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Chapter 37.5 - Wasteland (cont.)

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Tayne’s boots slipped in the grey sand-like dust as the small group trudged towards the Citadel.

With every step bringing him closer to the looming fortress, his worry increased. Every instinct was telling him to grab Skye and run, yelling at Jesse and Wrain to follow. This was wrong. This place was evil.

He continued on in silence, keeping pace with Skye and Wrain.

He turned around to check on Jesse, who despite any attempts to draw him out remained strangely quiet. He hung back several metres, an unreadable blank expression covering his features. The only sign of expression were his fists, clenched so hard the knuckles turned white.

Tayne figured he wasn’t happy with the decision to willingly dive into the Citadels heart with only a hope of rescuing an enslaved Sentinel, but surely he could understand why they had to? Ebony gave them no choice when she left them in the middle of the Wasteland. Wrain was right. They’d never make it out by nightfall, and even if they did, then what? Cower among the trees, praying to the deities that the Master or his minions didn’t find them?

With a sigh, Tayne looked away. The rubble scattered around the landscape was becoming all too familiar, a reminder of the shattered cityscape that used to stand before Kumos claimed and reshaped the Citadel for his own purposes.

Fighting the corruption was going to require risks, he knew that. He just wished they had a chance to prepare for it. Some kind of strategy. The tiny group seemed insignificant compared to what they faced.

He wished Luke was here. His improvising in situations gone awry would be invaluable right now. Jesse was a welcome addition. He’d been able to break the Master’s spell before in Darni on the building Skye had been captive in. Tayne began to run through his Silverborn, mentally listing each knight and their skills when Wrain’s voice interrupted him.

“Were you bonded?”

To his right, Skye’s head jerked at the silence breaking question. Her eyes found Tayne, then slid past him to Wrain who watched her with a fierce intensity.

“Kiarae and I?” she asked. Wrain nodded, and Skye reciprocated his action. “Yes. We were bound through the Linaye.”

“So you can find her, then? With the bond? Is she well?”

The unmistakable look of hope on Wrain’s face was too evident for Tayne to ignore. It went past that of finding a new ally. It was a look he’d seen worn by men who believed their wife to be dead, only to have her returned or learning that she was alive. “How well did you know this Celestial?”

Wrain studied him before replying. Tayne refused to flinch under the scrutiny. “Well enough. If it is her, she was a young Sentinel when Kumos began his siege on life. We were... friends, before and after she was chosen to become a member of their cursed ranks.”

Skye stopped. “Cursed ranks?”

“You heard me correctly. The Sentinels may have protected the land from demons, but it was not without cost. Many children were taken for their order, even against their will if they were deemed to have power enough. If you possessed the magic and they found you, you were theirs. I became a Silverborn so I might help Kiarae be free from them”

Skye bit her lip and looked at the ground. “Something I didn’t understand when Kiarae first started teaching me was why I couldn’t just use my magic recklessly, to help whoever needed it. She explained that many Sentinels didn’t recognise the consequences for such things and caused disasters on a large scale.”

Jesse was beside Tayne now, his eyes shifting between Wrain and Skye. There was a glint to them that hadn’t been there before. Tayne figured interest was a good sign, although it’d taken a disagreement to bring it out. They needed to be united if they had any chance of success.

Skye’s head rose, and Tayne knew she was meeting Wrain’s eyes.

“Magic isn’t something the individual chooses consciously, it’s true. The strength of their soul and the deities decide that. We may never understand why they choose some and not others, but the fact remains. Would you let powerful people stay untrained, knowing they could unleash disaster at any moment?”

“It wasn’t like that at all,” said Wrain. His lips were pressed in a hard line, as though scolding a small child. “Do you know the methods they used to ‘teach’ their apprentices? What Kiarae went through at their academy? Do you realise--“

“Do you realise what it’s like to have magic?” Skye folded her arms and took an accusing step towards Wrain. “To have this uncontrollable force inside you that you can never quite control; that is never entirely yours to command? That you’re intricately tied to the fabric of the realm, a puppet of some deity who you’ll never see, never talk to, but are bound to serve nonetheless?”

When she was met with silence, she continued, softer this time. “I know what they did. I know how they taught. Kiarae’s shown me. I don’t agree with it, but I understand why they did it. They taught discipline, they tried to teach control.” She let an arm out in a wide circle. “You see the results around you now of what happens when a Sentinel breaks that discipline.”

“It’s not the same. Kumos was corrupted,” said Wrain.

“Isn’t it?” she asked. “What of the molten fire that erupted from the mountain and flooded three farming villages when a group of fire Sentinels tried to hollow a mountain by melting the rock? What of the city east of Alguarde that now lies beneath the surface of the river when a water Sentinel’s spell got out of control?”

Her fingers slid under her armour and on to the skin of her shoulder while she spoke. They only remained a moment before they fell away with a sharp intake of breath. Tayne knew the mark bothered her, scared her even, but she never mentioned it with anything but her actions.

“Kumos was corrupted. He was evil. He sought nothing but the destruction of the land.” Wrain paused, but this time, Skye seemed content to let him speak. He cleared his throat, unusually hesitant. “They could have bound a person’s magic if they were unwilling to train, like they did with those found to be abusing it.”

Skye shook her head, her fingers brushing against the flowers blooming from her sword. “That would be crueller than what apprentices went through.” She turned, her emerald eyes locking to Tayne’s. The streak in her hair was unusually bright. “You understand. You’ve felt what it’s like when magic calls, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I can’t imagine it being easily contained, or wanting it to be,” said Tayne.

Wrain scowled at him. “It doesn’t matter. It still doesn’t excuse their treatment of the apprentices.”

 “You don’t have to like it, just understand why they did it,” said Skye.

Wrain lowered his head and started walking towards the Citadel. Skye’s head followed him. Tayne moved beside her. Jesse remained where he was.

“When did you get so wise?” he asked.

“I didn’t. I just learned to think for two seconds like Kiarae was always begging me to do.” She snorted with laughter. “It’s sad that it’s taken this to get me to do it.”

Tayne didn’t see how to answer that without falling victim to an eyebrow raising. Instead, he extended a hand. “Shall we, Skye, Jesse? Can’t let Wrain have all the fun.”

Deities, I’m starting to sound like Luke.

Skye rolled her eyes. “You sound like someone else we know. I’m not sure I can handle two of you. Jess? What’s wrong?”

Tayne turned to find Jesse doubled over, hands at his temples and eyes squeezed closed. Skye started towards him, hands out as if to catch him when he suddenly straightened.

“I’m okay.” His shaking body said otherwise. “We need to go. Wrain’s too far away.”

And like that, he was off.

Tayne exchanged a worried glance with Skye. “It’s not just me; he’s acting strangely, right?”

“Since we came out of Ebony’s teleport,” she replied. “We’ll watch him.”

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