Author: Andrew Q. Gordon
Category: LGBT
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Dresmun continued to stare at Farrell. Finally he snapped to attention and saluted. “I will do as you ask, Favored One. Whatever happens, all the clans will know what you did.”
“Thank you.” Farrell returned the salute. Dresmun wavered a moment before turning on his heel and walking off. “Live well, Kar Dresmun. You’ve earned it.”
FARRELL REDUCED the size of the Bendar shield as he set his stones around the Door. Inside the smaller space, only a handful of Bendari remained. An odd force pressed against the shield on all sides. He couldn’t see the energy or who created it, but he felt its presence against the barrier.
Dresmun nodded once toward Farrell before he hurried through. Others might think him eager to get home or away from the world, but Farrell knew better. He hoped Dresmun didn’t give in to his second thoughts and return.
One at a time, the other shamans left until only Jafaga remained. Farrell handed her Basje’s silver necklace. “Not that you need me to tell you what to do, but give this to She Who Guides. She will know who to give this to.”
“You have my word, Favored One.” She held out her arm. “May the Six watch over you and guide you safely home.”
He accepted her blessing and watched as she stepped over the threshold. Alone but for the enemy, he changed one of the spells in his shield-generating stones. He didn’t want Meglar to get any of them to study, so he created them to explode if he left without turning it off, or if he died. This time he needed them to continue to work after he was gone so he could take down his Door.
Once he made the change, he activated the shield and dismissed the weaker one the Bendari had created. He cleared his mind and concentrated on the task he still had to complete.
By itself, closing the Door would be easy. With his new shield, nothing the creatures did would pressure his defenses. Getting home would be more difficult.
He banished that thought and drew his staff. To unravel the Door, he needed to start at the last point locked in by its creator. Farrell usually worked right to left and would have started on the left, but Basje had told him to do the opposite. The Shaman didn’t say how he knew that, but he wouldn’t have told Farrell if he hadn’t been certain.
As he set his staff to the line of power, the enemy launched a massive attack. The Bendari shield would have crumpled under the force of the blow. His stronger one brushed it aside.
Farrell ignored the attack and unraveled the bindings that held the spell together. He wondered if Basje had been correct that the demons could hear what was said in the Door’s presence. If they could, why had they waited until now to attack? Did they hear but not believe he could do it?
He dismissed the thought to focus on his work. Losing control would result in an enormous feedback of energy. There would be time later to speculate. The last thing he wanted was for the Door to remain open and he end up incapacitated.
Inch by inch he dissolved the magic that kept the Door open. When his staff reached the upper left corner, the image between the lines winked out. That ought to be enough to prevent it from reopening, but he kept going. Only when all four points were gone would he feel sure it would never work again.
With the connection to the void severed, he dissolved the remaining magic. As he neared the lower right point, the light started to fade as if someone had covered his shield with a cloth. His training served him well as he resisted the urge to find out what was happening until he finished.
A loud howl erupted as he moved toward the final point. It continued after the Door winked out of existence and severed the link to Bendar.
Free from his work, Farrell looked up and realized getting home might be harder than he expected. The black creatures were swarming over each other to cover his shield. They clawed at the surface of his protection as if they could dig their way inside. Bit by bit they blocked the outside light.
The shifting light from his regenerating shield provided enough illumination for Farrell to see. The stones had enough energy for at least a day, so he ignored the enemy and reviewed his plans.
Whatever these creatures were, they weren’t the ones who wrestled control of the Door. Their attack showed no understanding of magic, let alone the ability to use it. That meant they also weren’t the ones who had initially attacked his shield. Before he attempted to open a new Door, he needed to find those beings to make sure they didn’t try to steal it.
Without thinking, he reached into his endless pocket to retrieve the Eye. It only took a moment to remember he’d sent it home with Dresmun. Before he could remove his hand, an unknown object struck it.
He kept his hand still. Things only moved when summoned inside an endless pocket. Since he didn’t know what it was, he didn’t move, hoping it would come back. His patience was rewarded almost immediately, but he failed to catch it.
A loud clap accompanied a thunderous blow to his shield, and he forgot whatever was in his pocket. Mangled bodies flew about, opening patches of light on his dome. Two more strikes followed from different directions. The creatures retreated a few hundred feet, but he was still surrounded.
With a clear view and plenty of light, Farrell got a good look at the creatures. Though he assumed they were all the same race, there was no symmetry among those he could see. Arms and legs—at least he assumed that is what they were—sprouted at odd angles from various places on their black bodies. The number of limbs wasn’t uniform either. Some had three and others had at least five.
Where Farrell expected to find eyes, there were three round lumps with no pupils and no lids. The only common feature that he could identify was their mouths. They opened and shut their lips in a weird cadence that produced a clicking sound that already grated on him.
Still howling and clicking their teeth, the black creatures stole quick glances skyward. He didn’t know how to read their behavior, but he guessed they weren’t eager for whomever to arrive.
A trio of new attacks rained from the sky and detonated among the packed creatures. Another volley of yellow energy sent the entire horde scurrying in all directions.
Farrell looked up and saw three beings descend on his position. Despite their efforts to dispel the creatures, Farrell remained on guard. The energy felt similar to the one that had attacked his shield.
“Hail, being from beyond,” one of them said.
Farrell planted his staff in front of him and did not acknowledge the call. Something about the timbre of the voice left him unsettled. As if it were trying hard to sound friendly but missed by a bit.
“Perhaps he can’t hear us,” a feminine voice said.
“I hear you,” Farrell spoke out loud and kept his mind sealed.
“He does not sound grateful for our aid,” said a third voice, this one more masculine.
The three beings touched the ground equidistant around him. They remained just outside his wall of protection. They appeared humanoid, but like their voices, something felt off.
They were taller than an Arlefor and wore flowing white garments, clasped at the left shoulder. From what he could see of their pale bodies, they looked emaciated. Their large almond-shaped eyes had only a hint of white around the pupil in the center. Their elongated faces gave them an avian appearance and their ears ended in points.
He attempted to gauge their power with his wizard’s sight but saw nothing. Another unanswered question he wasn’t sure he’d have time to answer.
“Until I know why you helped me”—Farrell walked around his staff as he spoke to make eye contact with all three—“I’m uncertain I owe you my thanks.”
When he came full circle, he stopped and stared at the being in front of him.
“Do you need to know why we aided you to thank us?” Farrell recognized this as the last voice to speak. He didn’t, however, know which one it came from.
“Yes.” Farrell noted a small, barely perceptible change in the being’s face. It reminded him of how Miceral acted when he was communicating mind-to-mind.
“You are a d
isagreeable being,” the feminine voice said. “Perhaps we should leave you to deal with the Funja by yourself.”
“You are free to leave. I don’t need your help to deal with them.” He turned around again but still couldn’t determine who was speaking.
“That may be, but we saw them attack you and came to help.” This was the first male voice to speak.
“I don’t know that you’re here to help.” He watched the facial expressions of the being in front of him. The creature reacted, but he had no way of knowing if what he saw was a scowl or a smile. “You haven’t identified yourselves, and you project your words into my mind to hide which of you is speaking. What about that is helpful to me?”
The being in front of him raised a finger. “I am Hro.” He pointed to his left.
Farrell faced the being behind him and to his right. “I am Zubr.” This belonged to the feminine voice.
He completed the circle and faced the third being. “I am Kuso.” This was the second male voice to speak.
Though he hadn’t expected them to identify themselves, he didn’t feel any better. The energy that scattered the Funja felt too much like the original attack on his shields. “What do you want?”
“Do you always treat friends so rudely?” Kuso asked.
“No. This is how I treat those I do not trust.”
“You suspect us of what?” The surprise in Hro’s voice sounded faked. Farrell turned to face him. “We are not your enemy. We came to help.”
“Your tactical positions around me speak otherwise.” He pointed to the two in his blind spots. “If you’re not my enemy, why do you surround me in such a manner?”
Based on the conversation so far, when Hro’s expression changed, Farrell knew it was irritation. Hro returned to a more neutral countenance. The brief loss of control confirmed Farrell’s initial assessment.
“The Funja surrounded you, so we assumed this formation to drive them off.”
“They are gone, yet you remain in the same positions.”
“You stand in our midst behind your protection,” Zubr said. “What else should we do but guard ourselves?”
Whether she meant to or not, she admitted their hostile posture. It also confirmed they were trying to keep him off-balance by getting him to turn to face the speaker.
“I was under attack when I raised my shields. They were up when you came upon me. You acknowledge the Funja were attacking me, but once you drove them off, you positioned yourself for attack. How else should I interpret your behavior?”
“Our apologies,” Kuso said, but he didn’t move out of Farrell’s blind spot. “We seek the same thing as you. To leave this planet.”
He kept his expression flat. If they were probing him, he wasn’t going to slip. “I wish that were possible, but when I accepted this mission, I knew I’d be trapped. I have no idea how to leave.”
No one answered him and Hro’s eyes flicked left, then right. “Perhaps we could work together to find a way to get you home?”
“Have you tried to leave already?”
“Yes.” Kuso’s tone was less friendly. “Something bars our ability to make a Distance Jumper.”
“Distance Jumper?” He didn’t think playing dumb would help him, but it couldn’t hurt. “What is that?”
“What your race calls a Door,” Hro said.
Another slip. They’d heard conversations in the Bendari camp. He tried again to determine their powers but probed gently to avoid giving them an open way into his mind. “What do you propose?”
“We can keep the Funja away while you create a new Distance Jumper,” Hro said.
He shook his head and continued to search. If Hro felt Farrell’s presence, he didn’t show it. “I’m not able to open a Distance Jumper either. Whatever prevents you from opening one bars me as well.
“He lies.” Zubr’s voice sounded different, more grating.
“Of course he lies,” Hro said. The change affected his voice too. “But we must not tell him we know that.”
“I say we kill him and then rip what we want from his mind,” Zubr said. “He told his companions he knows how to defeat our control.”
“He did, but he hasn’t made an attempt,” Hro said.
“This one is powerful. Far more so than the ones he sent back through the Jumper,” Zubr said. “If he doesn’t know, he has an idea.”
“And that idea might not work,” Kuso said. “If we kill him now, and his idea doesn’t work, he won’t be alive to learn from that mistake.”
“The old one who killed our Toha believed this one could find a way home,” Zubr said. “The knowledge is there; we just need to take it.”
Toha bore no resemblance to these three. Had he come with them or had he been trapped before they arrived?
“Even with the knowledge, we would be stuck here forever if we kill him now,” Kuso said. “Only he is attuned to his world. Without him, even if we opened a Distance Jumper, where would we go?”
“Kuso is right,” Hro said. “It took Toha as long as we have been here just to find one Jumper to redirect to this world. Even if we knew how he did it, it might take us that long again.”
“He must have the knowledge we seek,” Zubr said. “How else could he have closed Toha’s Jumper?”
“Closing it doesn’t mean he can open a new one,” Hro said.
“Be patient, Zubr,” Kuso said. “What harm is there to waiting? If he doesn’t know anything of use, we can still kill him. Where else will he go? Until then, we should work with him to find a way off this planet.”
When neither of them responded, Farrell took control. “I’m sorry I’m not able to do what you want, but I can share with you my ideas if you like.”
“You see, Zubr? He may prove useful alive for a bit longer,” Hro said. “That would be welcome.”
When he spoke the last words, Farrell could tell the difference between those meant for him and private ones. He needed to be patient and be sure he only answered those things meant for him to hear.
“I haven’t tested them yet, so I don’t know if they will work.” What he planned to tell them wouldn’t succeed, but it might buy him time. “Where is your home?”
“Gone,” Kuso said. “We fled through a Jumper as our world was torn apart.”
“What happened?”
“He suspects us,” Zubr said. “I can feel it in his words.”
“Patience, Zubr,” Hro said. “A foolish user let loose energy that cracked the planet at its core. We opened a Jumper and we ended up in this desolate place.”
“It is hardly better than being ripped apart with our planet,” Kuso said. “And once we were here, we found we couldn’t open a new Jumper.”
That didn’t make sense. If they didn’t control the area, who did? Toha? “Why not?”
“Does it matter?” Zubr said. “We want to leave this place to find a new home.”
“Why did you send the Funja to attack our world?”
“I told you he suspects us. We should kill him before he is lost to us.”
“As I said, it costs us nothing to explore this way to the end,” Kuso said.
“That was Toha, not us,” Hro said. “He controlled the Jumper until your companion killed him. We did not agree with what he did, but we couldn’t stop him.”
He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but Farrell was certain that was a lie. “I will share with you my idea on how to open a new Jumper, but you will need a place to go.”
“Why can’t we go to your world?” Zubr asked.
“My world isn’t welcoming to strangers. Not only wouldn’t you be safe there, my life would be in danger as well.”
“Our world is gone. Where will we go?” Kuso asked.
“You were able to leave your world without a destination. If my idea works, you can try until you find somewhere better.”
“We might end up worse than here,” Hro said.
“You can keep trying until you find a place that is better.”
“That could take a long time.” Hro looked over Farrell at where Zubr stood and shook his head. “It would be much better if we could go with you.”
“No.” Farrell shook his head as well. “If you don’t like my condition, then I’ll not share my information.”
The back of his neck tingled and he braced himself.
“Then we will rip the knowledge we seek from your broken corpse!” Zubr said.
“Zubr, no!” Hro waved his hand at her.
Farrell spun on his left heel and time slowed. A circle the size of a dinner plate glowed brightly in the center of her chest. He retrieved a weapon he’d taken from Kel’s cache and flung it at Zubr. Before the dart cleared his shield, he grabbed his staff and aimed it toward her and fired.
The dart sailed toward her head, and Farrell sent a ball of blue energy at the yellow light building in her torso. His attack struck just as hers left her body. The explosion created a violent shock wave that staggered Zubr a moment before Farrell’s missile struck her in the face.
Farrell expected it to detonate against a shield and readied another attack. To his surprise, the barb sank into her flesh, and she let out earsplitting shriek. The cry stopped when the bulbous end of the dart exploded. Corrosive energy covered her face and neck. The pale skin melted from her frame. A flowing black form that looked like the creature the Shaman fought emerged.
Two blows struck his shield, but Farrell ignored them. His protection would hold long enough for him to try to even the odds a bit. Ribbons of red energy shot from his hand and coiled around his enemy. The crimson bands sizzled on contact and Zubr screeched in pain.
The force of the attacks from the others increased, but he didn’t let up. He continued to cover her in red strands until almost nothing of her inky flesh was visible. Content he’d immobilized her, Farrell turned toward the other two.
Like Zubr, Hro and Kuso had ditched their fake appearance. They surrounded their fluid, black bodies in domes of smoky energy. Farrell’s strikes dissipated on contact.
Before either side could strike again, a desperate howl erupted from Zubr. Farrell stole a glance and saw her body melting beneath his red bands of energy.