Crimson Guard

by Rebecca Challoner

  I went to lift my own hand up to my throat only to let it fall, "He may have hurt me, but I'm alive. I'm fine. He, however, will regret everything he has done. To me, to Tawney, to Orbain."

  Axel gave a grim nod before turning away and I trailed along beside him as we made our way to the dungeons.

  With each step forwards my mood darkened, my rage at Wildecrest simmering inside me like an angry kettle until it threatened to boil over. By the time we entered the dungeon, I was close to erupting.

  I slammed open the door, stomping my way down the stairs. I had a small moment to see the surprisingly clean and orderly layout of the prison and find Averil sitting on the stairs and Rema leaning back against the solid brick wall of the room before my eyes latched onto the metal chains that retrained Wildecrest high against the wall. He dangling from his tiptoes, arms stretched above him in an awkward position.

  It seemed I was late to the party, I darkly thought, observing his crumpled form. His head slumped forward, eyes almost swollen shut and skin a deep purple, his nose a misshapen mess. Volorn stood before him, his expression carefully blank, as he delivered another blow to Wildecrests torso.

  Wildecrest let out a pitiful whimper, which almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost.

  But then Tawney's face flashed within my mind. As well as the multiple faces of friends, orphans, civilians that Wildecrest had betrayed and that sympathy shriveled up and died within me.

  He deserved this. I thought, my knuckles clicking as I tightened my hand into a fist, wanting to be the person delivering the blows.

  Volorn calmly stepped back and turned at out entrance. He studied me, took one look at my expression and seemed to hesitate for a split second, before gesturing me forward.

  I made my way toward him, my spine growing stiffer the closer I got to the traitor, my hands clenching further and my vision starting to bleed red.

  "Seems you started the party without us." I grimly stated in reproach, my eyes angrily darting to Volorn.

  His expression didn't change as he replied, "My apologies, by all means." He waved me toward Wildecrests limp form, the man quietly panting in pain.

  I lifted my fist, raising it back to deliver a blow, staring at his battered face and looking into his evil eyes.

  But what I saw staring back at me wasn't Wildecrest. Not the smug and evil man who not long ago tried to kill me.

  Instead, I saw an old weathered face, with beautiful kind eyes that reflected a caring soul. I saw a soft crooked smile that made me feel safe after living on the streets and fighting for survival. I saw Tawney. And I knew he wouldn't want me to beat this man, no matter who he was, the betrayal he enacted, and the evilness that was within his soul.

  I could almost feel him in front of me, giving me a soft pat on the shoulder, murmuring to me, "Don't do that Fawn. You're better than that."

  A lump grew in my throat, the air in my lungs seems to freeze and choke me as I struggled to gasp for breath to ask the man who took my world away, "Why?"

  The broken man before me slowly looked up, blinking at me in confusion as Rema gave out a snarl of disgust that I ignored.

  I asked him again, "Why? Why did you do it? Why did you kill him? Why betray us all?"

  He blinked again at me, studying my lowering fist and my glistening eyes. He was quiet for a moment before a wheezing noise escaped him.

  For a moment I wasn't sure whether he was trying to speak. But as the wheezing sound repeated, growing louder and louder until the man was laughing, cackling in sickening glee.

  "You want to know why I did it? You want to know why I betrayed our 'beloved' country?" he spat, "Because of this. Because you are weak. You are all weak."

  "Etha, Etha will make us strong again. Eliminate all the pathetic weak filth that litter the streets."

  "They're vermin of the country. Leaches. And there's only one way to get rid of these pests. All I had to do was share some information and retrieve a little trinket." He sneered, "And I even got to remove some of the vermin in the process." He ended with dark pleasure that's caused my stomach to churn, my anger to rise and the red that was fading from my vision to swarm back until all I could see was crimson.

  My fist slammed into his jaw, knocking his head back in a brutal snap, a solid crack echoing in the room. But I didn't stop, my other fist quickly following the first, whipping his face sideways and ripping open the skin above his eyebrow.

  But still, I did not stop, my fists flying, slamming into him from all angles, my ears ringing, drowning out all sounds but the satisfying thuds of flesh beating flesh.

  With each hit, all the emotions I had been holding back, denying myself since Tawney's death tore through me. All the anger at his unjustified murder, the sorrow of losing my only father, the desperation to find his killer and the harrowing heartache of knowing I would never see him again.

  I don't know how long I beat him, it could have been seconds, minutes, hours before Volorn gently laid a hand on my shoulder, murmuring to me, "That's enough."

  I stood there, panting, trying to catch my breath as tears leaked from my eyes. Tears of rage. Tears of sorrow. The fury that I was using to keep myself going, to block out all this emotion dwindled away until I was numb.

  My knuckles sent a silent throb and I looked down to see the swollen, bloody mess left behind.

  Just like my heart, I grimly thought as I took in the murdering bastard hanging in front of me. He hung loosely from his chains, head slumped to the side, unconscious.

  I had no idea when he lost consciousness or the extent that I beat him. His face was now a mangled mess, blood dripping onto what could once be called finery.

  As I looked at the destruction I have caused, I couldn't help a small pang of regret.

  I'm sorry Tawney.

  I gritted my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut and I tried to block on the image of Tawney's disappointed face and tried to call back the rage that had taken me before. It didn't hurt as much as this.

  Axel approached behind me and gently squeezed my shoulder, "Take a deep breath. Take a moment."

  I took a shuddering breath, taking a moment to collect myself before emotionlessly stating, "He killed him. He may not have wielded the knife, but he killed him."

  "I know."

  I looked into Axel's sympathetic eyes, replying, "He deserves to suffer."

  "He does." He simply replied.

  I looked back to the unconscious body, an odd mixture of nausea and grim satisfaction overcoming me, "Does this make us any better than them?" I asked, uncomfortable with the new mixture of emotions swarming within me.

  Axel thought for a moment before answering, "I don't know. War... War changes a lot of things. When people we love die when innocent people die? It leaves a lot of rage." He looked at me, reassuring me, "Justifiable rage."

  I gave a small nod and stepped back with him as Volorn watched me before calling out, "Averil. You're up."

  Averil stepped forward from leaning on the back wall. She didn't say one word, her attention completely focused on the power within herself. Preparing, I thought, to see what horrors were within Wildecrests mind.

  She stood before him, her fingers placing lightly onto his bloodied temple before her eyes turned vacant.

  Rema turned to me from her stance on the wall and let you a small smirk, "I didn't know you had it in you kid."

  I looked blankly at her before turning away, ignoring the remark. I couldn't bond with her over this. Not over this kind of brutality.

  We stood around in silence, all of our focus on Averil as her eyes flickered and hands lightly glowed. Time seemed to drag as she searched his memories, and I found myself shifting on my feet to get the blood flowing back into them.

  Volorn shifted from his position to look over me, murmuring into the silence, "It was a close call earlier. You did really well."

  I swallowed, my throat swore around the bruising, "Thanks."

  Silence resumed between us before I asked, "Did you
know? Or at least suspect?"

  I didn't need to elaborate that I was talking about Wildecrests part in Tawney's murder.

  He released a frustrated sign, scrubbing a hand over his face, "I suspected. The information that Wildecrest passed on to me? That was the information I requested from him. The information he had about your home city and who may have killed Tawney. He claimed to have found a small unit of Ethians nearby and I sent Simon and Tam with a small unit to find them. When they were ambushed, a small part of me had some suspicions. But with Simonds death... " He let the sentence draw out, exhaustion etching his features.

  But at his words, my mouth dried and my heart skipped a beat. "You sent Simond and Tam, but not me." The rage that I thought I had expelled began to churn within me, "Even after our bargain. After your promise."

  He studied me, his mask of indifference sliding into place," Simond and Tam were on orders to take prisoners, not to kill."

  "I don't care what their orders were. Mistakes happen. I should have been there. That was our bargain." I replied through gritted teeth, my heart hurting with betrayal. "Information and the killing blow of Tawney's assassin in return my joining the guard."

  Volorn gruffly replied, "You weren't ready. You needed more training."

  "I don't care. You broke your word." My voice broke on the last sentence and tears threatened to fall. I trusted him. After all, I had been through, I trusted him. I spun on my heels, snapping to look at Axel, "Did you know too?"

  Axel's held my gaze, hesitating for a moment before opening his mouth, just as Averil let out a gasp, rocking back onto her feet blinking rapidly.

  Volorn sped over to her, steadying her arm, "Are you okay? What did you see?"

  She took a shuddering breath, looking shocked as she uttered, "I need to tell the king everything, immediately."

  "What is it?" Axel asked in concern.

  Averil's skin drained of blood as she cried, "They have found a way to remove our powers. Forever."

  Chapter 26

  After arranging for some guards to guard Wildecrest, we all hurried to the chamber room to inform the king. Averil refused to say any more until we were in the king's presence, not wanting to repeat herself but her eyes were wild with urgency. After the bombshell she shared, dread had curled in my stomach, distracting me from Volorn's betrayal.

  We stormed into the chamber room, finding the king standing at the head of the table, councilors watching him with weary eyes. At our appearance, he cast a cold gaze out to the chamber men and darkly barked, "You're all under quarantine. No one leaves the palace." He waited for everyone to nod in agreement before spitting, "You're all excused from the room."

  They all hurriedly stood and shuffled out of the room, reminding me of whimpering dogs who had been scolded. I wondered what was said before we entered the room for them all to react like that.

  We stood to attention, the king's dissatisfaction saturating the air around us.

  Volorn was the one to break the charged silence, "Your Highness, there is urgent information you must know."

  "A traitor was just caught in the inner circle General. Of course, this is urgent information I must know. Like how in the hell has this happened!" The king ended in a bellowing roar, his hands slamming onto the table, spilling the fine chalices of water and wine left from the councilors.

  A large pulsing vein bulged from his neck and forehead and spittle sprayed from his mouth as he continued, "How did no one else see what Wildecrest was doing?" He slammed a fist into the table again, his rage getting the better of him.

  I tried not to wince in the face of that rage, knowing so much worse was to come.

  "I want every councilor, every general and all the palace staff's minds read. If there are any more traitors I want them exposed and executed." He continued to rage.

  "Your highness, we will extract as much information from Wildecrest as we can and expose anyone have aided him in his betrayal." Volorn took a deep breath, preparing himself from his father's anger before stating, "However, there is something more important that you need to know.

  The king studied his son's expression, reading something within it that made him take a large, bracing breath. As if awaiting a physical blow.

  "What is it?"

  Volorn took a nervous gulp, the first time I had ever seen him anything but calm and collected, "Etha found a way to rid Ceruleans of their powers." He hesitated for a moment for adding, "Permanently."

  The King stared at him, frozen as the words penetrated his mind. As the words that would cause us to lose this war, lose our country hit him.

  "No..." The words seem to slip from him unwillingly, from the bottom of his soul. If I had any doubt that the king didn't care about his country, they would have died at that moment. The amount of despair, loss, and desolation in that one word broke my own heart.

  The king slumped down into his chair, running his hands through his greying golden hair. He took a shuddering breath before gesturing to the empty chairs, "Sit. Explain."

  We all strode towards an empty seat and I situated myself on the left-hand side, next to Averil who sat to the King's left. Volorn sat on his father's right, Axel next to him and Rema on the end.

  As we settled Volorn nodded to Averil, urging her to share what she had learned from Wildecrest.

  She fumbled for a moment, thinking of where to begin before starting, "Thousands of years ago, when ancients still walked the lands, they created magical items. Artifacts."

  At the mention of artifacts, an alarm rang in my mind, reminding me of another piece of text I had read with told me of a magical item used in Etha's history. I sat there, scrambling to remember.

  "They used them in their bloody wars, each one a different power, fighting amongst themselves until few ancients remained and a pact was agreed. They would hide the artifacts, never to be found again and live in peace. Many years past and many of the artifacts were forgotten. The ancients eventually died and humans and ceruleans, or as they called us, weavers, thrived and built our own worlds. Soon nearly all evidence of the ancients and artifacts were wiped out of existence, with the exception of a handful of recurrences throughout history.

  I snapped my gaze over to Volorn as I suddenly recalled where I had read of an artifact before. King Hayesin, the first Orbain king who led an uprising against the country of Vespein. All because they enslaved the humans used an artifact to take their powers.

  "Volorn - " I tried to interrupt, to let him know what I remembered only for the king to hold up his hand in silence, gesturing for Averil to continue.

  "Those who found these artifacts throughout our history deemed them too dangerous, hiding them away and writing there whereabouts in secret tomes. These tomes were gifted to a small society of people, split all over the world, who's whole lives were dedicated to keeping these tomes safe and secret.

  "Etha found one of the secret societies and slaughtered them all. They found the hidden tome... And cracked its code to find the artifact."

  Silence reigned as we digested the new information Averil told us. That would explain why the text I had paid for after Volorn asked was useless. The information we wanted could not be brought so simply, instead, the ones who we should have sought out died protecting that information. She took a moment before soldiering on.

  "Wildecrest... He..." Averil took a deep shuddering breath before choking out, "He volunteered some of his cerulean men for Etha to try out their artifact. He told his men they had been chosen by you, my king, for an undercover project. He would send them to a location where Ethians would be awaiting to capture them. From there they brought them back to Etha and experimented on them. From the correspondence Wildecrest received, the artifact worked."

  I closed my eyes at the words, imagining those faceless men sacrificed by their general to the enemy.

  Averil shifted to look at Volorn, eyes glistening with unshed tears, "With the confirmation from Etha that the artifact worked, Wildecrest decided to try and eli
minate some of the Crimson Guard. He knew that for them to win the war the strongest needed to be removed. When you requested information from him about Fawn's friend, it presented him with the perfect opportunity to do so."

  The news shocked me down to the core. I knew Wildecrest was evil, he proved that to us over and over. But this... This was worse than I ever imagined. If Volorn had told me about the information he may have had on Tawney if he had sent me with Simond and Tam... Then I may have been dead too.

  "Averil...Do you know if Tam is okay? Has Wildecrest got her?" Rema gently asked.

  "As Volorn said, Tam and Simon managed to survive the ambush. After that, I don't know. Wildecrest didn't know. But maybe Kedar, his Ethian contact, found out of the failure and decided to take matters into his own hands." She grimly replied.