Ethan Wright and the Curse of Silence (25 page)
Read Ethan Wright and the Curse of Silence Online
Authors: Kimbro West
Tags: #Fantasy, #fiction, #Young Adult Fiction
The City Watch that guarded the walls accosted Ethan and Auren with their eyes as the boys walked by. The boys didn’t say a word. They quickened their pace through the city in hopes that their presence would go unnoticed. But a familiar voice rang out from behind and stopped them in their tracks. It was Heinrich.
“And where do you think you’re going? You two are coming with me!” he shrieked.
Heinrich muttered and swore under his breath as he led the boys into the throne room of Tirguard. The high walls were held fast by great stone pillars. Much like many buildings of Tirguard, the pillars were carved statues of armored men that appeared to hold up the ceiling. Ethan was amazed by the stonework before him. However, it was short-lived, as a massive voice echoed across the room.
“YOU STOLE MY VICTORY!” yelled the Castellan.
Ethan wasn’t sure if the Castellan was yelling at him or at everyone in the room. Heinrich dragged the boys farther into the room, stopping in front of the throne. He then joined Tothyll, General Lodbrok, Edison and several soldiers who were standing to the side.
The weathered face of the stress-ridden Castellan was so used to giving orders that it looked more natural when yelling than when speaking normally. “Tell me, Ethan, is the Oroborus here to protect you, or this city?” asked the Castellan rhetorically.
“I don’t know, sir,” answered Ethan quietly.
“You don’t know, eh? Well the report that was handed to me is that Losalfar still stands. Is that true?”
“Yes, sir.”
Several attendants stood next to the throne where the Castellan was sitting. One leaned forward, offering a plate full of grapes and other fruits. The Castellan waved him off.
“I sent these men … MY MEN … to sack that city … and you choose to sabotage them?! To what end? To play in this Oroborus game of chess and kill some Mitan that doesn’t bother me in the slightest?”
“I didn’t kill anyone, sir,” stated Ethan, suddenly distracted by Tothyll’s flashy jewelry. One of the necklaces had a pendant in the same shape as the symbol on the pinch-shackle, and that of Xivon’s necklace. He gave Auren a sharp elbow in the ribs.
“Ow, what?” whispered Auren out of the side of his mouth.
Ethan motioned over to Tothyll.
“Look at Tothyll’s necklace, it matches the burn on your hand,” whispered Ethan.
Auren just about jumped out of his shoes, but quickly contained himself as the Castellan stopped his rant for a moment.
“I’m sorry, is there something more important you would rather discuss?” asked the Castellan smartly.
“No, sir,” said both Ethan and Auren.
“As I was saying — I have over a thousand men that say otherwise. They saw you use alchemy and obliterate a Mitan named Xivon. I must say, since you stopped me from destroying that city, it was the
least
you could do, killing its leader.”
“Xivon is not of Losalfar, he’s the leader of the Aegis … from Gilfangir. And I didn’t actually kill him, it was a trap that I destroyed.”
“And how do you know he is not dead?”
“Because …” Ethan decided he would try and keep his mouth closed.
“I’m not in the mood for games, boy, TELL ME!” commanded the Castellan, as his voice boomed through the hall.
“Because after I destroyed the trap it told me it was coming … for your head … sir,” said Ethan reluctantly.
The Castellan slammed his fist on the arm of the chair and stood up. Ethan jumped back a bit, as did Auren. The Castellan’s face turned as red as a tomato.
“You mean to THREATEN ME IN MY OWN CITY!” screamed the Castellan.
His voice echoed off the walls, pillars and ceiling. No one moved, and a long moment of awkward silence ensued.
“Castellan, sir, if I may.” Edison stepped forward.
“NO YOU MAY NOT!” boomed the Castellan.
Several moments passed before the veins started to settle in the Castellan’s head and neck. He sat back in the throne and calmly continued.
“Ethan Wright, you and your friends participated in treasonous affairs. As a consequence, you lost half of your party — I have no doubt that you feel this is punishment in itself. However, as of now, it seems I have no choice but to close down the alchemy school once again. I believe the will of the Oroborus is to keep you safe — that does not include you leaving the city and mingling in diplomatic affairs.”
The Castellan then noticed Ethan’s ripped alchemy jacket. “What’s that on your arm, some kind of alchemy
magic?
”
Ethan quickly put his arm behind his back, as if to hide his stone skin. But just then, the doors of the throne room slammed open and fully armored soldiers marched inside in a double line. The pairs split off so that a full line of soldiers were on either side of the room. The Castellan shot up out of the throne.
“No, no, Castellan — please have a seat … and finish your speech. I was enjoying the part where you think Ethan ruined your chances for success,” stated King Basileus.
“My Lord, what are you doing here?” asked the Castellan.
“I read a full report as I came through the Oroborus. I guess I am here to check on the initiation of a war that I did not authorize.”
“Well we had an opportunity to defeat the Mitans once and for all … there was no time to …” stuttered the Castellan.
“No time to send a messenger?” asked the King. “Hmm … a lesson then, in humility, Castellan — I think is needed. Everyone follow me outside to the courtyard, now!”
The King walked back through the doors and everyone followed him outside, including the Castellan. Hundreds of townspeople were gathered in the square, full of speculation and gossip. The King raised one of his hands and quieted the crowd.
“We all stand on equal ground today, as this is not our world. We are guests here. And as guests, we wish to leave a good impression on our hosts. It cannot always be done, but we must try just the same — so I ask today,” announced the King as he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.
“General Lodbrok,” said the King loudly.
“Yes, Sire.” The General stepped forward with his chin held high.
“Tell me what happened yesterday, General,” instructed the King.
“I was ordered to sack Losalfar, Sire. I then met Ethan Wright and his friends on the cusp of the battlefield. He told me that Losalfar was split in two — and had entered into a civil war. The faction at Losalfar is peaceful. The faction known as the Aegis are the ones responsible for attacking our citizens,” answered the General.
“And?” asked the King.
“And what, Sire?”
“Do you believe Ethan?”
“I have no reason not to, Sire,” answered General Lodbrok as the crowd booed and jeered. “I fought alongside the Mitan to defeat the Aegis, Sire. Their cause is worthy, and they are honorable people.”
The crowd started to quiet down, but chatter could still be heard.
“Anything else?” asked the King.
The crowd became completely silent.
“Yes, Sire. Had I ignored Ethan’s plea and attacked Losalfar anyway, both armies could have turned on us and thousands of human deaths would have resulted.”
“There, my Castellan. You have your war … against the Aegis. And because of Ethan Wright and his friends …” announced the King as he motioned for the crowd to part. Ethan just about jumped out of his alchemy jacket as he saw Availia and Stanley walking toward them, with none other than Ghislain and Odin behind them. “…we now have an ally — the city of Losalfar.”
Ethan and Auren, grinning, ran over to greet Availia and Stanley with excited chatter and hugs. The crowd cheered and Edison Rupert smiled and went over to meet the students he feared he had lost. He shook Odin’s hand and greeted Ghislain.
“Odin, Ghislain … what took you? You left before I did,” said the King
“The Oroborus known as Cabra sent us to the wrong place,” answered Odin, smiling. “And by some coincidence, we bumped into Availia and Stanley.”
Stanley leaned into Ethan’s ear and whispered something. Ethan stood in shock as he looked at Stanley.
“But you didn’t …”
“I know, Ethan. I have no reason to stutter — not now or ever again,” replied Stanley, as he pointed directly at Tothyll. “It was him that did this to me — in an experimental alchemy class, long ago. And Odin and Ghislain said he’s the one …”
“Behind the Stonewolf,” interrupted Ethan and Auren.
“MacArthur said that no
one
man could control a creature like this. Which means there had to be
two
of them that controlled the Stonewolf,” said Ethan precisely.
“What?” asked Availia.
“When Auren and I fought Xivon — Auren grabbed his necklace and was hit with that strange sword,” he said, as he grasped Auren’s wrist and thrust the burnt hand in Availia’s face.
The mark that was burned into his palm showed plain. Ethan pulled the pinch-shackle from his pack and matched the symbols.
“It would take more than one person to control a legendary creature. Tothyll has a matching necklace,” stated Ethan.
The King smiled as he overheard the young alchemist’s detective work come to fruition. He signaled his Guard toward the over-dressed criminal. Tothyll, noticing the momentum turning against him, turned on his heel and ran. He was immediately detained by none other than Heinrich.
“And where is it you think
you’re
going?” said Heinrich coolly, as he firmly pressed his sword tip to Tothyll’s chest and then up through the necklace in question.
As the guards detained the prisoner, Heinrich tore the necklace from around Tothyll’s neck. The soldiers then escorted Tothyll to the King. The King again raised his hand and the crowd of townspeople immediately quieted down.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” asked King Basileus.
“I have served your kingdom faithfully, my Lord. You couldn’t possibly believe these
students
over me?” begged Tothyll.
Stanley pushed forward and got in Tothyll’s face. “My name is Stanley VonHaven of the VonHaven estate. The alchemical properties that you experimented with — the ones that made me stutter and live in a fog for all these years — expired when Xivon sent me through the portal. I know everything you’ve done, Tothyll … and I have quite a story to tell,” said Stanley boldly.
Tothyll was enraged. His face twisted and his eyes grew large, as if a completely different man possessed him. He struggled to leap toward Stanley and Ethan, but was restrained by the guards.
“I’LL KILL YOU!” he screamed. “I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”
“Looks like we got the right man then,” stated the King. “Oh, and Whitehaven is great at academics, agriculture, and even has terrific blacksmithing — but … we’re still working on our quality stonework — keep that in consideration for the next story you make up,” smiled the King as he signaled the guards to take the prisoner away.
“Castellan! Keep this traitor in prison until Tirguard is no more, or until death takes him and then some. Speaking of prisoners — release MacArthur … it seems we have a reliability problem with the other Oroborus — what’s its name … Cabra? We will need Wegnel MacArthur more than ever … with his Oroborus … Dimon.”
The Castellan nodded subserviently, and with a disgusted look upon his face he nodded to Heinrich to secure MacArthur’s release.
The King raised both of his hands and addressed the townspeople. “The Curse of Silence has ended,” he announced proudly. “Enemies who wish to reveal themselves will do so, in order to stop mankind from coming through the Oroborus into Tirguard. We will squander those proceedings with a solid defense of negotiation and great stone walls. We will not falter … we will not run … but above all, we will not sacrifice a chance for
peaceful
co-existence, or deprive ourselves of peaceful exploration in faraway lands. Mankind is curious,” he added as he looked over to Ethan, Auren, Availia, and Stanley. “This curiosity will get us into trouble at times, but stand united and we shall remove ourselves from these troubles. Stand united … and we will not fail!”
The crowd applauded and cheered. Ethan could hear his name being chanted. He wished his brother was with him to share in the celebration, but he was happy just the same to be with his friends.
As the cheering continued the King shook Ethan’s hand and pulled him closer.
“You did me a great courtesy, Ethan, and I can’t wait to see what you do next,” said King Basileus graciously. He put his hand on Ethan’s shoulder and smiled. “Oh, and I would very much like to see this airship of yours!”
Table of Contents
Chapter 3 The Youth Sword Competition
Chapter 6 Problems with Poison
Chapter 7 Here’s Pepper in Your Eye!
Chapter 14 A Predetermined Diversion
Chapter 18 Lies and Lickable Dragon Eggs
Chapter 19 Magnificent Stonework
Chapter 21 The Stadion Distraction
