Council of Peacocks (48 page)

He did not have to go far before he heard the
roar of the waterfall. It was louder than Niagara Falls; it
distracted him. He did not notice the figure until it spoke.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” it
said.

Wisdom whirled around quickly and snapped an
elemental barrier around him. His fingers erupted in fire, but he
held it in check. He focused on the stranger before him. He was
here to talk, not to fight.

It was obviously the same man Josh had
described. Long, dark grey hair hung down his back in a ponytail.
His features were sharp and somehow birdlike. His nose was long and
sharp, cheekbones high and severe. Upon closer inspection, Wisdom
noticed the pale green tinge to the skin and the vestigial gills at
the base of the man’s neck. He was barefoot and topless, wearing
only loose raw-hide pants. His chest was covered in scars.
Strangest of all was the man’s left arm. Just below the elbow, a
ridge of thick scar tissue separated two skin tones. Above the
scar, the skin was the same pale green as the rest of the man’s
body. Beneath it, the skin was as white as new-fallen snow. His
forearm also seemed to glow with an internal light. The hand ended
in long, thin fingers completely unlike the fingers on the man’s
other hand. Wisdom spent a long time looking at the fingers of his
left hand, especially the one adorned with a gold ring.

“If you know anything about me, this visit
shouldn’t be a surprise. Or did you really believe you could keep
screwing around with my life and I’d just stand by and let
you?”

The man chuckled and shook his head. “I
wasn’t screwing with your life, Wisdom. Not any more than you screw
with the life of an ant when you water your garden. Whatever
happens to you is of no consequence to me.”

Wisdom looked at the ground. “Oh, of course.
That must be why you helped my father kick my ass a few days ago.
That makes complete and utter sense…in the way of not making any
sense at all. Whatever you may have heard, I’m not an idiot. You
have something to gain or you wouldn’t be involved. Or do you
expect me to think you are some sort of dispassionate saint?”

“At one point, some would have called me a
saint.” The stranger blinked. “Not anymore. I do have something to
gain, Wisdom, but not from you. I really couldn’t care less if you
live or die, but the people I am working with do. They want you off
Earth. It will be better for their plans. I’m just trying to assist
them.”

“Why? Oh, don’t give me that look. I’m not in
the mood for diplomacy. This planet, you call it Maghe Sihre,
right? Well, since this is not my home, I don’t really care what
happens here. See that sun up there? I can open a portal right now
that would blanket this whole area in molten plasma. Actually, I
can do that a few times. It won’t take long before this whole
planet isn’t what you’d call inhabitable. From the way you just
went three shades paler, I’m guessing that’s something you would
like to see not happen. So stop the silent act before I lose the
last bit of patience I have left.”

For several minutes, the stranger glared at
him with his pale blue eyes. Wisdom could almost hear the man’s
internal conversation; he knew the man was going to be
reasonable.

“So much like your father,” the man said,
finally. “So much power and so little regard for it. Fine, Wisdom.
I’ll tell you what I can. It’s too late for you to do anything
about it, anyway. My name is Gaysun Defksquar and…”

“I’m not really looking for a biography,
here, my friend.” Wisdom pointed a flaming finger at the man. “Give
me the condensed version, the one without all the unnecessary
back-story. You probably already know this, but I am on a tight
deadline.”

Defksquar smiled. “Ah, your legendary charm.
Fine. The condensed version. I have something I need to get rid of.
The Council of Peacocks has agreed to take it. End of story.”

Wisdom rolled his eyes. “Okay, you can be a
little more back-storyish than that. What exactly do you have to
get rid of? Why did the Council agree to take it? And what does all
of this have to do with my father? Please remember I’m not stupid.
Try lying and see what happens to all these pretty trees.”

“I underestimated you, Wisdom. If I knew you
were going to be this annoying, I would have killed you when your
father beat you down. The exact nature of the device I want to get
rid of isn’t really important. Some call it technology, others call
it magic. What it does is the important thing. Think of it as a
sophisticated terra-forming machine. It alters the reality subnet
of a planet, reshaping it in the image of the person who activates
it. My world is at war. Both sides want it. I don’t trust either
side to use it properly, so I’m getting rid of it.”

Wisdom trained his senses on the man,
analyzing his facial expression and auric emanations. “You’re
telling the truth. And I can see why the Council would want
something like that. They can reshape the world to make it whatever
they want. I wouldn’t mind one of those myself. So why not just
give it to me?”

“Well, for one thing I’ve already made a
deal. And second, I don’t have it yet. I’m actually in the middle
of an expedition right now to recover it.”

“So it’s somewhere in these woods?”

Defksquar shook his head, his eyes burning
brightly in amusement. “Nowhere near here. You’re not the only
person who can teleport, Wisdom. As for the deal with your father,
well, that’s complicated. I don’t really know how the Council is
going to alter the world, but I do know they are going to weaken
the boundaries between dimensions. I believe this has something to
do with creating an alliance.”

Something in Wisdom went cold. “They want to
release the Orpheans from the Axeinus.”

“Yes. Something like that. Only, what they
have planned will not stop there. It’s going to weaken all the
barriers.”

“Including the one between Earth and the
Kaz.” Wisdom let the fire on his fingertips go out. “Now it all
makes sense. He wants the Kaz to stay isolated. He figures if there
are no remnants of the Djinn on this planet when the Council uses
this device, the barrier will stay strong and he gets to remain the
isolationist. If I’m still on the planet when the device is
activated, more Djinn will be created.”

“Like you said. You’re not stupid.”

Wisdom opened his mouth to say something,
then clamped his jaw shut. Several moments later, he tried again.
“I can’t let this happen. I’m going to have to kill you to stop it
from happening. You know that. And yet I don’t see you exactly
shaking in your boots. Why is that?”

Gaysun smiled again, this time showing his
slightly-yellowed teeth. “Because of the nature of the Foramen you
just used. That’s what we call these portals between the worlds.
Physically traveling through the Foramen sends ripples throughout
the world. That’s why I don’t travel to your world physically. I
always send my astral form so the players on this planet stay in
the dark about what I have planned. When you came here, it sent
signals all over your home world. You won’t be alone for long. In
fact, your father should be here right about…”

“Now.”

Before Wisdom could look over his shoulder, a
bolt of fire and earth slammed into him. He flew forty feet in the
air before smashing through several trees. Dazed and in pain, he
barely managed to get a shield up to block the follow-up attack. He
looked around for a sign of Defksquar but he was long gone. The
only ones in the forest were Wisdom and his father.

“Sloppy old man.” Wisdom got to his feet.
“You lost the element of surprise. You also lost the ally that
helped you win the last time we fought. Now you’re all alone and
I’m beyond exasperated. Make peace with the Eternal Fire. We’re
ending this.”

***

Jessica jumped into the air and screamed.
Pinkish-white lightning spun around her body in jagged lines and
then shot out at the approaching Edimmu. Like the wrath of Zeus, it
sliced through the air. For a moment, it seemed that electricity
was the only thing in the world. One of the creatures was consumed
instantly.

After that, things moved very quickly.

Elaine shot an Edimmu in the head. Garnet
cupped her hands and focused on the black, oily wings. One by one,
the Edimmus flared, screaming as their wings erupted in flame.
Still they approached.

‘We’re going to have to do better than this.’
Josh looked down at his fists and made a conscious decision. ‘Make
my hands as hard as steel’, he thought. ‘I’ve decided not to be
wounded by these bastards.’ As the thought solidified in his mind,
energy crackled all around his body, inches from his skin. His aura
hardened, creating a suit of psychic armor. He jumped into the
middle of the Edimmu.

Claws scraped at him but bounced off the
armor. He struck out again and again, cracking bones and stabbing
into their reptilian flesh. He was vaguely aware of Jessica
screaming again, bolts of lighting and flame flashing all around
him. One Edimmu, back a bit from the fray, stuck one hand in a pool
of shadows and pointed the other hand directly at Josh. With
shocking speed, nickel-sized particles of darkness shot out from
that hand and struck Josh square in the chest. He flew backwards
and hit the wall. He fell limply to the ground, his armor
flickering.

‘
Can’t. Let. It. Fall.’
he thought. He
focused his will. Once again the energy solidified. He stood and
looked for a place to re-enter the fight. Elaine shot again and the
last of the Edimmu fell. The lights stopped flickering and the
shadows retreated.

Silence filled the corridors. Jessica was
breathing hard, her face pale and clammy.

Josh looked over at Garnet. “Was that
it?”

Garnet shook her head. “Not even close.”

Josh looked down the hall again. This time
the stream of Edimmu went on forever. There had to be at least a
hundred of them.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Where are the others?” David asked.

Todd shook his head and wiped his mouth with
the back of his hand. “That was…wow…sooo unbelievably wrong. Please
tell me I get to kill whoever did that to me.”

Echo went to the top of the stairwell and
looked down. “I’m thinking no. That was Wisdom’s father. He’s not
going to be killed by the likes of us. Come on, we have to catch up
with the others.”

Off to the left, the air shimmered and
pulsed. A dark blur flew out of an oily patch of shadow and slammed
into the rough wooden shelves. Wood splintered and bottles flew in
all directions. Echo drew a deep breath and prepared to lash out.
Then the dark blur stood and Echo relaxed. Wisdom shook the dust
off his suit.

“What the hell?” Todd took a step back and
stared at the patch of still-shimmering air to the left.

“Wisdom,” Echo went to him and put a hand to
his head. “Do you need….?”

“Please, Echo. Show a little faith.” Wisdom
smiled, showing just a touch of teeth. Then he walked back to the
patch of darkness and stepped into it. After he disappeared, the
air stopped its shaking and the darkness receded.

***

“What do we do?” Garnet asked.

Elaine threw her shotgun aside and grabbed
her sub-machine gun. “We do like Wisdom said. Kill everything.”

“But what about…?”

“No buts, Garnet. Wisdom said you three were
strong enough for this.”

Something in the way she said that made Josh
uneasy.

“What do you mean ‘us three’? What about the
others? Did he know we’d get separated?”

Before she could answer, the Edimmu attacked.
They poured over the Anomalies like a wave: black oily feathers and
glistening green scales. Josh saw razor sharp claws everywhere he
looked. They raked at him but could not penetrate the psychic
armor. Jessica was not so lucky. Even as she shot bolt after bolt
of pinkish-white lighting, Edimmu slashed at her arm, pummeled her
face and pushed her down. Garnet screamed, burned by her own flame.
In the close quarters even as she set one Edimmu on fire, the
flames spread. Elaine gave up using her machine gun and struck out
repeatedly with her dagger.

‘How can we be strong enough for this?’ Josh
pushed out with his mind, throwing body after body aside
telekinetically even as he struck out with his fists. There seemed
to be no end to them.

Then a voice called out: “Enough!”

A familiar voice.

The Edimmu retreated until they formed a
tight circle around the four of them. Elaine bled from several
parts of her body. Jessica was also bleeding. Garnet’s face was red
and blistering, her hands smoking. Josh ignored them. His full
attention was now on the man who stood in front of him.

“Dad?”

Richard Wilkinson, dressed in a long robe of
blue-green peacock feathers, stood just inside the Circle of
Edimmu. He smiled and Josh felt his willpower dissipate. The shield
around him weakened as he stared into his father’s eyes.

“Have to say, I’m quite impressed, son. I had
no idea you were this powerful.”

“You knew, didn’t you?” The shield around him
weakened even further. Josh swallowed hard. “You knew what I really
was.”

Richard Wilkinson laughed. “Of course I knew.
Kind of part of the agreement, you might say. Oh, don’t look at me
like that. It was strictly business.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth. You see, Josh,
something big is coming. Something much larger than anything you
can imagine. The Orpheans are always looking for new things to play
with and the Council needs an ally for the days ahead. Years ago,
all the members of the Council of Peacocks surrendered our bodies
and our wives to them. I was one of the lucky few to have a son.
It’s partly why I rose through the ranks of the Council so quickly.
That and the fact I work for Candleworks, which gave me access to
all sorts of information the Council found useful.”