Tale One - The Breach
CHAPTER 06
William Howden wasn't a very friendly, or overly trusty person. He also proved to be infuriatingly stubborn. The moment he was informed that he was required to open the door to his apartment to two complete strangers, who were hesitant to disclose the matter they wanted to discuss beforehand, he showed enough resistance to put any senile old man that cannot be reasoned with to shame. He spared only the words "get out of here" for them, before taking to ignoring them completely, leaving their pleas for a conversation to fall on deaf ears for quite a while. "I know you saw the dragons!" April shouted when her patience was worn too thin, having been standing at the door and pleading half an hour at least, "I know you saw them, back when everything was still normal! I know they seemed too real to be a hologram, or a hallucination! I know you are freaked out not knowing what to think! And I! Want! To! Talk! About! That!" She punctuated each word with a bang on the door with her fist. She even resorted to promising she'd tell them what she'd known about the Dragons. She was about to tell Adrian they would need to break in, even though she knew the man was not a mere civilian and she had no idea how she would accomplish such a feat. But, to her relief, it proved unnecessary. They heard quick steps inside and the door was open, the familiar face of Mr. Howden - albeit more grim and ungroomed than on the picture in his files - scowled at them. He was holding a blaster gun. April slowly raised her hands, hoping Adrian, standing behind her therefore currently out of her sight, had enough sense to mimic her.
"I won't have any tricks here." Howden warned them darkly, "I'll shoot the second you try anything suspicious."
"Agreed." She answered simply, feeling even as she spoke that she should have felt a bit more scared when being held on a gun point. It seemed to be becoming one of those things she would have preferred not to get accustomed to.
She and Adrian were then graciously invited into the living room. Both the apartment and the tenant were a mess. Howden had dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. His hair was disheveled and while the clothes he wore were not exactly rags, his shirt was crumpled all over - a tribute to the tragic absence of ironing opportunities. His table held every evidence that the man had tried to drown himself in alcohol.
"I… wanted to know if you had seen them fall." April answered hesitantly, eyeing an armchair standing nearby, wondering if she was welcome to take a seat.
"You said you knew I had." Their host pointed out.
"As in, if you'd seen them fall to the ground? Land or crash?" She amended hopefully.
Howden collapsed in an armchair on the opposite side of the bottle ridden table, gesturing her to the one standing near her and she gratefully took it.
"Look," April said irritably after a moment of strained silence, her voice almost threatening to rise to an inappropriate level, which wouldn't encourage the man to speak any more than calm persuasion would. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm, reminding herself that she would be reacting the same way had she been in his shoes. "I know what you saw was crazy." She hoped she was right. "I know you think if you tell anyone, people will think you're insane. But I'm the same, and so is he." She jerked herself slightly, to indicate Adrian, who had remained at the edge of the room, standing like a guard. "I've encountered things for the past week that nobody would believe I wasn't on Raptures or schizophrenic or something like that."
"And how do you know you're not?" William asked sarcastically. He leaned forward and grabbed a bottle with his left, seemingly at random. After realizing it was empty, he clumsily returned it to its place and grabbed another, identical to the first, but clearly heavier. "You could be batshit crazy for all we know." He mocked.
"Thanks." April growled. "What I'm trying to say is that there is very little you could say that could surprise us."
"Fine." He cut her off, pouring to himself only, "Let's get this over with." He leaned back into his seat and sipped from the glass, putting visible effort in concentrating. "I was standing at my post outside, it was evening, and I heard a strange noise from above. Sounded like sizzling of electric circuits, mixed with laser blasts and thunder. When I looked up, I couldn't see anything at first and then it got louder and suddenly I saw this… this mass, this whirling mass of… I didn't know what." He took another sip. "I couldn't see well at first but as they got lower and lower I saw them, all scaly, with claws, fangs and what looked like lightning blasts in every direction.
At first I thought it was a hologram but then I felt terrible vibration, as if the whole city was trembling, and the wind, and their roars got so loud… I had to tune down my suit's sound input to its lowest before I got deaf. They came straight down right above me. I was preparing to run. Everyone else did." He sipped again, this time longer, with his eyes shut.
"They changed directions, thank God," he went on, "Just rushed past me down to the ground, one of their tails hit a bridge and broke off a side, so there's your proof that there's no way it could be a hologram. I thought some fantasy fan commissioned huge Animatronics and the performance went wrong. Scared the hell out of me. But then the events of the following days…"
"Hold on," April stopped him nervously, "what happened to those two dragons after they fell? Did you see it?"
"Lady," he raised the glass, as if toasting, "I'm not allowed to leave my spot under any circumstances."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "But you still did, didn't you?"
The man simply pursed his lips and said nothing. He gulped down the pale liquid from the glass he had been clutching and ignored her question, suddenly remembering basic courtesies.
"Are you sure you and your friend over there don't want a drink? This is a rare one I've got here." He said instead, lifting the bottle for their inspection, before filling his glass with amber colored wine once more.
"No, thank you." April answered politely, eyeing the bottle. "Tvishi", the legend proudly displayed in loopy writing and below it was intricate swirly font in a language she didn't know. Probably some exotic brand. Some other time she could've been tempted to take a sip - white wine was that rare kind of alcohol she had a taste for and this one boasted a lovely, artful design at that. But after everything she had to go through to find this man, drinking was all the way at the bottom of her list of priorities. In any case, offering a glass of expensive wine had been a positive change from his initial welcome, which was a death threat for her and Adrian.
"Tell me what happened afterwards." She almost pleaded.
Howden took his sweet time answering. He peered into his glass, as if trying to pull the memory out of it.
"There wasn't much to be seen. You've looked down below the bridges, haven't you? You've seen all the smog and fog. The ground is practically invisible from up there. But I could hear the rumble all the way up there, and horrible shrieks and roars. I could feel the earth shake. Everything was vibrating. One man said the things seemed real. You know… when it was all over. Everyone laughed, all those clueless, pompous idiots who were there. They applauded even! After they got over the fear, of course. They thought it was a nice show. They were praising the 'mind-blowing animatronics', some were even stupid enough to suggest it was all holograms and special effects. But I know they only pretended. They tried to convince themselves they didn't buy it. Kinda like myself, honestly." he added thoughtfully. "You sure you don't want a drink? Really?.." He gestured to the bottle tentatively.
"We're sure." April waved him off impatiently, "How did it end?"
"What do you mean?"
"The fight! When the fight was over… Did you see either one of them flying away, or heard flapping of wings, maybe?" She offered.
"No," Howden shook his head, taking a hearty swing. "I don't think anyone did fly anywhere from there."
"As in?"
"Just that. There was this final… I don't know what to call it. A blast? Explosion? I don't know, it was very loud and the bridge shook so much. That's when it ended."
"And that was it? Are you sure?", she implored, "No signs of life? Nothing at all?"
"I only heard a faint echo of one of their voices. Pitiful sounds, like a dying animal makes. Then nothing."
April swallowed hard. She couldn't remember when she'd gotten her hopes up, but somewhere along the way she must have had. She'd thought she'd already gotten accustomed to the thought of Cortez' demise, but the information still came as a blow. And I went through all that trouble for this, how bloody typical. She thought to herself bitterly. Howden cleared his throat, "So," he began, "you promised you would tell me about these creatures." And so she had - a decision she was regretting now. The trade didn't seem fair at all. "What were those things and why are you asking me about it?"
"There's not much to tell." She drew out.
"Don't give me that shit!" He snapped and grabbed the bottle again, emptying its contents in his glass. April briefly wondered how many of those the man had had before their arrival. "We made a deal and you'd better honor it." He waved his gun threateningly.
"The only thing I can tell you is that they're real." She started. Even though she and Adrian had spent time ruminating on the possible answers to this very question, the moment she opened her mouth, she lost all confidence that what they'd chosen was the right answer.
"What do you mean 'they're real'?"
April bit her lip, searching for the right words, "As in… they're not holograms or hallucinations. They are real… um… creatures."
"What creatures exactly?" He cocked his head, bobbing a little bit, the blaster in his hand almost hung limply from his fingers. She wasn't sure whether this was good or not, it was still somewhat aimed in her general direction.
"Nobody knows what they actually are, or where they came from." She offered. When she thought about it, her words were truthful to the letter. Knowledge of the Draic Kin was ridiculously scarce, she could recite a textbook about them and the information would be little. "Some people think they're dragons, like the ones in fairy tales, but that's far from the truth." She remembered aloud, summoning the memory of Marcurian Enclave and the old pages she'd collected the information from. "Some say they came from outer space, but I'm not sure I believe that either. I only know that they are extraordinary creatures. That pretty much sums it up."
Howden stared at her for a while, weighing the non-existent information she'd just shared.
"And where do you know this stuff from?"
"I've read it." April answered, again, very truthfully. "In a book written by people who pretended they knew something."
"What book was it? Where do I find it?"
She hesitated again. She was uncomfortably aware that every single word could become the cause of this man's involvement in the matters of The Balance and the two worlds. Her own reservations aside, the Sentinels of Stark wouldn't thank her for blabbering, of that much she was certain. Not only was the man a complete outsider, untested in his interest or loyalty, but he was an Upper Level citizen, employed in the very headquarters of The Vanguard's core elite. No, it's too dangerous. He'll have to deal with disappointment. "I'm sorry," she answered firmly, "I can't tell you that."
He put his glass down slowly, "Why the hell not?"
"First of all, I'm not sure I even remember the name of the book. And you can't find it anywhere in this world at this point anyway." She could've laughed at the wording she'd used, if not for the MTI security guard peering at her face and hanging on her every word. It was amazing how many lies could be told without saying a single untrue word. I wonder, how many such lies I've been told lately? She thought of a sudden.
"Why is it such a secret?" The man insisted, trying to sound casual, but something about his broken voice set April a little on edge. "And don't tell me it's some 'hiding the true history' conspiracy crap."
"It's…" she was caught. She couldn't honestly decry the notion, because, truth be told, it was pretty much that. Lie, you idiot, just lie! A voice in her head urged. You know how to! "Definitely not that." She said with as much conviction as she could summon. "But someone doesn't want their existence to be known, for some reason." Okay, the last bit was technically true as well.
There was an unpleasant smile on his face she didn't like. "You're not really giving me anything useful here, missy." He growled.
April sighed, "Trust me, nobody wishes more than me to know more about them, but I don't." This is a hundred percent true. "I only know that they are very important… animals." And this bit isn't. She was certain, the Draic Kin didn't qualify as animals, or anything else known to humanity.
"Hmph." The pause was awkward. Howden still stared at her inquisitively, and in his eyes she saw mistrust. Have I let anything slip? She wondered, Why is he looking at me like that?
"Well… If there's nothing else you can tell me, we'll be going." She rose from her seat slowly.
"Well..." mimicked her, "If there's nothing but lies you can tell me, you'd better not move from where you are." He finally set the glass down and tightened the grip on the blaster he'd been holding so negligently throughout the entire conversation, facing her with derision written plain on his face. This time she felt the hairs on her neck rise.
"Lies?" She prompted, resuming her seat slowly. She could almost feel - or perhaps it was her imagination - Adrian stiffening at his "post". April hoped against hope he wouldn't try anything that might set off their host's hostility.
"I may not know anything about those things…" Howden growled, "But I know one thing. Most animals don't talk. Except for maybe some parrots, but they didn't look like bloody parrots to me."
"Talk?" She repeated blankly.
"Talk." He nodded.
It took a few moments for her to recollect herself from this revelation. "What did they say!?"
"Why should I tell you?" He sneered at her.
"Please, it's very important! I have to know!"
"I need to know too!" His voice rose and he waved a blaster at her, although, not quite threatening to shoot her. "We had a deal! Now tell me what those things are, if you want to hear a single word from me."
"It's top secret information." She pleaded. She figured, since she had been caught in a lie it was better not to try it again, but that didn't mean she could afford telling him the truth. "I'm afraid I can't tell you anything else."
"Then I can't tell you anything else either."
"Please…"
but he cut her off, with a stern tone suggesting that he could no longer be persuaded. "Save it, missy. I won't give you something for nothing. Either you tell me what you know, or you're leaving empty handed, if at all."
What do I do? She thought desperately. I can't tell him everything, but I can't let this go either.
"Can we have a minute?" She looked at Adrian who had been standing silent the whole time, clearly frustrated that he couldn't understand what they were saying, yet smart enough to understand things weren't going very well for them.
The guard narrowed his bloodshot eyes at her, "So you can invent lies together?"
"I can't decide this on my own!" She snapped, finally losing her composure. "I need to inform him what I'm doing and why. May I?"
The man smirked in derision for perhaps half a minute, making her feel increasingly uncomfortable, until finally obliging. "Please do, I'll get more wine."
As Howden stood up to fetch more alcohol from the kitchen, April shuffled off to Adrian at the edge of the guestroom.
"I don't know what to do…" She complained as quietly as possible in Na'ven, as if afraid she'd be understood by the stubborn guard. As quick as she could, she relayed to him everything the man had told her.
"We can't tell him anything," Adrian declared at once, "that's out of the question."
"Yeah, but we can't leave without knowing what he heard either." She urged. "He heard them talk! Who knows what they might have said?"
"Can't you invent something to persuade him?" Adrian pleaded, "Something believable?"
April shook her head before he had even finished the sentence. "He already caught me lying, he won't easily buy any lies I provide him. And he has a gun, so I don't want to risk it."
"He won't easily buy the truth either." The Guardian said stubbornly and April had no choice but to agree. There was something in it.
"Truth is stranger than fiction." She remembered aloud - a quote she'd heard somewhere she'd long forgotten. And maybe more useless sometimes.
"Exactly! And this will be very necessary fiction." He lowered his voice, glancing over her shoulder at Howden, who had returned with new supplies and was filling his glass yet again.
He'll be drunk out of his mind by the time we leave, April thought bemused, as she watched the man slowly drain his glass. On second thought, him being drunk could be our advantage.
"Alright." She decided aloud, gears in her head grinding. "I think I know what to tell him." She returned to the room, with Adrian in tow, but didn't resume her seat. Instead she stood a couple feet away, straightened her back and faced him with her chin proudly lifted. I can do this, she told herself, how many lies have I told my dad to get out of some stupid trouble with him.
"I'll tell you the truth." She announced, one hand on her hip, her face implacable and voice as calm and convincing as she had ever made it. "But I can't tell you everything. And when you hear what I have to say, you'll understand why."
He was still looking at her with mild suspicion. "Okay, you tell me your tale and I'll decide if you're telling the truth."
"And if I do, you'll tell me what you heard?"
He paused, narrowing his eyes at them both, "Deal."
She nodded. "You were right. I lied before. The truth is, I know those things are actually artificially made, for a purpose."
He furrowed his brows. "Made? As in what? Are you saying they're actually animatronics? Cause I'm not buying that."
April shook her head slowly, looking him straight in the eye, "I didn't say that. To be honest, I don't know how they're made, that's beyond my competence. Their owners have all the finance, influence and technology on the planet available to them. They do some crazy genetic engineering from what I've seen."
Howden kept his stubbornly suspicious face, but she could see his curiosity piqued, he wanted to hear more. I should have lied from the start, she told herself with regret.
"And they... made real life, talking dragons?"
"I know it's hard to swallow, and I lied about this as well." She smiled a faux apologetic smile. "I said it wasn't a conspiracy, but in truth that's exactly what it is."
The guard crossed his arms, blaster and all. "Really," he drawled with his brows raised, "a conspiracy?"
She nodded, still not breaking eye contact. "Look, I know how it sounds, but don't you think that If I wanted to lie I'd come up with something more believable?" God, I hope he doesn't realize that's exactly what I'm doing.
"What kind of a conspiracy?" He inquired reluctantly.
"A religious one." She said, oh so innocently. "Although, I guess it could be counted as political? Struggle for power usually is."
"I don't understand…"
She cut him off impatiently, "A powerful cult wants to perform 'miracles' to show off their might and I guess they decide this is the best way to go about it. To breed the 'supernatural'."
"But how…"
"These dragons. Weren't you terrified when you saw them?"
"I… was, but…"
"Think how majestic and intimidating these guys can appear! Wouldn't you be more prone to bowing down to your leaders if they had these kinds of creatures under their control?"
"I suppose it's possible, but…"
"So would others." She said urgently, "Thousands, millions of others!"
"And who's behind it? Who made them, or bred them or whatever it was they did?"
He finally sounded genuinely interested. Now came the best part. April felt she had never told a more delicious lie in her life. "The Church of Voltec, of course!" She confided in the most conspiratory tone, as if afraid someone would hear her. "Who else has the capital, or even ambition to do such things?"
Howden was visibly mulling over this new piece, his brows were knit together, eyes narrowed and staring at nothing, mouth a thin line and he was clutching the blaster so tight, as if to crush it in his grip. I wonder if he's a part of the church, she suddenly wondered. The idea had never occurred to her before, but seeing how disturbed he seemed... More importantly though, it was starting to make sense to him. She was relieved to see "understanding" dawning on his face.
"The Church of Voltec…" he started thoughtfully.
"Are huge, they have power and influence. And they want more and more. Those things… it's all their technology. And they're probably not going to stop there." She declared with confidence.
"So what I saw was what, a show?" He refocused his eyes on her. "What was it supposed to accomplish exactly? Demonstrate power?"
"Who knows?" She did her best mystified impression. "They should have a goal in mind. That's why I need you to tell me what you heard them say." she added hopefully.
Howden leaned over and grabbed his wine glass once more, sipping slower than ever, to win some time, perhaps. Come on, April urged mentally, aren't you drunk enough to spill your guts already?
"I don't know what they said." He said at long last.
"Excuse me?!" Did he play me?
"After that explosive sound there was this voice, I barely heard it, but I'm sure it was coming from down there. It was like rumbling. I don't know what language it was, I'm not sure I heard the words right or that I remember them right."
"Well, what do you remember?" She was running out of patience. It's a good thing I didn't tell him anything. It sounds like I would be getting nothing in return.
"It sounded something like 'bai' or 'mai', and 'guh' 'meer' or was it… 'gah meer'? I couldn't be sure. And then, I think it was another one who said it, 'maad choo shil' and then the first…"
April just sat and watched him struggling to remember and repeat indecipherable syllables faithfully, all her hopes of learning something important faded away. This told her nothing. If there was a chance that anyone in any of the worlds might know the language of the Kin, like Sentinels, it was slim to the point of despair. The thought of the Sentinels soured her even more. She was not looking forward to meeting Vestrum Euan again, given the scarcity of information she was returning with. Missing anything she could've learned about the Vanguard was bad enough. This was salt in the wound. She rubbed the palm of her injured hand. Pain was still sharp. At least Adrian was with me the whole time, she thought, mind almost numb, he can vouch for me in case the man thinks I didn't try hard enough, which he probably will.
"After that, like I said, pitiful shrieks, moans and then nothing at all." Howden finished telling his story, "Dead quiet."
April looked over at Adrian, standing dutifully a couple of feet away. It was time to leave, she knew. But she couldn't help her mind hovering over possible questions, thinking if it was possible to pry some more information out of him, something that would shed a different light on things, a more hopeful light. Yet nothing came to mind.
It was William, who broke the silence. "Does this tell you anything?"
"No." She admitted. "I'm lost." In more ways than you can imagine. "Well, thanks for your time." She got up, defeated. "Mind if you keep quiet about this little chat? If anyone asks, you've never met us."
"Obviously…" The man said, eyeing her and Adrian with interest. "Who are you anyway?" He asked abruptly. "You look too young to be a detective or…"
"I'm older than I look." She cut him off sharply. "Don't trust appearances. Would you mind?" And she gestures to the door, shut automatically after their entering.
Howden fidgeted in place, pursing his lips and by the looks of it, trying to decide whether to let them go or not. "Are you working for some secret organization?" He didn't give her time to answer, "You must be," he contemplated aloud. "since you're running around meddling in conspiracies. Who are you working for?"
Some other time April might have simply refused to answer the question. This time, she had only inhaled as the right tactics for this conversation occurred to her, "Why? Would you like to join us?" She said in a way that made it impossible to figure out whether she was being serious or not. "Do you want to fight against the Voltec?"
Howden actually blanched at her words. He might really be a member of that church! Well, let's hope I've ruined his faith. April thought, almost amused. "N-no." the man said, "No, I really don't."
"Good for you." She rewarded him with a sweet smile, "if I'd been you, I would've stayed as far away from this sort of crap, as I could. Unfortunately, I'm myself, so things have gone differently for me."
She waited from him to make up his mind, stalk to the door and open it for them.
"Where to now?" Adrian asked carefully, falling in line by her side, as she stalked grim faced to their previously spied hiding place among marble statues where they could Shift safely, leaving William Howden's abode behind and sharing the meager information she'd acquired.
"Back to the beach." April answered, summoning a Shift quite unceremoniously, "We've done everything we could here, and I need to visit someone."
…
Hours later, with the Sun already beyond the horizon, aching, cold, tired and sleepy, April and Adrian stood in the dark, on the porch of the Sentinels' secret headquarters. "Are you two alright?" Raul's worried voice came from behind Vestrum Euan, who had opened the door for them. As the priest came closer and saw the two, he gasped. "What happened!?"
"There were complications." April said, uncomfortably aware of what a mess she presented of herself. "We're fine, father, don't worry."
"Are you sure you haven't been followed?" the Vestrum insisted.
What a warm welcome. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, at least "Through Shifts?" she asked casually instead.
"Yes, through Shifts." He narrowed his eyes.
"Can they?" April shrugged.
"Is this a joke?" Euan scoffed. "Wasn't it you who claimed that they've been breeding some creatures with Shifting ability?"
"Are we going to talk about this with the door still open so the neighbors can hear? Or maybe we should come in first?" She said irritably. He moved aside with a stern face and without a word, as much as he could in that narrow space, to let her and Adrian edge their way inside.
Five unfamiliar faces met her when she stepped inside the living room, gathered around the table. Three men and two women she had never seen before. One was a portly middle aged man with a head almost completely bald, filling more than his fair share of the divan. A skinny old woman, pale and frail looking, except for her eyes, she had huge dark eyes that made April feel they could look into her mind. Another woman, with bronze skin and green almond shaped eyes stood, leaning on the side of the divan, with her arms crossed. She feigned disinterest, a faux careless expression set on her face. Nevertheless she was looking April up and down just like her fellow Minstrums. A truly imposing sight was a man in his forties, as she judged his possible age. He was large, larger by far than any other attendants, thickly built and broad shouldered, with an angular face. He wasn't wearing a uniform of any sort, but there was something in the way he held himself that made her think he must be a military. And right next to him, dwarfed by the Goliath seated by his side, was a slim, scrawny looking youth with a bent back. He peered at her with the a measure of attempt at polite carefulness. These are all kinds of people, from all walks of life. She thought. Unlike in Arcadia, here the Sentinels couldn't choose their dedication to the Balance as their primary source of livelihood. Each of these people led a double life, had a day job and turned into a Sentinel on special occasions only. It made such a contrast with the Sentinels in Marcuria, with their beautiful temple erected in the middle of the city, their enclave a small semi-island in its right, their ancient scrolls, and classic fantasy vibe. Her memory of them made it hard to associate the people in front of them with the same Order.
"You're both injured." Raul's voice followed her in. "Do you need a doctor?"
"We got all the medical help we needed in Arcadia." April waved her bandaged hand. "Is everyone assembled?" she asked, "Are you having a meeting right now?"
"We were", Raul nodded. "We've assumed that everyone who could arrive, already has. A few people are still missing, but we can't reach them now. We were… We've been discussing everything you've told us."
"Great," April said, not failing to note a small hesitation when the man revealed the subject of their discussion. She glanced at the faces around, trying to appear indifferent to mistrust written all over them. She found a chair set at the end of the table, which looked larger than before. Apparently, it had been unfolded and extended to host the crowd that didn't fit in the room comfortably. Raul, hurriedly gestured from one to another, introducing them in turn.
"This is Minstrum Janice," he said about the green eyed woman standing at the divan, "Minstrum Colton," pointing out the portly fellow, "Istrum Miranda" was the old woman to April's surprise, but she supposed the Sentinels had no reason to have age restrictions for newcomers, "Minstrum Gilen" turned out to be the man she'd thought as a military type, and the scrawny youth whose features she was mentally placing between South European and Far Eastern, was yet another Istrum, Istrum Alon. He was the only one who nodded as a form of greeting and even tried a small, polite smile.
"I'm pleased to meet you all." April wanted to tell them. Not too long ago the statement would've been a genuine one. But Adrian, who had remained behind and had been exchanging a few private words with the Vestrum, had their attention first. The moment he entered, they were on their feet and April had to move sideways somewhat, so as to avoid being awkwardly stranded between them. The Sentinels were looking at Euan expectantly, no doubt already informed of his identity.
"Yes." Euan nodded to them, "This is the Twelfth Guardian of the Balance, relieved from his duty, at long last."
April realized, he was speaking Na'ven. It sounded so strange to her comprehension of the language. His pronunciations seemed all over the place, intonations even weirder. When she spoke it herself, or heard Arcadians (or even Adrian, who had most probably learned it the same magically assisted way that she had), she had to concentrate on that unnamed magical element in her head to even register the foreignness of the words. When Euan spoke it, it was clear as day that this was not her native tongue, even if she understood every single word. And then the Sentinels were all lining up, taking turns expressing their admiration and their gratitude towards Adrian in like manner. Istrums' Na'ven was evidently much clumsier than that of others, words awkwardly pieced together to form comprehensible, technically not incorrect, yet terribly unnatural sounding sentences. Adrian was all smiles and politeness as he shook hands with them. Oh, he must be so pleased with himself. Her new friend wasn't unfond of respect and recognition, as she had noticed already.
When they finally finished greetings and introductions, Euan ordered them to take seats around the table again, seating himself at the head of it.
"Mind telling us of your latest adventure?" He turned to her and glancing at Adrian too.
On Alais, in the presence of The Teller, Adrian had been a lot bolder with his speech, being more on par with the Alatien woman where understanding Stark's modern technology was concerned. Here was a different matter, yet he still supplied a great deal of input of his own, as far as their collective knowledge of Na'ven would allow - leaving some of it for April to translate, for which April could only be grateful. She didn't fail to notice how much more trust was in the eyes of their audience, whenever they turned to him. Once again, she was reassured that taking him along on this trip was, after all, a good idea, despite her previous misgivings and guilt. Together, they recounted the events of the day, largely glossing over the details of their respective trips to Arcadia, choosing to focus on getting in the MTI building, what they found there, how and why they escaped, and, lastly, the lamentingly small information they'd pried out of William Howden.
Their story was followed by a thoughtful silence from each of the people present. They exchanged looks among one another, but nobody seemed very eager to speak first.
"It seems that they are likely gone," Euan muttered. English this time, to Adrian's dismay.
"It does." April agreed stiffly.
"That is to say," his voice grew louder, "we're not sure, since you've brought no definitive proof."
She stared blankly at him, "I brought what I could," she stated, "isn't testimony from an eyewitness good enough?"
Euan had the nerve to roll his eyes, "They may have died or they may have not," he crossed his arms, "that man didn't see them, he just told you what he thought happened."
April felt too exhausted to become properly irritated. She rubbed her temples, where a dull throb was starting, "What else do you want me to do? Go and search for their bodies down there?" She imagined doing just that at the ground foundation of the upper level, past through a small army of guards and massive walls, and who knows what other protective measures.
"That would've been a very logical thing to do."
He's just mocking me! "No, it wouldn't be. Their bodies would disappear."
"You don't know that."
"Have you forgotten? The White..."
"Disappeared, if we were to believe you." But we don't. was the part he left unspoken, April knew. "She was reborn. But we don't know if the same happens to all of them. The White being the only female of the four, is already unique. The manner of her passing and rebirth might be unique to her."
April was loath to even admit to herself that he had a point. "I suppose that's possible, but… How are we going to find out for sure?"
He raised his brows, "I thought you'd set out this morning to do just that."
"Yes, and we did all we could." she tried to keep her annoyance out of her voice, "If you hope you can achieve better results, by all means, go and do your own investigation."
He let it slide.
"Ms. Ryan," the man presented to her as Minstrum Gilen took up the other side of the conversation, "you do realize, how many caveats there are in this story of yours, don't you?"
April blinked, "Caveats?.." She echoed, voice hollow.
"Yes, caveats." He repeated more forcefully. "First you go there all alone, on your own insistence as we were told."
"I wasn't alone…" She objected, but he didn't let her finish.
"The Guardian came after you against your will, we're aware of it. Then, according to your story, you got separated from him a few times, each time of your own volition."
"What are you getting at?"
"And you've returned here, with 'information' that doesn't actually add anything to what you'd brought before."
"How doesn't it add anything?" April exploded all of a sudden, no longer able to contain her frustration. The Minstrum, by contrast, appeared quite unperturbed.
"Does it? You told us that you had seen them fall, that they went missing afterwards and there are things pointing to their death, though not with a hundred percent certainty. Now you've come back and told us that this guard told you he had seen them fall, that they weren't seen after the fall, and things he heard point to their death, but we don't know for sure. Tell me what's changed here."
"What's changed is that there's another person's account with more details. No, I didn't find them or… their bodies and I have no definitive proof of their death, but we are one step closer to the answer and this was only one day, tomorrow…"
The Vestrum's voice suddenly cut through the stuffy air, louder and more commanding, than she'd heard at any point it before. "Tomorrow you won't go anywhere near the place!"
"Excuse me?" Does he think he can forbid me to go anywhere?
"This was more than enough risk to take. We won't have you running about that place, when you can be snatched by the Vanguard's agent any time and put through an interrogation, or tracked back to us."
"What, you suggest we should give up?"
"We are certainly not giving up. What I suggest is that you can't be trusted with something so important. I think everyone here agrees with me on this."
April looked around at them all, startled. Her gaze lingered on Raul, not daring to believe that even he shared their views. He knows I'm capable. He couldn't be on their side. She told herself. Sure enough, the man shifted in his seat and cleared his throat quietly. "Not all of us, Vestrum." He said. "I've made my opinion very clear and I will repeat…"
"And I've made our opinions about the company you keep equally clear, father, so spare me!" Euan snapped, taking everyone by surprise, not least of all April herself, who had only seen him as a stone face that bundled up all his true emotions inside, but she decided, that if the Vestrum hoped to intimidate her with a show of temper, he'd have to be very disappointed. She had gone through a lot that day, that was true. The turbulent events and misfortunes had drained her, shaken her, terrified her and before entering the room she'd felt too tired for virtually anything. But almost by a miracle, she felt a whole new store of strength building up within her. And after all, what was this man's short burst of anger compared to her father's drunken rage she used to face at least once a week? Tired or no, she would stand her ground.
"I'm not a little girl." April said, almost chiding him like she would a child, "I've handled so much more danger for the past week, than most people would in a lifetime."
"I'm afraid you've misunderstood our meaning, Ms. Ryan." It was Minstrum Gilen again, driving the point home with precision. More he talked, the more convinced April became that her initial assumption of his involvement in a military field was correct. "We're not questioning what you're capable of, not in this instance, anyway. We're questioning your allegiance."
The silence that followed hung thick in the air, as a thousand thoughts raced through her head.
"My allegiance." She drew the word slowly through her teeth.
"Yes, Ms. Ryan, your allegiance." Euan nodded and for once he made no effort to hide hostility towards her. His eyes narrowed and filled with disdain, arms crossed, haughty and distrusting. "You've showed up out of nowhere and told us some quite unbelievable things about yourself, about the Vanguard and the Draic Kin..."
"I'm sorry," she interrupted him, the conversation was starting to lose sense to her, "unbelievable? You're an ancient order who keeps the knowledge of parallel worlds, magic and dragons from other planets. What was so unbelievable about anything I said?"
"For one, you've named the Green of the Draic Kin as the leader of the Vanguard."
"He was."
They all exchanged dark looks in silence and she knew they didn't believe it for a second, perhaps they even felt offended by this claim, not that it mattered enough for her to back down on her word, back down from the truth. Suddenly, Minstrum Janice spoke to her for the first time, her voice husky and calm. "We find it very hard to believe that he would betray the teachings of the Balance and go against the Order."
"Why?" April wondered sincerely, "Why is it so difficult to imagine? They can be very human like, you know. In more ways than one."
"The Green of the Draic Kin was the one who founded the Order, Ms." Came another voice, from the younger Istrum. The lad looked almost apologetic when he addressed her. "He was the first Sentinel Vestrum."
That took her by surprise more than anything else she had learned that day. She gaped at him. MacAllen was the one who founded them? That can't be right, it just can't! She thought back to Vestrum Tobias and the history he had shared with her during her first visit in Marcuria. He'd said something about a Draic Kin who had led the first sentinels, though for the life of her she couldn't remember him mentioning which one of them it was, nor had she given it much thought before. His exact words had become foggy in her memory, even if she'd done her best to remember the key parts of the story. But then an image formed in her mind's eye - a wide mural spread on the temple wall, depicting a dozen robed people, and in front of them, the most prominent one - an aged man, standing with his chin proudly raised, a sizable book under his arm. She only needed to picture the haughty demeanor of his and suddenly the Istrum's words were starting to sound believable. The White was a figure of femininity, not a hint of which could be found on that person. The Blue had been prickly and arrogant, but he had loathed whatever involvement in earthly affairs was required of him, being more concerned with his own sleeping schedule. Then there were the Red and Green. Her initial instinct would've been to consider the Red as the founder of the Sentinels. He had acted as a guide for her, after all. He even had certain connections with the Arcadian Sentinels, although neither side revealed what, or how. But now, with this new notion, doubts filled her. She had spent the last few days ruminating on how much of a crappy job he'd done mentoring her. She had been drawn to him by necessity and despair, when she had no one else to turn to. But Cortez had been an eccentric, the local loony. He had been more than that under the surface, quite true, but he came across more the type to orchestrate things from behind a curtain, rather than step up in the spotlight. MacAllen had done exactly that though. As much as she hated to admit it, people would follow him more than they would Cortez. But even Cortez said he couldn't imagine the Green in a human form, living among humans. How is it possible? But she was given no time to ponder these mental questions.
"See, Ms. Ryan," Euan said matter-of-factly, "it's a bit difficult for us to believe that the Kin who created our Order in the first place would then go ahead and create the organization that seeks to destroy us."
April shook her head, "It's called treason, it happens."
"Not among the Kin."
"Yes among the Kin! The Green one betrayed the rest. He was all about domination and power when I met him."
The Vestrum let out a deep, dramatic sigh, "Once again, it's your word against all our teachings."
An almost hysterical laughter escaped her lips, "What teachings?" she asked with scorn, "As far as I can see, nobody around here knows a damn thing about the Draic Kin, and I'm the only person in this room who has met all four of them, mind you."
"Or so you would have us believe."
"... So you're saying I'm lying?" She asked pointedly, so tired of beating around the bush, in some strange way she would've preferred it if they'd straight up presented charges. This whole discussion seemed much like a game to her, designed to tire her out, drain her patience.
"We're saying you're a stranger", Minstrum Gilen's deep voice resounded. "A Stranger who claims she has a Draic Kin for a parent. A Stranger that tells us one of these revered beings is a lowly traitor hunting power."
Before April could even think how to object to this statement, Istrum Miranda suddenly Spoke for the first time, in a small, whispery voice. "Honestly," she said slowly and thoughtfully, "I would prefer her to be a liar. 'Cause if this story of hers is true, it doesn't even matter whose side she's on, in the end she still did exactly what the Vanguard was planning all along. Their puppet has ascended as the Guardian."
The pronouncement left April temporarily speechless, not with surprise, but anger. No one else spoke in the moments she collected herself, trying her best to quell the urge to leap at this person and give her a nice slap across the face. Is this all they have for me? This contempt and accusations is all I get after everything I did?
"He's not their puppet anymore." She told them, her voice so low, it almost sounded like a growl.
"What makes you sure of that?" The Istrum riposted, not breaking eye contact for even a moment. Her gaze was unnerving, but it only made April angrier. "You don't know what was done to him to control him when he'd become the Guardian, and you can't possibly know if it's undone."
"This is all we know for sure:" The Vestrum chimed in again, "the Vanguard wanted him to be the Guardian. He has become the Guardian. And it's all thanks to you."
Her head had started pounding at some point during this exchange, now it was hammering. She fought the need to rub her temples again, not wanting to show even a sign of distress to these people. She didn't mind her volume rising though.
"The Balance chose him. What could I do? Tell the Balance to go find someone else?"
"You could've prevented him getting to the Realm in the first place." Euan suggested airily. April glared at him. If looks could kill, hers would be enough to decimate him where he sat.
"You could've prevented him from getting to the Realm in the first place!" She snapped. "I did whatever I could to restore the Balance, if you could do it better, you should've done so, instead of sitting here and accusing me of all kinds of crap, because you don't like my work!"
"April," Raul's persuasive voice spoke from the edge of the room, where he had been fidgeting for the last few minutes, nervous, reluctant to interfere. "Nobody's accusing you…" If his tone was meant to pacify her, he had miscalculated, April's aggravation only grew, feeling more enraged with each and every unfavorable look from her audience, every cynical twitch of their mouths, every raise of their brows, and most of all, every word uttered from the lips of the Vestrum. How can this asshole be awarded the same title as Vestrum Tobias? She thought in fury.
"Oh please, what do you call this then?" She gestured around. "All of you assembled here like some judge and jury and discussing everything you disapprove about my actions, or how I have no proof that anything I say is true. Putting me on some trial, as if you're in any position to do that! Why don't we quit this little game and say it straight already." She rose from her seat, matching her gaze with each of theirs in turn, her fury at the boiling point. "You're all convinced that I'm with the Vanguard. You think I'm working for them, is that it?"
True to character, the Vestrum didn't even bat an eye. "We're certainly not ruling that out. We have every reason to be suspicious of you."
April cocked her head, narrowing her eyes at him. All at once she realized that all her hopes for whatever help these people could give her had been in vain from the beginning. It felt strangely liberating, the acknowledgement that she had no reason to hold herself back anymore. Whatever she thought she might be losing by being less than diplomatic with them, had never existed to begin with. She laughed.
"It's funny," she smirked, "I can say the same thing about all of you."
Nothing could be noticed about the immaculate arrangement of Euan's facial features, but she didn't fail to note a slight pause when the man opened his mouth to speak. His initial response, whatever it had been, was chucked out for "Please, do elaborate."
My pleasure. "From what I know," she went on as carelessly as before, "corruption of Stark's Sentinels was how the Vanguard were created in the first place. Clearly, this isn't the most reliable organization."
"You're bringing up ancient history."
"Still!" She persisted, delighting in switching the roles. "There had to be fertile ground for something like that to happen. Who's to say that it couldn't happen twice? In fact, that would explain very nicely how The Vanguard became so dominant. What if their would-be opposers were actually on their side, only pretending to be in opposition? It makes sense that the Red of the Draic Kin wouldn't even come near you. So maybe that's it? Maybe it's your allegiance we should be questioning, not mine?
"You're crossing some dangerous boundaries there." The Vestrum growled at her, threatening notes in his tone, and if his usual controlled demeanor had been unnerving and irritating, his visible anger - purposely provoked by herself - turned out to be a joy to watch. It made her feel in control, her usually explosive temper still burned at her core, but now it seemed to be flowing through her veins in powerful currents, supplying her with strength and courage. She felt as if she would tear right through this man if she had to, but she would not allow him, or anyone else, corner her like this ever again.
"You don't get to set boundaries for me." The words came on their own accord, forceful and challenging, daring him to try.
"Please, both of you!" Raul admonished, probably sensing it had gone too far, "We cannot afford fighting among ourselves at a time like this!"
"What we really can't afford, Father," the Vestrum answered him, but his eyes never left her face, "is risk having the Vanguard's spy snooping around our headquarters."
April snorted. "Headquarters, right. If that's what you want to call this hole where you hide and busy yourselves doing nothing. If I really were their spy, I'd go and tell them not to bother themselves with you. You're not likely to give them any trouble."
"April, please!" Raul began, even his voice started to rise a little bit, but she wouldn't be swayed. I've done too much for them to stand here and listen to these ridiculous accusations.
"You were the ones who were supposed to keep the Guardians safe, and you failed!" She declared. "You've been failing for over two hundred years. Gordon was supposed to be protected by your Order, but you let him down. Whatever they turned him into, you, the Sentinels can blame yourselves for it. I was the one who fixed him, I gave him his soul back! When Adrian was captured by the Vanguard, you weren't the ones who came to his rescue, I was. I crossed the worlds looking for the stone disc to replace the broken one, not you. I went to the bottom of the ocean and in outer space, while being hunted by the forces of chaos and armed goons! Where were any of you when all this was happening? What did you do to save the Balance?! You've been wondering why the Red of the Draic Kin wouldn't approach you instead of me or father Raul? There's your answer. Because he knew you were too useless. Or he didn't trust you, and honestly, I see he had a very good reason."
Color surged to the Vestrum's face, his jaw visibly tightened and finally, angered burned in his eyes. April was pleased to see that her words hit hard. Good, she thought with savage pleasure, have a taste of your own medicine. See how you like it. Now she herself assumed the stony, emotionless expression, mimicking his, and matched his stare with her own. For a little while it seemed as if it had all turned into a staring contest. The silence that fell in the apartment could deafen someone. Even Raul just stood speechless, no strength within him to try and put a stop to this verbal match.
"If that's all," the Vestrum finally snarled, "you may see yourself out now."
"Oh?" She feigned puzzlement, "Just a minute ago you were accusing me of being a spy. Don't you want to seize me or something? Put me under arrest, maybe? I could be running back to the Vanguard telling them all your precious secrets."
There was no answer. She knew then. She loathed them in that instant. Loathed them for their loud, empty words, for their self righteousness, loathed how spineless they were that they would throw such accusations at her feet, but couldn't even find courage to back their stance with actions. Useless, all of them. "Right." She smiled sweetly, but her voice was filled with bitter venom. "No need to see me off, I'll find the door myself." She never glanced back.
Merry Christmas, everybody! I was hoping I could get this chapter up on this special day, though I had doubts for obvious reasons. I'm glad I've found time after all. abstractall, consider this my Christmas gift to you for being loyal reader for so long despite everything.
Best regards,
Knightdale