The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Nedira still hadn’t woken up by the time Larek went to sleep that night, his exhaustion from the day finally catching up with him. From the fight against the Sand Vultures, the explosions that nearly killed himself and the woman sleeping in the bed next to him, the multiple tense situations after arriving in Tarvada, and hours spent creating Fusions, his body and mind were spent. He had finished almost all of what he needed for his initial batch of Fusions for the next step in his plan, at least, but the need for sleep dictated that he should wait until he’d gotten a bit of rest.

As he struggled awake in the morning with just the hint of sunlight shining through the cracks in the window coverings, he felt an unfamiliar weight on his chest. Opening his eyes and looking down, all he saw was a mass of reddish-gold hair blocking his view.

What the…?

Not really sure what to do, Larek continued to lie there without moving, feeling the warmth of the woman who somehow ended up draped across his chest. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed that way, but eventually something seemed to jerk Nedira awake, and she quickly brought her head up as if she had just heard a noise. Very slowly, she turned her head until she was looking at Larek straight in his eyes, a look of confusion over her face.

“What—?” she began to ask, her voice hoarse, before she coughed a few times as she moved away. “Actually, I don’t really want to know,” she corrected as soon as she was able to speak again. “What’s more important is that I’m starving.”

Larek chuckled at that. “Same here. Why don’t we see what we can scrounge up,” he said quickly, getting out of bed and nearly tripping over the staves that were scattered along the floor from the night before. “Watch your step, but grab one those if you want one.”

The numerous staves had Fusions added to them the night before, and they were spread out so that their areas of ambience didn’t overlap too much like they would in a stack or pile.

Nedira slowly maneuvered herself to the edge of the bed before looking around, first at the floor and then around the room. “Where… are we?” she asked, her hand to her head as if it was in pain. “What happened after the Aperture?”

“Come. I’ll explain while we get you something to eat.”

Nedira tried to stand up, but she immediately fell back down as her legs couldn’t support her. “Sorry, give me a moment.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” Larek cautiously moved over to her side of the bed and slipped his arms around her, easily picking her up.

“There’s no need—”

“Your body is exhausted after the healing and you probably have very little physical energy right now,” he explained, cutting her off. “Once we can get some food in you, I’m hoping that you’ll recover quickly.”

Rather than argue, she sighed and wrapped her arm around his back, which was apparently a bit more comfortable. “Was I in a coma?”

“No, thankfully. It was close, though.”

They didn’t speak much while he brought her down to the dining room area in the Provider’s Palace, where he found that breakfast was already being served. It wasn’t fancy, as it was some sort of biscuit and another slab of meat, but hopefully that would change soon once other crops started being harvested. Which brought him to explaining to Nedira all that had happened.

“…and so last night I spent time creating dozens of staves with the Variable Repeating Elemental Projectile +7 Fusions on them, as well as a simple Strengthen Wood +8 Fusion on them to keep them from breaking easily. My idea is to equip large groups of volunteer hunters that can venture into the local Apertures and kill the monsters there, before bringing back their corpses for food.”

“Larek,” Nedira said, putting her head in her hands as she finished her breakfast. “Is that really the smartest idea? They aren’t trained to kill monsters, nor would they have any sort of protection if they were attacked – which is almost a guarantee as soon as they step foot within the territory of an Aperture.”

Larek nodded, realizing that what she said was true. “I know. But they wouldn’t be sent in without any sort of preparation; my thought was that they could shadow the Martials and Mages that are already going in there for a few days, learning the lay of the land so to say, and then would be able to take over the gathering of meat as soon as they were comfortable.” It sounded logical to him, at least.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, but I have to admit that it would certainly—”

“THERE HE IS! HOW DARE YOU COME INTO MY TOWN AND—”

While Nedira was talking, Larek noticed a familiar figure walking into the dining room with a furious expression on his face. It appeared as though Borex, the so-called “Supreme Commander”, had recovered from his injuries enough to seek him out. Before the man could do anything he might regret, Larek immediately pulled out his Pattern Cohesion and wrapped it around the torso of the man, pinning his arms to his sides and halting his progress as he attempted to close the distance with him.

As had happened the day before, the Supreme Commander was trapped, but this time he was ready for such an event; even as Larek’s Pattern solidified around him, he was already utilizing his Stama, which Larek could see pulsing with a reddish aura around his upper body.

“YOUR TRICKS WON’T SAVE YOU, GERGASI SCUM!” Borex shouted, before he strained and pushed against the envelope made of Pattern that surrounded him. To Larek’s consternation, he saw cracks forming in his construct almost immediately as the strength of the Martial pressed against his Pattern.

A few seconds later, his constrictive construct burst apart with the sound of breaking glass, and he felt his Pattern dissipate. With a roar that sounded like it should’ve come from a monster rather than a man, Borex stomped across the floor with a speed that belied his size, murder intent in his gaze. Larek started to stand up and create a Pattern shield in front of the charging Martial, but he needn’t have bothered.

“Stop, Supreme Provider!” Fendra, of all people, had entered the room and cast a spell that lifted the man off the floor with a swirl of wind that circled around him like a cyclone. I need to learn that, the Fusionist thought.  The Supreme Provider ineffectually struggled to move, but with no leverage, he was simply flailing around.

“LET ME DOWN, CAN’T YOU SEE THIS GIANT BASTARD IS LYING TO YOU!”

“I’ll let you down once you get ahold of yourself, Borex. We can’t have you getting yourself killed so early in the morning, can we? Especially as you were about to assault the person – who, I will add, is not a Gergasi – who has single-handedly solved our starvation crisis—”

“I DON’T CARE! THIS IS MY CITY, AND IF I WANT THOSE PEOPLE TO DIE, THEN THEY HAD BETTER WELL DIE—”

“Oh, I wish you hadn’t said that, Supreme Provider,” Vanders said, coming up behind Fendra, along with a few other Mages and Martials that Larek didn’t know. “You know, I used to idolize you. Not only were you brave and powerful, but you seemed to have the same sort of drive I had to help people, to protect them. Now, though, it seems as though the power you hold over the citizens of this city has gone to your head. What happened to the man I used to model myself after?”

“VANDERS! STOP FENDRA AND KILL THESE OUTSIDERS!”

All the shouting coming from the man was starting to grate on Larek’s nerves, but all he could do was watch and prepare to react as soon as he knew what was happening.

“See? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You charged in here without understanding the situation, and even when we try to get you to see reason, you go spouting—”

“HE’S USING THAT MIND-CONTROLLING MAGIC ON YOU, DON’T YOU SEE?”

There was silence throughout the dining room as everyone looked at Larek, but instead of accusing him of doing what Borex said, he only heard laughter. “Oh, Supreme Commander, if only it was that simple,” Vanders said. “He’s not a Gergasi, and even if he was, he’s done more in less than one day than what we were able to accomplish in weeks. Already, we’ve been able to feed half the refugees from Harvana outside the walls, and the other half will get their first real meal in weeks later today – and from every day hereon out. More than that, Larek—”

“FOOLS! YOU’VE RUINED IT ALL! THEY WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO DIE – JUST LIKE THIS LYING SCUM!”

A flash of Stama seemed to emit from every pore in the Supreme Provider’s body, and a split-second later, Fendra’s cyclone had been disrupted, causing the woman to stagger and fall to her knees. At the same time, Borex hit the ground and lunged for Larek, only for his head to detach from his body as he passed through a stationary axe blade made of Pattern Cohesion floating in his path.

Everything was quiet in the dining room as Larek watched the Supreme Provider’s body hit the floor, blood squirting out of his open neck, and his head landed on Larek and Nedira’s table, bouncing once before rolling to a stop on Nedira’s mostly finished plate.

“It’s a good thing I’m not hungry anymore,” she said, immediately pushing the plate away from her, her tired eyes seemingly barely fazed by the presence of a decapitated head staring at her.

Larek looked down at the body before locking eyes with Vanders. The Martial had a grim look on his face, though the Combat Fusionist wasn’t sure if it was directed toward him or not. “I didn’t intend to kill him,” Larek said into the silence.

Vanders stepped forward, looking down at the slightly twitching body. “I know. He did it to himself.” The Martial then raised his eyes to Larek’s and nodded. “If you hadn’t done it, then it was likely going to have to be one of us. His admission concerning his views on the people of this city, as well as the refugees, was enough of a reason to remove him from power before he got even more people killed. In all honesty, it should’ve been done before this, but we were all just… trying to do the best we could,” he admitted.

“I understand,” Larek said – and he did understand. From what he’d seen and heard, the Supreme Provider had been the one in charge of everything, and he had both the strength of character to lead all the Mages and Martials, as well as the strength in his arms. Being able to not only break out of Larek’s Pattern constraints but also Fendra’s spell was proof enough of the latter. It was hard enough to try and survive in the Kingdom with the way it was currently; it was probably even more dangerous to question the decisions of the one who was stronger than you.

Larek stood there awkwardly, blood pooling around his feet, before he glanced at Nedira. “Oh! Vanders, this is Nedira. Nedira, Vanders. And that over there is Fendra, and—”

“Don’t you think you could’ve timed that a little better, Larek?” Nedira asked softly, interrupting him.

Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, he nodded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nedira. I’m sorry that it couldn’t be under better circumstances,” Vanders said, before being joined by the Mage Larek had mentioned. Fendra still seemed pained from her spell being broken like that, and he could only assume that it had something to do with her Pattern Cohesion taking a hit. It wasn’t the same as a Fusion being interrupted in the middle of being constructed, but he’d heard somewhere that it could still be debilitating.

“Thank you. I’m sorry about… him,” Nedira said, gesturing to the head on her plate.

“So am I. So am I.”

Larek hesitated to say anything else, because he didn’t want to embarrass himself any more than he already had, but he wasn’t sure how long he had to wait before he could speak. So, he just went and said it.

“I’m sorry if this is moving too fast after all this, but I have the first batch of staves ready for you,” he said quickly. “Well, ready for any volunteers that are willing to learn how to hunt monsters you’re your people.”

“Staves? Those, uh, won’t do much good against the monsters in the nearby Apertures, Larek.”

“Oh, but Larek’s staves are special,” Nedira interjected. “However, I was just talking with him about it, and I think they’re going to need something else to keep them a bit safer. What do you think, Larek?”

The Combat Fusionist thought about it for a moment. “I suppose I could add something to, say, a necklace? Trying to do clothing would be too complicated, as those would be more of a custom job. Are you thinking an Automatic Ice Repulsion Field? Or perhaps more along the lines of keeping them hidden with a Camouflage Sphere?”

“Probably the first. It’ll be hard to hide them all when their barrages are released, after all.”

“True, true. Graduated Parahealing? It would have to be on something separate, of course.”

She shook her head. “Probably not for everyone. Perhaps a few for each group on a bracelet or something that can easily be passed around to those who need it.”

“I think I could do that,” Larek said, nodding. “What about—” he was about to continue asking Nedira about other Fusions he should add, but he looked up at Vanders and Fendra, who looked completely confused at the conversation the two were engaged in. “Oh, sorry, we were just discussing what might be necessary for the would-be hunters. I think with a few more additions, they should be a lot safer. Do you think you could get me necklaces of some kind? They don’t have to be fancy, just a simple blank medallion maybe? Could even be made of wood; as long as they’re the same material and generally the same shape, I’ll be able to divide the Fusions onto them all. And bracelets of some kind, which need to be easy enough to take on and off.”

The Martial looked at Larek as if he had been poleaxed, but after a moment he nodded. “I… think I can get those for you.”

“Great! In the meantime, I want to show you the staves I’ve already made, and then I’ll get on finishing the new Fusions. If you have someone who could come grab the staves from our room, we’ll get the new volunteers at least practicing with them.”

Nedira stopped him with a hand on his arm before he could head to their room. “I’m going to stay here, if you don’t mind; my body is still recovering and I just don’t have the energy quite yet.”

Larek squeezed her hand gently, really looking at her since they had finished eating. He could see what looked like exhaustion in her face, but he sensed that it was more of a weakness throughout her entire body. It was the same that happened when someone fell into a coma after using his Healing Surge Fusion, which usually ended up with them being an invalid for a few days even after waking, waiting for their body to recover. This was much less severe, but a single meal wasn’t enough to restore her physical energy.

“Not a problem. Take care of yourself and regain your energy,” he said softly. “By the way, I’m sure you already noticed, but I took the liberty of adding Fusions to your robe last night; I should have done it before we left the tunnels, and I’m sorry you got hurt because of my mistake.”

She pulled her hand away and cuffed him on the arm lightly. “Don’t. It’s not your fault. It was just bad timing that we arrived just as the Aperture was finished Surging.” She looked down at her robe and frowned. “But you’re right, you should’ve done this before we left. It feels… amazing. I can’t remember what happened to the one you made me before you disappeared, but it feels like years since I’ve experienced anything like this. Thank you.”

“Not a problem. And again, I’m sorry—” she glanced at him with a look, prompting him to raise his hands to reassure her, “for not adding those Fusions earlier. I won’t mention what happened again, even if I know I messed up.”

“Good. Now, go on and show all these people your fun toys – and tell them to be careful! Those things are more powerful than they have a right to be, and someone could get hurt.”

“Yes, dear,” he said with a smile as he turned away, but not before he saw the blush creep up her cheeks. Stepping over the cooling body of the Supreme Provider, he gestured for Vanders and Fendra to follow, heading toward the room with all the staves.

Along the way, Fendra asked, “What exactly are these staves? You keep dancing around whatever they are, and now I’m both intrigued and a little frightened.”

“Have you ever heard about a Variable Repeating Elemental Projectile? No? Then perhaps it’s alright to be frightened… because you’re just about to have your mind blown.”