Other Places 3: Detours (31 page)

Religion
without proof was just one sign of that.

They
wanted the comfort, but too many of them allowed that to become a reason to
hate, or even despise, other people that were, in the end, no worse than they
were.

It
didn't leave him any better off, so he just sat for a while, with his friend,
and ate waffles. Then he needed to see to some things.

A
lot of them.

It
was tempting to just camp out on the sofa, the new one that had magically
appeared one day a few weeks before, which was a tasteful burgundy color, if
that was possible when there was that much of it, but he really had things to
do. One of them was getting a no doubt exhausted Rowan and Roland from the
store. Then he had to find someone to watch Lisa, and obviously, get off to see
about making that delivery that he'd agreed to, for Keeley.

It
didn't take long, at least, and Lisa was ready to be gone from his house, which
meant finding out where the needed retreat was, and signing her in before
heading to the Hireesie lands to find out what it was that Tarsus wanted moved.
It sounded simple enough, and was mainly just dotting t's and slashing i's,
until he saw what he was supposed to get into place.

It
was his fault, of course, for being stupid and not finding out before hand.
Anyone else would have checked that part out. Then again, no one in the world
would have really expected to take four giant statues, each the size of a small
house, from the Hireesie lands to
Greece
. The bird people seemed excited
to see him, and knew exactly why he was there, at least, since Tarsus, or an
agent of his at any rate, a dwarf woman named Grettle, was standing by to help
him with it.

After
a fashion.

She,
at least, was very sweet, and so really were the brightly colored bird people.
They pretty much looked human, but had feathers instead of hair and big noses.
Not so much so that they couldn't pass in Human lands, as long as they either
covered their hair, or like Rebekah did, wore a shirt proclaiming they were the
bird people. Then no one would believe it and probably leave them alone.

The
tiny and thick bodied woman clasped her hands in front of her stomach, her hair
a blonde, mixed with gray or silver. It was hard enough to tell that the honest
answer was probably a bit of both. Then she waved up at the statues.

"These
two will need to go in first, we have limited space on the grounds for them, so
it will be hard to move them, if we do it wrong. Can you take two at once? I don't
know if that's the best plan, but I was assured that wouldn't be a problem, for
one such as you?" She sounded doubtful, but not in a mean way, just like
she was pretty certain that if he dropped her statues, he'd end up minus a few
parts himself.

That
made sense. Not that they were hers, but her people took their work a lot more
seriously than Humans did. It was what made them a different species. At least
that was what he thought the case was. She had a look about her eyes that fit
for it. Rounder than was normal, at least where he was from. She was cute,
regardless, and not old looking at all, with pretty green eyes. Also a dress
that made her form underneath a thing to guess at, more rather than less.

She
caught him looking and nodded.

"I'm
not wed, if you're interested?"

Zack
nodded.

"For
sex at least, if that's a thing for your people? You're very attractive. Still,
I'd better impress you with my ability to move things, if we're going to be talking
like that. Don't you think? Me standing around for two days and then admitting
that I have no clue as to what to do won't work at all." He ignored her
then, even though she spoke, which was probably rude, but she didn't stab him,
so hopefully he hadn't been all that mean, in the way he sounded.

The
truth was, he could take or leave her. He just didn't want to insult her, after
what she'd said.

Hopefully
that wasn't the same as agreeing to get married in her world. Actually,
checking with the info he had, he knew it wasn't. She'd been offering herself,
and he'd set the limits, for now. She could say yes, or no, but that was all.

Good.
He didn't want to go around saying the wrong thing all the time.

There
was however, nothing in his memories, either personal or planted, that told him
what to do in a case like this. It was clear that he wasn't picking the things
up and carrying them, and they weren't moving on their own, not physically. So,
Tarsus had set him up to fail? That or just to get him out of the way for a
while. Zack didn't love that one, but shrugged and thought about the problem
for a while. It was all he could do.

The
problem, really,
wasn't
one... for him. Most Demons would have tried to
fire energy at the things, lifting them up, and carrying them through the lines
while spraying reality with so much energy it threatened to buckle. Or more to
the point, they would have tried to do that and simply failed, collapsing in
starvation when they got about a minute into the project.

He,
however, could just work out how to shift the spaces around, and make the space
they were in one with where they needed to be. It would be a bit delicate,
since getting things wrong would take extra work, but...

"I
can move them all at once. I need to see the location first however. Can you
take me there?"

"Not
at all. I was told it wouldn't be needed and that you could find it from my
thoughts?" She looked at him as if scared suddenly, which made no sense.
He was still him after all, and hadn't changed in the few seconds he'd been
with her. Nearly minutes now. Why, they were practically married already, given
everything.

He
snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Of
course, I let myself get distracted. That's... Here, hold my hand?" She
did it, and didn't even understand that he was using that to get into her head.
She just thought he was being a bit fresh with her. Not that she didn't think
that was fine enough, since he was, clearly, a giant. That might mean he was
giant all over, which was diverting, to her way of thinking.

It
was hard not to laugh, really.

Zack
found the location, which the woman knew well, working there all the time, and
even living not a half mile away from where the new statues were going. They
weren't wonderful in subject matter, but were well done, being rather rounded
men, hunching over. Naked. It was done tastefully, so nothing dangled or was
exposed too much, but they were each different as to race.

The
idea was that they'd guard the four directions, their white stone forms a
warning for anyone trying to sneak up. Basically, it said that Tarsus was
watching.

Not
getting his
own
damned statues in place, however.

Zack
was careful, but didn't even use much of his own energy, just overlapping space
and sliding the one part of reality out of the way, with everything where it
was supposed to go. It worked, and now that he had it down, he realized that it
would sort of work for any large thing moved in a similar fashion. It really
was hard work, and he needed to get a snack or twelve inside him, but it was
done.

Grettle
gaped at him, but he just kept hold of her hand and moved to show her that it
was done.

"I...
The statue there? It should change with that one?"

Zack
did it, laughing for a while as he did.

"There,
now, Tarsus, if we aren't going to get busy, how about you share a bit as to
what's going on?" He doubted that she was really the Demon himself, but
there was a surprise then, as the small woman unfolded, almost instantly, into
the rather sour and patrician form that he'd met once before. It was an
impressive change, given the growth required. If it was real, and not an
illusion.

"Indeed.
That took you less time than I figured. Rather, I meant it as a lesson, to
teach you that some things are beyond your abilities, but I gather I need to do
something else, next time? At this rate we'll need a new name for you soon. The
Mover perhaps?"

Zack
suppressed anything inside of him that would even approach an emotion, then he
looked at the other man, and smiled, not meaning it at all.

"It's
probably a bit early for things like that. So, I noticed that you seem to be
making a move to take over all the Greater Demons? Not alone, clearly, since
even you would have problems keeping us all in line. So, what is it, a move by
the top five or six most powerful and ancient of you? Using the craziest and
the stupid of us to line things up, so that you can knock us down like pins in
a row?" He held up his hand, and made a fake face, wrinkling his nose.
"Or, you know, the overly complex version of that. I get that I won't
understand it or why, so, you know, keep it simple for the new kid?"

The
Greater Demon smiled, and then snapped his fingers.

"I
know, we can call you The Pain in the Rear.
That
fits too." It was
actually teasing, rather than harsh or bitter. "Good guess. Not
right
,
at all, but at least you figured out that something might be going on and tried
to find out what it was. The Mistress of Souls has been sitting back and
plotting against Xenses, of all things, as if she doesn't need to simply find
him, and enslave him again? Her mistake before was simply not eating enough.
Perhaps you could coach her on that? Clever girl, but not half so much as she
wants to believe. You, on the other hand are the opposite, I think. Oh, no more
or less intelligent, being about the same, over all. The truth is, we all are,
our kind. You need to use your mind more, perhaps, but there is a distinct lack
of ego, as far as that goes. It's refreshing, to be honest."

That
didn't tell Zack anything useful at all, which, naturally, was the point. He
didn't even bother arguing about it, since that wasn't going to work. Tarsus
stared at him, or rather past him, for a bit, looking at things above and
behind his head.

"You've
been accessing the information? Integrating it too. You should look into the
realms of thought, soon. Your mind is about to destroy itself, if you don't fix
it. What that fool was thinking, pushing you like that..." He grinned,
which was a bit wry, really. "Well, I won't lie to you this time, Line
Walker, he was doing what I told him to. Still, since you aren't gibbering in a
corner, and have worked out some of what it is that we're attempting to do,
changing the balance of power in the world, then perhaps you might make the
effort? Also, clearly, learn to shield your inner self better. I do like the idea
of attempting something so new and original that I won't be able to just get
around it. That's the spirit, as they say."

He
wanted to say something witty, but then just shrugged.

"All
right, you've confused me enough that I doubt I'll easily work out what it is
you're really up to. I guess, what I need to know, right now, is if this is
geared toward me, personally, or if we should just fight to the death right
now? My death, obviously, but maybe I can make you feel sad about it for half a
second or something. If I really work at it, I mean?"

If
he'd been feeling fear, the sense of his skin trying to crawl away from the man
in front of him would have made a lot more sense. As it was, Zack wondered if
it would be an attack, or even just his life being flayed bare, and laid open
to the other Demon. Instead he got the man rubbing at his lips. Trying to hide
a smile.

"Nothing
like that. I am going to seek the end of the Mistress of Souls however. Would
you be a good man and let her know that? She has some months to prepare, but if
she fails, in the tasks to come, I will kill her. I know that you and The
Technician have been making some efforts to ready her, but she's still not
going to make it, without doing more."

Zack
blinked, which was just to buy time, and tried to access the memories that
floated around him, which had the man in front of him smiling, and even
clapping his hands a few times, pleased.

"That's
it... Work it out..."

"The
Second Crucible?"

"
Exactly
.
The first to show that a Greater Demon can stand against all that would seek to
end them, having them named adult. The Second, to show they have the power to
rule, and will do so with ability. It isn't dangerous, in itself, but if she
fails, she still dies. Incentive, after a fashion." He waved a little and
then looked at his statues again. "That was
really
impressive. I
can't do that. I doubt even having seen it done that I'd manage even a quarter
of that."

Again
he clapped, and then patted Zack on the arm.

"So,
you get the idea? Put the fear of... Well,
me
, into her. Do it the way
you planned, please. Hide your mind well and take her someplace where even I
might lose track of you both. Be certain to make her pay for the information
dearly however. Don't just play around with sex either. It will have to be
something that she'd
never
part with. Give that one a few years to get
over being an American and she'll be doing things in combinations that will
make the rest of us seem like prudes. Well, not
really
, but hyperbole,
you understand."

Zack
didn't bother to nod or even agree.

"Which...
you nearly have to be lying to me, don't you? Except that leads to a thousand
levels of me knowing that you know and so on? So, you told me the truth... But
not all of it? Keeley is in danger, and you're really testing her, because...
Well, she does have all that
sanity
going for her, right? Her power is
pretty good, too. Maybe it's worth the risk, grooming her so young. That or
killing her.... Which is pretty much what you just said. Sorry for being slow
here. That makes sense, but you know, Greater Demons..."