The Awakening (The Stones of Revenge) (24 page)

Landon stood and looked at his defeated foe. The limp body of the man who had for so long haunted Landon’s mind was reduced to nothing in the dust. He pitied Gavin. He was sorry he had to take a life, but his revulsion no longer existed. Gavin had received justice. Now it was time to make sure Daxis did as well. He removed the ring from his opponent’s hand and placed it on his own. Immediately, he felt a transformation. The sun’s strength grew less intense, and he stood taller feeling stronger. The beads of sweat from the heat of the day began to evaporate. The wounds in his arm and leg began to heal. Joy of retrieving what was his enveloped him. But amidst the excitement, Landon realized he no longer heard the drums beating. His senses renewed, and he rushed back to the courtyard.

His feet skid to a halt as he saw a terrifying sight. A crowd cheered as Daxis’ body hung limply from the gallows. The executioner was preparing to lower his body onto a cart. He was too late. His friend had died, and Landon had failed to keep his promise. Contempt bred in Landon as the executioner became the new focus of his hate. Landon placed a foot forward in the direction of the gallows. He was determined to cast the largest ball of fire at the executioner and destroy the man. But before he could act upon his emotions, the ground rocked beneath everyone.

Landon rushed out of the courtyard to see what was taking place. A large fire had erupted in the center of town. People were running in all directions from it. He wondered what had caused the rumbling and the inferno, and it didn’t take long to receive an answer. A large flaming ball sailed through the air and slammed against the castle walls. The impact centered on the balcony.
Had I caused this with?
he wondered.
Could my contempt have resulted in an unexpected disaster?
He felt remorse for this. He knew the executioner was just doing his job. The temptation to use his ring to kill was almost too powerful. He did not want innocents to die. He looked around and saw that the conflagration which ensued consumed the entire area including many citizens. His hatred abated. Another loud noise rocked the city as another large fireball slammed into the castle. Loud drums beat echoing off of the town walls. It was louder than those for Daxis’ execution. These drums grew louder and louder surrounding the city and deafening all of the fleeing citizens in the city. Trumpets blared two loud blasts then the drums ceased. Those signals could have only come from one source. Camsbury was under attack.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Journey’s End

Landon stood in the midst of chaos. The castle walls were aflame, the houses nearest to the western gate were burning, and people were running in all directions looking for cover. Daxis remained suspended from the gallows, and Landon knew he could not leave his friend in that position. He also could not make his way to the platform because the mass of citizens fleeing the scene jammed the only gateway. He closed his eyes to block out the noise around him. Once silence surrounded him, he reached out with his right hand toward the flames along the castle walls.

He directed his focus on pulling the flames into a steady beam leveled at the rope. In a matter of seconds the rope was alight and Landon had to concentrate to keep the fire from consuming the entire cord and Daxis. It took a few moments but finally the rope snapped letting Daxis’ lifeless body fall to the ground. Finally, the crowd relented and an opening appeared. Landon rushed through to attend to the body. He knew he could do nothing now, but when everything settled, he knew he would need to find a place to bury his friend.

Bending over, he threw Daxis over his shoulders and with a strong effort stood tall. Then, he made his way towards Aquila and the stables. The easiest part was walking back through the desolate courtyard. Once outside, however, the journey was much more difficult. Not only did Landon have to maneuver through a chaotic crowd, but the invading army with its continuing onslaught heaving massive balls of flame into every corner of the town increased the difficulty. They were bursting all over. Most of the attacks were aimed at the castle and the city walls; though, a few managed to avoid either and land in a large crowd of innocents.

One of these happened to land directly in front of Landon. A young girl under the age of ten was searching for her parents. She clutched a small stuffed animal. Tears from her frightened eyes streamed down her face. Landon was about to call out to her when he was knocked to the ground from the blast. A moment later he stumbled to his feet. A large crater lay in the place where the girl had stood. Fire and rubble lay strewn all about. There was no sign of the little girl except for the small toy she had been carrying. It was in that moment that the gravity of the situation hit Landon.

Until then he had responded from instinct and training. His ring had protected him from the effects of the flames, so he had not truly experienced the panic with everyone else. The image of the frightened little girl standing before him one minute then gone all of a sudden dropped him to his knees. A flood of anger and sadness poured out of him as tears streamed down his face. He felt anguish for the girl. He felt for her parents. He was glad he had not caused this and began to hate whoever was leading the attack.

He stopped himself from reeling from the situation, and began to clear his head. He knew he still needed to reach Aquila but now he was much more aware of what was happening around him. He picked Daxis back up and continued towards her location. He found the stables safe from damage but with a frantic Aquila. Landon released her, and, after calming her down, laid Daxis on her back.

He knew of only one way out that might be unguarded. It was a secret gate out of the city that Godfrey had shown to him once. The blacksmith had been immersed in telling him a story about a battle in Camsbury long ago. The gate was used by a few brave knights to escape a siege and bring reinforcements from Linsford. Since that time the gate had been boarded up and forgotten. Godfrey became so animated while telling it that he had led Landon all over the city reenacting the events. They eventually wound up at the gate. It was located in the very east of the city behind many dilapidated and abandoned homes. Landon hoped he would be able to use it to send Aquila and Daxis’ body to Aratus. Once he helped defend the city, he would make his way there as well.

It took Landon a few hours for Aquila and him to make their way across the city through much of the broken buildings and flames. Once he arrived on the east side of town, it did not take long for him to find the section of the wall Godfrey had taken him to that day. He could not quite remember the exact location, but he knew that if he followed the wall, he would run into it. The sounds of battle had grown quieter giving him hope that his plan would succeed. He walked along placing his hands on the wall waiting to feel a break in the frame.

This part of the wall had been renovated with new, stronger wood that resembled the older wood exactly. This made it nearly impossible to tell where the old gate had been. The only way to tell the difference in the wood was by the feel of it. The new wood made a hairline protrusion from the wall. The difficulty of finding it was exacerbated because this part of the city lay in the shadow of both the castle and the cathedral. The sun was also setting which added another degree of complexity to Landon’s mission.

Continuing along the wall Landon stumbled over a broken piece of wood near the ground. At the same time his hand had caught a hold of the miniscule bump in the fence. He used it to steady himself. Landon realized he had found what he was looking for and broke off a piece of the wall. Behind it a metal hinge gleamed quietly. Quickly, Landon began to pull apart the entire structure eventually revealing a solid, if not rickety, gate. He opened it carefully praying there were no enemy soldiers present. The further he opened the gate the more he realized that this section of the city truly was left unguarded. He led Aquila out of the city into the open field.

“Make your way to Aratus. Be seen by no one. I will follow when I can,” he commanded her in a whisper. Then, with a smack on the rear the horse bolted from the location and disappeared over a hill in the distance. Landon whispered a short prayer of protection then quickly made his way back toward the chaos.

When he arrived, much had changed. Though he had only been away from the melee for a few hours, soldiers had apparently broken into the city and began a rampage. It explained why Landon had not heard much sound of battle. Most of the streets were now deserted with a few people running to and fro in search of someone. The bombs of fire had ceased but many houses and buildings were slowly burning to the ground.  A few groups of men worked hard to extinguish them and salvage as many homes as they could. Landon was surprised to see that one of these groups was led by Archer, the merchant who had closed his shop and left town. If they survived this, Landon was determined to hear the entire story.

He continued to survey the area and realized that not only had soldiers destroyed the city from the inside, they had destroyed the citizens. Many innocent people lay slaughtered on the ground next to a few scattered fallen soldiers. Landon was greatly disturbed that he was not present to defend the people. He knew he had done a great service to Daxis by honoring his body, but he wondered if he had made the wrong choice. In doing so he had allowed the deaths of countless innocent citizens by not being there to defend them. This truth brought a new shock to his senses. He suddenly remembered the words of Aldous about being a necessary hero in the fight against a coming evil.
Could this have been the evil about which he spoke?
Landon could not move. He watched as more soldiers moved into the city meeting resistance from a few brave citizens. Archer led a team in quenching a fire. Women protected their children as they hurried them along the road. Suddenly, a loud explosion caused Archer to command the men around him to defend the town and their families. Landon saw him abandon the crusade to hold off the flames, grab a large sword from the ground, and lead a charge into the thick of a squad of soldiers.

This roused Landon from his guilt. He knew that he must not allow any others to die needlessly. He had been given this power for a reason and perhaps it was for such a time as this. He looked about and saw the extent to which the city was burning. The only way to save it was to kill the fire. With every able man fighting the soldiers, Landon was the only person available for the job. He also happened to be the only person who held command over flame. He knew that he could not simply move the fire for that would cause more destruction to the outside world. The only solution was to draw the fire into himself and extinguish it. He had never done that before let alone on such a large scale. If he had the sun he could use its heat to strengthen his power, but since the sun had already disappeared over the horizon he could not count on that for assistance. In that moment, a wind of hope blew into his soul. He was reminded of the truth that he commanded a fire demon even before he controlled his power. If he could do that, then all he had to do was trust and his task would be accomplished.

He closed his eyes to prepare himself for the energy he was about to dispense. He thought of the long journey he had taken to get here. All of the hard work he had put in. He knew he could do this. He felt outside of his body for the extra appendage he had used in the cottage against Gavin. He realized he had a much further reach than the last time he had used his power. He could feel the flames that burned all over the city. There were some blazes scattered along the southern wall, others filling up the castle, but the majority of the conflagration was centered on homes in the heart of the city. Within his mind he could see every location a fire burned. In his mind, he reached out and drew his arms around each and every flame. Once it was secure in his grasp he began pulling it towards himself. The strength needed to move the fire was tremendous and Landon was uncertain he would be able to do it. Without a source to draw energy from, he feared he would fail. He resolved to either succeed or die trying. He refused to surrender. Beads of sweat formed on his brow.

For many moments he stood there pulling with all of his might to no avail. The fire could not be commanded to move. It was too big. Then, finally, with a last ditch effort, Landon felt the flames move ever so slightly. He pulled even harder feeling the resistance begin to slip away. The sweat on his forehead slowly turned red as his spirit was being consumed by the energy he was using. It took every ounce of force to move the inferno a foot. Landon realized he had been holding his breath. He exhaled and focused again. He knew he had to control his breathing. Again he concentrated on his task and began to drag the fire towards him. The pattern of breathing, pulling, sweating, and bleeding continued for what seemed like days.

Eventually he opened his eyes to discover he had moved the entirety of the blaze halfway towards him from where he began.  The evidence of the charred remains stood as a testament to the attack. Landon already felt drained, and he began to believe he would die before he finished. He took a deep breath and focused himself again. Over and over again Landon continued to pull the flames into a small area of containment stopping every so often to catch his breath.

The battle between Archer and the soldiers continued as well. The sounds of swords clashing and people screaming fought against his senses to break his concentration. He resisted them all the while pouring his life force into his mission. Then, when his body could not take the pressure any longer, he stopped. He had contained the entire blaze into his immediate area. Only one building remained alight and it was already too gone to be saved. Landon fell to his knees from exhaustion. This work had pushed him further than he ever believed he could go.

As Landon kneeled on the ground a sense of cold began to sweep over him. The energy had sapped his strength so much that all Landon could now feel was only the absence of heat. But something did not make sense. There was something more to the cold than simply the onset of night, a reduction in flames, and a tremendous loss of energy. The frost felt foreign, almost evil. Landon reached out to pull the rest of the flames to him but they would no longer obey his command. The air continued to chill. With all of his might Landon could not create a flame to keep himself warm. He was too exhausted. He wondered what was happening to him. Then a voice from his nightmares explained it all.

“Getting cold isn’t it,” a
dark voice behind him stated bitterly. “I have been looking forward to this day for a very long time.”

The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was enough to make him stand and face whoever was speaking. A single man draped in a black cloak stood before him. His face was hidden beneath a dark hood. He held his arm out towards Landon slowly closing his fist. Landon began to fee
l a tightness wrap around him.

“We have searched the realm looking for you. The others went easily. I had hoped you would provide more of a challenge,” the voice taunted.

The hooded enemy continued to squeeze the water in Landon’s body around himself. Pressure began to build in him. In an instant, he felt his chest become heavy and his breathing became short. Landon dug deep into his soul struggling for any ounce of strength he might find. There was one last drop, and he reached deep inside for it. It seemed a hair’s breadth outside of his reach. He stretched out just trying to touch the very tip of what was left in him.  He reached out and grasped hold of it. He pulled it out of him and began to gain control of himself and his breathing.

Then in response
, the pressure surrounding him grew stronger and his breathing became even shallower. It was all he could do just to get a slight breath. The air around him cooled drastically. The hairs on his arms and body began to stand up. He could see his breath in the air when what air he could get was expired from his mouth. Landon knew he did not have long. His vision blurred. His peripheral vision slowly turned into twilight.