Allie's War Season Three (47 page)

He made an affirmative gesture with his hand. Only then did I let my eyes focus on the list itself. Once I had, I blinked, surprised.

"Two of the names are blacked out..." I said. "Why?"

Reaching over the table, Balidor tapped on the sixth name on the list. Focusing on where he pointed, I nodded, swallowing tightly.

"Kind of lends credence to her story, doesn't it?" I said neutrally, using my fingers to flatten out the paper.

No one answered me.

Still staring down at the piece of paper, I found myself studying the names and descriptions in more detail, memorizing each one.

Alyson May Taylor. Female. Born: December 29, 1979. Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA. Rank: 1 (First of the Four - Bridge). Position: First wave. Race: Elaerian.

Nenzi Algathe. Male. Born: December 2, 1884. Birthplace: Xinjiang Province, China (nearest town––Kashgar). Rank: 1 (Second of the Four - Sword). Position: Pre-wave – First. Race: Elaerian.

Pausing long enough to reread the two dates, I couldn't help making a humorous sound.

"What?" Balidor said, his voice sharp.

"I'm older than Jon," I said, smiling a little. "That's going to annoy him."

Wreg snorted a laugh. Revik smiled, toying with my hair with the hand attached to the arm he'd snuck around me when I wasn't paying attention.

And you're an old man,
I sent to him teasingly.
Almost a hundred years older than me...

He tugged on my hair a bit harder that time, but I felt the humor behind it. Letting my eyes return to the list, I kept reading.

Direnstak Feigran. Male. Born: November 2, 1871. Birthplace: Afghanistan (nearest town––Asmar). Rank: 1 (Third of the Four - Rook). Position: First wave. Race: Elaerian.

The next entry was completely blacked out.

"This had to be the fourth, right?" I looked up, meeting Balidor's gaze. "War, right? Is that why they blacked it out?"

Balidor gestured with one hand, noncommittal. "I have to assume so. Each of the lists seems to be written according to rank. The order of the names seems to constitute their ranking even within the numbered ranks. It's arranged hierarchically..."

I nodded, glancing down at the next name. Immediately, I gave a humorless laugh.

"Jeez," I muttered. "That really was his name. I should have known no one would
pick
that as a name. Even in the hopes of being inconspicuous..."

Hraban Novotny. Male. Born: May 15, 1873. Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia. Rank: 2 (Shield). Position: Pre-wave. Race: Human (possible crossover)

"What does 'crossover' mean?" I said, glancing up.

The others exchanged looks.

"What?" I said. "What is it?"

"We don't know, Allie," Balidor said, glancing at Wreg. "Not precisely. Having it by Galaith's name actually gave us the biggest clue as to what it
might
mean..." He hesitated before adding, "It's written by your brother's name, too. We think..." He hesitated a second time, glancing again at Wreg, as if for help.

"We think," Wreg finished. "That it's possible that crossovers can actually change race. Meaning, change race mid-incarnation..."

"What?" I stared around at them, then up at Revik. "How is that possible?"

Revik frowned, fingering and tugging at the doily under his coffee cup. "Galaith displayed as a seer, under the Rooks," he said finally. "Jon's already got sight...you've seen it, Allie. The fact that they are both labeled such lends credence to the idea that they are meant to evolve, mid-incarnation..."

I frowned. "But aren't humans supposed to evolve that way anyway?"

Revik nodded, making another 'more or less' gesture with his hand before glancing at Balidor. "Yes," he said. "But not so fast. What's happening with Jon is pretty dramatic, Allie. Lately, it's been speeding up. I don't know if you've looked at his aleimi recently, but..." He hesitated again, glancing at the other two seers. "Wreg has been working with him, training him. He said his abilities are increasing nearly exponentially...and that shouldn't happen. It
doesn't
happen, not normally, not even in humans with unusually structured aleimi...."

He shrugged again, picking up his coffee.

"Bear in mind, Allie...the definitions of race are pretty fast and loose when it comes to the actual dividing line. They have more to do with aleimi than physicality in many instances...although the two tend to follow one another. The physical adapts to the more-structured aleimi, and there are shifts in the organs and so forth...but the definitions get pretty blurry when you get into the particulars..."

"Like lifespan," Wreg added, taking a sip of his own coffee. "...And things like healing ability...and regeneration..."

"...It is all theoretical at this point, Allie," Balidor cut in, giving the other two a slightly warning look. "It would be better if you didn't talk to Jon about this...at least not until we know more about what it might mean for him personally..."

I nodded, but found myself staring at the words anyway.

My eyes drifted down to the next name on the list, the one that had started this conversation in the first place.

Raven Maygar. Male. Born: March 3, 1976. Birthplace: Moscow, Russia (USSR). Rank: 2 (Arrow). Position: First wave - Second. Race: Sarhacienne (possible crossover)

"Maygar too, huh," I said, still staring down at the paper. When I glanced up at Revik, he shrugged somewhat, his eyes faintly hard. "Does that mean you're supposed to train him?" I joked.

Clicking softly, he shook his head, but didn't smile.

"I don't know," he said neutrally, flipping one hand sideways.

Fighting not to smile, I looked back at the list. Only three names remained. One of those had been blacked out...which really left two.

I scanned them, frowning. "Do any of you know either of these people?"

When I glanced up, Revik gestured a 'no.' Wreg did the same. When I met Balidor's gaze, his expression was more cagey.

"I think one of them might be with Chandre," he said finally. "One of the seers working under Varlan...the one named Stanley..."

"Which means Shadow probably has him, too," I said.

Balidor gestured in affirmative, albeit reluctantly. "Yes. It is likely."

"Great," I said. "So he has two of the eight living intermediaries...or eight in theory, anyway, since we don't know anything about one name and two are blacked out. And he wants at least one more of us to come to him, to negotiate for their release...knowing full well he's likely to get two in the bargain..."

Revik started to frown, but I spoke up before he could.

"No separations," I reminded him quietly. "...Your words."

After another pause, he nodded, but I saw a harder look glance across his expression. Even so, I could tell my words penetrated, that he wasn't just blowing me off.

"Agreed," he said.

Balidor looked between us, his gray eyes suddenly sharp. "Agreed? I am not certain any of the rest of us would agree to that..."

"We'll talk about it later," Revik said. His voice brooked no argument.

Balidor only stared at him for a moment, then seemed to agree to discuss it later. Even though Revik hadn't shut the door on a discussion entirely, I found myself relaxing a little. We wouldn't have to fight about that particular topic, at least.

"Can we assume this Shadow knows who's on the list?" I said.

Balidor and Revik exchanged a look. I could already feel what they both thought.

"Great," I muttered, letting my eyes return to the paper on the table.

I scanned the information connected to the last two names a second time, making sure I had it all memorized in my light.

Ireleten Kali. Female. Born: August 30, 1532. Birthplace: Cajamarca, Peru. Rank: 2 (Elephant). Position: First wave - Second. Race: Elaerian...

Stanley Chahat. Male. Born: August 28, 1741. Birthplace: Cairo, Egypt. Rank: 2 (Rabbit). Position: First wave - Second. Race: Sarhacienne...

"How could this one have been born in Peru, back in 1532?" I said, puzzled. "That doesn't make any sense, does it? It's like four hundred and seventy years before first contact..."

"We don't know," Balidor said, his voice calm. "But it
is
possible, Alyson...sure."

When I glanced at Revik, he made a vague flowing gesture, but I read his agreement of Balidor's words.

"Seers have left the Pamir to explore the human world for generations," he explained. "These trips were sometimes sanctioned by the Council of Seven as necessary information-gathering operations...or even for personal reasons, if done through appropriate means and with appropriate motives..."

Balidor shrugged towards me, his eyes bordering on apologetic. "We also do not know precisely the rules on intermediary births," he added. "It is entirely possible her parents were human...or perhaps mistaken for human...?"

Wreg seemed to be thinking about the dates. "Wasn't that about when the Incas were overthrown? So she could have been there with the Spanish..."

Revik nodded, glancing at him. "It was exactly then. I wondered the same thing."

"Elephant," I muttered, barely hearing them. I was still stuck on that name in particular, but not entirely sure why. I glanced up again. "Does anyone know what that means, either? Elephant?"

"We're working on it, Allie," Balidor assured me.

"...So no," Wreg snorted, rubbing his face with one hand, as if the coffee wasn't working as well as he'd been hoping. "Not that easy to dig up texts on some of these more obscure intermediaries, Esteemed Sister...but Balidor has some of his bookworms on it..."

I happened to know that Wreg knew probably as much, if not significantly
more,
about most of those old texts and legends as Balidor's so-called 'bookworms.' Therefore I only let out a low snort, rolling my eyes. Balidor gave him a bit of a look, as well, but Wreg seemed to take it all in good humor, smacking the Adhipan leader on the shoulder with the flat of his hand.

"Well..." I said, not sure what to add. "...Good then."

For a long moment, we all just sat there, staring at that same piece of paper.

13

MARKED

I WAS THE one who prodded everyone back into movement again.

Despite our however-many days of sleep before everything went down in that conference room, Revik's energy was seriously flagging...probably from the week-plus of nightly death rituals and whatever else. Our being separated might not have helped him much either...I knew it hadn't made it very easy for me to sleep.

Whatever the precise set of causes, I could feel his exhaustion through my light, seemingly through my bones where he leaned against me, pulling at me gently and likely without knowing he did it.

I knew part of it was probably stress, too. The news about Maygar must have hit him harder than he was letting on. Frankly, I'd have been surprised if he knew
how
to react to that news precisely. He'd invested a lot of energy in being irritated by Maygar before...and then by actively hating him after he'd pulled that 'second claim' crap on me in Seertown.

I'd always wondered at the intensity of emotion between the two of them, even before everything escalated after Revik got back from Cairo, but I'd never really let myself really put the pieces together, I guess.