The deal with Ryker was botched, and Annastaria barely escaped Lance’s grasp in the airport hangar, with an unexpected help from the bounty hunter who’s been chasing her and Oden for the last several hours. She and the bounty hunter seek to regroup with Oden, learn the truth about the artifact, and what Ryker wants with it, and plan their next move, while their new bounty hunter friend decides to stick close.
The airfield was under SIU control, late into the night. An airship with a floodlight was scanning the forest around it, but there was no Intero, no Lance, no Ryker and no elvish suspect to be found. Elise and Dylen walked together through the hangar where Annastaria had confronted Ryker, and where there seemed to be the most evidence of significance, looking at the ruptured concrete, pieces of concrete scattered around the hangar, and the thrashed car–one of Lance’s–flipped over near the doorway to the control building.
“You think she was here?” Dylen asked.
“I absolutely do.” she answered.
Dylen thought for a moment about the sureness of Elise. “Okay…” he began slowly, “But that leads us to wonder, why? If she’s what we’re suspecting she is, what’s she doing dealing with the Intero?”
Elise scanned the scene for a moment before answering Dylen’s question, trying to visualize what happened, “I don’t think it’s so much her dealing with Intero as it is Oden.” She looked back at Dylen, “He’s the one who’s in trouble with them, correct?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain why she’s here. Unless maybe Oden got caught by the Intero and she came back for him… Which still leaves us wondering why, if she is what we think she is, she would do that.”
Elise paused, scanning the investigators doing their work, contemplating the point Dylen raised. “Oden must have something that she thinks is important.” she said, “The Intero’s willing to shoot up a place to get him. What he has they want, and she wants too.”
“Maybe we should find out what that is.”
“Well, if she is what we think, that means that whatever it is that Oden has is extremely valuable.”
Rolek the bounty hunter had Annastaria’s arm around his shoulder as he helped the wounded elf through the darkness of the forest, away from the sound of the echoing propellers and engine of the airship, which was still less than a mile from them. It had three floodlights beaming into the surrounding forest for any sign of unusual movement. Every so often they would hear echoing voices shouting and communicating to one another, but the farther they went into the forest, the less and less the voices were heard. Annastaria was forced in a crippled state, unable to stand and feeling pathetic that she needed the help of this stranger to carry her, stumbling over rocky terrain in the dark, grunting as her side felt as if a poisonous venom was eating away at it.
“Where…” she began, trying to control her breathing, “Where are we going?”
“A rendezvous point.” he answered.
“A… a what?”
“A meeting place. Now keep your voice down. Your breathing is loud enough, and you’re stammering.”
“I… I must find Bella. She is out there, in trouble and alone.”
“We’ll find your brat sister; let’s do one thing at a time though. First the meeting point.”
“You do not understand… I cannot leave her out there, or–”
She stopped when she looked ahead to a small open area near a stream, where the pale moonlight gave just enough for her to recognize two figures standing before her. One was Bastillina, and the other was Oden. All concern for Bastillina faded as she locked eyes on him. “You…” Annastaria said in a hushed voice towards Oden. She broke from Rolek’s aid and ran to him as best she could.
“Thank god you’re okay.” Oden said as he went towards her, with Bastillina following. He reached out for an embrace of relief but was met with blunt force to the face that felt as though it knocked his left eye out of its socket. “Ough!” he blurted out as he stumbled and fell to the ground, almost tumbling down the small bank into the stream.
Bastillina grabbed the rabid Annastaria, but she had no strength to hold her wrath-fueled body. Rolek was only a second later and grabbed Annastaria over her shoulders to hold her back. “Gurra bar’durah!” Annastaria shouted at Oden, followed by more curses in elvish.
“Stop it!” Rolek shouted as quietly as he could, restraining Annastaria with all his strength. Finally he got the momentum his way and threw Annastaria behind him. “Stop it!” he shouted quietly again, darting a finger as though he was talking down a child, “You want them to find us? Huh?”
“He lied to me!” Annastaria shouted, sitting up in an attempt to get in Rolek’s face while on the ground.
“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t–I don’t care! But if you don’t shut your mouth, it won’t matter!” He looked around, still hearing and even able to see bits of the airship through the trees before continuing, “Now we’re all reunited–wonderful. But we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Annastaria’s head tilted as she looked around in bewilderment that he would say such words. “Of course we are not out of the woods, foolish man.” she said, “Where do you think we are?”
“Would you shut up? My point is that we’re still in danger, and if we don’t get moving now, they will find us. Now I don’t know how in the world you ended up with the SIU on your ass and I’ll care about that later. Right now, I care about not getting caught. When we’re out of danger, you can punch his face in all you want, how’s that sound?”
Annastaria looked at Oden again, who was still dazed from the blow. She looked back up at Rolek with a murderous glare. He held his hand out to her, “Deal?” She kept her stare for a moment, finally controlling her breathing and grabbed his hand. She ground her teeth together and seethed in pain from the gunshot wound, forcing her to flex her core area as she stood up. But she got up, and took Rolek’s help, refusing to be within three feet of Oden as they worked together to push west, out of the forest for at least two more miles, stopping on the west side of a small cliff. Annastaria’s side didn’t seem to get much better, as she continued to seethe and take in considerable breaths.
“We should be okay for now.” Rolek said as he helped Annastaria sit near a tree. Nothing but the sounds of the forest gave them company.
“Wow…” Oden said, adjusting and rubbing his left cheek and jaw, “Okay… I probably deserved that.”
Annastaria sent a fiery stare at him again. “I told you…” she said, “I told you to tell to me the truth. And you promised that was so!”
“I did!”
Annastaria reached into his bag, which she still had with her, and pulled the artifact out with her left hand for him to see. “Then explain to me this!” Oden froze at the sight, and Annastaria could see he knew what it was. “Are you going to tell to me the truth now? Or are you going to say that those men back there are after you over a rock that you found in the woods?”
Oden went silent, and he knew that all three sets of eyes were practically looking right into his soul at that moment. He looked at each of them. Rolek stood out of the way, but his eyes indicated he wasn’t surprised by anything happening. He likely knew what it was already, that’s what he was hunting him for. Bastillina was a different matter. She had despondency on her face, anger and sadness. All three of them waited for him to speak. “Alright…” he began, “You’re right… I lied.”
Annastaria didn’t wait for him to finish. She got up, struggling to do so, leaving Oden’s bag behind and began walking away. “Hey,” Oden said, “where’re you going?”
“That no longer concerns you.” she replied, “Come, Bella… It is time to move on.”
Oden and Bastillina looked at each other for a moment. There wasn’t anger in her face as much as sadness. She said nothing and walked away. Oden took a step forward, “Wait, hold on–”
“No!” Annastaria turned in a whip, “No more holds. I have held out long enough for you. All you are is a thief… We are finished.”
Oden never felt so much weight of condemnation before. He heard priests and other religious people tell him that he was a sinner, but never cared for their opinions. For some reason, hearing it from Erene, and seeing it on Bastillina’s face made all the difference. “Just hold on,” he said, “I know that I… messed up… But that doesn’t change the fact that those men back there are crazy and want the artifact.”
“You mean this?” she said, stopping again to hold the artifact out, “This that ought not be in any of your hands?” she darted a finger in a wave at both Oden and Rolek. Rolek just smirked. She pulled it back to herself, “This stays with me from now on.”
“Hold on, time out.” Rolek said, stepping into the conversation. He looked at Annastaria, “Firstly, let me just say that whatever was going on between you two, I don’t really care. If he deserves to get punched a few more times, more power to you… But I still need that artifact to deliver him and get my bounty reward.”
Annastaria turned her rage to him. “Garbadeen-shukon bur’dakenadin!” she said in elvish at him.
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“May you perish in shukon and your money with you!” she said, sticking a finger at him.
She turned then to begin walking, but only took three steps before she stepped awkwardly on uneven ground that caused her wound to surge pain through her core again. “Agh!” she cried out as she fell on her hands and knees. All three of the others ran to her aid, but Rolek stopped Oden, “Whoa! You might want to take a few steps back, pal.”
“She’s hurt!” Oden argued back.
“Obviously, but you’re the last person she wants anywhere near her right now. I’ll handle this.”
Oden hesitated, but stood down as Rolek went to help Bastillina aid Annastaria. She squirmed at his help, which he did his best to ignore. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. “Hey!” he snapped, forcing her to stop, “Cut the crap! You can’t go on like this!”
“I cannot stop!” she fired back, “I must keep moving.”
“I’m sure you got places to be that are none of my business, but you just got shot. It’s a miracle you’re even able to walk and breath right now. We need to take a look at the wound.”
Annastaria froze for a moment, staring up at him. “You can go to shukon!” she replied, “You certainly will not be touching me!”
“You wanna die from a bullet wound that you somehow haven’t died yet from?”
Annastaria pushed him off herself, sat up and then pulled her shirt up with the body armor she had on underneath it, showing her right side ribcage, and a sizable bruise mixed with blue and purple forming on the skin. “See?” she said before throwing her shirt and armor down, “It did not go through.”
“Well holy crap.” he said, looking at Bastillina with a smirk for a moment, “That’s some damn good body armor to stop a bullet like that.”
“It is dragonscale.” she replied.
“Really?… Lucky you. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t get shot. You still need first aid.”
“Not from you, nor Oden.” she said.
Rolek chuckled, admiring her stubbornness. He looked at Bastillina, “She seems to trust you, which is understandable. Can you help her out? That still needs to get patched up. It’ll ease the healing process.” Bastillina nodded in agreement. “Good.” he said, before standing up to leave them alone.
Annastaria couldn’t believe what she was hearing from this man. For days he was trying to kill her, now he was trying to save her? She paused, still trying to control her breath, but calmed as she contemplated this strange moment. “Why are you helping us?” she finally asked.
He went still from walking away and turned to her, absorbing the question for a few seconds. “I’m a bounty hunter.” he said, “A mercenary, technically… I got a prize to collect, and I need him and his artifact to get the reward.”
“Why not just grab him and the artifact and leave me here?”
Rolek paused for a moment, looking at a curious Bastillina. “I’m not stupid enough to let someone like you die out here. And if we’re asking these questions… why’d you take a bullet for me back there?”
The question blindsided Annastaria into silence, trying to find a sensible response. She sighed and rolled her eyes before replying, “I do not know… I suppose I am a fool.”
Rolek smirked, “Guess that makes two of us, then.” The words made Bastillina smile, and even Annastaria couldn’t help a small one, but for her, it was the ridiculousness of the whole situation. “Besides,” Rolek continued, “I got a score to settle with you.”
Annastaria’s smile grew, “You cannot handle being defeated by a girl?” she said.
“Oh I can take getting my ass kicked by a lady. I admire it more, in fact… But in a fair fight.”
Annastaria chuckled slightly, but not too much, as it hurt, “And how was I unfair?”
“That illusion trick you pulled back there.” That statement dispersed her smile as she was forced to recall their first encounter. She remembered that she used her prime power on him, something she was never to do in the first place. “I don’t know what that was,” he continued, “but it threw me for a loop I’ve never been in before. A straight and fair fight doesn’t allow those cheap tricks… But it also means that both parties are in their fullest health, and you’re not there yet. So I guess that means I’m sticking around for a little while.”
“What about your bounty, then?”
Rolek shrugged, “My original buyers want to kill me now, so I can’t deliver him to them anymore anyways. So I’m sure I’ll find someone else along the way. I got the feeling you’re travelling through this place, so there’s plenty of opportunity hanging around you guys to find someone who’ll take him… The name’s Rolek by the way.”
Annastaria contemplated once more if she should even consider giving her alias. She had too many uncomfortable aenman acquaintances at this point. But it seemed rude not to. “Erene.” she said back.
Rolek gave a nod with a friendly smirk, “Get yourself together, Erene. We still don’t want to stop moving just yet.”
Elise was in the police headquarters building, with an important phone call to make to her boss, given an office room to herself to make the call. Dylen served himself a cup of coffee, staying outside the room, waiting and observing the area around them, making sure that the phone call remained private. “How could you have lost them again?” said her boss.
“She’s fast, sir.” Elise answered, “How she is, I don’t know, but she is. But we’re closing in on her.”
“And how exactly are you doing that?”
“Ironically, sir, it’s not so much by following her, it’s following her friend, Oden. He led us to the arrest of several suspects in Whitehold, and they confessed to have seen a half-elvish girl matching the description of our suspect, along with Oden.”
“Did you tell them about why we’re looking for this elf?”
“No, sir. We made sure to make it appear that we were looking for Oden instead. But when we learned about Oden, we looked him up, and he’s got several warrants, including EU warrants for theft, bribery, digital theft and forgery. He’s a hacker, it looks like. Learning about that, and the Intero’s interest in finding him, we think he has something they want and is heading to Stouarch with.”
“What is that ‘something’?”
“We’re not sure, the Intero suspects wouldn’t tell us. But it’s enough that they’ll shoot up a warehouse, airfield, and tear up a forest to get it. Meanwhile, our primary suspect is caught in the middle of it.”
“Hmm… What’s her connection to it all?”
“We don’t know; all we can guess at this point is that she’s also interested in whatever Oden has.”
“I see… So then the key is finding Oden.”
“Exactly, sir. We know next to nothing about Erene, but we know plenty about Oden and that’s what we’re following. Tracking Oden is tracking our suspect.”
“How’d you manage to find them in a private airfield south of Cymroyl then?”
“It was a very fortunate catch, sir–if I may say. We were planning our next move in Whitehold, and how we were going to pick up on Oden’s trail again, which we lost, when we learned Oden’s connection to Ryker.”
“You mean… Donren Ryker? That one?”
“The rogue magiologist who disappeared with five-hundred-thousand-dollars worth of top-secret information ten years ago. I’m afraid so, sir.”
“What in god’s name is he doing here? And why now?”
“I don’t know, but we found out that Oden’s had a run-in with him, or likely did, given his record. The Intero ‘ve been protecting something going on back in Carzat; we’ve known that. I think this is what it was. Oden was operating in Carzat before all of this happened, and now he’s on the run with information that both the Intero and Ryker want. Long story short, when we learned of the connection with Ryker, we started paying attention to him, based on his past activities. That’s when we learned about the private airfield, which happened to have been rented out at the time for a nice sum of forty-thousand dollars. So we moved in on the airfield as soon as we got to Cymroyl.”
“But you still lost them in the chaos. As impressive as that is, that doesn’t seem to have gotten us our suspect.”
“No it didn’t, sir… But I’m confident we’re squeezing her. We’re moving out in the morning to try and further anticipate their moves while having undercovers across the city follow Intero activity. By mid-day, we’ll have found them again, I’m sure.”
“I hope so, Elise. We can’t allow this operation, whatever it is, to go on any longer. Find that elf, find Oden, and most of all, find Ryker.”
“I will sir.”
The phone on the other end clicked dead, and Elise was left alone for the moment. She could sense the disappointment in her boss’s voice. It made her both despondent and angry at how long and complicated this was becoming. But she had to keep moving forward; these complications didn’t mean she wasn’t gaining ground, after all. She took a deep breath and stepped outside to Dylen.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“About as expected.” Elise replied, “We need to keep moving.”
“Not right now, right?” he said with a smirk, “I need my beauty sleep.”
“Obviously. Go get some sleep, but be up by six. We need to head out early.”
The moon shone bright as ever as Annastaria, Bastillina, Oden and now Rolek rested somewhere in the surrounding forests southwest of Cymroyl. They were still without any airship or search party near them, and it seemed as though they had been spared the night. Bastillina helped Annastaria up, and unstrapped her body armor to patch up her side.
Annastaria helped her with it, showing her how to properly perform in-field first aid, which included some herbs that lay in the wild they walked through that helped Annastaria with the pain, and with healing. As Annastaria lifted her shirt, Bastillina almost stopped, and was startled to see that beneath her shirt, Annastaria had another patched up wound that was fresh.
“We must get this over with.” Annastaria said to her, “Stay focused.” Bastillina nodded, but Annastaria’s insistence only made her more nervous. She began to wrap Annastaria’s waistline with the bandage tape, with an awkward silence for a moment. A curious question began to form in Annastaria’s mind as she pondered.
“Are you still glad you left that city with me?” she asked with a despairing smile.
Bastillina smiled at the question and shrugged while she wrapped Annastaria’s waist. “I am, actually.” the girl replied.
“Did you expect the world to be… this terrible?”
“My world was already terrible. I’ve been dealing with people like that all my life… I’ve been shot at, been hit, been cut… It’s not much different now. Only now I get to see the bigger world, and if you ask me, that makes it all worth it.”
Annastaria went silent, reminded of what Bastillina came out of. It was inconceivable to her that a child this girl’s age should undergo such pain and suffering. Of course, Annastaria herself had her own sufferings and struggles when she was Bastillina’s age. Still, for Annastaria, it was for a purpose. The only comfort she seemed able to find in knowing about Bastillina’s past was that it prepared her for what lay ahead.
Oden and Rolek stood off from Bastillina and Annastaria, who were hidden behind the short cliffside to give them privacy. Oden had spent the whole time walking back and forth and explaining to Rolek the entire context of his relationship to Annastaria (whom he knew as Erene) and how it got to this point. Rolek sat on a rock calmly but unwillingly listening to Oden’s confession. Once he was finished, Oden looked his would-be captor in the eye to ask him a question he never thought he’d ask him, “So what should I do?”
Rolek spent half of Oden’s entire confession wondering how he ended up in this situation, but still got the general story in his mind, and it had a simple solution. “Tell her the truth, obviously.” he said.
“And get punched in the face again?”
Rolek stood up off the rock, “Well if I heard the story correctly, you deserved it, and probably a few more.” He knelt down at his own pack to take some food from it to eat.
“Man…” Oden complained, “Some help you are; you’re supposed to be helping me figure out a way to fix this.”
“Actually,” Rolek said, standing up from his pack with a mouth full of food, “I should be dragging you off to get a reward for this bounty. You should be happy I’m not.”
Oden went silent, reminded of their actual ‘relationship’ which was not one that was on Oden’s side. He looked down, trying to collect his thoughts. “I just…” he began, “I just feel so stupid.”
“Good.” Rolek said as he patted Oden on the shoulder, “You should feel stupid.” A silence followed as the conversation ended, and Oden had nothing to help him move forward. Rolek saw it, and for some strange reason felt sorry for him. He sighed, frustrated at this pity he had for Oden. “Look, just give it time.” he said reluctantly, “She’s definitely a piece of work, and can throw a mean punch; factor that in next time you consider lying to her… and me. Let her wrap her mind around this. She’s a tough chick, I think she can handle a little heartbreak. If you ask me, I think she’s handling it about as well as anyone could or should. She’ll be back on her feet before you know it.”
Oden took a pause, trying to figure out if this was wise insight or blind, stupid optimisim. He didn’t have much reason to believe Rolek cared enough to give him meaningful advice. “You sure?” he asked, “After everything I did?”
“Little man,” Rolek said with another mouth full of food, “if it’s one thing I’ve learned in life it’s that time heals all wounds. Not a pep-talk, not poetry–none of that romantic garbage. People just need time. When the crap hits the fan, in that moment, people don’t quite know what to do and they freak out. Whenever they get a chance to chill out and think through it, they figure things out… Usually.”
Oden thought again for a moment. Was it really that simple? All the books and novels said otherwise; you needed a grand apology with romantic rhetoric to proverbially sweep the offended off their feet, and a golden reward of some kind. And especially for this girl, her principles and standards were something he realized were way too high for him to meet. Now here was Rolek saying that all that she really needed was time to get over the betrayal?
After an awkward silence, Rolek picked up his things. “Well,” he said as he hoisted his pack over his shoulder, “we need to get moving; find a place to sleep and continue on in the morning.”
Oden suddenly felt estranged from Annastaria, and a sense of fear came over him for even going around the cliffside to see her again. What was she going to be like? And was she even going to be there? They may have used the opportunity to finally and ultimately disappear, which made him sad and somewhat relieved; at least he wouldn’t have to confront this wound he had made. Either way, he kept close to Rolek. The man who was his captor was now his only defense against the girl who was supposed to be his defender.
They stepped over rocks and around the cliffside which seemed longer than it was supposed to be and saw Bastillina and Annastaria sitting casually and talking. Once Rolek and Oden came from around the corner, the two girls looked at them and went silent. Rolek refused to be kept at a distance with the silence and walked towards the two girls. “Hope you’re good enough to walk, Erene.” he said, “Because we gotta move out. We’re still too close to that airfield for comfort, if you ask me.”
Oden came closer with uncertainty in his mind. He kept himself from making eye-contact with Annastaria, and tried to ignore her altogether. But as soon as he came across Rolek, Rolek stopped him with a hand on the shoulder and nudged his head to Annastaria. Oden knew what he meant and now finally forced his eyes set on Annastaria, who was being helped by Bastillina to get her things together. “Right now?” he whispered to Rolek.
Rolek only nodded with urgency in his face. Oden sighed, and licked his lips, contemplating how to begin, or even if this was a good idea. He was always good at approaching girls and making them feel at ease. For the first time in his life, he was in strange waters and didn’t know what to do. It had to begin with the first step, he figured, and so he stepped towards her, and by the time he was within four feet of her, Annastaria and Bastillina stopped to look at him. Immediately he felt like someone dropped a weight on his back, and he stopped walking. Annastaria’s facial expression was difficult for him to read; she seemed suspicious, but also curious at the same time. God and the gods only knew what was going on in her mind. He was about to find out.
“Are you alright?” was all he could think to ask that would hopefully start a conversation safely. Rolek standing behind him rolled his eyes at the question.
“I was just shot in my side,” she responded, “and it hurts in ways you cannot imagine. Besides that, I am fine.”
Oden sensed the sarcasm in her voice. It was a stupid question. Another silence filled the air and in his mind, Oden gasped for a lifeline. He felt like he was drowning and had no one to help him. Rolek shook his head by now, and was only seconds from intervening if Oden didn’t do what he had to do. Finally Oden said the only thing that seemed to press on his mind, “I’m sorry.” Bastillina looked at Annastaria to see how she reacted. There was no change in her facial expression. “I guess…” he continued slowly, “I didn’t know what to do… I was in a tough spot and…”
“Was it true?” she intervened, interrupting Oden’s crippled train of thought, “What Ryker said about you; that you worked for him?”
Oden hesitated, and the instinct to make up a story pulsed in his mind. But he knew in front of him was a girl who could throw a wicked punch, and a stinging accusation. “Yes.” he said, as if holding in a deep breath for five minutes.
“So you have not only known this whole time what he was doing, but you were helping him do it?”
“That part I can actually explain.”
“How is there something to explain? Evil is evil, Oden, and you partook in it.”
“I was in a bad place, okay? I’ve got warrants out for me and I was in a corner. Found myself in debt, with no one to help me and so… I used my skills in computers to get more money, which for a while solved the debt problem, but then my problem with the law became real… To make things worse, after a while of what I was doing, local groups and even organized crime found out about me. I was on the SIU wanted list in Oenkev–still am, actually. So I did work for them and they paid good money. But pretty soon one gang crossed another, and I got caught in the crosshairs.”
“The middle man is always the one who gets off’d the first.” Rolek interjected.
“Ryker offered me a way out.” Oden continued, “I lost everything to my debt problem. I couldn’t go back to my house, those damn gangs wanted me dead for helping their rivals. I didn’t really think about what I was getting into until it was too late; I was just focused on the money that would solve my debt problem and maybe… get the hell out of this place.”
“There’s never getting out.” Rolek interjected again, “That’s the lesson no one seems to learn about this business.”
“Well,” Oden said, “Ryker offered me a way out.” He paused for a moment and chuckled slightly, “Jokes on me for thinking there was a way out, huh? He offered to pay off my debts and help me start over. And he offered ‘protection’ from anyone who came after me in exchange for my help.”
“Help him do what?” Annastaria asked.
“Supposedly research. I was helping him gather information about the artifact and the temples; deciphering the symbols on the artifact.”
“It’s elvish, isn’t it?” Rolek asked, “Can’t you just go to a local bookstore to get something on how to read elvish?”
“It’s not ordinary elvish.” Oden replied, “It’s… something else that I couldn’t figure anything about. I can show you.” He knelt down to his leather bag and searched for a moment before pulling out a folded and worn piece of paper, giving it to Rolek, who unfolded and looked at it. Rolek had as certain a face as Oden had.
“I don’t know elvish,” said Rolek, “but I know what it looks like and… this ain’t it.”
“Let me see.” Annastaria said, holding her hand out. Rolek smirked, as if he expected it from her, and handed her the paper. She scanned it, which was filled with unorganized notes written in normal Durish. But there were drawings on it of the ‘symbols’ found on the artifact when activated. They were not good drawings, but they weren’t unintelligible. “This is Nagush.” she answered.
Oden stood stunned for a moment. “You… you know what it is?”
“I do.” she answered, further examining the writings.
“Okay, um…” he stuttered, “What’s it say? Because I spent months trying to find something on it.”
“Nagush is an ancient language, and the wood elves have gone through great lengths to prevent it from being discovered by the outside world for many important reasons.”
Oden went silent again, looking at Rolek and then back at Annastaria. “How in the world do you know about that?”
She glanced up at him for a moment to answer, “You are not supposed to be asking questions, remember?”
Oden’s mouth shut like it was zipped closed. But his face gave a small glimpse of contempt. Rolek looked at Oden, amused by the exchange. He rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face.
“I am not going to tell you what it says.” she continued, putting the paper in one of her pockets, “I do not trust you with its information. I still want to know what it was that Ryker was doing. Why is he interested in something like this and the temples across Eldreon?”
Oden looked around and saw eyes set on him once again. He reset himself to begin explaining. “Okay, well… Ryker believes the magic artifact contains prime energy.”
“Prime?” Rolek asked, “That can’t be–how can he be sure?”
“He can’t.”
“The primes?” Bastillina interjected, “Wait… Aren’t they those legendary warrior masters I heard about? Super masters, or something like that?”
“Basically, yes.” Rolek answered, “And that’s what they are, legends. No one really knows if they were ever real. Odds are they were just powerful masters with all kinds of knowledge in the magic arts we don’t have anymore.”
“You cannot be certain of that.” Annastaria argued.
“Actually I can. I mean, archeological evidence all over the Unesserian regions is uncovering, to this day, many finds that suggest the ancient people of the past had knowledge that has been lost today, and probably intentionally by someone.”
“Well, the point is,” Oden said, “whether the primes really were a thing, or became a myth as a result of some powerful and romanticized masters in the past, there’s no way you can actually test if it’s that same prime energy. You’d need actual data from prime energy to compare it to, which we don’t have. But Ryker is convinced it is… And as crazy as all of it sounds, I think he’s onto something. It may not be prime, but it’s something. I mean, the readings do indicate a kind of radiation we’ve never seen before.”
“That does not explain why you are here right now, running with this artifact.” said Annastaria.
“Right… So Ryker wants to harness the energy within this artifact; extract it and use it… So one day, I was going through some logs when I noticed some were missing. I started searching and asking around and I quickly got told to zip my mouth. Of course, I complied, but only on the outside. On the inside, I wanted to know what was going on. I took another look at the log gaps and saw that the gaps occurred at the time of 11pm to midnight on Friday nights. So, I started keeping my eyes open around the labs during that time and that’s when I saw it. Ryker, and some of his closest men were using the artifact in the dead of night, only not for research. They were experimenting with the artifact… Using Jorum.”
“The pale master from the forest?” Annastaria said.
“The very one.” Oden answered with a nod.
“What the hell were they doing to him?” Rolek asked.
“I don’t know… But they were pumping him with something from the artifact. It seemed like it anyway. I knew from the beginning that that guy was no ordinary master. There was something really off about him.”
Rolek looked at Annastaria, recalling their encounter with Jorum. “You saw what he did in the woods,” he said, “he used some kind of power-up.”
“I remember.” she answered. She hesitated to say what she was thinking next. “I believe he was entering some form of the spirit state.”
“Spirit state?” Bastillina asked, “What’s that?”
“I read about it once. It is very rare that a master can achieve it, but even more so, only elder masters can; the entering of the state involves intense training–years and years of experience and skill sharpening in the arts and in mental fortitude. It requires one to focus intensely, both mentally and physically. That master cannot be more than thirty years old, however–he is far too young.”
“But what exactly is the spirit state?” Oden asked.
“I hear it’s supposed to be some super-master level of power.” Rolek answered.
“That is a… simple way to say it.” Annastaria answered, “All masters have a special unity to the magic energy that flows through the world in what are called magicka cylinders, or rings in their bodies; located at primary joints–the shoulders, hands, feet, hips, head, belly, knees and the most primary in their chest. These rings are connected together in harmony like the blood system, and work together to generate magicka. The more powerful a master becomes, the more their rings develop and become stronger, and more capable, enabling a master greater capabilities in all realms of magic. The more magicka is required, the more these rings ‘spin’ to generate the magic energy. What is known as the spirit state is when a master, how is it to say… ‘unlocks’ an inner-ring within their magicka rings of magic capabilities.”
“So it’s like an extra horsepower?” Rolek said, “Enables the vehicle to go faster and perform more efficiently.”
“Like memory to a computer system.” Oden added.
Rolek looked at Annastaria again, “That’s why he was able to overpower me so easily.” he said.
“Yes,” said Annastaria, “The spirit state enables a master a powerful sensitivity to magic aura in the air, making them truly dangerous in combat, and even out of combat. Other magic branches, such as restoration and illusion become even more pervasive for them; many times even to enable them to use magic they could not ordinarily use… If what you say is true, Oden, then Ryker has somehow managed to use this artifact to bring spirit energy into Jorum.”
“Is that even possible?” Oden asked.
“I have read about the rituals in the Ancient World.”
“Sounds dangerous.” Rolek noted.
“It is. It is a tainted way to achieve to the spirit state and would most often lead to death. Forcing a master into unlocking the next ring would often cause an overpower–the body goes into great distress, causing great bodily damage; Corruption levels intensify greatly… and eventually death. It is trying to force the body into a state it is not big enough, nor strong enough to support. Very few who were tortured by this method survived, and the ones that did were often left eternally scarred. It is why the methods have been forbidden by the Magestry and considered to be black magic.”
“Well,” Oden said, “it seems like Ryker may have found a way to make it work.”
“With today’s technology,” Rolek said, “what can’t you accomplish?”
“Erene, look,” said Oden to Annastaria, “I know I’ve lied and used you.” He looked at Bastillina then, “And I’ve hurt you, too… I’m very sorry, and I promise not to do it again… But I can assure you that while I lied to you about what I had and what I was doing, I’m telling you the absolute truth about this. I saw it happen with my own eyes–they were doing something with that Jorum guy. Then I heard Ryker and his weird prophetic stuff and I knew he was bad… This doesn’t make me a hero, I know. But whatever he’s planning, it’s going to be worse; he’s killed and will continue to kill for this.”
“And why are you trying to go to Stouarch?” Annastaria asked.
“There’s an EU embassy, of course. It’s the best chance I got, because…” he paused, hesitating, “Because I think the SIU can’t be trusted. Not here.”
“Are you sure? Is it not rather that you have a criminal record they will arrest you for?”
“Actually it’s because of my criminal activity I doubt their trustworthiness. Something I’d love to explain, but later. Right now, just know I have reason to believe that someone somewhere in the SIU is compromised–at least in Oenkev’s SIU. Lance, that Intero boss heading the operation with Ryker, was talking frequently with someone in the SIU over the phone. Never could figure out who, but word got around, whether he tried to prevent it from getting around or not. Point is, I noticed that we were able to do things in Carzat for such a lengthy period of time that we shouldn’t have been able to get away with; renting out buildings for research, and even murders some of the guys got away with after having been arrested and up against solid evidence for a conviction. Someone outside our operations was making sure it was going well in Carzat. Something just told me that bringing this thing straight into SIU hands was just walking straight into a death trap… So I grabbed it and ran, and the nearest EU embassy is in Stouarch.”
Annastaria thought for a moment. Ryker never mentioned anything like that. She didn’t know what to believe anymore, as both men’s testimony agreed at critical points, but also disagreed at other critical points, and neither could be trusted. Would Oden lie now, after all of this? She didn’t know him long enough to be certain at this point. Once again, she found herself with a decision to make, and once again, her mind thought of Bastillina’s future in all of it. Istvan’s words to her never ceased to play in her mind.
“I have a better idea in mind.” she said, standing up. She ached at the pain it caused, but managed. She held up the leather pouch with the artifact, “I will keep this. You do not need to deliver it to any of your organizations that have corrupt morals.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Oden asked.
“I will keep it safe.”
“And what about me?” Rolek interjected, “I still want my reward.”
“You can deliver Oden to the EU; I am sure they will have some reward for his capture.”
Oden said nothing, but his heart began to beat at the idea Annastaria proposed. Although she had calmed herself, her sympathy towards him didn’t seem to get better. Rolek looked at him for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Annastaria. “I need that artifact, elf,” he said.
Annastaria glared back, and she took a few steps forward until she stood directly in front of him. “It stays with me.” she said.
Rolek didn’t back down, staring back into her eyes. She was a stubborn one, that was certain. Finally he smirked at her staring up at him. “Whatever you say, pointy-ears.” he mocked, “I’m tired. Let’s find a place to sleep.”
The four of them agreed, and laid the conversation to rest. Annastaria had figured she learned enough for now, but realized she had a weight upon her that she would have difficulty navigating, given the already weighty nature of her quest. For now, it was time to rest, and the group found themselves once again forced to sleep out in the forest. Rolek took the lead this time, as Annastaria was still crippled by her injury. Bastillina helped her, and Oden stayed close by, giving Annastaria the distance she needed, but ready to help at any time. For another twenty minutes they searched the area for a place to stay and found a spot near a stream that flowed west. They went north of the stream, up a hill and to a large boulder resting in the forest and made camp there amidst the trees.
Rolek made a small fire for them as the night grew cold. It was a small fire, meant to provide just enough for them to stay warm, but not too great as to give their position away so easily. Rolek and Oden stayed near the fire, sitting around it and having a casual conversation, something Annastaria couldn’t figure out, given they were supposed to be enemies. She herself desired only to sleep, being well past her own bedtime. She lay under a tree, using her backpack as a pillow, which she was used to by now being the only pillow she had. Bastillina laid next to her, getting herself comfortable for the night.
“Does it still hurt?” Bastillina asked.
Annastaria knew what she meant, and continued only to stare into the night sky for a moment. “The herbs I collected are helping to make it easier to tolerate.” she replied.
“That’s good… Man, I’ve been shot at before, but luckily I was never actually shot.”
“Let us hope that you never will be.”
“I thought your body armor took the bullet, though.”
“That does not mean I do not feel any pain from the shot.”
Bastillina thought for a moment about her next question. She knew Annastaria was sensitive about questions regarding herself, but the girl couldn’t help but be curious. “Have you ever had any injuries as bad as that before?”
The question drew Annastaria’s face to Bastillina for a moment, which she was afraid was a sign of setting her off. But Annastaria looked back up to the sky again. “Maybe once or twice. I have broken my leg before, and have recently been mauled by a mog.”
“Really? How?”
Annastaria hesitated before answering, “It is… a long story. I broke my leg from falling once while navigating a mountainside.” She would say no more, and Bastillina could see it.
But that didn’t stop her from a different question that she knew could not be harmful to ask Annastaria. “What’s it like?” she began, “To be on a mountain?”
Again, Annastaria looked to her, surprised by the question, and also realizing that she shouldn’t be, given Bastillina’s sad history. “It is peaceful.” she answered. Then she nearly burst out in small laughter and continued, “That is, if you do not break your leg.”
Bastillina chuckled with her. “I’d love to climb one some day.”
“We will be going through mountains soon enough.”
“Really?” Bastillina asked, growing excited.
Annastaria acknowledged with a nod, but she couldn’t let Bastillina think it was entirely exciting. “You should be warned, however,” she said, “that the mountains we are entering through soon… They are not going to be easy.”
“I’m ready for a good climb.”
“It is not simply the climb that I am speaking of.” Bastillina’s face went still. “The mountains,” Annastaria continued, “especially in the north, often contain hidden dangers.”
“What kind of dangers?”
“I cannot say for certain in these parts, as I am not greatly familiar with them. What I know is that those are commonly where dragons are found, trolls and other strange and dangerous creatures. We must be ready to encounter such things.”
Bastillina looked away, considering that thought for a moment. She had never seen dragons or any other beasts that would roam mountains. The closest thing she ever saw were lions and tigers, and mogs, which she only saw at the zoo in Levaan. The other creatures of the world were considered ‘monsters’ or apex creatures that could not be tamed. But she also remembered what Oden said about them. Maybe they were all really scared of her and others, and if they treated these ‘monsters’ as any other kinds of wild animals, left them alone, it wouldn’t be so bad. “Well, whatever happens.” she said, “I’m glad I’ll have you guys to help me.”
“You will have me, certainly, but we cannot be certain of the other two.”
Bastillina looked over at Oden and Rolek, both of whom paid them no attention. Annastaria looked to them for a moment as well. “Bella,” Annastaria called quietly, drawing Bastillina’s eyes to her. Annastaria stood up to continue, “I need you to keep a watchful eye, especially on the one called Rolek… I do not trust him. He desires the artifact, as well as Oden’s reward. He’s the same kind of person as those criminals from Levaan; willing to destroy others for money and profit. We cannot let him have the artifact.”
Bastillina nodded. “What are you going to do with the artifact?”
“I have friends, similar to Istvan who I will give it to. They will know what to do with it.”
Again, Bastillina nodded, unsure of the idea, but trusting Annastaria enough that her intentions were far better than Rolek or Oden’s. She turned back to Rolek and Oden again, who continued to converse blissfully by the fire. She heeded Annastaria’s warning about Rolek, but felt the need to thank Oden for retrieving her necklace. She fiddled with it around her neck as she looked at him, contemplating when would be the best time to thank him, but also about who he was. She wasn’t convinced, as Annastaria was, that Oden was owed contempt. He was kind, helpful and gracious; he got her her necklace back. Why would any average, low-life thief do something like that?
She saw her chance when Rolek stood up and stepped away somewhere into the darkness surrounding them to pee, as she regretfully heard him say. She looked at Annastaria, whose back was rolled against them by now to sleep, and then back at Oden, sitting alone. She hesitated for a moment, feeling as though Annastaria could turn back to her at any moment and scold her for what she was going to do, but she only had a few minutes before Rolek would return. She stood up and went to Oden, who at first was not aware of her approach off to his left until she came into the illuminating, flickering light of the fire.
“Oh, hey.” he said, greeting her.
“Can I sit?” she asked.
“Of course–make yourself comfortable.”
Bastillina smiled and sat on the ground next to him. “Wow,” she said, looking at the fire, “the fire feels good.”
“I’ll say. Why are you and Erene sitting all the way back there?”
Bastillina looked back at Annastaria for a moment, still rolled over. “She insists.” she said.
“She’s still mad at me, huh?” he said.
“Kind of.”
Oden smirked, looking at the fire again, and it became eerily quiet between them. Bastillina began to wonder if now was the time to say, or if she should get to the point with more conversation. The only thing she knew for certain was that Rolek would be back in only a few seconds if not minutes. “Thanks for getting my necklace back from that hotel.” she finally said.
He looked at her, as if coming out of a daydream. “Hmm? Oh… no problem. Figured it was important to you since you always fiddle with it when you’re just sitting there.”
“I do?”
“Just a little bit.” Oden said with a small chuckle, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Sentimental value is always important, especially when you’re on the road… So who gave you that necklace? It’s very pretty.”
Bastillina looked at it for a moment before replying, “Someone I met back east… At least I think it was east. I’m not really good at direction; I just feel like we’re… going left.”
“Well, if north is straight ahead then yeah, we’re going that way… So what’s the necklace mean?”
Bastillina shrugged, “I dunno. I just know it’s supposed to be a rare kind of rock or stone that he carved it out of. I just… really like it. I don’t know why.”
“That’s fine. I’m just glad you got it back, and even more glad I found you out there.” Oden paused then, looking around and at Annastaria for a quick moment. He leaned over to whisper to Bastillina, “Hey, so if I may ask… what were you doing out there in the middle of the forest, at night, and alone?”
Bastillina thought for a moment, realizing how bad that sounded coming from Oden. She shrugged again, looking down and still fiddling with her necklace, “I was told to wait there.”
“Why? What kind of request is that? You know what could be out here at night?”
“Erene told me it was best. She didn’t want me to go into that place back there.”
Oden paused to consider that for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense… Still a bad idea, though.”
Bastillina stayed silent, and thought more on the matter. She didn’t feel like she was in any danger out there, but maybe Oden had a point. Then again, when she heard about what happened in that place, and Annastaria getting shot, she had to wonder if in the end it was a good call.
They heard footsteps approaching from the direction Rolek left in, and turned quickly to see him come back into the fire-lit area. He looked at both of them and the stillness that resided in the air apart from the fire. “Did I… interrupt something?” he asked.
“Not at all.” Oden said, “Bella and I were just having a little chat.”
“I sure hope you weren’t talking about little ole me.” Rolek replied as he went to sit back at the spot he was in.
As soon as he sat, Bastillina stood up, as if meaning to once he sat down. “I was just going to bed.” she said coldly. She looked at Oden, “Good night.” and walked back to Annastaria.
Oden watched her for a moment, put off by the sudden turn to distance herself from them and then looked to Rolek. “Making friends quickly, are we?” he said to Rolek with a smirk.
Rolek smirked back as he took a drink from his canteen. “Friends…” he said, as if to reflect on the word. He looked down for a moment, and Oden could see something heavy seem to drop onto his mind. “That’s an interesting word.” he continued, looking towards Bastillina and Annastaria. It was difficult to see them while in the light looking to the dark, but he could see Bastillina settling in to go to sleep near Annastaria.
“Have something on your mind?” Oden asked him.
Rolek stared into the fire, seemingly frozen in time. “We’ve all got something on our mind, don’t we?” he said. Oden was caught off guard with the question. Rolek looked at him, “I’m gonna go do a little sentry before I hit the sack. Get some sleep.” He stood up and walked away once again. Oden didn’t know what to do or think. Before they were talking about cooking, restaurants, the world masters tournament, their favorite fighters, and fishing. Now Rolek seemed distant.
When he was safe in the dark, Rolek looked back one more time, able to see Oden from his safe fifteen-feet distance from amidst the trees. He stopped and leaned against a tree, looking ahead to nowhere in particular. He reached into the left-chest pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small box sealed with a small buckle. He looked at it for a moment, contemplating whether he should open it or not, wondering what it would stir in his heart if he gazed upon what was inside. Finally he flipped open the locking mechanism, and opened the small box and inside was a red-colored crystaline stone, with turquoise and charcoal parts on it as well.
He hadn’t actually opened it in some time since he had it. He set his sights on it, and the memories it brought to mind. It reminded him of his entire purpose for living, and the one whom he sought after. Oden was only a means to that end. Now Erene stood in the way of that, and looking upon the red stone, and all it reminded him of, he set his mind on taking the artifact.
Masters of Eldreon 