Chapter 16
Mark and Talia Translocated back to the Xervian port of The Sea People and resumed their position floating in the focus of the smaller reflector, both of them soaking up power like the warmth of a hot shower after a cold day.
“They’re leaving.” Povon reported from Hilia with obvious relief.
“Thanks.” Mark told her with a grim smile. “We can see that from here, actually.”
The Xervian Wards were only a hundred yards offshore here, and Mark and Talia were only sixty yards back from the beach, so when two billion or so Sylvan and dragons appeared outside the Wards and began blasting at it with everything they had, they appeared like a colossal living wall across the world spewing fire and light, and a frighteningly close one too.
Suddenly Holanam arrived in mid-air beside them, and yelped at the sight.
“Is there any particular reason why you decided to join us?” Mark asked. “As you can see, this might not be the safest place right now.”
“Ya. Iski said I should, and she’s our best precog. You’ll probably need some extra luck, and I think I’m getting good at it. Can you tell what I’m doing?”
“Yes. Your power isn’t just making you glow like elves usually do. It’s making a whole area glow for about ten feet around, including around Talia and I.”
“That’s my luck field. I’m pretty sure it is, anyway.”
“After what we just went through, we’ll take it.” Talia nodded.
“Yeah. It was pretty weird back at Zarkog’s mountain after you left too. Balen was in a five foot wide sphere of Shielding, and this dragon blew up right above her and covered it with so much dragon guts she couldn’t see out, and she vomited in her bubble and was stuck in there with it. She kept fighting though. She’s a little toughie, she is. I don’t think he was one of ours, the dragon that is, even though he was pretty big. I sure hope he wasn’t one of ours.”
He shivered a bit, and Talia gave him as tender a hug as their armor would allow.
Yazadril suddenly joined them. “Are you kids okay?”
“Yes, we’re fine. None of our people were killed.” Talia assured him, and shared a hug with him too.
“Good to hear.” he nodded, and turned to watch the Serminakis. “We didn’t get Zarkog, but we think we wounded him, and other than that almost everything else is going our way. He didn’t get you either. We estimate he lost at least seven thousand of his best spell-casters when the Wards in Venak went down, and another thirty thousand that minded the Sylvan Barrier, and perhaps sixty thousand more on the Wards around Serminak. And from what we saw when those Wards went down, he likely lost all manner of emplacements, personnel and infrastructure that was situated on his coast next to the Wards. He lost as much as all of that in the actual battle, and we only lost one for every seventeen of his.
“The Venaks have dumped the bodies of a few dozen Sylvan and twenty dragons into the harbor, as well as a few hundred humans. We suspect that there has been a change of regime there, and that King Renem is one of the ones now floating in Cartyop Bay. And since most of the Sylvan and Dragons stationed there have remained there, we think they may have joined the insurrection, though we have no idea whether they’re still loyal to Zarkog. On the other hand, they seem to be well hunkered-down behind their defenses and none have joined our battle with Serminak on either side, so we can still hope they’ve decided to remain neutral for the duration.
“We suffered an amazingly small amount of casualties in the battle, and we got out with all our fallen and our wounded. The inclusion of our entire force in a compound Link was a crucial breakthrough.
“There’s a good chance that these here are all he has left who’re capable of Translocating. And right now, all of these fools are here attacking these Wards in order to get at you, which is a futile effort, instead of attacking one of our less well-protected positions. Meanwhile our wounded are being treated, our Translocation and Flight medallions are being recharged, and with every minute that passes, our nations are more prepared to repel invaders.”
“Their efforts are truly futile?” Talia asked. “They cannot break through these Wards?”
“There’s enough of them that they could do it if they went about it the right way, but they’re not.”
None of them faced each other as they spoke; instead they watched the endless wall of attackers.
“This is weird, just floating here while two billion enemies try to kill us from a stone’s throw away.” Holanam observed nervously, and the others had no response to that. “Especially with the way the Wards here are completely invisible. Not even a ripple when lightning hits it.”
After a pair of minutes, Mark asked; “Is there anything else we should be doing right now?”
“Actually, that’s what I came here to ask.” Yazadril chuckled. “Nemia’s helping Hilsith see to the wounded. I was sent on behalf of The Just Alliance to see if you had any suggestions.”
“No, the only idea I have is to wait till noon at Focus Mountain, have the Xervians open a corridor in their Wards from the west coast to there, and blast the hell out of this bunch after we lead them in. After I put this piece of the reflector back, of course. We’ll see how they like fighting in the middle of Death’s Teeth.”
“Ah. Well it is a good plan, if not a solution to our overall strategic situation. Oh well, I guess we can’t depend on you for everything.”
“No, but I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”
“Could you do us a favor, Father? Could you see if we can have some repair done on our Wards at Hilia? They took quite a beating.”
“They didn’t crack the ones The High People gave you, did they?”
“No, nor the Xervian ones, but those two layers were the last ones left.”
“Ah. Good to know. I’ll see what I can do.” Yazadril nodded. “I’ll be listening in case you need anything else, or just to talk.”
“Thanks, us too.” Talia said, and with a quick kiss for his daughter, Yazadril was gone.
They floated there for another fifty minutes, and then all of the Serminakis stopped attacking the Wards. The black dragon and his bronze companion who had directed the hunt for them appeared, opposite the barrier from where Mark, Talia and Holanam floated. They appeared to be yelling in anger at all about them, though the sound of it was blocked by the Wards. They organized perhaps thirty thousand spell-casters in concentric rings centered on a spot in the Wards about nine hundred feet up, and then they all cast a spell on it. A red beam appeared between the spot they cast on and the distant horizon.
“Did my eyes deceive me, or did that ray shoot away from the Wards?” Holanam asked.
“It did.” Mark nodded. “It looks like they’ve finally decided to go about it the right way, as Yazadril would say.”
“Instead of attacking the Wards with all their power, they’re draining power out of them.” Talia stated with grudging admiration, even as millions of Sylvan and dragons started adding their efforts to the spell.
The red beam thickened and brightened considerably, and kept on doing so.
“Somonik?” Mark asked. “You might want to look at this.”
“We see it. A worrying sight. That power drain is a straight line, venting horizontally, and while it eventually reaches the void, it is out of sight due to distance while still within the atmosphere. I have dispatched a team to intercept it beyond our enemies’ vision. They will attempt to recapture the energy and feed it back into our Wards without the enemy’s knowledge. However, it appears doubtful that they will succeed before the Wards are holed. Ours are not of a nature to fail catastrophically, but if the enemy continues as they are, they can eventually open a hole large enough to allow some number of them to pass within, and onto Xervian soil.
“If you wish to make a stand there, we will assign the necessary personnel to hold the breach. The enemy will be in a tactically disastrous position, having to hold the hole open a
nd deploy through it into our concentrated fire.”
“No, not yet. We’ve got to find a way to end this war, so I’d like to avoid further bloodshed if at all possible. We’ll buy some time. Try to find a way to hunt down Zarkog, as I’m sure we’re already trying to do. If nothing else, we have to hold down the death toll as much as possible, on both sides. Sooner or later we’ll all have to turn our attention to the demons, and we have to find a way to get this horde on our side before then.
“How long till they’re through?”
“Four minutes till they can pass a Sylvan through the hole, fourteen for a dragon, at their present pace. But they’ll be able to cast a spell through it in less than a minute.”
“Well, I’m replenished enough that I’m starting to sweat.” Mark stated. “How about we see if these guys can chase us all over the world as well as they chased us all over Serminak?”
“One moment.” Talia said with a thoughtful look. “Somonik, I imagine you know a great number of Translocation references.”
“I do.”
“Would you give them to me? We’ll want to have as many prepared choices as we can get.”
“I will.”
“Thank you. We’ll stay available for communications.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll try to keep you abreast of developments. The Just Alliance appreciates the risk you will take in order to hold our enemies’ attention. Be assured that we will make full use of the time this grants us.”
“Hold on a moment.” Mark said. “Holanam, how many references can you keep in mind at once?”
“Maybe a dozen.”
“All right. Talia, give him ten random references. Holanam, you pick one of them at random. Got it?”
“Yup.”
“All right, we’ll just see where your luck leads us. You pick our destinations at random, and when we should go. We’ll cast the Translocations, and you trigger them. All right, here we go.”
They appeared a moment later over open ocean in the dark.
“Are they following us?” Mark asked.
“They have ended their assault on our Wards.” Somonik assured them. “We will take steps to ensure that the same method will not be effective again. Take care.”
“Thanks.” Mark told him as the white dragon closed the Link.
Then there was nothing but the stars above and the ocean below, and the wind.
“I wonder why Somonik would have a Translocation reference to a place in the middle of the ocean?” Talia mused.
“Only one reason I can think of.” Mark grinned. “Good fishing.”
“I’m so scared.” Holanam stated a moment later, and Talia pulled him over so that she stood between the two males with an arm around each.
“We are too, my friend.” Mark told him.
“Yeah? You don’t act like it.”
“It’s the training. When you’ve trained as a warrior in the manner I did, you fully expect that there’ll be days, or even weeks or months, when you’re scared to death all the time. Having a few years to get ready for constantly having the crap scared out of you makes it a lot easier to deal with. It’s the most important part of the training, learning to deal with fear. But no one can eliminate it, and they’d be foolish to do so if they could.”
“Ah. I could’ve been a knight by now if I’d wanted to, but I never did. It seemed like too much work, really. The scholar’s easy life for me, I thought, little did I know. There wasn’t much that was scholarly about our little jaunt to Serminak today.”
“True, but the world will need to know what happened today, so it’s lucky that there were scholars there and taking part. You can make a good account of the truth of it, in years ahead when there’s less to do.”
“I could do that.” Holanam nodded. “Maybe we should go soon.”
“Any time you want.” Talia smiled. “Pick somewhere.”
“All right. Let’s go.” Holanam smiled.
Sylvan and dragons appeared all around them, and one Sylvan was right in front of them and facing them, so close that Talia could have reached out and touched her. A fraction of a second later Talia’s Translocation took effect, even as Mark reached for his sword and Holanam yelled in panic.
They emerged over the stark mountains of southwestern Kletiuk, muscles tensed and hearts pounding.
“Sweet Mother that was close!” Mark cursed.
A second later Holanam started to chortle. “I wonder if we looked as surprised as that Sylvan? She looked like she was ready for a heart cramp!”
Another second and the three of them were laughing almost hysterically, and they did so for almost a minute.
Suddenly Holanam stopped laughing and pushed the bangs of his black hair out of his brown eyes as two dragons appeared in the valley far below them, so far away that they could barely be seen to be a black and a bronze. He triggered the next Translocation without another word.
They appeared over a jungle three hundred leagues to the north, only fifty feet in the air, and were warmed by a late-afternoon tropical breeze.
“They’ll never give up you know.” Holanam stated nervously. “Dragons are like that. As long as the order to get you stands, and even after that if they start to take it personally. They’ll keep hunting you for a thousand years, or a million if you live that long and that’s what it takes, until they get you or you die.”
“Or until we get them.” Mark countered. “We’re pretty fresh right now, and we could take those two spotters if we wanted to. If it comes to it, we will. But as long as they’re all wasting their time chasing us, they’re not hurting anyone else.”
“That’s right.” Holanam nodded as he glanced around at their surroundings. “Somonik probably came here for hunting. Doesn’t he go anywhere where there’s people?”
“I haven’t been passing you any references to places close to settlements or within Wards.” Talia explained. “We don’t want our pursuers to endanger anyone else, but we don’t want them to lose interest in the chase either. So we’ll just keep touring the wilderness of Kellaran for as long as we can. Then we’ll either go to Xervia or The Nine Valleys and rest up behind their Wards for the next round.
“That’s why your luck could be so important.” Mark agreed. “Not so we can escape our pursuers, but so we can remain just out of their reach while remaining safe, tantalizing them for as long as we can. But it’s likely to be scary a few times, and we’ll probably have more close scrapes. You don’t have to stay with us if you’d rather not.”
“I have to stay with you, for my vow of service and Princess Alilia’s Compulsion, and for my own self-respect.”
“And we’re glad to have you.” Talia told him with a warm smile.
“Thanks. Say, I have some good hiking rations, dried fruit and nuts and whatnot. Shall we have breakfast?”
“Certainly.” Talia chuckled. “And to add to our menu, we can have a few things left over from yesterday’s breakfast.”
“Excellent!” Mark chortled. “Let’s make a production of it! If our pursuers catch a glimpse of it, it’ll vex them for sure!”
And so it happened that when the black and the bronze appeared as distant specks high above, it was to observe their quarry lounging on a huge white silk tablecloth that was scattered with glinting silver dishes and pitchers and centered by a twelve-flame candelabra, leisurely enjoying a fine repast. The rest of their pursuers enjoyed the merest glance of this spectacle when the horde arrived, just before their dining prey vanished. They were to enjoy this brief view another twenty-seven times over the next hour and a half as the big human and the two elves took their time with their meal. Then they became ghosts again, and the psionicists in Serminak’s mobile forces were frustrated to have to find them over and over again, only to arrive there a fraction of a second after those they sought had fled.
Still, the interval needed to re-acquire their targets became gradually shorter as they sha
ved a bit of time from every repetition, though the chase now ranged over the entire surface of Kellaran. While they had needed almost three minutes to verify Mark and Talia’s location when the pursuit began on the east coast of Xervia, ten hours later they had it down to fifty seconds on the average.
Grakonexikaldoron had convinced Mark of the inadvisability of luring the enemy to Focus Mountain and fighting them there at noon, pointing out that the reflector and the new facilities on the north rim were almost certain to be destroyed in the battle.
Now Mark and Talia’s energies were ebbing from having cast so many Translocations, and he and Talia had not had sufficient sleep the night before. He suffered from this more than she did, since elves require less sleep than humans, and he was becoming a bit groggy.
“Why are they chasing us with so many?!” Holanam asked in exasperation, after one particularly close call. “I mean, their numbers look to have dwindled to a third of their original force over the last few hours, I imagine because a lot of them have expended their power or become exhausted. But why chase us with so many in the first place?! I know you two are incredibly powerful, but you wouldn’t have a chance against even a thousand dragons if they catch us. So why chase us at the beginning with fifty million dragons, and some two billion Sylvan besides?!”
“In case they catch us, and the Strike Force of The Just Alliance comes to our aid, I imagine.” Talia ventured. “The Alliance tried for Zarkog with everything we could bring to bear, and we failed. If he can succeed at catching us, it will do a lot towards giving him the upper hand in the minds of the populace.”
“I dunno.” Mark said tiredly. “We’re told the Dragon Lord was probably injured, and he must have been mighty upset at our attack on him, and at us of the Six leading a quarter of his forces on a merry chase all over Serminak. I picture him retiring to his lair to recover and get some rest, and just before he slams the door in his subordinates faces, he yells something like; ‘Get the Keys to The Just Alliance, all of you! I want them dead!’
“So now they’re all chasing us, even though it’s a totally wasteful misuse of his resources.”
“Let’s go.” Holanam said, and triggered their next jump across the world just as the horde appeared around them.
“They’re even less now.” Mark commented as they appeared over the north coast of Felion. “I’m getting pretty tired, but I’d bet that they’ll all have to give it up before us. We still have power for a few hundred jumps. If they don’t give it up in the next hour or so, we’ll try to find a place to hide for a few hours’ rest.”
But nineteen minutes later, above the vast ice fields of northern Debivin, the Dragon Lord himself appeared only ten yards away, surrounded by his dwindled but still vast mobile forces. His close appearance was shocking, as it came only twenty-one seconds after Holanam had triggered their last Translocation. Mark triggered their next jump in a panic as Zarkog blasted them with his prodigious fire.
Talia cast their Shields as they arrived above the plains some eight hundred leagues to the south. They’d felt an instant of pain on their exposed skin from Zarkog’s fire before they jumped, and their eyebrows and eyelashes were singed, but none of them had been burned.
“Crap that was close!” Mark yelled. “How long was that?”
“A third of a minute.” Talia told him shakily. “Our remaining power won’t last long at that rate, and he’ll likely just get quicker. I have the power stored in my items, I’ll use that for the Shields.”
“Start including some references in Xervia and The Nine Valleys in the ones you’re giving Holanam.” Mark instructed. “If his luck says we run for shelter, that’s what we’ll do.”
“I don’t know if my luck is still reliable.” Holanam told him as he shook from the tension of the unexpected attack. “I’m almost out of power too, and without magic, I’m no luckier than any other.”
Talia opened a flap in her armor at her hip and withdrew a simple white stone ring and a teardrop-shaped diamond on a slim gold chain. “Wear these.” she instructed as she cast a mild Tranquility on the shivering elf.
“Wow! These things have a lot of power!” Holanam marveled. “A lot more than I’ve ever had access to before! A lot more!”
“You’re glow is far brighter than it was when we started, and larger in area as well.” Mark nodded.
“Here, ten new Translocation references, each pre-cast and ready to go.” Talia said as she psionicly passed them over, and he triggered one immediately. She passed him another reference, and he jumped them again sixteen seconds later, then fourteen seconds after that.
Soon they were Translocating about every three seconds.
“Do we run for home?!!” Talia asked, her face tight as she held her fear at bay by sheer will.
They Translocated before he could answer.
“His luck hasn’t brought us there yet, even with all the power he’s using!” Mark said as he drew GrimFang.
Holanam jumped them again.
“This is leading to something, it has to be!” Mark continued excitedly, speaking through the jumps now. “Let it run till he takes us home or we only have enough power for one last jump, whichever comes first!”
Holanam moved them at shorter and shorter intervals, sweat beading on his brow. Every second. Then every two-thirds. Then every half-second, the world streaming by in blinks of light and dark. All four including Ria pooled their mental resources in a deep Link to maintain the pace.
Then Holanam faltered, unable to choose the next reference quickly enough, and the enemy was upon them. Zarkog’s head seemed as huge as a castle as he blasted them with his fire from only twenty feet away.
The world suddenly stopped, and went absolutely silent. There was Zarkog, frozen in time, his jet of fire covering half the distance between them. All around them a late-evening sky was full of Sylvan and dragons, still at least half a billion of them in all, every one frozen in position and posture.
And hovering six feet from them was a being like none of them had ever seen before. It was roughly a triangle with curved edges. It’s form was a foot and a half long and ten inches wide, with a surface like burgundy velvet on its top side, white velvet on the bottom. It was generally flat, being about an inch thick in the center, and paper thin at the edges. The closest of the three sides was shorter than the other two, and just above the middle of that edge were three small round eyes, each a different color, themselves arranged in a triangle and spaced less than an inch apart. The foremost eye was blue, the right-rear one green, and the left-rear one red. They blinked often and with independent timing in a disconcerting manner. The skin around them formed circular eyelids and the opening between them remained circular as they irised open and closed. Just below the front edge of the creature under the eyes was a two-inch wide horizontal slit that might have been a mouth. The creature’s edges rippled gently as it regarded them.
They simply stared back, flabbergasted by the entire situation. Even Ria manifested to see it, and was struck speechless.
Then its psionic touch was gently in their minds for an instant, and a moment later, it communicated. “Will you be my friend?” it asked in some strange variant of a Speaking, the words barely discernible in the alien feel of the creature’s mind.
“We will, if you will be our friend as well.” Mark immediately replied.
“I will.” the being stated with a particularly energetic wiggle, it’s intent more clear than it’s words. “I will hide you from those, if you would want me to do that.” it continued as it pointed at Zarkog with a momentarily folded front-right corner. “To my people, I am God of Hiding. I have competence with that skill.”
“We’d greatly appreciate that right now.” Mark smiled as he sheathed his sword. “Though not as much as I’d welcome a chance to speak with you at length.”
“And you can have that too.” the strange being stated.
Suddenly they were elsewhere, with
out any magic having been cast as far as Mark and Talia could tell. Their surroundings were dark at first, and when Talia cast a gradually brightening Light, they were soon seen to be huge and strange.
They merely looked about for a moment, and as Talia’s light reached sufficient luminosity to reveal the full extent of the colossal room about them, it was seen to be constructed of blue stone. They then realized it was a nine-sided amphitheater, built on a scale that would dwarf the biggest giant, with an open and flat bottom, a nine-sided domed roof above, and a nine-sided stage raised twenty feet above the floor in the center. It looked to be as big as Zarkog’s hall beneath the steel dome in Serminak. Their Levitations were still active, and they floated a foot above the center of the stage.
“This is the safest place on your world.” the strange being told them. “Your foes cannot detect you here.”
“I’ve seen a painting of this!” Holanam excitedly revealed as he turned to look all about. “This is in Kraka, the abandoned city of the dragons! This was the chamber where The Ninety-Nine used to meet to decide questions of government, before their population dispersed!”
“And no doubt built to insure the privacy of the deliberations that were held here.” Talia nodded as she inspected the immense room. “I’m not surprised that our pursuers can’t find us here. If they’re even moving yet.”
“They are, for I released time when we came here.” their benefactor stated.
“Thanks.” Mark grinned as he ceased his inspection of their surroundings and regarded the alien god. “I assume that it’s your people who inhabit the sixteen spheres that are approaching our world?”
“That is true. You can refer to me by my standing and my marking. I am First Burgundy.
“My people struggled to control our world, and did, and after a time we learned to stop fighting ourselves, and then we had peace and happiness. Then came those you call the demons. We fought, and we lost. A tiny few of us hid, deep beneath the water and stone of our world. We waited a long time. When we were sure the demons had taken all they could find and left, still we hid, for most would not leave their new homes and lives, all hidden deep in our world. And we were afraid. Ages later one of us emerged onto the surface, and found that nothing lived there, nothing at all. The demons had consumed all life they could find, and left long before. We knew that if we rebuilt our society, the demons would return when time had passed, and they would kill us again. Maybe more time passed, maybe less, but they would come. So we made ready for many generations, and then we set out into the void to hunt them.
“Long and long and long we have hunted them. Some worlds we have saved, more or less, from the demons. Others, we could not save, and all life died there. Each time we meet the demons, many of my people die. Sometimes we kill all the demons we find. Sometimes, some flee. And sometimes we flee, when they are too many, or too strong. After we fight the demons, time must pass, and we heal and breed, and then we are many again, and then we can hunt them again.
“We saw those demons who are coming here. We saw them eat the life of a world that had little, only simple things with no perception, but great potential was lost there. We saw they would come here, and we hurried to come here first.
“You are many. You are strong. With you, we can kill these demons. The demons do not know my people come here, for I hide my people from demon-sight. Maybe not so many of my people die this time. Maybe you will help us then. Maybe we will find the demon home-world, and we kill them all. Maybe some time, we kill all the demons everywhere. Then my people rest. Then we have peace and happiness again.
“Your people should not kill your people. Your gods should not let your people kill your people, but your gods are stupid. We should all fight demons. Even gods, demons can eat.”
“I agree.” Mark stated emphatically. “I cannot commit my people, I don’t have that authority, but I think that the leaders of The Just Alliance will agree with me. If you will help protect my world from the demons, we can fight them all together, and we’ll try to make sure that none of our people die. Then we’ll help you fight the demons on other worlds. We will help find their home-world, and together, we will kill them all. We know as well as you that if even one breeding pair of demons survives, they may eventually return to ravage our world. They are a blight that must be eliminated wherever it appears.”
“We agree, but you must show you are not like demons. We saw the energy your people spent in recent time, spent killing and hunting your people. We are still far away in the void, but we saw the energy, for it was great, so I came to see what happened. Your people must stop killing your people, or my people will not talk to you. We will fight the demons without talking to you, and then we will leave, win or lose. And if your people ever go to another world to kill, we will hunt you.”
“That’s fair.” Mark nodded.
“Demons do not breed in pairs.
“If your people stop killing your people, I will talk to you again. I saw you not killing those who tried to kill you, though you could have killed many. Because I have seen you do this, I know your people can do this, maybe. You are safe here now, for unknown time to come. I will see what happens.”
“Thank you, First Burgundy. I’ll do what I can to achieve what we both want to happen.”
“Thank you, Mark.” First Burgundy returned, and then he was gone.
The three intrepid travelers stared for a moment at the spot where the alien god had been, then Talia drew them into a three-way hug, and they spoke not a word as they considered what they had just experienced.
A minute later they were joined by Povon, Yazadril, Alilia, Tithian, and Somonik. Povon wore a red ribbon around her neck.
“Well that was exceedingly interesting.” Yazadril stated. “They are almost certainly a semi-aquatic life form. Air breathers and water dwellers, perhaps a bit more aquatically oriented than the Selkies.”
“Ya, I thought that too.” Holanam nodded. “And the way he pointed at Zarkog by folding his edge, I think they could fold their edges with more than enough dexterity to use them as hands and fingers.”
“You’ve been following our day then, I take it?” Mark asked Yazadril.
“Yes, through Povon, since you left Xervia at the beginning of the chase.” Yazadril nodded. “Passively that is. She could still faintly receive your thoughts after you came here, but only because she was in contact when you arrived. And I hope you don’t mind that most of the citizens of The Just Alliance have also followed events, via shared Readings and Kleti Revealings, from the time you started breakfast until three Translocations after Zarkog took a hand. It’s been a trying day, and everyone needed a boost in morale. Your nonchalant meal in the face of such danger from the most fearsome force ever assembled, well, it made a big difference. When it looked like your lives were endangered we ended public access to events, since viewing your deaths would have traumatized many more than merely hearing of it would. Not that we intended to let it come to that. Billions cheered and laughed with joy and relief when we announced that you were safe.
“We didn’t announce the existence of First Burgundy, or reveal anything he said. We’re afraid that knowing his people will help us if we make peace with Zarkog may lead to increases in popular sentiment for appeasement. This is both premature, since we may yet defeat him at a reasonable cost and in an acceptably short time, and futile, since it would likely lead to the enslavement of most of our people, without significantly increasing the probability that we will defeat the demons.
“Already many of our people have claimed that Zarkog is correct in his assertion that complete militarization offers our best chance of resisting the demons. To that we have responded that they are welcome to do so, so long as every one of them freely chooses it, and they remain under the auspices of the existing governments of The Just Alliance. Many are doing so.
“The Kleti have embraced this with particular zeal. Ov
erlord Senchak asked his people to say whether each wished to join the mobilization, and over nine in ten said they did. He then declared a civilian zone in the center of his continent. Every Kleti from outside that zone who wished to remain civilian traded his property with someone from within the zone who wished to militarize, and whose home and land or business was of the same type and general worth. Everything and everyone in the surrounding militarized zone is being consolidated as a military asset.
“Having found a solution that pleased almost everyone, his example is rapidly being emulated by almost every government in the alliance. Our military planners are tearing their hair out from the sudden extra workload, but our front-line generals and admirals are smugly pleased.
“Ironically, our reformed prisoners from your battle over Kletiuk have been of great value as advisors in this process, having recently experienced the sudden and complete militarization of Venak. Other than certain modifications to suit the morality of The Just Alliance, we are directly emulating Zarkog’s practices, including much of his system of childcare and the housing of the populace in large, centralized, easily defended barracks, particularly those from outlying and isolated places.”
“Perhaps the most surprising development we have to report is the defection of several hundred Sylvan and nineteen dragons.” Somonik stated with a smirk. “We told them that they were welcome to quit Zarkog’s forces and to join The Just Alliance, so long as they were willing to swear Osbald’s Oath on The Truthstone of Falgaroth. They agreed to do so, on the condition that they are not asked to fight their former comrades in Zarkog’s army, or asked to reveal any military secrets of his, and we allowed that, so long as they would tell us what is common knowledge in Serminak. And it was agreed! Over six hundred Sylvan have actually sworn to justice on the Truthstone of their own free will! In some ways it was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“And it’s the strongest reason yet for hope for peace with Serminak.” Mark nodded.
“Not to mention a fearsome weapon in the propaganda war.” Alilia chuckled.
“Propaganda war?” Talia inquired.
“Now that the Wards around Venak and Serminak are down, those two and the Alliance have been sending mass messages to each other’s populations, by various means. Venak’s say ‘join us and be free of binding spells, join a system with the discipline to overcome the demons’, and Zarkog’s say ‘surrender or be horribly annihilated’, and ours say ‘join us, since only in The Just Alliance do you have the best opportunity for survival, happiness, and freedom from slavery.’
“Announcing the defection of the Sylvan will raise a lot of questions amid our foes’ populations, which will surely lead to even more defections.”
“More and more it becomes a choice between swearing a binding oath to justice, or risking being brutally beaten for the slightest transgression, since our societies are becoming more alike in every other way with every minute that passes.” Tithian said. “Once we’re all completely militarized to face the demons, the only difference will be the methods used to enforce discipline and social order. That was the thinking that led to the defections.”
“But what about First Burgundy and his people?” Mark asked. “I think his appearance and intervention prove that Holanam’s luck works, because having him do that and then speak with me as he did has to be the luckiest break we could possibly hope for!”
“True, as far as it goes.” Yazadril nodded. “But we still have to deal with Venak and Zarkog before First Burgundy’s people will truly be our allies. And it’s a good thing you didn’t commit us to anything. I’m not too sure about the idea of wandering about in the void with them for eons, hunting the demons.”
“First of all, we beat the demons before, and now they’re back for another try at us, and it’s almost certain they’ll be a lot harder to beat this time! We have to assume that they’ll keep trying till they exterminate us and leave our world lifeless, unless we help First Burgundy’s people hunt them down and exterminate them first! I don’t propose that we pack up our whole civilization and take our entire population along to do it, but we should put what effort and resources we can spare into the hunt!
“Maybe joining the hunt in the void would be too big a disruption for elder types like yourselves, but after we’ve fought the demons here, I’m sure there’ll be a lot of young and capable types who will be ready to volunteer to continue with the struggle! And not only to prevent it from happening here again, but to prevent it from happening to anyone else!
“And secondly, there’s obviously a great deal of valuable knowledge we can learn from First Burgundy’s people, including new ways to fight demons, and how to travel about in the void! Just as I’m sure there’s a great deal they can learn from us!
“We now know that our world isn’t alone in having people and civilization! From what Zarkog said, there are many mighty civilizations out there, and they can do a lot that we can’t! That doesn’t seem like a very safe situation to me! We’ll likely meet some more of them someday, and whatever happens after that, we’ll be better off and more secure if we can meet them as equals at least! The stronger and more knowledgeable we are, the more likely we’ll be able to deal with them peacefully, and in a way that benefits everyone involved!
“I mean really, this is just good sense, and you’re all experienced leaders and diplomats, and we’ve all sworn Osbald’s oath! You must realize all this as surely as I do, even if it’s some uncomfortable truth to have to swallow!”
He realized he was getting carried away, though no one was arguing his points, and he forced himself to calm. “I don’t mean to be so vehement about it, but I think it’s important. I’m making all that an official suggestion as Key to The Just Alliance. We need alliance and trade with First Burgundy’s people, and we need to end the threat of the demons. All of them.”
“As you say, though those are not issues that need to be debated or decided in the immediate future.” Somonik said. “The issue before us is; what should we do now?”
“Now, we need to talk to the gods.” Mark stated decisively. “We know they’re listening, and I respectfully request that they deign to speak with us.”
There was a long pause.
“Falgaroth, please, we could use a bit of help here.”
Another pause.
“Visinniria, you said you’d be pleased to visit us at our beach sometime. Why not here and now, at this critical time?”
Again they waited in vain for a response, and Mark’s brows lowered as he controlled his anger. “Don’t make me add; ‘or else’.”
After another suitably long pause Somonik spoke in a slightly dry and sardonic tone. “Since they are not here to ask the obvious question, I will do so. The gods will speak with you, or else you will do what?”
“I’ll tell every person in the world that I’ve met a god of another world, who thinks our gods are stupid for letting us kill each other! And I’ll tell them that I think he’s right! Visinniria was furious with the gods for not stopping the War of the Segregation, and now they’re doing it again, and she’s part of it! They’d rather maintain their withdrawal than do everything they can to save their peoples from extinction, and maybe save their own hides in the bargain! I’m sure the demons will remember that it was mainly the gods who beat them last time, and they wouldn’t be coming back if they didn’t think they’d found a way to beat the gods this time, so their butts are in the bucket the same as ours! But they still won’t work with us because they’re stupid! And I’m going to tell everyone all that, and most of them are going to think I’m right! Maybe the gods really don’t care what their people think about them, but I have the ear of the whole world right now, and if the gods still want the respect and good esteem of their people in the future, they’ll talk to me right now!”
“All right all right!!! You’ve made your point!!!” Amirgath groused in irritation as he appeared, along with Falgaroth, Vi
sinniria, Glup of the Zurb, and a god of the Sylvan who looked angry enough to chew rocks.
“You are the most irritating mortal who has ever lived!!!” the Sylvan god raged. “Never has there been such impudence! Dearly would I love to crush you into paste at this very moment!!
“Did you not learn from your last divine visitation that breaking the Withdrawal by speaking to you can only be done with the unanimous consent of all the gods, according to agreements we have forged unanimously among us after extensive debate?!! Did you never think that the consensus for such a visitation might not be instantly achieved, even for the gods?!! Particularly when our attention is demanded by you only moments after an alien god has appeared on Kellaran?!! That perhaps the intervention of that alien god at a crucial moment in a pivotal event, and its insults to us, might not merit some discussion by us, and that it is most certainly of a higher priority than your impatient concerns?!!! Did you?!!!”
Mark stared at the Sylvan god for a moment, then shook his head a bit. “I’m sorry.” he quietly stated as he bowed formally, then faced the god with a level gaze. “I apologize most sincerely, that was childish of me. I’ve been under a bit of stress lately, and I can only think it must be affecting my behavior in a detrimental manner.” While his tone was apologetic, his expression and stance were defiant.
The Sylvan god glared back at him another moment, then smiled, then laughed. “By the source, I like you human, though I truly wish I didn’t! Your courage and that of your two companions at the end of Zarkog’s chase will be celebrated in song for eons! To think that you entrusted your lives, as well as the fate of your alliance and perhaps the fate of this world, to the untested luck of an adolescent elf! And in the very face of Zarkog’s fire! That was courage and audacity of the finest order! Perhaps you have indeed experienced a bit of stress, as you say!”
“Enough.” Amirgath said to his Sylvan peer. “He is as I said he was. The best ones are always troublesome. The elf here is a prime example of the type.”
“Why thank you Amirgath!” Visinniria laughed. “You’ve never said I was one of the best before! At least not where I could hear it.”
“Bah!” Amirgath snorted. “Let’s get this done. We have things to do, and time is short.”
“By all means, tell the human what he wishes to know!” the Sylvan god agreed with a nasty smirk. “After all the trouble he’s caused, he deserves to hear it! I doubt his stressed condition will have improved much when his ignorance has been dispelled!”
“Now don’t be nasty.” Visinniria sternly admonished, and the other gave her a mocking bow, which she ignored.
“That’s Gvetwa by the way, first god of the Sylvan.” she told Mark. “Like all Sylvan, he can get on your nerves a bit, but he’s fun at parties.”
Gvetwa delivered another florid bow, and grinned.
“Know that there will indeed be a time that is most opportune for all of us to strike at the demons, and long before they reach Kellaran, but not until they are much closer than they are now.” Visinniria told the gathered mortals. “There is still ample time to settle things here first.
“Know as well that our last discussion with you sparked a fierce debate among the gods. Eventually, opinions coalesced, until only two courses of action still remained under consideration, each supported by an almost equal number of us.
“One faction favors the status quo, and is represented here by Amirgath and Gvetwa. If their course of action is enacted, the withdrawal will remain in effect. We will engage in minimal communication with the peoples of Kellaran in order to defeat the demons that approach this world. When that is done, we will hide and isolate Kellaran’s sun and everything that circles it from the rest of the void, until our peoples develop their civilizations to the point where they cannot be threatened by any other race that we can detect. And that development will occur naturally and in its own time, without the interference or interaction of the gods.
“The other faction, which is of course represented here by Falgaroth and myself, is for change. If our course of action is adopted, all the gods of Kellaran will rejoin our peoples as citizens, with no more rights than any mortal person, and we will work closely with them to defeat the demons. We will all swear Osbald’s Oath upon The Truthstone of Falgaroth.”
“Funny that you haven’t chosen to swear anything on the stone yourself, Falgaroth, and least not thus far.” Gvetwa smirked.
“We will strive to give all our peoples immortality.” Visinniria continued, ignoring the interruption. “We will help them to travel the void, and to make new homes on new worlds, starting with the lifeless worlds that surround our sun. We will help all who are capable of becoming gods to do so. In short, we will do as you have suggested. And most likely, we will also follow your suggestions to form a true and complete alliance with First Burgundy and his people, and to join their quest to eradicate the demons wherever they may be found.
“The two factions were unable to reach consensus, and it appeared that we were hopelessly deadlocked. Only Glup of the Zurb did not declare a position, and he is here as a neutral party. At his suggestion, the issue will be decided upon the mortal plane.”
“That means it’s all up to you, human.” Gvetwa smiled humorlessly. “And up to Zarkog. One of the two of you will dominate the course of society on Kellaran for at least the next two centuries. There’s no doubt of that, unless the demons eat us all. If it’s you, we follow your course. If it’s Zarkog, the withdrawal remains. Zarkog is also a Candidate for Divinity.
“You decide the fate of the gods and the world in your favor if you defeat Zarkog convincingly, or if you ascend to divinity before he does. If he defeats you, or if he reaches divinity first, my faction wins. None of those who surround him are candidates, but his candidacy is stronger than that of any of your group except Quewanak’s. That gives him a bit of an advantage. To balance the scales, you get to know these truths, and Zarkog does not.”
“We won’t be able to speak with you again, until it’s decided.” Falgaroth stated. “Know that we of the faction for change are confident that we have chosen the best course, and the best champion. We have complete faith in your ability, and in your wisdom, and that you will triumph. Until then, be well.”
In the next second, the gods were gone.
Long moments of silence passed.
“Well that’s just great.” Mark sarcastically grumbled as he sat on the floor and rubbed his eyes. “Just bloody great. I’m a seventeen-year-old human who has to beat the biggest damn dragon that’s ever been, a being with untold power and ninety-five million years of experience, but that’s okay, because I get to know that if I fail and he kills me, he’ll hold the world in slavery for at least two centuries, and the gods will never help us with anything ever again! Is it just me, or does that seem just a little bit unfair?!”
“The gods said that knowing would balance the scales, so either knowing that will make a great deal of difference, or the scales were already close to balancing before you heard their revelations.” Somonik gently told him. “I think the latter to be the case. You do have many advantages that Zarkog lacks.”
“You think so?” Mark responded, a bit bitterly. “I’d like to know what they are!”
“You have love, and you have friends.” Talia told him as she Levitated him an inch, spelled off his armor, and settled him to the floor again. She Sent her own armor back to Hilia along with his, their crowns, and their extra weapons. Then she sat beside him and took his hand. “No one has ever had so many loves and friends as you do right now. You have the true, heartfelt affection and loyalty of most of the population of Kellaran. Zarkog has neither love nor friends. I think that will make the difference.”
Mark turned and hugged her, and cried with great wracking sobs. She stood to return his hug less awkwardly, and Alilia hugged him from the other side, while Tithian gently and comfortingly nuzzled his chest.
Y
azadril Summoned food, and a luxurious tent that would be spacious for six, complete with a soft bed that was more than roomy enough for Mark and Talia. “Eat, and then get some sleep. We’ll keep watch. Things will look better in the morning.”
In a few minutes Mark made himself take a meal, and he became introspective and thoughtful as they ate. None disturbed his meditations. He didn’t notice when Talia spelled them both clean, and cleaned their clothes as well.
When he, Talia, and Holanam had finished eating, he Summoned Stripe and Scout, gave them a quick scratch and a few words of greeting, and set them to guarding the premises. “Not that I doubt your vigilance, I just feel safer knowing they’re on guard.” he explained to the others.
“And Povon, inform the others of the Six. In the morning we go to Quewanak for training.”
He and Talia cuddled together on the bed without bothering to undress, and were asleep within seconds of their heads meeting the pillows.
Eight hours later they were gently awoken by Povon’s soft psionic voice. “Wake up, my fine young hibernators. You are well rested now, and it’s a new day, so to speak, so I imagine you’ll want to get going on things.
“You probably don’t want to look outside the tent right away. The view is a bit disconcerting.
“We were found by Zarkog’s forces some two hours ago. By process of elimination, I imagine. There aren’t that many places that are so heavily shielded against psionics that they cannot be penetrated by a search of that magnitude. But we had a plan in place, ready to go the instant we were discovered, since Somonik suspected that we would be.
“So now I am randomly Translocating us twenty-seven times every second. I am Linked to ninety-nine of the finest Draconian sorcerer-wizards, who lend me power and assistance in this, since even I would quickly become fatigued at maintaining such a pace by myself. We’ve completely frustrated the hunt for you with this technique, and it has finally been called off.”
“Thanks Povon.” Talia told her as she sat up and stretched. “And pass our thanks to those helping you too.”
“You are most welcome, from all of us.” the silver dragon’s voice chuckled from outside the tent.
Talia peeked through the tent flaps as Mark roused himself. There was nothing outside the tent but Povon and the world flickering by too quickly to make out. “Uck. That’s horrible.” she grumbled. “I don’t know how you can stand the sight of it.”
“I’ve learned to ignore it.” Povon told her. “A twenty-seventh of a second isn’t enough time to see anything meaningful of your surroundings anyway. After a while it all kind of blends together into a blur, if you’re not paying attention to it.”
“In or out my love, you’re blocking the door.” Mark groggily requested.
“In.” she stated decisively. “I’m not going out in that.” She sat back down on the edge of the bed, Summoned a brush, and began straightening the bed-tangles out of her hair.
“You’re right.” he agreed as he stuck his head out. “That is pretty disturbing.”
“Well, now that you’re awake, perhaps you would care to accept Tithian’s invitation to join her for breakfast on the plains of her people in Xervia. Likely a few others of The Just Alliance’s senior leaders will join you as well.”
“There are no senior leaders in the alliance.” Mark chuckled as he withdrew into the tent to share a hug and a kiss with Talia. “We’re all equal, as our every nation is equal.”
“The Chieftain of Pinatupa is an independent monarch with his own vote in the Assembly of The Just Alliance.” Povon chuckled in return. “That vote carries as much weight as yours, as Prince of Hilia. But if you think his lordship over some four dozen completely mundane and semi-literate fish-catchers gives him the same authority in debate as Overlord Senchak, who leads some one billion, two hundred million dwarves, then you are more than somewhat mistaken!”
“Granted.” he agreed. “Is that the most? Senchak’s one and a fifth billion Kleti?”
“Yes, for theirs is the only one of the more populous races to be united under one leader. Next would be Osbald of Thon, with just over a billion humans, closely followed by the other two human empires of Debivin; Sming and Kuth. Then King Wosea of Enj, the largest of the nations of gnomes, with just over six hundred million.
“Shall we continue this over breakfast in Xervia?”
“Sure.” Mark yawned. “I need to wash up. With water. Cleaning spells just don’t wake you up the same way.”