The Raging Storm

Chapter Thirteen: The Viberium Council

Days after interrogating Kazmere, Winslow walked through the corridors to a meeting with the other Viberium Council members. The second session that week.

She strode through the Council's fortress, the Tower of Dawn. The castle was an elaborate maze of hallways, meant to confuse any intruders that dare step within its walls uninvited. Not that anyone would. All the Viberium users within Reven, that were known, lived within the fortress.

Or were imprisoned in its dungeons.

Winslow walked along at a hurried pace. Each hallway was scarce of people and blessedly silent. The only sounds were the occasional whispers of taskmasters ordering servants around. The winding sets of corridors were all too familiar to her, she'd grown up within the Tower of Dawn, and she considered it her home. Banners hung on the walls, each with the sigil of the Viberium Council. A sideways diamond with an eye in the center. The sigil was on every piece of clothing that Winslow wore her whole life. The Council had found her when she was a child and took her from her parents. Like they did with all Viberium users at a young age. Not that she cared. Her mother and father were beneath her attention. They didn't have Viberium powers.

She came around another bend and saw the doorway to the Chamber of Viberium straight ahead. The heavy steel door was guarded by two hooded Acolytes garnered in gray robes, the sigil of the Viberium Council on the front. They were equipped with metal staffs. Their hoods covered their faces and they kept their eyes down. They weren't allowed to meet the eyes of a full Viberium Council member and if they did, they would be cast into the dungeons with the rest of the failed Acolytes. The creeds of the Viberium were harsh, but they needed to be. These halls held all the real power in Reven. Order must be maintained, otherwise, chaos would ensue.

She stopped in front of them. "Open the doors."

"Yes, Councilor Winslow," they said in unison. They turned, took their metal staffs, and pushed them into two holes, one on each steel door. Hundreds of clicks moved throughout the door until it cracked open. They both pushed a door on their respective sides open, using both hands. Winslow strode into the Chamber of Viberium.

The chamber was a massive circular room with high-reaching ceilings. The walls were lined with banners with the Viberium Council's sigil and portraits of past Council members. Torches lined the walls a few spaces apart, giving light to the dim room. A decorative circular table was set in the middle with three Council members seated. Three seats were empty, besides her own. The ones missing were Celibrik, Cornelia, and Hivera. Celibrik was in the New Lands keeping tabs on Prince Dayne. Corneilia was being left out of certain meetings for reasons unknown to Winslow currently. Hivera was recently sent to the New Lands to assist Prince Dayne and Celibrik in their conquering of the untamed lands. The Council members left were conversing amongst themselves until Winslow walked in, now they were silent and watching her.

She took her seat and clasped her hands in front of her on the table. "Should we get started?"

"Nice of you to join us, Councilor," sneered Jormac. The torchlight defined the jagged scar that ran along his forehead to his left eye. His fair hair barely touched the top of the scar.

"I had some things to attend to, Councilor. I apologize for being late. What are we talking about?"

Jormac said, "We were discussing the escape of The Orange Blade."

Winslow frowned at the man. "The day I interrogated Kazmere, this Council called me to a meeting. I wasn't able to investigate what he knew as thoroughly as I wanted to. Do we have any word on how he escaped?"

Veiter, the oldest Councilor, leaned forward, his gray beard touching the table. "We were going to ask you, Councilor Winslow. You were the one with the man the day he escaped. How was he able to escape the most secure facility in all of Cascadia?"

A chair scraping against the ground made Winslow turn her head to her immediate right. Gavore, the other youngest member besides herself, set a parchment on the table. His beady black eyes accented his pale face. He always gave Winslow a terrible feeling, like he knew all her deepest secrets and was just waiting to exploit them. They had grown up together but they would never be friends.

"I have the answer to that, Councilor Veiter. I questioned some of the Crimson Guards that were outside The Orange Blade's cell and had them write their answers of what they saw on this parchment. An unknown person equipped with a letter sealed by the royal family told the guards to move to another cell. They tried to object but the letter stated for them to listen to whoever held it. They said the person had a children's doll in her hand." He slid the parchment further onto the middle of the table.

Councilor Jormac leaned forward, grabbed the parchment, and studied it. "A children's doll? What's the significance of that?"

"The doll is his Relic."

All the other members turned to stare at her. "How do you know that?" asked Jormac, his forehead scrunched up in confusion.

Winslow explained, "I studied up on him before I went to interrogate him. The doll is his dead sister's. He snapped while holding it years ago. We have a lot of intel on him, he is the leader of the Foundlings. Or was the leader. His father was a Commander of the Crimson Guard after all."

Veiter coughed into his hand. "Well, this is bad Councilors. Framing the Foundlings for the queen's murder was no easy task. If The Orange Blade finds out about the Foundlings we hold prisoner in Fort Givo, all our hard work could be destroyed."

Winslow put her palms against the table, all eyes turned to her. "We all agreed that if we turned the common people against the Foundlings, the kingdom of Reven would be destabilized enough for us to gain control. We are this close to making that a reality. We must hunt down Kazmere and kill him before he brings the Foundlings back." Her statement was met with nods from everyone, even Gavore.

Veiter cleared his throat, all eyes turned toward him. His dark beady eyes peered out over all of them. "Our mission is clear. We gain control of the fleet and the Crimson Guard's within Reven, we gain full control of the New Lands. The One From Above is hidden there, we all know it. We've known it for five hundred years, it's why this Council was created in the first place. If we want any chance of finding The One From Above and ensuring the Impact succeeds, we must find The Orange Blade and make sure he doesn't disrupt our plans."

"How do you propose we go about finding him?" asked Jormac.

Veiter gestured toward Gavore and remained silent.

Gavore gave a wicked smile. "I already have three sources of information that have ideas of where he might be. The first one is..."