Chapter 16: Chapter 5: Dreams Delayed Part 2

Zavier hated this plan. He hated being bait. It made him feel like more of an idiot than he already was for being out here. Why the hell was he out here? But he didn’t have a better plan other than not fighting and going home. That plan was another dice roll if they were going to hunt him like Yafu had speculated. He also couldn’t see a better use for him than bait. He could not trade places with Yafu. There was no way for him to sneak attack Shen like Yafu could. Zavier also really believed that Yafu would be bait if it increased their odds. Yafu was so immediately accepting of personal risk to do what he wanted to do. It was the biggest reason Zavier was taking his word on these things. The genuine and unrelenting drive was not something a deceitful person could conjure up. It was also why he had to suppress his own risk aversion. Yafu needed him to match his attitude. Yafu needed another Yafu to pull this off. For that Zavier had to be something different from Zavier.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Zavier was not ready, but he would never be and it was getting late.

“Alright he’s in a large open room at the back right of the first floor.” Yafu had his eyes closed as he spoke as if he was projecting himself outward to map the terrain. For all Zavier knew, that could be exactly how this worked. “He’s meditating, building up the strength to perform this ritual. He’ll be able to feel you as soon as you reach the hallway at the end of the first room in front of us. You’ve got about twenty strides or so to get to him. I would move quickly so he doesn’t prepare something for you.”

“How can we see him and he can’t see us right now?” Zavier asked, trying to get as much strategic information as possible.

“Well, I can see him because I’m really fucking good at detection at length. I guess it’s my other really good skill.” Yafu shot back.

Zavier was taken slightly aback by Yafu’s sudden temper. It appeared he didn’t like the ‘we’ part of the question. “So your best skills are hiding and being able to see things coming before anyone can. Interesting combination.” Zavier shrugged nonchalantly at the end, he wanted to keep Yafu relaxed since their lives might depend on it.

“Yeah, I’ve had a lot of practice growing up.” Yafu snapped back, still clearly annoyed. “You should go now. I have no idea when he’ll be ready to start the ritual but we shouldn’t wait to find out. I’ll file into his range once you’ve gotten his attention. I need about a minute of stalling to move in. You should also try to move away from the nearest entrance. Spiritual detection is somewhat linked to vision, so I’ll have a better chance if he’s not looking where I’m going to have to walk in.”

“What do I do once you attack?” Zavier asked.

“Run or hide. There’s not much you can do at that point and I’d rather you not get hurt or die needlessly.” This response by Yafu did put Zavier somewhat at ease. His earlier assumption was correct. Yafu’s plan was incredibly risky for him, but Yafu was planning on doing the fighting. The risk was as great if not greater for him. Zavier just needed to give him a little help at the beginning.

Both men looked at each other and nodded. There was not much more to say. It was time to go. Zavier walked through the hotel doors and proceeded to the lobby. The building was still in decent shape but the power was off and most of the surfacing had been stripped away. It was still clearly a hotel lobby though. The front desk was to his left and what looked to be a lounge with a fireplace and some space for tables was on his right. The hallway was dead center ahead. He moved at what was probably the slowest pace he could go without being overt about it. He knew crossing that threshold would alert a lethal enemy of his presence. He was a rabbit entering a wolf's den. Taking a deep breath as he got the faint line that most likely designated two different floor or rug surfaces in a past life for the building, Zavier took his first step into enemy territory.

He half expected some booming sound or visual display. He even braced a little for an invisible force to hit or constrain him like the one Yafu had used on him earlier that day. Instead there was nothing. It was just an empty hallway with some worn out drywall and a little bit of natural light coming from the lobby. There was an empty window space at the end of the hallway. Zavier had instinctively stopped when he crossed the threshold and turned right to face his destination. Realizing waiting would only compound this mistake of hesitation, Zavier put his head down and speed walked down the hallway toward the last door on the left. It was presumably a ballroom. In a weird way he felt less nervous and more relaxed than he did as he approached the threshold. He was less concerned about avoiding his grave now that he had it dug. In the lobby he still had the chance to turn around and go home and roll the dice doing nothing. Now, he had chosen action. He hated himself for it but he didn’t have an alternative left to distract him.

Zavier reached the end of the hallway at a quick rate and wanting to shrink the amount of time to potentially get cold feet, he charged through the door, almost ripping it from the decaying hinges. He was ready for almost anything to be in this room. Instead he got what he knew he should have expected all along. The room was indeed an old ballroom, that much was obvious. Since there were no more chairs or tables left, it was just a decently large cubic empty space with a slightly elevated stage at the very back of it. Yafu was correct in assuming no other doors. The only possible exits were the windows at the very top of the back and rightward walls. Because the room had been built to vertically stack up with three floors of rooms in the rest of the hotel, it would take a jump and some climbing skills to get out that way. While he had no idea what Shen or Yafu were capable of, this meant those windows would not be much help for an escape for Zavier. What they did do is let in a decent amount of natural light. The hotel was northward facing so the setting sun shone through these open spaces doing a serviceable job illuminating the room. The only unusual thing was a spherical ball of yellow energy about five meters in diameter floating in the center of the room just below the ceiling. The surface appeared almost liquid despite floating thirty or so feet in the air. There were slight murmurs on the surface of this object as if it was over an open burner and simmering.

Sitting cross legged at the center of the elevated stage was a tan middle aged man in tattered robes similar to the ones Yafu had been wearing when he first arrived at Zavier’s house. He had jet black hair tied back in a ponytail and thick long beard. His most distinct feature was his green eyes. Despite his rather diminutive height, his muscular physique made it clear to Zavier that Shen could likely kill him without using any sort of crazy alien power. He had multiple small scars and calluses along his exposed arms and a deep set, slightly drooping face. Zavier could not help but smile internally. For all the hype and fear about facing this Shen, the guy looked like a construction worker two decades into his career. Shen’s eyes, a faded dull green, had been locked on the door initially and now traced Zavier as he paced over about ten feet to the left. There was a bit of awkward silence as both men stared at each other until Zavier finished his walk and stopped. He couldn’t let Shen just size him up, he had to be more distracting.

“Shen!” Zavier tried to project his voice forward as much as he could. Yafu was right. An unknown enemy is scariest if they are confident. He let his voice reverberate across the walls as continued to meet his opponent’s gaze. On the off chance Yafu didn’t know he had reached Shen, his voice should alert him to prepare his move.

Zavier continued to let his voice’s echo die down and he watched for Shen to react. Nothing. The man just kept giving a cold dead stare at Zavier. Zavier made a concentrated effort to hide it but this put him off guard. He wasn’t getting Shen to respond. Did he already know their plan? Zavier knew he had to try again to engage Shen. This was likely his last good chance. A second unanswered call out would leave him stumbling for options.

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