[NoR] - [16] - Deceitful Debate

A shriek like a dying vulture cut through the air. The moonlight was still bright, although the planeswalkers guessed about two-thirds of the night had passed them by. At the sound of the monster the whimpers in the far recesses grew quiet. Sudaj dusted the grime off of his hands, curious as to what Razel had planned.

“So setting aside your crazy talk about machine people, what are we going to do with the thing here?”

Razel was taken aback by the blatant accusation of dishonesty, ignoring the matter at hand entirely.

“It’s not crazy talk! There really is a race of biomechanoids bent on multiversal domination!”

“Sure there is.”

“Whatever you want to think, my friend.”

“And what about the-“

Another shrill screech emphasized his question. It sounded much closer this time.

“Whatever it is, it’ll be here shortly. We’ll need something physical to signify that we disposed of it, so no disintegrations or swallowing whole.”

“What, we’re just going to kill it when it arrives?”

“No, you are.”

“ME? Why only me?! What do you think you’re going to be doing the whole time?”

Razel stroked his chin, contemplating the gore surrounding him.

“Thinking.”

“Wha-No. No. You’re going to help with this.”

“Why? You’ve got it. It’s a single creature of the night. Surely you can handle it.”

“I…but…”

Sudaj couldn’t think of a way to rebuke the statement without impugning himself in the process. He started scowling again, wondering if he would get creases from the repetitive nature of his recent expressions. The sound of rustling branches barely reached their ears, implying a proximity to the thing that gave them next to no time to finish bantering.

Sudaj turned to face the noise, his arms flaring out from his sides as he centered himself and began to pool his energies. Razel apathetically continued to look about the room, stepping between two pillars to investigate the source of the whimpering from before. Several drained corpses were still bound to the supports, their leathery hides shrunk tight over the desiccated bodies. A single living elf, a frail specimen of youth, vainly tried to hide among the filth. Glossing over the captive, he stepped past the stack of bones to inspect a mural carved into the wall. The other ‘walker stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for the beast to come into view. The shrieking had stopped. Razel turned from the carvings to watch his primed compatriot, who loudly let his thoughts be known.

“I thought it was supposed to arrive by now. Are you still just watching?”

“You can take it.”

“Come on! Help me out here at least a little!”

“You don’t need it! This is a single life form! I know you’re capable of taking down a lone monster on your own.”

“That’s not the point! Didn’t you get pegged to a tree just a little while ago?”

“That has nothing to do with this. Those were magical weapons, and-“

“Liar! This has everything to do with it! Your inability to act is going to get us killed. All you want to do is a whole lot of nothing! ‘Don’t let them know we’re here, Sudaj!’ ‘You can take this thing on your own, Sudaj!’ ‘This is your quest, Sudaj!’ No! You wanted to come with, YOU do it.”

From time to time Rokh would find me between lessons and steal parts of my schedule to train me on the minutiae of planeswalking. Basic skills and knowhow, from the best ways to utilize a planar scar without destabilizing it to reaching out with your awareness to ‘feel’ any planeswalker activity. Sometimes the lessons would have extended sessions to include ways one could theoretically counteract the same measures taken against you.

Within the first several lessons the ability to trigger awareness became almost second nature. The capability to become cognizant of most everything in an area, while mentally draining, was effective in a multitude of ways. The sensory knowledge gained from your awareness could direct you to a possible lead on your assignment, as well as preventing an ambush by those without extended knowledge of their magical aura. I admit that there are occasions wherein I will find myself absorbed in something or sufficiently distracted and lose awareness for an undisclosed period of time, but I have a habit of maintaining it when I need to. Of course, the multitude of senses and sensory phenomena mean that no matter how aware, there will always be things I miss.

Somehow Rokh managed to sneak up on me every time. His capability to modify his own ethereal signature was astounding, and he managed to completely suppress it around me at all times, almost as a joke. I asked him once, directly, about his power level.

“Over nine thousand students have asked me that, and probably nine thousand more will after you. Don’t worry about it. I don’t advertise, and we’ll leave it at that.”

I enjoyed these sessions. The experience with the double was now nothing but a memory, however the ghost of his friendships haunted me still. In fact, I began to worry that I was considering Rokh a ‘Friend’. Was this a bad decision? Should I not consider him a friend? I asked myself, repeatedly, countless variations of these questions. After a long deliberation, I decided I should simply admit that Rokh was as close to a friend as I had and try to be more ‘friendly’ towards him. There was no reason to not remain on good terms with your trainer, after all.

Razel grumpily strode over to the other ‘walker. The air chilled as he drew near, and Sudaj noted a fog of his own breath as his companion spoke.

“It’s on the level above, listening to us argue like a pair of challenged apes.”

“If you know that, why won’t you d-”

“Because it’s more likely to attack if it thinks we are either unprepared or unaware. You watch for it, it figures out how to get past you, I tag it and take it down as it tries and fails to get at you. But that won’t work if you keep forcing me to engage you. Subtlety is key here, and above all, why not simply trust me?”

“I don’t trust you. You lied to me about knowing whatever this thing is -”

“I didn’t ‘lie’ to you, I-”

“-and now you lie to me about some stupid plan? The last time we went on an expedition you were teaching me, not treating me like a fool. Now you’re acting as though I should know everything automatically. You treat me as though I’m someone else you used to do things like this with. I don’t know if I ever want to meet them or know anything about them, ‘cause if they can work with you for extended periods they’re better at this whole ‘life’ thing than I am.”

The Beast dropped from a balcony to their side, standing in its wrinkled, mummified elven flesh. The eyes held a misty red glow, and the fingers ended in abnormal claws. It smiled grimly and spoke to the intruders.

“What if I don’t have a life?”

The two planeswalkers both turned to glare at it.

“Stay out of this.”

“We’re in the middle of something.”

“So, what exactly are you saying about me here? Other than you having no patience?”

“What does patience have to do with this?!”

The Undead elf was unsure of what to do with these two unwanted guests. Their bickering was annoying, and vaguely offensive. What did these two meat sacks think they were doing in his home? It made no sense to him. His decision to make his intent known was evident through his bared, glistening fangs. The Vampire took a pointed step towards them.

“-not at all what I said! Why would you even bring that up?”

“FOOLS! YOU DARE COME TO MY DEN AND TELL ME TO WAIT?”

Its voice creaked as a forest in a hurricane, sickening and deafening. To his further surprise, the two ‘walkers were entirely unimpressed with it. A twinge of sadness festered up from the memories of practicing that voice for exactly an occasion such as this. Razel deigned to address it once more.

“Look, you decaying bloodchugger; we’re busy.”

It hissed at him, baring its fine fangs in aggression. Impudent mortal simpleton!

“Are those needles supposed to scare me? Please.”

It stopped and gawked at him for a moment. He deflated slowly as Razel continued on.

“I’ve dealt with vampires that turn to bats, vampires that shimmer, vampires that control your mind, even vampires that can stop time! You? You’re a vampire ELF. I have no respect for you. Go enjoy your last few moments away from our argument. As I said; We. Are. Busy.”

Within what felt like no time I was trained. Rokh would leave, I would find him, we would discuss my methodology, and he would make suggestions and answer any questions. As part of his ulterior course, he also showed me why these things were traceable, and to test my ability to put practical knowledge to use, he would have me disappear to a random place and then attempt to avoid detection. I found that hiding is monumentally more difficult than finding. Controlling every aspect of one’s magical emissions was nothing to scoff at.

Progress was measured in the length of time spent training per session. What began as a short jaunt to teach me the basics evolved into grand forays away from the Academy, where the finer points would be exemplified and made clear. The time between sessions was more or less constant, and I began to use them as a standard to relate my experiences. I had just finished a course in advanced summoning and headed back to my chambers when I opened the door to see Rokh waiting impatiently in my room. His body fogged as the temperature difference made itself apparent. He had a stern look on his face, and his normally jovial manner was gone. I could feel the seriousness of the situation emanating off of him.

“There’s a problem.”

I think he started before I was completely into my room; however that may only be my recollection. Regardless, there was a new sense of urgency. He continued.

“Someone has gone missing. Disappeared without warning. We need to bring them back.”

I’m fairly certain I smiled. The opportunity to utilize all of the recent training was an appealing one. How difficult could it be? I was already able to follow Rokh more or less anywhere he led me. A twinge of curiosity led me to inquire as to the nature of the missing person.

“I’m more than ready. Who are we retrieving?”

The smile he hid behind was disingenuous, and seemed as an afterthought in his subconscious.

“Not retrieving – Bringing back. A relatively new ‘walker literally disappeared in the middle of a course. The instructor made us aware of it less than a day ago. As soon as the assignment came in, I went to my superiors to clear your permissions for accompanying me. Are you ready to put the hide and seek behind us and truly start tracking?”

The smile I hid behind was far from disingenuous, and in fact, reflected the overwhelming excitement brewing within. Any opportunity to utilize my talents is one I will jump to undertake. I stepped to face him as an equal and reached out my hand to seal our decision.

“Shall we?”