System Break

The first time we saw the orange sun was at sunset when it peaked beneath the clouds. We pushed on to reach the fort before darkness fell in full force. It was dark all day, but tonight there would be no light from stars or moons.

We stood in front of the closed gates to the mountain top fort.

"Open," Reyas shouted. She peered upwards and grumbled a few unladylike words. The gate remained shut. Reyas glared at it for another minute and there was no sound from within.

I looked at the wall, it was tall and slick. It was made by expert climbers to be extremely hard to climb, if not impossible. But that was for a certain power class because a skilled qi practitioner could jump high enough to grab the ramparts as the beastmen had done not long ago.

My attention was grabbed when a loud crack reached my ears and I could barely believe my eyes. Reyas had pulled out an axe and with one blow made a small splinter in the gate. She was angry. I watched her qi pool in her shoulder and sweep up her arm as she swung at the point of contact it reached the axe head. It was the first time I saw her qi-strike with her axe.

The timbers were heavy and backed with metal bands. But she spread them and with her third blow we heard a warrior cry. "Stop, stop."

The gate slowly creaked open as men worked the wheel within.

A few of Glum's cronies stood inside the gate and they shouted at Reyas. "What do you think you're doing?"

She glared at them. "Shut up and get out of my way."

"You're not welcome here. You're not one of us anymore and we're at war with the beastmen. We cannot afford breaches like this, what if they were hiding nearby and they use this opportunity to enter?"

The shaman wacked my back and I sighed. I walked through the gate and turned.

"You imbeciles," the shaman shouted, and spittle flew through the air. Some of it hit the offending cronies. "Get the fuck out of our way. She carries the land core and if you block me for one more moment you'll be exiled for being a cretinous traitor."

The warriors parted like butter under a blow torch.

We walked towards the main hall and I said softly over my shoulder, "I think it was the spittle that did it. Try not to get it on me next time."

"If you are wise you'll be quiet," the shaman said.

"I've never been accused of being wise."

The shaman cackled and more spittle poured forth. Some of it landed on me and I sighed. I swear he did it on purpose.

Reyas entered the main hall first with me close behind. I looked for a spot I could unload the Shaman and noticed the cots were gone. The wounded had been moved elsewhere.

Ignoring the shaman's advice I asked, "Where's Ulfgrim?"

Glum emerged from a crowd. "He is dead. I am the new chieftain and you are not welcome here."

I ignored him. "I got your shaman here where do you want him? I've been carrying him all day and I'm over it."

Reyas pointed to a big chair in front of the fireplace at the rear of the hall. But her eyes did not leave Glum. They blazed as her anger peaked.

The shaman cackled as I unhitched the sling and swung him down onto the chair.

Reyas opened her pack and pulled out the land core. It was a dark blue swirling orb with an intensity which was unmistakeable. It had an aura of blue which everyone could see and feel. Sparks of blue appeared in the aura like a tesla coil in slow motion.

She held it up in her hand. "If it wasn't for us this would now be in the hands of the beastmen. You failed to deal with them."

His voice was full of malice. "Your father failed," Glum said, and many sounded their agreement.

I leaned against the fireplace with my arms crossed.

Glum continued. He glanced at the shaman. "How do we know you don't lie? Where is your proof? Where are the heads of the beastmen and where are their cores."

Reyas looked at the land core. "They're in here. Where they belong. And you're right, it was my father's failure. And it is yours as well. We need a new way of doing things, that is why I'm here. That is why the shaman is here. And that is why the land core is here."

"We saw the beastmen die. The forestfolk killed them," the wife of the Bravrak Clan chieftain said.

Glum spat and a mocking laugh escaped his lips. "Your filthy mate killed them for you. You didn't save us, and you have no right to claim leadership. You're a woman and even if you weren't you left and swore to the forestfolk."

"No she didn't," I said, and I grinned. "She was training."

He seethed. "Then she lied. She led us to believe she left. She is a liar."

The shaman cackled. "Are you afraid to face her? You talk a lot. You sound like squirming worm."

"Be quiet," Glum said. "You're not to interfere in clan matters."

The shaman cackled. "I'm not. I want change. This is in my domain. The fate of all mountainfolk was put at risk. All the clans fail to follow my advice. None wanted to contribute to the land core and waste our most precious resource. We were weak when the beastmen attacked."

"The failure of others is not my doing," Glum said.

Reyas walked slowly over to the shaman and placed the land core on the wall above the fireplace. I moved aside as she pushed it into the rear wall of the main hall. It was built out from the cliff and a sheer drop of more than a mile below. The core melded with the wall and to the naked eye it disappeared.

I saw it spread tendrils through the stone wall and down behind the fireplace. The streams snaked across the flow and down onto the mountain. It was like a tree spreading its roots through the earth.

Reyas turned to face Glum.

"I challenge for the leadership of the clan."