9

Wants and Needs

"It is as she said to Cricket," Oydd replied. "It seems they were here for nothing more than the portal."

"And you're sure they didn't take anything?" Jeshu pressed.

"Of course not! How could I be sure? But I had already catalogued the items I believed to be most valuable... in both labs... and those items still remain—even the rudra's personal lab notes. The forgehammer still sits where we left it near the portal, and they did not take that either."

"Maybe they couldn't," Cricket suggested. "After all, we kind of gave up on that."

"Maybe they already forged all that they need," Oydd replied.

"I call Bale's wings!" Cricket blurted out suddenly.

"Ah, whistles!" Bax responded. "I was going to call the wings. I'm already missing wings."

"What are you talking about?" Oydd said. "Neither of you can have wings. You don't have the musculature."

"Meaning?" Cricket asked.

"I can't just attach them to... to what? Your back muscles? Directly to your shell? Neither of you have the structure to support wings—nor the necessary muscles to use them if you did."

Bax looked down at his feet and kicked at the ground.

"Licephus had a tail," Cricket reasoned, "but elves don't have the... musculature to support a tail."

"That's not entirely true. But I do need to study his body, and see how their rudra managed to attach it."

"Is there a reason you suspect the rudra's hand?" Jeshu asked.

"Oh... not really. Let me consider, but I just thought it likely. Bax, did you see Licephus fight? I have some questions about the illusions he created."

"Oh, no. I was busy. I thought it best to remove myself from combat, if you get my meaning." Suddenly a panicked look crossed his face. "I actually don't think you will. I don't mean I was avoiding combat. But I ran into another snail. So I assumed they had an illusionist too, right. Seeing as no real snails grow that big."

"Why would another illusionist also make a snail?"

"It's the optimal fighting form," Bax said. "Slugs don't have shells, for example, and non-giant snails aren't very formidable..."

"What about scorpions?" Cricket asked.

"Pardon?"

"They have eight legs, two pincers on top of that... and a weapony tail. That's eleven limbs. More than Skittle's eight."

"Skittle only has six and a half limbs now," Scorpion replied.

"More than mimics, I meant."

"Hold on," Oydd interjected. "Cricket, do you think the mimic is better suited to fighting than you?"

"Better armed, yes. I think I'm better suited."

"Because he has more limbs than you?" the rudra continued, astonished.

"Only half a limb more, now. So we're close."

"Scorpions only get... like three feet big," Bax said. "Present company excluded," he added, with a wink at the ratling.

"But so do snails," Cricket argued. "You would have to make a giant scorpion. It doesn't have to be real."

"Doesn't have to be real!" Bax spurted, wide-eyed, in apparent protest. But then he thought for a moment. "Well, I would have to start with a normal-sized scorpion, like I did with the snail, and make it a little bigger every day, so I don't notice. Otherwise the illusion fails."

"So you don't notice!" Oydd scoffed. "There has to be more of a science to your—"

"Plausibility!" Bax shouted with a smile, slapping his own thigh. "I know giant snails don't exist, for instance, but I've trained my brain to think that they do! It's all about believability with illusions."

"Let's do that! With a scorpion, I mean. A scorpion as big as that snail would be horrifying."

For the first time in a rare while, the gnome appeared frustrated. He cleared his throat and continued slowly. "As I was saying... I had created a giant snail, that being the optimal fighting form." Bax paused to see if he would be challenged again. "But I was also aware of the possibility that it could be one of my own illusions. I vaguely remembered releasing some. I was also aware of the possibility that I was myself an illusion, which happens from time to time, so I never discount it."

"Wait," Oydd interrupted again. "You can't even tell yourself apart from your illusions?"

"Well, of course I think I can. But if I create illusions of myself, they think they can too. So sometimes I end up realizing that I'm the illusion. That's why I don't do it often. But sometimes I forget. Can you relate?" Bax asked, looking at Cricket.

The insect nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes. That happens to me all the time."

"It does not!" Oydd said, exasperated. "You are the only Cricket with a bright green breastplate. Anyone can tell you apart at a glance!"

"I meant in my dreams," Cricket answered, taken aback by the rudra's frustration.

"That doesn't count..."

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"Of course it does. He asked if I could relate. Not if it's happened to me in real life. I can relate, because it's a common theme in my dreams. I realize I'm just a shadow. It's very confusing... makes me think."

Bax nodded in agreement then suddenly vanished.

A silence fell over the room, and before anyone could react, a second Bax came running in from the hallway.

"Sorry I'm late," he puffed, and took his place where the previous Bax had stood. Oydd stared at him with such a disquieting look that the gnome began to fidget. "I hope I didn't cause any trouble. I sent another me ahead... to report..."

"It's fine." The rudra sighed.

Cricket continued his explanation where he had left off. "I think that's one of the main purposes of dreams. To help us relate to experiences we haven't actually experienced."

"Can we continue? We have a lot to cover."

"Hold on," Jeshu said. "I think that might have actually been profound."

Oydd ignored him. "We need to discuss how to proceed from here. Jeshu, I wanted your opinion specifically."

"I'm listening."

Oydd breathed deeply again to calm himself and cleared his throat. "I cannot defeat their rudra. He is beyond me in every facet I can think of. He possessed at least part of Bale's brain. I saw it glowing from the back of his head and I can only surmise to what extent this might increase his mental faculties. I got the impression that he could destroy me with a thought."

"Then why didn't he?" Jeshu asked.

"An excellent question."

"Maybe he's friendly," Cricket suggested.

Oydd shivered. "No. He looked upon me with such revulsion. I can only assume he was under orders not to kill me. But I don't know why. You said Shisu said something along those lines."

"She said she bore us no malice," Jeshu answered. "She only needed to reach Sheol."

"She said animosity," Cricket corrected. "I remember, because I know what malice means."

Oydd nodded. "And yet, Licephus might have easily killed you both."

"No," Jeshu replied. "I don't think it was as careless as you say. If she wanted Licephus to kill us, then he would not have been chained and muzzled. She said we were learning things that she already knew, as if she wanted us to learn them."

"So what conclusion do you come to?"

"That... she cannot see the possibility that she is in the wrong. She sees her hands as clean."

"I agree," Oydd replied, stroking his remaining tentacles. "But does that change how we react?"

"It gives us insight into her mind. It may help us predict her actions."

"One would hope. But I don't see why a narcissistic child would want to summon a god of chaos."

At this, Jeshu only shook his head, offering no answers.

"So you could get his brain?" Cricket asked suddenly.

Out of context, and behind in the conversation as it was, the rudra followed Cricket's train of thought. "Yes. If their rudra can integrate the lobes of the avatar's actual brain into his cranium, I suppose I could."

"Or any of us?" Cricket probed.

"Not really. Rudra possess six lobes, two of which are vestigial and undersized. They are redundant, so I could... replace them? I'm not sure what he did. But... you don't really have lobes at all, Cricket. Your whole brain is interconnected. However, you likely have ganglia throughout your body to... do you even want his brain?"

"No," Cricket answered dejected. "I really only wanted wings. To get an edge on Skittle."

"Hold on. No more questions," Oydd requested. "Otherwise we'll be here forever. We do need to discuss what to do with the parts we have. But let's save that for last. First we need to determine how to proceed. If we wish to stop Shisu, then we must first overcome the rudra. I don't see a way around it. But, as Cricket pointed out, if we are able to defeat him, then I could attempt to augment my psychic abilities as he has done. Then, and only then, I think, might we stand a chance against Shisu's temporal magic."

"The eye," Jeshu said.

"Yes, thank you. The eye. I'm not sure how many of you have considered the significance of this, but according to Jeshu's report, Shisu only possessed one of Bale's eyes. The druid suggests we prioritize locating the other. We will need to discuss how to use it. It will not simply come down to who is missing an eye. It is possible that I could put it to the best use, and we must maximize our combat ability."

"I need an ear," Bax said. "If we happen to fight anyone using Bale's ear, I should get dibs."

Oydd raised an eyebrow. He studied the gnome's face, attempting to discern if either ear were an illusion.

"But I get his arm?" Scorpion inquired sternly.

"I said we would discuss that last."

"What else is there to discuss? Kill the rudra, find the eye... and?"

"Well, that is roughly it," Oydd confessed.

"You said Licephus had the right arm, and I'm the only one missing a right arm."

Cricket frowned, looking at his still-missing left arm.

"I don't believe anyone is contesting that. But I don't know if it's the right size."

The ratling, standing at around four feet while hunched over, attempted to straighten his back. Though the effort appeared uncomfortable, and he teetered off-balance, Scorpion, at his full height, stood a few inches taller than the five-foot rudra. Oydd's neck twitched as the imposing ratling looked down on him. The ratling turned his face so that the rudra looked into his empty socket, perhaps in an attempt to be more intimidating.

"His left arm fit you, right?"

"Yes," Oydd nodded. "I hadn't... realized how much you've..."

"Then it's settled." Scorpion hunched over once again.

Oydd folded his arms, but made no protest. Rather he turned to Jeshu. "That brings us to the horns." Oydd retrieved a folded piece of cloth from his shelves, with a faint glow from within. He placed it on the table and pulled back the fabric to reveal the long twisted spikes.

Cricket's antennae stiffened involuntarily until they were almost straight.

"Jeshu. I know you haven't fully recovered from your wounds in Fomoria. And... the mana you used on the surface is not so plentiful here. I have studied these. I imagine you can feel it from where you stand, but Bale's horns are bursting with vitality and virility."

"Can I touch them," Cricket asked. "They're... resonating."

"You can sense it too?" the rudra asked. He turned again to the druid. "It's a sort of revitalizing mana. Scorpion obtained them from an assassin who regenerated at an incredible rate. Faster than a troll, he said. Her wounds closed as he watched them."

"And you're offering them to me?"

Oydd nodded.

Jeshu stared silently at the horns, a distant look in his eye. He began to reach for the horns, paused, then folded the cloth over them again and held the offering up before his impassive face.

"I thought you'd be thrilled."

"Let me... hold onto them."

"Whatever you wish. For now, will you and Cricket track down Bale's wings? I will begin operating on Scorpion, but that will take some hours."

Scorpion grinned.

"Shouldn't you reattach Cricket's arm first?" Jeshu suggested.

"I'd rather wait until the yellow stuff dries a bit. It's easier to work with when it's tacky."

"Yellow stuff," Scorpion snickered. "Sounds very scientific."

"It's called hemolymph," Oydd replied dryly, "but I thought using that word without explanation would be worse communication. If there is nothing else, shall we adjourn?"

The rudra looked around the room. Only Jeshu nodded. Scorpion gave a sour look, Bax was preoccupied with a dusty stain he had found on the floor, and Cricket was already halfway to the door.