by C. M. Carney
“Thank you,” Sean said and wrapped his thin arms around Gryph, pulling him in for a big hug.
“We don’t have time for this,” Gryph said as the sound of running feet approached. “We need to get off the streets.” They rushed into a nearby alley.
“I have a place we can lie low for a while,” Grimslee said.
“What kind of place?” Gryph asked, the threat inherent in his voice.
“I know the sewers, catacombs and tunnels under Harlan’s Watch better than anyone. There are plenty of hidden nooks and crannies under our feet that nobody else knows about, well nobody alive, anyway.” Grimslee gave an evil grin to Nahrman. “And I just might have a place.”
“You have a safe house,” Lex said.
“More of a safe basement, but yes.”
“What do you want in exchange for this safe basement?” Gryph’s eyes were hard.
“Consideration in the form of a future favor.”
Gryph looked at Lex who shrugged. “I do not trust him,” Lex whispered. “He’s the Whitey Bulger of Harlan’s Watch, but he repaid his debt when I needed it, so… What do you think Constable?”
“Grimslee is a traitorous rat who cares for nothing but his own hide. He will stab us all in the back if it suits his needs,” Nahrman said, earning a wry grin from the mob boss. “But, he has no friends, no allies, no hope for survival by himself, so for now our needs are his needs.” This last bit made Grimslee scowl, but he said nothing.
Gryph nodded. “Lead the way, but know, when you try to betray us, you will taste the sting of my spear.”
Grimslee nodded, and without further comment led them down the dark alley. They disappeared into the darkness just as a mob of Vex foot soldiers descended on the ragged hole in the cell block wall.
A few minutes later the group climbed down the mouth of an old well and emerged into a long-forgotten cellar. They had been there less than a minute when Ovrym and Errat, still wearing the bodies of Gaarm and Seraphine, fell to their knees.
Gryph’s eyes snapped to Grimslee. “What did you do to them?”
“Me? Nothing. I’m innocent,” the crime boss said, hands held wide, but an amused grin painted his face.
Vonn ran to aid them. “It wasn't him. The Mimic Stones have reached their time limit. What goes down must come up.”
“Eww,” Lex muttered. “I may be okay with my beard shearing after all.”
Ovrym and Errat started to hack and choke.
“Easy,” Vonn said patting Ovrym’s back.
Ovrym bent over at the waist and heaved. Bile and spittle exploded from his mouth and with it a dull gray stone. Ovrym held his hand out to let the others know he was fine but needed a moment. Errat had a much easier time, as he spat up his stone like a drunk college kid spitting up the last shot of Jager. The stone landed in his hand and he grinned. A moment later both men were themselves again.
“That was fun. Can Errat do that again?”
“Your idea of fun is ... curious,” Ovrym said, his voice ragged from expurgating the stone. Both men handed their stones to Vonn, who grimaced before storing them in his bag.
“Told ya it wasn’t me,” Grimslee said.
Gryph glared at Grimslee who gave him a smug look. Errat, Ovrym, Gryph sent through the link. Keep an eye on Grimslee. The moment he tries to betray us, kill him.
Gladly, Ovrym sent back.
Gryph turned back to the others. “We’ll hang here for an hour and let that hornet’s nest calm down. Then we get out of town.”
“We can’t,” Sean said. All eyes turned to the small player.
“Why not?” Gryph asked, his exasperation growing.
“Cuz the assholes who caught me took something from me, and I need it back.”
“So, when you said you needed us to help you with something, you meant two somethings,” Vonn said.
“Three actually,” Sean said, his eyes meek, his face a nervous grin.
“What things?” Gryph asked, his voice tense.
Sean looked down, guilt slipping into his tone. “The Vex have the weapon.”
“The weapon that kills players?” Gryph said, his tone rising sharply.
“Yeah, that one,” Sean said, dipping his head in shame. “I don’t think they know what it is.”
“Don’t think!” Gryph said rather a bit louder than intended.
“Look, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“What do you mean?” Gryph asked.
“I wasn’t making a weapon to kill players. I was making one that would give a person their stolen memories back. It just had a few … side effects.”
“The player killing kind of side effects?” Vonn asked.
“Yeah, those kind.”
“Why would you need a device like that?” Ovrym asked.
“For Brynn,” Gryph said, remembering Eris’ warning that Brynn, or Ferrancia as she was now known, did not remember who she was. “You wanted to use it on Brynn.”
“Yes.”
“Is that before or after you discovered it killed players?” Gryph’s voice was hard, his gaze deadly, but to his credit Sean met it levelly.
Guilt swirled inside Sean. “Before. I didn't know it would kill her, I swear. I found her, had her in my sights, ready to fire, when another player, some stooge Aluran had sent to keep eyes on her, got in my way. The weapon killed him. Then Brynn’s attack paralyzed me.”
“How do you know there is anything left of her,” Gryph asked, unable to keep a twinge of worry from his tone.
“Because I saw her, deep inside. Brynn looked down on me, and even through Ferrancia’s false shell, I sensed her. She was still in there and I almost killed her.” He looked up at Gryph, tears filling his eyes. “Even after the paralyze debuffs wore off, I lay there, too guilty to move. Then, in a flash and a fury, Aluran came for me. I thought he would kill me, but he saw the potential in what I had made and … convinced me to perfect the weapon.”
Gryph knew that convinced meant torture, and for the first time he felt sympathy for Sean. He decided to try to give the guy some slack.
“So why come here after you escaped?” Lex asked. “Harlan’s Watch is nice and all, but there’s got to be a hundred better places to hide.”
“That’s the third something.” Sean said. “Harlan’s Watch is much more than some quaint town. It harbors ancient and powerful magic. Magic that can help me fix the weapon.”
“You want to use the Order Engine,” Vonn said.
Sean’s eyes snapped to Vonn in surprise. “Yes, exactly. I think I can use it to make the weapon safe.”
“You think?” Gryph’s voice tensed.
“It’s just a theory. I’ve only heard about Order Engines. I’ve never actually seen one. “
“Few have,” Vonn said. “But the theory is sound.”
“If I can get into the tower and then to the Order Engine, I should be able to fix the weapon.”
“If you can get into the tower?” Ovrym asked.
“Well yeah, it’s a super cool wizard’s tower. You don’t think they leave the front door open. How do you think I got arrested?”
“Friend Sean was trying to break into the tower?” Errat asked. Sean glanced sideways at him, opened his mouth to say something and then nodded his head.
“We need to get inside,” Sean said. “Then I can fix the weapon. Once it's fixed I’ll get close to Brynn and free her.”
“You make the weapon work. I’ll get close to Brynn,” Gryph said. “And you’re staying behind. Aluran is already looking for you. The last thing we need is you tagging along, attracting attention. You had your chance.”
“No, I’m coming. If something goes wrong with the weapon, you’ll need me there.”
“Like it accidentally kills someone again?” Lex asked.
“I know what went wrong, but I can fix it.” Sean looked at Gryph. “And nobody apart from Aluran and that creepy hooded bastard that always floats around him even knows what I look like. I pose th
e same danger as you and Lex. Don’t forget, he’s seen the two of you as well.” Sean paused and a heavy silence hung in the room. “Bottom line is, I care for Brynn as much as you do, and you can’t stop me from helping save her.”
Gryph stared at Sean for several moments and finally spoke. “Fine, but you follow my lead, listen to my orders, no questions, no arguments.” After a tense moment, Sean nodded and Gryph turned his thoughts to their next play. “First things first, we need to find the weapon.” He looked up at Nahrman. “Where would the Vex keep something like that?”
“Logic would suggest it would be in the secure chest in my old office, but the Vex aren’t known for abiding by the rules of logic, being devotees of chaos and all.” The gruff ex-constable scratched at his beard. “But I can think of no other place they’d store it.”
“How do we get into this chest?” Vonn asked.
“It is password protected,” Nahrman said. “Place a hand on the top, think Freedom, and it will open.”
“Your password is Freedom?” Lex asked.
“Yup,” Nahrman said with a nod.
“That’s funny,” Lex said.
A sudden rush of wind whistled through the well, causing the entire group to jump and look around warily. Gryph looked to Grimslee, seeking any sign of betrayal on the man’s face, but he seemed as genuinely surprised as the rest.
“Errat, do you sense anything?” Gryph asked.
An odd look that might have been confusion crossed the warborn’s face. He cocked his head to the side, opened and closed his mouth. And then looked at Gryph. “Errat thought he felt something, but now nothing is there to be felt.”
They listened intently for several long moments, but no further sounds rose. A moment later Lex spoke.
“So to summarize, we need to sneak back into the place we just broke out of, find some chest that may or may not contain this weapon, use a hilariously ironic password to open the chest, steal the shit, sneak back out past a gaggle of asshole cultists without being seen or caught. Then after ensuring said asshole cultists aren’t following us we need to break into an impenetrable wizard’s tower to find a time manipulation doohickey. Then we gotta hope my surrogate pappy here can actually fix the weapon, but we won’t know unless we test it on a player which might kill them. And we only have two of them guys to test it on, so I say Sean gets to volunteer. After that, all we need to do is find a missing goddess, whose current location is a big mystery, and zap her with the weapon. If all goes well, and the weapon works, Ferrancia will become Brynn again. Yay, big ol’ happy family reunion, Lex gets a big ‘you saved me’ kiss and we all live happily ever after.” Lex was out of breath after his furious rant and inhaled deeply.
“You’re forgetting about the High God who will do everything in his considerable, earth shattering power to not only stop us, but kill us all,” Vonn said, idly chewing on an apple he’d pulled from his bag.
“And all that stuff he said,” Lex agreed. “Sounds easy, except for one part. How do we do that first impossible sounding thing way back at the beginning!?”
Silence hung in the warehouse as every member of the group contemplated Lex’s surprisingly accurate, if blathering, summary. The group went quiet as they tried to find a path to success when another rush of air swooped down the well. Everyone drew weapons and looked around. Breathing grew ragged and heartbeats raced, but there was no further sound or motion.
Suddenly Errat laughed and smiled. “Hello friend Furrick, it is good to see you.”
“Aww, man,” came a childish voice that seemed distant and shrouded and then the spot in front of Gryph shimmered and Furrick appeared.
“Furrick? Why aren’t you with your sister?” Gryph asked.
“I was. She’s fine. She’s staying with an old friend of my mom’s.” The kid’s face turned melancholy and Gryph felt for the boy. “I was gonna stay, but then I realized that she'll never be safe as long as those jerks are in town. So, I’m here to help.”
“That’s real nice kid, but how are you gonna help?” Lex asked.
“I figure this is a good start,” Furrick said and held out an eight-inch wand made of smooth, white wood.
“The weapon,” Sean said in shock.
“One impossible task down,” Lex said. “Unknown number of impossible tasks to go."
Gryph grinned at Furrick and nodded thanks. "Well, what are we waiting for?”
49
Gryph told the group to relax, eat and rest. The next several days would unfold at a furious pace, and they would need to be focused, rested and ready. Ovrym entered a meditative state. Lex walked up to Grimslee’s makeshift bar, eyed the selection of bottles with a grin, but thought better of getting drunk, and plopped down in a plush chair. Errat stared around the room, a confused smile on his face. Eventually he sat as well, closing his eyes in imitation of the xydai.
Gryph gathered Vonn, Sean, Nahrman, Furrick and Grimslee together and peppered them with questions. He needed to know the lay of the land and what they were up against. As they talked a picture formed in his mind.
“The Vex have wanted to get their grubby hands on Harlan’s Watch for some time,” Grimslee said. “Now I won’t blow hot air up your skirts and say I’m some noble force for good, but as you can see my rule was much more benevolent.”
“Tell that to the people you killed,” Nahrman said gruffly. Grimslee eyed the one-time constable, old hatred burning inside him.
“We do not have time for old feuds and grudges,” Gryph said. He turned to Sean. “How were you planning to get in?”
“I didn’t, per se, have a plan,” Sean admitted with a shrug. “I was just running, trying to put as much distance between me and Aluran as possible. I’m pretty much making this up as I go. How was I supposed to know this effing tower had no doors?”
“Coulda asked me,” Furrick said, accepting a piece of jerky from Vonn with a nod of thanks.
“You don’t actually know,” Lex said, earning a glare from the kid.
“There are ways into places that are not doors,” the Templar said between chomps of jerky.
“Explain,” Gryph said.
“I already told you that the tower isn’t really a tower. Think of it as energy that has taken physical form. We cannot see it, but beneath the surface, deep inside the tower, its crystalline matrix is constantly shifting, changing, adapting to the chaos trying to tear it asunder. Harlan, or another Adept of the Circle, can manipulate this process and create an opening. It takes a very specialized understanding of Order Magic to accomplish this.”
“Should I assume that if you possessed such an understanding we would already be inside the tower?” Gryph asked. Vonn nodded, kicking his feet up onto another crate. “Can we get in touch with this Circle, explain our situation?”
“Even if we could, the Circle would pay us no heed. They’re not the friendliest folk in the Realms. They have one mission, to protect the Realms from chaos and they care nothing for the petty squabbles of gods and men, nor for horrors such as the Prime. They did nothing while the Ruin ravaged Korynn, despite the knowledge and resources at their disposal. To them, all such threats are paltry and irrelevant.”
“They sound like every other bunch of jerks with power,” Furrick said. “Stomp on the little people like we’re less than pig dung.”
Gryph realized that Furrick was right. Same in the Realms as it is on Earth. He vowed to himself that if he lived through the next few days, he would be a different kind of ruler. The kind that protected the weak instead of preying on them.
“So we’re screwed,” Sean said. He stood and walked back and forth, his frantic state causing him to hyperventilate. “I’ve failed her, as I always do, cuz I’m a fuckup and a fool.” Gryph felt sympathy for the player, realizing that there was someone else in the Realms who cared for Brynn as much as he.
A heavy silence hung over the group as each of them became lost in their own private world of thoughts and worries. After several minutes Lex broke
the silence.
“I know a … guy … who may be able to help, but if it costs me another eye I am gonna be pissed.”
Vonn eyed him, the slow grin of realization dawning on his face. Lex sat forward and explained.
“You trust this Rubik?” Gryph asked, cycling between Lex and Vonn.
“Hell no, the bastard tore out one of my eyes.” The others looked at him like he was full of it. “I got better, obviously.”
“Have you cast Commune since becoming an Apprentice in Order Magic?” Gryph asked.
“No,” Lex said, his eyes growing brighter. “Hold on a sec.” Lex closed his eyes and then with a grin he shared the status window for Commune.
Commune.
Sphere: Order Magic - Tier: Base.
Allows the caster to Commune with beings from the Realm of Order once per day. The Realm of Order is one of the Higher Realms, therefore streams and snippets of information flow to it from the Mortal Realms. During this communing, the caster may ask a simple question and receive a simple answer.
While the answer is always truthful, the servants of the Lords of Order are odd beings by mortal standards and therefore their answers may hold several meanings or be obfuscated. Trust them at your peril. Servants of the Lords of Order find precision and perfection appealing. Properly asked questions may be rewarded with a Boon. Beware, Boons always require payment.
Mana Cost: 100. Duration: Instantaneous. Cooldown: 1 day.
“Awesome, I can now ask the square bastard a simple question,” Lex said. “Whatever the hell that means.”
“It means we need to word the question with precision and without … verbose excess,” Ovrym said without opening his eyes.
Lex jumped. “Dude you’re both a creepy lurker and kinda a jerk.”
“Errat says we should send someone else to talk to square friend Rubik.” His eyes were open and stared unblinking at Lex.
