Free Seven Words of Power by James Maxwell Page B

their hands. Some even had enchanted swords from Altura, or a prismatic orb or two at their belt. Aleks almost felt sorry for his creation.
    Where could it be? Where would he go, if he were the one being pursued?
    Aleks felt responsible for everything that had happened. Lev was dead and it was his fault. He knew the strains he had chosen for the seed well, and there was nothing in there to give the creature such aggression.
    Only whatever had come from him.
    Was it the dark side within Aleks himself that made it what it was? Would Aleks have killed Lev, if he had the strength?
    Aleks knew he had to find his creation and destroy it. He wondered again where it could be. It was aware. It knew it was being hunted.
    He wanted to search but first he needed to know where to look. Aleks felt that if he thought hard enough, he would know where to go.
    Where would he go?
    As he pondered he looked into a mirror and into his own eyes. Remorse filled him. He should have said something. But how could he have known that there was such darkness within him?
    Alex's eyes stared back at him.
    Something moved in the reflection.
    Aleks turned, and there it was. The plant was in his home, bigger than ever, looming with its tooth-lined jaws gaping open.
    He froze. Surely it couldn’t be here to harm him. What did it want?
    Aleks had shoved Vera.
    The plant’s only thought was to protect her.
    The jaws came down.
     
    ~
     
    Vera walked through the tree-lined streets of Rosarva, watching the way they swayed and rustled in the wind. She thought of Aleks and sighed. It had been a month since Aleks had vanished, and already life was moving on, but she still thought about him constantly.
    People speculated that he’d been so filled with fear that he'd fled Rosarva. Vera didn't believe them. She knew Aleks. He wouldn't run. Such a creature needed to be destroyed, and Aleks would see it done.
    Privately, Vera thought he’d left to draw the plant away. One day, he might come back.
    Vera saw a shade of lighter green among the willowy trees. She thought nothing of it at first, but then stopped in her tracks when she realized what it was.
    It looked a little like a guardian plant, but like none Vera had ever seen before. It was broader and its arms and legs were incredibly human; the mouth, when it opened its tooth-lined jaws, was red and moist.
    It seemed to be watching her, which Vera knew was impossible. Disquieted, Vera turned around and hurriedly walked away; she would find another way home.
    There was something unnerving about the way it tilted its head.
     

The Inheritance Test
     
    Massimo’s elder brother, Alonzo, returned from his first independent trading expedition grinning from ear to ear.
    “My son has returned!” their father Giorgio cried, running down to greet Alonzo's lumbering wagon.
    The wagon came to a halt, and after his father had kissed Giorgio on both cheeks, Massimo was the next to climb up the side of his brother’s cart, shaking hands and finally giving in to his elder brother’s embrace. Meanwhile, Giorgio ran to the back of the cart, peering in to examine the contents.
    “I see marble from Torakon, silk from Altura, dyes from Tingara… It seems your venture was a great success! I’m proud of you, my son,” Giorgio said.
    “Thank you, Father,” Alonzo said.
    Giorgio finished inspecting Alonzo's cargo and came back to haul Massimo out of the way. Massimo stepped down from the cart and his father climbed up, moving Alonzo aside on the bench seat and sitting beside him.
    “Now, Alonzo,” Giorgio said. “What have you learned?”
    Massimo’s father always asked his eldest son this question. When Alonzo returned from classes at the earth temple: what you have you learned? When Alonzo went to his first dance: what have you learned? Always it was the same.
    “Well, Father, I learned that Petryans are short on potatoes. Alturans need stone, particularly marble. Veznans are in need of Alturan nightlamps, Toraks need