“We lost the Tower without so much as a fight,” Camdyn said downheartedly.
“How many casualties?”
“Honestly, not too sure. Turns out that there was no fire. After they took the Tower, the fire suddenly disappeared. We were throwing buckets of water on the buildings, that was it. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen. Jaime and I organized the Daxrah as quickly as we could and had them move everyone to the outside of town. There are many missing but we don’t have accurate records as to whom is in the west village infirmary. As well, there are many faces among the villagers that I didn’t recognize, so I just don’t know.”
“There was no fire?” Kai lay back down. He must still be dreaming. This was just a weird, crazy, messed up dream.
“No fire. So, the villagers quickly packed what they had and have spread out through the countryside. The majority left for Shelby but others went west to Whatitsname. Some stayed to help moving the patients from the west village to our farms.”
“This is not real,” Kai mumbled out loud.
“The sooner you accept that this is happening, the better chance we will have of getting out of this alive,” Camdyn said.
“So, we are in the Tower that has been taken by Sacred Blood invaders? This is what you are telling me? How did you get here?” Kai pushed up on his right elbow and scanned the room again, but he could still not locate the old man.
From within a deep shadow, Camdyn stepped forward. Kai felt his chest tighten with surprise. He cursed himself, he should have known.
“That is exactly what I am telling you. I snuck in to try and save you. A task that was trickier than you would think. The men have really done a good job tightening security.”
“So, what do we do now? I don’t think that I am in any shape to fight.”
“I know you’re not, lad. You’re healing fast but you still need a few days. That’s time that we don’t have, unfortunately. It would be a lot easier if I knew how many there were or what they were planning. Their movements, even within the Tower, are hushed and hidden.”
Kai shook his head. “So, what are we going to do?”
“Wait, I suppose,” Camdyn said. “I really don’t know what else we can do right now.”
“What if we sneak down the back stairs?”
“I thought of that. We could take the chance, I suppose. There are too many unknown factors for my liking.”
Kai agreed with the older man’s assessment. There was just not enough information to formulate a decent plan.
“What happened to Rosalie?” he asked.
“She escaped. When the fire broke out she immediately went to the village infirmary to help Adina. It was her idea to move the patients to the farms and she organized the whole operation. She’s quite the woman.”
Kai nodded. “What of Raven?” he asked quietly. He felt like his chest was collapsing when he thought about her. He envisioned her crazed face, her wild hair, her savageness. She was like an animal. A big, vicious animal.
“Last I heard, there was still no sign of her. She gave you quite the licking, huh?” Camdyn chuckled.
“I’ve never had a worse one. Even the Prince’s guards didn’t beat me like that, after they found me wailing on their master.”
“Lucky for you, Rosalie is a talented healer. Adina is very pleased with her progress.”
“Do they have any idea what happened with Raven? Why she went berserk?”
“Well, Adina has a theory. She said that she had heard about a technique for mind controlling another person. For obvious reasons, it is a forbidden art but, apparently, there are some people who still have this knowledge and have the skills to perform it.”
“Mind controlled? That sounds farfetched.” Kai shook his head.
“More farfetched than a village that is on fire, suddenly not being on fire?”
“I am finding all this hard to understand,” Kai said, laying his head back.
“You and me both, lad.”
“So, she thinks that someone has mind controlled Raven. How would someone have done that? She has been unconscious for days.”
“I believe that can be understood if you understand the technique. It involves the person, in this case, Raven, being slowly poisoned over the course of a few weeks. Little bits at a time, never enough to cause harm. The poison does something to the person’s mind, making them susceptible to suggested thoughts. Those thoughts are then repeated a loud while the person is sleeping, imprinting the suggestions in their mind.”
“Someone has been poisoning Raven and talking to while she’s sleeping? I find this very hard to believe.”
“I did too,” said Camdyn. “Once the person has had these suggestions imprinted, then there needs to be a trigger. Adina said that the trigger is a potion that, when ingested, somehow interacts with the poison, bringing forth all the suggested thoughts and suppressing any others. It is all very interesting.”
Kai could not help but feel like Camdyn was hiding something. “What are you not telling me?”
Camdyn cleared his throat. “Well, it seems that the potion is very similar to one that is used to cure the effects of poison from the kinrod tree.”
It took a moment for the realization to come to him. “I was trying to save her but I made her a monster,” he said. He could feel the anger rising in him, but he was too weak to release it.
“It wasn’t you fault, lad. There was no way anyone could have known. Anyway, no use dwelling on the past. We need to figure a way out of here and the sooner the better,” Camdyn said as he opened a canteen of water and took a long pull. He handed it to Kai, who thankfully sipped at the cool liquid.
“The waterway,” he said to himself as a thought formed in his mind.
“Pardon?” Camdyn asked.
“The waterway. We go out through the waterway. It is covered and goes directly out to the village. We just need to get to the cistern,” Kai said.
Camdyn thought for a moment, then began to nod his head.
“That actually might work. If we can get down the back staircase, then we are almost home free,” he said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“It’s your old age.” Kai chuckled but the jarring made his insides hurt. He winched with the pain.
“I don’t think you’ll make it if you can’t even berate an old man without hurting yourself.” Camdyn quietly laughed. “You rest. I need to figure a way out of this room or we won’t be going anywhere. They put some sort of lock on the outside.”
Kai lay absorbed in his thoughts as Camdyn went to work on the door.
“How could we be so unprepared?” Kai thought. “This is my fault. I should not have pushed us into expanding so quickly, with, clearly, not enough thought to security.”
He lay still for a long time, with his eyes closed, both now working without pain, listening to Camdyn quietly shuffling around. He tried to distract himself with their plan to escape but his mind kept bringing his failures to the forefront.
Kai began to feel drowsy again. He tried to resist but eventually gave in and let sleep take him.
“Kai. Wake up.”
Kai opened his eyes, and found Camdyn gently shaking him.
“What’s going on?” Kai asked, rubbing his eyes.
“I opened the door. Hinges are on the inside.” Camdyn chuckled. “I scouted the route to the cistern and it is clear. For now, anyway. There is not too much cover on the way there, but it is the middle of the night and the hallways aren’t lit. If we hurry, we could be out within the hour and on our way while still under the cover of darkness. Can you move?”
Kai pushed himself up, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He was sore but he was mobile.
“Good. Get dressed quickly. I laid out your weapons next to your armor.”
Kai finished lacing his armor, with a little help from Camdyn, and picked up his bow, which Camdyn had already strung. He pulled the drawstring but could not get it past halfway.
“You�
��re still weak, lad,” Camdyn said. “You’ll get it.”
Kai nodded and continued to equip himself.
“Ready,” he said finally.
Using his dagger, Camdyn pulled open the hinge side of the door. Kai could see that Camdyn had removed the pins but the door was still held in place by the foreign locking mechanism. Kai looked at the device as they slipped through the doorway. It was a circular device, clearly made by master blacksmiths. The device had two arms, each with a claw on the end. The claws had attached themselves, one to the wall and the other to the door, holding it in place.
“Ever seen one of those before?” Kai asked the older man.
“Never,” came the reply. “That seems to be a trend these days.”
The two men crept down the dark hallway, using their black uniforms to blend into the deepest shadows. Kai checked each direction but found no resistance. They descended the maintenance staircase and found themselves in the storage area of the water rooms, the area they used to pool the water that flowed from the waterfall inside the Tower to be sent down to the village. Kai remembered when they had constructed the waterway, how proud he had been.
They reached the cistern. Kai thought about the escape plan. They would have to swim to the bottom of the cistern, fully armored, and squeeze through the restrictor gate at the bottom. If they managed to not drown, then the rest of the way was an easy ride down to the water tower in the village.
“You go first,” Camdyn said. “I’ll keep watch, then follow you.”
Kai nodded. He knew it would take him longer because of his injuries. He eased himself into the cold glacier water. He could feel his muscles tightening and he began to throb with pain. He tried to block it out, with some success. He dipped his head underwater and dove down. The water was pitch black so he had to use his hands to feel out the water gate. He found the hole and was about to pull himself through when he heard a noise from behind him. He turned to look but all he could make out through the murky water was that there was now a light shining above him.
“Camdyn,” he thought, suddenly panicked.
Kai let go of the edge of the gate and began to swim towards the surface, towards the light. When he broke through the surface, he found the old man surrounded by four robed men in dark masks. It was the garb of the Scared Blood Brotherhood.
“Dive,” Camdyn shouted, taking advantage of the distraction causes by Kai’s resurfacing. Kai immediately dove into the dark water but not before a fifth invader caught his eye. He had only seen the man for a split second but there was something about the big man that Kai recognized.
He swam as fast as he could, hands reached out in attempts to find the water gate. His hand found an edge and grabbed on, pulling himself toward it. As he got through gate, the current grabbed and sent him sliding down the waterway. The water flowed fast and Kai had barely been able to gasp for air before being dunked into the large water tower, the main source of water for the village.
Kai immediately swam to the edge, and pulled himself over. He fell on a wooden walkway that had been built around the big tub, which itself had pipes coming out of it, sending water to troughs around the village.
He lay on the walkway, trying to catch his breath. Then he realized Camdyn had not appeared in the pool yet. He sat up and stared up the long pipe but there was no sign of his friend. He waited but his instincts began to scream at him to move, so he jumped to his feet and down to the ground. He looked up at the pool, in time to see a Scared Blood brother emerge from the cold water.
Kai cursed but kept moving. They may have captured Camdyn but Kai could not save him if he was captured as well. He moved as quickly as he could, losing the search party almost immediately. His body was screaming at him to stop but he resisted the urge, knowing he had to find the others. They needed to regroup, rescue Camdyn, and take back their home.
41
“This was not an easy operation to execute but our progress has been excellent and we are now on the cusp of victory.” Omar Hussein was standing on the balcony of the country villa, addressing a hundred men dressed in the traditional robes of the Sacred Blood, lined up by their rank and station. “The next three days will decide how we will fare in the war to come. Will you fight to honor our savior?”
The men cheered. Tarak looked down at the group and shook his head. “What fools they are to follow this man so blindly,” he thought. He looked to his right at the five leaders that stood on the balcony. “They are all fools,” he thought.
Omar thrust out his hand toward the sky. “We will root them out of their disgusting hovel. We will send them running for the hills. We will take their home. And, then”—he clenched his fist and brought it striking down on the edge of the balcony railing—“we will take their dragon.”
The cheer was deafening.
The idea of capturing a live dragon was ludicrous to Tarak, but it had intrigued him when Omar came to him with the plan. His thoughts immediately went to capturing the dragonblood, or at the least, killing her. That was the only reason he sanctioned the absurd idea in the first place.
Omar looked in Tarak’s direction. “Speak to them, Priest. Sermonize and inspire them to victory.” He barked out the order, turning toward the table the held their wine.
Tarak stepped forward. He looked down at the men and thought for a moment.
“In this life, there are choices that must be made. To be strong. To be brave. To be noble. To be faithful. Garron the choice to stand and fight the oppressive rule of the lizards. To set humankind on the path to freedom. Now it is our turn to do our part. We need to arise and finish what he started over one thousand years ago. Garron save us.”
“Garron save us,” came the raucous response.
Tarak turned and walked to the table. He poured himself a large cup of wine and drank deeply. He looked at Omar who was standing at the other end of the table.
“Well done, Brother.” Omar said in a growl as he walked over, placing his own cup down on the table. He walked back to the edge of the balcony to address the men again.
“You all have your assignments and your departure times. Be vigilant. Be watchful. Be prepared for when the signals come. The next time we all meet will be behind the wall of the Tower of Kings.”
The men roared again with approval.
Without another word, Omar spun around and entered the villa, followed by the three other leaders.
Tarak moved a chair so that he could sit and look over the courtyard. He set a jug of wine and a cup next to the chair and sat down to relax. He poured a cup of wine and drained it. He poured another one and sat back to watch the men scurry around the yard, making their preparations.
“That was an excellent speech,” Santaal said as he strode onto the balcony.
“One of my finest.” Tarak chuckled.
Santaal poured himself a cup of wine and moved a chair next to Tarak’s.
“When do we leave?”
“You will travel with Omar,” Tarak said.
Santaal nodded. “Wise choice,” he said. He knew, as well, that it was better to have someone close to Omar in case the leader made some rash decisions and changed the plan.
“That man is a lunatic,” Tarak said. “He actually wants to capture a live dragon. Just imagine. What is he going to do with it if he does? Keep it in the Castle? It is idiocy.”
Santaal laughed. “So, that is what you’re doing out here, drowning your reservations about the operation?”
Tarak leaned back and stretched out his legs. He took a long draught from his cup and sighed.
“There is nothing to be lost by going along with his ridiculous plans. It gets me that much closer to killing the dragonblood. If this operation does not afford me the opportunity, then I will kill her another time.”
Santaal took a long drink from his cup and leaned back. “You’ve learned patients in your old age.” He chuckled. “You seem like a new man.”
Tarak looked at his brother and opened his mouth to
retort but then closed it. He said with a nod. The next few days could set the tone for the next few years if they were successful.
“How stupid do you have to be to try and capture a live dragon?” he said and both men laughed.
Tarak crouched next to a large bush on a hill overlooking the Tower of Kings. He was repulsed by the appearance of the fortress and the surrounding town. The town was a glorified shantytown, filthy and decrepit. The Tower itself was a dreary looking place.
He looked up at the sky to check the position of the sun. It was nearly sunset. Soon the signal will be given and their attack will commence. His part in the operation was to distract, so distract he would.
“There,” he said, habitually pointing to a thin green plume of smoke that floated into the sky. He stood and began to walk slowly toward the village, concentrating his magical energies.
He touched the amulet rested against his chest, the metal was getting warm. Tarak suspected that the amulet was some sort of magical energy booster or battery. Whatever it was doing provided him with elevated power potential. He did not understand it yet, but he did not need to understand it to enjoy its benefits.
As Tarak grew closer to the outer edge of the village, he began to cast spells. Using the unique power of his enhanced bracers, he could maintain multiple spells at the same time, which was a useful ability to have when casting illusion magic. Tarak considered casting illusion magic to be like painting on a huge canvas. Painting over an existing picture, to be more exact. He would cast illusions over whatever he did not want seen.
The process was beautiful but it quickly drained the magical energies from Tarak. He was accustomed to using the spells on a much smaller scale, situations involving one or two people. Creating illusions for a thousand people is a much more difficult task, and only made possible by the power he attained from the amulet. He relished the challenge of the task.
He began small, painting red streaks across the warehouses that stood on the outskirts of town. The streaks moved and swayed in the wind. They danced along the buildings. They swept up and down the narrow streets.
Sisera's Gift 2: Sacred Blood Page 27