Chapter Thirty-Eight: Revolution

Harry trekked through a valley on Fraizha, exhausted. The empty valleys were now filled with trees, many of them fruit trees as Harry rather liked fruit, tall grasses and climbing vines. Mountain goats perched on high ledges, birds fluttered about in the trees.

"Must… sit… down…" Harry told his grandfather, collapsing on a handy rock.

Dark Eyes paused, gazing down at him without much sympathy. Harry had soon learned that Dark Eyes believed in hard work and perfection. "You want to do a good job of it, don't you?" he asked Harry.

Harry nodded. "Of course. I'm not objecting to making plant and animal life. I'm having issues with the pace."

Dark Eyes shrugged. "Creating takes more energy than anything else you'll ever do."

"It wasn't so hard when I made the planet as when I did all these little things," Harry complained.

"You were in the Void then. The Void is the best conditions for creating, I told you that Harry. Now you have to move in closer for the details, and that takes some of your own energy."

Harry sighed and got to his feet.

"People don't understand what's involved in making a planet… it's so easy to make mistakes. You have no idea how many planets are out there floating about empty because they were made incorrectly. You have to account for everything. The food chain must be complete; you need good water sources and natural resources for your people. Fortunately I was able to help you with all of that. You also must make the planet as complete as possible now, before your people come here. Since you insist on living among them, you're going to have to hide who you are. Mortal gods aren't allowed to reveal the truth about themselves," Dark Eyes warned him. "None of your people can ever see you use power like this."

"Understood," Harry said.

Luckily they were almost done. When Fraizha was complete enough to satisfy Dark Eyes, he disappeared back to Sky's End, while Harry took the roundabout route. He entered the Void, looking back briefly. It was smaller than Earth, and evenly textured. The skies were clear, perfect for flying.

Harry ported onto the platform and walked through the front door. He stopped on the clouded window on the floor that was the Eye, and then took a couple steps back, looking down at it. Time to try again?

He kneeled and touched it, holding on to the image of his friends, trying to put emotion into it. Faint images appeared, and far off voices. Finally he got a clear picture of Enna, hair plaited up, sitting with her silly little bird. She looked a little sad, a little lost.

Just then somebody walked up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. He lost the image, and got to his feet, turning around.

It was Lush. Harry sighed, and was about to ask her what was so important that she felt the need to bother him right then, when he got a better look at her and stopped, interested. This wasn't the cool, poised Lush he knew. Her usual revealing outfits were replaced with a short simple dress, which looked like something she had slept in. Her eyes were just a little too wide, with just a touch of panic.

She just stared at him. Not piercingly, not lustfully, but urgently.

"Lush?" he asked finally.

"Harry! There's something I have to tell you!" She blurted out.

"Yes?"

She opened her mouth, then stopped and closed it. A peculiar expression crossed her face. "It's…"

"What?"

"… Nothing," she said finally. "Forget it."

She turned away quickly but Harry caught her arm, pulling her back. She looked down at his hand, then her gaze slowly traced up his arm and shoulder before returning to his face. She looked surprised that they were connected, surprised he had touched her.

"What is it?" Harry asked firmly. "Something is clearly wrong."

Lush shook her head. "You don't care anyway. You hate me."

Harry didn't say anything. What was there to say? Telling her he hated her would be cruel… but… he didn't, anymore, really. He wanted nothing to do with her, true, but he honestly wished that she could find happiness somewhere. But if he told her he didn't hate her, she might take it the wrong way and think he had feelings for her.

Lush took his silence as an affirmation and jerked out of his grip, turning away quickly. He wasn't sure but he thought there may have been small tears sparkling in her eyes.

She went into her mother's room and closed the door firmly without looking back.

Harry felt vaguely guilty, though he knew he hadn't done anything wrong. I wonder what she was going to tell me, he thought. Whatever it was, she was upset about it. Maybe I should follow her, ask again, tell her I don't hate her. It could have been something important. Harry decided against it. Lush is trouble. I should just stay clear.

Every square inch of stone wall was familiar, memorized. Every inch had been touched; every small crack, mark, texture and color was intimate to him. These small variations on the flat stone walls made constellations and pictures that had emerged over time and Aadon knew every one of them.

He sat on his bed. To anyone looking into his cell, he would have appeared brain-dead, mentally gone, intellectually extinct. In truth he was deep in meditation. It was easy. Retreated into his own mind, memories of his life could play for him like movies. He relaxed and drifted.

It was exercises like this, practice that gave him the control over himself that was absolute.

In the old days, Aadon remembered. The portal guides had much more control over themselves. They had more liberties with their lives, options. They had more respect. Things got worse, that's for sure… none of the young Silents in the Keep these days has any idea of what they're capable of. They don't know discipline, training. The Others have kept it from them, keeping them in the dark. Aadon briefly remembered the young Silent who had been in the cell next to him for a couple days. He was alert, unlike the other mental cases they put down here. He was a good kid. I could have taught him some things.

Aadon wondered where the young man was now. They tried to squash the rumors, but the guards all gossip like housewives when it's time to change shifts. I know what happens in the Keep. He escaped, a second time. That Wild One, he's a Silent from another time. He could have lived back in the day, and held his own. Aadon hoped the young man was far away, and would never come back to this godforsaken place.

It's never going to get any better, Aadon knew, realistically. The Others are overwhelmed with paranoia. We are barely even people anymore. We've slipped through the cracks. The portal guides were forgotten, left behind by the Gods and their own race.

Aadon had silently watched and listened for generations, becoming a peculiarity of the Keep. The Educated were somewhat perplexed by the length of his life. He knew the general belief was that he was so brain-dead that he didn't know to lose hope and die like the others. They discussed it in front of his cell, thinking he couldn't hear him. They said that in his state, he might live forever.

It's incomprehensible to them that I willingly stay on this world, Aadon knew. Hell, I barely even know why I'm here anymore… I'm just goddamn stubborn. If I give up and fade away like the rest of my kind The Others win. Living is the one and only way to fight back. By living, I am the last remaining piece of the old ways, the ancient times. At least part of it goes on, even if it's wasted in this cell.

When they brought food Aadon pulled the plate into his cell and ate it without tasting it. It wasn't real food. Real food had flavor, life in it. Real food was both self caught and cooked, or cooked by someone who cared, and this wasn't real food.

They collected the plates, in monotonous routine. Just like yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.

People left him alone in his cell. They were particularly afraid of him.

Aadon settled back down and wanted to go back into his meditation, but he was quickly interrupted, distracted by a strange feeling that came over him.

A slight pressure on his temples, a tingling. A faint ringing tone resounded in his ears.

Aadon sat felt still, cataloguing this but not reacting yet. He didn't know why he would get this particular feeling right now. He hadn't felt it in a very, very long time. It was the distinctive feeling of a portal opening nearby. In the Pit, and especially in the Keep, portals were unable to open. It was the will of the god Dark Eyes.

But then again, Aadon didn't put much faith in the gods. His people were a forgotten people. We are Cursed, not because of our abilities themselves, but for the power we wield. That kind of power wasn't meant for mortals.

The shadows on the far side of his cell suddenly held a crouched figure, and the sensation of the portal faded.

Aadon's calm surprise and curiosity was overpowered by a block of frustration. Locked for centuries in a box with no way out, and someone waltzes in, as if the oldest and most powerful of the portal guides was a mere beginner.

The crouched figure lifted its head, peering at the open bars at the end of the cell for the presence of any guards. Finding them alone, he stood to face Aadon.

Aadon had only caught glimpses of this particular Cursed before and very few times, but he recognized him right away: The Wild One. His hair matched his name, standing up all over the place, a compact, muscular body, dark wings, and one feature that gave him away immediately. His eyes were green. Green wasn't a color found anywhere in the Pit; everyone's eyes were shades of blue, brown, black, and gold. Green was for the outside, nature and plants, not rock and deep endless holes.

What surprised Aadon more than the color of the eyes was the control in them, the determined calm. They met eyes easily without a spark of madness.

"Is there anyone outside?" The young Silent asked in a quiet voice.

Aadon walked over to the bars and peered out. The guard at the end of the hall was seated, leaning against the wall reading something. They were supposed to patrol, but on this level no one bothered. There wasn't anything to see.

"No," Aadon said succinctly.

The Wild One paused. "You don't seem particularly surprised to see me here," he commented.

Aadon shrugged. He didn't show much emotion. "How did you manage that?" he asked. "There is an impenetrable barrier around this place. If you know where to look, you can see it from the Void." A brief memory of the fierce freedom of the Void surfaced.

The young Silent smiled slightly. "I had help," he said.

"What kind of help?"

"Well…" the young man said hesitantly. "I have an important mission to perform," he said evasively.

Help, Aadon repeated silently. Who can help him pass through a barrier created by a god but the gods? He reserved judgment, as always. Assumptions and judgments were for young fools. "What kind of mission?" he asked.

The Wild One stepped from the shadows, looking at Aadon seriously. "Mass breakout. The time for this atrocity is over. I've learned some things since I was last here. I've been in the Void. I've come to an understanding… the understanding that the 'Cursed' is the biggest misunderstanding ever made. We're not cursed; we're made exactly as we were meant to be. Because we're different, doesn't make it wrong. Power like ours is a give and take. We were given the ability, and now we have to accommodate for it. And the rest of the Silents are never going to be able to understand, so we have to take matters into our own hands."

Aadon nodded while he talked, impressed. He may be young, but he is wise beyond his years. He sees what so many are blind to. He sees beyond what he is told, he knows to look further than the first thing you're told. I may be able to take him seriously. "You're correct on most of that, but mistaken on one small, but crucial detail: We are cursed by the gods that have deserted us."

Strangely enough, the young man's response to this was to smile. "No more," he said.

"The gods never cared before," Aadon said. "Why would that change now?"

"A new god was born," The Wild One divulged. "It happens now and then. Dark Eyes has a grandson. It's become clear that he was meant to be the god of the portal guides, so they're no longer cursed."

This was the biggest news of Aadon's life. As everything else, he considered it very carefully, retreating into his thoughts. A god of our very own… a new hope. This changes everything. He glanced at The Wild One. That must have been his 'help',Aadon decided. Dark Eye's grandson let him through the barrier. I wonder why he didn't say so directly. He quickly ran through several scenarios as to why that would be the case. He understands what this means for the portal guides. I'm sure if he was able to, he would have mentioned the god's involvement. So for some reason, he's not allowed to. Interesting.

"That is the craziest idea I've ever heard," Aadon told him. "And I've lived a long time. It's a nice thought, but I have been debating over ideas for centuries, and never came across a solution. Where would we go? Remember the portal guides of my time all killed one another off."

"Leave it to our god," the young man suggested.

Aadon reflected on this. This god must be awfully young. Does he know what he's getting himself into?

"You will help me, then?" The Wild One asked.

Aadon nodded. "I've never had anything to place hope on before. It would be a shame to turn something like that down."

The young man grinned, sitting next to Aadon. "We will need to move quickly, and most importantly, none of the other Silents can get hurt. If they realize what we're up to, they will try to stop us and it is crucial that we leave smoothly and in peace. What we don't need is a war on our hands. Also important, no one can be left behind. If a single portal guide is left, they will be able to come after us. Imagine if there only had a small number of portal guides left, they would be mistreated and used. No doubt the Queen would put many guards on them, and would be harder to get to them unless we make a clean break now. You know the Keep better than anyone. What do you think?"

"I have overheard things," Aadon said. "The Queen feels threatened; the Pit is defended like never before. The mages have put up magical barriers everywhere and reinforced old spells. Every single portal guide was pulled back from missions they were on and secured in the Keep. Apparently there was a portal guide not in the Keep some time back, on the mage levels somewhere, and he was kidnapped right out of the Pit."

Aadon noticed a fleeting expression cross his friend's face, as if an old aching worry had resurfaced.

"That works in our favor, because all the portal guides are here, nearby. However, because there's such a high level of alert, all of the students at the Academy were graduated early to train together for real fighting. On the levels above the Keep, an enormous force of Silents is gathered like a bird huddled over a nest. All of them are trained in ways to stop and fight us. If they are alerted, they will storm down here and expertly take out anyone standing up to them. " Aadon sneered slightly. Bitterness, that was an emotion he was familiar with. "Of all the things they can devote their lives to they choose that."

"You learned all of this while in your cell?" The Wild One asked, surprised.

Aadon smiled. Gossip like housewives, they do.

"What about the guards?" his new friend continued.

Over the years Aadon had obtained a highly developed sense of time. He knew exactly what hour of the day it was, and he had the schedule of the Keep memorized as well as the constellations on the walls.

"In precisely two and a half hours," Aadon stated, "There is a change of guard all over the Keep. It's the beginning of the late shift. We then have six hours until the new crowd moves in."

The Wild One nodded. "We'll start with this level, and move upward. We take out the guards without hurting them, and take their keys."

"Where do we go?" Aadon asked. "Is the barrier around the Pit down? How do we keep them from killing each other when we let them out?"

The Wild One shook his head. "No the barrier is still up. I can pierce a small hole for a portal though. We don't have the time for me to make lots of them, or port everyone out of their cells. At each floor I'll open a portal in the middle of the hallway, and we will unlock the doors one by one as they disappear into it."

Aadon struggled with this for a moment. He was used to depending on no one but himself, and he couldn't analyze the plan as he usually did because the last step was taken out of his hands. He didn't know what was on the other side of the portal, or what would happen once they got there. He recalled that the Pit was on alert, that the enemy had stolen one of the portal guides.

Wouldn't it be poetic if the enemy could just port underneath the Silents and steal all the eggs right out of the nest without them knowing it? The Wild One might have been compromised by the enemy after escaping, and is leading us deeper into trouble. He decided to set his mistrust aside. It was better to go somewhere than nowhere at all. It was better to do something then sit and wait for history to pass you by. That theory doesn't explain the way he ported through the barrier. The gods don't have any reason to make our lives any worse. We're neatly packaged away as it is. I'd rather believe that we are no longer forsaken.

"Agreed," Aadon said. "We will have to move very swiftly. As soon as the guard changes we act immediately."

For the next two hours The Wild One crouched behind Aadon's bed, out of sight from the hallway, wings tucked tightly around him. It couldn't have been comfortable, but there were no complaints.

Aadon carefully tracked the minutes. Right on time, the new guard arrived, walking by and the old guard passed as he left.

You got lucky, Aadon silently told the old guard. Things are going to get rough down here. Go home, sleep, and when you awake your whole world will have changed.

Aadon waited a good three minutes, until he was sure the other guard would be long gone and out of earshot. "Now," he said.

The other portal guide unfolded himself from the dark corner, shaking his wings out and stretching. He walked to the bars and peeked through them. The guard was at the end of the hall, barely visible. A few deep growls, increasing in volume, caught the guard's attention. A loud snarl and the guard was interested enough to investigate.

The Wild One drew back, lowering his head to hide his face, becoming very still. The guard stopped in front of the cell, gazing down at the Cursed quietly crouched there, looking kind of bored. Suddenly the guard noticed something strange: Aadon was standing by the bed. There were two portal guides in the cell.

The guard looked back and forth between them. If Aadon was by the bed, then who… the guard made the mistake of stepping too close to the bars. In a lightning quick movement the Wild One thrust his arm between the bars and grabbed the front of the guard's uniform firmly. The guard yelped, trying to twist away, but the grip was unshakable.

Aadon blinked. The Wild One had ported backward a few feet, taking the guard with him into the cell. Aadon watched the guards face. His expression went from indignant to defeated within seconds. He was in a cell with not one but two Cursed that he had been taught to fear, and one of them had just done the impossible.

Gently the Wild One guided the guard to the bed, sitting him down. He removed the keys from the guard's belt and turned away. Aadon followed him to the door, which they unlocked. Stepping out of the cell they closed the door behind them. The lock clicked.

The guard stared at them, stunned. "That's it?" he said. "You're going to leave me in here and take off?"

"The new guard will come by in six hours," Aadon said. "You can yell all you like until then, but believe me, nobody can here you down here."

The guard's jaw dropped. "You talk!"

Aadon smiled smugly. He stretched a moment, letting freedom rush through his veins and the years of solitude and captivity slough off like an old skin. He quickly moved on— they had no time for that.

"I'll be back," the Wild One said, handing Aadon the key and disappearing.

The lowest level of the keep was deep enough that nobody above would hear so Aadon set about to get everyone's attention.

"Hey!" he said loudly, his voice echoing up and down the hall. "Wake up!" Louder, he yelled, "Everyone listen up!" A few faces appeared, looking out at him. He didn't wait for them all, they could hear him. "This is an escape. We're opening a portal. Follow directions, and you will be out of this hellhole. Believe me, you don't want to be left behind." He started for the first door, putting the key into the lock. "And you better move quickly," he added. "We have very little time. This means run for the portal. Sprint. Don't look at me, and don't look at anyone else."

"Hey!' The guard protested. "That's a very bad idea, you know." Aadon ignored him. The Wild One reappeared.

Visible to all except the guard, a small flicker of blue in the center of the hall marked a portal. The portal guides stared at it hungrily.

Aadon unlocked the first individual, who did as Aadon had said and ran into the portal. He moved on to the next several doors, waiting until the portal guides were through the portal before letting the next one out. Some sprinted like death was on their heels, while some looked confused and disoriented. Aadon had to pick some of them up and get them moving. They growled sometimes, but Aadon's calm presence prevented fighting.

"This is going too slow," The Wild One said worriedly.

"This floor is going to be the hardest," Aadon said. "They don't go out much. The upper levels are filled with the portal guides that actively work for the Queen, and they're usually more sane."

"You don't think anyone will want to stay and work for the Queen, do you?" The Wild One asked. "I mean, I know they must have families in the Pit."

Aadon laughed. "Freedom is precious. Anyone down here knows that all too well."

"I'm moving on to the next floor," The Wild One said, leaving.

Aadon continued working his way down the hall. He heard a noise behind him and turned. The Wild One had ported back into the cell with another guard. He smiled mischievously, took the keys and disappeared.

"What is going on?" The second guard demanded.

The first one just shook his head morosely. The new guard walked to the bars and looked out, watching their progress. "This is insane!"

Aadon didn't respond.

"You'll never pull it off."

Aadon ignored him.

The Wild One reappeared several more times in the cell over the next twenty minutes, each time with a guard in tow. Soon the cell was getting crowded and The Wild One had rings of keys on his arms like bracelets.

"I think that's all of them," the Wild One said. "Neatly out of the way, and no one hurt."

"Then you're not going to kill us?" one of them asked.

The Wild One shook his head. "Nope. In the morning someone will come down here and discover you together in the cell, safe and unharmed."

The floor was soon empty, other than one crowded cell of forlorn looking guards in neat blue uniforms. The Wild One closed the portal, disrupting it with one hand, and the two escape artists hurried on to the next floor.

The guards solemnly watched them leave.

On the next floor, the abduction of the guard hadn't gone unnoticed, and everyone was at their cell doors looking out curiously. They watched in amazement as the Wild One opened a portal, and listened attentively while Aadon quickly explained.

Aadon still tracked the minutes passing, growing increasingly concerned about the pace. The Wild One went ahead and made a portal on the next floor, explaining things himself and starting the same process.

On each floor, they became more and more quiet, sneaking along the hallways and whispering instructions. By the last floor it was a race against time, calling urgently for everyone to hurry.

One of the guards of the next shift came early, no doubt to chat with the shift before him, and walked into the hall to find most of the cell doors open. Only five or six of them were still occupied. The guard looked stunned for a moment then turned and sprinted. The Wild One moved to go after him, but Aadon grabbed his shoulder.

"No time," he said. "Help me with the rest."

Soon there was a rumbling above them, a thunder of feet, moving quickly.

Iz was the first to come running through the door, just as Aadon let the last three prisoners out simultaneously. They disappeared.

The Wild One met eyes with Iz across the hall. "Go," he whispered to Aadon, who followed the others.

The Wild One was right behind him, closing the portal just as Iz and his men sprinted towards it.

Author's Note: You reviewers are really lovely. I'm so glad I said something, because at the time of my little rant I was about to give up. I was getting really down about this story. But since then, everyone has been reviewing so wonderfully, it keeps me going. Thank you.

No one knows how long I work on these chapters. They come out quickly, but I spend hours and hours on each one. This one took all day. I don't even want to count the hours, it's kind of depressing. It's just that I have all these ideas speeding through my head and when it comes to writing I do it slowly and deliberately, figuring out exactly what needs to be said and how to say it. I want to get it right.