Token (Token Chronicles)

by Ryan Gressett

  “Where is the doctor?” the girl screams at everyone.

  No one answers. They all just continue to stare at me with panic in their eyes.

  “I am here,” a man says as he steps out from the crowd.

  “Please, hurry,” she pleads. “I have tried, but I cannot stop the bleeding.”

  “Sweetie, did your father approve of this?”

  “Yes! Just help him!”

  “Alright, grab my kit,” he says pointing to his supplies. She quickly grabs it and hands them over while he picks me up off the horse and lays me down on the cold stone slab.

  He adeptly removes my bandage inspecting the wound. He removes a small pouch from his kit and tears it open at the top with his teeth. He looks to two onlookers in the small crowd of people and requests them to hold me down. He begins to pour the contents of the package into my open wound. I can see what he poured into my wound looks like sand, but burns like fire. I cannot help it. I begin convulsing and screaming. The pain is unreal.

  “I am sorry,” he apologizes. “The pain will only last a few more minutes.”

  “Keep him steady,” the doctor says to the two men holding me down. “I will need to stitch him up after the clot settles.”

  Desperate to distract myself from the pain, I need to focus on something else. I hear a loud argument, and I turn my head to the right out of curiosity. I see the girl who saved me and a large brown-headed man with a gray moustache.

  “What were you thinking? How could you bring him back here?”

  “What was I supposed to do father? Leave him out there to die.”

  “You have no idea who he is. For all you know, he could be working for Cromus. Are you going to be the one to deal with it if he is? Are you prepared to do that?”

  “Well, if I had left him out there, it would have been the same thing as me killing him. I couldn’t live with myself if I had.”

  “You may have just put our entire community in jeopardy. What happens after today is a direct result of your irresponsible actions. I hope you can bear the consequences. Go water and feed your horse and put him with the others.”

  “Yes, father,” she obediently replies as she walks off with her shoulders hunched over.

  I was so focused on their conversation, I almost did not hear the doctor speaking to me.

  “You were quite lucky you got here when you did fellow. A few more minutes, and I’m not sure you would have made it.”

  I look down to see that he is almost done stitching up my wound.

  The girl’s father walks over to the doctor and whispers something in his ear as he looks at me apprehensively. The doctor nods his head and reaches in his kit and pulls a needle out. Oh, no. I begin to struggle not knowing what he is about to inject me with. Unfortunately, the two men are still holding me down against the slab. The doctor plunges the needle into my arm. In seconds, I lose consciousness.

  When I wake up, I am confined in a small poorly lit room with my hands cuffed. There are bars over the doorway. I am a prisoner? What could I have possibly done to deserve this? I stand up and walk to the bars to see if there is a guard at the doorway. Before I reach the door, the girl who saved me appears. She is by far the prettiest guard who has ever held me captive so far. I cannot help but laugh out loud.

  She eyes me peculiarly. “What is so funny?” she asks.

  “Nothing,” I say. “Why am I cuffed? Why are you doing this?”

  “I am sorry. I didn’t think my father would keep you prisoner. But we cannot trust you. We do not know who you are.”

  “My name is Kincaid. What is yours?”

  She looks at me suspiciously before she answers.

  “Briel.”

  “Well, Briel. Thank you for saving my life.”

  “You are welcome,” she says with a smile.

  “So is this your father’s punishment? To have to stay here and talk to me all day?”

  She begins to laugh, and I cannot help but to be captivated by her smile. I have not seen a smile like that since Hadley. Thankfully, she interrupts me before my mind begins to race.

  “No, but he did say I am responsible for you.”

  “I just don’t understand all of this. Why is everyone so afraid of me? Why can you not trust me?”

  “Well, it is because we have…”

  A loud voice interrupts from a distance.

  “Briel, do not say another word to him.”

  Her smile disappears, and she straightens up. Her father then appears. I step away from the door and head back to sit down in my cell. He does not remove his eyes from me when he dismisses Briel. Before she leaves, she looks back to me with concern in her smoky eyes.

  Her father proceeds to open my door and enters my cell. He makes sure I am able to see the weapon he has holstered on his belt when he puts his hands on his hips pushing his jacket behind it.

  “Move one muscle, and I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  I emphatically nod my head in agreement.

  “First, I would like to apologize for your imprisonment.”

  Not exactly the first thing I was expecting to hear from him.

  “We do not get many outsiders down here. In fact, you are the first one we have had in sixteen years now. I suppose you could thank my daughter for that one.”

  I don’t want her to continue to get in trouble on my account. Especially when all she did was save my life when she was not obligated to.

  “Sir, I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused, but I was just out in the forest to clear my head. I was severely injured, and she helped. She did the right thing.”

  “Well I suppose there is more of her mother in her than me. She has always had a kind heart. Until today, it had only been hurt animals she would bring back. I would send her out on foraging missions for food, and she would bring back animals to save when our community needed the meat to survive. I normally would refrain from sending her out, but she knows how to navigate. With the blizzard about to hit, I needed all hands on deck. Which bears the question, why were you out in the middle of the woods with a blizzard only a few hours away?”

  “Honestly, sir, I didn’t even know there was a blizzard coming. Today was the first day I have ever even seen snow.”

  He looks at me baffled. I fear I have revealed too much. I need to make sure I don’t say anything about the Ridian camp. He says they cannot trust me, then I definitely cannot trust them either.

  “First time? Where are you from boy?”

  “I was a Token from the Hawk Islands. I was just purchased, and I managed to escape.” I do not like lying to people, but I feel it is a necessary precaution at this point.

  “You were a Token? And you escaped?”

  Before he can jump to conclusions, I assure him.

  “My tracking chip is removed if that is what you were worrying about.”

  “No, while you were unconscious, we scanned you for any active bugs that could have been planted on you. You were clean. If you actually were a Token, I am sorry. It’s a terrible business. But it is precisely why we relocated down here. I did it to protect my family, my friends. I had already set this community up before the Rebellion ended. I was a part of the Rebellion against Grodar. We had to learn how to hide and properly conceal our forces from Cromus. Rebels were constantly hiding underground, creating secret underground camps, until we were betrayed. Every single camp we had was destroyed, except this one. I told no one about it. My daughter was even born down here. We are free to live here away from Cromus’s tyranny. Away from his cruel and terrible world. Those of us who are old enough remember how bad it was. We cannot expose ourselves. If you were a Token, then you can understand why I cannot risk anyone finding us. They could have taken my daughter away if they really wanted to. I could never let that happen. We are all safe here. Especially, if we all follow my rules. They are simple. No one comes in or out without my permission. We do not let outsiders in because they cannot be trusted. You say you were a Toke
n. That may be true, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I have to protect my people.”

  “I promise you I was. It is the truth.”

  I show the man the mark of the Token on my back. He ignores what I show him and changes the topic.

  “They have informed me the blizzard has begun. No one is leaving here for weeks, regardless. So if you were thinking of trying to escape. It is impossible. For the time being, you will remain captive here until I decide what to do with you. We have enough food and water to last for weeks, and if you need anything, feel free to ask.”

  “Thank you,” I reply understandingly.

  He stands up and begins to head towards the cell door.

  “Sir,” I say.

  He stops and looks back to me.

  “What is your name?” I ask

  “I suppose you never would have heard of me living on the Islands your whole life, but it’s Magnus. Magnus Queen.”

  Chapter 13

  I can see Hadley there sitting on our porch waiting for me. Deeply staring back at me with her loving eyes. Beckoning me to come closer. I am in the lagoon. I keep swimming towards her, but the harder I swim, the further away I am from her. I swim and swim. I grow tired, and my body is pleading with me to give up. I desperately want to surrender, but I cannot. I have to keep trying to reach her. But my efforts become futile. No matter how badly I want to get there, the gap only grows larger. I am surrounded by water. My muscles no longer able to work, I am drowning. Surely she will jump in to save me.

  I awake disoriented and soaked in water lying on my bed in my cell. I am doused again with another bucket of water flying at me. I can see Briel standing in front of me with an empty pale in her hands, but there is no smile on her face this time. Her eyes are no longer light and care free, but instead, they are angrily directed straight at me.

  “What are you doing?” I scream out at her.

  “You lied to my father. Why?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t lie to me. I heard you out in the woods when I saved you. You said someone will start worrying about you if you don’tf return. You told my father you were a Token who escaped from his camp. You were lying to one of us, and I don’t think it was me.”

  “I lied to him to protect my people the same way he is protecting your people from me. You understand right?”

  “Well, you are only here because I brought you here. I cannot let you put us in danger. I need to know the truth, and you are going to tell me. Or I will tell my father you lied to him. He will not be as kind as I have been.”

  “It will be just as dangerous for you to learn the truth.”

  “Just start talking. I need to know.”

  “Fine. I was telling your father part of the truth. I am a Token, or I was one. I was sold at auction a few weeks ago to the Ridian Elite camp. But when I arrived, it was nothing like I expected. The Ridian camp is just a cover for the new Rebellion forming against Cromus and Grodar. We are preparing to ignite a new war, but this time we will win.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Because of me. I am supposed to inherit the abilities of my father. To be able to control the elements of the natural world. Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. In fact, the more I think about it, I think it is what happened to me out in the forest. I think I caused the lightning storm somehow.”

  Her eyes widen. She just stares at me and put her hands over her mouth as her empty pale falls to the ground.

  “I think I know who your father was. Or at least, I have heard of him. I will be right back,” she says.

  In confusion, I ask, “Where are you going?”

  She has already darted out of my cell before giving a response not even thinking to shut the gate behind her. I stand up, and I think about running momentarily, but I decide to stay. If they were telling me the truth about the blizzard, I will not be able to get out of this cavern regardless. My curiosity is nagging at me to stay put. She returns seconds later with her father Magnus behind her. He does not look happy with her.

  “What is it Briel? What is so important?”

  “Kincaid,” she says to me. “Tell him what you just told me. About your father.”

  “Why?”

  “Just trust me. He will want to know. He will be able to help.”

  The genuineness radiates in her voice. I am going to trust her and her promise of help, even if it means telling a man who would almost rather have me dead than alive.

  As I stare into Magnus’s eyes, I say, “My father had the ability to control the elements of the natural world. He could control all forms of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. I am supposed to inherit those same abilities upon my sixteenth birthday. A birthday, which was only a few days ago.”

  Magnus cautiously walks up to me and kneels down and starts closely inspecting my face. His face is only inches away from mine. His rough hands begin to slowly touch my cheeks, my forehead, my nose. He stops and looks directly into my eyes with both hands still on my cheeks, and his demeanor changes immediately.

  “My God. You have his eyes. You have your mother’s good looks, but there is no mistaking, you have his eyes.”

  “You knew my father?” I ask.

  “Your father was Jackson Maddox?”

  “Yes, at least that is what my mother told me.”

  “Your mother? She is still alive? How is it possible? How are you even here? I saw your father die.”

  “I only just found out. I told you the truth. I was a Token my whole life until recently. My mother has been operating under the cloak of being the wife of an Elitist. She told me everything after she bought me back at auction.”

  “Please, continue boy,” he says as he sits down drawn into hearing the rest of my story.

  “Well, my mother was already pregnant with me when my father was assassinated. She did not even know herself.”

  “This can’t be,” he says in disbelief. “She and the nurse disappeared without saying anything to me. I could have brought them here. I knew Rhetta though, I am sure she was trying to be noble. If they caught her, she knew I would not be caught with her. But you said you were a Token? Why?”

  “She said she gave me up to protect me. She knew that if Cromus or Laurel found out she was pregnant with Jackson’s child, they would kill me or use me for their own personal gain. So she gave me up to the Hawk Islands to become a Token knowing my identity would be lost there.”

  “Kincaid, tell him the other part,” Briel says.

  “She has been forming a new army. A new rebellion to go up against Cromus. I will be leading this army once I fully develop my abilities.”

  “You plan on using your abilities?”

  “If it means I can put an end to Cromus’s reign, I have to do what is necessary. No matter what consequences fall on me. I won’t make the same mistake as my father.”

  “You do realize this is not a gift, it is a curse.”

  “I understand, but if it means I can help all the citizens of Knav, how can I say no? I have to do this.”

  “Very well, but you’re not going to be able to do it alone. You’re going to need my help. There were very few people your father confided in. Myself and your mother. But he told me things he could not share with your mother. He battled himself for years to suppress those abilities. He was afraid he would hurt others. But he told me he thought there is a way to control it. To be able to access that part of you, without losing touch with the reality of being mortal. It was only a theory of course, but if you are willing to listen, we can try to work together to hone your abilities. To give you the tools you will need to defeat Grodar without letting the power consume you. Would you be willing to work with me?”

  “Whatever it takes,” I say valiantly.

  He pulls out the keys from his pocket and takes my cuffs off. I extend my wrists out stretching, glad to be unshackled.

  “Very well. We will begin first thing tomorrow morning. You have been through a lot the
past couple of days. Briel, why don’t you show him around, and bring him to an empty room. Let him get cleaned up. We are going to have community dinner tonight to celebrate. I would be much obliged if you would attend Kincaid.”

  “Of course,” I agree.

  “Once again, I am so sorry for all of this. I hope you can forgive me.”

  He extends his hand for a shake, and I graciously reciprocate. If he can actually help me hone my abilities, I am more than happy to forgive him. I probably would have done the same thing had I been in his shoes. Magnus leaves the cell hurriedly, and Briel stays in the cell staring at me in disbelief.

  “Wow, I have not seen him that worked up in a while. Well, come on. Aren’t you curious to get the grand tour?”

  Right now, all I can really recall was what I saw as we rode in, but I was barely conscious at the time. I do remember their lagoon that looked so similar to mine and Hadley’s. I would like to see it again to check and see whether or not my mind was playing tricks on me.

  “Before we go, do you think maybe I could get some dry clothes since you kind of drenched these?,” I ask as I gesture towards my dripping attire.

  She laughs at me. “I am sorry about that. But I got you to talk didn’t I? And now you are free. So if anything, I think you owe me a big thank you,” she says in a smug tone. “Follow me. I think I know someone about your size who will have some clothes for you.”

  We leave my cell, and I follow her down several corridors. All of the walls and floors seem to be made of the same cold gray stone. The temperature is warm down here, almost humid. We stop when we reach a hall containing numerous shoddy wooden doors.