Chapter 25 – Speak No Evil
The council chamber was vast. The floor was raised slightly in a strip against the far wall, forming a platform just large enough to accommodate the members of the council. The council, however, was not there. The witnesses brought from the temple, a very small, shaken crowd of fearful, mournful faces, had been waiting for them for countless minutes. The only new arrivals since Solonn had entered the chamber were a couple of glalie who'd still been unconscious when the rest of the squad had left the temple, accompanied by the guild members who'd stayed behind with them.
Meanwhile some part of Solonn still hadn't returned, lingering in that temple with the rising vapors and the ruined lives. With them. Another part was busy wondering where the guild had taken Grosh and Oth. He'd asked when the guild had split up, with the glalie carrying the prisoners continuing onward past the council chamber. All he'd gotten for an answer was "somewhere secure", leaving him to fret helplessly for them and hope there was at least someone there guarding them and keeping them from freezing.
The rest of his thoughts and worries went toward his half-brother, still back at the snowgrounds and probably wondering when his parents would show up—not knowing that they never would. Oh gods… Solonn was sure that he'd be the one who'd have to tell Jen what had happened. He could already picture how the snorunt would react, and the image worsened the cold, sick feeling inside him.
So did the fact that the snowgrounds might have suffered an attack, as well—that he might not have to break the news to Jen after all, and for the most terrible reason.
He had to get out of there. He had to know how his loved ones were doing. He looked to the platform, wishing the council would show up and start this meeting so it could end.
Several more minutes passed before they finally made their appearance. The wall on the right side of the platform opened, and out came the Security Guild leader. She descended from the platform and took her position in front of it, off to the side, facing the small crowd.
"The honorable Council of Authority now arrives," she announced. "Please bow as they make their entrance." In less-than-perfect unison, the gathered witnesses lowered their faces. A moment later, "Now please give your attention to the lahain Hagen Ar-Vhannen," she instructed them.
At the cue, Solonn lifted his gaze. The platform before him was now occupied by the most powerful figures in Virc society. The Council of Authority numbered five: two men and three women. Their pale eyes showed considerable age, as well as confusion, sorrow, unease, and fear. Whether or not the minds behind those eyes had been immovably convinced that Grosh and Oth were guilty remained unclear.
The council member in the middle of the row ascended and moved forward slightly before sitting down again. His eyes swept the crowd slowly, and he inhaled deeply before speaking.
"These are most regrettable circumstances that bring us together today," the lahain began heavily. "This day has destroyed the sanctity of our holy temple and robbed good, honest Virc of their lives. The temple is forever desecrated by the atrocities committed there, and nothing can bring back those who were lost. All we can do is to ensure that those responsible are given their due punishment to protect our people from any such threat in the future.
"Our Security Guild has brought to us two… individuals… whom they found at the scene and whom they suspect to be responsible for the murders in the temple. However… they also tell us that one among you has proclaimed these two to be innocent." Here Hagen allowed a pointed gaze to fall upon a face in the crowd that was considerably larger than those around it, and he held it there. "What can you offer us to support your claim?"
Solonn swallowed hard, sending out yet another quick, silent prayer for the council to see the truth in his words. Some tiny voice inside warned of the danger in what he was about to say, but he didn't care. His loved ones were more than worth the risk.
"I know them, Lahain," he said. His voice was hoarse and pained. "Neither of them would ever do such horrible things. And besides which, they weren't even there when it all started. They were with me. We noticed the tremor and went to the temple right away… and when we entered, the fighting stopped.
"We were there to help," he emphasized. "And their help may still be needed. Please, Lahain… you have to let them go. Some of the people back in the temple might be badly hurt; they'll need to go somewhere far away for the help they need, and you're imprisoning the only one who can get them there fast enough."
Hagen sighed. "I'm afraid that all those left in the temple are beyond salvation," he said quietly. "The Security Guild reported that all those whom they were unable to wake had perished." At these words, the somber air that hung over the space grew even heavier, drawing mournful sounds from many of those gathered in the chamber. Sickened dismay dampened Solonn's already dim eyelight further; had Oth been allowed to attend to those last victims, at least some of them might have had a chance.
"As for your claims regarding the two prisoners," Hagen continued, "can anyone else here back up your testimony?" He lifted his gaze from Solonn and let it encompass the entire crowd. "Is there anyone else among you who claims those two did no harm to the temple and those therein?" he asked them.
There was a moment of silence that felt terribly long. Solonn expected a repeat of the situation in the temple, with no one would speaking up to support him.
But then, to his grateful surprise, "Yes, Lahain," said one of the other witnesses. "He's right. We'd already been fighting for a while before they came. They appeared in the temple—just appeared—and when the other side saw them, they bolted."
"Other side…" Hagen mused aloud. He cast perplexed glances at the other council members, but they didn't seem to know what to make of the matter, either. "Well then, if it wasn't the two strange creatures who attacked the temple, then who was it?" he asked.
"As far as I could tell, it was just some other glalie," Solonn answered.
The reaction to that statement wasn't what Solonn had expected: a couple of the council members gave scandalized gasps, and the lahain himself looked greatly appalled.
"How could you even suggest such a thing?" Hagen hissed, the light in his eyes blazing. "Virc must not and do not take the lives of other Virc!"
"…It's true," another of the survivors dared to insist despite the vehemence of Hagen's objection. "They just came in, and they hit us with no warning… just like that, everything went to hell." He shook his head. "There were… no idea how many. Don't know who they were, either. But they were definitely glalie."
"Now do you see?" Solonn asked of the council; it came out sounding more like a challenge than he'd quite intended. "The ones you've imprisoned are not to blame. You've got to let them go!"
The lahain only glared at Solonn and the other witnesses. There was clearly something at work behind those ancient eyes, perhaps considering the witnesses' claims or perhaps just seething in offense at the notion of Virc showing the same cruelty and disregard for life that members of any other society could. Solonn strongly suspected the latter.
Hagen drew a deep breath with a distinctly disapproving, hissing edge that he either failed or didn't bother to suppress, and he began to speak. But before he could say more than a single syllable, the entrance to the council chamber opened, and an unfamiliar face peeked in tentatively, clearly aware that he was interrupting something but just as plainly urgent to do what he'd come to do.
"Ms. Skei-Vi!" he hissed, sounding very distressed. He made something of a beckoning motion, jerking his head toward the corridor outside.
The guild leader cast a questioning, troubled glance at the glalie at the entrance, then excused herself and went to join him. The portal sealed, and Solonn could hear them speaking for a short time before their voices drifted out of earshot. Everyone in the chamber wondered what in the world was going on, but before they had long to ponder it, the leader returned, alone. They noticed her grave expression at once, and the crowd watched her attentively as she returned to her place in front of the platform, wondering and fearing what she'd just been told.
"What is it?" Hagen asked her. He no longer sounded angry in the least; he only sounded concerned.
"I'm afraid I've just received terrible news," the guild leader announced slowly, somberly. "A member of my guild has just come from the snowgrounds… all the children who were there have gone missing."
Gasps and cries of shock and alarm filled the air, and Solonn's heart froze. "Jen…" His voice cracked as his throat went dry. "Dear gods, my brother was in there!"
"And my children!" another voice in the crowd cried.
"Please, you've got to find them!" a third begged the guild leader.
"Members of my squad have already begun searching," Ms. Skei-Vi tried to assure her, but the guild leader's words failed to calm her or anyone else in the room.
"This day has grown darker still…" the lahain remarked quietly. "Ms. Skei-Vi, do you have any clue at all as to where these children might be or who might have taken them?" he asked.
"Presently, no," the guild leader said regretfully. "They've vanished without a trace. There's nothing left to even suggest what has become of them."
"Hmm…" was the lahain's sole response at first. He stared pensively at a spot on the floor for a moment. "I think I'll hazard a guess as to who might be responsible," he then said, at which every eye in the chamber met his gaze. "I believe this crime may well have been the work of the same ones responsible for the atrocities in the temple—the very ones being held in our cells at this very moment."
Solonn had expected to hear something along those lines, but the fact that he'd seen it coming did nothing to dampen his reaction. "How can you make such a claim?" he demanded, his eyes burning bright once more. "And how could they have committed two crimes at the same time?" he added as the thought occurred to him.
"No one said those crimes were committed at the same time," Hagen pointed out. "The children may well have been taken and left somewhere before the attack on the temple."
"Maybe so," Solonn responded, conceding the point no further than that. "But still, you can't just accuse them without anything to base it on! There's nothing to prove that they did this!"
"I see no proof that they didn't do it," Hagen countered.
"Oh, so I suppose the word of these witnesses means nothing to you, then?" Solonn said acidly.
"Mere words can't be accepted as irrefutable evidence," the lahain said. "Anyone can say anything, after all."
"Lahain…" one of the other council members spoke up tentatively. It was the first time since the meeting had begun that any of them other than Hagen had spoken. "Surely the fact that so many of them report being attacked by other glalie has to count for something, doesn't it?" she asked.
"If my suspicions are correct, then no, it very well may not," Hagen said.
"And just what are those suspicions, exactly?" Solonn demanded.
"I believe that one of the prisoners, the many-eyed one, is a psychic," was the lahain's reply.
This brought a fresh surge of astonished responses from the crowd. "How do you know?" one among them asked. Solonn leveled a demanding gaze at Hagen with the same question and the worry that came along with it tightening his brow—how had the lahain correctly guessed that Oth was a psychic?
"Two among you have each offered a very significant detail where that's concerned," Hagen said. "The strange ones were described as simply 'appearing'… and you," he said, nodding toward Solonn, "claimed that one of them could quickly and easily transport people outside of our territory, did you not?"
Solonn could only stare wide-eyed at Hagen, horrorstruck by what he was hearing. It felt as though his blood had just frozen in his veins—he'd been so desperate to save his friend and his father, but now it seemed that he may have sealed their doom.
"The ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere belongs to the psychic element," the lahain went on. "The use of that ability could explain how the children could have vanished so easily and completely. Furthermore… it bears mentioning that this wouldn't be the first time someone among our people's youth has experienced apparent abduction by a psychic-type… now would it, Mr. Zgil-Al?"
Solonn might have otherwise been surprised or startled to learn that Hagen knew his name, but all that truly got through to him was what Hagen was implying about Oth. "Don't you even suggest that they had anything to do with that!" he hissed, thoroughly appalled.
"As I recall, no one ever determined who took you that day. I also recall that you told the Security Guild leader of that time that you had no memory of your abduction or anything that took place up to your return," Hagen reminded him. "For all you know, that creature may very well have been your abductor."
"'Creature'…" Solonn spat distastefully, finding more to dislike in Hagen's words with every moment. "That person is my friend, Lahain. They're one of the kindest, most gentle-natured people anyone could ever hope to meet—they'd never do anything at all like what you're accusing them of!"
The look Hagen gave him in response to that was sad—pitying, even. "Mr. Zgil-Al, I fear that you may be a victim of psychic deception. Just as the rest of you who've been brought here may have been tricked into believing you were under attack by glalie rather than by the strange ones, you may have been made to see the psychic in a much more flattering light."
"No," Solonn said firmly, now positively shaking with astonishment at what he was hearing. "You're wrong, Lahain. And everyone here knows it. Tell him!" he shouted as he turned to face the crowd.
But to his dismay, the faces around him spoke of no desire to do any such thing. In fact, it looked like they might have been seriously considering Hagen's words.
He turned back toward the council. "Well, what about the prisoners' rights?" he said. "Aren't you at least going to give them a chance to defend themselves before you just decide they're guilty?"
"And just how do you suppose we go about that?" Hagen asked. "If they're allowed to wake, what's to stop the psychic from simply disappearing and bringing the steel creature along with them, freeing them to threaten us again in future? It's a risk I cannot and will not accept."
"They wouldn't do that," Solonn growled. "They were there at the temple today out of concern and love, Lahain. They're good, decent people, and yet here you are talking about them as if they're just a couple of heartless monsters!"
"You can say whatever you want about them, but the nature of the day's events seems all too clear now," the lahain said resolutely. "It just makes far more sense that the terrible deeds done today could and would be done by such creatures rather than by Virc glalie. Why, anyway, would Virc ever kill their own kind?"
"Maybe they weren't Virc," suggested another of the council members, the very same one who'd spoken up before.
"Don't be ridiculous, Zdir," Hagen said. "You know just as well as I do that there are no other nations of our kind anywhere near here."
"I was referring to exiles, Lahain," Zdir elaborated. "Exiles who perhaps desired to get back at their fellow countrymen for their punishment."
There was a strange sort of flickering in Hagen's eyes as if Zdir had struck a particular chord with him. It was gone nearly as soon as it had come, however; his expression now solely and strongly suggested that she'd crossed some line. The faces of the other three council members underscored her apparent mistake further; they looked deeply worried for her.
"I think it's time we brought this matter to a conclusion," Hagen said coldly. "The council and I will go and discuss the day's events and what we've learned regarding them among ourselves, and we will return with our final decision."
There wasn't a second's delay between his words and the rest of the council's response; the council member closest to the side exit opened it at once, and the five filed through it without another word. At the back of the line, Zdir stopped for the slightest moment, turning a supportive but not particularly optimistic gaze upon the crowd. Then she, too, was gone, and the portal sealed shut behind her.
Solonn's eyes lingered upon the barrier. He could only imagine what sort of discussion was taking place wherever the council had gone, but he was certain that it was far from balanced. From what he'd seen, Hagen had virtually the entire council under his figurative thumb; most of them had come across as meek, obedient people who probably never spoke unless he specifically asked them to.
Zdir seemed to be an exception: someone clearly having a mind of her own, daring to voice her disagreement with the lahain. But she was only one questioning voice out of five. Chances were that wouldn't be enough to sway or overpower Hagen, not if the rest of the council really did support their leader without question. She'd probably be made sorry in some way for her dissent, Solonn suspected darkly, and the rest of her peers would likely give her theories and opinions no further thought.
It was a bit longer than he'd quite expected before the council returned. Ms. Skei-Vi commanded the crowd to bow again as the council members took their places once more; Solonn refused, earning a disapproving frown from the guild leader.
Ignoring her, he looked toward Zdir, the only member of the council he still respected. Her face told all too plainly that she'd lost; she looked over the crowd with eyes filled with guilt and an unspoken apology.
"We of the council have arrived at our final judgment," Hagen announced (a distinct bitterness flickered across Zdir's face at the lahain's use of the word "we"). "We've determined that our two prisoners, the steel creature and the psychic, were most certainly responsible for the destruction of our holy temple, the murders of eleven within it, and the abduction of an as yet unknown number of innocent children."
It was exactly as Solonn had anticipated, no surprise whatsoever. Nonetheless, the judgment stabbed right into his heart, flooding him with outrage and despair. It was done. He'd failed to save them.
"The guilty parties will remain subdued in our custody until we've decided on a more permanent punishment," Hagen went on. "The public will be informed of today's tragedy but also assured that those responsible will pose no further threat. The Security Guild will do all in their power to find and bring back the children who've been taken from us… however, we must all prepare ourselves for whatever the gods may have chosen with regards to their fate," he added in a somber tone.
"As for those of you who were caught in the center of all this wickedness… you have truly endured a uniquely tragic ordeal," the lahain said to the crowd, and he sounded earnestly sympathetic. "It may take some time for you to fully realize and accept the truth about what you experienced at the temple and the ones responsible for it. What I now ask of you all is that until that time, you tell no one of the lies the wicked ones showed you."
"You can't possibly be serious!" Solonn responded at once, his eyes blazing. "This is absolutely unbelievable… First you convict innocent people based on nothing more than convenient coincidence and your own blatant bias, and now you honestly expect these people to not only deny what they know they saw but to lie about it from here on out?"
"What we tell you is no lie, Mr. Zgil-Al," Hagen said firmly. "Your mind, as well as the minds of everyone present during the attack on the temple, has been wrapped up in the psychic's trickery and abhorrent lies, and I'll not have any of you spreading those horrid ideas among my people. Do you have any idea what such notions would do to them?" he hissed. "No Virc—or former Virc," he added with a pointed glare toward Zdir, "has taken the life of their own kind for countless generations. The people couldn't deal with such an unnatural notion!"
"Will they be able to deal with the real threat when it returns? Because it will; I guarantee it," Solonn said. "You've laid this on the wrong people, Lahain, and more innocents will suffer because of it."
"Is that a threat, Mr. Zgil-Al?" Hagen asked, his pale eyes narrowing.
"It's a warning, Lahain," Solonn said, unflinching. "And for our people's sake, you'd best heed it. Reconsider your judgment. Let the prisoners go. And do not forbid us to tell the people the truth that could save their lives!"
The lahain inhaled deeply, letting it out on something between a hiss and a growl. He then rose from his seat and descended from the raised platform, gliding determinedly forward and coming to a stop right in front of Solonn in a clear move to show that he wasn't swayed by his words or intimidated by his stature.
"You concern me, Mr. Zgil-Al," he said, with a cold, hard stare up into the eyes of the larger man. "I fear that perhaps you can't be trusted to listen to reason and maintain the peace. But I also pity you, and as such, I'm going to give you the chance to prove me wrong where that's concerned. To err on the side of caution, however, you and the rest of those from the temple will be watched for a short while by a few of Ms. Skei-Vi's people. If any of you cause any further disruption, they won't hesitate to bring you down and put you in their cells," he warned the crowd.
Hagen turned and resumed his place with the rest of the council. "Go," he said to the crowd. "Remember your duties, all of you. Don't pollute the public's thoughts with the lies that have corrupted your perception. If I come to find out you've failed in this responsibility, you will join the prisoners in their fate."
"Come on, then," Ms. Skei-Vi said, then began shepherding the witnesses toward the exit.
Solonn lingered at the scene, maintaining his burning, condemning gaze upon Hagen for as long as he could. "You're making a dire mistake, Lahain," he said reproachfully. "The real threat is still out there, and anything that happens to our people from this day forward is on your head."
With an insistent push and a softly reiterated warning, the guild leader finally managed to get Solonn out of the chamber and lead him away, leaving the council with his final, ominous words.
- o -
"We gather here, in the sight of all gods, for the honor of those who have gone to join them on this day. Eleven souls, good Virc all, have been torn from our midst before their time in a most dreadful act of violence."
The voice belonged to the leader of the Soul Guild, her words echoing throughout the surrounding space. Assembled there with her within an emormous, low-ceilinged cavern were dozens of glalie: survivors of the attack, friends and family of the victims, the other members of the Soul Guild, and several from the Security Guild.
They all formed a ring around a collection of eleven short ice spires that were arranged in a spiraling pattern in the center of the chamber. Within each of those spires, one of the people who had perished in the temple was encased.
"To those who lie before us: rest well. Though you have departed this life through fear and agony, you will now know only peace forevermore. Though you have fallen by the power of wickedness, take comfort in the knowledge that no wickedness can follow where you've gone."
With a very heavy heart, Solonn gazed upon the spires. They were a nice, lovely tribute to the fallen, but soon he couldn't bear to look at them any longer. He was overcome by thoughts of what they represented, as well as the full impact of the day's events. Eleven lives, forever lost. Two innocent souls, unjustly paying for someone else's crimes. Children, gods only knew how many, taken from their homes into unknown peril. Part of his family was now gone, while the rest of it, as well as all of Virc-Dho, now faced an uncertain future.
"We of the living world now relinquish custody of your spirits to your new keepers, but we will never let go of our memories of you. One day, we may meet again. Until then… farewell."
With that, the Soul Guild leader began singing a wordless melody. The voices of her fellow Soul Guild members rose to join her. As the Soul Guild sang, the eleven spires began to sink slowly, descending on a circular platform into a very deep hole in the floor. Their peaks disappeared into it, and ice formed to cover the grave.
Neither Solonn nor anyone else gathered within that cavern could shed a single tear. But inside, they were all crying their hearts out, their grief manifesting here and there in frail sobs.
Their sorrow was earnest, but the fact remained that most of them didn't know the truth about the tragedies they mourned. Most of them only knew what the authorities had told them, believing that the threat was out of the picture when, in reality, it wasn't.
Solonn couldn't vouch for anyone else among that crowd, but he knew one thing for certain: he couldn't stand to remain silent. In that moment, he couldn't care about the lahain's threats and warnings, couldn't care what speaking out might cost him. It was far more important that the people be armed with the truth. If they weren't, chances were that these caverns would be hearing the Soul Guild's song many times in the days to come.