City of Steam (Blackburn Chronicles)

by Dominic K Alexander

  "And what proof do you have of this so-called crime that Abel has committed?" Coilin's voice was calm.

  "How about six years of crop-less fields and waterless wells?" Mathias turned to the crowd making a spectacle of his response. "How about the death and disease brought to our livestock? How about the sickness befallen our people?" Mathias turned back to look at his brother, satisfied as the townsfolk started yelling incoherently again.

  "And how does this fall on the boy?" Coilin asked, still calm. His words silenced the crowd.

  "He brought the purest of evil to us by using magic." Mathias spat on the ground. "The demons dance in our fields and take our children in the night. They soil our grains and drink all the water. This murderous filth will pay the devils debt with his blood."

  "So, Mathias, it would seem there is already a puddle of the boy’s blood on the ground below his feet. I imagine that will be enough payment to your demons." Coilin's mouth lifted in a cocky smile. "Now I am going to take him home with me, because when it comes down to it, you are wrong and no matter how many times you bleed him this place will suffer under a dark cloud." He stepped around Mathias and pulled a small knife from under his green robe. With a smooth motion, he cut the ropes tying Abel to the post and leaned down in front of him examining the deep wounds across his face. He was barely conscious, but gave a small smile as a greeting. "Come, Abel, I have come to take you home." He put an arm around the boy and carried him back to the others.

  "I'm not going to let you take him anywhere." Mathias said pulling a small rusty blade from a sheath on his hip. His eyes were dark and hollow.

  "There will be no violence here today, brother." Coilin said in an almost jovial tone. It was obvious to Mac that he held no fear from his brother.

  "Then leave." Mathias' voice was now a low growl.

  "What is it that you think I have been trying to do, Mathias?” Coilin said chuckling. "I have my nephew, so now we leave."

  Mathias lunged forward aiming the knife at Coilin's heart, but he wasn't fast enough and Coilin sidestepped while giving his brother just enough of a push to send him off balance and fall to the ground, knife falling from his hands.

  "Leave him alone!" A woman shouted from the crowd while at the same time throwing a rock at them. It struck the young girl in the face sending her to the dirt with a yelp. Blood ran from her nose while tears streamed down her eyes.

  Coilin's face grew dark, the amusement and humor washed off it. He looked at the people around him as black clouds rolled quickly in taking the light from the area. The crowd stood defiant and unfazed focusing their attention on the five magic users. They readied more stones for their attack.

  The ground rumbled, lightly at first, but then more violently sending the citizens into a frenzy, dropping their stones, and running for cover. Screaming filled the air, clay pots fell from the windows, and one of the buildings cracked from the quake. Coilin took a deep breath and calmed, silencing the earth, and sending the clouds away bringing the light back to the now empty town square. All that remained was Coilin and his family, Mathias, and Abel, so Coilin went to his daughter to examine the wound on her face. He gave her a smile after seeing the wound had already healed.

  "You won't get away with this, filthy heathen." Mathias spat at Coilin from his dust covered home on the ground. "I will make sure you pay for your sins." Coilin leaned in close to his brother who shifted nervously away.

  "If you put as much time into this town as you put into hating Abel and myself, it could be a great city someday." Coilin stood and picked up the rusty knife from the ground. Mathias said nothing, but Coilin could almost feel the hate stare into him. He cut the remainder of the rope from Abel's wrists and tossed the knife into the well. Then he looked at Able who stared at his father. "Come son, let us go."

  As the group started to leave the town Coilin turned back one last time and waved a hand through the air. The grass which had all died now sprung to life showing off its bright green color. Plants and flowers brightened reaching for the day’s sun. And the well filled with a rich clean water which would allow for the sickness to disappear. He looked down to Abel. "You are safe now. It is time to give these people peace and allow the land to live once more." Abel looked at his father once more, then left forever.

  The vision faded to black again and new visions came and went faster and faster almost like movie stills flashing to life and disappearing just as fast. Pictures of Abel being welcomed into his new home. The peace and enjoyment to be able to sleep on something soft with warm blankets and not the dirt covered floor with only his torn tattered clothing to keep him warm.

  There were pictures of his new community coming to greet and embrace him like nothing he had ever known. They taught him about his powers and how to use them for the greater good; also, what the limitations that came with them were. He would often run through the fields and forest playing games with his uncle's daughter. It didn't take long for his external wounds to heal, but his internal wounds took much longer. With the help of everyone around him, even the deepest of his inner demons disappeared and left a young boy satisfied with his life and always smiling.

  The young girl presented him with a necklace she made from beautiful red stones and he wore it with love for her never taking it off.

  The town, now run by Mathias, flourished when they discovered fire stones which could keep something heated almost indefinitely. They turned into a trade city and grew quickly allowing great fortunes to be built, including Mathias'. With time the citizens forgot about the magic and left the forest people alone. Both sides lead happy prosperous lives.

  The vision faded out again before Mac found herself in a large field filled with beautiful yellow flowers. Abel, now in his early twenties, and his uncle's daughter rolled around in the grass stark naked making love in the sunlight. Passion washed over them in rhythmic embrace as the morning moved slowly on.

  "Emily." The bog beast said quietly. Mac looked at him and noticed he was not looking at Abel and Emily, but instead stared into a patch of long grass not far from them. Mac followed his gaze and eventually saw something move in the distance. She stared, but couldn't make out what was lurking. Then she noticed it was a person crouching low and taking special care not to be noticed. He was followed by another person and then yet another.

  Mac looked from the men to Abel and Emily who were not far. They continued their passionate embrace never sensing the attackers sneaking up on them. Sweat ran down Emily’s body as she arched back, face to the sky in full climax, as the sword of one attacker pierced through her bare breasted chest, scarlet painting the blade. Her face froze, stricken from shock and pain as the attacker pulled his blade from her limp body and she fell to the ground still bleeding from the wound which had not yet closed.

  Abel lay back covered in his lover’s blood trying to gain his bearings and sense what was happening. A second and third attacker charged him, swords ready for the kill. He quickly pressed his hands into the ground and a large rock blasted from the earth like a cannonball hitting one attacker square in the face, caving in the bones, and dropping him dead. At the same time, he pushed back quickly from the man who had stabbed Emily, sliding across the grass with ease.

  Before Abel was ready for another attack, the second man caught up with him. One swift swing of the deadly sharp blade removed Abel’s head from his neck leaving him staring, unable to fight. The men laughed as his body twitched on the ground like a freshly beheaded chicken. His eyes fixated on Emily who was still motionless on the ground.

  The man who stabbed Emily stared into Abel’s eyes, an evil grin across his face. He stood, walked over to Emily, held his sword high into the air, blade pointing at her almost healed chest, and thrust the blade down pinning her body to the earth. Again, they laughed as Abel’s mouth opened wide into a gargled silent scream.

  The men quickly dug a hole deep in the soft soil and threw Abel’s body into it. Then one of the men grabbed Abel’s head and faced h
im eye to eye. “Mathias sends his regards.” The man said with a chuckle before setting the head down again to look upon Emily. His friend stood above Emily, pulled the sword free, tossing it to the side, and waited for the wound to begin to heal and her body to stir as if she was having a horrific dream. Then, as her eyes flickered open slightly, he hit her with all his might, knocking her unconscious.

  “That man you killed was a good friend of mine, heathen maggot.” The man said moving back to Abel. He pulled a small dagger from his hip, gripped Abel by the hair and slowly cut away Abel’s eye lids. Mac turned away from the sight knowing the pain he must be feeling. “I want you to see everything I am about to do to your precious whore.” The men ravaged Emily over and over, knocking her unconscious whenever she started to wake up. Abel’s eyes unable to look away, a tear running down his face, another running down Mac’s.

  After the sun began to fade from the sky the men finished with Emily and dragged their friends body to her laying them side by side. Then one of the men pulled a skin from his hip, popped the stopper, and poured the contents over the two bodies. The other pulled a flint from his pocket and sparked it over the bodies engulfing them in a bright blue flame.

  Emily died a horrible death in the field and Mac could do nothing but watch. The men walked a distance from the burning corpses and Abel’s buried body and dug a second hole where they tossed his head covering it with dirt. They laughed an eerie laugh and disappeared back into the woods.

  The vision again faded to black.

  "Why?" Mac yelled at Selek, running up to him, hitting him, and letting her frustrations control her actions while tears ran down her face. "Why are you showing me this?" She fell to her knees defeated. Selek looked down upon her.

  Another vision surrounded them and Mac looked up through moist eyes only to see the bright yellow and orange flames surrounding them. The screams of Abel's family, friends, and neighbors echoed in the night as his village slowly burned to the ground. Mac watched some of the villagers ask the water for help, but every time the water pressed into the flames, the flames spread further. Every effort to cease the blaze failed. Most of the villagers fled, leaving their every possession to be taken by the fire. By morning all that remained was a pile of smoking ash and the charred remains of those who were unable to escape. The few villagers that escaped the massacre looked upon their burned brothers and sisters, horrorstricken, and wanting to know why someone would cause so much pain and destruction to the ones they love. They eventually disappeared into the woods leaving the cursed land to grow over and cover the monstrosity that occurred.

  Again, darkness, but this time another vision did not fade in, but instead a green glow illuminated the darkness surrounding them.

  "My body lay buried for more than three hundred years." Selek's voice flowed calmly and quietly almost talking to himself. Mac snapped her head in his direction, mouth opened slightly, and staring at the mass of mud and vegetation then thinking of the handsome young man she had come to care for. She thought about how long that was for a person to be buried alive, and struggled to comprehend how it was possible.

  "How?" Mac asked still looking confused. "How could you possibly have survived something like that?"

  "The cold winters was almost the worst part. My head was simply a vessel keeping me alive, but it brought a constant burning pain when it froze which was unbearable, but then, I had no choice in what I could bare. Bugs burrowing into my skull, the skin peeling from my eyes, and the pressure from the earth around me haunts my dreams to this very day, but it still was not the worst." His body shuddered slightly then he turned away no longer able to look at Mac. "I wish the cold had been the worst of it, but there was always something else there, stabbing me like a red-hot poker. Emily. The last visions I saw were of those monsters taking my Emily before giving her a true death. The smell of her burning flesh was something that sat in my thoughts and is something I will never forget."

  Mac continued to stare at him not believing what she was being told. Selek looked upon her silenced expression and continued.

  "Our bodies take in all the energy around us and are able to keep us alive." He started, but Mac cut him off.

  "Yes, I know we take in the energy around us and if we don't overuse our spirit energy or get burned alive, we can live forever, but three hundred years?" Mac interjected.

  "It is true." Selek said. "We are able to survive forever if given peace and it is true this is because we take in the energy around us, but it takes an unfathomable amount of energy to keep our brains and hearts working, so those are what take priority. The skin withers turning hard like leather. The muscle deteriorates to thin strands, and the organs shrivel inside the body like rotten apples. Only the brain and heart remain in any sort of working condition."

  "Most people will never understand the true torture brought on by being buried alive. A person’s thoughts continue. I should have been dead, but I wasn't. I could feel my skin shrivel away and the wildlife around me. My eardrums became food for insects, and yet I could still sense the animals running overhead and the hunters who chased after them. My eyes became prunes, yet burned from the dirt rubbing against them. I do not know why or how the earth allows us to survive, but it does, and because it does we are able to suffer beyond any sort of comprehension."

  "How did you survive if the insects ate at your heart and brain?" Mac asked fascinated and disgusted all at the same time. She almost forgot she was talking to a victim of this sickening torture.

  "The body forms a cocoon around them as hard as stone which keeps them as safe as it can." Selek said. "But, no matter how hard the protection was, it couldn't save the brain from itself." Mac stared at him not understanding. He waived a hand through the air and the green light faded to black, but another vision failed to come.

  "I found him after the battle of Red Field." A muffled voice said in the darkness.

  "That would explain the flowers growing all over that field." Said a woman. "I remember it being filled with daisies when I was a child, but after we were burned out of our homes, all that grew was blood red flowers. We found the burned bodies and took it as an omen to escape while we still could. I never imagined someone could be buried there." She let out a small weeping sound.

  There was the sound of a creaking door opening and closing then silence ensued. Footsteps made it across the room.

  "What is it that you have dug up this time?" A familiar man's voice said before sucking in a deep breath. "It...it can't be. Abel? My God, it's my son. You found my son." The woman gasped and Abel's uncle's sobs filled the darkness.

  "Coilin, are you sure it is him?" The woman asked quietly.

  "I'm positive." Coilin replied. "Look, the heartstone necklace my darling Emily gave him is pressed here into his chest. She used to make such beautiful jewelry."

  "Coilin, look at me for a minute." The woman said sharply. Coilin quieted. "That fire was more than three hundred years ago. If this is Abel, he has been trapped within the earth that whole time. Coilin, his mind...well...his mind just won't be right. Look at the extent of the damage to his body. He may never walk or talk again, and if he does, he will likely have gone completely mad." She cut off for a second before continuing quietly. "If you truly love the boy and consider him a son, then you should give him his death. It is the peaceful thing to do."

  "How dare you, Elle." Coilin's voice reverberated off the walls as he yelled. He spat on the ground. "I will not kill my son. I lost my daughter in that fire and I thought I had lost Abel with her. I refuse to lose the ones I hold dear to my heart all over again now that he has come back to me."

  "My God!" The other man said. Mac could hear him back up. "Abel...he...he shed a tear." The room silenced once again.

  "I'm here, Abel." Coilin said. "you're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."

  Silence.

  "It took me four years before I was able to open my eyes, and another two years to talk. A dozen years passed before I was
able to walk and move my arms again." Selek said. "My uncle never left me. The other villagers would come use healing magic on me every day, but it still took almost 20 years before I could leave my room. My skin hung off my bones and my muscles grew slowly, but every day brought more strength. It was a satisfying day when I was finally able to help with chores. The simple task of bringing a bucket of water from the well was as difficult for me as lifting a boulder without magic, but, with time I was able to accomplish everyday tasks.”

  “Your uncle must have been so happy to have had you return to him.” Mac said a smile stretched across her face. Selek looked away from her again.

  “He…WAS…happy I had returned to him.” Selek said. “His happiness was short lived. Elle tried to warn us. She told my uncle it was humane to give me a permanent death, but he just couldn’t let me go. He was blind to the madness running through me. He should have let me go.” Selek slowly waved a hand through the air again and the colors leeched back into the blackness around Mac.

  This time there were a dozen young men and women huddled around a small fire surrounded by trees. The night air was cool showing their breath with every exhale. The look of fear and anger was visible on every one of their faces. Standing on the far side of the fire stood Abel. His body had grown back to the strong young man it had been hundreds of years before. He looked over his people and they looked up to him as a leader ready to do whatever he commanded. Mac could see it in the way they watched, listened, and even leaned slightly towards him.

  “Every day more of our friends and family go missing or are killed at the hands of fearful cowards.” Abel yelled. Mac looked at him differently than she had before. He was once a handsome young man able to make women swoon with his slightly upturned smile, but now there was only darkness. The only thing that showed off him now was scorn, anger, and hate. He was no longer a bringer of peace, but a weapon of destruction. Every word dripped of venom infecting the people around him. She couldn’t tell if he was using magic to get them to follow, or if they were just sucked up into his fight, but it didn’t matter. These people would follow him into the pits of hell. “The time for us to fight for our freedom in now and no one can stop us.” His followers cheered at the words.