As they approached the city, Danner released the accelerator altogether and allowed the buggy to coast to a normal driving speed. It wouldn’t do to have half the city wondering about the fantastic vehicle, since any questions could lead back to Faldergash. The gnome had filled in Danner and the others on his true identity, overriding the protests of his hostess, Gabruilla. The idea that there was a lost island of Dale gnomes out there somewhere was exciting, and it answered several questions Danner had about Faldergash’s abnormal behavior.
It also explained his appearance. Faldergash’s eyebrows had more hair on them now than Danner had ever seen, since the gnome no longer had to singe them off every other week to fool him. The revelation had been almost anticlimactic after the incident with Alicia and explaining to the gnomes about Trebor’s heritage. Faldergash had confirmed, however, that his missing finger was the result of a legitimate accident as a young man, not an overblown attempt at feigning incompetence.
Danner slowed long enough to show his pass to the guards at the gate, then sped past the other people moving on the streets. Knowing things were likely to get backed up at this time of the morning, Danner contacted Trebor.
“Ask Michael to play lookout,” he thought to his friend. Danner felt the buggy shift as Michael stood up in the backseat, using his height to see far ahead of them as Garnet anchored him to the buggy. After a moment, Trebor kythed to Danner, “Michael says there’s congestion on the road about a half mile ahead. He says to take a right at the next alley.”
Danner slowed with the traffic, then abruptly whipped the wheel clockwise and sent them careening down the empty alley Michael had indicated. He turned again after two intersections, following Michael’s directions relayed via Trebor. In short order, they were outside Faldergash’s home, and Garnet bellowed at the top of his lungs for the gnome to hurry outside.
Faldergash stepped from his front doorstep and with a squawk of protest, he was hauled from his feet by one of Garnet’s immense arms. Garnet plopped the gnome in the front seat of the buggy where Flasch had been a moment before, and Danner started forward again. Flasch clung to the side, his arms and legs wrapped in the vehicle’s metal frame. Marc hung from the other side, giving Danner the balance he needed to keep from overturning the buggy on sharp corners. He just had to watch how close he got to the walls, lest he scrape one of his friends against the stone.
When they reached the open lane in front of the Prismatic headquarters, they were still more than two miles away, so Danner gunned the engine. They shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow, and Danner checked to be sure the road was clear enough. He was careful to keep the speed comparable with what most buggies could do, but still people heard him coming and leapt out of the way, some throwing curses in his wake.
“Danner, are you trying to hit these people?” Trebor asked inside his head.
“No,” Danner replied, wincing as he cut too close to one man, who was thrown off balance by the wind of their passage. “Well, maybe that guy.”
“Cute.”
When Danner saw the gates ahead of him, he punched the release for the chute and felt the buggy’s speed drop immediately as a huge sheet of canvas burst from the rear of the buggy and billowed into shape. The drag from the canvas made stopping at high speeds much safer, especially if one was being as reckless as Danner was in his rush to be on time. Faldergash would have to repack the canvas, but Danner would make it up to him somehow.
Danner spun the wheel as he brought the buggy to a screeching halt just outside the gates, and practically flung Michael from the back. Garnet caught him and held him still, and both of them glared at Danner as he climbed out of the buggy.
“You’re not allowed to drive anymore,” Marc said, disentangling himself from the frame.
“Unless we’re in a hurry to save the world from certain damnation or have half of Hell on our heels,” Flasch amended wryly as he grabbed his pack. “In that case, Danner’s definitely our man behind the wheel.”
“Shut up and get moving,” Danner replied, smiling good-naturedly. They’d all taken turns behind the wheel, and while only Flasch showed as much aptitude as Danner at maneuvering the buggy, none of them had Danner’s tendencies toward reckless driving. To Danner’s mind, the adrenaline surge was worth enduring their friendly jibes.
Danner apologized quickly to Faldergash, then raced to catch up to the others. The six trainees sped to the barracks and swapped their packs and clothes for practice gear, then raced back down to the courtyard at breakneck speed. They reached the main courtyard just as the other trainees were lining up, and Danner breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped into his rank. He glanced quickly about and noted a few holes, but withheld a grimace when he saw that Ashfen was not responsible for one of those absences. The weaseley trainee was standing in place, his appearance and position immaculate, which only served to emphasize the less-than-perfect appearance of his neighbors.
“Trainees, attention!”
Danner whipped his eyes to the front at the barked order and looked quickly for the source of the command.
Gerard Morningham stalked to the front of the formation and stood on a platform, glaring at the assembled trainees. His scarred face looked even uglier than Danner remembered, even though it had only been three days since he’d last seen the Red paladin.
“Congratulations, those of you who made it back on time and in relatively good order,” Morningham said brusquely. “There are some of you I almost wish hadn’t made it back,” Danner thought Morningham looked his way, but he couldn’t be sure, “but since you’re here it looks like we’re stuck with you for the time being. If you see an empty spot, there’s a chance it will remain empty, depending on the worthless excuse your absent peers hand to us.”
As if to emphasize Morningham’s point, there was a small stir at the back of the formation as someone tried to slip into his spot. Morningham saw the commotion and immediately spotted the source.
“Jorgins!” he barked. “Would you be so kind as to tell me what in San’s name you think you’re doing?”
“I… Rej-joining the formation, s..sir,” came the timid reply.
From somewhere nearby, Danner heard another trainee mutter, “Well I think we can pretty much rule out him as a Red paladin.”
Danner blinked. For all their training, Danner had never given more than a passing thought to the idea that they would all eventually be classified as one type of paladin or another. Perhaps that’s what their instructors had meant by dividing them up for individualized training, Danner wondered, thinking back to what they’d been told after returning from the field exercise.
Morningham’s harsh voice snapped Danner back to the present. “So you think you can just sneak back in here without at least trying to give me a reason your sorry little hide is late? Speak up, boy, you’re wasting my time and disrupting my formation.”
Whatever reply Jorgins gave was drowned out by a loud screech from the next courtyard over. Danner sorted out the voices of more than a dozen dakkans, all crying out. Involuntarily, every eye swept toward that wall.
“Eyes!” Morningham bellowed.
“Snap!” the trainees replied with one voice as they riveted their attention on Morningham.
“Ears!”
“Open!” they shouted.
“Jorgins, you and any other spineless chumps that come in late will report to the Nightman for cleaning duties,” Morningham said. “Pass the word, all of you, because I’ll hold this entire class responsible for anyone who’s late and doesn’t report as ordered.
“Now, to business. When you’re tapped on the shoulder by a paladin, you will follow him and obey his instructions as if I were shouting them in your ear from my nice comfy perch riding your ass, because that’s where I’ll be if one of you doesn’t snap to an order given by another paladin. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“They’re all yours.”
Danner only had to wait a few heartbeats before he
felt a touch on his shoulder, and he followed a Red paladin. The Red tapped three other trainees, who all fell in behind Danner in a single-file line. Danner couldn’t see what had become of his friends, and he couldn’t take the time to stop and look around. The Red paladin moved with long, quick strides, and Danner had to practically trot to keep up. The other trainees behind him fared no better, but all bore the pace in silence.
They were led to the courtyard where Danner had heard the dakkans, and they saw only three of the flying creatures there. Danner saw a tail disappear around a corner and assumed the others were meeting the other trainees in separate areas. He noted the amount of space the dakkans gave each other and surmised that they would be lifting off from the courtyard.
“Up you go, trainees,” the Red said. “de’Valderat, you’re last.”
As they reached the nearest dakkan, a blue one, another paladin stepped forward and fastened a cloak to each of them. The colors weren’t as pure as the paladin cloaks, but the design was the same. Danner wondered if it was going to be cold on the ride, wherever they were going.
Danner’s cloak, a pale green, was a bit tight across his shoulders, but he shuffled it around until it settled more comfortably. Then he was hoisted up behind the other three trainees and a Yellow paladin who sat in front of them, and their Red paladin escort mounted the dakkan behind him. They were strapped securely, and Danner didn’t think he could move if he wanted to.
“Trainees, my name is Victor Waters,” the Yellow paladin introduced himself, twisting in his harness so he could look back at them all. “Before we launch, here’s a brief idea of what we’ll be doing. One by one, starting with Jeshy up here, you’re going to be leaving the back of this dakkan and learning firsthand a little about the safety of flying. Before anyone says anything dumb, yes, you will be jumping from Peshalt’s back while he’s flying high above the ground,” the paladin said, slapping the dakkan’s side affectionately. The blue dakkan warbled complacently.
“On your way down, all you have to do is think about not falling, and you’ll go nice and slow. The cloaks you’re wearing function the same as ours, and are blessed to control your fall and protect you. Understand?”
Not really, Danner thought to himself, too stunned to comment. He started to ask a question, but the moment was lost as Victor grinned and slapped the dakkan again, this time in a command to leap. Danner’s chin snapped against his chest, and he nearly bit his tongue in half.
They were aloft in a few massive strokes of the dakkan’s wings, and Danner’s heart lurched as he stared at the ground far below him.
“Easy does it,” the Red yelled over the steady rhythm of the dakkan’s flight. The blue dakkan leveled off into a steady glide, and the Yellow paladin in front of the trainees released his safety harness and brought his legs up into a crouch. With a heave, he leapt free and fell clear of the blue wings, and Danner watched in horror as he fell toward the ground.
It took Danner a second to realize Victor was not, in fact, hurtling to his death, but rather drifting lazily like a leaf on a fresh spring breeze. His brilliant yellow cloak billowed out behind him, defying the wind as it held the paladin in a gentle cushion. Danner watched until the paladin was a mere speck, then jerked as the Red behind him shouted for the first trainee to release his safety harness.
The trainee, Jeshy, shook his head in terror, his face bloodless at the thought of hurling himself into the emptiness below. Danner sympathized.
“Just think about how you don’t want to fall, and you’ll be fine,” the Red shouted. “That shouldn’t be too hard a thought to do, once you’re over the first couple seconds of panic. Now go, or I’ll heave you over myself.”
The trainee sat motionless, and Danner thought he heard a chuckle from the man behind him, but the dakkan beat his wings twice and the sound was lost amid the crack of the wind.
Danner felt the Red leave contact with him, but before he could wonder about it, the paladin was clinging to the safety harnesses on the side of the dakkan and climbing forward to the motionless trainee. Like a spider on a web, the paladin worked his way over, his face showing no sign of concern at the feat he was performing. He reached Jeshy and slipped him free of his harness before the trainee knew he was there, then gripped his boot and, with a massive heave, lifted Jeshy free.
With a yell, the young man, barely younger than Danner, fell and just missed the dakkan’s now-steady wing. Danner watched him plummet, then sighed in relief as he saw his descent noticeably slow. The pale cloak billowed out behind Jeshy, and Danner heard his sigh of relief echoed by the others on the dakkan, including the paladin.
“Next.”
All too soon, the trainee in front of Danner was forced to jump, and Danner watched him fall just as he had the others. The trainee fell… and fell… until it was apparent to Danner that terror had overridden the trainee’s senses and he couldn’t think straight. He half-yelled in concern, then saw a small dakkan dart in below the rapidly shrinking speck of the trainee. A red-cloaked paladin leapt free of the dakkan and converged with the trainee, and Danner knew he would be safe.
“Your turn, de’Valderat,” the Red said, causing Danner to jump slightly. He smiled shakily, then released his safety harness without the paladin’s prompting. He clutched the ropes and leather with whitened knuckles, and found he couldn’t make his hands let go. The Red paladin stared at him a second, then swung back into the safety harness and fastened himself in. The next thing Danner knew, the dakkan was tilting, then it was sideways, then Danner slid free and was hanging from the harness. With a lurch, the dakkan flipped completely upside down, and Danner fell free.
Panic set in as he saw the dakkan shrinking all too rapidly above him. Danner twisted about until he could see the ground, then immediately closed his eyes as his stomach rebelled. The wind whipped past him with a roar, and his face felt like it was about to slide free of his skull. With an effort, Danner followed his instructions and thought about how very much he did not want to be falling. His eyes were clenched shut in concentration, and it was with a sudden surprise he realized the wind was no longer a deafening thunder in his ears.
Danner opened his eyes and saw the ground was still getting closer, but he was now descending at what, to his mind, was a much more reasonable pace. To one side, Danner saw another dakkan swoop low to catch a trainee who hadn’t caught the knack soon enough. Danner shuddered and concentrated on just making it to the ground in one piece.
Chapter 27
Creation itself is replete with flaws that somehow balance each other to create one perfect, mystical whole. It is only sentient life that is aware of its flaws – and therefore tries to correct them.
- Orange Paladin Karm Brighton,
“The Turning Millennium” (999 AM)
- 1 -
“My lord, I believe I have the information you require,” Wein said. His body swayed with the motion of the ship as he sat alone on the side of his bunk. Hundreds of miles away, in a city near the Merging, he knew Rathamik was seated somewhere communicating with him through some holy arts. Wein had never heard of anyone who could send their thoughts to another, and so he thought Rathamik must be a man of immense holiness and strength to accomplish such a feat.
“What have you learned?”
“The Gray demon does, indeed, claim he had help in his supposed escape from the dungeons of Hell,” Wein said, scoffing. “He says he doesn’t remember his benefactor, but since he’s lying anyway, it doesn’t matter. We already know he was never captured, but instead spent his time plotting his evil acts in this world.”
“Indeed.” Wein thought he heard a note of dissatisfaction in Rathamik’s mind-voice, and he was worried he might have somehow failed his mission.
“My lord, is anything wrong? Is this not the information, however useless, you asked for?”
“It is. Does he suspect your… purity, despite his corrupting influence? Does he trust you and the others still?”
“They are a
ll drawing away from me, my lord, as his taint becomes more firmly entrenched in their souls. But he has no reason to distrust those he subverts, so he still speaks only the truth.”
Wein was unaware of the contradiction he’d just uttered. His mind felt suddenly fogged over, as though he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight.
“If so, then he has told us all that is needed,” Rathamik said. “The time has come for you to act, holy paladin. At your first opportunity, find a way to slay the Gray demon, and if necessary his tainted minions, your former comrades. Their taint must surely be too much for their poor souls, and they will never regain their humanity.”
“My lord? Surely they cannot be so far as to be unredeemable?” Wein asked. The strange fogginess in his mind persisted. Something felt alien, and he struggled to make sense of the sudden inner conflict. They were his friends. They could be spared.
“I said their taint is too strong. They must be eliminated.”
“But, my lord…”
“They are tainted. They must be eliminated.” Rathamik’s voice paused. “It is, after all, for the salvation of their souls.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You will eliminate the Gray one, and then the others?”
“Of course, my lord,” Wein replied, surprised the paladin had asked. The fog in his mind was gone, and there was only the shining purpose Wein clung to; his holy quest. “After so much time with the Gray demon, without such holy protection as I have, they must be tainted beyond the point of redemption. They must be eliminated and their souls freed.”
“It is good you see to the heart of the matter,” Rathamik replied. “As I have said before, you have perception, and it will take you far. Contact me again when they are no longer a problem.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Wein felt the mental contact break, and he smiled. The lamp hanging from the beam in the center of the room swayed drunkenly with the lolling of the ship, casting haunting shadows about the cabin. A bath of light washed over Wein’s face, then slid the other way, leaving his face once more in the shadows. In the brief instant of light, his eyes gleamed with madness.
Hunting The Three (The Barrier War) Page 33
