Vainglory 1.4 - Stargazing

Hi everyone - I'll probably post a couple more of these today. I'm curious how the pacing feels. Is it too slow? Am I dumping too much info? Are you still interested and want to read more, or isn't it hooking you?

Thanks for all your help :)

-Plum

4 – Stargazing

Ward looked around the little clearing, a space of soft, new grass surrounded by tall, slender saplings, and nodded. “Yeah, this should do.”

“Get yourself a good night’s sleep, and we’ll keep hiking tomorrow.” Seemingly following her own advice, Grace delicately settled down on the soft ground and curled up on her side, eyes closed.

“Hey!” Ward shrugged out of the sweaty straps and set the heavy backpack down by his feet. “Don’t go to sleep yet; you owe me some more answers.”

“Oh, brother.” Grace yawned, stretching in a manner reminiscent of a cat, opening her eyes to bare slits, revealing smoldering flames, as she peered through the shadows at Ward. “Can’t it wait for morning? I’ll talk all you want while we hike.”

“Nah.” Ward unfastened the pack and pulled out the heavy, ash-stained woolen blanket he’d noticed earlier. It was clearly something the dead scav had used as a sleeping mat. As he shook it out, he continued, “You keep saying that, but you’re always hiking ahead, or something comes up, and my questions never get fully answered. We’re gonna talk a bit before I sleep.”

“Oh! The assertive Ward has made an appearance.” Grace sat up and smiled. “Okay, I’ll indulge you. What’s on your mind?”

Ward spread the thick blanket on the grass and sat atop it. “Let’s start with this anima BS. I guess I passed your tests, but what’s the point? You said my eyes are glowing,” he held up his hand, “excuse me, shining. What does that mean?”

“It means you managed to absorb some natural anima. Congratulations, you’re a wizard, Ward.”

“Huh?”

Grace laughed and shook her head. “Not really. Well, people who can use anima have gone by all sorts of names—witch, wizard, warlock, magician, magi, sorcerer. Around here, they might go by a different name. I think I remember an elder calling them animancers. Anyway, you get the idea, right? You don’t have enough to do much, and I think you’d kill yourself trying to use the words, but your body will probably make use of the bit you managed to absorb. You might be a little faster or stronger. Maybe you’ll heal better or notice things you couldn’t before. Everyone’s different.”

“Words?”

“The words of power. It’s like a language people have figured out that manipulates the anima inside them and gets it to do things. However, you have to have a strong vessel, er, body, to do much of that. It creates a lot of stress and strain. I doubt your tongue could even shape the right sounds.”

“So . . .”

“So, we need to find some workarounds. As I told you earlier, you need to get some infusions and hope your body responds well. There are other routes we can take, too. I’ve heard stories of people replacing body parts with artifacts infused with anima and carved with the words.”

“Stories?”

“Well, I know it’s hard to fathom, but I’m not as old and wise as I seem. For my kind, I’m pretty young; I haven’t seen much beyond Earth, but I’ve read a lot, and my elders filled me with tales . . .”

“Your elders?”

“Come on, Ward. Keep up! Others of my kind? Older than me? That’s the definition of an elder, right?”

“Jesus, are you always this acerbic?”

“Acerbic! What a doozy! No, not always. I was feeling positively sweet after I saw you pull that anima into yourself earlier.” She leaned closer and smiled, an overtly seductive smile, looking up at him demurely. “Why? You want me to be sweeter?”

“Not a chance.” Ward snorted and lay back, away from her, leaning on one elbow as he grinned. “Think I want a girlfriend who can read my thoughts? Sounds like a nightmare.”

“Who said anything about a girlfriend, killer?” She leaned forward as though to crawl toward him, and Ward held up a foot threateningly.

“Uh-uh. Back off, lady.”

Some long strands of white-blond hair had fallen in front of her eyes, and she blew them aside with a huff, then reclined in the grass on her side, mimicking his posture, facing him from a few feet away. “Fine. Doubt I’d enjoy it, anyway. You know I can’t really read your mind, right? I just notice your loudest, most intrusive thoughts, but only if I’m paying attention. Like right now, you’re wondering, really loudly, if you shouldn’t have rejected me!” She grinned, her white teeth reflecting the moonlight, and Ward snorted.

“Okay, so what’s the deal with that scav with no anima? You said he was soulless?”

“He gave up bits of his soul anima or all of it at once, I’d guess. If you don’t have any soul anima, you don’t accumulate natural anima.”

“When you say accumulate, you don’t mean what I did, right?”

“Right. You were gathering it. Most living things accumulate anima naturally, simply by living in a place where it’s rich. It takes years and years, but over a lifetime, they might release a good amount like that scav under the stones.”

“Lizzy’s brother.”

“If you say so.”

“So, someone like you must have taken that other one’s soul anima?”

“Someone like me? I doubt it. I wouldn’t know what to do with that much soul anima. No, if he gave it up to a single entity, it was something far beyond me.” She frowned and plucked a blade of grass, holding it up before her orange-lit eye. “You have to be careful now that you’re away from Earth, in a place where anima flows freely. There are people and entities in this part of the universe who could really mess you up, my friend. Not just in this life, but the next.”

“The next?”

“Well, if you believe in that sort of thing. Many people speculate that a person’s soul anima is required to bridge the gap between this universe and the next.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t. There are mysteries aplenty left, even for me, Ward.”

“So, did you screw me over? Am I damaged goods now that you took some of my soul anima?”

“I don’t think so. I just took a little. Besides, if you listen to me and improve enough, you can replace it.”

“How?”

“Well, I’m not sure, but I know there are ways. When I was small and still in my nest, er, my home, I learned that some powerful individuals who carried one of my kind were able to provide a steady supply of soul anima, for which they received regular boons. The host and the devil reached a kind of symbiosis. That wouldn’t happen if soul anima weren’t replenishable, right?”

“I hope not.” Ward shifted, leaning back so he could look up at the wild starscape, amazed by the clarity of the big moon’s surface. He was pretty sure he could see the edges of craters. “Anyway, I guess I’d be dead meat if you hadn’t stepped in, so I can’t find it in me to be too pissed about it. By the way, you said ‘devil’ again.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s what a lot of species call us! I’m not like your biblical devil, though, Ward. I promise.”

“Hah, sounds like something the Devil would say.”

“I’m a devil, not ‘the Devil!” she growled.

“Well, let’s see,” Ward began ticking things off on his fingers, “You already told me you ‘don’t feel sympathy,’ you struck a bargain for some of my ‘soul,’ you tried to get me to murder Lizzy, and you’ve admitted that your people are ‘devils.’ Yeah, I’m gonna have to keep my guard up for now, Grace.” He chuckled and rolled over, resting his head on his arm. “Oh! And you’re currently possessing me, and you just tried to seduce me.”

Grace huffed and flopped onto her back, arms folded on her chest. Ward grinned, rather enjoying needling the bossy, strange woman. Despite everything, he felt pretty good, especially physically. If he were honest, he felt better than he could remember feeling. Not a single muscle ached, his head was clear, and, for the first time in a while, he didn’t have any acid reflux while trying to fall asleep. More than that, the air was cool and refreshing, and he was exceedingly comfortable as he lay there in his raincoat on the woolen blanket.

He mimicked Grace and lay flat his back, continuing to soak in the brilliant expanse of moons, planets, and stars. He’d never seen anything like it, that was for sure. Not even when he was a kid and he’d been out camping. The Milky Way was something else, but this view, with the moons and nearby planets, couldn’t be topped. He watched the blue-green orb of the planet Grace had called Oceana, wondering how far away it was and, if she weren’t lying, how many people were walking around on it right now. As he thought about the people, Ward asked, “Grace?”

“What?” He could tell she wanted to snap at him, but the word didn’t sound terribly angry.

“What was the deal with those scavs? Lizzy? Is that what the people on this planet look like?”

“I don’t know, Ward. I’m operating on stories and texts I’ve read. I don’t think so, but it’s possible. It doesn’t matter, anyway, because people from all kinds of worlds will be here. At least, that’s what I’m betting.”

“Did you ever go anywhere other than Earth?”

“Only my home.” She sighed, and her words were soft and quiet as she continued. “I was pretty young when I got my first contract. An Englishman named Hamlin managed to muster up the anima required to make contact. He wanted to make a bargain with one of my kind and offered up a piece of his soul anima. Of course, I never saw any of it.My . . . uncle, I guess, is the best way to describe him, took the soul anima and made me fulfill the bargain. I didn’t want to go ‘cause I knew I’d be stuck on Earth for at least as long Hamlin lived there. Back then, I didn’t know how to open any portals, and even if I did, Hamlin gave up most of his soul anima in the bargain. Anyway, I was chosen, and I couldn’t say no—didn’t have the clout, so to speak.”

“That sounds like a raw deal.”

“It was, but I’m stronger now. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had five hosts since then, not including you, and some of them gained access to very interesting texts. I took my due in soul anima from most of them, though never as much as Hamlin gave up to my . . . uncle.”

“Your hosts all died?”

“Yes, though I’ll have you know it wasn’t because of my failings. Hamlin died in a pistol duel, Verity of heart failure, Thurstan, Royce, and Philippe all died in wars, and, well, you know what happened to Christina.”

“Christina? That’s the woman Lafferty had tied up? She didn’t die, right?”

“No, she’s alive, though probably furious to find me gone.”

“Does it hurt?”

“What?” She finally turned to face him again, those bright eyes shining in the darkness.

“Losing a host. I know you told me you don’t feel sympathy for . . .”

“I should never have said that! You’ll hold it over my head, won’t you?” Again, she sighed heavily. “I never liked Hamlin. He was a vile man who did vile things, and I was forced into my contract with him. I celebrated when he died.” She grew quiet for a moment, but her eyes still faced him, still smoldered in the shadows where she lay on the grass. “I was bodiless for a long time after he died. There aren’t many people on Earth who know how to reach out to form contracts with those like me. Fewer now than ever despite the massive increase in population. Anyway, some tried, but I rejected them. I didn’t want to ride another monster like Hamlin. Then Verity came along, and, well, she was an altogether different type of person. I mourned her death, Ward.”

“What . . .”

“I don’t want to talk about my hosts anymore. Not tonight.”

“Fair enough.” Ward was about to broach a new subject when he saw, on the distant horizon, a slow, smoldering ember lift from the planet’s surface and streak upward, almost like it was flying straight toward the moon. He watched it, breathless for a long moment, then said, “Is that a goddamn spaceship?”

Grace rolled to her other side so she could see what he was talking about, and then he heard her quiet reply, “A living ship. See the way the flames are tinted magenta? The gas they expel from their bladders burns that color.”

“Living ship?”

“I’ve heard about them. They use anima to bridge interstellar space, tunneling through it, almost like a portal.”

“But they’re ships?”

“Well, not naturally.” Grace turned back to him as the ship’s fiery glow grew smaller and smaller, just a tiny spark now. “They’re animals, or beings, maybe. I don’t know how intelligent they are. They can be tamed or befriended or something like that, and then people can kind of build a ship around them. Like, imagine a gondola on an elephant or a boat cabin atop a whale.”

“Crazy.”

“The wider universe is full of wonder. It’s one of the reasons I took a gamble and jumped out of Christina to save your life.”

“Well, that, and you tricked me out of a piece of my soul.” Ward chuckled, folding his hands under his head as he savored the fresh, cool air and stared into the blue light of the biggest moon.

Grace’s voice was small when she said, “I hadn’t had any soul anima for nearly three decades. Christina barely gave me any when we struck our bargain; she . . . was damaged and cast off by another devil. Before her, I hadn’t had any since I tried to save Royce in Vietnam . . .”

“The war?” Ward interrupted, shifting to look at Grace more closely. “Damn, how old are you, anyway?”

“Centuries! But time is different for me when I’m not in a host. It doesn’t feel like I’m that old.”

“Well, you sure don’t look old.”

“Oh, brother. Get with it, Ward! I’m not a physical being! Hah! Do you think they had hairstyles like this in the tenth century? Suits like this? I look how I want to look.”

“Tenth . . .”

“That’s when I was forced into the bargain with Hamlin.” She flopped back and groaned. “Ugh! I didn’t want to get into all this with you. I think your soul anima is affecting me. They say it can do that. I swear, I never talked this much with my other hosts. Well, that’s not true. Verity and I spoke for hours and hours.” Her voice had grown wistful. Ward watched her for a minute, then turned to his side and closed his eyes. He wasn’t trying to sleep, just rest his eyes and take a minute to think about everything he’d learned, but sleep had other plans, and it grabbed him, pulling him down into a deep, dream-filled slumber.