Mihell and Jean were some of the first to get overcome by the new Tamor Blood and its power. Mihell and others aimed to use their abilities during their shows. The more they drank the more they could do. This was Mihell’s chance to get his family back on track, and back to the Capitol.
While Mihell worked on the shows, Jean taught Cassandra the art of acting and showmanship. Cassandra could walk straighter at the age of two than most people did in their whole lifetime. Cassandra was going to be their big star. As she got older, she became more and more a part of their shows. The audience loved to see the little girl come up on stage, say a few lines, and dance off. Cassandra was naturally beautiful, but her mother made her gorgeous. She was the show stealer and the audience could not wait until she came around.
But her father continued to get deeper and deeper into Tamor Blood. He was going into debt getting more supplies. He wanted to put on grander and grander shows, and he needed more to drink to accomplish that. Jean followed in his footsteps. They both shared in Tamor Blood to make their shows even better. It was not long before Cassandra started drinking it as well.
Their shows began to suffer. Mihell could not concentrate long enough to write a fully realized script. Their stories became more bizarre and the audience could not follow them. Eventually, people stopped coming to their performances. Cassandra would sometimes not appear on stage for several reasons. She was nearing six and didn’t want to work. She wanted to play with her friends and relax instead of rehearsing over and over again. She just wanted to drink Tamor Blood and have fun. She was becoming the star of the show. She believed she deserved more of the share of their supplies. Mihell and Jean disagreed. Their arguments could be heard by all the neighbors.
Sometimes Cassandra would no show events out of protest. She wanted to prove she was worth more than her parents said she was. A rift between her and her parents began to grow.
Then the fateful day came when Mihell and Jean told Cassandra they were sending her to the Capitol. They told her she was going to a school that would teach her proper manners and train her in the performing arts.
Cassandra fought to not leave, but in the end she was put in a carriage with half a dozen other girls and sent off to the Capitol.
Mihell and Jean were left with a tiny bag of coins as they waved good-bye to their daughter. They did not even wait for Cassandra to be out of sight before they started counting their money.
When they arrived at the Capitol, the carriage took the girls to the school in the Talons, but it was not a school for performing arts. It was a brothel meant to train girls in their new lives as escorts and prostitutes.
Cassandra lived there for years. Her beauty made her a grand prize for the royal class that found themselves in the capital city. She started bringing in some of the highest rates for her house. Her life was a new surprise every day, and Tamor Blood became her solid ground. She could rely on the arcan to keep her level and steady for the parties and events that each night brought.
To Cassandra’s delight, the powerful eyes on her began to open doors. She was able to elevate her status around the arms of senators across the new empire. She left the house that raised her and went on her own.
She was able to get in the ears of some of the most powerful men in the empire. She spent nights with many of the men of the Royal Council, in Cyrus and Heric’s reign. Her arcan made it easy for the men to be soothed by her voice and her ideas.
She became friends with Nikali years ago. They met at one of the many banquets the palace held. They shared a common disinterest in the event, and disdain for the royal class. They drank together and shared secrets in the arcan proverbs that grew over the decades.
Cassandra became the only true person Nikali trusted. Even Heric did not know the real Nikali. Cassandra and Nikali were friends, lovers, and as close as family. She would follow Nikali anywhere, even to the highest ranks of the Eluan Empire.
Now, she was sitting in the Emperor’s secure chambers combing through the books left by Alexus that documented arcan like nobody had ever seen. There was just one problem with the books. They were written in old Louson form. It was a language that very few people knew in the Eluan Empire. Nikali was one of them, and he was teaching Cassandra, but it was slow going. He was not a teacher.
She still tried. She was determined to finish translating all four of the books they had been given. They held the key to more powerful acts of arcan.
Nikali had already cracked aparating. They could transport themselves from one location to another if they had the proper portals. They just needed wood from trees in the Cylo Forest; the same trees that were used in the process to make Tamor Blood.
Another trick Cassandra learned was the ability to drain the life from people. Adrenaline and desperation opened that power when Tcher invaded the Capitol walls. Enemy soldiers were breaching the palace and found their way to the bunker. They broke through the door, but Cassandra attacked with the power she was learning from the books. The Tcher soldiers did not stand a chance.
She felt stronger than ever as she watched the men’s bodies dry up and wither away like they had been dead for ages. She was alive for the first time in years.
Cassandra’s concentration was on the books laid out in front of her. Her eyes darted left and right as she read each line over and over again to try to translate it herself. Nikali would have to go over it himself to check for errors later. But she could not wait for him. His duties as Emperor were taking away from his time translating, and she wanted to get a jump start.
Aul was pacing back and forth on the other side of the room. Cassandra could see him out of the corner of her eye. His feet pranced along with the words on the page. It was becoming distracting.
“Stop that,” Cassandra ordered.
Aul turned to her. He never stopped walking.
“I have to keep moving,” he said. “I want to sleep.”
“Then stop, and go to bed,” said Cassandra.
“I can’t,” said Aul. “I have to keep moving. There is too much delight in my mind. I will march until I reach sleep. It is the only way.”
“Then march somewhere else,” said Cassandra. “I am trying to work.”
“I have already made my run today,” he argued.
“Then run it again,” said Cassandra.
“They will find it suspicious,” said Aul.
“Then find a new circuit. Just get out of here,” demanded Cassandra.
Aul nodded his head and went for the door. As he grabbed for the door to open it his feet never stopped. He marched in place as he swung the heavy door open. Then he was gone.
Cassandra was relieved to have peace once again. The Red Cast was always quiet. They were a pleasant change. The girls were found in Myrus the previous year when Nikali and Cassandra were putting together their own squad for Heric. Cassandra found them at the brothel camps outlying the rebuilding city. The girls were the only ones brave enough to follow her, and survive a battle against the avadons. They were stronger for it.
Cassandra got through several more pages of the arcan book she was translating. Her eyes were strained and a small pain in her head was growing stronger. She took another sip from her cup and let the arcan tingle through the body. It dulled the pain and cleared her vision. She continued reading.
Then the door opened. Cassandra groaned. She was not ready for Aul to come back. But to her delight it was not Aul.
Nikali had returned.
“It’s about time,” said Cassandra. “I have more pages for you to go through.” She presented Nikali with the scattered pages surrounding her.
“I’ll get to them soon,” said Nikali.
“Let’s do this now,” said Cassandra. “There are still three books we’ve barely touched. You are wasting time.”
“I am in control of the Empire,” said Nikali. “I am not wasting time.”
“Eluan is in shambles,” said Cassandra. “Do you really think talking with a bunch of men arou
nd a table is going to solve the issues that are plaguing the world?”
“That is how things are done,” said Nikali.
“Screw that,” said Cassandra. “Those men up there want nothing more than to secure themselves a comfortable piece of land and die with a fat belly in bed next to a pretty girl. I have seen it in their hearts. There is nothing left to talk about.”
“These men were chosen by Heric because Heric thought they could help change the world,” said Nikali.
“He was wrong,” said Cassandra.
“Heric was not wrong,” said Nikali.
Cassandra scowled. She glared at Nikali for a moment without saying a word.
“I want to make Eluan better than ever for when Heric wakes up,” said Nikali. “I have to do that through the system.”
“What has happened to you?” Cassandra asked.
“Nothing,” said Nikali. He turned away from Cassandra when he said that.
“Heric took away your seat on the Council,” said Cassandra. “He only used your idea to defeat Tcher because he was desperate and we were gaining the sympathy of the soldiers around us. When Heric wakes up who knows whose side he will be on. We need to use the momentum we were gaining and take full control now. The Royal Council will only slow you down.”
“I do not have the power for that,” Nikali confessed. He slumped down on the ground and leaned against the door. The defeat was clear in his face.
“What do you mean?” Cassandra asked. She reached out to Nikali with her arcan, but she could not feel him reaching back.
“I’m losing my powers,” said Nikali. “I can barely feel it.”
Cassandra rose to her feet. She headed toward Nikali. First, she walked by the cauldron they had in the corner of the room. It was filled to the brim with their supply of Tamor Blood. She dipped her cup in it and presented the drink to Nikali.
“Then you need to keep drinking,” she said.
Nikali took the cup and chugged the entire thing. It drooled down his chin, but he wiped it with his fingers and licked them clean. He was going to get every last drop.
“Better?” Cassandra asked.
Nikali’s eyes dilated. He stared wide-eyed at Cassandra. His smile crept along his face. Then just as quickly he turned back to a frown.
“It’s gone,” said Nikali. “This is not enough. What we have is crap. We need something stronger.”
“Then let’s get something stronger,” said Cassandra. “Let’s hunt down every avadon out there and drink from their veins. Let’s do what we did in Hilldad. We can fill this cauldron with the hearts of the demons, and we can make our dreams reality.”
Cassandra knelt down to embrace Nikali. She kissed him and embraced him with all her power. Nikali could feel her reaching into his mind. He let her in.
“Feel my power, Nikali,” she whispered in his ear. “I still feel it. I will share it. Do not lose your way. Those men up there will use you and discard you just as fast once Heric is awake. Do not let them do that. Do not fall for their tricks.”
Nikali felt the energy surging into him. Cassandra was connecting with him on an emotional level. He felt the tingle of arcan reach through his body. He embraced her back to feel more of her energy.
“The moon sets in the day. Night sleeps for eternity,” said Nikali. “It’s more than just power. It’s about how we use it. I have an idea. We just need to get some people out of our way.”
Chapter 7
Darden and Grifith brought Abigail to what they claimed was the best bed and breakfast in town. In reality it was the cheapest inn and tavern they could find that resided on the outskirts of the area. With their trip to New Salid a bust their money was running low and now thanks to Grifith they had a confused and lost woman to tend to.
The two men left Abigail to sit in the small room that constituted as a dining hall at the tavern. She was wrapped in a blanket and she used it to hide her face from the other guests around her. There were half a dozen other people crammed into the dining hall. Nobody paid her any attention despite her unusual look in the corner of the room. The typical guest at the tavern was accustomed to discretion and generally stayed out of each other’s way.
Darden and Grifith were in the adjoining room talking with the owner of the inn and tavern, an older gentleman who, while already past the age of seventy, looked well beyond his years. The old man had seen thousands of different people come and go from his tavern over the decades. He had survived several wars now. He believed nothing could faze him anymore. But he couldn’t help but glance toward Abigail every few moments while talking to her entourage. Something was drawing him to her. He knew why and he didn’t like it.
“Do you have any idea who she belongs to?” Darden asked the innkeeper. “Is anybody missing a sister, or a daughter, a mother maybe?”
“No,” said the innkeeper. He took another look at the blanketed woman in the other room. He could see her staring back at him with her orange eyes.
“When will you be moving on?” the innkeeper asked.
Darden looked put-off by the man’s questioning. “When we find this woman’s family. I’ll settle for a friend even. You have to know something. Somebody has to be looking for her. She was just standing alone on a beach. People don’t just wander on to beaches talking about the fall of civilization.”
The innkeeper shook his head. “She’s not from around here. It’s best if you move on.”
Abigail pulled the blanket around her body tighter. Coughing rang out like a chorus among the other people in the tavern. She covered her mouth with the filthy blanket that Darden had given to her from his bag. Every breath she took smelled like he had never cleaned the blanket.
There was a sickness going around, had been for over a year since the Tcher army came to shore. Every time the people in the southern coast of Eluan thought they had quarantined and killed the illness it always popped back up in another village. It started with a fever and ended with hives breaking out across the skin. If the fever didn’t kill the person then they were tormented with burning hives for the rest of their lives. Despite Tcher’s claim of wanting to heal the mysterious sickness when they first arrived on the beaches of Eluan the illness got the name of the Tcher Touch.
“My advice?” began the innkeeper, “You should put her back where you found her.”
“She was alone on the beach,” said Grifith. “She would die.”
“Maybe that’s for the best,” said the innkeeper.
Grifith could not believe what the old man was saying. He was of the mind to leave the old man alone on a beach.
“Do you even know what you have in that room?” the innkeeper asked.
Darden and Grifith both look toward Abigail. As if she could sense them staring she turned and stared back at the two men. Then they turned back to the innkeeper to continue their conversation.
“A woman?” Grifith asked, now a little unsure of his answer.
“A Prial woman,” said the innkeeper.
Darden cursed under his breath when he heard those words. Grifith just shrugged his shoulders, not familiar with the reference.
“So?” Grifith asked.
“They are wanted by Eluan law,” said Darden. He knocked his fist on Grifith’s head to try and knock some sense into him. “Eluan went to war with Prial. They killed all of them. Now they just pick up the scraps whenever they can.”
“Oh,” said Grifith. He was not too keen on history.
“Orange eyes,” said Darden frustratingly. “I didn’t even notice it until you said something. Crap. How did we not notice it?”
“I like them,” said Grifith.
“They have a way about them,” said the innkeeper. “I remember when Prial thrived. People loved them. They could do no wrong. It was like they had a powerful aura about them. It took a lot of hate to turn that around.”
“I don’t hate her,” said Grifith.
Abigail could tell Darden was growing more agitated as he spoke with Grif
ith and the innkeeper. She knew they were talking about her. She just couldn’t say what.
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She fought to remember what was a memory, what was a dream, and what was something else entirely.
She remembered she lived in Eluan. But she remembered the city was destroyed. Blood flooded the streets of the Capitol. Vultures blocked out the sun, and a shadow cast over the Eluan palace.
She remembered being on Tcher. Her grandfather was Aldrin the Ageless, the most feared tyrant in the known world. The island was burning.
Then she remembered Prial. The once vibrant city was now home to one lone illuminated flower.
Abigail snapped back to the present. While her mind had drifted off she never noticed a little girl approach her. She was offering flowers for spare change.
The little girl with dirty blonde hair and rags for clothing had a basket of flowers in one arm and she held out the other straight at Abigail with one red flower presented.
“I’m sorry,” said Abigail. “I don’t have any money.”
The little girl began to stare at the floor and her bare feet, disappointed in the loss of the sale. Abigail followed her glare. She looked down and saw the poor girl’s situation.
Her feet were covered in hives. The little girl had the Tcher Touch.
“You can stay another night,” said the innkeeper. “But I would like it if you left tomorrow. Patrols have been lighter in the area since the invasion, but there are still some Eluan soldiers left. If they find her here they'll just as likely hang me along with the three of you.”
Darden put his hand on a nearby counter to brace himself. He did not like the sound of the situation Grifith had gotten them into.
“Thank you,” said Darden. “We’ll be gone by morning.”
“Where are we going to go?” Grifith asked.
“I don’t know,” said Darden. “We can figure it out on the way.”
“You are very brave,” Abigail told the girl.
Eluan Falls: A Whisper of Fate Page 4
