“Really?” Harold asked.
“Yeah, they was teachin’ them High-Born a lesson!” Cooper spoke up. “I think they were those AI robots– ”
“—I’ve already told you that they weren’t no robots, Cooper,” Scott said as he shot an imaginary gun. “They were knights dressed in armor. Their visors kinda’ looked like High-Born, but they weren’t as big. And they kinda’ sounded like robots when they ran, but they weren’t robots. But they were really fast.”
Harold and Gabby looked to Sarah.
After a moment, Sarah answered, “Yes. There were dozens of them running all around town going from house to house.”
“Did they hurt anyone?” Harold asked.
“No,” Sarah said. “Didn’t lay a hand on anybody.”
Harold and Gabby glanced at each other.
“What were they doing?” Harold asked.
“They had to be looking for something,” Sarah said.
Harold glanced at Gabby and then he turned and walked to the window. He propped his hands there and peered out into the darkness. He looked out towards the woods where he had seen that large metallic man a few months ago.
“Their guns were ‘stuck’ to their arms, Scott?” Harold asked.
“Yeah,” Scott said as he pointed to his forearms and motioned up and down his arm. “They were right here. But it was just the big knights. The little knights carried their guns next to their shoulders.”
“They were probably looking for me,” Harold said and turned to Sarah. “What about those other ones?”
“The bigger ones seemed to be helping those fighter jets, and some of them even flew around town a few times,” Sarah said. “One of them must’ve gotten hit in the fight over the city, because I could see it smoking and sputtering, and it landed in the woods not far from Scott’s hideout.”
“Is it still there?” Harold asked.
“No,” Scott said. “Me and Cooper and some other kids watched two other ones land and help it fly away.”
The group then sat there in silence while Scott and Cooper shot their imaginary guns. Footsteps echoed from the hall and they all looked to see Ollie walking around the corner while rubbing her eyes.
“Hey, girl,” Harold said as she ran to him and jumped up in his arms.
“Y’all woke me up, but I’m so glad that you’re back,” Ollie said. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too,” Harold said as he kissed her on the cheek.
Sarah smiled lightly at him and then a puzzled look came over her.
“But,” Sarah gestured. “How did they even know about you?”
“Who knows?” Harold shrugged. “I think they knew about me a while back. They just now came for me.”
“Why?” Sarah asked as she walked to him and grabbed his hand. Gabby rolled her eyes and looked the other way.
“I don’t know,” Harold said and looked around, puzzled. “Where is Aunt Nean? And why are you and Scott here?”
Sarah gave Harold a look, and motioned her eyes to the children and back to him. Then she shook her head.
“Ms. Nean is with the other parents,” Sarah answered, but Harold could see that she was losing control of her emotions.
“Sarah won’t let me see momma and daddy ‘cause they’re sick and don’t want us to get it,” Scott said. “The secret base is so crowded with the other kids that she brought us here.”
“Sarah,” Gabby said. “What color were their thrusters?”
Sarah glanced at Gabby, but then turned to Harold and Gabby rolled her eyes again, “The fighter jets and the ‘flying knights’ both kinda’ looked blue when they were zooming around.”
“That’s what we saw the other night when were stargazing,” Gabby said to Harold.
“Yeah,” Harold said while Sarah shot them both a look. “It could’ve been.”
“Stargazing?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” Gabby smiled at her. “We do that a lot.”
Harold looked up and ran his hands through his hair, “You two need to get focused on the war we’re fighting. We’ve got more important things to deal with.”
Sarah crossed her arms and sat down at the table. Gabby turned away and walked to the window. Harold glanced at Cooper and Scott who were looking at each other and shrugging their shoulders. Ollie was just sitting there, smiling at Harold.
Then he walked to his room.
He opened the door and quickly found his mattress. It was much softer than he remembered and he let his eyes close. So much was happening and it was happening so fast that he felt overwhelmed, and for a fleeting moment he felt his courage slip. And he actually felt tears well up in his eyes.
Footsteps clacked down the hall, and Sarah walked through the door. She closed the door behind her as Harold sat up and wiped his eyes.
“What’s happened, Sarah?” Harold asked.
She stood there for a moment, trying to control the dawning tears, but then her shoulders began quivering, and her breath came in bursts. Then, she broke down, bawling as she fell into his arms. Harold could see her pain and he found himself starting to cry, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Despite her crying, Sarah was being rather quiet and Harold realized that she at least had enough control to keep the children from hearing her. She laid her head on his shoulder, and in a few more moments she leaned back up.
“What’s wrong?” Harold asked.
“They took them, Harold,” she said.
“Who took who?” Harold asked.
“The morning after the city was attacked,” Sarah wiped her nosed, and seemed calmer now. “The High-Born showed up with a lot of gunships, and called a town meeting.”
She started getting emotional again, and Harold squeezed her hand.
“They took everyone who is a parent,” she said.
“What?” Harold asked as he stood up. “And left the children?”
“I don’t think they knew about Scott’s hideout in the woods and all the children y’all brought back were hiding there at the time. But they took anyone and everyone who had a child. Some people tried to fight, but it was no use. They’re just too strong, and they have weapons.”
“But they left the children from the odd-numbered streets?” Harold puzzled.
“Yes,” she said.
“Why?” Harold asked. “That makes no sense.”
“Not much they do makes sense,” Sarah said. “They left a note on the pyramid.”
“A note?” Harold puzzled.
“It says: ‘To Blaze and Aireon’,” Sarah answered.
Harold’s mind swirled with emotion and he looked out of his window, grasping the windowsill and squeezing it as tightly as he could. The wood there splintered and cracked and Sarah jumped in surprise at the noise. Harold released it and stepped away from it.
“Where are Phil and Maggie?” Harold asked.
“I don’t know,” Sarah answered. “They disappeared the night the city was attacked.”
“You haven’t told the young’uns any of this yet, have you?” Harold asked.
“The ones from the odd-numbered roads were there,” Sarah explained. “So they know, but most of them just locked themselves up in their houses, and I brought Scott, Cooper, and Ollie here before any of those children could tell them. But the young’uns from the even-numbered roads were in Scott’s hideout, so they still don’t know. I was actually going to tell Scott, Cooper, and Ollie after we ate lunch today.”
Harold nodded, and said, “Thank you for taking care of them.”
“I love them,” she answered. “And it’s the least I could do for you.”
Harold looked around, “How is Scape?”
“He’s fine, mostly he just sleeps,” Sarah answered. “But he’s in Cooper and Ollie’s room if you want to see him.”
Harold and Sarah then walked into the children’s room. In the corner of the room was a wadded up old blanket. Scape lifted his head when he saw Harold and wearily wagged his tail.
Scape tried to rise, but Harold swiftly walked over to him and squatted. He half-purred, half-growled as he licked Harold’s hand.
“He’s been drinking a lot of water,” Sarah said. “And the kids have been giving him whatever food we can spare.”
Harold looked at his wounded leg and could see that they had made him a bandage out of an old bed sheet. There was only a couple of specks of blood on it, so it seemed that Scape was being good about not biting his wound. Scape laid his head in Harold’s lap and closed his eyes. Harold rubbed his head and in less than a minute Scape was snoring. Harold gently placed his head back on the bed sheet and stood up.
Sarah followed him back to his room, but he turned to her.
“I need a minute to myself,” Harold said as he let himself fall on his mattress.
“I need to check on lunch anyways,” she said and walked towards the kitchen.
Harold lay there looking at the ceiling. He wanted everything to just go back to the way it had been before Ollie and the pytheel. It may have been the existence of a slave, but at least it had been simple. He rolled over and looked at his night stand, and saw the picture of his parents. He looked over every inch of it in detail and as he always had, he studied the curved spear in the corner.
“Who were you?” Harold whispered to the picture. “And who am I?”
Chapter 45
Harold looked at the turnips on his plate as he picked at them with his fork. He had not said anything to Gabby since they sat down to eat, and though she was calmly eating, she held him and Sarah with a constant questioning eye. Although he was glad that Cooper, Scott, and Ollie all seemed so happy, he was saddened by the gravity of the news that was about to be given to them.
“Those knights were so awesome,” Scott said and made a flying motion with his hand.
“I know,” Cooper exclaimed. “Did you see that one that one time that High-Born gunship spun around!”
“Yeah,” Scott answered. “It was goin’ so fast that that High-Born couldn’t even hit it!”
Harold almost explained to Scott and Cooper that the things they had seen were probably some sort of advanced AI technology that would only be friendly as long as it needed to in order to get what it wanted. However, he did not want to steal their momentary joy, and he allowed himself to smile as he watched Ollie look back and forth at Scott and Cooper each time one of them said something. Although she was not participating in the conversation, she was completely enraptured by it. Her lightheartedness both eased and resolved Harold and he made himself eat, despite not being very hungry.
Lunch moved on quickly and soon they were all cleaning the table. After the dishes had been cleaned and put up, Harold rested his elbows on the table and put his hands up to his mouth. Gabby gave him a look and he shook his head and motioned to Sarah. She took a deep breath as she sat down, and looked over the smiling children.
“Sarah,” Scott said. “When are we goin’ back to ma’ and pa’s?”
“Scott,” she paused and grabbed his hand.
Cooper and Ollie looked at Harold and Gabby’s eyes widened as her head shot back and forth between the others.
“Ma and pa are gone,” Sarah said as her breath quivered.
“Where’s momma?” Cooper and Ollie asked in unison as they looked at Harold.
“I don’t know,” Harold answered as he grabbed them both and hugged them
Gabby’s hands went up to her mouth as she gasped.
“The High-Born took ‘em,” Scott said. “Didn’t they?”
Sarah just nodded silently as tears ran down her face, and she pulled Scott close to her.
Cooper’s brown eyes welled and Ollie’s breathing became jerky as she buried her head into Harold’s hip. Harold knelt down to them and embraced them both in a hug as Cooper began sniffling and Ollie started wailing. Gabby walked over to Ollie and laid her hands on the little girl’s shoulders as she cried. They all stayed like that for several moments before Scott stepped away from Sarah.
The little boy smiled as he grabbed his trembling sister and looked at her stoically.
“It’s okay, Sarah,” he said.
Then, he lovingly cupped her face in his hands and looked deeply into her watery eyes.
“The High-Born have lots of things, Sarah... but they ain’t got the things they need... they ain’t got the things they need ‘cause they ain’t sworn themselves to the powers of good... And, you see, Sarah... we know somebody that don’t shy away from the forces of evil whenever and wherever they assail him...”
Scott shook his head from side to side as he looked into his sister’s eyes.
“...And they don’t plead the plight of orphans, widows, and the poor... And they don’t feed the hungry... And they don’t defend the helpless... And they don’t protect the innocent from the powers of tyranny... And they don’t defend the honor of their lady and their family...”
Scott used his thumbs to clean the tears from her face.
“So you see, Sarah... They ain’t no need to cry...”
He kissed her on the cheek and held her face tight as he nodded and held his eyes on hers.
“They ain’t no need to cry ‘cause they can’t never win... They can’t never win ‘cause they ain’t good... They can’t never win ‘cause they don’t fight with all of their heart and soul... They can’t fight with all of their heart and soul ‘cause they ain’t got neither...”
Scott’s eyes held a seriousness to them that strengthened Harold’s courage.
“‘Cause if they had either, then they wouldn’t act like they do... So don’t fret no more, Sarah... ‘Cause they can’t never win ‘cause it ain’t the destiny of their power.”
Everyone in the room was silent and slack-jawed, just staring at Scott. And Sarah smiled lightly through her tears as she cupped his face and kissed him on his left cheek and then his right cheek and then on the forehead. Cooper’s mouth was firm and set as he looked up at Harold and nodded. Ollie pulled her face away from Harold’s leg and she too looked up at him. And Gabby wiped her nose and eyes as she looked to Harold. Sarah’s tear-streaked face looked to Harold, and Scott looked up at him as well.
Harold looked down at Cooper and then to Ollie. He looked at Scott, and then to Sarah. When he turned to Gabby, she nodded and walked out of the door.
“I’ll be back to say goodbye in a little while.”
Harold hugged her again and Cooper took her hand while Sarah grabbed her other. Harold stood up, and turned to the door. He gave them all one last look, and he saw Scott giving him a thumb’s up. Then he walked out of the door and found Gabby.
“That little boy is adorable,” she said as they walked to the front of the house.
“He is definitely something else,” Harold replied.
When they got to the front yard, Harold took Gabby’s hand.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Sarah said that there was something we needed to see in the town circle,” he answered.
Gabby nodded and they flashed from sight...
...And appeared in the town circle.
Harold looked at the pyramid. Just above the elevated platform was a large piece of paper or cloth sprawled across the southern wall. On it was written:
To Blaze and Aireon
The Kristall began rotating and spinning and the transparent image of a helmeted High-Born appeared above. He was standing on a stage, and as he began walking back and forth, Harold recognized his helmet to be the ones the High-Born Dragon Corps wore. Gabby glowered at him from beneath her eyebrows, and Harold held a sneer on his face as the High-Born pilot looked down, seemingly speaking directly to them.
As he raised his hands, his eyes seemed to slightly glow from beneath his visor.
“For we are the High-Born, and were born to overcome!” he shouted. “Let what follows be a warning to all who would defy High-Born law!”
The Kristall began glowing and spinning furiously, and suddenly the town circle was full of gho
st-like visages of Foxx Hole’s residents. On the platform stood a flickering image of a large High-Born neither of them recognized.
“They recorded this,” Gabby said. “And they’re using the Kristall to project it.”
Harold nodded as he looked around at the villagers who seemed to stand all around him. He instantly recognized many of them, and after just a few moments, he found Aunt Nean. While the large High-Born delivered the final words of his speech, he walked to her image. He stopped and regarded her for a moment and was surprised at how accurately it had captured her features. He looked into her ghostly image’s eyes and found it strange that she did not acknowledge him.
Suddenly, Aunt Nean turned away from him and he heard the stomping of many boots and the clanking of mechanoids. Both he and Gabby watched as the images of dozens of fully armed High-Born soldiers came running into the town circle from all twelve roads. Accompanying them were twice as many mechanoids. Gabby did not even flinch as she watched the mayhem break loose, and Harold just spit, but did not take his eyes from ghostly scene. The residents of Foxx Hole began running everywhere and screaming.
Harold watched as some of the men in town tried to fight them, but to no avail. The High-Born soldiers made quick work of the unarmed, untrained villagers. They did not shoot any of them, but they smacked many of the men with the butts of their rifles. The mechanoids just snagged men and women alike and seemingly bear-hugged them to keep them from running away. He found Aunt Nean amidst the confusion, and he watched nearly emotionless as a mechanoid grabbed her and held her in place while the other villagers ran around vainly trying to escape.
The roar of gunship engines blasted and their images flickered into sight all through the sky and began landing all over. The soldiers and mechanoids began putting handcuffs and chains on the villagers and roughly slinging them into the gunships. Harold could actually hear the laughs of the High-Born over the screams of the villagers. Gabby glanced at him and he at her. Her eyes glowed lightly, and he could feel his fire kindling within him. The scene lasted for several more minutes with the crowd slowly decreasing.
Blaze (The High-Born Epic) Page 34