by Kailin Gow
But through all that strength and power, I saw the pain in both their eyes; pain that had nothing to do with the battles they’d just fought.
Happy to see Liam and eager to show him how proud I was, I hurried down to the ward floor and gave him a hug. “I thought you’d join us sooner. I was worried when Zanlord showed up. What happened?”
“Yeah, fighting off the guards that came in for their shifts wasn’t as easy as I would have liked.” He held up a strange looking weapon. Part machine gun and part flame thrower, it looked heavy and deadly. “I see you managed to free a good number of djinns. Good work.”
Torrid came up behind me and I felt the growing tension between them. Liam glanced at Torrid and the accusatory question was clear in his eyes. Had Torrid protected me adequately?
“Kama is quickly becoming a great fighter,” Torrid said. “Between the two of us we put a sizable dent in Sanz’s army.”
“Torrid even had Sanz running off like a little girl,” I said with a proud grin.
Liam was far from impressed. “Don’t be too quick to count Dr. Sanz out of this. He’s not about to let Arcadia fall into the hands of a djinn… royal or otherwise. He’s worked far too hard to give it all up now.”
“How is it that a djinn can fall so far? Isn’t he a djinn like you, Torrid?” I asked.
“He comes from an old and well respected family. No one would have ever thought someone from such a privileged background could turn so ugly… could turn against his own. Can you believe we were once governed and advised by him and his family?”
“It is hard to believe. I don’t get it,” I said. “How did he go from being so revered and respected by all djinns, to enslaving and imprisoning them?”
“He fell out of favor. A few bad decisions, I guess. I was young when he was a royal advisor, but I remember how angry my father became with him on more than one occasion. Things were changing; the world around us was changing, but his ideas weren’t. He was inflexible and wanted to keep to a strange and strict hand over djinns. When confronted, he went into a tantrum. Instead of taking the criticism well and working to better himself and his aging ideas, he stormed off and found a way to get full revenge.”
“And that vengeful streak isn’t about to die,” Liam said. “Which way did he go?”
Torrid and I pointed to the door we’d seen Dr. Sanz leave through.
“He might have run away like a little girl, but he didn’t abandon ship… not yet. Better get as many djinns freed as you can before he comes back. I have a feeling we’re going to have a hell of a battle on our hands.”
Listening to Liam, hearing the authority in his voice, the assuredness of his words and the wisdom of his advice, I was swept up in a wave of pride. While so many would have cracked under such pressure, he flourished and thrived.
“That means you’ll stay and battle with us?” Torrid asked.
A flash of restrained anger came to Liam’s eyes. “Of course, I’ll stay and battle. This is my battle as well. And I’m not about to leave Kama at risk again.”
For a long moment they waged a silent war of reprimanding, accusatory, defensive and guilty gazes. Their stare down was broken by a quick flash of light and the subsequent blow out of all the stars Torrid had kept lit. They were quickly replaced by a stream of sizzling lights that glowed with an ominous red tinge. The moment they touched any metal surface, a spark flew, but when they fell on any wood surface, fire broke out.
“That would be him.” Liam raised his weapon. “Hurry. Gather as many Magical Ones as you can. He won’t be alone and he’ll surely have a surprising arsenal of deadly weapons.”
Though many of the Magical Ones had run off to celebrate their new found freedom, many had stayed behind to help liberate other Magical Ones. We turned to find an army ready to do battle.
“We’ll do anything to stop Dr. Sanz,” an older Magical One said. “I’ve been here long enough and I’ve seen the misery that man can bring; the misery he enjoys bringing.”
“Thank you,” Liam said, putting his hand to the older man’s shoulder. “We’ll need you; all of you.”
“Many of us are weak and exhausted, and our fighting ability might be limited, but together…”
“I’m sure you’ll all do well. Stay together if you need to, but fight.”
The large gathering of Magical Ones broke apart into smaller groups and fought the growing number of fires, but still there was no visible sign of Dr. Sanz.
“What game is he playing?” I asked.
“He wants to get us on edge; make us anxious, nervous… so nervous we’ll make stupid mistakes. Stay relaxed and don’t sweat it. We have a large and powerful army. These Magical Ones may be a bit tired and weak, but they have a great desire to make things right, and ridding the world of Dr. Sanz is the first step.”
“But my desire to rid the world of the djinn royal family is even stronger.” The booming voice seemed to come from everywhere.
“Show yourself, Sanz,” Torrid demanded. “At least have the courage to step forward. You don’t want your entire army to realize what a coward you truly are. They all know you're nothing without them. And they all know that they are now on the losing side.”
A low rumbling snicker shook the walls then everything fell silent.
It seemed an eternity passed as we waited. I held my breath, waiting for the attack, while having no idea what to expect. Just when I had hope that Dr. Sanz had backed down, a swarm of Rogue Magical Ones entered the ward. The battle had begun.
But we were prepared.
The hundreds of djinns we’d liberated fought valiantly and effectively, reducing Dr. Sanz’s army to only a few dozen Rogue Magical Ones.
I did my part, fighting off Rogue Magical Ones and bottling the ones I could get close enough to, but I noticed something peculiar in their manner of fighting. Many lacked fire and fight. They battled halfheartedly.
When I pinned one to the wall, I saw something in his eyes I had not expected; understanding, perhaps even regret.
“I never wanted it to be like this,” the Rogue djinn said.
It’s a trick, I told myself. These are lying, conniving and manipulative beasts, and they’re not to be trusted, but…
“Some may have turned Rogue of their own volition, but many were blackmailed, trapped, tricked.”
It explained the lackluster fight.
“If that’s true, this is the time to prove it. Turn Dr. Sanz’s army against him.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Try,” I said, holding a bottle up to the Magical One’s nose.
He glanced down into the tiny confines of the bottle then looked around at the army around him. One by one, he silently eyed the Magical Ones, communicating to them to turn against Sanz. The ones who truly were forced to fight for Sanz as a Rogue, turned and began fighting the Sanz’s loyal Rogues, quickly subduing them with the surprise attack.
Soon, it was a simple matter of a show down of magical powers and abilities between Dr. Sanz and Torrid.
Dr. Sanz made a brilliant show of magical powers as he threw balls of fire and shot rays of lighting, but for all the show of magic, his efforts were futile when it came to the battle.
Torrid cornered him. “Your time is up, Sanz. Your army has turned against you and the few who didn’t have been bottled up. You're on your own now.” Torrid reach up to the shelf above and grabbed a bottle.
Was the battle finally over?
Chapter 11
Dr. Sanz displayed his final trick. With a grin and a wink he melted and spilled into a pool of silver liquid. Before Torrid could even scoop up a few drops, the liquid silver ran into a drain and disappeared.
Torrid narrowed his eyes and stared down the drain. For a fearful moment I thought he’d go in after him, but a Magical One jumped on his back. Torrid fought him off easily enough, but the chance to go and follow Dr. Sanz had passed.
“Don’t worry about him,” Liam said. There’ll be plenty of tim
e to catch him. There aren’t too many places he can easily hide in at this point.”
“You said yourself… we can’t underestimate him.” Torrid glanced down the drain. “He’s probably rallying new Rogue Magical Ones as we speak.”
“I said don’t worry. For now we have to take care of the Magical Ones we’ve got. Let’s get our things in order and we’ll go after Sanz.”
Sensing the growing tension, I looked at Torrid. Despite his obvious displeasure, he said nothing.
Liam turned to the newly freed djinns. “We’ll need your help… all of you. I refuse to imprison these Magical Ones the same way Dr. Sanz imprisoned you.”
The room rumbled with displeasure and confusion.
“I’ve been cramped up in a bottle for twelve years,” a djinn called out
“And I’ve worked to exhaustion and back for twice as long,” another said. “Are you asking us to treat these guys any better than that?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
The many djinns that had barely had time to celebrate their newfound freedom now looked at Liam with doubt.
“I understand your anger. You’re all still hurting, still wounded and angry. I understand it’s a lot to ask you to find a place in your heart to be more humane to these prisoners than they were to you.”
Dozens of heads nodded accompanied by a murmur of agreement.
“But if we want change, real change, we have to take that first step to make that change happen. As much as you may loathe them, and I’ll admit I share your sentiment, I want you all to treat them as you would have wanted to be treated.”
“That’s a tall order,” Torrid said.
“I know,” Liam said. “I also know that it’s within the realm of possibility. All that’s needed is the desire to change the world of Arcadia. It all starts here.” He raised his hands to the masses. “Are you with me?”
For a moment the tension grew. The dream sounded so good, but many djinns seemed unconvinced. They looked at the bottles they’d come from, the chains of Dr. Sanz’s ward that kept them working endlessly.
“I’m with you,” one young female djinn said. “I want to make a change.”
“I want to make a change too, but…” another one followed.
“I’m with you. I’m free, I feel happy and I want to make a change.”
Shouts of agreement rang out. Liam had won.
My heart swelled with pride. What a marvelous leader he was proving himself to be. To be able to make these long suffering djinns sympathetic to the plight of the new imprisoned Rogue Magical Ones was a remarkable feat. I had no doubt he’d succeed in changing the face of Arcadia.
Djinns gathered up bottles and while they offered nothing in the way of a smile, grin or pleasant greeting, they did treat every bottled Magical One with care. Before long the ward had been cleared and Torrid and I stood, alone, looking at each other.
Alone for the first time since we’d found one another, I felt suddenly shy and unsure. But the moment I saw the guilt in his eyes, I knew he was still feeling guilty about what happened at the Coliseum.
“Torrid, I know you couldn’t…”
“You have no idea how this is tearing me apart. I keep imagining what could have happened to you. We were too far apart for me to truly know what was happening to you, but I knew it wasn’t good. I felt your fear and I knew your terror… yet I was helpless to do anything about it.”
“Torrid, please stop beating yourself up over this.”
“There wasn’t a moment I didn’t think of you and…” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.
I felt the emotion though his fingers, felt the love and the passion.
“Torrid,” I whispered as my lips brushed against his. “I survived. Thanks to you I survived. You taught me far more than you think you did.” I kissed his lips, softly, gently… barely a touch. “I’m here… with you now. Let go of that ugly time at the Coliseum and concentrate on what we have.”
His lids fell heavily over his eyes and he leaned into me.
“I want to cherish the memories of all those magic lessons you gave me, Torrid. I don’t want to dwell on the unpleasantness. Torrid…” I gripped both his hands in mine. “Don’t you remember all the time we spent… in the field, in the meadows… alone.”
He tapped his brow to mine and nodded. “It didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted more than to teach you magic.”
With a wicked grin, I looked up to meet his gaze. “Magic was the furthest thing from my mind when I’d leave home to go out and meet you.” I brushed my fingers along his cheek. “I just wanted to spend time with you… to look at you.”
“I want you. I need you, Kama.”
Soft and filled with reluctance, his lips brushed along mine. His kiss was so weighted with reverence, I almost had the sense he was afraid to break me. Brewing underneath that reverence, however, I felt the passion and his need to get closer.
“I want you, too, Torrid.” I pressed my palm to his strong and massive chest and pushed away. “I want to spend all the time in the world with you, and I long to get closer to you, but…”
The door rattled and I knew our intimate moment was over, and while I did want to get closer to him, I knew this wasn’t the time or place.
I turned to the opening door. Should we get ready for another attack from Dr. Sanz? Or had an army of Magical Ones escaped Liam and returned to finish us off? I wanted to be ready for any eventuality, but the person behind the door was the last person I’d expected.
Liam poked his head in. Strong and authoritative, I almost didn’t notice the hint of pain he so stoically hid. I pulled away from Torrid and literally felt my heart tear in two.
I knew Torrid would have wanted me to stay close to him, to show my allegiance, but I couldn’t bring myself to stay so close, not with Liam eyeing me the way he did.
I silently hoped and prayed Torrid would understand. I loved him and wanted him, but I didn’t want to put all that in Liam’s face.
“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.