Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  Most of humanity was now living on the shores, in places where they had unlimited access to salt water. New countries were created, and the old borders were gone, while the land far from the sea didn’t belong to anyone, and Hente ran freely there.

  After getting the long-awaited protection, human civilization was developing again, but this development was limited. The constant fear hung in the air, traveling wasn’t prohibited officially, but few were brave enough to leave the safety of their country. The communication between states was rare and poor, with each of them searching for a better weapon. It was clear that the one with greater force had all the chances of ruling the world.

  So far all the efforts of military engineers were in vain. But life was getting better nevertheless: the number of humans was growing again, the borders remained stable, and Hente were no longer the great mythical power capable of destroying the planet.

  That was before yesterday. A pack went deep into the peninsula, passing all the obstacles. The government tried to contain the news, but the rumor spread. Gabriella understood that the tragedy was avoided at this point, but if an accident like that was to repeat, it would lead to inevitable changes for the worst within the country.

  However, right now she was worried about something different; her thoughts kept returning to one particular person.

  “We were blessed,” she concluded. “The safety of New Vatican is protected by the police and the warriors of the Church. They’ve been guarding us from demons for centuries. And if you live a virtuous life without sin, the demons will never get you. Your life will be long and happy in this city.”

  The children believed her. They were scared when she started talking about Hente, and on the screen behind her back they could see the pictures of those freaks. But her words about safety were enough to calm them down.

  They had seen warriors on the streets before. They could sense the power coming from those men. They were young and naïve enough to believe in complete safety.

  When the lesson was over, kids and their parents left the hall. The representatives of the Church were the first to walk away, which meant they were satisfied with her work. That was good. After yesterday’s attack she had to be careful about every word she spoke.

  When the hall was empty, Gabriella put on a long coat and headed for the exit. She didn’t go to the main gates of the temple, opting for a small backdoor instead. It opened the way to the rose garden decorating the inner yard. The flowers were basking in the sun, filling the air with their gentle aroma, and being here made it easy to believe that the world was safe and beautiful…

  That garden always eased her tension when her heart was aching. But not today – today it wasn’t enough. Her anxiety was too great; Gabriella passed the posh roses without even slowing her pace.

  She entered the building where the warriors lived. Very few women had the right to come here, and she was one of them. Gabriella knew it was still complicated and tried not to abuse that advantage, and yet she couldn’t stay away today. She would’ve come earlier, but it was dangerous yesterday: the clash with the Hente scared everyone, and this place was buzzing.

  Gabriella was dressed according to the rules: her long teacher’s dress hid her body from neck to toe, her shoes were flat and simple, her face was free of any makeup. A wide hood was covering her head completely, and the only thing she regretted was not combing her long chestnut hair into a modest braid. It was acceptable for her to leave her hair down while in class, but here, in the men’s dorm, it could be taken for an attempt of seduction. She was moving fast because of it, her head hung low, and she stopped only in front of the warrior she knew well.

  He was surprised to see her here, but not too much.

  “Looking for Sebastian?” he asked. “Don’t. His situation is bad enough, and meeting with a woman here would only add to his problems.”

  “So the rumors are true? He didn’t follow his commander’s order?”

  Nobody knew about it on the streets, but the temples were full of quiet whispers. The name of the rogue warrior wasn’t mentioned, but it wasn’t hard for her to figure it out. It could only be him!

  “You’d better leave,” the warrior told her.

  “Ulmanas, please! You know how important he is to me!”

  “I know,” he sighed. “But I don’t think the others can understand. You love him like a brother – but have you thought about how it looks? Especially after he made many people doubt his loyalty to the Church…”

  That was exactly what she had heard, and she couldn’t accept it. Sebastian was independent, but not rebellious; he was an obedient soldier, always putting the interests of his comrades first. He rarely talked, believing that actions spoke louder, and never wasted his time in vain.

  And he was very loyal to his beliefs. They meant more to him that the ideals of the Church. If he had to choose between the two, he’d go for his principles, and that was the only explanation she could find for what had happened.

  He wasn’t afraid of death, and the punishment wouldn’t scare him either. He was very egoistic in his fearlessness – he didn’t understand his life mattered not only to him.

  “I need to see him,” Gabriella whispered.

  “Have you been listening to me?”

  “I have, but I really need it… Is it possible?”

  Another warrior would force her to go away, but Ulmanas knew her ever since childhood – he grew up in the same orphanage as she and Sebastian. If they couldn’t trust each other, what else was left for them?

  “Okay,” he finally gave up. “But you must be quick. Sebastian isn’t punished so far, he lives with us. But tonight he is to see Lord Cardinal. You know how serious it is.”

  Gabriella nodded. It would’ve been better if he got his punishment immediately – some lashes, and that would end the case. But Lord Cardinal brought things to a whole new level… Which wasn’t fair! Could they really execute him for a single mistake?

  “He’s in the training hall,” Ulmanas informed her. “Alone. Not like the others are avoiding him, just… You know that when someone disobeys the order, there’s this nasty feeling in the air…”

  “I see. So until Lord Cardinal makes his decision, Sebastian will be avoided even by those whom he saved. Including you, I presume?”

  “Gaby, your words are inspired by anger,” Ulmanas gave her a look of reproach. “It’s a sin.”

  She wanted to tell his words were inspired by fear, but stopped herself. Judging by the look in his eyes, he understood that. He just nodded at the hallway:

  “Go, you have around half an hour, not more. Try to avoid anyone else. I don’t know what you’re trying to do…”

  “Isn’t it obvious? I can’t change him, I just want to show him not everyone is ignoring him!”

  “You think he cares what others do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She truly didn’t. She had known him for fifteen years – but she wasn’t even close to uncovering his soul. Gabriella suspected he wasn’t as emotionless as others believed him to be. He just didn’t want to show it.

  He succeeded at that now. He was alone in the training hall, but he wasn’t bothered by this, he didn’t need any company to follow his routine. He stood in the colorful light of the stained-glass window, and Gabriella caught herself thinking again that she simply wanted to observe him without saying anything at all. It was a prohibited thought, a sinful one, but… not like anyone would know!

  She suspected that if angels truly existed, they looked like him. From a frightened boy she met in the orphanage he grew to become a tall slender man. Warriors of the Church, unlike police officers, weren’t bulky with muscles, their bodies had to stay fast and agile to fight Hente. But his proud back, his head held high and his eyes showed the power everyone respected.

  His skin had always been very light, barely tanning even after a whole day out in the sun. His black hair grew almost down to his shoulders, but Sebastian combed it back when he
was wearing his uniform, as the rules demanded. He didn’t care much about how he looked, preferring to follow the instructions.

  But his most amazing feature to Gabriella were his eyes. Their color reminded her of the mountain lakes she saw in her childhood – icy, very clear, blue and gray and translucent. Those mountain lakes were filled with Hente attacking people. She couldn’t tell what was hiding in his eyes.

  He noticed her at once, but wasn’t happy or upset about it.

  “Why are you here?” he asked simply.

  “I heard you were in trouble…”

  “Yes.”

  That was it. A dry, short “yes”, as if she was a stranger to him! Gabriella wasn’t offended, she knew it was just the way he was – he would share his joy, but keep his sorrow all to himself.

  “What happened?”

  He wasn’t answering for quite a while. She didn’t push him, she just watched him doing pull-ups. She saw his muscles moving under his skin – muscles of a warrior who survived many battles. Gabriella felt herself blushing, though she couldn’t entirely understand this reaction; she pulled the hood lower, hoping that Sebastian wouldn’t notice anything.

  And he wasn’t even looking at her. He finished with one exercise, turned in the air and hung upside down on a beam by the ceiling.

  He decided not to ignore her any further.

  “I broke an order.”

  “I’ve heard about it,” Gabriella confessed.

  “Then why are you asking me?”

  “I want to know why you did it.”

  “Because it was the right thing to do,” Sebastian explained. “I broke the rule of doing nothing when action was needed. If I didn’t, a warrior could’ve died. I don’t understand all the fuzz about it.”

  “People are scared,” she answered softly. “When Hente came so close to the city, the feeling of stability was disturbed. If the warriors stop following orders, our world may drown in chaos.”

  “Some orders are not worth obeying.”

  “You know, if you had simply apologized, things would be better…”

  Sebastian threw her an amazed look.

  “I’m not going to apologize for something I don’t regret.”

  “You’re not doing it for what you did, but rather to escape what can be done to you. Do you feel the difference? For your salvation. If you broke the rules under different circumstances, it wouldn’t be so important. You’re a great warrior! But it’s not only about you now.”

  “I don’t give a damn what it’s about. If I can’t live the way I want – I don’t want to live at all.”

  “It’s not a joke!” Gabriella fumed. “What if they sentence you do death?!”

  “So be it.”

  “Are you out of your mind? How can you be so calm about it?”

  He jumped off the beam and came closer to her. Gabriella could feel her heart beating faster, and that damned blush on her cheeks became brighter. She could only hope that the shadow cast by the hood would save her from sheer embarrassment of it.

  She didn’t know why she felt this way. It wasn’t the best time to think about it.

  “You know I have nothing,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a complaint or reproach, he was just stating a fact. “No home, no family. Even the sword I carry on the battlefield belongs to the Church. But I have the right to make decisions. That’s why I don’t care what they might do to me – if they kill me, I’ll just disappear, and nothing will matter anymore. But they won’t kill me.”

  “How do you know that?”

  For the first time since their talk began Sebastian allowed himself to smile.

  “It’s a matter of intuition.”

  ***

  The crime itself truly wasn’t worthy of such attention. If it had happened on a regular mission, Jeremiah wouldn’t have worried about it. But right now tensions were rising, many people were searching for someone to let their wrath out on, and a warrior who broke his commander’s order caused nothing but spite.

  At the same time, it was important not to overdo it with the punishment. Some Brothers were criticizing that warrior, while others supported him. He broke the order to save someone! The newbies were watching him with admiration, and it was hard to tell whom they respected more – him or Brother Adrian.

  There was no perfect decision that everyone would like. But Jeremiah wasn’t preoccupied with what the warriors would say about him. It was important for him to find a truly just solution to this problem, to be at peace with his own soul. What could he do to such a soldier?

  He had looked through the file more than once and he knew he was to decide the fate of an extremely talented warrior. Sebastian finished the Seminary two years ago, had impeccable reputation and had never broken rules before. If it weren’t for this accident, he would become a commander soon.

  He probably knew it – such soldiers were usually very smart. But he still sacrificed his bright future to save a couple of freshmen. Many warriors were surprised by his sudden rogue behavior. Jeremiah wasn’t.

  Lord Cardinal knew that two types of soldiers could break orders like this. The first type was noisy and aggressive, looking for any sort of attention. Everything they did was impulsive and aimed at getting noticed. Those soldiers normally weren’t too intelligent or careful.

  The second type was quiet. They followed the rules only when there was no reason to break them. Their analytical talents were amazing, and each violation was organized and controlled. But they were a bigger problem than the noisy idiots.

  If Sebastian was from the second type, executing him would be the best option…

  A knock on the door distracted Jeremiah, making him raise his head from the file.

  “What is it?” he asked sharply.

  The door opened, and his secretary looked in.

  “Your Eminence, Brother Sebastian is here to see you.”

  “Let him in.”

  The secretary opened the door wider, allowing the warrior to enter the room. Sebastian came in his field uniform, but unarmed. His every step, his posture and the look on his face radiated with confidence. He had no illusions about what awaited hum, and still he wasn’t afraid. Such people were valuable and dangerous at the same time.

  “Leave us,” Jeremiah told his secretary.

  The man nodded and hurried to disappear. It was easy to notice he didn’t want to witness that talk.

  Sebastian bowed to the Cardinal briefly.

  “Your Eminence, you have summoned me.”

  “I have. I believe you know the reason. I have a question for you, Brother Sebastian. Do you think this war has any place for lone warriors?”

  Jeremiah hadn’t made up his mind yet. There was something in that young man’s eyes that stirred his interest, and he wanted to know more.

  “No war has any place for them, my Lord.”

  “Wrong,” Jeremiah shook his head. “There are wars that need loners. They turn into a symbol, an ideal, or even a martyr. But our war is different. To win it, we need discipline and faith. Those who don’t see it are a threat – and that’s what you’ve become.”

  “I don’t think so, Your Eminence. I didn’t want to become a hero.”

  “Is that so?”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you. I know that our names are kept secret, nobody in the city knows about what we do. So even if I was looking for fame, my act wouldn’t bring any.”

  He was talking to the Cardinal with nothing but respect, he wasn’t scared. Few warriors were capable of this. Jeremiah wasn’t trying to inspire such awe in his subordinates, it came naturally to him. Not this time though.

  Sebastian belonged to the rare breed of people who searched for neither admiration nor simple pleasures.

  “If I choose to execute you, no-one will judge me, and some people will be glad. Not because your crime was so hideous, but because you’ll become an example for others, a guarantee that nobody will break the rules from now on.”

  The soldier didn’t even blink a
t this.

  “Yes, Your Eminence.”

  “But I’m not going to sentence you to death. You’re curious… I’ve read your file,” Jeremiah pointed at the computer monitor. “Your talent is outstanding. As far as I know, you created your own fighting style while still at the Seminary, and you even have a special sword for it. Am I right?”

  “Yes, Your Eminence.”

  “You’ve achieved more in your youth than many people achieve through their life. Are you searching for glory?”

  “No, Your Eminence.”

  “Then why? What is your motive?”

  “I have no hidden agenda,” Sebastian shrugged. “I simply want to destroy Hente. All of them, if I manage… But that’s unlikely, so I want to kill as many of them as I can before they kill me. That’s why I broke this order – it was unpractical.”

  “Why? The battle was nearly over!”

  “But there were Hente out there. I didn’t understand why we had to retreat.”

  “How interesting,” Jeremiah chuckled. “I guess it’s not too important for you who issues those orders – your commander or me. You need to know the order is practical, then you’ll follow it.”

  “Indeed, Your Eminence.”

  If there was even a mere echo of snobbism in Sebastian’s voice at that moment, the Cardinal would order to kill him without any further questions. But the warrior’s speech was free of any egoism or ambitions, as if he was referring to someone else, not himself.

  “Those words alone can have you killed.”

  “I am aware of that, Your Eminence. But I cannot lie to you. I believe lying to be a greater sin than my thoughts.”

  “You’re too independent for a warrior of the Church,” Jeremiah sighed. “It may sound good, but it’s actually bad for you. What if I tell you that your instructions were practical? You were told to retreat in order to calm the citizens down, making them believe the danger was minimal. What would you say to that?”

  “I’d say it still wasn’t practical. Even if it was logical.”

  “Explain.”

  “In order to create the early illusion of victory, it would be better to call the squads consisting of freshmen back,” Sebastian replied. “The citizens can’t tell the difference between strong and weak warriors. The freshmen would be back on the streets, and the experienced warriors would finish the remaining Hente off easily. But instead my squad was told to pull back, while the Fifth Squad, the weakest one, was left on the battlefield. I didn’t like that. I couldn’t allow a bloody Hente to kill humans just a couple of feet away from me.”