The towers were identical in shape with covers on top that blocked the view of what was inside. The stone architecture would make it impossible for the rebels to attack effectively with their simple weapons. I could see now why they lost the battle the first time around. I would need to move quickly to ensure the towers' destruction.
I continued to the front gate which opened slowly at my arrival. Inside, a pleasant looking old Mage was the first to greet me. “It’s interesting to see another Mage this late,” she said. “Are you stopping for the night before heading to another town?”
“Y-yes I am,” I answered taking the easy out.
“Then I recommend The Dinged Cauldron in Sector B,” she said pointing to a cluster of trees to her right.
“Thank you very much,” I smiled.
“Enjoy your stay in Willow’s Trap, Keeper,” she smiled.
I nodded and headed for the cluster of trees she had pointed too.
“Lower the bridge to Sector B!’ she called out.
A bridge dropped down from the trees so I could access the upper level. The entire town was structured like the rebel’s camp. If it wasn’t for the burnt section and the wall this all would have been one forest. Everything in the capital was grander though. Houses weren’t hastily built, bridges more stable looking and grand shops that occupied an entire branch. There were even multiple levels.
I can see why the rebels want this place back, Cathy said. It’s beautiful.
Let’s do our best not to destroy it while we are here.
For once, I agree with you on that, Cathy chuckled.
With the sun dropping from the sky, the rush of citizens was minimal. The few Evenawks I passed refused to make eye contact as they hurried about their business. I noticed a few Mages standing watch like city guards and I headed in their direction.
“Excuse me,” I said as I approached a Mage only a few cycles older then me. “I’m looking for the Dinged Cauldron.”
“Next level up, far side,” he answered pointing.
“Thanks,” I said leaving him for one of the bridges to the next level.
The Dinged Cauldron was a small house with multiple levels, occupying its own branch. I entered the bottom level and was welcomed by the smell of good food and quiet chatter. Small groups of Mages sat at tables drinking and only a few groups actually took the time to check to see who had entered the building.
I walked up to the bar area which had a Mage serving drinks to a few patrons. My first thought was how weird it was to see a Mage serving, but would you really want the people your oppressing serving your food?
Nothing wrong with a little poison with your brew, Cathy said. Builds character.
I signalled for the bartender and he walked over.
“What can I get for you?” he asked after checking out my hat.
“A room, please,” I answered. “If you have one available.”
“I’ll check,” he said as he walked away looking at me weird.
Was I too polite?
Probably, Cathy said. Next time spit in his face.
That might be over doing it.
That’s what I would do, she said.
And you wonder why you were killed.
“Excuse me, Keeper,” a voice said behind me.
“Yes?” I asked turning around.
The Mage standing there was a short, red head with a smile plastered on his face. “Can I have a moment of your time?”
“Of course, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said as he grabbed my shoulder.
Electricity burst through my body as I dropped to the ground twitching.
“The Great Desroche just wants to have a quick chat with you,” he smirked as everything turned black.
***
“Wake up, Keeper,” a voice called from the other side of darkness.
I opened my eyes and reached for my head. The feeling of my hands tied together helped wake me up faster. The dark gloves that covered my hands are the one pair of gloves that I wished to never wear.
The Binds of Silence.
I didn’t need Cathy’s help with memory to remember these distinctive gloves. This was serious trouble.
“Ah, you’ve noticed the gloves,” the voice said drawing my attention.
A tall, slender looking Mage stood on the other side of bars smiling at me. I looked around at the stone room around me. This was obviously a prison cell.
I was definitely in some serious trouble.
“Now that you seem more awake, allow me to introduce myself. I’m The Great Desroche,” the Mage said smugly.
I just stared at him in shock.
“You know, the Mage you were sent here to kill by those dirty buzzards,” Desroche continued.
Andy, snap out of it, Cathy said.
“Come on, boy, speak. I haven’t even activated the Binds yet, so there’s no need to be...Silent,” he chuckled at his own joke.
“How...?” I wheezed.
“Quite easily,” he answered. “When the Evenawks claimed both the Mine and the Valley I knew there had to be an outside force helping them. The Evenawks aren’t that clever so I sent Mage Spencer...you know, the red haired gentleman, to wait to see if anyone gets dropped off to act as the ‘Inside Man’ for their attack here. I am assuming they are going to attack, right? In the morning?” I didn’t respond. “That’s what I thought. So, Mage Spencer went and picked you up.” With his little explanation complete he smiled, proud of himself. “Those Evenawks are so predictable. The good news is that you’re going to have a front row ticket to their destruction. The bad news is...you won’t be able to understand it. Goodbye Keeper.”
He raised his hand and the Binds glowed green. My mind grew heavy as all the energy started to flow out of me.
Focus, Andy, we can beat this, my brain said.
My mind started to feel lighter as a wave of happiness washed over.
So much happiness.
Where is all this happiness coming from?
Andy, My brain said firmly.
My butt hurt as I landed on it. Why did it do that?
ANDY! My brain screamed.
Chapter 33
The walls are brightly decorated with smiling animals watching over me. The animals make me feel safe. Safe is good. Safe means I don’t have to go outside.
Short bookcases line the wall so they don’t block the animals from watching over me. All the books I could ever want filled the bookcases.
I could spend forever here.
The door opened up and a pretty brown-haired lady walked into the room. She looked like she was in a hurry but seemed happy when she saw me.
“Here you are,” she said. “I’ve searched your entire mind looking for you.”
“Of course I’m here,” I replied. “This is the safest place for me.”
“No, it’s not,” she said walking over to me. “You have to wake up. Morning is coming quickly and the Evenawks will be killed.”
I looked at here confused. She wasn’t making any sense. Perhaps she was talking about a book.
“What book is that? I would like to read it,” I said.
“Yeah, we don’t have time for this,” she said.
My face started hurting after she hit it with her hand. I stumbled back and landed on my butt causing more hurt.
“Why did the pretty lady hurt me?” I asked as tears welled up in my eyes.
“Huh, usually that would’ve worked,” she said. “The Binds really have a hold on your mind.”
She still wasn’t making sense but I didn’t want to ask her what she meant. She would hit me again and I don’t want to be hit. I climbed to my feet and started to back away.
“I think... you should go,” I said softly.
She walked over to me quickly and grabbed me. “This is serious. You need to wake up.”
She started shaking me and everything went all blurry as my head started pounding.
“Stop that,” I said as she
stopped. “You’re hurting me.”
She looked at me as if she was sad. “I know, honey. I don’t want to but you need to leave this place. You have to wake up.”
“It’s not safe out there,” I said.
“It’s safer than in here,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Because I’m in here and I’m going to keep hurting you until you wake up,” she said as she shook me.
“Stop!” I exclaimed.
“Wake up!” she responded.
My face hurt again as she hit it.
***
I jolted awake and grabbed my face. It didn’t hurt but the strange glowing gloves made me confused. The room too was different. Not safe and happy like before. Dark and different. Different wasn’t good.
Ok, here’s what you need to do, my brain said.
“Where did the pretty lady go?” I asked.
Focus Andy! My brain exclaimed.
“Who’s Andy?” I asked.
You are, it answered.
“Oh,” I said softly.
Now focus, I want you to look at the shiny gloves, it continued.
I looked at the gloves. They are so strange with glowing lights. It was like they are a part of my skin but a different colour.
I want you to now focus power into your hands, my brain said.
“How can I do that?” I asked.
Think about it really hard. Focus on your hands, it said.
I focused and thought about my hands. They started to get a little tingly.
“It tingles,” I said.
Good, make it more tingly, my brain said. I will make sure it is the right spell.
I don’t know what a spell is but if my brain wanted me to focus on my hands then I was going to. Brains are supposed to be smart.
Yes, yes we are. Now keep making your hands tingle, it replied.
I continued to focus on making my hands tingly. It took a couple of tries but I could feel it growing getting more and more tingly. It was also starting to get really itchy and I couldn’t scratch it because of the gloves.
“It’s itchy make it stop,” I whined.
Almost there, honey, my brain said.
Blue lines started to race down my arms and disappear under the gloves. I panicked at the thought that I would be turning into some sort of blue fuzzy creature.
Ok, push out the fuzzy feeling into the gloves, my brain said. Push out with all your strength.
I pushed and the fuzzy feeling stopped making my hands itchy. The gloves started to shake erratically before exploding, revealing my blue glowing hands. The fog of my mind slowly started to lift as I sat stunned at what happened.
What’s your name? A voice in my head said.
I searched my memory for a second. “Andy. Andy Holcombe.”
Good. Who am I? She asked.
“Cathy,” I responded.
Good. Now, WHAT am I? She asked.
“The annoying Demon who I failed to remove from my head,” I responded playfully.
Cathy laughed. I would have preferred ‘my personal saviour’ but it’s good that you have your mind back.
“Thanks for that,” I said looking at the broken Binds. “What happened?”
Demons aren’t affected by the Binds of Silence, she explained. I was able to find you in your mind and help you cast a spell to break the Binds hold on you. It seems our combined power was a little too much and we destroyed them.
“That explains the glowing hands then,” I said holding them up.
We’re still joined because we need to break out, Cathy said. With our combined power we can destroy the bars and stone of the prison.
I held up both of my hands towards the bars and forced power out. A Pulse exploded from my hands knocking me back a step. It hit the bars causing them AND the stone that held them in place to explode. I was free. The blue faded until it disappeared and I felt the drain the Binds had caused me.
Whoa, I’m a little dizzy now, Cathy said. You can take it from here. Be ready and let’s take out Desroche.
Sure enough a couple of Evenawks in guard's clothing appeared to check out the destroyed wall. When they saw me they immediately readied their spear and started to advance.
“Easy now, I’m with the rebellion. I’m here to help,” I said to them.
My words fell on deaf ears as they continued their advance. The look in their eyes suggested that their minds weren’t their own anymore. They were nothing but cruel puppets for the Mages.
Reaching out with both arms, I launched an Ice Bolt at each of them. The Bolts hit them in their chests and they dropped to the ground, hopefully free from their mental prison. I staggered from the release of energy and shook my head. I needed a little more time before using that much power again.
I left the prison cell and headed for the nearest window. It was still dark out but the light was just starting to show on the horizon. Dawn approached quickly. I looked down to check my surroundings. They seemed to have brought me right to the government’s main building. I couldn’t have asked for a better stroke of luck. In Desroche’s arrogance and belief that the Binds of Silence would keep me docile, he has put me in the same building as him.
‘The good news is that you will have a front row ticket’, Cathy quoted. The bad news is that he didn’t expect me to be part of the equation.
You are still the best mistake I have ever made.
Just know that you owe me huge and I will collect one day, she said.
Deal.
I broke away from the window and headed to a staircase at the end of the prison hallway. The only way to go was down and I needed to be careful not to be seen. My Illusion spell would be enough on the brainwashed Evenawks but any Mages that I come up to would be a different story.
Desroche could have all the Mages closer to the gate preparing for the battle, Cathy suggested.
With the fire towers is it really necessary?
Someone has to power those, Cathy said.
True enough.
I stopped and stretched out with my mind. There was plenty of energy but I was looking for the most powerful source. The main guard unit looked to be composed of the brainwashed Evenawks; their minds were clouded but still emitted a small amount of energy. A couple Mage minds could be felt in the distance, a couple of levels below me. Finally, I found the largest source of energy on the level below the prison. This had to be Desroche.
He was in a room with other familiar energy sources. I studied them and happily recognized it as the Staff from the Forge of Kings and the Demon’s Bane flower. Desroche was going through my possessions by himself in preparation of the battle.
I was troubled by the thought that I couldn’t feel an energy source that could be Mage Spencer. He would have to be close by but aside from the Evenawks I couldn’t feel anything. He had apparently stalked me through the forest when I landed so it’s possible he has a special talent for hiding from Mages. I was stuck looking for him the old fashion way.
He would be around his master, Cathy said. Slaves like him always stick close to their master.
That’s even more dangerous. I can’t take on two of them at the same time.
We’ll figure it out when we get there, Cathy said.
I continued down the stairs but had to walk past the floor Desroche was on to the nearest door. I would have to find my way back up but a quick search with my mind revealed a small amount of brainwashed Evenawk minds.
I opened up the door a crack and peek through. I was on the lowest floor main entrance; Desroche would be two floors above me. A couple of the Evenawk guards stood watch from opposite sides of the room. I stretched out with my mind and planted the Illusion spell in both of them.
I opened the door more and slipped into the room, making sure the door closed softly behind me. The Evenawk guard stood no farther then a metre away from me but didn’t react to my presence. He continued to look across the room bored. I walked out into the middle of the room and stood
between them. Both were looking in my direction but couldn’t see me. I started to dance.
What are you doing? Cathy asked.
I’ve always wanted to try this.
Wonderful, start moving, Cathy replied.
I walked away down the corridor that led from the main hall to a lounge like room. It was hard to know exactly what this room was used for. My knowledge of Evenawk housing is limited.
It could be a dining room, Cathy suggested.
Where’s the kitchen then?
They probably don’t have kitchens, Cathy answered.
Soft voices from the other side of the room drew my attention. As they grew louder, I could tell that they weren't the voices of Evenawks. I slowly backed into the hallway and looked for a hiding place. Seeing a small door, I quickly opened the door and entered the dark room.
I pressed my ear to the door and listened as the two voices drew louder. They hurried past the door and the voices grew quieter until they disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the dark room. I couldn’t make out what it was but found a lamp and lit it with a small Fire Ball. A bathroom/infirmary slowly revealed itself in the light.
Now I’m really confused.
I think It’s safe to assume that after the Mages took over the made some minor changes to the Evenawks house to make it more suitable for them, Cathy explained. Assume nothing is what it appears.
Fair deal.
I turned around and grabbed the door knob.
Wait, Cathy said. Check for Red Jacket Honey. Maybe you could rub it onto something and wrap it around Desroche’s or Spencer’s head. It would buy you sometime.
Why would there be Red Jacket Honey here?
Your memory really does suck, Cathy chuckled. Natalie said that it was used as a healing ointment. The Evenawks would have it ready to heal any wounds.
I searched through the infirmaries supplies and surely enough there was a container of Red Jacket Honey.
Good call.
I put the container in my pocket and noticed for the first time that the maps were gone. It made sense for Desroche to take everything out of my pockets before throwing me in jail. I would have to get those back. I crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. The main hall and corridor were empty and I exited the infirmary.
The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 Page 27