Chapter 17

Impossible Box that Shouldn’t Exist

After dinner the three men sat at the table, the dishes replaced with mugs of cool alcohol. To Mikel, it tasted like sweet summer peach, and before Telgil had warned him to not drink too quickly, he’d downed half the mug in a single swig only to have a wave of dizziness pass over him.

“God, too much to learn,” Mikel said, laying his head down on the table, “Too much. I’m going to die here. I know it. God’s. Kill me now. Psychotic priestesses. Murdering Pigs. Make-you-crazy peach liqueur. Just kill me.” He moaned.

“Is he always so dramatic?” Telgil asked Helsket.

Helsket glanced at Mikel with surprise as his young charge began to snore loudly at the table with his head laid between his arms.

“You should have seen him as a baby. The lungs on that one - he never quit squalling.”

“You know, I heard something about that. How the baby had a wail as loud as Lord Raithson was powerful.”

At the mention of his old friend and liege lord, Helsket’s gaze turned dark. He looked into the mug of peach liqueur and growled.

“Oh? I apologize if I touched a nerve.” Telgil said, sipping his drink, his gaze the picture of studied concern, “I meant no offense.”

“No, it’s not that,” Helsket said, “It’s this whole business. Mikel should have never needed to come and find me. That damn old man of his set him down this path whether he knew it or not. That boy should have been trained properly years ago and brought into the fold when he aged into his majority. Erik devested us and left the boy out in the wind. Mikel can barely hold a sword correctly and he wants to go to HelGate - like it's a summer stroll.”

“Oh, he wasn’t that bad,” Telgil said, pointing back to the forge where the three had spared earlier in the day, “In fact, I’d say he held his own very well against us. I actually saw you trying a few times.”

Helsket snorted and shook his head, “That’s just because I’m out of practice.” He looked up at Telgil from under his brows, “This young body, it makes me think I can do the things I used to do. It’s confusing and if I stay here much longer I imagine I won’t want to leave. That whole thing happened with Celine because I couldn’t control myself. I saw her and… It was overwhelming, like a drug. She always did that to me.”

“You’ve gathered what happened to Celine?”

“Aye,” Helsket said with a heavy sigh, rocking the chair back and forth to get comfortable, “She came here, after whatever happened to our ship, and… stayed. She forgot. She moved on.”

“There’s no telling what she looks like back on The Continent. You saw the change my body went through by coming here - returning me to my prime and stripping away that cursed body. There’s no telling what she would look like if she returned.” Tegil gazed pensively into the amber-colored depths of his drink.

“If she could return,” Helsket said as he sipped his drink, “I know the rules of this place as well as you do. I know why you spend over half your time on The Continent instead of full-time here. You’d lose yourself.”

“It’s a conundrum, isn’t it? You lose yourself by returning to yourself at your best. The damn rules of The Market.”

Helsket nodded and paused to look at Mikel before continuing, “He’s got something on him. I’m not afraid to tell you about it - it’s something dark and powerful.”

“You know my realm of expertise lies in the dark and powerful. Tell me what it is, you can’t surprise me.”

“The Callisto Jewel,” Helsket said, watching Telgil’s reaction carefully.

For his part, the supposedly unsurprisable man didn’t flinch. Too badly. The only appearance he’d registered any of the information at all was the subtle narrowing of his eyes and his head turning slowly to regard Mikel’s prone form.

“He’s got The Jewel? I’d heard it had fallen into darkness.”

“There’s no telling what the truth is behind the stories - but I’ve seen the thing myself. It’s the genuine article as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.”

“Did he- ?”

“Yes,” Helsket answered, cutting Telgil off, “He killed for it. He admitted as much.”

Telgil whistled, “He still seems innocent. To think he’s already taken a life.”

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“You know we were both blooded long before seventeen. He’s an old maid as far as murder goes.”

“You think he killed someone in cold blood for it?”

Helsket scowled and looked at Mikel for a moment before answering, “No. I’m not sure who he killed for it, but I’m sure he killed someone. Sometimes, I’ve noticed, there’s a look in his eye that I’ve seen in too many men. He’s killed. The effect just hasn’t sunk in yet. It's going to be a doozy when it does finally hit him.”

Telgil hmpf’d before nodding.

“You’re going with him then? Not tempted to stay and chase Celine? If she loved you once, she’d love you again - Market or not.”

“I’m not sure if she did - love me that is,” Helsket said, “I know I loved her - as a mad man can only love a woman. She felt something I’m sure… But love? I couldn’t say. What love would make her stay here instead of coming back to me? It's all madness. Utter madness.”

“What is love but mad?” Telgil mused, swishing the peach liquor around in his mug.

“Enough of this talk of love,” Helsket said, “What are we? Old women?”

“Old enough,” Telgil said, “You and I both.”

“That is the truth. But - to business.”

“To go to HelGate?”

“Aye, to HelGate. I’m going with the boy, although he only thinks I’m going to find Calcifer with him.”

“You don’t think he can cut it without you?”

“No,” Helsket said, “He could make it. He got The Jewel after all. That would take a hard man no matter how you cut it. The fact he tracked me down and managed to track Cal and Sylix is more than enough proof he’s capable of fighting the odds. Just like his father. You should see his maps.”

“Maps?”

Helsket shook his head, “Not important right now. The important thing is that I feel obligated to go with him. I loved his father like a brother - in a way, I still do.”

“But that’s not it. You feel…” Telgil trailed off as Helsket mulled his response.

“No. I need an adventure. I’ve idled too long. My bones ache for the open road and my sword arm cries for battle. This little sparring we did today was the first blades I’ve crossed with anyone since I was devested. It felt good and it fed a little of the hunger within me.”

“So you’re not just a solicitous uncle then - you want to go for your sake.”

“As well as the boy’s,” Helsket said, turning warm eyes to Mikel, “As well as the boy’s. I think he can learn a few things from me along the way. Before the end.”

That gave Telgil pause and he quirked his head to the side, “The end? Do you know something you’re not telling me?”

“No. I’m just getting old - that’s all. You never know how long you have. Seeing Celine… Well, it brought up a lot of memories I’d thought long buried. Alcohol and whores only do so much for you though.”

“You really did love her.”

“Like a bird loves the wind under his wings. She gave me flight and freedom. When she was gone… Well - you can imagine it.”

“A sad thing indeed.”

“An old thing,” Helsket corrected, “I learned to walk on my own years ago. Celine is still dead to me. The woman out there,” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder, “In The Market, isn’t who I knew and I’m not who she knew. The man she loved died in a body that looked like this, a long time ago.” He patted his chest with an open hand before shaking his head and staring into his drink.

“You’ve become a poet in your old age,” Telgil mused, “I never thought I’d see the day you weren’t leading your friends into some kind of trouble.”

“I’m old. I’m old and it shows, even in this body.”

“Are there any side effects from The Jewel showing?” Telgil asked as he shifted the topic of conversation.

Helsket regarded Mikel who snorted a breath, tossed fitfully, and missed knocking over his mug of drink only because Helsket snatched it away at the last second.

He peered into the depths of the mug and raised his eyebrows.

“No wonder he’s asleep. He drank almost the whole thing.”

Telgil smiled, “I did warn him about drinking too much too fast. At any rate, he probably needed the rest.”

Helsket quirked his eyebrows and sighed before dumping the remnants of Mikel’s drink into his.

“Side effects. What are you thinking?” Helsket asked.

Telgil tapped the table before nodding, “Has he had any strange visions or… sensations?”

“Not that I know of. He seems… Distant at times, but I chalked that up to him thinking. He reminds me a lot of his mother sometimes, and gets the same far-off look in his eyes as she did when she was digging at a problem.”

“You’d know it - I’m sure. The signs aren't subtle. If he hasn’t started showing signs yet, he will soon. It all depends on how long The Jewel remains in one’s possession and how often they use it.”

“He can’t use it,” Helsket mumbled, “He might be able to use Martial Skills one day, but he’s bunk with Immaterial Skills. I was under the impression that you had to have access to Essentia to use The Jewel.”

“From my understanding, that is correct,” Telgil said as he stood. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later and a quarter of Helsket’s mug gone, Telgil returned to the room with the still black glass box in hand.

Before he took his seat he set the object in front of Helsket and regarded it as someone might regard a snake.

“It wasn’t supposed to do that?” Helsket gestured towards the darkness within the Omniat box.

Telgil took his chair and shook his head, “No. And it should have returned to its base state by now. The fact that the Omniat didn’t disengage from the walls of its cell worries me. I looked over the appropriate texts and there is no mention of this sort of thing happening. Not even back in the First War between our people and The Sunken Folk.”

Helsket whistled, “Well - that is a doozy then. That’s a long time back… With a lot of very important stuff happening between then and now. If your books don’t say anything about this happening, then it surely can’t happen.”

“Are you being facetious? I think you’re being facetious,” Telgil glared evenly at Helsket, “You know I hate it when you do that.”

“Want to fight about it?” Helsket lifted his fists and squared them up, raising them tantalizingly.

Telgil put his hands up, but with palms out, “No. No - not here. Not in my home. This is a place of rest… Not rough-housing.”

“Your loss,” Helsket said with a shrug, “I guess we’ll just have to sit here and stare at the impossible box between the two of us. You know, the box that shouldn’t exist.”

“I hate you.”

Helsket made a kissing noise at his friend before taking a small sip of the liquor.