David Baldacci - The Finisher

“Listen to most of you, then.”

“What else?”

“At the bell you don’t move either. It’ll confuse the lout. Make him come to you . He’ll throw a punch. Then you’ll move away. Hit him if you can. Taps at first. Let his confidence build.”

“I think he has plenty of confidence already.”

“You know what you done with that other cobble at Stacks?”

“I didn’t know you were watching.”

“Oh, I was. You spun him like a top. Got him all jargoled, didn’t ya?” He pointed a finger at me. “Now, I reckon with Ladon-Tosh, you do the same. You’ll get one shot to get ’er done. You got to bring all ya got. All you and the chain got.”

I looked down at Destin and felt once more guilty.

Delph must have read my look, because he snapped, “Don’t be barmy. Like I said, you think something dodgy’s not going on with Ladon-Tosh? Bloke don’t even talk. And he ain’t younger’n twenty-four sessions, I’ll tell you that. I’m not sure he’s even a Wug, tell the truth. Har.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said slowly.

“Course I’m right. Now, what we’re going to do is practice right and proper every sliver we can till it’s time to fight.”

“You really think I can beat him, Delph?”

“You’re going to beat him.”

“Thanks, Delph.”

“Thank me after you win the Duelum, Vega Jane.”

EVERYWHERE I WENTthe next lights and nights, Wugs came out of all corners of Wormwood to wish me well or, in some cases, to say their good-byes. Pieces of parchment were slipped under my door. Most were kind and encouraging. However, one was particularly nasty. But I recognized Cletus Loon’s poor scrawl and I didn’t take any heed.

Delph and I had practiced his strategy over and over until I could do it in my sleep. It lifted my spirits. I felt as if I had a fighting chance, which is all one is entitled to in my view.

Thansius visited me on the night before the Duelum’s final bout. He came not by carriage; I would have heard that. He simply walked up to my humble door and knocked. I of course asked him in. Harry Two let Thansius scratch him on the head before settling down by my cot. I insisted Thansius take the more comfortable chair while I perched in the other. At first, Thansius remained silent, his face brooding and his long fingers slowly stroking his beard. Finally, seeming to have reached a decision, he leaned forward and focused on me.

But I broke the silence first. “I’m fighting Ladon-Tosh. So please don’t bother trying to talk me out of it.”

“I never intended to. I believe you must fight him.”

This stunned me. I sat back, gaping at him.

“You’re surprised by my statement?” he said unnecessarily, for my mouth was still hanging open.

“I am.”

“So many of our fellow Wugmorts never manage to see past the sole light facing them. Past the borders of Wormwood or their own narrow minds. For our borders are indeed narrow, Vega.”

“You put it far more eloquently than I could have, Thansius.”

“I understand that you and Morrigone have had words on a number of occasions. Harsh words.”

“If she said so, I don’t deny it.”

“You believe her to be evil?”

“No. I know her to be evil. What do you consider her to be?”

“Her history is an interesting one. A sterling Wug family. Good upbringing. Brilliant at Learning.”

“She has lots of books. Most Wugs don’t.”

“That is very true.”

“And her house is probably the most beautiful home in all of Wormwood.”

“Doubtless it is.”

“And the things she can do? Where did that come from?”

He paused and gave me a stare so sharp that I thought I would bleed. “You mean the things you also can do?”

“How did you —”

He waved away my surprise. “Every Wug has a job, from the lowest to the highest. Now, my job is to know things, Vega. I don’t know all, but I know close to all. And I know that the powers with which Morrigone has been endowed are showing themselves in you. There is, however, a critical difference, I think.”

“And what is that?”

“Simply that your powers are greater.”

I turned away from those penetrating eyes. “I have no idea what I’m doing. She does.”

“On the contrary, I think you do. You recall your tree?”

I turned back to him. ”What about my tree?”

“It wasn’t petrified of course,” said Thansius matter-of-factly. “But I knew that explanation would suffice for the likes of Non and his followers.”

“Didn’t you harden my tree and protect it?” I asked. Because this is what I had thought had happened.

“No, indeed. I don’t have the means with which to do so. You, Vega, you saved your tree.”

“How?”

“By, I believe, simply willing it to survive. I saw your face. I could easily realize what was in your heart. Thus, your beloved tree became hard as rock. And it survived.”

I slowly took this all in. “And my grandfather?”

“I think you know the answer to that. These things are handed down in Wug families. Only a few possess it anymore. It seems that the passage of time has diluted it to almost nothing for most of us.”

“But what is it, Thansius?”

“Power, Vega. And power is a funny thing, for handled by different Wugs for different reasons, the very same power can look very different.”

“I think I can see that.” And in my mind’s eye, I saw Morrigone using Ladon-Tosh as a lethal puppet to kill me.

“Your grandfather possessed it in abundance. It is the reason he is no longer among us.”

I looked at him eagerly. “So you know where he’s gone? You said you know all, or at least almost all.”

“He is gone from us, Vega. To another place, most certainly. A place assuredly beyond the Quag.”

“And why did he go?”

“It was his destiny to do so,” Thansius said simply. “And please do not ask me more than that, because I will have no answer for you.”

I looked away, disappointed. “So what is Wormwood, then, Thansius? And please, don’t answer my query with a question or a riddle.”

He didn’t respond right away. When he did, his speech was slow and measured. “For most Wugs, Wormwood is their home, the only one they’ll ever have. For some of us, it is our home but not our destiny, like Virgil.” He gazed off for a sliver and then glanced back at me. “Was that too much of a riddle for you?”

“We have always been taught that this is all there is.”

He looked around. “Taught, perhaps. Yet that is not the same as belief or, more significantly, truth, is it?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not.”

He nodded, seemingly pleased that I understood the difference.

“Why do you stay here, then, Thansius? You are a mighty and special Wug. Surely your destiny cannot lie simply in Wormwood.”

“Oh, indeed I think that it does. And Wormwood is my home. Wugs, my brethren. Those concepts should never be taken lightly.”

“And what of the Outliers? The Wall?”

For the first time I could ever recall, Thansius, mighty Thansius, looked embarrassed, even ashamed.

He said, “There is a sense of duty sometimes, Vega, which compels even the most honest of Wugs to do things that lack that very honesty.”

“So it’s all a lie, then?”

“Lies are sometimes given for the very best of intentions.”

“Do you think that’s the case here?”

“On the surface, unequivocally yes. When one reaches more deeply?” He shook his head sadly. “Then it merely becomes an act of dishonesty for which there is no sound basis.”