Chapter Thirty Three
The Intruder
Cedric stood before the Reaper, whose eyes were shining with anticipation. He remembered so long ago when he first started training with Gabriel. Now, he could build, he could destroy, he could fight. Today he would beat Gabriel.
Then again, he thought the same thing yesterday, yet Gabriel still stood undefeated.
“I want you to build a column.” Gabriel told him. “Right here.” He made a X into the ground.
Cedric stared at that X with dread. He had never built something that large before. Cedric touched the ground, and focused. He willed the ground to rise, but it refused. Cedric took another breath and tried again. He knew he possessed the ability. He only had to figure out how to harness it. Finally, after an endless time, he took cement from the ground and forced it to rise, simultaneously bonding it together into a solid object. It stood, a statue to his power.
Gabriel clapped with a smiled. “Can you do it with your feet?”
Cedric sighed. He could barely make a pillar with his feet, let alone a column. Still, he removed his shoes, absorbing the sensations around him. Then he attempted to force the ground to rise like it had the first time. To his disappointment but not surprise, nothing happened.
Gabriel sighed. “We’ll work on that later I suppose. Now, I want you to construct a column that touches both these walls.”
For a while they continued like that, Cedric building columns of various sizes in various places, while Gabriel encouraged him. Then he gained a certain devilish smile, his scythe flying across the room and into his hand.
Cedric grinned in anticipation, and stood, waiting for Gabriel to start. Without warming Gabriel flew across the room, and as always Cedric was surprised by his incredible speed. He tripped to the side just in time(which was really quite good, for half the time Gabriel already made his first strike). Cedric reacted quickly, putting a hand on The Reaper’s arm, filling Gabriel’s mind with a bright clap of light. Gabriel recoiled, stunned by the flash. It was designed to surprise, not harm. Cedric took the opportunity to strike low with his sword, but the Reaper somehow blocked it, retreating a bit then going at him with his sharp weapon. Cedric rose from the ground, trying to trip him, but Gabriel leaped over the bit of upraised rock and swung, knocking Cedric to the side. Cedric griminced and moved his hand, causing a rock to fly at Gabriel’s face. The Reaper deflected it, and Cedric took the chance to rise a pillar of rock from the ceiling and smash it down at Gabriel. Gabriel jumped out of the way with a yelp and Cedric attacked with sword again. Once again Gabriel evaded the tactic, and scampered up a nearby ladder. Cedric willed he ladder to fall, which it did, but not before the Reaper leapt to a platform, into the mass of lanterns, and was gone.
Cedric bit his lip, looking up into the ceiling. It would be foolish to follow Gabriel up there. But there was no sight or sound of Gabriel’s that could be heard. Cedric raised the ground around him. As he neared the lanterns, growing in size, he caught a moving shadow, then Gabriel was flying at his face.
They collided, causing them to slip off the rock. Gabriel, his rope in hand, caught the rock’s edge with it and hung in safety’s net.
Cedric touched the rock next to him as he fell, feeling his skin scrap off, and willed the cement soft enough so as he buried his sword into it, it was soft enough to hold. Cedric sighed, made a platform below spring out from the wall, and jumped to it. Then he made the column sink back into the ground, and Gabriel fell to the ground, jumped to his feet, and without pause leapt at Cedric again. Cedric pushed him to the side, knocked his scythe again, then froze with his sword pointed at Gabriel’s chest, his own chest rising and falling in sheer exhaustion. Then he realized what he had done. He did it. He had beaten the Reaper!
At first, Gabriel appeared just as surprised as Cedric. Then he smiled. “You got me.” He said blankly. “Good job.”
“I beat you.” Cedric said the words as though he couldn’t believe them.
“Indeed you did.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. You’re a good fighter Cedric.” He stood. “And you no longer require my assistance.”
Cedric’s mind was whirling. Gabriel had seemed invincible not so long ago. And now Cedric had defeated him. There were no words to describe how incredible he felt.
“Be careful Cedric.” Gabriel touched his shoulder. “The king is a dangerous enemy.” Then he turned and left Cedric alone. Cedric stood there for a time, in thought. He started walking back. He couldn’t face the king. Even with his new skills, with his magic, he couldn’t face the king. The king would kill him surely. Then, he walked into Gabriel’s tent to continue desouling people.
Cedric was in Gabriel’s tent, as usual, and Ghost was watching him. It seemed that all the magic weavers seemed to have a certain fascination for his fashion of weaving, though he wasn’t sure why. Akeem now fiercely, brashly observed him, unafraid to hide since Cedric knew what he was doing anyway. Ghost didn’t usually bother to survey Cedric scanning, because he was so busy, but even he seemed unable to resist watching just once. Cedric wasn’t sure what the attraction was. There was nothing to watch; Cedric simply touched a person, closed his eyes, opened them, and yelled for the next person. His training was far more interesting than this (this, too, Akeem always watched).
This was the scene when everything changed again.
A man, most likely a guard, burst into the room. His face locked on Ghost. “Le Princeps!” he exclaimed. “One of our guards has been killed!”
Ghost immediately straightened up, alert. “What? How?”
“Someone from the castle. Apparently he’s been watching one of our entrances and found out where one of the guards was hiding. Luckily he didn’t know there were two. He killed one, but the other took him prisoner.”
“Who did he kill?”
“Larson.”
“Damn that bastard to hell.” Ghost growled. “We’ll give him a speedy merciless trial. Cedric, do you want to come along?”
“No.” Cedric replied. This didn’t seem to be any business of his.
Ghost took off his hat, fingering its feather, exhaled, and raised his head. “Ok. Let’s go see who this son of a bitch is.”
The guard led Ghost away, and Cedric was left with only Akeem for company. Akeem still gave Cedric shivers, maybe more so now than ever. But he did his best to ignore the sullen dark skinned man.
After a couple of moments Ghost reappeared in the doorway. “Cedric, I think you should take a look at this.” His voice was flat.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
Ghost rubbed his neck uneasily. “Honestly, I don’t know. But you’ll want to see this.”
Before Cedric could question him any further, Ghost was gone from the tent’s entrance. Cedric stopped for a second, glanced at Akeem’s questioning face, and hurried after Ghost.
“What’s wrong?” Cedric bugged Ghost. He didn’t like not knowing what he was walking into.
“You’ll see.” Was Ghost’s curt reply.
Cedric bit his lip in annoyance. They walked past a tunnel (Cedric wasn’t sure which) and they headed toward a room that was considerably small. Half of the room was covered by sturdy iron bars. Cedric figured that this must be where Ghost placed people that broke one of the Sanctuary’s rules, before their trial and/or their execution.
In this celled room a man sat on the floor, his long nose pointed at them in contempt. His narrow eyes narrowed further, and blazed. “I knew you were here.” He hissed, with victorious hate. His words reminded Cedric somewhat of the many nightmares he had. Standing in front of him was the epicenter of those nightmares of endless choking.
“Hello Rafe.” Cedric greeted coolly. Even saying his name brought vomit up his throat.
Rafe noticed Cedric’s confidence, the confidence one gains from vanquishing obstacles. From living life, something Cedric wouldn’t have been able to do it if he was still a servant. His shoulders were pulled back in a proud posture, a posture that Rafe would normally pull him down for carrying. Cedric’s comrades stood behind him, and looked at him, waiting for his guidance. They respected him, looked to him for advice. Respect was also something Cedric would have never possessed as an errand boy.
“Is this the Rafe?” Ghost whispered into Cedric’s ear.
Cedric nodded.
“Interesting.”
Rafe’s eyes flashed. He must have heard Ghost’s words. He stood, and bowed to his company mockingly, looking up with stained yellow teeth.
“You killed one of my guards.” Ghost informed him, ignoring Rafe’s spectacle.
Rafe sniffed uninterestedly at him before turning his attention back to Cedric. “Is the girl and the king’s cook here too?”
Cedric scowled at Rafe’s excited expression. It was like he had found buried treasure.
“They are here, aren’t they?” Rafe guessed smugly.
Cedric gnashed his teeth together angrily. Even in a cage Rafe was still torturing him. Cedric could feel Ghost pull him back into the tunnel by his arm. His face expressed concern, but something dark resided there as well.
“If you want,” he offered quietly, “we can hold him down and you can, ah, rough him up a bit.”
“No!” Cedric cried, appalled at the very thought.
Ghost held up his hands in peace. “My intention wasn’t to offend. You simply looked like if there weren’t bars to separate you two, you would have punched him.”
Rethinking Ghost’s words, Cedric decided that Ghost was right. Cedric’s hate for Rafe was broiling under his skin. He could punch Rafe, and Rafe would deserve it. But, the fact was, it wasn’t his nature to respond to violence with violence. It was a pointless cycle.
“It’s okay.” Cedric smiled. Ghost was trying to do a favor for Cedric, to try to right an injustice. That was the way Ghost did things.
“There’s one more thing.” Ghost murmured, sounding almost embarrassed. “I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m short of guards to watch that one. Truth be told, they’re scared of him.” He smiled sheepishly. “Do you think you could watch him for a couple of hours?”
Cedric was pretty sure that none of the scoundrels were afraid of a caged servant from the castle. “Sure.” He agreed regardless.
“Tomorrow, we’ll hold his trial, and hopefully his execution will be tomorrow night.”
“How does the trial work?”
“It’s pretty simple. We pull the accused on a stage, read out his crimes, and ask if anyone objects to his sentence of death.”
Apparently death was the automatic punishment to any crime. “What happens if someone objects?”
“I don’t know; it’s never happened before.”
Cedric would have laughed, except Ghost’s serious expression told him that it was the truth.
“Ok, well, another guard will be around to relieve you in a couple of hours. Have fun.” Ghost walked away, waving a hand.
Cedric watched him stroll away, sighed once, and turned around to walk back to Rafe’s cell.
He wasn’t looking forward to these next couple of hours.
Cedric could feel Rafe glare at him through the bars of his cage. He’s only human. Cedric repeated to himself for what seemed to be the thousandth time. He had no reason to fear Rafe. He was only a man. There was nothing about him that was dangerous, not now. But instinctively Cedric still did fear him, like a child that is born into the world with an automatic fear of the darkness. Rafe continued to glare at him, as though he could sense Cedric’s weakness. The worst type of guard was the one that suspected his prisoner could overpower him. Cedric had to gain the upper hand, and make Rafe lose his power.
“You’re going to die for killing that guard, you know.” Cedric told Rafe with a flat voice. That caused Rafe to lose that predatory look in his eyes. It was true. Rafe was a mortal man that was damned to die very soon. His face would soon rot to a grinning, hollow skull.
“Is that right?” Rafe’s voice betrayed amusement. It reminded Cedric of something the king would say. Rafe was lost in thought for a moment, before he added, “It seemed our roles have been switched.”
He was right. Now Rafe was a prisoner, and Cedric held absolute control. Now Rafe was damned to die. His trial would be a sham-no-one would argue against the sentence. Cedric’s ‘trial’, if you could even call it that, had also been a sham.
“What you throw at the universe always returns and hits you ten times as hard.” Cedric replied. It was something that Ghost had a habit of saying.
Rafe chuckled, and for a brief second, a glimpse of time, he seemed almost normal. Like an average person.
“Do you regret killing that guard?” Cedric asked.
Rafe’s face shifted into confusion as though he didn’t understand the question. “Why would I?”
Rafe’s human side, as suddenly as it had come, surrendered to the monster within.
“I don’t even regret getting captured.” His face smirked teasingly. “I found you, Boy, and that’s all I care about.”
“But you’re going to die for it.” Cedric couldn’t begin to understand Rafe’s reasoning.
“Perhaps.” Was Rafe’s reply.
Their mouths stilled themselves for a while longer, and the air stilled. Rafe sat on the ground, still staring at Cedric, his eyes frothing with animosity. But this time, Cedric didn’t feel intimidated. Just empty.
All of this was so very pointless.
A man approached Cedric after a while with a bowl of soup, glanced at Rafe, and hurriedly left. The message was clear: Rafe wasn’t going to eat anytime soon. Probably never again.
Cedric stared into the bowels of his soup, the broth a reddish color. It looked like rusted blood. Cedric put the soup on the ground, and pushed it between the bars of Rafe’s cage.
Rafe appeared confused again. “What are you doing?”
Cedric shrugged. “I’ve lost my appetite. You have it.” He brought his knees up to his chin, and buried his head into the spot in between.
Cedric turned his head so that it was facing Rafe. He could see Rafe glower at the soup as though it was Cedric’s personification.
“Just eat the damn soup.” Cedric grumbled. He knew Rafe must be hungry.
Any indecision Rafe was battling with quickly dissipated. He tore his nose away from the bowl, and that was the last of it.
Cedric found himself laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. What odd creatures humans were. “What’s the point in all this?” Cedric wondered aloud.
“I beg your pardon?” Rafe was mocking him again.
Cedric decided to ignore the sarcasm that soured his voice. He waved around him. “This! The king’s dictatorship! What’s the point? What satisfaction does the king get from watching his subjects suffer like this?”
“The king needs to control his subjects. Those who aren’t loyal to him require force.”
“Why does humankind even need a king?”
“The weak require the strong to guide them. Without the strong, the weak would fall. All respect power.” He said the words as though he had memorized them.
“Why can’t all lead themselves?”
“What a strange notion. Something only an errand boy would consider, no doubt.”
“Why do you follow the king?”
“Because he is our king, and has power beyond anyone else. There is no-one but him that could lead this country.”
“The king is an excessively cruel being.” Cedric stated. “But I suppose cruelty is what you relate to best of all.”
Cedric shut his mouth after that. It was no use trying to debate with someone that adored the king so. And likewise, Rafe could never convince Cedric that the king was beneficial to this country. He had seen too much to ever believe such a lie.
The rest of the time was quiet again. Cedric still didn’t understand Rafe’s thoughts, but he no longer feared the king’s most loyal servant. Tomorrow, he would be dead. And perhaps talking to Rafe as if he was an actual person gave him some closure.
The next time a guard came into Rafe’s celled room was to replace Cedric. Cedric nodded, and the man took the chair Cedric was sitting on. Cedric headed back to his tent, looked back once, and continued onward.