Amendments (28 page)

              A low, deep rumble shook the underground chamber.  Noir looked around him wondering what had caused it.  Another tremor shook the water slightly making tiny, pointed waves.

              “If that's coming from the surface,” Noir said to himself, “something big is happening.”  Noir made to leave, but something in the water caught his attention.  Noir leaned over the water and got his first look at his face.  The water churned slightly, so it was impossible to get a steady look, but what Noir could see was hard to believe.  Noir made a small lux-fueled light to see better.  His face was completely unrecognizable.  His hair had been burned away and his skin was layer upon layer of red, horrible scar tissue.  Noir backed away from the water with disbelief and let the light wink out.  “This is horrible!”

              Another tremor from somewhere above shook the ground and sent pebbles and dust down from the ceiling.  Noir shook his head in an effort to forget the haunting image he'd seen in the water.  “Maybe Adeel can fix it.  She'd made Grandel look like himself again after Kit had rearranged his face.”  Noir forced himself to believe his own words.  Saying them aloud made him feel surer about it somehow.

              Noir pulled his brown traveling cloak around him, held the new sword at his side, and sprinted out of the massive chamber.

~~~

              Up and up Finn, Aimee, and the other prisoners climbed.  The caverns were treacherous, winding, pitch black, and a complete maze.  Any time a new path branched off; they would debate as to which way to go.  Often, Finn would scout ahead to ensure the chosen path continued going up.  It was hard to move with so many weak, nearly-starving people.

              The sections of the caves they were in had never been worked by human hands.  Aimee carved stairs in the rocks with din when necessary, and turned huge boulders into rubble when their path was blocked.  Finn marveled at the girl's strength when they found themselves in a vertical shaft with no way to climb.  Aimee managed to carve a spiral staircase in one of the walls that climbed high into the darkness.  However, after that feat, Aimee walked more slowly.  It was obvious the toll the frequent use of din was taking on Aimee's chakra.

              One of the prisoners was a former doctor.  He’d removed the arrow from Finn’s side and cleansed the wound with alcohol they found in a storage crate. The man had torn his shirt to make a bandage around Finn’s abdomen.  Finn still felt pain every time he bent or twisted, but he was no longer worried about bleeding out or infection.

              As they walked, Finn noticed Aimee seemed like a very different person than when they'd first met.  She seemed optimistic about something, though she refused to explain what.  Finn was glad she'd stopped insisting he wasn't real.  However, despite the optimism, something still bothered her deeply.  Where once there was completely encompassing dread, now was an optimistic person with one thing hanging heavily on her consciousness.  Finn was glad she'd eaten when he offered her some of the bread he kept in his pack.

              “There's light ahead,” Aimee said.

              Finn was startled out of his daydreaming.  He lowered his glow sphere and peered into the darkness ahead.  Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a faint, orange glow in the distance.

              “An exit!” someone exclaimed.

              “We've made it!”

              Nearly three hundred people suddenly surged forward with renewed enthusiasm and Finn was swept along with them.

              They entered a large chamber.  A steady trickle of water rained down from an opening in the ceiling far overhead.  The opening was merely a crack.  Direct sunlight could not be seen through it, but a promising glow filtered into the room.  The prisoners' enthusiasm was quelled when they realized the crack was in the middle of a large, tall room with nothing for Aimee to make into stairs to lead up to the opening.

              Finn turned to Aimee and asked, “Is there anything you can do?”

              Aimee looked around wearily.  “I... think so.  Everyone has to get back, though.”

              “Are you sure it's not too much for you?  You've already done so much.”

              Aimee turned to Finn and surprised him with a gentle, tired smile.  “Thanks, but I think I can manage.  We have to get these people out of here.”

              “I'm glad you finally agree with me on that,” Finn approved.  “What changed your mind, anyway?”

              “I... realized who these people are.”

              Finn didn't understand her answer, but he figured he could ask more later.  He made everyone who had entered the room step back.  The message to move back was passed down the line of people who had not entered yet.  Within a couple minutes, the cave chamber was empty except for Aimee.

              Finn watched in amazement as Aimee thrust her hands down toward her feet and a pillar of rock rose beneath her, raising her high toward the opening far above.  She rose higher and higher until she could touch the ceiling.  Then, Aimee leaned over the edge of the pillar of rock she stood on and thrust her hands down again.  Another pillar of rock rose from the cavern floor.  She raised it to within a few feet of the first pillar she made, and then repeated the process.  Once she was finished, eleven pillars stood where there was once a flat cave floor.  Each pillar was lower than the last making a massive step-stone set of stairs.

              Finn was pulled away from the amazing spectacle when he saw Aimee teetering on the top-most pillar.  She seemed only half conscious.  To Finn's horror, the Din Mage tried to kneel and steady herself, but fell backwards and tumbled off the side.  Finn immediately sprinted forward and caught Aimee before she hit the ground.  The emaciated woman's body was surprisingly light.  It was amazing that she'd had the chakra to use din as much as she had.

              With heavy eye-lids, Aimee looked at Finn and whispered, “My hero.”

              Finn chuckled.  “Nah, I just know your cousin would kill me if I let you get hurt.”

              Aimee smiled weakly.  “My cousin is a pushover.  He wouldn't hurt a fly.”  Aimee turned her head slowly toward the ceiling high above them.  A way up was complete, but the opening was still a mere crack in the rocks above.  “I just have to do one... more...”

              “No, we can dig it out.  Don't worry about it.”

              “With what tools?”  Aimee asked wearily.  Then she raised a weak hand toward the ceiling.  The crack shook and groaned, then opened wider.  Rocks tumbled from the opening as it widened.  Finn watched the crack rumble wide enough so one person could fit through at a time, and then it stopped.  A small sliver of a morning sky could be seen through the opening.  Finn looked back at the woman in his arms.  Her head was snuggled into his shoulder and both of her hands were wrapped against her own chest.  She had fallen into a deep sleep.

              Finn turned to the former prisoners who had started creeping back into the room.  He walked toward them and said, “Din Mage Aimee has made all of this possible.  Whatever past transgressions she may have, we need to honor her and forgive her.”

              The former prisoners all either nodded or spoke various words of agreement.  Finn continued, “I'll climb first and attach some climbing gear to help the rest of you.  Help the weaker ones up after me.  Today, you are all free men and women.  I welcome you to be part of the resistance against Tier.”

              Finn wrapped Aimee's hands around his neck and held them there so that she would ride on his back, then started to climb.  Each pillar was several feet higher than the last, and each became progressively harder to surmount as Finn grew even more tired.  Finally, Finn reached the top pillar and felt fresh, cool, morning air on his face.  He climbed up and out of the cave and into the bright light of the morning.  He stood on a small, bare hill overlooking the Coda River and the swampy land around it.

              The moment would have been amazingly rewarding and peaceful if not for a series of sudden explosions from far away that echoed across the landscape.  Finn turned to see the walls of the Tierian capital, the buildings within, and the fort that stood tall in the middle.  Much of the city was on fire and sections of the wall and some of the buildings were torn down to rubble.  Above the Tierian capital city flew the dark shape of a dragon who sent down wave after wave of fireball and ice spikes.  Finn said to himself with shock, “I guess Noir was successful at freeing Nidhoggr.”

~~~

              Kit stood on a tall pillar of stone he had formed using din.  He stood above the trees and tried to see the walls of Garmak in the distance.  The Lady in Rags had promised him that if he brought the Tierian army that had resided near New Talik, recruited the rest that had been stationed in New Vosul'ett, and attacked Garmak, Grandel would come in response.  He often wondered why he didn't just ignore the filthy woman's wishes and go straight to New Talik, but supposedly the woman controlled the straghs and had immeasurable power in the two kingdoms.  He need to respect that... at least for a while.

              Kit turned and looked toward his army of Tierian soldiers.  Over a thousand men waited for his order to retake Garmak, and that wasn't including the massive herd of straghs that were on their way to join them.  Catapults dotted the ranks of men.  Kit was startled to see the former general of the army approaching with two other high-ranking officers.  This general had supposedly helped bury the Lumin at the Lumin shrine.

              Kit pushed din into the stone pillar and lowered himself back down so he stood slightly above the approaching officers.

              “General Kit, we have reports that there is a large stragh army approaching from the south-west.”

              “Good,” said Kit.  “It's about time they got here.”

              The general looked at the other two officers with confusion.  “Sir... how is an approaching stragh army good?  They number as many as we do and have several giant metal creatures with them as well.”

              “I know, general.  I'm expecting them.  They're under my control.”

              The general took an aggressive step forwards.  “Sir, straghs are wild.  They cannot be controlled.  They will destroy us if we do not plan for their attack!”

              The general's voice was getting on Kit's nerves.  “You are beneath me.  I do not need to explain things to you.  You will follow orders and not question me, understand?”

              The general shook his head and scowled.  “I don't care who appointed you general of this army.  I'm not going to get my men killed!  I will take--”

              Kit put a light barrier between the two officers and the general, then flung a massive spear of ice through the general's chest.  The two officers jumped back as their general was speared against the light barrier just inches from where they stood.  Kit released the light barrier and the general fell backwards.  His body was propped up on the spear of ice oddly for a moment, and then toppled sideways.  The two officers looked up at Kit with fright.  Kit hissed coldly, “He was annoying me.  Do either of you doubt my words?”

              Both of the officers shook their head furiously.  One said, “No, sir!”

              “Good.  The straghs are under my control, I promise you.”  Kit rubbed his chin in thought for a moment studying the two men, and then pointed at the one on his right.  “You.  What is your name?”

              The middle-aged office cringed and said, “Lieutenant Eremund, sir.”

“Eremund, you're promoted to be the new general under me.  You're my right hand man.”

              Eremund asked hesitantly, “Why me?”

              “You didn't flinch as bad when I killed your superior.  You're brave.  Also, you know I'll kill you in a heartbeat if you cross me, right?”

              The new general cleared his throat.  “Um, yes sir.”

              “Good.  Tell the men to not fear or attack the straghs.  They're under my control.”

              General Eremund nodded curtly.  “I will, but can I ask how you're controlling them?”

              “The very creator of the straghs promised them to me.  Now, as soon as they arrive, we rain hell upon the traitors in Garmak.”

Chapter 27

Forced Hand

              Ratt stood in the streets of the Tierian capital wearing his full enchant armor.  He watched the black and red dragon soar overhead.  Wherever the dragon flew, he rained destruction upon the city beneath him.  Ratt had been able to get in the front gates of the Tierian capital unchallenged.  No Tierian soldiers had been on post, and the few that Ratt saw in the streets paid him no mind.  They ran through the streets helping citizens put out fires or took pot shots with their bows and arrows as the dragon soared overhead.

              “You will never get another chance like this, Ratt,” the voice in his head said.  “Go kill the king.  It's what you've always wanted.”

              “I'm here to help Noir,” Ratt demanded out loud to the voices.  “I'm not here to kill the king.”

              “But it's what you always wanted,” the voice repeated.  Suddenly, Ratt felt his emotions contorted and he wanted nothing more than to kill the king of Tier.  He knew it had not been his goal seconds before, but at that moment it was all he could think about.  “The King of Tier killed your parents, Ratt.  It's time for revenge.”

              Ratt flew into a rage and activated the speed, strength, and increased mental processing aspects of his armor.  He sprinted down the streets toward Fort Estelar.  People around him seemed to move as if they were struggling through a thick jelly as he blazed past them.  Ratt streaked around one street corner after another toward the inner walls.

              Ratt rounded the corner and saw that the gates stood in ruins, but about a dozen Tierian guards stood in a semicircle protecting the entrance.  Ratt ran straight toward them.  Slowly, they drew their weapons as they saw Ratt approaching, but Ratt was upon them before they were able to ready an attack.  Ratt jumped and flipped over the heads of the guards and swung with his axe downward, catching two of the guards along their breastplates.  The metal armor could not stave off the immense power of Ratt's enhanced attack and they immediately fell to the ground.  Ratt landed and continued sprinting into the front garden of the fort.  He ignored the cries of protest behind him.

              Ratt barreled into the massive wooden doors of fort Estelar.  They swung open with a crash and revealed several startled Tierian guards in the main foyer.  “Kill them!  They're in your way!” the voices in Ratt's mind yelled.  Ratt tried to resist, but in the heat of the moment found himself surging forward with his axe raised over his head.  He felled two guards before he stopped himself.  The other guards brandished weapons toward Ratt, but looked terrified.  “Kill them, Ratt!”

              Ratt gritted his teeth and asked, “Where's the king?”

              None of the remaining guards answered his question.  Instead, one said, “Leave now!  We don't want any trouble!”

              Ratt bellowed, “Tell me where the king is or I won't be able to keep from killing you!”

              Ratt found himself sprinting toward another of the guards.  He kicked away the guard's weapon and moved to strike, but he stopped himself just before his blow landed.  Ratt held his axe almost touching the guard's throat.

              The other guards took Ratt's actions as a threat, not a painfully hard attempt to save their lives.  One of the other guards blurted, “Up the stairs, straight down the hall, then take--”

              “Shut up!” one of the other guards yelled.

              “I don't want to die, sir!  Then take the spiral stairs and down the next hall at the end.”

              Ratt tore himself away from the soldiers before he hurt any more of them.  He immediately raced up the wide stairs at the end of the foyer and started down the hall.  As he ran, he felt something bounce off his back armor, then something pierced his right shoulder.  Ratt cried out and fell to the carpeted, stone floor.  He rolled several times due to the speed he'd been running.  He felt something snap as he rolled.  Once Ratt finally stopped rolling, he crouched and felt his shoulder.  Half of an arrow shaft stuck out where his armor did not cover him completely.  “Kill them for this!”

              Ratt stood and saw the guards he'd just left coming up the stairs with bows and arrows aimed in his direction.  Ratt forced himself not to attack despite the urges in his head.  Instead, he backed away and activated the light shield on his wrist.  Arrows streaked his direction and bounced off the shield.  Ratt continued to retreat until he saw the spiral staircase the guard mentioned.  He darted up the first few steps, then turned and activated the strength gauntlet enchant.  He punched the stone wall with as much might as he could pull from the enchant.  Stones fell from the walls and piled in the entrance of the spiral stairs.  He punched several more times until the wall collapsed and blocked the entrance.

              Ratt turned and ran up the spiral staircase.  His shoulder shot pain through his body, but he couldn't worry about it.  He
had
to kill the king of Tier.  Ratt reached the top of the stairs and looked down a long, well-decorated hall.  Paintings hung on the walls with curtains framing them, the wooden floor was carpeted with bright red and yellow, and statues dotted the length of the hall.  Several nicely dressed nobles talked in close, worried circles, or scurried about.  Despite Nidhoggr's destruction outside, this area of the fort was pristine.

              “Kill the nobles!  They are part of the problem!”

              Ratt forced himself to put his axe in the loop on his back despite every part of his mind willing him to plunge it into the flesh of the men and women around him.  Ratt activated the speed enchant in his armor and sprinted down the length of the hall toward two massive, ornately carved wooden doors at the end.  Two guards and a Din Slave with his Din Handler stood in front of the closed doors.  They immediately drew their weapons and prepared to battle.  Ratt sprinted toward them recklessly.

              A wall of ice spears flew from the Din Handler's outstretched hand.  Ratt ducked low and activated his light shield.  Several shattered against it and shards went flying.  Ratt stood to move again, but saw a ball of fire flying in his direction.  Ratt activated his speed and junked to the right of the fire projectile.  It exploded against the floor and wall next to where Ratt had been standing.  Ratt shielded himself from the residual flames with his light shield.  Ratt watched the fire dissipate.  The rug had a large, charred circle and exposed blackened wood beneath.  However, the wall that had taken half of the attack showed absolutely no signs of the fire.  It was still pristine.  Ratt thought that was odd, but didn't have the time to figure out why.

              Spears of ice materialized above Ratt and started to rain down all around him.  Ratt raised his gauntlet with the light shield to protect himself and ran forward.  Ice shattered all around him as he made his way closer to the large wooden double doors.  The two Tierian guards shot at Ratt with cross bows.  Ratt had to fling himself to the other side of the hall to dodge the crossbow bolts.  In doing so, his legs went out from under the protection of his light shield.  Two spears of ice shot through his right leg.  Ratt cried out in pain as he pulled his legs in to be protected by the light barrier.

              Ratt looked down the hall to see the two guards reloading their crossbows.  “Kill them now!” the voices screamed.  Ratt did not fight it this time.  In a fit of blinding rage, Ratt plunged a huge amount of his chakra into his strength enhancement, grabbed a stone carving next to him, and hurled it at one of the guards.  It flew down the hall with impossible speed.  The guard didn't have time to react before the carving slammed him against the wooden door and caved in his chest.  To Ratt's surprise, neither the stone carving nor the wooden door broke.

              The other guard stared at his counterpart in shock, and then hastily reloaded his crossbow.  Ratt grabbed the pedestal that the carving had rested upon and flung it at the next guard.  The guard ducked in time, but it gave Ratt an opportunity to sprint forward.  Pain shot up his leg and his shoulder didn't feel any better, but Ratt pushed on.  The shower of ice spears subsided, and another fireball flew in his direction.  Ratt blocked the fire attack with his light shield and finally drew out his silver axe.  Ratt hurled himself at the Din Handler who held up his hands in terror.  Ratt plunged his axe down into the man, then immediately turned and attacked the other Tierian guard.

              Silence stretched across the hallway.  The nobles that had been in the hall before had disappeared during the battle.  The Din Slave cowered from Ratt and covered his face.  “Kill him!”

              “No!” Ratt said aloud.  “He's just a tool.  He deserves freedom, not death.”

              “Kill him, now!”

              Ratt forced himself to lower his axe.  The Din Slave looked up at him with confusion and horror.  “I won't hurt you,” Ratt forced himself to say.

              “Kill him, Ratt!”

              Ratt willed himself away from the Din Slave and turned to the large wooden doors.  He pushed on them, but they did not budge.  Ratt pulled on his strength enchant and tried again.  The doors did not creak or budge.  Ratt pulled as much as he could on the strength enchant and felt a sizable drain on his chakra.  He slammed his shoulder into the wooden doors with a force that would have toppled a massive oak tree.  Ratt's wounds shot pain up his leg and across his shoulder.  Still the doors did not budge.  However, Ratt noticed the wood beneath his feet groaned and creaked with the strain.

              “Every wall and object on his floor is an enchant,” came a small, terrified voice.  Ratt looked down at the Din Slave.  He peered out from under his arms.  “You won't be able to break down the doors no matter what you do.”

              “That's insane!” Ratt exclaimed.  “How in the world do you enchant an entire floor of a fort?  Then how do I get in?” Ratt asked.

              “Are you here to kill the king?”

              “Yes.”

              “That bastard stole everything from me and made me a slave,” the Din Slave admitted with utter disdain.  “The floor is not an enchant.  It is the one flaw of Fort Estelar.  They always assumed an attack would come from the outside, never from within.”

              Ratt thought quickly and estimated that directly beneath the king's chambers would be the foyer he’d been in earlier.  He had to go back downstairs, then somehow come up from beneath.

              Ratt turned to go, but looked back at the Din Slave.  He was still attached from his slave collar to the handler's bracelet.  “Kill him!”

              Ratt said, “I do not have the power to remove your collar, my friend, but I hope that you win your freedom.”

              The Din Slave echoed the voices in Ratt's head.  “Go kill the king.  He deserves it.”

              Ratt nodded, then activated his speed enchant and sprinted back down the hall he'd just fought his way through.  Nobles peered out of adjoining halls and rooms at Ratt as he streaked by, but he paid them no mind.  “Kill them all!”

              Ratt rushed down the spiral stairs.  At the bottom, the guards from before had begun to remove the stone bricks that he had put in their path.  They almost had a hole at the top big enough to crawl through.  Ratt activated his strength enchant and punched the pile of stone and rubble with everything he could.  The pile toppled out and caught the guards by surprise.  Two were buried beneath the rubble, and three others had each been struck by several bricks that had flown their direction.

              Ratt climbed over the remaining rubble and sprinted once again for the foyer.  He streaked down the stairs, then stopped and studied the wood ceiling.  It was at least two stories higher and supported by four large stone pillars in the foyer.  Ratt Pulled on his strength enchant once again and threw his weight into one of the pillars.  It cracked in the middle, crumbled, and then came tumbling down with tremendous weight and noise.  The top half of the pillar still clung to the ceiling for a moment before a massive crack filled the room and it fell as well.

Ratt drew on even more strength and felt his massive well of chakra finally begin to run thin.  He wrapped his arms around the bottom half of the pillar he’d just felled and hefted it over his head.  Ratt drew upon his remaining chakra and threw the pillar straight up where the ceiling had been weakened from the loss of its suppor.  It crashed upwards through the ceiling sending splinters and broken wood raining down.  The pillar came crashing down through the floor again causing even more destruction.  Ratt drew on his enhanced strength, ignored the pain in his shoulder and leg, and hurled himself up through the hole he'd just created.

The King of Tier's chambers were filled with noble men and women who stared at Ratt with both fear and anger.  They had obviously just moved away from a circle of chairs and away from the newcomer who'd just burst through the floor.  Tall windows looked out over the Tierian capital city where Nidhoggr still rained down destruction.  Ratt withdrew his axe from its leather loop and bellowed, “Where's the king?!”

No one answered, but several glanced toward a tall, ornately-dressed older man with long black hair that was peppered with gray.  His face was stern and his eyebrows were drawn down over top of a focused, angry glare.

Ratt hurled himself at the man with blinding speed, but the king whipped out a sword with impressive speed and blocked Ratt's attack.  The force behind Ratt's blow sent the king toppling backward.  His back crashed against one of the tall windows, but it did not crack or break.  Ratt hurled himself at the king again and yelled, “This is for my family!”