Scars of the Earth (8 page)

If I looked like you? Do I look that bad? She worried bringing her hand to her face. He reached out to her taking her hand from her face.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant that you are strong, stronger than most.” He drew her hand slowly to his lips, but she pulled it away before he could kiss it. He continued talking unabashed. “I will always like the way that you look.” He said kindly, but she couldn’t imagine that he really meant it.

“Do you have any idea who was holding on to Madgie?” He asked. She paused and brought herself back to that moment.

Who was around me? She concentrated hard on the few seconds that the fight had lasted. She felt the presence of her friends, Cole and Madgie were near her. Next she felt the presence of her unknown pursuers; three were blocking the door, another two against the far wall, and the older man was part way between her and Frey attempting to stop his unrelenting stream of attacks. That leaves one unaccounted for. She spoke his name and felt the acidic contents of her stomach rise to the back of her throat.

“Carter.” She said. Cole bit into his lower lip muffling a curse.

“Did Frey come out with him?” He asked.

“No, he was on the other side of the room.” She said with confidence.

“Well then it could have been worse. Still, out of all of those Healers it had to be him.” He tilted his head back allowing the last of the days light to wrap around his dark curls.

Chapter 7

A lone man stood tall in the arena. Determination was plain on his weathered face under the bright lights that hung high above him. The sound of murmuring dissent rang out all around the arena, but he gathered his strength and continued his plea.

“Listen, I have known Madgie for nearly seventy years now. She would never involve herself in something wicked. She has always, always built up the Hovel. If she has fled it is for a good reason. Perhaps she truly believes Amanda can be made whole.” Finn said. A deep voice rang out from the Ancients, though none of them had opened their mouths.

“She can not!” The voice said. The willowy Healer drove on.

“You can’t just put a death warrant on Madgie’s head, she hasn’t broken any law. She did what she thought was right. And this young Cole, he loved her, still does.” He said his moist eyes looking up at the crowd of his peers.

“I felt it and so did you. Will you kill him on sight for saving the one that he loves?” He asked. An old woman stood up in the crowd.

“That’s right Finn. Tell them, that they might see.” She shouted. A young man next to her jerked her down as the arena erupted in equal shouts of agreement and shouts of anger. Finn lifted his chin slightly at the new found support.

“And Amanda, why couldn’t we have just waited to see if she would recover. I don’t want someone to put me down every time I get a cold.” He joked. Cries went out all over the teeming arena.

“It’s not a cold.”

“She is evil!”

“No one knows.”

“The Ancients do!”

“What are the Ancients, your Kings and Queens, your rulers? No, no one rules over us. Every single one of them was once no more than a Healer, the same as you and me.” Finn couldn’t stop himself from shouting. He quickly turned to the five Ancients towering above him.

“We are Healers, we govern ourselves. You haven’t the right to put death on us.” He cried out. A bright flash of light burst into life at these words, which would be Finn’s last.

He had no time to react to the bolt of energy that ripped through his chest, burning a hole in his heart. His lifeless body staggered, muscles twitching involuntarily making him look like a haunting marionette before finally hitting the ground. The crowd of Healers burst into horrified screams as they gazed at the dead body of Finn, a man that had been a friend to all of them.

The tallest Ancient closed his eyes and waved his disjointed hand across the room. The room fell silent as men and women fell back into chairs and those who were standing in protest crumpled to the floor. The tallest, and male leader of the Ancients-Baal, rubbed his eyes with sharp fingers and spoke to the others mentally.

“Clam down they are asleep, it was the easiest spell to cast.” Baal said as he looked at the four other beings that had shared such a long life with him. A perfect life.

He knew that none were as powerful as they were together. And he worried about what would happen next. This was uncharted territory; the Healers had always been so obedient. They had catered to his every whim for centuries. Shiphra started all of this upheaval. It has been boiling just under the surface for seven decades. He thought.

He glided slowly over to Finn’s crumpled form. He turned the thin body over and caressed his still-warm cheek gently. Baal took the sweet old face in his palms and began pressing his hands together, crunching bones and twisting skin until the distorted face was no longer recognizable.

I should have killed Shiphra when I had the chance. He thought.

A blast of energy rippled through him, turning the man in his hands into a pile of ashes. Delia’s own voice echoed in his head.

“Stop whining about Shiphra we have more pressing matters to take care of. And was it really necessary to kill him in front of everyone?” She asked boldly. She was the only one that would address him so casually.

“What do you think Delia? Should I have let him continue to warp the minds of our sheep…No, it had to be done. Now we just have to clean up the mess.” He said. Delia’s mind wheeled with options for the other four to see.

“So which shall it be? He attacked us, Finn never showed up to this meeting, or the usual ‘he never existed’ route?” She asked. Baal began to think of Shiphra again but Delia stopped him.

“You know we don’t have the power to erase the memory of a fellow Ancient so why tire yourself with these thoughts? Now decide which it is.” She said her inner voice full of boredom.

Baal was tired of the trivial matter of covering up one life so he waved the responsibility off to Heisle. Heisle was never entrusted with decisions, so he was quite excited for the opportunity that had been presented-despite the circumstances. His inner voice was high and unsure, very unlike the others.

“Well, not all of the Healers who knew Finn were at this meeting. So it is a waste of energy to wipe his memory from these few.” He gestured around the room of hundreds of sleeping Healers. He continued with his reasoning.

“And all who knew Finn would never believe him to attack. So it would take far too much energy to alter so many minds so greatly, maybe even drain us completely until we are little dried up…” Baal shouted internally at the strange Ancient. Not one person in two and a half centuries had ever understood why Heisle was chosen to become an Ancient, not even himself.

“I don’t want you to explain your little theories! I’m not interested. Just deal with it so that I DON’T have to.” Heisle’s sunken face hollowed further as he heard Delia’s inner thoughts.

“I can’t remember the last time Heisle spoke; I think it’s been decades. I forgot how ridiculously small his voice is.” She laughed.

Heisle moved away as the other Ancients went back into the company of their own minds. He walked around the arena twice to make sure he felt every soul. When he was certain he had all of them at his finger tips, he went to the center of the arena. He stood tall and stretched his arms out wide; feeling the healers’ life, feeling their energy, and dreams. He let each of them flow into his consciousness.

This exercise was necessary to build energy before a large spell, but it did the opposite for Heisle. Each Healer’s dream was a goal he could never obtain. Each Healer’s life was fuller than his own. He glanced back at the four Ancients towering in the massive arena, completely aloof to the corps lying still at their feet.

He felt his energy draining from him and he allowed it to flow out of his feet. He was happy that he at least had the privacy of his mind when he wanted to have it. An Ancient could pick the mind of even the strongest Healer with some effort, but not another Ancient.

Probably the only reason that Shiphra got away, and she has nothing to worry about now. No one is strong enough to harm her out there, she is free. He thought longingly.

He thought of the years he had spent with her and he couldn’t put a word on them. The simple word he was searching for escaped him, because he hadn’t been ‘happy’ in such a very long time. He had wished that she had taken him with her; they could have escaped the tyranny of the others together.

I am so tired of being scared. I am so tired of this life. Poor Finn, poor…all of them really. He thought looking out at the crowd. At least his woes have ended, I fear that their’s are just beginning. Maybe I could…

A thought occurred to him as he was attempting to figure out the best way to erase what had just happened. He could be free from them. No longer having to be silent, no longer having to serve a tyrant.

He collected his thoughts and tied a tether to each unique mind, connecting all to him. He thought of the instant that the blast of energy collided into Finn. Heisle memorized the expression on the poor Healer’s face, the burning of his flesh, the fierce expression on Baal’s face. He hadn’t smiled in so long that it felt strange to him when his dry lips stretched up at the corners.

They won’t be able to reverse this; they won’t be able to pretend it didn’t happen. Not without doing something none of them are willing to do. He thought happily.

He drew in a deep breath letting their individual scents roll into him. He pulled in all of his energy; everything that he was, everything he had in him. And just before releasing it, he thought of Shiphra’s smiling face. With his guard down, all of the Ancients saw what he was doing but it was too late to stop him.

Bright bursts of energy were flying between Heisle and the arena full of Healers. A thin cord of light linked them to him. Heisle twitched and like a heart monitor light began to slowly beat down the strings. A slow steady pulse of light flew down hundreds of threads.

Heisle burned the images into the back of his eyelids and sent it down to them. Healers all around the room began to wake up in terror, women and men shouted in surprise and furry. Delia moved forward but Baal stopped her.

“He is giving all for this spell. I already tried to stop him but it would drain me of my life. There is nothing we can do now.” Heisle arched back unnaturally but managed to stay upright, standing only on the balls of his feet his muscles locking up.

The beat of light quickened; Finn’s face, Finn’s flesh, Baal’s smirk. With a loud snap, Heisle’s left arm folded up into his shoulder, followed by his right. The beat of light quickened still; Finn’s face, Finn’s flesh, Baal’s smirk.

Heisle’s mouth tore open wide as if to scream but no sound escaped. His skin dried up and pulled away from his open mouth. And the beat quickened further; Finn’s face, Finn’s flesh, Baal’s smirk.

Heisle’s once large form began shrinking, bones crumpling as if he were in a trash compacter. He coughed to clear his throat and dust escaped from the place his lips should have been. The pulsing light bounced off of the scrambling crowd breaking all movement into a disjointed slideshow.

The unfortunate Healer’s in the arena cried as the images bore into their minds and imprinted themselves there. Heisle’s dry tongue inexplicably formed words that rose above the uproar and silenced the stampeding Healers.

“Shiphra!” He coughed up another cloud of dust that was highlighted by a beam of light. “Shiphra is still out there, and she fled for a reason.” The bright beams of energy ceased to be as Heisle’s broken body slowly shriveled into little more than a leathery ball.

Hours later the relatively calm, as well as the horribly outraged had abandoned the arena-save two large figures. Draining energies still filled the large space; pain, sadness, and uncertainty. Baal didn’t like being there; it made him feel weak at an incredibly vulnerable time. Delia looked at the ground and laughed at the crumpled raisin-like form of Heisle. Baal didn’t find it amusing in the least.

“Do you think those Healers will ever forget what we did to one of their own?” He asked. Delia laughed again. “Nope, they never will forget what YOU did to one of their own. And you would probably die trying to take it from their minds, since Heisle gave his to put it there.” She said flatly. Baal threw his sharp arms up in disbelief.

“Do you think there will be a revolt?” She asked him. Her voice was uncaring, as always.

“No. Healers make peace, not war.” Baal felt certain of this, but there was a hesitation to his words.

“Sometimes war brings about peace.” She countered. There was a smile in her voice.

“Do you truly not care Delia, about what is ahead of you, or about anything?” He spat. He was face to face with her. He remembered how she looked as a Healer. Long flowing golden hair, thin waste, bright smile. Now she was a deformed creature, giant and sharp, like himself. All of her beauty had faded as they gained and retained power, as his had. But he never missed his looks; he would rather have the power.

“What is ahead, what is behind, it doesn’t matter. I have lived too long to care about anything that happens. But I am glad for the change, a bit of excitement in the centuries of dullness. Did I ever tell you how happy I was when Shiphra fled?” She asked. His anger boiled over and she laughed as she felt his emotional struggle. He quieted his anger and spoke.

“We are beacons of power mortals know not of. Does duty mean nothing to you?” He asked. Delia smiled a twisted smile, her sharp cheekbones becoming peaks.

“It use to, but my sense of duty fled years ago, as did yours Baal.” Baal went to speak but had nothing to say. “Duty means nothing to you. It is power, energy, and control that you hold dear. Otherwise you would care as little as I do about Amanda being free. Why is it so important? Because people disagreed with your decree and acted upon it, and it kills you.” She brushed a single long white hair out of her face delicately, as if she cherished the remnants of this reminder of her old appearance. Then she continued.