“Monique,” said a voice.
“I’m fine. That was for my leg,” she said as she spat on me and limped off. “Bring that trash. We still have much to do.”
I felt the now familiar weightlessness of portal travel, and then the world went black.
TWENTY-ONE
SYLK SAW HIS home burning and knew if Mara and Kal were still inside, they were dead. He looked around the edge of the house and found the blanket used to exit the inferno he used to call a home. He stilled his mind and reached out. The house was empty and he breathed a sigh of relief. He walked back to where the blanket lay upon the grass.
Where did you go, Mara? Who did this? he thought. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Watchers arrived to investigate and erase this place. They were ruthless in their efficiency. Anything that was not native to the plane was removed from existence. He reached out again as he stilled his mind, this time farther into the forest and felt her presence.
Found you, but where are you going? There is nothing but forest here and the beings that live in the forest will not welcome this intrusion.
He headed off after Mara, aware that he was being watched and followed.
*****
Mara found a clearing and stopped to orient herself.
“What are you doing?” said Kal. “You said there were Watchers here. We have to keep moving.”
“We need to know where we are going. All I see is forest. It’s too damn easy to get lost in here and not even know it,” said Mara.
“Do you have a map? Do you know this place? Have you been here before? Does anything seem remotely familiar?”
“No, I don’t have a map and this is my first time here.” She’s right, this is futile. Without a map we have no idea where we are going, thought Mara. Master, where are you?
“Then we only have one choice. Put as much distance between us and that house. My guess is that the Watchers will go there first,” said Kal.
“You’re right, let’s keep moving, “said Mara.
They headed off at a run. The figure followed, keeping the same distance as before.
“Wait, I think I hear something,” said Mara as she stopped again.
“Yeah, it’s called a forest.”
“Quiet, let me listen,” said Mara. The forest had grown still. All Mara could hear was her rapid breathing.
“I don’t hear anything,” said Kal.
“That’s just it. There should be some kind of--”
In the distance she heard a faint roar.
“What the hell was that?” said Kal as she turned around, startled.
“That is the sound of trees being torn down.”
From the distance a voice boomed across the forest.
“YOU DO NOT BELONG,” said the voice as a tremor raced across the ground and leaves feel off the trees.
“Oh, shit. Is that—” said Kal.
“Watchers,” said Mara as the blood drained from her face and ice entered her veins.
*****
Sylk heard the voice and began tracing symbols in the air as he moved. He needed to find Mara before it was too late. The Watchers would start at the house and move outward. He had some time. He ran in the direction he felt Mara was. Once at the house the Watchers would attune to their chi signatures. He would need to mask them before that happened. He kept tracing the symbols as he ran. In the distance he thought he saw them. As he made his way around some trees they disappeared again. He felt her close now but could not see them.
“Mara!” he yelled. There was no point in being subtle since in moments the Watchers would be in pursuit.
“Master?” He heard her response not far from his location. He ran toward her. Trees were all he saw.
“Mara, where are you?” he said.
“I’m right here,” she said. Her voice sounded right next to him.
Then he realized what was happening. He was in the midst of an audible tunnel. The forest dwellers, the Onoi, used them to communicate over long distances.
“Are there any landmarks near you? Something distinct,” he said.
“It’s all trees, Master, in every direction,” she said.
His brain raced. They were running out of time. By now the Watchers would have left the house and would be on their trail. The sun was setting and he could see the smoke from the house in the distance. At least nightfall will offer them some measure of cover, he thought.
“Mara, listen carefully. The Watchers will be coming soon. I can mask us but we need to be together or it won’t work for you or Kal. You need to summon eight of your duplicates and have them run in every direction and then back to you,” said Sylk.
“I don’t think I have ever controlled more than three, Master.”
“You have to try. It is the only way I can find you in time.”
“Yes, Master,” she said as she materialized eight copies of herself. She trembled as sweat covered her face. The copies were semi-transparent.
“I have them,” she said.
“Good, now send them out.”
The eight Maras ran off in every direction, each with glowing hands as the forest plunged into darkness. Mara fell to her knees, her hands gripping the ground as she struggled to maintain the copies intact.
Sylk saw a figure running toward him. It looked like a phantom of Mara.
“Have them run back now. Mara?”
The phantom copy grew fainter with each second.
“She is nodding her head,” said Kal. “I don’t think she can speak right now.”
The phantom began heading back and Sylk followed. As he followed, it began to fade into the night. He kept running straight and hoped they weren’t too far away. He had no way to gauge how long Mara could hold a copy, much less eight travelling in different directions. He reached the clearing and saw Mara unconscious on the ground. He saw Kal standing a few feet away.
“How did we hear you? I thought you were right over—” said Kal.
“Sit next to her, now!” yelled Sylk.
Kal jumped at the sound of his voice and sat next to Mara. He traced symbols and his hands left trails of gold and silver. As he finished the last symbol he placed his hand on the ground. A twenty- foot circle of symbols erupted to life around them. Each of the symbols pulsed with energy and flowed with color going from red to blue to green to white.
“Can’t you just, you know, ‘poof’, make a portal?” said Kal.
Sylk sat down and then lay on his back, breathing heavy.
“Portal would attract them,” he said in between breaths.
“So what, once we’re through the portal, we’re history.”
“These are Watchers. They travel all of the planes. A portal would only slow them down. The best way to fight them is not to,” said Sylk.
“Is that what this circle is? Not fighting?”
At that moment the trees around the clearing were flattened as a Watcher approached. This one was different from the one they had faced in the mirror. Standing nearly ten feet tall and wearing a long gray cloak, it strode into the clearing knocking down trees. It stopped several feet away from them.
“Do not make a noise,” whispered Sylk.
It pushed back its hood revealing its face. It was an angelic beauty, androgynous in its features with a hint of angularity in the jaw. The skin was a flawless porcelain white framed by the deepest golden hair. Its eyes were two pools of white that made it seem blind.
“YOU DO NOT BELONG,” it said as the force of its words uprooted trees across the clearing. It pointed a finger past the trio, into the trees.
“DISIPAR,” it said. A figure dressed in forest greens fell from the trees and landed in the clearing, convulsing. The Watcher opened its hand and the figure froze.
“YOU MUST BE PURGED,” it said as it closed its hand. The figure on the ground disintegrated in a cloud of dust, leaving only the clothing behind. After a few moments the clothing disappeared.
The Watcher stood still a moment and
then floated away into the forest.
Sylk let out a long breath as the Watcher faded from sight.
“Who the hell was that, in the trees?” said Kal.
“If I had to guess, I would say Mikai,” said Sylk
“Mikai. As in the worst nightmare you can have, Mikai?” asked Kal. “That Mikai?”
“Is there another kind?” said Sylk. “The real question is what were they doing here following you?”
“It’s not like we can ask him,” said Kal as she looked at the place the Mikai had landed and then been erased.
“Not any longer, no. I know somewhere we can ask,” said Sylk as he placed a hand on Mara’s forehead. She was still unconscious.
“Where?”
“Get comfortable, we will spend the night here. Tomorrow we ask the Rah Ven,” said Sylk.
TWENTY-TWO
THE KEEPER STEPPED back and dodged the double-bladed attack. He swung his staff in a circle as he retreated. Rael brought up both swords to block the staff and was sent back several feet from the impact.
“Excellent,” said Rael. “You are more than I hoped for.”
“Stop this madness, Harbinger,” said the Keeper.
Rael laughed as he attacked again.
“Madness is all I know. Kill me or die.”
Rael lunged with one sword and then the other. The Keeper blocked one sword and allowed the other to lunge past him. An electrical discharge left the sword. The Keeper swung the staff in front of him to let it act as a makeshift lightning rod. The bolt hit the staff and arced away.
“You don’t have to live like this,” said the Keeper.
“I stopped ‘living’ long ago, Keeper,” said Rael as he slashed with a sword, forcing the Keeper to shift right then left. “It’s just survival now.”
“There is still hope for you,” said the Keeper as he pushed Rael back with a wave of energy from his staff. Rael crossed his swords to deflect the blast as he redirected the energy. The wave hit one of the remaining walls of the Watch, punching a large hole in it.
“Hope,” said Rael with disgust. “Hope for what? Everything and everyone I cared for was ripped away from me. The only thing I can hope for now is death, and even that is denied me.”
Rael turned and wrapped both swords around him as dark energy enveloped his body. The Keeper advanced and struck with his staff. Rael let him. The staff became trapped against his body. Energy raced down the staff and surrounded the Keeper. Still the Keeper did not let go.
“You have a choice, Rael,” said the Keeper as the energy from the swords consumed him.
“No,” said Rael as the Keeper disappeared.
“I made my choice long ago. There’s no going back now.”
The Gyrevex drew close to Rael as he sheathed his swords. His body still vibrated with the essence of the Keeper.
“The weapon bearer is in the hub plane. Let’s go erase some ascendants— that should draw him out,” said Rael.
TWENTY-THREE
WHEN I REGAINED consciousness I found myself in an empty room. A pair of thick metal bands were around my wrists. Each black band was inscribed with several silver symbols designed to prevent access to my chi. I had seen something like this before. Suppressors. My body felt like one large bruise. Everything ached. I managed to get to a seated position and waited for the room to right itself as I shifted next to a wall.
I tried to reach my center and access my chi. The symbols on the bands flared and the pain was excruciating. Every nerve in my body was on fire. I screamed until my throat was raw, and then I screamed some more. The tears flowed freely as I sought relief and found none. At some point I know I lost consciousness because the pain subsided.
As I opened my eyes again everything was dark except for a rectangle of light I guessed was the doorway. Several figures stood in the middle of the room. I couldn’t make out details through the haze of pain that racked my body, but I could breathe. I lay on the floor in a fetal position not daring to move for fear of setting off the pain again.
“I wouldn’t try that again,” said a female voice. The voice was familiar but the pain was making recollection difficult. Without visual cues I couldn’t place it. A boot moved me to a sitting position, setting off new flares of pain in my body. Then it all came back to me—Monique and the Black Lotus. A figure limped toward me using a cane as I shielded my eyes from the light.
“The others,” I said, my voice a rasp.
“By now the poison that is merely burning through your body has killed them.”
She had a bandage around her leg where I had stabbed her and was dressed in the robes of a monitor. Underneath the robes I could see the glint of the knives attached to her thighs. She crouched down to where I sat, using the cane for support. I saw her wince in pain at the motion. Waving a hand in front my face, she stopped when I reacted.
“Blindness is usually a side effect of the toxin,” she said.
“Water,” I said.
She laughed then.
“You think you are a guest here?” she said as she waved an arm around and grew serious.
“Water, please.”
“Did you know Diana was my teacher? Do you know what a soul siphon does? My teacher, my friend, is a statue for next hundred years or so. She can hear and see but cannot react. She is a prisoner trapped inside her body,” she said and anger laced her words.
“Please.”
She signaled to one of the figures next to her and a small cup was placed in my hands. My hands trembled as I brought the cool liquid to my cracked lips. It burned on the way down and I spit some of it up: manar.
“I wouldn’t waste it. That will keep you alive,” she said.
I tried drinking it again. My throat was sandpaper.
“Our initial orders were to kill you on sight,” she said.
I coughed and choked on the manar. The pain flared up again bringing fresh tears. She stood up and looked down at me.
“Why…why didn’t you?” I rasped.
“If it were up to me, I would end you right now, but it’s not up to me,” she said. I could see the hatred and contempt in her eyes.
“How long…how long will you keep me here?” I said. I knew this was a cell of some kind.
“You are more useful alive. If we killed you, the weapon you hold would pass to another warrior. We don’t want that. I hear warriors live a long time. You are going to be here for the rest of your pathetic life, however long that is,” she said.
“My friends…”
“Won’t find you. No one knows where you are. Those suppressors were made for you. The pain will never completely fade. If you try to access your chi, well, I can only hope that you try,” she said with a smile that never reached her eyes.
“You don’t understand. The ascendants are in danger. The Harbinger—”
“Is a myth. There are no ascendants and no Harbinger. How do you think we found you? Who suggested you use your inner sight? Didn’t it seem strange to you? You trusted them and they used you.”
“You’re wrong,” I said. “I felt them, the ascendants.”
“What you felt were people with latent energy. There are no ascendants protecting our plane. We do that—the Warriors of the Way. Warriors, guardians, the monitors and the Lotus. You have been told a fairy tale and you believed it.”
“No, can’t be true.”
“Ask yourself, would we really leave the safety of our entire plane to individuals who may not even know they are tasked with doing so?”
I remained silent.
“You were lied to. Those who helped you were judged, convicted and treated as we do all rogues. They were trying to take over this plane and were using you to further their plans.”
“No.” My thoughts were racing. Could she be right? Could Meja and the rest be rogues using me?
“I’ll leave you to get comfortable. One last thing, warrior, we depend on our connection to the other planes for survival. It is only through those connections
that we have been able to keep our enemies at bay and peace in the planes. These traitors have been trying to cut us off for decades now. It has been their driving mission. Once we are cut off they can strike without fear.”
“No,” I said, looking away. My mind was reeling.
“Yes, at some point I’m sure they suggested closing off the plane. Didn’t they? Maybe even Meja herself?” she said as she grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her. “Did you care for her? Entertain thoughts about her? How could you be so naïve? She doesn’t care about you. You are just a tool to be used. A means to an end.”
She limped out of the room with the two figures trailing her. I heard the door slam shut cutting off all sound from outside, but I couldn’t silence her words.
*****
Monique walked out of the cell. The pain in her leg reminded her with each step of how close they came to losing this fight. She stepped over to the waiting men, members of the Black Lotus.
“Do you think he believed you?” said Rory, the second member of the triad leadership of the Black Lotus.
“He doesn’t need to believe me, he just needs to doubt them,” she said.
“He’s right about the ascendants, they are in danger—”
“And they will be relocated somewhere safe by us. No more interference. No more talk of a Harbinger. We handle this my way. Do you really think the first Karashihan is lurking somewhere ready to come back? How old is he, around five hundred? Spare me the nonsense.”
“Well, there are stories,” said Rory.
“And that’s exactly what they are, stories. Here are the facts. That warrior has an artifact that can undo us all. We keep him suppressed and out of commission. We took down a major threat but that was just a battle in this war. There are other rogues that need to be put down. I’m just glad we finally got that bitch Meja. Sylk is still out there somewhere.”
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 29
