Ethan Wright and the Curse of Silence (11 page)

“Sit … down,” ordered the man. Everyone who was standing sat down, including Ethan.

“I see all of the civilized families must have run out of noble sons to send forthwith,” he said in a very precise and sharp voice. He leaned over and looked down at Ethan. “And some would not even have the courtesy to send decent armor …” he said quietly as he made his way to the front of the classroom at a slow, intimidating pace, “….or in some cases, provide any at all.” Some of the others looked over at the three, who gave each other a look and then kept their heads down. “I am Captain of the armies of Tirguard. My name is Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, but of course, you will refer to me as
Captain
Heinrich Agrippa. This is one of many classes you
must
take before leaving the walls of Tirguard … so pay attention. I am not here out of free will so do not waste my time with silly questions or stories of why …
you
… are here, because … I do not care,” he said with his hands behind his back. His eyes rolled over everyone in the classroom, who were now paying much closer attention.

He paused for a bit and then continued. “It seems to me that some of you may think you can come and go as you please. Allow me to inform you otherwise — there is only one word here — my word. There is only one law here, and that is the law of Tirguard — which is the law you will follow during your stay here.” He paused again and paced slowly to the front corner of the classroom. “You see, some of you … who arrived through MacArthur, may think you can travel unchecked. However, I am here to inform you that he has been detained … and you will now only move back and forth through me, by appointment. No exceptions!” he shrilled.

Auren and Ethan glanced at each other while whispering broke out within the classroom, which was immediately interrupted.

“If … you have a concern with this, I will be most happy to escort you down to the prison, where you may tell your woes and sorrows to a cellmate … of your choosing.” The class quieted down. “No questions? Good, I will move along then,” he said smugly. “There are a few things to keep in mind. For those of you who wish to spend any amount of time in Tirguard, know that thirty years here is equivalent to one year in Enterom. For those of you who remain uneducated…,” he peered over at Auren, “Enterom is where you came from, the other side of the Oroborus, so to speak,” he smiled, curling his lip.

Ethan grew more uncomfortable as Heinrich continued his lesson. “Some of you have interest in joining the Guard. Trust me when I say that the reward is great. If you excel in the Guard, you will have an opportunity to join with one of the armies of Tirguard. And, if lucky, could serve directly under myself … here,” continued Heinrich. “We have the most imperative job … here, in the army of Tirguard. We protect the city from the Mitan race. They are a murderous group. Outside the city walls, they have destroyed, pillaged, and hunted animal, beast, and man. For those of you that think travel is easy, let me inform you that you will not find horses in Tirguard — all are dead. Hunted down and killed by the Mitans. When they ran out of animals and beasts to hunt, they started hunting men. If you do find a creature in the wild, be wary, because it was most likely too difficult for a Mitan hunter to kill.” Heinrich peered around the classroom to look for a reaction.

“Now then, write your name, your family’s surname, and the town in which you reside on the parchment in front of you — indicate if you have interest in the Guard. After completion, take a copy of our laws which you will … abide by, and be on your way. Any questions? No? Good.” Heinrich turned on a heel, opened the door, and walked out.

“Well then,” said Auren. “That was fun. He seemed tightly wound to me, did he seem tightly wound to you?”

“Yeah — but what about MacArthur?” asked Ethan.

The boy with the decent-sized armor bag looked over at Ethan. “You lot are a distraction. Do yourselves a favor … leave.” He got up and placed his finished parchment on the front desk, took a copy of the laws, hurled his armor bag over his shoulder and walked out the door.

“Well then, we just made another friend,” said Auren quietly.

“You won’t last one day here,” threatened Marcus as he placed his parchment on the desk and headed through the door.

Ethan looked over to Availia. “Sorry about that. I hope we didn’t ruin your chances of getting in the Guard.”

“Well, my sister is one of the highest-ranking squad captains here, so I think I may still have a chance. But maybe it’s best to keep to ourselves for now, just in case,” said Availia, who was secretly disappointed.

Ethan and Auren agreed; they brought their parchment to the front and each took a copy of the laws before making their way out the door. Heinrich was waiting just outside for them.

“Can’t believe we have to take more classes from this buffoon before leaving the city,” whispered Auren.

“Considering he put MacArthur in prison, now we don’t have any way of getting back — well, don’t think we have any choice really,” muttered Ethan.

“Not unless we make an appointment with Heinrich,” corrected Availia. “Although, I don’t picture Heinrich as the type who would sit in a hut all day sending people back and forth.”

“Hmm … well then, what do you think we should do about MacArthur?” asked Ethan.

“What
can
we do? I knew the old man was a bit crazy; it probably just caught up with him,” replied Auren.

“He’s not crazy … maybe a bit eccentric …”

“Ethan Wright, I presume?” interrupted Heinrich in a slimy voice. The three were caught off guard; Ethan wondered if Heinrich had heard their conversation. “I find it funny how features can carry one such as yourself through life,” he continued as he placed his long white fingers under Ethan’s chin and examined his face. Ethan noticed a silver ring with a large black stone on one of the fingers grasping his chin. The inside of the stone was swirling around like pluming black smoke, mesmerizing Ethan. He thought to himself that Heinrich had picked a ring that matched his personality and began to chuckle. The Tirguard Captain noticed Ethan’s grin and pushed his face back. “You look just like your brother … the
traitor
.”

“
What?
What did you say about my brother?”

Heinrich turned and strutted away, his hands behind his back as if he had not a care in the world. The boys looked at each other, confused. Availia put her hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

“What do you think he meant by that?” asked Ethan, still upset over the comment.

“Not sure; but it sounds like he may know where your brother is,” replied Availia.

“Yeah, but no way he’s gonna say … it’s pretty obvious he hates us,” replied Auren.

“Hates
me
anyways,” said Ethan.

“Don’t look now, but here comes pasty again,” said Auren, looking over his shoulder. Availia looked over and saw Stanley headed in their direction, and she promptly smacked Auren in the back of the head. “Ow, what was that for?!”

Availia looked upset. “His
name
is Stanley!” she said, appalled.

“All right, you don’t have to hit me ya lunatic, I just forgot his name is all!”

The pale boy wandered past and leaned against the adjacent building, looked down, and stared at his shoes. He started to play with the hole in his shirt.

“Hey there — Stanley!” called out Ethan. Stanley looked up at the three and smiled. “Do you have a few minutes to show us around then?”

In his haste, Stanley tripped over his own feet. “Yyy … yyy … ngh …” he stuttered, then finally nodded.

“Sounds good then,” answered Auren. “Can you show us where to get some armor? We’re the only idiots who didn’t bring any.”

“We aren’t all idiots,” stated Availia, smiling.

“What do you mean?”

“My sister has mine, I just have to go pick it up.”

“You have armor?” asked Auren, jealous.

“Of course, I came here to join the Guard, didn’t I?” shrilled Availia, getting ready to smack Auren in the shoulder this time. Auren put his hands up in submission.

“Ok, ok … sorry,” he pleaded.

“Well, we may need armor too. Stanley, do you know where we can look for some armor?” asked Ethan.

Stanley nodded again and pointed back toward the market district. He smiled, and started in that direction. Ethan, Auren and Availia paused for a moment.

“Looks like it’s that way then,” said Auren smartly. It was apparent by his pace that Stanley wasn’t going to wait up, so the trio ran to catch up with him.

Chapter 12
Ordo Electus

“Djinn!” screamed a voice. Stanley stopped in his tracks as a hooded figure pointed directly at the group. Auren walked right into the back of Stanley and stepped on the heels of his shoes. Stanley looked down and inspected his shoes, as if to ensure they were alright.

“You know, this is really getting annoying — you people calling him names!” yelled Auren, attracting passersby. Availia seemed impressed that Auren was standing up for Stanley.

“Djinn! Djinn!” yelled the figure, still pointing. The group could now see that the hooded figure was a wrinkled old woman. Her twisted face had a faded tattoo that encircled both eyes, which themselves were milky and disturbing to look at. Ethan would have thought her to be blind if she wasn’t pointing right at them.

“I don’t think she’s talking to Stanley. I think she’s … talking to you, Ethan,” muttered Availia. Indeed, Stanley took a step to the side, and it became clear that the old hooded woman was pointing directly at Ethan.

“Me?” Ethan took several steps forward to study the old woman. Her teeth were rotten, her robe was filthy, and she had a particular odor of something spoiled. The smell was like one of Wegnel’s experimental mystery pastes gone awry.

“I know … you speak for the dead,” continued the woman.

Ethan examined the tattoo more closely. It looked decorative but very strange. “I don’t speak for anybody,” stated Ethan. “Do you recognize me?”

“Yes …”

“So you’re talking about Ethan’s twin brother then,” interrupted Auren.

“No, him,” answered the old woman, pointing at Ethan’s face.

“You can buy armor over there,” stated the old woman. Not breaking eye contact, she swung her pointed finger at a small building to Ethan’s left. “But
you
…” She stuck her finger back at Ethan’s forehead. “…won’t need it — what you want is behind you.” She turned and walked around a corner toward the alleyway of the armor shop.

“Wait!” Ethan dashed around the corner, but the old woman had disappeared. “That was strange,” he said to himself.

“What the heck is ‘
djinn
’ anyways?” asked Auren.

“Sssss, nnggh … spirit,” answered Stanley. “Nnnggh, ngghh … dead,” he added, playing with the hole in his shirt again.

“Dead?” whispered Ethan to himself. He stood in the walkway motionless. The thought of his brother being dead had crossed his mind, but he didn’t like to dwell on it.

“She looked a bit shallow in the eyesight department, maybe she was talkin’ to you, Stanley,” ventured Auren.

“No … at least, not unless Stanley has a twin brother too — think she meant me for sure,” responded Ethan.

“Well, let’s pick out some armor then, before it’s all gone” said Auren, smiling while pointing at the armor shop.

The four looked up at the armor shop, only to see a sign in the window that read ‘Sold Out.’

“Sold out?” whined Auren as he stomped his feet.

“What you want is behind you,” murmured Ethan.

“What?!” asked Auren.

“That’s what the old woman said, ‘what’s behind you,’” answered Availia. “Look! There! We must’ve walked right past it.” Availia was pointing at a small rickety cart in the middle of the road. There were small metal objects hanging from it, and an old man was leaning against the cart appearing to be half-asleep.

“Is that … a pinch-shackle?” inquired Ethan.

“They sell them on carts?!” chuckled Auren. “This place is great! Need to control some weird creature? You can sit and wait for a cart to drive by and — there you go!”

Ethan pulled the large pinch-shackle out of his pack and dropped it on the small wooden table attached to the cart. It made a loud
clank
when it hit the table, which startled the old man.

“What! What do you want? Scram!”

“Actually, we need to ask you a few questions about this device,” announced Ethan.

“Questions?” grumbled the old man. “You gonna buy something?”

“Well, no …” started Ethan. The man gave Ethan a dirty look, but Availia intervened.

“I’m with Tanbe Trading — we only order in quantity, but before we place such a large order, we’ll be checking with your competitors first,” stated Availia smoothly.

“
Competitors
?” chuckled the old man. “I don’t have any …
competitors
— so you’ll be stuck with me, I’m afraid.” He opened a drawer on his cart and pulled out a pair of spectacles. He wiped the lenses with his shirt and slid them on his face. “Let’s take a look then.” He lifted the pinch-shackle to his face and readjusted his glasses to examine the device more closely. Suddenly, he dropped it back on the table. “Where did you get this?” he demanded.

“Did you make it?” asked Ethan.

“I’ll be asking the questions around here, sonny,” groused the old man.

Auren couldn’t hold his tongue. “Listen here, unless you want to be a part of an investigation started by the King himself, I suggest you start talking!”

“Now hold on just a second,” placated the man. “Some bandit had me make this bloody thing!”

“So you did make it?” pressed Availia.

“Yeah. This stranger wanted to control something rather large. He said it would be next to impossible, but promised me that if it worked he would pay a hefty price for it — haven’t heard from him since.”

“Who was this stranger?” asked Ethan.

“Not sure, never saw his face — he wore a cloak and only came ‘round at night,” answered the old man.

“So you custom-made and delivered one of these things to an unidentified man that promised to pay you … if it worked?” asked Auren disbelievingly.