Chapter 1 Part 9

Tyson watched Ultrecht closely. He had spent the last two days trying to convince his old comrade that he had not betrayed him. Now he waited to see if Ultrecht would swallow the story. Tyson was far from confident. His story was full of half truths; enough to make it sound believable without condemning him. He had managed to convince Ultrecht that he had selflessly allowed himself to be captured and that he had risked his life to mislead the enemy.

In actuality it was fairly close to the truth, but Tyson's motives at that time had been anything but selfless. He had been willing to sell out his companions to ensure his own survival. In fact he had caused the death of Seymore, a companion of over twenty years. If Ultrecht discovered that little tidbit of information, Tyson would be hard pressed to defend himself. He made no illusions--Ultrecht was more than capable of utterly destroying him.

Tyson sat on the seat of Ultrecht's wagon as they rode in silence. Ultrecht absently stroked his goatee with one hand while the other held the reigns. He had listened attentively to the traitor's story. His new friend, the warlock Mestys had also listened and surprisingly enough had counseled him to give Tyson's case much thought. She had warned that House Blackheart was a mighty power, and the fact that most of his friends got away indicates that Tyson may indeed have been misleading them. Ultrecht had been going over these things all morning. Before their departure from town, he assured Mestys that he would get word to her soon about his decision. Besides that, Ultrecht had spoken very little all morning.

"Well?" Tyson asked after a while.

"It’s a convincing tale," Ultrecht acknowledged. "But I think I’ll hold judgment until later. I want you to tell it to someone else first. Then we’ll see."

"Someone else?"

"Armegon will be very glad to see you," Ultrecht informed him. There was an edge to his voice.

"Armegon! Oh, no!" Tyson's distress was apparent. "That hot head’ll shoot first and ask questions later."

"You’d be surprised at the change in him," Ultrecht said with a slight laugh. "You might say that he has been . . . domesticated."

"What’re you talking about?"

"Marlena's kid was too weak to make the crossing back to our home, so Armegon stayed behind to raise it." Ultrecht reached under the seat and drew forth a canteen. "Parenthood has mellowed him out quite a bit," he said as he unstopped and took a long drag from the flask.

"Armegon, a father," Tyson repeated slowly. It was hard to imagine the aristocratic mage as a patient parent. It was hard to imagine Armegon as a patient anything. After a few moments Tyson spoke again. "Do you believe me?"

Ultrecht said nothing for a few moments. Then finally he responded. "Tyson, you’ll say anything to save your life or better your position. We all knew that long ago. But no one ever dreamed that you’d sell us out for anything. Then again, no one ever dreamed that you’d ever be in a position to gain from selling us out." He shook his head. I can see the possibility that you may have acted as you claim. I won’t kill you, and I’ll even admit that were the circumstances reversed, I might’ve done likewise." He looked at Tyson hard. "Might have," he repeated. "I think that you’d better be ready to convince Armegon that you’re telling the truth, though."

Tyson breathed a mental sigh. He had won a major battle. Convincing Armegon was going to be tough, but the fact that Ultrecht had decided to believe him would weigh heavily in his favor with Armegon.

A few days later they had covered most of the distance to Armegon's place. That night they slept under Ultrecht's wagon on the side of the road. The night was very uneventful and Tyson slept soundly. He woke the next morning with a shiver at the chill in the morning air. The sky was overcast, and gray clouds rolled overhead northward.

"That’s typical weather in these parts," Ultrecht mumbled from his bedroll. "It’ll start to rain about mid morning, and it’ll stop about noon."

"You travel here a lot, I take it?"

"About every three weeks. Until I learned to disguise my magic here, I had to work for a living."

"Disguise your magic?" Tyson was genuinely interested. So that was how Ultrecht and Armegon had avoided Morteous. "That could be handy," he admitted.

"I'll tell you about it later," Ultrecht said. "Do you think your friends in Aspberg may find it suspicious if you were to become untraceable?"

"You have a point there," Tyson admitted. "Still, I’d like to learn all the same."

Ultrecht rolled out of bed and sat up leaning back on the wagon's front wheel. He hunched his back and started scratching at an unreachable itch. "I'll just bet you would," he said, "just in case you need to disappear."

"Of course," Tyson said as he dressed himself.

Ultrecht and Tyson broke their fast on smoked bacon strips and water. "How much farther," Tyson asked as they loaded their camping gear.

Ultrecht mounted the wagon and stored supplies away as Tyson fetched the two mule team from the picket. "We should arrive at the ranch by nightfall," he replied. "Armegon and Sam are expecting me so there should be a hot meal, but I dare say that you will be somewhat of a surprise."

"Sam? Is that the name of the kid?"

"It was Armegon's idea. I kind of like it. It’s not too complex and the boy’s a little slow in the noggin."

Tyson was interested and wanted to know more. "Tell me about him."

Ultrecht gave Tyson a warning look. "You keep away from him!"

Tyson saw a look in Ultrecht's eyes that had never been there before. Ultrecht had never been the protective type before.

"I’m just interested in what the kid is like," Tyson said innocently. "How big is he?"

They spent the rest of the morning talking about Sam's life. Ultrecht told about the birth, and the boy's phenomenal growth and rate of maturity. Tyson agreed with the mages' observation about the boy's lack of mental capability, but suggested that with time, he might be taught novice cantrip spells.

Just as Ultrecht had predicted, the rains came about three hours before noon, and ended right on cue as well. They stopped long enough to eat some dry bread that Ultrecht had stored in a trunk out of the rain. After lunch they had resumed their ride through the rolling hills and woodlands. An occasional meadow allowed for frequent stops and the mules, though they did not need it, were allowed to wander aimlessly while the men stretched their legs.

It was during one such stop that Ultrecht posed a question to Tyson. "So can you tell me just what that master of yours is up to?"

Tyson pursed his lips. "It's not good," he warned.

"Of that I have no doubt," Ultrecht replied taking a bit out of a piece of fruit, "but I really want to know."

"Would you believe all this is so that he can become a god?"

Ultrecht dropped his snack. "He wants to WHAT!?"

Tyson smiled inwardly. It isn't often one gets the better of Ultrecht. "That's right," he confirmed, "Serpent Blackheart wants to become a god. And he has the power to do it too."

Tyson spent the rest of the afternoon telling Ultrecht many details of the great plan of the Blackhearts. He disclosed enough details to make Ultrecht the fifth most knowledgeable person alive in this plan. Tyson did not even consider how Morteous or Serpent might view his openness, Tyson was taking advantage of a situation. He was trading information to win Ultrecht over to his corner for the upcoming encounter with Armegon.

Ultrecht asked very few questions, but he made several remarks as to the complexity of the plan. "Absolutely genius," he said at one point. "Armegon’s going to be furious that he didn’t think of it first."

"Another thing that I recently discovered," Tyson added. "That Tome Of Creation you read in Seron was a fake. The real one is in the vaults in Aspberg. The one you read was doctored to make us think the only way home was the Well Of Time. You were right about the fact that a dimension can absorb energy but can not expel it. But what you did not know was that for a time the two dimensions were still in contact and at that time effortless crossings could be made. We needn’t have made the journey at all! We could’ve returned home that first day."

"Naturally that part was not in the book I read."

"Right."

"I think I just may want to speak to Mr. Blackheart."

"When Armegon hears this, you may have to take a number," Tyson said.

The conversation ended there and little else was said on the subject for the rest of the day. Tyson changed the subject to reminiscing of times past. For what good it would do, he wanted Ultrecht to remember all the good episodes from their past.

About an hour before the first sunset, they arrived at their destination. Armegon took the meeting with Tyson gracefully. Surprisingly enough, Armegon greeted him enthusiastically. The mage even offered him a steaming hot bowl of beef stew, and while Tyson ate, Ultrecht filled Armegon in on the newcomer's tale, Armegon agreed that after all they had been through together, Tyson at least deserved the benefit of the doubt. But he also made it clear that he considered Tyson on parole and if Tyson gave him any reason to suspect treachery, he would turn the world inside out to hunt him down and make him pay with interest.

As for Tyson, he made out as if he were insulted by the lack of trust, but he acknowledged that the situation had looked bad for him, and he agreed to the terms. In reality, he couldn't believe his luck. In times past he would have died the instant Armegon had lain eyes on him. Ultrecht had been correct. Parenthood had changed the half elf.

Armegon listened as Ultrecht repeated what Tyson had told him of Serpent Blackheart's plan. Armegon appeared genuinely impressed. "Do you think he’s a threat to us," he asked Tyson.

"Are you asking if he can defeat you?"

"No, I mean do you think that when he learns of our existence he’ll come after us?"

Tyson thought about it. "I’m not sure," he admitted. "You trounced him soundly at Gly-ou-vogue and he might wish to heal his pride, but if he attains godhood, he may be too involved in divine politics to care about personal revenge. I mean, the man has an ego, but he won't go off half cocked for revenge. If he thinks he can attack you without drawing attention to himself, he might. But I think you showed him that you can make a lot of noise, so unless you directly oppose him or unless he feels you are a threat, he’ll probably leave you alone."

"What do you mean by divine politics?" Ultrecht asked him.

"Well, from what they told me," Tyson continued, "and from what I read in the Tome of Creation, they plan to use a spell called Evolution to force evolve Serpent into a divinity like that of the gods.

The gods themselves don’t know what is in that Tome. The Blackhearts needed the life forces of powerful beings of equal caliber to Serpent himself to siphon off their energy for his use. That’s the real reason we were summoned. Scarlet, Seymore and Avery supplied enough energy when they died for an ordinary man to rise to the status of a titan or a lesser god. But Serpent was already a demigod by his father, the Godking. So he’ll rise to the level of a greater god from their sacrifice." Tyson continued. "The politics of the gods is some kind of balance between the gods of good and the gods of evil. If Serpent is ascended to godhood, he’ll shift that balance."

"If we do nothing, he may leave us in peace," Armegon muttered.

"We haven't been ones to sit idly by and do nothing," Ultrecht said challengingly.

"I have a little one to raise," Armegon reminded him.

"I haven't forgotten," Ultrecht said as he propped his feet up next to the fire. "Where is Sam anyhow? I’m surprised he wasn't here to greet me."

"He’s out bidding farewell to some friends," Armegon said with a smile.

"Friends?"

"A dryad and a couple of orphaned bear cubs that he found," Armegon informed them.

"He’s been helping them get on their feet, so to speak."

"The dryad?"

"No the cubs. The dryad has been there for a long time and she has helped to educate him in his mother's element."

"Where are you going?" Tyson asked.

"North, to the Tycarian area." Ultrecht pulled a pipe from his robe. "Armegon and I are taking Sam on a trip to see more of the world. We really would like for you to join us, unless your absence would irritate your master."

"Not at all," Tyson said. "If they asked me where I was I could always tell them that you kidnapped me."

"The truth never hurts, does it?" Armegon had said that with a smile, but the tone told Tyson that he was going to go on the trip with them because he was not going to be given a choice. In all essence, he was being kidnapped.