Visions of Power

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Chapter 31 – Pursuit by Ingenairii

  The afternoon sun swung around and eventually hit Alec in the face, awakening him with its warmth. He rose groggy from the long nights of travel and the stress of battle, not immediately sure of where he was or why. His memories quickly overcame him, and he felt again the sorrow of Lampe’s pointless death and the death of the ingenairii who had hunted them.

  The horses had stayed close by, contentedly resting and foraging. Alec went through the supply packs and selected something to eat, chewing it absentmindedly as he tried to think through what to do next.

  He hoped that the disappearance of his ingenairii pursuers would not be noticed for several days or more, and he realized there would be no witnesses to explain what had happened to them. He had time to get to Goldenfields and speak with Merle, he was sure. Alec saddled a horse, and rode back up to the road at a quick but sustainable pace. After two hours he switched mounts and continued to ride on. By sunset he had covered a good distance without straining his horses greatly. He was now riding in a district where the number of farms was increasing, and he saw other people occasionally on the road. He ate his dinner in the saddle as he continued to move towards Goldenfields. Around midnight he led his horses off the road. He found a large grove of trees that was probably a farmer’s woodlot, and tied the horses to a tree while he slept under a large pine with branches that hung to the ground.

  After dawn he arose and walked the horses to a grassy spot by a brook where he fed and watered them. He decided that if the opportunity came that night to find an inn or stable he’d treat the horses and himself to better accommodations; he still had all the money he’d brought with him when he left Goldenfields to treat Captain Lewis. When the horses seemed satisfied with their foraging he resumed his journey.

  In late morning he came to the abrupt end of the road. He remembered that the army expedition that had built the road had gone some distance out away from Goldenfields to begin working. He judged that he was less that two days of good riding from the Duke’s palace, and took comfort in the thought that he’d soon be home.

  Through a day of long riding he passed through two small towns with inns, and shortly after sunset he entered a third, slightly larger town. He rode up to a building with a picture of grapes on the sign over the door, and around to the back to the stables. A stable boy not much younger than himself met him there. They agreed on a price to house and feed the horses. Inside, Alec paid for a room and a meal, and sat in the corner of the half full common room, eating the first hot meal he’d had in a long time, savoring every bite of it.

  That night Alec slept on a bed, and slept a sound night’s sleep. He asked the innkeeper how far he was from Goldenfields, and the answer of a day and a half made him decide to push through his trip to finish it quickly.

  The horses were refreshed from their rest and feed, and Alec made good time, though now traveling on traditional country roads that meandered and linked town to town. He kept the river valley in sight on his right as much as possible, and after nightfall he arrived at the edge of the ducal city.

  Alec released an audible sigh of relief as he entered the gates of the city. He rode directly to the palace to see Colonel Ryder. Alec crossed the bridge to the island palace, reported to the guard on duty, and asked to see the colonel or Inga. As it happened, it was Inga who was available and came out to the summons.

  When from a distance she saw him standing beside the horses she called out, “Alec! Is it really you back so soon?” and ran up to hug him. He clenched her tightly for a long time, and when they stepped apart she looked at the tense expression on his face. “Alec, lets bring the horses in and stable them, and you can tell me what’s happened these past few days. Lewis sent a pigeon to the colonel telling us some of the things that he knew.” She remembered that Alec had journeyed with Lampe, and noted the riderless horse. “You’ve had a tough journey, haven’t you?” she gently asked, and led him past the sentries towards the Guard’s section of the island.

  They took the horses to a groom at the stable, then Alec started to walk towards the infirmary, the only place he’d ever spent much time while in the Guard area. “Come this way to the quarters,” Inga told him, pulling his arm across the yard.

  “Lewis was alive and well when I last saw him before coming back here,” he told her as they walked across the square. “Short of something else happening, he should recover pretty completely.”

  “I’m glad to hear that from you. Colonel Ryder said that was Lewis’s report, but I believe it more coming from the one who treated him,” she said as they entered her quarters. “He has said quite a bit more about you than about himself,” she added with a significant look.

  “One question,” Alec said. “Did he make it back to the camp and report to Major Abraham?”

  “He did. He wrote that he went there and found the camp in a royal ruckus, with the ingenairii, or at least one in particular, virtually under house arrest, I think partly for his own protection, after the troops found out that ingenairii meant to do you harm. You apparently made the men feel kindly towards you,” she said. She hesitated, uncharacteristically fumbling for words, then blurted out, “Did Lampe make it back with you?”

  Alec swallowed hard, and felt words catch in his throat as he tried to answer. Inga leaned over and comforting him as he breathed deeply and tried to calm down so that he could tell her the awful truth, that Lampe had died only because he had tried to protect Alec.

  “Three ingenairii caught up to us two mornings ago. I had taken the horses to rest and Lampe was up by the road when they came in, I think,” he told her after he straightened up. “Lampe killed two of them, but when I got there Lampe was on the ground and the third one, a fire ingenaire, battled with me. I killed him, and then came here as fast as I could.”

  “We need to let the colonel know all this. Are you ready to go see him?” Inga asked when Alec said no more. They left her home and went to the officers’ rooms, where Inga told an orderly that Healer Alec was there to see the colonel. A moment later they were in the room with Colonel Ryder.

  “Alec, I’m glad to know that you’ve made it back safely. You’ve had quite a journey. And from the looks of you, I don’t know everything about it yet. Have a seat,” Ryder told him and personally offered him fruit and water.

  “Lewis’s reports said that you were wanted by a group of ingenairii that were sent specifically to find you, based on reports they had received from the ingenairii in the camp about you using their powers,” the colonel summarized. “I understand that you created a new fountain with healing spring water using the magic. You obviously know the story better that anyone else Alec, so tell what happened from the time you got to the camp.”

  Alec began reciting his activities and the people he worked with, starting from the time he arrived in the camp. Inga and Colonel Ryder interrupted him during his narrative, especially when he began describing his operation on Lewis’s brain.

  “You mean you actually opened up his skull and worked inside on the brain itself?” Inga asked, unconsciously sitting back in her seat in revulsion as she asked. “Have you ever heard of such a thing being done before?”

  “I knew he would die if the brain itself was not repaired, so I had no choice. It was a case of take the risk or let him die. I was scared, mostly because I wasn’t sure how working with the ingenairii’ powers would be. There was a priest from the army, Brother Antonio, who was a great help throughout the whole time I was there. I don’t believe Lewis or I would be alive today without his help.”

  “What was that like, having the ingenairii’s power go through you?” Inga asked.

  “I didn’t know what to expect, and I’m sure they didn’t either. They couldn’t really control their power down to a fine enough level to do what I needed, and I ended up absorbing some of their excess energy. That’s what led to the problem later on.”

  “So you were able to heal the holes you made in his skull too?
” Ryder asked with open-mouthed wonder at what he was hearing.

  “That was using the ingenairii’ power to create new skull bone to cover the openings and knit the fractures the attack created. After that it was just a matter of letting him sleep for several days so that his body could recover.”

  They listened without interruption as he described the horror of being trapped in his body due to the power he had absorbed, until he figured out how to discharge it. He kept to himself the vision he had of being in the cave where he had learned so much.

  When it came to the description of the fountain he created, they marveled at what he had done. “And you have no idea how you did it?” Ryder asked.

  “I knew how to release the powers that were poisoning me, but I had no idea of what would happen while I did it. I woke up later and was told what occurred. The water from that fountain is an amazing tool. I brought some back with me, and I think you may want to set up a way to bring kegs of it back to the city.”

  He went on to describe how the Guard troops had been left behind when the camp moved, and how Lewis had healed while the others practiced fencing, leading up to the arrival of the replacement troops along with the ingenairii seeking him, and the subsequent flight back to the city.

  “So you kept up your fencing exercises with the guards there? Good for you!” Inga exclaimed proudly. “How were you doing?” she asked with professional interest.

  “Lampe was the best swordsman there, and he said I was doing well for someone with as little practice as I had,” Alec admitted. “He agreed with you that I was too defensive in style.” Alec paused, recollecting how that knowledge had caused him to fight aggressively yesterday morning in the fatal battle with the ingenaire. Alec went on with his story then, telling of his flight with Lampe and the fatal ending to the pursuit.

  Inga asked for a detailed description of the battle, and Alec complied. “You mean he used ingenaire’s flame against your weapon? What kind of scruples does such a man have?” she asked indignantly.

  Ryder shared her indignation a minute later when Alec described how the ingenaire had broken his vow to fight with swords only when Alec went on the offensive. “That one had no principles. He was a disgrace. How Merle puts up with such behavior is beyond me.”

  “Belman, the ingenaire I fought, told me he was sent by Fallion, an ingenaire from Oyster Bay. I don’t think Merle was even aware this was going on,” Alec said in defense of Merle.

  “So you tricked him by pretending to use your right hand? Very sound thinking, provided you don’t wait too long to switch hands,” Inga commented on the battle.

  “When I did switch to the left hand I remembered that you and Lampe said to be aggressive, and since I thought there was only a minute until he used magic again, I went at him hard. That’s when he panicked and tried to use magic to kill me.

  “I didn’t plan to absorb his power when he attacked. That was just self-preservation. Then the power just exploded out of me without control. It burned everything in the area to ashes.

  “After that, the only thing I could do was come back here.”

  They both looked at him soberly. Ryder broke the silence. “Alec you’re a different man from the boy we met just weeks ago. You’re doing some great things, some so great they frighten me.

  “But you have done nothing wrong – everything you’ve described was the right thing to do. Go home tonight to sleep, and tomorrow I’ll send Ellison to bring you back here when there’s a chance to talk to the Duke and Merle. I’ll tell the Duke the bones of your story, but he and Merle need to hear it all and decide how we put a stop to these dangerous ingenairii running amok.”

  Chapter 32 – Learning the Ingenairii Factions

  Alec left and strode through the streets of the city to Baker Street, until he walked into the shop. As he rounded the corner and saw the green shutters, he felt a wave of comfort wash over him. Leah cried in relief when he entered the dining room where the three women were sitting.

  “Alec, thank God you’re alive! Ellison told us you had healed Lewis but fallen ill yourself, only to recover. But nothing is better than seeing you back here with us,” Leah said. Her pregnancy made her stand with difficulty before she came over to hug him fiercely.

  “I’m completely healed,” Alec assured her, at least physically, he added to himself. “I’m surprised Ellison came here just to pass along reports about me,” he added.

  “Well, there may have been more to it than that,” Leah said with a significant glance towards Ellen, who blushed and practically giggled.

  Alec recollected the way Ellison had gone out of his way to play with Ellen’s daughter, Hannah, and drew the mental connection. “I hope we’ll see Ellison again tomorrow before I go back to visit the Guard,” Alec told them, while he wondered if the colonel knew about the growing attachment of Ellison to Ellen when he had picked him to fetch Alec.

  “I’m exhausted after traveling all day,” he admitted. “Although it’s wonderful to see you all, I’m going to put some things away and go to bed.”

  The women agreed it was time to turn in for the night, closed up and also prepared to retire. As Alec and Leah lay in their room, Alec told her some of the general news of his trip, that Lewis was healed, and that he had been disliked by the ingenairii for using their powers to heal him. He did not unburden himself of the gorier details however.

  When Alec awoke the next morning he found the sun well up in the sky and the women below already engaged in the daily routines of the household. Leah was treating common ailments for a few local patients who had complaints, and Alec joined her at that, after eating some fruit and bread for breakfast.

  He took the water he had brought from the monolith’s fountain, and gave a cupful to each of the women in the household. “What do you think of that?” he asked them, without telling them anything about it.

  “It feels very refreshing. I feel better for having had it,” Leah commented. A little later she added, “Alec, my morning nausea has passed away since you gave me that water. What is special about it?”

  “It came from a special spring the soldiers thought had healing powers,” Alec told her truthfully, without telling the whole truth. “I’ve got a little bit of it left if you want to use it for yourself or for the patients.”

  He received Ellison’s visit around mid-morning, later than he expected, but he was not surprised to see Ellen and Hannah also greet their visitor. Alec had nothing particular to take with him to the palace, so he promised Leah to be back before evening, then left. Ellison took him in through the main gate of the palace instead of the secret Guard tunnel, and they were shown into the official palace instead of going to the Guard’s sector.

  In a large meeting room Ellison told Alec to wait, and that he’d see the others in a little bit. Only a minute after the guard left, another door opened, and in walked Colonel Ryder, Merle the court ingenaire, and the Duke. “Healer, I’m delighted to see you back with us,” the Duke told him in a sincere voice. “I understand you have some things to tell us about your adventure.”

  “Alec, I’m also very happy to see you here, and I regret that you have faced some challenges you shouldn’t have,” Merle added, with a note of fierceness in his tone. “I hope we can clear up some matters and relieve you of these pointless issues soon.” Alec looked forward to a private chance to talk with Merle about many things, including his note about Aristotle.

  “Alec, tell the Duke and the ingenaire the pertinent parts of your story, as you told Inga and me last night,” Colonel Ryder instructed.

  Alec launched into an edited version of his story, focusing mostly on the healing of Captain Lewis, the creation of the monolith fountain, and the battle with the ingenaire Belman. Both the ingenaire and the Duke asked questions throughout, expressing astonishment at the surgery that saved the captain and the creation of the fountain, and revulsion at the behavior of the ingenairii that pursued him.

  Merle asked several questions about
how he had handled the power he received from the ingenairii on both occasions it happened, as well as what he was thinking when he released in each time. “These are matters that you and I can discuss in length later. There’s no reason to delay this meeting with all these questions, I suppose,” he finally cut himself off.

  “Ingenaire, what has happened that caused this disturbing behavior by your craft, and what can we do to put an end to it?” the Duke turned to Merle and asked.

  “I believe that I can put a stop to this. Let me explain what has happened, and I have to go into the unseemly internal strife among the ingenairii to do that.

  “The ingenairii are like everyone else and prefer not to have their secrets aired in public view, so please respect that, and understand that it happens among ingenairii just as it does everywhere.

  “The ingenairii believe that the king will soon die without an heir. That is accepted by all. Some have looked at his weakness due to his age and the lack of an heir, and have exploited it to act more independently than in the past. These ingenairii are increasing their involvement in many facets of the kingdom’s activities. I am in agreement with these ingenairii and their plans to make us better participants in society. Sending ingenairii to build your road is an example of the good things we can do.

  “Other ingenairii believe we should simply cling to our old ways of remaining a relatively small, isolated group that essentially only does the King’s bidding. These are probably the smallest group, and least influential.