Chapter One: The Banished; The Forgotten (part two)

Part two of the first chapter.

By dawn the following day, Orik had reached Luza. It had once been a city of exquisit beauty, of unmatched architecture and a teeming energy, festive to say the least, but no longer. Windows were boarded, streets bare. The once lively city of Luza was but an urban desert. Few moved along the streets and those who did were bloodied and dirty, reduced to fighting in order to survive. Few even gave Orik a passing glance.

"You shouldn't be here," a voice said from behind him.

Orik spun, finding himself face to face with a short, greying woman. Her face was pale, flecked with grime and weathered. Gentle blue eyes now sat in darkened in caverns. Orik, still, recognized her: Ahla, the woman who had first greeted him in the Air Oracle.

"Ahla!" He cried.

"No, do not speak that name. That is my old name, the name of a WindTamer. I am Xhana, now. You should leave if you what is best for you," she said it with little thought, almost mechanically. What had happened to her? And to Luza.

"Ahla. . .Xhana, don't you know who I am? It's me, Orik!"

The woman, closing her eyes gently, nodded. She remained silent for several minutes as if alllowing herself to go back to a time long gone. At last, she glanced up at him a new emotion clearly visible: anger. "Of course I remember! Some may have forgotten you but I didn't. Coward, you left us in the midst of battle! You were supposed to protect the Oracle but you failed. You let it be destroyed. And us too, the WindTamers. Thousands have died because of you and those who live now fight for. . .for him. . .The Banished, they call themselves. Begone, you dog lest you bring more destruction!"

"No, Ahla, I have Kane, look," Orik pleaded, not fully understanding her words. He'd died, Cara had betrayed him, didn't these people remember? He'd fought until the very end.

Her eyes, as fogged and desolate as the town, took in the sword at his hip. "That old thing," she spat, "Prothis threw it out. It was useless. No power in that."

Useless? Threw it out? The words cut deep. Surely that couldn't be true. Ara wouldn't give him a "useless" sword. Would she? Perhaps she knew. Perhaps it was her way of getting even with him for his failure. Kane had been his only hope for proving who he was, to prove to them that he was the Guardian and that he was back. Surely she couldn't. . .no! He refused to believe it.

"You have no business here," Ahla went on, " You may as well go to Palismith, turn yourself in and die with the others still clinging to hope. It's your only useful act."

"But. . ."

Ahla pressed on her gaze tearing into the very depths of his sould. Each word cut deeeper than the last, adding to a growing feeling of hopelessness. How many others thought as she did? How many others believed him to be a coward? How had this happened?

"Then you'll join him? Become a Banished? Figures, it's what all the cowards have done. Join him and turn in their fellow brothers and sisters. It's not worth it, though, not really. He kills them in the end, too. They'll all end up like Vina."

The name hit home. It crashed into him like a stone wall of despair and agony. Hopeless couldn't even begin to describe it.

"Vina the WaveWalker?" Orik asked although he feared the answer. Ahla nodded. "What happened?"

The old woman cocked an eyebrow, clearly surprised by the inquiry. Evidently it was a well known tale, especially amongst the Banished. "After Prothis took the throne and made the execution decree he marched to Euselas. The city stood no chance on one woman did fight valiantly, the WaveWalker, Vina. Prothis captured her planning on using her as an example for the execution decree.

"Vina begged and pleaded and in the end struck a deal with Prothis. Three days later, during a meeting of the Council of the Four, Prothis attacked. The entire Council was killed, save Vina, of course. "

Orik was stunned. He couldn't believe that Vina would do such a thing, betray the Council. It was impossible. Then, why was Vina in Euselas that day anyway? Council members hardly left their Oracles, unless it was to the Meeting. But Ahla gave him no time to dwell on it. She forged on ahead.

"Finished with her, Prothis was going to kill her alongside the others, but Vina was not finished with her treason. She led Prothis into Premony Forest and to the Water Oracle.

"But, much to his distaste, the Oracle had been emptied save one woman. Elana, I believe her name was. Single handidly she fought the king's dispachment and word is she did a damn good job of it, too. In the end she, too, was killed as was Vina. The Oracle still stands, they way Prothis hopes that one day the WaveWalkers will return there and then he'll have them. They won't, of course, all of them are in Kula."

"Kula? The Enlightened Land? Why there, it's right in the heart of northern Lardam. If Euselas was the first to fall, why not Kula? Why here in Luza first?"

"You don't know nothing do you? Kula refused cession. There wasn't a war, my guess is Prothis is saving his energy, gathering more traitors before he strikes. He takes the easy targets first. Kula, that's where I'm going; to join the Freedom's Republic."

Orik remained silent as he watched the woman. The anger in her eyes had been replaced by something stronger, more pure. Hope. There was still some left in this world and it was this "Freedom's Republic."

Ahla was still talking: "People from all over the kingdom are flocking there. Even Caruso left their walls. They're gathering arms. WaveWalkers, WindTamers, even the StoneCharmers."

"What of the FlameDancers?" Orik asked.

"Haven't you heard? Prothis and the Palatinean Order have elected Tanmeron as their primary target. All of Prothis's attacks have been halted, all force is being focused on Tanmeron. Not hard to believe after his last failure. Tanmeron's pinned down. Few have escaped and of those even fewer have made it to Kula. Kas has put up a valiant effort, but it can't hold off much longer. There's even talk that the Sha'kalin have aligned themselves with the king."

"But, Ahla, if the Kulanian forces joined the battle, then there would be a chance, right? If their numbers are as great as you say it could easily tip the scales."

The old woman shrugged. "I'm not in Kula, now am I? And besides, it's not as if I'm their leader."

"And who, exactly, is?"

Ahla again met his gaze, cocking an eyebrow. "Hmm? You ask a lot of silly questions, you know? Maybe I. . .so, where have you been?" She asked, at last believing that maybe he hadn't run after all.

Orik told her everything. He told her of the World Between Worlds and of the merging. He told her of Ara and all that she'd said. He trusted this woman, any familiar face was a relief and, after all, she'd told him all of what happened during his absence. It was the least he could do.

"So, this leader, who is he?"

Ahla grinned broadly. "A handsome fellow and smart, too. Of course, you don't care about that. His name. . .oh yes. They call him. . .Ral."

Reviews

[Valette]

You have an excellent play of dialogue in this piece. However I felt I was virtually floating in an unknown world for lack of landscape details. Maybe you could insert something about the scene around them like in a pause between dialogue; as in he looked away from her face to the barren hills; or perhaps that the cracked red earth was scattered with bleached white bones.
This is a good piece, though it could be better with a visual anchor.

[FantasyWriter01]

You write very well. I really don't see too much you could change (though, I am not the most experienced editor!). Great use of words and nice detail. Characters are well thought out and planned nicely, and the setting was descriptive. A job well done.