“Well,” said Hare. “As the mayor of Havendale and all its many excellent citizens, may I be the first to welcome all of you…err fine gentlemen to our humble village. On a personal level, Captain, I offer my sincerest apology for not giving proper…err umm respect and duty towards Lord Augustus…I mean Andromedes Cassius….Tiberius?”
Captain Huglund gave a malicious grin.
“Come now, let us put all that nonsense behind us and move forward,” he slyly declared. The mounted riders began to smirk and chuckle. At this seemingly kind recommendation, the mayor let forth a sob of relief. Everyone else in the crowd began to smile as well; everyone except Adelaide. She looked around skeptically and saw that several other citizens, including Finn, Clayton, and Mimi had the same concern look as her upon their faces.
“If you could just help Miltock , here, to hang up this scroll on that torch post over there, we can begin our investigation and soon be on our way,” Huglund chuckled to Hare.
“Certainly sir…umm Captain. Y es, of course. Might I just say though, sir, that in my short career as an elected public official, not once has anyone in Havendale ever committed an act of treason mentioned on that scroll. You’ll find no such Red Handed troublemakers here. Why, even this morning, we held our annual ceremony of excellence, which has become our most established event to take place in our humble village. We call it our Guild of Promise. I’m sure if you heard some of our members’ feats you would see….”
“I suppose then,” Huglund interr upted him, “that our investigation will be over before you know it. It is citizens like you who make our jobs all the more easier, sir, and I thank you.” He seemed humored by the sound of his own voice, as if he was pulling off one of the greatest performances ever done. With that, he turned towards the other horsemen, scanning his eyes from one ghastly face to the next, finally resting on a jittery, undersized rider.
“Kobal, come forth,” Huglund commanded. The stunted man snickered maliciously. With a sinister cackle, he back flipped off his horse and eagerly approached the captain. A nasty scar curved out from above his upper lip and across his left eye, which was as white as milk. Adelaide shuddered as his gaze briefly passed over her, lingering just long enough to thoroughly look her up and down. Huglund placed his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Kobal; assist Miltock and the portly dip with their task.” The one eyed rider barred his teeth and bobbed his head repeatedly before hurrying away. “Now,” Huglund announced , turning back toward the crowd. “While my men assist your gargantuan official in hanging up the announcement, perhaps we could have someone read our progress into the investigation so far.”
Several hands jerked up from the crowd. “No. On second thought, perhaps one of my men would suit the task better.” With that, he beckoned over to a third rider, who had been staring blankly at the tables still piled with food before him. It seemed as if he was trying to remember something from long ago forgotten. A loud growl from Huglund snapped him out of it.
“Read our progress, Ptolemi.” The Tibris Guard cringed in agony at the sound of his name and nodded. Huglund drew a second document from his belt and handed it over. The crowd stood in eager anticipation as Ptolemi cleared his throat and began to speak. His voice was joyless and wretchedly bleak.
“A census has been taken, in good measure, of all the many citizens in Amber, the wealthiest and most profitable province in Sanctumsea. I have, here, a short list of names of Red Handed citizens taken from that census that reside in Havendale. Though there is great unease in the heart of your ruler, Lord Tiberion, no act of treason can be dismissed. Therefore, for actions unexcused and punishable by the highest degree, this list of names, picked through careful and dedicated assortment, contains individuals who pose an immediate or future threat to our fine land’s safety. They have been judged fairly for their actions, and will be subject to the full extent of his Lordship’s law. The only outcome, in all accounts, is….”
Here, Ptolemi stopped, his lower lip starting to quiver. Huglund gave another growl, prompting him to finish. “…the only outcome, in all accounts, is execution.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Gable,” Adelaide fearfully whispered. “Run back to the house. Don’t wait for me or Ronan. Just go home and lock the door until we get there.”
The crowd started to panic. Scattered murmuring turned into fearful pleas as several villagers started running towards Havendale. Huglund nodded to Ptolemi, who continued reading.
“The accused are as follows: 1) Marius Pint
2) Lazlo Darden
3) Jo Rullenham
4) Dakota Browning
5) Raoul King Jr.
6) Mimi Varrow
7) Tripper Wetherby
8) Horatio Hare
9) Lila Cussler
10) Ripoll Stern
11) Alec Tarr
12) Ely Blath
13) Pepin Grimsby
14) Clayton Hogg
15) Humphrey Hoast
16) Charity Dodger
17) Otis Lundeberg
18) Augustus Moll
19) Luck Keeper
And lastly, 20) Adelaide Stokes. Your fates have been sealed in the eyes of Sorra above and Necrya below. Resistance is nonproductive. Questions are ill advised. Kindly accept your fates in a calm and orderly fashion. We, the Tibris Guards of Amber, and Lord Tibris Tiberion, thank you for your cooperation.”
Then several things happened at once. Gable, and a dozen other children, turned and fled down the hill towards the front gate. Huglund unsheathed a long, jagged sword from beneath his saddlebag and waved it above his head. The rest of the Tibris Guards, seeing this, began savagely attacking the frightened partygoers. A handful of villagers foolishly tried to stand their ground, armed with wooden chairs and blunt cutlery. One by one, they were roughly captured or horrifically slain.
The Feasting Hill was in complete chaos. People darted away in different directions. Their colorful clothes were muddied and torn as they slipped and stumbled over one another. Many fleeing citizens met their fates as they fell into the path of maddened horses, while others dropped to their knees pleading for mercy. Mayor Hare, still standing in front of the post with the scroll in his hand, turned to face Miltock and Kobal.
“I say, do either of you fine gentleman have a nail ? I mean, I just…hey, wait a minute….wait a minute I say. What exactly is going on….”
The last thing Hare ever did in his life was weakly grunt as he stared up at the two Tibris Guards. Their crudely sharpened swords stuck out of the delightfulmayor’s oversized stomach. His eyes rolled back as he slumped over, crashing through a table of desserts before landing on the ground with a deafening thump.
Three more named suspects lay twitching on the ground: Luck Keeper, a respected cabbage farmer; Marius Pint, the eccentric village mortician; and Lazlo Darden, the aged gatewatchman. Almost everyone else on the list offered themselves up in hopeful surrender. One was Lila Cussler, a middle aged widow with two small children and a successful packaging business. A passing Tibris Guard ended her life with a sharp thrust of his sword. The remaining suspects, to their disparaging chagrin, were quickly dispatched where they stood. All the while, Huglund looked around the macabre spectacle and smiled.
A few lucky villagers had managed to flee into the Wallowing Woods. As they disappeared, a sharp whistle from Huglund brought several horse drawn cages down the road. The last one contained five feral, rabid canines, their mouths foaming with ferocious bloodlust. Each creature bashed its head repeatedly against the iron bars, while their howls sucked the very hope and dwindling courage from all who heard them.
“Kill ev eryone you find,” Huglund coldly commanded, unbolting the door. “Show no mercy. Tear every man, woman and squirm to bits. Now go!”
The dogs nodded in clear acknowledgement, their nostrils flaring with the scent of petrified human flesh. With ravenous snarls they leapt from their imprisonment and vanished into the woods. Scattered cries of agony sou
nded from beyond the trees, confirming the dogs were more than capable in hunting their prey.
Adelaide covered her ears as she zigzagged away from the onslaught. Ducking a wide swipe of a Tibris Guard’s blade, she fully turned her attention towards the front gate of Havendale. It couldn’t have been more than a hundred yards, with nothing blocking her path. Hopeless cries for mercy echoed behind her as she sprinted forward, intent on reaching the gatehouse. Only then would she be truly safe.
Each gatekeeper of a village, city, or town, when selected, was given a safe-phrase. Under threat of attack, they were instructed to recite it into the Flammeau-11, an audio-activated machine, to seal off the boundaries. Once spoken, the phrase would release an invisible veil of impenetrable fire that shielded all entrances and exits from invading forces. Anyone who tried to break through would be instantly incinerated. This modest piece of equipment was one of the earliest methods of defense created by the four new ruling lords, and had remained one of the most effective in all of Sanctumsea.
Adelaide leapt across the gate threshold and hurried into the gatehouse. As she struggled to catch her breath, she allowed her eyes to scan the walls. They were all decorated with rough sketches of budding plants, blossoming trees, and gentle landscapes. She secretly marveled at Lazlo’s work, wondering if there could have ever been a possible collaboration between the two of them on one of her future projects. A loud banging noise from the corner caught her attention. She turned to see a mahogany desk. On top of it was a microphone attached to a long cord that led to the dust covered Flammeau-11 propped against the back wall. Tripper Wetherby, Finn Wessel, and Ely Blath, a sullen man in his mid fifties, stood around it, arguing harshly.
“I think it’s got so mething to do with grasshoppers! Lazlo likes grasshoppers,” cried Tripper. He was a lanky, spectacled lad, almost a full year younger than Adelaide. His hair was short and crisp, and the pitch of his voice could shatter glass.
“Well then , one of you two needs to find Lazlo and ask him,” blandly stated Finn. He was leaning against the edge of the table, clearly trying to keep his wobbly balance. Adelaide could smell the Honeydrop Wine on his breath from across the room.
“ Lazlo Darden isn’t speaking so well right now,” croaked Blath. He had crooked, tobacco-stained teeth, and his nose curved downward like a bent factory hook. Adelaide counted only four fingers on his right hand.
“ What about the rest of the people on that list?” Adelaide threw in. Her voice startled the three survivors. “Did anyone else make it through?”
Finn smiled, nearly toppling over as he turned to face her. “Hey there, you’re Adrianne, right?”
Adelaide’s attempt to correct him was frantically cut off by Tripper. “Mimi Varrow was first into the woods…I think…yes, maybe. That Dakota Browning…the one with really blonde hair…yes, she was with her. I don’t know about the rest. Those rotting horsemen had everyone surrounded by the time I could make a run for it!”
“Who are they, anyhow?” Ely growled. “They just rode into our party and start offing innocent people. All on account of some…some list that we’ve never even heard of before. Calling all those people Red Hands? Who the rot does something like that?”
“They said we’d been accused,” continued Tripper , turning his attention back to the Flammeau-11. “Accused and condemned on the new lord’s say-so.”
“I didn’t even know we had a new lord,” chuckled Finn, failing to suppress a burp.
“Get a hold of yourself, Wessel,” growled Blath.
“Oh, for rot’s sake,” Tripper cried, throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t know what to do. The veil’s not activating!” “Fine,” Blath muttered. He picked up a shovel from behind the door, grasping it menacingly. “If they come inside, we’ll take them on.”
“And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?” asked a voice behind Adelaide. All eyes turned to see Clayton Hogg standing nonchalantly in the doorway. “You might be able to put up a fight once the defenses are set.”
“We haven’t got the phrase,” moaned Tripper , rocking back and forth with his head cradled in his hands. “They’ll be here any second.”
“The phrase?” Clayton asked. “Don’t you know? It’ s the first line of that poem Adelaide wrote, about the warrior and the givie.”
“Who?” asked Finn. Adelaide turned to ask Clayton why her award winning poem was being used as a defense for Havendale. Before she could, he was back out the door and hurrying down the street. The sounds of pleading and struggling could be heard just outside the gate. It was only a matter of time before the Tibris Guards came charging into Havendale.
“Now, Stokes!” yelled Tripper, pushing himself away from the controls. “Perhaps now would be a good time!” Quickly organized her thoughts, Adelaide walked over to Darden’s desk. Taking a long deep breath, she grasped the microphone in her hand and pressed the blinking red button at the bottom of the handle.
“I went to the lake to cast myself in,” she recited, “t o become like my father, a finer example of what may yet pass. My name is Arcado, and I war against many to become great in the eyes of one.”
As she finished the stanza, there was a loud humming sound and a strong smell of kerosene. Adelaide peered outside the door. The open gateway briefly turned blue as the defenses swiftly activated. The heat waves emulating from it dried her eyes before she quickly turned her head away. Finn gave a loud whoop, head locking Tripper as he danced around the room.
“Well done, missy,” Blath chuckled. “Thank you. Now I’m going home,” Adelaide announced. “My little brother is waiting for me and I need to find the rest of my family.”
“Alright, I’ll check the other entrances,” declared Tripper, jerking his head free before dashing out the door.
“Well done on that whole gate thing, Angela,” Finn threw in, staggering towards her. “You’re a pearly fine lady.” Adelaide, eager to correct him, bit her lip as he gave her a passionate kiss on the cheek before slapping her rump. She grinned ear to ear and darted away towards her house, bashfully blushing as she went.
The front door was open when she arrived. Adelaide rushed inside and glanced about. It seemed that she was the first one to arrive. She was about to call out Ronan’s name before he suddenly bolted through the doorway, almost knocking her over. Hattie followed close behind him. She was out of breath and in a state of shock. Her hands were trembling violently and her face was sprinkled with drops of blood. Adelaide watched dumbfounded as her mother stumbled over to the nearest couch and sat down, her eyes darting from side to side. She reached up towards her face, dabbing the tips of her fingers as she began to hum an eerie tune.
“Ro nan, relax!” Adelaide exclaimed, turning her attention back to her brother. “It’s alright, we’re safe now. The defenses are up. I activated them. We’re safe.”
“Where’s Gable?” he shouted. “I’m here,” cried a muffled voice. Gable’s head popped up out of a laundry basket set up next to the kitchen door. A towel and a pair of nylons hung draped across his face.
“Are we safe now, Addy?” he asked.
Ronan ran up, cursing under his breath and roughly yanked Gable out of the basket.
“No, we aren’t. Those rotting Tibris Guards made it through the defenses.”
“Wait…..what?” Adelaide cried. Her stomach felt queasy. “How is that possible?” “Three minutes after the veil was activated, a handful of them charged in. The second their horses hit the wall they were instantly vaporized. But not their riders, oh no, they were just fine. Got right up off the ground and started detaining anyone they could find. After that, the rest of them dismounted outside and just…just walked right on through the gate. The whole village is crawling with them. They’re knocking down rotting door after rotting door, looking for survivors and killing anyone who resists.”
“Cut them down, cut them down,” Hattie murmured. A peculiar, goofy grin leaked onto her face as she rocked back and forth and started to cackle an
d blink uncontrollably.
“Addy , what’s wrong with Mom?” Gable asked nervously. “Just ignore her. I don’t understand, Ronan. How…”
“I don’t know either. It was like there wasn’t any fire there to hurt them. I would have assumed the defenses were down if those horses hadn’t puffed away right up in front of me. Now here, take this. You’re going to need it.”
Ronan returned to the living room, handing Adelaide a bag he’d packed in the kitchen. She took a look inside. “This won’t be enough supplies for all four of us.” “That’s because it’s for only one.” Adelaide gave him a horrified look and shook her head.
“No,” she cried. “I won’t leave you all to be killed off like Hare and Lazlo.” “Hare and Lazlo were on the list. So was Ely Blath.” “Yeah, but I….Blath is dead? I just saw him.”
Hattie squealed behind them, rambling off random numbers and slapping her palm against the side of her face. Gable rushed over to her, grasping for her hand with salty tears brimming in his eyes. Adelaide ignored all this as she repetitively shook her head at Ronan.
“Don’t worry about us, Addy,” declared Ronan. “You take that bag and get the rot out of Havendale. Head for the east exit, disarm the defenses and slip away. The Wallowing Woods are vast and it’ll take them weeks to cover it all. You can avoid detection and stay ahead of them until someone figures out what’s going on.”
“Just promise me you’ll all stay alive,” Adelaide pleaded. She gave him her most intense stare. “Promise me.” “You can be such an adult sometimes, Addy.” “Promise me now!” she yelled. “Ok, I….”
A bright flash from outside cut him off. Adelaide screamed as the front door flew off its hinges, ripping through the wall as if being yanked by some invisible force. Gable dove back into the clothes bin as Captain Huglund entered, followed by Kobal, Ptolemi, and an unnamed Tibris Guard with a broken nose. Hattie Stokes stared up at them, her face now twisted in a peculiar grin and her teeth chattering loudly as her head started to bobble. She began waving her hand back and forth in a welcoming fashion, even standing up and briefly curtseying before falling back onto the couch. Huglund took one look at Adelaide before turning to Kobal.
The Acryptus Tree Page 4