by Matthew Ward
Drystn said, “Everything we've ever known would be thrown out if people from the First Age exist and are around here somewhere. I can’t believe you aren’t going to join the group to do anything about it.”
Loegr said, “We have to focus on the bairsgn. What you’re saying would be shocking, but everyone might die if we don’t figure out a way to kill it.”
Drystn couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and stormed out. He needed some quiet to clear his head. Drystn considered going to the library. He had been told of its greatness but hadn’t yet made it there. Plus, maybe it had some clues for what was going on. He turned in the direction of the library and picked up speed. A hand grabbed his arm, and Drystn spun around to free himself. Finr.
He seemed angry and spoke in a sharp, quiet voice. “Hey. What's going on? Why is everyone headed in the same direction?”
Now that Drystn had gotten out of his head, he realized people were streaming into the mess hall. It wasn’t his paranoia.
Two guards in red robes circled the bend and came toward them. Drystn stayed silent. One of the men approached them. Oh no. They must know who we are. Drystn braced himself for the worst as the guard approached. The man walked with a stiff, disciplined gait. He snapped to attention in front of Drystn and said, “You two need to get to the mess hall. The Ruler is going to make an announcement there in a few minutes.”
The other guard looked concerned as he rushed on in the direction of the meeting. Genuine concern entered Finr’s voice. “Do you think we’ve been caught?”
“I don’t know. Don’t say anything suspicious.”
Finr took his hand, and they walked back to the mess hall. Drystn didn't mind the mixed signals. It might be the last human contact he got for a long time if he was about to be detained. They settled at a table near the entrance, because the rest of the room had filled up.
Loegr and Ninml hadn’t moved from their location at the other end. Drystn wondered if they had heard the news of what was about to happen yet. The room gradually filled to maximum capacity and then beyond.
A hush descended, and Drystn looked around to see what had caused it. The Ruler entered the room, and people parted to make a walkway for him. Drystn marveled how they knew to do this and how they knew where he wanted to go.
The Ruler made his way forward with a slow and deliberate stride. He would speak when he wanted to and not a moment sooner. The room had become so quiet that Drystn could hear the Ruler’s ornate robe swish along the floor. When he reached his position, he turned and faced the crowd. Drystn assumed these sorts of announcements were rare by the terrified look on the faces of those around him.
The Ruler began to speak, and Drystn had to hold in a laugh. The powerful and dramatic entrance had made him forget how small the Ruler’s voice was. As the Ruler projected to be heard, his high-pitched voice came out in a squeal, as if someone were tickling him while he tried to yell.
The Ruler said, “There has been a serious breach of security in Talamir Center. There are traitors among us, and we will find them. All employees must now return to their rooms until further notice. Each room will be searched and each person will be questioned. You are dismissed.”
Bile rose in Drystn’s throat, and he almost threw up. People moved out of the room. The packed crowd flowed like a stream through the door, and Drystn couldn’t help but get carried along. An intense claustrophobia overwhelmed him when he realized he couldn’t move except for how the crowd wanted him to move. Somehow Finr fought through the stream and made his way to Drystn.
Drystn gave him a hard look and snapped, “What are we going to do?”
Finr said, “Don’t worry. They won’t find anything. If they ask where you were, just say we were playing the fichl tournament. It’s true. We did play a tournament, and people saw it happen. We have an alibi that will hold up under a truth serum. Stay strong.”
Finr grabbed Drystn’s face and kissed hard.
Finr continued, “Sorry about this morning. I want this to work. Forget what I said. There’s nothing confusing here. I want to be with you.”
Drystn couldn’t believe how calm and calculated Finr acted in this situation. It was only then that he realized Finr must have planned this all along. He made it seem like they were merely passing time with the tournament, but he knew getting caught was a possibility and had planned the alibi.
Drystn had no option but to go along with it. He lacked any confidence that it would work, though. The crowd eventually thinned, and he broke off at the appropriate juncture to go to his room. Unfortunately, Prydr leaned against the door frame and blocked the way in. This was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment.
Prydr asked, “What do you think this is all about?”
Drystn shifted his weight in agitation. “Just let me in. I have no idea.”
“You’re trying to tell me that after joining some secret society and doing something weird with them yesterday, you have no idea?”
Drystn couldn’t believe he just said that. He worried his hesitation gave away his guilt.
He snapped, “What? Have you been following me?”
Drystn pushed through to his room before Prydr had time to answer. Prydr stumbled backward into the room, surprised at Drystn taking charge.
Prydr said, “Maybe a little. So what? It’s not like I have anything better to do around here. I like to keep tabs on the new people. See what they’re up to. You know, make sure they’re not causing any mischief. That sort of thing. Just tell me. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“You don’t believe in spior, so you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“So it was you. Oh, man. You’re so screwed.”
Prydr let out a laugh. He plopped onto his bed. Drystn did so as well. His exhaustion had caught up with him, and he thought he might be able to nap before anyone arrived. Drystn closed his eyes and tried to imagine what his life would have been like if no one had noticed he possessed the Talent.
He’d live a simple and happy life in a village somewhere. He’d have no idea that the fate of the world hung in the hands of a few people. He decided that no matter how bad things got, things were still better this way. At least he had some control over his future.
A sharp rap scared Drystn into sitting up. Blood rushed to his head, and his fight or flight instinct gave him an instant of clarity. A red-robed guard for Talamir Center stood at the door. His jagged face had a scar across the cheek that said he wasn’t afraid to fight. He carried a cane and had banged it against the doorframe to get Drystn up.
Drystn and Prydr scrambled out of bed to stand and wait for their instructions. The man walked into the room. Drystn was thankful that his baggy robe hid his shaking body. The guard gave Drystn a disgusted look as he walked by. He pulled Drystn’s wardrobe open with a violent force. His head snapped toward Drystn.
“Is this yours?”
Drystn creaked out, “Yes, sir.”
The man went through Drystn’s things. A few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have minded, but he had grown used to his privacy here. He had made a few trips into the city, and with his new acquisition of money, he had accumulated some personal items. An anger rose in his gut as the man handled these items without asking permission first. The man’s gruff pawing was bound to break something. Drystn got the impression the items would not be replaced if that happened.
The man seemed dissatisfied to find nothing of use in the drawers and grunted his disapproval. He moved right up against Drystn’s body. His face was only an inch away from Drystn’s.
“Where were you last night?”
Spit flung onto Drystn’s face, and he gagged at the stench of rotting in the man’s breath. This pulled Drystn out of his daze. The man grabbed Drystn’s sides and started sliding his hands up and down.
Drystn protested, “Hey. Watch it. What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for anything suspicious you might have hidden in your robe.”
Drystn di
dn’t care what he was doing. He struggled to keep back the tears. He felt violated. He could do nothing but let this man rub his hands all over his body. Drystn tried to answer the question, but a sob stopped the words in his throat. His mind turned to the hundreds of other people who also had to endure this violation all because of something he had done. The man finally stopped, and gave him a hard look.
He yelled, “So? Where were you?”
“I was at a fichl tournament.”
“Who else was there? What are their room numbers? Where did this take place?”
The man pulled out a small grasspaper notebook and jotted something down. Drystn gave the information, and the man turned to Prydr. Prydr didn’t seem as fazed as Drystn felt, but the same violating procedures happened. The man found a mianl shard in Prydr’s wardrobe, buried among clothes.
“I’m taking this.”
It was a demand not a request.
Prydr said, “No. Wait. Why?”
“That’s not for you to ask.”
Prydr shut up. He knew that arguing further would only make matters worse. The guard finished. He glanced around the room one last time with anger in his eyes. Drystn could tell the guard wanted to be the one to find the damning evidence. He would probably be promoted and celebrated as a hero if that happened.
The guard left, and Drystn collapsed back to his bed. He curled up and never wanted to leave. He wished he had known the cost of investigating the Ruler before he agreed to do it. He shuddered at the thought of the guard doing the same thing to Ninml. None of this was her fault, yet she would have to suffer consequences for it.
Prydr didn’t sound as mad anymore. His voice had a gentle reassurance to it.
“I hope this is worth it; whatever it is you guys are up to.”
Drystn rolled over to face Prydr. He quieted his voice, though the guards were all too busy to be listening to them anymore.
Drystn relented, “If you really want to know, the Ruler seems to be part of a conspiracy involving the bairsgn and people from the First Age.”
Prydr laughed. “You’re just joking right?”
“No. I’m dead serious. Why else do you think he’d be going to such lengths to find out who knows?”
The blood drained out of Prydr’s face. The staunch whiteness scared Drystn. It was the first time he had seen Prydr look serious. Prydr sat back onto the bed as he contemplated this. Drystn thought he saw a flash of belief cross his face, but he might have just imagined it.
~
Late that night, when it appeared the searches had ended, Drystn went to Finr’s room. It had taken all day, but the guilt from the searches started to fade. He was only left with fear. The Ruler would do anything to destroy their knowledge. The actions today made it clear that he would probably just kill them if he found out.
What if the Ruler really did know how to defeat the bairsgn? What purpose could it serve him to let Talamir get destroyed by protecting such a beast? Was he really getting the spior the bairsgn drained from the world? There were so many questions left.
Drystn knocked on the door. He heard several whispers and the rustling of feet. The door opened a crack, and Finr peeked out. He appeared to be holding his breath, and he let it out when he saw Drystn at the door. Drystn longed for that charming smile, but Finr didn’t appear to be in the mood.
Finr said, “Oh, good. You’re here.”
He opened the door all the way, and Drystn saw Ninml and Loegr there. He felt a pang of isolation, as if he had been intentionally left out of the meeting for some reason.
Drystn asked, “What’s going on here?”
Finr looked panicked. He pulled Drystn in.
“Just get in here first.”
Finr looked both ways out the hall then shut the door behind him. He leaned up against it, as if that would stop a guard from entering. Drystn walked the few steps to where they were seated on the floor and plopped down next to Ninml. Everyone looked terrified.
He said, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I wish I had known.”
Ninml said, “Forget it. It’s all over now. We have much bigger things to be worried about. We’ve decided to join you. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you the first time. Something big is obviously going on. The Ruler would not have responded that way if he didn’t care. He has something to hide, and he thinks you know what it is.”
Loegr asked, “So what do we do now?”
Everyone looked around with expressions of fear. Ninml took charge. Her voice had such calm and authority.
She said, “We have to find out what he knows at any cost. I’m prepared to lose my life if it means being able to defeat the bairsgn.”
Finr walked over and stood towering above everyone. He said, “I agree. We have to keep investigating. They brought us here to destroy the bairsgn, and it seems this is the best lead anyone has gotten in years. The Ruler may know how to destroy it, so we have to figure out how to get that information out of him.”
Drystn wished he could back out, but he was in too far now. Lose my life? How had things progressed to such an extreme point so quickly? He tried to steady his voice.
Drystn asked, “But how? He’s going to be on the lookout from now on. We got caught when he wasn’t suspecting it. There’s no way we can do it now.”
Ninml laughed. How could she laugh at a time like this?
“Oh, Drystn. We’ve been trained in the uses of spior. We have options at our disposal.”
They brainstormed some ideas, but nothing seemed like it would work to Drystn. The Ruler would notice pretty much anything now. He’d be heavily guarded. The group ended the meeting as quickly as possible with the plan to meet up in a few days to see if anyone had figured out anything better.
~
Two mornings later, Drystn awoke to the sound of pounding on the door.
A gruff voice called out, “Hey! Open up, or I’ll break the door down.”
Drystn moved with a slow grogginess. He shot Prydr a mean look. His roommate would apparently let the person break in if it meant a few moments longer in bed.
A red-robed guard stood there. He was different than the one who had searched the room before. This one had kinder eyes. He was just doing his job. He didn’t get the thrill out of it that the first guy did.
Drystn asked, “What’s this about?”
“Mandatory random search.”
The guy half-heartedly searched the room. Prydr didn’t get up through the whole thing. He merely asked, “What time is it?”
The guard said, “Almost First Sun.”
Prydr groaned.
A few moments later the guard seemed satisfied. “All right. Sorry to disturb you. I’ll be on my way.”
He was gone. Drystn lay back down, but he couldn’t sleep. They had to do something. This was inhumane. First Sun came and then Second Sun. He finally decided it was late enough to find the others for breakfast. The mess hall was the only place they could meet safely. Even then, they had no idea who was listening. They needed to keep their conversations cryptic and quiet.
On the walk, Drystn caught a phantom spior out of the corner of his eye. When he looked directly at it, it disappeared like it always did. It unnerved him to think these were getting more frequent. What were they?
Drystn checked each room, one by one. No one was around, and Drystn had a brief moment of panic that they had been caught. He wandered to the mess hall and was relieved to see them there. He jogged over and sat down with a thump.
He said, “We have to do something. These random checks are too much.”
Niml smiled.
She said, “Let’s meet up. It’s worth the risk. I think I have a plan that will work. Everyone come to Finr’s at First Sunset.”
XIV
A spear prodded Maedc. It was clear the group wanted them out of the tent. One man vocalized in a series of quick clicks. Maedc couldn’t help but be fascinated by these sounds. If these really were people from the First Age, their language s
ounded nothing like he imagined it would. So much of spoken language in Talamir revolved around tonal distinctions, and the language he was hearing had almost no tone to it at all. These sounds were hard and guttural with no discernable vowels.
Maedc got his wits about him and said loudly without turning around, “Get the book.” Since these people didn’t know his language, he could tell Tumr to bring the book without any of them knowing what he said.
Maedc hoped they would think he was trying to communicate back. His words led to some spear prodding. The man in front seemed to be in charge, constantly speaking to others in the group.
Maedc examined the dress as he climbed his way out of the tent. He kept his hands up so the men could see he was not a threat. They all appeared to wear the same type of material as the cover of the book. Their clothing came in many pieces unlike the simple robes and tunics of Talamir. The top and bottom were made from different cloth. The clothing consisted of brown and tan leather, as they were calling it.
Did they really kill the animals they had encountered to make their clothes? He started to put it all together. The First Age must have relied on animal products as much as Talamir relied on plant and grass products.
Upon standing, the men quickly tied his hands behind his back. Tumr received the same treatment. Maedc didn’t feel threatened. These behaviors seemed mostly in line with precautionary steps. If they wanted to kill them, they would be dead already. Maedc and Tumr had come essentially defenseless, so they had nothing to match these war spears.
Maedc felt free to converse without causing much trouble as they began walking.
He said, “Did you get the book?”
“Yes. It’s in my robe pouch.”
“I wish you had waved it around or something. What if they kill us before we have a chance to show them we have a connection to them?”
“What if we showed it to them, and they killed us, thinking we stole from them?”
“Oh, well. Too late now. We’ll never know.”