Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2

by Brian Wilkerson

  “She must be a dragon's child.”

  “I heard she’s the Spider's –”

  That sounded like Tiza. He pictured her standing on a pile of unconscious trainees and pouring the hot chocolate she was supposed to serve them on them. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived at the training ground, there were only veteran soldiers in their daily exercises. Icy breezes had free access to these grounds and the ground was hard and chilly in preparation for snow, but these men and women drilled without complaint.

  “Snol may blow and Snol may howl!” they belted. “But we will never ever bow!”

  The queen appeared on a balcony overlooking the grounds. She didn't wear a coat or anything more than what she had in the heated throne room. Then she raised her right hand above her head and a large ball of fire appeared in her palm. The heat from it was so great it transformed the area into summer. All the soldiers stopped and saluted with sword hands over their hearts. As suddenly as it appeared, the fire vanished into Kasile's hand and she addressed them.

  “Brave Soldiers of Ataidar, the equinox approaches, and with it, the retreat of the Sun. Now more than ever, you must remember the fire burning within each of you. Our combined power can melt the hardest ice and restore abundant life. I implore you to do your very best, for the Flame of Ataidar!”

  The soldiers thrust their weapons to the sky. “By the Fire of Shalindtros!”

  This must be the Fire’s Avatar religion I’ve heard about.

  Veneration of the Grand Elemental Sapience Fire was the official state religion. Kasile was a descendent of Shalindtros, the avatar of this fire god, and thus the heir of Ataidar’s founder. She was to be a benevolent sun shining on the ground, growing crops in addition to a fire warming a camp of subjects. She was the power behind a blacksmith pulling weapons, tools, and pottery out of his forge. Here, she was acting it out.

  The words of the fireball spell floated in his mind as well as the one who taught it them. “Crimson fire, grant my desire.” Fire was then related to Chaos….

  Eric shook his head. As fascinating as all this is...where's Tiza?

  He wandered about until he found his answer in the next field over. It took the form of an overturned table and chocolate-flavored snow. Instead of a crowd of soldiers, there was only a handful sparring and their drill sergeant ranting.

  “Abyss take that salt-sucking sell sword! An entire day of drilling wasted! Why would Her Majesty ever –” He trailed off as he caught sight of Eric. “You! Trickster's Choice! You caused this!”

  He drew his sword and the motion generated a crescent of energy that sliced through the air. Eric dropped to his knees and the beam smashed into the walls behind him. To the credit of the long-dead craftsmen, it wasn’t as much as scratched. The officer waved the gleaming blade while shouting, “I hope you had a good laugh because my maggots will never be this embarrassing again!”

  Eric backed away slowly. “Uh...good...I'm leaving now.”

  “And take your friends with you!”

  Eric scanned the courtyard but couldn't find any of them. However, he did find some oddballs mixed in with the recruits. They were a quartet of soldiers playing the drums on each other's backs while also doing the conga through the sparring circles. Their armor lacked the same royal motifs as the others and instead possessed an eye and two hands.

  “Those aren't my friends.”

  The drill sergeant turned red in the face and marched to get up in Eric's. He moved so close his goblin’s fungus breath stung Eric’s eyes

  “They sang your fighter's praises while egging on my maggots! They distracted me so the duel could brew into a brawl! I don't care if they're assassins come to kill you – get them out of here!”

  “Y-yes, sir!”

  Eric beckoned the four soldiers and they followed him back across the training yard and into the castle. This hallway was shadowy and could fit three people abreast, so the soldiers walked in pairs. One of them walked ahead of him while the other dropped behind. An anxious feeling needled in his mind. He whispered the words to a spell and, suddenly, the feeling blared. He leapt upward just in time to avoid a four-way shanking. Two of them struck low while the other struck high. They clearly expected him to dodge, but didn’t expect him to cling to the ceiling.

  He cloaked an instant later and pushed off thin air. His Winged Feet enabled him superior maneuverability, even in the hallway. He landed lightly and the feeling blared again. Something snapped his Dark Veil. He sidestepped a downward club strike and this maneuver put him behind Gruffle. He fired a dark bolt directly against the troll’s back and darkness rushed into the hallway. By the time Gruffle dispelled it, Eric was several yards away.

  Rallying the imposter soldiers, the troll ran after him. Their prey fired mana bolts over his shoulder, but they either missed or dispersed on their armor. The mage threw everything in his repertoire at Gruffle, but the troll negated it all with his Orderly Pocket Guardian.

  “Only Chaos can defeat Order.” That was what Annala said.

  Gruffle returned fire with his shockwaves and they rattled the walls with their passage. Eric stepped onto an Air Disk to avoid them. He only stepped down to open a door and enter the next room.

  “Excuse me! Coming through! Under attack!”

  Servants scattered before him, bumping into each other and dropping their burdens to the floor. Crashes were heard as they broke. His flight pushed a lady into the arms of a clerk and he heard a smack from behind him. A group of soldiers blocked his path and demanded that he halt. Instead, he changed directions and went down another path, with Gruffle and the imposters in hot pursuit.

  “Call the Sentinel!” the ranking officer said. “That troll has ordercraft!”

  Then he pointed to three other soldiers and told them to follow him. He followed the intruders, who followed Eric, who was doing his best to get away from them all. When he reached the main hall, he found his chance.

  It was as busy now as when he arrived earlier that day. Cloaking once again, he joined the crowd in order to slip away. Gruffle bashed one person aside after another, but Eric had too much experience with hiding in plain sight. The troll lost sight of him and howled in frustration. Everyone ran away from him, but one woman wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed her by the hair and hoisted her off her feet.

  “Eric Watley, Trickster’s Choice, come out here or else!”

  “Taking a hostage is a crime in Ataidar.”

  The authoritative baritone sent shivers down Gruffle’s spine. From the third floor, an orc looked down on him. He jumped the railing and landed solidly before Gruffle, cratering the ground. He stood a head and shoulders taller than the troll and possessed greater muscle mass. He wore full body armor that made him appear bigger still. It was bulky and emblazoned with flaming tiger paws and glowing golden runes made from ten intersecting lines at his stomach. The royal crest was engraved on his chest and his helmet.

  “I am Fairtheora the Lawkeeper, Royal Sentinel in service to Her Majesty Queen Kasile Ataidar. By her authority, I charge you with the following crimes: Assault in the first degree, attempted murder, hostage taking, impersonating a royal soldier, trespassing on royal property, and the possession and use of ordercraft contrabands. Will you come quietly?”

  Gruffle soiled himself and tightened his grip on his hostage.

  “Go away or I’ll kill her!”

  “If you do so in the palace and before all these witnesses, then I will be within my legal right to stick your dismembered body in my stew while you are still alive and bleeding.”

  Gruffle raised his club to bash her head in, when suddenly the hair in his grip parted from the hair on her head. While he stared at the strange sight, something hit him in the one spot that is as sensitive to trolls as it is to humans. Once again, he clutched himself as his shorn hostage ran to safety. Then, something tried to take his crystal. He tightened his grip and blasted the thing grabbing it. Eric decloaked in midair and landed near the sentinel, skidding on t
he polished floor.

  “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Watley.”

  The sentinel stepped forward and Gruffle summoned the four imposters to protect himself. Fairtheora grabbed the first two and used them as hammers to bash the other two into the ground. Then he twisted them into a double pretzel and left them on the ground next to their fellows. Gruffle raised his Orderly Pocket Guardian to generate an order barrier, but Fairtheora reached through it, grabbed his crystal, and crushed it into dust.

  “Her Majesty is The Law here and I am the enforcer of her Law. Will you come quietly, come now, or must I resort to further violence?”

  Gruffle nodded meekly and allowed himself to be cuffed. A squad of soldiers surrounded him and the sentinel turned his attention to Eric.

  “I will not tolerate any further disturbances. Understand?” Eric nodded. The sentinel marched his prisoner down a different hallway and out of sight.

  Eric shivered. Your sentinel is scary.

  That's what I pay him for.

  Is he new?

  Sort of. He used to guard the castle itself, but after the Stratos Tragedy, my father sent him to guard the border in case Latrot made a move.

  The whole border? By himself?!

  No, only half of it. Father wasn’t worried about Mithra attacking. After I found an enforcer living in him, I recalled his sentinel to ensure stability in my realm.

  Eric knelt to take a closer look at the twisted up armor shells. Royal soldiers were blocking off the area so passersby couldn’t interfere with the scene, but they left Eric alone so he was free to examine them on his own. Upon close examination, it was obvious that these soldiers were imposters. The fire designs on their armor were not royal Ataidar designs; just normal fire. The eye symbols were more elaborate – better made and identical to the one in Gruffle's crystal.

  Shadow Dengel knelt at the opposite side of the bodies and examined them as well. Then he looked up and sneered at Eric. You were helpless before the Power of Order. Nulso and his spirit, Gruffle and his crystal; they negate your power. All you could do was run like the coward you are.

  To look away from the phantom would only acknowledge it, so he pretended it didn't exist by looking at the armor and refreshing the mechanics of Order's power in his head. Ordercraft is bequeathed upon sapients by Order to carry out his will. Order is the original mage and so his authority is to control mana. Thus, objects runed with his symbol are capable of directing mana or absorbing it. This is the basis of anti-mana storm runes inside every wall surrounding every city on the planet.

  Shadow Dengel disappeared in a cloud of darkness and reappeared at Eric's side, patting his head. You remembered my lecture! You have touched my heart, my dear student.

  Eric's fists clenched, and again, he struggled not to lash out. Rationally, he knew he wouldn't hit anything, but smacking that smug bastard would be emotionally gratifying!

  Kasile, what do you make of this?

  Either King Epideus of Latrot wants to kill you for some unfathomable reason or that troll acquired black market ordercraft from Latrot's civil war years ago. My money is on the latter, but I can't rule out the former. My ordercraft team is on their way and they will determine the truth.

  There's one more possibility.

  Yes?

  Nulso Xialin A.K.A Harry Butchin. He stalked a friend of mine and almost killed me when I defended her. Could he and Gruffle be working together?

  Possibly. Ordercrafters can charm objects for use by non-ordercrafters. This fact is –

  The sound of five pairs of boots distracted Eric. A group of five young women tore down the hallway and into main hall. They wore light armor made from silver-grey metal and studded with red-gold emblems. Their chest plates, gauntlets, and greaves were decorated with the royal Ataidar Crest. Around their waists were segmented skirts made of four plates with each plate representing an animal from the Avatar Alliance. Around their foreheads was a circlet bearing an Eye of Order crossed out with red-gold. Each of them had a different hair color, yet all of them had strands of silver-grey mixed in; they reminded him of Kallen's strands of golden-brown. When they saw him, they stopped and said, “Trickster's Choice.”

  He slouched. “Yes...What about these guys?”

  One of them stepped forward. Eric assumed she was the leader by her more ornate armor. She also had the least grey hair among the five and the rest was a shade lighter than the golden-brown of elves. It was shoulder length and covered by a transparent red veil held in place by the circlet. She produced a badge that depicted the Eye of Order imprisoned in the claws of Ataidar’s Crowned Tiger.

  “I am Kimberly Johnson, leader of Her Majesty’s Ordercraft Security and Compliance Team. Please step aside and allow us to perform our jobs.”

  “Sure.” He turned around and Kimberly spoke up again.

  “Please stand by because I will need to debrief you. Also, don’t try to cloak yourself because I will still be able to see you.”

  “Sure.”

  Kimberly turned to address the other four. “Taylor Jones, Daniela Cranston, Thuy Kwan, and Jasmine St. John, you know your specialties. I want to know everything about these armors in five minutes. Understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  They dispersed to check each body. They ran a scanning device over them and jotted down the readings. They traced with their hands and eyes for reasons that Eric could only guess. Only sparingly did they use the eldritch light of Order. When they finished with one suit, they switched to another. The fifth kept watch over Eric. She sized him up with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and disappointment.

  “Your hair is solid red.” Not sure what else to do, Eric nodded. “He'll change that soon enough.”

  Tasio wants to change my hair color?

  An ethereal hand descended on his shoulder and another settled on his head. Shadow Dengel stood behind him and his shroud draped over him. I have figured it out. You never will.

  Order's power leaches the color out of their hair as it does everything. Eric answered to remind himself and not because an arrogant figment of his imagination challenged him to. Chaos' power stains what it touches golden-brown because that's what chaos looks like inside a world fruit. Kallen has it because she was in the Siduban Chaos Explosion.

  The four ordercrafters consulted with each other, then stood and returned to their leader's side like planets orbiting a sun.

  The black-haired one, Taylor Jones, stepped forward. Eric noted that her hair was unusually long for a soldier, down her back. He also noticed that her bangs were as even as a ruler, and two side locks came down to her shoulders. She saluted and said, “This humble one traced the metal to a mine in Anich and it was likely processed in Liclis before being shipped elsewhere. There are no identifying marks other than the runes.”

  The redhead, Jasmine St. Jones, stepped forward. Her hair was short enough to be a crew cut. She saluted and said, “I determined the runes to be standard ordercraft for creating automatons with extra for deflecting or negating mana. Absorbing runes are not present. If someone wanted to make anti-mage weapons, these would be effective.”

  The brunette, Daniela Cranston, stepped forward. Her hair was in a braided tail. By now, Eric was putting a puzzle together. This was the fourth distinctive hairstyle and hair color. She saluted and said, “As for me, I can’t find any trace of necro or soulcraft. They’re purely automatons. The only thing animating them was their control crystal. It is unlikely that anyone has worn any of these suits.”

  Is it deliberate? Let’s see…Ordercrafter means Order philosophy which means….

  The blunette, Thuy Kwan, stepped forward. Her hair was in a bun. She saluted and said, “My evaluation can confirm that because I sense no hostility in these suits. Nor do I not see a connection to Epideus or his lieutenants. They were either enchanted by an impersonal force like Latrot’s Grand Obelisk or an unregistered and stoic ordercrafter.”

  “I see,” Kimberly said. “The fact that a com
mon thug had access to this technology will assist Her Majesty and Abbott Tolis in their media war against King Epideus. My thanks to you all.”

  They put their hands over their hearts and said, “We only seek to fulfill Her Majesty’s will.”

  “Mr. Watley, have you encountered ordercrafters before?” Kimberly asked.

  “Yes. I fought one working for a slaver in Acemo and he was killed by an orc. I also fought one right here in Roalt – Nulso Xialin/Harry Butchin, whatever you want to call him. He is still at large because The Trickster didn’t kill him.”

  “Do you know of any reason why Mr. Gruffle would want to kill you badly enough to sneak into the castle with ordercraft contrabands?”

  Eric shook his head. “He tried to kill me as soon as we met.”

  “It could be your status as Trickster's Choice. There are accounts of your kind being scapegoated for the misfortune of others because of their association with the Overturner of Fortune.”

  The scene in the training yard played out again in Eric's mind; the drill sergeant immediately assumed he was responsible because he was there at the time. Other scenes spun themselves out of whole cloth: a girl locked in stocks because clothes were missing or a boy beaten because of a failed hunt. It's Tasio's fault, but his chosen are the ones punished. If one isn't around, then make one. A social convention born out of frustration and the amusement of tricksters....

  “Can I go now?”

  “You may go, yes,” she replied.

  He decided to check the infirmary for his teammates. It was on the same floor, but he got lost all the same. Fortunately, passing soldiers and servants were happy to give him directions. They were wary of him, but it was more of a “he's gonna tie my shoe laces together” kind of wary than a “dirty mercenary” kind of wary. Shadow Dengel insisted it was both. It floated ahead of him and blocked the doorway. They don't want to see you.

  Eric closed his eyes, inhaled, exhaled, and opened his eyes. He saw a door marked by a pair of crossed white staves. Unlike the one in his guild, this one was topped by an overlooking Crowned Tiger. He opened the door and it was like looking into another world.