Eluan Falls: A Whisper of Fate

by Dane G. Kroll

  Just outside of the carriage was one lone traveler tied by his wrists to its framework. Hours ago the rope had gone tight as all of Jordon’s energy was gone, and he was being dragged along the ground.

  Jordon had not been able to keep up with the pace of the carriage. His shoes tore to pieces very quickly. Then his feet followed in a bloody path. It was not long after his legs gave out. Now, Jordon’s body scraped against the Eluan earth that he once tried to betray.

  His pleas for forgiveness and mercy were ignored and overpowered by the sound of the marching feet of Nikali’s new army.

  Seres and Ellen toasted to their new found fortune. They were being welcomed back to the Capitol with open arms. That was always the dream. Ellen took a sip of her Tamor Blood. It reminded her of days long ago, when her husband, Nikali, and she would return from Myrus with their contributions from the city.

  The food and drink always tasted better in Myrus. This time was no different Ellen thought as she took another big drink from her mug. The Tamor Blood was sweet, and everything was going to be like it used to be.

  Chapter 79

  As the morning rolled on the Senate House became the busiest it had been since Abigail and the others arrived in Myrus. People were walking, stumbling, crawling, into the Senate House through small entrances and gaps in the gate, looking for any kind of aid.

  Darden was the first on the scene to help. He showed the first few people that arrived into some of the empty rooms. Darden moved as quickly and politely as he could, but the line of people continued to grow. There was panic and worry in the people’s eyes. It only served to heighten Darden’s own anxiety. He was unsure of the details about the previous night. He had heard the ruckus from the riots, but it had not reached as far as the Senate House. Chaos in the city was nothing new in Myrus recently, but this time was different.

  Help was short around the Senate House. Darden yelled for any kind of assistance as he walked each patient he could to an empty room and eventually an empty spot around the Senate House. Odessa was missing. Paltro was still still dealing with the Tcher Touch. Abigail was not responding to his calls. Darden was becoming overwhelmed. He could not handle the massive influx of people that were flooding the house, and he definitely could not help them how they wanted. It was Abigail that was the healer and her dormant attitude over the past couple of weeks was growing uneasy.

  “I can help,” Darden heard through the crowd. Dread and excitement mixed together when he heard the words. Darden knew who it was, and if there was any time for redemption, it was now.

  Darden turned to Grifith. “Get these people comfortable. I will hunt down Farrah. If you see Odessa, tell her to get to work keeping track of everybody. And try to find out what happened last night.”

  “I’m on it,” said Grifith through a smile. Darden nodded his head and returned the smile. They did not have to talk about the past. It was over. They had to move on, and they could. Darden had known years ago, no matter what, they had each other’s back until the end.

  Darden rushed up the steps to the top floor. He zigged and zagged through the hallways of patients waiting to be helped by any one of the doctors that were arriving or even Abigail herself if she were to appear.

  The door to Abigail’s room was just around the corner. Darden slowed down. He composed himself before he entered Abigail’s quarters. He needed to be calm. They had a lot of work to do that day, and they weren’t going to achieve anything through panic. One thing at a time. First, get Abigail.

  “Farrah, we need your assistance right now,” said Darden as he moved past the curtain. “Something happened last night. People are rushing in. They need healing. They have burns, broken bones, and the Tcher Touch. It’s a mess.”

  Abigail was sitting on her bed looking out the window that was in the room. She could see the crowd of people walking back and forth across the courtyard. The sound of voices could easily be heard.

  “I know,” said Abigail without turning around. She was mesmerized by the window and the activity that it revealed.

  “Are you ready?” Darden asked.

  Abigail let out a giant sigh of breath. “What if I did nothing? What if we all left right now? Would that change anything?”

  “Change what?” Darden asked out of morbid curiosity. Odessa had briefly mentioned her conversation with Abigail before she stormed out. Abigail had an arcan vision, and it wasn’t good.

  “Our fates,” said Abigail. “I’ve seen us die. I’ve seen us all die. I don’t think we deserve it.”

  “Then prevent it,” said Darden. “Save us.”

  “It’s not that simple,” said Abigail. “Eluan is falling and it is bringing down everybody with it. So many people are going to die. No matter what I choose people are going to die. Us. Them. The Blood Beauties. Nikali. We all can’t live, and we all can’t die together. So many of our fates are tied together. For the briefest moment I saw it all. I saw the tapestry that we are woven into. If they die others will live. If we live others will die.

  “I know why arcan was feared so much. The power I am capable of. Nikali’s obsession. The Blood Beauties’ ruthlessness. It’s all driven by arcan. But even the absence of arcan drove our people mad. My grandfather was jealous of the power that Prial was capable of. He couldn’t stand to live in a world that was capable of outshining him.

  “I can go down there and heal those people, but that is only postponing the inevitable. Is it worth it?”

  “Yes, it’s worth it,” said Darden. “If you’ve seen the future then you must know it’s worth it.”

  “I only saw destruction and the end of Eluan,” said Abigail.

  “But the world will keep going after that,” said Darden. “And for whoever is left, we have to make sure they are ready for a better world. If people are going to die regardless then you have to decide who is going to build the future. Us or them.”

  Abigail went silent, contemplating what Darden had said.

  “Excuse, me” Grifith interrupted. “But we are getting swarmed with more people. We really need you, Farrah.”

  Abigail turned around for the first time since Darden came into her quarters. She looked at Darden and Grifith, the two men that had found her alone on the beach. She thought about the work they had put in to help Abigail and help the followers that came along. They believed in Abigail and Abigail did not want to see their hard work fall apart because of the Blood Beauties. Their future had to be preserved.

  “Are you ready?” Darden asked.

  “Yes,” Abigail answered. “It’s time to make our move.”

  The trio got to work quickly. It felt like they were back at the Inn and Tavern. Abigail was stationed in one of the rooms on the ground floor. Darden kept the crowd calm, and assured them that Abigail would get to every one of them. He directed the other doctors to help where they could. Grifith directed the traffic all through the Senate House. He led people from the crowd to see Abigail. Then he would escort those that had been cared for down to the rooms on another floor. For the first time in a long time it felt like the three of them were all on the same page at last.

  The morning was almost over. Darden looked over the crowd. It would seem the mass rush was finally slowing down. The people that were going to come to the Senate House for help had already shown up. Word of mouth would grow, of course. Darden had to prepare for another influx in the next few days, but he was getting a handle of their current situation and that was enough for the moment.

  Then a woman in ragged clothing and a smoldering ash covered face grabbed hold of Darden’s arm. Her hair was a greasy mess that covered much of her already dirty face.

  “Darden, I need to see Farrah,” she said.

  “A lot of people do,” said Darden. “You look mostly fine. I’ll get to you eventually. One of the doctors can see you if you have any minor injuries.”

  “No,” she said. “I need to see Farrah, now.”

  Her stern voice finally connected with Darden. It
was Odessa. He paused for a moment to take in the sight. He had never seen her face before. He looked at her through the hair and grime on her face. Then he came to a realization.

  “You’re not an outlander,” said Darden.

  “Quiet,” ordered Odessa. “We have to talk to Farrah.”

  “Of course,” said Darden. “What happened to you? What is going on out there? There was some kind of riot.”

  “Yes,” said Odessa, as Darden escorted her toward Abigail’s room.

  Grifith was outside of the room waiting for Abigail to be finished with her latest patient. He stood to his feet when he saw Darden and Odessa on approach.

  “She’s not done yet,” said Grifith to Darden.

  “They will have to wait,” said Darden. “We have to talk to Farrah, now.”

  “Who’s this?” Grifith asked, pointing at Odessa.

  “I’m Odessa,” she answered.

  “Oh,” said Grifith.

  Darden walked past Grifith and opened the door. “I’m very sorry, but something has come up, Farrah. Are you almost through?”

  Abigail was healing a young boy. He had fresh burns across his right arm, and the Tcher Touch spread out across the rest of his body.

  Abigail looked up from her work. The boy’s back was clear of any wound. “It’ll be a little bit longer,” said Abigail to Darden.

  “I’m sorry, but this is urgent,” said Darden.

  Abigail looked down at the boy then back at Darden. “I’m sorry, Peter, but I need to speak with Darden. You can wait just outside the room. I will be back with you shortly.”

  “But it really hurts,” said the young boy, Peter.

  “I know,” said Abigail. “I can help that, at least.”

  Abigail used her arcan to mask the boy’s pain like she had done for the Cate and Willem bugs before.

  “Wow,” said Peter.

  “Just wait outside the room,” instructed Abigail. “Don’t do anything stupid. Just because you can’t feel the pain does not mean you are healed. You are still injured and you can get into more trouble.”

  Then she patted the young boy on the back and gestured for him to exit the room. He did so with a frolic in his step.

  When the room was clear, Darden, Grifith, and Odessa entered the room for privacy from the rest of the Senate House. “What is this all about?” Abigail asked.

  Odessa stepped forward. She took a moment to clear the hair from her face and clean some of the ash that had clung to her skin. “It’s me, Odessa.”

  Abigail stood in a moment of shock. She stared back at Odessa, and her orange eyes.

  “You’re Prial?” Abigail questioned.

  “Yes,” said Odessa. “So is Paltro. It’s why we came to you in the first place.”

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Abigail asked.

  “This conversation is really meant for another time,” said Odessa. “I am sorry, but there are more pressing matters.”

  “What is going on?” Abigail asked, having to force herself from the many questions that were rising inside of her about Odessa and her origins.

  “Seres is gone,” said Odessa. “So is the entire Myrus army. They left us last night during the riot. I rushed over to the Suraya. I thought they could help, but they are all dead. They were murdered.”

  “Oh, no,” said Grifith.

  “Who did it?” Darden asked. “Was it the Blood Beauties?”

  “Seres,” said Abigail. “He’s the only one that had the access and was capable of it. It had to be him.”

  “That’s what I’m guessing,” said Odessa. “He left us to fend for ourselves. We have to get out of here.”

  “And go where?” Darden asked. “We’re in the middle of the Eluan Empire. Nikali controls everything now. We will all be slaughtered when he finds us.”

  “We have to stay,” said Abigail. “It’s our only hope for the moment.”

  “Myrus nearly tore itself apart last night,” said Odessa. “We can’t survive here.”

  “We can,” said Abigail. “The Suraya was not just a handful of men. They had their own followers. Their plan was to take over the city then spread out from there during the Tcher War. They had to have numbers in the city to do that.”

  “If that’s true then they are all wounded,” said Odessa. “And their leaders are gone.”

  “No,” said Grifith. “Farrah is still here. She will lead them. Right?”

  Abigail looked over at Grifith with a confident smile. “Yes. The Suraya was made to follow my lead. It’s time for that moment.”

  “We’re taking Myrus back?” said Darden as more of a rhetorical question.

  “Nikali will not break us,” assured Abigail. “Start the process of getting as many people into the Senate House as you can.”

  The group nodded their heads at the plan. Their energy and confidence was back. They were not going to go down without a fight.

  Darden stayed back for a moment while the others dispersed to begin their tasks. He waited to have a quiet word with Abigail.

  “So you made your choice?” Darden asked.

  “Yes,” said Abigail.

  “Which is it?” Darden asked.

  Abigail looked into Darden’s eyes. “Could you send the boy back in? I promised to help him first.”

  Darden nodded his head. He thought he understood Abigail’s answer. Without another word he did what he was told and got to work. He had a lot of people to move through the main gates.

  Chapter 80

  The Senate House was surrounded by Myrus citizens well before Darden and the others went outside to begin to officially open the gates and welcome everybody inside.

  Since the main gate only barely opened with its current chains in place, people stood and pushed against the metal bars, calling out for Seres to make an appearance and explain what was going on. The unanswered demands of the growing crowd outside only grew to anger the people further.

  Darden instructed the others to hold the position at the house entrance. He was going to have to handle the unruly crowd before they were going to get anything done.

  At the moment the people were holding back due to social norms, but it was only a matter of time before they broke through the fence and claimed the Senate House for themselves and their own destruction.

  “We might have to wait for Farrah,” said Darden. “If she’s going to take control of Myrus then she has to start here. I’ll try to talk to them, but Grifith, go grab her. They will listen to her.”

  Once Abigail was present they could move forward with their plan.

  Getting Farrah outside the Senate House was easier said than done. When Grifith returned to the top floor of the Senate House there were still several people that were waiting to be healed. They screamed out in pain from the Tcher Touch. Their skin was flaming red and blood trickled down their skin from too much scratching. Abigail refused to leave them without treatment of some kind.

  Meanwhile, Darden tried to keep the peace outside of the Senate House. Using a side exit that was little known about Darden was able to get on the other side of the gates and join the crowd as one of their own. It allowed him to walk through the mob of angry citizens and approach the main gates from their side.

  Even though he had forced his way through the crowd to the front gates it did little good. Nobody was paying him any attention and Darden did not want to climb up to the top of the gates in fear of encouraging the others to begin their ascent over the fence and onto the property.

  The crowd was pushing harder against the metal gates surrounding the Senate House. If they didn’t climb over the fence they would simply knock it down. The pressure built up against Darden and the metal bars. He was starting to become crushed by the crowd’s unruly activity. It was a mistake to have come up front, he was now realizing.

  “Listen to me!” finally came from the voice of Darden’s savior. Abigail’s words carried across the crowd. It wasn’t a whisper, but her arcan let everybody hear
her words clearly and loudly. Then Abigail appeared outside of the Senate House. She stood strong at the entrance and she began to make her way down the courtyard to the front gates where Darden was trying his best not to get crushed against the unforgiving metal.

  “I know you are afraid,” she continued. “But there is no salvation in the Senate House. Not at the moment. Francesco de Seres has left us all. In the middle of the night he broke his pledge to the people of Myrus and turned his back on all of us. He has aligned himself with Emperor Nikali.”

  The crowd roared with Abigail’s revelation. Some cheered Seres’ decision, others groaned from disappointment.

  “Now is not the time to be divided,” continued Abigail. She reached the senate gates. “We have been abandoned by our leaders. When Nikali comes he will not spare any of you. That is the truth. He has been crazed by his power. The Louson gods that Nikali speaks of will not save you from anybody, especially not Nikali.

  “Not even I can truly save you. But I can help. I have the power to fight Nikali. I will do what I can to protect you, but I need that in return. We have to work together if we are to survive.

  “I call on the Suraya to begin their plans that were dreamed up decades ago by one man. It was believed we could free ourselves from the tyranny that Eluan brought upon the entire world. The Suraya believed in a free world not ruled by one flag.

  “If you are out there then stand with me. Help defend Myrus against Nikali and the Blood Beauties that have woven their way into our streets. We can still be free. We can still show the rest of the world that you do not have to bow down to Nikali and the rest of Eluan. There was never peace in Eluan. But there can be peace in the world.”

  Then Abigail began to open the gates with her arcan. The chains broke apart like paper. The crowd split apart allowing the gates to open wide. A hush calm came over the crowd. They were still stunned by her words. Her speech calmed the panic that had been coming to a boiling point. Many people believed Abigail could be their savior.

  Abigail opened her arms wide as the gates became fully opened. She smiled and bowed her head welcoming everybody inside. The crowd began to pour through the entryway and made their way to the once elusive Senate House.