by P. S. Power
That made sense to him. After all, that is what he would have done.
Except that it might not be. Not that he would have gone after the blonde woman that had insulted him either. Odds were that his real trick would have been to storm away. In anger, but that was the kind of thing he'd always done before. He started to get too upset and would just leave, rather than stand and argue. In the Tam-car he'd been trapped however, and that meant being stuck.
The dusky lady next to him shook her head just a tiny bit.
"You said that you had to raise yourself for the last years? That had to be tough. No one mentioned this to you? Noticed that you were glowing and shooting sparks out every time you got annoyed or anything? Started beating people up when they mocked your small penis size, or pointed out the dumb expression you carry around on your face all the time? Really, that nearly had to happen with those pouty lips of yours." The woman was watching him closely, and reached out to him, putting her hand on his chest. Then she pushed him, just hard enough to make him move back a step. "You're so tiny as well. I bet that a lot of men wanted to screw your behind. Do you like that, or did that set you off each time they tried? You know, when they were spitting on their hands, and trying to get your trousers down? I bet you couldn't stop them, being so little. Is that the kind of thing you like? It would explain why you didn't kill anyone at least. Unless you have? Are you a murderer, Dareg Canton?"
She pushed him harder, just enough for his body to move. It was enough to cause Dareg to go again, angry at the woman who'd suddenly turned on him like she had.
Rather than run off, or even slap her shield into place, Petra took a few steps back.
"There we go. Control that. Don't let go of it. I've seen you do this twice inside twenty minutes, you can do it three times. Hurry. Faster this time. Remember what being in control feels like and get back to it." There was a sudden change in her tone, having moved from derision to a calm, guiding tone.
For his part, as anger and even rage surged through him, Dare tried to do just that. It was hard to think, but he could, so that meant he got the idea. She hadn't been really making fun of him, just goading him into this lethal upset thing. Combat rage.
That wasn't a thing that anyone had ever told or taught him about, or that he'd been accused of. Both of the women with him had recognized it instantly when it had started to happen however. Which indicated something. It was harder to think, but as he breathed, slowly, things clicked into place. They were both nobles. That group of people, while easy to see, being so tall, made up a small part of the society. Tiny enough that if some of them had special abilities it might not be known to everyone.
He had heard of people with special powers on the battlefield. That was magic, or so he'd thought. People shooting lightning from their fingers, or blasts of force from their palms. Really, when that was brought up in school, the assumption had always been that the people doing that just had talismans or weapons in their hands that no one could see at the moment in the heat.
Apparently that was wrong.
After a little over a minute, he opened his eyes, feeling a bit better. Conserina Ward, Petra Lairdgren smiled at him.
"I was wrong of course, you don't have a stupid looking pouty mouth. You do have girl hair though. I wasn't kidding about that part. Though no one will be doing you from behind unless you like that kind of thing, I bet. Not as easy to trigger as you are."
Then, pretty much as Dareg expected her to do, she pushed him. Over and over, with both soft blows and name calling. None of it was really bad, though she did cover that he had to have a little pecker a lot. Being as small as he was. Finally, after three more iterations of him becoming enraged and then having to pull back from the edge of losing his mind on the woman, Dareg walked away.
Digging through his bag, he got out the amulet for the little pod house, and set it up with a tap. The thing wasn't vast, and was just as lumpy on the top as before, but it was a lot more white, since it was dark outside. He needed to get some lights up and going, he knew. He had them, in his little canvas bag, but his head hurt so much that Dareg really wasn't going to bother with that at the moment.
At his front door, when he expected Petra to stay outside, she surprised him, gently placing her hand on his back and moving him along inside, then shutting the door.
Looking around, she nodded at him.
"Not bad. Tam did a good job on these. Mainly for her people in Soam. So, here. This will help with the head." She dug at her own neck for a bit, and came out with a healing amulet. It was easy to tell that was what she held, having a glowing man in green on it, in silhouette.
Pressing the thing against his arm, she held it there for a moment. His head flared in pain, but Dare didn't grunt or move back. Healing often hurt at first. Everyone knew that. After about a half minute he was feeling a lot better however. Like he could really think again. Thirty seconds after that he was back to normal. Better than that, because he was nearly certain the scuff marks and bruising from being tossed out of the High Servants little hut days before were finally all gone.
Then, looking at her, he shrugged, and undid the front of his trousers. It was crude of him, but she was the one that had doubted his manhood all those times. Stroking himself as she watched, he grew in front of her.
"So, too small for you?" He didn't think he really was, but his life hadn't shown him a lot of other men getting ready for sex, so he didn't really know and was legitimately asking her.
He kind of expected panic, but she just grinned.
"You're decent that way, to be honest. On the large side without being too big. That doesn't work either. Now, tuck that away. We need to talk."
He did it, knowing that it had been too much to hope that she'd actually do something with him. She was a noble though, so it had been possible. They had very different rules that way than city folk did. Then, he hadn't really asked, just whipping it out like that and getting her opinion. It was good to know that he really wasn't deficient that way, however.
Petra smiled at him, and shook her head a little.
"You won't lose control. Not if you can do what we just did out there. We need to work out some practice for you. Probably fight work, without a shield, so I can get you going by just hitting you in the head a few times. First you need to be able to turn it on and off, and control it while fighting, then we need to work on using the ability during a crisis. The thing there is that I can't babysit you each day. So, you'll need to come to Printer for lessons. Morning would be good for me. That's when the serious students are there anyway. We need to get you training in meditation and magic too. Tor can do almost anything he's familiar with as direct effect, all the time. This has to be related. Or... You know, I bet I can get things set up for you so you won't have to travel that far each day. Let me see?"
He nodded, and managed a rather dour smile.
"So, no sex? Here I'd thought you wanted me, talking about my penis like that so much." He really hadn't, but instead of laughing at him, she nodded.
"We could do that. I'm just holding off, in case I end up being your teacher. There are rules to that kind of thing, and if I have to hit you ten times an hour to help you learn, we probably won't want to end up in bed each night. That can end up with some odd things happening. Plus the student getting better marks than they deserve, which is always bad for them."
Dareg snorted then, and shook his head.
"Clearly. So, you were just saying the thing about my manhood. The hair, too?"
She ran her fingers through it, and then pulled it straight up. Not hard, at first, but about a foot away from his head she tugged so hard he had to go one tiptoe. Then she let go as his shield triggered, trapping it in place.
"No. That will have to go. Eventually. Right now I need to go see some people, but you should sleep. Even if you don't do anything, combat rage is exhausting and you have real work to get to."
Then, without so much as a hug, she left, closing the door to his
pod house behind her.
She wasn't wrong. It was all he could do not to fall into bed. Sleep hit him hard, but he had been up for nearly two days already, minus about six hours, so it made sense. The device that Alyssa had given him to let him stay awake had worn off already. At first light he had to force himself to get up, his head feeling like it was stuffed with wool still, and used the thing, just to see what would happen.
The answer was very little. Except that as soon as he tapped the little stone piece he went from being groggy and slow to normal. In about three seconds. It made setting the water up for the place, and then scrubbing up a lot easier.
In fact, about ten minutes later, he was able to get outside and talk to his Tam-friend.
"Hey. Did anything happen while I was gone?"
The device popped up with the face of a smiling and pretty girl, and nodded at him.
"Yep. We had about a hundred people here yesterday. Some looking for work. I asked them to come back at about noon today. After I got them to refill all of the units here. The High Servant Erid came by, and is staying in the free inn, in case you need him? He's nice. He brought his wife along with him. Kimi. She's from Afrak." The words were a little simplistic, but he nodded at the pale face that was about as light as his own.
"Thanks. Would I be able to have some food?"
The girl in the box shook her head, and looked behind him.
"No. I don't think that the large man and woman are going to allow that, Dareg."
Petra, standing next to a tall bald man, nodded.
"Indeed. We need to find a place to get started. Over this way?"
The tan bald guy laughed, and walked in the direction that she'd pointed at.
Chapter six
The bald man had a scar on his face, which had to be fake.
It looked really good, having a faint silver and pink shimmer to it, but the healing amulets would have made it go away, and the fellow was from Harmony. As far as Dare knew, a lot of people there just walked around with the things around their necks. So the muscular and hard seeming man would have used one in the not too distant past.
That meant it was some kind of cosmetic thing. Dare could see it, for a fighter, or a person that wanted to train that kind of being. Without that, or with hair on his head, the man would have looked nearly pretty. The kind of man who would have easily gotten women to desire his company. His skin was very even, and the name, Kolb, was one that he'd heard before.
One of the Ancients.
This man seemed to be in his thirties or so, making him the oldest seeming of that type of person that Dare had seen so far. He was also, very clearly, insane.
"We'll start out each day with a run, for now. Down that path and back. It's what, two and a half miles?" This was said to Petra, but Dareg actually knew the correct answer on that one.
"Three, each way."
The bigger man smiled at him, seeming pretty happy with that.
"Good. With me, to begin with. Slow and steady for today. Don't stop. Measure your breathing."
They didn't move quickly, but after a few minutes he was gasping a little. Not this man, or Petra, just him. He tried to keep it quiet, even though that was hard at the moment. On the good side, it didn't get any worse as they traveled. He was coated with sweat at the turn around by the city wall, the guard there waving at him.
"Hey." He did it back, turned and kept going, since he'd been told not to stop.
That meant his feet and legs ached by the time he got back, which meant nothing to these others in the slightest. No, they just had him work on other things. Exercises like sitting up, and pressing the ground. That meant he was well and truly exhausted by the time they stared teaching him how to fight. Dare figured that the first move would be to slap or punch him, forcing him to fight that combat rage, but Kolb, his face serious, actually showed him how to punch, kick, and throw a person to the ground. It took about five hours, and was done without a shield on, so he had some bruising already.
At the end of it, the man went over every mistake he'd made, over the course of hours. Everything, from not balancing his weight very well as he jogged along, to mistakes made while trying to tackle Petra to the ground.
Then they worked on each of those, so that he'd learn not to do that again.
It was kind of clear that he hadn't done very well, but at the end of it, the man smiled at him.
"Not horrible, for a first day. If you can fix all of that by tomorrow, we'll be able to move on fairly quickly. Now, I need to get off to visit some people, if I'm going to be around sooner than the rest. You have plans for the day?" The words were polite, and conversational, almost kind.
Dareg nodded.
"I need to see about hiring some workers. Not that I have any gold for it. I was supposed to get some last night, but failed at it."
Petra looked at the bald man, and told on him.
"Combat rage. Like I told you? Controlled well, so there's that. He didn't go off during practice, which is better than I figured would happen, Dare. You also need to get with Alice Orange, too."
That got the bald man to nod, then pull something out of his tan canvas shirt. It was handed over almost blankly.
"Disguise amulet. We'll come up with one for you to use with Alice. She won't be able to trust you like you are. Is there a mirror around here?"
There was, in his little pod house, so they all traipsed inside, the front door being closed tight. Kolb didn't wait, setting up a version of him that was buck toothed, not very symmetrical on the right hand side, and with a bump in the center of his nose. It didn't make him ugly, he noticed, but it was more real seeming than his normal face was. He knew because Petra mentioned it. Twice.
Goading him.
That got him to sneer at her a bit.
"I have work to do, thanks. Getting me to move into that rage thing right now would be a waste of time." He sounded nicely calm about the whole thing, and Kolb chuckled at him, slapping him on the shoulder as he stood in front of the restroom mirror.
"Agreed. Pet, leave it for now. We'll work on that in a day or two. Get with Alice soon, Dareg. Waiting won't help. I'll be back at first light tomorrow. Be dressed to run. If I'm not here when you wake, start on that without me. Till then." The man didn't hesitate, leaving from there directly.
Flying away, which was a good point. They all had space worthy shields after all.
Petra clapped him on the back too, and winked at him.
"I need to get back to Harmony. My husband is meeting me for breakfast there. I probably won't be here every day, myself. I'll try at first. You'll want to review everything Kolb covered with you, or he'll use it against you tomorrow. That kind of thing is why he's one of the best."
"All right..." He was going to chat for a bit, but the woman walked out herself.
That meant he could finally get some food going, which he did at a jog, his body already getting sore from what he'd been doing. Then he showered, and made sure his disguise was back on, having taken it off for the washing up portion of things. After all, the device made a mask over his own flesh. One that, he suspected, didn't just feel solid, and like real flesh, but would keep water from his skin at the same time.
Then, not knowing what to expect, but looking a lot less like him than he was used to, Dareg found the name of Alice Orange on his communications device, and tapped the thing into operation. Then he had to wait. Not long, but he was looking away when the woman spoke.
"Orange. Go." Her voice was nice, but sounded terse anyway. When he glanced at the screen he saw a tan lady, about as dark, or light, as he was. She had lovely blue eyes, and long golden hair. She also looked about twenty-five or so. Her neck was too large, and muscular, like a man's, but he could see enough of her chest to get that she wasn't one. Not that it seemed like that really. Her jaw was powerful however, and bunched a bit as she bit some kind of word off while he noticed all of this about her.
"Dareg Canton, ma'am. I have twenty jump ships f
or you. They're new and don't have weapons. From Tim Baker?" He waited, not knowing how this lady would move, after all he'd been told about how she distrusted good looking men.
She seemed fine with him however.
"Really? Nice. You're on Harmony? We have a ship going in... Should be there in three days?"
"Nope. I'm at the Noram Capital spaceport. I can use my shield to get these up into... Orbit? The newest shields are good for that. It only took about a day to fly to the Moon from here." That was bragging a bit, and got an appreciative low whistle.
"Damn. I don't suppose you have some of those for me?"
"Not on me. I can put in word for you? Count Peterson wants some too. Hey... Can I get some people to work for King's week here? This is the spaceport, and we're fixing it up. We have water in already, and some inns set up, a bath house and that kind of thing. No one to work in them yet. I'm going to put up some houses, the magical palaces? That will give us more room for people. You can come, if you want?"
That got a snort, and a head shake.
"Right, if I want to barf my lungs out. The plague that destroys my kind is still in operation there."
He shook his head and smiled.
"No, it isn't. I tested it the other day. Kolb, he's one of you, right?" It was best to ask, just in case he'd been wrong about his guessing there, or misunderstood what he'd said.
The words got a nod, "right. One from back when I was a child, even."
"He was here for hours and managed to live. I tested the whole planet with a device Tim gave me for that. From low orbit, and high. It's safe now."
The woman looked at him, a bit skeptically, then smiled.
"Finally! So, Derrick Canton?"
"Dareg. With a 'g' at the end. I know, it's different, but so was my mother. So, what do you think? Free workers? Hmm? The excitement and fun of being busy while everyone else has a party? What's not to like about that?"
She laughed, getting the idea. He couldn't afford to pay people. Not unless begging on the floor with Collette was going to work. Sighing a bit he knew that would have to be his next project. Even if she wasn't going to give him coin now, being too upset with him. The woman was important, and they were supposed to be working together.
