Inheritor of Strength (Book one of Alfireán age)

Traverse Wake

"Absolutely not," Drake spat.

Those around him stepped back, and the maid stared down at him with sharp eyes.

"They'll never make it in time," Drake answered. "Within the hour, Vackzilian himself will be here. When he finds Zachariahs dead, he'll hunt down the survivors. If we do anything with them, he will discover us, as well as our town."

"You are not suggesting we leave them here. Are you?" she asked pointedly.

"Yes, I am. Our number one priority is to make sure Traverse Wake does not fall into Vackzilian's hands," he stated. "In fact, I suggest we arrange it to a appear as if one of the town's guards survived, overpowered the remaining enemy soldiers, made his way over here, killed Zachariahs, smashed the Stone of Kay, and died from his wounds."

"And what about the people?" Alf demanded, his tone bristling in anger.

Drake knew his answer would not please the young High Lord, but it was their only option. "We will force them into swearing oaths so no information can be extracted from them. Then they will need to scatter. Vackzilian and his minions may hunt them down; however, with my oaths in place, he will learn nothing. With any luck, he should believe our ruse and let the rest of the survivors go."

"If this skill is anywhere near as important as you say it is," Olivia said, "he won't just let the people go, he'll kill every last one of them."

"Perhaps," Drake admitted.

The air around Alf bristled with fire, and the temperature rose in the room by several degrees. "No," he said. "I won't let that happen to these people."

Drake fought the urge to form a shield as he retorted, "Then what do you plan to do?"

"I will use the stone and run us all back to the manor," Alf answered.

The air caught in his lungs, and Drake nearly choked on his own breath at Alfonso's ridiculous statement. "Alf, do you realize how stupid that idea is? Vackzilian is not going to stop hunting for this stone. He'll follow our trail to Brokovich and finish the job." He threw his hand towards the citizens gathering in the plaza, "If you do as you say, not only will these people die, so will everyone you care about."

The tongues of fire around Alf dissipated, and he turned away. Pushing his curled fists against the back wall, he leaned forward, and hung his head in contemplation. An air of defeat hung about his shoulders like a shroud, and the minutes ticked by as everyone waited in silence for Alf's response.

But as time slipped away, it became apparent he had no answer.

Eventually, Zachariahs' labored breathing became sparse, and Olivia whispered, "He's almost gone."

The prince nodded, then turned to Alf and said, "Alf, I have been tolerant thus far because I submitted myself underneath your authority; however, your inability to act is putting our lives in jeopardy. I have no other option than to take recourse on my own." He turned to the redheaded maid watching from outside the office. "Help me drag one of the dead soldier's body's over here."

The maid didn't move; instead, she pointed at Alf who had bowed his head and was now whispering under his breath.

Drake sighed in agitation. Prayer. No supposed God was going to magically-

"Wait," Alf said, interrupting Drake's thoughts. "You said Vackzilian would never stop searching for the stone, but he will... if we completely destroy Carlos. We just need to make it look like Zachariahs set off some type of self-destruction spell."

Drake blinked in astonishment. It was one of the most insane ideas he had ever heard of, but it might...

He paused, and his eyes lit in excitement as his mind flipped into overdrive, formulating a plan for Alf's idea. "Indeed," he murmured. "That might just work."