The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (7 page)

“
That’s what it looks
like,” she replied. “I was really hoping we could catch him before
he made it here.”

“
Then we have to
hurry,” I said. “Scert’chak is in real danger.”

“
I couldn’t agree
more,” she said. “Lead the way, Mage.”

“
What of the bodies?”
Bill asked.

“
When we reach the
gate, we will let the Evenawks know of this site,” I answered.
“They can take care of their own and bring our comrades to the
city. We must hurry though before Davenport turns too many of them
onto his side.”

“
If he hasn’t
already,” Ser Wilson said uneasily.

Bill nodded and I hurried down the road
with the group falling behind me. Our numbers were thinning quickly
and I started to fear that if we were stopped by another group, we
wouldn’t fare as well as the first time. The only good news was
that my magical strength was returning quickly.

You’ve still got the
non-magic loving giant too,
Cathy pointed
out.
He’ll fight like five men if you
don’t let him get swarmed.

Hmm, if we act in the supporting role,
he will look like the hero and maybe relax and respect us.

Screw respect,
Cathy said.
We need him
until we get to Davenport. After that, if he can distract Davenport
enough so we can kill him. Ser Wilson becomes
expendable.

I know he’s not the
most lovey-dovey person, but that is a little harsh. We can work
out a way to do this properly.

You know me, Andy, I
like to prepare,
Cathy said.
Look at our group. Our ‘leader’ is the revenge
obsessed psycho who will eventually lead everyone to their death.
She will never make the proper call, especially seeing as she has
feelings towards Ser Wilson. Bill won’t go against his ‘lady’ and
the others are blind fools. It is up to us to be the clear headed
ones. If Davenport is brainwashing an army, he needs to be stopped
before he can start. We need to make the leadership decisions from
here.

I didn’t like the sound of it but due
to our shared personalities, I could see Cathy’s side of the
argument quite clearly. As the only Mage, I would end up fighting
Davenport with the others fending off the brainwashed Evenawks. If
I had to abandon them to focus on Davenport, then it needed to be
done.

We need to be smart about this though,
we can’t just throw people away in this battle.

Agreed,
Cathy said.

As much as it probably aggravated her,
my personality would always have her see things my way too. All of
our strategies, arguments and any general decision making worked
like this. A back and forth until we were unintentionally saying
the same thing. It was easier to just skip a couple of steps and
agree with each other.

We stepped out of the
forest into the charred land surrounding Scert’chak. The land had
been killed with the hottest fire imaginable by Mages during the
Rebels’ first attack. The idea was to not only smoke out the ground
troops, but to also prevent anyone from sneaking to the city in any
future strikes. The land hadn’t changed since I last saw it and I
was unsure if the Evenawks left it for a reason or never had time
to try and fix it.

The group couldn’t do anything but
stare as they followed me out of the forest. I explained to them
what had caused the devastation and they could only survey the area
in silence. The ash and heat in the air made it tough to breath and
Ser Wilson led the group in coughing as we approached the gate.

“
Who goes there?” a
voice called out from above.

That’s good
news,
Cathy said.
Maybe he hasn’t reached the gates yet.

On the gate, a single Evenawk perched
with his bow aimed down in our area. The other guards would be
hiding in the half repaired watchtower. Its twin lay destroyed and
unusable after the Rebels attacked the capital with my help. It
wouldn’t house anything living, let alone brainwashed, but I was
still wary every step until I saw Chieftain Harkis.

“
I said who goes
there?” The Evenawk asked again.

Lady Sandra was about to answer when I
shook my head. I looked up to the Evenawk. “Diason,” I shouted. “I
am here to see Chieftain Harkis.”

Silence filled the air before the
Evenawk dropped off his perch and landed in front of me. His
birdlike face scanned me over as his wings melded back into
arms.

“
How do you know that
name?” The Gate Keeper asked, aiming his bow at me.

“
Chieftain Harkis is
a personal friend of mine,” I answered.

“
Not our Chieftain’s
name,” The Gate Keeper asked, still scanning me. “Diason. How does
a Human know of Evenawk folklore?”

“
Folklore?” I asked,
chuckling a little. “It’s only been two cycles.”

“
Answer,” he
pressed.

“
The name was given
to me by Chieftain Harkis,” I answered. “Get Warlord Narrilok or
Commander Bak to confirm my story, but hurry. This is very
important.”

The Gate Keeper
looked at me one more time before squawking up to the watchtower.
He relayed the message and an Evenawk launched out of the
watchtower towards their city hall. The Gate Keeper continued to
survey me, ignoring the five others that stood anxiously around
me.

“
I heard that Diason
was three metres tall and breathed fire,” The Gate Keeper
said.

So now we’re a
dragon?
Cathy asked.

“
I’m still taller
than you, Shorty,” I said, summoning some power into my
chest.

The Evenawk shot me an icy glare and I
aimed towards the ground and coughed. A small burst of fire escaped
and disappeared into the air. “Excuse me,” I said, looking back to
the Gate Keeper.

His eyes had grown wide and he took a
step back. I looked at all the shocked expressions from the group
and laughed silently.

It’s a shame the
folklore didn’t say you shot rainbows out of your butt,
Cathy said.
That would
have been fun to see.

Two Evenawks appeared
above the gate and one lowered to the ground. It was tough to
recognise him from the others, but by the fancy clothes he was
wearing, this had to be Commander Bak.

He landed and
extended his hand towards me before it had even fully melded back
into a hand. “I wondered when you were going to show up again,
Diason,” Commander Bak said, smiling as big as his beak would
allow. “What took you so long?”

“
I’m afraid this
isn’t a social visit,” I started and motioned to Lady Sandra. “This
is Lady Middleton of Balendar. She has been tracking a rogue Mage
and the tracks led right to here. Worst part is that we were just
ambushed by a group of brainwashed Evenawks back on the road. We
need to see Chieftain Harkis and Warlord Narrilok
immediately.”

Bak looked at the group and back to me,
his smile slowly dissolving. “You’re being serious?” he asked
worried.

“
I wouldn’t show up
on your doorstep just to waste your time,” I replied.

He nodded and turned
to the Gate Keeper. “Check the roads for the bodies and lock this
gate up after our guests pass through.”

“
Yes, Commander,” he
replied, his arms already wings.

Bak turned back to me. “The Warlord is
in Fare’hack but The Great Chieftain is in the city hall,” he said.
“Follow me.”

The gate started to open and Bak led us
through the gate to the ramp up into the city. I was saddened by
Narrilok not being here to help but Bak was a good leader who would
help us as much as he could, even if he didn’t fully believe us. I
had to assume it was our history together that had bought us
entrance and not the fear of the Mage. Despite them overthrowing
the Mages recently, they were confident in their new society and
wouldn’t admit to any danger without proof. The bodies would have
to be enough.

As we entered the trees and into the
city, I was taken aback by how much grander it was than I
remembered. The houses in the branches were a shining example of
how far the Evenawks had come since first evolving from birds.
Bridges connected each tree and marketplaces were set up on the
larger branches. It was a paradise in the trees.

The citizens had a carefree air about
them until they noticed us walking through the city. They couldn’t
help but stare at the group of armed intruders being led through
their city by a high standing official. The sooner we left the
better, their eyes said.

“
Much has changed,
Diason,” Bak said, breaking the silence. “The scars of our past
still show, but we have been vigilant about who enters our lands.
If a Mage is here, we would have seen him.”

“
You didn’t see me
until I was at your doorstep calling your name,” I pointed out,
hoping to convince him before meeting with the
Chieftain.

“
Hmm,” Bak said
thoughtfully. “If what you say about the patrol being brainwashed
is true.” He shook his head and scoffed. “It can’t be. He’s
dead.”

“
Who?” I asked
intrigued.

We were approaching
the city hall when the two guards squawked eerily at us and charged
with their spears at the ready. Lady Sandra and Ser Wilson grabbed
for their weapons, but I reached out and power surged through my
hands in the form of a Lightning Bolt. It shot through the air,
striking one guard in the chest and jumping to the other. They
twitched and collapsed to the ground before anyone could get their
weapon ready.

Bak readied his bow and approached the
dead Evenawks slowly. “It can’t be,” he muttered, turning to me.
“You saw their eyes too, right?”

“
Yes, glossy and
empty,” I answered. “They’ve been brainwashed.”

What could be the
point of coming here?
Cathy
asked.

Holding the Chieftain hostage?

Or brainwashing the
Chieftain into making him an advisor. Just like in Balendar,
Cathy suggested.

Could explain how he
got the part, but it wouldn’t work here.

We also thought he
wouldn’t make it this far,
Cathy pointed
out.

A group of five Evenawk guards
approached from behind and looked at us, the bodies, then towards
their Commander.

“
Inside the city
hall, now,” Commander Bak ordered. “The Chieftain is under attack
from the brainwashed.”

The guards immediately followed
Commander Bak as he charged into the building. Not wasting a second
myself, I charged in after my friend with the group behind me.

Inside the city hall, bodies of guards
lay scattered around the ground. Some of them still burned while
others were stuck to walls, impaled by spears. Davenport had been
through here with a couple of brainwashed soldiers. There were no
clues as to how he snuck into the city hall undetected.

“
What is this?” Bak
called out from the next area.

I hurried through the main hall to the
seating area where one of the bookshelves had been moved to reveal
a door with stairs leading down.

Oh, how
cliché,
Cathy said.

“
This wasn’t here
before,” Bak said, turning to me.

Cliché for a reason. It worked.

“
What do you mean?” I
asked.

“
We checked the
entire building to remove any traps the Mages placed,” he
explained, turning back to the stairs. “We never found
these.”

“
It may have been
magically sealed,” I said. “Something a non-magic person wouldn’t
have picked up.”

He shook his head. “There are usually
marks, runic looking shapes wherever something is hidden.”

“
Only for something
dangerous,” I said. “A staircase isn’t exactly
dangerous.”

Except for the
tripping hazard,
Cathy said.
Quick, get a banana peel!

Now THAT’S cliché.

An Evenawk appeared from the second
floor looking worried. “The Chieftain isn’t in his room.”

“
Okay, down the
stairs,” Commander Bak ordered. “Now.”

The Evenawk hurried down the stairs and
I looked back at the group. They were looking a little shocked and
disorientated from being dragged through everything at hyper speed.
I motioned for them to follow and we travelled down the stairs
after the Evenawks.

The staircase wound down into the tree
itself. This staircase was clearly an addition built by the Mages
but I couldn’t shake the suspicion that even some of the Mages
didn’t know about this. Something sinister was going to be at the
bottom.

As I emerged from the stairs, I was
proven right.

In the large, darkened room, along the
far side, an Evenawk was suspended by magic above a glowing red
runic symbol on the ground. On a pedestal beside it, a glowing
crystal was connected to a staff and a beam of energy connected the
crystal to the Evenawk. Two of the brainwashed guards protected the
set up.

“
Chieftain!” Bak
called out, releasing an arrow at one of the
brainwashed.

The arrow pierced the
Evenawk in the neck and it dropped to the ground. The other
brainwashed Evenawk squawked at us, but didn’t move. Bak readied
another arrow.