Carmody and the Electric Dragon

Nata’s Apartment, 8th District, Pan City

“Wow, you have a great view over the city from here” Carmody commented once Nata had welcomed her into the apartment. The young Sister had nodded a tired agreement then sat heavily in a large overstuffed chair.

Carmody had dragged herself away from the window and knelt beside the wounded young woman. The hasty bandage she had tied over Nata’s arm was showing blotchy red stains and her face was drawn with pain.

“Sorry Nata, you just have such a nice apartment” Carmody hurriedly apologised. “Where are the medical supplies?” Nata directed her to an old wooden cabinet, covered in small glass bottles, ceramic pots and cloth pouches filled with exotic smelling herbs. She selected the ones specified as well grabbing a roll of fresh bandages and gauze from a first aid box.

Nata stood slowly and with Carmody’s help took off the long, armoured coat. It was noticeably lighter than it looked and the younger girl commented on it.

“Is it made with magic metal like Mithril?” she asked, folding the coat and laying it carefully to one side.

“Hmm?” said Nata, “No, just bonded Ceramite over a synthetic armour weave”

“Oh” replied a deflated Carmody, then she set to work.

Carmody rolled up the sleeve of Nata’s shirt to expose the wounded hand and forearm. After she applied a numbing spray she then gently dabbed antiseptic. Once she was satisfied it looked clean she liberally smeared the healing ointment that Nata had asked her to use. It smelled of exotic herbs and flowers, reminding her a little of the flowery breath of Stanley.

Once she was satisfied with the treatment, she gently wrapped the burned areas with gauze finished by a layer of white cloth bandages. She sat back and examined her work critically, adjusted the ties on the bandages a smidge, and declared she was done.

Nata looked at the girl in front of her, impressed once more by her calm handling of the situations she found herself in. The Sister flexed her arm, testing the feel of the bandages on her damaged skin. Her pain was already mostly gone as the spray and the ointment did their work.

“You did an excellent job, Carmody” she praised the girl. The girl in question blushed a shade of crimson and looked down at the floor. Nata had to laugh and her soft tinkling merriment made Carmody look up at her in confusion.

“Did I do something funny?” she asked Nata.

“How can someone so fierce in battle be so bashful in front of other people?”

“I don’t know” she admitted honestly. “I have always been a shy person, I guess that is just who I am. It was only when I found Excalibur that I was able to be brave in battle”

“Ah yes, your mighty bat Excalibur” said Nata thoughtfully. “May I see it?” She held out her left hand enquiringly so Carmody fetched it from the side of the cabinet where she had leant it.

“While you are there, bring me the blue glass bottle please” added Nata. Carmody saw the bottle she meant and brought it to her along with her cricket bat.

“Right, drink this” Nata commanded and unstoppered the bottle. She held it towards Carmody who took it and sniffed the contents. It had a smell like roses and mint, with an undercurrent of a spice she could not identify. Having a chef for a mum had given her some appreciation of different spices and herbal ingredients yet this was unknown to her.

“What is it?” she asked. She felt she could trust Nata with her life, but she was still wary about drinking strange concoctions.

“It is a mixture my old mentor makes. It alleviates pain and swelling in the joints and should fix your sprained leg by morning”

Carmody looked down at her legs. She had forgotten the pain, what with all the stuff that had been going on.

“You are favouring the injured leg” Nata explained. “Unless we treat it now, by morning you won’t be able to walk”

The young girl smiled her thanks and drained the bottle in one go, feeling a wonderful warmth fill her stomach. The taste was not unpleasant and she sat down on the floor at Nata’s feet, letting the warm glow send a tingle to the very ends of her body.

“Your mentor knows his stuff!” she said appreciatively and handed back the empty bottle. Nata put it to one side on a low wooden table then lifted the cricket bat close to her face.

“He should, he was a Paladin of my Order for decades” Nata responded. “Bishop Wainwright was as famous for his healing potions as for his fighting prowess”

She had been running her hands and eyes over the bat, turning it back and forth. Finally she gave the bat back to Carmody, who could not help but clutch it possessively to her chest.

“Have you had an Adept look at your bat before?”

“Um, no, not that I know of” answered Carmody. “The Guard had kept it for a few days after we killed the dragon, but then they gave it back to me. They never said it was anything unusual. Did you detect something about it?”

Nata sat back in her chair and met Carmody’s eyes with her own dark brown ones. Her expression was thoughtful and Carmody felt a shiver run through her.

“Tell me the story of the dragon and your bat” she asked the girl. Carmody hesitated, for all of them had been placed under orders not to speak to anyone about the events of that week. She wavered, then she noticed how Nata was stroking the silver crucifix about her neck, seeking comfort from that symbol of her faith. Carmody knew then she trusted Nata, not just with her life, but all her secrets.

“Well, it began the day I became friends with a girl at my school. Her name is Sarah Evermore and we were both NOMAs…..”

It was well past midnight before she finished her tale. Nata had asked some questions as she went, wanting elaboration on one event or another. The Sister had been especially interested in Mr Albright, the Summoner Adept, and his associate Creepy Bob, the poor man who had been possessed by the Emissary.

There was only one part of her tale she did not speak about to Nata. The horrible nightmares she had in the aftermath of the battle, and her fears of being possessed by the same black oil as Creepy Bob. She had not told anyone about those yet, even though she had not had that dream since her mother had found her in the bathroom.

“So you are a registered Awakened now? A Kinetic Enhancer according to the testing centre?” mused Nata. “This would mean you have no ability to cast magic spells or draw power from the Dark Side”

“Yeah, I guess that is what it means. I had heard from one of the AURA instructors that a person who is an Awakened can’t be an Adept, and only Adepts can use magic”

“That is true” agreed Nata. “I am an Adept, so I could never be Awakened, no matter how much I was Tested. You on the other hand could never learn to use magic, no matter if Merlin himself were to train you”

Carmody held Excalibur in one hand and looked at Nata.

“So this can’t be a magic weapon?”

“Not necessarily” Nata said. “You used Lacerata to take out that big robot didn’t you? I cast the spell to activate the enchantment on the blade, yet you were able to fight with it quite well. Active magic will work for anyone in the right circumstances”

Carmody was getting confused now. “So my bat could be magical?”

Nata laughed again at her expression, then stopped as Carmody started to pout.

“I’m really sorry, I just don’t know” she apologised. “The thing is, Excalibur is considered one of the Three Great Weapons, one of the weapons of Fate. They are very good at hiding themselves from those who would abuse their powers. Kind of a self defence mechanism”

“There are really three such weapons?” asked an intrigued Carmody. “What are they called?”

Nata settled herself in her chair, finding a comfortable way to rest her injured arm. Once she was ready, she adopted a serious expression and began to tell Carmody about the weapons of power.

“First is the Great Weapon everyone has heard of, the sword named Excalibur, or Caliburn in the older tales. It is referred to as the Beginner of Fate, a weapon that can start a hero on their journey towards destiny”

“Wow, just like me becoming a Dragon Slayer when I found my Excalibur” Carmody said excitedly.

“Yes, perhaps” agreed Nata, not entirely convinced it seemed. “The second Great Weapon is the most secretive, one they call World Breaker. It is known as the Changer of Fate as its wielder has the power to totally change the world they live in. This weapon can appear in any form it needs to, such as a spear or an arrow, even a gun”

Carmody thought about that and frowned. “So how does someone know they are carrying World Breaker if it changes its appearance all the time?”

Nata nodded at the younger girl, pleased she had made this observation. “That is exactly the problem when dealing with the Changer of Fate. Most people never knew they were using it until after the world had been changed. As I said, it is the most secretive”

“So what is the third Great Weapon called?” Carmody asked, still pondering the first two.

“Ah, that one is called the Ender of Fates. It has changed its form three times in all its long history that its guardians know of, going from a simple flint bladed knife to a bronze short sword and finally an iron short sword. They call it the Norn Blade, but most of the time they simply call it Threadcutter”

“Threadcutter has guardians?”

“Yes” Nata answered, “Descendants of three Giant women who came to live among mortals. They were the three Norns, sisters who had the power to see and end the fates of all living beings. Threadcutter was meant to be used by the eldest of the three, but it became the role of the youngest, one they call the Maiden, to bear Threadcutter. For centuries all the daughters of that bloodline have been given the responsibility of being a Norn, with the youngest using Threadcutter to destroy dangerous enemies of the world”

“Oh, so I am definitely not a Norn, because I am way too short” breathed Carmody with relief. “What about the other two Great Weapons? Can anyone use them?”

“Well, they say that anyone can be the bearer of World Breaker” Nata answered. “As for Excalibur, the legend says only a child of Avalon can wield its power”

Carmody’s eyes had nearly bugged out of her head at that last statement. Nata paused and looked with concern at her new friend.

“Are you Okay, Carmody?”

“Does that include daughters of Avalon?” she whispered, clutching the cricket bat tighter than ever to her chest.

“Of course. Us girls can do anything we put our minds to” laughed Nata.

=====

10th District Maintenance Tunnels, Pan City

The round robot shuffled on its damaged legs, the tentacle arms drooping where the girl they called the Dracoris Terminus, the Dragon Slayer, had smashed and crushed them. Its beady black camera eyes could show no emotion, yet somehow the scarred and dented robot seemed utterly furious.

Santo Green watched as it slowly walked into his presence. He was seated on a stack of metal storage boxes and plastic cases, placed in such a way as to resemble a throne. Arrayed around the vast underground chamber were dozens and dozens of robots, hovering, wriggling and crawling forwards, summoned by their master. They were here to see judgement pronounced on one of their own, one who had defied the master.

The robot stopped at the foot of the stacked boxes and directed its camera eyes up at Santo Green. It glared at the host to the Emissary, then realised the danger it was in and humbly bowed.

“You have attacked the Dracoris too soon!” Santo snarled, his normally placid face twisted with anger. “All my plans, all my work to make these servants, and you have ruined it all in just one night!”

It remained bowed, yet Santo could feel the hatred coming from the round robot. This one was different to all the others, as this one contained a fist sized piece of himself. A fragment of the original Emissary, much like he was, yet nowhere near as powerful or knowledgeable.

“I made a mistake when I gave you a piece of our flesh” he continued, eyeing the grovelling robot with no compassion. Such a feeling was alien to the Emissary anyway. It had no concepts of honour, or pity and certainly not of mercy.

The robot had a mind of sorts, a grafting of the limited Artificial Intelligence that controlled the robot and the strange living black goo that comprised the original Emissary. It could not speak, as the robot had no electronic voicebox, yet it could communicate with the other robots in a fashion. The only way to speak to Santo Green was by the oldest method. It waved its arms in a type of sign language, and could tap yes or no with its clawed hands on the floor.

“No” it tapped out with two sharp raps on the concrete floor.

Santo lifted one hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully.

“And why should I not destroy you now?” he asked, his voice brimming with anger. “You have revealed our existence to the Dracoris and to that girl from the Order. Even worse, you failed to kill a single one of them, at the loss of dozens of useful servants!”

“No” the robot tapped again. It lifted its eyes and the black lenses glared back at Santo Green.

“Is there any good reason I should spare you?” Santo said with an air of indifference, as if the round robot was barely worth the effort.

“Yes” it tapped once on the floor and lifted one undamaged arm to point at the tunnel it had come from. Shadows moved there, with the sound of a heavy rubber soled tread striking the damp floor.

Striding into the chamber came a seven foot tall machine man, a robot soldier built by the humans. It was called a Sentinel, painted blue to show its service in the Guard. The body was shaped like a tall yet slender man, covered in armour plating and with a long box shaped head full of glowing sensor eyes. In its metal hands it carried an assault rifle, a powerful rapid firing gun that was devastating against flesh and blood creatures.

Santo had risen from his throne in alarm, suddenly terrified that the humans had found his lair and sent the machine to destroy him. Then the Sentinel stopped just behind the round robot and lifted its right hand in a salute, holding the rifle in the left hand.

“Is this yours?” asked Santo, trembling a little, perhaps in fear, perhaps in excitement.

“Yes” tapped the round robot.

Santo regarded his companion with new interest. It seemed as though he would not have to destroy this one after all.

“If you can find more of these mechanical men, our work will go much more quickly” he announced. “Do you know where to obtain more of them? Can you control them and bring them to me?”

“Yes” tapped the robot, and it seemed to be rather pleased with itself.

“Very well, I shall spare your life this time” Santo announced in a generous tone. “In fact, you deserve more than that. You shall be known officially as my minion. I hereby grant you the name of Robert Crepsley the Second”

“No” tapped the round robot angrily. It remembered being part of the black goo that lived inside of the previous host, a high school janitor. It deserved better than that!

“How about something simple then?” Santo pondered, a wicked gleam in his eye. “I know, I shall name you Bob Two!”

“No! No! No!” tapped the robot furiously, his claws sending chips of concrete flying in all directions.

“So many Yesses! I am glad you agree, Bob Two” snickered Santo Green and sat back down in his throne.

Bob Two locked his camera eyes with the flesh and blood ones of Santo Green. Both of them contained pieces of the Emissary, so both of them were bound to serve their master, The Abyss. Yet that did not mean they had to like each other, or even work together.

Each of them knew that this world had other fragments of their master working hard to achieve her goals. So long as they did her work, they did not have to be friends. They did not even have to be allies. The Abyss did not care how many of her servants were destroyed, so long as her plans were achieved.

Bob Two bowed to Santo and backed away from the throne chamber, taking his Sentinel servant with him. There was much to be done, not the least of which was to make his piece of the Emissary deep inside bigger and stronger. For that he needed the blood of living creatures, and down here in the tunnels were many rats and other vermin waiting to be harvested.

“Thank you for your service!” Santo called out to Bob Two. His laughter followed the robot all the way down the tunnel as he limped away, echoing over and over from the grey walls.