CHAPTER 322 – ADDRESSING THE TRUTH
Tom was woken up in the morning. It was with a respectful nudge, admittedly delivered at the end of a long spear. He couldn’t blame them. He knew he had a tendency to overreact when anything unexpectedly touched him. Especially when he was in the deep sleep, the true dreaming aftereffects caused. Forty years alone in the wilderness it was only expected that he would have such survival instincts. This time, he hadn’t lashed out. The rations Bao had been feeding him were making the difference. Unlike usually, today, he had actually been close to waking naturally.
As he lay there getting his bearings, the memory of the dream from the previous night plagued him. Jenny attempting to betray them and worse how the wador’s magic had blocked him. His heart rate sped up, and he could feel the blood thundering within him. The fury he had experienced after the dream flooded back was as strong as ever. “They did it. They’re betraying us.”
“I knew it,” Keikain jumped on the announcement. “I knew it. We’re going to have to—”
“Wait, just a moment,” Michael interrupted harshly. “Let’s hear the full story before jumping to conclusions. These dreams are misleading at times.”
“Not this one!”
“Tom. I know it’s easy to rush to judgement and if we need to assume a state of war, then we will. So what happened.”
He recounted the dream, the way his skill was blocked, and the time spent in a sensory deprived state. A time long enough for them to have discussed and agreed to anything.
Michael rubbed his ear. “Now Tom, it’s definitely suspicious, but there’s no comprehensive proof. From the other dreams, they’re still on humanity’s side even if their approach is different to ours.”
“It was the tone, the smug superiority that convinced me.”
“I know Jenny’s type.” The healer sighed, “and your dreams often give you more clues than just what is obvious. But you don’t know what they discussed. They may have had nothing to offer the wador.”
“No. Something happened. Mahar was angry, deep fury he thought she was betraying us. I was able to extract that much.”
“Selena was angry as well, wasn’t she?”
Tom nodded.
“Then there’s hope. We know Selena’s squad works under set rules. Even if Jenny wants to betray us, she needs the votes to do so, and if those two are against her, she might never receive them.”
“It’s bullshit. I can’t believe they’re scheming against us instead of focusing on the bigger picture.”
“And maybe that’s your fault.” Everlyn said suddenly.
“What?” Tom spun on her. “Why the hell would you say that?”
“Because we haven’t been specific enough. We’ve undersold what we know.”
“I wanted to tell them everything. It was you guys who made us keep secrets.”
“Because we knew this would happen.” Keikain interjected. “We were protecting you from your own naivety.”
“My naivety. I’m the one making the hard decisions. I’ll like to remind you that it’s the only reason you’re alive.”
“ENOUGH!” Michael roared. “I understand everyone’s tempers are rising. I’m mad as hell, too. But settle down and behave like adults. We can deal with Selena’s squad once we get more knowledge. Everlyn let’s take a step back to what you said. Do you really think we’ve got enough clues?”
She shrugged. “Probably. I feel we have enough clues to plan a little bit of detail. If we supply specific actions to defeat the dragon, I feel it would help to settle her team’s nerves.”
“Specifics?” Michael mused. “We can probably do that. Tom, how is the dragon fight going to go?”
“We don’t have anywhere near enough information.”
“We do? We have a lot.” Michael interrupted. “I think what we have to do is pretty clear.”
“Really?” Tom raised his eyebrows. “You know more than me then.”
“Sometimes if you spend lots of time looking at stuff, you can get lost in the leaves and not see the forest.”
“And I’m guessing this is one of those mythical times.”
“Maybe,” Michael winked at him. “If I’m not mistaken you get resonance happening when people interpret your dreams correctly? Don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Then perhaps some speculation is in order. This is what I think needs to happen. Chime in if I say anything stupid.”
Two breakfast burritos were handed to him, and the smell of the meat and cheese woke an appetite he hadn’t even known he had possessed.
Michael rubbed his hands together gleefully. “Easy stuff first. The giant is going to deliver the killing blow.”
“How do you figure that…” Tom started to object but he could feel the truth in what Michael said. It was not a hundred percent conclusive, but sufficient for his curse to choke up his throat and stop the words mid-sentence.
The healer caught the hesitation, and there was a knowing smile. Rather than directly responding to Tom’s argument he instead made a gesture to encourage Tom to continue speaking.
Tom wanted to hit him. “Maybe…” He relented while focused on the strange feelings he was receiving. “Um… Probably might be the better statement. It’s mostly true. The giant is likely to be the one to deliver the killing blow.”
Michael grinned broadly at the confirmation that his guess had been accurate. “See this is not so hard.”
“I don’t get it.” Gerald interrupted. “Can we play twenty questions with him. Is it restricted to just being about the dragon, or can we extend it to work out the meaning of life?”
“I suspect it’s restricted.” Michael said with an amused smile. “I wasn’t convinced this was going to work. The fact it does is probably a small miracle. I think it’s relying on my conclusions being solely derived from what he has told me.”
“I don’t think so.” Tom disagreed. “The reaction is because this is stuff, I should know. Whoever is stating the fact doesn’t need to believe it because I’m still going to hear it and judge it against the correct interpretation of the dreams.”
Tom sighed and then nodded at Gerald. “Your idea of twenty questions might be for the best.”
The healer rubbed his hands together once more enthusiastically. “Great. I can rise to the occasion. Back on topic, more specifically the giant using a spear launcher will kill the dragon by targeting the weakness in its neck.”
The resonance became stronger. Tom gave a thumbs up.
“He’ll be using weapons crafted by the inventor utilising the materials from the balancing boxes…”
Tom could feel the truth and at the same time how incomplete that statement was. “There’s more there than that.”
“Yes,” Michael agreed immediately. “We also need to protect against a powerful precognition skill. Buy or source something equivalent to what the giant sold and then use the oil as well to make sure the weapon lands.”
Michael nodded, satisfied at the impact his words had on Tom. The experienced older man was reading the micro expressions that fluttered over his face.
“Everything I’ve said so far is accurate, but your dreams have told us far more, haven’t they.. The giant has to use that three second channel ability and Rahmat his spear domain to enhance the weapon mid-flight.”
“Which I don’t have yet.”
“But you’re going to get it because we’re sort of all in on you.”
“Yes.” Tom agreed. The giant use of the skill and the importance of the domain resonated as strong or stronger than all the previous statements.
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“Wait. That flurry of messages you sent to Phil…” Gerald interrupted once more. “Were you being a hundred percent serious? Were there so many because they were critical? Is using the giant our only path to success?”
Nobody reacted to the string of rhetorical questions. They all knew the answers to them.
“And if Phil had failed?” Gerald pressed.
“No… the giant was only one of several paths to victory,” he corrected. “But I dare say the simplest of them.”
Gerald bit his bottom lip. “Are these other aliens important?”
“Yes, they are.” Michael stated instantly.
The internal reaction in his gut was so empathetic in agreement to that he couldn’t speak for a moment.
“Tom.” The healer was staring at him in concern.
“Sorry… it was just… yes. the other aliens are vital. Probably as much as the giant.”
“That’s confirmed,” Michael declared. “In regards to their roles, that information is not clear yet. The giant to launch a spear, the inventor to create the various artefacts we need, the chosen?” Michael bit his lip. “I think their purpose was only to get us this far… but a future vision might reveal more.”
“And how about us?” Gerald asked.
“I suspect our role and wador’s for that matter is to counter the insects. How might you ask? I honestly don’t know, but there’s another month of dreams to pull it all together. But there are clues. I’d imagine Mahar and others need to work together to create explosive orbs.”
“And artefacts to avoid the dragon breath.” Keikain interrupted.
Michael shut his eyes. “I forgot about that. You’re right. It’s going to be our job to negate the insects and buy time for the giant to launch its attack.”
Keikain snorted. “You mean make ourselves a target for it to toy with. Some of us will die.”
To Tom’s horror the internal feeling within him agreed with that statement as strongly as the others.
The healer noticed. There was very little he missed in these social situations. “Yes, some of us will. But we knew that danger when we entered, and we deemed the reward was sufficient.” He chuckled bitterly. “The compensation is going to be a hundred levels in four months. That’s better than expected. So Tom how did all that sound.”
“Accurate,” he answered simply having no intention of beating around the bush and sugar-coating things. “But not complete.”
“No, it isn’t.” Michael agreed. “It couldn’t be. We have too many unknowns.”
“All of this information. Wasn’t in any of the notes you’ve sent.” Vidja said finally.
“Operational security.” Michael assured her. “We don’t trust either Phil or Selena’s squad.”
“But you trust my group?”
“Obviously, or we wouldn’t’ have raised it in front of you. We can be sneaky in our communications if needed.
“Having me individually discuss things in my system room with everyone is not a good solution.” Everlyn said. “This is better, and while the twenty questions with Tom were useful, it wasn’t what I think we need to talk about.”
Vidja looked confused. “What could be more important?”
Everlyn snorted in her cute fashion. “The elephant in the china shop. How we manage our allies. The aliens aren’t our friends.”
“We can trust the chosen.” Tom said.
“No, we can’t.” Everlyn told him immediately. “We can bind them to silence to force some measure of trust, but we’ve learnt that’s not a good idea.”
Vidja glanced around and shivered. Her eyes searched the sky. “I can guess where this is going. Openly discussing the best way to neutralise the dragon was fine. Both she and the insects seemed to be too arrogant to be spying on us. But this topic…” Her eyes flickered around like spies filled all the shadows. “Isn’t it too risky? We’re kind of exposed here. Shouldn’t we at a minimum be buying defences against precognition before doing this. It sounds like the conversation is about to veer into dangerous territory.”
Everlyn shook her head. “No, it’s unnecessary. Tom’s dreams would have warned us if it was required.”
“That’s so arrogant.” Vidja spluttered. “Tom’s ability might already be worthless. We all know that there are counter measures out there for everything. Plus, we can’t blindly believe in a skill as erratic as what his is. Why would his dream warn us?”
“If it was necessary, it would,” Everlyn repeated stubbornly.
“No, you’re all crazy, overconfident, blind.”
“I also have a title.” Tom interrupted. “It’s what’s doing the heavy lifting, and it’s probably better security than anything we can easily afford.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “I know what Everlyn wants to say, and we need to be under proper protection for this. We’re ignorant of the capabilities of the other species. You guys can afford to buy and artefact or trait stone. From what I can gather, you haven’t spent hardly anything from the loot chests you’ve been receiving from each zone and you’ve cleared more of them than us. This is the time to spend. I would do it myself, but after the shadow debacle we’ve got nothing left.”
“Despite what you believe we don’t have unlimited funds. We’ve been spending when needed, but you’re right. We have some credits left over, but any blocking artefacts out there that can do anything will cost more than I’m willing to afford.”
“Thor’s right. Tom’s trait can protect against some pretty advanced techniques.” Everlyn assured her. “If our opponents have something capable of beating it… I would be surprised. Scrap that! The chances of them having something that strong and Tom’s dreams not warning them. Nope! I don’t believe it’s possible. The odds are so low it’s not worth considering. It’s a tier nine skill. Just think about it for a moment… If they can circumvent it…” Her shoulders slumped slightly… “If they’re that well equipped, then they’ll hear everything we have to say and there’s nothing we can do about it.” She smiled bitterly. “Not worth worrying about, really. We have to speak frankly at some point and now is the best time to do it. The chosen are many things, but they’re not on our side. They’re not enemies, but nor are they trusted allies.”
Tom coughed. “Everlyn, why are you so anti them.” He continued to talk and was surprised that his throat let him. “Apart from the cultural issues, they’ve been strong allies.”
“Anti? That’s not the right word. I’m not anti them. I just acknowledge their shortcomings and because of those weaknesses we can’t talk about sensitive topics near them. They’re basically incapable of keeping secrets. As for the rest of the species, I consider them to be enemies. We have to assume they’ll betray us at the first chance they get.”
Tom glanced around to see how everyone else would react to that statement. No one said anything, but there were nods of agreement. They all knew where she was coming from. The other species would be no different from humans. Even if, as a species, they were mostly good in this competition, there would be no mercy given. Everyone in this group had sacrificed everything for an opportunity to try to give humanity a future. Their opponents would likely be just as desperate. The GODs had set up a brutal collision of power versus magic versus strength versus ingenuity. In a storm of that magnitude, there was no space for weakness. He was aware of how far he personally would go if it would produce an advantage for humanity. There was no reason to think any of the other competitors would be more holy than they were.
“They definitely will,” Keikain agreed. “The wador from what Tom’s said they’re no stranger to destroying those different to them. Same with the giant. The inventor…” he waved his hands uncertainly.
“It will betray us,” Michael interrupted confidently. “When I think about it I see it as a creature of immense logic. If it is a question about sparing us or achieving something slightly better for its species, you know what it’ll choose. Pure logic does not allow for the weakness of emotions.”
“The dragon for now means that their future remains aligned with ours,” Everlyn told them quietly. “We can probably rely on them to be faithful while the mutual threat remains. The moment that relationship changes…”
She trailed off into silence.
“When the dragon dies, it’s going to be a shitstorm.” Michael agreed.
“Then we plan for it.” Usko rumbled. “The others might or might not be conscious of the risk. Either way, we should be ready to backstab them.”
“No,” Tom interrupted. “We will not make any plans to betray anyone in advance.”
“Tom,” Keikain growled. “I won’t allow your naivety to screw us over.”
“It’s not naivety,” he snapped, affronted by the accusation. “It’s unfortunately what we have to do. We need to recruit all of them and get them to buy into a plan. They will have truth telling abilities.”
Keikain did not look at all convinced by his argument. “Do you actually believe that? Or was that just a pretty story you’ve spun to allow you to justify a failing high moral ground.”
Tom glared at him and wondered how much of the earth mage’s accusation was the truth. Was he misleading himself? There had been a resonance, a reaction, an approving thrum inside him in response. It was clear that planning to betray their allies was the wrong choice. “It’s what I believe and what True Dreaming supports.”
“That’s an excellent point,” Michael said.
“No, it’s dumb.” Keikain stated with conviction.
The healer shook his head thoughtfully. “No, it’s valid. And one we can’t ignore. This is what we’re going to do. Everlyn, myself, and Tom are going to be responsible for all negotiations with the aliens. We will form the coalition with them.” Anger seemed to blaze from the normally placid older man. “You and everyone else are banned from interacting with them.”
“Why’s that?” the earth mage blustered.
“Because I say so and you’ll all listen to this. Our determinations in all things are final and the first command is that we will not plan any back stabbings. We will prepare to be betrayed, but we will not initiate it.”
“Michael! I’m part of the leadership group. You can’t just unilaterally make a statement like that.”
“No, you’re not Keikain. Not for this. This is Tom’s plan. I need the way Everlyn thinks and you’re superficial because you and I think alike.”
“There’s an advantage to acting first.”
“Think for a moment you fucking idiot. We,” his gesture included the three of them. “Are going to be front and centre in the negotiations with the other species. Do you really believe they won’t ask awkward questions about our intentions?”
“Of course they will.”
“That’s why we, as the people bringing this together can’t be planning betrayal before it even starts.
The earth mage started to dispute the statement. Then he stopped a thoughtful look on his face, followed by a wry smile. “Fine, I can see when I’m outvoted. If that’s your command, I guess I’ll obey.”
“It is. And there’ll be no further discussion.”
Keikain held his hands up in the gesture of surrender. “I heard everything you said.”
“Good.” Michael glared at him. “You know what’s at stake. Don’t stuff up.”
“I won’t.” the earth mage promised.
“That’s one thing dealt with but there’s another to consider,” Everlyn said staring at Tom. “I recognise this isn’t a comfortable discussion, but it has to be stated. How can I phrase it.” She paused uncertainly.
“Just spit it out,” Tom suggested.
“Fine. Selena might be stupid and think you’re worthless, but the other species won’t assume the same. A tier nine skill, so early in the competition is too powerful and they know it, especially if this plan works. Tom, they might not care about the rest of us scurrying rats, but you’re going to have a target painted on your back.”
He shrugged. “That’s better than us all being dead.”
“Tom, that’s not why I’m raising it. There is a good chance you won’t survive this.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do. All the others species will gun for you when the dragon goes down.”
“Everlyn! Stop! I get it.”
“No, you don’t. We’re going to make plans to keep you alive, but we also need contingencies in case you die.”
“What?”
“I know secrecy was supposed to increase your chances of success, but you’ve apparently got a plan that can totally change humanity’s fortune. I think it’s time to share it.”