by P. S. Power
It was different than he’d figured things would be, seeming more official now that he was there.
“Yes.” The words got him set upon, by a line of people. Beings as well, since Neesa lined up, and used the box that Erath had gotten. It was just waved over his arm, and then she lined up to take a turn with Tor, after people swabbed their mouths, plucked hairs out and stabbed them several times.
She smiled and turned the device around, holding it up for Hess and Erath to see.
“It is true. Dareg is this man’s son. There can be no doubt.”
Queen Tiera nodded, but didn’t say anything, as the others went, group by group. The mages from Vagus went next, each of the four people announcing that magically it was also clear that he was Tor’s child. Princess Abbey showed her results to the media crew, as did the Austrans, capturing all of it directly, and sending it out live.
Then after each section had gone, the tall, rather lovely, Queen of the place bowed toward the cameras.
“I trust that this will be taken as solid proof for all that are concerned? It is fact, and proven on a level that I’ve never heard of being done before, by people that have no reason to lie to anyone. In fact, this represents every world in our system being in agreement. Even if it did not, Torrance Baker has signed papers, claiming Dareg Canton, on two worlds. That would make it real, even if biology were not satisfied. This issue is ended now. No one can doubt these findings.” There was a bit of an edge to the words, as if she were saying that no one had better claim anything again, rather than it was simply confirmed.
Tomas announced it all, very carefully, going over every kind of reading, and result again, including having Neesa go over things for him, which she did easily, even if a lot of people were watching the aliens very closely. Not the Forten people in the group, who had all been interested enough in the goings on, but quiet the whole time.
“Well! Not that there was real doubt before, but I think we can safely say that this should end the matter. That… Well…”
He faltered for a bit, as Ben nodded, and looked over at Dareg.
“Tom there just realized that while this is proven, now the questions will simply be about how you can get away with murder. The simple answer is the one that will work. Dareg wasn’t responsible for his actions at the time. Mr. Albright died of misadventure, and the video record of that is clear. Even in Austra that would be the case. If after a trial.”
Dareg looked down, and nodded, feeling sad. It was intense, and kind of included everyone that he’d had to kill, not just the insistent and attacking reporter from Harmony. Though that might be from Austra. Certainly the man had been from there originally, if nothing else. The pain of the death hit him then, solidly, bleeding over to include Bill, the faithless Squire, and Kiernan Tag. Oddly, he didn’t care in the slightest about Kevin Straughan. Yes, the man had died, but Dareg hadn’t really killed him. Bill either. William…
That one was easier as well. It had been a fight to the death and Dareg wasn’t going to feel bad about having lived. That way was a path to madness. Still, there was pain for him in all the memories. Things that he relived, seeing the faces of those he destroyed as the light dashed from their eyes.
“Which doesn’t bring the man back. Nothing can.”
There were a few nods from the others around him, though it wasn’t everyone. Not even close to being that. It was Tomas who took a deep breath and faced him more directly then.
“So, you feel badly about having killed Kristopher Albright? People have been wondering if you… Felt that you were in the right having done so.” There was a real hesitation in the words, which made total sense to everyone it seemed.
Tor, Queen Tiera and Patricia Baker all moved forward, seeming ready for violence of their own, or at least to attempt to grab Dareg and get the relatively innocent Tomas away from him if he started to attack. He wasn’t even in a combat rage or anything.
“Of course I feel bad! I… The man pushed at the wrong time and my will, my ability to control myself, was stolen from me. Yes, it was his fault, but also mine. It’s the unfair part of all this. I have to try to be in constant control over something that isn’t really inside of what can be managed. Not all the time. In Noram, if a person is going into a rage…”
Tor spoke, just as Dare tapered off. Almost like the words were planned out, which they weren’t at all. The timing was nearly perfect however.
“In Noram, if a person is going into a rage, everyone tries to get away from them, and not aggravate the situation. There… Well, Timon attempted to get Albright away, which probably wouldn’t have happened on the ground there. Not that I blame him for doing it. It might have even worked, if things had been just a little bit different. The thing here is that Dareg was pushed to a level that no one would have managed to stop, and then pushed further. It would be a mistake to think of combat rage as being a little upset, or even angry. It’s a completely different and far more powerful thing. One that… I don’t know the words for this.”
He seemed baffled by what he was trying to say, but oddly enough, Ben, who had bright green Austran style hair and matching gemlike emerald eyes, cleared his throat a bit. Then he spoke in his funny accent. It was clear enough however, and seemed to be similar to English inflections, now that Dare had a chance to pay attention.
“Prince Dareg, and all people with combat rage, have a special organ set inside their body, which produces chemicals and hormones that drive them to extreme physical action in emergencies. It isn’t always anger, for all they name it rage. The basic set would be triggered by that, or fear, allowing them to use faster reflexive times, have greater strength, and access powers of the mind that would ordinarily be too weak for them to use, if they have the biological ability at all. Endurance goes up as well, but given the nature of the process, that can be hard to tell. This means that using a personal perception of anger or even rage won’t allow you to truly comprehend the difficulty in fighting such things off. Controlling this kind of thing would be a bit like taking control of your own heartbeat. Possible, with practice, but if you’re being assaulted or pushed, it would be nearly impossible to do for long.”
Then the man smiled a bit, and stopped making any sound at all, moving back before anyone could ask how he knew all of that. Tomas didn’t think to, just nodding his head slowly, the twin lightning bolt tattoos on his right cheek glinting a little bit. His hair was black at the moment, and his eyes a deep and rather standard brown. For him that was practically unadorned. He had on a serious seeming charcoal black jumpsuit. One that had piping on the sleeves and four lines of stitching. Given that the whole thing was made of magic, that probably indicated that it was decently fine wear for someone of his occupation.
“I see. Well, this should put large portions of things to bed. We need to get to the rest of the day’s events then? It seems that Mars has a new leader? Also, that aliens are real? I suppose we knew that, having seen the Ring Makers already, but… This is special, isn’t it? Who should we interview on this first?”
That, it turned out, was Queen Tiera. She had a special room set aside for things like that however, off the main promenade, and very politely managed to get all of the Ysidril, and the Forten present to go with her. That left Dareg alone, except for Tor, who stayed back, not walking when the others all went to disclose the fact that humanity wasn’t alone after all. It didn’t seem like a huge deal to him, personally, but he could see how other opinions might differ on that one. For half a moment he wondered if he should leave with them, but then just sniffed the air. There was food around, and being on Harmony, that would mean it was probably free for the taking.
“Would… We could go and get something to eat? I don’t know what time it is.”
His father, looking too youthful to have that job by at least ten years, smiled.
“About three in the morning, here. Everyone is using one of Ali’s wakening amulets. The humans at least. I don’t know what the Ysidril are doin
g for that. Let’s go to Marissa’s? It probably won’t be that busy right now. Everyone wants to meet the new leader of Mars. That was…” The man started walking and shook his head, which was just visible in Dare’s peripheral vision.
The expression and body language shifted a bit, and he laughed a little. It sounded strained however, and unlike anything that Dareg had heard from him before.
“That was, and is, risky, isn’t it? Putting one of them in charge. We know almost nothing about them.”
It was true, of course. Dareg knew a bit more than Tor it seemed, so tried to speak slowly, as he pretended to be walking while under water.
“Ysidril don’t sleep. Like me. All I know about Hess is that he’s followed through on his word in everything so far, and seems to care about helping everyone. Even if they aren’t of his own people. It might be a mistake, in which case we vote him out in a few years, but I don’t think so. He might not be good at the job, but he won’t be corrupt or evil to anyone. If anything the harm here will be in insisting that he have to put up with our people. We can be jerks, in case you missed that part?” He smiled a bit, still feeling out of sorts from the events of the day. Thinking about it got him to glance back and hold it, seeing where everyone had been set up to watch the humiliating spectacle of him having to prove that his father was, in reality, his father.
Almost no one had to do that, so it was a special punishment, devised just for him. Possibly for Torrance Baker as well. The man had already done the right thing. Tested the claim, found that it was real and thrown in as completely as he could behind the idea. The one dragging his feet on the whole thing had been Dareg. The insight wasn’t a fun one, but was real enough. Worse, it was a thing that Dareg had seen the entire time. Tor, and his entire family, had worked to include him at every turn. When it got a bit rough, Dare had walked away. Or tried to. That, it seemed, wasn’t needed. Allowed either.
Snorting a bit, which seemed like an affectation, the taller man glanced over at his son, and took a deep breath.
“True. It isn’t everyone, or all the time, but we do manage some damage, as a species. Maybe the Ysidril can do better? If so, then they have my vote. We just have to try and be there to help out, as well as we can. So, what’s next?”
Dareg knew that he didn’t mean the late night meal. The thing there was that a lot of what he’d been worried over in life had pretty much either been resolved or was opened back up to being put that way now, where it hadn’t been before.
“Well… I need to get back to my tutoring sessions. Probably after the Jupiter trip, but I should at least get with Petra in the morning, and make certain that Sam Builder knows where I am. I do have some projects that I can be working on for that kind of thing, so maybe he won’t be too upset? Petra… She’s going to beat me. Fair enough, I suppose. Not that I look forward to it. All the pain makes her lessons so hard to go to, if I’m going to be honest. It has to be done, but…”
The man next to him seemed fine with all of that. It wasn’t a long term life plan, maybe, but it was enough that the fellow seemed to think his son wasn’t just planning to run and hide. Not that the idea wasn’t kind of tempting. That or moving out to explore the universe. Just going to see the Ysidril worlds would be interesting. He even knew where one of those was. The trick there would be to do it carefully, so that they didn’t end up with the Adversary problem, if it wasn’t a thing they had to deal with already.
There was no one at the door of the restaurant, which was odd, though inside there were several people waiting to serve them. None of them were people he recognized, but the two ladies near the front waved and one, a small, very pale woman that seemed like she might be from Tellerand, moved over quickly enough, once they were inside the door.
“Gentles. Will you be dining together this eve? Are there more to come in your party? We have much of open spaces, if it serves you.” She was much shorter than Dareg, and had a slightly round face, without being fat. Her hair was long, but held back and covered with a black shawl. On her front was a humble looking wooden cross. Inside of her…
There was only the blood, tissue and organs of a regular person. Like there was supposed to be.
“Just us, I think? Thank you.”
“It is as the All High commands. We must seek to make all who come welcome.”
Dareg nodded then, getting that her ways were simply different than his own.
“Then thank the All High.” Somehow he managed to make that come out as a statement, rather than a question.
Tor smiled and bowed his head then.
“Praise the All High.”
She seemed happy about the words, if a bit demure, and walked them to a table near the far side of the place, toward the solid stone wall along the back, past a nice horse statue. It was about a quarter of the size what a real horse would be, but whoever had made it had put a lot of time and effort into the project. Even the hair seemed to be nearly real. The whole thing was in black however, and when his mind touched it, the lovely thing was made of light.
That got him to smile.
“I didn’t know that anyone had made copies of my light units. I feel almost like a professional now.”
His father winked at him, and grinned.
“I’m almost certain Tenet was behind that one. The new light statues are showing up all over the place now. You know… You might consider making some dimensional plays. The work you did with… Your daughters, Samantha and Eva? That’s… Well, I don’t even know what to say about it. I’ve done some similar things a few times. Dragons that look and feel real, but have to be controlled by a person, and Taman has made her comps and units, which are as complex, but it just never occurred to anyone to make people like that. It pretty much marks you as being an up and comer that way.” It was meant to be faint praise, Dare could tell.
Pointing out that he had done something huge and new, that only brilliant wizards might produce, and then suggesting that it only meant he was possibly going places. Eventually.
He shrugged, copying the move from Tor, on purpose.
“Eh. They’re good kids, but that doesn’t say that much about me. Really, they’re fighters. They pretty much won’t go down in combat, being made of energy. So they don’t take damage, and can armor themselves. Piscean armor? That way they can hit the Adversaries, I think. They haven’t tried it yet, but that was the idea. They’re faster than people are too, when they want to be. Only about like I am, so it isn’t perfect. I couldn’t work out how to really teach them to step sideways to time however. I… I think I kind of can, now, but I need to work with that more, if I get the chance. It sounds like what the enemy is doing is really different that way than I thought.”
“Yes. We should get with Ben Epson, if he comes back. I think, from what I heard, that he’s mainly just trying to sight-see right now. His world has been protected from them already. On the good side he seems more than willing to help the rest of us even if he’s safe. That… Does it bother you? Having other versions of yourself around?”
Dareg thought about it for a bit and then shook his head.
“No? Why would it? He seems nice enough. So far anyway. A bit green, but that does help with the Austran act.”
The words got a grin, as the other woman that was there, who seemed to have come from Afrak originally from her look, and had lovely dark brown skin and a kind smile, even if she was in her fifties or so, moved over smoothly. Her accent was perfect for Noram Standard as well. The only thing really throwing Dare off was how tall she was. About six-four or so, at a guess.
People from that land tended to be rather short, and have a strange, nearly musical, quality to their speaking.
“Gentlemen, what can I get for you this evening? We can make nearly anything, and have a wide variety of specials, if you have trouble making up your mind? We could start with some drinks, perhaps?”
She was being very friendly, and while most of her attention was going to Tor, she did glance over at hi
m enough to prevent Dare from feeling ignored. So it was really shocking to him when she moved, taking a step to the side, and then blurred, time distorting around her perfectly.
Dareg pushed Tor to the side, and yelled a single word, since the knife that the woman had thrown was aimed right for him, and shields didn’t work for some reason when the enemy did their time, or reality, distortion trick. He was going for something witty like, duck, but was almost certain that what he half screamed was actually different than that. “They!”
The taller man still moved, if awkwardly, so it was good enough.
As soon as Tor was away, he jumped toward the woman, who released several blades at him, most of slightly different types, as Dare put his armor on. The world swirled in a gray cloud as it happened, and several women, all standing not three feet from him, screamed. Only about four of them, however. There were about a hundred that were there, overlapping. The knives, thankfully, mainly vanished as well, becoming his new covering. A few hit him, not doing anything to his armor.
Then they fought for real.
It was harder than it had been before, he realized. This woman might be smaller than he was, if only slightly, and while strong was no better that way, but she was quick, and there were at least eighty of her left. Hitting him all at one time.
Worse, she was really good at fighting. Like Kolb had been, before he’d died. It pretty much meant that even through his armor, Dareg both took damage and wasn’t managing to actually land many blows. Worse, the weapon he’d designed, which he had one of on him, was currently around his neck, in a pocket of space in his armor.
So it was a bit of a shock when an armored giant form next to him, Tor, who looked dangerous in his shining black armor, managed to have gotten his weapon free and was shooting at the women already. She responded by doing something very similar to what they had.
