Elemental Ascension, page 18
“Your Velocal female friend will tell you it is. He went too deep,” Zarro replied. “He witnessed a presence at the boundary between the Lingerverse and Akasha.”
Genuinely intrigued now, Ash forgot to continue burning his way through the rope for a moment. What presence could be powerful enough to move in and out of Akasha by choice, other than the God of Magic himself?
“What kind of 'presence'?” he queried.
Zarro shrugged. “How should I know? The Astral panicked and pulled away before he could figure it out himself.”
“Is that Astral still here?”
“He's dead too.”
Zarro didn't seem bothered the Astral had potentially stumbled upon the cause of the God of Universal Energy's release, but chose not to find out more. Did Zarro want him to investigate? Was he not punished or forced to return to the Lingerverse before Zarro killed him?
“Was the presence God-like?”
“There are no other Gods,” Zarro informed him, as though Ash didn't already know the creation story or follow the old ways.
Ash resumed his escape and amped up the heat to fry the remaining bits of rope. He didn't want to have to yank his hands to rip through and alert Zarro.
“I did have the Oracle check the Astral briefly with Psychometry, but it was of no matter, anyway. Shortly after, his personality and behaviour changed. We knew there was something the Oracle wasn't telling us.”
“That's when the God possessed him?”
“Aye,” Zarro said.
Ash laughed. “Did you think maybe he possessed him because you had him poke holes in the Astral's consciousness? In doing so, you opened a gateway, Zarro. You're a fool.”
He turned his back to Ash and grumbled, “It crossed my mind.”
Which, Ash thought, means you had no idea and it has only just occurred to you.
Ash took advantage of Zarro's diverted attention and tore the last of the rope free. He caught it just in time to prevent it from falling at his feet, and shoved the remnants in his pocket.
“Are you going to tell me where you're keeping Deerbolt, Kite, Reverie and Sarronious?”
“Now that would be foolish. I'll level with you, Ash the Elemental...”
“Tetrad!” Ash corrected, again.
Zarro ignored him. “If we didn't like outsiders invading our island before, we are even less fond of treasonous trespassers now. As you can see, we're working on preparations to welcome home the God of Universal Energy, and Dragonborn needs to prove its dedication and worth. I can't have you running off to share our big secret, can I?”
Ash had to pinch himself before he lunged over the table at him.
“But, you're not an Astral, Zarro. Even if the God does allow the Order to keep their Alchemy and wipe everyone else's, you're still a mere Human. What good is the God's return to you other than fame?”
It was Zarro's turn to correct Ash. “Now I possess your interesting book, I do believe I can call myself a Velocal.”
“Not until you know what it contains,” Ash snapped.
If Zarro thought by owning an Alchemical grimoire he was instantly wiser to the Elemental power, he was mistaken. Ash, already a Tetrad, didn't yet know all it contained, and he could still feel the key cool against his chest. Thankfully, Zarro's Guardsmen hadn't been so thorough in their search, focusing on his pockets and boots rather than what hung around his neck.
“I'm going to kill you, Zarro, before this day ends.”
“I highly doubt that. Fame is enough for me, Ash. But a God's gratitude could grant me an endless list of favours. Alchemy being one of them. I can't allow you to get in my way. Don't fret, I'll let you say goodbye to your girl.”
How could Ash have been so stupid? Of course Zarro wanted to be Alchemical. Why would this arrogant, self-involved traitor want anything else? Ash had heard all he could take of Zarro's selfishness. Free of his restraints and feeling the key's blue fire burning within him, Ash's rage boiled. He lunged over the table, using his feet as a battering ram, and booted Zarro in the chest. The Velocal crashed backwards through the glass, wrapped and flailing in the curtains. Shouts followed immediately, and the sound of metal and boots neared.
To escape, he would need to hurry. He grabbed a torch from the wall and exited Zarro's dim quarters, mentally navigating to where he assumed his friends were being held.
The door opened into a narrow stone corridor, with an arched ceiling and torches dotted every few meters to light the windowless space. Ash hurried, praying the torch he carried stayed alight so he could use it to maintain his Salamander Alchemy out in the open. The square courtyard was alive with Guardsmen, and five were bounding up the wooden staircase to find and punish the man responsible for killing their leader. Ash poked his head around the doorway to see Zarro's twisted frame motionless, surrounded by glass. His bones were broken and his neck snapped. Shards poked from his face and blood was pooling beneath his lifeless body.
There was no sorrow or guilt in Ash's soul for murdering Zarro. Cold-blooded as it was, what Zarro had planned for their party was cruel. If he was to die by anyone's sword, it would be Deerbolt's, and through mercy alone. Nobody else had yet earned the right to put him out of his cursed misery.
Ash was without a blade, or any other weapon. He would have to rely on his Alchemy. And he realised, debating whether it was wise to charge at the men and catch them off guard or to hide and grab them as they came around the corner, his body had not been responding to the curse as it had at the marketplace. Before this voyage and before Ash had a purpose, physically he was weaker and sick, but as he stood deliberating his next move, Ash felt a burst of energy he recognised as a mixture of youth, vitality and control.
Zarro would have sent Deerbolt and the others to the holding cells across the village. They were made only of wooden slats—obviously, not designed to hold a Salamander or a Gnome—but they were thick and difficult for any other to escape. With his torch, Ash could burn the wood and kick it free to create a hole large enough for his friends to crawl through. But first, he would have to get across the courtyard and through the village without being captured or killed.
Chapter Seventeen
Zarro's Wish
By the pace of their boots, Ash expected he had a few seconds left before they were on him. Still in the doorway, he closed his eyes and counted to three, then swung the lit torch, using it as a melee, and wiped the first two guards off their feet and over the side. They landed, breaking a stack of rotten crates, but were otherwise unharmed. The three following skidded to a halt and pinned their bodies to the wall on Ash's left; he knew they were there, but would play their little game of wait and see.
One man tried his luck, and Ash saw the tip of his longsword first. Using the thickest part of his boot, Ash kicked the blade up and away from the man, snatching it mid-air with his dominant hand and pointing it back at him. The two men now on either side pointed theirs back, and for a moment they were frozen, unsure of each other.
“Let me pass,” Ash said.
The leader's hands were raised, but the two behind weren't giving in so easily.
“We can't.”
“You're under orders.”
The man nodded. “Aye. Zarro's orders.”
“Zarro is dead.” Ash gestured with his head at Zarro's lifeless body. “You've seen it.”
“You killed him.”
Ash took one step forward, and the three facing him took two back. Seeing the confrontation, the men now in the courtyard stood and glared up at their conversation, waiting to either join the fight or run for reinforcements.
Ash swallowed hard and said, “Aye, I killed him. He deserved it. Dragonborn Guardsmen are sworn to protect the innocent and the flame. Zarro has imprisoned my friends. One is blind, and the other pregnant. She's here to offer her child to the fifth egg. Did he tell you that?”
The men stole quick glances at one another, relaxing their stances. Ash had found a trigger, and he planned to put pressure on until common sense fired.
“From your blank expressions, I guess not.” He sighed. “I'm not here to cause any of you harm. We travelled from the mainland by my friend's ship, the Cerulean Grace. Many of you know it as the Equos; she once transported your luxuries to and from the mainland.”
The lead man, still without a weapon, nodded.
“Aye,” he said. “The Captain brought me here when I pledged my service.”
Ash's eyes brightened. “You'll know of Deerbolt, then?” He almost lowered his weapon, too.
The man hesitated, then grinned. “Aye, a beauty.”
Ash let the compliment go. “She's here in your holding cells with her deckhand, a Human named Sarronious. We were transporting Kite and Reverie to the Isle of Dragonborn for your help. A Shaman cursed Kite, stealing his sight and with it, his gift of Hydromancy. His wife is heavily pregnant and they were hoping for a cure so he can see the baby, and help to care for it.”
“We know nothing of this,” one of the other men said. “Zarro ordered us to imprison them and to ensure the Elemental in their company never sees the light of day again.”
“He mentioned he was planning to execute me?”
“Why would he do that?” the other man asked, stalled by the news.
He was under the impression Ash would be imprisoned, not killed.
Ash exhaled and lowered his blade first, but he did not back down. As best he could without dropping the torch, he whipped the flame into a fireball. Focusing his Salamander Alchemy on the key beneath his shirt, Ash channelled its energy. Blue rays shone through the cloth, causing the three Guardsmen to gasp and retreat a few paces further. Ash didn't waver or panic, proving there was nothing for the men to be afraid of. Then, with a double blink, the fireball went out suddenly.
“We are familiar with Salamander Alchemy,” the leader said, wondering where Ash was going with this demonstration.
One corner of Ash's lips upturned. Across the courtyard, a five-foot tornado turned, picking up dirt, twigs and pieces of the destroyed crates as it did so. Ash pushed and pulled the air with his Slyph breath. Astonished, the men dropped their weapons and they clattered against the wooden decking.
The tornado made its way up the stairs behind them, forcing each man to squeeze against the wall again. Ash reduced its speed and impact when it reached them, as only to ruffle their hair and take their breath away, then he let it drop its contents between them. Using one of the Gnome incantations he'd memorised, he grew a few shoots atop the dirt, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and showered them with the water. His movements were jerky and awkward, because he wasn't used to manipulating any other element but his own. It seemed to do the trick and the shoots grew a few inches. They did not flower.
“I'm not here to extinguish your flame, either,” Ash told them. “I promised an Oracle on the mainland I would help Kite and Reverie to find a solution to their misfortune, and act as their guide.”
The lead Guardsman narrowed his eyes. “I... I think I recognise you.” He turned to his friends. “He's that Tetrad they chased off the island a few years ago.”
“Ten,” Ash grumbled, “and wrongly so.”
“Not if you're a Tetrad,” one man argued, scowling.
“I didn't know I could do this then.”
“You're probably the only Tetrad to exist right now.”
He shrugged. “Probably.”
At hearing the word 'Tetrad' the men on the ground set off running to spread the news that a rare Elemental had made it into their midst. Any minute now, Ash would be overwhelmed with attention and once again need to fight his way free.
“Please, I need your help,” Ash pleaded. “Before his death, Zarro confessed something terrible to me. You have no reason to believe me but you need to. If Zarro's wishes are allowed to come true, you are all in danger. The island... the Land, will be soon consumed by the God of Universal Energy's rage.”
None of the men so far had bothered to reach for their weapons again. They were interested in Ash and intrigued by his mystical abilities—something nobody had seen for hundreds of years, though Humans held no doubt Tetrads still existed in secrecy.
“I don't have time to explain everything, but if you can take me safely to brothers Crane and Cage, they can vouch for me.”
He paused and decided he would make more of an impact without a direct connection to fire, so he extinguished the torch completely and threw down the stalk.
“Do they still serve here?”
The men looked between one another, then nodded. Across the courtyard, men were appearing and gathering, but not all had weapons. Stunned by the sight of Zarro's corpse and Ash's presence outside his quarters, some men were enraged and arguing amongst themselves that Ash was not to be trusted, but others watched carefully how the three men he faced assessed his behaviour, and how likely his story was to be true. There weren't as many men serving as Ash imagined.
“That glow...”
Ash remembered the key and pulled it from his shirt by the ribbon. It was still blue and pulsing now, waiting for Ash to give it an order or pull its light within him.
“It feeds your gift?”
“I don't know. It was given to me by a Velocal on the mainland and it opens a book that helps me to control my powers.”
From the base of the staircase, a man shouted, “We have it. It's locked in the cells with the other prisoners. Zarro said it must be kept hidden.”
“Aye,” Ash said, “but there is no use separating it from them. Nobody but I can open or use its instructions. This key is the only way to gain access. Without the guidance, I'll make mistakes, and I'm trying to be a better Elemental. Free Captain Deerbolt; you know she is honest, because she follows the old ways. I'm begging you, and I never beg. Please give the book back and release my friends. They are here only to ask for your help and to offer something in return.”
“We have no need for jewels,” the man yelled.
Ash called back, “Nor shall you get any! Kite and Reverie are poor, and I'm a dying man. Why else would we travel so far and rely on the kind nature of strangers? They asked an Oracle at Blackheart Dock to reverse Kite's terrible curse. He refused. Another advised I could persuade you.”
“Zarro makes the decisions around here,” said the leader.
“Made. Past tense. Zarro is dead.” Ash raised an eyebrow. “Now what?”
“Then we are without guidance.”
“Where are the others leading Dragonborn?” Ash asked.
The man grunted. “There was only Zarro and the Oracle. The others were old, and they died many years ago. Zarro never appointed their replacements. There is no chain of command. Our numbers here dwindle, can't you see that?”
Ash glanced across the courtyard again. The Guard had never been so sparse.
“Take me to my friends.”
“In exchange for what, exactly?”
Ash handed back the guard's sword and raised both his palms to show he was done fighting, and had no intention of arguing any further. All Ash wanted was to survive the day, and to see Kite and Reverie healed of their trauma. If the Guardsmen listened, maybe the egg would hatch for Reverie's baby, and everyone could leave Dragonborn knowing there would be a tomorrow.
Ash relayed this to the three men. Two of them retreated down the stairs to speak with their comrades, while the leader, now armed with the sword Ash initially confiscated, guarded him. There was no point, because Ash had already made up his mind. All these years, Zarro had governed Dragonborn alone, and in that time he had destroyed everything pure about the oath each man there took.
“Alright,” someone called, suspicious, “this way.”
The guard led Ash along the walkway and down the stairs into the courtyard. The small crowd parted and allowed them to walk through; each gawped and a few pointed at him, whispering. He heard the word 'Tetrad' several times, and noted not everyone seemed pleased to be working with him. Unfortunately for Ash, that suggested there were many following Zarro and his backward beliefs. If he convinced the majority to help Kite and Reverie for a chance to birth the last Dragon, they would all need to prepare to face resistance.
They made their way slowly across the courtyard and onto the village's main street. Few changes had been made since Ash was last here. The dirt road seemed smaller, but he was ten years older now, and the many humble shops selling clothing, weaponry and 'luxury' foods such as preserves and imported fruits from overseas were still in business. The doorways were stooped and barely wide enough for Ash's frame to fit through, unless he shimmied sideways, and most only fit one or two customers at a time, making trade days busy and wait times sluggish. Today was not a trade day, it seemed, because most were closed as they passed by, heading to a fountain in the centre of a modest square, with wooden benches at the edges facing inward.
They took a sharp right, walking at a brisk pace through the wall walk's archway and past the barracks. Ash noted their increase in speed and wondered if they were trying to hide something. It seemed, however, there wasn't much to conceal. Other than the men in the courtyard—Ash estimated roughly two hundred—the village was deserted. The wall that circled the main facilities and lined the coast was unmanned.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Not wrong,” the guard said. “Just... limited.”
“Limited?”
The Guardsman stopped and Ash almost crashed into the back of him. He turned, level with Ash, their faces too close for comfort. He reminded Ash that Guardsmen were few these days, and since Zarro had taken over, men considering joining had then decided a life of servitude to a flame they would never see wasn't ideal. Nine out of ten recruits had returned home on the last pilgrim ship.
“I see.” Ash hummed. “What did Zarro tell you about his plans for this island?”
“Nothing,” the guard replied. “Absolutely nothing.”
They continued walking until they reached the building where the holding cells were. Inside, there were three thin wooden cages with a four-person capacity in each. When Ash entered behind the guard, he was pleased to see his friends were not all crammed in together, rather separated across two with the book in the centre, out of arms reach through the bars. A single Guardsman sat on a wooden chair, keeping a close eye on the prisoners.
