The Edge Of Destiny

CHAPTER TWO Elders Meeting

CHAPTER TWO

Elders MeetingPresent Day, Italy

Elder Ordway stood in her white pant suit and blood red pumps – made, coincidentally, at a factory just a hundred miles away in Le Marche. Her feet hurt like hell, climbing all those stairs up to the palazzo, but Elder Zamma had made it impossible to use magic to approach his former lair.

She'd been watching from a distance. His palazzo was a palatial estate on the Amalfi Italian coast. Expensive, private. Ordway was surprised there were no guards and few defenses left. Just old magic fading after Zamma's death. He also had that weird aversion to elevators, so the gruesome climb up all the marble stairs was unnecessarily exhausting. Ordway promised herself she'd have an underling massage her feet after this meeting was done.

It still stinks of him, she thought. She stood at the massive door, scanning for traps. Inside, his sanctum. He had been, perhaps, the most cunning of them. She repeated words of power in her mind, scanning the nearly invisible bonds of magic for any last traps. She spotted the swatch of color over the door as she felt a new presence behind her.

“Well?” spoke Sorrento, as though he'd been present the entire time. She didn't give him the satisfaction of whirling around. He was safely five feet behind her by the stairs. No knives in the back, yet. Plus, it was Sorrento. Not much to worry about.

“Still sneaking up, I see,” said Ordway. “Of course, at your height, how could anyone see you coming?”

“Short jokes, really?” He looked down at his own short frame, “You know I've always hated this body, but your jibes don't penetrate. Let me through, I'll scan for traps.” Sorrento produced a curious object from his coat pocket of his custom-tailored suit. She wondered briefly if they had the same tailor. The object resembled a screwdriver and glowed green.

“Oh Sorrento, watching Doctor Who again? You and your gadgets. Just focus the magic yourself.” She smiled. “Did you come here in a red telephone box, as well?”

“It is a blue police box now, troglodyte. My device focuses magic in ways you couldn't even understand.” His device made no sound, glowing the same eerie green. He put his gadget away. “All clear, no traps.”

“Are you sure?” asked Ordway as she reached up into the air above the door. She pulled the swatch of color off the elaborate door casement.

Sorrento shrieked.

Ordway pushed the large door open with magic, then flung the splotch of color into the room, like a scoop of muddy snow. It tumbled onto the floor, getting caught on the carpet.

The wash of color laid like a pile of jelly until an arm popped out, then a leg. The wad of colorful jelly flopped over and was soon in the form of a tall man. He wore board shorts and a flowery Hawaiian shirt.

“Hahahahah,” the man rolled on the carpet, as he reformed into himself.

Sorrento sniffed. “Yarro. Why is that funny?”

“You shrieked!” said Yarro, laughing through his thick gray beard. “It's a wonder you both survived this long. I was above you the whole time.”

“I saw you the minute I arrived. Hard to miss that… whatever that is on your body.”

He indicated his colorful shirt. “Gotta stay comfortable.” Elder Yarro was still on the rug where he'd landed. “Nice rug. I might take this. Feels Persian, maybe Kazak?” He rolled onto his side, eyeing Ordway. “Care for a quick roll on the rug? Been a long time.”

Ordway rolled her eyes. “Last time I was a man and you were a woman, as I recall. Eons ago.”

“How do we know you aren't a trap, Yarro?” said Sorrento.

Yarro rolled his eyes this time. “Ever to the point, Sorrento. We are at war, granted. This is a peace conference. Relax.” Yarro rose and made his way to the desk by the window, a mess of papers and ruined books. “Besides, if it was a trap, you'd be dead. But you're not, so let's cut the crap.”

“Let's,” echoed Ordway.

Sorrento entered the room fully, still looking around as if there may be a hidden surprise. He surveyed a curious full-length mirror on the far wall with a few cracks in it. Yarro took a seat at the desk, and Ordway took off her shoes and sat on an antique couch, French, Louis the IV, she guessed.

“So, here we are,” said Yarro, “the last three Elders.”

“That we know of,” added Sorrento.

“You mean, the weak-willed Amartus elders? They are dead and gone,” Yarro said, riffling through papers. “Not many Amartus warriors left, either, by my count.”

“Oh? And how do we know?” said Sorrento, surveying the far side of the room. “Even the Sect won't say where things stand.”

Ordway clicked on her phone. “Talk to the Sect much, do you? What do you think happened here?” she asked, gesturing around the ransacked room. “If you'll notice, not much left of value.”

Sorrento had noticed. “You think so? But, the Sect are neutral. They can't!”

“I saw a disciple after he'd murdered his elder Zamma and stolen his power.” Ordway rose from the couch. “It's a new world, my friend. Things may be changing.”

“Friend? How can you forget we are at war?” Sorrento pulled out his device, but before he could wield it, Ordway used her power. A wall of water erupted out of nowhere, crashing over Sorrento and knocking the device and him across the room. Sorrento got to his feet soggily, the water soaking him, the bulk of the wave disappeared from whence it came.

Ordway stood on her bare feet, ready to defend or attack.

The Palazzo shook with a voice like an Olympian god, “ENOUGH!”

The mini earthquake caused Ordway to stumble over. Sorrento swayed and turned to Yarro.

Yarro's power echoed away and the room stopped shaking. “Now, that's better. We are here to decide what comes next. Forget the war.”

“Forget?” growled Sorrento.

“For now! Elder Zamma has been killed. His disciples, the brothers, have been killed. Because of Elder Ordway, we know there are at least five new players on the board.”

Ordway nodded. “Yes. A new break out. I'm sure of it. And Pentoss is back, out of hiding.”

Yarro laughed. “Of course he is. With Zamma gone, why not? He doesn't have an elder hunting him.”

“No,” Ordway said, “now he'll have three.”

Yarro smiled, leaned back in the desk chair, hands behind his head. “I suppose. That's what we're here to decide.”

No one spoke.

Yarro looked between them. “Well, we are palavering, so palaver. Ideas on strategy?”

Sorrento retrieved his device. “It's obvious. Attack with all we have. They are five. We are the Rageto. We are legion.”

“Are you, Sorrento?” said Yarro. “Not what I hear. How many warriors do you have? Twenty? Less?”

“More than you, I hear,” Sorrento said grimly. “Want to find out?”

“Ugg,” said Yarro. “This is why we never get together. Pissing contests! We are elders, not children. We have not lived all of these lives, been born into this power to simply bicker. Yes, we war on each other. It is in our nature. Time to change.”

“What do you suggest, oh great Elder Hawaiian shirt?” mocked Ordway.

Yarro came around the front of the desk. “The Amartus is weak. Their annoying dagger in our side is almost gone forever. The River seems to be flowing with us and not against us.”

“For now,” Sorrento huffed. “Until it changes its mind.”

“Yes, the ways of the River are mysterious. We are not meant to know… blah, blah, blah…” Yarro stroked his beard. “We need a final blow. The Amartus Elders are gone, their warriors have dwindled. We wipe these new children out, and we win.”

“Then begin fighting each other for eternity.” Sorrento suggested.

Ordway said quietly, “Oh no, surely not that long.”

Yarro walked down the steps to join the others. “Don't you see? The River is giving us a clear sign, for once. Not war. Instead, it is time for us to finally unite.”

“Unite our power? How would that work?” Ordway motioned to the three of them. “We hate each other.”

“We compete with each other. I don't hate either of you,” said Yarro, with his palms up, as if in peace.

“Oh no, I hate Ordway.” Sorrento pointed.

“Feeling's mutual,” she gave a little mocking wave.

“Think! Look at this room. Zamma's other disciples have scattered, ready to rally to a new Elder.”

Ordway thought, Oh, I know where a few are stashed. I've almost worked out how he did it.

“The Sect may be a problem,” said Sorrento, indicating the ransacked room. “They have finally shed that annoying pretense of neutrality.”

Ordway reasoned. “But that's good. They are just inferiors, after all, scribbling in their little books. There is less check on our power, or even better, if they have chosen sides, they are now fair game.”

“Out with it! What do you propose?” said Sorrento.

Yarro regarded him silently. He took a step closer to Sorrento. Then another.

Sorrento wiped his brow. “Respectfully, Elder Yarro.”

“That's better. We have two choices. One – attack these five new ones. Problem? They killed the brothers, one of which had all of Zamma's powers. None of us liked the monster, but we all knew his power. Plus, even Elder Ordway had to escape them.”

“Retreat,” corrected Ordway.

“Retreat. Yes, of course.” Yarro put out his hand, respectfully. “Nothing wrong with that. But, Ordway, no matter what body you are in, I know your power, too. If you had to retreat, that gives me pause.”

“I had to.” She'd been saving this bit of news for just such a meeting: “They linked.”

“No!” shouted Sorrento.

“Yes! They linked as we have all dreamed of doing, like the old stories. They became one, like one warrior with all the powers shared.”

Yarro's brow furrowed. “You didn't mention that alarming detail.”

“Wait, you two spoke before this?” Sorrento began. “I thought…”

Yarro put up a dismissive hand. “Briefly, on the phone, as we all did. Ordway also said they had the power of flight.”

That forced Sorrento to fall into the nearest chair. “Flight? I… I had no idea.”

“That's because we don't talk to each other,” said Yarro, standing between the two. “Always fighting, angling. Now we must take a lesson from these children. We can't link our powers, but we can join forces.”

“That was the first option. What was the second?”

“Well, that's where it gets interesting. Instead of an overt offensive, I have some other ideas.”

“Let's hear it,” said Ordway.

Then, Elder Yarro laid out his multi-fronted plan of attack to wipe them all out of existence.