The Book of Deacon: Book 02 - The Great Convergence (39 page)

Myranda ignored her.

"Lain. I understand how you feel. But think
about it. You can't just hide her away. She doesn't know what you
have planned for her. She won't be happy when she hears that you
plan to leave her," Myranda said.

"I do not care if she is happy. My only
concern is that she survives," Lain said.

"I know what happened when she became too
frightened, and you have seen what happened when she became angry.
It is only a matter of time before something like that happens
again. Will these friends you hope to leave her with be able to
handle that? They certainly won't be able to hide it, and before
long agents of the D'karon will be after her," Myranda
reasoned.

"Then I will take her where she cannot be
found. I will take her to those who can handle her," Lain said.

"Entwell," Myranda said.

Her mind flashed upon her time there. It was
a paradise, certainly the happiest time of her life, and it was the
perfect place for Ivy. But it would not do. It would waste time and
leave them with an incomplete force.

"How do you suppose you will get her there?
The cave is a terrifying place. What guarantee do we have that the
way is even open? Do you suppose that we can afford to remain
within the cave for months waiting for it to clear?" Myranda
said.

Lain stopped once more.

"Lain, the best way to make her safe is to
see to it that the world she lives in is safe. I give you my word
that I will protect her with my life. As long as I live, she will
live," she swore to him.

"Some assurance. The feeble of body
protecting the feeble of mind. Were I you, human, I would focus on
preserving my own fragile form. After all, that lizard of yours was
far better equipped to protect someone than you, and - " Ether
said.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence,"
Myranda hissed.

"Listen, human, do not think that your
recently bestowed status as my comrade in arms in any way makes you
my equal. I will not abide anything short of reverence from you,"
Ether warned.

"Reverence? What have you done to earn my
reverence? You condescend to all around you. You care nothing for
anyone. You
run away
from any battle that manages to even
threaten you!" Myranda fumed.

"I have yet to face anything that could hope
to do anything more than delay me, and it is just such a delay that
I am bound by my purpose to avoid at all costs. You, on the other
hand, have no respect for the purpose for which you have been so
recently tapped. Look at you. You are wasting away. Seldom do we
have an encounter of any kind that fails to leave you at death's
door. You didn't eat yesterday, and with that anchor about Lain's
shoulders, I do not imagine he will be providing a meal any time
soon. You are the victim of innumerable weaknesses. You would do
well to address them before attempting to offer aid to those
infinitely superior to you," she said.

"I can take care of myself. Unlike you, I
know what pain and difficulty is. I face it every day," Myranda
said.

"The insignificant things that constitute
pain and hardship in your pitiful life are nothing to the trials
that lie ahead. Do not presume that-" Ether began.

"Silence," Lain stated with authority.

Both Ether and Myranda instantly obeyed.
Seldom did Lain address either of them. From one who spoke so
seldom, words carried considerably more weight. No explanation of
his order followed, but none was needed. The group simply continued
south in silence. Before long, the reality of the situation came
heavily upon Myranda. Her stomach growled, and she could feel the
nagging weakness that assured her she was more than simply hungry,
she was truly starving. She rummaged through the bag. All that
remained was the stylus, a rock hard frozen potato, two knives, and
her canteen. All the rest had been washed away or used up. She
transferred the potato to the inside of her cloak. It was an old
trick, her body heat would eventually thaw it enough to be edible.
Ether watched Myranda with her emotionless gaze, silently judging
her.

Time wore on. The sun began to fade, and the
air became colder. Myranda wrapped her hand around the pendant that
Myn had worn. She missed her. Even the absence of the sound of her
footsteps made the world seem hollow. Tears trickled down her face.
She quickly wiped them away, more to avoid a comment from Ether
than to keep them from freezing. It was a pointless act. Before a
second tear could fall, Ether had begun her assault.

"So. This is sadness. Clearly the most
worthless emotion," she said quietly.

Myranda ignored her, but she went on.

"What possible purpose can be served by
mourning the dead? Fear keeps you from danger, and anger motivates
you to take action. Mourning does nothing. For mortals, death is a
certainty from birth. A fact that each passing moment you are
keenly aware of. To alter your behavior in any way when an
anticipated inevitability occurs shows a disdain for what little
knowledge you have of your future," Ether stated.

"Myn was my friend. I cared about her,"
Myranda said.

"Well she is gone. Any time spent thinking of
her is wasted. She doesn't matter anymore," Ether proclaimed.

Myranda opened her mouth to object, but
before she could, Ivy stirred. She stretched and yawned before
being lowered to the ground by Lain. She looked about sleepily, her
mind slowly taking in her surroundings.

"What happened . . . what was going on?" She
asked, more to herself than her friends.

Slowly the memory of her last waking moments
returned, and a desperate, terrified look came to her face.

"The monster! It came back, didn't it! What
did it do?" she cried.

Her eyes darted around. The surroundings were
different. There were no enemies about. No one seemed hurt . . .
but someone was missing.

"Where is Myn?" she gasped.

Myranda didn't need to answer. The look in
her eyes was answer enough.

"No . . . NO! She's gone! She's dead!" she
cried, a torrent of tears and sobs following.

As before, it didn't take long for the
intensity of Ivy's sorrow to infect Myranda. Somehow Lain and Ether
seemed immune, but the weeping creature was inconsolable, and
Myranda had to fight her own sadness compounded with Ivy's. She
offered her shoulder to cry on, all the while choking back her own
tears. In the back of her mind she prayed that Ether would remain
silent. Mercifully, it would seem that sorrow did not bring a
violent reaction similar to those that anger and fear had, but it
would only take a few of Ether's venom soaked words to turn this
into a far more volatile situation. For now, the shape shifter
simply stood with her cold, judging stare. It was several minutes
before Ivy was able to fit words between her sobs again.

"Did you see the monster? Did you see it
happen?" she asked, sniffling.

"There wasn't . . . it wasn't . . . " Myranda
began, hesitating.

"The monster
did
come. I know it, I
felt coming it. What did the monster do? What did it look like?"
she asked.

"It was . . . " Myranda began. She was not
sure what to do. Could she tell the truth? Surely not, but neither
could she feed Ivy's fears of this monster by lying. For better or
for worse, her decision was made for her.

"
You
are the monster," Ether said.

Lain and Myranda shot her a savage look.

"What?" Ivy asked.

"Ivy, listen to me, she-" Myranda began, but
Ivy cut her off.

"No! . . . Let
her
tell me," Ivy said.
"You were talking to me, right before the monster came. You were
saying terrible things about me. What happened after that?"

She looked resolutely at the shape shifter.
The tears still trickled down her cheeks, but she knew that Ether
would tell her what Myranda didn't want her to hear.

"Your fragile mind couldn't handle the truth.
You lost control of the divine gift you have been given,
transformed into a raging berserker, and tried to kill me. You
failed pitifully, and in doing so, you managed to destroy the bulk
of the creatures that had attacked," she said.

"But . . . I couldn't . . . how could I?" Ivy
said, struggling to comprehend what had been said.

"Isn't it obvious? What do you suppose they
were doing to you in that place? They were turning you into a
weapon. Clearly they have succeeded," she said.

Ivy shook her head and looked pleadingly to
Myranda, hoping to hear a contradiction. An apologetic look was all
that came in return.

"But I helped, right? I . . . killed the
things that were trying to hurt us? You aren't going to make me go
away, are you?! I can stay with you, can't I?!" Ivy pleaded.

"The decision has already been made. You
shall be delivered to the south and we shall continue with our task
unhindered by your idiocy," Ether informed her.

"No. Myranda wouldn't do that," she said.

"It was not the human's decision," Ether
explained.

"Well if it was you then I don't have to
listen. You're mean," she said, crossing her arms.

"Were I to have my way you would be festering
in the bottom of that ruined fort. Lain is the one who deems this
journey necessary," Ether said.

Ivy looked to the culprit. Lain's cold gaze
stared back.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" she
demanded, tears welling up again.

"Something wrong? You are a menace! You . . .
" Ether began.

"Quiet! I know what you think! Now I want to
know what he thinks," she demanded.

"Very well. Hear it from the mouth of Lain.
The message is the same," Ether stated.

She locked eyes with Lain. After a long
silence, he spoke.

"You are a danger to yourself. I will not
allow you to die," Lain answered.

"But I . . . I," Ivy stuttered. "I'll be
careful! I'll stay hidden! I'll do whatever you say. Don't make me
go!"

"I will not humor you, I will not coddle you.
I will not be kind. What must be done shall be done," Lain
stated.

With that he turned suddenly to the
mountains. A breath of wind had carried the scent of a long overdue
meal, and with a burst of his startling speed, he was off after it.
With teary eyes, Ivy watched him go. She then turned to Myranda,
running to her like a scolded child. As Myranda comforted her,
Ether cast a judgmental gaze over the scene. Her face bore a vague
expression of contemplation, peppered with a dash of revulsion.
Myranda prayed that she would have the wisdom and decency to hold
her tongue until Ivy had recovered somewhat. It came as no surprise
when those prayers went unanswered.

"Explain," she demanded.

"Ether, please, just give her some time,"
Myranda begged.

"No. You. Explain this. Why does this
creature have such an effect on the two of you. She is undoubtedly
a source of tremendous mystic might, able even to inflict her
emotions on others, but you behave with the same foolishness even
when the effect is absent," Ether said.

"I don't expect
you
to understand
this, Ether, but people need each other. We need to care about
others, and we need others to care about us. Lain has fought it for
most of his life, but now that he has finally found one of his own,
he can't deny it anymore. He needs her. We need her. And she needs
us," Myranda said.

"Mmm. It is actually quite fascinating. You
see, the true reason for such feelings, as well as why they are
nearly exclusive to mortals, is really quite simple. Love between a
male and a female is merely a means to ensure the propagation of
bloodlines, and love for others is at best a means to ensure that
the brood persists. Creatures slightly lower than humans and the
like devote the whole of their existence to these tasks. For
creatures that have just enough intelligence to become distracted,
nature must fool them into maintaining their kind. To know that you
cannot explain this need, but value it deeply, speaks volumes of
its fundamental nature," Ether said.

Myranda and Ivy shot her the same stern look.
Ivy then turned to Myranda.

"Do you really mean that? You need me?" Ivy
asked.

"The world needs you, Ivy. You are a very
important creature," Myranda said.

Ivy sniffled. "The whole world? No. How?"

"You are Chosen," Myranda said.

"I know. They said it a lot when I was there,
and you and Ether argued about it when you found me. What does it
mean?" Ivy asked.

"It means that you, Lain, Ether, myself, and
one more person are the only ones who can stop the people who
started the war," Myranda explained.

"The teachers?" she asked.

Myranda nodded.

"I can't stop them. I don't think you can
either. There are a lot of them, and they can do things that no one
should be able to do," Ivy said with a shudder.

"Well we have to try, because if we don't, no
one will," Myranda explained.

"But if that is true, then why does Lain want
me to go away, and why doesn't Ether like me at all?" Ivy
asked.

"Lain is worried that, if you die, then he
will be the last of his kind. Ether . . . Ether thinks that there
are others better suited to the task than you," Myranda said.

The shape shifter's face became visibly more
stern at the gently worded explanation. For the moment, at least,
she kept silent. For a time Ivy too was silent. She looked
defeated, confused, and frightened.

"Where will I go? Who will take care of me?"
she asked.

"Well . . . If you go to the south, Lain
claims to have friends there," she said.

"No! No friends. You said Ether was a friend
and she hates me. He was supposed to be a friend and he wants me to
go away," she said, shaking her head.

"The only other place is a place called
Entwell. It is a wonderful place, and there are wonderful people
there. You will certainly be safe, but it is difficult to get
there. It is a long trip through a dangerous cave. And once you are
there, it will not be easy to leave," Myranda said.