Phoenix Ascendant - eARC (14 page)

Poplock rocked side-to-side, frowning. “Real hard to get through unless you’re either a
lot
more powerful than the person who put them up, or you know whatever the trick is to get past, or if you’re able to focus a counter-diversion ward and get through. That’s what I’m probably going to have to do if we can’t figure out how to just walk there…and I’m guessing that Viedraverion set it up so that only False Saints can get through.”

“But that’s
tomorrow,
” Xavier said. “We’re not getting any of that done now.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him. “And you have something else in mind?”

“Well, I’m not saying people who have more deep thoughts can’t keep talking, but I’m not planning on it. Instead—partly because he reminds me of Mike—tonight, I’m gonna teach Rion, and anyone else who wants, my brother Michael’s favorite card game.”

He produced a pack of cards of a type that Tobimar had never seen before. “Time for this world to learn five-card draw poker!”

Chapter 19

“You wish to see…what, precisely?” Arbiter Kelsley asked.

“Well, that’s part of the problem,” Poplock said. “We’re not sure.”

Kelsley jumped. “By the Balance…were you
always
able to talk?”

“Yep,” he answered. It
was
still amusing to see people suddenly have to revise their
entire
evaluation of him in an instant.

“Then why…ah. Because you were a far more dangerous weapon when not suspected. Obvious, really. But why reveal yourself to me now?”

“Because we know you are not one of our enemies, but an ally that we can trust, sir,” Tobimar said. “It makes it much easier to discuss things with you, and I think that by now his secrecy is no longer terribly useful. Our enemy probably has guessed his nature by now.”

Kelsley nodded, contemplating the little Toad with an amused smile. “Well enough. Can you at least tell me the
sort
of thing you are looking for in our records?”

“We’re looking for any clue as to how to find the Justiciars’ Retreat,” Poplock answered. “I know it’s probably not going to be so simple as finding a map and following it, but this
has
been the center of the faith since the beginning.
Somewhere
in those records might be a clue, and we’re just about certain that the Retreat is what our enemy’s using as a base of operations, along with the fallen Justiciars.”

“Of course,” Kelsley said, his cheerful face turning grim, as Poplock suspected it always did when reminded of how the representatives of his faith had been corrupted. “I recall no such traces in my readings, but I will admit that I have never
sought
such knowledge, so it may be that you are correct. Come.”

He led them from the main temple through a smaller door at the back of the stage where the rituals of the Balance were enacted. This opened into a set of well-lit, wide corridors with several doors opening onto each. Kelsley led them straight on, deeper into the temple, until they came to a set of unadorned doors of polished
olthawin
, a deep blue wood that Tobimar had only seen once or twice before and never in such large pieces. The doors were clearly ancient, worn in gentle curves where untold thousands of people had passed over the centuries.

The twin doors swung open, revealing a wide, sweeping semicircular room on the right and a doorway on the left. The semicircular room was lined with bookshelves, and other books, scrolls, and artifacts were also in cases spaced around the room.

“These are the archives of Myrionar,” Kelsley said slowly. “It is said that some of the artifacts, if not the records, go back to the days of the founding of the church, Chaoswars ago. A few other valuable records and manuscripts are kept here, in my office,” he opened the door on the left and showed them a large office, with a broad desk, lamps, chairs, and a safe inset into one wall. Normally,” he went on with another smile, “those not of the Faith would not be brought here, but you are an ally of Kyri and have already done our temple a signal service, and continue that service. It is only just that we provide you with all the support we can.”

He crossed to the safe, touched it; the solid metal shimmered, and the door opened. He extracted the contents and placed it on the desk. “You are welcome to search as long as you like, just be appropriately careful with the more ancient and fragile materials. I will be tending to temple business most of the day, and services this evening, and I will give directions that no one disturb you here.”

“Thank you, Arbiter,” Poplock said sincerely. The holy man was certainly going all the way to be helpful, and he certainly could have tried to be a bit sticky about showing any of the really valuable or old materials.

“You are more than welcome. I only hope you find what you are looking for.”

For the next two hours, Poplock and Tobimar scoured the archives. Most material could be instantly dismissed as not bearing on their search, but there was still a lot to look at. Finally, Tobimar brought two stacks of books and papers that seemed to have a fair amount to do with the Justiciars and their activities, and the two settled down to start looking.

After a while, Poplock said “So…what do you want to do about Rion?”

Tobimar started, then looked up from the huge tome he was leafing through. “What? What do you mean, ‘do about Rion’?”

“You’ve noticed a couple of oddities—like me. Right?”

Tobimar shrugged. “Poplock, we
know
there’s plenty of ‘oddities.’ He’s a
construct
, made from a piece of Rion’s soul and at least a couple of other things to create his body. It would be pretty much unbelievable if there
weren’t
oddities.”

“I’m not talking about that kind of stuff,” Poplock said, hearing a slightly injured note in his own voice. He found it was more annoying when Tobimar didn’t get what he was saying than it was when other people didn’t have a clue, probably because he was used to the two of them being in accord. “I’m talking about the little signs he gives of either not being himself, or of knowing things I don’t think he should.”

Tobimar got a thoughtful look on his face; he was silent for a few moments, paging through the book. Poplock continued perusing the large scroll he’d unrolled, hopping from point to point.

“All right, what little signs are you talking about?”

“You first. You
must
have noticed at least one.”

Tobimar sighed. “Yes. Xavier’s swords.”

“He recognized them.”

“Or that symbol, anyway. Which bothers me, because I’ve never seen that symbol before; it’s similar to the one the Spiritsmith put on mine, but I’ve not seen it, or its like, anywhere else. And Kyri’s seen those swords, and never said anything about that symbol. So where did Rion see it before?”

“Right. So, my turn; he recognized the name
Tor
for you and Xavier’s fighting style, and it gave him a jolt.”

“You’re right. I remember, he stopped for a split second. A good recovery, but not quite perfect. Anything else?”

“When we were leaving Jenten’s Mill, remember that he and Kyri were talking a little ahead of us?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I was able to catch some of that, and at one point Rion went…kinda blank on her. Couldn’t remember something that was obviously a big deal when they were younger, the roles they always played as kids; she was a Phoenix, he was the Dragon.”

Tobimar stretched, obviously thinking. “Well, he
was
just a soul fragment, and one slashed from the original by a monster. I think it’s kinda surprising he’s as intact as he is.”

The Toad had to concede that. “More like astonishing, I’d say. Like someone who knew him did the repair job.”

“Well, if Viedraverion’s been playing Jeridan Velion, that might be the case.”

“Hmph. True enough. But about
Tor
—remember when we were helping put things back together, both Miri and Shae told us that
Tor
was something that scared demons half to death. Why would
Rion
get all startled hearing about some martial art no one ever mentioned before? He should have been just thinking ‘oh, some new name I have to remember.’”

He could see
that
stopped Tobimar for a bit. There was a furrow between the Skysand Prince’s brows as he continued searching through the tome before him.

“Well,” Tobimar said at last, “we know he was made from something demonic, too. What if the soul that was used to provide the structure for Rion wasn’t just a human, but part of a demon? Then he might have some faint memories or reactions from that.”

“Ooo. You know, I hadn’t thought of that.” Poplock pulled a dried beetle out of his pack and chewed thoughtfully for a bit. “Might be true. On the other hand, it might not, which would mean…what?”

Tobimar waited, obviously wanting
Poplock
to continue; when the Toad simply kept looking at him silently, he cursed. “
Shiderich!
Fine. It means that there’s at least part of something in there that’s afraid of
Tor
, a demon probably, and that means that at the minimum Rion isn’t just Rion.”

“And at worst it’s a demon somehow pretending to be Rion. One that somehow can hide its deceptions from both Kyri’s truthsight and Gabriel’s senses, which Aurora says are pretty darn impressive.”

Tobimar’s blue eyes narrowed. “One that’s listening to a lot of what we’re doing.”

“Most of it, actually. Kyri trusts him—and I can’t really blame her. She might be the big ol’ Phoenix Justiciar, but she’s no less a person than the rest of us, and I know
I
would probably really, really want to believe that someone I loved that much had come back.”

“That’s why you waited until we came here to talk.”

“You see clearly with those squinty eyes. After what happened with Xavier’s sword, I knew Rion wouldn’t want to take a chance on what might happen to him if he walked straight into the actual Temple of Myrionar. And that meant we could have this talk and be absolutely sure neither he, nor Kyri, heard it.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t trust
Kyri!
”

“When it comes to acting sensible about her brother? Well…yeah, I guess I do trust her,
if
we can present a good case. She’s honest with herself that way.”

Tobimar looked somewhat mollified. “All right. But
Sky and Sand
, what a mess this could be. What do you think we should do? Confronting him won’t do any good—we’ve accepted him for a while, and there’s perfectly good excuses for any of these issues, I’m sure. I’d be disappointed by our adversary if there
weren’t
provisions to explain little lapses.”

Poplock grimaced, rolled up the scroll, dragged over one of the books and started paging through it. “You’re right. Confronting him would be useless unless he’s dumber than a dung beetle, and he’s not.” He thought for a bit, while looking for Justiciar references.
They talk a lot about how awesome the Justiciars are, but not much about the practical stuff.
“I guess all we can do is make sure he’s
never
not being watched. Unless he’s a telepath or mindcaster mage, he’s not going to be able to communicate with his boss while around us without us noticing
something
—and I’m pretty sure he’s neither of those.”

“True. So does that mean we make sure he’s always accompanied?”

“No, no. We need, as I heard a fisherman say once, to let him wade out far enough to hit the dropoff. If he tries to go off on his own, someone has to follow him and watch him. And as far as I’m concerned, that ‘someone’ has to be me, you, or Xavier. I’m not trusting anyone else.”

“Xavier likes him a lot, though.”

“Saw that, playing that poker game. It’s that brother thing; he knows Rion isn’t really his brother, but he can’t help but feel like there’s a connection there. Still, I think Xavier will go along with it. If he won’t, well, it’s me and you. You in?”

Tobimar hesitated, then nodded. “I’m in. I hope we catch him doing nothing more interesting than taking walks.”

“You and me both, Tobimar, believe me,” Poplock said. “Because if he’s up to something bad, our enemy’s got all the info he needs to trap us.”

Chapter 20

“You
lost
him?
You
?” Tobimar couldn’t keep the incredulity from his voice. There was a part of him that felt almost
betrayed
, and he finally identified it as the same feeling he’d had the first time he realized his mother
couldn’t
fix everything. Poplock had always been the one who got things done when other people couldn’t.

The diminuitive Toad couldn’t meet his gaze. “Yeah. I lost him.”

“Where
?”

“He’d taken a walk into town—stealthily, but that’s no surprise, since we’d all agreed he wasn’t supposed to be seen.
Drought!
I was
sure
he didn’t know I was following! But he turned down that same alley across from the Balanced Meal, and when I got there and looked down it, he was gone.”

Tobimar glanced around to make sure his door was closed. “Have any idea how he did it?”

Poplock sighed, then finally faced Tobimar and wrinkled his face. “It was only a few seconds; even if he’d been
running
I should have seen him going the other way. Hm. Well, he
could
have gone
up
, to one roof or the other.”

Tobimar frowned, thinking. “You’re assuming he was limited to ordinary speed. If I use my
Tor
meditation, or Kyri used her Justiciar power…”

“You’re right.” Poplock smacked his own head with a small hand. “If he’s actually not who he appears to be, he’s probably got a lot of power he hasn’t shown us yet. Stupid.”

Tobimar pushed open the window. “Come on. We have to see if we can locate him.”

“Tell Xavier or Kyri?”

“We haven’t got anything to
prove
our suspicions, yet,” Tobimar said, and jumped lightly to the ground ten feet below. Poplock followed, landing with a
thud
on Tobimar’s shoulder. “
Oof!
You’re heavier than you look. Anyway, without proof we’d be getting into an argument that wouldn’t go anywhere.”

At least
we
don’t have to be subtle,
Tobimar thought.
Everyone knows we’re back
. Poplock was silent on his shoulder, and the walk to Evanwyl proper was ten minutes of quiet worry.

It wasn’t just Rion, either. Searching the temple’s records—which hadn’t been fast or easy—had turned up just enough to confirm that Justiciar’s Retreat was located to the west, several hours’ travel at least, and a vague description of the Retreat itself. But nothing about the defenses or the diversion wards.

Kyri and the others hadn’t had any better luck with the Watchland; if the location of the Retreat was somewhere in his mind, it was buried deep. Toshi was of the opinion that only the right conditions would trigger the memory, and of course they had no idea of what those conditions would be.

And they were running out of time. The research, interrogation, and experimentation had used up two weeks. The five natives of Earth would be leaving soon. Neither Tobimar nor Kyri could argue that their friends’ mission was less urgently vital than their own, not when said mission would be a direct assault on one of the most ancient achievements of the King of All Hells. No, the five would have to leave, and soon.

The familiar sign of the Balanced Meal was visible ahead. “Okay, where do you want to start?” asked Poplock.

He nodded towards the nearer building across from the inn. “Up top. We’ll get a good vantage point of a lot of the city that way.”

“Okay. But what if he’s running off to the Retreat?”

“Then we’ve totally lost him. But I’m pretty sure he hasn’t.”

Poplock’s grip tightened as Tobimar—after a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching—sprinted up the side of the small warehouse. “Not saying you’re wrong, but why?”

The roof was flat and solid, one of the few stone structures in a town made mostly of wood. It was a perfect observing platform, and Tobimar began a swift circle of the perimeter, looking out over Evanwyl in its somewhat disordered tangle of roads and houses and buildings, shading out into farms in the distance.

“He hasn’t been caught yet,” he said, answering the Toad’s question. “The Retreat’s hours away; he’d never get back in reasonable time. So if he’s headed for the Retreat, he’s throwing away all his work in staying with us, for what? A report that we’re still in the area but haven’t found anything? I can’t see that being enough to justify the loss.”

“Can’t argue that, I guess.” Poplock gazed out, large eyes seeming wider in the darkness. Tobimar knew that the Toad’s natural sight was better in the dark than a human’s, but he had his own trick; after so much practice in the last few months, it was just a matter of closing his eyes and focusing for a moment to bring up the High Center.

There was a
clarity
to the world now; it was dark, but at the same time it was as bright as day to the senses that High Center gave him. The shadows beneath trees were luminous with possibility, with the vectors of what was and what could be, and even what had been.

Almost instantly he saw something he had not before: a tall shape, kneeling in an alleyway over another figure, with a sense of danger lingering above it.
Even if it’s not Rion, that’s
something
we’d better look at.
“There!”

Poplock squinted. “Got it. Yeah, let’s move.”

With High Center already up, he could channel the strength and speed of his soul, leaping from the roof to the ground in a single motion and hitting the street at a sprint, ignoring the mist of rain and fog.

“
Rion!
” he said as they came up.

The figure, that he could now definitely recognize, jumped at his name, but as he turned Tobimar saw to his surprise an expression of relief, not guilt or anger. “
Tobimar
? Thank the Balance. Help me, would you?”

He was kneeling over an unconscious young woman.

Good actor? Or what?
“What happened?”

Rion stared out into the darkness. “I was just looking around the town—hiding, as we agreed, since we’re not announcing that I exist yet. And then just as I was heading up the cross-alley towars Mizuni’s, I heard a sound like a faint scream or gasp. I got up there,” he pointed back, to the very roof that Tobimar had just been on, “and I saw Helina struggling with…something. Dark and shadowy. Couldn’t make it out exactly. But I figured that my secret wasn’t worth risking her life, so I charged toward them. The thing…” He suddenly shuddered. “It looked sort of human, but the
eyes
…yellow, hungry, and the hair was pale white. Dark
clung
to it, like it was covered with shadow, but it looked almost white under the shadow.

“Still, I had my sword out and took a cut at it. It was dead silent, didn’t even hiss or anything, but it fought back and I don’t know how long I was dueling it. Finally…I drove it off, and it disappeared into the darkness. Helina had collapsed. I don’t know why, though, and she won’t wake up, and I couldn’t figure out what to
do
.”

Poplock was scuttling around the area that Rion had indicated the duel took place; Tobimar knew what he was looking for. But in the meantime…“All right, Rion, we’ll take care of it from here. You go back to the estate—and I mean
straight
back.”

Rion paused, then his gaze dropped. “Of course. You’re wise not to trust me. I just hope…hope we can find a way to get rid of that doubt. Somehow.” He got up, sheathed his sword (which had been on the ground near him) and headed up the deserted streets towards the Vantage estate.

Tobimar waited until Rion was well out of sight. “Well?”

The little Toad made a wrinkled face. “Mostly his own bootprints all over…but they
do
look like a fighting pattern. Like he was fighting something that wasn’t leaving prints. Right there,” he pointed to the wall, “there’s a cut that’s pretty much certainly from his sword, like he cut at something and it ducked. What about her?”

“She’s…cold. Not dead, though. Unconscious. Don’t know why.”

Poplock hopped back to the girl Rion had called Helina. “She’s not much older than you.”

“I don’t think she’s
as
old as me. Maybe younger than Kyri.” He looked at her hair, which was as black as the night but otherwise similar to Kyri’s.
Not surprising. I would guess that if you go back generations enough, everyone’s related to everyone in this small a country.
“I think I’d better get her to the Temple. You go after Rion and make sure he’s headed back.”

As Tobimar picked her up, though, the girl stirred, and suddenly pushed away with a weak scream. It was all Tobimar could do to keep her from dropping straight to the pavement. “Get away! Get a…”

Helina’s eyes focused, and widened. “…oh! Oh, Lord Silverun!”

Tobimar found himself being almost strangled by a desperate embrace, and could feel Helina shaking. “Ugh! Um, it’s all right, Helina. I’m going to take you to the Temple.”

She nodded, but only fractionally released her grip.

“What happened? Do you remember?”

For a few moments she was silent, still gripping him tightly, then slowly, slowly, she released him. “I…I was walking home from the Balanced Meal,” she said, and swallowed. That gave Tobimar time to place why she looked somewhat familiar; she was one of the servers at the inn, he’d seen her several times before.

“And…?” he asked quietly.

“And…” she drew a long, shuddering breath, “and…suddenly someone stepped out in front of me, at the end of this alley. I thought it was maybe Mizuni out for a walk, but then I saw the
eyes
.” She swallowed again, and almost collapsed. Tobimar could tell she was still terribly weak—far weaker than a mere fright would explain. He helped her put an arm over his shoulder and started walking with her to the Temple of Myrionar. “Yellow, glowing
eyes
. I wanted to run as soon as I saw them, but my legs wouldn’t move!”

So far this fits with Rion’s story.
Part of him was disappointed, another part cautiously optimistic. “Anything else?”

“Oh, Balance, yes. There were…shadows crawling over it, darkness
stuck
to it like cobwebs when you push through them, and it came closer and I…” she bit her lip. “I…found myself almost
relaxing
, like it was all right, all the fear fading to the back, and it reached out and everything went all hazy.” She frowned. “The last thing I remember is a shout, a distant shout, and falling.”

“I’ll go look and see if I can find this thing,” he said. “But here we are at the Temple. Seeker Reed!” he said, seeing the young priest-trainee. “Take Helina in; she’s been attacked by
something
which seems to have drained her in some way. She’s terribly weak.”

“Myrionar’s Justice! Here, Helina, sit down.” Reed drew out one of the benches. “I will call the Arbiter immediately.”

“Good. I’ll be looking for whatever did this.”

He returned to the alley, but pretty soon came to the conclusion Poplock had. Rion’s bootprints were scuffed all over the end of the alley in a way that
could
indicate a combat, but there wasn’t any trace of another combatant except a few marks that showed sword blows gone astray, presumably aimed at this enemy.

That
sort of
argued against Rion’s story, but not entirely. There were quite a few monsters, ranging from hungry spirits to vampires to things from beyond other veils, including demons, that could fight you without leaving obvious traces.

There was a scuffling in the alley behind him. He glanced back, saw Poplock bouncing towards him. “Well?”

“He went straight back to the estate,” Poplock confirmed, reaching his accustomed position on Tobimar’s shoulder. “Didn’t even go slow, went as fast as he could manage and still stay hidden.”

Tobimar kicked pensively at the dirt. “Her story fit his.”

“Hmph. That’s interesting. Though depending on what Rion really is, convincing someone to believe a particular story isn’t hard to do.” The Toad shifted his weight. “The
real
problem I have with his story is timing. Took too long, from the time I came back to get you to the time we found him. I can’t believe the fight he described took fifteen, twenty minutes. Can’t believe it took
half
that. Most fights are measured in
seconds
.”

“I know what you mean,” Tobimar agreed, as he started retracing their steps to the Vantage estate. “And that would mean he spent an
awfully
long time, relatively speaking, in that alley with Helina. He could’ve picked her up and carried her somewhere.”

Poplock grimaced. “Of course, he could argue he was frozen with indecision—carrying her anywhere would reveal his presence, especially if she woke up, and since we haven’t decided whether he
is
the real Rion, we’ve been pretty emphatic about him hiding it. Heck, this wandering around at night is pushing it, no matter
how
good he is at hiding and how well he knows the land.”

“I guess. But I don’t know that I’d swallow that argument. If we don’t, though…what was the point? What did he do to Helina, and why?”

“You took her to the Temple, right? Maybe old Kelsley will have answers for us.”

Tobimar nodded. “We’ll have to check in tomorrow. But we’d better get answers soon. Won’t be long before Xavier and his friends have to leave…and then it’ll be you, me, Kyri…and Rion.”