by J A Raikes
“It is hereby declared that the territories of the people of Emberwall be evenly and equally distributed by square-foot to the parties aforementioned. Territory constituents may use their allotment in the fashion their peoples deem most appropriate and will in no way encroach on the neighboring territories. Each territory will select one citizen to be the representative for their Ward to convene the Proterezar, the governance of the Twelve territories of the United People of Emberwall. Selection of each delegate, heretoforth “Ekorius” will be determined by the individual Wards and will not be infringed upon by the Proterezar itself. Together, the city of Emberwall stands united. Together, the darkness shall not prevail. May the Arcmagus guide us.”
“Well, at least that explains what this Council is,” I mused out loud to myself. Having taken a moment to compose myself, I mulled over the events of the day in an attempt to make some sense of what was going on. Chief complaint I needed answered was who the blazes that creepy guy was and how did he know who I was? And what are the Voidkin? They’re certainly not human and I’ve never seen anything like it except in horror movies. It took everything in me to not retch just thinking about them. I don’t even know where to begin with Harris and Giles shooting sparks from their hands and electricity crackling through whips and guns.
We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
All the questions without answers were starting to give me a headache, so instead I closed my eyes and focused on breathing, ignoring the pain dully washing over my whole body.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw a young lady in a teal blue dress and a white cap standing next to me with a wheelchair, similar to the one from earlier.
“We’re ready to take you now, Mr. Finn,” she said softly, smiling down at me, her voice light and airy.
“Oh okay,” I replied in a whisper. I don’t know why I felt like I needed to whisper. Maybe because there was no one around and it seemed like such a serious place.
“My name is Katherine and I’ll be caring for you today. I know you are probably in a lot of pain based on what Dr. Fleming told me, so just take it easy and we’ll have you taken care of in no time, alright?” She had a charming cheerfulness in her voice which no doubt came from years of practice, putting patients at ease as they’re about to undergo intense and painful surgery.
With her help, I was easily able to shuffle into the wheelchair. She pushed me down the long corridor and I got a better look at the portraits of the Council members. We continued towards the massive doors of the Council chamber and then took the right hand turn down the hallway Eva and Harris had gone down before. We passed by several rooms which looked to be conference rooms or sitting areas. The chairs and tables and all of the decorations had an antique look about them. The Council must have really liked the industrial chic decor choices. Everywhere we went, the furniture had metal wrought through it, interlaced with dark wood which, all together, made for a rather beautiful scene. We passed several rooms with closed doors until we reached a small room where the door was propped open. An examination table sat ready for use in the center of the room, and looked similar to the room where Giles worked on me several days ago. There was an odd combination of mechanical tools and medical instruments lining the walls and tables. It didn’t look so much like a doctor’s office as it did a sterile machine shop.
Nurse Katherine wheeled me over to the table and helped me onto my stomach to lie on the table and gently peeled back my robe. She worked quietly and methodically, trying to make sure I was comfortable and seemed to be succeeding. She gently slipped a pair of medical shears under the makeshift bandage Harris had thrown together at the Barrow and deftly sliced through the material. I felt the cool edge of the metal blade against my skin and it sent a pleasant shiver down my back. She set down the shears and then set about pulling individual strips of the bandage off until my back was exposed. The nurse turned and set down the wad of bandages and then turned back to examine my wounds. Just then, she let out a small gasp and brought a hand to her mouth.
“What is it?” I asked, concernedly.
Her voice became detached and calm in that way medical professionals tend to, but I swear I heard it quiver slightly. “Dr. Flemming mentioned that you would have... extensive restructuring damage and that we would probably need to repair most of your spine, torso and arms at this point.”
“Yeah, so what’s the damage? Am I going to be on bed rest for the next sixty years of my life?” I asked, sarcastically, trying to make light of the fact that the nurse just freaking gasped after looking at me.
“Uhhh, I need to check something,” she said, and hurried out of the room.
“Nurse?” I called out. “Hey! Wait! What’s going on?”
Well this is fun. I love when people look at me and then run away in terror. Definitely a confidence booster. I’m feeling REALLY good right now about my prospects in the future.
Thankfully, a few moments later the nurse returned, Harris and Giles with her. Giles looked frustrated, probably from being pulled from the Council chamber yet again because of me. The three of them came to my side and looked at my back.
“By the Ember!” Giles muttered.
“I didn’t really understand what you had instructed doctor, except for the patterning that is…” Katherine trailed off and didn’t really seem to know what else to say.
“Harris, you bandaged him up earlier this evening, right?” Giles asked, turning to the young man.
“Mmhmm,” he replied, nodding his head and not offering up much more by way of response. His eyes were wide, though, and it was clear something was off.
“Would someone please tell me what is going on?!” I demanded.
Giles took a deep breath. “Lad. You remember how long I worked on you and what I did to put you back together, yes?”
I nodded fervently and beckoned for him to continue. I just wanted him to get to the point.
“Well, that kind of damage needs months to heal and years to rehabilitate, if it’s ever going to heal at all.”
“Yeah, I remember you telling me that and then being confronted with the fact that my life as I knew it was pretty much over. And then I was attacked by some spawn of Satan. So I kinda came to terms with my physical predicament when I was face to face with death incarnate!” I said, dripping with sarcasm as best as I possibly could.
“Just give it to me straight, doc,” I said, shifting my tone to a more serious bent.
Giles walked over to one of the side tables and grabbed several objects from a drawer. He came back to where I was and handed me a mirror. He held another one up pointed down at my back.
“Take a look, lad.”
I held up the mirror in such a way that I could see the one in his hand and in turn, my own back.
Now it was my turn to gasp. I could feel the pain and the stitches pulling on my skin. I saw the bruising earlier in the Barrow, wrapping around my side and arm. What I saw in the mirror, though, was nothing but smooth unblemished skin, save for a faint pink scar that wrapped from my shoulder down to the middle of my back like forks of lightning. I followed the scar with my eyes and it wrapped around my shoulder and then twisted down my arm to my forearm, ending in a small triangle at the base of my wrist.
Up to now, I had been afraid to turn or move much, except when it had been absolutely necessary for fear of pulling out the stitches. Seeing me now, I decided to chance it. I twisted and propped myself up on my “good” arm. A small, dull ache pulsed through my body, but nothing like that crippling waves of sharp pain I’d experienced earlier. I couldn’t hide my astonishment and by the looks on their faces, neither could they.
“What happened to me?” I asked, the sarcasm gone, replaced with confusion.
“I think we need to have that conversation now, lad,” Giles replied, his face a mask of emotion.
I nodded and forced myself to sit all the way up. It hurt, but it felt more like I ha
d gone through a really intense workout and my muscles were sore. Occasional jabs of pain shot through my side and my back, but it was still significantly better than it had been even just an hour earlier. I reached over and grabbed the robe from the side table and slipped it on while we spoke.
“Katherine, please give us a few minutes,” Giles asked the nurse, putting a hand on her arm.
She nodded once, still not taking her eyes off of me. She lingered a moment longer and then headed for the door.
“Oh, and Katherine?” Giles offered.
She turned to look as her hand reached the doorknob.
“Please don’t mention this to anyone, my dear. It would be premature to share without knowing more of the story,” Giles said gently with a slight smile.
“Of course, sir. I cannot break the confidentiality of my patient, sir,” she replied, almost robotically and then exited quickly.
“Well, then,” Giles said as he turned back to me. Harris stepped next to the both of us, still seemingly glazed from the whole situation.
“We’d best get to talking, lad.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Giles pulled up a stool alongside the examination table and Harris leaned against the counter across from me. They were both quiet. I spoke first.
“So, as much as I want and, frankly, need answers for all of this, let’s start with the scary demon things. These Voidkin, has anything like this happened ever?”
“Not in any recent memory,” Giles replied, stretching his neck and rubbing it with one hand.
“Why now? Have you guys been able to figure out what is causing the darkness or why the Voidkin showed up now?”
“The Proterezar is still in discussion on the matter, but as far as anyone knows, the only way the Void would be able to overtake our city like this is if someone brought it about…” His voice trailed off momentarily and he seemed distant. He shook his head, apparently clearing his thoughts and then proceeded.
“The Void isn’t able to go anywhere the Ember is. The city rests on a humongous Embervein which flows from the Wall. An event happened generations ago which pushed back the Void to where it could not overtake the Ember. We don’t have time for a history lesson, but basically at the time, the Void threatened to take over the entire world and the last bastion of hope was the Emberwall and the small city that rested at the foot of the wall. From that point forward, the Void could not go anywhere near the Emberveins and we’ve been safe ever since.”
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned on the stool, contemplatively. Harris’ smooth voice chimed in, “So then, how did it get here now?”
“Someone had to have brought it here. They would have to usher it over the Ember by some means we aren’t quite sure of. It isn’t entirely clear how one would go about doing that if it were even possible,” Giles ruminated to himself.
“But that would be really difficult, I assume?” I asked.
“Incredibly. But in theory, if someone had enough control of Lusynos, that would possibly be enough to summon the Void. The real question is why.”
“Well, who do you know that might have enough power to do that?” Harris asked.
“A few of the members of the Council, possibly. A few in the aristocracy may also be able but only if they worked together and I don’t know why any of them would want to bring the Void here to terrorize the world. There’s nothing to be gained from that.”
“Okay, okay, hang on,” I interjected. “What is this Lusynos you’re talking about?”
Giles turned to face me and glowered. “Gah, I keep forgetting that you don’t know anything.”
Well that's kind of rude. But then again, I don’t know anything, so I suppose he’s right. I kept my mouth shut and tried not to look offended while Giles continued.
He grabbed the whip attached to his hip and unfurled it. “There are two overarching powers in our world. Lusynos and Adrinyn. The former is a lot less common and generally unwelcome in our society. Lusynos is an innate power to control the world around you through means of matter manipulation and displays of power. It usually requires some kind of focus, like a ring or a wand or an amulet to channel. In general, people don’t like Lusynos for the very reason that it is able to tap into some unseen power and perform feats of incredible strength.
“With that kind of power, there is no way to keep tabs on what someone might do with it and so anyone displaying any kind of prowess with Lusynos from a young age is registered and is not allowed to practice the art, except under strict supervision. Society as a whole is incredibly skeptical of the use of Lusynos and so most people who display any kind of aptitude for it don’t train in it anyway because they don’t want to be an outcast.
“The second kind of power in our world is Adrinyn. It’s similar to Lusynos, but much more restrictive. If you’ve noticed, our world is heavily reliant on machinery. Transportation, buildings, workforce, everything in some way or shape is influenced by machinery. Adrinyn gives the user the ability to augment machinery beyond what we might be able to accomplish with only tools. It is how we built Emberwall into such a prominent city. It’s how I was able to make the lift up here travel at such high speed.”
Harris chimed in, “And how I was able to manipulate our freighter to go so fast.”
Giles gave him an approving look. “So you see, lad, we can use the manipulation of electromagnetic fields and mechanical parts to go beyond average uses. Anyone using Adrinyn though, can’t simply snap it into being out of thin air. All users have some kind of augmentation to their body which aides them in channeling Adrinyn. These are called Augs and you,” as he pointed a finger at me, “are riddled with them now.”
I looked at my hand and arm, surprised. Giles continued.
“The mechanical pieces I worked into your system to keep you alive a few weeks back were all a variant of my own design on the standard augmentation biomes. Most people wielding Adrinyn simply have something they clip on or wear to help them channel.” He motioned to Harris and Harris pulled up his left pant leg and to reveal an ornate metal brace around his calf. A mixture of cogs and sprockets linked together to form a cast around much of his lower leg. He then pulled up the sleeve on his right arm and a similar device covered his forearm, almost to his wrist.
Giles continued, “These are fairly standard augs, though many people have variations on the theme. You’ll often see someone with an arm or a leg aug working in industry, because it helps them channel Adrinyn through those extremities to give them a boost. Consequently, Harris can channel through his hands and his legs to help him while he is working in the shop with the other boys. He also uses it when he helps me in the operation theater.” Harris readjusted his clothing and settled back against the counter again.
“My job is to help reconstruct patients who have been injured and lost the use of something skeletal in nature. I create augs for them and then surgically implant them to replicate the lost limb or body part and to function like normal. It’s a form of biomedical augmentation and has become fairly commonplace here in Emberwall over the last generation or so. Most of these are not designed to allow the patient to wield Adrinyn, but simply to reconstruct from injuries. I have a few of these myself which I modified to open channels for me to use Adrinyn. The ones I worked into you were standard augs which don’t enable channeling and were simply reconstructive implants to help you function like normal.”
At this, he flicked his whip out and it unfurled across the floor gently. It was a long piece of leather, interlaced with malleable metal which swirled across the leather in a beautiful design, The whip itself was rather stunning as a piece of art. A moment later, Giles hand flashed blue and that same blue-green flash of electricity crackled down the whip along the curls of metal.
“And while it isn’t often necessary, Adrinyn can come in handy for militaristic uses as well.” The whip teemed with sparks of electricity until Giles motioned with his hand and the crackling stopped.
“Whoa. Okay,
that was awesome,” I replied, staring openly at the whip.
“One of the defining characteristics of the Council members is their ability with either Adrinyn or Lusynos. We are all fairly powerful users and are chosen to help guide the direction of the city because of our unique ability to control these elements,” Giles continued, recoiling his whip and clipping it back to his belt.
“Most of us simply go on with our daily lives and have normal jobs and function as regular members of society. But every so often we gather together in moments of crisis or when there is a semi-annual council meeting to help make sure the citizens of Emberwall are protected and they’re growing in a healthy direction as a society. Most Wards have their own small governmental groups and all of us are on those councils as well.”
“So, then in this circumstance, who might be most equipped to summon the Void like this?” I asked.
“We haven’t been able to come to a conclusion. We were just discussing that when Lydia and I came down to help you. So that brings me to my questions for you Finn,” Giles said, leaning forward on his stool and staring directly at me.
“You fell into our lives shortly before this chaos, a secret we’ve kept close to the chest. And while I don’t believe you’re the cause, it is suspicious that you have come at such a time. That said, lad, you’ve also had the misfortune of being chased by Voidkin throughout the evening. From talking with Harris a little while ago, it seems to me that they could have killed you several times. Instead, they waited until you were alone, then swooped in and seized you. Instead of killing you, they made off with you. Now, tales I’ve heard about the Voidkin are usually about death and destruction, not retrieve and capture,” Giles said as he moved closer to me, lowering his voice and staring intently.
“My job right now is to make sure that the city is safe. I’m not able to do that very well if I don’t have all the information. So tell me, Finn, why didn’t they kill you?” His expression was stern and cold and his demeanor had shifted to stone. His bright blue eyes seemed darker and his entire posture seemed like a brooding storm about to break.
