Vigils, Sixth Day Before Kalends of May

Jack’s Private Chambers, Greghorn Castle (Anselm Family Residence), Tarrin, Drum

Logan Floyd stood at the foot of the bed. Jack Anselm was sleeping.

He Sensed the guard stationed in the floor below. According to Kate there would be a change of guards at any moment. Then that would the only guard that Logan would have to kill before leaving via the stairwell down to the stable, from where he could steal a horse and return to Bahim. But for now he had to wait for the change of guards.

Logan was uneasy. He was still unconvinced that Kate had hidden her schemes from Councillor Keys, whose Sensing of the Mind was unparalleled in Kaps. It was very possible that he had just entered into a trap. But there he was, trespassing, at the foot of the Anselm child’s bed. Doubts were not going to help him now.

And so Logan waited. Logan disliked waiting. He would always occupy himself with something, such as training his Connexion or sharpening his blade. He did not like the feeling of waiting, as waiting made him think about the meaningless horror of it all. But Logan waited, trying to push away these useless thoughts.

Once Logan had waited for a while and the change of guards had still not happened, Logan’s uneasiness grew threefold. And then when Jack Anselm made a whimpering sound and turned over in bed to face Logan, Logan simply could not take it any longer. He snatched the child up from his bed and pressed his palm to the child’s forehead to Transcend his Mind, bringing it to an unshakeable sleep. Then Logan went out of the room, down the stairs, and with a rapid charge forward, killed the guard. Only then did he sense a Body about the round the corner towards the corridor where Logan was standing. The change of guards! Logan threw his fauchard, which impaled the relieving guard as he rounded the corner.

There was a cry. Jack Anselm had awoken as Logan’s Transcendence of his Mind loosened momentarily. Logan pressed a palm to Jack’s forehead but before he could Transcend his Mind again Jack let out another cry, louder this time, and began kicking. Logan looked down the corridor, where the dead man still stood impaled by his fauchard. He could Sense movement upstairs. Logan dropped the boy onto the ground and rushed to retrieve his fauchard. But as he reached out with his hand, a vine shot out from the wall and wrapped around his hand. Logan turned around and saw Jack, eyes closed, hands outstretched and violently shaking. It was then that he understood why he was to bring back Jack Anselm. Kate had told him that the boy’s Ritual had only been three months ago and his Transcendence was remarkable given his amount of training, but Logan had not expected this much from the boy. Logan grabbed his fauchard with his other hand and sliced the vine away, but now he found vines wrapping around his ankles. By now guards were making their way down the stairs. One saw Logan standing over the body of the dead guard and cried out. With one burst of electricity from an outstretched hand Logan killed the first three guards. He tore his legs away from the vines and lunged at Jack, tackling him to the floor. He could Sense more movement, all throughout the castle now. And then rang from the belfry a thunderous peal — the alarm had been raised.

Logan cursed. This was the one outcome that Hazel had urged him to avoid. Logan pressed his palm firmly against Jack’s forehead and once again put the boy to sleep. Then he stood up to meet the oncoming guards.

When morning came there was not a single soul alive in Greghorn Castle other than the agitated horses in the stable. One was, of course, missing.

Terce, Fifth Day Before Kalends of May

Bahim, Drum

When Jack Anselm awoke he found himself strapped haphazardly with rope to the back of a horse, his arms and legs flailing out on either side. He could feel that there was a man sitting just in front of him.

Before Jack could cry out, Logan said, “Quiet, child.”

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And with those words Logan Transcended Jack’s Mind with such fear that Jack immediately fell silent.

“My name is Logan Floyd,” he said. “We are in Bahim. I am taking you to Hazel Drina, Captain of the Aegis.”

Jack Anselm did not understand these words. After a pause Logan added, “I killed everyone in Greghorn.”

What followed was a very long silence. Logan did not speak any further. He was preoccupied with his own Mind, which was remembering again and again the slaughter at Greghorn Castle, and was raising the persistent question — did I just begin a war? There was no doubt that Councillor Keys Sensed the massacre as soon as it happened, or perhaps even before it happened. There could potentially be an army that was pursuing them this very moment. Then another question, which was perhaps even more disturbing to Logan than the first — was the slaughter necessary? In the moment Logan had thought that it would be better to leave no witnesses, but if Logan was honest to himself, he would have to admit that he had not thought much too carefully about the matter once the slaughter had begun. He had just given himself over to the rhythm of his blade, just as he did at Estrul.

And so, only when the two were very close to Eastpoint did Logan turn around to look at Jack Anselm. Logan saw that the boy had been silently weeping for a long time.

“Anselm,” began Logan.

Then the horse collapsed. Logan leapt forward off the horse and rolled to his feet. When he looked back at the horse he found it with all four legs tied down by tree roots that had sprout out from the ground. And when he looked at Jack he was filled with even more amazement, as sharp vines had grown from the ground around the boy and was sawing away at the ropes that bound him. Soon enough Jack had freed himself and was up on his legs, facing Logan with fierce fury.

“Anselm,” said Logan. “You do not wish to do this.”

Even before Jack thrust his arms forward Logan could Sense the vines sprouting from underneath his feet. Logan closed the distance between him and Jack in three rapid strides and tackled the child to the ground. He pressed his palm to the boy’s forehead and once again put him into a deep sleep.

Vesper, Fourth Day Before Kalends of May

Unnamed Quarry, Eastpoint, Bahim, Drum

One of Drina’s men entered hurriedly into the room where Hazel Drina, Kate Rinehart, and Griffin the Dwarf, a key member of the Young Kardas, sat at a makeshift table made of three crates bolted together.

“Captain”, said the man. “The Anselm boy is awake.”

“Bring him here,” said Kate.

The man looked at Hazel for confirmation. Hazel sighed and gave a sharp nod.

“Yes, Captain,” said the man and left.

“I have never seen you look so troubled,” said Kate. She was eating a Bahim pear, known for its sweetness.

At this Hazel buried her face in her hands. “I suspected that this would bring war,” said Hazel. “But Keys is not rash. He would have spent time in preparing his attack. He may perhaps have sought a diplomatic approach. But now that Floyd has killed the… entirety of Greghorn Castle, the noble families of both Maple and Cyrill will have their eyes on us. We may not have enough time.”

“Time,” said Griffin the Dwarf. “Is the only thing that is outside our grasp. It cannot be Sensed and it cannot be Transcended. But all else —” And now with a dramatic gesture he placed the newly published Tractatus Connectus onto the table. “All else can now be Sensed and Transcended, even by braxin.”

As if to demonstrate this, Griffin flicked his hand above the book and the book flipped open. “And I, of course, am of pure braxin heritage. The age of subjugation is over.”

And so it seemed to be. Just that morning, Drum had declared war on the Aegis. The very same morning the Young Kardas had published the Tractatus Connectus, which detailed how braxin could attain Connexion. It was distributed not only in Drum, but in Maple and Cyrill also, where anti-helia sentiments were also growing. The Tractatus not only delineated Stone Connexion, but also Force and Barrier Connexion, which could be used without being a Stone user. Force Connexion allowed the user to Transcend Bodies along the path of a particular movement, and was the Connexion just used by Griffin the Dwarf. Barrier Connexion allowed the users to Transcend Bodies by repelling all Bodies from a particular area. Not only this, but it introduced a new type of Connexion called Impact Connexion, which allowed users to Transcend Bodies in a pulsating manner around a particular point.

“It is war, then,” said Hazel.

It was then that Jack Anselm entered the room.

“Kate?” he said.

“Jack,” said Kate. “How do you feel.”

“Jack—” began Hazel.

“Kate,” said Jack. “I do not understand.”

At this Kate stood up, walked over to Jack, and brought him into an embrace.

“I know that you have questions,” said Kate. “Come with me.”

And Kate took him away to her private chambers.

“Captain Drina,” said Griffin the Dwarf. “We will emerge victorious. You are the Child of Light, after all.”

“Yes,” said Hazel. But she was not looking at Griffin. She was looking out towards the south, the direction in which Logan Floyd had left.