The Journey Home: The Ingenairii Series: Beyond the Twenty Cities (18 page)

“As you wish, my lord,” she smiled as she complied.

Alec wrapped an arm around her. 
We should practice sharing our thoughts clearly with each other,
he told her mentally.

What makes this possible?
she asked.

We shared the flow of our blood between our bodies for a night and a day
, Alec explained. 
And that can transfer some abilities, such as this.

Is this something you can do with many people?
Aja asked.

With a handful.  With some, it can happen over long distances, even when we cannot see one another.  Andi tells me that we were able to do it, and even more, before I was injured,
he told her.

Would you and I be able to speak to one another over a great distance?
Aja pressed him.

It takes some adjustment,
Alec replied
.  I would have to reshape your spirit.

Will you do it for me?  I want to be able to talk to you
, she told him.

Relax, and let me examine you,
he said.  He felt a desire to share his thoughts with Aja, compelled by an attraction to the girl that was not physical, but that was driven by
his admiration for
the love of life she displayed at all times.  Alec found her invigorating and inspiring.

Carefully, he let his spirit embrace hers fully, exploring the nature of her personality.  She had a strong sense of faith he discovered, a faith that rested on some timeless tree faith that the sun would always come up again, the rain would always fall again, and life would continue.  It was her positive faith that allowed her to start each new evening with an expectation of good things to come.

Her faith was like his, he realized, in that he too believed good things would always come, though he relied on God and Jesus, and even John Mark, to deliver the future, whereas Aja had no name she gave to the deliverer of better times ahead.  Gently, he kneaded her faith with the inspiration he felt, then moved on, skirting around her memories.  He didn’t wish to intrude or expose her secrets, and so he continued to move, discovering the innate ability she had to judge and read people.  It was like the nugget of a Spirit ingenaire skill itself, he realized, letting her understand so much about others, and feeling sympathy for them.  Convinced that he had seen enough ability to be confident she would grow stronger, he withdrew, hoping that he had done enough in the one short session.

You will be able to practice your skills while we are together, and maybe the time will come when we will be able to reach one another without our bodies touching,
he transmitted the feeling of a warm smile.

Sleepy man, I can feel your sleepiness now.  You rest Al
ec, and I will go talk to Amane;
I can tell he likes to listen to me and look at me
, she told him.

Good night, Aja,
he told her as she left the bed, and then he rolled over and slept soundly.

When Alec awoke the next morning, the sun was halfway above the horizon, and Aja was standing in the corner in her deciduous glory.  Alec equipped himself with every weapon he had at his disposal, sword, bow, and bandolier, then left the inn and went out to stand at the edge of the great square.  He felt good as he looked around; he felt a certain premonition that he was going to win a battle today, and then, a surprising premonition told him, something even bigger would occur. 

Before him was the largest public open space he had ever seen in a great city, larger than anything in Michian or Vincennes.  The size of the square, along with the classic lines of several of the buildings that framed it, gave Alec an impression of great antiquity, of a city that had been built in a different age by a greater civilization, and he was struck by a long-forgotten memory of the great ruins on the western border of the Pale Mountains.

Alec walked through the square, which was empty, except for debris that blew across it, and entered one of the buildings, chosen at random, with great steps that rose between two rows of columns.

“There’s no one in here,” a pale woman in a guard uniform told Alec.  “And soon there won’t be anyone
in the city
at all.”

Alec approached her, and examined her as he did.  The lady was ill, suffering from the plague that was devastating the city.  “Take my hand,” he commanded her, and sending a steady stream of Healing energy into her body as they touched.

The color returned to her face, she stood taller, and her hand grasped Alec’s with renewed strength, squeezing his with desperate hope.  “What did you do to me?” she asked loudly.

“I healed you,” Alec said.  “What is this place?” he asked conversationally.  “I just arrived in the city last night.”

“This was the city hall.  The mayor died last week.  The chief of the guardians is at the war front, and the magistrate is in the hospital, doing healing as well,” the guard told Alec.

“I was told that there was a group of men who arrived two days ago.  What have you heard of them?” he asked.

“I heard they went up to the north end of the city, and they took over a mansion by the fountain of powers.  They’re trying to collect a few women in the city,” she answered.

“Thank you,” Alec said.  “Which way is the fountain of powers?”

The guard directed him through the city, and watched in amazement as he turned and left her. 

More people were out in the streets now, and Alec felt depressed by the signs of death and resignation that were so prevalent throughout the city.  He walked for half an hour, until he came to a long bridge over a deep canyon within the city, then he took the last turn he needed to reach his destination.  Before him rose an impressive bronze fountain of statutes of lions, spouting water high into the sky, and just beyond the circle around the fountain Alec saw several dozen horses tied along a rail in front of an impressive mansion. 

One guard was stationed by the horses, and two guards were stationed at the front of the house.  The number of horses suggested that the kidnappers had picked up more girls, and many more guards to help keep them captive on the journey.

As he stood and observed and tried to plan his next step, he heard a scream within the house.  It was a scream of pain that ended in his name, and the voice was Andi’s voice.

With one hand Alec pulled knives free from his bandolier, then embraced his Light energy, Spirit energy, and Warrior energy.  He was invisible, and ready to fight.

Chapter 11
– Rescuing the Captives

Alec began to run towards the house, as he curved his path around the fountain and around the horses.  When he passed the guard who was stationed by the horses, he pulled his sword with his free hand and sliced the blade across the neck of the guard there, killing the man silently as he went by.  He let both his knives fly with his other hand, striking both the guards at the door, and making his entry into the building effortlessly, after he stooped and retrieved his knives.

He entered a grand entry hall, with a balcony all around the second floor above, and doors going in three directions around him.  His ears were desperately trying to hear any indication from Andi of what her location was, and finding no clues.  In the absence of any sound from Andi, Alec reacted to the first sound he heard, and stepped through the doorway to his left.  Four guards were sitting at a table, relaxing as they played cards, unaware of the invisible assassin that had entered the room with them.

He let his knives fly again at the two farthest guards, then stabbed his sword at the two closest to him, before a single guard had even pushed away from the table.  Alec had no qualms about removing as many of the guards as he could on his way to finding the two surviving Warrior ingenairii, and he did not hesitate a second beyond the time he needed to recover his knives again.  He returned to the entry hall, then climbed the stairs and ran down a long hallway, one that was dimly lit.  He skidded to a halt in front of a door behind which he heard conversation
,
then kicked the door open and stood invisibly examining the interior for a split second.  Six girls and two guards were in the room.

The knives left Alec’s hands again, causing the guards both to collapse with looks of surprise on their faces, and the girls to start screaming.  Alec allowed himself to become visible as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“Stop the screaming!  Stop screaming!  Stop!” he told them.  “I’m here to set you free and send you home.”

At the sound of such an extraordinary offer the girls silenced their shouts, though they remained fearfully huddled together.

“My name is Alec.  I have been chasing these kidnappers since they took Kriste from my home in the mountains on the other side of the Twenty Cities, and I have come to set her and all of you free,” he told them.

“You were the one they fought in Exbury, weren’t you?” one of the girls asked.  “Kriste told me about you.”

“And the new girl, she fights like you.  She said you were coming!” another girl spoke.

“Where is she?  Where is Andi?” Alec pressed.  He heard the sound of boots on the stairs, probably coming to investigate the screams, he suspected.

“Everyone over there
, and stay silent
,” he motioned urgently, as he pulled the bodies of the two dead guards behind a low table, then stood in line with the door and made himself invisible again.  Four guards appeared in the doorway, stepped in without caution, then immediately attempted to pull their swords free as they saw the two bodies lying on the floor.  Alec threw knives from his invisible station, then swung his sword to finish off the last of the reinforcements.  He returned to visibility, then bent to retrieve his knives once again, and heard the sound of one of the girls retching.

“Do you know where more girls are?  Are they in any rooms up here?” Alec asked.  “We need to get out of here.  Where’s Andi?” he repeated his earlier question.

“
There are four girls staying in the room at the end of the hall; I saw them when I went to the privy,” one of the girls volunteered the information.

“You girls lead the way down there, and walk into the room like there’s no problem.  I’ll come in behind you and take care of the guards,” he told them.  He counted in his head; three guards killed outside, four downstairs, six in the room they were leaving, probably two in the room they were going to – fifteen less guards to worry about.

“Your friend, Andi, she doesn’t stay with any of us.  They keep her separate, I think in the basement,” one of the girls told Alec as she passed him.

“Thank you,” he told her as he followed her into the hallway.  He was walking visibly now, wary of using his energies too greatly before he faced the Warriors somewhere in the building.

“What do you think you’re doing?  Where’s Warel?” Alec heard a guard ask as the girls ahead of him opened a door and entered a room.

Alec entered the room behind them, saw the two guards and the four sick girls lying on beds, then swung his sword rapidly, disemboweling both guards with a single slice of his blade.  He heard another girl retch, but he paid no attention as he stepped over to kneel beside a girl on a bed.  It was Kriste, and she had the plague.

With only a moment’s hesitation, Alec dropped all the energies he was using, and grasped his Healing energy, then laid his hands simultaneously on Kriste and another girl, bringing them back to health, as he heard shouts of anger and shock start to rise up the staircase from below.

Someone had discovered his first victims, he knew, as he moved forward to treat the other two ill girls.  He was shocked to discover that they had
already
contracted the disease after only being in t
he city for a couple of days; it
made him fearful of how thoroughly the population of the city would be decimated by the plague that moved so fast through its victims.

The boots were pounding nearer on the stairs.  “All of you stay here,” he ordered.  “Don’t open the door for anyone but Andi or me.  Push furniture against it as soon as I leave.

“Will you obey?” he asked, looking around at the grave countenances in the room.  “Good,” he responded as all heads nodded.  “You can throw those out the window if you want to, but keep their weapons,” he advised, and then he stepped out of the room with his Warrior energy engaged and his throwing knives drawn.

He stalked down the hall, and began throwing knives from forty feet away as he saw the heads of men begin to appear at the top of the staircase.  With four knives thrown quickly, Alec whipped the bow off his shoulder and began notching arrows as he ran towards the staircase and heard men starting to scramble in retreat.  Three of his arrows struck guards who were attempting to retr
eat, letting Alec add
seven more victims to the total of men he had killed in just a few minutes.

Virtually all of the mortal guards should be out of commission, Alec calculated, but so far he had no more than half of the captive girls.  He leaped down the stairs and turned to his right, entering a series of empty rooms that he ran through quickly until he reached one with a locked door.