian said after his eyes squinted. “I trust the title of Lady was conveyed upon you when you became a KnighT?”
“It was, my lord. And despite the decline of the stewarding house, I have been permitted to maintain my title.”
“But not your rank,” Valian pressed.
“No, my lord... not my rank.”
“We shall see to that in time. Do you like a challenge, Lady?”
“Always, my lord.”
“Then your challenge will be to train Larry and Kayjoe here, as well as the rest of my retainers.”
“So long as it does not interfere with my primary duties,” Gilestra replied. “Your training must take priority. You’ve shown you have a strong back... perhaps an even stronger chin... but my approach to combat is to keep from being struck.”
“And I look forward to your teachings,” Valian returned. “Excuse me for just a moment.”
Valian turned to approach Larry and Kayjoe. The larger man started making fists and Valian stared at him intently. “Would you like to wake up with another headache? No, I don’t think you do. Larry is going to tell you about how good things are about to turn for the both of you. Aren’t you, Larry?”
The stare shared between the two men was brief. Larry was still not a fan of his current position, but he knew he had few options. Still he decided to press one alternative route.
“I am?”
“At least until I am done being angry with you for trying to manipulate one of my people while manipulating someone else.
“Yes, do try,” Valian asserted before Larry could register his argument. “Try to claim your innocence and we will see if we can reason with Kayjoe after your wake.”
