Chapter 12: Curses and Hypocrisy


"That tree is seriously creeping me out," Jenna said. "Get away from it, Kraden!"

"But it's such a fascinating specimen!" Kraden protested. "See how its trunk is twisted into some sort of grotesque face? And its limbs, Jenna!"

Bilibin was a rather peaceful city, ruled over by a kind lord named McCoy. His castle was at the rear of the town, shrouded by trees, with a smaller palace being built beside it. The buildings were stout and clean, with deep wells scattered about the ground. The only unpleasant spectacle was a tree near the city's front gates. The face of a screaming man was twisted into the wood, and it had two limbs that looked suspiciously like human arms.

"I wonder if perhaps this is some sort of evolution," Kraden said, plucking one of the leaves from the tree. "It's too small to be an adult specimen, but it does appear to be fully-grown."

Whispers fled from the mouths of the citizens who watched Kraden rambling and experimenting with the tree. One man, a stout fellow with tanned skin and black hair, stepped forward.

"That's a man-tree," he said.

Kraden, his eyes wide with amazement, looked up at the man. "A man-tree?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes," the man said. "See, this lumberjack from Kolima came wandering in here, sobbing that he'd been cursed by the sacred tree, and turned into this." He gestured to the tree, staying a safe distance away from it.

Saturos took an unconscious step back. "All right, so that decides it. We stay well away from any more human-shaped trees."

Kraden's lower lip trembled, as if he was a baby about to cry. "But what about my research?"

Menardi shook her head. "Kraden, we can't just . . ."

"Come, now, Master Kraden, I'm sure you'll have a chance to research these . . . specimens . . . another time." Alex pulled the scholar away from the man-tree.

"But there are so many possibilities!" Kraden whined. "The leaves, the bark, the roots, all of them could have restorative properties! The possibilities! The secrets that could be contained within the shell of that tree!"

"No," Alex said, dragging Kraden away by the wrist. Saturos, looking quite disgusted with the whole idea, also turned and walked away. Menardi, Felix, and Jenna followed.

"He hasn't changed much, has he?" Felix muttered. "Still the stubborn old scholar he always was."

"You have no idea," Jenna groaned. "It was his idea to go up to Sol Sanctum, you know."

Felix drew back, raising his eyebrows. "It was?" When Jenna nodded, he frowned. "I wonder why. What interest would an elderly scholar have in the origin of Alchemy?"

"You should have heard him! 'Alchemy is based upon the four elements of the world: fire, earth, air, and water. These elements compose everything, including us! With the elements of Alchemy aligned, Psynergy will be boundless upon the world once again!' He was awful, Felix! You couldn't understand! He never shuts up!"

"I guessed as much. He was like that before I left as well, you know."

"Felix! Jenna! Hurry up!" Saturos called to them. "We've got to visit the weapons shop and get going. Imil awaits us!"

Jenna sighed. "Coming, Saturos!" She grabbed Felix by the wrist and dragged him along behind her as she caught up with the others.

"I can walk on my own, you know, Jenna." Felix yanked his wrist out of her grasp and adjusted his glove, which she had pulled loose. "It's not like you have to watch me all the time, you know. I'm not going to disappear or anything."

Jenna glanced at him for a split second and looked away, saying nothing. Menardi looked between the two, tossed back some of her hair, and sighed.

"You two are just hopeless," she said. "Come on. I want to see if there's any good armor in the shop." She walked off, Saturos alongside her. Alex remained behind, chatting with Kraden. Felix observed the amount of talking that Kraden was doing and was rather surprised when he noticed that Alex seemed to be enjoying it.

He tapped Alex on the shoulder. "Do you need rescuing?" he asked more out of curiosity than anything else. "I know that Old Man Kraden talks an awful lot."

Alex didn't look back at Felix. "No, Felix, I'm fine. I find Master Kraden's theories most interesting. You go ahead to the shop with the others. I'll catch up later."

Felix shrugged. He really couldn't dissuade Alex if he was so bent on being bored to death by the elderly scholar. "All right, Alex, whatever you say. Don't say I didn't warn you." Alex waved one hand over his shoulder, still engrossed in whatever Kraden was lecturing on at the moment. Felix turned to Jenna. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah. If Alex gets bored he can get himself out of the situation." Jenna whirled around and pushed open the door to the weapons and armor shop. A small bell rang overhead as she stepped in. Felix followed not far behind.

Menardi was already at the counter, inspecting a leather vest and a pair of thick leather gloves. "Don't you have anything of a finer make?" she asked. "Chain mail, or steel, or anything?"

"I'm sorry, miss, that's the best I can offer," the armor dealer, a thin man with ruffled brown hair and a moustache, said. "Perhaps you'd prefer a shield to gloves?"

Menardi set the leather vest back on the counter, thoroughly disgusted. "I could buy jewelry that would protect me more than this!"

The armor dealer took the vest and gloves away, stashing them back under the counter. "Well, miss, I'm sorry that I don't have more to offer. We've been out of our finer buys for some time now, and with the road to Kolima closed off . . ." He shook his head.

Saturos put the sword he had been inspecting down and muttered a few words to the weapons dealer, who put it back in a display rack on the wall. He then glanced over at the other merchant. "The road to Kolima's closed?"

"Yes, what with the curse and all. I'm sure you saw the man-tree at the front of the city? It's said that all the people in Kolima have been transformed in the same way. So Lord McCoy had a barricade built near the river to keep people away. He doesn't want anyone else getting hurt or transformed, you see."

"Bah!" the weapons-dealer interrupted. "He's just covering his own mistakes, I think. You know it was him who started cutting down the forest, and that's why the sacred tree cursed Kolima."

Felix raised his eyebrows. "Sacred tree?"

"The god of Kolima, boy! The great sacred tree!" The weapons-dealer sighed and rubbed one hand across his counter. "Lady McCoy got in her mind that she wanted to live like a queen, and heaven knows how much the Lord loves her. He's no more than her lapdog when it comes to things like that."

"Well, it's not like the Lord told the sacred tree to curse the lumberjacks," the armor-dealer countered. "How could he have seen it coming?"

Saturos took a step back from the counter. "I think perhaps it'd be best if we headed onward to Imil now."

The shop owners quit arguing and glanced back toward Saturos. "Imil? But it's almost winter now. Imil will already be buried in snow," the armor-dealer said.

"It's not like we don't know that already." Saturos rolled his eyes. "We're going to go see the Lighthouse. You know, the tower of the Gods."

The other shopkeeper raised his eyebrows slightly. "Whatever for?"

"Consider it tourism, if you must," Saturos said. He turned to leave the store, motioning to the others. Menardi followed, grumbling something under her breath about poor service and bad goods. Jenna followed as well.

"I don't suppose you'd happen to be warriors, since you came in here," the weapons-dealer called after them.

"And if we are?" Felix glanced back at him.

"Lord McCoy's offering a good reward to whoever can rid the land of the curse. I thought such an offer might interest warriors like yourselves."

"Unfortunately, we don't have any time," Saturos said. "We have to be on our way to Imil at once. There's a very important engagement there which we have to fulfill."

The armor-dealer sighed. "I suppose if you're too busy, then . . ." His voice still had a twist of hope in it, though.

"I'm afraid that's exactly the situation," Menardi said. "Come on, let's go." She was the first out the door.

Jenna was pouting slightly as she and Felix followed. "Maybe they couldn't use any of that armor, but I sure could. There haven't been any merchants in Vale for ages, practically since the storm."

"That long ago?" Felix looked down at her.

"Yes, after that, Vale almost completely sealed itself off to visitors. The elders and monks kept saying that strangers had caused the storm before, and they didn't want it to happen again. Saturos and Menardi must have been those strangers, I suppose." Felix winced as Jenna continued speaking. "I suppose it's of no importance now," she said. "After all, we're not exactly in Vale anymore, are we? What a world! I don't understand why the elders won't ever let us travel, not even to Vault unless it's necessary . . ."

"Because the elders are foolish." Before Felix knew it, the words slipped from his lips. He winced when Jenna turned and stared at him incredulously.

"You didn't just say what I thought you did," she said. "Tell me you didn't just say what I thought I heard."

"Jenna, if you understood what I've seen, you might know why I think that way."

"Well, I haven't seen what you have, now, have I Felix? I don't understand, and I think your insulting everything I've been raised to believe is rather rude! If it's Saturos and Menardi who taught you these manners, then I'm glad that I don't like them!"

"Jenna, please . . ." While Jenna was being quite loud, as was natural for her (or so Felix supposed), Felix was keeping his voice soft. He didn't want Saturos and Menardi to get into this conversation; no matter how they wanted to help, their attempts at friendship would only make things worse.

"I don't see why I should have to keep quiet all the time! I'm the hostage in this situation, and—mmf!"

Felix had clapped a gloved hand over her mouth. "Jenna, if you don't shut up, then I will let Saturos and Menardi deal with you, and even I don't know what they might do if they're angry enough. They'd never kill you, as you're my sister, but if it was necessary for them to hurt you to calm your nerves . . ." even Felix was a bit surprised at what he found himself saying, "then I certainly wouldn't object."

Jenna stared at him, her eyes wide and shining in disbelief.

"Jenna, think about it for a minute," he whispered. "What's more important to you, being able to talk, whine, and moan the whole journey, or being able to save our parents?" He was still angry that he had to keep concealing the truth like this, but it was too soon for Jenna to understand just what was going on in reality.

She half-closed her eyes and looked down. He removed his hand from her mouth.

"Are we agreed?" he whispered. She nodded, and he let out his breath. This might not be so bad after all.

"I guess it's okay," Jenna muttered. She looked up at him and tried to smile, but something in her eyes screamed of betrayal and despair. "It'll be okay," she said. "Really, it will."

She turned away and took a few quick steps away from Felix to catch up with Saturos and Menardi.

"Jenna . . ."

She didn't respond or even glance back at him to acknowledge that he had called her. He winced.

I really messed up this time, didn't I?

They soon found Kraden and Alex, Alex leaning against the city wall and still good-naturedly listening to Kraden's lecture. Despite how tiring Felix had found the old scholar to be before the storm, Alex seemed more than intrigued with his theories.

"Are you two quite done?" Saturos asked, folding his arms.

Alex looked up at the taller man, and Kraden trailed off in midsentence. "Not quite, but we can be on our way if need be," the Mercury Adept said. "Find anything you liked?"

"In this backwater ditch? Not a chance," Menardi snorted. "Let's just go. It'll take a week or so to get to Bilibin cave, and another bit of travel to get to Imil from there. And it's not like we have any time to waste."

Alex stood up and stretched. "I must say, Master Kraden, that some of your theories on Alchemy are most interesting," he said. "You may want to chat with Saturos and Menardi a bit later. I'm confident that they would understand exactly what you're talking about."

Kraden's eyes sparkled with interest, and he turned to face Saturos and Menardi, who at the same instant had turned to face each other. Felix watched them closely, wondering if they were thinking the same thing he was at that instant.

Could Kraden possibly know about the deterioration of Weyard?

"We must compare theories later!" Kraden said. "I'm quite excited to hear your thoughts on Alchemy and the four elements."

"As are we," Saturos said after a pause. He nodded to Menardi, and Felix found himself wondering if the two had a telepathic link. The Proxian then turned to face Kraden. "Later, of course. We've no time to waste. Come now, it's time that we were going." He turned toward the gate to the town.

A soldier barricaded the way with his spear.

"I hate to be rude, but if you are warriors, I must humbly request that you go see Lord McCoy," he said.

Saturos snorted and lazily scratched his cheek. "And do you plan to force us to go?"

"We'll fight you if we must," Menardi said. "We're in a hurry, so move aside."

The spear twitched slightly, but the guard shook his head and kept it in position. "Please. All of our other warriors haven't come back from the forest. We need all the help we can get."

"What part of 'we're in a hurry' don't you understand?" Menardi demanded. She pulled her scythe off her back. "Move!"

Saturos put a hand on her shoulder. "Menardi, no."

She scowled. "But Saturos . . ."

"Menardi, we've already shed enough innocent blood on this quest. Let's not shed any more, all right?" Saturos glanced at the guard out of the corner of his eye. "Which way to the manor of your Lord?"

"It's at the back of the city," the guard said. "Tell the guards at the door that I sent you and they'll let you in. Head straight down the corridor to reach Lord McCoy's chamber."

"I'll make no promises about what we can and cannot do," Saturos said. "After all, we have little time to waste, and going to Kolima would extend our travel time quite a bit. But we will talk to your Lord and see what we can do."

The guard bowed his head. "Thank you. You've no idea what this means to us. Some of the people in this village are from Kolima, you see, and we're very concerned about our home. But with the barricade up, we can't even go see if the stories about the curse are true . . ." He sighed.

"We understand," Saturos said. "We're traveling for the sake of our own home village, so we understand quite well. We'll talk to Lord McCoy."

"Thank you," the soldier whispered.

Saturos turned around. "Well, let's go. We have little time to waste as it is, and now we have to go talk to Lord McCoy as well. Come on." He led the way to the back of the town, where McCoy's manor loomed over them. The soldiers at the door crossed their spears, denying the party entry.

"Lord McCoy will see no one," one of the guards said. "He is too concerned with the crisis in Kolima to accept visitors now."

"The guard at the gate wanted us to speak with the Lord," Menardi said. "Seemed to think we might be able to help you."

The guards exchanged glances, and one of them surveyed the group. His eyes caught Saturos's sword, Menardi's scythe, and the scabbard at Alex's side. "Very well. You look skilled enough; you may pass. As long as you don't plan on taking those children and that old fellow into Kolima with you." He gestured toward Felix, Jenna, and Kraden.

"Children?" Jenna's mouth twisted into a scowl. "I'll show you who's a child!"

"We make no guarantees about even entering Kolima," Alex told the guard. "But they are part of our traveling party, and we can't simply leave them behind."

The guard frowned, but withdrew his spear. "All right. You may pass." The other guard pulled his own spear back as well, and the party entered Lord McCoy's castle, walking through the long corridor to a large set of wooden doors.

"Who's there? Enter," a voice said from within the chamber. Saturos pushed open the door, took a few steps, and swept a bow.

"We are warriors from the northern wilds, Lord McCoy, and we were asked to come see you concerning the crisis in Kolima."

McCoy was a rather round man, with a bulbous nose and tired eyes. He sat behind a table at the back of the room, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair.

"None of my warriors have yet returned from Kolima, and they are the finest in this part of the land, let me assure you," Lord McCoy said in a thickly accented voice. "And yet you think that you might be able to rid me of the curse?"

"To tell you the truth, my lord, we didn't wish to come in here, but your soldiers were rather insistent about it," Felix said, looking up from his own bow. "You see, we're on our way to Imil, and we'd like to get there as soon as we can."

"Then you have no time to help me?" McCoy sighed. "What I wouldn't give for some warriors who could take care of the problem for me . . ."

"I'm sure you'll meet some eventually, my lord," Alex said. "We would be pleased to help under normal circumstances. However, our reasons for journeying are of the utmost importance. We are most troubled by your plight. Perhaps, if the problem is not dealt with by the time we return from Imil, we may be able to help you."

Menardi shot a look at Alex, but Lord McCoy had already gotten to his feet. "I thank you for your generous offer. Once you return from Imil, if you feel like helping me is within your means, then, by all means, return."

"Of course," Menardi said through gritted teeth. She gave Alex another glare, but the Mercury Adept merely smirked back at her. "If that is fine with you, Lord McCoy, we will take our leave." She got to her feet and promptly walked out the door. Saturos stood, nodded to Lord McCoy, and followed. The rest of the group was not far behind.

They were not far out of the gates of Bilibin before Menardi turned to Alex and glared at him.

"Who are you to make promises for our party, Alex? Who are you to tell people what we will and won't do? Last time I checked, you were not the leader of our group! Saturos and I are the only ones who can make decisions for the entire party! Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Alex said. His eyes were half-closed, as if he wasn't really listening to what she was saying. "I just think it's sad that we can take no time to help a village in need."

"Don't you say that to me!" Menardi hissed. She grabbed Alex by the collar. "You don't get it, do you? Has your time in Prox taught you nothing? If Prox is not a village in need, then I don't know what is!"

"So it's only your own village that you'll save then, is that it?" Alex's voice was eerily calm. "You're hypocrites. You are desperate to help Prox, yet when another village suffers, you turn your back? Is this what you were taught in Prox?"

Menardi's took a step back, letting go of Alex as she did. "I . . ."

"Sadly, yes," Saturos said. "That is what we were taught. Unfortunately, the elders of Vale are not the only foolish ones. But there's little we can do about it, Alex."

"That's exactly what I find sad," Alex said. "Now, let's go. We have a long way to go, and no time to waste." The last four words of his sentence were far more bitter than they had been when Menardi had said them in Bilibin.

For a small moment, Felix wondered why Jenna hadn't spoken to him for a while, and then pondered why Alex was acting so oddly.

Alex walked away, his shoulders square and stiff, and the rest of the group followed.