Chapter 3
The Prisoners
There was one word that Meredith came to summarize training as: evil.
For many years, Meredith had trained with her mother, enduring onslaught after onslaught while she tried to learn the sword. That had been difficult in and of itself. Then, learning magic had been about recognizing the way hers worked, which boiled down to patience and concentration. All of that was easy compared to the task that Amelia and Terrill set before her…and them.
“Snap judgment. You’re slow, Montgomery!”
For what had to be the thousandth time in their thousandth training session, Amelia whapped Eddie on the back of his head. He grimaced, but didn’t give in. Almost cheeky in response, Eddie snapped his fingers and a plinth of ice appeared underneath Meredith’s feet.
“Now your turn, Childs. Fast! Fast! Fast!” With every word, she clapped her hands together, the commander’s insistence interfering with Meredith’s mental processes.
The girl shook her head, sensing Terrill’s soul. He was making it heavier to move his blade, but still, Meredith swung it. A line of stones appeared, battering the ice and breaking it apart. Amelia shouted something, and Meredith could sense Emil’s soul flying at her. It was coming straight in her blind spot, and she knew there was only one way to stop it.
Switch up. Move faster. Amelia’s commanding advice and Terrill’s instructions on stance echoed through her head. Meredith spun her sword to the side. Her hand grabbed the hilt, the blade now pointing backwards as she swung it in front of herself. Emil’s attack was intercepted, grating against the metal. Meredith found her brow furrowing in concentration, hands shaking under the brunt of attack. She still didn’t have the stance down fully, but she called forth the earthen power inside it and caused a spire to emerge from beneath Emil.
He broke off, nicked on the arm.
“Not bad, but still sloppy,” Amelia called. “Now, you three know the drill. Gang up, time. Lacroix, don’t think this’ll be easy.”
“I’m perfectly capable,” Vivian said. Her bow was readied as her three opponents turned to her. Meredith continued gripping her blade backwards. Her eyes met Eddie and Emil’s, and they struck.
Tongues of flame whipped out, lashing at Vivian’s side, but she enchanted the air around her, creating a shield. Emil took advantage, the familiar orb of crackling energy firing for where Eddie was attacking. Meredith ran forward.
A cracking noise filled the air, and the shield of air broke apart, leaving Vivian vulnerable.
Well, not a hundred percent vulnerable. Her bow had transformed into a sword, but the look on her face was a cross between annoyance and surprise. Meredith took advantage of that. She swung her blade forward, clashing with Vivian’s.
Change it now. Don’t stick with just one style.
Yeah, this would be useful outside of battle, Meredith snapped at Terrill. She heeded him, anyway, letting go of the blade for a split second. Her fingers nearly fumbled it, but still clasped her sword in time to put the full weight of her power behind it.
“Come on, Viv. Where’s your defense?”
“Don’t…need it…”
The swords strained, sparking in the air, locked in a stalemate. Then Meredith saw it: her opening was barreling towards her. A wind-supported Emil was diving for Vivian.
Meredith pushed, her elbow flashing out to knock Vivian’s sword-arm up and away, leaving her vulnerable. The blonde stumbled but her body glowed with the blue calm of a defensive enchantment. It wasn’t enough to stop Emil, whose gravity pressed upon her, locking her in place. Meredith switched her blade around and jabbed forward. The hilt drove into Vivian’s stomach, and then sent her flying against the padded walls.
“Why are you constantly having them team against me?”
“Because you’re not doing what you need to. And once again, you underestimated them,” Amelia spoke. She was dusting her hands off, as if she had just been the one to end the battle. Still, she offered a hand to Vivian and pulled her up. “You thought a hastily cast low-level enchantment was going to protect you, but your opponents are stronger than you can imagine. You need to get over that crutch.”
“Mind your business…”
Meredith bit her lip, wondering if it would cause Amelia to whack the girl like she did to Eddie. Said boy even flinched. Instead, the woman sighed. “I would smack some sense into you, but I’m afraid I’ve no time left.”
“Are you saying we’re free?” Emil asked. The hopeful tone could not be missed.
“For now. Tomorrow’s departure day.”
Meredith said nothing, sheathing her sword away after a day of hard work. They’d been so caught up in training for the tournament, that she hadn’t realized it was now right around the corner. Her only question was whether they’d managed to improve at all…and she wasn’t going to ask Terrill. There was enough brutal honesty from Amelia.
“Do you even think we’re ready?” Eddie asked, tempting fate. Emil quickly floated over to him, taking him in a headlock with widened eyes.
“Eddie, don’t ask that! Are you trying to hurt our self-esteem?”
“You’re passable.”
“High praise! We’re ‘passable’!” Emil cheered. He started laughing, prompting the others to join in. “Look guys, we might actually stand a chance of not falling flat on our faces!”
“No time to celebrate,” Amelia still noted, zipping around to whack all three of the laughers on the head. “You still have a long road ahead and I don’t want you to think you’ve won until the battle is over. There are still some serious holes in your teamwork and abilities that can be exploited. At best, you four have just gotten faster, which is good enough. I never thought I could change your core. At least you can compete without being complete embarrassments.”
“That really is high praise coming from you, commander,” Meredith noted. Amelia quirked an eyebrow at her remark and then shrugged.
“You’re still not at your brother’s level.” That felt more like an obligatory comment rather than something meant to insult her. Not that Meredith was offended; she knew her brother was far more skilled than herself. He always had been. “All right, go get some food, shower and rest. I’ll not have you slacking when we depart for the Metropolis in the morning.”
Another clap of her hands and Amelia made for the door. It slid open and she exited, but before it closed, the four teens were making their way through it.
“Who does that woman think she is?” Vivian said. Her face was twisted, lips sneering to the point that Meredith wondered if the blonde was trying to melt the walls.
“How dare she insult the great Lacroix family name? I’m strong enough without her stupid advice!” Emil’s voice had gone high-pitched, mocking Vivian. She took offense from it, moving to try and strangle the boy. Eddie prevented the attack, concealing his own laughter. “Viv, you’ve been complaining about this the last week.”
“Well, it’s been a pointless week! If it wasn’t for this tournament’s importance, I’d have left a long time ago.” Her huff was visible even to the few Guardians walking the upper halls. They avoided her fury, smushing themselves against the walls while she stormed past. However, when they caught sight of the other three, they lit up.
“Hey, good luck in the tournament!”
“The Corps is pulling for a win!”
“Uh…thanks?” Meredith said, waving to the pair of Guardians. The look in their eyes said they really had no idea who these four were, but that the pride of the Corps was on the line. Soon as they were out of vision and earshot, having boarded the elevator down to the dining hall, Meredith was certain they’d been all but forgotten.
Of course, a more noticeable reception was awaiting them at their destination.
“Here they are!”
“Fighters for the Corps!”
“Man, why’d some trial-goers get the chance instead of us?”
Meredith was wary of comments like that. She held her head high, but tried to not look at anyone. Vivian was doing a decent job of cutting a path to the food and a table spot, but the continued well-wishes were incessant, only breaking up when two familiar faces intervened.
“Hey, break it up. They’re here to eat, as you all should be,” Jay’s voice boomed across the crowd. Many of the Guardians stood at attention in the wake of a higher-ranked officer. “Honestly, if you wanted to participate, then maybe you should have convinced the chief commander that an established Guardian was worth more investing in. Now, no complaining or pestering.”
Those that hadn’t yet obeyed decided to. Meredith expelled a relieved breath, swiping her tray of food and walking over to a relatively empty space to sit with her companions. None of them were speaking; a fact which didn’t change by Jay and Emily plopping down with them at the table, like a pair of personal bodyguards. “Thanks.”
“Ah, people can be annoying,” Jay said. His feet were propped on the table, a loaf of bread sticking out of his mouth. Emily’s frosty glare put no stop to it. “I’m sure you’ll have enough attention on you for the next week. Goodness knows, you being here has prevented the worst of the attention from that…incident.”
“What about you guys?” Eddie asked, sipping on some soup and blanching. “Gonna watch the tournament?”
Emily opened her mouth to answer, but someone suddenly jacked the volume of the television higher than was healthy, the news now ringing in everyone’s ears. The answer would have to wait.
“The civilian team for the Alliance Games has been chosen!” the announcer boomed with all the hyperactivity of a schoolboy. “After a week of untelevised preliminaries, the civilian team that has rocked the judges is ready to rumble. In just a few hours’ time, the teams from Lacardia and the Guardian Corps will be joining the Home Guard in the Metropolis, ready for action. Who will win the tournament at the vaunted Trial of Power? Only time will tell!”
“The Guardian Corps, of course!”
“No contest.”
“Still think one of the squads should have entered instead…”
“The squads have missions that deal with more than the Corps’ pride,” Emily scoffed. The volume died down, finally, but Meredith felt unable to eat much more. “Still, I guess it must feel like you have a lot of weight sitting on you four.”
“If you say so,” Vivian said, finishing her own meal and shoving it aside. Only Emil managed to chow down without issue. “Not like they could do any better, so I’m not concerned.”
“I guess it’s gotten a lot of media coverage, huh?” Eddie asked. He got an affirmative answer while noise returned around them. “Haven’t noticed with all our training…Wonder what civilians we’ll be up against.”
“You’ll find out…and the rest of the world, too.”
“For something so big, there wasn’t a lot of advance notice,” Emil commented through his stuffed mouth.
“Marcus has been planning this thing a while, but I guess so…Trial of Power is always pretty well-watched, though, so…”
Meredith stopped paying attention. The origins of the tournament weren’t as interesting as the actual tournament that was before her. It was a chance to prove herself further, and with the eyes of the Corps directly on her, she knew she’d have to do her best. Training had brought her here, and now it was time to act. Terrill’s silent courage remained with her.
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Conversation continued in the background, but Meredith was watching the coliseum displayed on screen. While topics cycled from the events at the settlement two weeks ago to whatever Tempest Squad refused to say they’d be up to, Meredith just observed the stadium and the Guardians around her, so intricately linked. Everything else was such a blip on her radar that Meredith had gone into autopilot the rest of the evening, her hands moving as if in battle and her mind anticipating what was to come the following day.
Before she knew it, she and her teammates had retired to their rooms, preparing for sleep. Only Vivian’s usual mood broke up the haze Meredith was in before she slipped to dreamland.
“You better not wreck this chance for me,” she said from her bed. “I can’t afford that.”
Having little reason to respond, Meredith turned over in her now-familiar bed and fell asleep. Vivian’s barbed words fell away from her, putting her into a sleep of combat and magic. In the center of it all was Terrill, that solitary stalwart man standing on a devastated battlefield. Part of her grew restless, tossing and turning under her covers. The anomaly of what she was dreaming began to consume her, and she wondered what she was seeing through the lens of her soul.
It didn’t take long for it to appear. That gnawing darkness, encroaching upon her soul, threatening to engulf her and so much more. Other lights pierced through the darkness, but all she could feel was the hand reaching for her until she awoke in a cold sweat, the first rays of dawn coming through the curtain.
Wiping it away, Meredith sat at the edge of her bed, the events of the alchemic settlement playing over and over in her head. There was little doubt it was the reason for her upsetting dream. Her weakness. Her connection.
How many of me are there? How many soul-users? She thought. No response was given. Swallowing, Meredith made to shake her head. Dwelling on the past was unimportant. Now was the time for the future; for passing the next trials and being one step closer to becoming a Guardian. If I can do that, I’ll move past those mistakes.
To confirm this thought, there was a knock at the door, which soon slid open to reveal a drowsy Eddie and Emil being propped up by an all-too-vivacious Amelia.
“All right, peons! Departure time!” Meredith nodded at the words, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and grabbing her bag and blades. In the interim, Amelia had crossed to Vivian’s bed and kicked it, causing the girl to tumble. “Get up, Lacroix. Time for rest is over.”
Vivian’s look was withering, but she didn’t dare defy the commander. The quintet bound for the tournament were soon out the door, stalking through the mildly busy halls. Not many Guardians were awake, and their own group avoided the dining hall, straight towards the familiar skyship deck where they had arrived to Corps Castle. Like the rest of it, not many people were here, except for a couple familiar faces.
“Ray, come to see us off?” Meredith asked, waving to her brother as he stood by his subordinates. He returned the wave.
“Something like that,” came his chuckling response. “I would think you guys don’t want a mob before you set off. Small departure would be nice. Right, commander?”
“They’ll be dealing with enough crowds. One minute, Childs. That’s all you get.” Amelia’s command was absolute and she continued to push Vivian, Eddie and Emil up the ramp of an unknown skyship. Meredith remained behind.
“I’m surprised Marcus didn’t come see us off. This was his idea, right?” she asked, hitching her bag on her shoulders.
“He’s busy.” Jay and Emily’s distracted expressions made Meredith think the chief commander’s busyness had something to do with them, but she didn’t push. “Now, Mera, make the Corps and the Childs’ name proud! Win that tournament! No pressure! We’ll be watching.”
“You realize you just contradicted yourself, like, twice, right?” Raymond clapped her on the back. “No worries, Ray. When we return, we’ll be known as the winners and I’ll have just one trial left! Then I’ll definitely become a Guardian!”
“Looking forward to it.” Brother and sister joined hands as they pulled in for a hug. They separated before long, and Meredith made her own way up the ramp, throwing a fist into the air. It was joined with the sudden throttling of the skyship engine, preparing for imminent takeoff.
Once Meredith had crossed the threshold, the ramp retracted, closing her off, and she found herself joining her teammates on the nearby observation deck of the smaller aircraft. Amelia was there, too, checking something on a screen of hers, hardly paying attention to her charges. With the small bit of time to themselves, Meredith turned to her companions.
“All right, this is it,” she said, putting her hand forward. “We’ve worked together before, but now we’re here to win it. Let’s keep our squabbling to a minimum.”
“You first, Mera,” Emil said, but he joined his hand in, anyway.
“This’ll be fun.”
“Don’t hold me back.”
Meredith sucked in a breath, everyone’s hands reluctantly joined. Then she lifted them towards the sky. “Let’s win the Alliance Games!”
The skyship shot off for the Metropolis.
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“You’re sure about this, captain?” Jay’s asinine question resulted in a hiss from Emily. “It’s a valid question, Em.”
Raymond had to give credence to both of his lieutenants’ observations. They’d gone over this many times already, but the doubt of what they had planned to do lingered. Adjusting his glasses, however, Raymond said nothing. There was no time to delay their new mission any further; not when it came from the chief commander, himself.
“What other way do you think we can extract any information, anyway, Jay?” Emily asked, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.
“Both of you, stop arguing.” They obeyed their captain.
Raymond and the other two turned down a hall, towards a long line of stairs that descended into the basement of Corps Castle. He wasn’t one for the details of the place that had become his home, too used to them to notice. Meredith may have been enamored with the location (or perhaps had been before her weeks holed up here), but Raymond knew them by heart. So, too, did his friends and squad members.
His feet began to descend into the darkened halls, lit by the sparse lights that peppered the corridors. Every step echoed off the walls, each bringing with it the purpose of a mission for the Corps. Thoughts of his sister and tournament she was going to be fighting were irrelevant. Now was the time for the mission.
“Sir!” The calls of his squad members, as well as their salutes, brought attention to the presence standing outside the door. On instinct, Raymond threw his own salute up, facing ahead to the one that had outlined the mission in the first place.
“At ease, Tempest Squad,” Marcus said, hands behind his back. He was emerging from the hall beyond, Raymond noticing a disheveled Guardian fumbling for keys behind the closing door. “I’ve informed the warden of your intention and granted permission. You’ve seen your sister off, Raymond?”
“Yes, sir. She and the others have left for the Metropolis,” Raymond answered. He dropped his salute, peering at the dim light that flickered on the gray stone. “Let’s hope they can bring forth a victory.”
“And that nothing happens in the meantime,” Jay spoke. The thwacking noise indicated that Emily had left propriety behind and hit him in the stomach, as usual. Marcus was amused. “It bears mentioning…”
“That it does. That’s why I’m putting you on this mission. A mission you are best equipped for,” the chief commander spoke. He earned the immediate respect and attention from the squad. “The enemy is revealed. We’ve captured some of their subordinates. After two attacks from the Order in nearly as many months, it’s time we take action to prevent it any further.”
“We’re aware, sir,” Raymond said. His hand was locked into another salute. “Hunt down the Reaper and put a stop to their plans. That’s why we’re interrogating those priests.”
“Yes…just be careful. Neither has said anything under interrogation, but I’ve no doubt you can yield results. Keep the tournament, and your sister, safe.” To impress the importance of this mission, Marcus put a hand on Raymond and smiled. “I’ve faith in you.”
“And your faith will not be disappointed, sir.” The captain and his commander held gazes a moment before Marcus patted his shoulder. He swiftly departed, with Jay and Emily moving aside to let him pass. Only when the sound of his echoing steps had all but disappeared did the trio approach the door to the prison cells, their faces hiding any and all secrets behind them.
Raymond walked through.
“Captain Childs. We’ve been waiting,” the warden spoke up straightaway. His shirt was stained with liquid, as though he’d been startled earlier, and the keys in his hands were shaking with nervousness. “This way, sir.”
He walked out of the small room that was the entranceway to the prison, and Raymond followed. Each successive hallway beyond led past more jail cells. Many were empty, though some were filled with various criminals from outside the Metropolis, or the less-threatening fanatics from the Order. The warden didn’t stop there, though the Guardians serving as his staff banged on the cells to shut some of the agitated prisoners within.
Scathing insults and angry jeers were lobbed at Raymond, many of them recognizing him from the battle in the settlement, but he spared them no glances. They were unimportant. Only the ones that lay beyond the cast-iron door, guarded by three people, were of any significance. It was here that the warden inevitably stopped. His hands were trembling on the keys, fidgeting.
“I’d recommend caution. They don’t say much, but we had to remove one guard who was questioning things from a…persuasive argument.” Raymond raised an eyebrow. Far as he knew of both prisoners, they hardly had a silver tongue. Nevertheless, he nodded, allowing the warden to open the way forward into the deepest hall of the prison block.
The door slammed shut with an echoing clang the moment all three had entered.
There was light, but very little, casting the area in a greenish hue. The trickling of pebbles met their ears and Raymond waited for his eyes to adjust in the relative darkness. Once it had, and he stepped towards the locked cells, he heard laughter. It was high-pitched and giggling, reveling in his arrival there. Not once did it cease until the captain had approached the first cell and peered inside.
“Hee hee hee…The Tempest Captain…come to marvel? How’s your…sister?”
Caleb the Beastmaster looked beyond pathetic. He was chained to the wall, magic-sealing restraints clasping each of his limbs and his neck. The man was akin to an animal, just like those he summoned. Now, however, he was useless, reduced to taunts and cackling. There was no information to be had from him.
On the other hand…
“Come for information like the others, have you?” Gaius’s voice called from the other cell, prompting Raymond to turn in that direction. He walked forward, peering into that one. Caleb glared after him, but was reduced to mutters in the darkness. All Raymond’s attention was on Gaius, the portly man chained to the floor as he sat. He looked smug. “I’m afraid we have nothing. Though the food could do with an upgrade.”
“You deserve to eat less, fat slob,” Jay remarked. Raymond held a hand out, silencing his subordinate. Emily resisted the urge to hit him.
Not wishing to delay any longer, Raymond looked down and asked his question. “What is the Reaper planning next?”
There was no answer forthcoming. Not right away. Gaius could be seen thinking before a sadistic grin split his face. “We’ve no idea. Not everything was shared with us. The Reaper is unto themselves. Besides, if we didn’t say anything to the Guardians that came before you, what makes you think I’d share anything now.”
“You have a point, though I would just suppose that means you know nothing,” Raymond said. He couldn’t help the challenging turn of his lips, taunting at the man who could do nothing but throw venomous glares. “I guess even a priest such as yourself is insignificant to the Reaper, hm?”
“You know nothing.” With a burst of strength, Gaius stood from the floor and attempted to ram into the bars of the cell. His momentum didn’t carry him very far, the chains stopping him before he could complete his threat. “You Guardians,” he spat, “always thinking you’re right. Always thinking you know what’s best.”
“The Guardian Corps has stood for a thousand years or more,” Raymond said. He pushed at his glasses, addressing the man with coldness that caused him to retreat. “Something so wrong does not make it that long.”
“The goddess has lived for longer.”
“Something so intangible has no value in this day and age. And it gives your Reaper no right to cause such destruction.”
“Destruction?!” Gaius’s cackles emanated forth, piercing the ears of everyone there until he could no longer take it. “The Order isn’t about destruction, but creation! The great goddess, Crea! That shows what you know. Death and devastation are just a means to an end, to join us all with the goddess and achieve the answers we so-”
“I’ve had enough of this,” Raymond said with a sigh. “You’re just a pack of fanatical believers with no will of your own.”
“Sometimes people need to be led.”
Annoyance was scrawled across each of them, reaching an impasse that neither wished to cross. Leastways, not until Jay stepped forward, kneeling down to Gaius’s level.
“Is that why you’re after them? The Weapons?” Raymond looked down to his friend and subordinate, the young man straight-laced, but amused. Gaius seemed equally entertained by the question. “Of course. What is the Reaper planning with those Weapons?”
“The new world.”
“And where do they hope to find them?” To that, Gaius gave no riddling answer. Raymond observed the fatter man. He was inscrutable. Though his words appeared to be answering questions, there was nothing to be gleaned from them. It was all a merry game to him. “They’re after them, certainly…So is Lacardia the next on the list?”
“Ha! Lacardia! They’d need far more of a change in the disposition of the mind to manage that!” Raymond’s eyes narrowed, thinking of just what the man could mean, but Jay was moving on.
“Not Lacardia, then.” His fingers were beginning to tick down the things that he knew. “Not those in the Corps’ custody, either. I’m sure the Reaper wouldn’t want extra attention on the Order after what just happened. So…we have the settlement…the Corps…Lacardia…the Metropolis…To the south, then?”
“What would I know? I’m just a fanatical believer.” Gaius laughed again, Jay’s words no longer impacting him. Raymond inched closer, watching every bit of Gaius as the man’s eyes met his. “Just a tiny, insignificant speck among specks, believing in something greater than myself, hoping to make a mark. Like I’m tossed adrift on the waves of the sea. Perhaps that’s why the Reaper’s always looking to it: to remind them what we are to them.”
Finally, a small smile twitched at Raymond’s lips. Riddles or not, intentional or not, Raymond had a clue. It was very possible Gaius knew that, his own grin evident in the darkness. To that, the captain scoffed, and turned away. “Thank you for your help, Gaius. I’ll have an extra meal sent your way.”
“My gratitude, captain,” Gaius said. The shuffling noise indicated the return to his initial position. “Oh, I do hope you find what you’re looking for. But be careful, captain! Not everything is as it seems in the wild!”
Raymond didn’t indulge him with a response. He and the others just approached the door, rapping on it for the warden to let them out. They said nothing to the disturbed man, but at least Raymond could understand his trepidation. Gaius may have been a bit of a brute, but his conviction was strong. Being near Caleb had to have doubled that, but Raymond kept that thought to himself and said nothing until he and his squad-mates had left the prison. Already, Emily had her tablet out, sending a call to Sal and Kenny.
“You actually got something from that, Em?” Jay asked.
“I’m not entirely sure what got from it, but I know there was a hidden meaning. Right, captain?” Raymond nodded to her, taking the tablet that she handed over. “I take it we have a location for our mission.”
“That right, captain?” Sal’s voice emanated from the tablet. Raymond looked down to the confident dark-skinned woman. “Are we taking the Defender out for a spin?”
“Less a spin, more a mission.” Sal was cheery about it either way. “We have an idea for where the Reaper may be heading next. Whether it’s connected to the tournament or not, I don’t care. Our mission is to find them and stop them so that no more lives can be harmed. To that end, we’re heading for another Legendary Weapon they may be after.”
“I’ll call Bruce and Trent, then. Haven’t been able to find them the last few days, but knowing them, they’re busy with something crazy around the castle,” Jay said. He clapped Raymond on the shoulder, gave him a knowing look and disappeared up the stairs.
“If we can find and stop the Reaper, we can protect everyone else, and perhaps find out just what the Order is up to,” Raymond added. Kenny bustled his way on to the screen, an arm thrown around Sal as he listened. The captain took a breath. “So, we set course for the Silacian Archipelago, far south of Lacardia. Might take us a few days of searching, but we’ll find something. This is our mission. Let us complete it.
“Tempest Squad, move out!”