THREE HUNDRED NINE

Squad Symbol

“Dust blockers,” said Seth, opening a box smaller than her palm to reveal two translucent crescents.

“This is the ear set for him,” said Divin.

Alden bent forward to give them easier access to his face.

The dust blockers adhered to the skin beneath his nostrils. Divin was soon pressing two metal dots onto each of his ears, one at the lobes and another near the tops. They pinched, but Alden didn’t have enough attention to spare to notice for more than a second.

“This is a decent weapon, so keep it in its case until you need it. We’d like to return it for someone else to use, and there’s a much higher chance of it being damaged once you take it out of here.” Tilliver handed Alden a black brick with rounded edges and a glossy finish.  “Link it to your lenses and check that it recognizes its command phrases in your voice.”

“Do I need to put it on first?” One end of the brick was the access point to equip the device inside.

“No,” said Tilliver. “Just holding the case and saying the words is fine.”

“Maybe not knowing how to turn on a weapon is a sign it shouldn’t be taken,” Emban murmured.

“Link,” said Alden, looking at the weapon case. “Activate wegyta rings. Wegyta on. Wegyta off. Compress.”

A line of white flashed on top of the case and disappeared. Alden’s new lenses registered the presence of the weapon briefly. They should link to it on their own now if he actually put it on. They’d also just registered the ear protection and com dots Divin had applied.

If one fell off or stopped working he should get an alert. Otherwise he didn’t need to think about them.

“Looks good,” he said, putting the case into a pouch, already attached to his belt, that fit it perfectly. Accessing it should be as easy as opening a flap and poking the brick.

I don’t need to think about that anymore for now either.

Ignore the ear pinch and Emban’s prickly mood. Don’t dwell on the hints of worry that had begun to creep into Tilliver’s voice and Seth’s, too, as they came ever closer to the moment when they’d all board the flyer that loomed over them, shading the supplies the votaries had prepared from the setting sun.

Maybe it was sobering for them to see the Avowed they’d summoned—as far as this exercise was concerned anyway—putting on the protective equipment. Maybe they had some regrets now that their team was ready to go and he was here, a weapon they hadn’t practiced with.

That’s fine. It’s not going to be fixed by me worrying, too.

He was curious about everything happening around him, concerned about a hundred mistakes he might be making right this moment or very soon, and almost every inch of him was dressed in something new that would have claimed his thoughts on an ordinary day. But Alden was trying to find the frame of mind that would make him a better Bearer, and that meant letting go of what wasn’t helping.

Look at each of them. Look at the team as a whole and strip my role down to the essentials so that I can do those well.

Zero in on what it means to be their Bearer.

Trying to zero in and give himself over to the task ahead called to mind several instances when doing that had mattered.

Even this part, before anything has happened, is training.

He wouldn’t always have life or death trouble forcing him into a certain mindset. He wouldn’t always have an entruster he cared about as much as Kibby or Stuart.

I wonder if I’ll be able to get closer to my best with these guys than I can in gym with people I know better.

It occurred to him that even that wondering might be a negative influence on his skill, and he set it aside as well as he could. Later, he’d do things for his own sake, like analyzing his performance and considering what it all meant for his skill and his future.

From now until I get done with this, I’m choosing to serve my entruster. Entrusters.

They were going to swap around as needed. Tilliver might be first. He would have slightly less to do than the others because, as Alden had guessed, his skill was a poor match for numerous weak enemies.

For now anyway. He’d told Alden on the way over that he’d be able to make an army with it one day.

The knight had a couple of weapons in the pockets of his brown coat. Alden knew one of them was a repulsive blast generator that he hoped not to use for the same reason he’d just reminded Alden not to be overzealous with the wegyta rings. In the greater scheme of the battle taking place out here, their trip to reach the thing that was making a single hilltop more chaos-resistant was moderately important at best. They needed to be prepared enough to deal with surprises without wasting tools that could benefit others more.

Tilliver-gare. The Inspired Sculptor. I could guard your back so that you get to bring all this gear back for other knights.

Alden watched the pale-haired knight head up a ramp into the battered-looking flyer to check on something.

Divin and Seth were going over their own final checklists verbally with each other. Seth had changed into her uniform before they left the boat. She wore a dull purple coat and pants, and the metallic red net that Alden had taken for a simple accessory when he’d first seen it in her hair was now wrapped around her wrist. He’d caught that she could use it to improve her skill’s functionality somehow, but he didn’t know more than that.

Recaller of Storms and Driftseed. I’m not sure what you two might need from me, but I’ll try to stay alert and notice if something comes up.

And Emban-art’h. You…

She had a small bow made of dark wood. Her auriad was wrapped around it. The weapon was a work in progress. It was meant to grow closer to her and more protected by her as she used it so that, like an auriad, it could be taken wherever she herself could go without being damaged. Alden hadn’t yet seen any arrows among the supplies. He was thinking she might fire off something more magical. He’d find out later. She wasn’t inviting questions right now.

Emban might need someone to look out for her while she establishes a groove. Maybe interruptions are problematic for her. I’ll be aware of that possibility, keep little things out of her way. She definitely needs someone to bear the burden of her bad temper and hurt feelings. Can’t do that magically, but I can do it the ordinary way.

He tried to think of something worth saying to her that wouldn’t be fake or irritating.

I’ll come back to that. Bithe…he keeps looking for Noh-en. Where did he send her off to?

Bithe had asked Stuart’s former classmate and friend for something right after they’d arrived, and she’d run to go do whatever it was in the large turtle shell-looking structure that was the center of activity for this staging area.

There were only a few other knights around. Another young-looking squad had just flown in. And a few minutes ago, they’d seen someone levitating a huge “dead” hazard mimic toward an outbuilding. But mostly it was votaries who were bustling around this place, their activity providing limited hints about what was happening elsewhere.

Earlier, eight wizards had rushed to unload cargo from an unmanned flyer that had failed to take off when it was supposed to. That had seemed pretty urgent. Alden had watched them while he put on the protective plates the squad had requested for him.

Dark gray and so thin and light he was already forgetting they were there, the plates were an upgraded version of the kind Stuart had introduced him to when they were practicing to beat his nightmare bokabv. They went directly on top of his new clothes or on specialized bands, and they’d shatter so that he didn’t. He carried replacements in his backpack so that he could lose half of them before he needed to worry.

“Did you all hear that update from Opnee?” Tilliver asked, coming back down the ramp. “They’re doing fine. And there’s nothing unexpected happening on our field according to the latest report. Let’s get out there before that changes and get this done.”

Alden had not heard the latest update or report.

Is it normal for the Avowed in the mix not to, or did they forget to check some box that loops me into the same information stream?

“I don’t have access to that,” he said. “I don’t need to know what’s happening elsewhere to do my job, but if it’s something I’m meant to be getting…”

Tilliver was giving Alden another one of those looks that made Alden suspect he was having second thoughts. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to…don’t you need to keep the things you monitor to a manageable number?”

He said it with excessive delicacy.

“I don’t know how much Avowed are supposed to have access to either,” Seth said. “Divin?”

Divin shrugged. “I’m sure whatever we want is fine for today. If we do something improper, they’ll tell us after.”

Emban was somehow making her own silence come across as a “told you so.” Alden thought it had to do with the aloofness of her posture. He also thought it was a failure as The Bearer of All Burdens to be worrying about Emban’s posture at a time like this.

“Just remember that I don’t have all the details you do, and tell me when anything significant to our quest happens. Having me with you doesn’t have to be complicated. I’m here to increase your options. Use my talents to accomplish the goal. I’m not going to be upset about the minor stuff.”

“Noh-en! Finally.” Bithe’s voice came from the other side of the flyer. “Is that it?”

“It just came through.”

Alden made note of the fact that Bithe was getting something else, but he doubted he’d be able to cram even one more item onto his mental list of important thingamajigs other people had in their pockets. Knowing all of his own tools plus a couple for each of them was already a lot.

Tilliver looked like he was about to say something else.

Please don’t get cold feet right now.

“Alden! Here.” Bithe had just come around the nose of the flyer with something in his hands. Noh-en was behind him. “This is for you.”

“For me?”

The box was small enough to be held in a single hand, but Bithe presented it on top of both palms like a gift. It wasn’t a fancy protective case. It was made of a molded, papery-feeling material Alden thought of as Artonan cardboard whenever he encountered it. He took it and opened the lid.

Alden expected something like a potion injector that he’d forgotten to request. Instead, the box held a piece of enchanted gear he’d only seen once before, in his own mind, when he’d taken it from the cabinet where he’d made his equipment choices with Mother’s help.

It would be worn on his forearm, not quite to the elbow. Rigid, grayish green pieces were marked by whorls of silver, the gaps between them revealing a gray sleeve that was supposed to fit snugly, covering his wrist and becoming a half-glove at the base of his hand. It hooked over a thumb, but left the other fingers untouched.

“This is a kelsithe,” Alden said. “The kelsithe. I thought you couldn’t get it.” He touched it lightly. The rigid pieces had an almost leathery texture, but the whorls were smooth as glass.

“I tried and found out I could,” said Bithe. “The owner had offered it to the Rapports shortly after she finished crafting it. But that was sixty years ago. It would have been understandable if she’d become sentimental about it since then. It’s been a <<conversation piece>> in her office, and I couldn’t honestly say it was something anyone needed. But she agreed. Try it on.”

Alden quickly stripped a couple of protective plates off of his left sleeve so that he could shove it up and put the kelsithe on a bare arm. It went on like a glove, but with almost no friction. He had to raise his hand to keep it from sliding right back off.

“There should be a feeling,” said Bithe.

“In your mind,” Tilliver added.

“You shouldn’t listen to us. Focus,” said Divin.

Seth had come to stand beside Bithe. Noh-en was staring at Alden again. Even Emban had an eye turned.

“I know,” he told them. “Give me a moment.”

He’d done this once before, when Mother was explaining how it worked. The kelsithe drew his focus to it. He needed to allow that to happen, and when it seemed like everything else in the world was about to fade out of his awareness…

The sleeve suddenly tightened, gripping his arm like a second skin. His sense of his surroundings returned to normal.

“That was swift, wasn’t it?” Divin said.

Seth nodded. “Well done!”

Alden wasn’t sure he deserved compliments for this particular performance. Connecting to the kelsithe was a little like getting distracted by Sympathy for Magic and then finding himself on the inward path for a few seconds. He was either practiced at this kind of thing or susceptible to it, depending on how one looked at it.

“Does it work?” Bithe asked, a trace of eagerness in the question. “You should try it.”

He was already stepping back to make room.

Emban had turned the second eye toward Alden as well.

It’s no wonder they’re interested.

A kelsithe was an archaic shielding device. Elegant, cleverly designed, magical as anything…but still worse at its job than a bunch of modern options. It was like Alden had asked for a trebuchet in a time when missiles could fly between continents. Sure, medieval siege engines were cool, but even the most overstocked war game wasn’t going to have one lying around.

Alden lifted his hand and targeted Bithe. “You’re my entruster now. Entrust it to me?”

“I do,” said Bithe.

What’s a good, easy shape? I want to look like I know what I’m doing. It’ll make them all feel better about taking me and trusting me to help.

This specific kelsithe had been made to work well for humans. Stuart had imagined Alden using a standard one, but Mother had said Alden wouldn’t be able to overcome the learning curve quickly.

This one and I are supposed to get along.

He let his thoughts rest on the part of the kelsithe that covered the base of his palm. He pictured the silky fabric flowing away from him to form a shape he’d seen a lot of today.

And the kelsithe did flow. It felt like a cool breath against his arm and hand, and a material so airy that it confused the eyes spilled forward from his palm into a six-foot wide vatha shape. Its edges sharpened almost as soon as Alden had the thought that it was looking too indistinct, and he preserved it in that form for everyone to admire.

A vatha made of fabric that almost seemed to be mist. He could make out what was going on through it but not with perfect clarity.

It really preserves fine! It made the shape I want so quickly! It’s even better than I thought.

“Isn’t it great?!” he exclaimed before anyone else could get a word in. “Wow! That was easier than I expected. Look. I can… ”

He unpreserved, made the vatha grow a foot wider, preserved, unpreserved again, and then turned the kelsithe into the next shape that popped into his mind—a larger version of his own outstretched hand. The fingers were all distinct, if a little too fat. He preserved it again and moved his whole arm back and forth to make the kelsithe hand wave.

The only downside was that when he had it preserved he lost mobility in that wrist like he was wearing a cast.

“Are you all sure you don’t want him to have something else?” Noh-en spoke hesitantly. “If you want something highly mobile, there are petals of orl here. If the morphability is important, we have a Nureme’s thesis. And there’s so much defensive jewelry.”

“He needs a physical object, not a protective effect,” said Bithe. “And he has to hold it for his skill to work on it. It’s an extremely useful tool for him with some additional safety if he misjudges what his skill can handle.”

Bithe gets it.

“Can you make it a vatha again?” Seth asked, amused. “We’re thinking of declaring them our squad symbol.”

“No we aren’t!” said Bithe.

“We are,” Tilliver and Emban both said at the same time.

Alden obliged them once before withdrawing the kelsithe.

They sent Noh-en off with the slybark shield Alden would no longer be carrying, then finally boarded the flyer. The vehicle had cushioned chairs for eight and enough space in between that they could have easily packed in twice that many human or Artonan-sized people. The interior was clean and quiet. Alden wouldn’t quite call it luxurious, but it did seem more like a waiting room than a vehicle that took people into chaos. The windows were covered by external plating, and there was a pilot station if someone needed to fly it manually, but other than that, it was just a place to sit.

Alden took a chair next to Bithe’s. It molded to fit him. Pretty comfortable.

The ramp retracted, and the door sealed. It was even quieter now. He had no sense of motion, so when most of the windows suddenly turned on, revealing themselves to be viewing screens, he was startled to see that they were already in the air.

My window didn’t come on. One near the front hadn’t either. It must represent some chaos damage.

He remembered, with concerning vividness, the way it felt to turn on something in Ro-den’s lab facility and find it was broken when it had worked only hours before.

Carry the stuff you want to keep into the vault to buy it time. More will be broken tomorrow. Eventually, everything will break. Everything.

He took a huge breath in and made himself catalog all of his supplies again while the Artonans were talking about the work of the other knights who were down below them. Their flight time would be longer than it needed to be. They’d circle for a while before dropping down into their field, as if they’d had to travel further across an alien world to get to where they were going.

About twenty minutes from the sound of it.

This really isn’t like gym class is it?

Who’d have known a plane ride could turn so immersive with just a few broken screens?

At least they’re not going to mimic the actual feel of chaos.

He’d asked about that and been told that knights got enough of the real thing. Nobody needed a practice dose during their downtime, too.

He let his gaze rest on the kelsithe. He’d spend the flight imagining how different shapes would be effective.

“You probably don’t need a reminder,” Bithe said, “but don’t be too reckless with it today. If it breaks, we can’t fix it easily at all, so…”

“I’ll be careful,” said Alden, looking over at him. Bithe still had his bangs clipped back, but barely. It looked like they were trying to escape. “If we return it in good condition, some other piece of gear will be available tomorrow because of that. Whatever its equivalent is.”

Because they’d taken Alden on this trip, another Avowed had been marked off of the availability list. When they brought Alden back alive, then that Avowed could be available again after a rest period. A similar exchange must be happening with the kelsithe. Alden imagined Noh-en sticking the slybark shield in a closet and telling the other votaries to pretend it had gone on this flyer with them.

“I meant be careful with it because it’s yours now, and I don’t know how you’d get another one. If you break it, we’ll have to teleport you straight to Konstantin Roberts so that you don’t lose it. And we’d have to treat that as you dying for the quest, I think. I doubt some of the other knights would have a lot of confidence in our decisions if they saw something like that.”

“What do you mean it’s mine?”

“I didn’t make that clear?” Bithe smiled. “I didn’t ask for the owner to donate it to the Rapports as a weapon. I told her I wanted to give it to an Avowed who’d done me a favor. She knows it was a personal request and that you’ll keep it. It’s like your lenses and the other things you bought for yourself today. Nothing happened with our supply inventory, and it will go home with you.”

Alden wrapped his right hand around the kelsithe.

This is a real gift, not a just-for-today gift. That’s an extremely…he was mellowed. Is he still mellowed? He doesn’t seem to be. Can I really accept it?

“I’m glad you told me something you wanted,” said Bithe. “I wanted to protect Uro-bor Elder, but then that pathetic animal broke his own mother’s wand. You knew what to do when I didn’t. And the timing…it was a bad time for an added wound. You saved me from one.”

I can accept it.

“I’ve got a kelsithe now!” Alden felt himself beaming. “I’ll guard you with it.”

“That’s nice,” said Bithe. “Isn’t it nice of him and nice for us, Emban?”

Alden might have missed things every now and then about Artonans’ tones, but he didn’t miss that.

Bithe was still smiling, but Emban was getting heat.

She shifted in her seat. She swallowed. “It’s nice,” she said. “We truly did need you during the Here to There.”

Whoa. He got her to unwind.

Alden lifted the kelsithe, and after getting his focus right, he made another vatha with it. This one was only twice the size of his hand.

“Your squad’s symbol,” he said. “For luck.”

******

******

The main observation station for the Rapport III training fields was a floating building, circular and palatial, with viewing decks around the exterior and conference spaces within. Traditionally, the leader of the knights who’d cleared their portion of the fields quickest during the previous event was the one who chose where it hovered. Ryada-bess sat on the edge of a deck, watching the orange light of late afternoon color the sands of a beach that was going to need extensive repairs after the knights down there were through with it.

They were some of the more senior hn’tyons participating in this event. Balls formed of crushed fake-demon bodies were rolling along the sand, sometimes going up and over the dunes into the pulverized scrub and grass.  The balls gathered material until they were so large that they left channels in the ground that looked like empty river beds from above. And then they collapsed into mounds. A few of the fakes would struggle free. Some of the animated-element types they were using in this field were incredibly sturdy. But the escapees would all be picked up and crushed into another ball, or they’d be broken down by a spreading transmogrification skill that was turning anything that didn’t belong in the area into sand.

It almost seemed that the whole beach was trying to crawl inland in response to the assault of the balls.

Ryada had been watching for a while.

She tipped her head back to get the last drop of sermuntha juice out of her glass, then got to her feet.

“Leaving me?” asked a friendly older knight she’d met for the first time today. He was twenty years her senior, and he was unaware that she was struggling with herself to an unusual degree. Sitting out on the deck with him on a cushion nearby had been peaceful.

“The squad I was with before my last binding will be arriving at their field soon. I’m going indoors to watch and hear anything that might be said about them.”

“Where are they?” he asked. “It’s always a pleasure to see what you newlings are doing.”

She sent him the information.

“They’re close to the situation that’s just developing in the float-stone hills.” He paused. “It looks like there are two fields of more experienced squads in between their quest location and that surprise, though. May they have a smooth journey!”

Ryada nodded to him and headed inside.

Indoors, depending on where she chose to go, she could listen to older knights and votaries discussing the battles, or she could find groups of peers to watch with. There would even be someone giving a talk on weapons and armor here tonight.

She chose one of the larger rooms, where the viewers were focused on what was happening in Jatyam-en’s region. She might hear someone say something insightful about her squadmates that she could share with them later. And there were enough people here that she wouldn’t feel like she had to talk to fill any silences.

Jozz-art’h raised a cup of wevvi to her as she came through the door. It looked like he’d just arrived himself, since he seemed to be scanning all the faces in the room. Makee-en made eye contact with him and beckoned. Ryada didn’t think Jozz looked thrilled about that, but he went.

A three-dimensional display of the whole region rose from the floor. Viewers could walk around waist-high hills and look down on valleys, as if they were koobas searching the land for prey. Younger knights and declared were naturally clinging to the edges of the room to allow the people who had a superior grasp of what was happening to have space closer to the map. Hearing what they had to say could be worth more than getting the best view anyway.

When Ryada entered, they were talking about a few different points of interest.

A stalled ground vehicle in an inconvenient spot—they wished the trio of knights who’d been stuck there had called for help instead of trying to make their own way out.

A skill being used expertly to keep the chaos simulation from spreading out of control in their southernmost field—that knight would need to hold out a little longer.

Jatyam-en’s management of everything so far—good. They were proud of him.

It sounded as if some trouble with setting up the world keeper had been resolved.

“Is that the flyer bringing help for the people fighting the crazy ewtwees? I mean…the float-stone hill demons that are more difficult than anyone expected?”

Makee-en must have really wanted to be part of the conversation. That was a question he could find out the answer to just by looking himself.

His words drew some eyes to the tiny image of the flyer. It looked like a bug buzzing over the map.

“I don’t think the ewtwees are crazy,” said a woman Ryada didn’t know. “They’re just enjoying their job.”

“They’ve been carving slashes into the cave wall whenever they retreat,” said someone else.

“Demons scratch things.”

“It looks more like a scoreboard.”

“If they’re roleplaying particularly intelligent and…competitive…demons, then the participants will figure that out and respond accordingly. There are supposed to be surprise challenges. I do enjoy the unexpected problems so much more when they’re happening here at home.”

Jozz spoke up. “That’s not the flyer with the backup squad on it.”

Ryada had just realized the same thing. “It’s my squad. Their flyer isn’t acknowledging the update that tells it to avoid passing over that field.”

She wanted to warn them, but the observers here couldn’t participate in what was happening down below.

“Can the ewtwees damage something that high up?” Jozz asked.

That was a valid question since what the different types of demon could do had to be figured out through observation. The ewtwees had just dug their way out of that cave recently. Their capabilities and tendencies were still largely unknown.

“Someone will notice the flyer soon and send a message by spell or—”

The sentence from the woman who’d defended the ewtwees’ work ethic ended abruptly. A blip of light rose up from the hills below the flyer.

If that’s an attack from the ewtwees, thought Ryada, it’s going to miss.

She was correct. The flyer passed over it.

But chaos wasn’t fair.

******

******

“We stay together,” said Tilliver.

“We stay together,” Aden repeated along with everyone else.

“We get to the top of the hill.”

“We get to the top of the hill.”

“We head to the world keeper with our treat, and celebrate a good —- ”

It felt like a giant slammed a fist through the bottom of the flyer.

[Ear protection active.]

Shaking.

Bithe speaking so rapidly he was incomprehensible while he slapped at  something on Alden’s chair.

A sudden envelopment from the seat like Alden was being wrapped in pillows.

Except for his face. On that, there was so much wind.

In front of his eyes, there was nothing but sky.

“Alden!” Bithe’s voice said in his ear. “We’re falling!”

Yep, thought Alden, as the bottom dropped out of his stomach. That’s what this is.