The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Larek finished eating the second surprisingly delicious fish sandwich he had been given as prisoner fare before washing it down with the large stone pitcher of water, not even bothering to use the cup that had been provided along with it. He sat back on his undersized bed and laid himself down, his legs dangling over the end at the knees, and put his hands behind his head as he felt himself drifting off to sleep once again.

The same routine had been going on for the last two days after he was imprisoned by the Swiftwater Protectors upon his escape from the Underworld Society’s destroyed underground sanctuary – and he didn’t mind it in the least. At the time, he didn’t have the energy to avoid being captured by them and therefore didn’t even put up a fight, though they had to literally drag him back to their barracks and the cell they threw him in, because he was too weak to walk at that point. A meal shortly after arriving had him feeling better immediately, as well as a long nap afterwards, and every time he woke up he had another meal waiting for him inside his cell enclosed in by steel bars, slipped in from a small opening near the floor. Not once did he actually see any of the Protectors who had captured him, though he could hear them moving throughout the barracks and speaking with each other occasionally.

He was just fine with that, though, because he didn’t have the energy to talk with them – though that was rapidly changing as his body and mind recovered from his recent near-death experience.

When he woke up later, he stretched and sat up, looking around for more food but not seeing any ready for him. Determining the amount of time that passed while he napped was nearly impossible, but he thought that this last one had only been an hour or two, so no additional meal made sense.

Straitening his clothes as he got up, which the Protectors thankfully left on him rather than stripping it away from him like they did his axe, he sat on the edge of the bed and finally paid attention to his cell for the first time since arriving. Every other time he had been awake, he had been shoving his face full of food, and recovering from his ordeal was more important to him than where he was.

It was a fairly small cell, though it thankfully had 8-foot-tall ceilings to go with the 100-square-foot space, of which there was a tiny side table where he placed his food tray and pitcher, his too-short bed, and a chamber pot in the corner – which he hadn’t needed to use, as his body converted every single thing he ingested into energy without any waste. Three of the walls were a thick, dense stone while the last was a wall of steel bars that were set 4 inches apart from each other, along with a locked gate and the aforementioned gap along the bottom that was used for pushing in food deliveries.

Outside of the cell, he could barely see that he was on one side of a hallway that had a series of oil lamps burning that marginally illuminated the entire place, and he thought there were other cells on either side of him – both of which were empty. In fact, he was fairly sure he was completely alone in this part of the barracks, as he heard absolutely nothing other than some Protectors moving around outside of a door on one end of the hallway.

Now that he had most of his energy back after eating and getting plenty of rest, right now was the perfect opportunity to escape… if that was what he wanted to do, of course. Which it was, but not before he found out where his best friend was being held; after all, there was no way he was going to leave the axe behind after saving it from being buried underneath the remains of the Underworld Society’s Sanctuary.

But before he did attempt to escape, which a quick test of the bars of his cell showed that he could bend them easily enough if he had enough time to do it without making too much noise, he had to figure out what to do after he was successful.

What were his overarching goals? To get home to the Kingdom, find his family and friends, and figure out what went wrong there that caused such a mess with the rest of the world. The latter goal was secondary to the first two, because while he cared about it, he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could or even wanted to do to reverse what had already happened.

To achieve that goal, his first step at this point was to cross the Swiftwater, and to do that without killing himself in the process, he needed a way across – a way that would eventually be provided by the return of ferries at some point. He wasn’t the only one that needed transportation, of course, but the presence of the merchants waiting to move their goods across the river ensured that it would eventually happen, even if Larek didn’t know when.

It was already going to be difficult negotiating his way onto a ferry without arousing suspicion, but it would be nearly impossible to do it if he escaped from the Protectors and they were constantly searching for him in the city, knowing that he was there. He had a bit of anonymity before because those searching for him didn’t know exactly where he would be, but at this point they were more than aware he was in the city and likely stuck looking for a way across the Swiftwater along with everyone else.

There was always the option of going north and making his way around the river, but that would add even more months of travel to his journey; at this point, this wasn’t that big of a deal because it would help to distance himself from the Protectors searching for him, but there was now another problem.

He had lost all of his money inside the collapsed Underworld Society complex. His staff, his extra clothes, his bedroll, his transfer letter, and his actual packs were also gone, but he could always create or purchase more of those things – other than the letter – if he had money, which he didn’t. Therefore, if he did decide to go north, he’d have to go with absolutely nothing but his clothes and his axe – because he was planning on getting it back – so supplies would be difficult to get. Journeying without already prepared rations of food was extremely risky, even if he was able to supplement them with meat from killed monsters; there only had to be a day or two of no edible monsters before he would begin to starve.

He could steal from a shop or two in the city, or perhaps swipe some things from one of the packed warehouses near the docks, but he would rather do that as a last resort. Unless someone personally did something to him, he was loathe to hurt someone if there was another alternative; he’d already killed dozens more people in the Empire of Sealance than he thought he would have to, and while their deaths were either justified or accidents, they still weighed on his conscience; stealing from innocent merchants would only compound the guilt, but he would do it if he didn’t have any other choice.

So, what option did that leave? There really was only one for the moment, which was to wait and see what the Protectors had planned for him. If they simply chose to imprison him for a month or so, then he had absolutely no problem serving the sentence if they continued feeding him during the day and allowing him to rest. But if it was something more serious? That was entirely possible, as he didn’t know whatever the law was in the Sealance Empire; he knew that violence against Ectorians and Protectors was punished severely, but he didn’t know what exactly they were charging him with. Was it simply the deaths of the four men back by Lakebellow? Or did they consider him the prime suspect in the Underworld Society’s destruction?

Regardless of what they were going to charge him with, he needed to prepare for the eventuality of breaking out from imprisonment if things went sideways. To do that, he needed Fusions; thankfully, he had materials at hand to help with that.

A few hours later, as Larek sat on his bed and finished yet another Fusion that was added to the growing pile underneath his bed sheet, there was finally a visitor to the cell block – and it wasn’t someone bringing his next meal.

“Stand up. It’s time,” the Protector stated formally, his helmet covering his face. Behind him were another half-dozen Protectors crowded into the hallway, all standing at attention with their spears held straight up. A cursory glance at them indicated that none of the Protectors behind the one that spoke had undergone the change to be a Mage or a Martial, but the same couldn’t be said about whom he assumed was the leader. Definitely a Martial.

“Time for what?” he asked, surreptitiously slipping the completed Fusions from under his bed sheet into his pocket. They would rattle around a little when he moved, but there wasn’t any helping that; to lessen the number of them in his pocket, he kept a specific one palmed into his hand – just in case it was needed immediately. “You haven’t even told me why you brought me here, and there’s been no one to ask.”

“Silence. Follow me. Try anything suspicious and we won’t hesitate to kill you where you stand.” The orders sounded very familiar, and Larek was reminded of his initial confrontation back in Enderflow with Protector Ashlynn – though in that case he was technically in the wrong because he had inadvertently injured an Ectorian. He was curious as to what they were going to accuse him of at this point.

Rather than argue, since it didn’t seem as though this Protector was willing to explain anything, he simply walked out of the gate in the cell once they unlocked it, having to duck through the opening to fit, as it was made for shorter people. The Martial Protector led the way down the hallway with two of the other Protectors walking backward and pointing their spears at him, while the other four were behind him doing the same thing. It was a bit ineffective when they had to fit through the door, as it only allowed one person through at a time, but they managed it well enough by taking turns and ensuring he was guarded at all times.

Larek didn’t really care what they did, because he was busy looking around the large room they emerged into that reminded him of the barracks back in Enderflow – though on a much grander scale. This one had stone columns throughout it supporting the roof, and there were a few desks in one corner, tables and chair filling about a third of it on the opposite end, and what appeared to be a large training area in the center that was occupied by a few Protectors training – in more than just their spears. He saw the application of Stama in use with Battle Arts as two Protectors dueled each other, both of them still wielding spears, though one of them was wearing a small buckler along one of their arms.

As Larek watched, the one not wearing the buckler suddenly jumped at least 10 feet into the air before descending upon his opponent, who blocked the blunt tip of the spear stabbing at him with his buckler. He was nearly knocked off his feet, and probably would’ve been if it hadn’t been for a flare of Stama in his feet that let him shift them quickly to a more balanced position, and he counterattacked as soon as he was stable. The descending jumper was just straightening from where he landed in a crouch and barely deflected the attack with the frantic raising of the spear’s haft, which meant he was unprepared when a Stama-powered Battle Art infused his opponents foot again as he was kicked in the stomach. The man went flying out of the space allocated for the fight and the duel was called in favor of the buckler-wearing Protector.

They’ve already figured it out? I wish it was that easy for me. Perhaps I can learn from—

A not-so-gentle prod from behind shook him from his thoughts as he had slowed his walk to watch the fight. Larek hadn’t activated his Repelling Barrier quite yet because he didn’t want it known that he had it ahead of time, because if he needed to quickly escape, he figured it would be best kept as a surprise.

Thankfully, the spear to his back didn’t do more than poke him as it couldn’t cut through his clothing or break through his tough skin, but he got the message. Hurrying to catch up with the Protector leading the way to wherever Larek was supposed to be headed, he found that he was directed to a door along the back of the much larger room. After having experience with the inside of a Protector headquarters, he was fairly certain that this was an interrogation room of sorts.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not.

Larek soon found himself in a chair across from three Protectors of some importance, if their age and bearing had anything to do with it. They had all recently undergone the change, as well, including one that was a Mage – which was more than a bit worrying. Mages could sense his Fusions, after all, and he had a lot on him.

The Mage, an older woman with just a touch of grey in her hair, looked at him intently, spotting the Fusions immediately, and he could tell that she was just about to say something when the man in the middle cut her off before she could begin.

“When they told me they caught an agent of the Underworld Society fleeing their little hidey-hole, I wasn’t expecting someone from… the Kingdom of Androthe? Is that where you’re from? Are you simply an agent checking in on the branch here in Swiftwater, or are you here for something else?” The voice of the Martial Protector in charge was deep and powerful, almost as much as Larek’s before he began to regulate it when he spent more time with people.

Those question were certainly not what Larek had been expecting to be asked, and he stared at the man for a few seconds trying to comprehend what was going on.

“Not speaking, huh? Typical of your kind. I’m assuming that you have absolutely no idea what caused the collapse of the Sunwares Distribution Facility on Vardo Street? Or what caused half of Hardaway Park a few blocks away to sink into the ground? Or better yet, what caused a massive expulsion of earth to fly up from the ground and demolish half of the mayor’s house a half-mile away?” The man pounded on the table in anger, nearly cracking the wood, before he continued. “You’re lucky that there were no deaths from whatever this was, though there were plenty of injuries and thousands of golds’ worth of property damage. If someone innocent had died because of this, then we’d be having a much different conversation.”

No one innocent died? That’s a relief… but that also means that he doesn’t care that the people in the Underworld Society were killed. Of does he even know? With everything collapsed on top of them, as well as there likely being very little trace of them left after experiencing the explosions point-blank, it’s quite possible that he’s ignorant of exactly what happened down there.

“What can you tell us about what happened?” the man next to the Protector’s leader asked, sitting forward with a friendly look on his face and in the tone of his voice. “We would really like to know some details, especially if we have to be worried about this happening again. It would certainly go a long way to reducing whatever punishment is in store for your involvement with the Underworld Society.”

Ah. I see. One of them is gruff and harsh, while the other is trying to be nice in order to draw out information – and to entice me with a reduced punishment if I share what I know instead of simply demanding it. Clever… but what is the other Protector here for?

That’s when his Magical Detection Skill perceived a hint of something surrounding him in a cloud, and he recognized it immediately as a truth-detecting spell. He’d only seen it a few times, but there was a feeling to it that was unmistakable. It appeared a bit unstable, as if it was ready to fall apart at a touch, but that was understandable if this woman was only a Mage for a bit more than a month.

A new Mage and she already knows how to cast spells – and has access to a truth spell? How is that in any way fair? He wished he had been able to see her cast it so that he could learn it, but she had obviously done it just before he arrived.

Fortunately, knowing that he had a truth spell around him, he could take advantage of that to prove his innocence. “I am in no way affiliated with the Underworld Society. In fact, I only learned about the Society the night before.” There was little chance that he could get away with complete ignorance, given that he was found emerging from their hideout, but he could at least distance himself from them.

All of them appeared surprised at his answer, especially when the Mage nodded at his response. “Then what were you doing there? And do you know what happened?”

He only hesitated a moment before he answered. “I was looking for someplace to stay while I needed to wait for the ferries to be built, because I need to get across the Swiftwater. All the Inns in the city were filled up, and I was propositioned by a nice lady that told me she had a place where I could stay. It was extremely expensive at a full gold piece for the night, but I didn’t really have any other choice other than staying outside of the city or sleeping on the street.” He wouldn’t have slept on the street, but that it was an option was at least the truth.

They just stared at him until he continued. “As for what happened, well, the women of the Underworld Society learned the hard way that they couldn’t extort me and unfortunately paid the price.”

There was complete silence in the room, before the man in charge barked, “What?”

Larek turned his attention toward the woman, who seemed to shrink back slightly at his gaze. “All that happened in their Sanctuary was entirely their fault, though I must take responsibility for being the ultimate cause for their destruction. I apologize that such a thing caused so much damage, but I’m glad to hear that no one else was killed.” He winked at the Mage. “And that is the truth.”

The spell around him fell apart a second later as the woman lost her concentration at his words. “But… how… when… what… where?”  The unfortunate Mage Protector could barely get her words out.

“When and why?” he asked with a smile, completing her list of questions. “No idea. I was knocked out for a while so I couldn’t tell you why, and I can only assume that greed was the reason why, but it could be something else.” Like my Dominion magic being used on Seandra.

“So… you admit that you were the ultimate source of so much damage, but not the one who caused it?” the lead Protector asked, trying to regain control of the interrogation.

“In essence… yes. It was never my intention to harm anyone when I came here, as I was hoping to simply pass through.”

“Then that means you’re at least partially liable for the damages. The mayor is breathing down my neck to find the ones responsible for this, and if what you say is true, then those directly responsible for it – or so you say – are dead. That means it falls upon you to pay for the damages.”

Larek wasn’t sure if that was necessarily fair, as he hadn’t been the one to actually create the explosions, but he did feel slightly responsible for what happened. Or are they trying to take advantage of me, exploiting my honesty like the Society was attempting to exploit my need to stay away from the Protectors?

In the end, it all came down to whether or not he thought some sort of restitution was warranted. He was fairly confident he could still escape and make a run for it if necessary, but that would just leave him in a rough position without any supplies. It was doable, of course, but he’d rather not have to worry about being chased anymore – which was something he needed to ask about at some point, since these Protectors hadn’t mentioned that they were already looking for him.

That thought worried him that they were simply keeping him there until someone from Lakebellow could identify him to the Protectors there, but for some reason he didn’t think this was the case. While he wasn’t the best at reading people, he didn’t see any signs of them knowing who he was or that he was already wanted by the Protectors from another town. Was Seandra lying? Was that just ploy to get me to capitulate to her demands? He had no way of knowing without more information, but that wasn’t something he was going to ask about at this point so as not to call attention to it.

Regardless, that only tangentially affected what was currently going on. It only took him a few seconds to consider whether he felt responsible for the damage that was caused by his exploding Fusions. His first instinct was to completely deny any responsibility that would cause him to be “punished” for it, because it wasn’t technically him that caused it. But then he realized that it wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for his Fusions, just like the explosion that occurred on the roof of Crystalview Academy. Overall, he felt responsible enough to want to make up for his part in the damage in Swiftwater, though it really depended on what they asked from him. If it was too much, he could always leave – with or without permission.

He finally responded with a shake of his head. “Depending on what you’re asking, any type of payment for damages is going to be a bit hard, as all my things were buried with the remains of the Society – including all my money.”

The Mage rushed back into the conversation before the lead Martial Protector could respond. “But there must be somethingyou can contribute that might be of equal value.” She pointed toward his shirt. “Such as what in the name of the Emperor is that in your clothes? Do you know how that was made? Can it be taught?”

Ah… hmm. Maybe? Well, I know I can probably teach her, and others, how to make Fusions by this point, but do I want to risk my Dominion magic acting up again? That didn’t work out so well the last time – as evidenced by the deaths of those in the Underworld Society. On the other hand, I don’t have a lot of choice here; either I run, or I try and teach Fusions to people who just became Mages a little over a month ago.

“Perhaps. If this is what it takes to make up for the damages I had a small part in causing, let’s talk about it.”