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Pathena’s irate question hung in the air for a minute. The silence was broken by Thrump. “No one thought it was a good idea, but it’s still the best one we’ve got. If you have a better idea then be our guest.”
Pathena was silent for a moment.
“Well we at least have a source now,” she said gesturing to Skreech who was bound and gagged by a tree. “And we could send out a recon team tonight to get a little better idea of how to get into the house. It’s better than going in blind!”
“We’re not pumping my brother for any more information,” said Flye sternly. Everyone was surprised at her sudden decisiveness and for her slang use.
“I’m not saying we should pump him, but he at least could tell us how to get in,” said Pathena.
“And, of course, the intensity of the persuasion necessary to acquire the information is entirely up to him. No pumping need take place, to borrow the colloquialism,” said Dr. Lee matter-of-factly.
I still don’t like it, and I won’t let you use him. He’s still my brother, no matter what he’s done or what he believes.”
“But Flye, he’s not. Not really,” said Fwish. “He’s a traitor. The day he abandoned the Higher-ups and their laws he gave up his rights to their blessings as well. Family included. He may be your brother by birth, but he’s not your brother in the ways that count. He’s not your brother in arms, or in service, or in allegiance, or in belief. In a way, he’s less your brother than Chak or Thrump are.”
Flye’s face contorted in pain at Fwish’s words. She was fighting back tears as the rest of the group ganged up on her.
“Please, let’s not rob the word ‘brother’ of its meaning. The word does equally mean both a male sibling and a fellow comrade in arms. At the very least, Skreech is just as equally Flye’s brother as Chak is,” said Dr. Lee.
“I agree with Flye,” came a deep confident voice. It was Shishu.
“But Shishu, you can’t possible—”
“I can and do,” said Shishu, cutting Plink’s protest short.
“So do I,” said Brew. When she said this, both Shishu and Brew glided over next to Flye. Brew gave her a hug and Shishu stared down the rest of the group.
“I’m tired of having this same conversation over and over again. He is the enemy. We are supposed to take down the enemy at any cost! This family business is just getting in the way,” said Chak. Brew whipped around and gave him a tense glare.
“You’re gonna stop that sorta talk right now. Understand?” she said. She sounded remarkably close to her old self, but with a much more menacing and determined tone. Chak fell silent.
“I kind of agree with Shishu and Brew,” I said.
“So do I,” said Thrump. This shocked everyone. Thrump had been the least happy of the entire group to take on Skreech as a travelling companion.
“We decided earlier that Flye would make the decision regarding Skreech’s fate. We should stand by that decision. Besides, he’s already told us everything he knows about the mansion. There’s the tree frog guarding a moat around the mansion, four ostrogles circling overhead, and a team of Umbra and more Umbili we haven’t met yet.”
Everyone in the group had forgotten these facts from earlier. There were murmurs going around the group with no real cohesion until Pathena spoke.
“Fine. I give up. You do what you want. I’m only a side show here anyway.” She threw up her hands and walked toward her tent.
“I think Pathena has a point. We could send a recon group out tonight to get a feel of the place,” said Chak. Pathena stopped walking and returned to the group.
There was a murmur of agreement.
“So, who will go?” he asked.
“Oooo! Ooooo! Send us! We’ll go!” said Fwik jumping up and down and waiving his hands in the air.
“We’ll be as swift and as silent as a… a really swift and silent thing!” said Fwish, joining her brother. As the two of them jumped, Fwik landed on a stick on the ground, which was wedged under a rock. It acted like a lever and propelled the rock over the group and smashed hard and loud into a pot that had been left out from dinner. The clang resounded through the trees and everyone reached toward their weapons, ready to fight off any enemies alerted by the sound. After a few moments, the tension receded and everyone looked at Fwish and Fwik who were no longer jumping in the air.
Fwik sighed. “We’ll stay here,” he said in a dejected tone.
“I should stay here too,” said Thrump. “I can protect Nicholas and Pathena, and keep an eye on Skreech.”
“I think Shishu and Brew are the lightest on their feet, and won’t have to deal with their light giving them away.”
“I have no argument with that,” said Shishu.
“Me neither,” chimed Brew.
“Plink and I should accompany them. We can do a two-by-two pattern that way,” said Chak.
“That sounds like a good plan,” said Thrump. “At what point should we come looking for you?”
“Send the twins out if we’re not back by first light. If they come back empty handed you forget about us and get Nicholas in by any means necessary,” said Chak seriously.
“Right,” said Thrump straightening up. The four going on the reconnaissance mission split off and made some minor preparations. Chak and Plink each extracted a length of long black cloth from the backpack and wrapped it around the brightest parts of their bodies. They also put on black hats to cover their hair from shimmering in the darkness. Once the four of them were adequately prepared, Chak turned toward Thrump and swiftly covered his eyes, then his right ear, and tapped his chest twice. Chak returned the salute they had picked up from Teleon and the two Umbili and two Umbra disappeared in the night.
Thrump returned to the remaining group. Skreech was still tied to the tree with a gag in his mouth and Flye was sitting at the front of her tent on a tree stump staring at him intensely in the dim light provided by the floating orbs. Fwik and Fwish were sitting in the dirt across from each other playing a game with a rock on the ground. Thrump and Dr. Lee began a discussion on the day ahead of them and eventually started arguing about which recon team would come back with better information. Pathena walked off toward her tent. I started to follow her but she waved me off saying she wanted to be alone for a little while.
I walked over to Fwik and Fwish and sat down next to them and watched their game.
“It’s a simple game,” said Fwish. “See, it’s my turn, so I toss this rock in the air. It has to go past both of our heads. If Fwik catches it while it’s travelling upward then he gets to slap the back of my hand. But if he misses it and I catch it on the fall then I get to slap his hand. Then if I miss it and he catches it underneath where I tried to catch it, he gets his slap back. That all happens on one toss. Three chances to catch. If nobody catches it then nobody get’s slapped and it’s his toss. The possession of the toss switches regardless of the outcome.”
I nodded understandingly and privately thought it was one of the stupidest games I had ever heard of.
“How do you know who wins?” I asked.
“Who ever says ‘Ow’ first loses,” said Fwik intently staring at the stone in Fwish’s hand, he kept both hands planted firmly on the ground.
Fwish tossed the stone into the air and Fwik pulled his hands off the ground and quickly followed the stone upward snatching it out of the air just as it slowed its ascent.
“Aha!” he said.
Fwish extended her hand and Fwik placed the stone onto the back of her hand, then brought his own down hard onto the stone driving it into the back of Fwish’s hand. Fwish flinched momentarily, her eyes screwed up in pain, but she didn’t make a sound.
“That’s a rather stupid game,” came a smooth serene voice from behind me. I turned around and Teleon was standing there, looking lazily up at a tree. He reached toward the leaves in front of his face, pulled one off, and started tearing it slowly along the veins. He never looked back in my direction, but he smiled a warm and calm smile as he played with the leaf.
“Teleon!” I said loudly. “What… what are you doing here?”
“Don’t worry Nicholas, I’m just checking in. I had some errands to run earlier, that’s why I didn’t stick around long when you last saw me. How are things going so far?”
Fwik and Fwish had gotten up and were fighting to stand in front of each other to present themselves to Teleon.
“Well there’s been an interesting turn of events since you left us.” I had taken on a bit more formal tone, suddenly remembering all that I had learned since my last encounter with Teleon and the fact that he expected, and even planned, for me to die.
“Yes I suppose there has been,” he said in his relaxed tone. This made me angrier.
“And you thought it would be better if I learned that I am supposed to kill myself from some stupid little red box in the woods?”
“No. I didn’t think it would be better,”
“Then why—”
“I knew it would be better,” he said, smiling at me.
Well maybe you thought… or you knew… wrong.” The words sounded strange after I had said them.
“You can’t know wrong,” he said, still smiling. “Knowledge is always right, always true. If it’s not true then it’s not knowledge. It’s falsehood and lies. Opinions can be true or false. Opinions can be right or wrong. But think a moment, knowledge can’t be false, knowledge can’t be wrong. If something is knowledge it’s impossible for it to be false knowledge or wrong knowledge.[1] And yes, I knew it would be better this way.”
“How could you possibly know that?” I asked.
“I could try to explain it to you, but your head would explode,” said Teleon.
Fwik laughed at this statement, and I glared at him.
“How do you know that my head would explode? Do you know the future?”
“Of course,” said Teleon simply. It was strange. If anyone else had claimed to know the future, I would have called him arrogant or a liar. Teleon merely said it as a humble point of fact and I knew not to disagree with him or he’d make me look like a fool.
“So… what are you doing here?” I asked again, trying to stay angry with the man, but his presence was such that you couldn’t stay mad at him long.
“I told you, I’m just checking in. Thought I’d hang out with you all until the reconnaissance team gets back.”
“Well, when we last talked, you said you would answer my questions one day soon. Is that day today? Is it right now? Will you answer my questions right now?”
“Some, but not all. The rest of the answers are still to come on another day very soon.”
“But… but I really only have one day left,” I said.
“Well then I suppose that very soon day will be tomorrow, won’t it?” said Teleon with a comforting smile, knowing what I was thinking about.
“Okay, well can I ask you a few now?”
“Ask away Nicholas,” he said.
“How did Pathena die on earth and end up here?”
“Well, Nicholas, that’s quite a long story, that I think we should save for another time. The short version is that she left earth long before your encounter. The person you saw die on earth was an imposter, not really her.”
I decided to accept this half answer, because it was obvious that he wasn’t going to tell me anymore than that.
“Is this IV plan that Chak has going to work, or am I really going to die?”
Teleon laughed a little bit at this, “Oh yes. The IV. We had quite a little chuckle over that. No Nicholas, Chak’s IV isn’t going to work. There’s only one thing that will work. There’s only one way that seed can be planted in Mendrax’s garden. Trust me.”
He was so casual as he referred to my death and laughed at Chak’s plan like a father laughs at his child’s attempt to fly. Part of me was angered at his flippancy, but part of me was comforted knowing that I had made the right decision to give up my life. This was the only way. ‘And All his blood be weighed’ rang in my ears. I sat silently pondering this thought for a long time.
“Well, if that’s all, I say we play this game that Fwik and Fwish just taught us,” said Teleon.
“But wait, I have more questions!”
“Another time Nicholas. Sometimes it’s good to just have a mental distraction and play a fun little game without worrying about the fate of the world.”
“I thought you said this was a stupid game?” said Fwish.
“And indeed it is, but where’s the harm in playing a stupid game every once in a while? Good, clean, stupid, fun I think is just what the doctor ordered this evening. Nicholas, are you game?”
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at him intently.
“You bet I’m game,” I said, trying to match his free and inspiring smile with one of my own. With that I picked up a rock from the ground and sent it soaring into the air.
[1] Mortimer Adler, and Max Weismann, How to think about Great Ideas (Chicago: Open Court, 2000).
Want to keep reading? Go to the next section! >>> “Chapter 24.”