Ascent of the Aliomenti (12 page)

After Will had the opportunity to recharge his Energy, he took Eva and Hope on a tour of the Sea, during which they located a small, uninhabited island with plenty of fruit trees and small freshwater lakes full of fish they could use for sustenance. They teleported to the island, and found a cave the women could use for shelter during their periodic stays on the island. They then teleported back to the mainland, and went on an invisible, flying tour of an arc of land near the shore, locating and exploring villages. They were looking for a place ideally suited for the arrival of two unknown women, a place large enough for them to avoid standing out, but small enough that they could make a difference in the lives of people.

“I don’t simply want to vanish into the background,” Hope said. “With the Energy skills I have now, I can help a lot of people, just as we were doing in Abrecan. We can do the same in our new home... but without the large quantity of knights fighting everywhere.”

Eva nodded. “That’s something important. We’re going to be here for ten or twenty years. We need to find a place where we can make a difference, make friends, and become part of the overall community. This is not a quick Trading mission.”

Will felt his throat tighten, and he glanced at the beautiful young woman before him. “Friends?”

Hope looked puzzled, but Eva burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Will. I’ll make sure that any man who looks at her inappropriately gets quite uncomfortable.”

Hope frowned. “I’m not entirely sure that’s going to work, Eva. If we’re going to help heal people who are sick, it’s probably
not
a good idea for them to suffer after being around me.”

“Fair point,” Eva said. “But I think we need to figure out how to prevent every man in the city from considering you marriage material.”

“It would be nice if that was done in a way that didn’t make me seem deeply flawed,” Hope grumbled. She glanced at Will. “Perhaps you need to be the traveling merchant who only returns sporadically to shower me with gifts and money, and who glowers at everyone to let them know I’m off limits.”

“That’s a very good idea,” Will said. “It’s a good way to explain long absences and unexpected returns to the city.”

Eva nodded. “I like it as well.”

Two days later, they arrived at the outskirts of a city slightly larger than Richland, with walls of only moderate size. It was a town not expecting any type of attack, but rather one which sought to keep the casual traveler away. The trio gained entry, explaining that Eva and her daughter, Hope, were skilled with herbs and plants and had tremendous success in healing illnesses. The guards were eager to allow them inside, for the city of Healf was suffering through a minor plague. The thin walls surrounding the city were decorative, more effective at quarantining the city than preventing an invasion. Word of a minor plague was the most effective defensive measure any city could make.

They found lodging quickly, for the plague had claimed the lives of many residents. They presented themselves as a married couple and the mother of the bride, a charade easy to maintain due to the common hair color the two women now possessed.

The women put out word that they were skilled at curing illness, and the next morning found a long line of patients waiting for them. Will, playing his part, spoke to the healthy members of the city and learned the type of supplies and goods they were interested in acquiring. Making no promises, Will said that he’d keep his eyes open for the desired goods during his travels.

By the time evening arrived, the women had treated many of those who were ill, and had made sufficient money in the process to assure them that they’d be able to make a sound income. Will was relieved; he knew they had savings stashed away, knew they could travel to make money if needed, but such activity was inadvisable. The fewer who saw them, the fewer places they traveled, the better.

The morning dawned, and Will gathered the few possessions he’d carried with him since leaving the Aliomenti village nearly a year earlier. They’d spent a significant portion of the money they’d accumulated over the past several years during their slow march from Abrecan, to the Ambrosia forest, and finally to Healf. The primary items of concern were the ambrosia fruit seeds, which he’d stowed in the velvet pouch that once housed Genevieve’s necklace and hairpin. The pouch was stored safely in a pocket, with the handful of coins he believed he’d need to reestablish himself in the remnants of the Aliomenti village.

Hope and Eva walked with him through Healf toward the gates, and he could sense their sadness and concern. They were concerned about the future treatment they’d receive in this city without his presence; no amount of Energy power could eliminate the city’s perception of a mother and daughter living alone, not even for two already well-respected for their healing abilities. They were concerned as well for Will’s future; Arthur had, by Adam’s statement, been plotting Will’s murder prior to the inferno that eradicated the original village and all who lived there. Adam had scoffed at Will’s restraint in the face of the ill treatment directed at Hope and Eva while he’d lived in the village, despite having the ability to end such treatment permanently. Both men, by now, would have strong Energy skills, which limited Will’s advantages should disagreements arise.

They reached the gate, and Will took a deep breath. “I’ll be back,” he said, trying to hide the emotion he felt at his departure. Though he could still “call” both women telepathically at any time, the past year had strengthened his attachment and commitment to both. The thought of being away was crushing.

For their part, Hope and Eva struggled to restrain their tears. “Good luck, Will,” Hope whispered.

Will turned, but one of their new neighbors spotted him as he prepared to exit. “Sir, you’re leaving on a long journey,” the man said. “Should you not kiss your wife goodbye before your departure?”

His face fell upon Hope, a pained look that only two people could possibly understand. They’d long been concerned that any action they took could threaten the future births of Josh and Angel; to that end, the long separations were an essential part of the thousand year journey. They’d used the ruse of a supposed marriage to explain why Will would live in the same house with two women, why he’d return to visit so often.

That ruse now trapped him.

She looked back at him, similarly pained.

And yet...

“Of course, sir,” Will said, his voice cracking.

He moved to her as she watched him, unblinking, uncertain of what to say, or how to react. He simply let instinct take over, fueled by his now seemingly-distant memories of their future lives together, and acted as he naturally would. She was in his arms, and their lips touched, their Energy sparking and surging in the process, and the temperature rose while their faces remained so close together.

At long last, and yet far too soon, he broke off the kiss, watching as her eyes remained closed in a joy and sadness both infinite in their depths. He watched until he saw her shining blue eyes, and then nodded his head.

“Goodbye, Hope,” he whispered.

Then Will walked out of the gate and was gone, the ache in his heart larger than the city he left behind.

IX

Wall

1022 A.D.

Three months later.

“Put your back into it, Arthur!”

Amusing as it was to watch the man’s struggle, Will knew it was more critical that they finish stirring the mix of rock and gravel. The handful of journeymen carpenters Adam and Arthur had recruited to the village in his absence had already built the forms for the walls, but if they couldn’t get the mix stirred thoroughly, they’d remain nothing but hollow shells.

Arthur glared at him. “I could do this a lot faster if I could put more than my
back
into it.”

Will stifled a laugh at the thought of Arthur falling into the test batch of concrete they were stirring. “We’ve already settled that point, Arthur.”
It was you who set the rule, long ago, that we not tell anyone not part of this village about our true aims, remember? I can’t see how showing these men how quickly we can stir this mixture would be in line with that particular oath.

Will had returned to find the village still in some degree of shambles. Arthur and Adam’s distrust of each other was so complete that they couldn’t use their new Energy abilities to do more than blast away the remnants of the fire. They lived in the Schola, the only human dwelling Adam’s inferno had left untouched, and survived the first few months by wandering through nearby forests, foraging anything edible. Once they’d eliminated the debris, however, they’d looted the metal coins that had survived unscathed, and had gone their separate ways, leaving the remains behind.

Will found that unsurprising. Arthur had overseen the murder of three women that Adam had cared deeply for, and Adam had destroyed Arthur’s nascent commercial empire with his act of arson and mass execution. Neither man seemed able or willing to forgive the other, and given the nature of the crimes in question, it seemed unlikely such forgiveness could ever come.

“What is this stuff again?” Arthur asked.

“I heard it mentioned a few times during my little trip,” Will replied. He’d referred to his year away as a trip or holiday, a time to reflect upon what had happened and how they could prevent such tragedy in the future. Arthur would never know the true nature of the journey. “It’s called concrete. It’s... basically it’s liquid rock, and you can pour it between pieces of wood to create walls.” He glanced a dozen yards away, where Adam was working with the journeymen to stabilize the forms for the first wall section. “And it’s fireproof.”

Arthur snorted, then wiped the sweat from his brow. “That’s certainly something we need to consider around here.”

“We’re lucky we hadn’t had a fire before that,” Will noted. “Lots of wood. Lots of fire in the rooms and in the kilns and bakeries and forges. It was going to happen eventually. Now, we’re reducing the chances to nearly zero.”

“
Nearly
zero?” Arthur arched an eyebrow. “You said this stuff is basically rock. How can rocks burn?”

“People around here are rather talented,” Will replied. “The means would be discovered.”

Arthur looked thoughtful, then glanced at Adam with a scowl and continued stirring.

Adam jogged over to the duo, trailed by the journeymen, each of whom carried buckets. “How is our mystery mix coming along?”

Arthur glared at him, and Adam returned the look of distaste.

Will sighed. “It’s ready, Adam.”

Adam nodded at Will, and the construction crew began filling the buckets, setting up a human chain that delivered the contents of the large, earthenware “mixing bowl” to the ladders leaning against the forms. The men at the top dumped the mix in, sending the empty buckets back to the “mixing bowl” for refills. Will had Arthur continue to stir the mix, and moved to a second “mixing bowl,” where he and Adam began adding ingredients to make a second batch of the concrete. The fire had left the system of running water intact, and they’d constructed the “mixing bowls” under the downspouts they’d created, making it easy to add the necessary water.

“Hey!” Arthur called. “Why is
he
over there doing the easy work, and I’m over here sweating?”

Will shrugged. “He got up earlier than you did to work on setting up the forms. This is the next step, and he’s available.”

Arthur glowered at Will, while Adam snickered quietly.

It was exhausting work, and they had weeks, if not months, of similar work ahead of them. It was a fatigue as deep as Will had felt when he’d finally returned to the village. The distance was too great to teleport, and Will had instead chosen to fly invisibly toward home until he was able to teleport into the cave. He’d not reckoned on the exhaustion the effort would bring, and he’d found himself depleted of Energy and famished, armed with only a few coins in a strange city where not a single resident spoke English. He, Hope, and Eva had become so proficient at using telepathy to communicate with residents of the villages they’d lodged in that it seemed everyone truly
did
speak English. With no Energy, though, he was helpless.

Thankfully, the paper scroll computer diary saved the day, providing him with key phrases, reasonable prices, exchange rates for the coins he carried... and a map to the nearest forest. Will had successfully procured food and drink, and had sufficiently recharged by nightfall that he was able to fly over the walls of the city and walk to the nearest forest. A full night of Energy exchange with the plant life in the region, along with adequate sleep, had been sufficient to refuel him for the remainder of the journey home.

Will motioned Arthur over to the new batch of concrete. “I need the two of you to start stirring this,” he said, glancing between the two adversaries. “And yes, I do mean
both
of you, at the same time. If not, I will personally plant both of you inside these walls so that you are buried together forever.”

He sparked a small bit of Energy at both men, the equivalent of a shock of static electricity. Adam and Arthur both jumped. It hadn’t hurt, but the message had been received. Neither of them wanted to cross Will, not because he could best both of them with his Energy skills, but because both recognized that only Will could provide the character necessary to keep the rebuilding process going. Will was, at this stage, the leader of the Aliomenti, a title he neither sought nor wanted, but a role he accepted nonetheless.