Lineage (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Both sets of plans were handed to Karen, with a bow from the men. They went low and held it, until she stood and took the papers, then headed behind the little desk that she'd made for herself, to read them. Then both men smiled at her politely, and Erid spoke, his voice calm.

  "I don't know if my plan is the best, but I want it known that I'll do what I can for everyone. No matter whose plan is chosen." He seemed to really mean it, which got the older man to bow toward him.

  "That is a known thing, High Servant Erid. It is, in part, why my first recommendation is that we place you in the position of leader. It should be clear to everyone that High Servant Erid is the prime example of what it means to be one of us." Then he bowed toward Karen and smiled. It wasn't friendly, but didn't seem to be an insult either. "Circumstances worked against you, I fear, Commander Derring. If things had been different, then I'm sure that you would have done a wonderful job. It was nearly impossible, given your distance from the trials of this world."

  There was something very wrong there, but Karen nodded, her face serious as she read. Erid's plan seemed to be going first, with Kevin's being the second one. She nodded along, going over both very carefully, until the last page that High Servant Straughan had written.

  Then she stopped, and furrowed her brow. It didn't look right on her lovely face, but that didn't stop her from looking confused. She straightened after a bit, and looked angry. It was enough that the people left in the room with her all noticed. Erid seemed worried suddenly, for instance.

  Kolb actually stood up, and Squire Bill, standing at the door, stiffened. Tor rose, if more slowly, leaving only Dareg sitting there. High Servant Johan moved however, to see what was causing concern.

  When he read the words he laughed. It wasn't a happy thing.

  "This says that the new High Servants, under Erid's control, should as a first move, execute... Pretty much all of us here. Including you, Straughan? That seems a bit advanced, doesn't it? Why would you say that? I can see going after you, given the breach of duty that extorting sex was, which is noted here... But Baron Kolbrin, Conserina Derring, Torrance Baker and myself? That seems rather specific and not very reasonable. I don't get it." The man managed to sound a little slow, at the end, but the other High Servant, with his slightly gray hair, and good size, sighed.

  "You don't see it? Well, perhaps these others can? Little Dareg? You seem to be the most intelligent of these humans. Why don't you explain it to them?"

  It clicked, even though it was hard to believe. There was no way for the man, if he was one at all, to know about the threat they'd been told of. Unless he was from the incoming group, or the other one, that they'd been told nothing about.

  "The Adversaries?" He spoke conversationally, but the man nodded without hesitation as Kolb pulled a weapon. Karen, Johan and Tor did too, if a bit slower than the bald fighter. He didn't, but it did make sense to get his shield into place. Just in case something bad was about to happen.

  "Exactly. Just, I assure you, the forward scouts. We've searched for a very long time for a way to take what is needed for our masters. Now, in this place, on this ground, we have what we need. A place to do the work we need to, in order to open the seams." He stood there, as Kolb did something, hitting sigils one after the other on the moonstone weapon he held. A long rectangle of focus stone.

  Nothing happened, even as the others joined in. All trying to kill the medium tall man in his white work robes. In fact, almost as if he were making fun of them, he grinned and folded his hands into the sleeves.

  "Now, the unfortunate portion of events is that we cannot allow ourselves to be known. There is almost no chance of you driving us away, or foiling us, but just in case, we can't leave you alive. You understand, I'm sure? So, you must all die here, and then I must do the same, to prevent questions. It's a shame, since I do so love abusing you people. It's the sounds you make, and that look you all get when you realize that you're going to be used, like it or not. Delicious. Well, all good things, and all that."

  Kolb, who was a capable warrior, who had been fairly quick in practice, moved so fast that Dare lost track of him for a moment. The blows that went for the High Servant all missed even given that. They looked right, but when they got into place, the man simply wasn't there any longer. What was happening, he didn't know, but after twenty or so such punches and kicks, a single long arm flicked out, the back of Straughan's tan hand slapped the fighter into the wall across the room with a mighty boom.

  Then the real fight began.

  The first one to make a move was Commander Derring. Her head was caved in first, then torn from her neck. Casually, which no more than the twisting motion that a woman might have used to kill the chicken slated to be dinner that night. There was even less emotion on his face as Kevin did it. Blood spurted from her as the body fell in slow motion to the floor.

  "Karen!" It was Tor that went next, touching his neck before he did. The idea was clear, since the man never did that kind of thing. At first Dareg thought that it was about fear making him impulsive, or ruining his focus, but that wasn't the case. It wasn't rage either. After calling out the one word, the name of his dead friend, everything dropped from his face.

  It was obvious shields weren't working against this man, which meant that something else was being brought to bear by the wizard. The action was a signal, probably to him. When he got it, Dare called out to the others. Screaming, in a high pitched voice that would have done small schoolgirl's proud.

  "Healing amulets on! Get Commander Derring's head on." Dareg had no way to know if that would work or not, but Squire Bill ran over to the woman and started trying, digging out a healing amulet that he hadn't had earlier.

  As Johan did the same, and started trying to fight, Erid froze in place. Not moving at all. It was pure fear, which Dareg could see being real enough. People, ones that were strong, and powerful in ways that went beyond mere humanity, were dying in front of him.

  Finally, slapping at his own upper chest the High Servant screamed, a bellow that was half plea, and half war cry, then tried to tackle the death machine that the other, larger men, were failing to control. From the back. Tor managed to hit the man finally, when they all worked together, which staggered him, somehow. Even three to one, they were losing. Badly. Kolb stirred, but wasn't on his feet yet.

  Erid was struck several times, but healed, even as he held on to the back of the enemy's legs, desperately trying to slow him. To keep him still so the others could fight in a meaningful fashion.

  That lasted right until something flew at him, striking him so hard in the shoulder that Erid was flung backward. Kevin laughed, and jumped in the same direction, making Johan and Tor miss him, and stomped on the downed High Servant's throat so hard that something inside of it made a noise like nothing that Dareg had ever heard.

  It was about then that he understood what had happened. The thing that had hit Erid as he struggled to help to the best of his humble ability, was commander Derring's head. Turning, his mind slow and thicker than it should be, he saw a very strange sight.

  Squire Bill, a commoner, who was barely as tall as Dare's own shoulder if he stood up straight, was engaging the now recovering Kolb. Hand to hand, unarmed. He was winning, too.

  In fact that side of the room, the back, was becoming a bloody mess. The red liquid didn't seep from the fighter, but poured for several places. Like a barrel being tapped.

  Dareg nodded, took a deep breath, and stood up.

  After all, the little man, who looked like a boy not much older than he was, was only there thanks to his help. If he'd let him go that first night, and wander away, they'd only be fighting the one man now.

  Instead there were two of them.

  Enemies that it seemed they couldn't defeat at all.

  What Commander Derring had told her Squire about duty hit him then. Coming back as if it were being whispered into his ears by the now finished woman. Duty wasn't about what you wanted. It was about what was re
quired.

  Dare smiled, reached under his shirt and took his special amulet off. Then he tossed it away, even though no one noticed.

  After a moment he took a deep breath and yelled.

  "Bill! Kevin! If you're in there, fight! Do it now! Stop them! Don't let these monsters win!"

  Then, as one, both men froze, and turned to him.

  Laughing.

  It was not a great sign.

  Chapter seventeen

  Tor was still trying to fight, healing even as he took damage, reeling away, then coming back for more. That continued as Johan called out and didn't seem able to get back up.

  Kolb was down, though even dying he tried to stop Bill. It didn't work. The Squire just kicked him in the face, not faster than could be seen, but doing it in a way that the bloody man couldn't block or stop. That meant flying back from it.

  Then he turned to look at Dareg and shrugged. It was a relaxed thing that seemed almost like he was just playing.

  "We aren't human, Ser. We aren't even alive. Not in any way you'd understand. We come from a place that... Well, let's just say that it isn't anything you'd know about? A place so very sideways from here that none of your magic, or science, has hold on us. You really can't even understand what we are, can you? Here's a hint. We're everywhere, and everywhen. We have always been here, and will always be, until the moment our masters come to take this, and all, worlds. Now, I really do need to kill you. Sorry about that. I did enjoy our time together. You were the best friend I ever had. Well, all things end. Die now, Ser." Then a strange thing happened, and Bill, the new Squire, was on him... Somehow.

  Blow after blow came in, knocking him back, though that didn't get him any sense of reprieve. Just a wave of pain hitting him, all at one time. Even though it was hundreds of blows.

  That... Well, he'd gotten the clues. These people weren't a thing that existed like he did. They were in all times. Which let things like this happen.

  The only reason that he was alive still was the healing amulet that he had on. Even given that, he could feel himself starting to die already. Holding his hands up, he fought, knowing that to make it work he had to match the state the Bill was in. Even given that, there was no real way for it to work. He was too far gone, and didn't have the right powers for that kind of thing.

  Tor however had worked something out, and was, amazingly, managing to strike Kevin. Not every time, but his focus was intense. Powerfully so. On a level that was even greater than what he'd done to investigate the strange ships.

  Much like had happened then, Dare let himself be carried on the flow of the magic, and tried to see the world that his father was showing him. He couldn't, but that didn't mean the trick didn't work at all. His right arm broke as he tried to punch, but his foot, thrown a moment before, hit at the exact time. To the knee, the groin, and middle all at one time. As he intended. Space ripped a bit under the movement. It screamed. That, or he did.

  The fight became more equal then, though Kevin and Bill were still winning. The healing amulets and whatever time trick Tor was pulling allowed them to keep going, but that wouldn't last forever. Dare hadn't been fighting half as long yet, and was already about to go down just from the drag of the energy it was taking to keep healing. Plus, he, and probably Tor, where tearing themselves asunder with every movement. At least the ones that worked.

  It went on like that, forever. For what seemed weeks, then months, possibly years, he stood and fought. Losing to the small, nearly tiny, very common looking man. Not that he was one at all. As he'd said, neither of them ever had been. While he fought, things trickled into place for him. Lyone had given him the hints he needed. Her and Bill, the faithless Squire.

  People were taken over, in the dark. The Adversary wasn't human, and never had been. They weren't possessing people, like ghosts or shades then. They replaced them. In the dark. They fought in the light, so that wasn't going to work to help him, or any of them, in the moment. As he traded blows, his ability to stand weakening, his rage flickering as everything inside of him burned away, Dareg kind of knew that nothing he did was going to be enough now.

  They were losing, and going to die. Unless something good happened.

  What changed was something that Dareg hadn't even considered, forgetting that anyone existed beyond the walls of the room they were in.

  Lyone ran in, along with her commoner servant buddy, and joined the fight. They did it like the others had, slowly, and in one time, but the distraction helped a bit. He had the little machine man with him, Tor getting the larger woman. He couldn't tell what was happening that way, but heard someone calling out.

  A while later, perhaps a week, or a few seconds, the room was flooded with people. Most of them members of the Baker family.

  Timon stood back, watching, then moved in a strange blur, spread out in a dozen directions at once, helping his brother and Lyone fight the man in now bloody High Servant robes. It wasn't his life essence however. The strange enemies didn't bleed. Or, rather, they did, but it would come out, and even as it hung in the air, in a long streamer, would stop and return to them, every time.

  Douglas and Terry moved toward him, as Taman ran past, calling out in some strange and unknown language.

  Standard, but spoken in a way that he couldn't follow as he tried to fight. Blocking fifty blows at one time, striking back with forty. Some hit, on both sides, but it wasn't an equal fight.

  Not until Kolb, broken and still probably dying, moved in. This time Taman was behind him, her hand on his back, and he moved like Tor did. Only better. He was sharper, even that near death. Faster than any of them.

  In one move he shattered Bill's head, crushing it, and ripping it free from his body. That, finally, did something, and Bill stopped trying to fight at all, just vanishing in a puff of blackness that shone slightly, even as it drank the light of the world.

  Dareg didn't let himself slow down, even as pain erupted inside of him. Nothing was left. His body had eaten itself, and like a person starving, he didn't have long to live. He'd lived too long now, without food, or water. There was only death waiting for him. That, and duty.

  So he threw himself at Kevin, and doing the best he could manage, copied what Kolb had taught him by example a moment before. It didn't really work. Dare struck in the same pattern and did it hard, but Kevin had seen what had happened, and managed to get away from him using a movement that didn't scan with reality.

  He was still clipped a few times, and turned to run, only to have Lyone, and her smaller buddy grab his legs, and hold him, while Tor stepped in, and managed to finish it. The movement was at least a hundred things at one time. It was impressive, and nearly impossible to understand.

  Then, like Bill, High Servant Straughan vanished. In his passing he shone blackly and drank the universe, if only for a moment. Then vanished, like a mist or smoke into the night.

  In a flash, Tor broke his state, and sat. The giant man sucked in air, heaving like he wanted to throw up, but couldn't, and looked behind him.

  "Karen." It was a single gasp, and a thing so well understood by Dareg that he didn't even try to do anything other than suck air in himself. He wanted to throw up, for a dozen reasons, but that would mean not getting the air he needed to live. His head ached, from the combat rage he'd probably been in the whole time, even if it couldn't have been more than a minute from start to finish. The one moment had stretched forever, in a way he didn't, and possibly couldn't, really understand.

  Turning he noticed that the others were all doing their parts, healing those they could, and failing with the others.

  It didn't take the brightest being to know that people didn't live well without their heads. Taman was trying to help Kolb hang on, but she was crying.

  Timon was working on Karen, while Terry and Douglas tried to save Erid. The man just didn't breathe though. It had only been a moment, but he'd been killed, and nothing they did would save him.

  High Servant Johan was healing on his own,
having taken what should have been lethal damage, but was being healed instantly, thanks to his amulet. The damage was horrible, but not bad enough for him to die, given that extra help.

  Others ran in as Dare sat there, gasping, burning inside in a million places. That was because he'd taken too much damage, and while being in the time stream, all at once, or at least closer to that than he normally was, had allowed him to heal enough, he was still going to suffer from it.

  There was simply nothing left to work from, and trying to heal was killing him now, so he reached up with his left hand, and tapped his chest weakly. His right arm was broken in several places, but the pain was no worse than the rest of him really.

  David Derring ran in about then, dressed in black and red. He stopped when he saw what Timon was trying to do, and nodded. His eyes were dry, but he didn't stop the man, even though nothing was happening.

  Finally, weakly, Dare stood, and went to Timon, touching his back.

  "That isn't working. She's gone." He wanted to cry, because the whole thing was too much, and they might have been friends, if given a chance. Nothing came, since there was nothing left.

  This immortal woman had fought this new enemy, the Adversary that none of them had truly believed in, and lost. At the cost of everything. They all had almost died. Magically armed and armored warriors, fighters, immortals and wizards... And two plain looking men had nearly destroyed them without much effort at all.

  He looked down, surprised to find that he was more than a mere skeleton. Dare had clearly lost some flesh, but not that much. Ten pounds maybe. That could be fixed, if they didn't have to repeat the fight instantly. If they did, then they were probably going to all die. Tor wasn't in any state to do that trick again, and neither was he.

  Taman... Well, it was clear that she'd worked out that trying to fight the beings herself would mean her death, so she'd pushed Kolb to it, sending him into time like Tor had done with him. That had to have been nearly impossible to work out like that, as she'd just run into the room. Timon had done it, so maybe it wasn't that hard? Hopefully that would be the truth in the end, because they were going to need more than one or two people that could do that thing.