Utopia Falling, page 27
Quith continued his report, “There is a group of people gathered inside the house. Reyne, his brother, the girl from the inn who is Reyne’s girlfriend, as well as Meratoruc and the old man, Hollid Brenal. And your boyfriend. You’ve been briefed on Meratoruc. He showed up earlier today looking old and grungy but has since changed into the familiar man we’ve encountered before.”
“Any insights about the gathering? Will any of it affect how we’re to carry out our op?”
“No. Intel says the target goes out alone to attend to the burn pit. That’s still the kill box.”
Neladith pushed for more. “Do we know what’s going on inside?”
“They’ve been in there for some time now, eating an evening meal, I suppose. Meratoruc and the target were out earlier by the pit, but I couldn’t make out what they were doing. My view was partially blocked. I couldn’t move into a better view. I didn’t want to be discovered.”
He described what time they arrived at the house, their comings and goings and the clothing they wore. He described each of their heights and approximate weights. He provided a thorough report.
Neladith came prepped with details on Reyne and Daedyn, along with Mithany—and Arek she knew from firsthand experience. The new variable was the unexpected presence of Meratoruc and Brenal. “I can see two people on the porch. One looks to be Arek, and the other doesn’t match any descriptions from previous briefings. He must be the old man Brenal you mentioned.”
Quith gave her a quick assessment of the impact of the two new variables. “He’s Hollid Brenal who along with Meratoruc, wasn’t expected to be on site. Brenal won’t impact us but Mera’s presence could affect our exit strategy and our efforts for up close confirmation of the kill. I will adjust our after-action on the fly depending on the outcome. I’ll make those decisions when needed. If Arek and Brenal are still on the porch when Reyne comes out, you’re still taking the shot.”
“Roger that. You say it’s one hundred forty-two yards with a five-foot drop,” Neladith stated, reconfirming the data for the shot. With the two-bow attached to the specialized tripod, she changed the angle of the two-bow three clicks up.
Quith watched her make the adjustment after pulling out a small notebook. Paging through the charts and figures, she recalculated the settings and concluded, “Yep. Three clicks up.” She bent down to look through the site. Her hand seemed to follow the arrow’s flight, or as she imagined the exact path it would take. She stepped back, studied the scene, and turned back the adjustment by one half-click.
Again, Quith was impressed that she did the calculations in her head, whereas even after all his years of real-world experience, he still needed pen, paper, and charts to do the complicated mathematical calculations to reach the same conclusion. “Wait, what arrow are you using?”
“The leaded-glass arrows Dylla and I agreed on.”
Selundra Quith could plainly see the leaded-glass arrow. “Good.”
Glass arrows were delicate and not used often. Failure rates were high given the forces an arrow endures as it bows and flexes after release. Difficult to make because of the annealing process which was done over and over to strengthen the long thin glass while retaining enough flexibility as not to shatter. It challenged the skills of an expert glassier to create such an arrow.
Glass arrows were difficult to produce but more accurate than their wood cousins. A thin string of fine lead was embedded in the core along the length of the arrow to combat the natural proclivity of glass to break against the flex forces upon release. Neladith gave him the impression she was not even the least bit concerned she would release it incorrectly. Quith was.
Neladith reflected, “I like the glass arrow because it shatters on impact. Shreds flesh all around the impact point. Broken glass shards hurling forward with all that momentum, ripping through everything those sharp little pieces encounter. Devastating and deadly for anything living.”
Quith watched the delight in her eyes as she spoke of death.
“Double check. Wind?” Neladith asked.
“Still none,” Quith replied, having just scratched out the math in his own journal.
“With three up and a half-click back, you’re telling me you’re calculating a seventy-pound pull weight. That’s extraordinary for someone your size. Not a fingertip more or a fingertip less. You expect a drop of eight feet on the pull of gravity over one hundred forty-two yards down, plus five feet down for the elevation difference. With the weight of the arrow and no wind, that should be accurate. Are you sure you sighted it properly so as not to drift off center?”
“Four-hundred-grain arrow over four hundred twenty-six feet at three hundred fifteen feet per second should be in the air exactly one point three-five seconds, and gravity’s pull has been factored into my calculations,” she added confidently.
“Check.”
In her professional assassin persona, Neladith thanked him for confirming her mental calculations. “I’ve sighted dead center where we expect the target given his height. With no wind, there shouldn’t be any left-to-right drift.”
“Now we wait. Settle in. He’ll be dead soon enough.”
Secrets Laid Bare
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Mera | Daedyn
With the hour growing late, Brenal and Arek popped through the front door of the brother’s home to join a heated discussion in progress. Ignoring Arek and Brenal, Mera slapped his hand down on the table.
Daedyn jumped back.
Reyne remained motionless, staring down Mera.
Mera lowered his eyes in a gesture directing Reyne to look down. He slipped his hand away from the table, exposing something from underneath his palm. The mysterious item looked to be a dead spiderworm.
Mera explained, “What I’m going to say affects all of you. Unless Reyne objects, I’m going to spell it out for everyone. Do you want Mithany to join us before I start?”
“No. Go ahead. Say what you have to say,” Reyne replied.
“This dart caused that pain in your neck. Not some spiderworm. Someone tried to kill you with poison. They wanted it to appear to be a fatal spiderworm bite. They were clever. Tipped this dart with lots of venom. Lucky for you most of it was still on the dart when I found it near the side of the road where you went down this morning. I grabbed it before Daedyn chased me away.”
Reyne reached behind his head to rub his neck.
“I’m guessing the dart and the wagon hit you at the exact same time,” Mera continued. “For the millisecond the dart bit into your neck, it didn’t have time to drill deep enough into flesh. The wagon must’ve knocked it off just as the dart reached you.”
Arek piped up in a tone somewhere between his usual effervescence and disbelief, “That’s some story.”
Mera shifted his eyes to Arek and back to Reyne. “Not a story. The dart says it’s real. If you didn’t bump into the wagon, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So believe me when I tell you,”—he paused and looked at each of them, one by one—“all of you are in danger because there are people out there that want Reyne dead.”
Brenal looked to be studying the dart Mera left sitting on the table. “It’s true. The spiderworm leaves two tiny fang marks. I saw only the one when I examined you, Reyne. I figured it was an odd spiderworm with a missing fang. Although, I’d never seen a one-fanged spiderworm. The poison dart is right there on the table and it seems to me Mera’s explanation fits the pieces together.”
Reyne leaned a shoulder against the treestone wall, crossing his arms. “Blow darts and mind tricks. Is that all you got? How do I know you don’t carry that thing around with you? Blow darts with poison tips. Now there’s something you don’t come across too often. Makes for a delightful story.”
Mera had played out all he had in his arsenal. He hoped the dart would open Reyne’s mind a little. It didn’t. He had no choice when he said, “I’m sorry to bring this up, but today Reyne and I learned that there is something you brothers share. Yes, you’re brothers, maybe not by blood, but brothers just the same, despite all we’ve talked about here tonight.”
Reyne shot Mera a hard look. “Don’t.”
Mera ignored Reyne’s protestation. “You asked if I had more to offer. The Firaché aren’t a mind trick. If I can get you to accept that, I hope you can accept the rest.” Not giving Reyne an opportunity to counter, Mera turned to speak directly at Daedyn. “Daedyn, it was said today, let’s say by someone I trust to speak the truth, you hold feelings for Mithany. It wasn’t said to cause problems, but just an observation.”
Daedyn stood silent against the accusation in Mera’s voice.
The revelation sent Daedyn’s world crashing in.
He’d never admit it.
He never had.
He never would.
Hammer blows struck inside his skull. Explosive forces built up against the adrenaline coursing through delicate veins struggling to hold it in.
He’d spoken no such words to anyone.
Confessed his love for her to no one.
Shared his deep secret with not another human being alive.
Ever.
How could they know? How could anyone know? They couldn’t. It’s a trick. A gambit.
Daedyn’s eyes drew in tight. “Who said that shit?”
“The Firaché,” Reyne replied, giving no further explanation.
Brenal and Daedyn looked at each other and in unison asked, “What’s a Firaché?”
Reyne rolled his eyes. “I’ll fill you in later. Let’s just say Mera wants me to accept that fire can talk! You believe that shit?”
Silence fell over the room.
Thanks be to the Goddess Teth Mithany isn’t here, Daedyn thought.
She remained secluded in Reyne’s bedroom enjoying a nap. As much as Daedyn wanted to hear Mera out concerning the brother’s lineage, for both his own and Reyne’s sake, he didn’t want this part of Mera’s so-called truth to be revealed. It would drive a wedge between himself and Mithany and maybe even between himself and Reyne.
His gut wrenched.
Panic washed over him.
His face burned red hot.
His entire being, numb.
Daedyn opened his mouth to speak. His scrambled brain fought to get words out. His reaction would be as important as his words, so he didn’t dare hesitate. With every bit of internal fortitude he could muster, he pushed aside the deluge of fear threatening to expose him, for his brother’s sake, for his own sake, for Mithany’s sake, and for god’s sake, he’d never tell his younger brother the truth, no matter the consequences. Reyne and Mithany mattered more. They were to be married. He wouldn’t let Mera put a wedge between them with the revelation of his true feelings for Mithany.
Daedyn pushed out the words, “No. What bullshit is that?” Adding a snicker his brother would expect from him.
“Don’t you lie to me, Daedyn!” Reyne demanded.
Daedyn held Reyne’s eyes in a hard stare. A true bluff. Neither let go for the longest time. Brenal, Arek, and Mera sat back and watched the duel between brothers play out.
Reyne blinked first.
Daedyn heard Reyne let out an uncomfortable laugh.
“You fucker! I almost believed this old beggar,” Reyne exclaimed, and with a hard slap to Daedyn’s shoulder, Reyne turned his face from his brother.
He bought it. It’s over, Daedyn sighed to himself. Relief filled Daedyn’s body and soul.
Pants on Fire
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Reyne | Mithany
Daedyn was a decent liar, but never good enough to fool Reyne. How the Firaché witch had come to know Daedyn’s hidden feelings for Mithany didn’t matter. Reyne saw the truth in them now, revealed in Daedyn’s false denial. The Firaché had to be real and that meant Mera’s tale of assassins might just be as well. But even more devastating than Mera’s belief someone tried to kill him, Daedyn still loved the woman Reyne planned to marry. Under the best of circumstances, either problem on its own, threatened to over-match Reyne’s ability to rise above it. But with both life-altering revelations crashing in on him at the same time; he was trapped. Walls were closing in all around him—with no way out.
Reyne cared about Daedyn, yet did that let him off the hook? Do I allow him to think his secret’s safe? How long did Daedyn hide this from me? All the way back to when we were kids?
Reyne lived it. He stood by as Daedyn chased after Mithany. Reyne himself had desires for her too back then, but pushed them down because Daedyn claimed dibs as the older brother. Not that Mithany would have agreed to the brothers’ claiming rights, but they had their sibling rules; dibs were dibs. A system worked out between them as young boys as the alternative to settling conflicts, replacing the repeated need for fisticuffs. While the unknowing prize in the childish brotherly arrangement, nevertheless, Mithany held all the cards.
It didn’t take long for her to reject Daedyn’s advances. After being denied, Daedyn had no choice but to step aside and let Reyne take his shot. Rules were rules. In little time Reyne had won her affections and a loving relationship blossomed. He and Mithany connected as soul mates. In the years that followed, Daedyn never said a word, never showed jealousy, and never made any attempt to break them apart.
He let her go for me. He never let it show. Wow!
The impact of the Firaché revelation didn’t have the effect Mera desired—just the opposite. In the realization of Daedyn’s sacrifice, Reyne loved his brother even more.
Daedyn gave up so much of himself for me… so I could be happy. Who could do that? Only a man who cares for a brother more than anything else in the world.
Reyne concluded he had to stay in Hensdale for Daedyn’s sake, for Mithany’s sake and for his own sake. This was his reality—this was the world that needed saving.
Reyne glanced across the room to see Daedyn, still flushed, breathe a sigh of relief. Daedyn proffered a smile to them all, certain he’d pulled off the lie, but Reyne knew better. Daedyn’s unrequited love for Mithany would stay hidden. Reyne didn’t see the need to out him. Clear to Reyne, his brother didn’t detect he’d seen the truth of it. Reyne suspected Daedyn was too consumed hiding himself from everyone to be aware Reyne had seen beneath the lie.
Pushing off from the table, Mera tipped his chair back and put his hands behind his head. “Reyne, so much depends on you.”
Reyne simply said, “No.”
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“Just what I said.”
Reyne desperately wanted to go to Mithany. He wanted her comfort. A big, strong, muscled young man, yet he wanted to hide in her arms and feel safe. He longed to hold her and protect her from all the evils in the world Mera spoke of. More than anything, Reyne desired the life he dreamed of with Mithany—and Daedyn at his side.
The sound of a hand slapped hard against a tabletop. It came from the other room. Or at least that’s how Mithany heard it when it jolted her from her nap. She’d been drifting in and out of sleep, but was now wide awake. Yet she didn’t move. She remained in Reyne’s room, curled up in his bed, confident her future with the man she loved was secured. Voices, while muffled, filtered through the walls and door. She didn’t get all the conversation. Sounds struggled to find a passage through the dense treestone.
She overheard Mera speak of some revelation. Her breathing stopped when Mera said to Daedyn, “… you hold feelings for Mithany.” Straining to listen to every word that followed, she rolled the discussion over in her head. Reyne demanded to know if Daedyn hid feelings for her. She wondered what Reyne thought of it and if he believed Daedyn’s denials. She didn’t. She’d always known. She never told Reyne. How could she?
She made out parts of the conversation about Reyne leaving Hensdale behind, and how Mera wanted Reyne’s help to take on some threat to the world. Mithany didn’t understand what lay behind the menace. She listened and gathered in the gist of it, whether or not Reyne offered his help, people were going to do their best to kill him. She didn’t get all the words, but she put together enough. Finally, she heard Reyne say “no,” and his one-word reply filled her with joy.
Mithany wanted to sleep, to wake up and find the past day had been a dream. She wanted to go back to a time earlier in the day. She wanted to return to the point when she arrived in Hensdale to find Reyne sitting on the porch, when all the world was right.
Reyne abruptly rose from his chair and started to make his way out of the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” Mera asked.
Daedyn shouted towards Reyne, who was disappearing down the hallway to where Mithany awaited him. “I’m glad you’re stayin’, Bro, but I thought you were gonna make sure the fire in the burn pit is out. There’s a lot of trees out there. You just can’t leave a fire goin’. That’s one of your jobs. Not mine.”
Reyne turned the knob and reached out to push open his bedroom door just a little. He intended only to peek in on Mithany, not wanting to disturb her if she was sleeping. Reyne poked his head from around the door. Her delighted, warm, smiling face grabbed at him from across the room, stealing his attention with just a look.
Reyne reciprocated. Mithany pulled back the sheets, inviting him to join her. Reyne closed the door behind him and, without saying a word, he moved towards the bed.
Mithany’s position about leaving her behind, while the man she loved and Mera ran away somewhere presumedly to hide, was clear to Reyne. Reyne wanted to get married, and so did Mithany. Not at some date in the future, but next week: just like they planned. She was kind in her words but firm in her heart when he left her alone in his room earlier. She wanted him to stay.
With the others locked out on the other side of his bedroom door, Reyne heard Daedyn say to someone, “She can make that boy do anything.”
