I tried to block the blows of the guard that seized me, but I was no match for the man physically so my hands were quickly tied. It took them longer to subdue Wylan, but eventually four men managed to do it. Governor Wenlok walked over and picked up Wylan’s staff. He stared in Wylan’s face and grinned as he snapped the heavy stick in half over his knee. Soil spilled out of the slender hollow core drilled into the center of the staff. It was how Wylan made sure he had constant contact with his element. I noted with some satisfaction that the governor limped on his newly bruised knee as he approached the fireplace and threw the staff into the low flames. Wylan watched it burn without expression. When it was completely engulfed, we were led from the room and out of the keep.
Wylan stumbled several times as we were marched out of the castle grounds and into the street. I stumbled too though terror made me forget about my exhaustion. Citizens had lined the streets and I was at least gratified to see that most of the homes and businesses still stood. The invaders had not sacked the city. As we walked, a low murmur rose from the crowd. Eventually the words became clear. “Murderers! Burn them!” The faces grew so angry I was frightened we would be mobbed on the street.
We were led into the town square where a pyre had been set with a large wooden post in the center. The pyre was so large I worried about the buildings surrounding the square. A stray ember could catch a storefront and set the city ablaze. It seemed strange to me that I was concerned about the people who wanted to see me burn, but I was. I had come of age in this place and among these people and no one here had ever favored me with so much as an unkind word until this day. We were lifted up onto the massive pile of wood and lashed to the pole back to back. Governor Wenlok stepped in front of us and turned to address the assembled crowd.
“The battle is won. King Naser is dead.”
A man in brightly colored robes standing next to the governor shouted, “Long live King Wenlok!” A great cheer rose up from the crowd.
“Here we have the mages that have held this city in the grip of fear for far too long. We will no longer be forced to bow and scrape to their every whim. They will not be our masters any longer.” Another cheer rose up from the crowd. I was truly baffled. In all my time living in the tower, I had never sensed any fear from the people in the streets. We never used our powers against anyone in town. We had never had to, never wanted to, yet the evidence of the fear we had engendered was written all over the faces in the crowd. “Today you will witness the end of the oppression that has held this nation for far too long. Once the mages are gone, I promise to lead this nation into an era of pure mortal human invention and innovation. We will crush the magic menace and drive it from this kingdom so that we may finally catch up to our neighbors and show what a great nation we can build with the skill and hard work of true humans.” The roar from the crowd was deafening. They were crying for our blood. My head still hurt but I tried to focus, search for a single friendly face in the crowd and I found nothing. “Once we have rid our land of these mages, we will start in on the witches. We need physicians to heal our children. How many have died at the hands of ignorant old crones? I will save your children like I could not save my own.” The king had said a witch had saved his child, but I could not focus on that. We were tied back to back on the post, our arms lashed together. He turned to face us. “Guards! Light this fire! Let us watch them burn!”
Wylan grabbed my hand as the base of the pyre was lit. He turned his head to whisper to me. “I have enchanted stones in my purse. As soon as your hands are free, get one and use it to make a hole in the ground below the fire. You get in it and hide. Keep yourself safe so they will not know that you do not burn.” I could hear the terror and exhaustion in his voice. As I squeezed his hand, I felt a surge of power run through me, as if our connection somehow gave me strength.
The fire caught the oil soaked wood and the flame rose quickly. As the blaze came near, I felt myself draw power from the heat and the fire. My head cleared and energy filled me. I reached out to the flames and pushed them up and away, leaving a protective cocoon in the center of the raging pyre. It was hot but no flames touched either of us. The wall of flame rose to an impossible height so that the spectators in the square could not see us.
Wylan’s eyes seemed more alert as if he was recovering too. He looked down at our clasped hands. “Are you gaining energy from the fire?”
I nodded, “I think so. We do not have much time. We must make haste. Help me move these logs to clear the way. You must make an escape hole now!” We worked as quickly as possible tossing aside logs until the cobblestones of the street were visible. We chose two large logs and leaned them against the post. I set them ablaze so that they might vaguely look like two figures perishing in the fire.
Wylan hesitated a moment, then he took off his robe. “We should remove these, they only make us conspicuous.” I did as he instructed and we threw our vestments into the fire.
We lowered ourselves to the stones and I watched the color return to Wylan’s cheeks as he drew energy from his contact with me and his contact with the earth. He pulled two small enchanted stones from his pouch and threw them onto the street. I felt the ground beneath our feet begin to shift and we were lowered into a hole. I released my hold on the flames as he replaced the ground over our heads. We stood in a small, covered pit and I spared a brief thought for the people he had buried. They had not had the comfort of a pit and an air pocket. He could not have left them alive. Wylan pulled another stone from his pouch and threw it at the bare soil wall, and suddenly, a narrow tunnel opened up. I could see light at the other end but I did not know where it led. We crawled on hands and knees through the cramped space.
After about five minutes, we emerged from the tunnel, into the cellar of one of the shops that surrounded the square. Wylan closed the hole behind us. We stopped and listened for sounds in the shop above us and heard no movement. Wylan found an old, broken broom handle and took it as a staff. We climbed the stairs and slipped through the back door of the house and into a deserted alleyway. We hurried past empty shops and shuttered windows, headed towards the city walls. It seemed nearly everyone who was able, was attending the show in the square and those who were not able were hiding in their homes. We kept to the alleys and made our way to the west wall of the city and Wylan parted the stone with his power and we stepped through. He pushed the hole closed and we walked away into the tall grass surrounding the city, unnoticed and unmissed.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was full dark by the time we made it to the cover of the trees. We found Savan, waiting for us just inside the treeline, about three quarters of a mile from the city walls. It was much closer than where we had asked him to wait and that was a blessing. His face was frantic. “I saw the smoke and came back. What has happened?”
I found my voice first. “The kingdom has been taken by Governor Wenlok of the east country. There was a battle and King Naser has been killed.”
Savan looked stricken as I filled in the details of the battle and of our escape. Wylan leaned on his broom handle and stroked the nose of our cart horse as I spoke. Savan shook his head. “I can no longer go back to my home.”
“I do not know if any of King Naser’s retainers have been left alive, but it may not be wise to return to the city now.”
He looked past us at the distant city walls. “But when my sons come home from war, how will they find me? How will they know the fate of their father?”
I remembered the leather patch that Jabari had given me and I reached into the pocket on my belt. “This is from your son, Jabari. He called it a locating rune. He said he would always be able to find whoever held the rune. If you keep it with you, then your son will find you, Savan.”
Savan looked down at the rune. “Jabari,” he squeezed the small leather square in his strong hand, “I was so angry when he defied me and went off to war, but if he had stayed, he looked at the large black plume of smoke rising from the city square, “He would
almost certainly have perished.”
I put a hand on his large shoulder. “You will see your son again, Savan. He is the finest warrior in the land.” As I said the words, I suddenly knew them to be true. Jabari would be fine and so would Savan. I walked around the fully loaded cart and pulled a sizeable purse, heavy with silver and handed it to Savan. “This should be enough to see to your comfort wherever you choose to settle yourself.” His eyes widened at our generosity. “You have been a true friend to us and we are grateful for all you have done. Be well my friend.”
Savan clasped wrists with me and then with Wylan who regarded him with a silent stare for several moments before he could find the words, “thank you.”
Savan turned and mounted the horse he had brought with him for his own journey. “You two be well until our paths cross again.”
I was not certain our paths would cross again, but I waved appreciatively as he headed off to the west. I gestured for Wylan to climb into the seat and I took out the map of our path. We turned the cart to the road leading south and began the long drive into the unknown.
* * *
[1]Add Jazer or at least say other people are in the room
Through The Fire: The Alawansi Book One Page 18
