W.I.T.C.H
Chapter 4
Consequences
Kandrakar
The Guardians stood motionless for a few seconds as the rest of the elders filed out around them. Minnio had just made his announcement.
"Um, excuse me," Irma said, catching Endarno's attention, "But I think I speak for the rest of the Guardians when I ask, what just happened?"
"Did you not hear Minnio? Did you not understand the council's ruling?" Minnio asked, "The Oracle will be stripped of his title and will no longer be ruler of Kandrakar."
"No, no, we understood that part." Cornelia said.
"Then what part of Minnio's announcement are you having difficulty with?" Minnio asked, getting impatient.
"I… I don't even know where to begin…" Will stammered.
"I'm afraid I don't have the luxury of explaining to you all that has happened today." Endarno began. "But if you'll…"
"Oh, no." Will interrupted. "We've done nothing but help Kandrakar over the last few years, but we need, no, no, demand answers!"
The elders that had not yet left turned and looked at Will, who started to blush.
"Please?" Hay Lin added.
Endarno smiled.
"I did not say you wouldn't get answers, Guardians," he said. "I simply said that I, personally, would not be able to give them to you. However, I'm sure you're all familiar with elder Yan Lin."
Endarno stepped aside to show Yan Lin, sitting down with her arms crossed, glaring at the girls.
"Oh. Uh, hi Grandma." Hay Lin said with a wave.
"Now if you'll excuse me." Endarno said, turning to leave, "I have a lot of work to do."
"Man, this is just not our day." Irma said as the group headed towards Yan Lin.
Meridian
Caleb's sword sang as it sliced through the air. Another dozen enemies flew through the air, unable to compete with Caleb's unmatched skill and strength. A green mace sped towards him, but he ducked at the last second. The Tracker appeared in front of him, daring him to attack. Caleb obliged, and within seconds the Tracker had also been vanquished. As he stood over the Tracker's fallen body,
"Caleb, how much military strength can we spare from the castle?"
The tracker disappeared in a puff of smoke as Elyon's question snapped Caleb back to reality. He sat up with a jerk. He had been caught daydreaming. The eyes of councilmen were upon him, and he swallowed hard.
"Um, the Honor Guard can do most of the work at the site itself." He said. "I wouldn't want to leave the castle too weak, so I'd prefer if most of the main military stayed at the castle."
"Of course." Elyon said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Will that be acceptable, councilmen?"
Caleb sighed with relief. He hated meetings. Hated them. And this one seemed like it had gone on for hours. Meridian was currently in talks with the delegates from Balsilide, a planet Caleb had never heard of, but apparently had had good trade relations with Meridian before Phobos. They were now trying to rekindle these relations.
If Earth had technology, and Meridian had magic, Balsilide was somewhere in the middle. They had an equal balance between magical entities and technological might. They had recently invented their first steam engine, and had started the mass production of vehicles and firearms. They had nothing even close to what Earth had, but still better then Meridian. They were also well aware of magic, unlike Earth. They even had a few magical creatures and people, but not on the scale that Meridian did. This combination of magic and technology made them a powerful ally, or a dangerous enemy.
Elyon was currently trying to revive a plan for creating a permanent portal between the two worlds. It was ambitious, but if successful, it would greatly help the economy of both planets. Caleb didn't understand a lot of it. While it was nice that they were doing something other them being attacked or conquered, if there was nothing to fight or stab, Caleb wasn't really that interested, or useful.
He looked across the room at Aldarn, who represented Meridian's official military. Caleb smiled as he noticed that his friend was nodding off as well. The trouble was, they had been at war for over twenty years. No one really knew how to handle one of these meetings. All the Meridain councilmen were ex-warriors, not negotiators.
Caleb glanced over at Elyon. He had to admit, she was holding her own, despite the circumstances. That girl was tough as nails when she wanted to be.
"Caleb,"
He snapped to attention at the sound of his name.
"We would like your Honor Guard to meet with the R.E.G." One of the Balsilidian councilmen said.
"Of course." Caleb said with a smile. "Tomorrow afternoon?"
"That would be excellent." The councilman said.
As soon as the councilman turned back to Elyon, Caleb started flipping through his notes to figure out who, or what, the R.E.G. was. After a few minutes of searching, he found the right page.
The R.E.G, or the Royal Elite Guard, was Balsilide's premier military squad, and were charged with protecting the president and other high-ranking officials. They were considered Balsilide's finest military force, and one of the best fighting forces in the universe. The R.E.G. consisted of seven of Balsilide's finest warriors, as chosen by a series of grueling tests. In short, they were Balsilide's version of the Honor Guard. Or, more accurately, the Honor Guard was Meridian's version of the R.E.G.. Caleb was happy the R.E.G. were on his side.
Two elite guards, working together. Caleb smiled. What could possibly go wrong?
Kandrakar
"So," Irma said, sitting down next to Hay Lin, "On a scale of one to Phobos, how badly did we just screw up?"
"It wasn't your fault." Yan Lin began.
"Wow, that bad." Irma said.
The girls sat in a circle around Yan Lin, Hay Lin sitting the closest of course. Although she didn't like the circumstances, Hay Lin enjoyed any time spent with her Grandma.
"Saying what is on your mind is never wrong." Yan Lin said, reassuring the Guardians. "But sometimes it has consequences."
"In this case it got the Oracle fired." Cornelia said.
"Himerish brought this on himself." Yan Lin replied. "Ever since…"
"Woah, back up." Will interrupted. "Who's Himerish?"
"Himerish is the Oracle's true name." Yan Lin said. "It's what we must call him since he is no longer Oracle."
"Funny, he doesn't look like a Himerish." Hay Lin said.
"The council has been questioning him ever since Phobos gained control of Meridian." Yan Lin said, ignoring her Granddaughter.
"And I'm guessing it got worse after he allowed Nerissa to imprison him." Will said.
"Yes." Yan Lin replied. "But we were all fooled by Nerissa. It was not his fault. However, for many, it was his handling of the Zamballa situation that was the last straw."
Will eyed Yan Lin strangely.
"You mean when he unleashed a criminal onto Zamballa." Will said. "Yeah, I can see how some people could get annoyed by that."
"Nevertheless, Zamballa is now at peace." Yan Lin said.
"What about when I was captured?" Will asked. "Why did he wait so long to help?"
It was clear that Will was getting annoyed. Taranee put her hand on Will's shoulder, trying to calm her friend down, but Will shook it off.
"Will, you don't understand…" Yan Lin began.
"What I don't understand is why you keep defending him!" Will said. "I'm glad he's no longer Oracle!"
Yan Lin took a deep breath.
"After Zamballa, the council decided it was time to re-evaluate their leader." Yan Lin said. "They put the fortress on lockdown, to insure that no outside thoughts interfered with their own. No one was allowed in or out, and no contact with the rest of the universe was allowed."
"That's why we didn't hear anything from them for so long." Taranee said. "And why we couldn't get into Kandrakar."
"Exactly." Yan Lin said. "But then the Ora…, I mean Himerish, discovered that Will had been captured. He tried to help immediately, but that rest of the council wouldn't let him break lockdown."
"Uh oh." Will said. She could see where this was going, and she didn't like it.
"He eventually went behind their backs, and contacted you anyways." Yan Lin continued. "When the Council found out, they decided to hold judgment. Your testament sealed the deal."
Will leaned back, closed her eyes and swore at herself. Once again, she had let her emotions get the better of her. Once again, she had acted with out thinking and, once again, she had made a huge mistake.
Meridian
Vathek and Caleb walked down the long hallway until they had found the door they were looking for. Caleb knocked on the door three times.
"Mr. Jantique?" Vathek said, "Your presence is required in Council room 3."
There was no answer.
"Mr. Jantique?" Caleb asked.
Mr. Jantique was one of the Balsilidian delegates that were preforming talks with Meridian. He hadn't been seen since the night before, and now he was late for an important meeting. Caleb and Vathek had agreed to retrieve him. Caleb knocked on the door again.
"You got the keys?" Caleb asked Vathek.
Vathek pulled out a ring of keys and quickly selected the appropriate one. He inserted in the lock and the door swung open.
"Mr. Jantiqu… OH!"
Mr. Jantique lay face down in a dried pool of his own blood. A dagger was sticking out his back. Vathek kneeled beside the body as Caleb ran to the window. All Caleb could see was a solitary castle tower in the distance. He looked down, but the smooth castle walls were impossible to climb and showed no signs of any attempt.
"How did this happen?" Caleb asked, looking around the room. "You can't climb the walls, that tower's too far away for a throw, and we've got guards everywhere. They couldn't have snuck in…"
"This is an assassin's blade." Vathek said, taking the blade out of the man's back.
"How can you tell?" Caleb asked, kneeling beside the body.
"It's a cheep, but efficient blade." Vathek responded. "Easy to get in large quantities and very cost-effective. Also, look at the handle. No design, no symbols. Nothing that we can use to trace it back to the owner or the maker."
Caleb stared at his friend.
"When I was undercover during the rebellion, I met a lot of assasians." Vathek said. "All the good ones used daggers like this."
"Good enough for me," Caleb responded. "Now lets…"
"Stop right there!"
Vathek and Caleb spun to find two members of the R.E.G. standing in the doorway. Both of them had their swords drawn.
"You won't get away with this." one of them said.
"Get away with what?" Vathek asked.
Caleb looked from the R.E.G. members, to the dead Balsilidian diplomat, to the bloody dagger in Vathek's hand.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."