The Book of Deacon: Book 02 - The Great Convergence (34 page)

Her eyes shut tight again and the pained look
returned.

"What other things did they try to teach
you?" Myranda asked.

"Everything. Too much. I don't want to think
about it," she said.

She tried to stand, but even with Myranda's
hand to steady her, she dropped dizzily to the ground again.

"I wish Myn would come back. I like her," she
said, yawning again.

"Myn . . . is she a year old yet? I can't
remember," Myranda admitted. "How old are you, Ivy?"

Ivy smiled and held up a few fingers. Then
the smile dropped away. She looked at the fingers, then her hands.
A look of deepening confusion came to her face.

"I'm . . . I'm . . . " she stuttered. She was
visibly upset.

"What sort of creature are you?" Myranda
asked.

"I'm like y- . . . no. I'm . . . " she said
hesitantly.

Tears were beginning to well in her eyes and
they darted slightly, as though a long lost memory was fighting its
way into her mind.

"Something . . . something is wrong. I . . .
I don't . . . I'm not . . . " she attempted.

Finally the tears began to roll down her
cheeks. Myranda knelt down and embraced her to comfort her. The
creature hugged her tightly and began to sob. Feelings of pity, and
more so, concern swept into Myranda's mind along with the sadness
of the creature forcing its way through. She had held up six
fingers when asked her age. From the smile on her face when asked,
she was initially sure of it. Six years old? How long had she been
in their hands? She even seemed unsure of what she was. Had they
changed her? These questions swiftly drew others that continued to
plague her. She knew better than to expect any answers.

#

Deacon closed his door and threw up an array
of subtle but powerful locking spells. It was a useless gesture,
there was no spell he could conjure that could not be broken by his
peers, but in the light of his actions, he had to take some sort of
precaution. Taking a seat at his desk, he reached inside his cloak
and removed a small satchel. He unfastened the string and reached
inside. Out came an impossibly large book he’d taken from the
library, then another, then another. The satchel was the
culmination of several months of work earlier in his training. It
could contain anything that could fit through the opening. No one
besides Gilliam ever knew that he had made it.

Quickly he began to transcribe the notes
within. He had to be swift. The missing books would be noticed. Had
this been any other time, he would have been ashamed, nay,
disgusted by his behavior. Stealing the books had required the
exploitation of every aspect of his art that the others distrusted,
but it was necessary. The gaps in his spell were too wide. It might
work, but only under the best conditions. That would not do. The
severity of the circumstances was the very reason the spell had to
be created. Finally, when all of the new information was collected,
he put the stylus down. It wasn't enough. The knowledge wasn't
there, and without it the odds were against him. He closed the
books and slid them back into the satchel. The odds . . . the spell
could not be improved . . . perhaps . . .

#

Ivy had calmed down by the time Lain and Myn
returned. They had tracked down a mountain goat. The look of pride
on Myn's face was priceless as Lain dropped it down before Ivy. The
grief stricken creature instantly perked up at the sight of the
meal. Myranda opened her mouth to offer to cook a piece of it for
Ivy, but before she could get the words out, Ivy had torn off a
piece with her teeth. Myn did likewise and Lain sliced off a piece
for himself. Myranda turned away. She'd had a hard enough time
adjusting to Myn's eating habits. This was too much for her. When
the meal had been finished, there was more than enough left for
her. Her hunger overcame her revulsion. She cut away a piece and
tried to apply a spell to cook it. Too little sleep and too much
stress made it more of a task than usual. Ivy, licking blood from
her lips with a look far more innocent and satisfied than such an
act should ever allow, became intrigued.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Cooking the meat . . . or trying to," she
said, pausing to let the frustration pass.

"Why?" she asked.

"I can't eat it raw like you. It would make
me sick," she said.

"Are you sure? It tastes great. It the best
thing I have ever eaten," she said.

"I'm sure," Myranda said.

"Why? I can eat it. Myn and Lain can too,"
she said.

"Myn is an animal. You and Lain are . . .
well, the three of you are better suited to a life like this than I
am," Myranda said.

"So, Lain and I are . . . like animals then,"
she said.

"No, no, no, you're . . . " Myranda began to
reassure her.

Suddenly Lain's fingers shot to the hilt of
his sword and he turned swiftly. A stiff, steady wind began to blow
in the wrong direction, against the mountains. This could be only
one thing. Sure enough, the wind swirled tightly together and
formed into the familiar human form of the shape shifter,
Ether.

"Once again you prove useful to me, human.
You should be honored," she said. "Lain, your skill at evasion is a
match for my skill of detection. You have proven yourself to me. It
is time that you and I set about our task as Chosen in
earnest."

"Oh, no. Not you!" Ivy whined.

"I am sorry that you have had to endure the
presence of this abomination. As you have no doubt noticed, her
essence has been sullied by the will of the D'karon. It is in the
best interest of the world that the inevitable demise that her weak
mind would have led her to be allowed to occur, such that another
more worthy spawn of the gods may take her place," she said.

"See, she's mean!" Ivy said. "Why don't you
go away!"

"I intend to," Ether said.

"Really?" Ivy said.

"Lain and I will have no use for the likes of
you. We shall be on our way," Ether said.

"Wait, you are going to take Lain? But . . .
Lain brought me food. He brought me a
goat
. It is my
favorite food ever. That means he is nice. Why are you going to
take him?" Ivy asked.

"I do not need to justify myself to you," she
said.

"I have my own plans. You have no place in
them," Lain said.

Ivy clapped joyously. Ether's eyes
narrowed.

"I had anticipated such a reaction," she
said. "What precisely is your plan?"

"None of your concern," he said.

"Ha, ha," Ivy laughed mockingly.

"I naturally would have preferred that our
partnership be a willing one, but it needn't be. Now that I have
found you, you cannot be rid of me. I require no sleep, and I am
not so foolish as to be distracted again. In time you will either
see that my help is invaluable or rid yourself of the mortals you
have so burdened yourself with in hopes of evading me. In either
case, the outcome is beneficial to me," she said.

"What? No!" Ivy objected.

Lain showed little reaction, but it was clear
that he was not pleased. Ivy looked pleadingly to Myranda to
produce some manner of solution. Myranda merely returned to the
task of rendering the meal edible without a fire. Myn, satisfied
that those who mattered to her were not upset, simply ignored those
who did not, curling up in Myranda's lap. Defeated, Ivy crossed her
arms and pouted. Lain scanned the horizon and sniffed at the air.
No one was near, at least not to the east, out of which blew the
stiff mountain winds. His real concern was in the south. The person
he had seen had been heading in that direction. Myranda was not a
difficult person to find for those sufficiently skilled, and Lain
could think of no other reason one might brave this frozen waste
save to find her. There were powerful people on her trail.
Normally, he would face such a foe immediately, but now there was
Ivy. She must be kept from harm. Nevertheless, the surest way to
ensure her safety was to take her to the south as soon as possible.
There could be no delay. He would have to take his chances.

The long journey had taken its toll on the
others. A semblance of shelter was found. Shortly after, Lain
crouched and slipped into his bizarre substitute for sleep and
Myranda wrapped her cloak tightly about herself and Myn against the
cold. Soon the only members of the odd group that were awake were
Ivy and Ether. Ivy shot Ether angry stares. Ether seemed to look
through her with an air of unquestioned superiority. For a time a
there was a mutual feeling of dislike, but a few hours boredom and
curiosity weakened Ivy's resolve.

"So . . . Ether. You can change into
anything?" she asked.

Ether stood silent.

"Ether?" Ivy asked, optimistically believing
that she had not been heard the first time.

The shape shifter turned away.

"Can all humans turn into different things?"
Ivy asked.

Ether flinched. Ivy grinned.

"I am not a human. Humans are stupid,
emotional, worthless creatures. I am beyond human," she stated
sternly.

"Well, right now you're human. And you were
one before, so you must be a human pretty often," Ivy reasoned.

"I assume this form to more gracefully
interact with the weak minded who could not comprehend my more
fundamental forms," she said.

"But right now, you're human, yes?" Ivy
asked.

"Yes," Ether said.

"And later you will change shape, yes?" Ivy
asked.

"As soon as the situation requires it," Ether
said.

"So, humans can change shape then," Ivy
said.

"Absolutely not!" Ether corrected.

"You are a human, you just said! And if
humans can't change shape, then you can't change back!" Ivy
said.

Ether turned to face her. Her eyes were
narrowed and her fist clenched in frustrated anger.

"I will not waste time and energy forcing
understanding into an unwilling mind," she fumed.

"Uh huh. That just means I win," Ivy
said.

"You did
not
win. There was nothing
to
win," Ether snapped.

"Well, you are talking to me now. You weren't
before," Ivy said.

"Yes, a mistake I will rectify at once," she
said.

She crossed her arms and turned away again.
Ivy smiled.

"For someone who claims to be 'above'
emotions, you certainly get mad easily," she said.

Ether whipped around, rage in her eyes. The
sight before her was Ivy with a satisfied smile.

"Now
I
am going to stop talking to
you
," she said.

Grinning triumphantly and crossing her arms,
she sat on the ground and leaned against Myranda's back. She wasn't
tired, not remotely, but she closed her eyes. She could downright
feel
the rage in Ether. The creature who acted so superior
was no different from herself. It was a satisfying discovery. For
her part, Ether fairly shook with anger. She had never felt so
manipulated, and she had never hated a being more. She had never
hated
before. The fact that this pretender had instilled
such a feeling, such a weakness, only intensified it. Her rage was
a fire that was fueled by its own existence. Finally, she released
it in its most literal form, shifting to flame. The thought of
directing her wrath at Ivy lingered in her mind, but instead she
used it to reduce a sizable mount of snow to boiling water. The
edge of her rage thus blunted, she shifted to water to spend the
rest of the night restoring a fraction of her power.

When morning came, Lain was the first to
rise, as he had never truly slept. The wind blew with frustrating
steadiness from the mountains. It carried little information he
sought. Quietly, Ivy joined him. She looked him over with
curiosity. He sniffed at the air, she imitated. She continued
looking him over, comparing him to herself. He was like her. More
like her by far than anything else she had seen or smelled. She had
fur, he had fur. She had pointed ears, he had pointed ears. She had
a tail . . .

"Where is your tail?" she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, then turned
back to his task. Ivy frowned.

"When I was younger it was cut off and sold,"
he said after a moment.

"That's terrible. Why?" she asked.

Again Lain hesitated before answering.

"It was more highly valued than I," he
said.

" . . . You and I . . . are we the same?" she
asked.

"We are," he said.

"Then . . . is that going to happen to me?"
she asked.

"No," he answered immediately. "That will not
happen to you."

Ivy smiled. The sudden snap and crackle of
ice drew their attention. Ether had chosen to rise. After climbing
from the frozen pool, she shifted to her human form once more. Ivy
gave her a sneer.

"Well, now that this exercise in weakness is
over, I trust we can continue," she said.

"Not yet. Myranda isn't up yet," Ivy
said.

"Myranda is meaningless. She and the lizard
have fulfilled what little role they had," Ether said.

"Well, I'm not leaving without her," Ivy
said.

Ether's eyes narrowed. Quickly she forced
composure on herself. She would not give this creature the
satisfaction of showing anger.

"Very well. If you wish to waste time and
further damage our cause, by all means, do so," she said.

"No need," came Myranda's voice wearily.

She hoisted herself to her feet and stretched
her stiff joints. She had barely slept, and was chilled to the
core, but she refused to burden the others. Myn restored her own
warmth with a few bursts of flame. Myranda opened and closed her
hands a few times until the feeling began to return to her fingers.
Lain continued on his way, setting a pace that most easily matched.
Myranda had to fairly run to keep up. As she did, she allowed tiny
doses of magic to restore enough warmth to her ailing body to
convince herself she was out of danger. In the distance there was a
fair sized stand of trees beside a small, icy lake. Myranda
searched her memory for the name of either, but in all likelihood
this unremarkable spot in this icy plain simply didn't warrant
one.