Chapter Thirty-Eight: Fire
The priests had evacuated the temple without any protest. Having already known the fireworks and gasoline were stolen, the possibility of an explosion hadn't been farfetched to them at all. They clustered across the street from the temple with trepidation. Rowan stood with them, not knowing what to do from here. He wanted to go after Todd, but he didn't actually have any weapons. Besides, Kratos probably wanted to take care of that himself and if he burst in there he'd probably just get in the way.
As he stood on the street, he worried about the fact that Shea hadn't reappeared yet. The police station was as still as ever, with no sign that they were evacuating. What was taking so long? He also wondered what he was going to do if they turned out to be wrong. He'd feel pretty stupid herding all these priests out here for nothing.
That fear turned out to be baseless when a massive explosion rocked the street. A few of the priests fell over as the ground shook, and a burst of heat washed over Rowan's face as the shop across the street exploded. He threw his arms up to cover the flash of light, and even after the light died his ears rung from the deafening boom.
The world immediately after the explosion seemed very quiet and still. Sparks, debris, and burned cinders rained from the sky. The enter right side of the police station had been blasted open, and there was nothing left of the shop. The temple fared better, sustaining only minimal damage to its left side. What Rowan was more concerned about was the fact that none of the others had come out to the street before the blast.
Shit. Where they dead? They couldn't be dead. They'd come too far to die in an explosion like this. But he hadn't seen Pierce or Shea exit the police station, so what if they'd still been in there? In a panic, he ran forward. A priest shouted at him to wait until the fire went out, but he had to find the others. He even found himself caring about Kratos. Kratos had gone into that little shop that was the centre of the whole bang, and Rowan hadn't seen him exit. The idea that they were all dead was too terrifying to keep him standing still.
He ran into the alley, which wasn't much of an alley now that the buildings that made it an alley were in pieces. It looked almost like a bite had been taken out of the police station. "Shea?!" he shouted, coughing about from the ash and smoke in the air. "Pierce?!" He entered the station through the hole in the side. Rubble was everywhere, and bits of it were on fire. What he didn't see were bodies strewn about, and he let out a sigh of relief.
They must have taken another exit. He walked through the building, taking cautious steps in case the foundation was unstable, until he reached the back. There was another alley back here that separated the police station from the large building behind it. The large building seemed relatively unscathed by the blast save for some shattered windows. There was a door set into the stone wall, which he hurriedly went through.
The first thing he saw were books, and he wondered if this was the library Shea had kept going on about. Then he saw people in uniforms ahead of him, and his heart soared as he realized it was evacuated guards. Thank Origin they'd made it out. They stood in a large group in the library's atrium, a circular area ringed with a balcony and a dome overhead. Wide curving stairs came down from the balcony to meet the wooden floor of the atrium.
"Shea!" Rowan shouted, spotting her on the edge of the crowd.
She looked up when she saw him and her face brightened. "You're alright, then?" she asked.
"Fine," he said. "Everyone got out?"
Shea bit her lip. "They didn't get everyone out of the girls' side of the cells. I don't think that side of the building was damaged as much, though, so they're probably alright."
Rowan nodded. "It looked ok when I passed through. Pierce and Remiel?"
"Over there," Shea said, jerking her thumb to the centre of the crowd, where a handful of prisoners stood surrounded by guards. "Any sign of Kratos or Todd?"
Rowan shook his head. "As far as I know Kratos was in the shop when it exploded." He didn't let himself think that Kratos could possibly be dead. That just wasn't possible. Kratos was too strong to get taken out like this, Rowan told himself. That, and the idea that the one guy who always seemed to have all the answers could be dead was a bit terrifying. Rowan may not like the guy, but he didn't want him to be dead.
Then someone shouted, "Fire!"
Rowan looked over and saw that cinders from the explosion had blown in through the smashed windows, setting the books alight.
Shea's face gaped in horror. "No! The books!"
"Spirit and Rebecca need help first," Rowan said.
Shea blinked and regained her composure. "Right. I'll go get the keys and let them out. You meet up with Pierce and Remiel. See if you can sneak away. We'll meet up at the temple."
"How are you going to get the keys?" Rowan asked. "I can probably pick the lock."
"Key is faster and more reliable. And I'm going to steal them, of course. I'm quite good at picking pockets."
"Good luck."
She smiled. "I don't need it," she said, and then ran off.
With her gone, Rowan turned his attention to the fire. It was spreading rapidly along the book shelf. The guards were already trying to herd the prisoners out of the atrium, but cinders had entered through another window on the other side and started a fire down there as well. They were going to have to go out onto the street, but the guards didn't want to do that because controlling the prisoners out there would be impossible.
Rowan ran up to one of the guards. "We need to get out of here," he said.
"I know, kid," the guard said. "But the front door is locked right now. Give us a second to get it open."
Fire raced down the aisles toward them. Rowan spotted Shea slipping out from behind one of the guards and spotted a flash of silver in her hand. The guard didn't even notice her pass.
Shea darted out the door they'd come in through, which was going to be impassible in another minute from the fire. Then Rowan saw someone else hurrying to the door after her, and his blood boiled. Todd. No doubt he was going after the Chosens as well, and Rowan didn't for an instant think he was above killing Shea and taking the key for himself.
There wasn't time to think of a more logical plan, so Rowan sprinted down the short hall from the atrium toward him and leapt at him. Todd looked up just in time to see Rowan hurtling toward him, and the look of shock on his face was priceless.
They slammed into the ground, Rowan pinning Todd to the carpet. Todd glowered at him. "How the hell are you two still alive?"
"Just lucky I guess," Rowan said. Fire raced toward him, burning across the shelves and the carpet. He grabbed Todd by the collar and rolled out of the way, and then leapt to his feet. Fire now blocked the door, making going after Shea impossible. Fire was also coming very quickly toward the atrium, so Rowan took off running. Todd quickly followed, not keen on getting caught in the blaze. Ahead, he saw the big front doors of the library slowly creak open.
If Todd got out onto the street, he'd slip away and who knew what he'd do next. Rowan doubted he'd let their group leave without incident. So when Todd started running to the open doors across the circle of wooden floor beneath the dome, Rowan tackled him yet again. He wasn't going to let Todd get away and try to hurt the others again.
Todd shoved him off, and Rowan rolled to the side a second before a flash of silver stabbed down at him. Damn, Todd still had his knife by Rowan was weaponless. Well, he'd have to get into possession of that knife, then.
"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Todd said. Rowan jumped to his feet and looked to the door. The fire was spreading across the carpet quickly, wrapping around the wooden floor. This wouldn't last long, though. The wood was still burning, just as a slower rate. "You're going to get us trapped in here!"
"Don't call me an idiot when you're the one who started this fire in the first place." Todd slashed at him with the knife, and Rowan barely dodged to the side. He didn't like fighting without a weapon. It was less fighting and more desperately trying not to get killed.
The wooden floor was on fire now, too. He could feel the heat all around them, and smoke billowed up to the dome. They weren't going to be able to stand here for too much longer. There was still a clear path to the front door, but that would probably vanish in a minute. Todd saw this, too, and made a run for it.
Rowan raced after him. Maybe he could get there, shove Todd into the fire, and then dash out the door. Todd was only a step ahead of him, and the door was wide open. They could both easily dart out into the street, but Rowan wasn't willing to let that happen. When they were seconds from the door, Rowan reached out and grabbed the back of Todd's shirt. He shoved him to the side. As he flailed to catch his balance, Todd reached out and grabbed Rowan's arm, jerking him back with a snarl.
They both fell to the ground, mere inches from the fire. They scrambled to their feet, but the interruption has been enough. Fire had closed off the exit, and they were surrounded by a ring of flame.
"You're going to get us both killed!" Todd shouted at him while both of them edged away from the fire and into the middle of the atrium.
Rowan scanned the ring of fire, looking for any exit. The burning floor was slowly by surely edging toward them. His eyes locked on the steps leading up to the balcony. He had no idea where he'd go from there, but it was better than standing around here and waiting to burn.
Todd saw him take off and wasted no time in following. They raced up the steps, and Rowan pulled the collar of his jacket close around his face as the smoke got thicker. The library wasn't burning up here yet, but there didn't seem to be any exit, either.
"This is your fault," Todd said.
"My fault?" Rowan said. "Whose bright idea was it to blow a building up?!"
Todd didn't seem to have a good counter argument for that, so he resorted to primitive debate strategy of personal attacks. In this case, that meant charging at him with a knife.
The moment the fireworks went off, Kratos shouted, "Guardian!" The shimmering green shield burst to life around him milliseconds before the blast hit him. Fire wrapped around his shell and he blasted him off his feet. The entire trip took only a couple seconds. From his perspective, one second he was standing in the basement, the following one he was flying through the air from the force of the blast, and the next he smashed into the wall of the library. His shield had faded under the force of the blast mid-flight.
Kratos fell at least one storey to the ground, and then lay in place for a minute, catching his breath. He lay on the hard cobblestones in the narrow alley between the library and the temple. His chest ached, probably from broken ribs from smashing into the wall, and the fall had definitely not done good things to his knee. He was covered in cuts and scrapes in a variety of seriousness, likely the result of flying debris. His whole body ached when he slowly sat up, and for the first time in his life he really felt like an old man. His head hurt, and he reached a sore arm up and felt blood in his hair. That probably wasn't good. Though, considering he'd been blasted out of a basement by a massive explosion, he could be a lot worse off.
He leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. This was difficult because of his broken ribs. Well, hadn't he just been talking to Shea bout healing magic earlier today? This was as good a time as any to figure it out.
He concentrated on summoning mana. It was just like casting any other spell, just in reverse. Usually whenever he casted he focused on the power to harm others, but this needed the power to heal himself. Light danced in a circle around him, fainter than usual but it was there, at least.
"Ugh… First Aid." The light washed over him. It was a weird feeling. Usually when he used magic, he felt the mana blast away from him, but this was like an elastic band rebounding into him. Some of the cuts on his arm closed and the throbbing pain in his chest died down, but didn't completely go away.
He put his hand to the wall and forced himself to his feet. His knee was still messed up, but he thought the worst of the bleeding had stopped. Not bad for a first try. He used the wall for support and limped down the alley. Finding Shea was his first priority, because he wasn't going to be much of a help to anyone until he got a proper First Aid.
Shea sprinted up to the cell door. Spirit's heart skipped a beat when she saw her. Shea was alive? That meant Rowan might be alive too!
"Shea!" Rebecca shouted, running to the bars. "You're alright!"
"Yeah," she said, sticking the key into the lock. "Rowan's ok, too," she said, glancing to Spirit.
"What's going on?" Rebecca said. "Was there some kind of explosion?"
She nodded and swung the door open. "Todd tried to blow up the building to let you out."
"Todd?" Rebecca said.
"It's kind of a long story. The truncated version is that he's evil." She stood aside and let Rebecca and Spirit walk out. "We're going to meet up with the others in front of the temple."
Spirit followed Shea and Rebecca out of the cell and down the hall. Spirit thought over everything she knew about Todd, and it all fell into place. His eagerness to join them, Lord Yggdrasill coming to take Kratos away soon after she'd shouted for the whole group to hear that Kratos had offered to abandon the quest, him being the first one up to discover Rowan and Shea gone… Fury built within her. She hated him for deceiving them, and hated herself for falling for it.
They stopped just long enough to retrieve their weapons from the storage room, and then ran out onto the street. They were met with crowds staring at something behind her with fearful eyes, and she looked back to see the library burning. It was a stone building, so most of the fire was contained inside, but burst of flame spouted from shattered windows.
"Argh!" Shea shouted. "That stupid bastard! All the books! This was my only chance!"
"The others are at the temple, right?" Rebecca asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Shea said distractedly, her eyes still glued to the library. Reflected fire danced in her horrified eyes. She took a deep breath, and then said, "I have to find the journal. Maybe I can get to it before the fire does. You guys wait here."
She started running, but Rebecca grabbed her hand. "Are you crazy?!"
"I have to!" Shea said. "I need to know the secret to the panacea."
"You're going to get yourself killed," Rebecca said. "One book isn't worth that. You can't heal anyone if you're dead."
Shea's expression of fury crumbled into despair. "But… I've worked my whole life to find the secret. It could be in there, right now, burning to ashes."
Spirit pulled her pad of paper from her pocket and scribbled, I'll get it.
They both looked at her in surprise.
She added, Heat doesn't bother me and I can hold my breath longer. I'm stronger. I can get it. What's it called?
Shea glanced at the burning library, hesitated, and then said, "The research journal of Philippus Aureolus, specifically one about a trip to the south-east. I need to know about a species of flower he found."
Spirit nodded. She could do that. She wasn't entirely sure what this was about, but it was clearly very important to Shea, and Spirit worried that Shea would get herself hurt trying to find this herself.
"Here," Shea said, untying the sash around her waist. "Wrap it around your face to help with the smoke, and keep your head low."
Spirit nodded. It felt weird putting on a scarf to go into a very hot room, but she wouldn't notice the heat anyway. She ran down the alley through the broken buildings, and entered the library.
Fire roared right in front of her and she jumped back. She couldn't feel it, but she was sure the heat would have been incredible. She pulled out her wings, and then summoned up her mana and thought, Damage Guard. A green shield shimmered around her, and she flew into the fire. She didn't know how long she could keep this up, so she flew as quickly as she could to try and find unburned ground. It was hard to see through the fire all around, but none of the flames could break through her shield. Ahead, she saw a sign that said 'Maps and Jour-' with the other half of it burned away. As she watched, the R was also consumed by flame. She was pretty sure that was what she was looking for, so flew onward.
In the back corner of the first floor, there was a large open area with maps laid out on tables under glass. The fire hadn't fully invaded this part yet, so she let her feet touch down and her shield faded. As soon as the green disappeared, thescent of smoke overpowered her. She regretted her heightened senses, and buried her face deeper into Shea's scarf. Along the back wall, leather-bound journals lined the shelves. One of the shelves was already on fire, so she started at the other end of that one and scanned the titles.
There were journals of the fauna of some place called Gaorrachia Forest, there were hand-written notes from someone who claimed to have witness the treaty signing between the Sixth King of Balacruf and Cleo the First, and a diary that stated to recount someone's experience meeting Mithos the Hero. She coughed from the smoke, and blinked her eyes furiously. She had thought she wanted to cry in the past, but her eyes were so dry and stung from the smoke so badly that she wanted to dunk her face in water. At least she didn't have to deal with the oppressive heat that came from standing so close to the roaring fire, but the sweat trickling down her neck told her that her body recognized the heat even if she didn't.
She was about to give up when she spotted a block of about five books on the bottom shelf. The fifth one was already burning, but the name on the spine read Philippus Aureolus. Her heart leapt, and she snatched the remaining four off the shelf, praying that the fifth one wasn't the one Shea needed.
There was a window on the wall behind the bookshelf that hadn't been smashed yet. Spirit ran to it and used one of the books to smash it open, and then climbed out into the fresh air.
Rowan wiped blood off his face with his shirt sleeve. Sweat from the killer heat mingled into the cuts that Todd had managed to deliver and made them sting. There didn't seem to be any exit from the library from the second floor, and the first floor was a raging block of fire, so Todd has apparently decided that if they were going to die, he was going to take Rowan out first.
They both panted for breath. This was difficult with all the smoke in the air. A large window facing the street had shattered from the shock waves, which let in some fresh air. Even this welcome relief didn't stop Rowan's eyes from watering from the smoke. He considered trying to make it to the window and jump to the street, but enough of it was still in place that he'd have to get through shards of razor sharp glass and then survive a leap to the street below. He'd also have to survive getting there, which would be difficult with Todd trying so hard to kill him.
Aflurry of sparks flew into the air as a piece of the wooden banister around the balcony fell into the fire below. The fire was getting alarmingly close to them now. The prospect of burning to death was very real in Rowan's mind, especially if the balcony's support gave way and they crashed down into the flames. He wondered if this would be a better or worse death than dying of dehydration and exposure drifting in the ocean.
He was getting light headed. There was too much smoke in the air. His movements were slow and clumsy, but luckily Todd's were too. Todd made a stab at him and he stumbled back a few steps. He could feel the heat on the back of his neck and knew he was quite close to the edge of the balcony, where the railing had already fallen in and there was nothing to keep him from toppling into the fire if he took a wrong step.
Todd tried to stab him again, but Rowan couldn't risk stepping any further back. He caught Todd's wrist and gripped it as tight as he could, and then Todd brought his leg around and with a solid kick, swept him off his feet.
Rowan fell with a gasp, taking in a great mouthful of smoky air and then devolving into a coughing fit. Todd grinned at him manically, and reflected fire glimmered along the blade of the knife.
"You have been aggravatingly hard to kill," Todd said.
In the span of a couple seconds, Rowan tried to decide if he'd rather sit here and get stabbed to death, or fall backwards and burn to death. Then, he saw movement behind Todd, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Remiel screamed, careening toward them like a dive-bombing seagull.
Todd looked over his shoulder and dropped his knife in shock. He jumped to the side, and Remiel skimmed past him, knocking him off balance. Todd's arms pin-wheeled. Rowan leapt to his feet and shoved. For a second, their eyes locked on each other and Todd's expression was one of calm, seething fury and unadulterated hatred. Then, the gravity of the situation overcame him, and he fell with a look of terror. Rowan watched his body fall into the raging fire below, but quickly averted his eyes. Hearing his screams was more than enough.
"Are you alright?" Remiel asked. His eyes were wide and he was shaking, either with excitement or terror. "Oh, Martel, I can't believe I did that!"
"I'm fine," Rowan said. He probably wasn't, because he was bleeding all over and lightheaded from smoke inhalation, but there wasn't time for a full assessment now. "Can you get me out of here?"
Remiel nodded. "Yes, I can carry you." He wrapped his arms around Rowan's chest and took off. "It's really chaotic on the street," he explained as they flew toward the window. "It was easy to slip away from the guards. We're meeting Pierce and the others at the temple."
"And everyone's ok?"
"I don't know," Remiel said. "No one's heard from Kratos and Spiritua went into the library to look for a book for Shea."
"She what?!"
"Yes, I was distressed to hear that as well," Remiel said. They flew through the window, and Rowan took a few grateful gulps of fresh air. After the heat inside, the cool night air was practically freezing. "According to Rebecca, Shea was about to run into the library herself, but Spiritua went instead because she was stronger and better equipped to survive."
Rowan tried to quell his frustration. This was just like Spirit; running into danger to help others. It was really quite admirable how selfless she was. He just wished she would stop worrying him so much.
They flew high over the library. Below, the fire brigade had a team with buckets to try and put out the flames. On the other side of the street, they landed on the steps of Efreet's temple. The first thing Rowan saw was Spiritua, sitting on the steps next to Rebecca.
"Oh, Chosen, you're safe!" Remiel said. "Good, good, this is excellent."
Spiritua stood up and stared at Rowan, relief and joy clear across her face. Then that face buried itself on Rowan's shoulder as she hugged him.
"I'm glad you're alive, too," Rowan said. "I'm sorry I worried you."
"Anyone seen Kratos?" Rebecca asked.
"Here I am," came Kratos' voice as he emerged from the alley and slowly made his way toward them. He walked with a limp and seemed to be in a lot of pain. His white outfit was splattered with blood and his already messy hair was littered with bits of wood and dust.
"What happened to you?" Rowan asked when he eased down onto a seat on the steps.
"I took an explosion to the face," Kratos said. "Shea, if you wouldn't mind a healing spell?"
"Right," she said.
While she healed him, Pierce said, "We should make our way out of the city as quickly as possible before we get arrested again. Where's Todd?"
"Dead," Rowan said.
Pierce nodded and took the news without comment.
Rowan hesitated, but there was something else he needed to say and he couldn't put it off. "Pierce, I need to say I'm sorry. I owe you an apology for my past behaviour."
"Accepted. Now's not the time to get into it."
"Let me heal you, too, Rowan," Shea said.
He stood still and let her work her magic, sighing in relief when all his cuts and throbbing headache faded away.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Kratos said. He ran his hand through his hair to try and dislodge some splinters.
"Yes," Pierce said. "What is your plan, Kratos? Is your emergency with Cruxis taken care of?"
"Yes," Kratos said. "It's done. I will accompany you to the Tower, since I need to head back there anyway. Let's move out."
Lloyd and the others sat on the edge of a planter in the main square of the city. It had not been a productive morning. They'd gone to the police but had even worse luck getting them to release Alice than they had getting them to release Raine. The problem was that the police were now dead-certain that Alice was to blame. They didn't seem to care that Decus had been the first to draw a weapon; they just saw a half-elf at the middle of it, and assumed the worst. It was infuriating. Alice hadn't been very nice to them, but Lloyd was sure she wasn't a bad person and didn't deserve to get locked up like this.
"Here you guys are!" Decus ran up to them. "Have you had any luck in securing the release of my dear, sweet Alice?"
Lloyd looked up at him glumly, and Raine said, "No, we have not."
Decus' face fell. "But we have to save her! How can I continue our trip without her?"
"We're sorry," Lloyd said. "We're trying our best, but the police won't listen."
"Do you think Brute could help?" Genis asked.
"I doubt it," Regal said. "He didn't seem to want to get involved."
"Who's Brute?" Decus asked, looking between them in confusion.
"He's the one who organized the protest," Genis said. "He lives on Peach Pie Street."
"Don't give up hope," Colette said. "We'll free Alice, you'll see!"
Decus smiled and nodded. "Yes! We mustn't give up hope! I'll see you guys later. Good luck!" He waved and walked away.
Lloyd tried to match his enthusiasm, but found it difficult. Why couldn't the world simply stop being so damn racist? Everyone's lives would be so much easier.
The only good thing about this whole mess was that it kept Kratos on the planet a bit longer, and he had time to tell the story between all their down time and wandering around. Earlier, he had wondered what they'd do if they reached the Tower of Salvation and Kratos was only halfway through the story, but now he was pretty sure they'd finish the story before even leaving Palmacosta. It could possibly take ages to work this mess out with Alice, but the conclusion to Spiritua's story was rapidly approaching.