Daelen, unsurprised, didn’t bother turning around. It took more than that to sneak up on a shadow warrior. Still, there weren’t many mortals who would try. The typical reactions were either awe or terror. After the one he’d spoken to, earlier, this was two unusual mortal reactions in one day. Perhaps there were signs of change in this world, after all.
“If it helps,” he offered, “I promise I didn’t abduct Justaria.”
“Well, obviously you didn’t,” Cat agreed.
“What makes you so sure I’m telling the truth?” Daelen wondered.
“Three reasons: First, she may have left under duress or threat, but she wasn’t abducted at all. Not as such.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Ah, you see, I have a special ability. It’s called paying attention. Speaking of which, what are the chances of you turning around and paying attention to me? You really shouldn’t keep your back to me like this. I’m running out of rude faces to pull at you.”
Daelen smiled and at last did turn around to see the mortal girl, not levitating or flying like him, but casually standing on thin air as if it were solid ground.
She smiled and waved. “Hi, I’m Catriona Redfletching. My friends call me…yes, well, let’s just leave it as Catriona for now, shall we?”
“Catriona,” Daelen acknowledged. “What happened to pulling rude faces?”
Cat shrugged. “I ran out.”
When it became clear she wasn’t planning on saying anything else, he reminded her, “You said there were three reasons. What’s the second?”
Cat shook her head. “Nope. Not like that. I’m an information trader. You don’t get anything more from me until I get something from you. Like I said: what the hell are you doing here?”
Now that he was facing her and not looking at the garden, she had a quiet word with nature to subtly erase all trace of Justaria’s message. She had a suspicion she already knew the answer to her question and intended to use her knowledge as leverage. After all, she didn’t have the power of a shadow warrior, but information was a different kind of power. It could be a weapon or a shield, depending on what she needed. Thanks to their shared sympathic link, Dreya could pursue things her way, alerting the Council and using her form of power. That left Cat free to pursue her own independent line of enquiry.
Daelen confirmed her suspicion. “I need to find out where the wizards are being taken.”
“Why do you care?”
“Hang on,” he protested, “is it not my turn now?”
Cat gave a facial shrug, conceding the point. “Can’t blame a girl for trying. OK, second reason: you just said you need to find them. If you were involved, you’d already know.”
“But you couldn’t have known that when you said there were three reasons. I hadn’t told you, yet.”
“So I guessed,” Cat admitted. “The point is I guessed right. My turn: why do you care?”
“You won’t believe me,” he warned. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
With a dismissive gesture, Cat replied, “All kinds of people don’t believe me about things I’ve seen and accuse me of being crazy. I’m not so quick to judge.”
“Alright,” Daelen accepted. “A woman from the future woke me up, told me there was some kind of interference in Time and showed me what’s going on.”
“And what exactly is going on?”
“You’re trying to have two turns again,” Daelen admonished her.
“Whoops, so I am. Sorry. Your question?”
Daelen was surprised how much he was enjoying this. Who knew mortals could be so entertaining?
“You’re not as innocent as you make out, are you?”
“No, I’m not,” Cat concurred, “but just to show you how nice I can be, rather than count that as your next question, I’m going to volunteer my third reason.” She could let him have this one because his reaction would tell her much. “The third and main reason why I know you had nothing to do with Justaria’s disappearance – and by inference all the others – is that the signature of the higher planar energy that still lingers around her home is completely different. It’s not that dark clone of yours, either. Presumably, his signature is either the same or an inverse of yours. This signature is neither. Therefore, unless there’s a new player in town, my conclusion is that Kullos took them, and I’m guessing that I’m not going to like the reason.”
Oh yes, that got Daelen’s attention. His eyes grew wide, along with his mouth. He had not expected any mortal to have such knowledge.
“How do you know how to read our energy signatures?”
“As I said: I pay attention,” she replied, flippantly, “and that’s the only answer you’re getting until you stop trying to cheat the game. I gave you one freebie; you don’t get another. My question – why exactly is Kullos taking them?”
“He’s building an army,” Daelen answered, still reeling from the mortal girl’s last answer.
“Why?” Cat asked, taking full advantage, sneaking in a follow-up question.
“Because he thinks I’m doing the same and probably because he wants to tie up Michael.”
Cat remembered well the Day of the Angel. Daelen had drawn Kullos away while Michael tried to save her village. In the same way, a decent-sized Tempestrian army could certainly keep Michael busy, leaving Daelen and Kullos to fight it out between them. What she couldn’t immediately figure out was how that would help Kullos. In all previous battles that she knew of, Daelen plus Michael always won against Kullos. Subtract Michael, and it would be a stalemate. That meant a much longer battle and much more collateral damage until Kullos finally backed down. That was why Daelen needed Michael in the first place. So, how was Kullos expecting to win? Unless…
“He’s got more power from somewhere, hasn’t he?”
“You are one extraordinary mortal.”
Cat didn’t know whether to feel flattered or patronised. His intentions were the former, but she didn’t like someone patting her on the head just because she could add up. For now, she chose to ignore it.
“As I keep saying, I just pay attention, although to be honest, I’ve completely lost track of our game. Which is fine, because I think you’ve told me all I need to know for now, so I win but thanks for playing.”
“But you haven’t told me where the army is, yet,” Daelen protested. “You know, don’t you?”
Cat nodded. “And don’t bother looking for clues – I erased them all.”
“I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to,” the shadow warrior warned her. “I don’t like invading minds without consent, but I can and will do it if it means I stop Kullos from destroying your world.”
“Yes, I’ve heard you lot can do that. Go on then. Just this once, I give you my permission to try it, and see what it gets you.”
Daelen assumed Catriona was basing her confidence on defences she had developed against the mental attacks of mortal wizards. She could have no idea what she was dealing with now, but when he tried to enter her mind, it felt like getting his head stuck in a steel trap. He yelled in pain.
“Permission withdrawn,” Catriona announced, releasing him, “and don’t ever try that again.”
Daelen shook his head to clear it. He could scarcely believe what had just happened.
“How?” he demanded.
“I have friends in high places,” Cat replied, cryptically, “or rather from high places.”
As if on cue, a small, green reptilian head appeared from one of her pockets. After tasting the air for a moment, fixing Daelen with her unreadable eyes, the snake disappeared again but continued to hiss for a moment before she was still once more. Except Daelen could tell she wasn’t really a snake.
“This is Pyrah. I believe her people are from a plane just below yours. Apparently, not all your people have your…restraint…when it comes to entering minds and violating consent. So her people have developed defences against you. We share a sympathic link, so I’m protected, too, as is anyone else I choose to link with.”
Just then, Pyrah hissed again, and Cat laughed lightly.
“Pyrah, please! Such language. To be fair, I did give him permission this once.” Turning back to Daelen, she apologised, “Sorry about her. She doesn’t like being in the sky, but then she isn’t terribly impressed by you, either.” With a well-timed blush, she added, “Never mind, I’m sure she’ll change her mind about at least one of those things before long.” Her smile grew to a grin, and she addressed Pyrah once more. “I won’t let you fall, I promise!”
“Well tell her that if she’s so uptight and so afraid of falling, then…”
Determined to regain control of the situation, before girl or snake knew what had happened, he teleported them down to the ground.
“OK, that was flashy,” Cat conceded. Slightly disorientated, she sat down on the grass in Justaria’s garden. “Bit rude, but flashy.”
Daelen tried hard to be patient. “Look, Catriona, I really need you to tell me where Kullos’ army is.”
“I know you do,” the druidess nodded. “So negotiate for the information. Forget the question-for-a-question game. Just tell me straight. Community opinions are divided on you, Daelen. Some want your head. Others think you’re a hero.”
“I’m no hero,” Daelen insisted, joining her on the grass.
“And yet you claim to be our Protector while spending so little time here. Why is that?”
Daelen was hesitant. He wasn’t used to this.
“I protect your world and can barely stand to be a part of it for the same reason,” he admitted, finally. “Because I’m partly responsible for the danger it’s in.”
“Explain that,” Cat ordered him. “Consider me to be a representative of the people of this world. Imagine I’m linked with someone connected to the highest authority in this land.”
Of course, gentle reader, she really did have such a connection. Through their sympathic link, Dreya could get the essence of the conversation, if not the actual words. As Black Secondmage on the Council – and since she had the leader, Laethyn, in her pocket – she could take the information to the Council leadership and encourage them to take whatever action she felt was appropriate. Plus, she had Cat’s exact location, so she could teleport in, grab her, and teleport back again in the blink of an eye, should Cat be in more danger than she could handle.
“We’ve heard all kinds of rumours,” Cat told him, “but I want to hear the story from you. Justify yourself to the people of Tempestria. Explain to us why we should trust you and help you, because right now, honestly…I don’t know whether giving you my information is the right thing or not.”
There was something about this druid girl that fascinated Daelen, so he decided to try opening up, try to make her see why it was so important that she give him the information.