Chapter 21 (1/2)

I got home a little after six that afternoon, and nothing noteworthy happened until just after nine. I did my usual things in the meantime; I checked the Celestial Hub for anything urgent, then I read Judy's latest report from the library while I worked out. I was a fan of multitasking. It contained a lot of new and interesting things about the underground politics and treaties defining the areas of influence of the different factions. Nothing caught my interest in particular, so once I finished reading I took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and I had dinner.

I was getting ready for another uneventful evening filled with research and maybe just a bit of leisure time when my phone rang. To my surprise, I found it to be a call from Snowy of all people. Now that was unusual. She seldom called me, and her doing so right after we talked about her with Josh hit me as just a smidgen too convenient for my taste. Nevertheless, I picked it up with a smile.

”Good evening, Snowy.”

”Leo!” The sense of urgency in the whisper coming from the other end of the line made my expression wither at once. ”I don't know how long we can talk. Listen.”

”Is there a prob—”

”Whatever happens,” she interrupted me. Her voice sounded more and more frantic by the word. ”You have to promise me that whatever happens, you stay indoors! Did you hear me? Stay indoors and stay away from the school no matter what!”

”I don't—”

”Just promise me. Please...”

I hesitated only for a moment.

”Sure, I promise, but only if you tell me what's going on.”

”I can't. I'm sorry Leo, but I can't. If I told you—”

There was a sound in the background, some kind of commotion, and before I could say anything else, the line was abruptly cut. I stared at the phone in my hand for several long seconds, my mind desperately running through the possible scenarios.

The stupor only lasted for a moment. Whatever the hell was happening, Snowy was in trouble. Her final words said it all. While she couldn't finish her sentence, I was fairly certain I could.

”'If I told you, you wouldn't promise me to stay away...'” I mumbled as I pocketed my phone while my legs were already carrying me towards the entrance. I hastily slipped into the black long coat I left on the hanger by the door and left the house as fast as my legs could carry me through the chilly darkness of the early night.

I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated on her image. I didn't have time for a full Far Sight gaze, as it would've interfered with my running, so I only used it to ascertain what I was already certain of. Snowy and her brother were in the school for some reason. Also, there was another ‘dot' in their company, which signified someone else I knew. It only took me a second to figure out who that was, and I almost stumbled and fell over in my rush as the realization hit me: They had Josh with them.

I dispelled the Far Sight, and once the disorientation died down, I gathered my wits and continued running, only to slow down a few seconds later when the phone began ringing in my pocket. I took it out and checked the caller ID. I hoped it was Snowy and this was all just a misunderstanding, but the call was coming from Angie instead. I accepted it and raised it to my ear as I began moving again.

”Leo, there's trouble!”

”Tell me about it,” I answered flatly. She probably didn't notice the sarcasm, as she did just that.

”There was a commotion next door! I went over and Josh is missing! Someone kidnapped him through the first-floor window! I tried to follow after them, but I lost their trail!”

”They are at the school,” I told her in a calm, level voice. Well, calm and level considering the circumstances at least. I've read somewhere that the best way to keep people from panicking is to talk to them in a firm tone, and while I wasn't happy about the opportunity to try the advice in practice, I didn't have much to lose.

”The school? How do you...?”

”Yeah. He is there with Snowy and her brother.”

”What? Why?”

”I have no idea, but I'm already on my way. Call the others, I'll meet you there when—”

The words got trapped in my throat as I was hit by a sudden premonition of danger. Maybe it was a flicker of a movement I caught in the corner of my eye or a scent or I don't know what, but it clearly told me running ahead was a bad idea, so I came to a stumbling halt a couple of blocks away from the school.

Whatever that forewarning was, it was proven correct a second later when a huge body fell seemingly from the sky and landed a couple of meters ahead of me. With a distinct chill running down my spine I noted that, if I didn't stop, I would have been standing well within his arm's reach.

The hazy form of the now-familiar Faun rose to his feet with a deep, primal grunt. A moment later the indistinct black miasma surrounding him dissipated without a sound as well, allowing me to look at him without any obstructions. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but he looked even bigger than before, and he was carrying a large spear as tall as he was with a flat, rhomboid head and a strange crisscross pattern running down its black shaft. He wore only a pitch-black metallic breastplate for protection, but no other armor, showing off his muscular arms and legs for all to see.

”Oh, crap...”

My mind locked up for a moment as Snowy's warning about staying indoors finally hit home, but I was just as quickly shaken out of my shock when I remembered I was still on the phone with Angie. The Faun didn't seem to be attacking just yet, but a single look at his softly smoldering orange eyes told me he was looking at me intently, probably searching for an opening. While a part of me said this was a perfectly good time to scream like a little girl and run away, another, more insistent part told me that the best course of action was to stay calm and appear confident. I've already met with this Faun before and he did not attack me. It was unwise to give him an excuse to do so now.

As such, I raised the phone back to my ear and tried to sound as composed as I could manage.

”Sorry, I ran into a bit of an obstacle. I might be a little late. You can start without me.”

”What? What obstacle? Leo, what are you—?”

I ended the call and casually slid the phone back into my pocket before facing the huge humanoid creature in front of me with a neutral expression. I kicked my brain into overdrive to remember everything I could about Fauns.

They were big and strong. Well duh, I could tell that just by looking.

They were brutish and barely sentient. Well, that was bullshit. I've already seen this one talking with Crowey, and he seemed intelligent enough to appreciate irony, which already made him smarter than some people I knew.

They attacked in packs. That was a bit of info I had gotten from the Dracis library, and one that could've been useful... except this guy was obviously alone now as well as every single time we met before. Or at least so I hoped. Not that knowing that there might be multiple extras hiding in the bushes would've made my chances any better or worse.

So, in conclusion, I apparently knew less than nothing. I took a deep breath and after a half-second of hesitation, I decided to do what I was best at and wing it, sink or swim.

”[I wish you an evening most auspicious,]” I called out to him genially, though I might've raised my voice a bit too much, as it made my throat tingle.

I knew that he could understand what I said, which made his reaction to my greeting even more unexpected. He lowered his head a little, his ears twitching, and his lips parted in a wide smile that revealed two rows of surprisingly white ivory. Even more surprising was his voice, which sounded just like a series of low, throaty grunts yet it also sounded like perfectly legible English at the same time.

”[You speak our language, and thine command of it is respectable indeed. A truly pleasant surprise.]”

I cocked my head to the side and answered, ”[I have yet to commune with one of your kin in person, so please exonerate any and all oblivious mistakes.]”

Well, that's what I said, but only because that was all that came to mind as my brain was frantically trying to reconcile with the fact that I wasn't speaking English. In fact, I was speaking the same language as the Faun, whatever the hell that was, without even noticing it. What came out of my throat was a series of low grunts that weren't even in the same ballpark as English syntax, yet somehow my brain interpreted them before I even had the chance to think about the sounds. Did that mean I was a native in Faun-ish? Maybe I was, before my amnesia, and it only came to light now because I was talking to one of them? What other languages was I fluent in? Was I even speaking English with the others all this time? What if the official language of the island was pig latin and I haven't even realized it? There were a lot of things I really wanted to test, but this was obviously not the time, considering I was still engaged in conversation with a creature that could probably bench-press a truck and snap me like a twig at the same time.

Speaking of him, the Faun's smile widened even further at my previous comment.

”[Thine person never fails to surprise me, young one. This only one truly wishes we could have met under different stars.]”

”[How so? Would you be so generous to enlighten me of our current circumstances?]”

The smile vanished from his peculiarly shaped face and was replaced with a grim scowl.

”[I am under direct orders from my liege to...]” He paused, his brows twisting like he just tasted something sour. ”[...end you.]”

That was bad. Like, ridiculously, soul-crushingly bad. I mean, I knew he had those orders, but I hoped against hope that he was on his day off and we only met by accident while he was on his way back from grocery shopping or something. I took a silent gulp and kept my voice calm as I returned to the conversation.

”[An assassin then.]”

The light in his eyes flared up like two tiny furnaces as his lips parted again, this time in an angry snarl.

”[Thou stand before Brang Shadowfeet, scion of Malrog Silvereyes, scout-general of the Faun Innana! I am no lowly knife in the dark!]”

Even though I tried to stay calm and wear a neutral face, I flinched at his outburst. That was an unexpectedly angry reaction, exactly the thing I wanted to avoid. That was bad. However, he wasn't mad at me per se. That was... less bad. Hey, I take my silver linings where I can find them, thank you very much.

More importantly, did I just detect a touch of wounded pride in there? What did that tell me? That he didn't want to act like a killer. He showed himself to me even though he could have landed right on top of me and pulverized me into the sidewalk. Yet he didn't. Why? Maybe because... it wouldn't have been fair? That revelation opened a floodgate of ideas.

The Faun were warriors in the service of the Abyssals. Even if everything else I learned about them was hogwash, of this I was certain. An entire race of warriors. That was the key. There was a character type I stumbled upon during my ‘research' called the Proud Warrior Race Guy. As the name suggests, it refers to a character who is culturally conditioned to be a warrior. Pursuit of glory, honor, epic battles and all that crap were the things that made these guys tick.

Now, while simply stereotyping the Faun in front of me like that might not have been nice, if I took a step back and focused on the idea that this was a narrative that certainly used these tropes, his behavior started to make a modicum of sense. There was only one question left hanging: Could I use this tenuous deduction to my advantage? There was only one way to find out.

I took a deep breath while I casually pocketed my hands and took up a relaxed stance. I was hoping he would consider this a sign of nonaggression. It must have worked, as the Faun's expression softened and he swiveled his short, horse-like ears with evident curiosity.

I let out the air in my lungs in a slow stream as I decided on my approach. First, I had to find out whether my hunch was correct. I had to establish whether he was indeed an honorable warrior. As such my first target was his pride.

”[You are the scout-general?]” I spoke with a series of grunts that I subconsciously recognized as a more casual dialect. ”[Isn't pursuing unarmed prey below one such as you?]”

I had no idea if it was or not, but I had to give it a try. Brang let out a low grunt. I couldn't really decide whether that was a good thing or not at first, but then he leaned on his spear and spoke in a softer voice.

”[Aye, it is. But I have no choice. I delayed the inevitable, but alas, I can delay no more.]”

I could see him shift his weight on his spear, which could have meant many things. Just in the off-chance that it was in preparation of lunging at me and impaling my spleen on a pointy piece of metal I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, just to keep the conversation rolling.

”[But a scout-general? Truly? I find it hard to determine whether I should feel honored or affronted.]” That made him pause and raise an eyebrow, a very human gesture that looked subtly wrong on his face. I gulped very, very quietly before I continued. ”[I presumed—]” I paused for a moment as I struggled to get the word ‘Crowey' across, but in the end, I had to settle for, ”[... the crow-haired one would face me on his own. I must assume his cowardice overshadows even the wildest of my imagination.]”

That was another calculated gamble. Insulting his ‘liege' or whatever could have easily goaded him into attacking, but at the same time, I knew that there was no love lost between the two. If I could play whatever sense of honor and/or pride he had against Crowey, I figured (or rather hoped) it would take me one step closer to getting away from this encounter with my skin still draped over my everything. I kind of preferred it that way.

There was a tense couple of seconds there, but my bet ultimately paid off.

”[It is not my place to speak ill of my liege...]”

I couldn't keep the smile off my face if I tried. With this, I already had my foot in the door. I just needed to wedge it open a bit more.

”[Even though you cannot deny my words ring with truth.]”

”[Thou art...]” Brang paused meaningfully. ”[...not entirely wrong, that much is certain.]”

”[So we are in agreement that he is a sniveling coward who can't even make an effort to fulfill his own obligations.]”

”[... Maybe not in so many words.]”

”[Please, general,]” I shook my head. ”[It's only the two of us; there is no need to still your tongue.]”

Brang let out a throaty chuckle ending in a sort of snort, another human gesture that felt subtly wrong when performed by a more than two meters tall mountain of muscle with a ram's head.

”[Aye, you are very much correct, but I don't see how that changes what we both know must happen.]”

”[I fail to see the inevitability in our situation. Following your orders would tarnish your honor.]”

”[Aye, but shrinking from my duty would do so as well.]”

I opened my mouth to retort but then closed it as my brain caught up with the train on logic and I raised a finger to stall the conversation for a second.

”[Please wait, allow me to ponder whether I understand this situation,]” I spoke, partially just to keep the chills from running down my spine. ”[You do not wish to fight me. I do not wish to fight you. Not only that, I cannot afford to fight you either, as my comrade is in danger and might be in dire need of my assistance. However, you cannot afford not to fight me, or it would damage your honor. But fighting me would also damage your honor.]” I paused and gave Brang a questioning look. He nodded, apparently satisfied with my brief summary of the situation. ”[So... maybe it is only my incomplete understanding, so correct me if I am wrong, but no matter what we do, we both lose.]”

I didn't want to mention that at least one of the outcomes would lead to me losing more than something as nebulous as ‘honor', but I decided it was neither the place nor the time to discuss the relative worth of my life compared to the principles of the gigantic half-animal warrior.

Brang inclined his head to the side in an angle and let out a short puff of breath through his nose, a gesture which I presumed was a stifled chuckle of some sort.

”[Indeed. A major predicament, I must say.]”

”[It is. So... this might be just a stray idea, but would it be possible for us to pretend we never saw each other? You could hardly lose honor over a fight that never happened, and I...]” I paused as I noticed the disapproving frown on Brang's brows. I drew in a sharp breath and quickly shook my head. ”[On second thought, please forget I said that. Such deception isn't very honorable either.]”

The frown immediately melted from the face of the Faun and got replaced with yet another of those unnervingly wide smiles of his. Backpedaling: successful. It was a little silly in retrospect, I should've already figured that whatever these guys considered to be honorable was internalized enough that it no longer needed public scrutiny to work. So long as it would go against his code, he would refuse it even if no one else would ever know about the transgression.

I clicked my tongue in irritation. Normally I would have considered my opponent adhering to a code of honor to be an advantage for me, as it would make them predictable. Sadly, not knowing about the actual tenets of the code turned that advantage upside down, as I had no idea what he would consider acceptable or not.

I pondered for a moment, during which Brang patiently observed me.

”[I am drawing a blank,]” I told him, though the actual wording was a little different in Faun-ish. Something about white rabbits. Slang didn't seem to translate particularly well. Anyways, I decided upon another gamble. ”[I don't see a way we can walk away from this without a confrontation.]”

”[Indeed,]” he nodded, but didn't change his relaxed stance. He obviously expected me to continue, so I silently cleared my throat and dusted off my best smile.

”I have just one question: does our confrontation necessarily have to be physical?”

Brang's eyes opened wide as a mirthful laugh escaped his lips, taking me completely aback for a moment.

”[Hah! I was afraid you might never ask! But let me ask thou before we begin, as it is tradition:]” It was his turn to clear his throat, after which his voice somehow managed to become even deeper and more booming. It was like listening to a landslide in motion. ”[Tell me whelp, are you ready to test yourself against your better in the Rites of Dominance?]”

I froze up for a moment. I was thinking more along the lines of a contest, like rock-paper-scissors or riddling or something. Instead, I found myself being challenged to... well, something I had no idea about. My hesitation only lasted a second. I didn't have the luxury to refuse the challenge, so I promptly nodded. Sink or swim.

”[Aye?]”

My opponent let out a bellowing belly laugh that shook his armor and had the short braids of his mane tumbling around his massive shoulders.

”[Very well, young one!]” He declared as he lowered his stance, sparking a moment of apprehension in me.