THE FORGOTTEN TEMPLES
The rest of the crowd tried to integrate as best they could. They studied the three men’s reactions and interpreted then reacted accordingly. The man walked across the room approaching the three men.
“Stay back!”
Thomas shouted at him. He sighed heavily, smacking his lips.
“Listen you old fools. I don’t have time for this, either you let me do what I came here to do or I go back from where I came.”
“We would prefer the latter!”
The man turned to the crowd and addressed them, pointing his hands towards the agitated men at the table.
“Does this frail old man speak for the rest of you?”
The crowd fell silent. They had no knowledge of the man’s origin, nor of his identity so they were in no position to speak.
“Do not trust this man! He was with the others during the attack. I saw him, we all saw him!” Thomas said, referring to his two other colleagues beside him.
“Look do you want my help or not? Because I am a man with little patience. I have other things to attend to…”
“I say we listen to the man!” one of the men from amongst the crowd shouted.
“Are you out of your mind? Did you not just here what I said he is with them!”
“I say we vote, whoever wants to hear what the man has to say raise your hand.” the man in the crowd said. Numerous hands were hoisted, and it was clear most of the people wanted to hear what the man had planned for them.
Thomas looked at the crowd, reviled by the hands in the air. “This man is dangerous can’t you see that?!”
“In this uprising democracy rules! In here we are all slaves with no leader so we go by the majority Milner, you waving your crested family status around will not work here. The people have decided to listen to this man and that is what we are going to do.”
“Bravo! Well, let us get to it then, shall we Mr. Milner?”
Thomas unfolded his fists with in a loathing manner, he glared back at the crowd, disappointed.
“Okay then where were we? Oh yeah that’s right”
He pulled out the Covenant book from a sac he dad strapped on his back. Vigorously flipping through the pages he mumbled to himself inherently. Xermia recognized the cover of the book and he whispered to Thomas and Sigrid.
“Are you seeing what I am seeing?”
“What is it?”
“If I am not mistaken that is the Covenant book!”
Thomas interrupted the man’s page flipping, “I know that book! Where did you get it?”
“Oh this book, I got it from a far away place called shut up and mind your business!”
The man’s arrogance was getting to Thomas, he was an insult away from a complete breakdown.
“Oh here we go! Sorry to keep you waiting.”
His index finger surfed across the page as he mumbled the words written. He looked up at the ceiling, repeatedly reciting the incarnation in order to cram it.
“Okay here we go!”
He said, lifting his arm. He declaimed the verse without stuttering. A series of bright green rings encircled his arms, spinning and spewing out specks of glowing embers. The three men at the front of the room reached for whatever they thought could inflict damage on the man. They predicted an attack was eminent. The rest of the crowd was clueless, some were fearful, others were amazed.
The incarnation went on for a while before the man halted his speech and the green rings on his arms slowly began to fade away. After a while the shackles strapped on the peoples’ wrists and ankles snapped one by one, falling to the ground.
Thomas Milner, Alexander Xermia and Sigrid Hermon looked down at their hands and feet, free of the metallic constrictions that nullified their magic. Chatters of excitement began in the crowd until they were silenced by the man’s voice
“You can thank me later. Those were magic inhibitors used to suppress the gifted. They take away your ability to access your manna so you can’t use your gift. Now that you are free you can plan your next move. Though I would advise you to do it quickly before dawn because they'll find you and lots of people will die and all that. Those of you that escape travel all the way to Defectors State, enter a forest near the Boundary to Free State and I will meet you there in three days time to show you the next way forward. Okay have a nice escape!”
The man saluted them and began walking away but before he could reach the exit the man in the crowd shouted at him.
“Wait! We are thankful for you’re help, what do we call you?”
The man took his time to survey the animated faces painted on the crowd, he smirked, “You can call me Anato, Anato Strider, and don’t thank me yet…” he turned and whispered to himself, “The fun has just began!”
DISTRICT DARK
The birds clocked in at dawn and performed their usual task of waking everyone up. Most of the villagers had already been awake before the cock crows and the bird chirping though. With all the unrest caused by the past events of the night some even found it hard to get some sleep. Alicia was one of them. She had been awake nearly the entire night trying to connect the dots.
Sunrise found her already seated at the front porch of her house. The cold morning breeze didn’t seem to bother her. Even though the entire night was filled with chaos the only good thing she was glad of, one that came out from all the commotion was her mother being well again. She had left her snoring her exhaustion away in her room.
As the sun was beginning its ascent Alicia spotted several people walking towards her home. From afar they looked like shadows. Once they were at a closer distance Alicia was finally able to identity them. They were her fellow state guards.
They arrived, exchanging pleasantries as they sought for conformity around her. Their expressions were spirited, Alicia could sense their positivity from a mile away. Carrs broke the uneasy silence that had began building up after they exhausted all their greetings.
“How are you doing today commander?!”
“Well, I am not dead so that’s a start,”
Alicia then giggled, this time genuinely and the bunch could tell it was not forced.
“Well, we were just talking to the knight guards and soldiers back at the fort, they thought it would be best if they asked for your permission first but they wanted to organize a funeral for the soldiers that died yesterday.”
“Of course, they don’t need my permission to do that. In fact I will be in attendance. It’s the least I can do. I know I was the one that dragged them inside the forest and led them to their deaths so I’m solely responsible for the grief caused…”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself Commander,” Reene said, “They knew what they signed up for and they told us themselves they were ready for whatever was to come. It was just bad luck.”
Carrs Armani waited for the moment of silence to end, then spoke.
“I also have something to tell you. Yesterday, you told us that you and Reene traveled to a spiritual dimension.”
“Yes, out of instinct.”
“What if you could control it. What if you could go back there and find that giant being you conversed with. You could learn valuable information.”
“I don’t even know how I did it. It was all out of instinct.”
“If it was a spiritual realm then I might be able to help. Not me but I know a way. The Forgotten Temples of South Angus. We are taught a way to master the art of traversing spiritual realms. If you can accompany me back I can talk with the monks to teach you, and you can go back to that being.”
“I’m not sure if I will be up to the task.”
“Well you can’t be sure if you do not try.”
“This, this being. He seems to know a lot that we don’t. And you said you saw him take Drom with him, The day he healed you. Perhaps he is with him, or if not, he knows his where bouts. Perhaps he can be the key to you mastering the art of god magic.”
“If I learn to travel into the spirit realm and back, then I can find him? Are you sure? But what if I found him by luck and will probably never be able to find him again, even when I have knowledge of the spirit realm?”
“Then we will turn that luck into skill. Once you master the art, it will not be difficult. It is like learning a map, once you know a place, and you know the roads that lead to that place you will never get lost.”
“He also said that there was only one other person that knew of the where bouts of his dimension Alestio he said? Is anyone familiar with that name?”
The rest of the State guards shrugged their shoulders, they had no clue.
“Well, he told me Alestio was his little brother. He told me he was the former dark bender, which only meant one thing...”