Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (45 page)

"Hey, Eric...can we…can we talk?"

He didn't know whether to cringe, scowl, or sigh; he
settled for nodding.

"I'm sorry about...last night," she said, her
cheeks cherry red. “I should have noticed that Fiol had enchanted us. I read
all about non-ordercraft mental influence three months ago and I wrote a paper
on it for psychology class.”

“Oh, Annala, it’s not your fault. There’s little mages
like us can do against planetary deities. Want to do some research to fix
that?”

He extended a hand, and with a brilliant smile, Annala
accepted it. She nuzzled his chest and he wrapped his other hand around her.

 “Say, I bet Fiol had an alternative motive for the test.
After all, one of the roles of Fire's Avatar is to help people achieve their
dreams by granting them the fire of courage. What if my mom had a talk with her
before you fought that elemental?”

"If that was the case,” Eric said, “then I would have
preferred
fire water
."

Annala giggled. Then she heard a swallow’s cry and looked
up in excitement.

A swallow flew towards them from the castle. It was five
ounces in weight and carrying a one-pound coconut by the husk. Annala’s eye
began to twitch and she pulled her hood over her face. The swallow flew to her,
hovered in front of her, and showed her that it was carrying the coconut
beneath his dorsal guiding feathers. Then it transformed.

Its feathers receded to reveal skin and clothes, its beak
shifted into a humanoid nose and mouth, its wings became humanoid arms, its
talons became humanoid legs and feet, and, all the while, it grew larger. At
last, it resumed its true form; an adult male elf carrying a coconut in his
right hand and tail feathers in his rear.

“Mr. Enaz, why are you carrying a coconut?”

“I wanted to prove it was possible.”

“Where did you even
find
a whole coconut?”

“In Mercia. Where else? And for the record, I was an E
variety swallow, not an A variety.”

“Eric, please,
make him stop.
”

Ponix shifted the index finger on his left hand into a
blade and plunged it into the coconut. He drank the contents and offered it to
Eric.

“Want some?”

“I’m good.”

“In that case, to business.”

He ripped a bigger hole in the coconut, reached inside it,
and pulled out a choker. It was the very same one Eric had given to Annala
before the Mana Mutation Summit save for a two differences. The first was that
the gem at the center held a green light that was somehow more
real
than
the gem that held it. Eric guessed that this was Cosmic Sap, a rare form of
energy tainted by the Great Tree That Supports the Worlds, Noitearc. The second
difference was a series of runes along both straps. They depicted trees and
other symbols for Noitearc.

“This thing was not an easy thing to create. Nunnal calls it
the ‘Retrofitted-Upper-Body-Noitearc-Powered-Orderly-Transition-Jammer,’ which
I believe should be self-explanatory, but she often goes off on the long names
and I try to warn her they’re a mouthful and that it would take longer to say
the name than to explain its function, which she said was absurd because—”

“Dad!”

“Oh yes, just put it on over the collar and it will block
the transmission of your location.”

Eric accepted the accessory and Annala turned around so he
could secure it over her neck. He was careful not to entangle her hair and
keenly aware that Ponix was watching him. He was speaking truthfully when he
said that he considered the man a threat. Right now, his instincts were telling
him to get as far away from him as possible.

 When the clasp locked into place, the entire set gleamed
with more-real-than-reality green light that encompassed Annala’s throat
entirely. Then it faded and the choker appeared to be simple jewelry. He
admired her once again.

“Does this mean Mom succeeded in generating her own Cosmic
Sap?”

“Oh no, not by a long shot. She teleported to the Zaban
Monastery and
beseeched
Abbot Zorgan for a blessing. He obliged her over
a cup of tea. Well, Eric? Can you sense her?”

As he did the previous night, Eric used his authority as
her master to search for her location. He couldn’t find it. The leash
connecting them refused to reveal itself, or rather, the second choker refused
to allow it to do so. Even with Magic Sight, he couldn’t find it.

“No, I can’t.”

“As expected. Nunnal found a friendly ordercrafter and
convinced him to assist in testing the device. Then she found another one and
another until she was satisfied. She must have bothered half the towns in three
countries. That’s a superlative, of course. There wasn’t time for such
extensive testing because of the upcoming Mana Mutation Summit in Dnnac Ledo.”

Annala’s eyes brightened more than the gem. “It’s going to
happen?!”

“It
might.
The Supreme Council has not made a final
decision. You have my support, your mother’s, and Sister Sagart’s, but at
current, no one else’s. The Elven Preservation Society is dead set against it,
and Meza has a lot of influence, but when I mentioned a peaceful solution to
the elven slavery issue, the headman gathered enough votes to take it under
consideration. There are a number of fence sitters waiting to hear from you in
person.”

He spontaneously hugged his daughter.

“I’m surprised, and, truth be told, proud of your
initiative. Why, I told Nunnal that you might choose diplomacy to be your
Eternal Hobby instead of magi-tech research like her and she didn’t talk to me
for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, however, I used my diplomatic
skills in combination with my oral ones to—”

“
Dad!
You’re in public!”

“Oh yes, excuse me, Eric. Do you mind if I call you
‘Eric’? Given your position with my daughter, I should hope we are familiar
enough for first names because otherwise, I might be nervous of possible end
results that might lead to a situation where I bring out the axe my father used
in the Conversion War to rectify such results to favor my daughter’s
wellbeing.”

“‘Eric’ is fine, Mr. Enaz.”

“Glad to hear it. Annala, I’ll see you at home.” He nodded
once to Fairtheora. “Good day, Lawful Scary.
Allons-y!
”

He jumped ten feet into the air, back flipped, and shifted
into a griffin before he completed the first rotation. A rocket developed out
of his butt and he blasted off into the distance.

“Miss Enaz, forgive me if I am rude,” Fairtheora said, “but
your father fits every stereotype I have ever heard about elves, save racism.”

Annala was covering her face with her hands. “He’s our
longest serving and most active ambassador; who do you think started them?”

It was a weekend day, so the couple spent it together;
reading in the library, watching a movie, having lunch, and otherwise enjoying
each other’s company. Fairtheora even made himself scarce so they could be
alone. Around midday, he returned.

“Mr. Watley, I am pleased to announce that the jury has
begun deliberating.”

“What? Really? When did they start?”

Fairtheora showed him a video on his scry. It was Reywall,
the Dragon's Lawyer's in-house advocate, flying in a courtroom. He was speaking
with Kasile and character witnesses. The jury was not present but the seats
were packed.

“Your advocate made your case this morning and was only
waiting for the completion of your statement on the manner.”

“When did I do that?”

Fairtheora put the scry away and produced a notepad that he
showed to Eric. It was notes on his behavior and quotes of what he’d said in
the last several days.

“I have been compiling it since your arrest. A sociopath
can pretend to be a rational and empathetic person and so it was feared that a
monster with a human’s memories could do likewise. I recorded your statements
while watching you in order to prove otherwise.”

“That can’t be legal!”

For the first time since meeting him in the castle months
ago, Eric saw emotions on the orc’s face. They were disdain, self-righteousness,
and professionally controlled outrage.

“It is reserved for special circumstances and is known as
the ‘What You Are in the Dark’ principle. For someone who avoided punishment
for deliberate murder because of
the ‘Trickster Made Me Do It’
defense,
I expect you to withhold any complaints you may have.”

Eric puffed up in anger and then let it out in a long
breath.
“Touché.”

“Please accompany me to the courthouse for the
announcement of the formal verdict.”

“Could I grab a book or two first? Juries can take days to
reach a verdict and I doubt my case will be open and shut.”

“Very well. It might help your case.”

Eric kissed Annala’s check. “I’ll see you when this is
over.”

She whispered in his ear, “If things go south, you can’t
be extradited from Dnnac Ledo.”

The Royal Courthouse stood in the Grey Town of Justice. It
was a magnificent building, made of solid stone quarried by hand. Not one slab
was prefabricated concrete. Its roof was roost to a phoenix and its columns
were inhabited by dragons. Images of Fiol and the Crowned Tiger graced the
walls in displays of authority, punishment, and mercy. Statues of Arritas, the
Trickster of Justice, stood outside the door and in the main hall. Although blinded
by a handkerchief, there were additional eyes in her throat, hands, and in the
back of her head.

This statue faced a mass of people who, at the sight of
him, rushed him. Reporters looking for a scoop thrust their microphones in his
face and shined their cameras in his direction. Activists in favor of him
shouted encouragement and those against blared threats. A squad of royal guards
kept them all in check, but failed to keep them at bay. It was a pushy and
raucous occasion, and above it all, Tasio and Arritas munched popcorn.

A wave washed over them and they fell abruptly silent.
Fairtheora marched ahead of Eric and parted the crowd like they were the Red
Sea. Whether it was fear of his power or respect for his position, they did not
interfere with his escort.

The courthouse itself was empty because the trial was
virtually over. The arguments, presentations of evidence, examinations, and
cross-examinations had already taken place. Without a performance to watch,
there was no purpose for anyone else to be here, and so Eric was all alone with
his advocate. It was quiet and Eric preferred it that way. Unfortunately, it
was the calm before a storm.

“Hey, Reywall. How’d things go?”

 The owl shook his feathered head melodramatically.
“Terrible. I have met my match and fear for your life. Kidding! But seriously,
it was an unusual experience. I was no more allowed to know the identity of the
jury than you yourself were because of fear that I might tell you. If it
weren’t for Father Brass serving as the intermediary, I’d have shouted
‘miscarriage of justice.’”

“Father Brass?”

“He’s a priest from the Circle of Noitearc with the ironic
nickname of ‘Sterile Tree’ for his reputation of unfaltering incorruptibility.”

“Let me guess, like a tree that has no rot or creatures
burrowing into it, he can’t be undermined, but it also means nothing lives in
him, and thus ‘sterile.’”

“Yes, but back to the point; he guaranteed fairness in
this trial, so I presented my arguments against the charges against you.”

 “How bad is it, really?”

Reywall handed Eric the official indictment with his
talons. The grendel skipped over the preamble and legalese until he reached the
list of transgressions. In total, they were: assault, disturbing the peace,
voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and public indecency.

“This last one is impossible. I was wearing clothes that
would expand as I did.”

“The Obelisk’s Lawful Authority Canon shorted them out
until after the battle was over. It’s not surprising you didn’t notice, given
the circumstances.”

Eric paled. “You mean I was fighting Gruffle butt naked?”

“Yes, and it’s on video.”

 “You’re kidding, right?”

“For once, I am not.”

The owl reached into his pouch and produced a peculiar
scry. Grapefruit Corp produced it especially for avian like himself. Tapping a
few buttons, he played the video for his client.

 "When you were banished from the castle by Nulso,
many activists recorded the following events to data disk. The Knight of
Justice was only made aware of it because two of them uploaded it to Universal
Access. It’s very popular.”

Slumping forward, Eric double face-palmed and ran his
hands through his hair.

“No, this is good news. It means that everyone has seen
you acting in self-defense and that you undeniably surrendered yourself rather
than fight your way out. I believe the attempted murder and assault charges
will be shot down quickly because of it.”

“What about the others?”

“Monsters don’t have a nudity taboo, so I believe you will
be acquitted of that one as well. The only one that bothers me is the voluntary
manslaughter; monster or not, self-defense or not, you still killed someone.
What’s worse, it’s the second time you’ve killed someone within a city. Even if
I
could
get you off the hook for that one, I’d be labeled an amoral
attorney and my practice would suffer. Finally, if you are found guilty, I fear
that Her Majesty will inflict the maximum punishment in order to demonstrate
that she does not favor you.”

 Eric shrugged. Personally, he didn’t believe it. Instead,
he sat down in the defendant’s chair and started reading. This was a book he
checked out with Annala earlier that day on a subject both of them wanted to
know more about.

“
Origin of the Divine Elemental Avatars
, chapter
one…"

The world of Tariatla is a world alive. There is enough
mana for the planet’s aspects to possess an aggregate sentience and thus a will
that seeks to impose itself upon the world. Over time, sapients learned to
interpret this will and petition it to favor themselves or harm their enemies.
However, this practice was inefficient because the Wills of the Aggregate
Sentience of the Fundamental Elements (concisely known and referred to as “nature
gods”) thought and behaved in ways alien to the sapients who prayed to them.
Even clergy who dedicated their lives to understanding them were only slightly
better off. As a result, the first avatar was created.