by Dean Cadman
“My name’s Alexia, what’s yours?” she said towards the grate. At first there was no reply from within the darkness, and Alexia thought whoever was inside had decided not to speak with her. Then she heard a series of weak rasping coughs from deeper inside the grate. She heard the little girl say something quietly, but couldn’t quite make out her words. Alexia was about to call Lusam, and see if he could break the lid off somehow magically, but a moment later the little girl spoke.
“Rebekah… my name’s Rebekah,” she said quietly from inside the grate.
“Hello, Rebekah, it’s nice to meet you. Can you open the grate from the inside?” Alexia asked in a calming voice.
“No… no… the monsters will get us,” Rebekah replied, sheer terror evident in her voice.
“No, they won’t. You’re safe now, I promise. We killed all the monsters outside, take a look for yourself,” Alexia reassured her.
“No… more will come. They always do. When they hear Kayden coughing, they always come,” she said crying and sobbing.
“Is Kayden your friend, Rebekah?” Alexia asked, trying to keep the little girl talking.
“No, he’s my little brother,” she replied between sobs.
“He doesn’t sound very well, Rebekah. If you open the grate we can help him get better, I promise,” Alexia said.
“Have you seen our mother and father? They were supposed to come and find us, but they didn’t come yet,” Rebekah asked, still sobbing.
“No, I’m afraid I haven’t seen them, Rebekah. But I tell you what, open the grate for me, and we can go look for them together, as soon as we sort out your little brother. How does that sound?” Alexia offered, knowing full well that her parents would most likely be amongst the victims of the Empire agents. Rebekah didn’t reply, and the silence stretched on for a long time before Alexia heard the unmistakable sound of a bolt being slid back, quickly followed by a second. Renn lifted the cover off the opening, and revealed a young blonde girl of about ten or eleven years old. She glanced around with wild eyes, then launched herself at Alexia, who was still on her knees beside the grate. She threw her arms around Alexia’s neck and buried her face into her shoulder, crying loudly next to her ear. Alexia rubbed her back, and fought back tears of her own, stunned at how much Rebekah reminded her of her own little sister Molly. The resemblance was uncanny, and it brought back a flood of both good and painful memories for Alexia.
Alexia had been born in a village called Dunlow, just south of Oakedge, and grew up there with her family. Her father had chosen various dubious career paths over the years, but her mother had worked on the local dairy farm each morning for many years, milking the cows and churning the butter. One day—not long after Alexia’s tenth birthday—a group of soldiers had arrived to arrest her father. They said he was wanted for crimes committed against a noble family in Oakedge, and that his trial would be carried out in Oakedge the following day. That was the last time she ever saw her father, and no matter how many times she had asked what had happened to him, her mother refused to even talk about it with her.
Her sister Molly had been two years younger than Alexia, and full of life. They had often played together in the fields around their house, or down by the stream while their mother worked her long hours at the dairy farm. But no matter how hard their mother worked, it never seemed to be enough to pay for everything. Soon they were forced to move out of their comfortable home and into a much smaller and dirtier house on the outskirts of the village. But gradually, even there, life had returned to normal, as they got used to their new humbler abode and surroundings. Even the sound of their mother’s laughter had returned on occasion, and things seemed to finally be getting back to normal for them all. That was until the following spring, when almost the whole village had been affected by a deadly fever. For a long time their remote location on the outskirts of the village had been a blessing, but their mother still had to work, and two weeks later the inevitable happened. It started as a small cough, but rapidly escalated into the deadly fever. She watched helplessly as first her mother, then her little sister succumbed to it. One day they were fine, the next they were gone. Her whole world collapsed around her, and she prayed the fever would take her too, but of course, it didn’t. Shortly afterwards she had gone to live on the streets of Oakedge as a street kid, then later joined a band of brigands in the nearby forest to the north.
“Alexia, are you alright?” she heard Neala ask, dragging her thoughts back to the present. Alexia hadn’t realised, but she too had been crying at the painful memories brought back to her by seeing Rebekah’s face. Alexia looked up at Neala, smiled and nodded, but didn’t let go of Rebekah.
“Could you go take a look at her little brother, he sounds very sick. Maybe Lusam can do something to help him,” Alexia said quietly over Rebekah’s shoulder. Alexia tried to stand up, but Rebekah wouldn’t relinquish her tight hold around her neck, so she found herself carrying Rebekah, with her legs wrapped tightly around her middle. As she glanced into the dark hole, she realised it wasn’t a sewer at all, but some kind of storage room, probably belonging to the stone building behind it. She made her way to the stone steps of the building, and sat down with Rebekah still clinging tightly to her.
Lusam climbed down into the dark hole, closely followed by Neala. There was a wooden platform near the entrance which made it much easier to get in and out of the room below. It seemed the room’s sole purpose was to dry firewood, as there was nothing else there apart from a few discarded vegetables, which he guessed the children had been eating to stay alive. The moment he thought about food, he realised just how hungry he actually was. It had been a long time since he had used as much of his magic reserves as he had today, and it seemed that reading the second Guardian book had made him no less dependent on food after doing so. As if to punctuate the thought, his stomach let out a huge growling sound, amplified by the stone room they were in.
“Don’t even say it. I know… I know,” Neala said, shaking her head. Lusam smiled to himself, and created a small light orb to illuminate the room without even turning to face her. In the corner, lying on a wooden platform, was a young boy of about five or six years old. He looked very pale and sweaty, and his lips were dry and cracked from lack of moisture. Lusam tried to rouse him, but he was unable to.
“Can you heal him?” Neala asked quietly by his side.
“Maybe, but he looks very weak. Healing his illness is one thing, but it looks like he’s been without food or water for quite a while. He will need time to regain his strength afterwards on his own, I think,” Lusam replied, placing his hand on the boy’s forehead. He could sense the boy’s body fighting against the infection, and gave it a helping hand using his magic. The boy’s main problem had been that his body hadn’t had the fuel to burn to heal itself, giving the infection the upper hand. Now that Lusam had transferred some energy into the parts of his body that were fighting the infection, it was now just a matter of time before his body’s defences began to win out over the infection. How long that would take, he didn’t know. But he did know that if they could manage to get him to eat and drink, that time period would be much less.
“He should be okay for now, but he needs food and water so his body can heal itself,” Lusam said, turning to face Neala.
“Water shouldn’t be a problem, there is a well at the end of this street, but food might be more difficult,” Neala replied.
“I doubt it. It doesn’t look like most of the villagers had much time to pack up and leave before the attack, so providing we can find some houses that haven’t been burned to the ground, I’m sure we’ll find something to eat there.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. We should go tell the others about the boy’s condition, and arrange a search party for supplies,” Neala said, heading for the opening without waiting for a reply. Lusam followed her back out into the sunlight above, squinting against the bright light until his eyes adjusted to it once more. Alexia was still holding the little
girl whilst sitting on the steps of a nearby building, but Renn was nowhere to be seen.
“How is he?” Alexia asked over the shoulder of the little girl.
“He should be fine now, but we need to get some food and water into him soon,” Lusam replied, glancing around for Renn. “Where did Renn go?”
“I’m not sure, he headed off down that way a few minutes ago, said he wouldn’t be long,” Alexia replied nodding towards the well at the end of the street.
“Any idea what this building is?” Neala asked, looking at the stout door behind Alexia.
“It’s the temple,” Rebekah said quietly without lifting her head.
“Thank you, err…” Neala began to say.
“Her name is Rebekah, and she told me her brother is called Kayden. Rebekah, these are my friends, Neala and Lusam, and the big one who was here earlier is called Renn,” Alexia said.
“Hello, Rebekah, it’s nice to meet you,” Neala said, sitting on the step next to her and Alexia.
“Hello,” Rebekah said shyly, glancing in Neala’s direction momentarily before burying her head once more into Alexia’s shoulder. Neala raised her eyebrows at Alexia, but she just smiled back, obviously not bothered at all by the young girl’s affections. Neala stood up and tried to open the heavy door of the temple, but it was securely locked. Without hesitation she removed a small pouch from her tunic that contained her lock-picks, and set to work on the door lock. She allowed herself a wry smile as she remembered the last time she had used them in the basement of Mr Daffer’s shop, to unlock the cell doors, and check for any treasure left behind by the previous inhabitants. The lock clicked, and the door swung open on its well oiled hinges to reveal a large open room, with lines of wooden benches facing an altar on a raised platform at the far end. On the stone walls were various paintings and tapestries, all depicting the ocean in one form or another. The floor was a simple flagstone affair, with long narrow carpets running along the walkways, and up onto the raised platform where the altar was. ‘All in all, nothing special,’ Neala thought to herself, as Lusam came to join her.
“There’s a stack of bench cushions over there,” Lusam said, pointing towards the back corner of the room. “If we spread some out on the floor at the front, we can bring Kayden up here and make him more comfortable, while we go find some food and water. I’m sure Alexia will watch over him while we’re gone.” Overhearing their conversation inside the temple, Alexia came to join them with Rebekah. She had somehow managed to convince Rebekah to let go of her neck, and now she stood by Alexia’s side, holding her hand instead.
“I’m sure we can make a nice bed for your little brother, can’t we, Rebekah?” Alexia asked, crouching down next to her, and pushing a strand of blonde hair away from her eyes. Rebekah nodded mutely, seemingly a little less distressed than she had been earlier.
“Thank you, Rebekah. I’m sure Kayden will like that very much,” Neala replied smiling at her. Lusam had noticed some writing carved into the walls around the room, and was curious to see if it was magical in nature like the writing in Helveel and Coldmont. He slipped into his mage-sight and examined the text, but it remained nothing more than a simple stone carving. Disappointed, he turned back towards the others, and was stunned by what he saw. Rebekah had an aura much brighter than an average person. In fact, he was sure—given the correct training—she would not only be capable of sensing magic in others, but performing it as well. He clearly remembered the strength of his grandmother’s aura, and Rebekah’s was slightly brighter he judged. And so it stood to reason that if his grandmother could perform magic, so could Rebekah.
At that moment Renn returned, carrying a large cooking pot, several wooden bowls, and a bag full of what Lusam guessed were vegetables. Alexia and Rebekah were already busy carrying cushions to the front of the room, and arranging them on the floor to create a bed for Kayden.
“Renn, can I speak with you a moment, please,” Lusam said, indicating with his head towards the far corner of the room.
“I guess I’ll go get Kayden, then,” Neala said sarcastically shaking her head, and heading for the door, leaving Lusam to have his chat with Renn.
“Sorry, Neala,” Lusam called after her, but she just raised her hand, and continued out of the door to fetch Kayden.
“What’s up, lad?” Renn asked quietly.
“Take a look at Rebekah’s aura,” Lusam replied, nodding towards the little girl. Renn’s eyes widened, as he too noticed the little girl’s aura for the first time.
“Interesting,” he said, studying the little girl and his surroundings in more detail.
“That’s it… just interesting? I thought you’d be a lot more excited about discovering her potential than that,” Lusam said disappointedly.
“No, I mean yes, I am…” Renn replied, just as Neala returned carrying Kayden, “but that makes it even more interesting, I’d say,” Renn added, nodding towards the boy in Neala’s arms. Lusam glanced towards the boy and couldn’t believe his eyes; he too had an equally bright aura.
“What’s going on here, Renn? I thought you said the Empire killed all the newborn magi in Afaraon, and the ones that the Hermingild managed to save were always sent to the High Temple in Lamuria to be trained. How can two children like these be missed by both the Empire and the High Temple?”
“I’m not sure, lad, but I think I might have half an answer to your question. Do you see that symbol up there?” Renn said, pointing at a carved symbol high above the altar platform. Lusam looked, but he didn’t recognise the symbol.
“Yeah, what about it?” he replied.
“That’s the sign for the God Deas. These people, like many seafarers, worship Deas, not Aysha,” Renn replied, as if that should explain everything to Lusam.
“I don’t understand. What does that have to do with surviving the Empire’s culling?” Lusam asked confused.
“The Empire’s culling… nothing. But it does explain why they weren’t taken to the High Temple for training. You see, lad, in Afaraon it’s become a long tradition to visit a temple of Aysha as soon as a woman discovers she is pregnant. The priest is expected to bless her pregnancy, which he or she does, but they also examine her magically for the telltale signs of an unborn mage. These days the tradition is kept up because it’s considered unlucky not to visit the temple for a blessing, and it’s extremely uncommon for a priest to discover a potential unborn mage amongst the general population. But two centuries ago, when we first discovered that the Thule Empire was trying to eradicate magic from Afaraon, the visit to the local temple was the difference between life and death for many a mother and her child.
“All the priests were taught the necessary spells to detect such a child, and it was, at first, a decree of the King that every expectant mother should attend their local temple at least once during their pregnancy. Of course, the real reasons behind the decree were kept a secret from the general population, so as not to instil panic, and many ignored it completely, at least at first. But it didn’t take long for people to realise that many of the mothers who didn’t attend their local temples often turned up dead soon afterwards, along with their newborns. Various superstitious nonsense was blamed for their deaths, but regardless, it soon became the norm for all mothers-to-be to visit their local temples at least once during their pregnancies. And even to this day, the tradition is still upheld by most people in Afaraon. But the people of this village worship Deas, not Aysha. Therefore, the children here would not have been discovered by the High Temple, but as to why they were not discovered by the Thule Empire, I have no idea,” Renn said. Lusam nodded at Renn’s words, realising how little he knew about the history of Afaraon and its people. In fact, he also realised he knew very little about the Afaraon of today—something he would have to try and rectify before they reached Lamuria he expected.
“How’s the boy?” Renn asked looking in his direction.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine as soon as we get some food into him. I gave his bod
y the energy it needed to fight off the infection, but he’ll still need to eat and drink to speed things up. Sorry, but it looks like we’re not going anywhere until tomorrow now,” Lusam replied, knowing how badly Renn wanted to reach Lamuria.
“Don’t worry, lad, I doubt it’s changed our plans much anyway,” Renn replied.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, by the looks of those undead-minions out there, I’m guessing the Empire agents took the cream of the crop with them, and left the slow and damaged ones here for us to find. You can bet they’ll do exactly the same thing in every village and town between here and Lamuria too,” Renn said.
“I don’t understand. Why should that change our original plans? It’s not as if we can’t kill them easy enough,” Lusam replied.
“Sure we can kill them, lad, but only if we can see them coming. Do you have any idea how far the next town or village is away from here?”
“No?” Lusam enquired, thinking Renn was about to tell him.
“Neither do I, lad. And I would suggest the last thing we want to be doing right now is sleeping outside under the stars. Especially when we have no idea how many of those things are out there. You’ll almost always find that villages and towns are traversable from one another within a single day’s travel. It’s the simple rules of commerce that dictate that, lad. But if we set off now, without knowing how far it is to the next village or town, we might not make it before nightfall. I’d also imagine that after today’s events, you could use some rest too, before we move on. For all we know, the Empire agents could be holed up in the next village or town waiting for us, and if we arrive unprepared, well… I’m sure you can see my point, lad,” Renn said.
