City of Steam (Blackburn Chronicles)

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City of Steam (Blackburn Chronicles) Page 22

by Dominic K Alexander


  “And how do you propose we fight this evil you talk of?” Colin said stepping through a clearing in the trees. The teens quieted, stepping away as he passed by them. Several looked from Coilin to Abel. “These are people bred from hate, and not knowing why they hate us only that they do. Have you forgotten the beatings and attacks already? That small village that tried killing you as a boy is now a great city and home to a score of people for every one of us, maybe more. How could we possibly fight those numbers with a dozen children?”

  “We will take the power from the earth and unleash it onto our enemies.” Abel said stepping close to his uncle. “We will stop being weak and use the old ways of magic to force the elements to help us. Their people will burn as we have.” The teens cheered again.

  “Our people can’t take what the earth is unwilling to give.” Colin said, a pleading look on his face. “If you try to take what is not freely given the energies will destroy you.”

  “The energy would destroy YOU.” Abel spat. “You are weak. We are strong and the energy we will possess will make us an unstoppable force. We will once again control our lives and not hide in fear.” More cheering.

  “You talk to these children of freedom, but you have no interest in such matters.” Colin said with a grunt. “The only thing you care about is revenge and murder.” The teens quieted again stepping back from an inevitable fight.

  “That’s right!” Abel yelled. “I want revenge for all the sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers that lost their lives out of fear from those sadistic self-righteous bastards.” The crowd yelled in agreement.

  “Do you even hear yourself anymore?” Colin said stepping back. “You sound like your father. You spit hollow words at these people so they will follow you blindly into battle, all the while you only want revenge for Emily and nothing more. The only self-righteous one here is you. Instead of moving away from the evil and starting somewhere new where we can live in peace, you plan on marching us into certain death.”

  “Pathetic.” Abel spat at his uncle’s feet. “Run and hide like the scared mouse you are, uncle.” Abel’s fists were clenched and the wind picked up with a blistering dry heat.

  "I would rather be a scared mouse and survive than a selek dog who goes out of its way to attack anyone who causes it harm. Their end is always the same, death, and their litter usually dies when there is no one to protect them." Coilin stepped into Abel. "You are willing to sacrifice our people and those who trust you as their leader all so you can try to bite the hand of those who harmed you. Your father died a stubborn fool and you are going to follow in his footsteps, only you plan on taking us all with you."

  "You are nothing but a coward." Abel said with disgust. The wind calmed and he looked to his followers. "Who’s with me?" He threw his hands up into the air rallying the others again. Before he could leave Coilin stepped in close looking Abel hard in the eyes. After several long seconds, he deflated and pulled something from his pocket and shoved it into Abel's hand.

  "Emily's energy is still inside you, please don't kill her." Coilin said, then turned and quietly walked back into the forest. Abel looked at his hand and a heartstone necklace lay balled up inside. He stared at the necklace before squeezing it tight and marched towards the city, his soldiers at his side.

  Mac ran to catch up to the group. Selek simply glided leisurely along the dirt and leaves. They didn't say a word to each other, Mac angry about how he had treated a man who loved him like a father. Some people never had the luxury of family and to throw one away was simply unthinkable.

  The group was drunk with anger and they quickly made their way through the dark dense forest readying themselves for a fight. When they reached the outskirts of the bog, Mac had now become so familiar with, they crept low scanning the area for any dangers that may be within. The bog was quiet and once they were positive there was no danger they spread out and moved deep into the wetlands.

  "Take all the energy you can." Abel said. "If the earth denies you, force the energy into you. We will lay waste to the entire city using the earth elements. They won't even see it coming." He knelt into the mud and sunk his arms deep into the soft earth engulfing himself with the earths power.

  "I commanded the earth to give me its energy." Selek said ashamed. "It listened." Mac looked from Selek to Abel. The grass and mud slowly came to life around them running over their legs and up their arms. One of the teen boys screamed out pulling his arms and legs free and running back towards the forest.

  "Don't fear the earth!" Abel yelled out. "Take her power! Overcome her!" The grass and mud continued to run over their bodies as they fought to steal all the energy. A red glow flowed like water in and around them illuminating the fear stricken faces of the young teenagers. Mac could feel the strong fear wash over everyone as the eerie light crashed into them like wild waves. The teens began to struggle and pull free in hopes of escaping the new threat, but it was too late.

  The red glow covered the entire group not discriminating against age or sex. At that moment, there was no escaping their fate for any reason. The light simply went rigid before pulling them one by one under the mud-covered surface. Abel remained the last one alive still struggling for the powers that could not be had. The mud completely coated his body and it slowly sunk back into the ground taking Abel with it. The red light slowly faded before disappearing altogether.

  The trees thrashed as Coilin ran through them making his way to the edge of the bog. The escaped teen boy followed close behind and pointed at the area where they had been. All that remained were several small mounds of muddy grass. Coilin dropped to his knees, head in a bow, tears running down his face. He had lost both of his children.

  "I could feel the life draining from by body." Selek said. "My energy was slowly leeched into the earth around me. I welcomed death with open arms; my death, but that was not the only death I was responsible for. I was responsible for the death of my people. Young men and women who would never be able to live their lives. I had sworn to protect them and give them victory, but could only provide them with death."

  "I was humbled too late by their loss. I prayed and begged the earth to let them live. I offered my own life to save the ones I cared for. As I took my last breath a voice came to me from the darkness and echoed through my head and body like God himself was speaking to me. For the first time in years, I was scared. The bog spared our lives and in turn we were forced to protect the lands with those lives." Mac stared at the mounds of mud where Abel lay.

  They began to glow bright green while shifting and shaking. One after the other bog beasts began to rise from their graves. They looked with hollow eyes taking in their new home. Mac had become accustomed to their look, but the thought of what they had once been to what they now were turned Mac's stomach.

  Abel rose last, coming up from the depths bigger and more frightening than the others. He examined his followers obviously pleased they were still alive. Each one bowed before him and moved deep into the fog. Abel saved his army and gained all the powers of the earth as he had promised. Even though he had ended the lives they knew, he remained their leader and savior.

  "What have you done?" Coilin mumbled wide eyed at the sight before him. Abel glided across the bog and knelt before his uncle. It looked as if he was trying to speak, but words failed him. Each word came out as a bubbled gurgle too incoherent to understand. Instead he held out a large muddy hand. Coilin looked at it before reaching out and pulling Emily's necklace from it. He stared at the necklace tears running again. Turning his head away Coilin handed the necklace back to Abel and stood looking at him.

  "I'm sorry, son." Coilin said while stepping back to the bog's edge. "I can't allow you to leave this place." He held up his hands and whispered under his breath. The trees slid through the dirt coming closer to the bog, then stopped. Coilin bowed his head unable to look at Abel and turned slowly walking back into the forest.

  Able moved to catch up to his father, but as he came close to one of
the freshly rooted trees a large branch cocked back and swung forward hitting Abel hard in the chest and sending him back into the bog. He stood charging the tree, but roots exploded from the ground wrapping him up and pulling him down until he surrendered. Loud gurgles bubbled from his mouth meant to be yells for his father, but they were ignored.

  The image faded and Mac found herself standing back in the bog with Selek standing over her waiting for her reaction. Mac looked at the burning ash that was once someone she loved and said nothing.

  "For seven hundred years we have watched over this place keeping its secrets from the outside world and unable to leave." Selek said. "I left my old life behind me, shedding my birth name and taking a more fitting one. My fate is here with the people I damned to these lands and it is one that I have come to accept. The pain and anger that once haunted my dreams has slowly healed with time and I am finally at peace. For that I am truly grateful for what happened to me."

  "If you are so at peace, why stay here?" Mac asked.

  "You have seen why I cannot leave." Selek said. "Only our family can undo the magic keeping me here, but it matters not. My fate is a deserving one which I have embraced long ago."

  "Why have you shown me all of this if I can do nothing to help you?" Mac asked.

  "Everyone deserves to know their family’s history." Selek said. "It is how we learn to not make the same mistakes as our ancestors."

  "Wait." Mac said taking a step back.

  "Yes, Mac." Selek said. "I can feel my families blood coursing through your veins. We are indeed kin. The powers within you are greater than anything I have ever seen."

  "How is this possible?" Mac asked hands on her hips.

  "I have been alive for more than a thousand years." Selek said. "Is it not possible that my aunt and uncle birthed more children? Is it not possible that I am a distant grandfather to you?"

  "Grandpa Sel, huh." Mac said a small smile on her face. "If we are kin then I can cancel the energy keeping you here, can't I? Then you will be free to go anywhere you chose."

  "And where shall I go?" Selek said with a snort. "I am a beast. We are all beasts, cursed forever to protect this land. Where could we go and be accepted? You are silly to speak of such things."

  "You can come to help me." Mac said. "We can free the city from the duke forever. We will finally be able to put an end to this ridiculous war."

  Selek stood tall over Mac anger in his voice. "Have you learned nothing here today? Trying to bring war is what started this whole curse in the first place. More fighting and killing will only bring more death to our people. You are simply too young to realize, sometimes there are greater evils than death. Look upon me and my people. Let us be proof of what comes from the want to kill."

  "You sound like Coilin." Mac said quietly.

  "I should hope so." Selek replied. "I showed you my past in hopes you would understand what comes from vengeance. I wanted you to know why it is so important for you to leave this world and never come back."

  "There is no way for me to go back home." Mac said defiantly. "Everything that was magic and machine has been destroyed or hidden away." Selek held his hand giving her Emily's necklace.

  "There are objects in this world which are so old they contain powers untold." Selek said as Mac looked upon the blood red stones. "There are also objects which have been touched by great energies. They have been changed through pain and sacrifice. This necklace is one of those objects. Pass your energy into the stones and they will mix with the ancient energy of my past. Live a normal life away from this place."

  Mac continued to stare at the necklace. She had been looking for a way home from the minute she was brought here, but thought it had become a lost cause. Now the answer to all her problems lay in her hands. She could only think of the beatings from the duke, the people trying to kill her, and the pain of finding out what her family had been responsible for. It could all end. All she had to do was release her energy and it would be over. She stared. She thought.

  24.

  "I have to wonder what waits for me back at home." Mac said pressing the necklace back into Selek's hand. Her voice was stern and unwavering. "What could I possibly have waiting for me now that I know the truth of this place? More so, of what I have learned about myself and my family?”

  "Whether here or there, there is only more running and hiding, more trying to escape those who are paid to hunt me. I would continue to look over my shoulder day in and day out knowing that at any moment those monsters could come out of nowhere and take me." Mac stared at Selek, angry. "How about living a half-life knowing anyone who had an inkling of power would also be hunted down and murdered. Knowing that my mother, my father, and my sister were all killed just so I could run back home to my safe little shop and pretend none of this ever happened."

  "No!" Mac shouted as Selek began to protest. "I refuse to run away. I refuse to let the duke and his cronies get the best of me. I will fight to free my people...OUR people. I will do what you failed to accomplish. And you know what? I will more than likely die fighting, but at least I will have tried and taken a stand for what I believe. I will keep coming after the duke until one of us is dead." Mac stared deep into Selek's eyes, then turned and started to walk away.

  As Mac started to cross the tree line she waived her hand and the trees parted slightly freeing their prisoners. For good or for bad Mac knew it was the right thing to do. No one should be held against their will for seven hundred years. Being in prison only breeds more hate and aggression.

  Mac decided to walk back to the city of Crystal Well. She was sickened by the thought she turned down what could possibly have been the only way for her to go back home, but at the same time she knew deep down that she would have to sacrifice her life for the lives of those she had come to care about and love.

  The miles passed quickly as Mac's thoughts were preoccupied with the mess she had once again gotten herself into. She thought about Abel and the unconditional and undying love in which he felt for Emily. She thought about what that love had finally cost at the end of it all. Emily being senselessly burned in front of Abel and Abel turning into a beast because he could never get over the loss of his one true love.

  The earth cast its judgement upon him and his followers making them the monsters they had become, and why? Because the tried to take some of its power? For that one simple mistake, it cost those men and women their lives and are now forced to spend an eternity in that nasty smelling bog. They needed to face their mistakes day in and day out with no hope for an escape. The punishment was too cruel for the crime.

  After a while Mac put Abel and his people out of her head and instead focused on the family she never knew she had. Her father alive, a sister, the horrors of her grandparents. All of it was overwhelming. She knew so little about everyone. They had been so secretive while she was young and only now was she being bombarded with a lifetime of history and, as of now, was only scratching the surface.

  She tried piecing her life's puzzle back together. She couldn't remember anything from when she was young, but prior to being a teen, her father disappeared. She barely remembered anything about her mother. From the age of twelve she was raised by her uncle who not once ever mentioned anything about her parents, this world, or the fact that she could do magic. Even when she tried to bring up what happened to her parents her uncle would change the subject.

  Mac had thought her uncle was just too sad about the loss of his family to talk about it, but now she saw the tragedy that seemed to haunt them all. The truth of who her family had been was something out of a bad fairytale. Her grandmother died while killing a group of magic users whose only purpose in life was to destroy everyone and everything in their path. Her grandfather was responsible for the deaths of millions of people because he simply could not let his wife go. Her father took the blame for the attempted assassination of the duke and his sister. Her mother was taken by the duke. And the kicker was that her sister blamed her for everything bad
that happened and, as far as Mac could tell, hated her.

  The atrocities went on and on. It was no wonder her uncle never let slip what their family was like. She thought about Selek again and couldn't have imagined if her uncle had told her that they were related to a walking pile of mud and grass. She would have had the man committed for having thought he'd gone mad.

  The ruins slowly crept into view and the hair on the back of Mac's neck stood on end, but this time it wasn't because of the energy surrounding the place. Mac pulled her gun and spun around pointing it at Walter as he leaned against a tree with as much of a smile as he could muster through the pain.

  "Ya'll right, darlin'?" He asked.

  "As I am alive and Devin is not, I'd say I am better than could be expected." Mac replied holstering her gun. "You?"

  "A little banged up, but I've had worse." He said trying to play things cool. Mac could see through the fib and pressed her hand against his ribs. He cringed and dropped to one knee.

  "You're doing just fine, huh." Mac said shaking her head. She took a deep breath, knelt in front of him, and placed her hands on his ribs as lightly as she could. He attempted to suck in a breath, but was short on air. A green glow radiated around her hands and a loud snap broke the silence as his ribs popped back into place. He turned ghostly white and fell to the ground. Mac repositioned and placed her hands on him again. As the glow washed over him, his breathing steadied and color filled his face again.

  "That was unpleasant." Walter said breathing heavily.

  "I thought a big tough guy like yourself could handle a little pain." Mac said smiling, then she stood and helped him to his feet.

  "Been following you like that for a good couple miles." Walter said.

 

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