by J A Raikes
Lydia and August didn’t seem to be quite so lucky. I don’t know if there was an explosion or if they were simply ambushed by all those cultists from earlier, but they looked pretty dire. Both of them were breathing, but it was shallow and labored. Lydia’s brown curly hair was partially disintegrated and she was missing an eyebrow. Her face was completely swollen to the point where one eye was forced shut by the skin. Her garments had been mostly destroyed and her skin down the left side of her body was either puffy white blisters or missing altogether. Harris had done what he could to bandage her, but there wasn’t enough in the medkit to cover her.
August was the worst of the lot. He was also burned and bruised all over. I gathered from the state of his face and torso that he had probably been in front when they were ambushed. His entire front was mangled and blisters, cuts and large sections of missing skin marred the once spry, excited young man. On his right arm, a small tattoo was visible, a cog surrounding a woven cord superimposed on a burst of stars.
Thankfully, everyone was at least alive.
The silence was a nice reprieve from the hellscape we just endured, though it left me alone with my thoughts and Galen Thornsby had just dropped a bombshell in my lap. I was more confused than ever, and the man sitting bound before me seemed to have answers. I wanted to pepper him with questions, but I doubted he would just willingly open up and tell me everything I needed to know. Instead, I let it be and tried to help Harris to the best of my ability, which is admittedly poor.
It took an hour or so for help to arrive. Maybe it was shorter than that, but sitting in the cellar with Thornsby staring at me, rarely blinking, made time seem to drag on. Finally, several armed guards like the ones I had seen in the Council chamber rushed into the cellar, guns drawn, working as a unit. Upon seeing us they signaled the ‘all clear’ and immediately went to work on the wounded. They pulled small spheres from their pockets much like the one Harris told me about when they saved my life from falling through the sky. One of the officers held the sphere above Giles and activated it. The air around Giles distorted and he began levitating off the ground. The officer then held the sphere and was able to easily lift Giles out without hefting him over his shoulder and it seemed as though Giles was weightless, like being in water. A few other officers did the same for August, Lydia and Percipity and they brought the injured Ekori out of the room.
Two other officers, clad in more than the standard basic uniform, with thick plated armor and helmets marched down the stairs with a vaguely casket-shaped metal canister between them. They marched over to Thornsby and lifted him, still bound by Eva’s Adrynin staff and placed him inside the canister. Eva switched off the button on the staff and deactivated the forces binding him. The officers then shut the lid and fastened the lock on the side. There was a viewing window for the containee to see out to the world and Thornsby laid there, staring blankly ahead. Everything about him gave me shivers. I was grateful when the officers hauled him up the stairs and out of sight.
“What was that?” I asked, leaning over to Harris.
“Those were members of the Hand. They’re the elite police force of the city and are specially trained to deal with rogue Lusynos users. I’m not entirely sure what they put him in, but I’ve heard they’ve created special devices to help mute the abilities of those apt in Lusynos if ever their powers get out of control. Or, I guess in this case, if they get out of control.”
“I’d say a little of both on this one.”
He smirked and elbowed me in the side.
Eva took a moment to quietly discuss the situation in the secret chamber down the hall with the lead officer and suggested perhaps backup might be necessary for clean up.
“I’m sorry ma’am, that will have to wait,” he replied, his tone clipped and official. “There are a significant number of areas throughout the city which are in need of large-scale decontamination and this situation is curbed for the time being. I will add the location to the list and we will get to it as time allots.”
She nodded and bid him her thanks and then walked over to me and Harris.
“Well, what now?” She said.
“Food,” Harris said, a hand on his stomach. She smiled at him and nodded.
We gathered our things and made our way up the cellar stairs back to the kitchen. I stopped a moment as we reached the top of the stairs and the other two turned back to look at me.
“I…” My voice trailed off. I’m not sure what to say. It’s been a crazy two days since the first rumbling happened and I pulled myself off the bed. I hadn’t even seen the city that I was trapped in and now, for them, everything was going to go back to normal. But nothing here was normal for me. I was a stranger, trapped in a strange place where magic and controlling machines with your mind were a normal part of everyday life and was just told that I was the harbinger of doom. I have no idea how I got here and that leaves me few options for finding out how to make it home.
The look on my face must have said something because both Eva and Harris walked back down the steps and stood next to me. Eva put a hand around my shoulders and squeezed gently.
“We’ll figure it out together,” she said.
“Yeah. We’ll be here to help you and we’ll find a way to get you home, okay?” Harris chimed in.
I smiled and felt my face flush. I knew the future was going to be a rough stretch, but having people to rely on was going to make it easier. I nodded my thanks and we continued up the stairs. Back in the kitchen, light flooded into the room now and it seemed like mid-morning. The light was bright and fresh, though not direct.
We walked back through the kitchen and into the great room where the banquet was set. We walked to the front entry and Harris pulled open the big wooden doors. Light swept through the opening and it took a second for my eyes to adjust. As he opened the door, I was greeted with a view like none I had ever seen before.
Beautiful Victorian buildings lined tight cobblestoned streets. It looked like everything I had imagined England was like back in the 1800s, but there was a beautiful modernization of it with metalwork and intricate designs which gave it an industrial chic look about it. The beauty of the buildings was accentuated by the sheer height. My eye was drawn up and up and up as the buildings continued to shoot off into the skies at an alarming height. Each level was crossed with metal walkways and I could see people milling about on an area another level up, seemingly readjusting to life after the darkness. The sky above was crystal blue and the sunlight cascaded across the city.
Amidst the splendor, there was lingering evidence of the horror from the last few days. Small fires burned sporadically among the various walkways, rubble piled in the streets and anyone outside seemed huddled and walked quickly, glancing about frantically as they walked.
Eva took a deep breath and looked up and down the street, seeing people cautiously returning to their normal lives after days of such an ordeal. We stood there a moment, Thornsby’s den of nightmares behind us, the city before us. Finally, Eva smiled and looked over at me.
“Finn?”
“Yes?” I said, mouth agape and eyes still glued to the sheer size and beauty of the city.
I heard her light up and an excitement edged into her voice. She and Harris put a hand on me as she spoke.
“Welcome to Emberwall.”