The Withered King Read online

  The three of them sped up. Alex’s body tensed while they ran towards the building where their lab was located. As they arrived he saw three shadows slipping into the building.

  “Did you see that?”

  “Those weird shadows moving into the building?” Quentin said. “Yes. Shouldn’t we call security?”

  “Andrea!” Birm exclaimed. Concern for the safety of his fiancée was showing on his face.

  “Not a bad idea. But while they get here, you two stay outside. I will go inside and get Andrea,” Alex said. The tone of his voice had gone from friendly to stern. Tension built up in his muscles as a buzzing in his inner ear increased. It was the way his body alerted him to danger, to something unnatural. The last time he had heard it was ten years ago and he hated what it meant.

  “Like hell you are going inside alone, she is my fiancée,” Birm cracked his knuckles and punching the security code to open the door, without success. Quentin just pushed the door, opening it. Birm ran inside without waiting for anyone.

  “They probably deactivated the security system beforehand, otherwise we would have seen several guards running this way,” Quentin explained.

  “Always the smart-ass. Call security and stay here and let us know if more of those guys enter the place,” Alex said, entering the building, following Birm.

  “Don’t worry, I will,” Quentin said, sipping from his paper cup.

  The building was pitch black, except for some of the open labs with independent generators, which still worked on automated projects. Alex and Birm moved as silently as possible. Once they reached the stairs, they ran up to the third floor where the lab was located. They opened the door slowly and noticed four more assailants in the hall, packing their loot from the other labs.

  “I wonder if those are all of the robbers or if there are more in other labs.” Alex said in low voice.

  “Any ideas?” Birm asked.

  “Keep them busy here while you reach Andrea through the side doors,” Alex said. “Remember, just because you have military training, it doesn’t mean it will be easy. Take care, please! Don’t be a hero; just get her out of harm’s way.”

  “Remind me, who won our last practice fight?”

  “I know,” Alex replied, “But that was a practice and you can’t do this.” He expanded the bow with a small electric crackle breaking the air and filling it with the sweet, pungent zing of ozone.

  “Show off,” Birm muttered.

  Without waiting, Alex shot a couple of arrows at the assailants, distracting them long enough that they failed to notice Birm entering the labs through the side doors. Without a pause, Alex moved, hitting and punching the guy in the hallway. It wasn’t a clean fight for either side, as they landed some punches on Alex’s ribs and mouth, but he used his knowledge about the labs to beat them. He used metal canisters to crack their ribs and snap their legs, crashing them through the windows and slamming their heads into crates and metal tables. Alex wasn’t trying to kill them, just leave them unconscious. But a part of him deep inside was enjoying this. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t swift and it certainly wasn’t done with elegance, but it was effective and surprisingly relaxing. By the time he finished, the floor was littered with the bodies of four would-be robbers lying unconscious.

  “I feel for the janitor tomorrow. Cleaning this will be tough.”

  Alex approached the lab where Andrea had been working. Inside, he saw a tall, muscle-bound guy, wearing dreadlocks and a gas mask. He was slamming Birm into a metal table as if he were a rag doll. Then he lifted him by the neck. Next to the brute, there was a smaller guy wearing the same outfit but with messy red hair, holding Andrea back. His high-pitched laugh encouraging the big guy to kill Birm by crushing his neck. Alex was enraged.

  No one hurts my friends, you giant piece of crap.

  He took aim and shot two arrows in quick succession. The first one broke the glass window, while the second, trailing behind, hit the arm holding Birm. The tip of the arrow cut the arm tendons, forcing the giant robber to drop Birm. He hit the floor gasping for air.

  “Try that again and I will turn you into a pincushion,” Alex aimed a third arrow, this time at the neck of the assailant. The brute ignored Alex, catching him off guard, as he ran toward him, moving faster than a person that size had the right to move. Alex discharged the full cartridge of arrows into him, not even slowing him down.

  “Aww crap,” Alex muttered, getting ready to dodge the incoming tackle when the redhead yelled.

  “Let’s go, big brother, we have what we came for. There will be plenty of time for mayhem later.”

  “Next time chubby, next time,” the big assailant grumbled, pointing at Alex. The redhead shoved Andrea to the floor, then mumbled words that Alex could not understand, some sort of spell that transformed his body and that of his giant companion into shadows that flew through the window. With that, the lights returned and the alarm started to blare. Alex ran towards Andrea and Birm, who were getting up.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” Birm said groggily.

  “I don’t think so, we need to take you to the medical services,” Alex replied.

  “There is something more urgent right now. Alex, take the things and get out.”

  Andrea nodded and grabbed a case full of data crystals, all the arrow cartridges, and a small metal box labeled Wanderer, tucking them into her duffel bag. She gave it to Alex. Birm got up and with Andrea, pushed Alex towards the open window.

  “What the Pits?” Alex asked, surprised.

  “Alex, you need to get out of here with all our unregistered projects. Now,” Andrea yelled.

  “But why?” Alex was confused as Andrea reacted fast and started to pile up more things into the duffel bag.

  “Once the alarm goes off, the security protocols close all access and then it gets restrained for months until it is cleared off, and they will take our research,” Andrea explained.

  “But the window?” Alex yelled as they pushed him through it.

  “All the ground floor doors are locked by now, this is the only exit and you are the only one that can make the jump,” Birm said.

  “What about you?” Alex asked, peering behind him at the three-story fall.

  “Birm looks like a textbook assault victim who may never recover his previous face. We have our cover,” Andrea replied nonchalantly. By now they had Alex sitting pretty much on the edge of the window, his hands holding the bag.

  “Did you forget that I hate heights?” Alex said with a faint voice.

  “It’s just three stories. You will be fine. Now go!” Andrea ordered while Birm pushed Alex out of the window.

  “Awww craaaaap!” Alex yelled while falling out of the window. Bracing for the impact, Alex extended his arms forward and his body was covered by faint electric arcs. Alex felt as if he was surrounded by something invisible, pushing him up, lessening the fall. He had tried this before, to generate a magnetic field not unlike that of a levitating warptrain to soften a fall. He had never succeeded. The landing hurt like hell, but luckily his body withstood the fall with nothing but some pain in his legs. Alex got up slowly, while Quentin admired the landing from his position by the wall.

  “I will give it a nine for effort but a four on technique,” Quentin said, still sipping coffee from his cup. “But you could lose some weight as well.”

  “Ha, ha. Let’s go,” Alex mumbled, not amused, dragging Quentin with him while they ran away from the building. They avoided the security guards now arriving at the lab. Alex wondered what the assailants would want with Andrea’s research. After all, she was still a student. Her research had to do with batteries coupled with miniature superconductors – like the one embedded inside his bow. It was more efficient than a regular battery, and she’d told him previously about some of the other possible uses. Something to do with cell phones and high-powered signals. He co
uldn’t remember, but something in his mind was racing to connect the dots. Alex was sure that when that happened, he wouldn’t like the answer.

  † † †

  The next morning Mercia University was full of rumor and speculation about what had happened in the labs. This was the first case to leave survivors and a few of the perpetrators had been arrested, although none of the suspects were talking since they had all suffered serious injuries. Guards were everywhere, scanning students and lecturers alike, looking for clues to give to the law officers. What had been a quiet, friendly campus was now a highly impregnable fortress.

  Alex reached the fair, which was taking place in one of the open sports fields and outside the main gym. His legs still hurt from the fall, but he was used to sharp pain. His body had developed a degree of endurance that he couldn’t explain. Only Birm, Andrea, and Quentin were onto that secret, although he knew there were rumors about the weird things that happened around him, like electronics turning on or off without human input. His hope was that the buzz of the fair would distract people from asking him things he didn’t want to explain.

  The fair was the place where clubs sought to recruit new members, like the fencing club or the board game club to which Alex and his friends belonged. More members meant more funding and higher social status within the social micro-cosmos that was the campus. There were religious and political clubs as well, but they weren’t gathering much attention lately. Talking religion outside family settings was considered rude, at least in the Free Alliance, where faith was meant to be something personal. And the political environment was already charged due to the actions of the New Leadership Party. The NLP had recently formed to proclaim inflammatory ideas, bordering on demagogic and racist, against the freefolk due to their ability to use magick. Political speech had been restricted at Mercia, as well as at most university campuses, to keep at ease the few freefolk students that attended them. While most freefolk kept to themselves and attended their own schools, Mercia University had plans to open joint projects with some freefolk schools, thanks to the efforts of Professor Leonard Hunt. Now that he thought about it, Alex hadn’t heard much from his old mentor since the professor had changed jobs to a freefolk school last year. Alex thought about calling him after the fair was over.

  The stand of the board game club seemed small, thanks to the massive number of props, replicas and test games, both commercial and home-built by its members. At the moment it was being looked after by Quentin, while Andrea looked after Birm’s wounds. Alex walked towards them, carrying the compressed bow in a duffel bag and the sword on his back. This was one of the few days he could carry the sword without raising many questions. The odd handle made it look like a prop for the stand.

  “Are you expecting problems?” Andrea asked as soon as he approached. She was pointing at the sword.

  “I can’t shake the buzz in my ear, so yes,” Alex said. “I’m surprised they haven’t canceled the fair.”

  “Paranoid much?” Quentin replied.

  “Luckily for you, you weren’t there,” Birm interjected. “Not last night, nor ten years ago. That sword is a good safety measure. And if Alex can still hear the buzz, any extra precaution is welcome. As for your question, the Dean is trying to get re-elected. Thus an image of stability plays in her favor. The fair is meant to showcase that everything is fine. Even if the tension is palpable on every corner.”

  “You seem rattled. Did something else happen?” Alex asked Birm, who exchanged glances with Andrea.

  “A guy from that NLP club came by. He threatened us with reprisals if we don’t move our stall. According to him, this was his spot,” Andrea explained with a tight voice. “We even showed him the floor plans and one of the representatives came to settle the issue, but he didn’t back off. He said he would return later to teach us a lesson. Asshole.”

  “They seem to attract the worst of the worst,” Birm shrugged his shoulders. “He was really weird, with a smile that gave you the creeps.”

  “I will deal with him if he returns,” Alex started to say, but the buzzing in his inner ear became stronger. Time slowed for him and the world acquired a different texture. He could see the energy flowing around him. Alex turned around and saw the red-haired thief from the lab last night, swinging a large metal goal post towards them, a chunk of concrete still adhering to one of its ends.

  Alex felt his muscles tense, an all too familiar feeling after what had happened ten years ago, when he’d gotten his special gift and cursed his luck. He turned to push Andrea and Birm out of the way with his right arm while extending his left arm to catch the post. He could feel an electromagnetic field extending around him, providing him with extra strength.

  Alex caught the post and time resumed its regular flow, as if a river has been finally freed from its constraints.

  “I think that post belonged to one of the sports clubs,” Alex said. The redheaded man pushed harder, forcing Alex to increase the energy output and push even harder in response. He looked over his shoulder at his friends. “Guys, I think you better leave. Call Gaby or Sid!”

  Alex and the redhead were intertwined in a contest of strength. With his free hand, Alex reached for his sword. As he unsheathed it, the blade glowed with a faint golden light, similar to the glow now present in Alex’s eyes. As he pushed the post forward, he used the gained centimeters to swing the sword. With a swift movement, the blade sliced through the post. Both Alex and the redhead looked at each other and at the post with surprise a couple of times until the redhead decided to use what was left as a club.

  The redhead was being oddly quiet. Alex didn’t like that.

  “What? Is this not funny anymore? Why so serious? You were all laughs and talk last night,” Alex teased him. “You don’t like it when someone stands up to you?”

  Alex dodged the attacks. He was sensing the electrical currents of his opponent’s nerves, seeing them as orange lines of energy, and that gave him precious few seconds to guess where the attack would land. He dodged one attack, rolling to the side. Kneeling, he gripped his sword with both hands and started to parry the attacks. Alex put all his strength into his parries and counterattacks, cutting off pieces of the post until nothing was left.

  Annoyed, the redhead backed off. Alex took a few seconds to regain his breath. He glanced at Andrea talking to someone on her cell phone, and Birm yelled at him to move. Alex sidestepped to his right, just in time to avoid a trash can hitting the spot where he had stood. When he turned around, the redheaded man was extending his arms and several objects, including parked cars, started to shake and launch towards Alex. He ran, dodging the rain of objects.

  I need to learn that trick, Alex thought. Unfortunately, a crate full of cookbooks from the hosting club hit him in the hand, making him drop his sword. The redhead stopped the assault, smiled, and threw a car towards Alex.

  “Aww crap,” Alex muttered. The sword was far from his reach, but he still had the duffel bag with him. He rolled away, dodging the car, which hit the ground with a heavy, loud impact. Alex took the bow from the bag, expanded it, and shot at the man, but the arrow was deflected before reaching the target. Alex aimed again, this time focusing his abilities. It was then that he noticed a larger aura surrounding the guy. It was shaped like the silhouette of a scorpion. Its tail was picking up the cars and throwing them towards Alex. The pincers were deflecting the arrows he had shot. Alex hesitated, swallowing hard. He’d seen this same aura before, ten years ago at the Straits. It was the incident that had given him his abilities. A deep, sinking feeling formed in the bottom of his stomach.

  Aww crap. How the Pits am I going to defeat that thing?

  And then, a voice broke him out of his fear.

  “Aim for his heart, I will take care of the rest,” Alex heard from behind him. He saw a young long-haired man, not much older than himself, charging towards the redheaded guy. The man was followed by Gaby, bot
h of them with swords in hand. Gaby’s blades shone blue and red, while her companion’s sword was bright green. Seeing this, the redhead intoned a few words and he started to mutate into the form of a scorpion with biomechanical implants protruding from his skin.

  “Now, Alex!” Gaby yelled.

  Alex took aim at what he guessed was a heart, following the orange energy threads that his eyes were able to see. Putting all the energy he had left into the arrow, he let loose, the arrow flying true to its target.

  The arrow hit at the same time that the long-haired guy’s sword cut off the creature’s head. It unleashed all the energy of the incomplete transformation into an explosion that sent Alex tumbling backward.

  Alex’s head rang. Dizzy, he tried to stand up as his stomach churned. His shoulder hurt badly, but at least he was alive. Someone touched his shoulder, and he turned around. Gaby was standing next to him, smiling and handing him his sword. He noticed that the long-haired guy stared at the handle with an expression of shock and recognition.

  “You seriously need to answer your calls, Alex,” Gaby slapped him in the arm.

  “I ran out of batteries,” Alex replied sheepishly.

  “You, especially you, running out of batteries has to be the lamest of all possible lame excuses,” Gaby countered. She nodded to her companion. “Anyhow, Fionn meet Alex, Alex meet Fionn.”

  “Fionn? Why is that name familiar?” Alex asked while still trying to get to his feet.

  “Think it through, see the fangsword,” Gaby said with her crooked smile showing on her face. Then it dawned on Alex and his eyes opened wide as saucers.

  “No freaking way! The Greywolf?” Alex exclaimed. The man seemed to be no older than his mid-thirties, not more than a decade older than Gaby or himself, who were just in their mid-twenties. It didn’t make sense. The Greywolf had lived during the Great War and that had been a century or so ago. Then again, the Queen had lived so long and had been ruling since…

  “Yup.” Gaby flashed a wide smile, while Fionn extended his hand to Alex, who shook it a bit overenthusiastically. He was, after all, meeting his childhood hero.