Chapter 11
Not comfortable with walking any closer, Adam crouched down beside a tree that stood about thirty feet from the gate that led out of Jarethcomb. There were the horses they had heard; they were standing around with riders on their backs. There was no mistaking Van de Ryn's presence: he had to be the one so gaudily dressed – in plum cody pants and an extravagant velvet riding-jacket. Quite simply, he looked pompous, and a little like an over-sized eggplant. He was currently talking to his men.
"This was a good day, sirs. And tomorrow will be great. Tomorrow," the purple-suited man announced proudly, "we will succeed in getting this land, and we will share in the wealth this place holds! The tribunal is in the 'morrow, Gentlemen. Goodnight."
At this he nodded, dismissing his men save an older one in a blue cape.
Once the others had exited the gate and galloped off, Van de Ryn turned sharply to the man and leaned in. "What do you mean there's a problem?" he hissed.
The elderly man smoothed his thick, grey beard. "I sensed a great surge of power here last night in my meditations," he said pensively.
At this Van de Ryn sat back and stared wearily at him. "Did anything actually happen, or are you just being your usual, dramatic, senile self?"
The other man looked at him sternly. "I told you that woman has powers, Duke Van de Ryn," he said. "And I warned you about that black rock – that it has mysterious properties."
The duke turned red. He stiffened. "First and foremost, Gadley, she is no woman – she is fairy, a resource, like a beaver pelt," he seethed, gripping his horse's reins so hard that his leather gloves groaned. Adam was starting to fully understand the situation that the creatures of this land were in. "So what did she do?" he asked.
The old man sighed, staring off into the distance. Adam figured he was trying to figure out the best way to break the news. "I can… no longer sense her presence… in this world," he said choppily. "But I feel something much greater – I believe it is coming from the rock…"
"What does that even mean?!" The Duke exclaimed. "You're so vague – are you good for anything other than your initial information contribution?"
But the old man was not listening to Van's questions, albeit they were most likely rhetorical. The apparent wizard was staring in fear at the harbingers and with them possessed inhabitants of Spooksville that had made their way through the Secret Path and were now making their way toward them. Adam was alarmed at the sight of the townsfolk – the squirrel creatures had dug their spiny little fingers into the their heads, riding on the innocents' blood-splattered shoulders. He recognized one person as being his old history teacher, Mr. Ferdinand – a tough lecturer and an even tougher marker, but Adam had considered him fair. This was not common in the Horror Halls.
Before Adam decided to react, the pathetic excuse for a human kicked Gadley off his horse, sending him to the ground as a distraction, an offering, to the creatures. "Hey!" Adam shouted, jumping from his hiding spot.
Shocked to find that someone had been listening in, Van de Ryn pulled on the horse's reins in surprise. The animal reared, almost sending the bastard flying, but he regained control and sped off, much like the old man's horse.
Turning his attention to the old man, Adam ran over to help him away from the harbingers. "Hold on. Stay away!" he commanded the angry creatures, remembering they were intelligent. He waved his one hand at the harbingers who held back, and with the other, he grasped the shaking man's hand. "You need to get up, mister."
"Adam!" he heard the two girls call simultaneously. He turned toward the forest, seeing that the girls had been grabbed by some possessed people they knew from school – including Ted Tane, who had been none other than the one to turn Cindy in a vampire four years ago. The harbinger peering over his head looked especially nasty with its exceptional size and yellow eyes. The group moved close. Ted had the lead.
"Step a way, boy," Ted said, gripping Cindy's arm. "We know you are trying to help, but this man will not be saved by your efforts."
"Like hell," Adam said, getting ready to pull the quivering man to his feet.
Sally didn't like that response. "Uh, hi. Remember us? Your friends?" she asked. "Not the best time for organizing your priorities, but it would be much appreciated, Adam."
He looked to the girls pleadingly. "I can't just let them take him," he said.
"Help me," the old man whispered imploringly from the ground.
Ted took a step forward, with Cindy in tow. "We will just control him for a time," he explained, saying each word clearly and separately. "He contains some thing use full."
Adam stared at him, and then glanced at the old man who seemed to have calmed himself. He had begun to pray or meditate, or something. "I can't let you – I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let you," he said, shaking his head.
Harbingered Ted took another step with Cindy. "Adam…"
But he shook his head again. "There are better ways than this. Let us –"
Suddenly Ted flung Cindy to the ground and then tackled Adam in seemingly one movement. He thought he saw Sally rush to her aid. He definitely heard the old wizard start to scream.
Most of Adam's attention was preoccupied at that instant though. The wrestle to the ground had knocked the wind out of him. But he continued to struggle against Ted's superhuman strength. Ted then decided that holding Adam down wasn't a viable option. So he punched him in the face and hit him in the throat.
"Adam!" one of the girls screamed. Ted stepped away from him. It was so hard to breathe; it still felt as though Ted's fist was still pushing down on his throat. Adam flopped over on his right to breathe easier, but he exposed himself to the sight of the harbingers taking their revenge out on the old man. The wizard was flailing – convulsing – with all his might, in pain, trying to defend himself as a bunch of the creatures jabbed their long fingers into his body. His screams were of pure terror. He knew he was dying a horrible, agonizing death.
Adam squeezed his eyes shut, unable to instruct the girls to do the same. It was only a few seconds more when the man suddenly stopped screaming. But it continued to replay in Adam's head.
It must have only been half a minute, but it felt like an eternity, before the girls came up to him and helped him to stand. Still struggling for air, Sally and Cindy had to drag Adam out of the gates. Ted, Mr. Ferdinand and the others were already gone. The three of them collapsed against the fence, and other than Cindy's faint crying, they sat in silence for a good long time.
Adam, always a lot more conscientious of others than he was of himself, was the first to act.
"We need to go," he whispered.
Cindy glanced vaguely in his direction. "We just saw someone die," she muttered absently.
"Murdered," Sally corrected, lifting her head from her knees. "I don't suppose that it was the Van guy?"
Adam shook his head. "A wizard, I think," he breathed. "The guy we're looking for kicked that man off his horse."
"But that old man worked for him, right?" Cindy realized, wiping the last of her tears away. "Those squirrels won't do that to everyone."
"That doesn't mean we're off the hook," Sally said. "We still need to stop Van de Ryn from building his shops."
"No," Adam said quickly. "This isn't about buildings."
"Then what?" Cindy asked.
"They knew about Naia," Adam explained. "And Van de Ryn has a pretty good idea about the Secret Path."
"Great," Sally scoffed, standing up. "Because this wasn't complicated as it was."
"We just need to do what we do," Adam said. He stood as well. Cindy followed.
"We'll have to find a stream or something, Adam," Cindy observed. "You can't walk into a town looking like that."
He looked down, noticing for the first time that he had been splattered in blood. Adam heard the scream again.
He closed his eyes.
Adam, Sally, and Cindy were not making good time. It was fully understandable considering what they had just witnessed though. Despite living in Spooksville, none of them had ever seen someone die so savagely, and traveling to Aulora could mean seeing more of that, so the three of them slowed to a snail's pace.
"I'm really worried about the others," Cindy spoke up.
"They can hold their own," Adam reassured her.
"Things are a lot different this time though," Sally said. "Bryce was almost choked to death, that old guy was just stabbed to death, and you took a few hits yourself, Adam."
"Not to mention the emergence of yet another, most likely dangerous, stranger," Cindy grumbled.
Adam sighed. "Don't you start too."
"I'm not starting, I said it from the beginning," she argued.
Sally waved her hand. "As did I – for the record."
"They can take care of themselves," Adam repeated himself, although he was worried as well. He quickly changed the subject. "I think we should track down the tribunal Duke Van de Ryn was talking about. From what Saline said no one's supposed to know about Naia, so we can use any info we have about her to get their attention."
"That sounds like a recipe for an execution," Sally criticized. "Wouldn't they just get testy finding out that some punk kids know a government secret?"
"Well, what else should we do?" Adam asked. "Do you want to reason with authorities, or the psycho that left his partner as an offering to those reptiles?"
"Touché," Sally said.
"Hey there's a pathway over there," Cindy said pointing to their right.
The trees were a lot smaller in this area, Adam observed. This probably meant that the town was close by because the older, taller trees would have been cut down to build it. Nevertheless the scenery was still beautiful. Despite the darkness of their journey, nature had taken no notice of it; the red leaves and bright sun showered them in warmth.
"Welcome to Aulora," Sally read as they passed the sign marking the edge of town.
Suddenly there was a distant blood-curdling scream.
"Dammit," Adam cursed, feeling guilty for not racing to the town. Who knew what the harbingers would do to the Auloreans.
The three of them ran out of the forest and found themselves beside a field of corn. In the distance there was a farm and a house. And group of harbingers.
"I really wish these creatures would cut us some slack – seeing as though we're a little out of practice," Sally managed to get out as they ran. She kept up with Adam. Cindy trailed a little behind.
"Agreed," she gasped.
It seemed as though the harbingers waited for them. As the three of them approached, there some of them remained – staring right back at them. Adam looked around for a body, but there, on the porch of the house, an elderly woman sat quivering with a musket in hand. She seemed to be in shock; thankfully the gun was pointed at the ground. Adam's eyes slide from her to the band of harbingers. He wondered what they had in mind.
The door of the farmstead opened just then. Ted and the other townsfolk currently being mind-controlled by Naia's little gang stepped out and joined them all in the front lawn. One of them took the woman's gun. Ted was clearly their leader.
"Human bodies seem to need so much sustenance – it is a wonder you lot get any thing done at all," he noted, wiping his mouth of water. He looked to the creatures just behind him and then turned back to Adam, Sally and Cindy. "You three seem determined to help – it is who that is under scrutiny," he explained, waiting for them to explain themselves in turn.
"Jarethcomb," Adam answered. "That duke has no right to your land, or to Naia."
Ted cocked his head, and stepped forward. "What?"
Adam froze. He thought they knew already. "Th-the duke and his interest in Naia," he said softly.
"And how is that you came upon that information?"
Adam looked to the girls. They each shared uneasy glances. "I overheard him and that old man you murdered," he said. Ted nodded his head.
"Saline did say you could be trusted," Ted said. "But we could not tell her or anyone else of Jarethcomb about the duke's main interest – they would wage war, and many creatures would die."
Adam breathed a sigh of relief. "We want to do this without bloodshed. We're going to the tribunal that I believe is hearing Van de Ryn's arguments tomorrow. We're telling them what he's up to; he won't get Jarethcomb. They'll make him stop," Adam explained.
"Oh?" Ted asked – a look of impatience on his face. "And will that get us all equality? Will that guarantee this will not happen again?"