The Coming Chaos

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I’ve heard what happened in Dreshen.”

  Ryn frowned. “You’ve heard of it?”

  Dolan nodded. “Word gets back to me.”

  “I was hoping to send word to the Great One.”

  “I’m afraid that won’t be easy.”

  “What happened here?”

  “Unfortunately, the palace is under attack.”

  “But I saw the Ai’thol on patrol out by the wall.”

  “You saw them, and they believe that they are still in service of the Ai’thol, but those within the palace have assumed a different type of control.”

  “We need to get word to the Great One.”

  “Unfortunately, my means of doing so is limited. He has gone silent.”

  It took a moment for that comment to register. What it meant was that Dolan had some way of communicating with the Great One.

  More than that, it meant that he had gone silent here along with his silence elsewhere. How long had she been in Dreshen? Probably two weeks, and in that time, she had continually expected the Great One to return, and yet he hadn’t.

  Could something have happened to him?

  Ryn didn’t want to think that way, but it was possible that it had.

  “What happened here?”

  Dolan looked past her. “I’m not the only one who was captured. Anyone who was viewed as loyal to the Great One was thrown in prison.”

  “How many are here?”

  “A dozen. Perhaps more.”

  “What about the disciple?”

  “Gone.”

  “Gone?”

  Dolan nodded slowly. “He was killed when he refused to share what he knew about the Great One. He sacrificed himself.”

  “Why did they keep you alive?”

  It was a harsh comment, but the same time, it was one that she needed to ask. It didn’t make sense for them to have killed the disciple and kept the servants alive.

  Not unless they knew that Dolan was something more than just a servant.

  “I think they understood I have more information than I was sharing. They were thinking they could draw it out of me, but I refused. I will serve the Great One until my dying breath.”

  “I will as well.”

  “If you can get out of here, emissary, then you should do so. There are other places you can go that are still safe.”

  “Such as?”

  “Nearby, I would suggest Morald. It would be a few days’ travel, but…”

  Ryn didn’t know Morald well enough to know whether she would be able to find any safety there. It was possible that by the time she reached it, anyone who was loyal to the Great One would have met with the same fate as Dolan and those within Lexa.

  Still, if the Great One didn’t know about what had been taking place, then she needed to be responsible for ensuring he was informed.

  Even if that meant she risked herself to do so.

  She couldn’t just leave, though. She couldn’t abandon Dolan and the others here, not with what had taken place. They deserved more than that.

  “Let me at least help you get out,” she said.

  “It’s not safe,” Dolan said.

  “There has to be someplace you can hide.”

  “I don’t know that there is.”

  Could she get them out of the palace? She could get them into the city, even if it meant asking Dillon to help. It would require they find another place to rest and recuperate, another place where Dillon could recover. It might be safe to remain in the city, but then again it might not be, and it was possible that doing this would drain him too much.

  She wasn’t about to leave servants of the Great One behind.

  “Wait here,” she said.

  “Wait? Emissary—”

  “I have some way of getting you to safety. Please. Wait here.”

  She hurried off, and when she reached the stairs, she slipped up them, watching the darkness for any signs of movement. There was nothing, and when she reached the hallway where she had left Dillon, she raced forward.

  She paused at the door, listening for a moment.

  He was still there, breathing heavily.

  She hated that she would have to wake him for this and hoped he had gotten enough rest, but this was necessary—and important.

  Pushing open the door, she found him sleeping. When she touched his shoulder, he awoke with a start, rolling over and then smiling at her. “Ryn. I feel—”

  Ryn shook her head. “I need your help.”

  He sat up quickly, smacking his head on the lowest shelf before wincing and scooting out, rubbing where he had hit his head. “What is it?”

  “I found cells deep below us.”

  “Cells?”

  Ryn nodded. “A prison. One of the palace servants is held there.”

  “Why would they hold one of the palace servants?”

  “Because of whatever is taking place. They killed the disciple, and they captured Dolan, a servant who has a relationship with the Great One.”

  “And you want me to transport him out?”

  Ryn nodded.

  “I don’t know how hard that will be.”

  “We have to try.”

  “I can only take one—maybe two—at a time.”

  It would be slow, and it would mean he would make multiple trips. Hopefully he had the necessary strength. It all depended on how much rest he’d managed.

  By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Dolan standing near her, waiting. He looked past Ryn, taking in the sight of Dillon, and suddenly lunged.

  Ryn was so startled that she didn’t know how to react. Dolan grabbed for Dillon, reaching for his neck, his hands wrapped around his throat.

  “Dolan! What are you doing?”

  The other man continued to squeeze, and Dillon started to fade.

  Ryn grabbed for Dolan, putting herself between the two men, and pushed.

  Surprisingly, she had more strength than she expected, and she forced them apart.

  Dolan went staggering back, slamming into the nearby stone, and he looked over at Ryn, shaking his head. “What are you doing with him? I thought you were the Great One’s emissary.”

  “I am the emissary. This man helped me.”

  “This man is with them. I saw—”

  Dolan lunged forward again, and Ryn had to push herself forward, getting in the way. She prevented Dolan from grabbing Dillon, but she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to keep them apart. If Dillon was going to help Dolan and the others escape, she needed the other man to recognize that Dillon wasn’t going to harm him.

  Turning to Dillon, she saw him rubbing his neck. “What’s this about?”

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “Emissary, he was with them. I’ve seen him.”

  “You’ve seen him do what?”

  “I’ve seen him with the others. He was with them when they brought us here.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Not long. A week, maybe more.”

  It was difficult for her to know whether or not Dillon had been here. He could travel, which meant distances didn’t limit him, but she had seen his weakness when it came to traveling. He couldn’t fake the fatigue, and it made it difficult for her to believe that he had been here.

  But then, there were the days he’d disappeared from Dreshen. The blacksmith hadn’t known where he’d gone, and Dillon had claimed he was sick, but what if he wasn’t? What if it was nothing more than an excuse?

  She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

  Starting toward Dillon, she lowered her voice. “Why does he think this was you?”

  Dillon looked past her, watching Dolan. “I don’t know. I haven’t been here before. I’ve been helping you, Ryn.”

  He had been helping, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion on her behalf.

  That wasn’t the kind of thing someone would do if they were trying to betray her.

  “Could you be
wrong?” she asked Dolan.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve seen this man before.”

  “But could you be wrong?”

  Dolan glanced over to her. “Possibly.”

  “Possibly? You would attack him like this when you could possibly be wrong?”

  “I’ve seen others with his eye color and his build. Look at him, emissary. He’s with them.”

  “I vouch for him,” she said.

  Dolan blinked, turning his attention to Ryn. “You do?”

  Ryn nodded. “I do. And he will get you out of here safely, but only if you don’t continue to attack him.”

  She went to the first door, taking out her knife, slipping it in the lock, and twisting. She pulled it open. Inside was another dark-robed servant, and Dolan hurried in, slipping his arm under their shoulders, and guided them out.

  Ryn went to the next door, doing the same. Behind it was an older woman, her hair frazzled, her clothing worn and tattered, and Dolan raced in, placing his arms underneath her, lifting her from the ground.

  As she went to the next door, Dillon was there, leaning in and whispering in her ear. “Do you know all of these people?”

  She shook her head. “I know only Dolan.”

  “Are you sure you can trust him?”

  “Why?”

  “What if they’re here for a reason?”

  Ryn paused. Dolan was whispering quietly to the woman, and the other man that they had rescued stood nearby. His jaw was clenched, his face lean. Despite his imprisonment, he still carried himself as if he didn’t deserve to be there.

  “I know what I heard up above.”

  “And you didn’t investigate.”

  Ryn hesitated. He was right, and it was troubling she hadn’t. She’d been so caught up in what she had experienced that she hadn’t taken a moment to think things through. Maybe that was tied to her fatigue.

  She knew the Great One visited with Dolan, but that didn’t mean that the Great One trusted him any more than he did others. It was possible the Great One didn’t trust Dolan and was visiting with him in order to try to help him understand the value that the Ai’thol offered the people of Lexa.

  Could she be making a mistake?

  Dolan turned to her. “Are you going to open any others?”

  “Tell me what happened here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Up above. You said the Great One was betrayed. What happened?”

  Dolan glanced from the man to the woman. “I’m afraid I don’t fully understand.”

  “That’s my point. I don’t understand. Can you tell me what happened? It doesn’t make sense that you would be placed down here.” The more she thought about it, the more she realized that was the case.

  And… she realized something else.

  She hadn’t been forcing up her mental barriers, the barriers the Great One had trained her to hold.

  In her exhaustion, she had forgotten about maintaining them.

  She glanced over to Dillon, replacing her barriers. She had made a mistake. She should have kept them secured before.

  There was no influence within her mind.

  Breathing out in relief, she turned back to Dolan. “You haven’t shared anything more with me.”

  “What is there to share with you, emissary? You’ve begun to doubt those of us who serve the Great One.”

  “I’ve begun to doubt everything.”

  What would the Great One say about that when he saw her next? Would he be disappointed that she’d begun to question? He’d wanted her to observe and detect, to find her own understanding of the world, but would he have wanted her to be so suspicious of everything?

  She couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t have wanted that.

  When she’d traveled with him, she’d observed, but she’d also believed everyone acted in the way the Great One believed. Then again, perhaps the Great One had known better.

  Turning to Dillon, she whispered, “Wait for me.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “A test.”

  Ryn stepped forward, smiling at Dolan. “How many others are servants here?”

  “Most of them.”

  “I have trouble understanding why they would imprison the servants here. It seems as if a place like this would be reserved for those with more potential to cause real harm.”

  “You don’t believe servants can cause real harm?” Dolan asked.

  “That’s not it. It’s just that I find it interesting you say they killed the disciple, but they left you alive.” She should have questioned that more when Dolan had told her, but she had taken it on faith.

  There would be no reason for attackers to have killed the disciple and left servants alive. None of it made good sense to her.

  “How many attacked you?” Ryn asked.

  “Emissary?”

  “You would have known. I imagine you counted, keeping track on behalf of the Great One, especially if you serve as you say.”

  Dolan glanced at the woman before turning his attention back to her. “There were five or six we were able to find.”

  “I’m going to investigate. If all is as you say, then there’s no reason for me to doubt you.”

  “Emissary, I assure you that—”

  Ryn ignored him, turning to Dillon. “Can you place them back into one of the cells?” she whispered.

  Dillon nodded. A wave of nausea rolled through her as he quickly traveled, grabbing Dolan and placing him on the other side of one of the doors. He returned and did the same with the woman and then the man, traveling far more quickly than he had before.

  When he was done, he leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs, breathing heavily. “That… that was hard work.”

  “I need you to be able to travel at least once more.”

  “I will, but I don’t know that I can travel us throughout the palace.”

  “I don’t need you to do that. Besides, I think we need to be seen.”

  “You want others to know you’re here?”

  “They need to know the emissary of the Great One is here.”

  It was dangerous, but at the same time, if she was with Dillon, there was the sense of safety his presence provided. He might not intend it, but he did offer her something she needed.

  They made their way up the stairs, and she paused, glancing back into the darkness, waiting for the steady tapping to return. She didn’t know if she was making a mistake or not, but she needed to find her own answers rather than rely upon Dolan and others to tell her.

  They reached the hall where they had rested. Ryn paused. They could take another rest. If they did, she could allow Dillon to restore himself, to recover, but then she ran the risk of delaying things even more. As it was, she didn’t know how much longer they could wait.

  She hurried down the hallway, keeping Dillon near her. As she went, she grabbed for his hand. Perhaps it was better that she stayed with him, in contact with him, for the possibility they would have to travel.

  As they headed up the stairs, she hesitated.

  There was movement, but the sense of it was distant, not near enough to cause any danger.

  She continued up the stairs. At the top of them, she paused. She straightened her spine, looking around, running her hands across the cloth of her cloak. She pushed back the hood, keeping the sleeves covering the bands of metal around her wrists that still throbbed, though less than before, and strode forward.

  “I don’t like this,” Dillon said.

  “We aren’t in any danger.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “No. I was just trying to reassure you,” she said.

  Dillon shook his head. “You don’t need to do that, either.”

  “I just thought—”

  “I’ll be ready if we need to transport out of here. Squeeze my hand if you think we do.”

  She nodded.

  As they made their way along the hall, she heard voices.

  T
his time, she headed toward them.

  43

  Ryn

  Ryn worried about what she’d encounter when they reached the end of the hallway, and what type of people might be there. It was possible she would come across attackers much like those she’d found in Dreshen. If there were some like the blacksmith—or like Lorren—she needed to be careful, but she still felt as if she didn’t have all the answers she needed. It would be better for her to observe this herself.

  Three men made their way along the hall, each of them speaking softly. She didn’t recognize any of them, though they wore the dark colors of the Ai’thol. One of them had a long scar along the side of his face. Two of them didn’t have scars, and one had blondish hair while the other had black hair almost as dark as the night.

  They stopped when they saw her.

  “What is this?”

  “I am Ryn Valeron, emissary of the Great One, Olandar Fahr.”

  She was careful to use the formal presentation of her title and authority, wanting to ensure that they recognized her role. Would they even care?

  “How are you here?”

  She cocked her head to the side, fixing the lead man—the one with the scar of the Ai’thol—with as hard a glare as she could muster. Ryn wasn’t sure she did enough to intimidate, but as the emissary of the Great One, she would be expected to have some authority.

  “You question the emissary of the Great One?”

  “I question your presence.”

  Ryn reached beneath her cloak, pulling out the sigil she wore on a necklace. She let it drop onto her chest. “And I would question what is taking place here.”

  The lead man hesitated. “Where did you get that?”

  “Perhaps you didn’t hear me,” Ryn said again. Her heart was hammering. While Dillon might be able to transport them out of here, she didn’t want him to need to do that. She needed answers, and the only way she would get them would be by staying here and seeing for herself what was taking place. Wasn’t that what the Great One would expect of her?

  Observe and detect.

  What did she detect?

  She took a moment to study the three men. While all three were dressed like the Ai’thol, only the lead man, the one with the scar, truly looked like one of the Ai’thol. He had the black jacket and pants, his silver belt looped around, and all he was missing was the dark cloak that would signify his presence within the Ai’thol. A badge on his chest indicated he was quite high ranking, high enough that he should recognize the Great One’s emissary.