Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (47 page)

Taylor blushed slightly.

“Thank you, Mr. Gruffle. This humble one shall randomize
it in the future. By the power vested in this loyal ordercrafter by Her Majesty
Queen Kasile, you are charged with attempted jailbreak,
two counts of
kon
theft, two counts of murder, and trespassing. Now please, join Mr. Xialin in
his cell. Your trial shall take place as soon as possible.”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart!”

Gruffle jumped forward and swung his club with the
strength of four hundred stolen years. She blocked with one hand, stole one
hundred of them, and then blasted him with them. He sailed into Nulso like a
peach into a brick wall and cracked his head open. It cost him eighty years to
mend the first and another two for the second and he still had a headache.

“This humble one is powerful here. She is fulfilling her
mistress’ command to uphold her laws in her own castle. You cannot beat this
humble one here.”

“If that is the case, then I will not fight you,” Nulso
said.

“You are surrendering?”

“No. I’m retreating.”

He punched through Gruffle’s chest and grabbed his heart.
The troll howled and swore at Nulso in fury. Then he noticed the beautiful
white light streaming out of his body and into Nulso’s. Savagely, he kicked and
smashed his treacherous ally, but they were no more effective than his strike
against Taylor. His body grew pale and withered, and his blows weakened until
he could no longer hold his club. In contrast, Nulso glowed brilliantly with
stolen life energy.

“So many lives,” the ordercrafter mused. “More than enough
for my escape.”

“By the Power of Order,” Taylor intoned, “QUARANTINE!”

In a square box, reality constricted around them. This
stretch of the hallway now existed in a separate dimension and no one could
leave either by physical, spiritual, or magical means without creating a
portal. No portal could be opened without her authorization. It wouldn’t matter
how many years he stole, Nulso was trapped. If this concerned him, he didn’t
show it.

By now, Gruffle was a withered husk.

“I’d take your soul as well, but a being greater than I
has already claimed it.”

“From the depths of the Abyss, I stab thee….” Gruffle
whispered. “For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee….” He took a breath
so deep his lungs burst. “TWILIGHT SPEAR!”

The troll’s ruined body burst into black flames. Nulso
tossed it at Taylor, who stopped it with a barrier. It fell to the stairs
midway between them and burned to ashes.

“This humble one pities you.”

Channeling all the many decades he stole from Gruffle,
Nulso formed a circle of instant runes beneath his feet and a second behind his
back. They described the mechanics of the spell he was about to cast: place of
origin, destination, fuel for the trip, and compensation for the factors in his
way. Aside from normal ones such as mana levels, solid structures, and the Pull
of Death, there was a unique one containing information to cross dimensions.

“By the Power of Order....” Nulso intoned, “Zeroth Law
Exception! Teleport!”

The second circle became a window into a barren and snowy
field.

“Stop!”

Taylor threw ethereal hands after him, but he blew them
away with his own power. Smirking at the surprised girl, he jumped backwards
through the portal and bowed as it closed.

“This humble one shall be yelled at by Kim.”

Remorseful, she released the quarantine and stepped onto
the ground floor to make her report. On the staircase, Gruffle’s ashes stirred.
An ethereal head resembling his thrust its way out, followed by his neck. His
left arm burst out, followed by his right. Finally, he pulled himself out and
onto the stairs and slumped.

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.”

Pain racked his spiritual body; such pain as he’d never
felt before. A burning fire and at the same time an intense emptiness that
swallowed all his mind and will. It felt like an eternity before relief washed
through him. He opened his eyes to see a pale-skinned, red-eyed lady wearing a
black gown.

“This is precisely why Eric should have made a contract
with me. I’m too busy to look after all the souls in this world fruit. I have
enough—oh, are you conscious?”

Gruffle could only nod. She placed her hand to her chest
as she recalled seeing human women of her station do at times.

“I’m terribly sorry you had to go through that. Normally,
the reaper on duty is able to arrive and pull necrocrafters away before their
bodies disintegrate. In accordance with our contract, you will be granted a
Final Wish before we go.”

“Did you say that it was Eric’s fault? As in Eric Watley
the Trickster’s Choice?”

“The same.”

“Then my Final Wish is this: I want to avenge my own death
and, to do this, I will kill Lunas Latrot, Nulso Xialin,
and
Eric
Watley.”

For the second
time in two days, Eric stood in the Royal Office while an angry queen sat in judgment,
but this time, he wasn’t the one being judged. Taylor Jones stood at attention
between the desk and door. Although she projected a professional stoicism, Eric
could see a small quivering in her stance.

“That concludes
this humble one’s report, Your Majesty. Does it satisfy you?”

“No, it does
not,” Kasile said coldly. “If you quarantined the area, how did he escape?”

“He used the
Zeroth Law Exception, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, you said
that, but what is it?”

Taylor said
nothing, but her trembling increased.

“Taylor, your
queen and mistress asked you a question.”

The girl
gulped. Eric had never seen an ordercrafter look so vulnerable before. Now that
he thought about it, the oaths of loyalty they made to Kasile meant they had to
obey her without question. It was something akin to slavery.

Taylor cleared
her throat and said, “The Zeroth Law Exception is a branch of the Philosophy of
Law and Control, the scholarly understanding and application of Ordercraft. It
states that an ordercrafter may break laws, ignore hierarchy, and otherwise
take part in chaotic behavior if such behavior advances the cause of Order. It
is derived from the fact that because all things arose from the Sea of Chaos,
Order himself is chaotic and is able to take chaotic actions. Because Order
does not allow hypocrisy, he would therefore allow ordercrafters to take
chaotic action as well.”

“I see.” The
chilly tone made Taylor wince. “Then oaths made by ordercrafters are not so
unbreakable after all.”

“Your Majesty,
please, allow this humble one to explain further.”

Kasile nodded
and Taylor took a breath before beginning again.

“It is only a
theory devised by mortals, most of them not ordercrafters themselves, and not
at all accepted by the ordercrafter community. Indeed, it is more of a fringe
theory espoused by dualists who also argue that Lady Chaos and Lord Order are
the same being and that Noitearc is just a metaphor for their cooperation and
does not truly exist. It’s crazy if you think about it, really, because how
would we have priests of Noitearc empowered by Noitearc if…”

“
Ad hominem
fallacies will not convince me.”

Taylor clasped
her hands behind her back because they were starting to fidget.

“It is
dangerous, Your Majesty. The Zeroth Law Exemption is not a loophole that
corporations use to avoid paying you the taxes you lawfully deserve. To invoke
it is equivalent to saying, ‘Screw orderly systems; I’m doing the anti-thesis
of orderly systems and I want the founder of orderly systems to help me do it
because the ultimate result of this action that harms orderly systems is to
create and/or maintain an orderly system.’ It is a hypocritical statement
powered by mortal arrogance, shortsightedness, and selfishness. It is a
quintessential chaotic sentiment and would surely lead to depowerment at best
and soul implosion at worst.”

 “Regardless,
it is something that all ordercrafters may do at any given time. Correct?”

“No!” Taylor
blushed and her shoulders tensed as she squeezed her hands. “I…What
this
humble one
means to say is that Order does not abide lies and nor does he
allow hypocrisy. This is a fundamental principle of ordercraft because to do
otherwise is deception at worst and easy loyalty at best. Both of them are
chaotic and Order abhors the chaotic because it is anathema to him. This is why
he cannot allow ordercrafters to be chaotic and why the dualism I mentioned
earlier is nothing more than an omnipotence paradox for ivory tower academics.”

“Why is that?”

“Unlike Lady
Chaos and Noitearc, Order is a finite being with limited essence. He cannot
generate new power for new ordercrafters. He has to connect with them
spiritually. This is why ordercrafters like this humble one implode.”

“What?!” Eric
exclaimed. Kasile shot him a look and he asked silently.

Listen and
see
.

“As this humble
one was saying, we are compelled to tell the truth in all circumstances because
Order must do the same. This humble one swore numerous oaths to you before and
after she accepted this power. One of them was ‘you shall obey me, Kasile
Landros Ataidar, and no one else, including Order. I shall be your highest
authority and ultimate master.’ Even if it is not in his best interests, Order
must not only allow me to fulfill this oath but compel me too.”

“You still
haven’t explained, to my satisfaction, why you can’t use the Zeroth Law
Exception whenever you wish.”

Taylor started
to sweat.

“Um…ah… This
humble one understands the Zeroth Law Exception academically, but that
d-doesn’t mean she can use it b-because it is outside the s-standard ordercraft
mindset. It does not
lead
to insanity, but it is a
product
of
insanity. Only elves and crooked lawyers treat a contradiction like a sound
argument.”

“Elves, do you
say? Miss Enaz, what do you think?”

Annala stood
next to Eric. Until now, neither of them knew why Kasile had invited her to
this report. Dressed as an aspiring scholar instead of a noble lady, Annala
realized that she was to be a character witness.

“When Nulso kidnapped
me, he stole part of my Seed of Chaos. I imagine he planned to use it to power
another teleport into Latrot, but instead, he was captured and his power
sealed. This forced the chaos deep within him, which then mutated him both
physically and spiritually. I believe this caused his insanity and enabled him
to use the Zeroth Law Example. Otherwise, it stands to reason that he would
have used it to avoid capture in the first place. It would certainly have been
easier at that time.”

 “In the
meantime, Y-your M-majesty, I s-swear to you, as my queen a-and ultimate
sovereign, that I will never ever
ever
use the Zeroth Law Exception
unless you specifically grant me permission. So please….” Her shoulders shook
and a single tear fell. “Forgive me.”

Kasile arose
from her desk, glided to Taylor, and pulled the girl to her chest.

“You are
forgiven and you have my permission to cry.”

“T-thank you,
Y-y maj…”

The rest was
cut off by in-elegant blubbering. Kasile rubbed her back and whispered her next
mission in a gentle and confiding tone. She nodded, and when Kasile released
her, she wiped her eyes.

“I won’t fail
you again, Your Majesty.”

“I know you
won’t because I count on you.”

Taylor saluted,
turned on her heel, and marched out of the room. Kasile turned to Eric and
Annala and smirked.

“That was mean.
You knew all that ZLE stuff to start with,” Eric said.

“You’d be
surprised how much emotion there is in ordercraft,” Kasile said loftily. “So
much faith is involved; in Order, in one’s leader and in one’s purpose. An
ordercrafter that believes in me and wants to be useful to me is more effective
than one just following orders.”

“Did you invite
us here for a reason or did you just want to show off?”

Kasile resisted
the urge to smack him on the head. Instead, she returned to her desk and
organized a series of papers.

“I wanted to
warn you that Nulso is loose and will be coming after you. After defying Order
and invoking the Zeroth Law Exception, little will remain of his sanity and so
he will cling ever tighter to the one thing strong enough to hold his mind
together.”

She looked to
Annala, who looked away.

“Revenge on
your mother and fictive aunt through your enslavement. If you meet him, I
recommend a Fabian Fight. A prolonged battle of any kind will make him
implode.”

“Thank you for
your advice, Your Majesty,” Annala said softly.

“Are you packed
and ready?”

“My apologies,
Your Majesty, but we are not.”

“Do not worry
about that. The Arch of Kresnik isn’t ready for you anyway. We haven’t used the
one for sending living matter in over eight hundred years. The Knight of
International Relations hasn’t finished preparing it for your use. The whole
department went into a tizzy when you made that spur-of-the-moment arrangement,
so make sure you thank her.”

“Yes, Your
Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

This is what
I have to put up with every day. At least your girl is sincere.

We both are.
We will make this work, for you and my fellow demons-to-be.

You’d
better. I have a lot riding on...
She trailed off and took a subtle breath.
I’m
sorry. I don’t mean to be short with you. All I can ask is that you do your best
and I will do mine. Try to have fun if you can.

Thanks, Kas.

If Kasile was
stressed, then Annala was a bundle of nerves. She hadn’t stopped tugging her
ear all day. This was her first visit to her hometown in a year, and not only
was she supposed to convince them to allow humans inside for the first time
since their last great war, but she had to do it with a Subjugation Collar on
her neck. Eric was amazed that she retained any sense of composure at all.

For him, the
journey to Dnnac Ledo was firing off all kinds of threat warnings. His purpose
wasn’t political but personal, and that made it all the scarier. He had to meet,
and be evaluated by, her family.

On one hand, he
was favored by their deity, but on the other hand, he was closely associated
with their boogeyman. He was also Annala’s master via the Subjugation Collar.
On top of all that, he was a grendel, which was a related species to orcs and
trolls. Both history books and folklore were full of tales where they were
bitter enemies with elves. All he could do was pack a set of formal clothing, a
couple of gifts, a few daggers, and hope for the best.

With all these items, Eric shifted his bag to his back and
walked out of his bridge house. There was one more thing to do before he left
on his leave.

The sound of explosions greeted him as he entered the
guild’s lobby. He couldn’t hear the doorbell’s ring, they were so loud. On the
back wall was a giant CV screen showing uniformed humans attacking uniformed
ogres in an urban area. Sitting in cushy seats behind the front desk, Mia and
Zettai shared a big carton of popcorn. He noted with amusement that their hair
was braided. Mia paused the movie, spun around, and said, “Whaddaya want?”

Zettai giggled.

“I see you two are getting along. What are you watching?”

Mia passed him the CVD case. “
Keladron’s Champions
.
What can I do for you?”

“I came to make sure Basilard didn’t back out on my leave
of absence.”

“Nope,” Zettai chirped. “He’s taking me on a vacation.”

“Really?”

Zettai nodded. “No training or clan politics; he didn’t
even tell them where we’re going. It’s somewhere far away, so we can ‘properly
bond as father and daughter.’”

“That’s won—”

“The asshole that sired me forgot I existed unless it was
convenient and I wished the other one would forget me every day. I’m glad I
don’t have their rotten genes anymore.”

Mia nudged her. “Don’t hit me with them negative waves so
early in the morning.”

Zettai giggled again. “You’re right. I’ll forget them and
focus on the positive.”

“Did you put it in your computer?” Eric asked.

“Yes. It’s scheduled.”

“Did you tell The Dragoness?”

“Yes. She wishes you a fun holiday.”

“What about Old Man Aaloon?”

“I told him when I gave my cousin a tour of the building.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want him hunting me down and—”

 “Go! You’re delaying the climax.”

Mia turned back around and unpaused the movie.

Outside the guild, Eric took her words to heart and cast
one of his favorite spells: Winged Feet. Like a gust, he tore through the
streets of Roalt to the public library in Scholar Town and only slowed down
slightly when he arrived. He scooped his girlfriend into his arms mid-stride.
She protested, but he pretended that the wind blowing past his ears deafened
him and ran straight to Royal Town. When he arrived at the moat, he shifted his
legs into that of a grendel, chanted Wind Jump, and soared clear over it.
Landing on the balls of his feet on the far bank, he jumped straight up and
over the curtain wall. His landing cratered the ground on the other side.

“You might want to fix that,” he said to the soldiers.
“Security risk, ya know?”

“Abyss take you, Trickster’s Choice,” they said in reply.

Annala pulled her hood over her face and smacked him. When
he didn’t put her down, she smacked him again.

“This is embarrassing…”

“There’s no need for my lady to walk when I can carry
her.”

She looked at the ground and, in a soft voice, she said,
“If you insist, master.”

Immediately, Eric put her on her feet and stepped away.
“That’s not fair.”

She returned with her impish smile. “It worked, didn’t
it?”

“It’s not funny.”

“Relax. The control matrix of the Subjugation Collar
cannot begin its programing routines as long as my Seed of Chaos jams its
frequency and the suppression matrix will take time to complete its process.
Until my hair color turns dead white, my mind is safe.”

She thrust her head under his nose and pulled back her
hood just enough for him to see her bangs. The roots were bleached, but the
rest of it was the same dull golden-brown.

“I have plenty of time left. Now, come on. My dad’s
expecting us at the Arch.”

She grabbed his hand and led him into the castle. Fairtheora
and a human were waiting for them. This human was Henry Pupil, the Royal
Archiver. Like Annala, he was immortal. Eric met him shortly after his return
to Tariatla and he expressed an interest in strengthening the friendship
between humans and elves. It was finally time to do just that.