by Billy Wong
"I didn't mean to insult you. I only meant that those with a certain education and upbringing might be more inclined to think with their minds and less with their hearts, a trait which could prove valuable here." Yet there was still an undertone of contempt in his voice. It was utterly inconsistent with her previous impression of the knight, and she realized that was why it had taken her off guard and so easily driven her to anger.
She let the subject drop. "How's Adam doing? Has anything happened since we left?"
"He's fine," he said, too nervously.
Rose noticed he hadn't bothered to address her second question, and her wariness grew. Jacob had little more to say, and soon bid her farewell and fled the tavern as she stared after him. What was wrong with him?
Less than half an hour later, Derrick and Finn returned with bad news. "Lord Heron has been assassinated by a disgruntled maid, and Adam freed the killer!" Finn revealed.
So that was why Jacob had been so upset. But why wouldn't he tell her, unless he was involved somehow? Of course. He must have been protecting Adam. It surprised Rose he would go against his duty to the law, and a fearful suspicion tugged at her mind.
Proudly, Finn continued, "When we got to the manor, we found a knight who had no idea what he was doing playing at lord. He told us that he couldn't open up the ruins without permission from Lord Heron—who's dead! So I threatened him a bit and changed his mind, and he said the ruins weren't his problem and we could do whatever we wanted." Now he noticed the intense worry on Rose's face. "What's wrong?"
Instead of answering, she asked Derrick, "There were small pots on the wagon when you crashed, right?" He nodded. "Did any of them remain intact?"
After a moment, he said, "I think so. Actually, I think I saw some in the manor when I was staying there. Why? You think..?"
Rose's sinking feeling had grown steadily as Derrick answered. "I wouldn't have expected Adam to aid a murderer, and a maid killing her lord isn't exactly commonplace. Jacob was acting pretty weird too. If it was only one of them, I wouldn't be so sure, but with three acting so strangely after they brought the Clarity-vessels home—yes, I suspect they're all possessed." She remembered something. "Didn't we read that the Clarities were naturally drawn to each other?"
He nodded, and realization dawned in his eyes. "They will surely find some excuse, now that Rose has told them, to release the other Clarities. We have to hurry to the Archmage's Studio!" But Rose and Finn were already moving.
#
Jacob arrived at the shed, where he told the tale of the Clarities. Soon, Adam realized both he and Jacob had probably been affected. "I know what Rose said about the effects the Clarities have on people, but I don't think they influence everyone badly. If we are both hosts to these entities, as I believe, that is evidence people can be improved by them.
"I have not engaged in senseless violence since my exposure. Instead, I risked myself to save Elaine from unjust imprisonment, something I would have been afraid to do before. You have not done anything wrong either Jacob, am I right?"
The knight nodded, and Adam continued. "Rose and her friends cannot be allowed to destroy the Clarities. The thought of the deed calls to mind killing children for not knowing right from wrong." He felt a strange sense of kinship towards the bodiless minds, which he knew was brought on by the presence within him. He did not mind.
"They would be far better put to use enhancing the minds of noble-hearted people of power, who would then be able to make a greater difference for the better. Though we must make sure the heart of such a person is true, else we will regret giving this blessing to them."
At this, Elaine broke into tears. Adam darted to her side. "What's wrong?" he asked, though he feared the answer.
Sobbing, she revealed at last, "I-I did it, Adam. I killed your uncle. H-he wouldn't let us be together, so I did it so... so you could be lord, as you de-deserve, and we could... stay with each other. And, I also told him... about the wagon crash. I wanted to keep you for my-myself... away from Rose."
Adam was taken aback. All this time, she had let him protect her thinking she was innocent, when she had killed his kin! And to think she had thought Rose a threat to her—Rose might be a good person, but physically she was like a giant monster! Furious, he drew his sword and raised it for a fatal strike.
But Jacob grabbed his arm, and said with a steady voice, "No. She erred, but she loves you, and her mistake, grave as it was, was brought on by the Clarity. You cannot kill her for that. We must teach her to control her emotions, and thus join us in our enlightenment. Do not allow your own emotions to cloud your mind, Adam."
Slowly, Adam lowered his sword. Jacob turned to the sobbing Elaine. "Help us in our quest. Adam told me you have gained impressive skill with the sword, and through this you can begin to redeem yourself. Should Rose and her friends stand in our way, we will need all the help we can get, for she and Finn are the mightiest of warriors." The girl looked to Adam for approval, and reluctantly, still trembling with fury, he nodded.
#
The pile of huge rocks, any of which would have taken three normal men to lift, was swiftly dismantled by Rose and Finn as Derrick looked on. Apparently, they had arrived before Adam's group by virtue of being familiar with the location of the ruins and traveling on horseback.
"I kind of wish they had gotten here right before us," Finn mused. "Then we'd have caught them trying to get these out of the way, and could've beaten them up before going in. Should we wait for them here?"
Throwing a heavy rock aside, Rose said, "We're better off going in there and destroying the Clarities first, anyway. What if they luck out and find another entrance out here?" Or killed the three of them, she thought but didn't say. The issue decided, they descended into the ruins.
"Are you going to kill them?" Derrick asked, features tight with dread.
Rose frowned, equally worried about how far they might have to go. "They're good people at heart, so we'll try to avoid it if we can. But it'll be tough, with Jacob's skill and the Clarities' boosts."
She kept walking through gray halls, surprised how much larger the Archmages' Studio was than they had realized before. They knew from their research the main storage chamber would be at the bottom, but with no map, had to find the way down themselves. Luckily, a set of stairs fairly close to the entrance led to the lowest level. It was strangely cold, drawing comments from Derrick about magical climate control, and the halls branched out into a freezing maze. At last they came into a wider room, at the back of which the great doors of the storage chamber loomed.
As they walked towards the portal, a young, powerful male voice stopped them. "I know you mean well. But I assure you we know better what to do with the Clarities than you. By spreading them among those who have noble intentions and the power to effect change in the world, we can make life better for all people. So give up your destructive course and stand aside. Otherwise, we'll be forced to do you unnecessary harm."
Rose and her companions turned to see Adam behind them. With him stood the knight and the maid, armed and garbed for battle.
Chapter 5
They faced each other before the entrance, weapons drawn. Rose stepped forward and attempted to reason with their apparent leader. "Adam, you have to stop. You know your mind—minds, rather—are not entirely your own. Once, you went into grave danger in pursuit of justice. Now, you risk the lives of innocents in order to free your uncle's killer! I know you wouldn't condone this stupidity if you were yourself. Let us save you!"
The first reply came from Elaine. "This is who we are now! You do not want to save us, but to destroy us, and that will surely not happen!" She spoke with utter conviction, and Rose knew she could no longer see herself and the Clarity as separate.
Jacob spoke next, contemptuously as before. "It is clear to me that you are jealous of the blessing we have been granted. My young lord's vision will lead us into a better future. It would honor you to aid us, but instead you oppose us. We will defeat you, and prove th
at our cause is just!"
Rose sighed. Their words were just about what she expected, but disappointing nonetheless. She had hoped these good-hearted people would have the sense to see their plight, but no. As with most victims, they were blinded by the Clarity, and saw the alteration of their minds as enlightenment.
She tried a different approach. "You have no idea of what violence you're about to unleash on the world. The 'enlightenment' you seek to give comes bundled with an unhealthy dose of fanaticism. What will you do when those you 'help' wreak havoc upon the land? How far will you go to stop them and correct your mistakes?"
Now Adam spoke, his voice full of power and authority. "We will learn and do whatever is needed to build the beautiful world we dream of. All rulers make mistakes, but only the wisest have the humility to admit to and correct them. This is what the Clarities were made for, by the greatest archmages of the Old World, to overcome human limitations so that we could achieve our fullest potential.
"Do you not trust in their design? In the days when humanity had their guidance, the lowliest of commoners lived more richly than the greatest lords today! We must not allow their greatest creations, which have never been given a chance to fulfill their purpose, to go to waste.
"I know you think the Clarities corrupt our minds and destroy our conscience and restraint. But I believe they are a tool as any other, and mastery will come over time. Look, Rose! The Clarity yearns for me to kill you now and remove your threat immediately, but do I move against you? Our control over them increases every day as we seek to use them with the precision and discretion any complex tool demands.
"A few errors are not enough to justify destroying treasures as great as these, which have the potential to improve the lives of all those you yourself would seek to help. Already, they have allowed us to learn more than most do in their entire lives. Can we be far from regaining the moral judgment you claim we have lost? Imagine if hundreds of scholars, judges, and priests were given the gift we have received. How different would the world be?"
His ability to retain his sense of self as separate from the Clarity surprised Rose. She could see the logic in many of his arguments, and did wonder what the Clarities could do for humanity if they could be controlled. But the current reality was that was impossible, and she did not waver in her resolve.
She remembered the way they had released vile criminals to aid in freeing their murderous own. Even if they could someday relearn moral responsibility, they were too dangerous to allow, for even one more day, to continue their deadly quest for theoretical peace. For any more, let alone hundreds of, such powerful, intelligent, ambitious, and utterly ruthless entities to arise could only prove disastrous.
Finn stepped beside her and said, "These 'tools' you use weren't even made to be wielded by you, but by the archmages who made them. And as far as your blind faith in their wisdom goes, where are they and their perfect world now?"
He had a good point. Rose had met, and killed, one of the last Old World archmages. In her eyes, he had not seemed very wise or benevolent.
Now Finn looked Adam in the eye and grinned. "You say you don't kill us now because you're able to control the Clarity's desire to do so? Rose, I think for all its arrogance, in whatever passes for its heart it's afraid of us! Your kind didn't have any qualms about trying to kill Rose last time, did you? I suppose even bloodthirsty demons would tire of trying and failing to kill."
He had clearly intended to draw their ire, but while Elaine scowled and almost began forward, Adam stood with a confused look. "Of what do you speak? I did not try to kill anyone. The actions of others who had less control are not my own. In fact, I think it would be tragic if any of you died today. But it is time for us to do what we came here to do. I swear to all of you that I will not allow any more unnecessary deaths in the name of our cause—except for yours, if you do not move. I hope my word will be good enough to convince you not to throw your lives away."
Rose studied him closely. She supposed he was telling the truth, as he saw it. But even if he could refrain from going too far in his pursuit of an ideal world, how could he say that for the hundreds he planned to expose to the Clarities? For a second, hope surged within her. "Adam, you don't even really know most, if not all, the people you plan to invest this power in. How can you know what their true natures, which the Clarities would bring to the surface, are?"
But he proved his misguided resolve unshakable. "I will use all of my newfound knowledge to make sure I pick the right people. Only those who have shown a great desire to do good shall be granted the archmages' gift."
"People can do the same things for many different reasons," Derrick said, "and some don't even know what they really want the most. Every time you expose people to the Clarities, you risk creating monsters."
Adam's response crushed Rose's hope. "Yes, I know. But I believe enough new beacons of light will be created to snuff out the darkness of whatever monsters may be. Every great endeavor has its risks, but what we have to gain makes the risks I take seem insubstantial in comparison."
Rose sighed in exasperation. "Why can nothing we say change your mind?"
Adam raised his sword. "Why can't I change yours?"
She began, "Because I know-"
With a little smile, he finished for her, "I am right." Jacob and Elaine charged Finn and Derrick, and the clanging of steel rang furiously through the air.
"I won't kill you," Rose said, as much for herself as to Adam, "if I can help it. I'll simply stop you. We already know how to banish the Clarity from a mind. Maybe when you're cured, you'll see the error of your ways." With that, she rushed him. He walked to meet her, holding his sword as if poised to strike.
She held back on her first blow, still unsure if he could match her. He parried easily and launched into a furious whirlwind of cuts, which jarred her sword back and forth in her hands. She deflected a slash with force enough to put Adam on his heels and stepped after him, preparing to unleash her true skill. Then she felt more than heard a movement at her back, and tried to spin away and dodge to the side. But her attacker must have adjusted their aim, for she felt a sharp blade slice into her back and glance off her ribs. Turning, she saw it was Jacob who had struck her from behind.
Damn. She'd been hoping they would each pair up with one of her group. What was going on with the others? She glanced towards them, and saw to her relief Finn and Derrick both alive and seemingly uninjured. Her relief changed to aggravation when she realized they were busy doubling-team the retreating Elaine, swift as a cat and totally on the defensive. Her opponents must have thought to pick her off first, and then deal with the others. Clever. Well, a simple yell would solve that.
"Guys, help me!" she cried, and quickly regretted it as a distracted Derrick took a long gash down his arm and dropped his sword. Elaine lunged, stabbing at him, but Finn shoved him aside and met her attack. She broke off and skipped away, Finn's mace finding only air in her place.
Blood running down her back, Rose met the eyes of both men circling her. "This is the way noble heroes work?"
Jacob did sound sad as he said, "It is the way victors work. We do not want a single one of us to die here. Honor must be secondary to that." Grimacing, Rose prepared for a world of pain, and without warning charged directly at Jacob.
The knight leveled his broad-bladed spear at her, trying to keep her at bay. In response, Rose's sword batted the polearm aside with enough force to turn Jacob slightly to his right. She plowed into his body, lifting him off his feet for a moment before dropping him hard onto his back. Dazed, he could only gape while Rose raised her sword as if to chop him in half.
She spun around instead, slashing in a wide arc at Adam who she heard coming from behind. He leapt back and out of reach, but also instinctively raised his slender sword to block—a serious mistake, as the collision of blades broke it at the hilt. She turned again to Jacob and chopped down at him.
He had recovered sufficiently to roll away, but not quite
quickly enough as blood welled from a deep gash along his left side and he cursed in pain. Adam drew two long knives and started again at Rose's back, but the look she shot him made him hesitate. The shock in his eyes told her things certainly weren't going as planned.
#
Elaine danced aside from Finn's jab, and his frustration continued to grow. Women made the most tiresome opponents. At least with Rose, she took her hits like a man and made him feel somewhat capable, but this one wouldn't even give him a proper brawl! He parried a stab of her rapier, and already she was backpedaling away. As she repeated her pattern of attack and retreat, the angry heat on his back shot up another notch. He tried to rush and grab her, but she darted out of the way, and he parried her retaliatory thrust with a growl. His mace swept down as she ducked forward towards him, but she rolled aside, leaving his blow to crack the stone floor below.
Finn thought he could easily have beaten her in an earnest fight, but this was more like a close-range chase. The woman's offense consisted merely of short, cautious pokes that left little room for counterattack, and he was forced to hold back much of his speed and power to avoid accidentally killing her. He wished Derrick would come back to his aid. But no such luck, as a quick look found the young man sitting down, trying with little success to bandage his wounded arm using his shirt. It was up to Finn alone to finish in time to help Rose against the unfavorable odds she faced.
#
The now limping Jacob continued to jab at Rose with his spear, while Adam circled around waiting for openings to dart in and slash quickly at her before backing off again. Though he could do little damage, he did distract her for his mentor. Jacob's spear drank of her blood again, once stabbing into her shoulder and then grazing both her forearm and side with a thrust at her midsection she could not fully dodge.
Gritting her teeth as blood streamed from her wounds, Rose hit the long knife in Adam's left hand. On contact with her massive sword it flew from his grip, and he winced flexing that hand. Jacob rushed to his aid, but a flurry of slashes opened gashes on his thigh and chest, and the respect for her in his eyes grew.