Gorinthians (25 page)

"I have to warn you about
one of the objects that you are carrying in your waist pouch,"
Morindessa said as they moved back toward Seranova's pile of
contraptions. "I have only seen one other like it. It was used as a
weapon, and has some serious side effects if you are not
careful."

Seranova glanced down at her
pouch with a small frown. "What kind of weapon?"

Glancing at her sideways,
Morindessa wondered how much to tell her. Most of it she would not
understand, being raised in this provincial village. "To put it
shortly, it was made to sever the connection of a Gorinthian and
it's human host by burning the Tramnel from the skeletal
structure."

As she had expected,
Seranova stared at her blankly, not understanding a word she had
said. Sighing, Morindessa started from the beginning, explaining
how the Gorinthians had been created in the war before the end of
civilization, almost taking control of the world before weapons
were created that could fight them. She gave a short summary of
what Tramnel was and how the spirit used it to attach to a
host.

"This particular device is
called a Chasel,” Morindessa said, gesturing at Seranova's pouch.
"If you hold it for longer than a few seconds, it will begin
burning your Tramnel. If you hold it longer than that, your body
will die."

Seranova nodded her
understanding, "Is it safe to carry like this, in a
pouch?"

"I am not entirely certain,"
Morindessa replied displaying a small crease in her forehead. "Do
you feel anything with it in your pouch?"

"No," Seranova said shaking
her head, "only when I touch it."

"I think that you are safe
then.” Looking back into the clearing where Ferrich was waiting,
she cleared her throat, "Well, I won't keep you out all night. I
need to cover a little more distance before the night is
over."

"It was nice to meet you,"
Seranova said sincerely, "I will remember you as a
friend."

"And I you," Morindessa
finished the traditional farewell of close friends. Turning back to
the tree line, she made her way into the thick vegetation to where
Ferrich lay dozing. Bending down close to his head, she blew into
his ear softly.

With a start, he sat up and
looked around wildly. "He's coming!" the prince whispered hoarsely.
"He knows where we are!"

Looking at him carefully,
Morindessa rested a hand on top of one of his. "It was just a dream
Ferrich. We're safe."

Far from being reassured, he
stood up, peering back the way that they had come. "I saw him
coming, like a tornado spinning across the water!” Ferrich stood
breathing heavily. "I can feel him drawing nearer."

Morindessa felt a chill run
down her spine as she remembered the stories Riah had told her
about the Elementals. Some of them came in the form of tornadoes,
traveling much faster than a ship could sail. Where there were
Elementals, there were always Gorinthians.

"How far away are they,
Ferrich?” she asked calmly, trying to keep the urgency out of her
voice.

"Maybe five miles," he
replied nervously, still peering back the way that they had
come.

Morindessa did not believe
in fate, but several things were beginning to occur that stretched
coincidence a little far. "Follow me,” she said urgently, turning
back to the lakeshore and racing out to where Seranova emerged from
the lake. Morindessa could just make out her dark form in the
distance, moving toward the town.

"Hurry!” Morindessa urged
Ferrich, stretching her legs into a dead run. Within moments, she
had caught up to Seranova, showing her hands to assure her that she
meant no harm.

"I am sorry to trouble you
again, but I am afraid we are going to have to ask you to use the
Chasel shortly.” Morindessa glanced back to make sure that Ferrich
was still coming. "There is an Elemental and possibly some
Gorinthians following our trail. They should be here any
second."

Seranova looked from her to
Ferrich, who was just arriving, and then back again. "What do I
do?” she asked hesitantly.

"When they get close, just
pull it out and hold it,” Morindessa replied, glancing back at the
trees that were beginning to stir in a sudden breeze. "It will do
the rest."

The three of them stood in a
small cluster, watching as the trees began to bend almost double in
the gale that came roaring down the path that Morindessa and
Ferrich had traveled. A moment later, Morindessa could see what
looked like two giant glowing coals in the middle of the cyclone,
just above a line that looked like a mouth. A five hundred foot
wide path appeared behind the monstrosity as it destroyed
everything in its path. Following close behind it was none other
than the king himself, with fifty soldiers accompanying
him.

Seranova began reaching into
her pouch as the giant black funnel drew closer, but Morindessa
seized her wrist, warning her to wait until it came closer.
Morindessa reached out and jerked Ferrich and Seranova down to the
ground as a tree flew over the place they had been standing. For
several more seconds, Morindessa held them to the ground with a
grip-like a vice, before shouting above the howling gale,
"NOW!"

Not needing a second
prompting, Seranova jerked the Chasel from her pocket and held it
over her head. It immediately lit up like the sun, banishing the
small shadows that the two full moons had left behind. With a sharp
detonation, the Elemental spun a few more times and fizzled out,
leaving a wide swath of destruction all around it.

As the light touched the
king, his body crumpled and he fell limply to the ground, followed
by about thirty of his men. The remaining twenty slowed down to a
walk and approached the trio warily. Morindessa gestured at
Seranova to put the Chasel away. Seranova’s face was twisted in a
pained grimace and she hurriedly stuffed the Chasel back into her
pouch, casting the night back into moonlit shadows
again.

"The rest of you are free
to go,” Morindessa called out, her voice booming as she used
her
yar
to enlarge
the wavelengths. "Otherwise, your fate will be the
same."

The reduced party of armored
men looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment, before turning
and running back the way that they had come, some of them glancing
fearfully over their shoulders as they ran.

"Would this have killed them
too?” Seranova asked curiously.

"No," Morindessa replied
shaking her head, "but they didn't know that."

For some reason, Ferrich
thought that was very funny, and started laughing.

Looking at Seranova
sympathetically, Morindessa gestured at the village, "I don't think
that it will be safe for you to return to Laketown. Those soldiers
will certainly have your description circulated."

Seranova looked at her in
astonishment. "But what will I do? Where will I go?"

Sharing a look with Ferrich,
Morindessa took a deep breath, "You can come with us or you can try
to find a new place to live. I don't think that you will have much
luck finding a safe place after tonight, though."

Chapter 14

Seranova stood staring at
Morindessa in shock at her declaration that she had to leave her
home. She had always wanted to travel to some of the strange places
her father had always told her existed outside of the small village
she had grown up in, but it had always been a distant time in the
future that she would leave.

“
What about my parents?”
Seranova demanded, feeling more agitated the more she thought about
it. “What about my inventions, my things?”

Morindessa studied her
silently for several moments before replying. “We can make a short
stop at your home, so that your parents know what is happening, but
you will still need to leave if you want to live.”

Seranova sighed in
frustration. There really were not any options that she could see
and she had spent her life finding options that others claimed did
not exist. If she stayed, more of the creatures that had attacked
them might appear in her village. Personally, she did not really
care if the rest of the village was wiped out, but she did not want
to endanger her parents. She could not risk leaving on her own. She
might end up dead, as much from ignorance in the outside world as
being hunted down by the king’s soldiers.

Squaring her shoulders, she
faced Morindessa. “Very well. I will accompany you. We will need to
let my parents know that I am leaving though, or they will come
searching for me.”

Morindessa just nodded, her
lips turned up slightly as if she found something amusing. The man
that had followed Morindessa had been studying Seranova silently
during the exchange, as if she were a strange puzzle. She was not
sure what to make of him. He was dressed like a noble, though he
lacked the overbearing confidence that most nobles adopted. How
does he fit into the picture? she wondered, studying him with the
same puzzled fascination with which he was studying her.

Giving her head a small
shake, she turned and started back toward the village with the
other two following behind her. She thought about asking who
Morindessa’s companion was, but she thought Morindessa would have
already told her if she had wanted her to know. As they made their
way back to the village, Seranova tried to change the leaden
feeling that was beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach. She
told herself that this was her chance to meet other people that
might be like her. This was her chance to leave behind the
provincial villagers that tried to make her life miserable merely
for being different.

A half an hour later, they
entered a gate in a small white fence that surrounded a two-story
house on the outskirts of town. It was obviously the largest home
in the village, easily covering a half-acre of land. When Seranova
had first found several bars of Prenium on the bottom of Lake
Magnus, her father had been able to sell them to a person that he
knew in Shalilayo that did not ask unnecessary questions regarding
origin or ownership. They had only received a hundredth of their
original value in payment, but that had been more than enough to
have the house rebuilt, with plenty left over to live off for the
rest of their lives. They had told the local villagers that it had
been an inheritance from a distant family member in Shalilayo and
since her grandfather had not been from Laketown, no one could
dispute the claim. Her father had dedicated the entire upper floors
to her, telling her that she should have a place to conduct her
experiments.

Her father was waiting for
them on the front porch, his face full of concern. He was a tall
man, taller than any other man that Seranova had ever seen. His
hair was almost completely grey and his face was etched with lines
that were at odds with the youthful light in his blue eyes. He wore
a light brown robe with a symbol sewn over the right breast that
seemed to be made up of a series of complexly arrayed
triangles.

“
You are all right,” he
said, sounding relieved. “We heard some kind of commotion coming
from the lake,” he finished with a questioning note in his strong
voice. His gaze passed over her new companions, widening in
recognition when they landed on Ferrich.

“
Your highness,” her father
said with a deep bow. “My house is honored.” The concern that had
been on his face had tightened into worry as he looked back at his
daughter.

“
Your highness?” Seranova
exclaimed in surprise. “What are you talking about
father?”

His eyes flickered quickly
between the two newcomers, before looking back at his daughter
cautiously. “This is Prince Ferrich,” he said slowly to his
daughter, looking surprised by her ignorance of who her companions
were.

Turning to stare in
amazement at her unassuming-looking companion, she could not help
feeling skeptical as Ferrich shrugged nonchalantly at her father’s
esteemed address. “It was sort of an accident that I had no control
over. My position embarrassed my father, almost as much as his
embarrassed me.”

Morindessa laughed softly at
this, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Ferrich. So that is the
way the wind blows, Seranova thought with wry amusement, and a more
interesting pair I could not imagine.

Aloud, she said, “This is my
father, Deisian.” Feeling the lead ball in her stomach grow in
size, she continued, “Father, can you have mother come down? We
need to discuss a few things.”

Sighing, Deisian nodded,
beckoning the others into the house after him. The sitting room
looked like a blacksmith turned artist. Two small metal pipes ran
up the wall next to the door, where they met a larger pipe that ran
along the ceiling. Walking up to one of the metal tubes, her father
pulled a thin wire that ran alongside the tubing. A moment later, a
voice issued out of one of the tubes.

“
Do you know what time it
is, Seranova?” The woman’s voice was fogged in sleep.

“
It’s me, Love,” Deisian
spoke into the second tube. “Can you come down here
please?”

There was a moment of
silence before she replied, “Let me get dressed.”