Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

It appeared that most of the Chaelestan soldiers had been taken out by the aerships attacks, but those who remained alive must have been ordered to protect the ruins. They now formed a ring around the impact site, holding various weapons and instruments.

Holden had entered the ruins, which had once been a military fort over two hundred years before, and had sneaked between the walls toward the center. After a couple minutes, he noticed there were not as many soldiers around. He found mostly dead ones, and stole the lifeforces of the few he found still breathing.

Now he held still behind a crumbling wall, keeping out of sight of the soldiers that surrounded the center of the ruins. The meteor had crashed into the keep of the fort, the impact causing the walls to collapse outward from the center. The keep had sat upon a hill, so the wave had only knocked down the top portions of the walls of the rest of the fort. The wall Holden now crouched behind was only about three feet high. The keep walls had been completely knocked down and the stones buried over the years. The meteor itself had come to rest inside the tunnels beneath the keep, now only accessible from the sides of the hills.

Holden quickly looked around the wall and saw an entrance to the tunnels to the right. He pulled his head back before the soldiers saw him. Somehow, he had to get past them and into the tunnels. He figured he only had about an hour and a half left. Dawn was approaching soon.

He sat for a moment, considering what he could do to get past the soldiers. He could not rush them, or he would be cut down. He could not sneak by them, because there were too many. But maybe he could pretend to be one of them.

He sneaked away, back through the ruins until he found a corpse. The chain mail was a little bloody, but he figured it would just look like he had been injured. He felt bad robbing the dead, but knew the man no longer needed it anyway. After donning the gear, he walked back toward the center. The blood was near his hip, so he decided to limp as he walked.

Holden came in sight of the soldiers, but nobody came to his aid. He limped toward the tunnel entrance. Nobody stopped him until he reached the entrance way. Then one soldier asked him something in Chaelestan. Holden thought quickly, then pretended to cough violently, sitting down against the wall of the tunnel as if he had to rest, and waving the man away. The soldier gave him an exasperated look and turned around. Once he was out of sight, Holden stood back up and walked further into the tunnel.

The walls were paneled with wood slats. There were support beams every few feet. The lighting was low, with torches only every fifty feet or so. He could not hear any other sounds in the darkness except his own footsteps. He walked until it opened up into a chamber. There were a few guards standing and sitting around the walls, mostly injured. Holden started limping again and made his way across to the tunnel on the other side. He reached it without any problems and continued, this passage the same as the last.

There were other rooms, mostly with no occupants, some with weapons and supplies like food. He felt that he was wandering for about twenty minutes when he came to a very small chamber. Inside were cages or iron about three by three feet big. Inside them were bodies of prisoners, most of them dead. One man was still alive. He looked up wearily at Holden and let out a small sigh.

“More torture?” the man asked.

“Uh,” Holden hesitated. “No. I'm not actually a Chaelestan.”

“What?”

“I'm. . . I'm trying to stop them,” Holden said.

The man sat up and held onto the bars.

“Then will you release me?”

“Well, why did they lock you up?” Holden asked warily.

“Because. I leaked information to your people,” he admitted.

“I see. Then how do I let you out?”

“I don't actually know. The key, I guess, but who knows where that is?” the man said, sighing again.

Holden considered for a moment. Playing his flute would be too loud, and the Chaelestans had likely protected the lock from air magic anyway to keep the man in.

“Aren't there caches of weapons somewhere?” the man asked. “You could find something like a sword or a mace or something.”

“Good idea,” Holden said. “I'll be back in a few moments. There were weapons just in the last room.”

Five minutes later he returned with a great sword. He hefted it up and brought it down swiftly on the lock of the cage. It broke.

“Wonderful!” the man exclaimed. Holden removed the lock and let him out. He stretched out his hand in greeting.

“My name is Callius,” he said.

“Uh, Holden.”

They shook hands. A small whimper came from the corner.

“Is there another prisoner?” Holden asked.

“Not that I know of,” Callius replied slowly.

“Hello?” Holden said, walking cautiously toward the sound. “Are you a prisoner?”

He walked past a couple cages with corpses and some crates. In the far corner was a smaller cage, one that looked like it was meant for a dog. Inside was a young girl.

Holden knelt beside the cage.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Do you need help?”

She looked up at him with wide eyes and started crying.

“You look like a Chaelestan, Holden,” Callius said.

“Oh, right.” He removed the helm. “Hey, look up. I'm not Chaelestan. I'm Joenic. I'm here to stop them.”

The girl looked at him, then started babbling in another language. Callius knelt down and replied in the same language. Holden figured it was Chaelestan.

“She says her name is Lyra,” Callius said. “She wants her brother, but he was sent away. She says her father put her in here.”

“Her father?”

Lyra continued, and Callius interpreted.

“Her father is the steward of Chaelesta. He's the same man that put me in here, by the way. She says her brother is in the army and she wants to go to him.”

“Callius, I'll let her out, but do you think you could take her? Help her escape?”

Callius grunted. “Yeah, I think I can. But I'm not in that great of shape. We'll have to sneak or disguise ourselves like you did.”

“Do you know how to get to the center of the ruins?” Holden asked him.

He did, and he explained it to Holden.

“I don't know why you want to face Steward Sucius, but you're either brave or stupid,” Callius told him.

“Just desperate,” Holden said. He took the sword to the lock on Lyra's cage, then handed the sword to Callius.

“These things used to be light in my hands,” Callius said ruefully. “Now it feels as heavy as lifting a child Lyra's size.”

“Just make sure you get out safely somehow,” Holden said. He had a strange feeling of doubt, but knew he could not take them with him into certain death.

They opened a crate and found a few packages of dried meat, stocking up for whatever lay ahead. Then they said their farewells and went back down the tunnel. Holden went right, while Callius and Lyra went straight.

Holden now figured he only just under half an hour to find his father and stop the ritual. His plan was to set up the teleporter just outside the central chamber where the meteorite was. Then he would go in and confront the steward, confident that his own powers outmatched Sucius's. And if he managed to get his father released, he could help take out the enemy steward.

There were few soldiers this far in. He did find one that was sitting against the wall, or what was left of him. He was still alive and awake, though. Holden checked around to make sure nobody else was near, then crouched down next to him. The Chaelestan was missing an ear, half of his right arm below the elbow, and his right leg. They were bandaged, but he could see the man was nearly delirious from pain and loss of blood.

“Salve,” the man said.

Holden knew that word, at least. “Salve,” he replied.

The man whimpered in pain, then started laughing.

“Me occidere,” the man said. “Sodes. . .sodes.”

“I'm sorry, I do not understand,” Holden said. He figured the man was asking something, but he did not know what.

The man hesitated, then said “Dead. Me dead.” He pointed to Holden's dagger at his waist, then at his own neck.

Holden understood. “You want me to kill you?” he asked, taking the dagger and gesturing to the man's neck.

The soldier nodded.

Holden instead took out his last empty bauble and held it to the man's lips. The man did not object. He did not scream, but instead sighed as his lifeforce was taken. His head slumped to the side and Holden put the bauble away.

He reached the central chamber after only a few minutes more of walking. He could hear the sounds of moaning and crying, as well as a steady chanting. Rounding a corner in the tunnel, he saw a bright multicolored light ahead. Rounding the next corner quietly, he saw into the central chamber.

A man, who he supposed was Sucius, was standing next to the meteorite, hands outstretched over a prone figure. His father. The light was coming from balls of energy flowing out of Rembold and hovering a few feet in the air above him. Holden saw at least two other people standing to the side, one emitting red light and the other white. The moans were coming from them.

Holden crept back a few feet and took out the teleporters from his bag, as well as the bottle of Rage Tonic. He took a long swig, wanting to have as much anger and energy as he could against this man. Next, he placed the metal plates on the ground and put the engine between them. He attached the last lifeforce baubles and communicated quietly with Tumus for a moment, then went back to the corner. He said a silent prayer to Jot, then took out his flute. He turned the corner, facing Sucius, and started playing the same song he had used earlier, forming a javelin of air.

Sucius heard the flute and looked around. He saw Holden down the tunnel and let loose a roar. A wave of air knocked Holden to the ground before he could finish the song. His javelin vanished.

Lying on the ground, he remembered he had not activated the pendant at his neck. He also started to feel the effects of the tonic, becoming angry almost instantly. He pushed the button on the pendant and stood in time to see a bolt of electricity headed toward him. It hit his magic barrier and dissipated.

Holden ran forward, also roaring. It caused Sucius to fly through the air and land on his back. Holden put the flute to his lips and played a series of high pitched notes as he ran toward the meteorite where his father lay. Letting out a sharp staccato pitch, he caused chains binding the glowing red mage to break. The man fell to his knees as Sucius returned to his feet.

“You will die!” Sucius swore. He took a small hand drum from his pocket and played it. The earth beneath Holden's moving feet began to buckle. He jumped aside and rolled to the left, knocking into another mage, this one glowing blue.

Holden noticed the balls of light returning to his father's body. He was succeeding.

Playing the same quick tune, he released the mage next to him. Sucius was dealing with the other mage, who was a fire mage. He managed to chain him back up, then looked around in time to see water blasting toward him from the liquid mage that was now free.

Holden stood next to the liquid mage and played the javelin song again, this time finishing it. The weapon of air flew toward Sucius.

The steward roared again, knocking the javelin aside. Before Holden or the other mage could do anything, Sucius pounded his fist to the ground. A column of earth shot upward below the two, causing Holden to go flying toward the wall. He hit his head and fell ten feet to the earth, everything going black.

He opened his eyes and saw Sucius back at the meteor, standing over his father. The liquid mage was again in chains. He realized he must have been knocked out, and that Sucius had figured he was dead. The tonic had worn off, so he no longer in a rage.

He sat still, trying to figure out what to do next as he watched the magic being drained from his father. He decided to start humming softly. The tune he chose was one his pa taught him. It was handed down from steward to steward. The Song of Dispel. If played or hummed right, it would negate all magic within a quarter mile radius of the steward. If performed incorrectly, it would kill everything, within that radius, the steward included.

He was about to hum the song when he felt a small hand on his right shoulder. He looked over and saw Lyra crouching down in the shadows next to him. She placed a finger to his lips. She saw his eyes dart to the tunnels, then back at her. She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder, then gestured to Holden's dagger, then made a motion of stabbing her stomach. Holden understood. Callius had been stabbed, so Lyra had run.

Holden gestured with his eyes toward Sucius, then raised his eyebrows at Lyra. She nodded sadly, her eyes downcast. This was her father, or rather the man that used to be her father.

Lyra pointed to his ankles. Chains bound his legs to the ground. Sucius must have chained him while he was out, just in case he was not dead.

Lyra pulled a gun from her side. It was an gun that held a bauble of metal magic, one of the most expensive baubles create. He gave her a questioning look, but she ignored it. She took the bauble from the gun and handed it to him with an expectant look.

Laughter came from Sucius. They both looked, but he was still performing the ritual. Holden noticed that the balls of energy were entering the steward's body, causing him to glow various shifting colors. One last bit of energy left Rembold's body, causing him to wake up and scream in agony as it tore through the flesh of his chest. He fell back to the surface of the meteorite and lay still, blood coming from his chest.

Holden wanted to cry out for his pa, but Lyra held her hand to his mouth. She saw the pain on his face, but understood that their only chance of survival was to not draw attention to themselves. Holden wanted to tear her hand away and run to his pa. He sat forward and held the bauble over the chains. The magic that had created the chains was taken into the bauble, and they disappeared.

Sucius took in the last bit of magic energy. The mages around the walls of the chamber all dropped to the floor, dead like Rembold. The Chaelestan steward dropped to his knees and laughed. His body was glowing white, emanating magic. He put his hands into the air toward the ceiling. Magical energy shot upward, blasting a hole that let in the rays of dawn.

Lyra gestured for Holden to follow and started slowly moving toward the tunnels. He did so, keeping his head toward Sucius. The steward was starting to rise off the ground.

A sudden wave on magical energy blasted from him in a ring. Holden and Lyra were already against the wall, so it only knocked their heads a few inches to hit the wood. The body of one of the mages hit right where Holden had just been. He thanked Jot in his mind for the fortune as they continued.

He wanted to grieve. He wanted to run to his father's body and mourn over it, but he now realized that he and Lyra would be the ones to use the teleporter.

Sucius reached the hole and released another wave of energy, laughing madly. This one caused the tunnels to start shaking. Holden and Lyra heard crashes from the tunnels and decided to run for it. Holden got ahead of Lyra as they reached the passage. Dirt was falling through the cracks and wood was splintering around them. Holden stopped at the teleporter, standing on a plate, and pointed to the other metal plate. Lyra stood on it and ducked as a board flew past her head. She looked at Holden in panicked confusion. He crouched down and flipped the switch with one hand while holding the engine with the other.

His vision seemed to go fuzzy and white for a few moments. During this time, he felt a sudden pain, but it passed quickly. Then, before his eyes, the bridge of the Tidalwind started to appear. The white fuzz vanished and he found himself crouching on a metal plate, his hand still touching the engine. Next to him stood Lyra on the other plate.

“Lyra?!” Tumus shouted, running toward the girl. He embraced her before she could react.

“Holden!” Borli exclaimed. “Where's your father?”

Holden went from crouching to kneeling and let out a long wail. Holding his face in his hands, he wept.

“He. . . didn't make it, then.” Imbert said haltingly from the captain's chair.

Holden felt his insides twisting and his heart trying to burst from his chest. He wanted to be angry, but all he felt was hollow. Imbert told Prince Mikol over the communicator that Holden was safe.

“Tumus,” Lyra said. She said a few words in Chaelestan, and Tumus nodded.

“Imbert, she says we need to move. Our fa-the steward of Chaelesta is releasing energy in waves. She thinks he's going to wipe out the aerships.”

Imbert nodded solemnly. He communicated this to Mikol and the aership started flying away from the meteor ruins.

Borli knelt next to Holden and put a hand on his shoulder. Holden barely felt it. He was lost in his grief, sobbing and moaning.

“I see the steward,” Imbert said, pointing. As the aership was turning, Borli, Lyra, and Tumus could see the small glowing person rising from the center of the ruins. A few seconds later they could not see him.

“Lyra says to hurry,” Tumus said.

The aership started flying away toward the northwest. They rose in elevation slowly. The change in elevation saved them.

The aership jolted forward a little, causing them all to lose balance. Tumus and Lyra ran to the window and looked out.

“The other aerships. . .,” Tumus said in shock. “They are. . .gone.”