Kastori Tribulations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 3) (25 page)

The two were face to face, so close that Typhos saw nothing but the face of the dying man. He saw the eyes of a hurt father—not just of Pagus, but of him—and Typhos realized in horror what he had done. He broke free of the anger as he quickly withdrew the blade and knelt to the ground, gently bringing Garron down.

It’s true. More of a father than Adanus.

I just killed one of the few people who never abandoned me.

This is me now. I’m a killer.

“I’m sorry,” Typhos said, sobbing.

“Let… Pagus be… Typhos… never too… late to… change.”

Garron’s body went limp in the arms of Typhos as the young man himself went limp with tears and uncontrolled shaking. Blood from Garron seeped onto Typhos’ robes, and the man quickly tore off the bloodied robes and rested it on top of the deceased councilor.

And now not only have I killed Garron, Pagus will never take my side.

As he shouldn’t.

He ignored the rush of power produced by killing Garron, remaining an inconsolable mess on his knees.

Suddenly, Typhos could not move. His entire body was paralyzed, incapable of even looking up. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly.

“Typhos,” Fargus said, grief heavy in his voice.

Three councilors lifted him up, and Typhos came face to face with the most senior member of the council.

And his mother.

“I hate you,” Typhos shouted as they began teleporting him to the prison on the back side of Mount Ardor. “You are the reason for all of this.”

44

No one spoke a word to Typhos as they led him to the prison, the only building on Anatolus made of wood—wood which, thanks to the power of magic, extinguished all magic from the inside and could not be burned from the outside. Typhos kept shooting hateful, venomous glares toward his mother, but she did not make any eye contact with him after the initial arrest.

“When are we going to trial, huh? Is someone as stupid as Ramadus going to lead us?”

No one spoke to him.
I’m digging my own grave here. That is, in the council’s minds. They don’t even realize how useless they are. They don’t know. I will take control, destroy Monda, and lead our people to even greater places. I will earn back the title of savior. The council has none of that ambition.

Fargus broke a binding spell on a door, and the councilors escorted Typhos to the far corner of the room. The young man offered no resistance and did not try to escape.
My time will come.

But to his chagrin, once the councilors left and cast another binding spell, he began to realize his options for escape were limited. He could not cast any spells, not even sense spells, and any black magic spells he tried to cast produced nothing. He had a bed with one blanket, but he had no openings to the outside whatsoever. Even the door that swung open had no handle from the inside.

Huh. I’ll actually need help from the outside. How amusing. I can destroy councilors, but as soon as I get caught here, I actually need help. After saying I don’t need anyone’s help.

Let’s try not to get in this spot again once I escape.

He thought about what he had done. He had killed Ramadus.
Good.
He had killed Garron.
That…

Just remembering the dying face of Pagus’ father made Typhos tremble with sorrow. Only the utter hatred and contempt for his mother pushed him past his grief. She had to pay for what she had done. That mattered more to Typhos than expressing regret for the murder of Garron.

He sat on the bed and tried to plot his strategy. But at the moment, he couldn’t come up with anything.

Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate!

Why, Mom? Why?!? Why did you abandon me! Why did you keep flashing back, tormenting me the way you do?!?

You will pay for this. I will make sure of it.

45

The next afternoon, Fargus ordered Typhos to the back of the cell from outside the building.

“You have a visitor,” he said.

Who?

The door swung open, and to his surprise, Hanna walked in. She had a concerned expression on her face, and as soon as the door slammed shut behind her, she ran up to Typhos and hugged him. She pulled back, and her face slowly processed the scars on his face and the half-melted skin on his hand.

“What… what happened? What did you do?”

Typhos paused to consider his options.
She could be my messenger to others to help break me out. She could be the one to help set me free. She likes me enough.

“I got put here under false accusations.”

“You did?” Hanna said, strong doubt in her voice. “The chief and a councilor are dead. Everyone I’ve talked to said that you lost your mind and attacked them.”

“That’s…” Typhos said, struggling to search for the right words. “It’s not true, OK?”

Going down a dangerous path here. You better be flawless.

“I would never, ever hurt Garron. Pagus is my best friend! And I never liked Ramadus, I’ll admit, but all the same, I wouldn’t kill him.”

Hanna didn’t seem convinced, and she sat on the edge of the bed, shaking her head slowly.

“I want to believe you, Typhos, I do. I’ve always liked you and know you have a good heart. But everyone knows Erda got the council spot and that you wouldn’t handle it well. That and they sensed your magic on the knife that killed Ramadus and Pagus.”

Screwed.

Typhos didn’t see a way out. He couldn’t persuade Hanna in the prison. She knew the evidence. He gently placed his hand on her and felt an odd sensation.

“I swear I didn’t do it.”

“You didn’t do it.”

She said it with more certainty than before, and it confused him. He looked at his hand, and it suddenly hit him.
I can’t use my magic here. It can’t go across space. But I can make contact with her and make her magic work for me. It just stays inside.

“No,” Typhos said, doing his best not to gleefully smile at the realization. “Ever since my parents died, the council—they’ve pressured me, saying I had to prove I was the future to get a role. I was broken, Hanna, no, I am broken. I failed, and perhaps tired of me, they set me up over the councilor’s deaths. I don’t… I don’t even…”

“It’s OK,” Hanna said, and Typhos reminded himself to stay in character. “Typhos, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they had reached this point. I knew you from class and our time, and I knew you would never do anything like this.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said, choosing to play the saddened, subdued character over the venomously angry one.

Don’t move your hand. This is perfect.

I just hope the effect remains when she leaves. I can’t keep my hand on her forever.

“I have a strong feeling that Erda is trying to set me up in all of this,” Typhos said, doing his best not to reference her as his mother. He didn’t think even magic could persuade Hanna to believe that part of the story. “She becomes elected, but she knows how badly I wanted the role and how strong I am. She knows I could be future competition for the role of chief. So she kills two people and makes me the scapegoat? I know it’s crazy, but I think that’s what happened.”

“It’s not crazy, it makes sense,” Hanna said as Typhos smiled.
It’s working almost too well. Keep it believable for others.

“It’s a tragedy, but if ever there was a silver lining in all of this, it means young blood can come and take over. And young blood is exactly what the council needs these days—blood that can guide it to new heights and new levels.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Typhos. You speak so well.”

Yes. Yes, I do. Now just stay this way for the next day. Get me out, and then I won’t care if the spell wears off. You’ll have no choice but to follow me.

“Thank you, Hanna. But I need you to do me a favor. I need your help.”

“What can I do to help, Typhos?”

“Whatever you can do, Hanna. Tell people of the way the council is setting me up. Protest. Whatever you can think of. Rile them up. The more riled up they get, the more the council will have to listen. If you know people who can get me out of here, I would really appreciate that. The council has some good members, but as a whole, they cannot function properly anymore. We need excited, fired up people who are ready for change.”

And the more energized they get, the more likely they are to come and get me out of here. Then we can defeat the remainder of the council and set the Kastori up for success in the future.

“I understand, Typhos. I will.”

She stood up, and Typhos removed his hand. He braced for her to flip back to her doubting, logical self as his shoulders tensed.

“Typhos,” she said.

Here it comes.

“We’ll get you out of here. I know this is unfair, and you wouldn’t do anything like the council is accusing you of.”

Excellent.

Hanna then did something unexpected—she kissed Typhos on the cheek. Typhos hadn’t felt that kind of love in a long time, and Hanna gave a comforting smile and a goodbye as she left. Perhaps it had come as a result of the persuasive spell that Typhos had used on her mind, but no matter what, it was affection that he had a strong emotional reaction to.

Get rid of it. You see what happens when you love someone. They eventually leave you. It’s all heartbreak, agony, and anger. You get close to her, she’ll probably die or abandon you. Don’t go down that road again. That road will only prevent you from accomplishing your goals.

Typhos stewed in his cell for the next several hours, wishing that he could unconditionally embrace the pleasant feeling that Hanna had left him with. He knew once he got out, that moment would probably mark the last time anyone cared about him as she did. Everyone else might follow him, but would do so out of fear or being magically controlled. No one would have that intimacy with him. Typhos told himself it was for the best, but part of him could not accept that.

Just as Typhos had begun to wash himself of those thoughts, a loud bang came at the door.

“You have a visitor,” Fargus said.

Typhos eagerly awaited the new person he could sway. He gulped when the tall figure walked through the door.

Pagus
.

46

“You know, there’s only one person I know of who is so consumed by something they want that they would kill those they ‘love’ to get it.”

The expression on Pagus’ face resembled the one Typhos had had when Adanus died—uncontrollable sadness mixed with a massive dose of anger. Pagus had his hands curled into fists.
This is one fight I won’t try and win. Remember what Garron said. Honor his last words.

“You killed my father, didn’t you,” Pagus said, his voice disturbingly dark.

Typhos gulped and thought about lying, maybe just saying nothing. But he knew Pagus knew.

Do it.

“I’m sorry,” Typhos said.

Pagus could only shake his head in disgust. He let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Sorry isn’t going to bring him back, Typhos. You took away the one thing I knew I could always count on, and now I know I will never get him back.”

Pagus looked at Typhos like he was going to pummel him, and if he did, Typhos wouldn’t resist. He deserved all of the brutal beatings that Pagus would deliver.

“What’s sad is you used to be my best friend. And not just that. You used to be the guy that everyone wanted to be best friends with. You used to be the savior, and somehow, only a few people resented you for it. And now look at you. Disgraceful.”

I can’t argue with any of that. I deserve it all.

“You’re evil,” Pagus said. “I will take no joy in your execution or your imprisonment. But you are just an evil person, Typhos. You killed the chief. You killed my father. Who are you going to kill next? What makes you think that killing someone is the right way to go to it?”

Typhos again gave no answer.
There’s nothing to—

“TALK!”

Typhos lurched and shook at the force with which Pagus spoke, his lips trembling as he stared in the eyes of his former best friend.

“I don’t know,” Typhos said.

“Don’t lie to me, Typhos. I know what you’ve felt over the last few years. I’m sorry that your parents died. I really am. I, unfortunately, know what that feels like now. But you don’t see me—”

“My mother’s not dead,” Typhos said, almost a mumble.

“Oh, wow, really,” Pagus said, putting his arms up in frustration. “That’s the story you’re going to throw my way? That Aida came back from the dead, and that you’re influenced by her somehow? Mind controlled? Come on. First you kill my father, and now you lie to me? You… you’re the worst.”

“I swear to you, Pagus, she’s alive!” Typhos said. “Er… Aida is here, and she—”

“You’re actually going to argue with the son of the man whom you just killed?”

The chilling words ended all of Typhos’ arguments then.
Just remember Garron’s last words. Never hurt Pagus.