Gunrai pushed a button and Annala screamed in her most heart-wrenching fashion yet. Golden-brown liquid flowed down a tube out of the specimen room and into a vial near Gunrai. He examined it with a critical Magic Eye.
“You created your familiar from this stuff, didn’t you? I’ve never met an elf with enough creative power to do such a thing, and believe me when I say that I have searched extensively. With this, I will create a breed of super soldiers without equal.”
From here, the video fast forwarded. Hours passed in seconds for Eric, but he could only imagine how long it felt for his precious maiden. Her Seed of Chaos restored everything that Gunrai took and mended all the damage he did, but it couldn’t do anything for her fear or pain. It was precisely the sort of fate worse than death that Meza claimed was unique to elves and why Neuro said that death was a mercy.
In the space of thirty minutes, Annala’s Seed of Chaos returned her to pristine condition. This enabled Gunrai to do it all over again. This cycle repeated until the camera’s clock reported eighteen hours had passed. At that point, his twin assistants informed him of something.
The camera didn’t pick up what it was, but it made Gunrai jump. Immediately, he stopped the machines and gave orders for the collected materials to be shipped out.
Then he double-checked his instruments to make sure Annala was securely bound. Confirming this to be the case, he turned a dial to add more. Then he pulled another lever and a heavy orichalcum cover descended over her and locked into place. The seal hissed as hydraulics locked it further. Finally, he pressed a button and the roof opened. Metallic clamps released Annala’s capsule and wind spells propelled it to the sky. From there, it rocketed away from the laboratory. The camera’s last view was it zigzagging through the air. It clicked off and Gunrai dismissed the equipment.
“That is why I asked you to pick her up,” Gunrai said to Eric. “She is in no position to do so on her own.”
Eric punched Gunrai in the face. The solid spirit of his godly form made his right hand more powerful than his grendel body, but a force field stopped it nonetheless. Gunrai smiled a patronizing corporate smile, then he noticed the hole left by Eric’s chaos claw.
“You’re lucky I’m a fire god now instead of a grendel,” Eric said, “or I would twist you into a pretzel and hang you up in my guild for use as a dart board.”
“If you have need of a dart board, I have a wide variety of styles and—”
Eric punched him in the face and connected this time. “That was for the ridiculous game you’re playing, Tasio.”
Gunrai traced a hand over his face and felt a shattered nose. “Mr. Watley, I do believe that you are...It’s my Divine Presence, isn’t it?”
“I see it like a candle beneath a blanket,” Eric said.
Gunrai and his twin assistants morphed back into Tasio’s guise as The Trickster. “Alas! I can no longer fool you with shapeshifting.”
Eric punched him again. His eyes were pits of hellish fire. “How could you let this happen? I thought Annala was as important for your plans as me and Kallen!”
Tasio shrugged. “I’m not omniscient. I thought Annala did another random teleport. You were at greater risk. Besides, I’ve been plotting Gunrai’s downfall since I heard.”
Eric paused his fourth punch. “You are?”
“Yes, and it is a far worse fate than anything you’re thinking of now. Assault is nothing and murder would get you in trouble. He has means to counteract death anyway. No, what he deserves is a fate worse than death. Agreed?”
Eric nodded.
“I’ve made a list of his products and services, along with customer complaints. After you become the Chaos Avatar, all you have to do is explain to him that you can do all of it better than he can. You don’t have to actually do any of it because the idea will be enough. There is nothing worse for an entrepreneur than to be rendered obsolete, and therefore irrelevant in the marketplace.”
Eric’s trickster grin warmed The Trickster’s chaotic core.
“Yes, I like that idea. His Eternal Hobby will be forever unfulfillable and he will quickly succumb to Elven Immortality Madness. It will reduce him to mumbling incoherently in a padded cell while his mind grapples with an insurmountable problem.”
“The man who exists to fill needs unable to fill his own. By the way,” Tasio pointed to the ceiling, “that ‘Kuaki’ stunt you pulled was also a great idea.”
“Thanks. Now I’m off to save my girlfriend.”
“Go get her, tiger. I’ll be there if you need me. Seriously, I will.”
Eric launched himself through the roof of Basilard’s bedroom and oriented himself to Roalt. All around the capital city, snow was melting and grass replaced it. Trees were blooming. People, human and otherwise, were engaged in planting and spring cleaning. In the distance, he could see a mana storm or two brewing. He also saw the “Kuaki stunt” Tasio referred to. It was the word spelled in dark flames and written large across the sky.
He had chuckled all the way to the Bladi Main Compound. Imagining Kasile’s peeved expression made it all the funnier. At the time, he felt it further increased his understanding of Tasio, but now he thought it immature.
At Roalt’s airship dock, Eric soared among the many models until he found one painted golden-brown. He stopped at the door and knocked. He would have flown through it, but the ship’s hull was warded against creatures like himself. Emily opened the door and shoved her scry in his face. It showed the denizens of the internet freaking out over his prank.
“Your fault, I assume.”
“You can badger me later.”
He floated to his body while Emily went to work dispelling the “ominous omen” as the prank of a trickster god. The body of Eric Watley was so cold that he shivered after entering it. Kallen sat down next to him and said, “Let me guess. He’s not going to help.”
“We have bigger and more immediate problems,” Eric replied. “Gunrai kidnapped Annala, quarried her, and then tossed her out like garbage.”
It took a second for Kallen to fully realize what he said. Then she burst into holy white flames. Her pupils became triangles and her face twisted into a snarl. Then she exhaled and returned to human form.
“We have to find her first,” she said, more to herself than Eric or Emily. “We have to find her, help her, learn the full story, and then take action against Gunrai.”
She stood up and marched to the captain’s seat. She buckled in and Emily did likewise. Taking the wheel, she said, “Nunnal will know how to find her. Nunnal will know how to find her. Nunnal will know how...” She gripped the rubber casing until her knuckles turned white.
“Boss?” Emily asked worriedly.
Kallen’s fingers flew across the ship’s dashboard while she continued muttering. “I can’t let it happen again. I can’t let it happen again. WHY DOESN’T THIS SHIP HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT?!...I can’t let it happen again.”
Eric laid his hands on her shoulders and her tension melted instantly. She took a deep, controlled breath, and then let it out. She placed one hand on his and thanked him.
“What are soulmates for?”
One lightning bolt later, the trio was standing outside Dnnac Ledo’s forest. The hidden village’s Chaotic Curtain prevented Kallen from teleporting them directly inside. She took the lead because she knew it best.
The trio didn’t meet anyone on their way to the village proper, and few were there as well. The elves of Dnnac Ledo were finally wandering again. Emily noted the contrast, but Kallen and Eric continued marching to Hariana Inquiries.
Inside the foyer, Kallen mashed the button for the teleporter. They came out in front of a door that said “Director Nunnal Enaz.” Kallen knocked and said, “Hey, Mom, it’s Kallen. We have an emergency!”
The door came off its hinges and hung in Nunnal’s grip. Her clothes and hair were torn and askew. Her bloodshot eyes spoke of killing intent. The hand she used to grip the door was a giant’s and so isolated in trans
formation that its weight made her trip and stumble.
“Mom!” Kallen rushed to steady her. “Mom, are you okay?”
“Don’t call me that!” Nunnal shouted. “My daughter is not here!”
Immediately, Kallen released her and stepped back. Her knees bent, she clutched her hands and looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Nunnal’s already large eyes widened even further. In a blink, she crushed Kallen into a mighty and all-encompassing hug.
“I’m sorry, dear, I’m so sorry. Of course you can call me that. I practically raised you! Not that I could ever replace Euphemia, of course. She will always be your mother, and she was as good as my sister, so you could also call me ‘aunt,’ or ‘mom,’ or even ‘auom’ or ‘mont’ or...umm...”
“How long has it been since you last slept?” Kallen asked.
“Ahh...let me think...”
“You know what, it doesn’t matter. We have an emergency.”
“Oh, take a number...” Nunnal said wearily. “The mutant wombats revived, rebelled again, and now occupy substantial parts of my lab. Sagart needs more Chaotic Contradiction Lock Picks yesterday and my baby has gone missing, likely kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped,” Eric said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Nunnal fell to the floor and cried into it. “Once again, my baby is suffering for my actions, and it’s medical mana mutation too! Oh, Lady Chaos! Why must you torment me so! I thought this was your will!”
Kallen sat next to her and propped her up, allowing her to lean against Kallen herself. Putting an arm around her adoptive mother, she said, “Tell us what happened. We can help.”
Nunnal sniffed and wiped her eyes. “It all started with a patch of elven slaves that were rescued from Latrot as part of the Mana Mutation Summit of 2000 AA’s Medical Mana Mutation Freedom Exchange program. Gunrai distributed copies of my technology and arranged for the poor things to be transported here where they could be treated. However, while their bodies were free, their minds and souls were still in Latrot.”
She pulled a tissue out of nowhere and blew her nose into it. She tossed it into the air and it burned to ashes, which were sucked up by something.
“I tried to deprogram them, but nothing I did could break Order’s hold. The ordercraft was gone, of course, but its effect remained. This was one month ago. One day ago, my baby came to visit me. She said Eric was immortal now, so she could...” Her voice broke and she cried anew. “Relax...” she said between sobs. “Slow down...out of the woods!”
Kallen rubbed her back and waited.
“I told her about them, the slaves, and she immediately wanted to see them. What a sweet girl I raised; so kind and compassionate. She cut off a lock of her own hair for each of them and bade them eat to give them strength. She kissed their foreheads to give them love. All of them were truly saved in that moment! I’ve never seen such joy, such bliss!”
Nunnal turned one of her hands into a scorpion’s tail and stung herself. Kallen caught her on the second pass with her own chimera arm.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Everything about this is my fault!” Nunnal wailed. “I warned her: ‘You don’t know Gunrai like I do. He hates you beyond anything because you are unique in all of Noitearc.’ He is sneaky. He is vile. He is selfish. He planted a mole among the slaves and I didn’t notice!”
She turned her other hand into a scorpion’s tail, but this time, Eric caught her in the first attempt.
“One person was faking mental enslavement. When he received my baby’s hair, he didn’t use it. Somehow, he preserved it. I don’t know how...maybe he stuffed it into a hollow within his body. He left immediately and sprinted to Gunrai’s branch office in the village. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. My baby was gone!”
She jumped out of Kallen’s arms and dashed to her desk. She shoved Emily out of her way and jumped over it to land on a nearby machine. It was a steel and crystal construction with a solid glass top. Its surface had numerous scrapes and dents had been clumsily reshaped or patched.
“Come on! Come on... Come on... Come on...SHOW ME!”
Kallen stood at the device’s opposite side. There was nothing but static in the glass’s image. After a moment’s consideration, she said, “This is a Mana Mutation Concentration Detector. I use it to find mana storms, but you’re using it to track Annala.”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ve been tracking her comings and goings ever since the Latrot raid.” Nunnal adjusted four knobs simultaneously. “In her last jump, she didn’t leave this world. The possibility that she would randomly teleport somewhere on this microscopic spec when she has all of Noitearc is so small that it might as well be impossible.”
“So you think Gunrai hijacked her teleport using the lock of hair?” Eric asked.
“Sympathy magic! I knew Gunrai would try this eventually but to think that he’d use the salvation of his fellow elves as a ruse! He’s lower than Dengel! He should be added to the Feast of the Fallen One! DEATH TO THE INFIDEL!”
“Mom, I think you should get some sleep,” Kallen said. “You’re not thinking clearly.”
Nunnal raised her leg to scratch herself behind the ear. “How do you figure that?”
“At the maximum level, this device will indeed only find genuine chaotic energy like the kind that makes up the Seeds of Chaos within elves. However, at this level, it’s worthless because the entire world is also made of genuine chaotic energy beneath the surface layer of reality.” Kallen tapped the glass. “That’s why all you’re getting is static.”
“I adjusted it!” Nunnal declared. “New functionality! Fine-tune it for the divine stuff. You can do that by filtering out the secular stuff. The latter won’t have Lady Chaos’ personal imprint. There are only two kinds of things in all this world that will have that: areas where a Chaos Avatar exploded and my baby.”
A dozen or so large patches appeared in the glass, but Nunnal shifted away from them. There was static and then this image appeared again. Nunnal shrieked and kicked the device.
“Jamming field?” Emily suggested.
“Jamming field,” Kallen agreed.
“Jamming field?!” Nunnal exclaimed. “No. Not even Gunrai is that depraved. If he were, then he would have gone into the ordercraft business a long time ago.”
“He has fake ordercrafters,” Eric said. “Omnias taught him how to do it. I’ve fought them. It’s not nearly as potent, but it has the same properties.”
In an instant, Nunnal grabbed his shirt and hoisted him up. “Describe it for me now!”
Despite his ascension, this mad scientist still scared Eric. In fact, he was likely an even more tempting research subject now. He quickly explained that “It’s basically soulcraft, but with an emphasis on domination. You could call it ‘Commanding Eye,’ except it doesn’t require eye contact.”
Nunnal dropped him at once. Lights flashed and crystals shimmered as she manipulated the detector’s interface. Then she slammed her fist down on it.
“I need a stronger spirit.” She met eyes with Kallen. “A divine spirit, mutated by chaotic energy.”
Kallen placed her hand upon the interface. All of the detector’s runes whirled as this new power coursed through them. The screen shined and then faded. A single point of light pulsed.
“THAT’S IT!”
Nunnal’s hands flashed across the interface once more. “There, I’ve locked in the frequency, sent the coordinates to Albatross IX, and also printed it out for you.” A piece of paper ejected from a nearby machine folded itself in mid-air and landed in Kallen’s outstretched hand. “I’ll stay in contact with you in case it moves or the situation changes. Keep me updated.”
Kallen nodded and with eyes of resolve. She sprinted out of Hariana Inquires and through the village. She was so focused, she reverted to her true form. Eric scooped Emily into his grendel arms and generated winged feet to keep up with her. Suddenly, she skidded to a stop and rais
ed her hand. The Lightning Sphere shined.
“Hey, wait for us!”
Eric reached her just in time to join the teleport back to Roalt. This lightning bolt touched down inside the capital city’s airship dome. Waiting in ambush, Gruffle took a half-hearted swing. Eric blocked it by the blade with his bare hand.
“Thought as much,” the reaper said. “My authority ain’t worth dung against gods.” He floated above the trio. “That’s alright. I’m not here for that anyway.”
“Then what are you here for?” Eric asked.
“Proof for my request of a god killer authority.”
The Door of Death opened beneath him and he descended through it before the trio could stop him. Eric pounded his fists together and said, “I’ll worry about him after Annala is safe.” In a mutter, he added, “Cheap immortality.”
Hours later, Albatross IX hovered over a patch of ocean in the middle of nowhere. It was an endless expanse of blue water and blue sky. On the ship’s computer screen, the icon for the ship overlapped with the image of Annala’s location.
“This is definitely the right place,” Emily said.
“The problem is pinpointing her location,” Kallen said. “This machine was designed to find mana storms. It wasn’t meant to find something as small as a person...Maybe if I could fine tune the device, but I’m not an engineer or a scientist.”
“Ask your mother,” Eric said.
Kallen sent him a cold stare.
“Adoptive mother, I meant.”
Kallen sighed. “I can hear it now. ‘The Witch of Dnnac Ledo has created a device for tracking elves, and her first victim was a chaos priestess.’ Meza will never let that die.”
“What is unique about Annala?” Tasio wondered aloud. As usual, he appeared in the ship without warning. Then he scooted in a circle around his chosen by pushing his godly feet against the air. “There has to be something or Gunrai wouldn’t have kidnapped her. Something special from a special event, recently...”
Transcending Limitations Page 51
