Even Prettier

Braph returned to his reality to the hiss of his machinery finishing its compression cycle. First, though, he had to sit with what he had learned.

The sap crystals worked. The sap had solidified perfectly to shape within his mold, taking on a mottling of clear and milky browns, so slotted nicely into his cuff device. The power had a soft quality, not so intense as Syaenuk blood, possibly less addictive. While one could feel the flow of Syaenuk blood through the veins, the sap’s power radiated more diffusely. He had detected no discernible difference in his ability to communicate over distance. Flight, though, involved multiple concurrent processes, what with lifting a body, propelling it through the air, and protecting it from the air itself and from things that shared the airspace – birds, insects, and water in all its phases– and he wasn’t confident he could rely on the sap to power that. He would investigate further in the future, but it wouldn’t be worth the risk for his next jaunt. Much better to travel in the style he was used to: powered by Immortal blood.

Jonas was surprisingly … lively; much stronger than Braph would’ve expected, too. He hadn’t sensed Syakaran strength, but Jonas should have been on the edge of death, if not gone already. Llewella’s tenacity in keeping Jonas fueled with her blood was impressive. And, he couldn’t be sure, but it had seemed that Jonas may have been hovering when Braph first entered his mind. Surely not. He had fallen almost instantly, Braph’s presence shattering his concentration. Given Jonas’s new disability, that made sense. And yet …

He couldn’t allow them to progress further. What benefit was there in risking a fair fight now?

Braph had spent half his life pursuing just that and, it could be argued, had already succeeded. Yes, Llewella had muddied the waters, leaving Braph himself in doubt of a fair outcome. But she had aided Jonas, of course. Had she not been there, Braph would’ve won, he was sure. It still irked him that no one else knew. Quaver had been supposed to welcome Braph back as their true hero, superior in brains and brawn. A hero who’d earned his accolades, every step, not one coddled as soon as he rounded his mother’s belly.

He would never be Quaver’s son, but what was life if not a series of adaptations to disappointments? And he was a father himself, now. Father to the rebirth of Immortals, with all the responsibilities that came with that, and no one to guide him in it. He had to equip himself. He would collect Orin’s blood while his son allowed it, but he wasn’t ignorant enough to think that arrangement would last forever. The sap was a good backup. He needed to explore it deeper.

The most intoxicating power he had ever infused had been Llewella’s when she had carried Jonas’s Immortal spawn. Would he ever experience that again? Llewella clearly remained barren, for now, or she would have healed Jonas with a touch. Pregnancy would break the Aenuk-Karan barrier and, Braph suspected, it would allow Llewella to drain the micro-organism either while Jonas still lived, or would allow her to return life to him after the bug was killed. Clearly, that was not a power available to Braph. He allowed himself some sorrow that he was a mere Karan. No, he didn’t believe that made a difference to Orin. Even if it had at one point it had become moot the moment he’d absorbed Aris’s power. It did mean that any Syaenuk carrying Braph’s child versus that of Jonas would deliver a diminished power in their blood. But there was nothing to be gained in keeping Jonas simply to stud for superior crystals. There would be no containing Jonas if Braph allowed Llewella to heal him fully, and keeping Jonas alive in his current state would require far too much of Llewella’s blood, it would leave almost none for Braph. No, there was no future in which Jonas survived.

He opened his machine, pulled out the resulting crystal in a simple metal clamp, and held it up to the light. Just like any other of Orin’s crystals, as he’d come to expect now. Orinia continued to volunteer small amounts of blood to her son, which Braph had managed to limit to when Orin himself was giving blood, much to his son’s frustration at having to sit still while his body flooded with energy to burn. But it was getting on Braph’s nerves. Orinia didn’t wish to drain from random children. Braph couldn’t have her draining from his staff, and from himself was wasteful.

He needed Ajnai trees so he could collect Syaenuk blood non-stop. And he needed a Syaenuk that wasn’t Orinia. No more blood-letting for her.

They didn’t stop for lunch, simply ate while work continued. Several pairs of eyes continuously watched the skies over the farm.

Llew did too, initially, but grew tired and drifted in and out of an unsettled snooze while blood continued to drip from her and her body quickly manufactured replacement.

Karlani fed and watered Llew and spun out blood vials. Non-Aenuk ex-Turhmos soldiers took turns tattooing Llew’s magic into Jonas as soon as it was purified. He, too, seemed to have drifted into a dozy haze through the afternoon; he had learned to numb the pain with the magic, only needing to use a tiny thread of it, so the tattooing could keep ahead, filling in all the blank skin between the black swirls of the gryphon. Rowan continued to work on his new design for a prosthetic in Ard’s shed, appearing amongst the rest of them periodically to grab a snack and discuss progress on the tattoo.

As darkness grew, Llew’s anxiety grew rather than eased. It became harder to surveil the sky, and yet it was hard to imagine Braph couldn’t arrive in the dark.

They had to start taking naps in rotations, keeping four sets of eyes to the sky. While they knew the direction in which Duffirk lay, no one was prepared to assume Braph would simply fly straight in, not when he knew they were waiting for him.

Llew still only managed a doze. She hadn’t thought she could hate Braph more, but as the night wore on, she started to think his warning had been a mind game as much as anything else. If he’d said nothing, they would’ve kept working at their previous pace with their previous routines, but the urgency he’d forced on them had shattered their rhythm and now scattered their sleep. She started to imagine him floating somewhere, laughing, far enough away they wouldn’t pick him out in the vast landscape but close enough he could watch them falling apart as they lost sleep and sanity. And if he had the confidence to do so, who was to say it was misplaced? No one knew what power he had extracted from the Taither Ajnai, but they could at least guess at what he might obtain from his Immortal son.

The glow from Llew’s magic allowed the tattooists to keep working on Jonas’s back well into the night. His back itself cast a pink glow on their faces as they took turns. Llew felt a laugh toying with her lips. She couldn’t help but find the pink and sparkly magic in Jonas’s skin funny, but it was for a very serious purpose, so she didn’t let her laughter break. They had nearly filled every gap within the gryphon’s lines. They had no direct measure, but it must have been equivalent to a half dozen of Braph’s crystals. Was it enough? And did Jonas have the ability to use it the way Braph did? Jonas had a lot of flying practice yet to do before he could flit about smoothly. What about the things Braph had done to Jonas the first time Llew had seen them fight? She hated the idea of him practicing such on their companions, and yet … how else could he learn? Did he have time to?

Damned Braph.

Braph slept soundly, despite his sexual frustration. While it should take little more than a day or two to replenish the small doses of blood Orinia had provided Orin, Braph had no interest in suffering the burn.

Orin had begged for more throughout the previous day, and threatened to stop providing blood for Braph if his parents didn’t give him what he wanted. For now, threatening to close his kitchen to Orin in return was enough to subdue the boy. For now.

Braph awoke, running through his inventory in his mind. The half dozen Immortal crystals he had now accrued should be more than enough to travel, dispatch Jonas, collect Ajnai seeds, overpower a reluctant Syaenuk, and return.

That Orin benefited from Aenuk blood bothered him. Likely, he would also experience a boost from Ajnai sap; like Braph, but possibly more so simply because he had been born with natural advantages. Braph had hoped for some years yet before he might be overshadowed by his own son. There had been a time when Braph had been proud of what he and Orinia had created, and been satisfied in that legacy. But now? They were already butting heads. How long before the boy lashed out and they came to real blows? And Braph was not satisfied by his initial calculations. There was nothing he could do that Orin couldn’t also do. Braph was unsatisfied by that.

Beside him, on the far side of their wide bed, Orinia stretched and smiled at him. “Good morning.”

“Morning, love.” He rolled to his edge of the bed and stood. Orinia moaned at his rejection. “I’m sure you’ll be touchable by tonight,” Braph said as he pulled on his trousers. “I’ll make it easier for you not to be tempted to give in to Orin’s demands by taking him with me.”

“Are you sure that will be safe?”

“As I have reminded you in the past, the boy is Immortal.” Braph picked up the metal hand from his bedside drawers and clicked it into the cuff, flexed the fingers a few times. “He’ll be fine, and could be a useful ally. Besides, I only plan for a fight in an abundance of caution. More than likely, I’m just flying in to get what I need and coming home. I’ll almost certainly be back by lunch time.” He kissed his flesh fingertips and threw the remote kiss to Orinia.

She over-exaggerated her disappointed frown, but Braph’s own frustration left little tolerance, so he left the room without further word.

***

Jonas’s sleep had been fragmented. He’d used a little magic to numb his back to the tattooing, and the resulting boredom allowed him to doze, but any real sleep failed to materialize as the tattooing hammer rarely set into any reliable rhythm for long, plus every time he nodded off, he imagined Braph flying in and shocked himself awake in case this time it was true. Braph hadn’t arrived in the night.

Jonas looked to Llew, looking for all the world like a puppet, her hands strung up and her head drooping. Hopefully she slept while she could.

Expect a visit, he’d … said. Jonas still didn’t know what to call Braph’s voice in his head. Regardless, he had the power to fly across a country in mere moments. What did it mean that he hadn’t shown up within minutes of that warning? That he was playing mind games, most likely; and succeeding.

Rowan appeared around the corner, disheveled from a long night working by lamplight and carrying his latest creation. He glanced skywards and carried on toward Jonas.

“No sign of him, yet?”

“No.” Jonas cleared his sleep deprived gravel from his throat, and Edwyn stepped back from tattooing.

“Here.” Rowan brandished the metal contraption before Jonas. It didn’t look much like a leg. “It lacks an articulated knee, but it does have a sturdy spring, giving you some cushioning. I’ve already made duplicate parts to work on a jointed version, but this should get you through. I didn’t think Braph would give me time to finish this. He’s toying with us isn’t he? If we let our guard down, he’ll turn up, but if we don’t let our guard down … we’ll be forced to by exhaustion.”

Llew lifted her head. “Alvaro was right about one thing. Braph is a bastard.”

Jonas grunted a laugh. He wouldn’t credit Alvaro with much, but at least he saw Braph for what he was. He sat up and turned, swinging his stumped leg through so Rowan could help with attaching the new leg.

“It’s got the same strapping, so should hopefully fit no different. The biggest change is how to manage it when sitting and getting up again. Once you’re standing, I think you’ll find it quite easy to get used to.”

The new leg lacked a foot that would fit a shoe, so although it looked nearly normal once covered by trousers, Jonas couldn’t immediately accept the metal platform as a part of him. He supposed he didn’t have to, just had to be able to stand on it. He stood with Rowan’s help and hobbled a few steps. He wouldn’t be running again any time soon, still. Perhaps he never would. But then, with Llew’s power, he could fly.

With a thought, he shot up above the Ajnais. He took the opportunity to survey as far as he could see in all directions. No Braph. He lowered himself, landing gently, getting a feel for the spring in the new leg.

“Thanks. That’s good.” He turned to show Rowan, and Llew, his back. “How much you reckon I got on board?”

Rowan, his face taking on a pinkish shade standing so close to Jonas’s back, gawped. “Oh my, I have had my attention elsewhere, haven’t I?”

“They’ve filled in everything and started outlining,” Llew said, beaming. “It’s even prettier.” Somehow she managed to smile wider, a sleepy, almost drunk smile.

Jonas rolled his eyes at her, managing to withhold his own laughter, despite also suffering a sleep-deprived giddiness.

“I figured about this much—” Rowan held a hand up, thumb and forefinger measuring a few inches, rotating a right angle and shortening the distance to an inch. “—would be equivalent to one of Braph’s crystals, going by what Llew said. You’ve got …” He leaned back, head tilting one way and another. “I don’t know. Several days’ worth of collecting at the rate we were managing with healthy breaks, that’s got to be equivalent to half a dozen of his crystals? Probably more.” He pulled a wry expression. “But we can’t keep going like this.”

“I know.” Jonas relaxed and turned to face between Llew and Rowan, as he ran a quick accounting of the farm’s inhabitants. “We can split into three shifts, five sleepin’ at any one time, the other ten keepin’ things runnin’ and keepin’ watch. Try to do so from under cover. We don’t need Braph pickin’ us off before we see him comin’. He can fly, and he can torture a body with a thought. There’s nothin’ to say he can’t do both at once. Karlani and I shouldn’t be on the same shift.”

“But Karlani needs to be working while Llew’s bleeding …” Rowan looked apologetic, and he was right.

Llew looked saddened by prospect of having to be temporally separated. She nodded. “And we’ll need someone ready to wake you, since you’re the only one equipped to meet Braph on anything like an even footing, and … I can’t hide.”

“No. That is a problem. But at least Braph isn’t likely to want you dead, and if he did, he can’t do that from a distance. We just need to buy time, and react like we have none.”

Garnoc was assigned the role of keeping watch from Jonas’s bedside, ready to wake him, and Jonas and four others retired for the first sleeping shift.

Jonas feared anxiety and the discomfort of keeping the prosthetic attached would keep him awake, but exhaustion won out. His dreams reenacted his fight with Braph, except Jonas had an answer for everything Braph threw at him. He was stronger than ever, he could fly, darting around Braph faster than the Karan, enhanced as he was, could respond. With a flick of his wrist, he could lay his brother out.

A sense of easy superiority and victory lingered when Garnoc shook him awake just as Jonas had sent dream Braph flying after ripping his crystal free. Reality set in swiftly, and Garnoc helped him to stand from the bed and held up Hisham’s knife vest for Jonas to slip into.

“Oh, that’s …” Garnoc started when Jonas turned his back to him and went to hook his hand through. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“What?” Jonas glanced over his shoulder. His new tattoo cast a pink glow inside the vest.

“There’s less than there was when you went to bed.”

Jonas continued slipping into the vest. If Braph was here, he was already late to the fight. “How much is there?” Not that he could do anything about it now. He must’ve drawn on the magic in his sleep. A frustration, but not one he had a reply to in that moment. And, he had to admit, he felt well for it. He lacked the Syakaran buzz, but his movement was easy and his mind clear. He felt ready to stride out and face Braph.

“Oh, most of the interior is still full.”

Rowan had suggested just an area of about one by several inches would be equivalent to a single crystal. He should still have several crystals’ worth. It would do.

“Let’s go.”