Chapter Seventy-Three: In The Thrall Of The Cult
“Come on, ladies! Move your asses,” Kol barked, frowning as he watched the Vanguard practice.
“You don’t think you’re being too hard on them,” Yue asked, but he shook his head.
“You, warrior, should be with him.” Then he smiled, his face relaxing and he winked. “They like it this way. To me, it makes them better and tougher. Not to mention I don’t want to be like the Wolf, and now we have to fight the horde, plus the Ajutoare is here too, and we need to look better to them.”
“It’s a lot,” Yue agreed. “I don’t blame you for stressing. And I won’t criticize how you train, just give them breaks.”
“Warrior Zhang?”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Get back to work,” Kol barked, and Yue laughed.
“Yes, sir.” As she moved to join her fellow warriors, she could hear the captain chuckling to himself and whispering something that had something to do with abusing power.
This was overall a strange exercise, but it was useful in developing the bodies of the Vanguard. The exercise was simple enough: there was a rock that weighed upwards of a ton, and a group of ten warriors had to move it from one side of the green to the other before the other groups did. While the grass didn’t seem to like the exercise, Yue enjoyed it enough. Usually, she did the exercise with Warriors she didn’t know well enough to promote teamwork and unity within even them. This time, though, her friends were waiting for her to start their own.
Not that the ten were all them. Apart from her friends—Alyx, Aster, Neena (who’s muscles were starting to show), Xander, and Artemis (who looked sullen and unmotivated)—there was also Joanne, Deserey, and two men, one named Frin and the other Ailen. When she reached them, she grabbed one of the ropes and slung it over her shoulder, sticking her feet in the ground at the right angle for moving rocks.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” She said-
“What, no good morning, hey, darling?” Xander asked, and Yue looked at him, face downcast. Even though Xander had told her she didn’t need to tell him what had happened, she knew he still felt a little betrayed that she didn’t say anything. Still, he did allow her her space, which was a great quality for him to have as a boyfriend.
She probably should’ve talked to them before grabbing the rope, but now it was a little too late.
“How about you grab a rope, darling?” Yue responded. “I’ll see what you deserve depending on the time we get.”
Xander shook his head and whispered something to Neena that was just loud enough for Yue to hear.
“Look at that disrespect! Can you imagine dating her?”
“I heard that,” Yue yelled.
“You were meant to,” Xander winked.
“Y’all are a very strange group,” Ailen told them as he grabbed his own rope. “But hey, if the results are there, then I’ll take it.”
“Someone get this man out of here,” Alyx groaned. “Everyone knows the first rule of the group is to not comment on how weird we are. We already know that.”
“But you just commented on it,” Ailen pointed out.
“That doesn’t count,” Alyx protested. “I was talking about the rule, I can do that.”
“That’s weird.”
“Oh, you did it again,” Alyx exclaimed. “You’ll jinx us this way.”
“Lay off,” Yue rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, Ailen. She’s the weirdest one of all of us.”
“She did it too!” Aster smirked at Alyx who groaned. “You’re going to expel her or something?”
“I should, shouldn’t I?”
“Move it, ladies!” Kol barked again. “We must keep this moving! Get in your positions.” Yue’s friends scrambled to grab a rope and position themselves.
“Follow my lead,” Yue told the new ones in the group. “Listen to what I say and we’ll get there in time.”
“Start in three, two, one, time is counting!”
“STEP!” Yue said, and all the ten warriors took a step. The excruciating force it took to take a step was grueling and painful, but it paid off as the rock moved a few inches. It was a slow start, but that was normal. Gritting her teeth with her friends, she yelled again to step and they did so. A few seconds later, she said step again.
After thirty seconds, they weren’t even a quarter of the way there, but that was normal. Most groups tried to get an early lead, then slow down towards the end, but yue and her group usually did the opposite: they slowly picked up speed as they went along. Whether it made the journey faster or not Yue didn’t know yet, but she believed it did, so that was enough.
“STEP……STEP…..STEP!.....STEP…STEP!”
Faster and faster they went, until they were on the verge of running, walking at a brisk pace, the stone moving right behind them. Ailen was grinning madly as he realized the pattern. Meanwhile, Yue’s face was furrowed in concentration as her muscles burned, screaming at her to stop, but she knew she wouldn’t. This was too much fun.
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The end wasn’t far away now, just a few more steps. Only when the rock passed onto the cobblestone did the journey end, and so when Yue stepped on the cobblestone, it wasn’t done yet.
“STEPSTEPSTEPSTEP!”
The rock finally passed the line, finalizing the exercise. Along with her friends, Yue collapsed to the ground and closed her eyes. Her muscles felt like they were floating now, even while burning.
“That was amazing!” Ailen said. “We must have the high score here!”
“Two minutes, two seconds!” Kol exclaimed. “Good job, everybody. Next!”
“It wasn’t the high score,” Ailen told them. “But it was close. I think I can take the weirdness if it means—”
Alyx popped up next to him and grabbed his shirt.
“What did I say about mentioning our weirdness?”
— — —
“I saw how you were practicing,” Jade told them as they ate their lunch. “That was pretty incredible. I might need to try that.”
“I’ll see if I can convince them to let you in,” Yue told her.
“Really? I’d love that, thanks. Where’s Alyx?”
“I don’t know,” Aster responded, shrugging innocently. “She had to take care of something.”
Yue’s eyes narrowed. She knew that both Aster and Alyx were hiding something, but she didn’t have the time to find out what. She had a lot to do before the Horde came. If they decided to tell her, she’d be happy.
Sure enough, not long after lunch ended, Aster walked up to Yue and Xander.
“Follow me,” She told them. “I need to show you something.”
They did so, past the Vanguard grounds and close to the forest.
“Where are we going?” Yue asked.
“Wolf’s cabin’s abandoned now,” Aster responded. “Me and Alyx have been using it.”
“For what?”
“You’ll see. No more questions, please. Save it for when we arrive.”
It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the cabin, but it felt like an eternity as Yue’s mind swirled with possibilities. What was so bad that Aster seemed nervous about showing them? It wouldn’t be that bad, would it?
When they finally arrived, Aster knocked on the door.
“Passcode?” Alyx’s voice rose from inside the cabin.
“Roses aren’t red, but they’re really cute.”
“Ah, now I’m gonna have to change it, aren’t I?” Alyx asked, opening the door. “I liked this one.”
“You’ll think of one better,” Aster assuaged her. “You’re the one who wanted to bring them in.”
“I forgot about the implications.”
“I’m sorry, but will someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Xander asked. “I was just brought to the edge of the forest by three girls with no explanation, and I’m a little confused.”
Yue threw a withering glare at her boyfriend.
“I was brought here, too,” She said.
“You were?” Xander asked innocently. “I was too.”
“Come with me,” Alyx said from inside. “You need to see this.”
They entered the cabin and Yue’s stomach lurched as she remembered when she was here last with the Wolf, still thinking he was a good Captain with her best interests at heart. In her head, the memory splashed around, reminding her of a different time. It hadn’t been that long ago, but it felt that way.
Strangely, the room was completely clean, but Yue assumed Aster and Alyx had done that. But there was one thing on the table, and it stuck out at her as looking strange and futuristic.
“It’s a gauntlet,” Xander breathed. “What’s it for?”
“It’s called the nullifier,” Alyx explained. “And this is the reason we brought you here.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Xander told her.
“Ugh, stop acting like Alyx,” Aster said. “This gauntlet is used for stopping a mage from being able to do magic.”
“What do you mean?”
“It temporarily removes all magic from a mage, in practice making them equal to us.”
Yue gasped. “That’s horrible. Who had this?”
“My parents. I don’t know who they work for, but they tried to recruit me to use this.”
A cry and gurgle sounded from the room next door, and Alyx gasped.
“What was that?” Xander asked, standing up. “That sounded like a…”
“It was nothing!” The girl exclaimed, too quickly. “Strange sounds sometimes come from the room, I don’t know why. Let me check though.” She rushed into the room, opening and closing the door so fast Yue didn’t even have a glimpse of what was inside.
“It’s nothing,” Aster reassured them. “What we need to know is who’s behind this and what they want.”
“We must report this to Zenyth.”
“I thought about that,” Aster told them. “But I don’t want Alyx’s parents to get arrested.”
Biting her lip, Yue thought about the choices. “I don’t know Alyx’s parents, but I’m guessing I don’t want them to be arrested either. We can skirt around the fact that they were the ones who gave it to her, but we can still give it to Zenyth, because if this works, and I’m assuming it does, then mages are in real danger.”
“Do you think this is the cult’s work?” Xander asked. “I think it is.”
“Maybe…” Yue thought there was something wrong about it, but she wasn’t sure what it was.
“Whatever it is, we need to be ready for whenever the people decide to use it,” Alyx said, returning from the room. “Should we or are you going to tell Zenyth?”
“I’ll leave that to you,” Yue responded. “I might have some things to talk to Zenyth about, and I don’t need one more.”
“We’ll do it, then,” Alyx promised. “You should probably tell Kol, though, since you have his ear.”
“Okay,” Yue nodded, standing up and opening the door for Xander. “Thank you for showing this to us.”
“The future is scary,” Aster said. “But we can prevent it from going too far.”
As Yue and Xander walked back to the forest, she knew her impatience and curiosity was getting the best of her. Eventually, she couldn’t take it any more, so she turned to her boyfriend.
“What do you—We have done nothing!” As Xander switched his voice, Yue knew the Cult was controlling him again.
“I don’t believe that,” Yue spat. “I know you made the Nullifiers.”
“We did no such thing. Do you really think we would build a weapon that would be used against us? The weapon is of no value to us, and we are just as nervous about it. Not to mention that the gauntlet brings a tear in our Hierarchy.”
“Then who is doing this?”
“We do not know.”
“I thought you were supposed to be smart, always one step ahead!”
“Oh, we know more than you do, that’s for sure,” Xander sneered. “But we still don’t know who’s behind this.”
“Guess your plans aren’t as bulletproof as you think,” The Sterkona said. “Magefell only loves me more after what happened!”
“But have you been reconciled with what you’ve done? And what about your friends? I know you haven’t missed the little judgmental looks they’ve given you now and then!”
“I’m fine,” Yue lied. “You failed.”
“Oh, did we? Well, I guess it’s time to start step two, then.”
“Step two?”
“Yes, you’re going to kidnap a Member of Parliament’s wife.”