Champions of Serenity: Destiny Fulfilled

Chapter 24

“Shrina, pay attention or you won’t be going.” Airidon said simply. He looked again at the layout of the town and listened to Tyra as she outlined where she was going to set them down within the walls.

“You can’t do that, Airidon. Tris said I could go this time.” Shrina pouted and interrupted Tyra yet again.

Looking over at Shrina, Tyra sighed and shook her head. It was useless to say anymore when the Siblen was so anxious to be underway. “Alright, Shrina, the talking is done. But if you get lost because you didn’t pay attention, don’t expect us to come find you.” Tyra said softly and unrolled the line of white thread she was using to transport so many such a great distance.

“Finally,” Shrina said when she felt the thread land in her palm. She held on tight and allowed the magic to tingle around her. Then she heard Tyra’s voice say all clear and let go of the thread as it was tugged from her hand. Looking around, Shrina squealed with delight at all the shops already open. “Oooo, this is going to be fun!” She then danced off; ignoring the looks the others threw her way.

Airidon looked at the others and shook his head. “Let’s just hope this works as Shrina planned. Good luck and meet back here as soon as you are done.” Green worried that yellow would go overboard and prayed he would be able to rein her in when the time came. Then he waited until he was alone in the alley and then ran off to do his part of the job.

Shrina strolled down the main traders’ street. She paused at all the open shops, glancing in the windows of those that were closed. Then she moved to the square where open air stalls and carts had been and were being set up for the day’s business. With a sigh, she bit into a steaming hot roll she bought from a vendor and then rolled her eyes in sheer pleasure at the almost scalding hot fruit baked inside. Yes, this was going to be a joy.

At the stall selling bulk cloth, Shrina paused and fingered some raw blue silk. As she was pondering her purchase the merchant stiffened. Looking over her shoulder, Shrina grinned as she saw the early morning patrol moving down the street toward her. “I’ll be back in a few for the blue and some of the yellow and perhaps some crimson. Please hold it for me.”

Turning from the merchant, Shrina winked at him a moment and then pulled a dagger from her sleeve. She ducked behind the stall and then emerged further down between two closed stalls. The morning sun reflected off of her blade as it flew through the air and found a home in the left eye of one of the patrol. As the man fell dead, his companions searched for the assassin.

Appearing again behind the patrol, Shrina selected two blades this time. In rapid succession, she killed two more of Handsome’s men. Those from Galogosch who were open watched in amazement as the tiny woman moved around the square and one by one picked off the unwanted presence of Lord Dreybrenic.

When the final three stood back to back, Shrina came from the shadows in front of the leader. His hiss brought the attention of his final men to his direction. “Roses are red, Violets are blue, your friends are dead, and so are you.” Shrina laughed. Twin daggers flew through the air finding homes in the throats of the two outside men.

The final man took a step forward and then fell as a third dagger slammed into his right eye. Shrina looked down at the man in the middle of the square as she pulled the dagger free and wiped the blade on a cloth before putting it away. “He was kind of cute, too bad he worked for the wrong side.” With a shrug, Shrina gathered the rest of her daggers before returning to her shopping.

Back at the silk merchant, she smiled brightly and paid for the bolts of cloth she had selected. She then wandered around, buying leather for Airidon, a new scabbard for Tyra, a bag of flash powder for Korol, and a couple of new stew pots for Fini. Along the way, she made friends with the merchants and those shopping in the morning.

Tyra watched Shrina dance off and shook her head. Then she crept off to the fort just off the center of town. Finding a service entrance, she moved like an old woman carrying water buckets to the main house. As she moved slowly, she thought about her ability to now disguise herself with a mental spell rather than a spoken one. If it hadn’t been for Tris and her unorthodox methods of teaching Tyra doubted she would be as skilled and confident with her magic as she was.

Then the door she needed came into view and she quietly set down the water buckets and peeked through a crack in the door. Inside, she saw two men, one pacing in front of a window and the other standing over a table looking at various pages.

“Will you settle down, Lindon. Pacing isn’t going to change anything.” The man at the table said after a moment.

“I just can’t get over what happened at Kreben. If I had been there, then maybe my brother wouldn’t have been taken out so easily. He and I always did work better as a team.” Lindon said and turned his back on the window and took the only seat in the room. “I still think it’s foolish to double the patrols at night and leave us at half strength during the day. If I were to attack, it would be then.”

The first man looked up from his reading and shook his head incredulously. “Look, Lindon, maybe you have the guts to stand up to Lord Greshinea, but I don’t. We follow his orders until told otherwise. Make sure all the night patrols are back and get some sleep.”

“Of course, Keler.” Lindon stood and moved toward the door. He stopped a moment as Keler went back to his reading and sighed again.

The door burst open at that point and a sword flashed in the morning light. Lindon didn’t have time to do anything in the shock of the attack. Keler turned at the spurt of blood and found himself impaled on the end of a tall woman’s sword. He looked into the pale blue eyes of his killer as the light left his own.

Tyra felt someone grab her hair and spun around in time to stop the attack from the guard on the door she hadn’t seen. In the few minutes it took to kill him the only sounds came from the clash of steal and determined breathing.

Cursing herself for her carelessness, Tyra cleaned her sword on the guard’s tunic before putting it away. With Meckin’s disappearance she didn’t think the Circle could survive another of their number falling to an unknown fate. She gathered the reports, maps, and plans from the table and left the building.

She was doubly careful leaving in case the alarm should sound. On the street outside the fort, she wondered why no one had come to check on the commander and his aide yet and then remembered that most of the men were probably asleep because of the new standing orders of double night patrols. Luck seemed to be on her side this morning.

Airidon entered the smithy and felt at once at home and homesick. Already the fires were lit and glowing with a red hot heat. A big man was working a piece of glowing metal with a large hammer on an anvil. How many times had Airidon spent the morning with his own father doing this very work? It made him all the more eager to save this man and his craft as he couldn’t save his father.

“Smithy?” Airidon asked to get the man’s attention. When the big man set the flattened metal back in the fire to heat again and turned to see who his first customer of the day was, Airidon smiled. Before he could say anything, the door behind him opened and two of Handsome’s men walked in demanding more weapons.

Without a pause, Airidon turned and cut the heads off of both men. Shaking his head, he cleaned his weapon and was about to put it away and changed his mind. “More might come and I don’t like their rude, grabbing ways.” Airidon explained to the startled smith.

The smith looked from the tall man standing in his workshop and then at the two dead officers. The light of his fire glinted off of something on the man’s chest and the Smithy’s eyes widened. “You on the run from the Emperor’s men,” the smithy finally said into the waiting silence.

Airidon shook his head. “No, I don’t run from him.” Before more could be said, there was a banging on the door and four armed men wearing the Emperor’s colors rushed in with blades drawn. The Smithy’s fearful glance moved from the four men to the two dead ones on his floor to the stranger with twin blades drawn. Stepping back, the Smithy watched as Airidon didn’t even pause as he killed all four of the mercenaries without even breaking a sweat.

Taking a minute to clean both of his blades on the shirts of the fallen, Airidon looked up at the stunned Smithy. He lifted one of the swords and then offered to the man to look at. “I made that, with my father, when I was younger. It is all I have left of him, and if I wasn’t as skilled in their use as I am, one of these thieves might have worn it and used it on my family.” Airidon stood slowly, keeping the other blade out and ready.

The Smithy looked at the blade and then again at Airidon. “The name’s Jetter. I recognize this mark, man by the name of Cybrec used it. He had a natural talent, heard his family was killed, all except for his eldest son who was away.” Jetter handed the sword back to Airidon and then looked at the bodies of the dead on his floor. “There have been whispers, secret whispers full of fear and hope.”

The sword fit in his hand perfectly and Airidon sighed softly. “I am Airidon Cybrec, and as I said, I don’t run from the Emperor, I hunt him down. I am one of eight others sworn to protect our world from him.” He waved his hand toward the dead. “We can rid you of these vermin, but we need good, strong, people who will keep them gone.”

Jetter rubbed his nose a moment and then picked up another sword leaning by the wall. “You and your friends are the ones who attacked Kreben?” Airidon nodded. “That was the first breath of hope those in this part of Nasinih has had for close to two decades. There have been small rebellions here and there, but they were always shut down quickly. You have risen up to strike twice and won.” He nodded his chin in the direction of Airidon’s Star. “I want to believe in that symbol. I know of people who will guard the gates and this pass and not let anymore of the Emperor’s men through.”

Airidon offered Jetter his hand. “I don’t promise it will be easy or that some of you won’t die, but I do promise you will be free again, to make your own choices and not be used as slaves any longer.”

“That is more than anyone else has offered. I will take care of things here, Airidon Cybrec.” Jetter nodded toward the swords in Airidon’s care. “A man who can create those and then use them for good is a friend in my book. Galogosch is yours.”

When Airidon and Jetter left the smithy, people were milling around, talking in small groups. Then a patrol of the Emperor’s men came into the town square. They looked around, saw the other dead piled up and then into the faces of those who lived there. One of them stepped away from the others and nodded to Airidon.

“This would be the part where you either surrender or die.” The one who stepped away pulled off his helmet and smiled wickedly at the troops. “In case you missed it, I’m with him.” Korol said, taking a step to stand next to Airidon. Then Shrina and Tyra joined Korol and Airidon, weapons ready.

The leader of the patrol looked at the four people with weapons drawn and at the bodies piled up, then finally into the waiting faces of the people of Galogosch. He chuckled softly and nodded. “I’m not going to fight my own people. I was recruited from here, as were most of those who served here, I have family here. But what are you going to do about the officers?”

Korol smiled again, this time with a feral madness behind his eyes. “I wouldn’t worry about them, if they had the stink of the Emperor’s mark on them, they’re dead.” Then Noshtra came forward and stood next to Airidon, her muzzle clearly bloody. Airidon reached down and touched Noshtra’s head a moment and looked at the patrol leader again.

Then Jetter took a step forward and lifted a sword in his hand. “I declare Galogosch free from the Emperor! All who wish to stand as freemen come to my shop and I’ll supply you with weapons.” He pointed to Airidon. “These people have freed us from those who would keep us as slaves. Who will join me in defending our new freedom?”

Again the patrol looked around and raised their swords high as well. “We will stand with our families!” They shouted and then Airidon nodded to Tyra and the others. Touching Jetter’s arm silently, Airidon nodded his thanks to the smith and then faded away to return home to Tris and their forest.

“Oh, wait,” Shrina said and ran back into the trade center and tapped the merchant on his arm. He looked at the tiny woman who had helped free them as well as made the huge purchases from him and smiled. He took her back to his stall, where her items were all bundled up and helped her carry them to where the others were waiting. “Sorry, but I couldn’t leave everything behind.” She said with a grin and an extra generous tip to the merchant for his help.

The merchant looked at the group standing before him and smiled. Then a faraway look came into his eyes. “That which is lost is found, healing comes in many forms, seek the path and you shall have both.” He shook his head and chuckled softly. “Sorry, I don’t always know what I say, but that hasn’t worked since I was younger, before the Emperor came to power. Thank you, for the hope you bring of a brighter future. Come back anytime and I’ll have more for you to buy, my friends.” He then returned to the city center to join in the celebration of his home’s freedom.

Noshtra watched him leave and then looked at Airidon. “He smells of a prophet of Perlish. I would trust his words, if we could understand them. Let’s get back to Tris and see if she understands them when she’s finished with her part of our little raid.”

Tyra nodded, but she was feeling some hope that it spoke of Meckin. She had seen the look in Tris’s face when Chaos spoke of where their lost friend and Circle brother could be. Tris had believed the god, even if others didn’t and that was good enough for Tyra. If it was true, then Meckin was found and they would get him back further down the path they walked. She took the group home as quickly as possible, impatient now to speak with Tris.

Chaos chuckled softly and shook his head. So they hadn’t believed him when he told them Meckin was alive. It took a prophet of Perlish to convince them. Well, he did have a lot to atone for when it came to Serenity’s champions, especially to both blues.

He looked up when Serenity came into his halls and sighed softly. It wasn’t that he minded his sister visiting, but lately it was like she was here almost every day and it was annoying him. How was he supposed to get any work done with her popping in and out all the time.

“I see you are watching my champions again. Anything happening I should know about?” Serenity said with a smile and sat down next to Chaos. She looked at her brother and noticed his unease and allowed herself another private smile.

“Nothing really exciting happening with them at the moment; they just freed Galogosch and stole another of Dreybrenic’s power catalysts. Shrina did some shopping and Perlish sent her prophet to reinforce my statement that Meckin wasn’t dead, only lost.” Chaos said and poured wine for his sister and took some for himself.

Serenity lifted an eyebrow. “I didn’t know this. Do you know where Meckin is lost?” She had, in fact, spoken with Perlish about it before Chaos knew, but she wanted to make her brother feel guilty for not talking to her first before going to her champions.

Chaos felt guilty, he should have talked to Serenity, but he was so excited to find a way to start making things up to Tris he forgot to let his sister know. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first. I just wanted to get into the Circle’s good books for a little while. But I don’t think they believed me. I don’t know where Meckin is, but he isn’t here. I’m guessing he fell through a rip to another world, or maybe Father has him.” Chaos mumbled, and then he sat up and looked at Serenity.

“It isn’t fair you have Tris and Fini, Serenity. Have you ever tasted Fini’s cooking? It makes some of the food here taste like pig swill, and he’s mortal, or he was. But really, you shouldn’t be able to take all the talent for yourself.” Chaos said, still thinking of that stew he had from Fini’s cook pot.

Serenity threw back her head and laughed. “I didn’t select my champions because they could cook, Chaos dear. I selected my champions to bring balance to Sandeenai. I’m sure whatever other talents they have will be passed onto their children and you can tempt one of them to come and cook for you.

“Thank you, for looking into Meckin’s loss. I hope that when you find him, you’ll let me know before you go charging off to speak with my champions.” Serenity said. Then she finished her wine and rose. “I have some matters to attend to for Father. Please keep an eye on things for me.”

Chaos watched her leave and then sat back in his cushions. “Sure, sure, I’ll just keep an eye on things here for you, sister dear.” He grumbled and then he sat forward and chuckled. “Oh yes, it will be a pleasure to keep an eye on things for you, sister.”