Screams echoed all around him. He stood there in the midst of a cratered area that moments ago people from all over the city sang together in unison only for many of them to become all mangled with their limbs being blown apart or twisted around themselves. Their still warm flesh covered everything around him. There among the newly made dead, some yet lived crying out with an arm stretched out to the sky wishing that someone would help them. The only help they could ever receive was a quick and merciful death for their bodies were tarnished beyond repair.
Among the living, injured, and dead was Della but he could not pick her body out of the dozens of bodies scattered all around. Much like the rest of them, she was seen as nothing more than an insect meant to be stomped on. A once blossoming life, stricken before it could fully bloom.
It infuriated him.
And it infuriated him further, that this horrific memory began to repeat itself and all he could do was witness it without being able to do anything himself. He was worthless at this moment. He was indeed powerless.
He was nothing at all.
A sharp pain coursed through his head. He began to awaken becoming free from this twisted nightmare that kept repeating itself punishing him endlessly.
Someone’s hands pressed against his chest. He opened his eyes to see a bald man standing at his side. His mind didn’t immediately register who this person was until he realized that it was in fact the sorcerer Noreko.
Pain continued to run through his head causing him to grit his teeth and tense up his body. “You should try to relax Kiran,” Noreko said quietly. “Please, try to relax.”
He couldn’t get the memory of the assault upon him and Della out of his mind completely. Even though the dream went away, the image of it remained there.
All he wanted to do was hop out of this bed and kill the one who did this. He felt compelled so he tried to lift himself up only for Noreko’s palms to push against his body preventing him from getting up. “What did I just tell you to do?”
“Let me go,” he said in a pained whisper-like tone.
“I understand you’re quite angry after everything that’s happened. But you are in no condition to be getting up and wandering about.” Kiran stopped trying to get up. The comfort of the bed made it a little easier since the mattress, blankets, and pillows were quite nice. It still didn’t make it easy to lay there and be useless however when he really wanted to take immediate action. “Your body is in dire need of rest so that it can heal. You sustained a nasty injury to that shoulder of yours as well which will take time to fully heal. I don’t believe the damage is permanent. However, if you carelessly use it and take off those bandages, the damage will become permanent and worsen. In the meantime,” he said getting up out of a chair beside his bed, “I ask that you drink this tea I have here on the drawer. It’s best to drink a good portion of it every few hours. I’ll have it refilled multiple times a day so be sure to drink as much as it that you can. I promise it’ll make the healing process go quicker and make you feel better.”
Kiran began to take more notice of his surroundings. He was so furious moments ago with that repeating memory in the form of a dream, that his surroundings hadn’t fully registered.
He was in some kind of lavish room with a tall ceiling and ornate finishings all around. The room reminded him of the rather nice estate he grew up in during his previous life which he only had a few memories of.
“Where am I?” he said.
“I will let the owner of this mansion inform you of that. As for you Kiran, I suggest remaining as you are now. I promise doing so will get you back on your feet much quicker.”
While the sorcerer chose to leave the room, he supposed he would do as he suggested by drinking some of the tea and remaining there in bed.
The tea itself wasn’t particularly warm as he forced it down. It was a tad bit sweet and a bit more tangy than he liked but he drank it nonetheless with the sorcerer’s suggestion.
At least the bed he was on was quite nice to lay on. The pillow felt nice and the covers were thick and warm. Whatever fight he had in him was withering away the more he felt like just doing as Noreko suggested. Plus if resting meant healing faster, it would mean he could begin fighting sooner and in a far better state of being.
A yawn escaped his lips. His eyelids became heavier by the second, and sleep soon came thereafter.
When he eventually reawakened, the interior of the room was darker. The sun was beginning to set providing the room with an orange glow.
“How are you feeling?” He turned his head to the right while it rested on the pillow. He saw a well-dressed man with neatly groomed brown hair with some curls thrown in on the top of his head and to the sides. They also had a sharp nose and a pointy chin.
“I could be better,” he said taking note of the pain in his shoulder that was quite present.
“But you are alive which is a good thing.” They clasped their hands together as they sat in the chair beside his bed. “I imagine you must be wondering who exactly I am. I’m Rinas Maladan—leader of the Human Familiar Coalition.”
“So you’re the one behind this whole thing.”
“Yes.”
This person certainly wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he envisioned what the leader of this coalition might look like. They must’ve been some kind of noble who kept up appearances to fit in.
Despite this man’s introduction of himself demanding more of his attention, his mind kept returning to that recent memory of the slaughter. He tried not to fixate on it, but it was all he could think about.
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Rinas appeared to take note of it. “I imagine you must have many questions revolving around recent events. I am willing to help answer some of them if you have any.”
Kiran looked up at the tall ceiling. “Why did the queen choose to attack us as she did?”
“I believe that from her perspective,” he went on to say, “that it was an act of desperation and one of fear. I cannot begin to say definitively why she would choose to attack in that heinous manner, but the truth is, she has a long and bloody history in trying to keep Liall safe.”
“You’re telling me that she killed all of those people and nearly killed me just to keep this city safe?”
“In her mind yes. However, with that being said, I’ve never known her to take action to this extent by flagrantly attacking an entire innocent crowd of people. It appears that she was so desperate to kill you in particular, that she was willing to take such actions despite the toll it may have on her reputation.”
“What could she possibly have against me? I’m no threat to her.”
“You are an anomaly,” he said.
Kiran looked away from the ceiling to gaze into his eyes.
“I’ve become somewhat familiar with your circumstances. You’re a man who has lost his memories and somehow wandered through the vast wasteland outside this city which no human has been known to be capable of doing. At least not without the assistance of special devices or spells to keep the fog away. But beyond that, the fact remains that the queen likely became aware of these attributes towards you in particular leading her to see you as a major liability to her kingdom.”
He could’ve guessed that he was the target. She had come for him specifically, drove her sword through his heart, and walked away without targeting anyone else specifically. Everyone else who died was just mere collateral for her true goal of killing him. Her plan would’ve worked had it not been for Lar managing to heal him somehow.
“I will say,” Rinas said, “that her actions have been met with extreme criticism not just from people like us or the common man or women in the city, but also from the aristocracy. Even someone as beloved as her has seen her reputation begin to take a major hit from all fronts due to this recent action.”
“Still though. Am I really that important to kill?”
“You’re a person who can tolerate the fog surrounding the city and you are a member of the Human Familiar Coalition. And she is, let’s say, not fond of us as we’ve been undermining her for years now. I also would imagine that if she found out that you were the one involved in the killing of Marthus Einfeld, that might also have something to do with it. Although that’s speculative on my part. With all of these factors considered, you would be a prime target for someone like her who from time to time will take matters into her own hands.”
It made him feel even more guilty for being involved with Della. He knew there was a risk of continuing a relationship with her, even knowing at least to some extent at the time, that he was a target. He just didn’t realize how much of a target he had made himself out to be. And now you’re dead Della, because of my carelessness.
Up until this point and the massacre itself, the queen was hardly someone he had any real interest in. He was a member of the Human Familiar Coalition who had it out for her of course. But he had mainly joined to gain knowledge, have food, and shelter provided to him. That was all he ever really wanted from them along with their protection. He didn’t want this tragedy let alone having himself be a target that would cause innocents to die.
“I realize that you are likely blaming yourself for the deaths of all those people that day. You really shouldn’t though. You are a victim just as we all are. An innocent one at that. Each and every one of us is being held hostage by her. And those pillars of her creation have been what ultimately prevent this city’s people from overthrowing her. But the truth is, we can’t afford to remain hostage to her power any longer, especially after seeing what she is willing to do. I believe, like with many others, that she must be removed at all costs.”
I don’t want any of this. The queen had committed an egregious act against him. She could’ve killed him and he would’ve been fine with that. But she killed Della—an innocent life, and couldn’t care less along with many others.
“If we were to somehow kill her, what would happen then?” Kiran asked. “I thought that she was the one who powered the central pillar. Without her, won’t all of the pillars stop working, and then everyone will die?”
“That is how things would go were we to eliminate her right now. But through our arduous efforts, I believe we have a solution to this problem. We have developed a new method to power the pillars without her.” He paused for a moment giving Kiran a serious look. “She has since the creation of the pillars monopolized the knowledge of how they work but she no longer is solely knowledgeable about them. We have become aware of how the pillars function along with uncovering the secrets about them that she has worked hard to hide from us.”
He had learned about the relationship between the queen and the pillars beforehand. The queen had been powering them for all this time without anyone knowing exactly how. If what Rinas said was true, then she could be removed in whatever way necessary, and the lives of those within Liall could live without her as its ruler. Whether that meant that what replaced her would end up being better, Kiran could not say. He thought that at the very least that she deserved to be removed from power due to her actions towards him and others. She deserved some form of punishment and he certainly felt committed to being the one to bring that about if at all possible.
However, he had been dealt a nasty blow by strangely enough, the coalition itself. Laphy had attacked him and injured him which made things rather awkward. Since the leader of this coalition was here with him, who better than him to ask about this troublesome development. “I do have an important question to ask. What’s to be done about Laphy? They did injure me after all. In my mind at least, it brings into question whether I should even bother sticking around with this coalition of yours.” Even after saving him from Marthus, Laphy attacked him and Kiran didn’t want to just merely let that go as if it didn’t happen.
“I am aware of Laphy’s actions towards you. And I understand if that occurrence has led you to be at odds with our coalition and even consider leaving. I have spoken with Laphy however and he is undergoing punishment along with being put in a position where neither of you ought to run into each other.”
“You mean to tell me you’re not at the very least kicking someone like him out?”
“If I could I would. The reality is that we do not have enough numbers for me to just kick him out. Even though he is not a faction leader, Laphy is beloved by many in the coalition. If I were to kick him out, dozens of people including many familiars would gladly leave as well. I understand if you believe this to be not a good enough reason to keep him, but he is an undeniably valuable member of our cause.”
He felt quite a bit differently towards Laphy, but he was glad to see that Rinas wasn’t lying straight to his face about his motivations. He could’ve easily shrugged off his concerns but instead, he argued for why he would keep someone like that in the coalition, despite the harm they had caused him personally.
“I realize that keeping you two away from each other is likely insufficient. But if I were to give you certain assurances that you will have all of the opportunities and resources to pursue a path to possibly regain your memories, would that perhaps persuade you to continue working with us?”
“It might,” he said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“Well,” he said getting up from the chair. “Please be sure to think about it. I can certainly say that in my opinion, you’ve proven to be an immensely valuable asset to the coalition and I certainly value everything you have done for us so far. But I will ultimately respect whatever decision you decide on whether you stay or leave.”
He needed time to contemplate the matter. Rinas ended up leaving allowing him to have the time to do just that.