Preserving Hope (41 page)

The sound of screaming rose in the distance, and Will noticed the bright glow from the direction of the village.

He scrambled down the ramp and off the dock, seized the torch, and ran toward the village. Running toward yet another home that was on fire. This time, however, it wasn’t just his home; it was the entire village. And this time, Adam wasn’t rescuing him from the fire; he had set it.

The images came to him as his pace increased. Adam had used his Energy to lock everyone in the village down. He’d seized Arthur, bound him, and carried the man to the Wheel where he’d left him in the aqueduct. After getting Will out of the village, Adam had used his Energy to smash the kegs of wine and ale over the exteriors of the rooms, and then sent his flaming Energy into the alcohol, setting the entire village ablaze. Only when it was too late for any of them to escape did he release their bonds, to enable them to be fully aware as death claimed them all through the fire.

Will saw Adam standing outside the village, a look of grim satisfaction on his face illuminated by the flames which destroyed everything in sight. Will absent-mindedly felt the paper scroll computer in his pocket, as it was the only truly irreplaceable item he owned. He had money aplenty buried in the hidden cave he and Elizabeth had used for training — and more recently, healing — and was unconcerned about losing his wealth.

Now, though, he recognized that Adam had decided to use his abilities to act as executioner of the villagers who had, to the best of their knowledge, murdered three innocent women. Adam’s earlier words — “I don’t know if I can live here with these people” — took on new meaning. He hadn’t been planning to move away to avoid the villagers; he’d been planning to exterminate them all.

“I did what you wouldn’t do, Will,” Adam said, as Will walked up next to the man. “I made sure those cowards and evildoers never again had the chance to harm innocents.”

“But why, Adam? Why do they not get the chance to redeem themselves?”

“They’ve had chances, Will. Your memories tell of that fact, and you’ve been here for only a short time.
Their
memories told of daily choices made concerned only with themselves, and rationalizing the ill treatment of first Genevieve and then Eva, but always of the child known as Elizabeth. Grown women might have the chance to defend themselves, but a child? It is that crime for which I’ll never forgive them.”

Will shook his head, still too in shock to recognize that he’d never again talk to any of them. “The child you speak of — she specifically told me that she associates those who would commit murder with Arthur, the one who wounded her the most deeply of all. Make no mistake, Adam. What you’ve done here is murder, not vengeance. You may have found yourself unable to forgive them what they’d done — but will Eva ever forgive
you
? Will Elizabeth? Would Genevieve?”

Adam’s face showed the slightest tinge of doubt. “What’s done is done.”

The walls finally collapsed, lit by the burning rooms, and the two men watched as the entire village smoldered into nothing but ashes.

Will glanced at Adam. “What about the animals? Are they guilty as well?”

Adam shook his head. “They were freed before I woke you. Only those with the free will to choose their actions paid the ultimate price.”

Will heard a sound behind him, and turned to find a bedraggled Arthur shuffling in to view. The man’s face was the epitome of confusion, as if his brain could simply not understand what he was seeing.

“Only two were saved from the fire,” Adam said, without turning to recognize Arthur. “One, because he and he alone worked to change the village for the better, refused to participate in the evil it had become, and tried to save those persecuted within the walls. The second? He will serve as a constant reminder of what the face of incorrect choices looks like. He will live the rest of his days having to remember what he’s done, and live with the fact that his choices led to the deaths of over fifty men and women who likely would still be alive now if not for him. He will have to live with the knowledge that he murdered his wife and daughter.”

Arthur had no response.

Will looked at Adam. “You’ve destroyed our home, Adam. We have nowhere to live, no means of making an income to buy the supplies we need to survive. What do we do?”

Adam suddenly whirled upon Arthur, threw the man to the ground, and forced something into the man’s mouth. To prevent gagging, Arthur was forced to swallow the food Adam had injected into him.

As Arthur recovered, Adam turned to Will, and offered him a handful of pungent berries, and Will recognized what they must be. The morange berries, the trigger for the abilities that Elizabeth had developed and, most likely the basis of the Purge Will himself had taken in the future. Arthur would now, after a great deal of pain and suffering, build the abilities he’d so long desired.

“Eat them, Will. They develop the abilities I demonstrated earlier. We will let the two of you recuperate from the effects of the berries, and then train you in how to use them.”

Adam turned back to face what remained of the village, as the flames died down and they were cast into darkness. “This effort at building a village of high commerce was a failure. The three of us will use our abilities to rebuild, and recruit others, and build another home upon the ashes and memories of what we left behind. We will have rules about how we treat each other, so that we avoid the disaster here, a disaster that ended today. And we’ll have a name to define us.”

He motioned to the ground, where shards of wood were scattered, and Will recognized the shattered remnants of the sign on the Schola that he himself had hurled against the well. Adam laid the pieces out on the ground and, by the light of Will’s torch, he assembled the pieces to form a single long word.

AL IO I NC RE MENT UM SCH OLA

Adam looked at the letters. “Our name should be formed from the shattered remnants of the building where so much potential good might have been done.” He began shuffling the pieces of wood, removing some chunks and moving others around.

He finally looked at Will. “What do you think of this?”

Will looked at the ground, but he already knew what it said.

AL IO MENT I

Will pushed the letters together. ALIOMENTI. “I like it. I think it will define our group for a very long time.”

Adam nodded. “Arthur, what do you think?”

The morange berries began to have their effect at that moment, however, and Arthur’s opinion on the name was lost to the sounds of his screams.

But Will knew what his answer would be.

Author’s Note

Thanks for reading! I hope you’ve enjoyed the ongoing saga of Will Stark and the Aliomenti. To find all of the books in the series, check
here
.

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Thanks again!

Alex

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Other Books by Alex Albrinck

The Aliomenti Saga

Book 1:
A Question of Will

Book 2:
Preserving Hope

Book 3:
Ascent of the Aliomenti

Book 4: Coming in 2013!

Copyright (c) 2012 by Alex Albrinck. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, contact [email protected].

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.