25 – Damocles’ sword

Having reached the outside world with the other two still unconscious, he dismissed the masks and gently placed them alongside the far wall of the cave. Then, he went back inside.

By the time he was out, they were already up and about, and had lit a small fire next to the entrance of the cave. They were chatting idly, and when Tommy spotted him first, he called to Marceline.

“Look, he’s back. What did I tell you?” He said smugly.

She shrugged.

Calvin was walking with a hurried pace out of the small hole in the door, and wasted no time looking around.

“You’re all awake, good. We need to go, quickly now.”

“Why?” Asked the adventurer. “What’s the rush?”

Calvin looked at her, then at Tommy. “Radio bomb. We need to get far enough from here so that when it goes off we’re in the clear.”

She looked confused. “What—”

“There’s no time to explain, come on.” He said.

Tommy was already putting out the fire, and the three were on their way down the mountain before long. Marceline seemed fine to go along with them for the moment, although as soon as their business with the mountain was done, Tommy had plans to confront her about her intentions.

When they were far enough away, Calvin looked back at the mountain. The tip was enshrouded in the clouds like usual, but from here they could somewhat see the faint glint of the metal antennae at the top.

“Are you sure it’s safe for the city below?”

“Yes,” replied Calvin, “I’ve studied the blast from the previous explosion, and it doesn’t extend too far from where it’s set to go off. And the city is quite some distance below the mountain.”

“Okay.” Tommy nodded.

“What is it that’s about to happen to the mountain, then?”

“Just watch. A few seconds now.” Said Calvin. He seemed more confident and calmer than before, for some reason. Something had happened to him while he was inside the compound, that much was clear to both his companions. Neither knew the extent of his abilities, and only he knew the real truth of the matter, but he decided not to speak of it unless he was asked directly.

As soon as the timer in his vision struck zero, the whole mountain went up in flames. After a brief moment of contemplation, the party turned around and left, retracing their steps along the winding path that cut through the mountain range around Pyee. Turtle mountain range, they called it in town, because for a long time cartographers thought it looked like a turtle as seen from above. It wasn’t until more advanced scouting magic was developed that they were proven wrong, but by that time it was too late, and the name stuck.

They paused for a moment to rest, and Calvin once again spent that time in meditation, with his eyes closed. Then they were up again, walking fast towards the plains, leaving the smoldering ruins of the mountain behind.

“Don’t you think that all this noise will have alerted our enemies of our movements?” Asked Tommy.

“Of course it did. And of course, I thought of it. I’m not an idiot. But it had to be done, you have no idea what came out of that portal.”

Tommy was perplexed for a moment, and the tone of voice his brother used left him a bit unsettled, but he was glad that his brother was finally growing a working brain. He decided to trust his judgement on this, although now he was very curious as to the nature of what was buried under the mountain.

“So,” Tommy eventually said, after some time spent thinking, “Marceline.” He said, and then said no more. What he did was watching his brother’s reaction to the input he gave.

“Right!” Calvin said, picking up on the hint. “How scatterbrained of me. I can’t believe I was about to ignore the issue even though I promised to myself I would be more careful.” He muttered, then turned to face the woman.

He produced a small crystal from his right pocket, creating it out of nanites while his hand was still in his pocket, hidden from view. The crystal itself was useless, but it helped cement the idea that he was some sort of rogue mage that for some reason had immense endurance and strength. She had seen him, or at least she thought she saw him use scouting magic and body strengthening, after all.

Pointing the crystal at her as if brandishing a ranged weapon, he spoke firmly.

“Who are you, really? And why are you still following us? Now that we’re out of the cave, you could go on your merry way, yet you seem quite determined on following us all the way to the capital.”

“Well… I—” She stammered, and for a moment she seemed to cower shyly away from the accusations, before her face regained the stern composure it usually had. “I have business in the capital, of course. I thought I’d stick with you.”

Calvin looked at Tommy furtively for a moment, and saw the boy shake his head.

“No.” he answered firmly. Tommy smiled to himself.

“Why? I can be of help! I can hunt, or defend you, or, or… well, something! I’m a professional after all, while you don’t even have your guild cards. It would be hard to do anything in a city that’s not as backwater as Pyee without ID.” She said, gaining confidence with every word she said.

“Who says we don’t?” Asked Tommy.

“I get it. You have some sort of secret you want to protect. Look, I need to get to the capital, and I really need some kind of party to get back there with. I can offer you an easier entry into the guild if you pretend to be my party, and a free promotion to silver rank. As long as you are as strong as you seem to be.” She was pleading now, and the air of strength and confidence she used to project seemed to crumble.

“Could be useful.” Tommy said, to which her eyes lit up.

“On one condition.” Calvin said. “I will show you why we were being so secretive, and if I don’t like your reaction, I will kill you.”

“What?” She almost yelled. “How dare kill me? Do you have any idea—” She suddenly slammed her hands against her mouth, and her face reddened.

“We already know who you are, more or less. Well, I did, and apparently Calvin too, which makes me so proud of him.” Said Tommy. “You tripped over yourself when you pleaded so much to come to the capital together, and when you mentioned we needed to pretend to being your party. Did you run away, or were you sent away?”

“Sent. To prove my worth to my father. He said it’s either this, or complete banishment from the family.”

“That’s tough.” Tommy sighed, and then a smile lit his face up. “Are you willing to put your life at stake for this, then?”

“What do I need to do?” She asked.

Tommy looked at his brother.

“I will ask you to keep a secret, then I will show you something. If I see even an ink of betrayal in your eyes, you die.” Calvin said calmly, his slitted pupils glinting in the sun like the golden wheat moved by the wind in the fields all around them.

“That’s preposterous. What kind of secret do you even have, and why would I ever agree to this? It must be something bad, otherwise…”

“You can walk away now, you know?” Tommy said. “The choice is yours.” He smirked.

“I—”

“Or not. You don’t look like someone who has got much time and choice on their hands.” Tommy continued, pressing the attack. “Or you would have never followed us out of town like this. And even then… I fear that the choice has been taken from your hands already.”

“Tommy, enough.” Calvin said.

“No, it’s not. You might not have thought about it, and I don’t blame you, but the choice has already been made for her, ever since you blew up the mountain. Do you think that a well-off lady like her, even if she’s playing pretend adventurer, wouldn’t know what happened? She saw the explosion in the forest, and now she’s seen this. She also probably knows about what happened at Pyee’s gates. How long until she connects the dots?”

“Tommy, we could always change identities.”

“But they would know we are going to the capital. What do you think their reaction would be?”

Marceline kept staring at the bickering duo. There was a damp patch of sweat on her forehead, and suddenly she felt that her armor was making her uncomfortable and hot and that it could never protect her from the wrath of the creature before her. She hadn’t made the connection by herself, but hearing Tommy; she understood.

“Shit.” She said. “You are going to kill me.” Her tone of voice was one of acceptance.

“No. I don’t want to mindlessly kill people just to protect my identity. Tommy, I get what you’re saying, but I think that there is another way. Tell me,” he looked at her in the eye, and she struggled to keep herself from trembling, “would you have told them about me if we never interacted?”

“As soon as I figured it out, yes.”

“See? Then it’s a good thing we met her!” Calvin said to Tommy, and then turned to her again, “I’m giving you this choice. You stay with us, and swear that you’re not telling anyone about what you saw, and you live. You refuse, you die. You run, you die. Am I clear?” His voice was icy.

“I… yes.”

“Good. Then swear it.”

“I swear.” She said. Calvin looked at her for a long minute, and she felt his gaze on her like a heavy weight that never seemed to truly lift, not even when he looked away.

“Well, then, welcome to the party.” Calvin said. Marceline breathed a long sigh of relief.

As they kept walking though the fields, Calvin approached Tommy. He looked back to see if he was out of hearing range, and then spoke in a whisper.

“She was not lying before.” He said.

“I guessed as much.” Tommy said. “But you understand that she’s a possible liability to us, do you?”

“Yeah, I know. But she must have seen that I’m not the same thing as that weapon was, right? I think that we can bring her to our side, with time.”

“Our side? What side? You are going back to your family, and I’m just along for the ride. She has a point to prove to her father, or whatever, then she’s chained to your back until you feel like she’s no longer a threat to you. Or until you decide to kill her! Tell me, what are your plans, exactly?” Tommy said, almost growling.

Calvin sighed. “I don’t know. But I won’t abandon you, you know?”

“I do.” Tommy replied, now calm once again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you.”

“I know. It’s all right.” Calvin said, and left the boy on his own.

As if any plan, yours or hers, will even matter after you learn the truth about your family. Tommy thought to himself, and swallowed the pang of guilt. He looked around for a moment while his mind ran in circles, half hoping that for some reason Calvin was aware of it all, and was about to call him out for it. But nothing happened, and he chose to stay silent. There was no way, he kept telling himself, that he would ever discover that he knew. Not if he didn’t say anything about it, or if he didn’t act like he knew. It was all up to him now. His relationship with Calvin hung by a thread only he was aware of, and that only he had the means to cut. As long as he didn’t, everything was all right.

It was all for Calvin’s sake. It was a necessary evil.

And as for Marceline… perhaps he had been too cynical. Perhaps Calvin was right, and she would prove to be a valuable asset, or maybe even a friend, something neither of the two had at the moment. But he would have to watch her closely.