King's Gate 2: A High Fantasy Harem, page 9
The rest of the group was gathered around a table, eating from an assortment of plates and platters spread across a low table. This room was warmer than the rest of the building, and I pushed up my sleeves. When I glanced down at my arm, I noticed my tattoo spreading, now creeping down and spreading across my forearm. This surprised me. By now I understood my tattoo spread when I learned something new about myself or grew in my strengths and abilities, but it always happened following a fight. Every time my tattoo had spread and become more complex, it followed one of the conflicts we had and a display of a new ability or power. This time, that didn't happen. We hadn't engaged in any sort of fight or attack, other than the bugs, and I couldn't imagine trying to ward off a sea of bugs that set off electrical shocks was really enough to warrant the growth of the pattern in my skin.
As soon as I thought that, though, another consideration occurred to me. Maybe it wasn't a trial I'd gone through, but another way I could have gotten more experience and powers. It was possible my tattoo had grown after I touched the portal and experienced the transfer of magic through it and then through Sabrina. I hadn't experienced any significant changes yet, but if my tattoo becoming more complex was linked to that moment, it meant new abilities were coming soon.
I walked up to Nia and rested my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with a smile, but the expression melted when she noticed the concerned expression on my face.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
“Could you come here for a minute? I need to talk to you.”
The others exchanged glances, but I didn't acknowledge them. Nia nodded and got to her feet. I brought her over to the other side of the room and pushed up the sleeve I had pulled back down to my wrist after noticing the tattoo.
“It's growing,” I said. “I noticed it just a minute ago. It seems to be getting much more complex, but I don't understand why. The only time this has happened has been after a fight, and we haven't done anything like that in days. The only thing I can think of is it might have something to do with the portal. Do you think touching it with Sabrina may have caused it to grow this way? Would that magic have changed me in a way I haven't figured out?”
Nia took my hand and twisted my arm back and forth to look at the pattern of my tattoo. Her face crunched in concentration as she examined the pattern. Dropping my hands, she went back to the table and pulled her bag out from under it. I almost laughed. All of us dropped our bags and weapons as soon as we could, happy to be free of the burden of carrying them everywhere we went, but not Nia. She always needed to make sure she had everything with her, “just in case.” I frequently wondered what her “just in case” was. When she dug down into the bag and pulled out her book and pencil, I realized this was one of those moments.
“Hold your arm out,” she instructed when she came back.
Opening the book, she held the top of the spine so she could prop the book on her forearm and sketch the new sections of my tattoo onto the paper. She wrote down a few things, crossed some out, and wrote some more. The tip of her pen touched her bottom lip as she pondered the page, then looked at my tattoo again. Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes that felt endless. She had been keeping meticulous record of my tattoo, but this reaction was different than before.
"Want to give me some insight?" I finally asked.
Nia looked up at me like she had forgotten the rest of me was attached to the tattoo.
"Oh. Yes. From what I'm seeing and the research I've done, um . . ." Her stuttering had come back so I tried not to push her, not wanting her to get anymore overwhelmed and slide back into her inability to communicate. "I think your tattoo is pretty much finished."
"It's finished?" I asked. "What do you mean it's finished?"
"I think this is the most it will develop. It's your sigil."
"What's that?"
"It's a representation of your journey. It tells of you taking over as the realm's king when you have defeated The Covenant."
The revelation piqued my interest and I stepped closer. "What does it mean? What does it tell you?"
"I can't say any more. You must live life as it comes and fulfill the prophecy on your own. If you know too much about what's written in your skin, it will alter your destiny."
I wanted to delve deeper. That wasn't enough for me. I understood she couldn't tell me everything she knew about my tattoo and what it meant, but I couldn't accept just continuing on with no guidance when it was all literally etched right there in my skin.
"You can't tell me what it says, but you can tell me if I'm going in the right direction. I need you to promise me you'll let me know if I start venturing too far away from the prophecy. If you notice I'm doing something that's getting in the way of me fulfilling what I'm meant to do, I need you to swear you will step in and let me know. I really don't want to screw this up, Nia."
"I promise," she said. "What I can tell you is that the majority of your tattoo describes the final battle you'll face in your efforts. That's all the detail I can offer you, but I will be there to make sure you don't get too far off track."
"Thank you."
I stopped short of asking if she could see the endgame in my tattoo. I wasn't sure if the morphing ink gave that level of detail, but even if it did, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. The thought of having my group with me when I walked into that final battle gave me confidence, and I didn't want to think she might not see them all there.
"I need you to remember, no one can control this completely. This is still on you to achieve. You have to go into the final battle with your eyes open and with a fresh mind. This has to be your action, your choices. But the tattoo acts as a system of checks and balances. Your destiny, your purpose, is literally inked into your skin. It's there so you can never forget who you are and why you're here. It will keep you from letting the power go to your head."
There was something about the way she said it that told me it was more than just a matter of my character that was at risk if that happened. She wasn't concerned about my honor.
"What would happen if I did?"
Nia didn't hesitate. Suddenly, she was calm. The nerves were gone.
"The Gods don't like people stepping out of bounds. They have a system in place that if you get too powerful or start abusing your power, it will drain away bit by bit until you get back in line."
18
In a way, Nia’s resistance and refusal to go into any more detail about what my tattoo told her should have discouraged me, but I’m not that bright and on occasion, I can ignore things like a prophesy of doom.
This was one such example of that ability.
I wasn’t fully aware of the future except for certain inevitabilities. There would be war. There would be pain. There would be bacon sandwiches and sex with women who made me feel like a king. In mind it was a tie, and I took a deep breath, cracked my neck, and prepared to soldier on for the good of the world and my ego. Nia came up to me, radiant and sexual and uncertain, and her smile alone was worth the fight.
“Are you hungry?” the young demon asked. “You didn’t eat much at breakfast.”
The truth was, I could barely remember breakfast. I knew it happened somewhere between the nasty awakening and shoving the falsified papers into the sweaty hands of the guards at the gate, but everything else about it was fuzzy. My stomach growled as if it were tired of waiting around for me to answer her and was going to take it upon itself to do it for me.
“Maybe a little,” I said.
“There’s plenty left. I’m going to bring some in to Celeste and Sabrina when everybody’s done.”
“Sabrina’s asleep,” I told her. “The day took a lot out of her.”
Nia eyed me but didn’t say anything. We started back to the table, but a sudden image filled my head and stopped me in my tracks. The room in front of me disappeared in a swirl, and I could no longer see Mathus, Riley, Emely, and Nia. Instead, the gods of the planet were sitting in front of me. I knew it was them, and yet I couldn’t perceive any specific details about them. It was just an impression, my mind telling me what was there even if it wasn’t going to give me a complete image.
“You’ve come far, Alex,” one said. The voice boomed in my head, bouncing around like an echo even though I knew it was silent to the group only feet away from me. “But you have far to go. We’ve decided it’s time to share more about your destiny and what you will have to face to achieve it.”
“Now?” I thought, hoping it would somehow transmit the message to the gods in the vision. “After everything I’ve already done, now you decide it’s time to let me know about what I’m going to have to deal with? I have to be honest, for upper management, your style absolutely sucks.”
If they were going to slip me magical hints, I wished they would have done it earlier in my evolution. At least then I would have known what was happening and might feel more comfortable along the way.
“You will know what you need to know as the time comes,” another of the gods interjected. “There are things you have to learn for yourself. You can’t expect that the way will always be clearly mapped out for you. Frankly, your comfort and making this easy for you are not our concern. All that matters is you doing what you came here to do.”
I thought of what Nia told me about my tattoo. My arms tightened at my sides, my hands balling into fists as I channeled my frustration into determination.
“What can you tell me?” I asked. “What do I need to know now?”
“The Covenant is tracking you closely. Your way has been easy, and you’ve faced very little threat so far. But they have something coming for you. They are planning a game.”
“A game? What do you mean a game? Is this an Olympics situation? Am I running the gauntlet?”
“No. You aren’t playing the game. You are the game. The Covenant is sending three of their highest-ranking devotees after you. They have made a bet about which of them will be able to stop you or cause you the most damage.”
“Fantastic. You know, it’s funny. I always missed that one during my family game nights. Is that by Parker Brothers?”
“You need to take this seriously, Alex. The planet relies on you.”
“I am taking this seriously. It’s my life that’s been tossed upside down, and I’m the one who’s staring down the barrel at a showdown for the planet. But it’s hard to know how to react to things like that. You won’t tell me everything, but you tell me these three are coming after me. What do I do with that?”
“We aren’t toying with you. There is a reason you were chosen. We’ll help you as much as we can. You can have a few minutes to ask us whatever questions you might have. But understand, we have the right to refuse to answer them if you stray too far.”
I thought about the opportunity for a few seconds, wanting to make sure I structured the questions carefully to get the most information out of them. That way when they decided my time was up, at least I would have made use of the questions I’d been able to ask.
“Why did they choose those three devotees?”
“They are the ones who have shown the most dedication to eliminating you and preserving the power of The Covenant. All want to be the one who brings you down. Those in control of The Covenant want to see what they are capable of, but they also want to punish you for your efforts against them. The idea of their devoted followers hunting you down amuses them.”
“That’s it? It just amuses them? What an absolute douchebag move. They are taking over a planet and terrorizing the inhabitants into submitting to them, and they have enough time to put together competitions just for fun?”
“Not exactly. There’s more to it than just that. Having it be a competition to see how creative their followers can be in finding and destroying you is for fun, but the final goal is more than that. Each devotee, each player if you will, is making an offering to his beliefs. The energy and bloodshed is a sacrifice to the cause. By putting themselves through the battle, they are showing their loyalty.”
“They’re paying their dues to work themselves up higher in the ranks?” I shook my head in disgust. Career climbers who killed on a global scale. Perfect.
“You could put it that way.”
“How will I know who they are?” I asked.
“That’s something we can’t tell you. You’ll have to be vigilant and use all the resources available to you to identify the threats that come your way. Trust that you’ll know who they are when you encounter them.”
“What can be done to keep them away?” I asked.
“Again, use what is available to you. There are many strengths around you. Find them. Understand them. Then use them.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Now wasn’t the time for an encouraging pep talk about how the power to change my life was inside me all along. If these people were making me into their plaything and coming after me for their amusement, I needed more to go on than just to be prepared. We were not a scout troop.
Not knowing how much more of their patience was lingering, I dove right into the question I thought was most important. Even if they refused to answer anything else, this might give me something to go on.
“Why me? Why did you choose me to save Ratonyia?”
There was a long pause. The longer the silence stretched, the less hope there was that they would answer that question.
“You were born to do it.” The words felt like a ribbon of wind swirling around my ankles and sliding up my body until it rushed into my lungs. “There is a part of you here.”
“What do you mean? What part of me?”
“Something that’s been missing.”
“I’ve never been here. How could something of mine have gotten somewhere I’ve never been?”
“It’s always been here, even without you knowing it was missing. That is what brought you here, Alex. Your destiny has always been to come and save our planet.”
19
Almost as soon as the answer was out of the Gods mouth, the vision faded, and I could see the parlor around me again. I noticed Emely wasn't at the table anymore, but no one other than Nia seemed to have noticed my temporary removal.
She cocked her head at me. “Alex?”
“I'm going to go check on Celeste,” I told her.
She didn't argue with me, but I could see in her eyes that she knew something had happened. I wondered if she could sense the vision I experienced. At some point, I would need to share what I'd learned from the gods with the rest of the group, but for now there were other things that needed to be taken care of. First was making sure the young elf was still recovering well and preparing to continue on our way as soon as we were ready.
Silas was wandering around the shop as I passed through. It was hard to tell if he was trying to organize the items on the shelves, dust around them, or just take a quick inventory of things he'd forgotten that he’d tucked into various crevices and corners. He didn't look up as I walked past, and I didn't bother to say anything to him. The door to the room where Celeste was resting was open, and when I got to it I saw Emely sitting on the edge of her sister's bed. One hand was pressed to Celeste’s forehead and the other gripped her wrist, pressing fingertips to veins to count her pulse.
“I'm surprised you're letting her play nurse,” I said as I walked into the room.
Emely shot me a sarcastic glare, but Celeste smiled.
“Being stuck in the bed doesn't really give me a lot of choice,” she said. “Sabrina going into the other wing to give me my privacy means I don't even have the argument of my sister not embarrassing me.”
“Well, I'm sorry for caring,” Emely teased. “Maybe I should just leave you with your misery.”
“Are you feeling miserable?” I asked. “That's actually what I wanted to check in with you about. You seem to be feeling better, but by now I know well enough that you can hide a lot of what you're going through.”
“I'm doing better. My joints still hurt and I'm tired.”
“She also has a fever. It's not as bad as it was, but it's spikes occasionally. That could get dangerous quickly if it's not well managed.”
“Do you think you're going to be all right to continue on the journey tomorrow, or do you still need some extra time? I'm sure Silas and Violet would let you stay hidden here for as long as you need. We can go ahead to the dragon boneyard on your behalf.”
It wasn't much of a surprise when she shook her head vehemently. “No. I'm not staying here. When you go, I go. The whole point of going to the dragon boneyard is so I can keep building my army, and that's not happening without me there. Like I said, I'm doing better. Jocelyn gave me some herbs to take the edge off, and it feels like the worst is over. A few more hours of rest and a good night's sleep is all I need. I'll be ready to go first thing in the morning.”
She was staring back at me with heaviness in her eyes, and I knew she was thinking about the promises she’d made to Jocelyn. her lips twitched slightly as she looked for a way to tell me about their conversation.
“Something you want to tell me?” I asked after several moments of silence.
“We need to take her with us.”
The words came out of her in a sudden burst.
“Jocelyn?”
“Yes. She's a servant, Alex. Silas and Violet have her under indentures. They have her entire life. We need to get her out of here.”
“Is there another reason you're so interested in getting her away from here?”
Celeste nodded. “She's supposed to be a member of my army. She's a rare magic user. That's why she ended up here.”
Even though she was doing it to help the young dwarf, Celeste struggled through the revelation like she felt bad for betraying her new friend's confidence.
“If she is indentured to Silas, I don't know what we can do,” I admitted. “I imagine in this world, an indentured servant is bound to the people they serve in more ways than just a contract.”
