Kade’s eyebrows rose as the young woman began removing her dress, but he managed to hastily say, “Stop,” with enough command in his tone that Nella virtually froze in place. A flood of emotions hit Kade all at once, rage at the forefront, and looking at the scared girl in front of him he decided immediately that questioning her would just be cruel. He took a moment before speaking again, not wanting to frighten her further, then finally asked her to go get Festus and bring him to the Keeper house.
Unfortunately this did nothing to comfort the girl, and tears were in her eyes as she rushed out the door. Kade could feel his own anger getting out of control as some of the odd behavior began to make sense. He had felt something was wrong almost immediately upon identifying himself as connected to the Keepers, but he had hoped it was just the novelty. His mind raced as he considered the possibilities, the most alarming of which was that this might actually somehow be normal, as he had to admit to himself that his experience was severely limited.
But hours of speaking with Edwin around a campfire of the noble Keeper ideals, and the lectures about the sacred duty and responsibility that he’d gone through at the Academy told him this had to be false. Whatever was happening here was corruption, and he didn’t have much time to figure out how he would handle it. As if in answer to his thoughts, a hesitant knock on the door told him that Festus had arrived, and he could only yell, “Come in!”
The older man opened the door, and there was both terror and exhaustion in his eyes as he walked inside. “Yes, Lord Keeper? Nella said that she may have, um, displeased you?” Kade let out a breath, not sure exactly how to handle this, but also very concerned that he was making it worse on the people he was increasingly certain were victims.
“Not at all, she was very kind. Can you tell me about the Local Keepers that live here?” The man looked confused, but only hesitated a moment before answering.
“Well there are three. Tal is the leader, with Cen and Olus being relatively new to the position. But I should clarify that they don’t live here precisely, this is just one of the many towns they visit and…protect.”
“You mentioned that the village ‘supports’ these Keepers, can you tell me what that entails?” The man appeared even more uncomfortable, and glanced back toward the door as if to escape.
“I’m referring to the tax, of course. Which is quite fair!” he added hastily. “I didn’t mean to imply we don’t appreciate your service, my Lord Keeper. There is no price too high for the safety of my people; it’s just that our coffers are already strained to the limit.” Kade had never heard of any tax, but he had to admit it made sense. He knew that the Keepers accumulated some wealth by selling the occasional spoil of a monster or Elder hunt, but maintaining a powerful magical army couldn’t be cheap. There was clearly much more going on here, however.
“Tell me about this Tal, I haven’t heard of him.” Festus looked at him suspiciously at that, but seemed ready to take any excuse to not speak further about the tax.
“Lord Talnius has been looking after these villages for decades. He’s very brave; I’ve seen him face off against countless beasts and monsters over the years, and he’s never turned his back on a village in need. He can’t be everywhere at once, of course, but if we raise the call, more often than not he’ll be here within days.” Kade listened, trying to align what he was hearing with the odd behavior, and Nella’s obvious fear. He tried to find a way to broach the subject without putting himself in an unfortunate position; he wasn’t aware of any brothels in Karthas, but for all he knew things were different in the frontier.
“And what of Nella? Does she often perform these…duties for the Keepers when they visit?” The older man looked very uncomfortable, and his inability to make eye contact told its own story.
“Well, it is a great honor to marry into the Keepers, of course. So there are many young women who appreciate the attentions…” he trailed off, and Kade got the distinct impression that the man was disgusted with himself. He could also tell that the man wasn’t willing to put himself or his village at odds with these local Keepers, and felt that pushing harder wasn’t fair to the frightened man. He knew that all of this was leading to an inevitable confrontation, and decided to keep the rest of his questions for the men themselves.
“I noticed a training area behind this house,” this was a generous description of the walled-in square he’d seen from an upper window, but it would suit his purposes. “When my fellow Keepers arrive, please tell them I’ll be waiting for them out there.” Kade only waited for a hesitant nod from Festus before he went toward the back of the house, realizing he was completely uncertain how this would go.
***
Kade sat in a chair, the sun beating down on him hours later, eyes locked on the back door of the Keeper House. He’d made what preparations he could, but the reality was that he had no way of knowing what to expect from the group of local Keepers. He didn’t think his life was in danger, but if these men were truly taking advantage of these villages to the extent he feared, he couldn’t be certain what they might be willing to do to protect their secrets. He’d considered bluffing, being aggressive, even pretending to share their interests, but in the end he knew he was over-preparing. He wouldn’t know how to handle this until he met the men, and even then this was far more likely to go wrong than right.
His unusual vision told him the three men had arrived before they even entered the house, as he’d learned that Awakened created ripples in the energy around them. Moments later he could hear heated voices, one of them Festus coming from inside the house, and finally the door banged open, revealing the three at last. Kade assumed the leading man was Talnius, as the ripples in energy around him were far beyond those caused by the two men who followed.
Talnius was a tall, lanky man with short, jet black hair and a rough beard. He wore dark brown clothing that looked somewhere between armor and traveling attire, and he seemed to be holding back a glare as he looked at Kade, lounging in a chair on the other side of the courtyard. Cen and Olus may have actually been twins, as they were identical in their average height and light brown hair, though the lower half of their faces were covered by the high collars of their matching coats. What was truly shocking though was what Kade’s Energist vision told him, as he’d become quite practiced when it came to evaluating other Keepers by the energy pulsing out from their Soul Cores, having been around so many in the Academy. He was certain that the two were barely past Awakening, at most having one or two bonds each.
Talnius was past that, possibly being fully Bonded, but he didn’t have the telltale complex energy swirls Kade now associated with those of Primus and beyond. At most he was a single Path, though it was hard to tell as the man’s energy had a density that Kade associated with some of the older Keepers he knew. Concerns of being killed fell away, but didn’t disappear entirely. Instead, Kade’s curiosity grew. These men clearly had power, but he was certain that none of them were actually Keepers.
“What do we do, Tal?” One of the two men whispered, but he was silenced by a glare as Talnius strode purposefully toward Kade. He stopped a few strides away, then seemed to consider Kade thoughtfully before speaking.
“Greetings, Keeper,” he said in an even, controlled voice. “You didn’t use any of the normal channels to announce your coming, or we’d have met you on the road.” He gestured to the house around them, “This is actually a private residence; we normally have rooms prepared at the Inn when we receive visitors.” Kade nodded thoughtfully, putting the pieces together toward answering his biggest question–was it even possible for these three to be operating without the Order being aware?
“This isn’t an official visit,” Kade began. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I made use of your training area. My name is Kade, by the way.”
“Tal,” was all the man replied before taking a seat in a nearby chair of his own. “Those two are Cen and Olus, my apprentices. If this isn’t an official visit, what are you doing in my house?” The man was on the verge of open hostility, and Kade made doubly sure to keep his own head cool, hoping to take advantage.
“Well Tal, I was hunting in the local woods and decided to take a tour of some of the nearby villages. I wasn’t aware that they had any Keepers stationed here, and was hoping that I could be of help.” The three men exchanged glances, and Kade felt like he could almost feel the tension in the air.
“You’re here alone?” Tal asked, and something in the man’s posture let him know that violence was imminent. Kade smiled, realizing he was glad that things were about to get simpler.
“Just me,” he said, and everything happened at once. Cen and Olus managed to take a single step forward each, before countless silver chains wrapped around them, yanking them into the air. Kade was a little jealous, as Drake’s ability eclipsed his own in this regard, and he’d barely been able to see the flat steel transform from where it was hidden flush against the building’s roof, ensnaring the two apprentices in moments. He was also equal parts delighted and horrified to see that Drake had truly embraced their shared combat style, and had actually created a body of chains that looked shockingly like that of an anarchnid, with the eerie expressionless helmet in place of a face. The two men screamed in horror as they were raised up in front of the Aspect, long legs of chains reaching for them ominously as their mouths were covered.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Tal couldn’t stop himself from staring for a moment at the confusing and disturbing scene, but he surprised Kade by bursting forward a second later, gripping Kade around the throat and slamming him against the stone wall behind him. His speed and strength were shocking, and Kade could tell he’d underestimated the man. He managed to bring his knee up between the two, limiting the taller man’s leverage, and just barely managed to summon a short sword sword to intercept the blow from a mace that he hadn’t even seen Tal draw.
Thankfully Challenger’s Might had activated the moment Kade felt himself in the grips of a stronger opponent, and he slowly managed to force the man’s weapon back–though the grip at his throat didn’t relent quite so easily. Air was vastly less important since his body had been transformed, but Kade was still at the man’s mercy, and knew that needed to change. In a moment he had several lengths of thick chain wrapped around Tal’s neck, and he pulled the man back while summoning a second short sword, which he placed against the man’s throat without hesitation. Blood dripped down the blade as he increased the pressure, but it was the expression on Tal’s face that actually made Kade hesitate.
He had never wanted to kill these men–well he’d wanted not to have to kill these men, he amended. He had certainly entertained the thought a number of times as he thought about the look on Nella’s frightened face. But he was sure there was more here than just a few bad apples taking advantage, and the regret on the other man’s face drove that home. “Let me go,” Kade wheezed, “I think we need to talk.” All the energy seemed to leave the man at once, and his powerful grip loosened a moment later. He took a step back and gestured at the two men still wrapped in webs of chains.
“Can you let my apprentices down?” Kade raised an eyebrow, and instead of releasing them, a half-dozen silver spears slowly emerged from the arachnid body of Drake, resting against the two wide-eyed hostages.
“I think they’ll stay right where they are,” Kade said evenly as his own chains tore the mace from Tal’s hand. “We don’t want our friendly conversation cut short again.” Tal glared, but nodded in defeat, and sat once more when chains deposited his chair right behind him.
“I’ve saved countless lives here, Keeper,” the man said defiantly as he sat down. “While the rest of you sat in your pretty city and fought over the trophies from your damned Elders, I was here keeping these people from being torn to shreds!” Kade was surprised by the man’s passion, and took his own seat as well, though he wisely kept several bladed chains gathered between the two of them–he wouldn’t be taken by surprise twice.
“Is that all you’ve been doing, Tal?” Kade asked with a blank expression, then sat back waiting. The silence went on for a few moments before the man looked away, some shame apparent on his otherwise furious face.
“The tax is necessary,” he spat. “We don’t have rich families just handing out bonds like candy, and we can’t fight off the beasts without them. Even after more than sixty years I haven’t even collected enough to complete the bonds for those two,” he gestured with his head at the two frozen apprentices. Kade couldn’t hide his surprise. Sixty years? How had this man possibly hidden his operation for more than half a century, were the true Keepers really that unaware of what happened outside the city?
Kade had to consider before raising his next question, mostly because he knew that the answer might make the temptation to kill these men too powerful. “Just tax, Tal? Is that really all you’ve been taking from these people?” The lanky man actually looked confused for a moment, and he glanced around as if trying to figure out what Kade could mean. “I met Nella earlier today, she had a misguided view of what her duties to me might be,” Kade prompted at last.
He expected the man to look more shamed, or desperately deny the implication, but he actually looked stunned by the question. “You mean the damned girls?” he laughed out loud then, and Kade could actually feel heat running through his body–something that rarely happened. “Do you have any idea how lucky these girls are to have a chance to be with a Keeper? Even a lowly failed one like me? They practically throw themselves at us, and we earn their bodies with our blood!”
Kade wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he managed to slowly stand back up, and he was still shaking as he looked down at Tal’s ruined, bloody mess of a face, the bones slowly popping back into place as his body desperately healed him. Kade forced himself to breathe, never having lost his temper like that before. He could only vaguely remember charging forward to strike the man, and he honestly wasn’t certain that he should have stopped, but the man’s self-righteous dismissal of such monstrous behavior had pushed him over the edge.
Kade began to pace the courtyard, trying to calm himself. He’d had hours before the three men had finally come back to the village, and in that time he’d managed to corner a few villagers willing to speak of the false-Keeper’s deeds. Tal truly had fought for them, and done so countless times. It turned out the three men patrolled diligently, fighting back the beasts in a dozen different villages. While they were far from worshiped as heroes–largely because of how great the tax was–they were respected, and there was no debate as to whether they were necessary for the safety of the village.
Kade was furious for so many reasons, but he admitted to himself that the biggest reason was just how damned gray the situation was. Since he’d learned of the Keepers and started amassing power of his own, he’d had countless fantasies about what his life would be like on Iros. He still wasn’t interested in traditional heroics, but he had fallen in love with the idea of helping people in a simple, black and white world. He had quickly discovered that fighting monsters and hunting beasts was the only way he wanted to spend his life, as the freedom and exhilaration of it was unparalleled. But how was he meant to handle this?
He looked back at Tal, who was now groaning as his face was nearly recognizable again, and Kade had to stop himself from hitting the man in frustration instead of anger. How was he expected to handle a situation this complex? He had no right to kill these men, and for all he knew that would lead to a death sentence of his own once the True Keepers learned of it.
He could go back to the Order and tell them what had happened, but he could only see that going two possible ways. Either the Keepers would allow the men to continue what they were doing, or they’d take them away, and these people would be left defenseless. There was no way they’d dispatch proper keepers to patrol the villages, as they obviously would have already if they were capable of doing so. If there was one thing they had impressed upon Kade at the Academy, it was that there were never enough Keepers even for the Elder attacks and monster hordes that was their primary purpose, let alone fighting off a few wolfren around the frontier. That was why even an untrained oddity like Kade has been welcomed into the Academy so readily.
Kade turned and slammed a fist into one of the stone walls, his empowered strength and speed allowing his arm to pass entirely through it. It was less satisfying than he hoped, and having to pull his arm back out without taking the whole wall down added embarrassment to the mix. He hated this; he wanted to fight beasts and save people, not deal with a few idiots who’d let a little power corrupt them. He looked back at the three objects of his ire, then thought of Nella, and guilt was thrown into the mix of emotions coursing through him. Being the one who had to deal with these people was nothing compared to those who’d die without them, or had been victims of them until now.
He came up with and discarded a dozen plans as Cen and Olus watched him with desperation in their eyes. Kade had to admit to himself that he also wasn’t willing to make this a personal project of his. Any half-measure would only work if he either stayed and protected the villages himself–something he was sure he wouldn’t be able to do forever–or somehow checked on these men personally, which wasn’t remotely sustainable. As Tal’s groans slowly transitioned into quiet cursing, Kade started fiddling with the chain on his amulet and had an idea.
He considered what he’d heard about Soul powers, and the almost limitless flexibility they had, then tried something he hadn’t done before. He made a small length of chain, then broke it away and connected the ends, making a simple loop. He hadn’t put any real effort into manipulating chains that weren’t attached to him before, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that he could exert some slight control over the length even after he put it down. The biggest difference was simply that he couldn’t feed any new mana into the chains without physically touching them, so he tried to infuse extra into the independent length, before stepping back and experimenting.
A few minutes of trial and error showed that his control was more limited than with the chains still attached to him, but he was still able to send the commands he needed for the plan that was slowly taking shape in his mind. The final step would be vastly more complex, maybe not even possible, but testing that part was relatively easy. Tal was furious as he regained consciousness, and that fury was exactly what Kade needed. He knelt next to the man and focused his new vision in a way he’d never tried before, smiling slightly as he confirmed that he could indeed see minute ripples in the energy that emanated from the man, vibrating in time to his fury.
Next, Kade created a ‘trigger’ made from energy inside the small length of chain. It was something he’d never tried before, and it took a number of attempts to replicate what he felt internally when he commanded his chains personally. At last he felt it work, and he actually grinned when the chains lengthened in response to the man’s rage. It was possible! The actual effort would be even more complex, but now he was confident he could make it work. He had Drake lower the two apprentices back to the ground, then bound Tal next to them.
When the three were arrayed in front of him, Kade placed an identical chain around each man’s neck, and they looked at each other, then him curiously. Panic set in as the chains tightened, but Kade didn’t make them uncomfortable–yet–just short enough that they couldn’t be removed. He leaned back and inspected his work, then had Drake rearrange the men so they were forced to look at one another–they couldn’t see their own chains, and Kade needed them to witness what came next.
He snapped his fingers audibly, and every link on each of their chains suddenly sprouted a grizzly looking spike, pointing inward at the exposed flesh of their necks. Three sets of eyes widened in alarm, and they all began groaning and thrashing in their bonds, their mouths still covered. “Enough,” Kade said, and the blades receded allowing the men to relax slightly. “Now, each of you has a lovely gift made by me personally. You should get used to how they feel as you won’t be able to remove them, but don’t worry about that. As long as you behave like decent people, you’ll get to keep your heads attached.”