The Last of the Ageless (49 page)

The pot had landed on its side, the dark brown nuggets scattered outside. Ti’rros scooped them all up. “They may be overcooked…”

Jorrim sidled up beside Korreth and tapped,
The Ageless are our true enemies.

Korreth glanced over at the mystic’s unmoving form—the only one who could ‘listen’ to his tapped conversations with Jorrim by eavesdropping on their thoughts.

“I have to warn Kaia.” Soledad pulled the Ancient communication device from her clothing. Jorrim took a step toward her, and she narrowed her eyes. “Sit down and eat.”

Jorrim abruptly sat. Ti’rros passed a few of the brown nuggets to each of them, and then took a few for herself. Each of the round objects split open in an X. Jorrim pulled the X apart, peeling away the inner fleshy parts to eat.

Only then did Korreth recognize them as nuts, not tubers. He mimicked his friend’s methods, but when he took a bite, the taste wasn’t much different from a tuber.

This is not going well,
he tapped on Jorrim’s forearm while they ate.

Soledad walked away, talking quietly to Kaia.

Jorrim tapped back.
If Zen takes control, we fight them and him.

Except the Changeling boy.

Maybe. Not sure I believe the mystic.
Jorrim’s eyes scanned the group.

He shrugged, knowing he wouldn’t be able to convince Jorrim to trust the boy. Having Dalan on their side would help even the odds versus Zen, Nyr, Caetl, and Ti’rros. Korreth pulled his rifle closer to his side, within easy reach, and tried to listen to the rest of Soledad’s conversation.

“Over and out.” Soledad turned off the device and kicked up dust as she stalked back toward the fire.

She cracked one of the nuts open and began ripping chunks from inside, her eyebrows drawn down. Korreth decided he didn’t care why she was angry. She wanted to fight Zen no matter what anyone thought, fellow Ageless or otherwise, and in doing so, she’d probably get her slaves killed.

You must stop the Wizard before my mind snaps.
Korreth startled at the voice in his head, and then noticed the mystic staring from across the fire.

Caetl crouched, and his eyes burned into Korreth.
I’ve protected them as much as I can, but I can’t sever the leash. Truly, Dalan is the only one you should trust. If I lose it, you may all be in danger.

Korreth focused his thoughts across the fire.
Tell me about what Soledad plans to do. If we were free of her, we wouldn’t have to fight Zen at all. We could all focus on helping you defeat this Wizard.

Caetl’s lips drew back in an unnatural smile.
I’m a mystic, you know. If you had your freedom, why would you stay to help a few Changelings? Surely we can handle our own affairs, right? The truth is, I don’t know how to free you. To survive, though, you’ll need us.

Korreth clenched his hands around the unopened nuts.
She told me a way one of us can get free…

Yes, I see. But I can’t say for certain whether it’s true. She is clever, your mistress. Since learning of my abilities, she hides her thoughts. She’s met my kind before.

Then at least tell me what you saw earlier about how she plans to defeat Zen.

You’re the key. You have the nanobots. To—

The mystic’s hands dropped from his knees. His eyes wide, he spoke in a monotone, like an oracle divining the Catastrophe. “The Wizard has allied himself with Zen.”

Caetl’s tight expression betrayed his fear. “They’re headed to Searchtown. And he’s shown Zen how to use the amplifier connected to our talismans.”

Chapter 25

Dalan’s consciousness surfaced like an air bubble freed from a sunken ship. The world swayed, and he heard a constant streaming sound that reminded him of water. The bright sun overhead made it hard to open his eyes.

He panicked, unsure of whether he’d maintained a meld until he felt the fur growing between his fingers. His arms wrapped around something that held him upright, and he opened his eyes. In the saddle in front of him rode the blond Purebred man who’d fled from Zen with them.

“Wh—Why are my arms…”

“We had you bound to keep you from falling off. Now that you’re awake, maybe you’ll stop drooling on my back.”

The bindings loosened, and Dalan pulled his arms away. Being so close to another person made him uncomfortable, but he needed to figure out what was going on before he complained. He remembered Caetl had told him they weren’t their enemies.

“Oh,
he
gets untied?” Nyr’s voice came from his right. A rope bound her good wrist to the saddle horn in front of her, and the dark man riding behind her looked unsettled. The horses left deep trenches in the grasses, causing the streaming sound Dalan had noticed upon regaining consciousness. Ti’rros walked alongside.

“What are your names, again?” Dalan asked around his dry and unresponsive tongue.

“I’m Jorrim, and you’ll be wanting this.” Jorrim handed back a canteen, which Dalan wasted no time uncorking. “The one who’s afraid of your Changeling friend is Korreth.”

With his meaty hands tied to the third horse’s saddle horn, Caetl’s arms made walls around a little girl, Soledad.

“It’s awkward for all of us,” Soledad said in her childish voice. “Your friend Caetl warned us what would happen if Liang decides to pull their strings.”

Caetl’s expression didn’t change at any of her words.

“Is that why my friends are bound?” Dalan mentally nudged Saquey, hoping his companion had followed along. He let out a sigh when he sensed the dragonfly’s presence not far away.

“Yes. It’s not just the Wizard anymore,” Korreth said. “Caetl also told us that Zen and the Wizard have allied themselves together.”

Saquey showed Dalan Searchtown from a high vantage point. He assumed the little dots south of the town must be them and their horses. “Why are we going to Searchtown?”

“Because that’s where your master and the cyborg are headed,” Jorrim said.

He wasn’t sure his mental question would get through, but he tried anyway.
Can’t shield us from the Wizard anymore, Caetl?

“I told you not to call him that.” Nyr growled at Jorrim.

“If he can make you do what he wants—”

Caetl’s warm voice filled Dalan’s mind.
I’m not so sure of that anymore. Our only choice is to confront them directly.

“He can’t,” Nyr snapped. “He can just scream really loud.”

“Glad I slept through most of this,” Dalan said. Korreth smiled wryly and nodded from behind Nyr’s back.

Soledad said, “I’ve already talked to Kaia twice. She’s gathering her things and will be ready to leave Searchtown when we get there. Your mystic friend will try to keep you safe, mentally.”

Caetl’s expression remained placid as he stared at the sky.
I’ve already told Ti’rros and Nyr about the Ageless and their powers.
He made no eye contact, leaving Dalan to wonder who he may have been talking to before.
The Advisor, Kaia, is probably not our enemy. Nor is a red-haired Ageless man you may meet, named Gryid. Soledad, on the other hand, may yet become our enemy.

Why?
Dalan couldn’t keep his gaze from darting over to her.

She’s doing a good job keeping me out of her head, so I can’t be sure of her motives. All I know is, she’s as determined to take down Zen as we are to take down the Wizard. And she feels deeply betrayed by the fact that he joined Zen.

Dalan raised his eyebrows.

So remember,
Caetl continued,
the Ageless can constantly shift ages. If you injure one age, they’ll just switch to another and keep going. It also means they won’t get tired, although I believe they can become mentally fatigued.

So how—

You have to do something that instantly kills them or incapacitates them mentally. While you try to accomplish the former, I’ll try the latter, though I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. But…

The contact between them disappeared, leaving Dalan with the strange feeling of a gap in his mind. The mystic’s face remained as blank as ever. Then his words entered Dalan’s head once more.
I’m not as strong as I once was.

The town grew larger, and soon they reined in outside its shoddy walls, where a handful of people waited. Dalan hopped into the grasses but stumbled to one knee. Regaining his feet, his lower back protested.

Jorrim laughed as he dismounted. Then he groaned and stretched. “Alright, I guess that was a long time on horseback.”

The people stared at them, saying nothing, which Dalan took to be a good sign. Ti’rros tapped on his shoulder, and he unwrapped the rope from her silver wrists. Korreth’s unease was palpable, so Dalan wobbled his way over and untied Nyr as well. Korreth nodded his thanks as he slid out of the saddle.

Jorrim sprang to the top of the wall, and the rest soon followed. The guards on the wall parted out of their way, and Dalan wondered whether they knew about the approaching enemy. The last to clamber over the wall, he struggled to keep his human muscles, but the tail-horse’s fur and enough bulk to hide the necklace.

What greeted them on the other side was chaos. Townspeople swarmed through the pathways between buildings like ants. Many had expressions of anxiety or outright fear on their faces, and the rest looked grim, but they all moved with a purpose.

A freckled woman disengaged herself from the fray and made her way toward them.

“Edanna.” Jorrim hugged her.

“You came back.” She sounded pleased, and Dalan wondered how they’d come to know each other.

Edanna faced the rest of them with Jorrim’s arm draped over her shoulders. “Welcome to Searchtown. I am Edanna Vesuvi. Please forgive the Advisor for not meeting you herself, but she had her own preparations to make. If you follow me, I’ll be happy to escort you to her.”

As they trailed behind her and Jorrim, they paralleled the edge of the V-shaped building. Edanna called out to people as they passed, asking them to check on others, or see to it that something got packed.

She brought them to the black doors in the V-shaped building and motioned them inside ahead of herself. “Please.”

Nyr’s brows lowered in suspicion, but Dalan thought Edanna’s actions might be the cultural habit of people used to living in walled buildings.

Saquey hovered overhead, unwilling to enter as they crowded into a room that could’ve housed the Wizard’s entire hut. Edanna whispered to Jorrim before stepping outside. Despite the high ceilings, Dalan felt trapped when Edanna closed the door behind her.

With a series of images, he asked Saquey to circle the town, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. Three times as many guards lined the walls and stood watch in the towers as when they’d been here before, but he wanted to be the first to know when Zen and the Wizard showed up.

In unkempt robes, the Advisor appeared from a room on the right. She looked older than he remembered. “Welcome to Searchtown.”

Soledad introduced everyone, referring to the Advisor as Kaia.

Kaia said, “Dalan, I hope you’ll accept my apologies for the way I treated you the last time you were here.”

He bowed his head slightly. “Apologies for the way I treated you as well, Advisor.” From the corner of his eye, he saw Nyr run her uninjured hand over a humming box.

“Don’t touch that!” Kaia yelled, and a squad of soldiers burst into the room. Korreth and Jorrim fell into fighting stances, staring at the soldiers where they halted. Dalan recognized the squad leader as Abrajay. His expression soured when his eyes fell on Dalan.

“No need to overreact.” Nyr’s eyes scanned the soldiers, and he guessed she was imagining how she’d take them down one by one.

“Everyone calm down,” Soledad said. “We’re all friends here.”

“Friends?” Abrajay signaled, and his people fanned out, surrounding them.

“Allies, Mr. Critchbyrd,” Kaia corrected. “And I’m afraid we don’t have much time. I need you to escort the people to safety.”

“And yourself,” Abrajay said. “You’ll be coming with us, Advisor.”

Kaia smiled. “Of course I’ll leave Searchtown, but there are things I must do first.”

The soldier stood straighter. “Say the word, and others will assist you. All the sacred relics are already packed and on their way out of town.”

“Trust me, Mr. Critchbyrd.” Kaia laid a hand on his shoulder. Dalan wondered why the people here had two names. “I will be ready to leave when the time comes. Nothing could be more important to me than your lives.”

Soledad spoke up. “We need to figure out where we can ensnare them. If Zen is trapped or weakened somehow, it won’t take me long to defeat him.”

Abrajay snorted. Soledad shifted into a matronly age. “You think your mistress is the only one with relics of Ancient power?”

Nyr caught Dalan’s eye and shook her head. While Soledad and Kaia spoke with Abrajay, Nyr murmured, “We need to separate the Wizard and Zen. According to the mystic, Zen wants the technology Kaia hides. So if we could make her the bait…” Korreth and Jorrim edged over.