Shadows of Redact

by RG Long

  46: Burn

  Cyna stood over two dead bodies of the assassins who had come to take her life.

  With her good hand, she held a cut on her forearm, even as she maintained grip on a dagger in your weak hand.

  She was panting heavily, but so was the last assassin standing. The cut across her shoulder was staining her white robes a dark red.

  Ferdinand clapped in what Cyna assumed was mock celebration.

  “Well done commander of the eastern Garrison,” he said. “Only one more to go and I think I will have found myself a cunning warrior to add to my army.”

  Cyna growled at him. She was no common soldier. She would show him what death looked like given the opportunity. But at the moment, this assassin was the one who wanted to take her life.

  The woman lashed out with her sword and Cyna barely ducked underneath it. She jabbed with her dagger at the stomach the assassin had exposed to her, but her blade was knocked away by the skilled warrior’s other hand.

  Cyna yelled as her arm twisted and pain shot through her senses. She knew she could not maintain this fight for long. It had to end quickly.

  The assassin stood back up and spun around, seeking to bring down the sword on Cyna’s head, but she dodged out of the way.

  This movement let the sword fall just long enough to give Cyna a moment to thrust her dagger into her exposed neck. She let out a terrible guttural cry of pain, and then fell to the ground, joining her two dead companions.

  Cyna wished she had kept the dagger in her hand instead of letting it drop with the assassin. She might’ve thrown it into Ferdinand’s forehead given the opportunity.

  It seemed he was aware of her intentions because he looked at her with an evil smile.

  “I suppose you wish that had been me as well?”

  He took his feet off the table and stood. He examined her from head to toe. Cyna wanted dearly to separate his head from his shoulders. She didn’t care who he was, anyone who looked at her with that type of expression she felt compelled to end.

  “Cyna,” Ferdinand said, as if tasting the name in his mouth. “Commander of the eastern Garrison for the Court of Three. I wonder how loyal you are to the Court if they send assassins after you to end your life? Perhaps not as valuable as you might think yourself to them?”

  Oh, how Cyna wanted to end him.

  “I’ll make you an offer,” Ferdinand said.

  He strolled around his table and looked Cyna in the eyes. Though he carried himself with an airy unconcerned expression, behind his eyes were fire and fury.

  “The High Judges of Court of Three once broke promises to me as well,” he said. “Should you join me in my aspirations, we will see the Court given its earned judgment. Those assassins only come from the High Court. So, I suppose your enemies are as high ranking as mine. Join me, and we will watch the court fall on its own sword.”

  Cyna was consumed with the pain in her arm. She would need a speaker’s attention soon or any hope of a treaty with this despicable man would be lost.

  “And if I don’t join you?” she asked with a snarl.

  Ferdinand looked down at her arm.

  “I’ll watch you bleed,” he said simply. “You are too skilled of a warrior to not have fighting beside me. If I let you go, I’m sure you’ll seek vengeance on me as well. That cannot be allowed.”

  Cyna thought as much.

  “After you overthrow the Court, what do you intend to do?” she said with contempt in her voice. “Rule over it as high judge yourself?”

  To her surprise, Ferdinand laughed out loud.

  “I do not desire order or rule!” he said. “I want chaos. I want war. I want to watch the very continent of Redact collapse in upon itself. I want to see armies clash on the battlefield and destroy each other to the last man.”

  He crossed his arms in front of him.

  “The world is coming to an end, though not all who look can see it. I want to watch it burn. To see those wreathed in purple flame wreak havoc on this pathetic existence. If chaos reigns, I am free to do as I please. And you can join me in my quest to violence if you so choose. If nothing more, I can guarantee it will be bloody and terrible. And, it will mean the end of your enemies. Once the Blackthorn clan has served its purpose, the world will consume itself in chaos.”

  Cyna raised an eyebrow at him. Ferdinand was surely mad. She did not understand all that he spoke of. There were rumors though. Tales of great beasts and the men who ranted and raged once they saw them.

  Men who spoke of purple flames.

  “When will the court fall?” Cyna asked.

  Ferdinand looked up at the suns in the sky. It was almost noon.

  “If all goes according to plan,” he said with a smile. “By the end of the day.”

  47: Fall

  High Judge Aerert drummed his fingers as he looked out over the city of Greed. Judge Anith had not yet heard back from her assassins.

  This concerned him.

  If Cyna had been able to avoid them this far, then how much longer would she potentially avoid his grasp? She was one of his secrets. Their past. Potentially, she could undo him. She had to be removed and guaranteed never to return. If he was to rule the Court of Three, Cyna must never rise beyond her station. She must fall.

  He looked over the city as the suns begin to fall down past the horizon. Commander Sefen was to march his troops over the border in the morning and begin the war with Rerial. The Court of Three needed more lands for their crops and to increase their wealth. Rerial had so far evaded their grasp with treaties and airships. This was something he intended to fix.

  If the Court of Three could obtain the fleet of Rerial, it would be unstoppable.

  With its dark magic and airships under its control, the Court could spread far beyond the reaches of its first boundaries.

  Rerial had once ridded the land of the Skrilx who had been so irksome to them. In the same matter, the Court would rid Redact of any memory of the nation that had invented its airships.

  A slight smile came over the High Judges face as he thought of himself not just a judge of the court, nor a king of the land, but the emperor of a continent.

  He had tortured and killed and stolen and threatened to reach the level of power he had now. He would not give it up because some woman desired vengeance on himself or those who had destroyed her Garrison.

  Cyna would die.

  He would rule.

  The sky turned from gray to purple as the sun’s fell just below the horizon. High Judge Aerert heard the hum of the birds of prey as they flew through the air and circled their city.

  But in the hum was becoming louder.

  It was not the birds he was hearing, but the sound of other mechanical creations.

  Airships.

  Flying just out of the suns, Aerert saw no less than five airships headed towards the city of Greed. His mouth stood wide open.

  They had invented a series of airships attacks on the Court of Three in order to spurred Rerial to war. He had never dreamed airships would make it so far into his kingdom.

  He began shouting into his private chambers for his guards to call up the commanders to action.

  At the walls of the city he saw the birds of prey lift into flight and sail for enemy airships.

  Below him, he felt the rumblings of magic as a speakers who had studied there as prepared to let loose they’re magical barrage upon the flying kingdom.

  Aerert watched with anticipation as the airships flew closer and closer to the birds of prey when he saw an explosion rock the walls around the city. The tower itself shook with a great force as a large section of the wall was reduced to rubble. It had been the place where the speakers were calling out their metal monstrosities.

  Over the cloud of smoke, Aerert could see the birds of prey falling out of the sky now that their speakers were dead.

  “No!” he shouted out loud.

  Just then, another explosion, much closer than the one at the wall shook his f
eet.

  Yet as the tower rumbled, he fell against the railing and saw that smoke and rubble were coming out of the middle of the tower. That was where his speakers studied and learned. It was where they had given out their swift justice to those who were a menace to the court.

  High Judge Aerert looked up to see five airships barreling down on his city.

  There were two main ways to defend themselves from such attacks. And both had been taken from them in one swift blow. As he recognized the gravity of what had just happened, he felt the tower began to fall.

  48: Governor

  Governor Thamund picked up his tea cup and sipped from it. It was everything he could do not to throw the thing against the wall.

  Not only was the Lord he thought he was going to be dealing with dead, in his place was the most spiteful woman he has ever met his entire life.

  The Lady of the city, a woman with a scrunched-up face and complexion like she had never seen the suns a day in her life, sat opposite of him and rebuffed every single attempt he made at trying to bring her soldiers west.

  “But they are needed here, darling,” Lady Veronica said for the fiftieth time.

  Thamund wondered if, as governor, he had the right to outlaw words. ‘Darling’ was a saying he wished would be struck from the vocabulary of every citizen of Severn. Every time she uttered the phrase, he felt needles stabbing into his neck.

  “But they are going to be needed west,” Thamund replied yet again. “Our sources tell us that the dwarves of Taystone are amassing an army. They are attempting to fight their way to the elves and I will not allow them to pass through our country unhindered.”

  “What business have we with the elves, darling?” Lady Veronica asked. “We’ve not seen elves in our land for some time. At least the dwarves make an attempt to treaty with us.”

  “With you!” Thamund replied. “You still haven’t told me what the delegation that just left from here told you or why they came here instead of returning to their homeland.”

  “I told you they were perfectly pleasant, darling,” she said again.

  “After we defeated them in war,” Thamund muttered.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” Thamund replied. He hastily set his tea cup down on the table for fear of showing his anger and throwing it across the room.

  “You say you have two thousand men here who are armed soldiers and able to fight. Another five hundred women who you think would be capable of service.”

  Thamund balled his fist underneath the table.

  “Would you be willing to send us a thousand? Keep whoever you think would be most useful to you here, and commit the rest of the defense of our nation.”

  “Suppose I sent all the women and five hundred men?” Lady Veronica asked. “Would that be pleasing to you, darling?”

  Thamund did not care if women fighters came or if they were men. At this point, he wanted those capable of bearing arms.

  “I would be pleased if you would send us a thousand troops of your choosing,” he said.

  “I did not say I would commit a thousand,” I only asked if you would appreciate the women as much as the men in your camp.

  Thamund stood up and went to the window of the room they were sitting at. The castle was made of wood and covered in plaster that made it look like stone. Thamund knew this because he had been a delegate from this area when the castle was being constructed. The inside walls were wooden, While the outside ones were filled with plaster. The windowsill that he put his hand on right now was half and half.

  He felt half of half at the moment.

  Half of him wanted to dispose of Lady Veronica and her bartering and, as governor, commit her troops to the capital for her. He had such power. But Governor Vyncent had taught him a better way.

  The other half of him wanted to be diplomatic. Or at least attempt to be so. He looked out over the city and saw the usual hustle and bustle of the people of Severn. Several smokestacks in the city were pouring fourth smoke from bakers, blacksmiths and magic shops alike. Several men, women and children walked the streets.

  Some carried their loads for the day, while others simply appeared to be shopping in the market.

  These were his people. Those he was charged to take care of. How could he do that if he was not afforded the soldiers to defend him?

  He turned around to face Lady Veronica.

  Her face was still scrunched into a disapproving look and Thamund took a deep breath as he tried his best to look her squarely in the eye.

  “Lady Veronica,” he said, keeping his voice even. “I know your city has never seen battle. Not within recent memory. I can understand your desire to keep your soldiers here to protect your citizens. But if you do not commit any soldiers to us, I can guarantee that you will have to use your soldiers here at your doorstep. If you promise to give me at least five hundred, I know that we can use them to slow the advance of whatever enemy might come to harm us. Be that the Court of Three or the dwarves of the west.”

  “The court?” Lady Veronica asked. “Whatever does the court have to do with us?”

  Thamund shook his head.

  “I cannot confirm it,” Thamund said. “But we have reason to believe that activity in the Court will come down to us here in Severn.”

  Lady Veronica sniffed.

  “It already has. Those who work outside the rule of law have already reached within your borders.”

  Governor Thamund folded his arms in front of his chest.

  “Your predecessor,” Lady Veronica said curtly. “Assassinated in his own hallway.”

  Lady Veronica took a long sip of her tea.

  “You don’t mean to tell me you suspect the Court of such a maneuver?” she asked.

  “Not the Court of Three itself,” Thamund said. “But those operating from within it”

  “The Blackthorn clan,” lady Veronica said softly.

  Thamund nodded though, he hated to admit that the powerful gang had succeeded in dealing Severn such a blow. Not many outside the castle knew of the source of the assassin. Nor was he sure.

  Lady Veronica took a deep breath and then stood up for her table.

  “The Blackthorn’s have already made the presence known here as well,” she said.

  This was a shock to Thamund.

  “In what way?” he asked as he approached her from his side of the table.

  Lady Veronica waved her hand dismissively.

  “What I have seen concerns myself,” she said. “Keeping my own people safe from within is my priority. You commit to keeping them guarded from the outside, but who will protect them from threats inside our own walls?”

  Thamund wished he had an easy answer for her, but he did not.

  “I cannot guarantee the safety of your people if I cannot guarantee the borders to the west,” he said.

  “I don’t think we have to fear the dwarves of Taystone,” Lady Veronica said. “They’ve already promised...”

  “Promised?” Thamund said, uncrossing his arms and taking a step towards her. “What have they promised you? They’ve told us nothing!”

  Lady Veronica’s scrunched up face wilted as she sat down and grabbed her tea.

  Thamund took it from her hands and threw the glass against the wall.

  “What did they promise you!?” he yelled.

  She shook as she stared forward.

  Thamund was enraged. The dwarves of Taystone. They had left his walls and marched here in order to secure the hopes of a weak Lady. He was just about to dismiss Lady Veronica from her leadership as Lady, when he heard a noise outside the window that caused him to turn in shock.

  He had heard that noise only once.

  And devastation had followed it.

  “What is that!?” Lady Veronica asked over the noise and the wind that was rushing into the room.

  Thamund took a deep breath as he looked grimly out of the window.

  “Airships,” he said.

  49: Parlay
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br />   Laserie took a deep breath of the refreshing air as she made her first step outside of the forest. The dark plague had followed them from the center of the trees where she had refused to join the vision of her parents to the place she stood just now. Looking over her shoulder, she saw green tendrils in the depths of the trees. She took several more steps to clear her vision and her senses. The sensation was freeing.

  She had never seen the big waters before.

  The trees here were much cleaner than the ones they had left in the other portion of the forest. The air was fresher too.

  Acred came up behind her and looked out at the tower of the elves.

  “It’s been many years since we have come this far,” he said “We don’t often traverse the forest unless we absolutely have to. We made an exception for you and your cause when we understood the goings-on of a continent.”

  “What goings-on?” Laserie asked as she looked over at the twin tower to her own.

  It looked exactly like her home, but just with a different landscape behind it. Where her tower overlooked mountains, this one overlooked the sea. She had never seen the ocean or smelled its air. There were birds that she only read about in books flying over them. Their calls moved her as she looked down to see the beautiful sandy beaches of the coast. The tower would be within their reach before the end of the day.

  They continued to walk for some time. Laserie took in the sights and sounds and smells of the area. It invigorated her. She felt alive for the first time since leaving the tower of LaGrove and defying the blessing of her elders. She felt like she was accomplishing something grand.

  Silently, the Skrilx and her moved closer to the tower. But Laserie felt like talking.

  “You never answered my question as to what the things you were keeping track of. On the greater continent that is.”

  Susan looked over to see if she had made Acred at least consider her words.

  The Skrilx were hard to read. He was looking as if he might consider answering when the old silver haired Skrilx interrupted.