Etherno Page 17

  “It’s so nice not to have those crutches anymore.” Saija pirouetted, then bowed. “It’s not as maneuverable as my real leg, but it’s better than hobbling around.”

  “Come have a seat.” Kasai pulled Saija over to the couch. “Onin and I found a few things that might be helpful, and Tannin says he found some information, too.”

  Onin, with occasional comments from Kasai, filled the others in on what they’d found in the news.

  “Not much more than we’d known before,” Cerina said.

  “I’d say that it confirms that the Natas are trying to keep our attention away from what’s happening here in Rogim.” Tannin shifted around in his chair and leaned forward. “It looks like everything they’re doing is focusing on Caradan, but it feels like a diversion to me. Especially after what I learned chatting to our Natas guests.”

  “What’d you find out?” Onin said.

  “That Natas are cranky, mean, and unhelpful,” Cerina said.

  “Well, that too.” Tannin gave Cerina a sharp nod. “But also that they’ve been planning this for a while. As we suspected, the Natas that we’ve captured are all grunts. They don’t know much. But they do know that those bases in the mountains haven’t been used in ages, and now the grunts are being sent out to kidnap giftlings from all over and bring them back to those bases. They’re almost as afraid of what goes on there as we are.”

  “Makes sense. The Natas aren’t going to waste the most talented of their people in their ceremonies,” Saija said.

  Onin shuddered. Kasai gripped his arm.

  “Don’t remind me.” Tannin’s face took on a greenish hue. “So, yeah, there’s more Natas vessels than ever before, and from what the grunts know, only the low levels, a few of the ones that can be controlled, and mostly followers, are being sent to Caradan. Again, according to the limited knowledge of the people we’ve captured, only a few Natas vessels are in Caradan.”

  “Leaving lots of the newly made vessels here. Wonderful.” Saija said.

  “They’ve got to be plotting something. But what?” Onin said.

  “I wonder…” Kasai pursed her lips, and sat still for a moment before she spoke again. “The Natas hate the Matari. The Matari withdrew funding from ABG. The Matari are on the other end of the continent from Caradan. Perhaps it has something to do with the Matari…”

  “Professor Jekao seems to think so,” Onin said.

  “Yeah!” Tannin jumped to his feet. “But now we’ve got more to go on than a hunch. I say we go and see if we can find anything!”

  Chapter 13

  Into the Lion's Den

  Onin flew low enough to skim the treetops that were barely visible in the moonless darkness. He pushed a hair more power to the servitors on his hands and looked back over his shoulder. Kasai glided along telekineticly behind him on his right. The servitor carrying Tannin was behind and to his left. Cerina and Saija followed behind him, each also suspended under a servitor. Onin still wished they’d taken the monorail. He’d need the energy it took to make those servitors if they ran into a Natas. Flying was worth the energy for the extra stealth, though.

  The walls of the Matari Enclave came into sight. Onin waved to the others and they landed about four miles out. Onin re-absorbed all but one servitor, which provided enough light to see his immediate surroundings. Insects chirped overhead in the trees. The forest floor was almost completely black. Onin waved the servitor forward and followed it through the forest. Kasai reached out and took his hand. Comfort spread through him at her touch.

  “Nice night for a stroll,” Tannin said.

  “Shh!” Onin waved his hand at Tannin. “We’re supposed to be sneaking up to the wall.”

  “Oh, yeah, stealth. Right, I forgot. ‘Cause the big glowing ball of light there won’t be spotted,” Tannin said.

  Onin paused mid-stride. Tannin had a point. He hadn’t even thought about the light, other than he wanted to see where he was going. Not that he’d admit that to Tannin.

  “I’m going to turn it off once we get closer,” he said grudgingly. “Right now we’d never find our way through the forest without some light.”

  “True, but why can’t we talk, then?”

  “Fine.”

  Tannin slowed his pace and fell back to walk next to Saija.

  “So, how’s the leg?”

  “Holding up good so far,” she said.

  “Uh, I never really said sorry.”

  There was silence for several more yards.

  “So, uh, I’m sorry I stabbed your leg.”

  “It’s fine.” Saija’s speech was clipped. “Wasn’t just you.”

  “Yeah.” Onin heard Tannin run his fingers through his hair. Either that or Saija had just scalped him. Probably the former. “I still had something to do with it, and I hadn’t apologized, so I wanted to.”

  “It’s fine, okay, just drop it.”

  Onin hoped that for once in his life Tannin would listen and let it go. Saija had obviously forgiven all of them, but the way she’d lost her leg was still just as obviously a sore subject. By some miracle they walked the remainder of the four miles in silence.

  Onin leaned out from behind a tree. The forest ended and left about 200 yards of open grass between them and the wall. He couldn’t see any guards, but then the moon was only a sliver, and fog had started to set in.

  Tannin leaned out from behind the tree right below Onin. “So, do we just waltz right up there and jump the wall?”

  “I’d suggest more of a crouching run,” Cerina said.

  “Nice one,” Tannin said.

  “Will you two be quiet? They might hear us,” Kasai whispered.

  “No they won’t. I’m making sure of that.” Cerina smirked. “I’ve been generating a sonic barrier around us.”

  “Good.” Onin leaned back behind the tree. “Saija, can you portal all of us right up next to the wall?”

  “Sure.”

  “So, why didn’t we just portal here from Dabrath?” Tannin said.

  “Because—” Saija ticked off the reasons on her fingers. “Long-range portals use a lot of energy, and I might need that to either fight or get us out of here. We can gain valuable intel on defense or surveillance devices from a long approach. And, for the zillionth time, I CAN’T PORTAL TO SOMEWHERE I HAVEN’T BEEN!”

  “Oh.”

  Cerina snickered.

  Saija spread her hands apart, and a portal appeared in the gap. She grabbed the edge and pulled it open wider. Onin looked over to the wall. He couldn’t see anything through the fog now. He stepped through the portal, Kasai’s hand still in his.

  Onin stepped out of the portal and dropped to a crouch. The only sound was the footsteps of Cerina, Tannin, and Saija as they stepped through the portal behind him. He listened and heard nothing. He squeezed Kasai’s hand and nodded to her. The ground started to rise—wait, the ground was still, it was the five of them that were rising into the air, as though they were in an invisible elevator.

  The top of the wall was about three feet wide and flat. He stepped onto it and looked around. The fog was too thick to see more than a few feet. Onin raised his hand and concentrated. A hot spot formed in front of him.

  “What’s that?” Tannin asked.

  “Infrared servitor.” Onin gave the invisible servitor a little more energy. “It doesn’t draw the attention a big ball of light would, and if they have infrared sensors, it should look like a bird.”

  “Cool, I didn’t know you could do that. Why aren’t they all like that?”

  “For one, I can’t see them. Makes it hard to keep track of them. Two, their combat abilities aren’t quite as high. Arcing electricity makes a lot of light.”

  “Ah.”

  Onin sent the servitor down and over the wall.

  “Nothing down there. Kasai?”

  “I’ve got a telekinetic platform ready. Just step off,” she said.

  “This part makes me nervous,” Tannin said.

  “Why? If
you fall, you can just strengthen yourself,” Cerina said.

  “Reinforce. And that doesn’t make it not scary…”

  “Come on.” Onin took a deep breath and stepped off the edge of the wall—and onto solid nothingness. He shuddered and resisted the urge to look down. “Okay, this is extremely unnerving.”

  In moments they were on the ground.

  “What now?” Tannin asked.

  “We look around, see what we can find.” Onin pointed to the left. “The main gate is that way. If we head in that direction, we should come up behind the village.”

  After fifteen minutes they hadn’t encountered anyone.

  “Are you sure this is the right way,” Cerina asked.

  “I’m pretty sure it is. Kasai?” Onin turned to face her.

  “Positive.” Kasai nodded. “We should be almost to some of the buildings that are farthest out.”

  “How big is this village, anyway?” Tannin asked.

  “Fairly small.” Onin looked around. “If I remember correctly, there’s about three large buildings and, oh, around ten or so house-sized ones. They didn’t say, but I got the idea it’s used mostly for entertaining, and the Matari actually live deeper into the enclave.”

  They should be close to the village by now, but Onin didn’t see anything. Of course, the fog made that more difficult. The servitor had gone on ahead, but it hadn’t reported anything either. He generated another infrared servitor and pulled it over his head.

  The fog vanished. Trees and small animals lit up blue, yellow, and red in the infrared view. Odd. Most buildings gave off at least some infrared radiation. He should be able to see at least some kind of heater exhaust, or, even if the building was well insulated and didn’t have an active heat source, a body inside it would raise the temperature enough to show a slightly brighter blue outline.

  “Hey, Kasai?” he said.

  “Yes?”

  “Shouldn’t we be in about the middle of the village now, or is my sense of direction really off?”

  “Hmm,” was all Kasai said.

  He turned to look at her and his eyes widened. Tannin and Cerina had a normal infrared outline. Saij’s was normal too, except for her artificial leg, which was blue instead of the normal green. Kasai, however, glowed white all over. Apparently the heat he felt whenever she held his hand wasn’t just because he found her attractive.

  “It is foggy.” Cerina waved her hand in front of her face. “But I don’t see a village anywhere.”

  Onin re-absorbed the servitor that was over his head. He thrust a palm up, and a regular servitor shot up into the air. The fog slowly started to dissipate. Onin ran over behind a tree and waved at the others to join him.

  A few more seconds and the fog was gone. Onin gaped at the empty clearing. Not a building was in sight.

  “So…” Cerina drew the word out. “You sure you didn’t dream all that after all?”

  “It was here.” Kasai’s voice was barely audible. She took a few steps forward and turned to the left. “There’s the gate.”

  The gate was just as Onin remembered it. Except for the lack of guards. And the lack of a path. And a village was missing. Weird would be an understatement.

  “So, what happened here?” Onin spun on his heel. “The village was right here.”

  “That strange quasi-kinetic feeling,” Kasai said.

  “What about it? Could they have moved the entire village?” Onin said.

  “I don’t think so.” Kasai bit her lower lip and twirled her hair around her finger. “It’s more like, I don’t know… an illusion or hologram or something. Like they were mentally and physically projecting it.”

  “Can they do that?” Saija said.

  “I’ve never heard of a hologram that realistic,” Tannin said.

  “I still think you imagined it.” Cerina leaned against a tree.

  “No. It was real,” Kasai insisted.

  “So, now what? Do we just sit here, wander around some more, or what?”Tannin said.

  “We’re here. I say we explore.” Onin pointed northwest. “When we were here, there was a trail that went off in that direction. I say we go that way and see if we can find anything.”

  “Why?” Cerina looked over in the direction that Onin had indicated. “There’s nothing here now. If it was a hologram or something, it’d just be a fake path anyway.”

  “But why have a fake path that led out of the village?” Saija looked over at Cerina. “If the whole thing was fake, why bother faking anything other than what they needed to? Besides, Onin and Kasai’s research indicated that the Matari might possibly be some kind of spectral being, kinda like the Natas. If that’s the case, the village might be real, sorta. Just not here, now, to our perceptions.”

  “Tcsh.” Cerina rolled her eyes. “That’s a stretch. We’re supposed to find something we can’t see?”

  Saija took a step forward. Tannin grabbed her upper arm.

  “Let it go. We can’t convince her; she’ll have to see for herself.”

  “Fine.” Saija took a deep breath and spun on her heal. “Let’s go.”

  After an hour of wandering through nothing but more trees, Onin was even starting to get doubts. He and Kasai had seen the village. He was sure of it. He was less sure they’d find anything tonight. Perhaps the Matari could only be seen when they wanted to be seen.

  “What’s that?” Kasai pointed ahead.

  Onin generated a servitor and sent it up into the sky. He concentrated and could see from the servitor’s perspective. Something shimmered ahead. He sent the servitor in closer. A boulder was in the middle of a path that hadn’t been there before. As he watched, the boulder flickered. For an instant, a stone building was next to a paved road. The next, it was gone, and the forest was back, sans boulder.

  “What the…” Onin blinked and was back to his own sight. “That was weird.”

  “What?” Tannin asked. “Giant mutant rats?”

  Onin blinked, and turned slowly to stare at Tannin. “Where on Gesara did you get the idea that I saw giant mutant rats? Who even thinks up such nonsense?”

  “You’re right.” Tannin nodded and clapped Onin on the shoulder. “What was I thinking? We’re in a forest. It’s much more likely to be mutant raccoons.”

  “Seriously—” Cerina cocked her head to the side. “—is he brain damaged?”

  “He’s just trying to lighten the mood,” Saija said. Then, in an undertone, “I hope…”

  Onin shook his head and ran forward on the trail, Kasai right behind him. The boulder was in front of them, completely solid. Onin walked past the boulder, then turned to stare at it.

  “So, what’s so weird? Rocks in the woods. That’s normal.” Tannin took a step forward and knocked on the rock. “Yup, solid.”

  Tannin crossed his legs at the ankle and leaned against the boulder with his palm. “Yup, not going—”

  The boulder flickered out of existence, and Tannin fell over on the ground. He jumped up and ran behind Onin.

  “What the mutant raccoon was that?” he yelled.

  “Again with the raccoons?” Cerina said.

  “I like raccoons.”

  Saija took Tannin’s arm and turned it over, looking at it. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “I think I’ll live.” Tannin held his hand to his forehead in a dramatic posture. “I don’t know, though. You’d better make sure I didn’t get a splinter or pick up a poisonous insect, though.”

  “Aww.” Saija ran her hand up and down Tannin’s arm, eyes glinting.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Cerina said.

  Saija and Tannin both giggled.

  “Would you two knock it off!” Onin glared at them. He wasn’t sure if they were flirting, or just trying to pester Cerina, but now wasn’t the time. “We’ve got to figure out what’s going on here.”

  The boulder turned transparent, then faded away, to be replaced by the stone house with a wood door and a tile roof. A minute or so
later the stone house disappeared again, and the boulder was back. Onin waited for the house to re-appear, and ran toward it. As soon as he reached the area where the forest path turned into a sidewalk, the house disappeared, leaving Onin standing in the middle of the forest.

  He turned and trudged back to the others. “Is it just me, or does it seem to change when we get close?”

  “Yeah.” Kasai shifted her weight to her other leg. “That’s the same style of house we saw when we were here last time. Right?”

  Onin stared at the curve of Kasai’s hip where her right hand rested on it. She had such a nice curve to her hip that flowed to a narrow waist—Onin blinked and focused on Kasai’s face. The tip of the index finger of her left hand was in her mouth, and she looked lost in thought. “Could it be another dimension, or something?”

  “Could be, but how can we get in?”Onin said.

  “I might be able to help with that,” Saija said.

  “You can?” Kasai said.

  “I said, ‘might.’ I don’t know.” Saija frowned and turned to stare at the boulder that had reappeared. “I might be able to portal us inside…maybe… If it is another dimension.”

  “Worth a try,” Onin said.

  “How long do we have to stare at this stupid bolder before the house is back?” Cerina said.

  “I dunno. Go poke it,” Tannin said.

  “No way!” Cerina glared at Tannin. “What if I get stuck or something?”

  Onin sighed and generated a fingertip sized servitor. It blinked and shot out toward the boulder. The instant it made contact it disappeared in a shower of tiny sparks. The boulder faded out simultaneously. Saija lifted her hand and opened a portal. The other end of the portal opened next to the house.

  “Wow.” Saija grunted. “Hurry! This is taking a lot more energy that it normally does.”

  Onin ran into the portal. Kasai grabbed his hand as he was halfway through.

  It was daylight. Onin froze in shock. The forest was gone. A handful of trees surrounded the old house, and a stone barn was where they had been standing moments before. The sidewalk Onin now stood on curved around the house—and up into the sky, supported by nothing.