“You and your men can take charge of the captives,” Silas answered. “Our people will go get the village garrison and bring them back here.”
“Don’t you need our men? Has there even been a fight? Is there going to be one?” Botton sounded deflated by the lack of conflict in the coup that was underway.
“Professor Botton?” Jimes asked in surprise as the two groups came together and the dawn’s light increased, making identification possible.
Jimes, good to see you made it. This is tremendous, you and your astonishing ally have accomplished the unthinkable,” Botton turned to look at Silas, then faltered as recognition registered.
“Remember me?” Silas asked ominously. “Is there anything you want to say?” He didn’t intend to inflict any harm on his former nemesis, but he wanted the satisfaction of inflicting fear, in retribution for all the unhappiness and mistreatment Botton had inflicted upon him.
“Unbelievable,” Botton said weakly. He unconsciously sidled sideways, to partially stand behind Jimes for protection.
“Jimes, I’ll bring the captives down. We need to disarm them and then Botton’s people will take them to the music building and use it for our jail,” Silas said. “Lexy, Wither,” he called to the two most militarily capable members of the group.
“As soon as we have the captives on the way to jail, we’re going to go to the local constabulary headquarters where the Ivaric barracks have set up,” he explained to the additional members of the conversation.
“Drop down,” Silas motioned to the guards who were floating in the air, and he lowered his hands quickly, causing the guards to thud to the paving stones below.
“Round them up and take their weapons!” Wither immediately took control of the situation. He gestured to Lexy, and the two began to efficiently disarm the dazed men and women who had been captured.
“Have Stash and Ditto check them,” Wither spoke loudly. “Every one of them needs to be checked for hidden weapons.”
A few additional knives were confiscated within moments, and then Botton’s troop of residents of the campus began to push and herd the demoralized guards along the way to the music hall.
“Let’s get going on our way,” Silas said to his group. “Do you have anyone to send with us?” he asked Botton.
“Garger and Fissue, go help them,” the teacher nodded at a pair of students who stood by uncertainly.
“Wither, lead the way,” Silas suggested, and the small group started to walk out of the gate.
“I’m going to have Speakers start sending out the message that the Guild is free again!” Botton shouted happily as the emancipators left the campus. “We’ll see you again soon.”
The capture of the Ivaric forces in the village, slightly more than a dozen men and women, took place with relative ease, and Silas was soon floating the captives in the air above the streets, as awakening citizens in the village observed the astonishing sight.
“Members of the Wind Word Guild, listen!” Silas and Jimes heard the proclamation issued through the air. “Our Guild is free! The forces of Ivaric no longer control our campus. Speakers are free to tell the truth, the entire truth.
“Just as Ivaric lost the battle for Amenozume, so now has it lost the battle for Heathrin,” the Speaker who was declaring happily announced. It was an announcement that was being broadcast to all Speakers across the continent.
“The Ivaric forces in Heathrin have been confined, and the Guild unleashes all Speakers to tell the truth about the conditions in your nations. If Ivaric is suffering setbacks and losses, if its fleets are sinking, if its guards are mistreating the people, let all the continent know of the troubles and evil of Ivaric,” it was a strong message, one that was sure to infuriate Ivaric’s leaders when they heard it.
“That’s going to bring us a mess of trouble if people don’t rise up in open rebellion,” Jimes muttered to Silas. “I wish they hadn’t rubbed it in so strong.”
“They’ve been the ones held captive,” Silas tried to minimize the insulting nature of the message, though he shared Jimes’s opinion. “They feel that way, and maybe Ivaric is too busy to do anything,” he said hopefully, as his small command and the captive, floating guards passed within the walls of the Guild grounds.
“Shall I take these to the music hall too?” he asked Botton and a small group that gathered to observe the arrival of the village forces.
“It’s going to get crowded, and there’s going to be a lot of them to feed. I think it’s better to just execute them and be done with them,” Botton answered mercilessly.
“That’s exactly what Ivaric would do,” Silas retorted immediately. “And we aren’t setting the Guild free so that you can become just like Ivaric; I know – I’ve been their prisoner twice.
“There will be no executions. Either keep them captive or take them away from the village and set them free,” he offered the only choices he would accept.
“You speak boldly for someone who got kicked out of the Guild,” Botton’s face was red with anger at being contradicted and scolded in front of his followers.
“Maybe I’m too strong for the Guild,” Silas answered. “I can do everything Guild members can do, and much more.”
“That’s enough Silas. We don’t need to argue about this now,” Jimes intervened quickly, as the rest of the small audience looked on at the tense confrontation.
“Silas! You’re the hero who’s creating all this drama, I hear!” a woman’s voice sounded, as Silas looked to see Cinda, the woman who had handled his admission to the Guild academy, approaching down a path.
“We must get together, dear boy, when you have time. I want to hear all about your amazing changes!” the woman gushed as she came up to Silas and hugged him unexpectedly.
“Let me get these captives in the prison, and then we can talk,” Silas offered uncertainly.
“Of course, I know you’re busy now. Maybe later, after all this excitement settles down,” Cinda reasonably offered.
“Let’s take the prisoners to the music hall, Silas,” Jimes urged. The conflict with Botton was over, and it was time to move on.
Chapter 14
The rest of the day was spent by the small group of invaders in repeated attempts to convince the leaders of the Guild and the village that they needed to be prepared for further conflict. Silas heard many of the messages that the Speakers on the campus sent out to locations all around the continent, in every land, and he heard some of the replies that came back.
Many Speakers did not respond at all, which Silas, and even Jimes, took as an ominous sign. The Speakers in the various nations, cities, Guilds, and businesses apparently feared being identified as fighting against Ivaric. If they still feared Ivaric, then Ivaric still had more power than Silas had wished. And Ivaric would not let an uprising go unpunished if it had the power to respond. Without any further rebellions being instigated, Ivaric had power at its disposal.
“This all sounded crazy from the beginning,” Wither commented as he and the rest of the people from Amenozume and Barnesnob gathered together. “But I hoped that with your great powers, we might be able to hold off Ivaric’s attack.”
“We might still be able to,” Silas answered. He felt good about his energy level – he hadn’t been strained at all by the skirmishes to capture the garrisons at Heathrin.
“There aren’t many ways to approach Heathrin except from the west. If we can keep an eye on the road, we can bottle up their forces. Ivaric isn’t likely to send anyone up from the south and there are only mountains to the east. I’ve been on the road to the north,” he thought about the journey with Prima’s caravan on the fateful journey where his life had completely changed.
“Let’s post lookouts on the western road then,” Lexy spoke up. “I’ll take the first shift.”
“I’ll go with her,” Jimes offered. “I can send an immediate message if we see anything coming up the road.”
Silas went to Botton and asked that a rotation of Speakers be us
ed to help set up advance warning of Ivaric soldiers approaching Heathrin. As leader of the Guild members who had revolted against their occupation, he agreed with the approach and set up the schedule of assigned Speakers.
“We have heard a couple of coded messages sent out from someone on campus, but we don’t know who it was or what they said – it wasn’t in any of our codes. I’m worried we may have an Ivaric sympathizer on the campus, so we do need to be careful,” Botton reported
After he left Botton, Silas was pleased with the relatively cordial tone of the conversation.
On the second day of the removal of the Ivaric guards, Jimes and Silas took their friends on a tour of the campus, and showed them the sights.
“Silas,” Cinda spotted the group passing by her window. “You promised we would visit. I want to hear about your adventures. Can’t you come back and see me this afternoon?” she called out.
Silas nodded his agreement and promised to return to talk to the woman. “After lunch,” he agreed. Cinda had been a nice lady, though he’d hardly interacted with her once she’s placed him in a home in the Guild.
After lunch, Silas went back to her office, where Cinda sat working alone at her desk.
“Tell me how you got those remarkable eyes,” Cinda asked. “You’re the one they call the Abomination, aren’t you?”
Silas chuckled at the name.
“Doesn’t it sound silly?” he asked with a smile.
“It hardly conforms with the young boy who we enrolled in our academy,” Cinda agreed with a laugh. “I took you into the classes here as much for pity as for any belief that you had hidden talents. And look at all that you can do!”
A message from Jimes suddenly sounded in Silas’s ear. “Silas, we’ve spotted several Ivaric guards coming up the road; I’d say at least three score of them. You need to get down here and prepare to use your powers!”
Silas stood hastily. “Excuse me, my lady Cinda. I need to go.”
“Because of the Ivaric forces approaching?” she asked with intense interest.
“Yes,” he agreed as he started for the door.
“Wait,” Cinda spoke sharply as she stood from her seat behind her desk. “There’s one more thing,
“Three more things, actually,” she amended her words, as Silas stood at the door, looking back at her in puzzlement. He was anxious to get to the western outpost where he could watch the road and erect a barrier in a steep canyon that carried a stretch of the road.
Cinda suddenly revealed her hand as she pulled it from a desk drawer, and threw something at Silas. It was red he saw.
And then it flew through the air and glowed red. It was a crystal, a red crystal, a weapon of L’Anvien’s followers, just like the crystal that had been used to control him when he’d been taken captive at the docks in Avaleen. The crystal had held a fragmentary portion of L’Anvien’s power, and had placed itself in direct conflict with him and his own power in that brief battle on the dock. The crystal had won the match, as it had overwhelmed him in the beginning of their battle and had helped to hold him captive until he had finally been able to overcome it while he was being tortured – much later.
Silas’s body reacted quicker than his mind. As he tried to grasp the implications of seeing the evil and dangerous crystal in the air, his body seized upon his energy, and without even uttering a word of command, or making a physical motion with his hands, his body issued a burst of his telekinetic energy and stopped the crystal in midair, leaving it hovering and trembling, suspended just inches from Silas’s chest.
“Able to fight one of L’Anvien’s pebbles, are you?” Cinda sneered. “How about two?” her hand shot into the desk drawer and then flung another bright red glowing crystal at him.
“Stop there!” Silas spit the words out quickly, his mind reacting as quickly as his body at the sight of the second crystal.
It too stopped moving, and hung in the air, quivering as it struggled against his power.
The first of the crystals suddenly lurched forward by inches, coming even closer to Silas before it stopped again. Silas strained to find more power, so that he could press the frightening stones away. He was stunned by the apparent treachery of Cinda, unable to process the fact that she apparently supported Ivaric – and even worse, L’Anvien.
“Do you know what a monster L’Anvien is?” he hissed as he focused on his powers.
“You – you of all people! – call him a monster?” Cinda shrieked in rage. She pulled out a third crystal and flung it with all her might at Silas.
The stone flew past Silas’s defenses, and struck him in the throat.
He felt an immediate burning sensation, that spread throughout his body in a matter of seconds, crippling him with agonizing pain. His energies dissipated, and the two suspended crystals smashed against his body, one upon his chest and the other upon his stomach, burning holes in his tunic as they reached for contact with his flesh and then adhered tightly to him.
Silas fell to the floor, and Cinda laughed with a tone that was both cruel, and subtly apologetic.
“You shouldn’t have come back Silas. You should have run away to wherever you disappeared to when you picked up all these strange powers. I wish you hadn’t come back; you’re going to suffer a great deal while L’Anvien studies you,” she warned. She casually came around to him and grabbed his feet, then grunted as she began to drag his prostrate body around the floor to a spot behind her desk.
There was a sudden tap on the door to her office. Silas could hear the sound, though he couldn’t move, couldn’t react.
“Is Silas in here?” he heard Ditto’s voice speak urgently as the hinges on the door squeaked softly.
“He was, but he left a few minutes ago,” Cinda replied in a surprised tone. “I thought he got an urgent message.”
“I was told he did, but no one can find him,” Ditto’s voice answered. “I didn’t see him come out.”
“Maybe he used some magical power and went somewhere else?” Cinda suggested. “He seems to be able to do things no other mortal can do.”
“I suppose,” Ditto sounded unconvinced. The sounds of the hinges squeaked once more as the door closed.
“I didn’t know you had a servant watching for you,” Cinda looked down at Silas. “You’re going to be a bit of trouble for a couple of days, until Ivaric retakes control of the Guild. I suppose I better hide you better in the meantime.” She walked away, leaving Silas lying on the floor, stupefied and hidden behind her desk.
Silas heard Cinda walk to a different area in the office, and then he heard furniture moved around on the floor. A minute later Cinda was back, and slowly dragged him to a window seat beneath a long bay window. She lowered the front panel, then rolled the helpless Silas into the cramped, narrow space.
He felt the crystals settling into their positions, attempting to connect themselves more deeply to his body, his powers, and even his soul. They were brooding, brutal, dark entities that were tiny splinters of the great malignancy that was L’Anvien.
Silas had to fight them; he had to repel them.
He could only tenuously grasp his energy. He sensed it, and he could touch it, but he could not control it.
Cinda started to close the open side of the coffin-sized box he was in, darkening the interior of the hidden storage space. Silas tried desperately to seize his power, but the crystals responded by fighting him, glowing brightly and casting a lurid red light in the confined space as Cinda pushed a latch that sealed the bench seat shut.
“You stay there like a good boy for a couple of days and then everything will be alright,” she spoke gently.
There was another knock at the door.
“My lady Cinda, have you seen the great hero?” a young voice asked.
“No child, I haven’t but we need to find him, I guess. I’ll come out and help with the search,” she answered. “You go on, and I’ll be out in a minute,” she called loudly.
Footsteps sounded in the hall as the
messenger walked away.
“But first I need to send a message to celebrate and inform,” she spoke to Silas, and perhaps herself.
“Heathrin calling Ivaric, Heathrin calling Ivaric,” she tried to disguise her voice, Silas could tell, as she employed Wind Words to send a message. “All is clear; the purple bird is in the trap. Proceed,” she passed along information to the powers that occupied the countryside.
“That’ll make them happy,” she muttered in her usual voice once more.
Silas heard her footsteps, and then he heard the door shut, and there was no more sound. He was trapped alone with L’Anvien’s crystals, like chains ensnaring him and paralyzing him once more.
Chapter 15
Forna stopped dead in the middle of the southern road that approached Heathrin.
“What is it?” Are you tired?” June asked. The Amenozume group was not far from Heathrin; the soldiers had marched with determination, not stopping for anything except brief periods of sleep as they tried to catch up with Silas.
Forna looked at June, a quizzical expression on her face. “It’s like something is muffling his presence. I can just barely feel him,” she replied. “This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Can you tell where he is at all? Could he be hurt?” June asked, as others gathered around.
“You’ve lost him?” one of the Amenozume soldiers asked.
“No, I haven’t lost him,” the girl from Brigamme said indignantly. “It’s just a,” she paused to search for a word, “a fuzzier feeling. He’s still up ahead on this road,” she insisted. “Let’s keep going and I’ll try to keep tracking.”
Octavia and Reese looked at one another, shrugged their shoulders as they listened to the conclusion of the brief discussion, then started walking again. They’d stayed close to June and Natie, the two former rebels out of Amenozume who had joined the Amenozume regulars on the mission to join Silas. The pair from Barnesnob had found that they often also traveled with Riesta, the strange woman who had Mover skills, who claimed to also be seeking to help Silas.
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