Conquest's Influence - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Evidence of yesterday’s scene was scarce at Ataraxia. The only sign of the incident were the broken ledges of the pool the monster crushed. The stains of blood in the street and entrails of the exploded beast were gone. Kelan stopped and looked at the morning sun over the ocean. There weren't any fishermen at the water’s edge because everyone was gathering for the meeting conducted by the Elders.

News of the attack traveled faster than news of the gathering. Before gathering for the meeting, mages stood around for the first time curious about the damage. Some seemed disappointed at the lack of devastation they heard from their friends, while others looked relieved nothing worse happened.

The bodies of the dead children flashed through Kelan’s head as he walked away from the pool to his parents’ house. There wasn’t any more he could have done, but the guilt lingered in the back of his head all the same.

A decision to stay wasn’t going to help get rid of those thoughts any faster. He made his way south towards his parents’ home. Congestion through the main roads was thick enough that Kelan decided to travel the side streets. The morning air mixed with the cool shade made Kelan shiver. After a much longer walk than necessary, Kelan knocked on the front door of his mother and father’s modest house. His family lived by the means they needed, not what they wanted, transferring that sensibility to Kelan.

After knocking a few times, Megra Droch, Kelan’s mother, opened the door. “Kelan, I haven’t seen you in ages! Come in. Are you headed to the meeting?”

His mother stepped aside and Kelan walked into the house. “Hi mom. I thought I would pick you and dad up on my way. Is he home?”
“No, your father is still in the forest. He and his crew spent the night clearing trees to catch up on lost work. Come inside and sit down. We can drink a quick tea before we have to get going. How’s work?”

Kelan removed his shoes and sat on the lounge. His father, Saul, was a birler who cleared the woods near the city for lumber. Dark mages did the work using fire blades to cut through the thick trunks. “Does dad even know what happened yesterday?”

Megra called from the gallery. “I don’t think so. If they did, you can be sure he would have rushed home. You know how your grandfather gets when Saul misses something important. I can’t for the life of me figure out why your granddad is always pressuring him. It’s not like your father is in line to be a noble mage or someone in office.” Megra walked into the sitting room with two cups of tea. She set Kelan’s cup on the table and sat opposite him. “I remembered you don’t take your tea with anything.”

After a slow sip, Kelan held his cup in his lap. Just as he liked: hot with a hint of being bitter. “When was the last time you spoke to granddad?”

“I talked to him about ten days ago. He’s doing fine. You can be sure a lot is on his mind nowadays. He asked about you and I told him your business was doing well. Is it doing well?”

“It is. I lost a bit of product yesterday, but it should be easy to earn that back. As long as the city has weeds and pests, people will need a toxicologist.”

“I suppose so.” Megra’s tone had a hint of concern, but she always worried about her son. She looked down to her cup, took another drink and set it on the table, glancing at the clock on the wall. “We should get going if we want to make it on time.”

Together amidst the masses, Kelan and his mother walked to the south market. Hundreds of other dark mages had already gathered. The air buzzed with conversations competing with each other in volume. The reason for split meetings between the two classes of mages was because of the dense population.

As the only city on the island, the Elder’s took each Auguryian citizen’s safety to the utmost seriousness. That reflected in the fact that major crime was non-existent and petty crime remained just that. The Elder council consisted of three dark and four light mages. Those admitted to the council were the oldest nobles in the city. The elders watched over Augurya and drew up law and rule, while their council of nobles oversaw the gendaros who administered the law and kept the peace. Noble mages were also the ears of the Elders and reported goings-on in the city. The dark mages on the council consisted of Philip Quanta, Talik Vendra, and Kelan’s grandfather, Marek Droch.

Far on the stage stood the stoic Elders getting ready to deliver their message. It was impossible to tell what was going on in each of their minds. From his distant vantage point Kelan saw Elder Vendra, the oldest black mage, step up to the edge of the stage. Vendra spoke through an amplifier charm wrapped tight around his neck. The crowd quieted to listen to what he had to say. “Thank you everyone for coming today. We wanted to bring everyone together as soon as we could to address what happened yesterday at Ataraxia. Before we go into any explanations, we want to give our condolences to everyone that lost their loved ones yesterday and thank the citizens who stepped up to help.” The odd sob exuded from the crowd. 

“One individual is to blame for this incident. Gendaros found him on a rooftop near the pool and we are holding him bound in confinement. There is no need to worry about him doing what he did again.” Everyone in the crowd began talking amongst themselves. Elder Vendra continued. “We are still unsure how he managed to create that creature in the pool. The man will be subject to the harshest punishment allowable for committing this heinous act once we discover his reason and intent.”

Now the crowd began getting agitated. Shouts of how this could happen rose over the buzzing. Elder Vendra waved his hands in front of him motioning everyone to calm down, his facial features remaining stiff. “We don’t have knowledge of other people like him in the community. If there are others, they must be in small numbers considering nothing like this has happened before. We also can’t assume other capable mages intend to do harm.

“Our noble mages and gendaros are scouring the city for any sign of others like him. We want to find these mages as soon as possible. To do that, we are recruiting civilians to assist in the search. Nobles will contact chosen candidates later in the day. Both classes of mages will be recruiting new members for the search. With these large teams, we should be able to cover the entire island if need be. We want everyone to know this will be our top priority.” Elder Vendra stepped back from the stage-front and removed his amplifier charm. He and the two other Elders stepped down and left the market together while the nobles stayed back, ensuring everyone in the market stayed in order.

Megra pulled Kelan’s sleeve to get his attention. “You know they'll recruit you, don’t you?”

The thought ran through Kelan’s mind as soon as Elder Vendra made the point. Direct family relations to an Elder had few benefits, especially from one that expected so much from his family. It wasn’t a secret his grandfather was cynical towards his families life decisions, always expecting more.

“This will be a good chance to get in your grandfather’s good books.” Megra smiled and turned her head back to the crowd. “We should leave before we get trampled by the masses.”

Too many people lingered behind having conversations of their own, speculating over the Elder’s speech and future safety of the city. Their loitering made it difficult for Kelan and his mother to push through the crowds. A variety of reactions to the news drifted in the air with the majority of the groups sounding scared. Kelan wanted to be on the committee so he could find out more information. His desire for knowledge sometimes led him in directions his logic had an aversion to. He walked his mother back to her house hoping his father was either home or on his way. He wanted to hear his father’s take on the entire ordeal.

When they arrived back at the house, Saul still wasn’t there. It disappointed Kelan because he wanted to pick his brain. He enjoyed conversations with his father unless they were about him.

“He may not be home until this evening. If you prefer, you can stay until then.” Megra walked into the gallery to get a drink.

“No thanks, I have to get back to work. I’ll try to catch him another time.” He hugged his mother goodbye. “Take care, mom. I’ll tell you what happens with the committee.”

“I already told you what will happen, Kelan. This is your grandfather’s opportunity to get you closer to him. It will be nice for the two of you to see each other.” Kelan waved good-bye to his mother as he walked away from the house. She always had insight into everything going on and he was unable to argue with her on this particular matter.

No part his own fault, his grandfather was a hardened man by nature. Being an Elder steeled everyone. The city needed to depend on them and they had full awareness of their responsibilities. With the recent tragedy, Kelan could only have guessed how much more stressful his grandfather’s job was.

During his walk home the late morning sun made it difficult to see. Kelan shaded his eyes with his hand and looked to the sky. A bird hovered overhead and perched itself onto the ledge of a low-rise rooftop. As it landed, Kelan caught a glimpse of a red feather on the bird’s left wing. The scarlet feather stood out from the crow’s other midnight black plumage. He walked closer to get a better look at the strange bird which appeared to be watching him. Most birds in the city took flight when they realized people approached. This one stayed where it was and stared at Kelan. He stopped so the bird wouldn’t get spooked. The crow seemed to be gauging him with its unmoving dark black eyes. Kelan took his eyes off the bird and began walking home again.

One block further, Kelan looked back to see the bird had moved as well. It was now perched on a different rooftop allowing it a better vantage of Kelan. His curiosity towards the bird swelled. For one reason or another, Kelan disliked his new friend following him, deciding to scare it away for his own peace of mind. Kelan picked a small rock from the roadside and tossed it in the direction of the crow; not at it, but close enough to spook it. The crow spread his wings, let out a sharp caw and took flight. Even with the bird gone, the scarlet feather remained a dominant image in Kelan’s mind.