The Way of the Sword and Gun (23 page)

Inhale — the fingers of one undead soldier touched Owl's foot. Exhale — Owl's finger settled on the trigger. Inhale — the undead with mouths slobbered as they readied to feed. Exhale —

* * * *

The vines squeezed the air from Malja's lungs. Spots formed wherever she looked. Still, she strained to move her arm, to cut through with Viper, to do anything that might stop Salia.

Fawbry's incessant babbling changed. It sounded excited, hopeful. Malja craned her neck around, and from the corner of her eye, she saw something both wonderful and disturbing.

Ten feet above the ground, Tommy floated in — cross-legged, eyes locked in deep meditation upon his tattoos, his face serene yet purposeful. Below and to the side floated Master Kee in a similar position. Energy shimmered between the two magicians like a desert mirage.

Salia noticed the boy, too. She flicked her right hand, sending both eel-beasts at him. With another motion, she sent the body parts of her sacrificed soldiers into the chasm. Seven fitulags popped out and zipped by Fawbry on their direct course for Tommy, their numerous legs clicking against the debris-filled ground.

Like a great singer belting out the final note of an epic song, Master Kee opened his mouth and released a long tone. The creatures rushing towards them smashed against an invisible barrier. Wherever these beasts made contact with the barrier, fire burst out. The poor things wanted to run away — they whimpered as they attempted to do so — but Salia's magic kept them attacking and burning.

Tommy reached out with both arms and made a motion as if he were pressing down upon the portal. Salia scowled, bringing both her hands around to keep the portal open. But every time Master Kee repelled her creatures, Salia had to snap her magic after the fitulags or else they would run off. Tommy pressed harder, forcing her to move between spells faster.

Malja noticed the vines loosening around her. Not enough to free her, but clear evidence that Salia had difficulty juggling all she had to deal with. Malja struggled more against her bonds, hoping to either free herself or add to Salia's troubles.

"You cannot do this," Salia screeched. "I am the goddess of all worlds." She thrust her arms forward, and Malja caught a glimpse of Tommy tumbling away. "No one can—"

The edges of the portal trembled and contracted, and Salia had to focus her energy on keeping it open. Though Tommy and Master Kee had been hit, Malja could hear Fawbry cheering them on. They must have regrouped quickly.

Malja leaned forward, her eyes ignoring Salia. Her mouth dropped open as she tried to accept what she saw. Deep in the portal, amidst the lightning and rain, a man stood — a man wearing a black assault suit just like her own. He seemed to see her, too. He stared right through the portal at her. He took three steps and stopped at the portal's edge.

And he put his hand through the portal.

Tears welled in Malja's eyes. She pulled hard against the vines, trying to free just one arm. Her muscles strained and if not for her assault suit, she would have pulled or maybe even torn them.

She opened her mouth but couldn't come up with words to say. As the portal edges closed more, Salia fell, her right hand dropping to the blood-soaked floor to keep her steady.

Malja looked to the man in the portal. Whether or not he understood what he saw, she could tell one thing — he knew she could not take his hand. He pulled back and walked away.

Tommy hovered above. His eyes remained closed. With a forceful motion, he brought his arms down and the portal slammed closed.

The scream that ripped out of Salia matched the thunderous crash of the portal. She wailed like a mother losing a newborn. Her cries cracked as she shattered her vocal chords, yet she did not stop.

The vines holding Malja fell apart, dropping her to the stairs. She landed hard and her limbs tingled as blood recirculated. Despite her pains, Malja knew not to waste any time.

With just a few steps, she stood over Salia. The mad queen raised an arm. Before she could cast any spell, Malja hooked Viper underneath the woman's rib cage and lifted her overhead. The screams no longer were those of failed magic or anger at her enemy. They were screams of pain and terror.

Mixed with laughter.

No trace of sanity remained.

With both hands gripping Viper, Malja held Salia hooked overhead. The queen gibbered and laughed and spit and screamed. Malja rushed down the stairs, not wanting to lose her momentum. At the chasm's edge, she hurled Salia into the deep darkness. The eel-beasts, the fitulags, and the unseen creatures below cackled and crowed and hooted their joy at finally receiving a meal. Even as they feasted, Malja heard the Queen's cackles of madness.

From across the open ground, Fawbry shouted, "Is it over?" When she nodded, Fawbry collapsed with an exhausted sigh.

Malja eased to the ground and joined her companion in a few moments of quiet.

Owl

As Owl rode up to the Library, he wasn't sure which looked worse — Malja or himself. Fawbry and Master Kee were clearing the stairs of blood and rubble while Malja stood before a wide gouge in the ground. She held an apple and took a big bite. Tommy sat near her, dangling his feet over the edge, with a dazed expression and his arms wrapped around her leg.

"You're alive!" Fawbry said, running all the way around the gouge to reach Owl. It took a while, but no other greeting could have pleased him more. "Thank Kryssta. When you didn't show up here, I was sure you had died."

"I think it was close. But I'm here."

"You are here. Which means you did it — you defeated Brother X. And you said you weren't a mythical warrior."

Owl dismounted and patted his horse. On his way to the Library, he had decided not to share all that had happened with the undead. In any normal circumstances, the use of an Honor Bullet held a supreme sense of privacy. More so than prayer. He saw no reason to break that tradition. Besides, how could he explain it to those not trained in the Way?

He had been sitting against that transport with the gun pressed against his head. The undead wriggled toward him. And he pulled the trigger. Only a click and nothing happened.

The undead crept closer. He could smell them surrounding him — a foul odor of bile and blood. Those that still had a voice moaned.

Fumbling with the gun, he checked it over, but he saw nothing wrong. A Guardian always kept his weapon in excellent condition. It should have fired. He reset the gun and put it to his head.

Then the undead stopped. They just fell. Once more dead.

Owl remained with the gun at his head, ready to fire. He waited for several minutes, unsure what to think of this change. At length, when the dead did not rise again, he entertained the possibility that Malja might have succeeded. If Salia's power had been cut, nobody was keeping the dead animated. Still, he did not move.

Only when his horse meandered by did Owl enter a clearer sense of consciousness. He lowered his weapon and gazed up at the beautiful animal. Sometimes, Kryssta didn't bother with subtlety. He holstered his weapon and climbed the horse.

Without command, the horse headed for the Library. Good thing too, because Owl required most of the ride to return to full awareness. Seeing Malja and Fawbry somehow made the whole experience a bit surreal, though. Better to leave it buried within for now. Maybe, someday later, he might ask Master Kee about it, but for now, he merely let it lay beneath the surface.

Malja and Tommy walked over. She shook his hand. "Y'know, with Salia and Brother X gone now, there's nobody in place to take charge. Penmarvia is going to end up a lot like Corlin, and I can tell you firsthand anarchy only works in small groups. Salia City's going to be a bad place for a while."

"I'm still here," Owl said. "Master Kee is still here. We'll just have to rebuild."

Master Kee heard this and scurried over. "That's wonderful. I didn't want to impose my hopes upon you but I'm thrilled you'll stay with me."

"Where else would I go?"

Kicking at the ground, Fawbry said, "We were thinking of asking you to join us."

Owl clasped Fawbry around the shoulder. "You're very kind to offer, but I belong with the Order. Please, always consider me your friend, and know you'll forever find a safe haven at the Order."

"There is one problem," Master Kee said, his face turned down.

"Problem?" Owl said.

"The Order is going to have to recruit new students — both magicians and trainees in the Way. That's a lot of work for me. Not to mention all the regular duties of a Chief Master."

"That's right. You've inherited the role."

"And its duties."

"You'll be fine. Besides, you know I can teach the Way."

"No," Master Kee said, and Owl's hurt was palpable. "Only a Master can teach a student." Malja crossed her arms but Master Kee held up his hand to stop any protests. "Therefore, when taking into account your defeat of our most skilled practitioner, Brother X, as well as all your contributions to helping stop Queen Salia, I see no reason not to award you the title of Master. Master Owl, do you accept?"

A smile broke across Owl's face so wide, he thought his skin might split. "Yes, Chief Master. I accept with humbleness and honor."

"Marvelous." Chief Master clapped his hands, and Owl thought the man would have loved to open a bottle of wine if they had one. "Then there is one more matter we need to put in place before we can truly rebuild our Order. Malja, you have the code to decipher the Library texts. Please share it with us, so that we may prevent this from ever happening again."

Malja's face took on a strange twist. She stepped back as if ready for another fight. "No," she said.

"Don't do this," Chief Master said, his old face aging more. "You can't possibly be thinking of using it for yourself. I know you want to find your home world, but it's too dangerous. You've just seen that yourself."

"I'm not going to use it. Magic like this is too powerful for any one person. Or any group." She looked directly at Owl. "You want to rebuild? You do so without the Library."

"It's not right to lock away knowledge."

"I won't share the codes. If I could forget them, I would."

Chief Master's face scrunched up. "This is wrong. How are we supposed to become responsible magicians, how are we to learn the proper methods of control, if we can't have access to a true source of magic?"

"Both of you," Owl said, "stop it. Chief Master, she is right that we must tread carefully. If anything, Salia has proven that the power of the Library is vastly dangerous. And Malja, Chief Master is right that we shouldn't lock away knowledge just because it's dangerous in the wrong hands." Owl took Malja's hand and bowed, hoping that a little subservient behavior might quell the rage he feared his next words would incite. "Look into your own past. Did you fare better having Jarik and Callib withhold knowledge from you? Was it right for them not to tell you of your mother or the world you come from? Should you have—"

"Enough," Malja said, pulling her hand free in one rapid motion.

Owl lowered his body even more and prayed to Kryssta that when she hit him, he would survive. But no stunning blow came. Instead, he felt her soft lips against his ear. She described an image to him, a group of symbols that she had memorized.

"A fifth symbol," Owl blurted out. "That's why Salia got it wrong. The markings on the map only showed four symbols."

"What symbols?" Chief Master asked.

Malja gently lifted Owl's chin. "I put my trust in you," she said. "Don't ever make me have to come back here and regret that decision."

"Well, then," Fawbry said, stretching his arms, "I suppose we should get going. There's plenty of ladies, er, towns in Corlin that require our help."

Malja whistled and the dappled gray cantered over to her. Tommy made a face that caused Malja to grin. "Yeah," she said. "I like this one."

Fawbry said, "Then give her a name."

Malja looked at the horse a long time. Owl could tell that this meant something to her and that the others knew about it too. It reminded him how little he ever understood of these three.

"I've got it," she said. "I'll name her Horse."

"Horse?" Fawbry laughed and Tommy joined in. "That's the best you could do?"

"Well, she is a horse."

"You named your weapon Viper and for this wonderful creature — Horse?"

"Stop laughing," Malja said, but she was laughing too.

Owl couldn't imagine a better time to ask about Tommy.

"I, um," he said, putting out his hand. "I have an offer for the boy."

Malja's pleasant attitude shifted fast like lightning across the sky. "What offer?"

Owl crouched in front of Tommy. Though the boy had performed incredible feats of magic, he looked much the same as before. No sense of madness lay behind his eyes. Not yet.

"Tommy, you heard us, yes? Chief Master and I are going to rebuild the Order. It will be a place that's safe for magicians. Safe for them to learn how to control their skills. A place where they can be amongst those like them and where they can help others like them. Most of all, the Order has always been a place where magicians could further their collective knowledge, so that perhaps someday, they can stop the harm magic does to the body and mind. This is the perfect place for you to live. You wouldn't have to worry about food or shelter. You could spend your days learning with friends. Would you like that? Would you like to stay with us?"