Awakenings

by C. D. Espeseth

  Impossible, John thought. Yet again, there was no lie. It was the truth as the man knew it. No, not possible.

  Dennis held up his hands. “I didn’t understand it either. I thought he was dead when I found him, but then he just got up.”

  What in Halom’s name was going on! John wanted to scream. He wanted to throttle the lying little bastard standing there telling him the truth but still hiding what really happened.

  John’s sai was in his hand before he knew he had drawn it. Its sharpened middle tine pushed right up into Dennis Beau’Chant’s throat. The look in the man’s face was both shock and fascination.

  “Where did he go, you little weasel? I’m in no mood for fucking games. Your cousin killed my partner and right now I couldn’t give two farts if I kept my job. I’ve done my time, see, and I know our Lord Father is on my side right now in this, so you better stop playing with me, son, before I skewer my first Beau’Chant right here.”

  The room had gone deathly still. All eyes watched the scene play out, no one dared breath.

  John saw it then. The same arrogance Thannis had, the self-assured superiority, the belief in his own intelligence gleamed in Dennis’s eyes.

  There was something sick about this whole damned family.

  Dennis smiled then, a smile which almost made John kill the man right there and then. Halom only knew what stopped him, but John held the sai where it was because the constable part of him, buried deep but still there, knew the next words would be the truth. He and Dennis had cut through the bull-shit, had cut through the posturing and games.

  “He wanted me to tell you to come to Keef’s.” Dennis’s smile never faded. “He told me I’d like you.”

  John threw the man to the floor. He may be old, but he still had dozens of years of killer buried beneath that old flesh. Killer right down to the bone. Then and there, it wasn’t his years of experience within the constabulary he needed to draw from.

  No. He had to remember his times in the mud, had to remember who he was when things got dirty, a time when morals had been a luxury.

  I tried to be a better man, John said to himself as he looked upwards to where the heavens should be. Halom, if you are listening ... I tried. I’m sorry.

  His constables saw the change, and they stepped out of his way.

  Except for one.

  “Orders, sir,” the young man said, visibly swallowing as he met John’s eyes. “I, uh, I have orders from the High King, sir.”

  John ground his teeth. “And what are these orders?” John heard his old voice; the voice he had tried to leave in the worthless dirt between Kenz and Xin Ya, the voice which had laughed at all those dead Xinnish eyes. He hated that voice, but right now, he needed it just the same.

  “We are to regroup in the Xinnish quarter. There are huge masses of people forming throughout the district as well as along the borders of the district. Everyone is being called in for operations tonight, sir.”

  John simply nodded.

  “What should we do with these two, sir?” one of his senior constables asked, he pointed as Professor Attridge and Dennis Beau’Chant.

  “Let them go,” John said, detached and insulated within the cold void he knew so well. He looked back at them with his old killer’s eyes, “They were preparing to scurry away when we got here. But, if you see them again tonight…” John’s stare drilled into the arrogant Beau’Chant’s eyes as he said, “kill them.”

  That wiped the smile off the pompous bastard’s face.

  Thannis was in the wind, and the riots John had warned the High King of were about to happen. It didn’t matter anymore what was right. All that mattered was that John once again needed to kill as many of the bad guys as he could. He knew that’s what the High King would ask of him.

  “Well… shit.” John sighed as he undid the epaulettes on his jacket and carefully took the rank insignia off his shoulders. He put them in his pocket so he could take them up again on another day.

  “Sir?” the constable asked, watching John taking the insignia from him.

  John cracked his neck, set his shoulders and checked his weapons. “In the last war, I was a Colonel, and I never relinquished that rank.”

  “A Colonel, sir?” The constable asked, “What did you do in the wars?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific, there have been a few.” John sighed as he fished into his other pocket for the insignia he had dreaded ever wearing again. Ronaston hadn’t let him give the damn thing back. He had just said, “You hold onto it, I may have need of those particular talents of yours again.”

  The High King had been right, as he often was in matters of war.

  Reporting for duty, once again. Another war, and more people he would be pointed at to kill.

  John buttoned up the Colonel’s insignia upon his coat and handed his akubra hat to the constable. “I’ll need a helmet, a crossbow, and a longsword. Can you run this back to the office for me and then to the armoury?”

  “Yes, sir,” the constable said.

  John hated himself as he finished securing his second epaulette. every step he took, because, no matter how hard he had tried to change, deep down, he knew this was the work Halom had ever truly deemed him worthy of doing.

  “Hey kid,” John called to the young constable as he hurried off.

  “Yes, sir?” The young man turned back.

  “You asked me what I had done in the wars,” John stated, “Ever hear of Vestgard?”

  “Of course, sir. It’s in Asgur, everyone’s heard of Vestgard.” The constable looked confused.

  “It’s empty of Navutians, full of good people and still standing because of me,” he said. It wasn’t a boast. It was true. In the end, it had been a good thing he had done, but what he had done to make it happen still haunted him at night.

  John just hoped he could do the same for New Toeron, whatever it took.

  31 - Trust in the Will

  And Halom wrapped us in his arms

  Protecting His holy nation from the damnation of the Ciwix,

  From the fury of the Elder Gods.

  For we are the few whom Halom has chosen.

  For we are the few whom He hath sheltered.

  Praise be to the great storms which surround these holiest of Isles,

  The centre of the faithful.

  Halom bless this land and protect us,

  Guide us with your Will and

  Sing Your song so we may hear.

  - Tenets of the Elohim

  Echinni

  The Red Tower, New Toeron, Bauffin

  Echinni’s eyes began to stare at nothing as she focused on the feeling of the Will, the tumult and the power of it, and a shiver ran down her spine. Whatever was coming would be big, a convergence.

  She opened the door at the top of the winding staircase and stepped into the tower room where a young woman sat on a bench holding her head in her hands while she sat on an uncomfortable wooden bench. Yuna followed behind her and Echinni could feel the tension of the warrior’s body like heat from a fire.

  Adel looked out at them from behind thick iron bars as they entered the tiny room, and Echinni felt the Will swirl through her once more as it grew in magnitude and insistence.

  Their eyes met, and Echinni felt something shift within the Will. She knew with certainty then that what she had come here to do was the right choice.

  She found the correct key, one of many she had stolen to get here, in a secreted pocket of her flowing skirt. She placed the key in the lock of the cell door and turned. The latch clicked, and a path was chosen. The Will grew stronger once again.

  “Why are you here?” Adel asked cautiously as she eyed both them warily, Yuna most of all.

  “Your friends need you,” Echinni stated simply. “You are meant to be in the middle of this maelstrom.” She picked up the wooden case from its place on the floor and found the second key she had stolen. The latch to the case popped open, and she pulled out a black scabbarded blade which seem
ed to drink in the light around it.

  “And take this with you. It is meant to be with you.”

  Adel took the sword hesitantly, looking at Yuna who had her own hand on the hilt of the great golden sword, the leather scabbard already unslung from the giant woman’s back, ready to be drawn.

  Echinni nodded, and Adel took the sword.

  Click. Echinni felt another cog turn in the machinations of the Will around her, another path chosen.

  “What about Fellow Callahan?” Adel asked as she stepped to the door and looked across the hall into the other cell. “Can you let him out as well?”

  Fellow Callahan was sitting on his bed with a quiet smile on his face.

  I am where I am meant to be,” he said. His eyes found Echinni’s. “Your connection to events is very strong, high princess. Events are flowing fast now, aren’t they?”

  “Yes.” Echinni watched Fellow Callahan closely. She had never had many interactions with the highly esteemed siphoning master, but now she wished she had. He was smiling, and Echinni had a feeling he knew far more about what was going on than the rest of them.

  He surprised her again by holding up a hand to forestall the question which had been on Echinni’s lips.

  “It is not my place to say. My interpretation of the flows may influence your own connections, and in this particular riptide which we can both feel coming, I am nowhere near its centre as you two are.

  “Adel, you must trust in yourself, do not worry about the past you cannot change. It has brought you here, but what Lady Buika failed to realise is that it was never us who would be in control of the direction you were pointed. It was always you. You and the others who have been pulled into the riptide of events around us.” Callahan tapped the bars of the cell door. “Believe me, I’m probably safer here, but know this, my faith is with you, as it has always been.”

  Echinni could see the tears threatening to form in Adel's eyes, but Fellow Callahan’s words found purchase in her and Adel stood a little taller after.

  The Will pushed at Echinni again and almost as one, Echinni, Adel and Yuna turned in to leave the cell and waved a quick farewell to Fellow Callahan who looked quite content in his cell.

  They descended the spiralling stairs, with Adel at the rear and reached a hallway where a pair of armoured guards stood with their hands resting on the pommels of their swords and ready for any sign of trouble.

  “Did you find the conditions within the cells satisfactory, Your Royal Highness?” the guard to her right asked when he saw them return.

  The excuse Echinni had given had been a bit weak, but the two guards could hardly say no if the high princess and Yuna Swiftriver asked to inspect the cells.

  “Yes,” she said, “the prisoners are well looked after and seem comfortable enough. I just wanted to ensure they were not maltreated given everything which has already occurred – oh my!” Echinni threw herself forward as if her slippers had caught the hem of her dress and pitched her forward.

  The guard reacted immediately as Echinni had expected, catching her in his arms. The other guard’s attention also shifted as he watched his embarrassed colleague catch the high princess in his arms.

  Adel slipped past them and into the shadows at the end of the hallway so quickly and silently Echinni swore she must be half ghost.

  “Are you all right, ma’am?” the guard asked, looking very concerned but also uncomfortable.

  “Fine, thank you, sir -!” Echinni stood and fanned herself, indulging her over-dramatic urges. Part of her found it sad that the handsome young man hadn’t found any guilty pleasure in holding her in his arms. Her status had terrified any romantic fantasies right out of him. Ma’am? She hated being called that.

  “Ah, not a sir, ma’am. Just a lieutenant. Lieutenant Hodges, ma’am.” He saluted as he said it, obviously relying on his training to try and save him from what was becoming an awkward moment for the young guard.

  From the corner of her eye, Echinni saw Yuna give her the ‘all-clear’ sign, a quick double-tap of her middle finger and thumb. They had worked all of it out before going anywhere close to this part of the Red Tower.

  “Well, thank you just the same, Lieutenant Hodges, you are a gentleman.” Echinni smiled at him and then winked just for good measure.

  The flush which came to Lieutenant Hodges’ face was quite satisfying considering he had called her ma’am three times within the space of a few heartbeats.

  “You’re very welcome,” Hodges started.

  Don’t you say it, Echinni cringed inwardly,

  “Ma’am,” he finished.

  Echinni smiled but felt as if she had just sucked on a lemon.

  “As you were,” Yuna barked, and Echinni had never seen two spines straighten so quickly in her life.

  They went to the other end of the hall caught up with Adel as they ducked around the corner.

  “In here,” Echinni whispered, pulling Adel through an unlocked service door just beside one of many unnecessary pieces of hallway furniture.

  “I wish you luck, Queen Adel,” Echinni said.

  “Please don’t call me that, Princess,” Adel said, physically wincing at the honorific.

  “Same to you then. First names only between us.” Echinni smiled. “We’ve made sure there will be no one in this service hall. There is another door about twenty strides down and to the left. It will lead you onto the roof. Yuna seemed to think you would have little trouble escaping once you were outside?” Echinni’s eyebrow rose with the last as she could not imagine anything except trouble being out of that pitched roof.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.” Adel nodded to Yuna and Echinni saw them share a look of respect.

  Two-of-a-kind, this pair, Echinni thought.

  “Thank you, Echinni, and to you, Yuna Swiftriver. I’ll make sure your faith in me is not misplaced. Halom be with you.” Adel saluted them both before running down the narrow hallway, once more almost silent as a spectre.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” Yuna shook her head slightly. “You’ve just unleashed a panther amongst the sheep.”

  “She is part of the solution. How or why, I’m not sure, but I can practically feel the Will swirling around her.” Echinni once again felt distant as she listened to the music of the Will, and knew where she had to go next.

  They stepped back into the hallway then ensured the service door was once again properly locked. Yuna pointed through the thin window to a figure in black, barely visible as she leapt from the edge of the ramparts of the Red Tower and landed in a roll onto the downslope of a tiled roof, springing from the roll to land almost effortlessly upon the next roof.

  Yuna whistled appreciatively. “She’s good. I would like to fight her one day.”

  “You must be close to three times her size, you’d crush her,” Echinni said.

  “Oh, little one,” Yuna said, patting her on the head. “Your holy sight allows you to see so much, yet in many ways, you are still as blind as a newborn kitten.”

  “That’s why I have you,” Echinni said.

  “Let’s hope we have her too,” Yuna said watching the last glimpses of Adel’s silent shadow slipping across the rooftops below. “Because if you can’t see what I see when I look at that one, you’ll need more than just me to watch your back.”

  “What is it you feel when she holds that black sword of hers?” Echinni looked up at Yuna, studying her face and seeing worry crease her brow.

  “I’m not sure. A pull of some sort, like a wind trying to push us together, a rush of excitement. That’s why I needed you to carry the case. I don’t know what would have happened if I touched that sword.” Yuna nodded in the direction Adel had left. “She felt it too. I could swear by it. I’m just glad she has been trained so well. I feel like I recognise her style, there is a memory tickling in the back of my mind, from long ago, when I saw her fight in the throne room. I’ve seen someone move like her before.”

  Echinni had never seen Yuna so preoccupied
with another person in her life. It scared her.

  “Come on,” Echinni said, shaking herself. “We need to catch up with Kai and Jachem.”

  “We are still doing this?” Yuna shook her head. “The city is on edge, a powder keg. Even now, your father is massing whoever’s left in the Academy, along with the Royal Guard to be at the ready to ride out into the city. He must think it might escalate into a riot at any moment for those measures.”

  “There are a lot of scared and worried people out there, Yuna. People who think we don’t care about them. The Will is telling me there is nothing my father can do to stop this. You spoke of a wind trying to move you? Well, the Will feels like a rope attached to my heart right now, I couldn’t walk away from it if I tried. Hope needs to be given to the people. I can feel it, Yuna.”

  “And playing in a fancy pub is how this is meant to happen?” Yuna sounded exasperated.

  Echinni’s eyebrow rose in annoyance. They had been through this a dozen times already. “It is the start of it, where it takes us from there I cannot say.” Echinni put as much command and authority into her words as she could. They didn’t have time for another argument.

  The muscle on Yuna’s jaw tightened so much Echinni thought a tooth might break, but Yuna relented. “All right, you’re the holy prophet. I’ll say again, this is a bad idea, but I know that if I don’t go, somehow fate will find a way to get you there with or without me.”

  “Like the–” Echinni started.

  Yuna held up a hand. “Yes, like the little boy who would’ve drowned. Don’t say it.”

  Echinni nodded, satisfied. “All right then, let’s go give hope back to the people.”

  Yuna looked to the sky and prayed to as many gods as there might be up there, asking all of them to somehow find them a way through tonight. Every fibre of Yuna’s body screamed at her to grab the stupid princess in front of her, pin her down and sit on her so she couldn’t move until morning. But the damned Will had its way, and there was no stopping it.

  32 - Keef’s Tavern