His Cure For Magic (Book 2) (26 page)

"Where am I?" he asked.

"If you ask where am I, then you are home," the man said.

Home? He didn't know where that was.
 

"If you are ready, then do you remember the promise?"

The promise? He remembered. If he was here, it was because he had fallen in battle. They had taken him from the field to heal him. "I need to report," he said.
 

"If you need to report, then you are ready. If you are ready, then you remember the promise. If you remember the promise, then you can go."

He saw a flow of water from a small pipe next to the bed. He slid off of it and onto his feet. His legs were unsteady at first, but he found his strength. He leaned down and drank from the pipe. The man waited patiently in the corner.

"Where are my clothes?"

"If you ask where are my clothes, then your clothes are in the room across from this one."

He started for the door.

"If the materials are gone, then I must tell you that you cannot be fixed again. If you cannot be fixed again, then the seven become six."

He didn't know what that meant, but he felt it had meaning. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to remember the healer's name.

"If you ask who I am, then I will tell you my name is Rossum."

Rossum? It sounded familiar. "Thank you, Rossum."

A slight smile creased the man's mouth. "If you say thank you, then I will say you are welcome, Talon Rast, First of Nine, now First of Seven."

Seven? He remembered his brothers. That meant two had fallen. How? When? He opened the door and stepped out into a long corridor, lit by the stones embedded in the ceiling. He looked both ways. The door in front of him was closed. The door next to it was open. He didn't go to his room. He crossed to the other.

A man was standing there, already dressed in black leather pants, a cloth tunic and leather vest. He was lifting a chain over his head, with a red crystal eye hanging from the end. He turned around.

"Talon?" the man asked. His eyes shifted downward. "You couldn't wait to put on some clothes before you came over to check on me?"

He was suddenly aware of his nakedness. He smiled and laughed. "I don't think I'm back to being myself again just yet. Are you well, Clau?"

"As well as can be expected, considering I'm back in the infirmary." He lifted his shirt, showing him the stitches. "I don't remember the bastard that got me, but I can assure you if I find him, I'll return the favor."

"Do you remember the battle?" Talon asked.

"No. It must have been a big one to have brought us both here. Rossum says that there are only seven of us left."

"Who has fallen?"

"Feng, and Reyzor.'

Feng? He lowered his head. They had grown up together. Known one another almost their whole lives.
 

"We need to go into the tower and make our report," Clau said. He bent down and lifted his sword from the bed, strapping it around his waist. Talon wold recognize Clau's blade anywhere.

"Let me get my clothes on, and I'll join you." He retreated from the room, and entered his own. He put his clothes on quickly, the black cloth and leather of
his
army. The red crystal eye and the five ircidium bands that denoted him as a General. A sword had been laid out for him, and he picked it up and examined it.
 

This isn't mine.

He knew it instinctively. He wondered what had happened to his blade. Maybe
he
would know. He strapped the ircidium sword to his waist, and then reached up and pushed his long white hair back, tying it in a short tail behind his head.
 

"I'm ready," he said.

They walked together, side by side, in lockstep. They didn't speak to one another. They didn't joke. There would be time for that later. It was essential that they made their report to
him
immediately. Those were the orders.

They moved through the corridors without thought, their memories guiding them through the passages. They didn't notice the ruined door, shattered into splinters. They didn't notice the body of the person laying inside.

He noticed them.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Wilem

Wilem heard the boots on the floor. They weren't loud enough to be an ircidium man. The steps were too short and regular to be a monster.
 

He opened his eyes.

He had fallen unconscious, but for how long? He didn't know. What he did know was that Eryn had been a captive for as long as he had been out, and that truth made him angry at himself.

Two men walked past the broken door. Two men in black cloth and leather. Two men with red crystal eyes hanging from their necks. One of them looked just like... General Clau?
 

He shook his head, thinking he was seeing things. Maybe he was still asleep? He blinked his eyes, and pinched himself. He still heard the boots.

"General, wait," he said, too softly for them to hear. He pulled himself up and grabbed the box. He threw it in Davin's pack, and then slung it over his back again. "General." He tried to say it louder.
 

He got out of the room just in time to see them turn the corner. He wondered if the General had come to find him. To rescue him, or to kill him for betraying them? He had to take his chances.

"General." He ran after them, reaching the corner. They were only a few feet ahead. "General," he said again.

They both stopped and turned. In that moment, he wondered if he had made a mistake.

"Are you well, Mediator?" Clau asked.

Wilem tried to calm himself. While his clothes were torn and dirty, they were still the clothes of a Mediator. Clau had recognized him as such, but he didn't seem to know who he was.

His eyes shifted from the General to the other soldier. He was tall and wiry, with long white hair and blue eyes.
 

The same description Clau gave me... of Silas Morningstar.

His eyes grew wide, and his heart began to race again.

"Mediator? Are you well?" Silas asked.

"I... uh..." He wasn't sure what to do. Silas was here. He was alive. He wasn't capable of working through the hows and the whys. He was so excited he could barely think. With Silas helping him, he was sure to be able to save Eryn. "No, I'm not well. General Clau, do you know me?"

Clau looked at him. "Should I? You seem familiar to me." He waved his hand. "If you are in trouble, state your concern. Otherwise, General Rast and I are due to make our report."

General Rast? It
was
Silas!

"I... I... General Rast, my apologies, but perhaps you can come with me while General Clau makes the report? There... there is a Cursed we brought in. She escaped from our custody. She's hiding somewhere, and we haven't been able to find her. It's the luck of Amman that you both are here. We need to find her before she loses control of her Curse and kills us all. She would have killed me already, if not for my sword."

It was the best he could do. He held his breath, waiting to see if they would help him.

"We have orders to report. Both of us," Silas said.

"Please, General. Certainly
he
understands the importance of not allowing a Cursed to roam freely, especially inside the walls of Genesia."

The last word made both of them pause. Didn't they know where they were?

"He's right," Silas said. "If there's a Cursed in here, we need to capture her. Go and make your report, Clau. Tell
him
I will report as soon as this business is finished."

Clau bowed to Silas, glanced at Wilem one last time, and continued his journey alone.

"Where did you see her last?" Silas asked.

Wilem waited until Clau's footfalls faded. They were acting so strange. He wondered if Clau would think anything of the barricade, or of the dead monsters that the ircidium man had left.

"Silas, they've taken her," he said."They've taken Eryn."

He stared at him. "I don't understand what you're saying, Mediator? Where is the Cursed girl you spoke of?"

He didn't remember. That much was clear. He was supposed to be dead, but he had turned up in Genesia, alive. There was something strange going on.
 

"I'm not sure. This is my first time to Genesia. I don't know it very well."

Silas rubbed his chin with his hand. "Genesia is the smallest of the reactors," he said, "but there are still hundreds of places to hide. How many soldiers do you have with you?"

Wilem shook his head. "None, my Lord. They're all dead."

"What? The Cursed killed all-"

"No, my Lord. Not the Cursed. There is something else in Genesia. Something much worse than a Cursed girl. I didn't want to say it in front of General Clau."

Silas nodded. "A wise idea. One of us must make the report." He put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "What have you seen?"

"I'm not sure. Monsters. They were gray, with long fingers like claws."

"Here? In Genesia? Are you certain?"

"I'm certain, my Lord."

"Where did you see them?"

Wilem wasn't sure. He had run from the metal man, and lost his bearings. "There was a floor, with a large metal grate in the center. The grate had a hole in it, and they came up from there."

Silas' eyes narrowed. "They're inside the reactor? How could that happen? Follow me, and be ready." He turned and started walking the same way Clau had gone.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Talon

Talon jumped over the barricade without using his hands to brace himself. He came down on the other side with his sword drawn and ready. The Mediator trailed behind him, choosing to stay in the safety of the barrier.

"There is nothing here," he said.
 

The Mediator's head appeared. He looked surprised.

"They were here, my Lord. I swear it."

Talon was having trouble keeping his thoughts steady. The mention of Genesia had stirred so many memories, but they existed only at the corner of his consciousness. He knew there was something there he should know, but he couldn't quite get a grip on it.

"I can see the hole you spoke of," he said, spying the torn grating. "They may have fled back to the core."

"The core, my Lord?"

He nodded, and then put a hand to his head. It was starting to hurt.
 

Am I ready to get back into the field? Perhaps I need more time to recover?

"What is this place, my Lord? What is Genesia?"

He was confused by the question. "You don't know?"
 

"They didn't tell me where we were taking the Cursed girl. They didn't tell me why we were coming here."

"Who brought you here?" he asked.

The Mediator didn't answer. His face paled, and he looked down.

"Who brought you here?" Talon grabbed the edge of the table he was hiding behind, and threw it against the wall. His head was pounding, and he could feel his heart rate increasing. Something was wrong. Something was out of place. He needed to make his report. His orders were to make his report.

"Eryn," the Mediator said.

"Who is Eryn? Is she an Overlord?"

He shook his head. "No, my Lord." There was fear in his voice, but also determination. "She is your granddaughter. She thought you were dead."

His eyes weren't lying. Talon backed away. His headache was worsening, throbbing so hard he couldn't think. Eryn? The name was familiar. Granddaughter? How could that be? "I don't remember a granddaughter."

"I don't understand what's happening, Silas," the Mediator said. "I don't even know how you got here. Do you?"

"Silas? Who is Silas?" He put his hand to his head. The pain was growing unbearable. He was supposed to make his report. Those were the orders. Leave the infirmary, and make the report. He hadn't followed his orders. He shouldn't have listened to the Mediator. "I have to make my report."

He started walking away.
 

"No. Forget your report. Silas, we need to help Eryn. She's in trouble."

"I don't know who Eryn is."
 

How did he get here? He tried to remember the battle. It wasn't uncommon to lose the memory of the injury, or the fall, but why couldn't he remember who they had been fighting, or what he had been doing?
 

"I told you, she's your granddaughter, and she's going to die if you don't help me."

Talon felt like his head was going to explode. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. "I need to make my report," he yelled. He started walking again. It was the only thing that made his headache better.

The Mediator ran past him and put himself between Talon and the archway that led to the exit. "General, please. You have to help me." He put his hand on Talon's shoulder.

"Don't you dare touch me," Talon said. His own hand came up and grabbed the Mediator's wrist, twisting it and bringing him to his knees. "You're out of line." His held his wrist for a heartbeat, and then let go. "Move aside. That's an order."

The Mediator looked up at him, tears in his eyes. He reached down and picked something up off the floor, holding it out to him.

"Does this look familiar to you?" he asked. "Please tell me this looks familiar to you."

He was holding a ring. A simple ring, with a small stone on the top. Talon stared at it, feeling his headache returning. The ring. He knew that ring. He was sure of it.
 

He put his hands to his head and groaned. The pain was becoming intense. Why was there so much pressure to report? What was happening to him? He fought against the agony and reached out, taking the ring from the Mediator.

"You know what it is, don't you, Silas?" he asked. "You gave that ring to your wife, Alyssa. Alyssa gave it to your son Aren, who gave it to his wife Kaelyn. He wanted to give the ring to Eryn, but he lost it in the woods before he died. She found it anyway, and then she found you."
 

Talon stared at the ring. He could see it all in the reflection of the light against the stone. He held it between his thumb and forefinger and joined the Mediator on his knees. Tears burst from his eyes, but the pain in his head began to subside. What was happening to him? What had happened to him? Who was he?