Amendments (9 page)

Chapter 11

Remnants

              “So you are a fool!”

              “It sounds insane.  I know that,” Noir responded.

              “You know what I went through to break out of there!  What they did to my family….  Is it worth all that to you?”

              “My family isn’t in any danger.”  Noir said flatly as they walked in the cool morning breeze toward the next town.  They'd spent the night arguing about Noir's plan to break into Fort Estelar and rescue Nidhoggr.  “I have met the other two dragons.  Fafnir taught me much about the three of them.  They are ancient and powerful, but good beings.  Both Fafnir and Jotunar believed it impossible for Nidhoggr to do the evils that it seems like he’s been doing.  Now I
know
he is being held against his will.  We can’t allow them to do this to him.”

              Ruith threw his hands in the air in exasperation.  “That doesn’t change the fact that it’s still
insane!
  Do you realize this palace is also a military stronghold?  How do you plan on doing it, anyway?  Two Luxins with one sword?”

              “The savior of Tier could help us.”

              Ruith stopped walking and stared at Noir in disbelief.  Noir kept walking so Ruith called to his back.  “Three people?  That’s your big plan?”

              Noir turned back and gave Ruith a flat look.  “Actually, I only need two.  You don’t have to come.”

              Ruith considered what he was saying for a moment, and then jogged to catch up.  “No one man is powerful enough to challenge an
army!
”

              “You haven’t seen what he can do.  The only way an army could win against him is if they simply had too many bodies for him to slice through and his chakra ran out.”

              Ruith laughed, “Well, Tier
has
that many bodies, and probably thousands more. Plus, they aren’t afraid to throw countless din slaves at him.  They might even have an army of dual vigor users now!”  Ruith gave an exasperated sigh and tugged on Noir’s arm to stop and talk to him.  “Look, I think it’s very noble that you want to save the dragon.  I… can understand why better than anyone.  But it’s insane.  They have luxsyedins all over the fort.  They would detect us making ourselves invisible.  Also, if your friend went in swinging, the entire Tierian army would come crashing in on us in hours!”

              “So we will have hours?  I hope that’s enough.”  Noir nodded and kept walking.

              “Why are you so interested in helping Nidhoggr?”  Noir didn’t answer for a long moment, so Ruith added, “Well?”

              “I’m not sure.  I know I just have to go see him.  And when I see him, I’ll set him free.”

              “Why do you have to see him?”  Noir didn’t answer and he didn’t meet Ruith’s eyes.  To Noir’s surprise, Ruith said, “You want to slice him open and bathe in his blood!  You want to use din!”

              Noir finally stopped walking and turned on Ruith.  “What?  I never said that!  That’s insane!”

              To Noir’s surprise, Ruith started nodding.  His eyes looked through Noir as if he was lost in his own mind.  Noir demanded, “Why would I want to use din?  I don’t want scars all over my body!”

              While still looking like his mind was far away, Ruith responded, “No… actually, it might be a good idea.”

              Noir threw up his hands in disgust and surprise.  “
What?!
  Why in the world would I want to do that?!

              Ruith finally met Noir’s eyes.  “Yes, Noir.  You must bathe in Nidhoggr’s blood.  You must gain the ability to use din.  You must become the next Lumin!”

              Noir shook his head in disgust, then tore his eyes away from Ruith and started walking away in a rage.  “You are insane!  Alphonse said you were, but now I know for sure!  You’re a mad man!”

              Ruith jogged to catch up and said, “No, Noir.  The world needs the Lumin!  It’s the only way… things will work out.”

              Noir stomped down the dirt path through the field of tree stumps ignoring the man.  “You’re insane, Ruith.  There’s only one Lumin and it’s not me!  I just want to find my cousin and uncle and get home!”

              Oddly, Ruith did not press the subject farther.  Instead, after a moment of pause, he said, “We’ll need to pull the Tierian army out of the capital to get to Nidhoggr.  We can't have the entire army crashing down upon us.  Your Savior friend might be able to help with a resistance movement that I started in several towns and cities.  If we can get a city or two in revolt, the army will empty out of the capital in response.”

              Noir agreed after a long moment.  “That sounds like a good idea, but how many will die in a revolt?  We can't start something like that just because we want to save Nidhoggr.”

              “The seeds of the revolution are already planted, Noir.  Many want this to come but don't have catalyst.  We need to be the catalysts for the revolution.  The Savior... your friend Ratt, has already started for us.”

              Noir thought for a moment, and then stressed, “This seems dangerous.”

They walked on in silence for a couple minutes continuing to follow the path in the dirt.  Noir walked ahead and Ruith followed.  They came upon a larger dirt road that crossed their path.  They looked down it both ways and saw the tops of houses. Trails of smoke rose from chimneys from fires meant to stave off the morning chill.

              “There’s Inderrin.  Like I said, I’ve sneaked into Tierian towns dozens of times by simply acting like a beggar.”

Noir glared at the man.  He unfortunately needed his knowledge of Tier.  “Fine.  What do we do?”

“Just hide that fancy Luxin armor of yours and look pitiful.  One thing Tier is good at doing is accepting more able hands to work for them.  It’s easy to get in, but they don’t let you out without good reason.”

              They pulled their cloaks over their heads and looked as pitiful and cold as possible.  Noir followed Ruith’s lead.  They approached and Noir studied the stone wall that loomed over their heads.  The buildings behind it stood even taller over the top of the wall.  He studied a watch tower and saw the shapes of at least two people inside peering out.  One was an older woman in the Din Mage cloak that Noir had seen Aimee wear twice.  The other was a younger man who had a cloak that was mostly black with red highlights.  He held a silver chain that attached to the silver collar around the din slave’s neck.  It was the first time Noir had seen a din slave and their din handler.  It somehow bothered him even more than the blank faces of the slaves of Chiron.  The woman looked down at him with a sad, far-away expression.  Her din powers would be controlled by her handler.  She had no chance to resist or else her handler would use her own din against her.  It was truly pitiful.

              “Stop there!” a man in Tierian armor called down to them.  He leaned over the top of the stone wall near the watchtower and a wooden gate.  “What business do you have in Inderrin?”

              Ruith called back, “I have been kicked out of my house by my wife, or ex-wife I should say.  She’s violent and I have nowhere else to go.  This here is my nephew.  We can work for Inderrin.  We are both able bodied, though we are cold and tired at the moment.”

              The man gave a quick laugh.  “What’d ya' do to yer old lady?”

              Ruith gave a sigh.  “I did something to a less old lady.”

              He gave a long laugh.  In between heaves of laughter he said, “Serves ya’ right, buddy.”  Then eventually his laughter subsided.  He leaned over and called down, “Wait there.”  He climbed down and disappeared for a minute.  The man’s accent reminded him of Godo, the master enchant maker who made Ratt’s armor.  Noir and Ruith stood under the uncomfortable gaze of the din slave and her handler until the gate finally opened.  “You may enter.  Please come forward.”

              They walked forward and the guard gave them a quick look up and down.  Noir was glad his sword and armor was hidden in his pack.  He looked at Ruith with a long, inquisitive look.  Without missing a beat, Ruith touched his scarred face and lamented, “House fire when I was nine.”

              He nodded and suggested, “Okay.  Ya' need to go meet with the local shoe maker.  Just ask around an' anyone can point ya' to his shop.  He’s needed a couple o' extra hands recently.  He can probably put ye' two to work.  Once ya' get warmed up, go to the mayor’s office and get ya'selves officially added to the town ledgers.”  He clapped them both on the back then said, “Good luck to ya both.  Ye' be fine here in Inderrin until ye' get back on yer feet.  Just don't try to leave town.”  He pointed ominously at the watchtower.

              “Thank you, sir.”  They entered the town.  The streets were busy with townsfolk going about their morning duties.  Houses stretched all the way to the town wall as if the town was outgrowing it.  On the largest road, they could see many merchant carts and shop stands.  Men and women were running about purchasing their food and other items for the day.  This was nothing like the first Tierian town that Noir had been in.  Ruith kept his hood down, so Noir did the same.

              “I’ve been through this town before.  I stayed here for about a week before they tried to add me to the ledgers and I had to bolt.”

              Noir whispered, “We need to ask about the Savior of Tier.”

              Ruith looked around then back at Noir.  “This town is certainly not in revolt, Noir.  It’s more bustling than last time.  The Savior hasn't been here.  I think we’re wasting our time.”

              “A bustling economy doesn't mean they aren't oppressed, and maybe he just hasn’t made it here yet.”

              Ruith shook his head.  “I don’t know.”

              “Exactly, so let’s go ask.”

              “Noir, you have to be careful in Tier.  Asking the wrong questions to the wrong people can easily land you in prison.”

              Noir nodded.  “I understand, but I still have to try.  Where could we ask around that would be safe?”

              “I have a friend who let me stay in his attic when I was here.  I think it’d be safe to go to Craven.  He never thought a revolution would work no matter how hard we tried.  However, he might see things differently now.”

              “Sounds like a good start.  Lead the way.”

              Ruith walked and Noir followed.  Noir heard the accent that he had gotten used to from Godo everywhere he turned.  These people didn’t quite have it as thick as Godo, so Noir wondered if the man's hometown was nearby.

              Eventually, Ruith stopped at a small two-story wooden house.  He went around back and knocked on the door.  It opened to reveal a girl that Noir guessed would be around thirteen.  She was smiling until she saw them.  “Oh, I thought….”  She turned around and yelled, “Dad!  That man is back!”

              In a couple seconds, a man came to the door in a leather apron that was covered in wood shavings.  He looked at Ruith with what Noir guessed was apprehension.  “I thought you left town.  What are you doing back?”

              “Well, Craven,” Ruith answered, “That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you and some of the others about.”

              The man poked his head out the door and looked both ways, then motioned Noir and Ruith in.  They stepped inside and were led to a wooden table.  Craven pulled out seats for Noir and Ruith.

              “Are you still meeting with the group?” Ruith asked.

              “We haven’t met in a long time, Ruith.  You know how it went.  No one thought we could gain the support of the town, so we gave up.”

              Ruith shook his head and sighed.  “You just gave up?  We were gaining supporters.”

              “Hardly.  Enough support wasn’t there and you know it.  The people of Inderrin are happy enough.  They don’t want to risk everything when life is decent.”

              “Decent?” Ruith asked with an exasperated tone.  Noir noticed Craven look down, though he wasn’t sure if it was because of shame, anger, or what.  “Do you call what happened to me and my family decent?  You have—”

              Craven cut him off.  “That wasn’t even here, Ruith.”

              “It was in Tier!  Inderrin is part of Tier, Craven.”  Ruith gave the man an angry frown and said, “Can you just call a meeting?  I have new information that could change everything.”

              After a heavy sigh, Craven replied, “I guess I can send out a message to meet in a couple hours if you want.”  He looked at Ruith and added, “For an old friend.”

              “Thank you.  This is another friend, by the way,” Ruith said as he motioned to Noir.  “His name is Luxin Noir.  He’s a much stronger Luxin than I.”

              “Well, sir Luxin, it is very good to meet you.”

              Noir nodded and replied, “You too, sir.”

              Immediately after their conversation, Craven wrote a message on a piece of brown, curled paper, then disappeared for about twenty minutes.  Noir and Ruith stayed with Craven's family until he came back.  Craven’s wife and daughter talked to Noir and Ruith very little, only offering them a drink and some bread.  Soon, Noir asked more about Craven and the group that they had been talking about.  He learned that Ruith had started a council of townsfolk who did not agree with how their town was run.  It seemed that it was gaining modest strength until Ruith had to leave.  He was about to explain why he had to leave when Craven came back.  Everything was set up.  They were to meet at one of the council members’ houses in a little over an hour.  During that time, Ruith and Craven discussed events in Inderrin.  Ruith talked about Noir a bit and about the Savior of Tier.  Craven did not seem too keen on a revolt even with the help of The Savior of Tier.  Noir just listened and tried to learn what he could.