The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11)

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “Did you do much dancing when you were younger?” Kecil asked. “I love to dance.”

  “I danced,” he said, as he remembered dancing with Bethany during the Apprentice’s Ball during his first, brief sojourn on the Hill.

  “I feel old, Kecil,” he told her softly.

  “You look old too,” she told him, standing over him and looking down upon him. “You need to sleep.”

  She lifted his legs and laid them straight on the mattress, then pulled a cover up over him.

  “Good night mighty hero,” she told him softly. “Get a good night’s sleep.”

  Chapter 14

  “Bless the day! When did you get here?” Alec woke to the sound of Sister Glenne opening their door and discovering the two visitors who were unexpectedly present.

  “We came in very late last night, and didn’t want to awaken anyone,” Alec told the sister. “If it’s time to start the day, I’ll go get some sausage from the market place,” he offered as he sat up.

  “That will please the sisters so much,” Glenne said happily. “I’ll leave you alone and go let the others know you’re here,” she added as she closed the door.

  Alec looked over at Kecil, whose eyes were open. “We’re back,” he told her with a grin.

  “And we are going to spend the next few days healing every person in this city, right?” she asked.

  “As soon as I get back from the market and we feed the sisters,” he agreed.

  He pulled his boots back onto his feet, then stopped on his way out the door. “Thank you for taking care of me last night,” he told her, and was gone.

  Alec was greeted warmly by the kitchen staff as he passed through, then he left the mission and walked the rainy streets of the city to reach the market. The vendors had canvases lifted above their goods to keep them dry, and Alec kept his head down as the misty drizzle moistened his skin. He bought the foodstuffs he wanted, and several additional herbs and items to use for healing remedies, then returned to the mission. He left the food in the kitchen, and went up to the third floor room to change into dry clothes.

  “You’ll let me be a lacerta again sometime soon, now that we’re back here, won’t you?” Kecil asked Alec as he removed his damp shirt.

  “I’m sure we can do it tonight,” Alec agreed, and they left the room to go downstairs.

  “Who let you in last night?” Sister Lyster asked as the pair joined the others in the dining room.

  “We found our way in,” Alec answered. “But we think we left the door locked behind us.”

  There was a murmur of protests among those who had been expected to lock the door in the evening,

  “We’ll go immediately to open up our clinic and heal the residents. We’re sorry we were gone so long,” Alec changed the topic. “And if any of you need us to attend to any personal afflictions, please let us know.”

  Not long after, he and Kecil were set up in their makeshift clinic, ready to heal those who walked in off the street. As the rains stopped and people began to walk about the city, doing their jobs and running errands, word of the return of the healers spread, and patients began to appear. Many were happy to know of the return of the people who provided such effective cures, while a few were angry at them for having disappeared for several days.

  Alec watched Kecil provide the healing service. The girl was tentative at first, asking Alec for confirmation of her prognoses and her remedies, but as the morning passed, she gained confidence, and the patients gained confidence in her. Alec helped to provide the application of direct healing power in those cases that required. He drifted away from her and began to treat cases separately by mid-morning, causing the waiting room to empty out by noon.

  They took a break at midday, and they resumed working with the regular stream of customers that continued to arrive after their repast, then retired to their room for the evening, worn out by the constant use of their energies.

  “May I sleep as myself tonight?” Kecil asked as they sat on their mattresses.

  Alec obliged her, and changed her into a lacerta, then quickly fell asleep after the last task of the evening.

  And so it was that they were a man and a lacerta when the guards entered their room early the next morning.

  Chapter 15

  A loud pounding on the door preceded a loud voice that shouted, moments before the door burst open.

  “In the name of the emperor, I am here to take you into custody for investigation of the illegal use of magical powers, namely the healing of otherwise fatal injuries and illnesses,” a man’s voice boomed. And as he spoke, he opened the door, revealing the sleeping Alec and the sleeping lacerta in the room.

  “A monster!” one of the guards behind the speaker screamed as a squad entered the room with swords drawn.

  Kecil scrambled out of her bed and ran to stand behind Alec, as he too rose from his bed. Alec reached for the energy, ready to block the guards from coming further into the room, but found to his shock that he could not grasp the power.

  “Kecil! I can’t find the power!” he exclaimed.

  The guards came into the room and formed a half circle around the two accused criminals.

  “What evil creature is this? Where’s the woman who sleeps here, the other magical healer?” the lead officer asked.

  “There are just the two of us here, and there is no evil here,” Alec replied. He reached again for the energy, and again found it was beyond his grasp, in a way that seemed familiar, though he couldn’t explain how.

  “You will both come with us to the palace for questioning. Is it safe to take the creature?” the officer asked Alec, as he held a spear with its point aimed at Alec’s chest.

  Alec tried for a third time to grasp the energy, and failed once again.

  “She is my friend and companion. She will do no harm to anyone, but I ask that you allow us to travel together,” Alec replied. He reached out and grasped Kecil’s hand in his, then pulled her close.

  The men in the room muttered at the sight of the closeness of the two members of different species.

  “This pagan temple will have to be closed down if they allow such horrific things to occur here,” the officer said.

  “The sisters here knew nothing about us. We’ve stayed up here in the third floor to stay away from them,” Alec said hastily. “The sisters only knew that we were offering healing services to the residents of the neighborhood; they should not be harmed or punished in any way.”

  “Come with us,” the officer said with a motion to his men, who grabbed the two captives.

  Alec reached for his powers for the fourth time, and felt them instantly begin to flow through his soul. He gave a soft sigh, and called upon his Spiritual energy to act as a buffer so that he could use multiple other energies. He called upon his Air powers, and pressed the soldiers away from Kecil and himself, then called upon his Healer energies, and astonished the guards as he reached over to hold Kecil’s wrist and once again changed her from a lacerta to a human.

  The guards in the room were silent with astonishment, and Alec noted that a pair of them seemed to be edging towards the door, preparing to flee from the supernatural events

  “See, there is nothing here to fear – we’re just two young lovers enjoying married life,” Alec said, and as soon as he made the statement that he hoped would distract the guards and lighten the mood, he knew it was a mistake.

  “He hardly qualifies as young, and this isn’t any ordinary couple,” one of the guards whispered to another in a too loud voice.

  “Why don’t you and your soldiers agree to leave this place and not return?” Alec suggested. “We will agree to leave in another day, and never come back to help heal people again. Is that a fair deal?” he asked.

  The officer’s face seemed to show a willingness to accept the proposal. Encouraged, and wanting to smooth over the confrontation, Alec released his hold on the Air energy and released the soldiers from their invisible captivity.

  As s
oon as he did, the officer pulled a knife from the scabbard on his hip and threw it at Alec with reflexes and speed that were beyond the capacity of any human.

  Alec’s reflexes engaged his Warrior powers, and he ducked to the side, then swatted the knife down to the floor, and rolled forward in a somersault that brought him face-to-face with the officer, his hands grabbing for the man’s shoulders in an effort to toss him to the ground.

  The moment his hands touched the man, he sensed something unusual, and realized it was the result of his still-engaged Spiritual powers.

  Who are you? Alec asked. This is no battle of an ordinary man.

  While he was silently transmitting the question, his opponent twisted with uncanny speed and grabbed his hand, then wrenched it mightily, to toss Alec to the ground. The officer immediately pulled his knife and dove at Alec with deadly intent.

  But he failed to finish his dive, as Alec re-engaged his Air powers and blasted the man up against the ceiling, and again pinned the other guards against the walls, away from Kecil.

  “What in the blazes?” he muttered, as he propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at the man hanging from the ceiling above him.

  “I’ll bet when you were younger you could have beaten him in half the time,” Kecil said in the silent room. Alec looked over and saw that she was grinning, unworried about the situation now that Alec appeared to have it under control.

  “It’s not a matter of how fast; it’s a matter of how humanely,” Alec answered. “I wanted to give him a chance to take his men and bow out safely, but he didn’t take the opportunity.

  “So, we’ll do it the harder way now,” he continued.

  “Who are you, and what are you?” Alec asked as he rose to his feet and stood below the man.

  “I’m not going to reveal anything to someone as destructive as you,” the man answered. “You’ll have to kill me.”

  “I don’t want to kill you,” Alec answered slowly. He looked around the room. “You’re the one who I want answers from, so I don’t want to kill you. But these others here,” he motioned around the room at the captive guards, “I’m not so concerned about them. If you don’t give me answers, your men are going to suffer.”

  Alec waited as the man remained silent, then he walked over and opened a window. He pointed at one of the constrained guards, who gave a whoop of fear as he suddenly floated free from the spot where he had been pressed against the wall. Alec’s air currents floated the man over to the window, and then out into the open.

  The man gave a sob of terror as he looked down at the street far below.

  “So now, let’s try this again: who are you and what are you? Why did you come here to attack us?” Alec asked in a deliberate voice as he stood by the window and faced his opponent.

  The man against the ceiling remained silent. After five seconds, the floating guard outside the window gave a chilling scream, as the air that supported him suddenly gave way and he plummeted downward towards the pavement below.

  “Now,” Alec said. “Who’s next?” He looked around the room and pointed at another guard, who floated away from his captivity and screamed as he approached the window.

  “Alec, no, don’t do this to these men!” Kecil spoke up for the first time in the confrontation.

  Alec guided his second hostage out the window, where he floated within view of the men inside.

  “These men are the same type who would have watched you be executed in the arena at Wittsing,” Alec said in an aside to the girl.

  “Are you going to answer?” he turned back to the captive Warrior. “What are you to have such fighting skills?”

  After several seconds, there was no answer, and Alec let the next man fall freely, a brief scream fading as he descended.

  “We still have three more men who can die because of you,” Alec pronounced in an even voice, though his face was growing red with emotion.

  He pointed at one of the remaining guards, who sobbed as he floated loose from his moorings and approached the window. “Tell my wife that I loved her!” he shouted back at his companions as he departed through the bright aperture.

  “Are you ready to kill another innocent man?” Alec asked.

  “I’m not killing them! You are!” the officer said through gritted teeth.

  “If you would give an answer, they all would be alive,” Alec replied. He walked over and place his hand on the man’s foot that dangled overhead. These men are leaving widows and orphans. I hope you can live with yourself for that.

  “You are a monster – talking inside my head. But I can withstand it. I don’t mind dying to protect those who will stand up against you. And we’ll fight you to the end; perhaps we’ll even find a way to raise Alec to fight you again!” the man’s voice rose with emotion as he responded to Alec.

  Suddenly Alec felt his intuition connect the disjointed clues that had been revealed.

  “You think I’m Hellmann?” he asked in astonishment. He began to laugh. “You think you’re fighting against Hellmann by resisting me?

  “They certainly don’t teach history very well around here, do they?” he chuckled.

  He loosened his air currents that held the man against the ceiling, then floated the man outside the window back into the room, immediately followed by the other two men who had been wafted out of the room. Both had been allowed to plummet downward, but not to the level of the street below – they had been held as hidden captives out of sight.

  “Alec!” Kecil shouted. “That was mean!”

  “Not as mean as actually killing them!” Alec answered.

  “I’m not Hellmann,” he turned to look at the still captive officer. “I’m the one who defeated Hellmann – twice.

  “The monster is locked away. What is this nonsense you’re spouting?” he asked.

  “The nonsense is your claim!” the officer declared heatedly. “Hellmann was beaten by the ingenaire, Alec, the consort of Caitlen, the Demonslayer, and the Duke of Valeriane, generations ago.”

  “And what became of Alec? He went to live in the mountains, as founder of Ridgeclimb, then left the mountains on a quest and fought Hellmann again, didn’t I?” Alec interrupted. “And I’ve stayed away for the past century and a half.”

  “And now you consort with lacertii?” the officer asked sarcastically. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

  “It’s impressive that you know the name of the lacertii,” Alec commented. “But Kecil is a girl who I found as a captive and saved from a savage death. She is not my consort; she is my ward, who I will take back to her own land when the time is right.

  “What would even make you think that anyone you encounter could be Hellmann? He is locked away, banished forever,” Alec insisted.

  “There are those who have,” the officer groped for a word, “the ability to sense things, and they report a feeling of a rising evil,” the man reported.

  “Are you talking about the Lokasennii?” Alec asked.

  “All of you,” he swept his pointing finger around at all the guards, “leave this room while we talk. You stay,” he directed the officer.

  “Are you talking about the Lokasennii? Are you an Ajax? Is this some conspiracy of the old races?” Alec asked when the room held only the three of them – the officer, Kecil, and Alec.

  The officer’s face showed the conflict within his soul as he debated how to answer.

  “I’ve been to Valer; I’ve met the members of the Council back in the days when I was Duke. I honor the Ajacii,” Alec tried to comfort the man. “Just as I’ve been to the home of the Lokasennii. I know your races live their lives of watchful isolation from the world. I cannot imagine what would cause the Lokasennii to feel the emergence of an evil so great as to recollect the horror of Hellmann.

  “Is there a lokasenna here in the city, someone we can go talk to?” Alec asked.

  “No, there are none here. They seldom leave their own village; when one of them came to seek us, we knew there was a serious proble
m,” the officer said. “I was sent here to Vincennes, while other Ajacii were sent to other cities.

  “Are you really the Godslayer?” the man asked.

  “Hellmann wasn’t a god,” Alec said.

  “You killed a god?” Kecil asked in astonishment.

  “I didn’t do it alone; the other races gave me strength. I’m sure you know the story,” Alec said to the man. A germ of an idea suddenly sprouted in the back of his mind. “Would you mind if we went to speak to the Lokasennii? It’ll only take a few hours at most,” he asked.

  “You can go to their home?” the man asked skeptically.

  “What is your name? Where do you live in the palace?” Alec asked.

  “I am Colonel Thyne, and I stay in the northern officers’ quarters,” the man said.

  “To the west of the stables?” Alec asked.

  “You know the palace grounds?” Thyne asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I lived there for sixty years,” Alec replied. “We’ll come find you there when we return.

  “Would you give these water skins to the sisters, and tell them to offer a small cup to anyone who asks for healing?” Alec asked as he motioned to the pile of skins that he and Kecil had brought back from the Healing Spring in the Dominion. “The water is very healthy,” he added.

  He turned to Kecil.

  “We’re leaving now?” she asked, as she stepped into a tight hug with him, without even waiting for confirmation.

  “We’ll see you at the palace, before nightfall,” Alec told Thyne. Then he engaged his Traveler energy, and the pair disappeared from the room, leaving the colonel alone, shaking his head and wondering if he would ever see the strange pair again.

  “Everyone back in here and grab water skins to take downstairs to the old ladies,” he shouted to his guards.

  Chapter 16

  Alec and Kecil materialized at the trailhead, where the path from the outside world opened upon the view of the greenery of Warm Springs. The weather was mild, with ice and snow visible on the sides of the mountains overhead. The pair of newly emergent arrivals unwrapped from their embrace.