“Did he say anything else?” I asked.
“Two names,” Trapper Toussant said. “He mumbled em’ over and over for hours one day.”
Valory and I both tipped the table as we crowded close and listened with wide eyes. “Well?” Valory demanded impatiently.
All of a sudden there was a loud bang upstairs. The floorboards over our heads creaked as someone in heavy boots stomped towards the bar. All of Natty’s customers fell silent.
“You know what day it is,” said a pushy voice. “Pay up, Natty. Your fee is overdue.”
The floorboards creaked again as the big Brownie woman shifted her weight behind the bar. “What fee would that be, sir?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” the pushy voice said. “The duke’s protection tax! Pay now and we won’t have to raise your price.”
There came a displeased rumble from some of Natty’s patrons. There also came a rustling from the bench where the vagrant lay. Awoken by the sounds from upstairs, he lifted his scraggly white head and peered around blearily.
“Who goes there?” he said in a weak voice.
“Shhhh!” Trapper Toussant said, hurrying over to him. “Quiet. We don’t want that red cape to know we’re down here.”
“I demand to see the king at once!” the vagrant said. “This is an outrage!”
Trapper Toussant covered the vagrant’s mouth with a blanket. “Pipe down, buddy. You’ll get us all in trouble.”
Above us, Natty’s customers jeered at the guard.
“Go back to your side of the ocean!”
“We can take care of ourselves around here!”
“Ungrateful bumpkins!” roared the guard. “Just wait until the duke hears about this!”
“Boo-hoo,” Natty said. “The duke can levy taxes all he wants. He’s not our king!”
An inspired chorus of “Huzzah!” filled the pub.
“Sounds like things are getting out of hand up there,” Valory said. “We’d best make a break for it when it gets clear, don’t ya think?”
“Just a minute,” I said, approaching the vagrant. “What were those two names?”
“Oh,” Trapper Toussant said. “They were Finbarr and—”
“Wren,” the vagrant said. He looked up at me with eyes so sunken that his face was like a skeleton. Then, without warning, he reached up and grabbed my wrist. My first instinct was to pull away, but I saw by his expression that he recognized me.
Then something strange happened. The place where he touched my wrist started to burn. It felt as though he was drawing energy out of me. The essence of all my strength rushed to the spot. I cried out and collapsed to the floor. The instant I fell free from his touch, I began to feel normal again.
The man sat up. Some color returned to his sagging skin. His eyes appeared sharper and more alert.
Valory rushed to my side. “Are you okay?” she glared at the vagrant. “What did you do to her?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry. They did this. They did this to me.”
The confrontation upstairs had reached a standoff. Now patrons were shouting and swearing. The floor creaked incessantly with the sound of Natty pacing behind the bar.
“I’ll be back!” shouted the guard. “Mark my words. You will pay what you owe!”
The swinging doors squeaked and the sounds of breaking glass chased the duke’s man out to the street.
“Don’t throw your mugs, idiots!” Natty yelled at her customers. “What will you have to drink from?”
“Our boots!” shouted one tipsy patron.
The ceiling rattled as everyone stomped in unison and chanted “Boots!”
Valory rolled her eyes. “If this is civilization, then I’m not impressed. What do you reckon that red cape is gonna do when he comes back?”
“I don’t know, but maybe we’d be safer elsewhere for now,” Trapper Toussant said.
I barely heard them. I was staring at the vagrant with disbelief. Though some strength had returned to him, he was barely half a man. Yet something of the man he used to be remained in his skeletal face. I didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t, and didn’t dare. It couldn’t really be him, not without the diamond crystal around his neck.
“You don’t recognize me,” he said in a voice renewed by the strength he’d siphoned from me. It was a voice I knew well.
Something stuck in my throat. I couldn’t bring myself to say his name for fear it would make it true. “What happened to you?”
“I was a test subject,” he said. “They did countless experiments. They took my magic.”
Valory balked. “You know this guy?”
I looked him over from head to toe. His appearance was much like King Theobald’s after he’d given up his magic. Now I understood why he looked so unnatural.
He’d been drained.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned to Valory and Trapper Toussant. “Guys, it is my honor to introduce you to Faylinn’s one and only Diamond Rank Master Caster, Commander Frayne Larue.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Valory and Trapper Toussant stared at me aghast like it was some kind of sick joke.
“I mean it,” I said, trying not to get choked up. “When I last saw him, he was the most powerful magician in all of Faylinn.”
“Was,” said Commander Larue wretchedly. “I made a mistake. I should have done everything in my power to protect Chloe from the Duke of Briar.”
“But you were betrayed by the Seelie Court!” I said. “You had no way of knowing.”
“But I could have stayed,” the commander lamented. “Instead I followed the duke’s orders and went to take my new post. It was in a marshland prison called Helm Bogvogny. I was told that I’d be stationed as a guard. Instead they used some weapon on me as soon as I arrived and made me a prisoner.”
It clearly pained him to speak. I couldn’t bear to watch him. The Slaugh may have been the most physically powerful beings in Faylinn, but whenever I thought of authority and magical expertise, I thought of Commander Larue. It shocked me to see what he’d been reduced to.
“What kind of weapon?” Valory asked.
Commander Larue looked at her curiously, as though seeing her for the first time. “I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t see it, but whatever it was it made me unable to use my magic. Otherwise I could have mopped the place with those Larlathian brutes.”
“So it was the duke’s men,” I said, clenching a fist. “Did they control the whole prison?”
“No, they were just security,” Commander Larue said. “Inside, it was…” He shuddered.
I went to touch his shriveled hand reassuringly but then remembered what would happen. I drew back my hand and asked, “Who was inside?”
“I should not say it,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s blasphemy.”
“What they did to you is evil,” I said. “Nobody here is going to judge you.”
Commander Larue took a deep, rattling breath. The color had gone out of him again. His arms shook just from propping himself up on his elbows. I understood what must be done. I reached nervously for his hand.
“No!” he said, drawing away from me. “I didn’t mean to drain you before. There’s another way. Check my boot there, in the side pocket.
I did as he instructed. Inside his boot I found something hard wrapped in a handkerchief. I unwrapped it and saw that it was a blue stone with smooth, glassy sides. In places it appeared almost translucent but in others it was solid, dark and hard. It felt warm. I noticed a tingling sensation as my bare fingers grazed the stone.
“Is this alchemic?” I asked, handing the stone to Commander Larue.
“Yes,” he said, taking the stone carefully. In the flickering lantern light the stone pulsed with its own power. There came a flash as Commander Larue held it in his bare palm. The stone turned darker as he held it. His arms stopped shaking. Some of the pallor left his face. He quickly wrapped the stone back in its handkerchief and placed i
t on the bench next to him.
“What is that thing?” Valory asked, crowding awkwardly close.
“Some kind of magic stone, eh?” asked Trapper Toussant.
“I shall come to it briefly,” Commander Larue said. He sat up and leaned his back against the wall. I admired his strength. Whatever the stone had given him, I knew it was his own fierce will that kept him going.
He watched me with his hawk yellow eyes. “How have you made it this far?” he asked. “I thought for certain that the duke would hunt you down and imprison you, too.”
“You know me,” I said. “I’m just like a weed in the flower bed. They keep trying to get rid of me and I just keep popping back up.”
Commander Larue gave me feeble smile. “Yes, I know all too well. It does me good to see you. You may be one of the only people left who can help.”
“Who is that girl?” I heard Trapper Toussant whisper to Valory.
“She’s my friend,” Valory replied. “Any friend of hers is a friend of ours and their enemies are our enemies, so listen real good to this commander guy.”
I couldn’t take my mind off the atrocities Commander Larue had endured. “Are you strong enough now to tell us everything that happened?” I asked.
“I think so,” he said, sitting up straighter. “I was given orders to guard Helm Bogvogny. I hoped to use the time away to think of a plan and perhaps form an alliance with some of the other guards, even call on the prisoners if I had to. I wanted to use their prowess to oust the duke. However, I greatly underestimated my enemy.”
“The duke,” I hissed.
“It was night when I arrived. Helm Bogvogny lies in a marsh near the Eastern Gulf. It takes days and days of travel to get there. I was foolish enough to fly most of the way to save time. It cost me dearly. I was so exhausted when I arrived that the guards got the jump on me with some kind of attack that drained me. Then they put me in a cell. I lost track of time after that. The only thing to disrupt my days was when they came with their needles and extractors. Alchemy was outlawed ages ago because it can so easily be misused. These people misused it in every horrific manner you can imagine.”
“Alchemy?” Trapper Toussant interrupted. “Ain’t that like what Enchanters do when they take one thing and change it to something else?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Commander Larue said. “However, Enchanters rely solely upon magic. They are limited by their own abilities. When you see an Enchanter make an object move you are really just seeing a projection of their power. It is the same with us Master Casters. The amount of elemental magic we conjure is only equal to the power within us. It is not limitless, and once we spend it we’re stuck until we’ve rested up and recovered.”
“No kidding, huh?” Trapper Toussant said, scratching his bristly chin. “I only enchanted something once in my whole life and it laid me up for days.”
“Alchemy is different,” Commander Larue went on. “A skilled alchemist can change something solid into energy and back again. They can manipulate any material to amplify or extract elements from their surroundings. They aren’t limited by their own power, but by the nature of the materials themselves.”
I thought of Othella’s alchemic source crystal. Othella was a Guardian, same as me, but her barriers were ten times stronger thanks to her little blue crystal. W.R.A.I.T.H. had not been above using alchemy in their experiments, but I remembered something that Bazzlejet had mentioned once.
“It’s unstable,” I said. “Energy created from alchemy is hard to control.”
“And it’s just as hard to control solids made from it,” Commander Larue said. “If you take energy and force it into a solid form, it doesn’t want to stay that way. It wants to change back.” He tapped the stone that lay wrapped in the handkerchief next to him. “That’s why if I touch this stone, the power inside jumps into me, becoming energy again.”
Valory cocked her head and asked, “But if the energy in that rock wants to get out so bad, then how did it get in there in the first place? Where’d it come from?”
Commander Larue lifted a hand to cover his eyes. “The most appalling misuse of alchemy…I can’t believe that they of all people—”
“Who?” I asked. “The ones running the experiments?”
“The clergy,” Commander Larue said in a low, sad voice.
Trapper Toussant gasped and made a protective sign with his fingers. Valory scratched her head in confusion.
I wasn’t surprised at all. “So their cruelty extends beyond the cathedral.”
Commander Larue lowered his hand. “What do you mean?”
“Ever heard of the Botanique Purifico?”
The commander gave me a blank look. “No, but the things they’re doing at Helm Bogvogny are diabolical. This stone I have is just a small piece of something they created. It’s made of magic that they drained from Fay prisoners. Some of my own is no doubt in it as well. I would rather have not used it, knowing where it came from. Most of the prisoners die when their magic is taken.” He lifted his shriveled hands and grief filled his eyes. “If they don’t die, they end up like me. But I had to get away. I had to make it far, so I used the stone. I had to tell somebody and I prayed every night and every day that my path would bring me back to Lord Finbarr or—” he looked me in the eye, “—back to you.”
Valory and Trapper Toussant had drawn back from the stone in revulsion. It was sick and unnatural to see people’s life forces trapped in something no bigger than a lump of coal. It violated all that was right, even for a Slaugh who’d never known magic.
“That’s just AWFUL!” Valory exclaimed.
“Horrid,” Trapper Toussant said, making the protective sign again. “And you say this little hunk of rock is just part of a bigger one?”
Commander Larue nodded. He was starting to tire again. “I don’t know what they were planning to do with it, but there was a stone as big as this room made entirely from extracted magic.”
“Was?” Valory and I asked at the same time.
The tiniest smile wavered on Commander Larue’s lips. “I haven’t told you of my daring escape. As you can see, their experiments on me had some strange side effects. When I first discovered that I could drain magic by touch, it was on an attendant who was supposed to be tying my restraints. With the energy I sapped from him, I was able to break free and escape to the main lab. That’s where I saw it: a giant stone shining with magic. You didn’t even have to touch it to feel its power. The clergy were onto me by then, so I had no choice.” He lifted his index finger. “I pressed this fingertip to the stone for just one second and received the biggest jolt of my life. I felt as though I could do anything. I could have destroyed every guard there.”
“But you didn’t,” I guessed. I knew what he’d done because I knew what I’d have done.
“Of course not,” Commander Larue said. “My only goal was to get rid of that stone. I hit it with everything I had all at once; fire, ice, lightening, winds. I felt all the power leaving me again and I understood the problem in their research. The power granted by the stone does not last very long. Even so, there was enough material there to last anybody for years. I didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands so I kept blasting it until I ran myself dry.”
Valory pressed so close to the bench that she was practically in the commander’s lap. “What happened next?”
“It shattered,” Commander Larue said. “There was some kind of energy burst. It blew a hole in the prison. Luckily I was thrown clear into a nearby river. When I came to, I found that little stone lying on the riverbank. I could barely walk, so I brought it with me. I’ve been draining it, little by little, so that I could live long enough to tell Lord Finbarr. It is a great relief that you found me. I know you can deliver my findings to him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “We’ll find him together.”
Commander Larue shook his head. “No. Why do you think I’ve been laid up in this town so long? Neither the stone nor
I have much left in us. You’re strong, though. You’ll make it.”
Hot mist clouded my eyes. Valory and Trapper Toussant backed away and bowed their heads respectfully.
I thought of the first time I’d seen the commander’s craggy face glaring down at me. He’d been in full uniform then with his cloak of Ivywild’s regal purple. I’d been scared of him and rightly so. He had radiated power. All of that was gone now.
“I’m not that strong!” I exclaimed. “I’ll never be as strong as you! We need you. Ivywild needs you! You have to come with me!”
Commander Larue’s arms trembled. He sagged against the wall. “I’ve never taken orders from a kid and I’m not going to start now. Just remember everything I’ve said. Tell Lord Finbarr about Helm Bogvogny. The duke, the Seelie Court and the clergy are all in it together and they must be stopped.”
A tear splashed down my cheek. “Tell him yourself!”
Upstairs the swinging doors banged open. The whole building rattled as something heavy stomped towards the bar. We heard gasps and screams from the customers.
Valory let out a squeak and whispered frightfully, “Emma, you know that thing I that I said smelled like death? I think that’s it.” She pointed at the ceiling.
“I told you we’d be back!” said the same guard as before.
“Get that abomination out of here!” Natty shouted.
We heard more stomping. All of a sudden a metal foot smashed through one of the rotted floorboards. It drew back up with the mechanical whining of gears. Through the hole it made, we caught a glimpse of a grotesque Goblin form fused with metal parts.
I gasped. “Not here!”
“What is that thing?” Valory asked.
“The red capes call them ‘reclaimed soldiers,” Trapper Toussant said. “They took some of those things after the attack at Mag Mell and re-jiggered them to work for the duke.”
Fury welled up in me, filling my mouth with a taste like bitter acid. I spat on the floor. “I don’t care what they call it. That’s a mechaman! It was built by a demon!”
The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) Page 25
