Andalon Awakens

by T B Phillips

  Shon Wembley sat across Braen and Eusari at the tiny kitchen table. Samani sat in a rocking chair next to the fire, feigning non-interest, but listening intently. The journey back to their temporary base was quick, and Shon barely had time to think of answers to their multitude of questions about the Rookery. In the end, he had decided to tell the truth and give the full story.

  Eusari spoke first, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “How long have you known about what goes on in the Rookeries, Uncle Shon?”

  “I’ve had my theories for about a year, but I only had proof a few months ago.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out three books. “I found these during a raid on one of their convoys, along with a sack of those beads.”

  “Oracle beads.” Samani interrupted.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Oracle beads. They’re called oracle beads.” Kernigan was staring intently at the fire, sullen and quiet without his usual flippancy or air of superiority.

  “Okay, I found them along with a sack of those oracle beads.” He shot the back of Sam’s head an annoyed expression. “One of the books was a census report of children that had been culled from the area for the past ten years.” He coughed a little and continued, “When I was a constable, I had to escort these beasts around while they checked the newly born infants. If the baby was healthy, they were anointed with a jar with a red lid. If not, they were given a blessing from the blue lidded jar. After I did my own investigations, I figured out that they were culling out undesirable traits in every region of the empire.”

  Samani interrupted again. “Latents.”

  “What’s that?” Braen sat up, thinking about a conversation a month ago with Amash.

  “Latents. They find children with latent abilities like yours and Eusari’s and kill them before those powers awaken. Once their awakened we call them ‘Emotants’.”

  Braen and Shon shot Eusari a confused look. Braen spoke first, “You? You have abilities too?”

  Eusari nodded. Her pale cheeks blushing a deep red.

  “You should have seen her back there, Braen.” Samani picked up a stick and poked the burning logs. “She was magnificent. Took down three Falconers by herself.”

  Braen was flabbergasted. “What did you do? Did you drown them?”

  “Not water, Braen.” She shot Kernigan a deadly look, angry that he knew her secret. “I caused that earthquake and did some… some other things.”

  “She’s a Spring Emotant, Braen. Both warm and cool emotions by the looks of it. She bonded that wolf of hers and ripped out one of their throats. Then she strangled another by using a tree.” He was poking the logs with more force, stirring up sparks as he spoke.

  Eusari again nodded. “Let Shon finish. We can discuss me later.”

  “Right.” Shon continued, shooting his niece several uncomfortable looks as he did. “They haven’t been killing all of the latents though. The census records showed ten years of the lame children that they’ve been taking from the families. These were duly accounted for and listed at the Rookery for a period of time.”

  Everyone looked at Samani, who seemed to have all of the answers. With a grunt, he explained, “Autumn Latents. They’ve been stealing them because they have the genes they desire. Their spinal plasma and adrenal fluid can be extracted and made into a pill that passes on some of their latent abilities to someone who is sensitive to the same element.”

  “Oracle beads.” Braen, Shon and Eusari spoke the phrase together.

  “Exactly.”

  Shon spoke next, “I had a gut feeling that the beads were the source of Falconer abilities, but I didn’t know exactly how. I was hoping to find more that I could study, and maybe free some of the kidnapped children.”

  “Only they weren’t all children.” Eusari looked down at the table, remembering the scene that she had stumbled upon. She cringed at the thought of the bodies lying atop the stark beds. “Some had aged several decades and there was no way to unhook them from the tubes.”

  “Not safely. No.” Shon agreed.

  At the mention of the children, Braen stood and walked to the window, looking out at the pier. Many of the children that they had brought back were running and playing in the snow, shouting and laughing as they did. “The children in the jail…”

  “Were the most recent Emotants they had captured.” Shon finished.

  “Congratulations, Braston,” Kernigan began, “you have an army of baby Falconers at your disposal.”

  Braen shook his head, pulling away from the window. “I must tell you that I feel less like a freak knowing that there are others like me.” He moved back to his seat and sat down. “But what is waking up the abilities?”

  Samani shoved the stick into the fire with great force, causing the fire to cough up sparks and a series of crackles and pops that made everyone at the table jump. “The Caldera of Cinder.” He left the stick shoved into the fireplace and stood. Walking to the kitchen counter and picking up a bottle of wine he added, “The atmosphere is more ionized now than it has been for nearly eight hundred years since the first explosion. The more it erupts the stronger and more frequent the awakenings will be.”

  Eusari paled. “There will be others?”

  “Many more, I’m afraid.” Samani tossed back the bottle of wine, taking a long drink. “The sole purposes of the Falconers are to stop the awakenings and farm the beads.” He shook his head and resumed his seat by the fire. “But with this many already awakened the council may move to kill the inhabitants of Andalon.”

  Shon looked shocked. “Which counsel?”

  “The Counsel of Astia, of course.”

  Braen added, “Which inhabitants?”

  “All of them, Kraken. All of them.”

  Silence overcame the people in the room. After a few moments, Eusari asked the burning question. “Samani, how do you know all of this, and who are the Astians?”

  He downed the rest of the bottle and then explained. “The Astians are the people who brought the latents to Andalon. You were an experiment at first, to see if they could breed and develop humans with abilities like foretelling the future and moving things with their minds. Or even to read people’s minds really. They just wanted to develop what are called psychic abilities.”

  Braen looked mortified. “They succeeded.”

  “Well, yes and no. They succeeded in creating people who are predisposed to emotional latency connected with the elemental powers. Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Only things got out of hand.”

  “Why would anyone want to breed people with powers like that? Especially fire?” Eusari thought of the Falconer swinging from the tree and she cringed.

  He held his wine bottle toward her like a toast. “The experiment was considered a success, and the beads were created to fuel the oracles. Four in all, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.”

  Shon nodded, “Or, Water, Earth, Fire and Air.”

  “Right. The oracles predict phenomenon for the Astians, and also act to keep the Andalonians in check. They help the Falconers by finding latents who slip through the cracks and help to suppress all other abilities while harnessing the air.”

  “Why didn’t they just kill everyone, once they had the formula to breed air latents?” Shon seemed to be handling the details better than Braen and Eusari, since he did not have any abilities.

  “That was the work of the Society. My work, actually.” He shook the bottle, looking to find another drop but gave up and set it down. “I’m a member of the Humanitarian Freedom Society.” Looking at their stares, he explained. “Yes, I am an Astian. I’ve dedicated my life to uncovering the atrocities that you’ve discovered, hoping to reveal how the beads are made to all of the Astian people.”

  Braen handed him another bottle and he continued. “Eight hundred years ago the Astians had a choice to kill all of the experimental rejects.”
Looking at Braen and Eusari he added, “No offense, but you guys are the rejects because your emotional latency is not balanced.” He took another long draw from a new bottle. “But we formed the society and fought to repopulate the continent that had been decimated when the Caldera first erupted. An entire civilization was either wiped out or forced to evacuate, and the Council had this land available to send the experiments.”

  Eusari rose and walked over to Samani, placing her hand on his shoulder. “What would happen if you’re captured?”

  “I would stand trial before the council and then put to death.”

  She nodded her understanding. “But you risked that by taking a bead and drawing the Falconers to you in Diaph. That’s how you were captured?”

  Kernigan nodded. “Yes. I wanted to give you all a chance to succeed in your raid, even if it meant that I was returned.”

  Braen lifted his head, spinning from all of the information. “Why did you do that, Sam? What’s so important about what we’re doing?”

  “Like I told you Kraken, you were prophesied one hundred years after the experiment began. You’re the downfall of the Astian society, and they fear you. You’re the reason that they cull your populations.”

  “I’m not special, Sam. I’m just a man like you.”

  “That’s where you are very wrong, Braen. You’re extremely special. I believe in what you’re doing. I wasn’t supposed to interfere with the prophecy, I am a part of it now.”

  Shon looked at Braston. “What do we do now, Lord Kraken? I promised that if you helped me then I’d help you. What is next, Fjorik or Pirate’s Cove?”

  “I… I don’t know and I need to think.” Rising from the table and walking to the door, Braen added, “I need air.”

  Braen stood on the porch looking out over the harbor, watching the children play. They have innocence, he thought. One of the boys, a tall and skinny pre-teen of about eleven summers, picked up a ball of packed snow and hurled it, laughing. The bearded captain ducked, and the ball struck the door behind him with a splat. He couldn’t help but laugh and it nearly made him forget about the strife in the world.

  Beyond the children, Sippen fussed with Krill over weapon improvements aboard Ice Prince. They too were laughing, presumably at some off-color or inappropriate remark from the gunnery sergeant. They worked without a care in the world, acting as if the world wasn’t going to end and that they weren’t simply genetic experiments gone awry. Estowen’s Landing had a beauty to it, and his private army acted more like a community than hardened fighters.

  The door opened behind him and Eusari slid out, leaning on the rail and pressing her body close to his. He felt his pulse quicken a little at her touch, a feeling that he hadn’t experienced since his boyhood in Fjorik.

  “How do you do it, Braston?” He loved how her voice purred when she talked, now that she didn’t say his name with dripping disdain.

  “Do what?”

  “Get kicked down as many times as you have and always get back up again?”

  “I don’t understand, doesn’t everybody?”

  “No. They don’t, Braen. Not like you do. Your father was murdered by your brother and you live as an outcast and outlaw without the comforts of your upbringing. But you hardly care and are happy with just a few friends and your favorite weapons.” She leaned her head on his shoulder as she talked. “You’ve been repeatedly beaten, violated, lied to and betrayed by more people than any one man should ever have to endure.” Pausing, she added, “I’m sorry about my part in that, by the way.”

  “I already forgave you.”

  Ignoring him, she went on, “But you wallow in your misery until you’re completely awash, and then stand up, shake it off and forgive the very people who have done horrible things at your expense. How do you do it? How do you remain so calm, so loving, and most of all, so understanding and forgiving?”

  “Think about what you’re saying, Eusari. We’ve all lost a great deal. We’re all broken a little inside, and we all experienced trauma beyond reasonable expectation of survival. But that makes us resilient. We’re tempered steel made stronger by the flame.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “No. No, I’m not. Look over there at Sippen. What do you see?”

  “Sippen.”

  “No. You see what he chooses you to see.”

  “How so?”

  “Start with what you don’t see. You don’t see Sippen the scrawny stuttering weakling. See? He overcame his personal traumas and redefined himself as Sippen the Engineer. Sippen the weaponsmith and boatbuilder. Sippen the inventor. Most of all, Sippen the best friend that a man could ever ask for. Not because I wanted him to be, but because he chose to be.”

  “Ok, but he’s special. He is an exception”

  “No. He’s the typical.” Pointing at his gunner he added, “Look at Krill over there. You don’t see Krill the pathetic man who’s had half his body blown off. No. You see Krill the foul-mouthed, life loving, lucky son of a bitch. You see Krill the cheeky bastard who laughs at everything just to make others smile at the irony. The irony that we all stress over and call life.”

  “I see.”

  “No, you don’t. Not yet, at least. Look at yourself, Eusari. What do you see?”

  “No Braen. Don’t.”

  “You don’t see Eusari, the fragile survivor of repeated sexual trauma. You don’t see Eusari, the girl who witnessed her mother’s death and had her father ripped away from her.”

  “Stop, Braen.” She lifted off of him, back ridged.

  He gently grabbed her upper arms and turned her, looking in her beautiful eyes. “Eusari. You’re not a broken and defeated girl who’s afraid that everyone will take advantage of her or force her to hide in shadows. No, Eusari. You’re a magnificent woman. A strong woman who has endured all that life has thrown and is still, somehow, standing. You are a capable military leader, the captain of the dreaded She Wolf. Most importantly you’re a stunningly beautiful woman who has learned to command her body, claim it as her own, and do with it as she pleases.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes as he spoke, but she listened and stared into his.

  “You’re a fighter. A fighter who has compassion and love for those weaker than her. You’re willing to fight for the weak, and that’s what I love about you, Eusari.”

  “Wait. You what?”

  “Yes. I love you for who you are and what you’ve shown yourself to be. You’re my friend, Eusari. I love you for your scars, because without them you’d just be an ordinary girl. But with them, you’re extraordinary.”

  She hugged him close for a few minutes, until a snowball hit them both in the side of the face. They looked up, shocked and a little out of breath as the children laughed and ran off down the pier. After a moment, they wiped off the wet remains of the snow and shared a smile. “What do we do now, Braen?”

  “We need to storm The Cove, and we need to do it before Nevra solidifies his power.”

  Looking doubtful, Eusari remarked, “We don’t have enough ships for that.”

  “Don’t we? What is The Cove built to defend against? Think about it.”

  She pondered for a moment. “Ships. The reefs prevent frontal attacks forcing a massive assault into a single file convoy. That makes it easier for the towers to pick off the ships like ducks in a line.”

  “Exactly. So how do you attack The Cove?”

  “You don’t.”

  “Exactly!” He was so excited that he kissed her on the mouth.

  Pulling back, she kicked him in the shin. “Start speaking sense, Braston.”

  “Ouch!” He smiled, “There’s that purr again.”

  “I’m about to kick your ass, Braen. Stop kidding around and tell me what you mean.”

  “Come on. I’ll tell you with the others!” With that, he swung open the door and dragged her
inside.

  Chapter Forty

  Stefan Nevra looked out through the window in the great hall, marveling at the number of ships in the harbor. Six more had returned in the night and the sunrise reflected off the masts of thirty-two vessels of various sizes. He scooped up his ledger and furiously scribbled down the numbers and filled in the names of those he recognized. With a smile on his face he accounted, carefully documenting the new arrivals.

  When he was finished, he looked toward the harbor entrance, pleased to see that the improvements were nearing completion. The batteries had been built up with masonry, forming a cap over the top to prevent the lobbing of gas rounds. Additional guns were added along the walls to facilitate mid and close-range coverage in the event that a rogue ship actually made it into the harbor. These were based on the designs found in Sippen Yurik’s laboratory and were grooved on the inside of the barrel for accuracy and precision. Nevra smiled at the thought that an attack on The Cove would be impossible.

  For a moment he wondered about Kernigan and Braston. The former had been spotted recently in Diaph, and word was spreading that he was helping Braen mount a rebellion. Unfortunately, no one was talking specifics about where the two men were. Oddly, the same night that Samani had been spotted, northerners had attacked the town and destroyed nearly all of its defenders. The ship in the harbor had been flying the colors of the royal family of Fjorik, so either Braston was an idiot or Skander had resumed raids along coastal cities.

  That wouldn’t be so bad for business, he thought. The raids would open up the guild to attack northern ships and Fjorik itself. Not to mention, merchants could be set up in a way to appear that the Northman had attacked those as well, without violating the allotment agreement with the family. With the extra profits, Stefan Nevra would make out quite nicely.

  Captain Pogue interrupted his thoughts with one of his annoying throat-clearing sounds. “Lord Nevra.”

  “What is it? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

  A short and sweaty man pushed past Pogue and entered the hall. He was adorned in flashy colorful garments with a turban tied around his head of curly black hair. “I don’t care how busy you are, Nevra, you’ll explain yourself.” The newcomer spoke from behind a sharply trimmed beard and when his mouth moved his mustache bounced with two long black braids. “What happened to Artema Horn?”