by Kailin Gow
“Most of the…” Liam choked, coughed and looked at me for a long, unsure moment. “Most of the Rogue Magical Ones have been set in comfortable, though slightly cramped quarters.” He glanced at Torrid, but hid whatever animosity he felt. “This building is big, deceptively big, but I’ve decided to keep all our new prisoners in the cafeteria which doesn’t leave us with much room for each prisoner, but it only has one entrance and one exit so it’ll be easier to guard.”
“Good thinking.”
“Well, chances are we’re going to need a lot of djinns to help us with whatever fight come up. I didn’t want to waste too many men on guarding.”
“Again, good thinking.”
“You seem surprised.” Liam smirked, then looked at me. “I have something to show you.”
I glanced back at Torrid.
“Sure thing,” he said.
We followed Liam through the corridor and passed in front of the busy cafeteria. The recently freed djinns seemed to be doing a good job of tending to their new prisoners. While the occasional shout could be heard, all in all, calm reigned over the new prison ward.
“This way,” Liam said. He took the stairs that led down to the underground levels.
“Where are you taking us, Liam?”
“I need you to understand what we’re up against. I want you to see what this building hides.”
Not another Coliseum, I thought. Did this beautiful, pristine building hide terrors like the Coliseum? Were torture chambers kept in the darkness of the underbelly?
Liam clicked on a flashlight as we reached the total darkness of the halls downstairs. “Over there,” he said as he flashed the light to the left. “That tunnel leads to the Coliseum. This is how they were able to bring djinns from here to there without ever being seen by the good people of Arcadia.”
“Dr. Sanz really thought of everything, didn’t he?” Torrid muttered.
“Apparently he didn’t leave too much to chance. He took great care in assuring the Coliseum and its occupation remained secret.” Liam reached for the handle of the heavy looking door and slowly turned it. With seemingly unnecessary gentleness, he pulled the door open.
Though the Coliseum was several miles across town, the odor that rose out of the tunnel sent me back a few steps.
“You okay?” Torrid said as he took a hold of my elbow.
“Yeah,” I said, taken aback by the effect the odor had on me. “We’re so far away from the Coliseum, yet...” I was struck by how clear the memory was. The smell of the sand in the arena; the scent of the prisoners who awaited their death. “All this way and we can still smell the death and torture.”
Torrid hurried forward and pulled the door away from Liam and was about to slam it shut, but Liam grabbed the door and eased it shut.
“Anything else you want to show us?” Torrid spat.
Offering Torrid little more than a passing glance, Liam turned his flashlight to the tunnel on our right. “That tunnel leads to the Capitol. It’s most likely the tunnel Dr. Sanz took as he left here. This is how he was able to so efficiently communicate with my… the Governor.”
I heard the pain in his voice and couldn’t imagine what he was going through. He’d always held such admiration for his father. For as long as I could remember, Liam had looked up to his father, had wanted to be just like him… Now, here he was, working so hard to make right what his father had made so wrong.
“I wonder if my father ever traveled these tunnels himself,” Liam said. His voice was soft and low, talking to himself more than to Torrid and me. He opened the door and peered inside. The tunnel was long and narrow, and just barely lit. Several rats ran across the tunnel where a crack had broken through and allowed them in.
“I think the war has damaged it a bit, but it’s still usable.”
“Is all of Arcadia connected by these tunnels?” I peered into the tunnel, trying to see the glimmer of a light at the other end, but it seemed to go on for miles.
“Every district in Arcadia, plus the Coliseum, the Ward, the Capitol and…” Liam looked pointedly at us. “And the Governor’s Manor.”
“I think it’s safe to say you father has traveled these tunnels,” Torrid said. “I’d say he traveled them on a daily basis.”
Liam remained silent and I felt the weight of betrayal I knew he lived with since discovering what his father really was.
I looked at him and tried to imagine what he was going through. The task was made all the more impossible as I realized that, as he’d learned of the bad turn his father had taken, I’d learned of the great and admirable man my own father was.
“A funny little twist of fate, isn’t it?” Liam said. He gave my shoulder a brotherly pat and I saw in his eyes that his thoughts were in line with mine. “I was the golden child… the son of the most powerful and respected man in Arcadia. My future was bright and…” He blinked back the emotions that had resurfaced. “Now here I am ashamed to even say my father’s name, while you’ve come to be prouder than ever of who your father is.”
“Your future is still bright, Liam, it’s just not as your father’s son. You are your own person now. Always have been, but now you don’t have to live underneath your father’s shadow. You’ve already grown so far from the boy I always knew. You're already more of a man than anyone would have ever thought.”
His gaze jumped from me to Torrid who stood just behind me. A small grin broke over his lips and I knew he finally saw the man he was; the man I saw in him.
“A lot of the war is waged above ground.” Liam set aside his emotions and resumed the strong and authoritative tone. “We’ve already seen the destruction it’s caused Arcadia. However, it’s in these tunnels that so much of the war is being secretly waged. They’ve been instrumental to the Rogue Magical Ones, allowing them easy and secret access to various areas of Arcadia.”
“So this is how Dr. Sanz slipped away from us. How soon before he comes back with an army?”
“Probably a lot sooner than we think.” Liam looked at the many other doors that surrounded us. “Thing is… I don’t just want to sit here and wait for an attack. I’m tired of just defending Arcadia.”
“We’re going on the offensive,” Torrid said, finishing Liam’s line of thought.
“Exactly,” Liam said, agreeing with Torrid.
Chapter 12
Liam had lit a fire in my gut and I knew I wanted to be right there beside him as we went out and took the offensive. “Where do we start?”
“I need someone to stand guard down here. These tunnels give us one advantage I’m sure my father didn’t think of, or Dr. Sanz for that matter.” He took a few steps and stood in the very center of the circular room, his hands clasped confidently behind his back. “The shortest tunnel is the one that leads to the Governor’s Manor, and that is almost two miles away. That gives us a lead of at least fifteen minutes.”
“What do you mean, a lead?” I looked at the closed doors he so intently looked at and tried to see what he saw.
“Sound travels. Footsteps, voices, even the sound of doors opening and closing.” He glared at Torrid and quickly soothed the anger from his eyes. “The moment anyone enters any of the tunnels, you’ll hear it.”
“Me?” Torrid said, his eyes instantly narrowing with doubt.
“I’m the one who best knows how to get around this building, so it’ll be easier if I go back up to get all the freed djinns together and back down here.” Liam looked at me then back to Torrid. “I think we both agree it’s not a good idea to leave Kama down here alone.”
“Hey, hold on,” I whined. “Why not? I’m capable. I have good ears. I could probably hear someone coming down those tunnels long before they even get here.”
“It’s not your hearing I’m worried about.”
“You think I can’t defend myself?”
“You can defend yourself fine.” Liam gripped my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “You’ve proven that already. I just don’t want to leav
e you in a position where you have to defend yourself again, not now, not alone. You’ve already been through enough.”
“Liam, I appreciate your desire to protect me, but don’t underestimate how resilient I am. What happened at the Coliseum only made me stronger. I can face anything now.”
“I agree with him, Kama,” Torrid said. “You’ve been through enough. I’ll stay and guard these tunnels.” He looked at Liam. “How will I let you know if someone’s coming?”
“Under the stairs we came down you’ll find an electric panel. Don’t panic and shut off all the power. Whoever’s in the tunnel will see it and will know we’re expecting them. Shut off the power on the first floor only. Blink it on and off a few times, just enough to let us know you're expecting company, but not long enough to keep us from safely getting back down here.”
Torrid clucked his tongue in annoyance. “First off, I’m not given to bouts of panic, so don’t worry; I won’t shut off the power entirely. Secondly, I don’t think you need to specify I just flicker the lights on and off. I know you need the lights to get back down here.”
“Hey man, no offense,” Liam said in a cool tone that left little room for argument. “I just wanted to make sure we’re clear. There’s nothing like ambiguity to screw things up.”
“Okay, guys,” I said after a few seconds of watching their tense stare down. “Let’s get on with this.”
Liam nodded and grabbed my hand. At the door to the stairs, he said, “Start up the stairs, as silently as you can. I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”
A little confused I watched him return to the circular room where he carefully opened one door after another. He gestured to Torrid to keep quiet and quickly came back to join me.
“I thought I told you to go on ahead,” he whispered as he playfully urged me up the stairs.
“Sorry,” I whispered back.
We made it to the main floor and headed to the cafeteria. The silence that reigned was a welcomed change from the chaos that had dogged us since entering the ward.
“They should have everything under control by now and we’ll be able to recruit the majority of them for this offensive.”
“How many do you think we’ll need? I mean, how big can Sanz’s army be?”
“It’s hard to say. I know he’s lost a lot. The war in general has been rough, but the attack here in the ward cost him dearly. How many Catchers and Rogue Magical Ones he has stashed away is hard to estimate.”
“So basically you're saying we’re going to need all the djinns we can get.”
“Exactly.” He pushed the door to the cafeteria.
Hearing the soft and whimsical music that emerged, I peered over his shoulder and smiled.
The music seemed to waft in from the heavens while playful rays of multicolored lights shined in every direction. Many djinns floated about, keeping guard of their prisoners.
“I guess that’s what happens when you finally release a bunch of djinns who’ve been cooped up for too long,” I said with a chuckle.
“General… ah Captain… hmmm, sir.” A tall young djinn came up to Liam. He shifted nervously from one foot to the other and clasped and unclasped his hands repeatedly.
“Calm down…” He looked expectedly at the young man.
“Alex, sir.”
“Alex, I have no title as such. You can call me Liam. Have you taken it upon yourself to lead this band of djinns?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to usurp…”
“I think you’ve done a wonderful job. Everything seems in order and everyone appears happy. I’m going to need a few good, strong and smart captains, men and women who aren’t afraid to lead.”
“Whatever you need, sir… hmmm, Liam.”
“Okay. Who here is as strong and competent as you are?”
Alex looked around, consider the options, and finally pointed to a djinn; a small stocky male. “Hugley is a tough cookie. He’s smart and all the other djinns like and respect him. I know he has a lot of fight in him. He’s been here for a long time and he has a strong sense of justice.”
“Justice or revenge?”
Letting out a little chuckle, Alex looked at Liam. “I’ll admit he might have a little taste of bitterness where Catchers are concerned, but I believe him to be fair.”
Liam smiled and gave Alex a reassuring pat on the back. “I guess I can live with a little bitterness. It beats complacency.”
“There’s also her.” Alex pointed to a dainty but agile female.
Her skin glowed bright pink and a halo of violet plumes seems to follow her wherever she went. She darted about from bottle to bottle and I was amused and warmed by the treatment she gave every prisoner. Despite the hatred so many djinns reserved for the Catchers and Rogue Magical Ones, she smiled at every prisoner, even winked. Occasionally she offered a kind word of encouragement.
“That’s Denia. She has the heart of a saint, the speed of a hornet and the ferocity of a puma.”
“Ferocity?” I said. “She’s just short of being a fairy princess. How ferocious can she be?”
“Surprisingly so. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a true djinnatarian.”
“A what?”
“What you would call a humanitarian.”
“Oh, okay. So where does the ferocity come in?”
“When she’s wronged. She has a definite, clear cut and inflexible vision of what’s right and what’s wrong.”
I looked at her as she continued to visit one prisoner after another. Coming to the bottle of a young Magical One, she sat, cross legged, and spoke in a quiet and soothing tone.
“These prisoners all did wrong to all of you. They betrayed djinns; they imprisoned and enslaved their own. How can she be so quick to forgive? To look at her you’d think she was soothing her own fallen colleagues, not the enemy.”
“For all the hardships she and her fellow djinns have endured, she has a profound understanding of those who went Rogue. I have to admit I’m not sure I share her forgiving nature, but she assures us most of these Rogue Magical Ones were forced into this.”
Listening to him I thought of the young Magical Ones I’d confronted in the ward. He’d seemed so sincere and it was easy to imagine many of these prisoners had had their arm twisted into going Rogue.
“I understand her,” I said. I looked at Liam and shrugged. “Maybe it’s a female thing. Anyway, I want her on our team. I think she’d make a great captain.”
“I agree.”
Alex let out a strange and shrill whistling sound, catching Denia’s attention. Her eyes lit up and she instantly darted her way to us.
“What’s up, Alex?” She eyed him with open interest then turned a more reverent gaze to Liam. With a nervous twitch she nodded, curtsied then bowed.
“I need a few good people to head several small…” He hesitated and seemed uncomfortable with his choice of words. “Armies.”
As Liam spoke to Denia, Alex waved Hugley over. The short djinn took his time getting to us and eyed us with suspicion.
“We can’t underestimate Dr. Sanz’s desire to win this war. I think you all know how ruthless he can be.”
“First hand,” Hugley said. “In the midst of a childish tantrum, he once banded me. It left me so weak; even he regretted pushing me so far. He almost lost me. Not that I want to brag or anything, but I’m one of his most valuable djinns… well, I was.”
He seemed to wear that badge of honor like a rusty and dull pin stuck directly in his chest; there was the pride in his strength and his ability, but the pain of having had to misuse that ability.
“What does ‘banded’ mean?” I asked.
He raised his wrist to show me his leather band. “You ever saw one of these.”
“Yes,” I said, my voice taking on a little defensive tone. “Many times. I’ve even had one on my wrist.”
“Then you know the effect it has on you. You know the control… the draining control. Sanz had slapped a band on each wrist, one on
each ankle and he’d even put a large leather band around my neck. I tried to be strong and make like it was no big deal, but within fifteen minutes I was dizzy and five minutes later I could hardly stand. Another ten minutes later and I was unconscious. Later I was told I was rushed out of the ward and brought to the infirmary. Sanz went white with fear of losing me and my powers.”
“I take it you know how Sanz works; how he thinks,” Liam said.
“I’ve often taken on tasks before he’d even asked.”
“Good. You’ll be of great help. Can I count on you?” Liam gazed from Alex to Denia to Hugley. “All of you?”
“How big an army you hoping to build?” Hugley said.
“We’ll keep a minimal amount of djinns here to keep watch. All the others, we’ll take along with us. I want us to separate into four major groups. If need be, those four groups will be subdivided into smaller bands. Sanz is probably gathering his Catchers as we speak. My priority right now is not to fight Sanz head on, but to ensure he and his Catchers don’t take any more djinns. I want to keep my army strong, make it stronger, while slowly but surely reducing his.”
“I’ll gather up the strongest and most powerful.”
“I know all the other small but swift djinns like me,” Denia said. “What we lack in strength and bulk we definitely make up for with fast thinking and even faster action.”
Alex stepped closer to Liam. “We’ll need more good leaders. While imprisoned, we were often asked to police one another. Dr. Sanz had appointed a dozen djinns or so to watch over those who worked to keep Arcadia the pristine pearl that it was.”
“Get them all,” Liam said. “Whatever talent, whatever capacities, whatever size; they’ll all be of help.”
The lights blinked… once.
While everyone looked up to the ceiling to see the cause, Liam and I looked at each other, understanding what was coming.
“We’ve got to get moving if we want to have a successful surprise attack.”
Liam looked at his new captains. “Gather your men… and women, and follow me.”
Our three new captains made quick work of getting their teams together and explaining what was to come. Within minutes we were all heading down the hall, and down the stairs; three hundred strong.
