Chapter Sixty-Three: Cloak and Diamonds
Two weeks.
The Draconian Dignitary's mood grew more sour with each passing day. He hated this. He hated the Land of Rain and Rivers and its never-ending precipitation. He hated the cobra-consorts and their ridiculous customs. The Dignitary was not happy - that much, at least, was perfectly obvious.
But he was patient. For two weeks, he had watched the Knight of Force stumble and blunder his way through what passed for his quest. The Dignitary observed from a distance as the black-haired kid was made to climb up a ladder of sword blades. He watched the kid travel for days through the Knightswood forest, accidentally knocking trees over with his failed attempts to master his Aspect.
For someone who carried the Aspect of Movement, this kid sure was a klutz. And if the Dignitary had to spend one more night listening to him moan and whine about this 'Cass' broad…
Well, at least he would no longer have to, not after tonight.
The red-scaled cobra-consort who traveled with the Knight was a heavy sleeper, and an angry morning person. Sometimes the Knight practiced with his Aspect during the night - the black-haired kid would cause explosions that would rattle the trees, sending off blasts of flame into the air. The red-scaled cobra-consort would not even twitch in his sleep. He was difficult to wake from a deep slumber.
That would be vital.
When the kid went to bed, he was a heavy sleeper, too. He was a Hero - that meant he had a dream self on Prospit that he woke up as every time he passed out. He would not be fluttering on the edge of consciousness. The Dignitary came to these conclusions within three days of observing the two companions. But he was patient.
It was not until tonight that the Dignitary chose to make his move. There were other forces at work with whom he was coordinating, and tonight the metaphorical planets appeared to be lining up. He shifted uncomfortably in his makeshift observation post - really just a fork in the upper branches of a large tree. The rain had increased in intensity, tonight, bringing a somewhat chilly wind through the forest. The Dignitary was not too wet, thanks to the clear plastic poncho he had the foresight to bring...but even the rain gear couldn't stop the feeling dampness from penetrating his normally-immaculate suit.
The Dignitary waited quietly while the Knight fell asleep, zooming his binoculars in so that he could see the Hero of Force's breathing. Once the rising and falling of the black-haired kid's chest fell into a rhythm that suggested deep sleep, the Dignitary brought a long-range walkie-talkie up to his mouth and broke silence. "Hearts, this is Diamonds. Come in, Hearts."
There were a few moments of subdued static over the channel, but it quickly resolved into a gruff, somewhat nasally voice. "What's up, D?"
The Dignitary let out a muted sigh, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "You know perfectly well 'what is up'. Are you in position?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just outside the Knight's dream bedroom," the Hegemonic Brute responded. "Been hidin' out in this tower for two days. It's real fuckin' stuffy in here…mm...okay, looks like the Knight's dream self is awake. Kid's sittin' at his desk, looks pretty oblivious to me. You want I should go an' snap his neck? Or strangle him, maybe? Or how's about I brain him with my axe?"
"Yes, please do," the Dignitary ordered the Brute. "Any or all of the above, if you will. Just make sure he is not breathing when you are finished."
"You got it, D."
"Report back to me when you're done, please."
"Yeah, sure."
And with that, the channel went dead. The Dignitary pocketed the walkie-talkie, muttering under his breath about IQ tests. Yes, the Hegemonic Brute was quite accomplished when it came to carrying out brutal tasks. But that was about it. Ask him to add two and two, he would simply bash them together and come up with 'bruise'.
The Draconian Dignitary stowed his binoculars in favor of one of his favorite weapons - a sturdy length of thin steel wire. He climbed down the tree, taking care not to make too much noise as he hopped down to the forest floor. It would not have made much of a difference if he had made noise - again, the Knight and his companion were heavy sleepers - but the Dignitary was going to leave nothing to chance. Leaving things to chance was not his style.
As it was, his efforts here hinged largely on the competence of the Hegemonic Brute, who had been sent to Prospit. The Dignitary did not feel good about this, not one bit. He would have preferred the Queen to send someone else to waste the Knight's dream self. Even the Courtyard Droll - oblivious, irritating, always dancing - would have sufficed. Anyone but the Brute…
No time for those kinds of thoughts, now. It was time for work.
The Dignitary gingerly looped the garrote wire around his hands twice, ensuring a strong grip, whilst he tiptoed stealthily around the Knight's sleeping form. He then crouched down to the ground, gently brought the garrote wire around the Knight's neck, took a deep breath...and then pulled the garrote tight, sending the thin steel wire biting into the Hero's throat.
The Knight did not immediately wake up. The Dignitary was expecting that - the Brute was obviously keeping the Knight's dream self busy. But it did not last. Within ten seconds, the Knight's eyes had flown open and his hands flew to his throat, desperately trying to figure out why, all of a sudden, he could not breathe. Then the initial shock of the Dignitary's unconventional wake-up call passed, and the Knight started fighting back.
The kid managed to struggle his way up onto his knees. The Dignitary grunted in pain as the Knight drove an elbow into the Dersite Agent's abdomen, nearly knocking the wind out of him. The blow, however, while painful, did not have a lot of power or force behind it - it had been more of a blind, desperate strike. Easily shrugged off. Still, the Dignitary had no wish to become a punching bag, and so he pulled the garrote wire harder, stepping as far back as he could. Blood was beginning to flow down the Knight's neck as the wire did its grisly work.
An oversized hunting knife appeared in the Knight's right hand, and the Hero struck back with it, attempting to gut his attacker then and there. The Dignitary saw it coming from a mile away, however, and easily evaded it.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be what the Knight was hoping for. The moment the Dignitary shifted his balance to avoid the knife blow, the Knight dropped back to the ground and, with a single foot, swept the Dignitary's legs out from under him. The Dignitary went down hard, losing his grip on the garrote.
The Knight gasped for breath for several moments before remembering that he had a voice. "Scales!" he cried out. "Scales, wake the fuck up!"
"Go sstick your head on a pike. Let me ssleep." The grouchy response had come from the slightly-awake red-scaled consort, who made no move to make the remaining leap required to return to full consciousness.
The Dignitary bit back a whole slough of profanity as he recovered from getting knocked to the grass. His garrote lost, the Dignitary resorted to his backup weapon, which had been a favorite of his, back in the old days...nostalgic memories of assassinations carried out during the long-past War of the Nobles came to him as he reached into an inner pocket and pulled out his prized black cigarette lighter.
When the cap was popped off the lighter, it suddenly expanded, elongated, grew into a black spear with a red point that was shaped like a diamond. While the Knight called out for his consort friend's help, the Dignitary sprang back up to his feet, now armed with his trademark spear, and went back on the offensive. He aimed his first thrust straight into the Knight's torso, but the damned kid was too fast. He dropped back to the ground, barely avoiding the attack.
The Dignitary was quick to recover. He shifted the spear's momentum, drawing it up and back in preparation for a downward thrust, intending to skewer the Knight where he lay. He almost succeeded - the red diamond speartip was barely inches away from the Knight's chest when, abruptly, it stopped. The Dignitary swore under his breath, adjusting his posture, throwing every last bit of strength he had into this last attack. The spear slowly started moving forward again, but it was like trying to force it through stone - the kid was using his Aspect. The telekinetic part of it. He was blocking the spear.
This was not good. If the Dignitary did not end this now, he would lose too much strength. For a moment he locked eyes with the Knight. The kid had big, frightened eyes with red irises. But there was a hidden strength in there that the Dignitary could see - sure, the kid was scared, but he was never going to give up. And so, the Dignitary did what he did best - he continued to play dirty.
The Dignitary planted his right foot. He then swung his left forward and kicked the Knight right between the legs. The kid let out a howl of pain. That was good - the Dignitary remembered, from his days spent hunting down the last of the Nobles, that the male Heroes were especially sensitive in that region of the body. The Dignitary's spear was blasted back, disrupting his deathblow, but it was of little concern.
The Dignitary brought his spear down a second time into the fallen Knight, who had curled up into the fetal position, clutching himself. This time, the Dignitary's strike was true, successfully - CLUNK.
The Dignitary could already taste the victory, was already thinking of how he was going to word his report back to the Queen, when a sword blade came whistling out of the darkness and slammed into his spear, knocking his blow to the side. The Dignitary's spear plunged into the ground next to the Knight. The Dignitary turned to face the new attacker - he had barely a moment to register the tip of a red-scaled tail whipping towards him before it struck him in the side of his head, throwing him off-balance, sending stars shooting through his vision.
The red-scaled cobra-consort was awake, and he was not too happy at what he found - a strange person trying to kill his companion. The Dignitary seized his spear and wrenched it free from the earth, bringing it up in defense just in time to block a second sword strike - the sword seemed to float in midair, held by the telekinetic grip of the consort.
The Dignitary knew when the throw in the towel. This battle was lost, and the Dignitary had no intention of meeting a premature death on this rainy sewer of a planet. After blocking the consort's second strike, the Dignitary turned around and fled, running as fast as he could, putting a fair amount of distance between himself and his would-be victims.
Never had he been in so black a mood, not for a very long time. As he made his way through the trees, weaving through and around the dense forest of the Knightswood, the Dignitary returned his spear to its lighter form and pocketed it, pulling his walkie-talkie back out. To his surprise, he could already hear the Hegemonic Brute speaking over the channel.
"...an' he sorta blew half his bedroom up, the little shitstain," the Brute was explaining. "Force of the explosion blew 'im way out into the sky, an' he flew off! I can't fly, boss, and I don't have guns anymore. You never let me use 'em. Wasn't no way for me to pick him off! Probably went to the Life bitch's tower. He was bleedin' out. I can go there now, if you want-"
"No, Brute, you'll just get yourself killed," the gravelly tones of Jack Noir issued through the walkie-talkie.
The Dignitary depressed the 'transmit' button and spoke. "This is Diamonds, reporting in. My attempt on the Knight's life was unsuccessful. I will remain out of sight and pursue-"
"No, Double-D, fuck the old plan," Noir's voice interrupted the Dignitary."The Knight lives, for now. Come back home."
The Dignitary frowned. "All due respect, I have been tracking this Hero for two weeks, now. He belongs to me. I would prefer-"
"I don't give a turtle-consort's shit what you prefer, Double-D. You lost this one, and now you're out of time," Jack Noir's biting reply was. "We're gonna need you back home right away - Bitch's orders."
"The Queen's orders?"
"Yeah, that's what I said. All that rain making you deaf?"
"Not at all."
"Good. Now get off this channel and get home. That goes for you, too, Brute. We're going Prince-hunting."
The channel went dead once more. The Dignitary slipped it back into his pocket. He cast a single glance over his shoulder, back in the direction of the prey he was being forced to let escape. He would have to vent his rage upon another Hero, now.
Without another word, the Dignitary stalked off into the night.
Lightning flashed over the labyrinthine canyon that stretched all the way to the horizon, as far as the eye could see. In the middle of the twisting, turning gorges and valleys rose a beautiful, majestic structure that had a shape which was difficult to describe. It looked less like a palace and more like a giant concert hall.
Tami Abramov stared down at the canyon from the mountaintop she was currently standing on, offering her a breathtaking view.
"That's it down there?" Tami did her best to keep the uncertainty from her voice, but she was only partially successful.
"Yes, that's the Denizen's Palace," Amadeusprite squeaked. Unlike Tami, who was trying to keep her cool, her green spritified mouse made no attempt to hide his unease. His whiskers kept twitching anxiously, his ears constantly moving, trying to pick up any kind of sound. "Hemera sleeps there."
"Hemera's Palace…" Tami murmured, still staring down at the canyon below. "Looks like the Sydney Opera House…" To be perfectly honest, the architecture of Hemera's Palace looked more like the wide-open maw of a shark...being swallowed by the maw of a larger shark, which in turn was about to be gulped down by a third maw that was larger still.
But the 'Sydney Opera House' imagery was much less disturbing, so that's what Tami stuck with.
"Please Tami please, we go home now? This place is...is...dangerous." Amadeusprite's English improved with each passing day. The sprite-mouse was able to put together coherent sentences, and his vocabulary was expanding. "Hemera should be sleeping. Let her sleep. You don't want her awake."
"We can't go back home, Amadeus." Tami let out a quiet sigh. "Even if I wanted to...don't have enough water to make it back across that desert. No, forward's the only option here."