Two Halves: chapter 43

A Chapter by aaaa

lets go chapter 43 :D

“Hello Kilgry, and for the last time you can’t make a nick name of the nick name. You either have to call me Nicolas or make something of my real name,” said Nicolas as he walked over to the throne. Kilgry had already gotten up and was rushing down the short alley between Nicolas and the throne. Tapestries showing the faces of long dead Sky lords hung on the walls making a sort of half wall between the walkway to the throne and the rest of the room.

Nicolas and him embraced in front of the grand hall. Then held each other at arms lengths so that they could look at the other. Nicolas hadn’t seen Kilgry since his days at the Academy. He had been one of his few friends, and only because they were in the same boat. Kilgry was heir to the Litscious clan that had been the ruling class of Cloudtop for hundreds of years. When they went to the Academy onlookers wanting to glean some piece of talent or skill from the two young clan lords had assaulted them both. They had naturally gravitated towards one another because they were the only ones who could understand one another’s position.

“Well, long time no see. How goes it on the other side?” asked Kilgry. He smiled showing the perfect white teeth he had always had. They contrasted the dark mahogany skin that was prevalent is he Litscious clan. He was wearing his kingly robes, though he had made them his own. They were the dark purple and silver trimmed robes of the Feathers, but he had added a large emblem of his clan onto the back, and the symbol of his office onto the soldier. Instead of the sashes the others had to display rang he had a patch depicting a crown.

“You wouldn’t get it even if I told ya,” laughed Nicolas.

“I’m sorry, but there is a reason for us being here. I am happy you two have been able to reunite, but we have work that needs to be done,” said Bestalel. He had taken off the largest sack and laid to the rest on the floor. Kilgry clapped lightly and a servant came to pick it up, and took the other bags as well.

“Sorry, you’re right. Kilgry is there some place we can talk?” said Nicolas. Kilgry nodded and led them between two of the tapestries into the rest of the room. They walked from the grand hall to a small side room through a painted red door. Inside were the shapeless cushions similar to those they had sat on in Jen’s house except these were upholstered in a dark purple cloth. It was soft to the touch and felt like it was moist even when completely dry, and was the most expensive cloth to be had by the nobles of Cloudtop.

“Ok Nicolas. What is it that you want to tell me?” asked Kilgry, bemused. He had sat before the large empty grate lining one wall. They told him from the beginning. Nicolas did most of the talking. They told him of the plan to recruit the Cloud Walkers, and of the assault on Jenzi and the fight to Salex headquarters.

“You’re telling me not everyone on the other side is our enemy?” he asked about halfway through.

“Yes. Most of the people there hate Salex as much as we do, maybe even more. They want to take him down just like we do, and are willing to help us to do it,” said Nicolas. Kilgry had started to look at Bestalel strangely ever since they told him of the experience with Kintera. Kilgry himself had renounced his beliefs in the god upon entering the Academy, pledging that he will not be protected by the powers of a being he could not see; instead he would be protected by the powers from within himself.

“But how are you going to get the Cloud Walkers to join you?”

“I will do that,” said Bestalel. He was rummaging through the bags and eventually found a small notepad. On it was cramped even handwriting. “This is a plan detailing what we will require of you. I ask that you gather anyone willing to be part of a militia in addition to the forces I have specified on here. The Feathers of Fate and the War magi of the academy will be a great help, and I know you do not enjoy dealing with the rebels still fighting Salex, but they are numerous enough they their contribution will make a difference to the war effort.”

“Well, the plan seems solid, and it will take some doing, but I will convince the council to approve it. I have been itching to get Salex out of here ever since I was a little kid. From what your friend here has said the battle will start very soon. About how long exactly do I have?” Kilgry was extremely excited by all of this. He had always been the adventuring type.

“On month from today. That will give you enough time to organize the Feathers and the War Magi,” said Bestalel.

“One month! Dear god man, it will take some doing but I will have that force.”

“I know you will Kilgry, but there is something else I have to ask you. Something on a more personal note. Where is Abigail?” asked Nicolas. Kilgry, Nicolas and Abigail had been friends while Nicolas and Kilgry had been in the Academy. They had snuck out often without the instructors noticing to have fun in the city. Nicolas had met Abigail there and she soon became the reason he always snuck out. He always strived to become more powerful to impress her. He and Kilgry became powerful together, and soon became the two most gifted magi in the school. They won numerous tournaments among the student body, and after Nicolas graduated he joined the rebel forces while Kilgry took his place in the royal family. When Nicolas ran to Earth-1 he made Abigail promise to stay in Cloudtop where she could be safe.

“Nicolas, I don’t know to tell you this, but she’s gone.” He looked down at the floor, and a solitary tear ran down his cheek.

“Gone? What do you mean gone!” roared Nicolas after a moment.

“A month and a half ago she went to go see the rebel forces stationed outside Cloudtop. I don’t know why, but she insisted on going and refused to let me give her a group of The Feathers to protect her. I was worried about her and even though she told me not to I sent a chapter of the Feather after her. They didn’t report back like they were supposed to so I sent another scouting party to check up on them. There was nothing left, just a smoking building shot full of holes.” Kilgry had buried his face in his hands and was saying the words through short sobs.

“So, Salex took her,” said Nicolas in numb shock. If she wasn’t here there was no point in any of this. He had done it for her. Why should he continue on? What was the point any longer? All these things ran through his head in the second before Kilgry answered.

“We never found any bodies, so that means Salex took them hostage. I’m sorry Nicky, I’m so sorry…” his voice trailed away.

“I’m gonna kill him,” whispered Nicolas as he clenched his fists. His anger was rising from the depths of shock he had been in moments before. “I’m gonna god damn kill him!” He slammed his fist onto the table and small red jets of magical energy spewed from under the contact. Where the table had once been a dark varnish was a smoldering ring around where his fist had struck. Nicolas got up to his feet, his anger still rising.

“He does this to me! After ten damned years in that city! Now this, it’s not fair! It isn’t f*****g fair!!” yelled Nicolas. He was rapidly losing control of his aura. It seeped from the crest of his head and ran down his body in blood red tendrils. It scorched the floor every time one of the bolts of energy arced across it. His anger continued to rise and the energy level went high and higher. Kilgry was backing away shouting something, but Nicolas could not hear him. Zeckle was shielding Bestalel at one end of the room. The energy from the peak of his head shot upwards and hit the ceiling. He was reaching near boiling point, and if he lost any more control his body would be consumed by the raw power. The energy that flowed under Cloudtop was fueling him now, and the Bronze Citadel was the nexus of the lens. He was overloading with the energy, and now couldn’t stop it. Nicolas was starting to realize this himself and tried to stem the flow, but the door the anger had opened could not be closed so easily.

Then the room went dark. And then it lit up again, but instead of being in the sitting room he was laying down in a dark room. It was cool, and as he reached up towards his head he realized a moist towel had been laid there. He looked around dumbly for a few moments, still in the stupor from being knocked out. His memories of his last few moments of consciousness began to slot into place and he sat bolt upright in bed, and at his sudden change in orientation his head swam horribly.

“You shouldn’t get up yet Jento hit you pretty hard,” said Zeckle from his bedside. She was squeezing a towel into a low basin next to the bed. Now that Nicolas had a chance to look around he saw that she was the only one in the room.

“What happened?” he asked. Zeckle sighed and rung out the rag one more time before pushing on him to force him back into his laying position, and putting the rag back over his forehead.

“Jento felt your magic spike from outside. The other guards weren’t powerful enough to enter, but he walked in there like nothing and hit you over the head with the butt of his sword. You fell like a log, and the magic energy began to dissipate. I thought you were gonna blow up the entire building. You need to learn some more self control,” said Zeckle, bemused. She leaned back on her stool so that she was resting against the wall.

“Where is everyone else?” asked Nicolas. He was remembering Abigail, and it was all he could do to not sob right there. He kept asking questions so he did not have to process what was happening.

“Your friend Kilgry took Bestalel to use the Phantom Typewriters. He is going to relay the message to Ernie that the final battle begins in one month. Kilgry had already promised to give us an airship and has said that he is dedicating one guard squad to crew our ship and another six for the direct war effort. He had already put out that we need a militia and hundreds of people are pouring out of the slums wanting to join up, and they aren’t all nobodies. We have engineers and people who look like they can really fight. Kilgry has already put out that any personal vehicle will be confiscated and turned into a war machine before the end of the month, and six of the seven grand houses are supporting him on his decisions. The Academy had promised their entire War Magi core and half of the Healing Corps.” She beamed at him as she said this. Nicolas looked at her confused as to her point. “Don’t you know what this means. Everyone wants to fight Salex, nobody likes them. We might really stand a chance!” She had gotten up from her chair and was hopping up and down happily. Behind her the door opened, Jento was standing there.

“I’m sorry for hitting you, sir.” He stood at attention in the doorframe, waiting to be told to come in.

“It’s fine Jento, but that isn’t the only thing you came here for is it?” asked Nicolas. Jento nodded and came in. He pulled up one of the stools around the room and sat at Nicolas’s bedside. “Me and my squad have been assigned to pilot your airship. His lord Kilgry has given us the airship Star Catcher. It is an imperial class zeppelin and is being outfitted for the journey as we speak. It is an honor to be given the opportunity to redeem myself and my squad for the folly of not convincing the Cloud Walkers to follow Cloudtop so long ago.”

“Thank you Jento, when are we leaving?” asked Nicolas. His head was no longer spinning and he felt like he could sit up once more. He took off the wet cloth and placed it beside him. Then swung his legs so that he could get up out of bed.

“We were waiting on you, sir. The Star Catcher should be fully outfitted in another hour and a half. You have been asleep for some time.” Jento had gotten up in order to Help Nicolas to his feet. Instead Nicolas shrugged him off and reached a standing position on his own.

“Really? How long have I been asleep,” said Nicolas as he rubbed his shoulders. His muscles were stiff and sore from having so much power run through them. His energy levels were still high, as the extra magical energy had not entirely disappeared. He held up his thumb and forefinger and a small red spark arced between them.

“About a day and a half, sir.”

“A day and a half! My god I’ve been gone for a while. I hope I didn’t hold anything up.” He was trying to act cheerful so that his thoughts did not drift back towards Abigail. Jento might have not noticed his false happiness, but Zeckle obviously did.

“If you would like we can meet Bestalel at the Unicifer estate or proceed straight to the zeppelin towers and airfield.” Nicolas definitely did not want to face Abigail’s father in this state. They had never gotten along, and him showing up a month after Abigail’s disappearance would not do any good to relationship. Nicolas realized he had stiffened when Jento has spoken, and urged his body back into movement.

“No, no. Let us just go to the air yards,” his voice had almost cracked when he said this. Jento led them out of the room and through more of the Bronze Citadel. They were no longer in the front rooms meant to impress any visitors. Now they were in the living sections, and the rooms were much simpler, much more comfortable. They walked through the rooms and every so often passed a servant carrying items to the various bedchambers. Three generations of Kilgry’s family inhabited these walls, and only the male head of the family ever did any real work. The rest just lazed about the palace all day, Kilgry hated it.

They finally made their way through the kitchens to the back of the Citadel. Nicolas looked around to see that night was fast approaching. The baubles were glowing to form the rainbow like dance around the towers. In the distance were huge spotlights illuminating one of the zeppelin towers. Cloudtop supported five in total. each with two blimps tethered to them. Below them were the hundreds of small hangers and air pads carrying smaller ships preparing for launch. Only the enormous zeppelins could hold themselves in the air. The rest relied on the Teki stone. Several of the large magical batteries that were eternally charged by the focusing iris were used to give the Teki stone a jump-start for when they went over the cliff.

A small steam powered trolley sat at the rear of the house. It began at the edge of a small platform attached to the Citadel and had two lanes, each occupied with one of the lumbering contraptions. Under the trains were two huge gears that ran along the toothed track that they sat on. On the back was a boiler that was steaming away happily. Jento led them into the trolley where they sat, and he went up to the drivers seat and began to pull the various levers to make it go.

The seats were uncomfortable and faced outwards to allow a view of the garden. Bulge trees lined the tracks. Each with a small pump attached to the bottom extracting drinking water for the Citadel. Hundreds of small multi colored flowers lined the floor, and were viciously trimmed so not even a single frond touched the walkways that they passed. Fountains stuck up from the landscape in abstract geometric patterns, and only a few depicted real people, and of the few nearly all of them were of the miner of days long past.

They exited the garden rather quickly and same into a glass enclosed tunnel. The tube seemed to lead all the way to the air yards. The outside of the tube was heavily graffitied, but the stuff that could make out showed the slums of the city. Cloudtop during the Blaze War ad absorbed enormous numbers of refugees. Once the rumors got out that it was impossible for Salex to invade Cloudtop citizens flocked to the flying city to seek safety. Few found it, because unfortunately Cloudtop could only hold so many people. Most were simply sent into the slums, while others founded small satellite towns in the crater around Cloudtop. Luckily most were able to find work either farming the land close to Cloudtop or working the mines under it.

They finally exited the slums as they came directly under the zeppelin tower. On either side of them were huge hangers containing dozens of small planes. Already Nicolas could see the preparations for war. Smoke billowed over the edge of the city. Most likely every single forge were busily producing weapons to strap onto anything that would run. The air yards were crowded with hundreds of men running around bringing out planes and putting them back in. Each time they would give it a once over and a short diagnostic, if they passed they went back in, if not they went into a growing lane of broken down planes.

Under the zeppelin tower were several guards standing at attention, all of them from Jento’s squad. They exited the trolley and walked towards them. Jento pulled a few levers and the gears started to move to bring the cart back to its station at the Citadel. The men saluted as they approached.

“How long until the final check can be done?” asked Jento confidently. He no longer seemed to be the depressed guardsman of earlier. His mission had given him purpose, and he couldn’t wait to fulfill his duty.

“From what the engineers have said it seems that this thing is ready to go. All we need is for the head technician and that navigator to come.”

“Good, at ease men. Follow us up to the Star Catcher. We will be beginning the final check while we wait for the head technician.” They entered the thin towering building. Inside was nothing but a spiral staircase stretching upwards. As they got higher Nicolas could feel the entire structure begin to sway in the growing wind. When they reached the top there were a series of hooks and belts waiting for them in a small alcove.

“Put these one and hook yourself to the ropes, we don’t want anyone blowing off.” They put on their belts and obeyed. Outside the howl of wind had become extremely loud. Jento put his shoulder into the door in order to open it against the wind, and they stepped out onto the final platform before the Star Catcher.

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© 2010 aaaa

Author's Note

sorry for the delay. It is harder and harder to find time to write. I didn't even write Monday because I was so tired from football :(

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Reviews

Daniel Gardner

Great job. Do you know how long your going to make this book? It reads well and is a good story I just have a short attention span when it comes to books. This one would be really good broken up in to multiple books. You should consider doing thatl