The Captain led the march and the guards followed every order, held tight formation in every turn, changed formation in an instant when needed. The crowd in Market Street pushed themselves up against the walls and fell silent as the guard passed. Such a formal march was only done when the city was under attack and with more members of the guard.
Once in the Capital building, Nuevon led the ten senior members to the seating area of the Council room. The other ten stayed in a straight line and followed the Captain to the main entrance of the council room. He nodded to the two guards at the door. They pushed the two doors aside and ran in behind the Captain, taking formation. Once inside, Hemmel stepped in formation as well. The thirteen guards that were with the Captain stood in a line behind him, and then ten more senior members stood behind the council members. Luckily, only the council members occupied the room, the rest of the chairs void of the respective representatives.
“What is the meaning of this?” Councilor Steran yelled, standing in front of her chair. The guard behind her put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit.
“This council has thieves among it. They have stolen life from the city and killed many. No one would have expected it. On the charges of genocide, I am placing the following individuals under arrest: Councilor Steran, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Kevyn, and Councilor Aleal. They will be escorted to the Gates immediately to await their trial and punishment.”
“Captain,” Councilor Rodrick stood. “Though I do not particularly care for Steran and her associates, I must ask as the head of this council, what evidence do you have to support your claim?”
“I have confession from all three head members of the Three Brothers. They knew that the council ordered the trade routes to be compromised and blackmailed members of this council for a monopoly on the trade routes. They have been arrested and are carrying out their sentences working at the Gates. Your punishment,” he said looking directly at Simmons, “will be much quicker and much more severe.”
“How were you planning on giving them a monopoly?” Rodrick asked Steran. “Do you think we would just lie down and let that measure pass?”
“No,” a dark, crackling, rumbling voice said. A black haze quickly settled in the room. The Captain grabbed his left arm, instantly recognizing the voice. “I expected you to die.”
From the right side of the Council, the Dark One appeared. The guard lifted their spears, but didn’t move. The Dark One pointed his club at Rodrick. Black flames shot out and encapsulated him, but did not die down. They jumped from Rodrick, to Evaan, and then to Nicóla. There were no screams, only the sound of sizzling skin and muscle.
“Hold!” the Captain ordered.
“Yes, hold,” the Dark One said bitterly and mockingly. Some of the senior guard members had begun to draw their swords, but stayed still at the Captain’s command.
“These that remain have received a gift from me that only I can revoke. You cannot kill them as you cannot kill me. They are mine, Captain.”
The Captain didn’t respond but stared up into the Dark One’s glowing, amber eyes.
“You have other duties to attend to at this time Captain,” the Dark One said, walking in front of the Council members and guard. As he black flame died out only charred skeletons. He dumped the councilors’ bodies over the banister as he walked by them, the blackened bones disintegrating as they hit the white floor, leaving piles of ash. “As we speak, nomads are attacking the city. But that is not all. The people are rioting in the streets. The uprising has begun.” When he dumped the last dead body over the banister, he walked back over to Rodrick’s chair and sat. “You can do nothing here Captain.”
“You planned this from the beginning,” the Captain said. “Take the food away and people revolt,” his voice grew louder, “when people revolt, people die, and you still kill those that stood in your way. Why?” he screamed. “What do you want with the city, or with us?”
“I have a purpose for you yet. I want you to go calm the people and defend the city. And I swear to you Captain, that if you and your guard keep an oath of peace, that you will not rise against me or this council in anyway, and we seal it in our own blood… I will spare your son’s life.”
“Kosai,” the Captain whispered. He looked down at the ground and then back at his guards. “Kosai will kill you. The Seer saw that.”
“It could be that he will kill me, but the future is malleable, changeable, like water, and he may fail. Right now, your son is only an insect compared to my power.”
“And that insect bit your arm, did he not.”
The Dark One grabbed his wrist and glared down at the Captain. The Dark One changed into a dark plume of smoke and jetted down the floor, materialized and stood directly infron of the Captain.
“That was only a mere lack in foresight,” the Dark One said forcefully and sharply, leaning towards the Captain. “If I wanted him dead, I could have easily killed him, just as I have killed these councilmen. I still have a purpose for him as I have a purpose for you. Will you agree to my oath?”
“You will not harm the members of my guard. Swear to me that you will not harm them.”
“They will suffer no harm by me or my subjects, though I shall not give them my gift.”
“Then I swear it,” the Captain said.
“As do I,” the Dark One said. He took a couple steps back and withdrew a syndicate ring from his pocket.
“No, we will not make our oath with that,” the Captain drew Kosai’s blade, “but with this.” The Dark One snarled. “This blade will cut you, will it not?”
“I placed my blood on that blade for his purposes, not yours. It will cut me,” he said coldly. The Captain handed the blade to one of his guards.
“You will cut my hand, and then his,” the Captain said. The guard did not hesitate. He pulled the blade along the Captain’s right palm until his hand was filled with blood. The Dark One removed his spiked glove, revealing a black hand that was more of darkness and shadow than it was flesh. The Dark One growled as the blade sliced across his hand. His palm filled with a black liquid. The two shook hands with a firm grip. The Dark One held a firm gaze, his arm shaking from the cut of the blade. The Captain broke in a sweat as the black blood burned into his hand. Then they released.
“It is done,” the Dark One said. The Captain did not reply. He rushed out of the Capital building with his guard closely behind him. The guard rushed to the pavilion and stopped. People screamed. The orange glow of fire and the black billowing smoke rose all around them. Deakon rushed down from Market Street and saluted the Captain when he reached him.
“Nomads have scaled the gate. Members of the guard have organized patrols to beat them back, but the people are also revolting against us. We await your orders sir.”
“Tell the guard to not kill the civilians,” the Captain said. “If they attack, knock them out.” The Captain looked over at the fires again. “Find the other recruits and get started putting out those fires.”
Deakon saluted and ran off to the Barracks.
“Lieutenant Nuevon. Get as many archers as you can on the roofs of the building surrounding the Gate. Then set up a secondary perimeter around them. The rest of you are with me.”
The Captain ran towards the Gate, and looked at the School of the Faye as he passed by. The two beggars sat peacefully with their metal pans in front of them, chanting their incantations.
“Good luck Kosai.”
CHAPTER 25
The teachers gave mild accolades to Kosai in learning his lesson, and then left, leaving Mearto to train Kosai. As soon as the arena was clear, Mearto wasted no time in beginning the exercises.
Kosai left his shirt off, taking the blows in full. Mearto changed her tactics and instead of casting bolts from her hands, shot out balls of green glowing power that exploded on impact. To Kosai, it felt like being punched by the Captain tenfold.
Every time Kosai was knocked out and revived,
he was given a fifteen minute respite for meditation and communion. These brief sessions were different than the others. Each time the storm grew fiercer. Wind blew the rain across the beach, pelting the side of his face, reminding him of storm he faced during his Awakening. Waves crashed on the shore of the beach with ferocity, sucking sand back into the sea and spewing up various forms of flotsam. Zenith sat silently on the beach, the tarp wrapped around him in a makeshift robe, a portion placed over his head.
Each meditation was also began in the same way in that Zenith looked over his shoulder towards Kosai, and then patted a portion of sand for him to sit on. Kosai did so and placed a hand on Zenith’s shoulder for the nessesary communion. The communion performed, Zenith sighed and then shook his head.
“You’re still not ready,” Zenith would always say.
“What does this storm mean?” Kosai always replied, but Zenith continued as if Kosai hadn’t spoken.
“You will need to be careful, and let the other Teachers handle what ever happens… I wonder…”
Kosai sat silently and continued to watch the violent waves, waiting for Zenith to continue.
“Something isn’t right with what you are about to do. It would take too long to create a circle of power for your use, and you don’t have the skill to take on the Teachers in any sense of the word. Your presence there is necessary as the commanding officer of the Guard and to make the arrest, but I doubt it will be without much struggle. If I had it my way, I would have you back with the Captain and let him make the arrest. I’m not happy about any of it. If things don’t work out, or it begins to look like you won’t be successful, you need to be smart enough to run away, no matter what happens. Do I have your word on that?”
“I’ve never been one to run from a fight,” Kosai started to say, and then stopped and dragged his fingers in the sand. The wet sand reminded him of his first encounter with the lindworms and the Dark One. He should have run then, but his arrogance and pride pushed him forward. He was not going to make the same mistake twice. “But you have my word that I will try.” Another fierce gust of wind raced across the sea, whipping another barrage of rain and seawater into Kosai’s face. Kosai put up his hand to protect from the annoyance. “Why is it like this?”
“I’m not sure, but it isn’t good,” Zenith responded. He wrapped his canvass tighter around his body and ran into the forest. Kosai was about to follow but felt Mearto’s hand on his shoulder. Kosai stood with a start.
“It hasn’t been fifteen minutes,” he said.
“I know. The matron is here,” Mearto said. Kosai turned, seeing her at the entrance.
“A special meeting has been called. Your presences are requested by the Head Teacher,” the matron said. She smiled and shut the door. Kosai grabbed his shirt and put it on.
“Here we go,” Kosai said.
“Kosai, one more thing, don’t accuse the Seer and the others of betraying the caravan routes until I tell you to, and let me and the rest of the Teachers do the rest.”
“Yes ma’am.”
The meeting was already in progress when Kosai and Mearto arrived in the conference room. Two chairs were open on the left side towards the middle of the table. The Seer and Isaac sat across from them.
“The city is chaos!” Faeris said as Kosai sat down. “People are fighting against the Guard, they are preparing to go to the Capital building if they can, and to add to it, nomads are entering the city, and you say we do nothing?” His question was directed at Daius.
“What good would it do? We need the people to stay on our side, not against us. Showing our power to the people would only frighten them more. We would do more harm than good,” the Head Teacher said.
“I agree,” said the Seer. “When we work in public, it is done with a quiet and uplifting hand, not oppressive. We must trust the Guard to be successful. The worst is that people will die, but the city will still stand. The structure may be damaged, but the nomads are too unorganized to do anything lasting. They just want food like the rest of the populace.”
Jacqueline made some remark about the value of human life, while Xidan responded by rephrasing what the Head Teacher already said. Others broke into the argument until the whole table was in an uproar, save for Kosai, Mearto the Head Teacher and the Seer. The Head Teacher finally stood and raised his hands calling for silence. The teachers quieted.
“Kosai, what do you think?” he said, gesturing a hand to Kosai.
“I think I need to be with my Captain,” he said thinking of the Captain’s wounded arm. “The Guard may need me.” He looked over at Mearto and she gave the slightest nod. “I think the most important thing we can discuss is how this uprising came to be, coinciding with a nomadic raid.”
“Do you have any thoughts on the matter?” the Head Teacher asked. Kosai nodded and was silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.
“I was asked by you to come to this school in preparation to defeat the Dark One. I have also had another motive in mind. The caravan routes are being betrayed and people are dying of starvation because of it. I was sent to see if I could find the betrayer in these walls, and found that there was not just one, but many. The Seer, Xidan, Isaac, Viktor and Theo have all been working with the Council, which the Captain is now removing, to destroy our own caravans.”
The door to the conference room flew open; a black mist flowed from the doorway. The Dark One stood there with his hand on the matron’s head, blood spilling out of her mouth, and her body dragging behind him. He dropped her in the doorway. Mearto, the Head Teacher, and the others that sided with Kosai backed up against the wall. Kosai stood firm, as well as the other teachers.
“That is where you are wrong,” the Dark One said. “Your Captain did nothing of the sort. He made his claim, and removals from the Council were necessary, but they were made by me.” The Dark One stretched his club at the Teachers and held it steady. A dark flame grew around his arm. “You have a choice. Either side with me, or die.”
The Head Teacher walked to the other side of the table and was followed by Mearto.
“What are you doing?” Kosai yelled. She didn’t respond but stood next to the Seer with her head down.
“We have promised to spare her life,” the Seer said, “and the life of her future family if she was loyal to our commands in delivering you to us during the uprising. First, I wanted you to believe that she was against you.” As the Seer spoke, he brushed Mearto’s cheek with the back of his age spotted hand. “Then she showed you the nomadic tribe and filtered you information about me giving the routes to the nomads. Everything else, you found on your own, but that was to be expected.”
“Think of your family, I can still free you!” he said. Mearto began to cry. She didn’t look up at Kosai, but stared at the ground, watchin her tears fall. Kosai flexed, his blood surging and pulsing within him. He thought back to his promise to Zenith, that he would run if thing didn’t work out. The Dark One was here, and it meant certain death for some, and Kosai was not strong enough to stop him yet. If he stayed, he would die, he was sure of it. If he ran, Kosia thought the Teachers would die and the Dark One would come after him and probably kill him.
“Anyone else?” the Dark One asked.
“Now Kosai!” one of the teachers called. Kosai wasn’t sure who it was. He made a quick connection with the Faye. His hands and forearms lighted with flame, the instinct to fight came over him. Kosai jumped and slid over the table, and struck the Seer. The Head Teacher swung with his staff. Kosai ducked, turned and landed an uppercut to the Head Teacher’s jaw, his face catching fire, crushing jaw and knocking teeth loose. He pushed Mearto out of the way as another teacher launched a black rope.
It wrapped around his arm, but Kosai pulled and then punched it with his other hand. The roped broke and he rushed towards Isaac. More black strands shot out. Kosai couldn’t tell who they were coming from, but each one missed. Kosai kneed Isaac in his large gut, and the teacher double
d over. Taking the opportunity, Kosai placed both hands behind the Teacher’s head and smashed his knee into his face. Isaac fell back, bloody and unconscious. The Dark One jumped on the table and ran toward Mearto. Kosai rushed towards her but was too late. The Dark One grabbed her by the neck and held up his club, ready to strike, the black flames close to dripping on her red hair.
“No!” Kosai called. The other teachers stopped their attack. Kosai looked around the room. The teachers that had sided with him were all dead. Daius looked as if he had never been injured. Kosai shook slightly, the chilling sense of death closing around him like a coffin. The door was still open, he could still run, still have a chance to escape, but for how long? He looked down at his hands and extinguished the flames. One of his knuckles has split open during the fight and the blood began to spread down the back of his fingers.
“You have been a thorn to us,” the Dark One said.
“Kill him,” the Seer said.
“No, no, no we mustn’t do that,” he said to the Seer. Then he looked at Kosai. “I promised your father not to kill you. But I did not promise to do worse. I still have a need of you Kosai.”
Kosai still had a chance, he looked over at Mearto quickly. She looked up and mouthed “run”.
“You can do anything to me! Just let her go. Let her live her life. Let her be free.” Kosai flung his bloodied hand over towards Mearto and the Dark One. The other Teacher’s attention was drawn from the red streak, but that second was enough. Kosai turned and sprinted towards the door. But before he could reach it and escape, black coils wrapped around his feet, tripping him and sending him headlong to the ground. Kosai tried to correct himself and fell on his shoulder. The black coils twisted tighter and tighter around him, inching up his legs and pulled him back into the room like black, constricting snakes.
“Your escape and terms were not part of the agreement,” the Dark One said smoothly as the black ropes wrapped around his chest and the stood him upright. “Daius, curse him as Nameless. We must also transform him so that his father cannot recognize him. Your title,” he said looking at Kosai, “what was it again?”
Emblems of Power Page 32
