The Chosen, Chapter 3C

***

Archilochus raised a palm towards Crim, and lifted the index finger of his other hand to his lips. He then brought the finger back towards his ear, then out in the direction of the door to the room where they had been sequestered.

Sitting uncomfortably on a wooden chair, Crim read her brother’s signals, then concentrated a moment, and shook her head. “Nobody’s listening to us.”

Archilochus’ face flashed with objection only a moment, before falling into a resigned frown. “I still don’t understand how you do that.”

“I’ve given up trying to understand.” Crim glanced down at the floor, then back up at her brother. “Gil and Ukhala were supposed to give us a chance to negotiate for her release. How could they take it upon themselves to act so soon?”

“Because they are members of neither the Imperial Guard, nor the Temple of Shad Halom.” Archilochus began pacing across the room. “We have no control over them, sister, and it’s been a problem from the start of this — ” he stopped, throwing his hands into the air — “partnership, or whatever you choose to call it.”

“I don’t choose to call it anything, brother. All I know, is that we’ve been chosen to work together, trust each other. And what they’ve done tonight, has violated that trust.”

“If you were concerned about trust, you — ”

“Hold.” Crim rose from her seat, her action bringing Archilochus to a halt. She looked towards the door, and a moment later, the knob turned. A moment later, a familiar face from earlier that evening appeared in the doorway.

Lord Jerdain, of New Frisaria, walked in to the room as if he expected the occupants to genuflect. “It appears your friend, the Islander, had some assistance with this evening’s festivities. Certainly not the boy, I talked to him myself and doubt very much he could take down a stable boy, much less two members of the Safety Committee. Have you any idea on the identify of this mysterious accomplice?”

“We’ve already told Judge Oliver all we know, which is exactly what we told your Constable after yesterday’s attack.” Archilochus stepped in front of Jerdain as he continued. “The Islander’s name is Quendrun — we met him in the Pentapolis, where he was seeking to join a party on pilgrimage to Eighth Hill. We have no idea why he wanted to help that woman escape from jail, or who assisted him.”

“Quendrun?” Both Archilochus and Crim nodded in response. “He must have assumed that name recently — my informants have come across his using that name.” Jerdain seemed amused at the surprise that blossomed in the two other faces in the room. “Oh yes! New Frisaria may not be the most powerful of the colonial lands, but our spies have penetrated the highest levels of every government — including their intelligence. This Islander, it seems, was once a member of Jungen’s noxious band. He went by the name of Cobra, at that time. He’s also referred to himself as Ismund, and Betrellix, a few others. Legend has it that his given name, from the Islands, is Ukhala — although that name means suffering in the Island tongue, I suspect that to be some manner of ironic honorific.”

“If all you say proves true, I shall applaud your research, Lord Jerdain.” He nodded in agreement to Crim. “Although I must admit that I’m curious, as to why you would so freely divulge such precious information.”

Jerdain pointed to Archilochus. “An Imperial Guardsman — and a priestess of Shad Halom,” his point now turned toward Crim. “Companions of a former member of Yugen’s gang, who has just helped a prisoner escape from a Philos jail cell? The Empire talks of having no interest in the colonies outside of the Pentapolis, and the Temple clings to its neutrality as some type of immunity from the disease of politics — yet your actions in this affair have demonstrated your duplicity!”

“All right.” At Crim’s outburst, Archilochus twitched his head towards her. “The Islander is known to us as Ukhala, as well.”

“Sister –”

“You wouldn’t be revealing this information to us, Lord Jerdain, unless you were hoping to reach an agreement without the knowledge of Judge Oliver, or the town of Philos.”

Jerdain smiled. “Continue.”

“We’ll take you to Ukhala, and find this prisoner. If you can release us from Judge Oliver’s manor.”

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The Chosen, Chapter 3B

[The previous post will be revised at some point to change the perspective from Billy to Nort]

The two guards were new to the Safety Committee, having arrived from the continent in the past year, and Nort Eggers watched closely as they led the boy down the stairs of the inn. While not among the colony’s founders, the Eggers were a rare three-generation family in Philos; Nort had joined the Safety Committee at sixteen, eager both to protect the colony and to advance his family’s honor. Many new colonists, especially those like these two new arrivals who showed no demonstrable skills, had come fleeing crimes, debt, or unwanted families on the continent, and Nort highly suspected both men under his command were rogues at best, and therefore warranted close observation.

The common room of the inn was crowded, benches and tables filled with farmhands, merchants, and pilgrims to the temple on Eighth Hill. The innkeeper looked up as Nort and his men came down the stairs, leading the boy away. With a quick nod, he then turned his attention back to his guests.

The boy stumbled, falling from the grasp of the two guards and down to the bottom of the stairs. Nort pushed the two men aside, and came down to the boy, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. “Get up,” his voice dripping with suspicion.

He then heard a cry from his left, too filled with alarm for him to ignore. Nort saw a woman walked back from the inn’s fireplace, then saw the reason for her concern — flames had begun to bellow above the mantle, and the bricks above sweltered in a heated glow.

“Soot fire!” Nort grabbed and lifted the boy from the floor. “Everyone, leave now!” Maintaining his firm grasp on the boy, Nort looked back at his men, dismayed but not surprised to see their blank stares of confusion. He commanded them in a tense whisper — “Get these people out of here, then we’ll deal with the fire. Damn you both, move!”

Nort’s caustic tone startled the men out of their befuddlement, and they rushed forward to herd the crowd out of the building. Nort held back with the boy as the conflagration grew in intensity. The innkeeper rushed forward, and Nort was about to call out to him until he saw the bucket he carried was filled with sand, not water. The sand flew into the mouth of the flame, and what happened next was a sight that Nort would recall for the rest of his days.

The fire subdued a moment from the sand’s impact — and then, as if indignant, suddenly resumed in an even great fury, its flaming lips leaping directly at the innkeeper, licking his clothing into a dance of fiery doom.

Nort charged forward, and slammed the innkeeper to the floor. The chimney’s flames subsided, making Nort’s rescue less difficult. He felt the hair on his arms singe as he put out the fires on the innkeeper’s clothes, and when he had finished, he grabbed the man’s face with his hands. The innkeeper was hurt badly, skin horribly burnt, but was breathing.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Nort looked up and saw one of his guards staring down at him. “We got all the people out.”

“Well done.” Nort stood, and with the guard’s help lifted the innkeeper to his feet. He then looked over at the fire — and to his amazement, saw that it had returned to its gentle roar, flames no longer reaching from the chimney, the dull red color of the bricks having returned.

“The boy!” Nort shot his glance back at the stairs, and seeing them empty, turned back to the guard. “Did you see the boy leave?”

Frowning, the guard shook his head.

***

After running up the stairs and crawling out the window of the room where he had been waiting, Billy ran three buildings to the left, then sat and rested against a back wall. Of all the various scenarios that Gil and Ukhala had discussed with him that afternoon, none had included an escape from the Safety Committee. His companions had refused to tell him where they’d be when doing whatever they had planned, leaving Billy with no idea where to turn. He couldn’t go to Judge Oliver’s manor, the fat man had mentioned Crim and Archilochus were there. There was no other option, he’d have to flee to the woods —

The hand from behind him closed over his mouth before he could react, and sharp words in his ear stopped him from struggling. “That was foolish, boy.”

Billy relaxed, and the hands behind him released their grip. The teen turned, and in the darkness his eyes recognized the distinctive outline of Gil.

“We would have rescued you, no matter where they held you. Surely you know that.”

“But I’m tired of being rescued.” Billy made no attempt to hide the annoyance in his voice. “If you’d just let me — ”

“Do you have any idea what forces –”

“My mother — ”

“Is DEAD!” Billy could see the white of Gil’s snarling teeth. “And get over this feeling that suffering the same fate would be somehow honoring her memory, because it’s just as likely to get the rest of us killed as well.” He jerked his head in the direction of the woods. “Ukhala’s waiting for us. We got the prisoner, too. Let’s get out of here, before you come up with some other brilliant idea.”

The Chosen, Chapter 3A

[Today’s post is a continuation of a project begun last December and put on hiatus in January. You can read a summary of the first two chapters here, or if you want to read the whole thing from the start, knock yourself out.]

“We know you’re in there.” Billy remained silent, as the voice on the other side of the door continued. “One of the lads at Two Brothers saw you leave, and we convinced the owner of this inn to admit having seen you as well. We don’t want to hurt you, but if we have to break down this door, I can’t make any promises.”

Billy was scared, but had enough control over his fear to recognize the reality of his situation. “I — I’ll be right there.” He reached down to pick up a gray sack, the only possession which Gil and Ukhala had allowed him to bring. The teen had not liked the idea of moving to another inn for the evening, but Gil had insisted this was the only way they could leave him alone for the evening. If all went well, Crim and Archilochus would have returned from Judge Oliver’s manor by early evening, and Gil and Ukhala from their mysterious “mission” soon after. Judging by the lateness of the hour, and the sudden appearance of the Philos Safety Committee at the door, Billy assumed not much had gone well.

The latch on the door jiggled, but Billy prevented further action from the other side by releasing the lock, and opening the door widely. In the hallway was a short man with a fat body and a fatter face. Two taller men stood behind him, and the teen, in accordance with the Archilochus’ training, scanned the three men for their weaponry. A dagger and pistol each, but no armor. Obviously not expecting much of a struggle.

The taller men began to step forward, but halted on seeing the fat man remain stationary, glowering at Billy. “The guardsman, says you’re his nephew. But you don’t look anything like anyone I’ve ever seen come out of the empire.”

“My father emigrated — ”

FH-WEET! At the fat man’s sharp whistle, he stepped back, the two men coming forward and seizing Billy by the shoulders.

The Chosen, chapter 1 and 2

It’s been a while since the last installment of The Chosen, so for the sake of both readers and author (“Now what exactly did I write back then?”), a summary is in order.

Chapter 1 – Prisoner Three: the Safety Committe from the colonial town of Philos returns to the courthouse with a prisoner, apprehended during an attempted highway robbery of four pilgrims travelling to the shrine on Eighth Hill. The prisoner is identified as Wolf, a lieutenant in the army of Yungen, leader of a powerful criminal gang.

After being tossed into the third cell of the jailhouse, Wolf recalls the failed robbery. Her crew had seen four pilgrims travelling without an armed escort on the road from the Pentapolis, and Wolf had been confident of an easy operation. However, two of the travellers, a nobleman and an Islander, had resisted her gang’s attack, and the pilgrims had gained the upper hand just as the Safety Committee arrived. Her crew was then slain, but Wolf, already subdued by the nobleman, was taken in to custody.

Later that evening, Wolf hears an unexpected voice speaking to her through the narrow barred window of her cell. The priestly woman who had been in the band of pilgrims asks Wolf to lead her party to Yungen. Wolf agrees, provided the priestly woman and her friends free her from jail; the voice thanks her, and abruptly leaves.

Several minutes later, the priestly woman arrives in a room at the Two Brothers Inn. Her three companions — Archilochus (the nobleman), Ukhala (the Islander), and Billy (a teenaged boy) — address her as Crim, and she reports on her conversation with the prisoner. When her brother Archilochus objects to her approaching their assailant alone, Crim responds that Gil, who suddenly appears outside the window of their room, had been with her the entire evening. Archilochus then asks if she chooses to trust the prisoner, and Crim responds that they have all been chosen to trust her.

Chapter 2 – Futile Deals: Archilochus arrives at the Philos courthouse the next morning, and reveals himself to be a member of the Imperial Guard. He then demands that Wolf be released into his custody, so that she can be sent to the Empire to face justice.

A visitor arrives at Wolf’s cell, and introduces himself as Jerdain, a lord from the neighboring colony of New Frisaria. He offers to release her into his captivity, provided she leads him to Yungen, who has expanded his operations into New Frisaria. He then leaves her to consider his offer.

Billy, purchasing bread at an outdoor market, has his money sack stolen; Gil captures the thief and forces him to return the sack. Billy pleads to take part in a mission planned for the coming evening, but Gil demonstrates that the lad is not ready for such risk.

Crim and Archilochus are greeted that evening at the manor of Judge Oliver, a leading magistrate for Philos. They are then joined by Jerdain, who argues with Archilochus over who should have custody over Wolf. Judge Oliver declares that Philos has sole jurisdiction in this matter, and is then interrupted by an announcement of a distrubance at the jail.

Earlier that evening, Wolf works the bars of her window with a pick she had hidden in her mouth. She then jumps at the sudden voice she hears behind her; turning, she sees a short man, later identified as Gil, who helps her escape from the jail with remarkable ease. When they are outside, Wolf strikes Gil from behind and runs into the woods; Gil pursues and tackles her,

Guards from the courthouse arrive to arrest Gil and Wolf, but they are quickly subdued by Ukhala. Recognzing him as the Islander from yesterday’s attack, Wolf tells Ukhala she is ready to accept the offer made by his priestly companion. Not trusting her sudden offer, Ukhala and Gil then subdue Wolf, and escape with her into the forest.

Step In

Getting back to writing makes me feel like a kid again

Enough already! After a hiatus that has endured far too long, I’m going to resume posting on a regular basis — perhaps not every day, but certainly most days. I’ll begin by picking up where I left off with The Chosen, and mixing in the occasional prompt response, reblog, and commentary.

Felt good to step away for a while, but feels even better to step in once more.

Taking a Break

So much for not being a stranger…

The rough draft of chapter 8 was completed on time (final post was on April 30) and right on budget (just over 20K words). Not entirely happy with the result (that last post was particularly disappointing), but I knew when I started on April 1 that this wasn’t going to end with a finished product. But that’s fine — what matters to me is “winning” the CampNaNoWriMo challenge for April, and more importantly, producing an item that I can craft into a more polished document for this year’s NaNoWriMo event.

As I do at the end of each of these events, I felt satisfied yet enervated at the conclusion. Decided to step away from blogging for a while, until my energy and enthusiasm return. Which it most definitely will, perhaps soon — I’m contemplating a return to The Chosen, the sword and sorcery project I started on a lark and wound up enjoying considerably.

But for now, a little more rest, then get back to indulging my enjoyable obsession.