Sentinel

Chapter 37.5 - Wasteland (cont)

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Chapter 37.5 - Wasteland (cont.)

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Tayne’s boots slipped in the grey sand-like dust as the small group trudged towards the Citadel.

With every step bringing him closer to the looming fortress, his worry increased. Every instinct was telling him to grab Skye and run, yelling at Jesse and Wrain to follow. This was wrong. This place was evil.

He continued on in silence, keeping pace with Skye and Wrain.

He turned around to check on Jesse, who despite any attempts to draw him out remained strangely quiet. He hung back several metres, an unreadable blank expression covering his features. The only sign of expression were his fists, clenched so hard the knuckles turned white.

Tayne figured he wasn’t happy with the decision to willingly dive into the Citadels heart with only a hope of rescuing an enslaved Sentinel, but surely he could understand why they had to? Ebony gave them no choice when she left them in the middle of the Wasteland. Wrain was right. They’d never make it out by nightfall, and even if they did, then what? Cower among the trees, praying to the deities that the Master or his minions didn’t find them?

With a sigh, Tayne looked away. The rubble scattered around the landscape was becoming all too familiar, a reminder of the shattered cityscape that used to stand before Kumos claimed and reshaped the Citadel for his own purposes.

Fighting the corruption was going to require risks, he knew that. He just wished they had a chance to prepare for it. Some kind of strategy. The tiny group seemed insignificant compared to what they faced.

He wished Luke was here. His improvising in situations gone awry would be invaluable right now. Jesse was a welcome addition. He’d been able to break the Master’s spell before in Darni on the building Skye had been captive in. Tayne began to run through his Silverborn, mentally listing each knight and their skills when Wrain’s voice interrupted him.

“Were you bonded?”

To his right, Skye’s head jerked at the silence breaking question. Her eyes found Tayne, then slid past him to Wrain who watched her with a fierce intensity.

“Kiarae and I?” she asked. Wrain nodded, and Skye reciprocated his action. “Yes. We were bound through the Linaye.”

“So you can find her, then? With the bond? Is she well?”

The unmistakable look of hope on Wrain’s face was too evident for Tayne to ignore. It went past that of finding a new ally. It was a look he’d seen worn by men who believed their wife to be dead, only to have her returned or learning that she was alive. “How well did you know this Celestial?”

Wrain studied him before replying. Tayne refused to flinch under the scrutiny. “Well enough. If it is her, she was a young Sentinel when Kumos began his siege on life. We were... friends, before and after she was chosen to become a member of their cursed ranks.”

Skye stopped. “Cursed ranks?”

“You heard me correctly. The Sentinels may have protected the land from demons, but it was not without cost. Many children were taken for their order, even against their will if they were deemed to have power enough. If you possessed the magic and they found you, you were theirs. I became a Silverborn so I might help Kiarae be free from them”

Skye bit her lip and looked at the ground. “Something I didn’t understand when Kiarae first started teaching me was why I couldn’t just use my magic recklessly, to help whoever needed it. She explained that many Sentinels didn’t recognise the consequences for such things and caused disasters on a large scale.”