On his knees, Ivan heaved again at the hilt of his sword. It wouldn't budge. His fingers slipped off the slick ice that covered the sword handle, and he felt prickles of freezing pain shoot up the veins of his wrist. He looked over at Piers, who was trying the same thing.
"It's been far too long my friends," a smug voice came from in front of him. The Lemurian looked up from his sword to see Alex standing in front of him. Alex walked through the throne room, unsheathing a smooth silver blade. He stopped a few feet in front of the kneeling Piers and Ivan, and pointed the weapon at them. The door behind Ivan burst opened and eight guards filed into the long room, pointing their heavy spears at the two warriors.
"Master," a raspy voice said. "What is going on? Who are they?" Iodem walked from the table quickly to where the three adepts were, his long white hair flowing. His deep red eyes darted. This isn't the Iodem I remember.
Alex smiled widely. "Old friends of mine, your majesty," he said, still glaring down at Ivan. "This is Sir Ivan son of Hammet, and Captain Piers of Lemuria. Two of the mighty Warriors of Vale." There was no mistaking the venomous irony in his tone.
Iodem took a step forward. "Ivan?" he said. "Reveal yourselves."
Ivan looked over at Piers and then at the sword that Alex still held to their throats. He felt the presence of the heavily armoured guards breathing down their neck. Ivan shrugged and took off his heavy iron helmet and the bandana underneath. Piers did the same, revealing short hair that had been recently dyed black.
Iodem shook his head in astonishment. The man looked almost betrayed. "Ivan, what are you doing here?"
"You're surprised I'm here? You sent an army into my city? An army of monsters. And you're surprised I've come to stop you?" Ivan said, getting to his feet as he spoke. Piers stood up with his friend.
The guards flinched but held off when Alex gave them a simple hand signal.
There was a hint of uncertainty in Iodem's eyes as Ivan spoke. "My love," a proud voice said. Princess Tanela, Iodem's young fiance's silk dress dragged as she walked over. "Will we allow this rabble to go unpunished?"
She rubbed the Iodem's back gently.. "Princess… These are the Warriors of Vale. We can't…" Iodem said, his gaze darting wildly with fear. His dark red eyes began to pale, and Ivan thought he got a blue glint to them. Tanela took her hand away from his back and her face clouded over with anger.
Suddenly, Alex sheathed his sword. "Your majesty," Alex said quietly, turning to face Iodem. "Remember why we fight," he whispered to the emperor, putting a hand on his shoulder. Iodem's eyes darkened again, to such a dark red that they were almost black. For a moment he grimaced, his white teeth shimmering. But it was over as quick as it began, and the emperor's face was serious and stern once again.
"Take them to the dungeon for questioning," Iodem said suddenly, and he turned away from them. Tanela smiled and linked arms with the emperor. Iodem sat at the long table in his hall and began pouring himself and his lady cups of dark red wine. Ivan caught Alex's gaze, and the villain simply shrugged before joining the royals.
The questioning came later that day. A hooded Tolbi soldier joined Ivan and Piers in their dim dungeon cell with an array of strange devices. The young man asked them a series of queries, mostly revolving around the Tolbi rebel group known as the Rakers, and their enigmatic leader. All of which Ivan and Piers politely declined answering. Ivan wondered idly what the soldier would think if he knew Sophia was right under their noses, as a gardener employed by Iodem's royal palace. It quickly became obvious that the so-called torturer's heart wasn't in it. He rarely used the tools, and anything he did left scratches and bruises at worst. The pain was nothing that a simple psynergetic trick couldn't handle. Ivan tried his best to scream in agony.
When the torturer left, Piers and Ivan were left alone in their cells, separated by a metal cage.
"It's Alex. Of course it is," Piers murmured to Ivan. The Mercury adept sat slumped with his back to the damp stone wall.
"Sounds like he's pulling the strings too. Did you hear what Iodem called him?" Ivan said. Something somewhere was dropping, giving him an uneasy feeling.
"Master. Something tells me that Alex would have rather us not heard that little slip."
Ivan stood up to stretch his back. "I don't even think Iodem is in his right mind."
Piers stirred at that. "What do you mean?"
"Cursed," Ivan said simply. "Did you see his eyes?"
"Ya… I thought they were blue. And the last time I saw him he was balding."
"Alex has him bewitched."
"I don't know," Piers hesitated. "Would he go that far?"
"Look around you, Piers. He's clearly in charge of the monsters. Who else could pull something like that off?"
Piers sighed. He ran a hand through his short hair. "I guess you're right."
"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions," Alex's voice came from down the jail's stone corridor. Ivan rushed to the bars to peer out. Low burning torches lit up the hallway as Alex strode down it, his long purple and white cloak dragging along the wet floor. The Mercury adept stopped in between Piers and Ivan's cells. "How was your interview?"
Ivan looked over at Piers, who shook his head wordlessly.
"Not talkative today?" Alex said. "No matter." He closed his eyes and stretched out an arm towards Ivan.
"What's he doing?" Piers asked nervously.
"I don-" Ivan started. A savage shot of pain shot up his neck and into the back of his head.
Where are the Rakers? Ivan could hear Alex's voice into his mind. Unbidden, a memory came into Ivan's mind. He could see Dragonfell, the tiny mill, and Manus, the old man that had housed him. He saw Sean and Ouranos saving him from the Tolbi captors. He tried to push the memory from his mind. Another shot of pain crept up, causing him to clutch his shoulders in agony.
I've seen enough, Alex's voice sounded through his head again. He couldn't shake it away. Somewhere, distantly, he heard Piers, "Ivan, what's going on?"
Who leads the Rakers? Alex asked. This time, Ivan was prepared. He focused on the pain, and only the pain. He let that be his whole reality. Nothing could break in.
Who leads the rebels? Alex asked again, this time more angry. More pain. Ivan closed his eyes. He focused on the psynergy coursing through his body. He tried to remember the meditation techniques Hama had taught him. He felt the hot power of psynergy at his fingertips. He focused his will, and exerted it back at Alex.
Where did you learn to mind read? Ivan sent his voice into Alex's mind. The Mercury adept took a step back in shock. The pain in Ivan's head dulled.
Alex grimaced and closed his eyes. He took two steps back towards Ivan's cage.
Who leads the rebels? Alex pushed. I know you've seen her. I can feel it.
The pain started to swell again. He focused on the pain, and the psynergy. He would not let the thought of her come into his mind. With a push, Ivan focused as much of his power at Alex as he could manage. Let me see what you've seen, Alex.
Alex took a step back again, and the pain dulled again. This time, he couldn't get a handle back in the struggle though, and suddenly, Ivan could see into his mind.
The memories were fast, with almost no time for Ivan to discern them. He saw Alex traveling Weyard, learning psynergy powers from ruins and caverns that Ivan had no idea even existed. Mind read, teleportation, the power to freeze metal, and even the ability to change his appearance. He saw a young Alex sailing the sea with an unknown companion, searching for some long lost spirit. Fog Princess, Ivan heard. Then he saw Alex in Imil, meeting with Mia just after the Grave Eclipse. I had to prevent something worse, Ivan could hear the adept saying. He could feel Alex's pain. He saw Alex at Mount Roc, collecting the shard of a magma stone. Then Alex was in a snowy plane, the smell of blood and fire all around him. He was back in Tolbi, walking through a small green door at the side of the palace. Down a set of stairs, and he was in a vast catacomb beneath the city. There were Tolbi workers all around him, hacking away at hard brown vines that webbed the caves. He was searching the tunnels, again looking for a long lost spirit. Oak King, Ivan heard.
Who are they? Who are the spirits? Ivan pressed.
Alex cried out audibly, and put both hands in front of him. Another rush of pain went through Ivan's body, and abruptly, the link was broken. Like the sound of waves after your ears had been blocked, the world came back to Ivan. The annoying dripping, the cackling of the torches, and Piers standing up at the bars looking concerned.
"I'm alright Piers," Ivan said. He looked over at Alex, who was grimacing. It was hard for Ivan not to smile. He had seen so much.
"What did you see?" Alex demanded.
"Nothing much," Ivan said casually. He leaned back against the cell's wall.
"Tell me."
"Perhaps you should be careful with your new trick," Piers said, having gleaned from their tones what had happened. "Ivan's been doing this for a lot longer than you."
"What did you see?" Alex's voice was a little shaky this time.
Ivan sighed. "You know I'm not going to tell you, Alex."
"Then I should kill you," the Mercury adept said quietly. "But that's not the world I want," as he spoke his voice grew steadier. "I'd much rather you see. I'd rather you learn. Learn why it is that I do this. If you understood, then you wouldn't be fighting me. You could be my mightiest allies."
"There's nothing you could say that would justify what you've done," Ivan said firmly. "Kalay. You destroyed it. Hundreds killed." This time, it was Ivan's voice that was shaky. He thought of his wife and children, of his parents. He had no idea if they were alright.
"To prevent something worse," Alex said firmly. "I would expect you would understand something like that. You lit the beacons. Do you know how many died after that? The earthquakes alone killed more than my army ever has. Then there were the vortexes, the volcanoes, tidal waves. You were powerless to stop any of it. You couldn't even save anyone. You've let warlords like Wo and McCoy raise armies, sparring out of pure greed. You've allowed the entire beastman race to be systematically oppressed. For ten years they toiled for their overlords. What were you doing? You were supposed to be their protectors. Look around you! You've failed."
Everything Alex was saying was pain that each of the Warriors of Vale had been forced to live with for the past thirty years. Ivan had gone over it again and again in his head, it had become like an old companion. One that he hated. "We had to light the beacons. You know this," Ivan whispered.
"Of course you did," Alex spat. "But you weren't strong enough to guide Weyard through the new age."
"And you are? You started the Grave Eclipse. Your war has killed more than McCoy or Wo ever will. Weyard is far worse than it ever was because of you," Piers said venomously.
"It's darkest before the dawn, Piers. Everything I've done, I've done for the people. Weyard needs one strong arm, guiding it through the new era, not hundreds of selfish warlords. If the people resist, then so be it. They may not know peace, but their children will, and their children's children. Because they need someone who isn't afraid of doing whatever it takes. They need me."