The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (63 page)

“On the other hand, that would mean we’d owe you the value of about a billion Sylvan’s continuous labor in ongoing payments, plus the rest.  It would be far more than Serminak could pay in any kind of liquid assets.  We could give you a few hundred tons of gold as a down payment, but you would have to take the rest in goods, services or resources.”

The four young simply stared at her a moment, then broke up laughing.

“That’s a pretty good offer, Povon, considering that we’d planned to contribute the entire program at our own cost, including borrowing from you five as necessary.” Six laughed.  “Give us a second to consider it.

“All right, we’ll emplace and oversee the training program for the next year for only eighteen tons of gold, on the condition that you pay the cost of having it minted into Hilian Crowns.  With that to start with, we’ll be able to make as much money as we want, so there’s no use in us charging you any more.  We know that Serminak isn’t producing a huge surplus, and besides, it’ll be a good thing to have the government of Serminak owing us a big favor.”

“But we’ll take the favor in writing, in case there’s a change of regime here sometime before we choose to collect on it!” Fire laughed.  “And that’s not a comment on instability here, but on how soon I think we’ll need to collect the favor!”

“Done!” Mark laughed, offering his hand to Val, who was closest.

The Governors shook his hand in turn, feeling quite pleased with themselves.

“We’ll have your gold to the mint in Hilia within the hour.” Povon told them with a smile.

“And I’ll have the writ of favor within a week.” Mark grinned.  “I want to see how the accounting works out before I decide on the wording.”

“Been a rough month, hasn’t it Zwak?” Fire asked the Sylvan with a smirk.  “First demoted by Zarkog and then by Kovink Seg Mivtz, and now relieved of responsibility for the youth training programs.  With the corresponding loss of status.”

“Yes, I’ve had better months, and my status has fallen while yours has risen.” Zwak told her.  “But to be honest, I’m glad I won’t be responsible for the training programs anymore.  It was a thankless, frustrating, and complex task that consumed a great deal of time while conferring comparatively little status.  Now that I’m free of it, I’ll have the time I need to find a way to deal with the damn gnome.  Zarkog’s move was purely symbolic and everyone knows it, so that didn’t cost me much, but the damn gnome…” he paused and gnashed his teeth for a moment.  “Well, let’s just say that he and I don’t see eye to eye, and leave it at that.”

“I suppose our status has indeed increased, as Sylvan judge such things, and it will continue to do so.” Fire told him.  “But we don’t really care about that.  The only thing that matters is beating the demons.  Until then, gaining status for it’s own sake is shallow and irrelevant.”

“I disagree.” Zwak insisted.  “As I understand things, we still have long enough before we face the demons that it’s still worthwhile to take some time to enjoy our lives, particularly if we can do so while engaging in activities that help prepare us for the war.  And while my dedication to the cause may be less than yours, I can assure you that it’s far more than that of the damn gnome.  His status is
all
he cares about; the results of his activities actually decrease our preparedness far more than they increase it.  Great missing gods above and below, how I hate that damned gnome!”

“Hold on there.” Mark interjected.  “If he’s decreasing our preparedness, he’s decreasing the effectiveness of the military, which is a contravention of one of the primary rules of the game.  If that’s the case, how is it that he’s escaped being beaten for it as the rules decree?”

“He decreases our preparedness by completely demoralizing every Sylvan and every adult of every other race that he crushes in The Game of Status by utilizing the assistance of billions of non-players of his race!  Tiny as they are, no one can beat the billions of them unless billions of us band together to do it, which is completely against the spirit of the game!  All the damn gnomes are acting against us with everything they’ve got, but since they’re non-players acting through him, we can’t strike back at them!  It’s bloody cheating, is what it is!  They should take part as players, or stay the hell out of it!”

“Or, the Sylvan could abandon The Game of Status in favor of a system that offers them far greater fulfillment, of a much more fundamental nature.” Six countered, and cast the Revealing that he’d been helping to prepare with some of his attention during the conversation.

The sound and sight of interviews with Hiliani Sylvan trainees was cleverly interspersed and overlapped with views and sounds of their training.  They enthusiastically extolled the merits of battling demons all day without worrying about being killed, then partying all evening with the perfect level of drunkenness and none of the side effects, including being able to fight anyone in the arenas with guaranteed perfect healing right afterwards, and the opportunity to have endless sex with no worries about sexual diseases or unplanned pregnancy.  They extolled the quality of the food and the comfort of the accommodations, and their pride in having built their new homes themselves.

“Ah.  You had me worried for a moment.” Zwak said with a smile as the Revealing continued.  “They’re still Sylvan.  The informal, instinctual game of status continues among them, in the new circumstances you’ve created for them.  And I must admit, they’re tempting circumstances.  I doubt I could live the rest of my life like that, but it would be a very pleasant vacation.”

“Sure, it’s the best way you’ve got to have some fun and sharpen your skills against the best demon Simulacrums there are.” Six grinned.  “And maybe after you’ve tried it, you’ll decide that returning to the stress of your present duties isn’t as important as you’d thought.  You’re still Zwak Deathbringer, the most experienced fighter and general among all Sylvan, and quite likely the most dangerous among them, though we now know that you’re not the eldest, or even close to it.  The unknown Sylvan God of Stealth forbids his people who are twenty-five or older from killing each other, and he has for almost three millennia.  There are Sylvan on Hiliani who are almost that old.  Anyway, many of your most impressive abilities go unused in your present duties, and your status would be at least as high under our system as it is now.

“And it might interest you to know that while the Hiliani Sylvan have to follow their deity’s restriction on killing, and we keep them in line with overpowering psionics, none of them have been sworn to justice on The Truthstone of Falgaroth, or on any other item of power.

“If you help us emplace our system and get it running smoothly, and then you join it, we’ll see what we can do about getting you released from your vow.  We can’t promise anything, because we haven’t asked Falgaroth about it and we don’t even know if it’s possible.  But we’re against keeping anyone under an involuntary binding oath if there’s any other practical way to guarantee the reliability of their behavior.”

“By Gvetwa’s balls!” Zwak cursed under his breath, then was silent for a moment before he spoke up.  “You hit me hard with that one.  I’d do a lot to be released from the vow; to truly have it gone from my mind.  Even with the freedoms allowed us under The Game of Status, the vow is an aggravating and constant irritant.  Not to mention that it was the instrument of my own humiliating defeat.

“I tell you, I’d have done all I could to help with this plan, even without this offer.  With it, you’ll have my devoted enthusiasm.”

“Excellent.” Six grinned.  “All right, we’ll delay showing the trainees the Revealing until five hours after noon here, and we’ll try to hold the first of the nightly parties for everyone who joins right after that.  That’ll give us time to make sure we have the spells all finalized.

“For now, Link with us and we’ll work on the logistics.”

Zwak looked down his nose at the boy.  “Most Sylvan do not Link.  Those of us who will only do so with those we know and trust very well indeed.” he declared.

Six considered the elder Sylvan who towered over him, and his eyes darkened with tightly controlled anger.  “You do now.  I think I have the authority to crack your shields if I want to, and I can.  Easily.  You wouldn’t like that.”

“You think so, boy?” Zwak replied, his own anger rising in response.  “As I understand things, you
don’t
have the authority to assault me psionicly or in any other way.  But if you’re willing to get as good as you give, I’ll let you try it.”

“You’re challenging me to psionic combat?  I’m understanding you correctly?” Six demanded as he quickly rose in the air up to Zwak’s eye level, then continued without waiting for an answer.  “Because if you are, I’m accepting!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say combat.” Zwak told him with a nasty grin.  “I wouldn’t want to earn your parents’ disapproval, after all.  Shall we call it a friendly duel?  We’ll agree to not kill one another or inflict anything permanent, or accept outside help.”

“Agreed.” Six said with a tight little nod.  “Someone say go.”

“Go!” Fire said with a laugh.

In a blink, Six and his hundreds of automated psionic attack spells cracked Zwak’s psionic shields, shredded his defenses, took over his bodily functions, and stopped his heart.

Zwak screamed and flopped to the floor, clutching his chest and shoulder.

Six floated over him, his face aflame with anger, monitoring his thrashing opponent closely.  He waited until only a fraction of a second remained before Zwak’s brain would begin to die, then he Healed the Sylvan’s body and mind, rebuilt the defenses and Shields he’d wrecked, firmly set his Link in place, and Read all there was to find there.  There was enough that he chose to store it in a Memory spell.  Then he suddenly cast Movement, raised the gasping Sylvan to his feet, and steadied him.

“You’re mine now if I want you, and you always will be.” Six quietly growled through clenched teeth.  “I have what I want from you, and you have your orders.  You are dismissed.”

With that, he Translocated Zwak back to his offices.

“Victory.” he quietly stated with a nasty grin.

A second later Alilia, Povon, Karz, Val, and Fire burst out laughing.

“Woooo hoo!  That was
something!”
Fire whooped as she gave Six an affectionate slap on the back.

“Ha! You think the boy is the quiet diplomatic one, but not always!” Povon brayed.

“He is The Storm!” Val declared with a grin as she gave him a quick hug.  “Those who’re lulled by the calm before the storm are always gonna get a big nasty surprise!”

“I do see the amusing aspects of the situation, but that was still a sudden and worrisome confrontation.” Kragorram declared with furrowed brows.

“I agree.” Mark nodded, and considered his son.  “He was right, you know.  You didn’t have the right to crack his shields, or even to order him to participate in a Link.  Your relative positions in the hierarchy here hadn’t been officially established yet, so you didn’t even have the right to demand that he work with you, beyond the fact that Povon had already ordered him to do so.”

“I know.” Six grinned.  “But I wasn’t over the line; you can check my wording.  He’s a Sylvan, and he’d just seen how good our plan was.  Suddenly he realized just how big of a threat to his Status we could be if we wanted to, so he confronted me to see how far he could push me.  I recognized it and provoked him into issuing a challenge.  I felt it was smarter to correct his attitude now, rather than let it fester any.  The fact that the subject at hand was psionics, which is what I’m best at, offered an opportunity that I couldn’t resist.”

He shrugged and smiled, his anger dissipated.  “That’s the way it is with Sylvan; if you don’t force their respect, you don’t get any.”

Talia could finally smile as her racing heart calmed.  “I just about had a heart cramp there, you know.  It was all I could do to not dishonor myself by striking at Zwak as Helemia said go.  It’s not easy for a mother to stand by and watch while her son risks his mind.”

“I’m sorry Mother.” Six said with a smile as he came over and gave her a hug.  “I didn’t mean to worry you, and I really wasn’t risking anything.  I’d already stealthed past his Shields and Read him without him realizing it, right after he said that Sylvan don’t Link.  I knew exactly what I was facing, and he never really had a chance.  It was still fun though.”

Kragorram leaned in and down so he could inspect Six’s facial expression from close range, the tip of his snout only a meter from the boy.  “You young warlocks are scary little beings sometimes.  I don’t think you needed to be quite that nasty to adjust his attitude.”

“Thanks.” Six shrugged again, still smiling.  “And maybe I didn’t, maybe I did.

“Besides, Karz is just as nasty as us, and he’s not a warlock.  He just hasn’t had much opportunity to show it off.”

“He may not technically be a warlock, but he has your attitudes.” Povon laughed, giving her adopted son a nice scratch on the base of his neck.

“What can you expect?” Karz mused.  “None of you adults were born to do anything.  There was nothing that really demanded your dedication until the war with Zarkog came along, and none of you were children then.

“We were born and raised to wage war against the demons.  We four may seem to have unique attitudes now, but that’s only because we’re the first children to grow up under the threat of the demons and reach any kind of maturity since that threat became known, thanks to the time-bubble and our accelerated development.  But from now until the demons are gone, every child grows up knowing we’ll have to face them, and fight them.  It makes a difference, in everything we think and do.”

“So it understandably makes you a bit nastier, and less likely to suffer fools.” Alilia laughed as she swept Fire up in a hug and spun her around, simply because she was closest.  “And I’m so proud of the four of you I could just burst!”

“We’re all very proud of you kids.” Povon smiled.  “But if you want to meet your objectives for today, we need to get working now.”

“Agreed.” Six nodded.  “I think Karz and I should work on facilities and logistics, while Fire helps Val with the spells.  If you adults want to help, we can join whatever team you think you’ll be best in.