The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (6 page)

She chuckled.
“How do you know I’m being truthful?”

“
Just a feeling,” I said slowly as I tried to think it over.
“What are you up to?”

She laughed.
“Can’t I just have a nice talk with my husband while tied to a
tree?”

“
I hardly think you’re the chatty type,” I said crossing my
arms.

“
Well, let’s just say you’ve made a big mistake and I’m
distracting you while I capitalize on it,” she smiled.

“
What are you talking about?” I asked starting to
panic.

“
Finally,” she laughed. “A question worth answering. See this
clearing here; this is the realm of your subconscious. This is
where your dreams come from.”

“
Yes, I know, I’m not an idiot. You can drop that
condescending tone,” I said.

“
Sorry, love, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t leave you
behind with my big words,” she said sweetly.

“
Get on with it,” I said frustrated.

“
Well this is where Demons enter and control your dreams, like
what I did this night and last,” she continued. “Because you
dispelled my magic, we are now standing in your bare subconscious.
And this tree, that I’m now bonded too, represents your connection
to your conscious mind. See, you have done me a HUGE favour by
attaching me to it. I’ve been trying to take over your mind during
the entire questioning.”

I stood there
with fear racing through my heart but as we stood in silence,
nothing changed. “So why haven’t you taken over my mind yet?”

“
I’m trying to,” she said annoyed. “I’ve just never done it
before while your soul was still in the body.”

“
So, you won’t be able to?” I asked growing a little
confident.

“
I never said that,” she snapped as she struggled. “I just
need more time.”

She continued
to struggle and I sat down on the ground in front of her. After a
minute she stopped and just stared at me with hateful eyes.

“
Aww, is someone stuck?” I asked in a condescending
tone.

“
I am not, I just can’t...seem to...move,” she answered
reluctantly.

“
Same thing,” I smiled.

“
I WILL kill you for this,” she hissed.

“
So, it would appear that my soul is too strong for you to
take over and because you’ve bonded yourself to the tree of my
consciousness, you can not leave my sub-conscious. Am I right?” I
asked.

She sighed.
“Yes. There, are you happy? I screwed up.”

“
I’m not happy,” I said. “What does this mean now? When I wake
up, I mean? Am I now possessed? Half possessed? Are the Teachers
going to know that I have a Demon in my mind?”

“
Stop asking so many stupid questions and let me think,” Cathy
snapped.

“
Sorry,” I said standing up. “This whole Demon business is new
to me.”

“
Well, this whole ‘being stuck in the subconscious’ thing is
new to me as well,” she said.

“
So, we’re stuck working together to get you freed?” I
asked.

She sighed.
“Unfortunately. But do me a favour when you wake up.”

“
Ok?” I said.

“
Don’t die out there,” she said.

“
Are you worried that you will die as well?” I
asked.

“
No,” she answered with a smile as the fog drew near us. “I
just want to kill you myself.”

“
How can I resist an offer like that?” I said sarcastically as
the fog slowly engulfed us.

Chapter 5

I opened my
eyes slowly to see the morning sun streaking across the ceiling. I
sat up quickly and looked around the tiny chamber and breathed a
sigh of relief. I was back in my bedroom on the Archive floor in
the Tower of the Watchful Eye. I chuckled and shook my head at my
need to confirm my reality.

You call this reality?
A female
voice asked annoyed.

“
Who said that?” I asked the room as I looked around. The room
was still empty except for the tiny dresser, desk and end
table.

Weird.

What is?
The female voice
asked.

Who is
this?

Your mom. Who do you think?
The
female voice asked annoyed again.

Cathy?

‘
Bout time you got that,
she
said.
Out of all the humans in the world,
I’m stick with a dink who can’t rub two brain cells
together.

I grabbed my
head and started to rub my temple.

How is this
possible?

I’m stuck in your mind,
she
explained slowly
. I can hear you think but
I can’t see or hear anything else. This is very irritating, by the
way. I’m stuck with your pathetic thoughts as my only means of
understanding what’s happening around you.

Can you just
not listen?

And do what?
She asked.

The door
opened and Keeper Anderson gave me a weird look.

“
You’re still not dressed?” he asked. “Come on, boy, hurry up.
There’s some stuff I need to run through before the morning
meeting.”

“
Uh, right,” I said as I threw the covers aside.

Keeper
Anderson shut the door as I crossed the room to the dresser. I
pulled out one of the black robes of the Keeper and threw it
on.

What’s going on now?
Cathy
asked.

I have to get
ready for the day.

What do you do?
She
asked.

I don’t have
time to answer.

Well help me out here a little,
she
said.

Look, I can’t
be stopping to narrate my life to you. If you want to be the one to
kill me, then I can’t be having conversations in my head. People
are going to get suspicious.

Fine
, she said.

“
Holcombe!” Keeper Anderson shouted.

“
On my way,” I called out as I opened the door.

“
What took you so long?” he asked annoyed as I approached
him.

“
My head’s just all screwed up this morning,” I said as I
grabbed my head.

“
This better not be a habit,” he said. “You need to be on your
toes in this position.”

“
You’re right, it won’t happen again,” I replied letting my
hand drop.

“
Now,” he said straightening himself out. “This is the
Archives Floor and home to the Keeper. I am, technically, First
Keeper and as my protégé you have the rank of Second Keeper.
‘Keeper’ means almost squat other than the Teachers and Mages
‘respect’ you and you get to go anywhere you want.”

“
Those sound like good benefits,” I said.

“
You would think,” he said starting to pace. “That’s the way
it’s supposed to be but nowadays it means nothing. There is no
respect anymore. Only fear. You’re going to think its respect but
it's all lies.”

“
Why do they fear us?” I asked.

“
Because we are the Keepers,” he answered. “Everything about
them is recorded and documented by us. Every disciplinary matter,
every dirty secret, everything. You’re friends with Thomas from the
library, are you not?”

“
Of course, he seems like an okay guy,” I shrugged.

“
Does he now?” Keeper Anderson said with a smile. He stopped
pacing and turned to me. “Is that why he was Silenced?”

“
I don’t know why he was Silenced, no one will say,” I
answered.

“
That’s because no one knows exactly what his crimes are,” The
Keeper continued to smile. “Everything about it was covered up.
Technically he should be dead.”

“
Why?” I asked.

A wild look
crept into Keeper Anderson’s eyes as he motioned with his finger to
follow him. Pulling out a key, he led me around to a door marked
‘Crime’. He opened the door and we entered the room. Bookshelves
lined all the walls and stray books littered the floor around a
tiny desk in the centre of the room.

“
This is the Order’s Hall of Criminals,” Keeper Anderson said
grandly. “All of the recordings of the scum of our ‘respected’
Order lie within here.” He picked up an open book from the desk and
handed it to me. “To first understand Thomas, you must first learn
his family name.”

I looked at
the book and my eyes grew wide in shock. “Pryce?” I read aloud
before looking up sat him. “Thomas Pryce?”

“
Master Pryce’s son, himself,” The Keeper chuckled, clearly
enjoying being able to share his knowledge. “Keep
reading.”

I read the
book and grew sick to my stomach. It was a detailed history of
Thomas’ life. How he was a respected Apprentice. How he went into
the School of the Natural and begun studying plants. How he was
responsible for the kidnap, sexual abuse and death of 15 Child
Apprentices. I handed the Keeper back the book and he chuckled.

“
Quite the guy isn’t he?” he said with a smirk.

“
What would cause him to become...that?” I asked still trying
to regain my composure.

“
No one is certain,” he answered with a shrug. “But you’ve met
Master Pryce. Imagine having him as a Father. It would drive any
man up the wall. Mix in a power like magic, and you have a very
dangerous mix.”

“
How’d he get away with kidnapping 15 children without anyone
realizing?” I asked.

“
He was quick,” Keeper Anderson answered as he crossed the
room to put the book away. “He took one child after another. It
took them three days to finally catch him. He used a rare plant to
put them into a state of hypnosis so they would willingly do
whatever he said.”

“
What plant did he use?” I asked getting nervous.

“
The Dalen Flower,” Keeper Anderson answered. “Really nasty
stuff.”

I shook my
head and sighed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

“
You won’t believe how many times I’ve heard that,” The Keeper
chuckled.

“
Tom still has one of the plants,” I said.

The Keeper’s
eyes grew wide and he crossed the room in a hurry. “Where does he
keep it?”

“
In the library,” I answered. “Move aside the exotic flowers
section and you’ll see the little hole he’s made. It’s in
there.”

“
Good work, Keeper,” Keeper Anderson said proudly. “I will
send a Teacher to go and claim it. Maybe finally Thomas can be put
to death for his crimes.”

“
How did he avoid it in the first place?” I asked.

“
His father obviously,” Keeper Anderson said. “He was ashamed
of his son’s actions. Only the Masters and a handful of Teachers
knew the full extent of what Thomas had done. To keep things
hidden, Master Pryce used whatever dirt he had on them to keep it
quiet. Thomas was charged with a lesser crime and Silenced. Over
the years everyone involved simply died.”

“
And no one questioned it?” I asked.

“
Who would question Master Pryce?” The Keeper asked with a
raised eyebrow.

“
This is insane,” I said bracing myself on the wall. “There
has be to something we can do?”

“
Nope, you see why I could be called, ‘eccentric’?” Keeper
Anderson asked. “This is the Order of Magic! It has a long history
of corruption and abuse of powers and no one has ever done anything
about it.”

“
There must be something,” I said.

“
I said the same thing when I first started,” he smiled.
“You’ll have a whole lifetime of frustration if you try to fight
it.”

I let out a
long breath. “I guess there is no backing out now. Is there?”

“
No, you took the oath,” Keeper Anderson said. “You’re mine
and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“
It wasn’t really much of an oath,” I said.

“
It wasn’t really much of a Ceremony,” he countered. “I
remember when the Coming of Age Ceremony was held at the end of the
summer and all the Apprentices that had the Demon Dream where
brought outside for a massive feast. But times change. The Masters
wanted to give the Apprentices a chance to begin working for the
Order sooner.” He scoffed. “’Working for the Order’. More like
slaves for the Masters.”

I nodded but
remained quiet. He was right. The oath was still the oath. I didn’t
need to be reminded that backing down meant I would be Silenced.
This wasn’t the worst position to end up in. As...eccentric...as
the Keeper was, he seemed like a nice guy at heart.

“
You doing ok?” he asked.

“
Just a lot to take in,” I answered.

“
I know it’s pretty heavy for a first day but it is
important,” he explained seriously. “I wish there was an easier way
to do this but there isn’t. You need to be ready to face the truth
of things or you will be Silenced to, well, be
silenced.”

I thought
things over for a minute. “So what are we supposed to do?”

“
We record the history as it happens, my boy,” he said sliding
right back into his eccentric groove.

“
And we can’t do anything to change it?” I asked. “We can’t
use this knowledge to make things better?”