Amendments, page 6
Noir acted despite his reservations about the current predicament. He grasped his lux and made a light barrier in front of Alphonse. The five arrows clattered against the barrier and fell to the ground harmlessly. Instantly, every Tierian soldier had their swords drawn.
“Where is the Luxin?” Lieutenant Dunn yelled. “You know it is illegal to harbor undocumented vigor users!”
The people standing near Noir looked at him and stepped back. The soldiers’ eyes fell to him as the townsfolk parted. Immediately, the soldiers started toward him. “You, there! Luxin! You will stand down! Any further use of lux will mark you as an enemy of the crown!”
Noir took a couple steps back. His mind reeled. His hand itched for his sword, but he felt that would only make things worse. His feet wanted to run, but he knew he couldn’t compete in a footrace with hundreds of battle-trained men. The soldiers came closer with their swords pointed toward him. The sight was terrifying and absurd. How had he gotten into such a place? For some reason, his mind lurched to quiet moments like watching television with his parents, taking notes in school, and being with his friends at school. He never imagined he would long to be back in school. Noir wanted to hide and be gone from that place more than anything.
Then that thought reminded Noir of something he had learned during his time in the Chiron capital. He quickly used his lux to weave light around his body in a specific, curved way. It required a fairly large amount of his lux, but he knew it would be worth it. Anyone who looked where he stood would see light that was bent around his figure. Noir would be mostly invisible, though it was not a perfect illusion.
Though Noir felt no different, the result was obvious on the advancing soldiers. They stopped and started looking around. A few thrust their weapons in the empty air in front of them. Noir slowly walked backwards. Quick movements would make him easier to spot. He tried not to bump any of the townsfolk who looked equally surprised at his disappearance. Noir was glad it was dark. The effect was much easier to spot when it was light.
Lieutenant Dunn yelled wildly to the area around him, “I am no fool, Luxin! I know of the Luxin disappearing trick!” Contrary to his words, it was obvious Lieutenant Dunn did not know where Noir had gone. “Luxin, I will make this easy. Obviously you want to protect these people. If you do not show yourself and surrender to us, we will reduce twenty percent of this town’s population instead of ten! Then we will hunt you down like a dog.”
Noir had moved to the other side of the street behind a wooden fence to watch. He felt sick to his stomach. He had only made things worse. He had no idea how to get out of this situation. “I just need time to think,” he murmured to himself. “No one is here to get me out of the messes I make any more, so I need to find a way on my own.”
The soldiers lined up the townsfolk on the street. Children clung to their mother’s and father’s legs, making wet spots on their pants and skirts with their tears. Many men argued with the soldiers who ignored everything they said. However, to Noir’s surprise, many of the townsfolk adults simply stood resigned to their fate. It was then that Noir finally understood the oppression that the Tierian people were under.
Soldiers began going through the houses searching for people hiding. Noir continued to watch in horror. He had to give himself up unless he thought of another way to help these people.
Noir’s attention was drawn to a screaming girl. She was being led by her hand down the street by one of the soldiers. Noir immediately noticed her bulging abdomen. He couldn’t help himself and exclaimed, “No! They can’t!” However, what he said was lost in the commotion.
“I found this one hiding in a food bin, Lieutenant Dunn.” One of the older women screamed and ran to the girl. The soldier pushed her away violently and she fell to the dirt.
The pregnant woman yelled, “Mother!”
The soldier pulled harder on the pregnant woman and pushed her down to the ground in front of the Lieutenant. He bent down and looked into the woman’s eyes. “You heard what would happen to those who hid. It’s a shame too. You’re fairly pretty for a commoner.” Lieutenant Dunn turned to his soldiers and snarled with vicious mirth, “I’m glad she doesn’t count toward the twenty percent. I wouldn’t know whether to count her as one or two!” He laughed at his own joke and a couple of the soldiers joined in, but most stood silent or shifted their weight uncomfortably. Noir was glad to see they all weren’t vile like this man.
Lieutenant Dunn drew his sword. “Well, I guess we have an example to make here. She can be the first to go.” He raised his sword as though to pierce down into the woman’s neck. “If anyone else is hiding, you should go tell them to reveal themselves unless they want this to happen to them.”
Noir realized he'd rather die fighting a hundred men than let the pregnant woman be harmed. He let his light illusion fall and instead used his lux to make a light barrier over the pregnant woman.
Suddenly, the Lieutenant was cut in half. The top half of the man flew limply to the side and the bottom half fell straight down. A bluish-green blur sped past and into the ranks of the shocked soldiers. Three of them were violently flung into the air. Their bodies flailed about and fell into the rest of the men, knocking many to the ground with shouts of surprise and pain.
“It’s the Savior of Tier,” Noir heard someone near him say breathlessly.
The blur stopped in the middle between the townsfolk and the majority of the soldiers. Standing over the Lieutenant’s body was a young man with dark skin and light hair. He was holding a large, silver-colored axe and had on the custom Azurite Knight armor that Noir had spent dozens of hours helping to craft in Godo’s workshop. The young man’s back was to him, but Noir knew it was Ratt.
“Soldiers of Tier!” Ratt yelled. “I can slay every one of you in less than a minute if I choose.”
Many soldiers had regained their poise and now drew their bows back and aimed at the young man before them. Dozens of arrows flew. Ratt simply held up one of the bracers on his arm and a light barrier deflected each of the projectiles. Noir saw the yellow lux going from the bracer and into the light barrier. He distinctly remembered working on that piece since it involved mostly his skills with lux to make it function.
Ratt called out again, “You will stand down now, or perhaps I need to thin twenty percent of your numbers!” The soldiers looked at each other. Most of them let their bows fall to the ground or slung them onto their backs. “You are looking at the Savior of Tier. I stand for the people that you have tormented and enslaved for so long.” Ratt put his axe over his head and into a leather loop on his back. He pointed at the soldiers, moving his hand across them to point at them all in turn as he spoke. “I have a message for you to take back to the king. Tell him and your leaders that the winds of change are coming. Your din handlers and overseers can go back to whatever hole they came from, or be slain by me! We, the people of Tier, are to be free! The king will pay for ruining Tier. You will pay as well if you oppose me. Give your leaders my message. Go!”
Ratt’s bravado somehow grated with Noir. Did Ratt know what he was doing? Noir pushed aside his misgivings and moved toward Ratt with excitement.
Many of the soldiers had already been moving toward the gate of the town. After Ratt finished his speech, they all turned to flee. Cries of relief and reverence rang out among the townsfolk. They cheered and hugged each other.
Noir pushed his way past the celebrating townsfolk. Noir called out to Ratt, excited to be reunited with his friend. Ratt looked at the celebrating people with a small, impish grin on his face. Noir recognized that self-satisfied look from when he would best Ratt in an argument or beat him at some sort of game. It felt good to look upon his friend’s face after not seeing it for months.
Noir called out to him and Ratt’s eyes finally fell onto Noir. To Noir’s surprise, the grin on his face disappeared. “Noir! What are you doing here?” Noir finally reached Ratt and put out his arms for a friendly hug, but Ratt put a hand on Noir’s chest pushing him away. “Just stay back, Noir.”
Noir was shocked by this. It was not what he'd expected at all. “What? Why? What’s wrong, Ratt?”
Ratt took a couple steps back and kept his hand out as if to keep Noir away. “Just stay away. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Noir threw his hands out as if to ask why. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ratt. I’m glad to see you.” He laughed nervously. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
Ratt turned and threatened, “Just leave me alone.” Then with a cloud of dirt and a blur of blue-green, he disappeared. Noir was left standing dumbfounded. People rejoiced around him, but Noir was filled with confusion and dread.
Chapter 7
The Leader of the Returners
Grandel sat across the table from the man who had punched him in the jaw a little more than a week earlier. He had been surprised when Menoh had come for a meeting with him. Menoh and his followers had created their own small huddle of tents and campfires, and they were drawing plans for more permanent dwellings. Grandel could see them in the distance when he looked out from New Talik’s cliffs. Menoh's camp was a small, nagging blemish on the landscape. It reminded Grandel of his past mistakes each time he saw it.
Two other men sat alongside Menoh in the small, clay room. Isis sat on her perch as usual. She watched the men cautiously. She felt the nervousness that came through the sye link from Grandel. Also, Isis remembered what they did last time they were near him. Grandel sat alone, as they had requested, but Adeel and six other guards stood outside if any issues arose with the newcomers.
After everyone in the meeting was seated, Menoh was the first to speak. He still had on the rags of a former Chiron slave, and still had the pale ring of flesh around his neck from where the slave collar once sat. However, he held himself like one who saw himself as important. “We have little desire to talk to you, murderer. However, The Returners have need of your supplies. You have had more time to procure necessary resources than us.”
Grandel groaned. “What do you need—you and your ‘Returners’?”
“Do not mock us!” Menoh shot at Grandel with disdain. “We have been attacked three times during the past two weeks. Straghs have attacked and killed nine of my people. Our only defense has been to flee to the Chiron soldiers. We have need of weapons, armor, and a Luxin.”
Grandel closed his eyes and sighed. “Nothing but the sweat from my peoples’ brows is what gave us what we have. They have worked like that for eleven years. And we have too few Luxins here as it is.” Grandel sighed. “I have an obligation to you and your kind. It is a debt I could never hope to pay back. However, this is my debt, not my people’s. I offer my services in any way that I can, but I cannot take from my people to give you what you need.
Menoh looked down at his hands clasped in front of him. Grandel realized he had been wrong earlier. Menoh did not hold himself as though he thought himself overly important, but of someone whose ego is inflated with righteous supremacy—ready to combat any negative comment about their beliefs. “I believe we have no more need of you or this meeting, then. Goodbye.”
The three stood up and made ready to leave. Grandel stood up as well and held out a hand to stop them. “Wait,” he said. “How many are in your number now?”
“The Returners number thirty-seven with more coming every day.”
“We could accommodate you in New Talik. We have many here who would be willing to share their meager homes until a better house can be built for you.”
“We will never align with you and never join your town.”
Grandel shook his head. He thought about Adeel and her attitude toward this topic. She wanted him to stand up for himself. How could he, though, after all he'd done to these people. “I don’t see why not. My past transgressions are just that—in the past! I know I did horrible and unforgivable things back then, but I offer you and your families help now. Please let me attempt to make up for my past mistakes.”
One of the other men in the room responded without making eye contact with Grandel. “Joining you would be the ultimate dishonor to our dead children and family members.” Menoh motioned for the others to leave with him, but turned around before doing so. “I almost forgot. Has The Diviner returned?”
“The Diviner?” Grandel asked, confused.
“The one named Noir. He was the one closest to the Lumin.”
Grandel remembered them asking about him before. “No. Like I told you before, he is gone.”
“Then we shall await the Diviner’s return.” The three walked out.
As soon as they were gone, Adeel walked in and closed the door behind her. “Well, you didn’t offer yourself to get beat up this time. That’s an improvement.” She rounded the table and sat next to Grandel. “What did they want?”
“Supplies. They’ve been attacked by straghs and need armor, weapons, and a Luxin to protect them. I told them we couldn’t help them.”
“It would not be fair to the people of this town,” Adeel agreed.
“Exactly.” Grandel looked at Adeel in her Luxin armor and white cloak. She had her hair in many small braids as she usually did, and she sat forward looking into his eyes. She looked beautiful, as always. A part of him felt unfaithful to Kahmi's memory for having such strong feelings for another so soon after her death. He pushed the thought aside. “With a talented Luxin, they would have little need of weapons and armor.”
She immediately knew what he meant. “I am needed here, Grandel. For the people of this town and for you.”
“I know that, but we have Fafnir now. If there is anyone more gifted with lux than you, it’s her.”
Adeel didn’t seem to understand his flattery. “Don’t be foolish. There are countless Luxins that are much more talented and strong with lux than I.” She shook her head. “Asking Fafnir this is out of the question.”
“Would it? You know her much better than I.”
“Fafnir goes and does as she pleases. She's decided to help us, which, I assure you, is an unfathomable honor. One would first ask a river to change its direction than one would ask Fafnir such a thing.”
They sat for a long moment, and then Adeel got up, closed the door, and came back and sat in Grandel’s lap. She reclined back and rested her head on his shoulder.
Grandel grunted and laughed playfully, “Your armor is uncomfortable.”
She looked into his eyes and sweetly said, “Is it, now? Well, deal with it you big baby.” Then she gave him a long and tender kiss.
Grandel’s mind was not on the beautiful woman in his lap, however. His mind churned on the issue with the Returners. He broke the kiss slowly and looked into Adeel’s eyes. “If someone taught them the crafts they would need to make armor and weapons, then they could survive on their own.”
Adeel nodded. “We could send Gonn to them for a while. He could train a blacksmith or two and bring them the supplies they would need to make their own armor and weapons.”
“That would take months and Gonn has a family here. Plus, they need much more than just a blacksmith, Adeel.”
Adeel looked into his eyes sternly, realizing what he had in mind. “If you think I’m going to change your features like Kit did, you’re a fool. Plus I just finally got your face back to how it's supposed to be.” She stood up sharply from his lap. “And what about everyone here? We need you here! I need you here!” Grandel tried to interject, but Adeel continued speaking over top of him. “You're being a self-centered fool, like always, Grandel. You can’t fix everything on your own, you know. How many times have I told you to let go of the past?” Tears started to well up in Adeel’s eyes. “I don't want to lose you again.”
Grandel stood up and held Adeel tightly to him. “You won’t lose me again, my love. I promise.”
Chapter 8
Ruith
After the visit of the Savior of Tier, the town elders of Lithe met. Over many hours of heated discussion, they decided that there was no other option but to leave their town and relocate to New Talik. Noir sat through the arguments during the early morning hours, but it seemed that most were in consensus by the end. No one would be forced to leave their homes; but as far as the elders were concerned, the town was officially abandoned. Anyone remaining would be left on their own.
The next day, Noir helped the town pack as many belongings as they could onto their wagons and carts. Others threw together sleds to pull their possessions. Livestock was herded and prepared for the journey. People gathered in the evening as they finished their preparations. Noir talked with the elders about Talik and told them what to expect when they got there. He showed many his map and described the exact path to Talik that he had just taken himself in the past few days. Once everyone had everything gathered, the town was eerily silent and empty. It turned out that not a single villager wanted to risk staying despite many having lived their whole lives there.
The elder said a few parting words at the head of the group, and they were off. The slow line of villagers, livestock, carts, and horses started filing out of the town gate. Noir watched them go from the town center where the Tierian Lieutenant had been killed the night before. He watched the group disappear over the hill toward the river that he had followed yesterday. Once the last signs of the townsfolk were gone, Noir hefted his bag, turned, and walked the other direction. His path was to the south east. As Noir started to walk, something caught his eye. Something past the town wall had moved, but he couldn't see anything anymore.
Noir cautiously walked forward with his hand on his sword and his mind open, ready to draw upon lux. He rounded the wall where he had seen the movement and looked down the length of its wilderness-facing side. Nothing was there. No birds, wild animals, forgotten livestock, or anything moved anywhere near. Then, while keeping an eye on the place he had seen the shape, he moved away from the town. He kept checking the area as he walked away until he could no longer see it. Eventually the creepy feeling passed and Noir enjoyed the peaceful but difficult walk through the wilderness.
