Episode 05 - Ch 19: Move

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✣✣✣✣✣✣ EPISODE FIVE ✣✣✣✣✣

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✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣ "Tainted" ✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣✣

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As he ran, Aelric felt the incredible relief of sliding past death's blade and reaching the other side whole. He knew that he was not truly safe yet. He and Brint had heard Sylvara's scream before they had split off—he to notify the elders and Brint the hunters.

But he could not help but marvel at the sound of his heart thumping in his chest and the beauty of the blue-gold fields beneath the darkening sky as he ran. He was alive. In the distance above, he saw twirls of light. It seemed a storm was brewing far in the distance.

The village square was eerily empty as he passed through. The tables had been cleared, and the benches had been reset to their usual positions. But the signs of the earlier commotion were still there. He could feel the uneven packed earth beneath his feet, still marked by the disruptions caused by Brint's spells during their duel.

Usually, the harvest festival ran late into the night, filled with laughter, music, drinking, and feasting. But it looked like no one had been in the mood to continue the festivities after the duel. Aelric felt a pang of guilt about that, knowing that his actions were the reason for the festival's premature end. But he knew it wasn't the time to dwell on such things. He had a mission to complete, and the fate of the village rested on his shoulders. He needed to find the elders, and he needed to find them fast, before Sylvara could unleash whatever nefarious plan she had in store.

The first place he checked was the village hall where the elders usually held their meetings. But it was empty, the cavernous space filled with nothing but dust and darkness. Aelric hadn't counted on the elders being there, but it was right beside the village square and didn't cost him much time to check.

“Where would they be?” he asked himself.

He tried to think like Elder Sharp and guess where the wily old man would have taken the others. Elder Sharp would have chosen somewhere where Sylvara would be unlikely to wander into, and where they wouldn't be disturbed by anyone else.

It had to be a place that was both secure and discreet. His mind raced through the possibilities. Certainly not Elder Sharp's own home. It was too far and seemed deserted given how it looked the last time he’d seen when passing by.

Chief Clarity's home was too likely to be interrupted, given the constant stream of visitors seeking the chief's counsel or their complaints There were likely plenty of those given how the festival had concluded.

Finally, he settled on Elder Keen's home. The elder's house was closer and more secluded, tucked away in a quiet corner of the village. It was the perfect spot for a secret meeting, away from prying eyes and ears.

Elder Keen lived in a large cabin just north of the village square. He had farming rights from the Legionnaire to one of the largest plots in the village. The home was situated at the top of a hill that overlooked his fields and Aelric was heartened to see the glow of lantern light in its windows.

As he climbed the steps of the porch, his feet creaking against the old wood, he could hear multiple voices from within. They were loud and heated, echoing through the walls, and he recognized one of them immediately, despite rarely hearing it raised in such a manner.

"Greed and status will buy you nothing if there are no fields to work! Have you lost your mind to a pretty face and empty promises?"

It was Elder Sharp's voice, and Aelric was shocked to hear it in such a vehement tone. Then Aelric considered that perhaps he did not know the elder well, and his name earned in more ways than one.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Elder Keen replied just as Aelric pushed through the door, not bothering to knock given the urgency of the situation. "Even if the boy was telling the truth, she is an Ascendant. We must assume her actions are wise and we only lack their understanding. Who are we to question the wisdom of one so far above our station?"

"Elders!" Aelric called out, panting hard. They had not even looked up as he entered. Only now they turn their heads to him. Elder Calm was sitting away from the others, sipping on a mug of tea. Elder Rush was standing, pacing agitatedly beside the window. On the living room, Chief Clarity sat between Elder Keen and Elder Sharp, who was on his feet and looking angrier than a demon. His expression quickly changed as he laid eyes on Aelric.

"Has something happened?

"The Ascendant, she tried to have me killed,” Aelric blurted out, the words spilling from his lips. “She tried to make Brint kill me. We’ve got to do something. I don’t know what. She’s not dead. Brint attacked her, but she’s still alive. We heard her scream.”

Elder Keen's expression was one of incredulity. "What in Heleric’s name are you spouting, boy?"

"Speak clearly, Aelric," Chief Clarity said while giving Elder Keen a firm look. Her tone was serious. "What happened?"

Aelric did the best he could to describe the events, stumbling over his words as he tried to convey the horror of what had transpired. He felt he wasn't doing a very good job as the elders all looked shocked and confused as he explained, their eyes growing wider with each detail.

In fact, he was probably giving too much detail, talking about how the demon tentacle looked and what Syl had said to bring it out of her hand. But by the end all the men looked troubled, even the skeptical Elder Keen. Perhaps all the details had made the story too incredible not to believe.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Elder Keen said, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "It makes no sense."

"I'm telling the truth," Aelric insisted, desperate for them to believe him.

“I’ve already told you, Keen,” Sharp said, his voice rough. “She’s Tainted.”

"Where is Brint?" Chief Clarity asked.

"He's gone to tell Brant and the other hunters," Aelric replied, shifting uncomfortably under the weight of their stares.

Clarity frowned. "They are on their harvest hunt. They may be difficult to find.”

"He’ll find them," Aelric said, not sure why he was so certain of it.

Something was shining and vibrating in the room, drawing everyone's attention. Aelric saw that it was a messaging stone on a cabinet, its surface pulsing with silver light. Elder Keen rose and looked down at the centerpiece of the translucent stone, his expression one of apprehension and curiosity.

"Oh gods," Elder Keen murmured, his weathered hands trembling slightly over the pulsing stone.

"What is it?" Chief Clarity said, leaning forward with growing concern.

"Brant is taking the hunters to confront the Ascendant. He says he hopes he can bring her down or drive her away while she is still injured." Keen's voice cracked slightly on the last word, betraying his fear. Aelric felt his stomach twist at the news, knowing how dangerous the Ascendant truly was. He had thought they would gather as a village.

“Why doesn’t he wait for the rest of us?” Aelric asked the room.

“He’s buying us time, Aelric,” Sharp replied with a deep frown beneath his silver beard.

Aelric understood then. It would take time to rouse the whole village. And it was impossible to know what the Ascendant would do next. What if she attacked the village and tore them apart before they could seek help and mount a defense?

"That settles it," Clarity said, straightening her shoulders with the authority of decades of leadership. "We've all prepared for this day before. Follow procedure Riverstone. All villagers with high arcumens shall gather in the village square. Everyone else is to take the young ones to the shelter. I want you to first contact Legionnaire Kallow's manor for assistance, you've got good relations with them. Tell them we have a rogue mage wreaking havoc on the fields. That ought to get them here soon enough. Do you have another stone in the house?"

"One in the guest bedroom," Keen said, his face still slack with disbelief, skin pale beneath his gray beard.

"Sharp, you're on that one. Contact all the homes furthest from the village with crystals. Get them to tell their neighbors who don't have one. Keen, you'll help him once you're done with Kallow. Remember, foreign threat, Procedure Riverstone." Clarity's voice carried the weight of command. "Calm, Rush, and I will notify everyone nearby and get them on their messaging stones. We'll all meet at the village square afterward and wait for Brant's return."

"What if he doesn't return?" Sharp asked, voicing the fear that had been growing in Aelric's chest since hearing about Brint's father.

"Then we pray, and we do our best. That's all we can do. But by then Kallow’s men should have arrived."

No one mentioned that Kallow’s men were only Sealed. Even Kallow himself, an Ironblood, would not stand a chance against an Ascendant arcanist. But such thoughts were too frightening to say aloud, and Aelric hoped it would not come to that.

Clarity glanced at Aelric, her eyes hard but not unkind. "Aelric, you'd better head home tell your parents to head to the shelters. They don't have a stone we can call."

Aelric nodded, feeling relief to be given leave to find his parents.

"Well?" Chief Clarity said, voice sharpening as she gave them all a discerning look. "Don't just stand there. Move!"

Everyone moved.