Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (9 page)

All you’ve done is
impress my glory upon them.

Eric grit his teeth and
pretended he didn’t hear that.

“Mr. Watley,” the teacher
said, “historical records state that Dengel was a hardworking individual who
braved countless dangers to perfect the art we that we rely on today.”

The teacher picked up a
book and paged through it. When he found what he was looking for, he showed it
to Eric. It was a picture of Dengel in a study. All around him were stacks of
books and in front of him was ink, quill, and paper. His face was dignified,
his hair brilliant, and his robes magnificent.

It made Eric’s stomach
turn and a shadow of Dengel appeared next to him. This Dengel’s golden hair was
dull, the hook of his nose was exaggerated, and the rest of his face
pockmarked. His elegant rune-covered robe
was replaced by a black
funeral shroud. He leaned over Eric's shoulders and whispered in his ear,
Listen
to your elder, boy. You know the truth of his words better than anyone.

“I had that guy
in
my head
for a whole month! I know him better than
any
historian.”

The teacher opened his mouth
when Annala raised her hand and stood up.

“In my home village, we
have a festival dedicated to Dengel.” Before the teacher could say anything,
she continued, “
The Feast of the Fallen One.
We deface his statue, burn
effigies, and recite his
many
atrocities. It will be available in the
Darwoss
Herald
if anyone is interested.”

Shadow Dengel floated
to her chair and tried to grab her hair, but his translucent hand passed
through.
It should be “Feast of the Favored One,” you smug, ugly,
know-it-all slu–

Eric grabbed his hair
and tossed him into the ground. No one else could see him, so they assumed he
was tussling with Tasio, thus leading to more rumors. The teacher dismissed the
sight and continued the debate.

“Yes, Ms. Enaz, we know
how disappointed your race is that he shared magecraft with 'lower life forms.'
Our textbook is interested only in an impartial view.”

Annala looked affronted
and sat down with her arms crossed.

“So when does the
textbook get that impartial view!?” Revas asked. He was already on his feet. “All
I saw was constant praise of him!” Oito put a claw on his shoulder.

“I beliefffe what my
friend isssss trying to sssay issss that the texsss doesssn't talk of Dengel
perssssonally. Only an account of hissss actionsss on the world sssstage.”

To settle the matter of
whose presentation was more effective, Eric suggested a pop quiz. The teacher
quickly put one together and scored them ten minutes later. No one could
remember a thing about the lecture, but everyone scored high on the
presentation.

“You're welcome,” Eric
said with an obnoxious smile, but to his surprise, the teacher didn't look
upset or angry. In fact, he looked
bemused
.

“No wonder you're the
Trickster's Choice. Class dismissed.”

 The teacher left
without saying another word, and the bulk of the class followed him out. Eric's
trio of friends stayed behind along with one other. Without leaving his seat,
Norej slow-clapped. It was hard to tell if he was pleased with Eric for his
performance or himself for thinking of it. Step by step, he descended to join
them. He stopped in front of Eric and offered his hand.

“Well done, Trickster's
Choice.”

Eric shook it. “Thank
you. My pay?”

Norej brought out a
sack and placed a few coins in Eric's waiting hand. “Money well spent.”

For the second time
that day, Oito and Revas were stunned. “This was your idea?”

He looked at them with
disdain. “Is there something wrong with your eyes? Didn't you see me pay the
mercenary?”

Revas’ claws extended.

“Assskk a ssstupid
quessstion. We get it. Do you do thisssss offften?”

“I have the experience
to put both of you to shame. You never realized that
I
was the one
behind the bubble bum plot.”

All three friends
gasped. Then Revas retorted with, “You never realized that
we
were
behind the chicken and the egg plot.”

“How about you pool
your resources?” Eric put in. “Together, you could terrorize the school.”

“I'd rather not work
with dumb animals.” The cat and lizard imitated a chicken and bawked. Norej’s eyes
narrowed. “Meet me in the chemistry lab. We'll talk.”

He marched out, his head
high and shoulders back. Oito and Revas pulled down their eyelids and stuck out
their tongues at his back. Annala rolled her eyes and pushed them out the door.

“Go. You might become
friends from this.”

“Impossssible!”

“Yeah, and besides, you
need us to walk you home.”

“I’ll be fine. I have
my bow and my Eric. I mean, my friend Eric.”

The faces of the beastfolk
simultaneously shifted into sly grins.

“Stop that! Go to the
chem lab and plan your pranks.”

“If you want to be
alone with him that badly…”

“
Go!
Or I’ll
recite the Periodic Table of Elements, including all protons, neutrons, and
electrons!”

They ran away. Annala
turned shyly to Eric and squeezed her hands together behind her back.

“Sorry about that. Good
friends can be annoying.”

“It’s no problem, but
what were they talking about? Do you need to carry something heavy?”

“Oh, if only it was
that simple.” She tugged her pointed ear. “You see, lately, an older man has
taken an inappropriate interest in me.”

“Really!? Did you
report him to the Justice Station?”

“Those assholes said
she had to do it herself!”

Revas stood in the
doorway in a fine fury. Oito stood behind, looking annoyed.

“I’m starting with
hydrogen!”

“You can go all the way
to Whateverogen and it won’t stop me from calling those lazy, tax-sucking
idiots assholes.”

Oito yanked Revas’ cat
ear. “Calm yoursssself.” To Eric, he said, “They can’t do anysssing until
Nulsssso commitsssss a crime. Right now, he barely countssss asss a ssstalker.”

“He tried to put a
collared leash on her neck! That’s not a crime!?”

Images of the elves
walking off the slave ship flashed in Eric’s mind.

“
Tell me what
happened
.”

Annala continued
tugging on one ear and said, “I’ve noticed him following me on my way to and
from school for a while now. It was shortly after Daughter of Fire Kasile
announced at her coronation that plans for the Mana Mutation Summit to be
hosted in Ataidar and take place at the Royal Palace would proceed as
scheduled. Sometimes, he stays hidden but sometimes, he comes out and talks
with me. He said his name is Nulso Xialin and that he runs a media company in
Scholar Town. He’s offered me free photographs, an internship, claimed to be an
old research partner of my mother, and asked me about you.”

“That guy is full of
it!” Revas spat. “One time, he had the gall to say he could restore her
shapeshifting ability!”

“You can’t shapeshift?”

“
Not important!
”
Annala said. “A-an-anyway, he always carries an ordercraft subjugation collar
with him and he usually addresses his words to my neck.”

The elfin slaves
flashed again in his mind and, this time, they were accompanied by the punk
that enslaved them. He had an impenetrable barrier that stopped his staff
thrust cold and could negate his spells with a gesture. Internally shaking his
head, he stated proudly, “If he’s an ordercrafter, I think I can handle him. I
defeated one on my way here.”

A swift change of mode
came over Annala and she stared at Eric with new respect. He hadn’t seen such
admiration in her eyes since he killed Tahart in her defense.

“Really?! You can
defeat – of course you can. Silly me! You’re the Trickster’s Choice! It stands
to reason that you’d be able to kill minions of Order!”

As much as he enjoyed
it, her gushing caused him greater guilt. When she pulled out her scry, saying
she had to call someone and tell them about his accomplishment, he blurted out,
“An orc helped!”

She paused.

“There was an orc who
dismissed his order shield. I defeated him after that.”

Annala’s excitement
dimmed so quickly and so far that Eric felt like trash. She put her scry away
like she’d lost faith in him. Her disappointment could be read in every move of
her body.

“As I was saying…”

Eric’s heart twisted at
her tone.

“Humans cannot defeat
ordercrafters because only Chaos itself can defeat them. Thus, I am
theoretically better equipped to subdue Mr. Xialin than any member of Roalt’s
Finest. They would have to produce chaotic weapons themselves, which no human
has ever done outside of legends, or special order them from an elf village.
This second option would be the more impressive of the two, considering the
expense of the production of such weapons and the extensive red tape in both
human and elf governments to prevent them falling into hands that would misuse
them, or simply use them at all. My mom is working on resolving these two
problems because she believes elves need to get out more so humans won’t think
my dad is a typical elf, which is why she suggested study abroad and…”

She stopped and hugged
herself.

“I’m rambling, sorry.”

“Don’t be. Although I
might not be able to defeat him, I’m confident in my ability to escape him
under cover of darkness.”

Without a word, he
vanished beneath a Dark Veil.

“I guess that would be
useful for evasion, unless he used Interdict to prohibit such casting, but I
doubt he has the power or authority to do that on his own. In any case, it
would be a useful set-up.”

She reached into a
pocket and pulled out a charm shaped like a quiver. She said the words “heavenly
change” and it became a full-sized quiver filled with arrows. She pulled out a
second charm shaped like a bow. She said the words “heavenly change” and it
transformed into a full-sized longbow. It was gleaming white from end to end,
with golden runes engraved on its surface and wrapped along its length.

“This is a Death Killer
bow. It works as a function of channeled life energy infused with chaotic
energy; the first is in opposition to death anti-energy and the second is the
primordial energy of which the universe is made and can be destroyed. The
filigree work as compressors for the instant rune algorithms that control the
energy flow when the string is pulled. Said algorithms are braced by
information slots that can be filled and cleared as needed based on the enemy
involved and, in doing so, bypass a number of defenses that could otherwise
allow the target to negate the arrow's force or otherwise hinder its trajectory.
I created it to destroy reapers and so it should prove effective against a mere
divinely enhanced human.”

“Eric, translate!”
Revas demanded. “She's explained five times and I still don't get it.”

“It uses special energy
to attack its weak point.”

“Ooohhhh...”

Annala wrinkled her
nose. “‘Special energy' is a gross over-simplification but correct.” She
cleared her throat. “Revas, Oito, as you can see, I have this situation under
control, so you can go to the chem lab. I bet Norej has set a welcome prank for
you by now.”

“That two-faced jerk!
I’ll get him for that!”

Revas ran out the door
with Oito quickly following.

Annala giggled. “Shall
we go?”

Eric placed his hand
over his heart and bowed his head. “Rest assured, Lady Annala. This mercenary
will escort you safely home.”

She giggled again.
“I’ll withhold your pay if you don’t.”

They left the school
side by side and mingled with the other couples. The fact that they were
together was a bigger topic of discussion than the fact that they had weapons
out. Eric kept his staff ready and Annala kept her bow in hand.

There was no trouble
for several blocks, not even traffic. Crowds parted when they saw The
Trickster's Choice guarding a female elf. This picture joined the others on the
Internet and a couple Chaosians declared it an omen and threw up their arms in
prayer. All the attention made Annala uncomfortable so Eric sought to divert it
to himself. Holding his staff high with one hand, he demanded peaches and noble
titles for his service in escorting the priestess of Lady Chaos, Golden Cicada!
This made Annala smile and she paused her scry conversation to add something.

“For the record,” she said
to the crowds, “I am
not
seeking any scriptures on chaotic
enlightenment.” Then to the person on the phone, she continued, “That's your
job, Auntie H...”

When they were five
blocks away from the school and seven from Annala's apartment, the trouble
began. Eric felt it as a wave of intense spiritual power. It made his hair
stand on end and opened the pores in his skin. He never felt something this
powerful; not from Basilard, a veteran mercenary, and not from Dengel, a
legendary elfin mage. He gulped and held his staff in a defensive posture.
After two more blocks, they found him. Nulso Xialin stood between them and
their destination.

He was a middle-aged human
man, but his sickly pale skin made him look undead. He wore his platinum blonde
hair in a low ponytail and it draped around his neck like a collar. The irises
of his eyes were pure silver grey, and the eyes themselves were sharp and
focused on his elfin prey. He stood a good foot taller than she. His clothes
looked stiff enough to serve as armor and an old-fashioned camera rested on top
of his coat. He was further protected by a bubble of eldritch light
encompassing his body and soul. It made Eric’s skin crawl. Annala cowered
behind him.

“You can't hide from
me, Golden Hair. Today, I will solve your mana mutation problems.”