The Wizard from Earth (45 page)

The crowd abruptly roared and the lizards, distracted, raised their heads and snarled.  The crowd's noisemaking was cut short, as each individual spectator came to the realization that the arena walls weren't all that high.  Matt had long since realized that he would be an even easier meal to reach.

The lizards circled their prey, slowly at first, but then faster as they closed in.  Carrot slashed with the sword.  The lizards dodged.  Matt sized up the claws against her armorless body.

"Carrot!  Your left!"

The lizard had lunged, jaws parted wide.  Carrot whirled at the sound of Matt's warning.  She blocked the bite with her shield.  The creature's open jaw glanced against the metal and hurled past.  For a moment, Matt thought she had escaped unhurt.  But her thigh bore a deep scratch mark and her face gleamed with a green spittle.

“I can't see!” Carrot cried.  “It spat something into my eyes!”

Matt felt his heart sink, but then he had an idea.

“Ivan, we have to warn her faster.  As soon as you see a lizard starting to attack, warn Carrot.”

Overhearing, Carrot said,  “I need to know the direction of the attack as well!”

“Right!  Carrot, picture a clock face with you standing in the middle and wherever you look, you're always facing twelve.  When a lizard attacks, Ivan will tell you the clock number and that will tell you the direction the attack is coming from.  Ivan, you can do that, right?”

“I understand,” Ivan said.  “Four.”

Carrot instantly whirled to her right, her sword hacking at the lunging mouth.  Caught by surprise, the raptor failed to dodge the blade which slashed deep into its mouth.  It staggered, righted itself, and swung around to face her.

“Six and Twelve,” Ivan said.

Carrot ducked in time.  The lizards collided in mid-air while Carrot rolled safely away.

“Three.”

The first lizard jumped over its brothers and dove toward her.  Carrot sidestepped and slashed.  Bloodied a second time, it stood unsteadily, squaring off while the others pranced to positions behind each of Carrot's shoulders.

“Foureighteleven.”

They came at once in synchronized leaping bounds, but Carrot leaped too – past the lizard that had come in at her four.  She shoved the blade in the general direction and this time luck was with her and it penetrated deep into the creature's throat.  Carrot held onto the sword and the creature thrashed, tossing sword and Carrot across the dust. 

The wounded lizard crouched and pounced.  “Above.”  Carrot thrust her sword to the sky.  The raptor's belly met and absorbed the blade to the hilt.  Carrot disappeared beneath the mass of the body and Matt feared that she was being mauled, but then she shoved off the inert carcass and arose no bloodier than before.

Deprived of numerical advantage and the ability to surprise, the remaining two were quickly dispatched, eyes glazed and limbs twitching while blood oozed from the cuts that Carrot's wild slashing and hacking had inflicted.  Meanwhile, the crowd had stopped jeering and had gone silent. 

Carrot slowly turned, clutching her sword.  “I still can't see well.  What's happening?”

“You're okay,” Matt said.  “You got them all.”

Carrot took a deep breath and slumped.  It was then that Matt noticed for the first time that her hair color was noticeably lighter.  As it shimmered into a flaming, iridescent orange, the crowd noticed too, and roared and stamped and the arena shook more than ever.

But then the crowd fell silent again.  Matt looked around, puzzled, and then faced the balcony and saw that Valarion had stood.  Turning to a soldier in waiting, Valarion shed his purple robe and laurel and buckled a sword to his waist.  Taking helmet and shield, he headed toward the steps.   

“The Emperor is coming down to fight you,” Matt said. 

“Yes, I can see a little now.”

“After watching what you just did, he's got to be crazy to think he can beat you.”

“Do you – do you think he is a mutant too?”

Matt considered, waiting for Ivan to offer an opinion.  Finally, Matt said, “I don't know.  You didn't detect anything unusual about his scent last night?”

“Inoldia smells like a normal person when she is untransformed, so there is no way for me to tell if a mutant in human form is a mutant, unless it is not their natural form.  I'm sorry, did that make sense?”

“Yes.”

“Oh Matt, I am so tired!  I didn't sleep at all last night, and Pandora made me feel so weak, and after fighting those creatures – perhaps now I am not a match for him.”

“Don't talk that way.”  He squeezed the key.

Suddenly she slapped her neck.  Then she slapped her knee.  The she slapped her arm.  The third time, she plucked away something tiny and held it to her eye. 

“What is this thing?” she asked. 

“Zoom on her hand,” Matt said to Ivan, having the sinking feeling again.

Pinched in her fingers was a dark sliver, feathered on one end, needle thin and sharp on the other.

“Poison dart!” Matt said.

“I am immune to poison,” she said.

Carrot drooped her sword and staggered. 

“Matt, I don't feel well.”

Then a voice like Ivan's spoke,  “Carrot, this is Ivan Lite.  Your body has been invaded by a virus which is rapidly multiplying and is altering your cellular DNA.”

Staring dully ahead, Carrot blinked.  “What is it – what is it doing to me?”

“I am transmitting data to Ivan at this time.  He will provide analysis.”

The Emperor was waving his sword high, but the response of the crowd was mixed.  They had seen Carrot in action and did not know the trial she was going through at the moment, and to them it may have seemed as if they might get an even newer emperor before the day was out.

“Ivan,” Matt said.  “Video replay of just before the dart hit her.  Reverse slow motion." 

The trajectory traced to a blowgun of a hooded figure on the rail near the Emperor's balcony.  Ivan zoomed in on the face beneath the hood and enhanced the imagery.  A middle-aged twin of Inoldia was puffing on the straw.

“Carrot, I think the virus is artificial.  The darts came from one of the Sisters.  It could be designed to edit your DNA to make you feel weaker.”

“Matt, when I was in the presence of Pandora, I was completely paralyzed.  Is this what she did to me then as well?”

“I don't know.  It might be something synthesized to help Valarion handle you.  But if it came from Pandora, it could do almost anything.  Ivan, do you have an analysis yet?”

“Preliminary analysis summary,” Ivan said.  “The identified virus appears to uniquely match the location of mutant genes present in Carrot's DNA.  It then – “

“– Neutralizes the mutant genes,” Matt said.

“Specifically, the virus inhibitively binds the mutant genes that enhance her physical strength, agility, sensory, and recuperative abilities.”

Carrot straightened.  “I'm feeling better now.  Maybe it's worn off.”

Matt noticed the angle that she was holding her sword at.  “How does your sword feel?”

“My sword?  It feels . . . heavy.”  Even at a distance, he could see her puzzlement.  “The shield too.”

The red streak from the raptor scratch, which had seemed completely healed, reappeared on her thigh and started to bleed. 

“Why am I huffing?  I thought I had caught my breath!  I can't – I can't smell – ”

Valarion stopped playing to the crowd and ambled over to Carrot.  He stood before her and smiled down from a height advantage of head and shoulders.  Her eyes wide, Carrot assumed a wobbling stance.  

The Emperor spoke softly, but his words were transmitted clearly:

“No hard feelings.”

He raised his sword and swung hard.  Carrot blocked with her shield, but the impact sent her tumbling.  Valarion waited.  She regained her footing.  He casually walked toward her and raised his sword, but didn't swing.  Carrot saw the opening and swung her own sword, grunting as she did.  It glanced off his shield with a pathetic scrape.

“Ivan!” Matt cried.  “Can Ivan Lite neutralize the binding virus?”

“He cannot, but in anticipation of your need and based on the data he provided, I have synthesized a counter-virus.  However, transmission will require physical contact.”

Valarion knocked Carrot down again, and waited for her to get up.  As she did so, slower than before, Matt unlocked his cuffs. 

“Matt, I heard that.  Stay away!  His archers will shoot you if you try to interfere!”

Matt judged distances.  The archers were farther away than Carrot.  They were watching the battle and by the time they noticed, maybe he would be close enough to the Emperor that they dare not shoot.

“Matt,” Ivan said.  “Hypermode is not available at this time.”

“I know,” Matt said.  “But try to keep me out of trouble.”

Carrot was fleeing and no longer attempting to meet Valarion's blows.  He in turn was all but playing with her – swinging lazily so that she had time even in her present state to dodge.  But then he hit her with the flat of his blade and sent her flopping on the floor of the arena.

Almost like he's trying to make this into slapstick
, Matt thought bitterly. 

Rather than go for the kill, Valarion made circumlocutions gyrations with his sword, as if stabbing and slashing at imaginary combatants in the air. 

“He's toying with me!” Her voice sounded on the verge of tears. 

The crowd's reaction wavered between cheers, shouts, and even booing, but most were silent.  They were confused and bored, perhaps. 

Perhaps then Valarion sensed that his plan to portray himself as the underdog by first illustrating the power of the 'witch' wasn't overcoming the instinctive reaction of most spectators to the unfairness of a man physically attacking a woman.  Whatever the reason, he seemed to lose patience.  Suddenly, as soon as Carrot righted herself, his blows became faster, harder, more frequent.  Carrot in turn barely blocked and swung wildly.  When she stumbled, Valarion charged before she fully stood. 

Now or never
, Matt thought.  He leaped from the platform, spraining his ankle.  Ivan neutralized the pain and without even knowing of the injury, Matt ran toward Carrot.

“Matt, go right.”

Matt dodged right.  An arrow gouged and flung dirt in line with where his chest had been.  It was so fast, he hadn't even seen the shaft fly by.  He really wasn't in hypermode.

“Left.”

He sidestepped left.  An arrow grazed his thigh and he gasped at the pain but Ivan quickly suppressed it and he bore on. 

Keep him in their line of sight
, Matt told himself.  Surely the archers wouldn't shoot if Valarion was in the same path.

And they didn't.  With no further arrows to dodge, Matt reached the position of the two combatants and circled toward Carrot's position.  Valarion, aware of the newcomer, hacked at Matt.  Matt retreated, then sidestepped, then jumped – and grabbed and squeezed Carrot's arm.  They tumbled together to the ground. 

“Viral transmission complete,” Ivan said. 

Matt released Carrot, arose and danced in front of Valarion, hoping to draw him away from her.  Valarion hacked at him for a time, then growled and returned to Carrot, ignoring Matt's taunts.  Matt stooped and scooped a handful of dust.  He threw it into Valarion's eyes.  Valarion screamed and turned from Carrot and chased after Matt.  Matt retreated –

Then Matt became aware of the soldier standing at his side, with crossbow leveled. 

The Emperor was six o'clock, the soldier at three.  The soldier had no reason to refrain from shooting and Ivan had no time to warn and Matt had no time to dodge.   

Matt stared at the shaft embedded in his belly.

“Traumatic injury has occurred,” Ivan said.  “Rapid blood loss is occurring.  Unidentified substance, greater than ninety percent probability high potency poison, has been detected in high concentration.“

Ivan said more but it was only a buzzing to Matt.  And then another soldier arrived and another arrow instantly gouged into Matt's side.  And then a third – and then the world spun and became dim. 

47.

Barely standing, Carrot was so depleted that she wanted only to close her eyes – until she saw Valarion's sword about to pierce Matt's heart. 

She shrieked and charged, flinging herself with blade raised.  Valarion, startled, blocked with his own blade.  No longer toying, he hit her shield hard.  The clang echoed against the arena walls and the impact sent Carrot tumbling.

She thought,
Where is my strength?
  Her arm felt like jelly, her entire body ached.  And she knew she was holding herself from collapse solely by act of will.

Matt half elevated his head.  He blinked at Carrot. 
Still alive
, Carrot thought. 
You came to rescue me, and now I will fight for you.
 

Beneath wheezing breath and pounding heart, she concentrated on her foe.  Muscles taut, teeth gritted, her gaze riveted on the man who had defiled her homeland.

Valarion advanced, Carrot retreated.  He chased, she fled.  The crowd booed at the stalemate.  Then Valarion returned to Matt, and Carrot charged and feinted.  He blocked and the crowd cheered.  He advanced and she backstepped and tripped.

Lying prone, Carrot puffed at the limit of her endurance.  Then she realized she had been at the limit of her endurance for some time, yet oddly was sustained.  As fast as her strength was drained, it was renewed.   

"Foolish girl," Valarion shouted.  Grinning madly, he swished his blade above her and the crowd's cheers synchronized with the motion.  "You see what I have done?  They would not sympathize with me if I were to attack a normal mortal woman, but by defeating the dragons you yourself have convicted yourself before their eyes of being an all powerful witch!  Only you don't feel so powerful now, do you, Witch?"

She pulled the sword.  It didn't seem as heavy.  She was getting stronger now.  Too slowly – but yes!

Keep him talking
, she thought.

"You are the one who consorts with a witch!" she spat.  "She killed my mother!"

"But can you tell me why?"  Valarion raised an eyebrow.  "I might spare you if you tell me." 

Not likely
, she thought, but she played for time.  "She's a witch and she wants to destroy the world.  You've allied yourself with hell and everything that is unholy!"

Valarion shrugged.  "I get that a lot."  Distracted by a rise of jeering from the crowd, he said, "Rome is becoming impatient!  And if all you have are insults – "

Valarion screamed and slammed his sword and Carrot blocked with her shield.  The blow appeared lethal – but felt like he was just toying with her again. 

Carrot realized she was no longer out of breath.  The pain had ebbed and she felt again alive.   

Valarion clenched his sword with both hands, grunted and swung so hard that his feet left the ground.  Holding the shield, Carrot's arm remained stiff under the impact.  The sword slid off the shield and Valarion pitched and stumbled.

His grin was gone.  He stared in puzzlement.

Carrot bounced to her feet.  She yelled and charged and chopped at his shield with fury.  The crowd fell silent as they watched their Emperor retreat, stagger – and cower.

Carrot saw terror in his eyes and was tempted to toy with him in retaliation.  But she had not forgotten Matt.  She would finish this now.  That did not mean killing Valarion, for if she could lay her blade to his living throat, she might have a hostage for escape. 

She charged with a storm of strokes. At first, Valarion countered competently.  He was, Carrot quickly assessed, a well-trained warrior, and his size gave him force.  But with a real fight on his hands he was beginning to fade.

Carrot saw an opening and jabbed.  Valarion sidestepped, but not fast enough.  The blade nicked his thigh and splattered red droplets across his skirt. 

She raised her blade before her eyes and thought with macabre fascination: 
The Blood of the Emperor.

From the seats above came thousands of voices yelling a thousand things.  No one was cheering.  No one cared who was the underdog or champion, they were merely frightened for the stability of the Empire.

Valarion slunk toward the wall.  He waved and soldiers vomited from the tunnels, flowing onto the arena and forming a barrier of shields around their Emperor.  They made a noose formation and closed upon Carrot and Matt. 

Matt lay where he had fallen.  His jumpsuit was ripped at the shoulder.  Half his chest was optic blue, the other half dark maroon.   He met Carrot's gaze and tried to get up.  He crumpled.  Carrot stood by and leveled her sword at the approaching soldiers.  Those with swords stopped short.  Those with crossbows notched.   

And then the sky boomed.

Sparks flew and smoke spread.  The sky flashed, another boom.  More flashes, more booms.  More sparks and smoke and soon the arena smelled of what Carrot could only describe as fire itself.  She whirled as the smoke obscured the arena floor, thinking it was the doing of Valarion's defenders, expecting an attack from all sides.

"
Fireworks!
" Matt said.  "Archimedes.  Distraction. 
Go!
"

He slumped again.  Carrot lifted him onto her back.  She was fully restored, and he felt no heavier to her than a bag of straw would to a normal person. 

"You said, to the west?"

Belaboredly, he said,  "Find a near tunnel, not cross 'rena.  Go!"

She swiped with her sword, clearing a path through the soldiers.  She surveyed the perimeter of the arena.  The nearby tunnels were either barred or filled with soldiers.  Despite Matt's admonition, their only hope was directly to the far west, across open field.  

"Arrow to your right," Ivan said. 

"What?"

The shaft whizzed centimeters from her arm. 

"Move left.  Left again.  Right."

She caught on and danced to his commands as she sprinted.  Arrows streaked in volleys, ceasing as the soldiers re-notched.  The second volley was sparser than the first, as she was farther away.  And then – miraculously in her own eyes – she was to the western tunnel.  It too had a barred gate, but as she had counted on, it rolled open with her approach. 

In the muted light under the tent roof, Carrot did a double-take at the full-sized warships resting on wooden cradles. 

"What is this place?"

"Naval . . . battle," Matt said.  "Staging . . . area."

Geth and Archimedes stood upon a three-meter high ledge at the other end, next to an open door.  They were gesturing frantically, then abruptly stopped.  Carrot saw their expressions and felt the skin on her back go cold.

"Carrot," Ivan said, "Inoldia is behind you."

Having detected the scent, Carrot turned.  Silhouetted against the arena was a woman's form, her fingers elongated and spiked.  Carrot gently slid Matt off her back.  She drew her sword.

"Step aside, Carrot," Archimedes said.  "I'll handle this."

His voice was calm.  Clutching his staff, he gazed serenely at Inoldia. 

Inoldia laughed.  "This should be amusing."

"Carrot, please," Archimedes said.  "Come here, now."

There was an authority in his voice that submission as a servant girl may have programmed her to reflexively obey, or perhaps it was more fatigue than anything else that prevented her from protesting. 

Hefting Matt over her back again, Carrot walked toward Archimedes. 

Inoldia put arms on hips.   "This won't be one of your tiresome gadgets, will it?"

Archimedes aimed his staff.  The tip spat fire.  Carrot jumped from the bark of thunder.  Inoldia backstepped slightly and inspected the red spot on her chest.

She inserted fingers into the hole, plucked out a playing-marble-sized metal ball and flicked it away.

"Carrot, damn it, don't just stand there!"

Carrot reached the ledge and climbed the steps.  Her father touched her shoulder.  She spared him a glance and turned to Inoldia.  Inoldia's walk became a run. 

In the next instant, three things happened.  Carrot raised her sword.  Inoldia raised her palm.  Archimedes poked his staff at a wooden board.

The board had been wedged between the floor and a horse-sized weight.  When Archimedes poked, the board popped out of place and the weight fell and pulled an attached chain.  As the chain rattled, pulleys creaked and gears rumbled. 

Inoldia had only a second in which to look confused.

The gears spooled cables which yanked pegs that released the sluice gates of the reservoir tank.  The gates swung open and a two meter high wall of water burst through.  Inoldia leaped, but not in time.  The froth of the miniature tsunami engulfed her.  Her arms flailed as she was washed backwards and submerged from sight.

Carrot stared at the churning waters, then at Archimedes, who was lighting a lamp.  He tossed the match into the water, and led through the door.  Geth and Carrot, with Matt on her back, followed into the sewers.

“That woman was not entirely human, was she?” Geth asked Archimedes.

“I would say that,” Archimedes replied.

“Do you think she's dead now?”

"No, but I'm sure I hurt her pride.  I have my small victories even in my declining years.”

Matt stirred and Carrot subvocaled,  “Ivan!  What's happening to Matt?”  

“I have placed Matt into a coma while I effect bodily repairs,” Ivan said. 

"What is a – " She realized she could tell by the limpness of his body.  “I have healing powers too.  Is there anything I can do?”

“It would be difficult to coordinate your efforts with mine.  However, you could remove the arrows from his body.”

Carrot stopped.  The others watched while she pulled the arrows out and picked up Matt again.

“Young lady,” Archimedes said.  “You are extraordinary.”

Carrot started to weep.  “Oh Matt, Oh Matt!”

Archimedes led them topside through the maintenance entry onto the streets of Rome again.  Around a corner, he stopped at the next intersection and stroked his beard.

“I've not been in this part of the city for a while.  I'm not sure of the best way to get to my boathouse from here.”

Carrot spoke with Ivan, and nodded to their left.  “That way.”

Archimedes scowled.  "How can you – "

“Do you always have to ask questions?” Geth demanded.

“Asking questions is what I do,” Archimedes said.  “But don't accuse me of overdoing it now!  Her hair has turned an almost incandescent orange, and here I haven't said anything about that!”

Geth faced Carrot and said softly, “You may want to . . . you'd attract less attention.”

Carrot concentrated her hair back to brown, but as they headed through winding streets, she nonetheless attracted attention what with her wearing a sword and helmet and porting a boy on her back heavier than she was.  Geth finally entreated her to let him carry Matt while she doffed the helmet and held the sheathed sword against her chest as if she were merely carrying it for another and, perish the thought, had no intention of personally utilizing it.

With Matt on Geth's shoulder, she could see Matt's face.  He was barely breathing.  She wondered at the wisdom of trusting his healing to a spider that lived inside his head. 

"Matt," she whispered.  "Matt, please!"

Minutes later, the smell of salt water and the shriek of gulls heralded their arrival at the waterfront district.  Archimedes ushered them toward an alley behind a tavern.  They patiently waited for a barkeep to empty the trash.  He saw their swords and didn't take long.  Then Archimedes moved a barrel and inserted a key into a slot.  A door opened and they descended into a passage.

“This city is riddled with your hidden passages,” Geth said.

“Not quite,” Archimedes replied.  “With this one I've exhausted my tricks in Rome.  So it is indeed time to leave for good.”

At the other end of the tunnel, they ascended steps to a door.  Archimedes peered through a peephole and whispered,  “Carrot, I think you have another job.”

She peered through and spied the interior of the boathouse and the boat moored within, surrounded by pacing soldiers. 

"Will you need help?" Geth whispered.

Carrot peered again and considered.  There were five, but the confines were narrow and all she had to do was hold them off for a few seconds while the others boarded. 

“Let us leave Rome now,” she said.

Geth and Archimedes nodded and she stomped the door open and rushed the soldiers.  The flat of her blade on his back sent one splashing into the water.  The other on that side of the boat hacked at her but she stopped his blade with a hack of her own, then jabbed him backwards, so that he crashed into two others who had been about to join him.  The fifth soldier retreated out the door to the street.

“He's gone for help!” she cried. 

The soldiers still within the boathouse recovered and converged.  While Carrot parried swords, Geth carried Matt aboard the yacht and Archimedes undid the mooring knots with a single pull.  Carrot backstepped up the boarding plank and once aboard she shoved the plank away, sending another soldier into the water.  By then, more soldiers were streaming through the street door, surrounding the boat on both sides of the boathouse walkway.