Mammatus Study

  “That wasn’t exactly to plan, was it?”

  Responding to Terius, Sanne answers, “No.”

  Vania adds, “Not exactly.”

  Holstering his firearm, “I can’t stick around to clean up this mess. Can you two handle it?”

  Vania speaking with a confidence she doesn’t feel, “This will be no problem, go and have your fun.”

  Looking up at the broken skylights, Terius backflips skyward, and shoots feet first through the opening above.

  Vania watches Terius go and waits a heartbeat before turning her attention to the problem at hand.

  “Sanne, gather the students and faculty. We’re going to need everyone for this job or it’s going to turn our home to dust.”

  Knowing not to question a master, Sanne takes aim at the bell on the third floor near the headmaster’s office used to summon students for all-hands assemblies. Not knowing the code for mysterious black substance eating school, come at once; she settles for ringing the bell wildly non-stop with rapid jerks of kinetic applied to the pull rope.

  The students and masters pour out of their quarters in a state of confusion. They were directed to wait in their rooms until an all-clear signal sounds; this is not an all clear signal.

  Decorum and etiquette are pushed aside as students and masters leap from their landings into the courtyard below.

  Master Bailey is the first to arrive at Vania Adara’s side, “What the situation?”

  “Our plan hit a snag. The spy fled and left us a present. It appears to be densely compressed time. Anything it envelopes begins to decay at a rapid pace. The basement and sublevels are dust, luckily rock doesn’t age fast, or we’d all be dust by now.”

  “Then it’s contained?”

  “No, it’s seeping through cracks, and I am currently blocking four culverts.”

  Closing his eyes to help visualize what he feels, “I feel it, I can press on it the same way I press the singularity to fly.”

  Vania ignores the singularity reference, knowing that it’s unique to her friend’s perception of time and there are more ways to describe time than days in a year.

  She focuses on the important part, “Yes, press on it, find its boundaries and push or pull or whatever you do to gather it back into a tight little ball.”

  Master Bailey gets the idea, “I think that will work. I’ll relay your instructions to everyone. I hope we have enough manpower to pull this off.”

  Vania smirks, “We might hold them back from flying, but they all learn fast traveling, that should give them enough skill for this task.”

  Jayden Bailey doesn’t wait for her to finish before turning to address a pair of senior students and tells them what must be done.

  After slapping hands in excitement, they in turn relay the information to others and join Master Adara and Bailey with their effort to contain the entropic pool below.

  Sanne, having finished ringing the alarm, caught enough information to know what to do, unlike Master Bailey she has no idea how this will help, “What exactly are we doing?”

  Baily glances at Sanne to make sure that wasn’t rhetorical before explaining, “This is something new to all of us, but Master Robles gave us all the knowledge we need to handle it. That black goo appears to be concentrated time made tangible. I can only think of two ways to disable it, dilution, or removal.

  “Dilution is too dangerous; so we’re going to remove it by returning it back where it came from.”

  Sanne incredulous, “But that would be outside the physical universe! How can that even be possible?”

  “Because it’s here. There must be a way to return it. Paras had a lot of theories about time, this substance supports the proof of one of them. We can discuss it later if you like, things are about to get fun.

  “Hey! Stop throwing study property into the goo!”

  Kids being kids, when they were told anything that falls into the goo will turn to dust, all immediately felt the need to put that assertion to a test. Chairs, plates, shoes, miscellaneous debris, whatever was at hand was raining down steadily to the cheers of the gathered crowd.

  As Master Bailey’s instructions circulated through the crowd, the steady stream of falling items lessoned, until finally everyone was cooperating and following his instructions.

  The combined pressure of more than a hundred minds begins to have an effect on the troublesome concentration of time. As it shrinks, it begins to accumulate mass, and where there is mass, time slows. Little by little it becomes less destructive as it is drawn upward and forms a sphere.

  Now three yards in diameter, it floats in the courtyard above the hole to the sublevel. As Master Adara and Bailey expected, the pull of gravity becomes stronger, observable by the dust drawn towards the destructive black construct.

  “Keep compressing it students, you’re doing great! But be ready, things are about to get chaotic!”

  Compressing the sphere further increases its density by magnitudes. The pull of gravity is strong enough to draw the smaller students towards its deadly depths.

  Master Bailey shouts new instructions, “Split your efforts between containment and fast traveling around the sphere. Do not try to push directly away, or you will fall directly into the sphere. Everyone, move at walking speed in a counter-clockwise circle around the sphere. Do not push directly away.”

  As the students and masters rotate around the sphere it continues to shrink, as it shrinks the speed in which they travel increases.

  Students that have never flown find themselves in a tight, fast-moving orbit. Collison’s are inevitable, Master Bailey’s unique ability to sense potential energy in an area heads off the worst of them by nudging the orbits of the rotating students higher.

  “Hold steady, keep pushing. If shell theory holds, we can compress this until it is dense enough to punch a hole in space and return to the singularity.”

  Master Bailey, Black Hill, and Adara keep themselves separate and use their skill at flying to bob back and forth instead of circling.

  Shouting over the whoops and cheers of the flying students, Jayden cautions his fellow masters, “Be ready, when this thing disappears, we are going to have close to a hundred living projectiles hurtling towards the study walls.”

  Master Bailey feels every potential impact in the courtyard. He alone will be able to know which student will strike the walls first and is ready to save them, but he’ll need help.

  “The older students should be ok, they’ll either, stop themselves of bank the impact. It’s our job to protect the younger students that may not be able to help themselves.”

  Suddenly without warning, the sphere which had shrunk to half a yard, simply disappears. Ninety-six students are suddenly flung in every compass direction as the object they were orbiting ceases to exist.

  Jayden, having sped his thoughts tenfold, feels dozens of impending impacts. Reaches out with his spirits intent and siphons off what he feels to be ninety percent. Each student he reaches is slowed from a terminal velocity of 120-miles per hour to approximately five miles an hour. Most of them are able to land safely. Master’s Adara and Black Hill cushion the impact of the ones that don’t.

  In a matter of two seconds, all is still, and the black pool of entropy is gone.

  The students erupt in cheers and laughter as adrenaline continues to fuel their emotions.

  Master Black Hill wastes no time, “Excellent work everybody. I need twelve cleaning crews of six each, who are my volunteers?”

  Gwynnies Book Store, Brass

  Gwynn felt the approaching storm, as sure as if there was a massive drop in atmospheric pressure. This isn’t a storm though; this will be much worse. The novice she left in Mammatus, the novice that is not supposed to leave Mammatus without orders, has come unbidden. Nothing good can come from such disobedience.

  Announcing loudly to her two customers, “I’m sorry, but I must close shop early today. Take what you must and pay me on your next visit.”

  A duet of thank-you’s is followed by the click of coins dropped on the front counter.

  Curse these people, getting them to indebt themselves is nearly impossible. Why would the Free’er insist everyone be self-sufficient when the clearest way to control them is to put them in debt?

  Hag Gwynn shakes off that thought, he always has a plan and never shares it. Her sight settles off in the distance through the front window where a ghostly pale moon stands out in the clear blue sky. The new one, Malo, is there. She wishes she could be too. What wonders is he seeing?

  A darkness descends on the street outside her window, obstructing the moon, but she still feels the man that must be there. She knows he is the enemy yet takes comfort in his existence.

  Her novice is here and is making an entrance. Literally making an entrance by destroying the front of her shop with a river of entropy. Wood dries, mortar crumbles, glass sags and wilts until it slips free of its frame and shatters on the floor.

  The entropic slime seeps through widening cracks until they widen enough for it to pour through the holes. A human shape appears amidst the dark streams of destruction.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The entire front of her bookstore is now gone, the black crud covering her floor begins to recede and flow back to the open free hand of her novice, Jane. Her other arm is wrapped around the slumped form of a man.

  Gwynn throws a mask around her shop, enhancing people’s curiosity. If there’s going to be a fight that blows her identity, she might as well maximize the human damage.

  “Jane, what do you think you are doing?”

  Having cleared away the last of her entropy, Jane clutches Levin tightly with both arms, “My Levin is hurt; you are going to heal him.”

  Silly girl, thinks Gwynn, “While it’s not my specialty, all I could do with that corpse you’re holding is animate it.”

  Confidence and defiant, Jane stamps a foot, “My Levin is not dead! I feel his breath on my neck as we stand here.”

  The gesture is not necessary, but it helps with the message, Gwynn flicks a hand towards Leven and crushes his windpipe.

  A downward motion smashes him from Janes clutches and presses him to the floor. A kinetic bind immobilizes Jane while Gwynn makes her way to Levin and stomps on his head with enough force to make it explode, “As I said, all I can do is animate his corpse. But I can’t even do that until we’re finished with whoever followed you.”

  Jane collapsing, throws herself over Leven’s lifeless body and sobs, “I’ll kill you for this.”

  Resolutely Gwynn assures, “No you won’t.”

  A crow caw’s somewhere nearby, the sound barely heard over the surprised gasps made by men, women, and children that came to see what destroyed the bookstore.

  Putting on her best smile, and looking at the gathering crowd, “Come in and look around.”

  One man particularly grabs her attention, not because of his chiseled physique, strong jaw, or perfect blonde hair, it’s his clothes. The man is dressed in the unmistakable uniform of a Defender.

  Stepping around the weeping Jane and his old friend, Terius addresses the disgusting creature before him, “Hag, drop the mask and let these people disperse.”

  Doubling the affect of her mask, “Why would I do that?”

  The dozen bystanders are becoming giddy with excitement over seeing the dead man’s crushed head and the crying woman.

  Hag Gwynn knows who she faces, strength and training is on his side, underhanded tricks are her only advantage.

  Triggering her grieving novice, “Jane, this bobcat is threatening me, kill it.”

  Hearing the word bobcat wakes her programing, Jane’s mind clears of emotions, and she knows what she must do.

  Jane lunges at Terius from behind, tendrils of entropy extending from both hands.

  Terius in a blink, sidesteps and pushes Jane into the Hag. Ropes of entropy slapping her in the face as the two women fall to the ground.

  Shoving Jane off herself, Gwynn admonishes the girl, “Dear, you’ll have to do better than that to kill this bobcat.”

  Having her programing reaffirmed clears her thoughts enough to formulate an actual plan of attack this time.

  Mistress Jane nails Terius to the floor with kinetic spikes fired into the heal of his boots. Simultaneously she casts a net of entropy at him. When it envelopes him, he’ll age a hundred years in seconds.

  Terius rips free of the pathetic attempt at hindering his movement and drags the entropy net downward with a nudge against the concentrated time, where it harmlessly hits the floor.

  Before Jane can regroup, Terius closes the distance between them and throws a left jab at her face. His fist connects with her nose, breaking it and knocks loose both her front teeth.

  Propelled backwards, Jane slams into a couple that had begun kissing each other passionately in an aisle. The three fall to the ground in a tangled heap. Jane, unconscious, is out of the fight.

  Happy onlookers point and laugh at the spectacle happening around them.

  Cold fingers clasp Terius’ neck from behind. The hags hot breath caresses his cheek, “I’m going to rip open your neck now and make these people drink your blood.”

  Moving kinetic from hold to his longus colli and longus capitis muscles, strengthens his neck. The hag digs her inhuman nails into skin but is unable to do more than superficial damage to his neck.

  Before her failure registers, Terius shifts forward and throws an elbow into her forehead, knocking her unconscious, adding a mind spike renders her harmless.

  Raising his voice, “Hron, is it just me or was that too easy?”

  The people in the shop suddenly stop smiling and seem to notice Leven’s corpse for the first time. Their reactions, no longer influenced by the affect mask are as expected. Eyes avert, hands cover mouths. Seeing Terius with the bookshop’s owner now slung over a shoulder gives them something to focus on.

  One woman asks, “Is Gwynnie going to be ok?”

  Patting the limp woman on her rump, “No, she will not. Now excuse me I have business to conclude.”

  The woman was hoping to hear assurances that things would go back to the way things were. She looks around confusedly before wandering off.

  She’s not the only one who looks stunned, everyone that had been under the spell of the affect mask is coming off an emotional high and finding themselves in the presence of a corpse and a defender about to carry off someone they know. The crowd’s mood begins to shift from confused to angry.

  Rescuing the clueless Terius, Master Black Hill makes himself seen and heard by amplifying his voice, “Attention, may I have everyone’s attention!”

  The angry crowd is shocked by the sudden interruption and loses any momentum towards action that was forming.

  Hron Black Hill outfitted in black with a crow perched on his head, continues, “There has been an attack on the bookstore. Master Terius and I were in pursuit of a rogue duelist. We cornered her here, and discovered she was working on behalf of the store’s owner. We believe the dead man was also an associate, we’re not sure who killed him. But these two will be brought to justice as soon as we finish interrogating them.”

  A pair of guards come running up the street, ready to draw swords. Seeing the two defenders, they feel instant relief that they won’t have to face whatever ate the entire front half of a bookstore.

  Seeing it’s Master Terius, the Terror of Mammatus makes them stand a little taller. The senior guard offers, “Can we assist you in any way?”

  Hron replies quickly, “You could disperse the crowd. We need to do an investigation while those two are still unconscious.”

  “We can do that, but can you answer a quick question first?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do we need to prepare a cell for either of them?”

  “No, they’re coming with us.”

  Looking past the two defenders at the missing store front, “Good.”

  Deep inside Brusk Valley

  “Recon team, report your findings.”

  The freshly appointed recon team leader wants to impress his commander, “Their sentries are not taking their duties seriously. We’ll have no issue avoiding their notice.”

  Commander is pleased to hear this news, “Assault team, what’s your status?”

  Eager to please her new commander, she confidently declares, “Group one and two are standing by. We are prepared to move out at your pleasure.”

  “Excellent, what about transport? Has the necessary preparations been made?”

  “Yes, we have adequate carrying capacity to move all the provisions we aquire.”

  Commander is pleased with his troop’s preparedness, now they will get their first taste of field action.

  Taking one more look over his troops, Commander decides they are ready, “Let’s move out.”

  The recon team takes the lead, followed closely by the assault team. Commander leads the transport crew. Normally he would station himself with the assault team; this position allows him to observe his troops on their maiden mission.

  They move like ghosts through the darkness, arriving at their target during the time-window his recon team deemed the sentries most likely to be away. They are either lucky or talented, only replicable success will tell him which it is.

  He quietly watches the assault team move into position; he feels a moment of pride as the recon team falls back to their watch position without any prompting. They are young and inexperienced but so far, they execute like seasoned veterans.

  A subtle click pulls Commander from his ruminations. The fortification gate is open, it’s his turn. Leading the transport crew, Commander moves forward and enters the enemy stronghold.

  “Ok, you two, load up. I want cookies, pastries, and those pies on the cooling rack.”

  Job has never seen so much food at one time. Bearlower is run like a typical War Born camp, meaning everything is lean and efficient. Sweets are rationed and reserved for special events.

  This place must be making baked goods for the whole city, laid out on the counters and cooling racks are cookies, pastries, tiny cakes, something called taffy, sticky bars of honey and nuts, and colorful translucent nuggets of sugar.

  Feeling confident, “Load up boys, tonight we gorge ourselves on high caloric, non-nutritional wonders!”

  One of the transporters, his name was Stephen or something, “It’s just candy, Job. Haven’t you had candy before?”

  Whispering his response, “Never… and I will never forget this night, or the support provided by the children of Brust for this opportunity.

  “I will endeavor to spare this place. I give you, my word.”

  Stevenson frowns, “Sure, Job, are you gonna eat that Bear Claw or put it in my basket?

  “And don’t forget your side of this deal. We get you sweets, and you’ll share your gift with us.”

  Job takes a bite of cinnamon and maple syrup bliss before mumbling, “Bang-up, but don’t forget you’ll be pledging your life to mine; and I’m about to go to war against the Empire of Blood.”

  Center Hotel, Missacon

  Luscin stops outside the door when she hears someone talking in their room. It’s impolite to listen, but who is Teum talking too?

  Her husband suspiciously stops talking abruptly.

  Instead of violating his privacy, Luscin chooses to look at the floor and doorway. She would not have noticed it had she not looked, an advanced version of one of Teums machines is deployed there on the floor. She’s standing on it, it must have signaled someone was coming.

  Opening the door, she steps off the invisible tripwire and enters her room.

  Ignoring the machine, “I heard you talking, do we have a visitor?”

  Teum looking guilty as a kid caught steeling candy, “No, I was just thinking out loud.”

  “Think about what?”

  “Nothing, important.”

  Luscin, could keep prying but instead comments, “You shouldn’t leave that out in the open like that.”

  Teum knows precisely what she’s talking about, “Right, I’ll put it away immediately.”

  Picking up the metal box gifted by the strange masked assassin, Teum stuffs it in the large side pocket on his left thigh.

  Feeling responsible Luscin offers, “Maybe I should be the one to carry that, it’s not your burden to bear.”

  “We’ve been over this already, the box is too big and would stand out if you carried it. I can carry it concealed without looking funny, while you look four months pregnant with this under your shirt.”

  Luscin mischievously digs, “Thinking about me being pregnant, are you trying to tell me something?”

  Blushing because he often thinks about having children with Luscin, Teum doesn’t answer.

  “Well, I guess you can keep it in your pocket, but make sure it stays secured. You remember how many times it was almost stolen when we first arrived in Twoya.”

  Teum buttons the pocket flap and pats his thigh to show the box is secure.

  Satisfied, Luscin changes topics, “I’m hungry”

  Rubbing her stomach, “I feel like I’m eating for two.”

  Relieved he didn’t have to confess to Luscin that he was talking to Selkie, Teum jokes back, “Careful what you say, you might trick yourself into ovulating and you know I’m already consenting.”

  Picking up a sock from the floor Luscin throws it at Teums face, “You’re such a brute. Is that all you think about?”

  “Only when your around, baby.

  “What do you say to us doing a practice run before we go out to eat?

  “Maybe you will be eating for two!”

  Jumping into her husbands arms, “Practice makes perfect, I always say.”

  The Void

  Selkie, the voice called me Selkie, is that who I am?

  He’s full of doubt, his recollection of the life associated with that name must belong to someone else, they can’t be his. This Selkie had a life with memories of a wedding. Most of his life was spent alone, feeling scared until she came along, the little girl with the black hair. He and the other children would whisper her name when they needed to be brave. They would say it over and over, Luscin – Luscin – Luscin, until they felt brave enough to continue.

  She saved Selkie, then he was supposed to save her, but now he’s here in the dark, alone, but not alone. The little girl with the black hair was with him for a while, her presence was so close he didn’t have to say her name to feel brave.

  Now she’s gone, and there’s a new presence. The presence is not as soothing as the little girl with black hair, but it’s kind and it talks to him.

  Now the presence feels different, warm, familiar, she’s here too.

  Selkie, that’s his name after all, basks in the warmth of Teum and Luscin’s love.

  https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/81114/monster-within/chapter/1693297/chapter-thirty-eight-the-emperors-seal