Young Writers Society

Chapter Eleven: The Traitor of Terra

“Y-yes.” I say, “Yes, I do have a problem with that.“

Kagami? It can’t be the same Kagami, can it? I mean, how can Hanora’s famed general also be offering ideas to the queen of Sareil? Maybe it’s some kind of super-secret spying mission that everyone’s neglected to tell me about. Yes, that must be it. I turn to Iarin, trying to prompt a necessary explanation from her, since she seems to know everything.

Iarin looks just as shocked and confused as I am.

What about ‘Raya, then? According to all her egotistical ranting, she reports directly to Kagami– surely she’d know?

Attaraya just stares at Sae with a mixture of horror and utter disbelief.

Sae looks between us all, confused. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Kagami....” Attaraya says at last, “...isn’t helping you at all. That’s not possible. It’s just not.”

“Why’s that?” Sae says warily.

“Because he’s on our side.” Attaraya says decisively. “Definitely on our side. I mean... less than a week ago, he came to Chiren to discuss security with the Council after the assassination... attempt... on... Councilor... Beckett.” she finishes, uncertain.

“An assassination that he helped plan.” says Sae.

Suddenly, I feel a little sick.

“It was supposed to be,” Sae goes on, “a... how d’you say... a decoy. That way while everyone was in a panic, the chimera could be hidden in the hills. It would appear a few days later while the place was still calming down. That’s the plan he and the Hralhym came up with. They were hoping to completely decapitate the Hanoran government that way. It was a big deal, they’ve been getting everything ready for three years, maybe more even, I dunno. They were discussing it while I was still… sen danaekri... while I was still training. We were supposed to be part one of a two-part plan, and destroy Naroth, getting rid of most of the Hanoran army in the process.” she kicks at the ground bitterly. “Supposedly.”

“S....so he was lying.” Iarin says slowly, “L-lying to both Hanoran and Sareil... right?”

“It seems that way...” Suddenly, I remember something.

Back in the aforementioned battle against the chimera, there was something about the gates that was really bothering me. I didn’t have time to think about it then, but now it comes clearly back to me.

“Hey wait!” I say, “At Chiren.... when I fought the chimera... Where was Kagami? He was there before the thing attacked.... but once it got in... he didn’t help at all, he just...”

“Disappeared.” Sae finishes. “He just vanished.”

I stare at her.

“That was also part of the plan. He himself, because he is the only known beast-manipulator in our country, was to go to Chiren to release the chimera, and then vanish, using teleportation magic. Because he’s too... too... how d’you say... important... to be there when the battle begins. That’s what the Hralhym said.”

“But… but…” Attaraya seems to be having trouble coming to grips with the idea exactly. “He told us that there were spies in… in Naroth… he was the reason we found you!”

Sae’s eyes narrow. “What?”

“I don’t believe this.” Attaraya says angrily. “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this.” she turns to Iarin and I, green eyes blazing, “How do we know the Bleachead isn’t lying?”

“How do I know that you’re not lying?” Sae answers. “I don’t. I have no idea. But... I suppose it makes sense.”

“Why?” I ask.

Sae glares at the ground. “Kagami... Kagami's been head of the Circle of Elders for almost six hundred years. He's fought for and protected Sareil faithfully all that time. So of course he’s a traitor. Why not?” Sae laughs bitterly. “I’ve learned well enough in the past seven years. If anything can happen to us to hurt us more, it’ll happen. Perhaps the vreihymel really have cursed us.”

You know, all this monolouging is cool and all, but I just have to ask. “Six hundred years? Wouldn’t he be... I dunno, sorta dead by now?”

“Well, he’s Kuarthian, isn’t he?” Attaraya says, as though speaking to a slow child, “they live for ages.”

“He’s Kuarthian?” I repeat.

“Of course! I thought everyone knew that. When was the last time you saw a human who looked like that?”

“Six hundred years...” I say slowly, “Ever since the fall of the Kuarthian Empire...?”

“A-and the Hano-Sareilian war has been going on for the past two hundred…” Iarin adds.

He’s been in on this from the beginning. I think. I can tell the others have a similar line of thought.

“The war started– according to Hanora– because Sareil had illegal magic schools,” I say, “what’s Sareil’s side of the story?”

“Hanora had taken over Sarracor. They were going for us next. At least according to Kagami. That’s why we set up the schools.”

Attaraya stares at us for a long time. Then, finally, she says, “Kagami told us about the schools. Kagami told us... oh my... he... he set this up? The whole thing?”

“I don’t get it, though.” I interrupt. “I mean... why? Why would he? Is there any sort of motive?”

“Who cares?” Attaraya shouts, “We have to do something! We have to warn the people! If Kagami is a traitor, who knows what he plans? Who knows what’ll happen to Hanora?”

“And Sareil. Sareil as well”

“Whatever! The point is–“

"The p-point is that no one would believe us.” Iarin says suddenly.

“She’s right.” I say. “Why would anyone in Hanora have a reason to believe us? I’m assuming by what Sae says that Hanora is winning at the moment. Why on earth would they want to believe us? Besides, I dunno about you, Attaraya, but Iarin and I aren’t exactly flavor of the month with the Council right now, and I doubt they’ll be welcoming Sae with open arms either. They have about as much reason to believe us as you did. We do need to alert the people about this, but the Hanorans will never believe it… So… I dunno what we should do, frankly. Uhm…”

“What about us?” Sae asks, “What about Sareil?”

That never occurred to me. I guess because I’m so used to thinking of the Sareilians as the bad guys. “That could work.” I say.

“I-it’s a long shot.” Iarin adds, “but there’s more hope for that than anything else.”

I sigh. “But the problem is the same as before.” I say to Iarin, “How do we get to Sareil?”

Iarin’s pale brow furrows. “Y-you’ve got a point. The mountains can be dangerous at this time of year, we c-can’t hope to cross the border into Ealym. I-it won’t be safe. As for the Sareilian border, we’d have to go over the G-guardian river first. The bridge is destroyed, and it’s too deep to swim across. Even if we could make it, we’d be in Sareilian territory. I can pass for Sareilian. Sae is Sareilian. B-but you two,” She indicates ‘Raya and me, “p-probably will be much more conspicuous.”“

Attaraya grins. “You know what?” she says, “I think I have an idea.”

* * * * *

That night, the dream comes again. I jerk awake and sit up, trembling a little.

Okay, I’m starting to think it means something now. Maybe I should be trying to figure it out.

...Right. First of all, the voices. Who are they? Obviously, one of them is the voice, but what about the other? The me/not me voice?

Uh... ‘kay, I’ve got no idea.

The next part, then. The cast.... and also, just after that, I’m sure the voice that said “whatever” belonged to Kat–

Ok, I really don’t want to think about that.

I look up at the sky, the cold starlight broken at intervals by the hulking shadows of the mountains. Attaraya, next to me is sprawled on the ground, snoring loudly. Iarin, on my other side, appears to have fallen asleep while reading, and is using her open book as a pillow. Across the smoldering embers of a fire we evidentially forgot to put out, Sae is watching me, her dark eyes calm and unchanged.

“You’re awake.” She observes. “Has something happened?”

I shake my head. “Nightmare.”

“Ah.” she says. “How terrible for you.”

I stare at the dirt for a bit. Sae stares at me. It’s actually starting to get a bit irritating.

“So....” I say eventually.

“Hm?”

Well, now I have to say something. “Er.... what about Attaraya’s plan? Got any ideas about what it is?” (‘Raya, being a drama queen, doesn’t want to reveal her great plan “until the moment is right.” Whatever the hell that means.)

Sae shakes her head slowly.

“Oh.”

“But... there’s some occupied territory on our side of the border. A patch of land Hanora has taken as it’s own. We call it Heimyr– ‘the shore’– and the Hanorans call it the Riverside Base. There are some Hanoran soldiers there. You, at least, will be able to... how d’you say... pass safely.”

“But you won’t?”

“I... and perhaps the Ealymian girl...”

“Iarin?”

“Her. We should keep our faces and hair hidden.”

“And they’ll just let you pass through hooded?

“They will if you and your empty-headed friend can convince them.”

“She’s not my empty-headed friend.” I grumble.

“Whatever.”

* * * * *

The next day, late afternoon, as we’re all sitting behind a mountain in the blind spot of Naroth, our empty-headed friend decides to reveal her plan.

“’Kay,” She says, “everyone knows about the Riverside Base, right?”

Thanks to Sae, I can finally say “yes” to a question like that.

“I-it’s no use,” Iarin tells her firmly, “we’ll still have t-to ford the Guardian...”

“Nuh-uh.” Attaraya tells her. She’s enjoying this, I can tell. “We’ve got magic on our side.”

“What, the colonies? We’ll never make it. The Hanoradra are looking all over for me. We can’t hope to stay away from them for that long.”

“S-sae’s right. There’s just too high a price on her head for us to hope to pass safely.”

“Well, we’re not going all the way to Sarracor, are we?” Attaraya says smugly. “There’s a Teleportation caster right here in this city.”

From Iarin’s expression, I can tell this is news to her. “Really?”

“Yup. He’ll get us into Heimyr in just a few seconds. But–“ Attaraya drops her voice conspiratorially “He’s a bit– well, more than a bit– he’s completely insane.”

“How so?”

“The man thinks he’s built a flying machine.” Attaraya rolls her eyes.

“He has? Th-that’s very interesting, actually. H-how does it work?”

“Iarin, it doesn’t fly. It’s made of wood. I thought you were supposed to be the intelligent one.”

“Well, why would you need a flying machine at all?” I ask, confused. “Didn’t you just say this guy could teleport people?”

“Yeah, but teleportation magic’s pretty heavily regulated.”

“I-it damages the planet after a while.” Iarin explains, “Hanora’s colonies are all desert, a-and lots of people theorize it’s because of Teleportation spells. The gene that controls a person’s ability t-to use Teleportation magic is usually found among Sarracorians...”

As we talk, Attaraya keeps an eye on the sinking sun. “We’ll sneak in to Naorth after dark,” she says, “The sentries will have fallen asleep, I’m sure.” She groans, then adds, “I can’t believe I’m about to do this...”

* * * * *

Beneath a dark sky, Naroth seems even less like a town and more like a fortress. The sharpened logs that form the wall seem to rip apart the air, and the low-burning signal fires are now the only source of illumination, casting the walls in a wavering red glow.

We walk up to the great tall gates, the soldier, the spy, the scholar, and me. Attaraya tiptoes up to the entry and pauses to examine the sentry slumped over against the wall. She waves her hand in front of his face, snaps her fingers by his ear, and coughs loudly. No response.

She turns back to us, pressing her index finger to her lips in a shh sign. Iarin hurries to catch up with her, small feet pattering lightly on the dirt road. Sae and I walk more slowly, both of us wincing every time I step on and snap a dead twig, which is often. Suddenly, in front of me, Sae freezes in her tracks.

“You okay?” I whisper.

“Fine.” she says, but even I can tell that she’s not fine, she trembles visibly as her small voice catches. I follow her line of vision to an immense iron building off a bit to the side, which must be the prison. “Fine.” she repeats, more firmly this time. Her thin left hand grasps her decimated arm, so tightly that her knuckles are pure white against her already pale flesh. “Fine.” she echoes herself once again, but this time decisively, with a final air. Then she begins to walk forward again, through the gates, with shaky steps.

As soon as we’re all over the threshold and into the city, Attaraya raises a hand, mouths, “Wait here” and slips into a nearby small building, returning with a handful of hooded cloaks made of a slick, slippery material. “Raingear.” she mouths, by way of explanation. She then indicates Sae and Iarin. “Hoods up. At least for now.”

Sae nods and pulls the gray hood over her head, where it not only hides her hair, but covers her eyes and shadows her pallid skin.

“Perfect.”

‘Raya motions us forward, leading us with ultra-quiet steps down the unpaved streets of Naroth. I’d expect us to meet a lot more guards, but I guess Naroth is so middle-of-nowhere that they don’t expect to be attacked by anybody without due notice. Every once in awhile, Attaraya halts and pulls us back to avoid a beam of torchlight, but other than that, we meet no trouble.

Off far to the side of Naroth, next to the wall is a tiny but well-built house. Attaraya taps the back of her fist against the door.

No response from within. A frown creases her forehead.

She presses her ear to the door, and knocks again, glaring down at the soft glow of candlelight slipping under the door.

“Kael. You there?”

Nothing, again. Attaraya grimaces, and slams her shoulder against the door. It hurls open and hits the other wall with a resounding bang. I wince as the footsteps of guards are heard in the not-so-far-off distance.

‘Raya ushers the three of us through the door, and ducks through it herself, slamming it shut behind her and slipping the bolt into place.

“That was close.” she mutters, sinking to the ground.

I glance around. The house is made up of one small, cramped room, and a good half of that room is taken up by a huge wooden contraption that looks like a helicopter gone slightly wrong, simple in design and considerably less shiny than the ones from my world. I don’t know much about physics, I’ll accept that, but I’m prepared to vote with Attaraya on this one. I don’t think it will be doing as much flying as it will falling. The ground is covered with bits of wire, wood shavings, nails, and various other scraps obviously left over from the building of said non-shiny helicopter. The walls are covered with neatly organized tools, placed in meticulous order in perfectly straight rows, and it’s these that the tall, tanned man on the other side of the room in hastily shoving into a crate.

Attaraya slaps her palm against her forehead. “Kael, what are you doing?” she asks, exasperated.

“Er... nothing?” says the man, turning around with a vaguely guilty expression on his face.

“Nice try. You’re trying to leave, aren’t you?”

“Ah... I’m afraid you misunderstand...”

“No lying. Where are you going?”

“...Litha?”

“You’re fleeing all the way to Ealym? What have we ever done to you? Had you remained in the colonies with your village, you’d be a miner, or a farmer starving to death, but the government took you in, and–“

“Yeah, yeah, heard it all before” Kael cuts her off in mid-rant. I’ll bet ‘Raya is getting tired of people doing that. “You know, you Hanorans are great with your guilt-trip speeches, and all, but–“

“Don’t say, ‘you Hanorans’ as if you weren’t one of us.” Attaraya snaps. “Sarracor is part of the great Hanoran Republic, and you should be proud–“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, lady. I’m just saying you all– or we all, whatever– ought to practice what you’re preaching, once in a great while. There’s no one on the Hanoran’s side but the Hanorans, nowadays. At least the Ealymians appreciate the pinnacles of modern technology,” he adds under his breath, patting the flying machine fondly.

“We stand for justice, integrity, and good; we will cleanse this world of the Bleachead barbarians, and if we must stand alone, then we will stand proudly–“

“Oh, really. Well, if you stand for justice, then why the hell are you sneaking through the city in the middle of the night with two hooded followers and a... clown, or whatever you are?” he asks, indicating Iarin, Sae, and me. Well, thanks a billion for that frank appraisal of my appearance.

Attaraya runs a hand slowly over her face.

“Look.” She says, “I could summon guards here to take you into custody for deserting. But I need to get to the Riverside Base. You can teleport us. So how’s this? I let you go, and you send us off, and you don’t say a word about where we’ve gone.”

Kael considers this for a moment. “Deal” he says at last, and speaks a word.

My skin feels oddly numb, trembling with a strange force. The air seems to hum, colors are becoming brighter, more saturated, and blurring together, then suddenly dulling out. The sound of patrolling footsteps outside the door is replaced by another, the maddening sound of pounding rain. The air chills, and at my feet I can feel the brushing of half-dead grass, as tall as my knees. Then the colors go back where they belong, the view of the world around me sharpens.

My first sensation upon entering Sareil is the tap tap tap of raindrops on my head, and the strange feeling that I’m going to become very, very used to that sensation within the coming days.

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Blarg. Time to stop procrastinating and post this thing.

...I feel like I'm missing something, some vital plothole that I haven't yet spotted, the proverbial ton of bricks that'll squish my main plotline. But maybe standardized tests are just frying my brain. It does feel extra-crispy today. XD But writing AIMS are over, that's the hardest part. I just hope I passed.

Anyhoo. See you next chapter.