“If we get stopped, say you’re a serf. We don’t exactly look like these poor souls,” Cassia said.
Elian nodded. She was right. Compared to the folk around them they were the optimist of health. Neither were malnourished and their clothing wasn’t torn or covered in filth. Elian felt pity for the people around him. Growing up in Fork he’d never seen the poor souls that lived and toiled in the Imperium’s cities. Those slaves at the edge of the Northern Imperium looked like top athletes in comparison. They’d had homes, plenty to eat and were fairly treated by the ruling baron.
Slowly they drew closer toward Olandis’s main gate. Elian could now make out the soldiers manning the walls and the cannons trained on the crowd below. Ahead and at ground level a platoon of soldiers and Venerable Chamber scribes checked the people shambling into the city. Eventually, they reached the gate. A scribe looked up from his clipboard and looked straight at them with a curious expression. With a click of his fingers, two soldiers approached and shoved them out of the crowd. Cassia took Elian’s hand and squeezed it in warning. He didn’t need to be told not to try anything. Even with their combined powers, he doubted they’d be able to get far before the cannons blasted them to atoms.
They were pushed to stand before the scribe. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers took their packs and searched them. The scribe wore the purple and silver robes of the Venerable Chamber and thick-rimmed spectacles sat on the end of a hook-like nose. He glanced up from his notepad and tweaked his glasses.
“You two look out of place. Names?” the scribe asked brusquely.
“Sera and Chas,” Cassia answered. Elian stood at her side doing his best not to betray his nervousness.
“And where are you from?”
“Caspia. We’re serfs seeking employment.”
The scribe looked at her through his glasses and raised an eyebrow.
“Serfs, you say? And what is your trade.”
“Woodwork,” Elian said giving Cassia a sideward glance.
“Carpentry hmm?” the scribe muttered as he wrote the information down. “Both of you?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Don’t often see female carpenters. But with the way the world is changing at such a pace, I shouldn’t be surprised I suppose. What do you have there, captain?” the scribe asked.
The soldier who’d taken their packs held in his hands Elian’s red cloak and gauntlet. At seeing the items, the scribe’s eyes widened in shock. Elian didn’t wait for him to shout for help, instead, he focused Fear and dashed towards the captain in a blur. Without slowing, Elian snatched his cloak and gauntlet out of the stunned man’s grip and put them on. Cassia meanwhile smacked the scribe senseless.
“So much for sneaking in!” she yelled as Elian knocked out the captain with a single blow to the head. Cassia picked up their packs. Shouts of alarm sounded from nearby and sure enough, a squad of soldiers shoved their way through the crowds to reach them. Elian looked around; they needed a diversion. He reached down and picked up the unconscious captain’s pistol. Pointing it skyward he pulled the trigger. The gunshot had the desired effect. The crowd surged in panic. The soldiers were swept aside by the throng, confusion swept through the other guards. Elian grabbed Cassia’s arm and together they ran into the city using the crowds for cover. Behind them, gunshots rang out as the guards desperately tried to restore order.
They fled down a wide avenue and alarm bells rang out to give the city a rude awakening.
“This way,” Cassia shouted pointing to a side street. They dashed down it. As they ran, they passed numerous doorways, judging from the state of the cobbles they were in a poor part of town. On both sides of the narrow lane towered tenement buildings that housed Olandis’s serfs and poor folk.
“Can you sense that?” Elian asked. Even before they’d arrived in the city, he’d felt the presence of a large number of Gifted, but now the sheer number was almost overwhelming.
“It’s the Chamber’s Seekers. They know we’re here. As soon as we used our powers, they would have been dispatched to find us,” Cassia replied over her shoulder.
Elian shouted a warning as he spotted a cloaked figure standing on the roof of one of the tenement buildings. Narrowing his eyes, he reached out, there were dozens more all converging on their location.
“Dampen your emotions. You stand out like a sore thumb,” Cassia scolded. She skidded around a corner and picked up the pace, Elian close behind. He did as he was told and using the technique taught to him by Rea, he made his presence as small as possible. The downside to that, however, was that he could no longer detect the Seekers.
They ran through the maze of alleyways and back streets doing their best to avoid the busiest parts of the city. Above them, Elian spotted several black cloaked figures leaping over the rooftops.
They barrelled around another corner and skidded to a halt. Stood barring their way was a man wearing a smart suit and top hat. Stood at his side in her crimson cloak was Rea. At seeing Elian, she smiled and ran forward throwing her arms about his neck pulling him into a tight embrace.
“Am I glad to see you!” he laughed.
“We cannot linger,” the man in the hat said.
Rea stepped back and held Elian’s hand in her own.
“Come with us, we know a place where we can lay low.”
Elian nodded.
“Lead the way.”
*
The group arrived at the Happy Chancer just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. All day the Seekers had stalked the city’s streets and rooftops, only Kasdar’s knowledge of Olandis’s layout had kept them out of their grasp. Elian slumped into one of the comfy armchairs in the inn's bar area, relieved that they had finally made it to safety. Cassia followed suit and occupied the other chair nearby. Behind them, Kasdar set about pouring them some drinks.
“So,’ he said as he removed his top hat and placed it onto the bar. ‘this is my inn and so I have a couple of rules. It’s not often I allow just anyone to enter, Gifted or not. The first rule is to not use your powers here unless absolutely necessary. We’re close enough to the Venerable Chamber barracks for us not to be easily detected amongst all the Seekers, but I don’t want to chance it. Second, you have to answer my questions and not lie to me.” He took four glasses and placed them on the wooden surface. Next, he reached under the bar and retrieved a bottle of wine from one of the racks.
“Who fancies a drink?” Kasdar asked.
“Yes please,” Elian said, his throat was parched, and his stomach growled from hunger.
“No. Thank you,” Cassia answered.
Rea sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and faced the two Empowered Ones.
“So, who are you?” she said looking at Cassia.
The woman brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before answering.
“I am Cassia,” she replied.
Kasdar approached and handed Elian and Rea their drinks.
“Nope, that’s not going to fly with us,” he said.
Noticing how uncomfortable Cassia was under their scrutiny Elian interjected.
“She saved my life at Hestra. She’s an Empowered One like me and very skilled,” he said; before describing all that had happened at the mines and on their journey south.
As he finished telling his story Kasdar and Rea exchanged a look.
“An Empowered One? I thought there was just Vavius and Elian in the Western Imperium,” Rea said.
Cassia sat back in her chair and stared into the now lit fire.
“I fought at Vavius’s side many years ago. I discovered what he truly was and so went into hiding for many years. Then I sensed Elian’s Emergence and heard the news about Asta. I knew I could not continue to sit idly by any longer. So, I sought him out and found him at Hestra.”
“Where you saved his life and earnt his trust,” Kasdar said unable to disguise the suspicion in his tone.
“What do you mean by that?” Elian asked in annoyance.
Ka
sdar paced the room and held his arms wide.
“Forgive me, but we’ve just met Elian. Me and my crew are suspicious by nature. We have to be. I can’t just take a stranger’s word at face value. I only allowed you here because Rea can vouch for you. Her, on the other hand, I do not know. She says she fought with Vavius, well, he never mentioned her to us.”
Elian tensed and was about to argue but Cassia placed a hand on his arm.
“It’s okay Elian. I would be suspicious too.”
“Thank you,” Kasdar said. “Now then, the only way we can know for sure that you are trustworthy is to allow Rea here to use her Gift on you. If you have nothing to hide, then you will have nothing to fear.”
Elian raised a hand.
“But if Rea does that won’t we give away our location?” he asked hoping that his logic would dissuade Kasdar and Rea from pushing ahead with such a plan. He now knew that Cassia’s mind was a fragile thing. Would such an act cause her to lose control as she so nearly did before their entry into Olandis?
“That is true, however, I know a place we can go where we will be nigh on impossible to detect. It’s the place where we train-”
The sound of the inn’s kitchen door opening interrupted Kasdar mid-flow. Rea exchanged a look with him and gestured for Elian and Cassia to stay put. Had the Seekers found them? She and Kasdar moved towards the back room ready to fight whoever the intruder was.
Kasdar peeked around the door frame and sighed in relief. Stood in the kitchen, his cloak covered in dust from the road was Garen.
“It’s chaos out there,” he said. He walked over to one of the cupboards and took out a bottle of whiskey. He unscrewed the bottle’s lid and poured himself a glass. He gulped it down in one shot and sighed contentedly as the liquid burned its way down his throat.
“Garen? We weren’t expecting you back so soon. Where’s Cleo?” Kasdar asked.
Garen walked to the table in the centre of the room and pulled out a chair which he then sat on heavily. He poured himself another glass of whiskey.
“We found the bastard. Vavius is in the Western Imperium all right and with him was a ghost.”
He explained all that he and Cleo had seen in Caspia. Kasdar paced the room his thoughts in turmoil at the news.
“Skit alive? How is this possible?” he muttered.
Elian and Cassia entered the room. At seeing them Garen stood.
Rea smiled and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
“It’s alright Garen. This is Elian, the one I told you about.”
The older man’s eyes widened at her words and he relaxed.
“So, you’re the young man whose Emergence was so strong I thought I’d lost my mind. Any friend of little Rea is a friend of mine.”
“Sorry about that,” Elian replied awkwardly. He took the older man’s offered hand and shook it.
“Don’t worry about it,’ Garen said before quickly turning his attention back to Kasdar. “Cleo told me to report back here.”
“Where is Cleo?” Kasdar asked his eyes boring into Garen. The older man looked away ashamed.
“She- she insisted on following Vavius to see what he was up to. I tried to argue, make her change her mind but you know what she’s like. I hope she’s okay.”
Kasdar slammed a fist onto the table and shook his head in anger.
“What was she thinking? Does she want to get herself killed?”
*
Later that evening Elian was sat in the room he’d been given tinkering with the straps of one of his gauntlets. A gentle knock came from the door.
“Come in,” he said not taking his eyes off the strap. The door opened and Rea walked into the room. With a tug and a slight twist, the gauntlet contracted. He put his hand inside and nodded in satisfaction. It now felt tighter and comfier about his hand. Rea sat on the bed next to him.
“So, what do you really know about this Cassia?” she asked.
The question took him by surprise. Was there a hint of jealousy in her tone? No, that wasn’t it. It was Fear he sensed. He took off the gauntlet, placing it on the small table next to the bed.
“Honestly? I think she’s dangerous. She told me that she’d experienced a Break sometime in her past. It- makes her unpredictable. I saw it for myself before we got inside the city. I can’t explain it, it was as though she just lost control.”
“That’s why you didn’t want me to use my Gift on her. In case it triggered her again,” Rea said.
Elian nodded.
“She saved my life, Rea. I feel like I owe her.”
Rea frowned.
“You need to be careful Elian. I really don’t like it when I can’t read a person. She keeps her mind closed tight. She doesn’t give anything away, but there is a fragility there, I felt it.”
“After Vavius, I know I shouldn’t trust her, but so far I’ve not had a reason to doubt her. She hates the Supreme just as much as we do, I know that.”
*
Cleo Bounded as fast she could southward. The countryside flashing past in a blur, but in her heart, she knew she wouldn’t make it to Olandis before Vavius. She just hoped that she’d be able to warn the others before he set his plan into motion. She had loved him once, and deep down she knew that he had felt something for her too. Could she face him, her former mentor, friend and lover? Could she kill him if it came to it? The fact that such thoughts were in her mind already gave her the answer. She knew she couldn’t, even after all he had done. She crested a hill that overlooked the valley of Olan and could now see the city standing proud on the horizon. Shaking her head, she pushed all thoughts of Vavius from her mind and focused on her task to warn the others.
“You were never very good at hiding your emotions Cleo, I felt you following me since Wendal’s,” a familiar voice said from the treeline to her left. She jumped at the sudden sound and spun to face it. Emerging from the long grass was Vavius. She gasped at seeing him. He hadn’t changed much at all since she’d last set eyes on him. He was still handsome and that cocky smile he wore still made her weak at the knees. She shook her head and scolded herself. The man she had loved was a lie, always had been.
“Who sent you? Kasdar I bet,” he said as he moved closer to her. “Still as beautiful as ever.”
To her, he was the greatest man she’d ever met. The man who had shown her the horrors of the Imperium, the man who had taught her to embrace her powers and who gave her the courage to escape her family’s overbearing devotion to the Supreme.
Vavius stepped closer until he was face to face with her. She could smell him, her heartbeat quickened. He brushed her cheek with the back of his gloved hand and whispered in her ear.
“Stand aside Cleo. Just walk away, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I didn’t want to believe them when they said what you’d become. Now, I know it’s true.”
Cleo pushed him away and settled into a fighting stance; her Gift of Anticipation made her a formidable combatant.
She could see and predict every move her opponent would make, however, Vavius knew she had one major weakness. He parried several of her blows, but one connected rocking his head to the side. He recovered quickly, spitting blood from his mouth as he did so. Cleo rained more punches upon him and all his attempts to counter were blocked as she anticipated his every move. He caught her by the arm and pulled her close, raising a knee to block her own attack aimed at his groin. Their heads were close to one another, he could smell her perfume, she his scent.
“I love you, Cleo, please don’t do this,” he whispered into her ear. As he predicted, she flinched, the words distracting her just enough for him to land a powerful punch to the side of her head.
He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.
“I loved you. Please don’t do this,” she gasped as she clawed weakly against his powerful grip.
“You will not stop me, Cleo. I am so close to my goal. You were just a means to an end back then. You came from wealth and privilege, I neede
d money and contacts. That’s all you were useful for. The sex was just a bonus. For what it’s worth. I am sorry it has to end this way.”
“Was none of it real Vavius?” she wheezed, tears streaming from her eyes.
“No.”
Cleo gasped for air as his grip tightened. Her skin turned blue, desperately she tried to prise his hand from her throat to no avail.
“Your gift of Anticipation will do you no good Cleo.”
With a surge of Anger Vavius squeezed one last time. Cleo’s delicate neck snapped with a soft crunch and all life left her. With a sigh, Vavius gently lowered her body to the ground.
“Goodbye, Cleo.”
***
Chapter 13.
Fort Desta
Marcian stood atop a hill overlooking the valley of Desta. Nestled amongst the nearby mountains and overlooking the pass was Fort Desta. In the days following the Liberator raid on the Imperium supply train, Marcian had ordered an assault on the fort. The site of the dead and dying slaves haunted him, he wanted-no, needed to do something to hurt the Supreme. His forces had advanced through the northern Imperium engaging its forces wherever it found them. A decisive victory against the now outnumbered and cut off Desta garrison the previous day just west of Fork had opened the way to the fort proper. His soldiers had fought well, using the woods and hilly terrain to their advantage. The Imperium cannon had been rendered useless by the rough ground. Liberator sharpshooters had picked off the enemy officers and within an hour the Imperium force had broken and fled. He reached into his coat pocket and took out his spyglass. Placing it to his eye he surveyed the fort. The structure was well placed to overlook the surrounding countryside and defend the mountain passes. It, like the Hestra fortifications, was equipped with long guns that would obliterate any forces foolish enough to try a direct assault. The undergrowth crunched behind him; Erin joined him.
“We could try and starve them out?” she said.
“I never know if your joking Erin. We don’t have the time to lay a siege. Those supply raids have helped us out a bit but it’s still not enough. We need a proper base and that fort is going to be it” he replied handing her the spyglass.
The Temple of Arrival Page 11
