The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (14 page)

Another man spoke up. “I knew Bure. He was a
tough man. Salt of the earth sort of fellow. He wasn’t given to
believing in children’s stories. He said there were witches. You
say there aren’t. So why are we having all of these storms and
quakes?” There were several, “Yeah, why.” throughout the crowd.

Drune was on the opposite side of the crowd
from Erin. There were five of the largest security men near Gyan.
The rest were scattered in the crowd. Gyan answered, “In the
archive hall at Aerie the weather records go back fifteen
centuries. What makes you think that we haven’t had bad weather
like this before? Why jump to the conclusion that some story
character is real and the reason for a bad weather pattern. The
ancients were phenomenally wise. They set the laws that we have
lived by and believed in. Their first law was that murder was a
heinous crime. Are you now saying that the ancients were wrong?”
There was silence in the crowd. Erin was sensing more people than
not were with Gyan’s way of thinking. But there were a few that
were resisting. She caught Drune’s eye and raised her eyebrow then
looked at two men. She casually moved toward the men as did he.
Soon she was so close she was rubbing shoulders with one. Drune was
in a similar position with the other man. Bast caught her eye and
she gave a subtle shake of the head.

Gyan spoke up again. “All of you know the
hard working, respectable guild members who are in the Guild
Caravan. They were through here not long ago and had a gather at
Yerra. When they were returning home for the winter and just over
the bridge, they were attacked by several men wearing masks and
carrying swords, knives and harpoons. Somehow those men had decided
that Flar of the herbal guild and Alliz of the archival guild were
witches. How they came up with that, I haven’t a clue. I have known
both women all of their lives. Someone threw a knife and Alliz was
injured. Folks, witches don’t bleed. Alliz bled as did Flar. Those
men injured two innocent women. This needs to stop. If there is any
killing the perpetrators will spend the rest of their lives with
Bure in Obsidian.”

Erin and Drune both felt the mood shift with
the two men. They weren’t sure anymore and they didn’t want to
spend the rest of their days in Obsidian. “Are there any more
questions or comments?” Gyan asked.

One woman spoke up, “Will Alliz live? She is
a good woman. Anyone who thought she was a witch was really stupid
and not welcome in my store.” She gave the crowd the evil eye and
the two men near Erin and Drune particularly.

Gyan smiled. “She is recovering and will be
alright. Thank you for asking.”

“What about the weather and the quakes?”
asked a fisherman.

“What about it? It will pass. My council and
I have searched the archives and found a few small things we can do
to help the cities. But mostly this will pass. You all are honest
citizens of the realm. Let’s keep the laws that have always worked
for us. Children’s stories are just that. Stories. Weather and
quakes happen. By the ancients, I would like to think that we are
almost out of this cycle. Hang in there. Have a little faith that
we will come out the other side from this rough patch.” Gyan nodded
to the people then he got down from the box. He shook hands and
slapped people on the back, joking with some. Then they got back on
their horses and left Cana.

As the village disappeared behind them Drune
and Erin pulled up beside Gyan to debrief. Drune nodded to Gyan.
“My intuition tells me that some of the group that attacked the
train were there. Erin and I were standing next to them. Others
were either from more isolated places or perhaps Yerra. The two we
were next to were definitely doubtful about their course of action
by the time you stopped speaking. Hopefully they will pass on their
uneasiness about their actions to the others.”

Gyan looked at Erin. “Your talking about
Alliz and Flar will, I believe, apply pressure to the perpetrators.
People were not liking the news of the attack. What you said will
buy us time. Harra has been trying the same reasonableness and not
having much success. We aren’t out of trouble yet and in fact I am
uneasy still. On another note, my pendant didn’t change
temperature, so as far as I can tell there are no latent sages
here.”

Gyan nodded to her in acceptance of the
analysis. “If you isolate the source of what is bothering you let
me know.”

The troop loped ahead for a little more than
an hour and during that time the feeling in the pit of Erin’s
stomach grew. She opened her ‘door’ wide to try to clarify and
focus into what was disturbing her. All of a sudden she understood
and kicked into a gallop. As she passed Gyan and came abreast of
Bast she yelled out. “Something is really wrong in Yerra. We need
to get there now!”

Gyan and Bast didn’t even question but kicked
their horses into a gallop also. Bast shouted to his security
detail and raised his fist then made a quick forward gesture. They
rode hard and soon the founder city came into sight.

There seemed to be an inordinate amount of
people in the streets. The company was still moving fast as they
entered the central area. The people scattered before them and Erin
veered off toward Char’s shop where she was feeling the most
turmoil, the security detail following her like a shadow. There,
coming down the street, was a crowd of men and they were carrying a
struggling Char over their heads. Around that central core of men
were people fighting. Terk, the big logger from Sherroton, was
throwing men out of the way trying to get to Char. Kaas was holding
his left arm at a strange angle and was bloody. He was still
fighting and kicking despite the apparent dislocation. There were
city security and citizens fighting in the mob and into this rode
the Great One’s troop. They used their horses as battering rams to
get to the center core of men, directing their horses entirely by
leg and knee pressure and using their hands and swords to break
apart the mob. Omin managed to free Char and swung him behind him
on the horse. Terk fought to Omin’s side and protected his outer
flank so he could concentrate with others in the detail on
isolating the mob leaders.

As the turmoil began to still, Gyan roared.
“Stop this NOW! WHAT ARE YOU, FOOLS DOING? I am the Great One. I
came here to tell you what I have learned, what we can do and
expect, and I have found you being an UNRULY MOB! What were you
going to do with Char? Hmm? You!” he pointed to one of the men who
had been carrying Char. “What were you going to do with this
man?”

“We were going bury him! He is one of the
witches. We need to rid the realm of ‘em.”

Gyan took a deep breath in effort to not
smash the man in his face. “What makes you think that there are
witches and that this decent man is one?”

Another man spoke up. “He’s not a decent man!
He’s a witch. Bure tried to kill him and missed. The storms and
quakes are worse after Bure was taken away. We need to finish what
he started!”

Gyan took a minute and slowly looked at the
entire crowd. Drune and Erin were milling on the edge of the mob
cluster. “Okay. I need to understand you,” and he raise a finger to
make a point. “and you need to understand me. Now who among you
believes in witches?” The fourteen men raised their hands, some
hesitantly and others with pride. “Anybody else?”

No one responded. He pointed to three women
who had been fighting the crowd with staves and clubs in support of
the mob. “How about you? Do you believe in witches?”

The women might have been ashamed that he had
identified them but they nodded. One said “Yes!”

Gyan looked around again. “Anyone else?”
Everyone was quiet. “Okay, you seventeen. Let’s get this
straightened out. Why do you think there are witches?”

One man said loudly. “Bure told us. The
storms have never been this bad. Then there are the quakes. The
witches are at fault. We have to stop them!”

Gyan nodded. “So you believe there are
witches because one person told you, and he is to be trusted and
believed. Is that right?” A few nodded but others appeared
confused.

Gyan reined in his temper and asked. “What
would you think of a person who took you in and raised you when
your parents died? Someone who sacrificed and had to work hard to
support you and your two siblings as well as her own child, even
after her husband died.” He pointed to four people from the mob.
“What would you think about such a woman?”

They appeared baffled by the question but
each in turn said. “That’s a good decent person.”

Gyan looked about the assembled crowd. “Who,
among all of you, remember Ru?” Several older people raised their
hands but no one from the mob. Gyan pointed to one woman who had
raised her hand. “How well did you know Ru?”

“Very well. She was my neighbor.’ replied the
woman.

Gyan nodded. “What kind of person was she?
Was she mean spirited?”

“Oh no!” said the old woman. She was a gentle
woman who had a hard life. It wasn’t in her to be mean.”

Gyan turned back to the crowd. “For those of
you who didn’t know Ru, she was Bure’s aunt. She raised Bure and
his brother and sister with her own son, even after her husband
died at sea.”

There were murmurs in the crowd. “Poor
woman.” “What a decent thing to do.”

Then Gyan turned back to the rioters. “What
would you think of a person who killed such a decent person as Ru?”
There were gasps in the crowd.

One of the band spoke up. “Did a witch kill
Bure’s aunt?”

Another said, “He told me once that his
parents were killed by witches.”

One of the women got back to Gyan’s question.
“The person who killed Ru would be a really evil person.” Gyan
nodded.

“Let me give you some facts. Bure’s mother
died of child bed fever. She was weakened from a difficult
pregnancy and years of physical abuse. A healer tried to save her
but her body was too fragile to fight back and help the herbs work.
Bure’s father beat the healer to death because she couldn’t save
his wife. Bure’s father isn’t dead. Not as far as I know. He is in
Obsidian. So the story that witches killed Bure’s parents is a lie.
Bure killed people and he told you that they were witches. The
first one he killed was his Aunt Ru. He admitted that she wasn’t a
witch but she was curious about what he was doing. He didn’t care.
He wasn’t sorry and yes, I would consider him an evil person. Now I
ask you.” and he pointed to every person who were in the bunch of
witch hunters, “Why would you believe such a person when he told
you that witches caused storms?”

There was a long span of silence from the
group. One man spoke up. “Bure was a tough one and not prone to
children’s tales so I believed him. But if he was lying, how can
you explain the storms and the quakes? They have never been this
bad.”

Gyan raised his hands out to his side. “They
have never been this bad in OUR lifetime. But in Aerie my council
and I have searched the archives and the weather records go back
fifteen centuries. We are having a real rough patch right now and
it is frightening and causing hardship. I understand because it is
the same for every person in our realm. To think that we can change
the weather by killing people? That is just wrong headedness!” He
raised a finger to make a point. “Bure blamed imaginary witches for
the weather problems and started murdering in early August. Think
back. When did the storms start? The storms and quakes didn’t begin
until mid-September. So Bure’s logic doesn’t hold water. He was a
man with a sick and evil mind. Do not believe the things he told
you. They are wrong.”

“The Guild Caravan was attacked when it left
your province. But the men who attacked it were from here. They
tried to kill innocent guild members. Somehow they got into their
minds that Alliz and Flar were witches. I have known both women all
of their lives and they are skilled regular folk like you are.
Before the encounter was over both women were bleeding. Well, since
there are no real witches, I can only go by children’s stories and
witches don’t bleed.”

“Let me make myself very clear...” and he
paused and looked at all of the bunch who had been the mob. “If any
of you murder you will join Bure in Obsidian. The Ancients set up
our laws with all of their wisdom. We of the realm have believed in
those laws and have lived peacefully for a long time. Our first law
is that murder is a heinous crime. We will uphold it.” He looked
over the crowd but he was trying to get a reading from Drune and
Erin. Both gave him a slight nod.

“I take my job very seriously. I am here
today to help. I came to see you but I also came to deliver a few
things. When we searched the archives we found a message from the
ancients. It seems that the weather is driven by energy forces in
our planet and our air. It is what causes the wind to move the
weather around. We are delivering some very special glow stone caps
for each of the posts in the city commons and a special disc for
the center of that courtyard. Apparently the commons are located
where these energy points are strong. The glow stone post caps and
the disc will help focus those energies and that will help
stabilize our weather. We are doing what we can. I also need to
tell you that some people have been killing skunks. There are parts
of our realm where there are so few skunks that the vermin
population has increased. The vesi, mice and bugs are getting into
the food supply and their droppings are contaminating the food.
People are getting sick from that and from the bites and stings.
Please leave the skunks alone. They are helping us.”

“Now I have given you much to think on,
today. I need your honest answer. How many of you now believe in
witches?” No one raised their hand or spoke up. He nodded. “I will
be here for a few days. If you have any questions please ask. I
will inform Mayor Harra so he can answer questions also. I am going
to assume that you, of the mob, will think hard on the information
I have given you because should you act this way again we will
bring up some punishments that we haven’t used in centuries.”