The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 38

Chapter 38

“You need to leave. Tonight. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going and run as fast as you can.”

Larek immediately froze in the seat he had sat back in at the Elementalist’s approach, when she whispered her order as soon as she was close enough to not be overheard. They found us, was his first thought. How? They had only been in the town for approximately 6 hours, which couldn’t have been enough time for them to communicate with whoever was heading up the search for Larek and his group. Unless, of course, he was severely underestimating how much effort the Gergasi was putting into tracking him down. They could have means of tracking him that he wasn’t even aware of.

A quick glance around the table showed that everyone else was also frozen where they sat, as the warning they were given registered in their minds. There was a hint of both fear and disappointment in their faces, which he shared; he really didn’t want to be found by his father, but he was also looking forward to sleeping in a real bed again.

“Why?” Penelope asked after a few seconds of silence around the table. The rest of the common room was still as lively as ever, but their immediate area was like a void of noise.

Larek didn’t think it was necessary to ask questions; he was ready to jump up, run upstairs to grab their stuff, and then flee as fast as possible without looking back. Still, he had to acknowledge that it would be beneficial to have confirmation that the Gergasi and those they enslaved were on their trail.

The woman leaned over their table, whispering again to the point where Larek had to concentrate to pick her voice out of the conversations happening around them.

“My boss has decided to clear out of Whittleton and join up with the larger SIC groups near Thanchet. She seems to think that having our forces centralized where we can coordinate the defense of the roads with better efficiency is the way we should approach protecting the people of the Kingdom, especially with our diminishing numbers here. I can’t say I agree, but I can see some twisted logic in it, despite the fact that it feels like we’re going to abandon everyone here to the monsters outside.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea, though pulling every SIC member out of the town seems a bit unsafe,” Penelope cautiously noted. “But what does that have to do with us?”

“She’s making plans to take all your Fusions in the morning before we leave, and then to tell the forces back in Thanchet that you’re all deserters and thieves. Her idea is that what Fusions you have would be better utilized with her people rather than a bunch of kids.”

Larek immediately relaxed his tense muscles when he heard the reason the woman, Karley, wanted them to flee. Granted, it wasn’t exactly good news, given that the local SIC wanted to steal the Fusions he’d created and then alert those from Thanchet about their location, but it was still better than the alternative.

“Why did you all just relax in relief when I told you that? Is there something else that you’re running from?” the Elementalist said, looking suspiciously at them all.

“No, we’re on a special mission to—”

“Don’t give me that bull you spouted to Zorey,” the woman said, standing up straight with the fear completely gone from her face. “I can tell there’s something bigger going on here, especially as the prospect of facing our entire SIC branch doesn’t seem to worry you.”

“Do they just want the Fusions, or are they planning on killing us?” Larek asked instead of explaining anything. His thoughts were more on how they could get through the next 24 hours without dying or alerting the Gergasi of their location rather than fleeing for their lives once again. Even if they were to try and sneak out that night, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be tracked and ambushed by the SIC – all for the Fusions they carried with them.

“She just wants the Fusions; there’s no plan to kill a bunch of what appears to be students and trainees. In all honesty, she couldn’t care less that you fled from a dangerous situation, but she’s covering herself in case someone’s actually looking for you.”

“Easy enough, then. We’ll just give her some Fusions and they can let us go on our way.” It sounded like a simple solution.

The Elementalist shook her head. “I can’t let you do that. If you go out there without them, you’ll die; you don’t have the experience or training to survive crossing through the Kingdom, even if you primarily stick to the roads.”

At her words, Larek really looked at the woman for the very first time, reaching out with every sense he possessed. As his hyper-focused state kicked in, there were a few things that he could tell about the Elementalist immediately. The first was that she was indeed from the Kingdom, but she wasn’t in any shape or form a Noble of any kind. The second was that the Fusions on her staff were decently made if weak, as well as being only a month or so away from fading. Lastly, by digging down and evaluating any connections to her that might be out there, he couldn’t feel even a trace of Dominion Magic around her.

He hated the power with a passion, but over the last week he had also learned how to detect it in others. It wasn’t something that he set out to do, but being in close proximity with his groupmates without anyone else around made it almost natural based on his understanding of Dominion Magic.

Which was basically nothing, with all things considered, but it at least gave him a starting point.  What Larek discovered was that he could feel a very faint connection with everyone in the group that felt familiar to him, as if there was a tiny bit of him around them. He couldn’t see it, manipulate it, or even focus on it to do anything with it, but it was there. The other thing he discovered was that there was something similar, but much stronger, surrounding Bartholomew, and it didn’t feel familiar at all. He could only assume based on what he knew about the Martial trainee was that because he was one of the Nobles that had a direct slave bond with the Gergasi, that was what he was detecting. Again, he couldn’t do anything with it and was just barely able to sense it; to whatever controlled his Dominion Magic, it was simply present to his perceptions.

Utilizing the same type of senses as he stared at the Elementalist, he attempted to see if this woman was similarly affected by Dominion Magic, either directly or possibly through proximity with one who was. At first, he couldn’t detect anything, but as he concentrated on the sensations he received from his companions, he felt something. If he had to describe it, he would say it was more like an echo than anything, a bare shadow or wisp of Dominion Magic; he could only guess that it was so faint because she had been close to someone who was affected by Dominion Magic, but wasn’t targeted directly. At least, that was what his intuition was telling him.

Instead of directly responding to the woman warning them of the danger, he glanced at Bartholomew and asked, “Was that individual you were talking to on our way here, uh, like you?” It was as subtle as he could get without blurting out if he was asking if the Noble had a slave bond.

“Huh? Oh… yes, certainly.”

That was all he needed to know. Turning back to the confused-looking Elementalist, Larek waved toward the stairs. “Come up to our rooms and we can discuss this further.”

“What? No, I can’t do that. They’re going to miss me if I’m away for too long.”

“It won’t take much time, and it will help both of us,” he responded, before getting to his feet.

Nedira tried to drag him back down by pulling on his arm, but it was too late for that. “What are you doing? We can’t—”

“It’s too late for that; either way, our presence as we passed through here will be remarked, but this way no one gets hurt.”

“Fine, then let’s hurry. If we’re going to get out of here before—”

He gently cut her off by placing his hand over hers which was still on his arm. “We’re not leaving. At least, not yet.”

She stared up at him for a few seconds in silence, before huffing dramatically. “You better have something good planned, or I’m dragging you out of here by your ear.”

He smirked down at her. “As if you could even reach it,” he joked, which elicited a round of chuckles from the others as they got to their feet. All but the Elementalist, who still looked confused and now angry.

Despite that, she followed them upstairs without a word, though Larek noticed that she jerked back in shock after passing one of the new lamp chimneys that he had added a Fusion to earlier. Even that only caused her to pause for a moment as she stared at the Fusion formation before shaking her head and hurrying to catch up with the rest.

As they had done earlier, everyone piled into the room Larek was sharing with his younger roommates, but instead of going straight to his bed to sit down, he stood next to it turned toward the others who had gathered. He launched right into his plan without preamble.

“First, we’re not going to give your boss any of the Fusions that we’re using right now, because they are necessary to us if we’re going to travel across the Kingdom.  As much as I dislike the thought of SIC members essentially stealing from others, I can also understand where it is coming from; they want to protect themselves and therefore protect the people. They aren’t doing it to make themselves wealthy or simply powerful, except in the pursuit of saving lives. But while I might understand the thought, that doesn’t mean I can condone them simply taking it from us when we’re using it.

“Instead, I’d like to give your boss and the other members of the SIC here a gift of other Fusions that aren’t what we’re currently using, but which would be nevertheless useful. After we give these Fusions to them, do you believe they will leave us alone? Better yet, would it be enough to convince her not to mention us to anyone in Thanchet? We’re truly not deserters nor are we thieves; it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s all I can tell you.”

Creating Fusions for the SIC members in Whittleton was in line what he was already planning on doing, if a bit more than he had originally planned. The creation of additional Fusions would take a little longer than it would normally, especially with this little wrinkle in the situation, but if it would delay the search for them, it would be worth it.

Skeptical, Karley folded her arms over her chest and stared at him for a few seconds before answering with slow, measured words. “If you can provide the same kinds of Fusions that were demonstrated to my group, as Zorey has already reported what he saw to her, I believe Major Kuama would be willing to let you go and not mention your passage through this town. She only wants them to help protect her people and allow them to do the duty they are obligated to do without as much fear as they currently have when going out on patrol. As I said before, she doesn’t really care who you are and only want what’s best for the people under her responsibility.”

“Good. Then I—”

“But that’s impossible. There are 55 of us stationed here in Whittleton, so unless your bags were filled with Fusions – which is highly doubtful – then there’s no way she would be satisfied with just a few spares that you might have brought with you.”

Larek sighed, annoyed that she cut him off, but didn’t let that get to him. “We didn’t bring any ‘spares’ with us; what we’ve been using were created by—”

“What are you doing?” Penelope asked him quickly before he could say any more, marking the second time in the last minute he was cut off.

“Look, I already checked and she isn’t under the influence of… anyone. She came here to give us this warning, and if that isn’t enough proof that she’s on our side, at least nominally, then I’m not sure what it would take to convince us. We’re going to need her help if this is going to succeed, as she’ll have to be the one to negotiate for us.”

The Elementalist held out her hands as if begging him to stop. “Whoa, wait, I never agreed to that!”

“Too late, you’re already involved,” Nedira said as she moved over to Verne and Norde’s shared bed and sat down with an annoyed expression on her face. Crossing her arms, matching what Karley had done earlier, she added, “He’s too stubborn to let it go now, so you might as well play along.”

Me? Stubborn? Well… I guess she has a point.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused; what are you all talking about?” the woman asked, practically screeching as he could see her starting to drift into the realm of the hysterical.

“It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, but I keep getting cut off,” Larek said, exasperated. “I’ll make those Fusions for you, but I need to know what exactly I’m going to need so that everyone is covered.”

“I don’t know what game you’re playing—”

He shook his head. “No game. Now, how many Mages and how many Martials are here in Whittleton as part of your forces?”

The Elementalist looked around at the other people in the room as if searching for an explanation of the joke being played on her, but everyone just looked back at her with stony expressions on their faces – even Verne and Norde, which was something he didn’t see from the normally exuberant boy very often.

“But this is imposs—”

“People keep saying that, but I’ve proven that to be a lie on at least a few occasions,” Larek said wryly, happy to be cutting her off in mid-sentence for a change. “Now. Mages and Martials? How many of each?”

She stared at him for a few seconds with her mouth hanging open, before she blurted out, “25 Mages and 30 Martials. But—”

“Can I see your staff? And is there any way you can scrounge up enough Mage staves for the rest of the Mages here in Whittleton? I don’t have any extras here, as they’re kind of bulky.”

She mutely handed over her staff after looking at everyone else watching her actions, and she audibly gulped. “Here.” As soon as he took it and began to starve the mediocre Fusions on the wooden staff in order to eliminate them, he looked up into the woman’s eyes to see astonishment radiating out of them. And what he thought might be a spark of hope.

“Fire, stone, water, or ice?” he asked. “Pick 2 for all the staves, because that will make the process much faster.”

“Uh… fire and stone, I guess?”

He just nodded, before moving to his bed so that he could sit down. He inadvertently walked over the grid of lights he had created earlier and activated a few of the squares, but he ignored them as he finished up the Fusion elimination process. Fortunately, it was fairly simple and fast with the Fusions he was getting rid of them because of their almost temporary nature and Magnitude, so it didn’t take that long.

As he quickly created the formation for a Flaming Ball +7 Fusion and then began to fill it with Mana, he could hear the intake of breath as Karley watched him work. He didn’t let his focus waver for a split second, however, though he allowed himself to gently smile at her reaction.

It didn’t take too long for the formation to fill up with his Mana, and when it was done he snapped it into place along one tip of the staff. Looking up, he saw the woman was staring in astonishment at him and the staff, but she quickly shook herself. “I-I’ll go get the staves.”

“Barty, Viv – go with her,” Penelope ordered.

Larek largely ignored them as they left, knowing that it was probably the best idea to have two individuals from the Kingdom move through the town and even the SIC building rather than someone from a different land, such as Penelope or Nedira. It wasn’t because they would be less trusted, but they would fit in better because almost everyone in town were from the Kingdom and they wouldn’t stick out.

As soon as the door closed, he checked his Pattern Cohesion and made sure it wasn’t too low – a precaution he’d taken back at Copperleaf to ensure he didn’t run out when making so many Fusions for the Dean and Shinpai – and got back to work.