Jory seethed as he looked at the two guards standing in front of his desk. “The swarm is loose on Storality, and they escaped?”
“Yes. We found evidence that the swarm did attack someone but nothing conclusive,” one of the guards answered. “They were in Theterm’s keep, which is where most of the swarm is still located.”
“I know the Way was used, but where they went has been masked.” Jory sat back in his chair and looked at the picture of Lyssa. He sighed and then looked at the guards. “I’m not sure what to tell you both. All our leverage over Laird is gone. Her allies are all free.” Jory slammed his fist down on the desk. “It’s over!”
He stood and motioned for the guards to leave. When they were gone, he closed his eyes and tried to calm down.
I need your help. The voice in Jory’s head was so abrupt that he had to brace himself to stop from falling.
Where are you? Jory sat down.
I’m home.
Jory laughed. Right.
The council wants to meet and decide what to do.
I thought they wanted me to take a break.
There was silence for a moment. You are right, but I convinced them how important you are to the Alkaskre.
What about my research?
We both know it can be done, but you have to stop being so obsessed. The others are afraid of why you want it so bad.
Jory tapped his fingers on his desk. You know why. What do you think?
Lyssa knew what she was doing. There has to be a reason why she hasn’t contacted us recently.
She needs our help.
Probably.
Jory grabbed Lyssa’s picture and held it close. Why have you been helping Theterm?
I’ve set him free.
Jory rubbed his forehead and tossed the picture on the desk. Why?
He’s been through enough already.
We gave him everything he wanted.
What he wanted? There was a pause. He was a boy. He did not deserve to lose everyone he loved. He had no idea what being Alkaskre meant.
I told him there would be a cost.
Is that how you rationalize it? Anyway, the council wants you to come to the meeting.
Jory rubbed his beard and pursed his lips. I don’t trust you anymore.
Because I helped Theterm?
Where is my project?
The cube?
Jory frowned. Yes, you know exactly what I mean.
I promise I’ll give it to you after the meeting.
Not good enough.
There was a long pause before Jory heard Laird again. I have the book.
Book?
It’s black with gold on the cover and edges.
Jory smiled. Theterm told you.
Believe what you want. I’ll give them both to you after the meeting.
That’s it?
Of course not.
Then what do you want?
Leave Storality alone.
Jory clenched his fists. I can’t promise that.
Why not?
I plan to undo everything.
Everything? How do you know you’ll make it better?
The question made Jory pause. Better?
What if you change something, and in the end, everyone is worse off ?
I just want Lyssa back.
So you really don’t care about anyone else. She doesn’t love you.
Jory gritted his teeth. I can change that too.
You’ll have to.
Jory stood up. Enough of your self-righteous babble! Are you going to give me those things?
Yes, after the council meeting. Come to my world. When you arrive, you’ll see I’ve marked where we’re meeting.
Fine, I’ll be there. Jory rubbed his temples and blinked several times. He walked to the door and opened it. Outside, the two dismissed guards were standing at attention.
“Gather the troops. We are leaving as soon as you are prepared. Make sure all of you are ready for war,” Jory said.
The guards nodded and quickly ran down the hall to get themselves and the others ready.
Jory closed the door and walked to the hook that held his purple sash. He grabbed it, felt the fabric, and admired how it showed no signs of wear. “I remember the day I received this,” he said in quiet reflection. After wrapping it tightly around his waist, he felt invincible. “Too bad the council now serves no purpose,” he muttered.
“Well?” Theterm whispered to Laird.
Laird smiled and nodded. “He is coming, and I am sure he is planning to kill us all if he thinks I have his device and Orex’s book,” she said, making sure no one could hear her or read her yellow lips. “We need everyone to understand what they can do and when. I don’t want anything to go wrong so close to the end.”
Theterm rubbed his chin and looked at the others. “I’m glad to see the twins returned to Storality with Faith and Petrose.”
“I was hoping Sicar and Zara would have gone too,” Laird said nervously.
“Zara will be no trouble, but Sicar’s behavior is always unpredictable.” Theterm looked at Ghera, who was scowling at him. “How has Ghera been?”
“Well behaved because he wants to go home.” Laird waved to Ghera, who folded his arms and turned away. “He knows that only Jory knows the name of that Way.”
“Has he changed?” Theterm wondered.
“As much as we all have I guess. We’ll see what happens when he gets what he wants.” Laird shrugged. “It looks like Fixx is calmer with Omeran around. The competition for Maggie’s attention has turned him into a gentleman.”
“When this is over, we will have a lot of work to do, helping Storality and their world too. Can the flooding damage be reversed?” Theterm looked at Laird and could tell she hadn’t planned that far. “Are you okay?”
“I will be soon,” Laird said, patting Theterm on the back. “Do you think Dack will return with Iris?”
Theterm scratched his head and watched Dack for a moment. “There’s more he can learn about his past and abilities, but I think he’ll end up helping Lucan and the others on Storality.”
“You see Lucan being the leader?” Laird was surprised.
“He already was before I interfered.” Theterm sighed. “There are so many points where we could have stopped manipulating the course. I wish I could do it all over,” he said sincerely.
“Are you serious?” Laird looked at Theterm and then at the floor. “I guess I would too. Isn’t that all Jory wants?”
Theterm laughed. “No, that’s not all he wants. Sure, he would undo some of the things he’s done, but he will never be satisfied. I would never be born, Lyssa would love him, and everything that has breath would be subject to his every whim.”
“Do you really believe all that?” Laird asked, folding her arms.
“He’s been around a lot longer than any of us and most of the council too. Yes, I believe his plans ultimately revolve around what is best for him.” Theterm smiled at Chad and Farah, who were watching Theterm talking alone with Laird. “What I don’t understand is why he hasn’t used that device to go back and change everything yet.”
Laird ruffled the feathers on the top of her head and stretched. “He hasn’t figured that part out yet. Right now, he can only step out of time and back in again. So right now, his device is like a portable Way, that’s all. If he freed Lyssa, however, I am sure she would be able to finish the project.”
“Then why would you ever keep those two things in the same place!” Theterm said forcefully but quietly. “That was foolish.”
Laird cocked her head to the right and stared at Theterm. “Orex’s book is not the only one of its kind. The only thing special about that copy is it belonged to Orex and has some notes he wrote in it.”
“It still doesn’t help matters that they are together.” Theterm frowned.
“He can rebuild the device if given time and find the right book too.” Laird heard a beeping noise. “You know everything that must be done, right?”
Theterm nodded.
“Then take everyone and get ready,” Laird said.
“What are we really doing here?” Lucan asked Theterm when all the others were in place.
Theterm held out the bracelet from Laird until Lucan took it. “Laird said we should wear these,” he said, showing Lucan that he was wearing one too.
Lucan looked at it and then pursed his lips. “Do you really trust her?” He put the bracelet on and spun it around on his wrist. “Some of us do, but some of us don’t.”
Theterm looked around the large room crammed with a maze of green shelves full of dusty old objects. “Right now I think we have to. Getting rid of Jory is the most important thing.”
Lucan huffed and leaned on the wall. “Then Laird will be in charge. Will that be any better?”
Theterm looked at Lucan and then laughed. “You still have that bag? I’ve been told there are some things in there that you want explained. How about I tell you whatever you want to know while we wait?”
Lucan brightened a little at the idea. “Will it matter anymore?”
Theterm sat on the floor and encouraged Lucan to do the same. “I have always hoped that you wouldn’t make the mistakes that I’ve made, but I did nothing to stop you. The way I behaved often caused you to do the very things I sought to prevent.”
Lucan sat and opened his bag. He grabbed a handful of paper and held it out to Theterm. “These are the things I found or was given while I was wandering. Care to explain?”
Theterm looked through the pile and then handed it back to Lucan. “My real name is Martin Theodore Rethe. Those stories are about me and how I helped start a war that killed everyone on Earth.”
Lucan sat back and watched Theterm closely. “Earth?”
“Storality is the name we called the land surrounding the last remaining Way, but the planet was named Earth.” Theterm was afraid that Lucan would get bogged down in all the minor details, so he waited until he asked a question.
“Why?” was all Lucan could ask.
“Why Storality or why war?” Theterm smiled. “Jory and Lyssa thought it would be good for humans to learn about the Ways. They thought we were ready to accept creatures from other worlds and the leadership of the Alkaskre.” Theterm shook his head. “They were wrong.”
“So how did that end in war?” Lucan wondered.
“We weren’t ready to accept the fact that everything we believed was wrong. People were willing to hope that life existed elsewhere, but no one wanted it to be more advanced and organized.” Theterm tapped on the floor. “Countries accused each other of unleashing monsters in their midst. Old books were dusted off, consulted, and quoted. Jory’s choices of creatures were suspect too.”
“Like Ghera?” Lucan asked quietly.
“Yes. Ghera’s people convinced many that the end had come and my quick removal of them did nothing to help the situation. I did everything I could to stop the madness.” Theterm sighed. “I had very little time to save those I did.”
“How did you do that?” Lucan leaned forward, excited to hear the story.
“I opened a Way to an Alkaskre hub and told everyone that they would be safely sheltered until the war was over. What they didn’t know was that approximately one thousand years had passed while they waited, I let them return and then went back to the Alkaskre. Jory blamed me for failing, and I was punished.” Theterm shrugged.
Lucan sat back and looked around. “Why did you even help them after that?”
“Why not?” Theterm furrowed his brow. “If I hadn’t come back, Jory would be in control of you. You would have no choice but to follow and obey his orders.”
“Ghera said something about you having no control over me. What did he mean?”
Theterm rubbed the back of his neck. “The Alkaskre use something that allows them to establish a bond with a person even if they don’t want it. Laird just removed the one from me, and now, Jory can no longer make me do anything I don’t want.”
“Then how can they hold you accountable?” Lucan was mad.
“Jory didn’t make me do the things I did,” Theterm admitted. “I wanted the same thing Jory and Lyssa did, I would have done it differently, but they did not force me.”
Lucan folded his arms and leaned back on one of the shelves that filled the room. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“Good.” Theterm waited until Lucan was ready to listen again. “You were ready to lead Storality, and I stopped you. When this is over, that island will need you again. Is that something you still want?”
“Yes and no. Yes, I want to help them, but, no, I don’t want to help just them.” Lucan leaned forward again. “There are more people scattered across that world that need help.”
Theterm breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m very happy to hear that. I was worried that you would have forgotten them. Those people are the descendants of those that originally came back with me but wanted to search for other survivors. I tried to tell them that nothing else could have lived through the horror, but they would not be stopped.”
“How come Storality is still so lush and full of life when the rest of what I found is so dead?”
“The remaining Way protected the area, allowing the island to stay safe while the rest of the planet was exposed to the weapons that were used. Some worlds have many working Ways, but now Earth has only one.”
Lucan nodded. “When we went to where you sent Ghera’s people, the Way must have been doing the same thing. There was a second Way though.”
“The Alkaskre still don’t understand everything about how they work,” Theterm admitted.
“Didn’t they make them?”
Theterm laughed. “No. They understand a lot about them, but I’m sure there is more to learn. For example, they aren’t sure why some are born that can control them. There is something that pulls us together and helps us to know one another, but no one has pinpointed how or why.”
“Don’t you think the Alkaskre should be focused on that?”
“They are constantly researching and developing things that will help others, but right now, Jory has been leading them astray.”
“Is there no reasoning with him?”
Theterm sat back and thought about the question. “Ever since I’ve known him, he has been bent on doing everything his way. Worlds that do not immediately embrace the Alkaskre are wiped out and their resources stolen. Fixx’s world is now damaged, but hopefully not beyond repair. Can we reason with Jory?” Theterm sighed. “No, he must be removed, and probably eliminated because he is too powerful and well connected.”
“Will Laird be any better?” Lucan demanded.
“I do not think Laird wants to replace Jory.”
“Good. Does there even need to be a council?”
Theterm nodded. “I’ve given that a lot of thought, and I think there does need to be some group that watches out for those that can open Ways. Maybe it can be run differently, but we need to be held accountable for how we use this ability. It only takes one of us to ruin an entire planet,” he said sullenly.
“I think all of us would like to be a part of that,” Lucan said enthusiastically.
The council members are arriving now. Make sure everyone is in place and ready, Theterm heard Laird’s voice in his head.
“Laird needs us to be ready now. We might get the chance to be a part of the council if all goes well today. I guess it all depends on how Jory reacts.” Theterm and Lucan stood up and signaled to the others to be ready.