Will McDermott - Judgment

"Welcome to our world, Kamahl," said the voice.

"Who said that," asked the barbarian, looking around at the forest surrounding the mer's camp.

"I did."

Kamahl saw the tree next to him move as the voice responded. "Are you talking to me?" he asked the tree.

"Of course," came the answer. "Isn't that what you have been trying to do the last two days?"

"Well, yes," said Kamahl. "I guess I got distracted by those warriors down there and forgot why I was here."

"You will learn to ignore unimportant matters like the lives of the flesh," said the tree. "Everything that lives eventually dies, but in death you complete the circle and provide for the living, go on living at a different level."

"As food?" asked the barbarian.

"Perhaps," came the answer. "Or soil, water, air. Some believe the spirit is reborn to live another life and learn more of the mysteries of the world."

"Well, I am concerned about a mystery in this world," said Kamahl. "Where are the nantuko warriors that should be fighting off these invaders?"

"Thriss recalled them," said the tree. "But do not concern yourself with these mortals. You have just taken your first step toward something far greater."

Kamahl barely heard the last words of the tree spirit. He was racing back toward his body, back toward the heart. He must warn Thriss of the danger. Left alone, Laquatas could and would destroy the forest to get to the Mirari. He must be stopped at all costs. Kamahl must make Thriss understand.

As the barbarian's spirit left the Order camp, he sensed one last presence waiting in the trees but had no time to dwell on the implications of the discovery. It was a dark, shadowy figure that seemed out of place in the world and yet familiar at the same time-a beast that was dead, but not dead, an undead creature Kamahl had once called friend.

After the scare of the previous evening, Laquatas was almost happy to be moving again through the deadly forest. The nantuko always attacked at the edge of the phalanx, where they only killed soldiers. And though the wall of troops between him and the attacks was getting thinner every day, at least the mer knew what was attacking and where. But, the beast could walk right into camp, bypassing all his guards, and be on the threshold of his tent without so much as raising an alarm.

Last night proved it was personal. The beast wanted Laquatas dead, and the mer was almost afraid to go to sleep at night. Almost. He did have his new jack, the nantuko warrior he now had complete control over. These creatures were the best warriors he'd ever seen. Nothing could get past his new jack. Nothing. At least that's what Laquatas kept telling himself throughout the day.

Laquatas spent so much energy worrying about his safety that it was afternoon before he'd noticed there hadn't been a single nantuko raid since they started the march that morning. In fact, he couldn't sense a single predator within miles of their position. Laquatas called a halt while he scanned in a narrow arc out as far as he could. He found nothing threatening within ten miles in any direction.

"Corporal," he called, "it appears we have finally beaten back the nantuko. We are clear of enemies. Prepare for double-time march. Let's take advantage of our good fortune."

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

The beast had seen the nantuko withdraw the night before. It had always known exactly where they were, for they were never far from its position, just outside the mer's sensory range. But the sudden halt and Laquatas's circular deep scan took the beast by surprise. There was nowhere to run, so it took a chance. If the mer was merely searching for predators, large animals moving through the forest, it could fool the scan the same way it fooled the nantuko-with complete motionlessness.

Dropping behind a fallen tree, the beast stayed still, hoping the decaying log would mask its own dead flesh. Not even breathing, for it truly didn't need to, the beast was nothing more than a lump of dead matter when the mer's scan passed over. Afterward, the beast raised its head up over the log and watched as the phalanx jogged off. It would take the creature all day and much of the night to catch up to them, but it never tired and never ate, so it had time to kill. And tonight it would kill, it promised itself and its surrogate son. Tonight it would kill the mer bastard.

The rest of the day passed without incident for Laquatas and the phalanx. The nantuko raids had come to a sudden, but welcome end. Laquatas no longer worried about the safety of his jack and let the beast lead the way through the forest. By nightfall, his fears had almost vanished.

"I will keep the bug in my tent again tonight, Corporal," he told his second in command. "The nantuko never attack at night, and it would seem they have retreated anyway. I'm sure your men are up to the challenge of guard duty without help."

"Yes, sir," said the corporal. "But what of the beast. He attacks every night. Surely you want the bug on patrol."

"I do not," said Laquatas. The mer wanted to keep his jack as close to him as possible and, knowing that he would spend much of the night in the underground caverns, needed the bug in the tent to keep the Order soldiers out as much as to fend off the beast.

"We shall set a trap for the beast. It obviously wants me, so I will keep the bug in my tent to trap it. Under no circumstances are you or any of your men to enter tonight."

Sensing the impending objection, Laquatas added, "It's for your own protection, Corporal."

Laquatas retired to his tent, much more relaxed. Life was so much easier when he had a jack to keep the world at bay. Now he could concentrate on more important matters. After giving the bug specific orders to block the flap and not allow anyone to enter until he returned, Laquatas concentrated on the mossy ground in the center of his tent.

After a moment, a small, silvery-blue circle of liquid mana appeared at the mer's feet and began to expand outward. Laquatas grabbed his pack and dived head-first into the portal, which closed behind him.

Appearing in the still, black waters in the caverns beneath the forest, Laquatas concentrated for a moment on his legs, and watched while crackling, azure energy cascaded down his body from his torso to his feet. When the energy dissipated, his legs had grown and merged into a long, silver-scaled tail.

"That feels good," said the mer. "It has been far too long." Reveling in his freedom underwater, Laquatas swam for a while, looking for Havelock and the mer troops.

Not finding his loyal soldiers in the immediate area, Laquatas pulled the mirror from his pack, passed his webbed fingers over its surface, and called out to Havelock.

"Here I am, my lord," said the commander, his face appearing in the mirror.

"Where is that, Havelock?" asked the mer.

"If the maps are accurate," said Havelock, glancing down at something out of sight, "we are approximately twenty-five miles from the center of the forest, just past the last eastward fork."

Laquatas pulled his copy of the map out and located the spot. "Okay, I see your location," he said. "I will be there within the hour."

The beast slipped into the camp and easily eluded the Order night patrols. Fewer and fewer soldiers were on guard duty each night as the nantuko raids took their toll. The creature's real concern was Laquatas's new jack, which it suspected was in the tent guarding the wretched mer. It wouldn't be easy to get past the bug and kill the mer, but the beast was running out of time.

The creature loped up to a shadowy section of the tent, away from the fires, and listened. The bug was inside, near the flap, but it couldn't hear the mer. Perhaps he was a sound sleeper. The beast glanced to each side to make sure it hadn't been spotted, stuck one of its claws through a seam in the tent, and silently slit the fabric down to the ground, slipping noiselessly inside.