Fragment 6 - Escape

The 10 Speakers of Lady Palas-Homonay's Will and the Grand Marshal Cassius Pelopls did something after Amy died that they had never done before. Something so unbelievable and unprecedented that many people who watched this paused in deep contemplation. An act of such unequaled uniqueness, that, if a devout follower of Palas-Homonay were to see it, he or she might have mistakenly called it a miracle. These 11 men did something not many had seen before.

They ran away.

Some people cheered, throwing their arms up in the air hugging those around them, laughing and yelling in delight. Some people heckled them as the left, and as soon as the last one was out of sight, returned with smug faces and tough attitudes. Still others were nonplussed and just stumbled about for a while. A small handful shuddered with fear. The Mayor, Zachary Cash, was one such person. The Order doesn't just give up, he said; they will return in larger numbers, he spoke; we must be ready for their retribution! Some listened, some were too distracted to care. After a few hours of celebration, meditation, confusion, and panic, the town was returning to normal. People were still discussing the matter of the fleeing soldiers, but now with a more uniform tone; Mayor Cash's message of worry and preparation was reaching everyone, and everyone was starting to understand the problems they faced as a town. A meeting was held, with all the townsfolk in attendance to discuss their next course of action.

"We should prostrate ourselves in front of whomever they send and beg for forgiveness! We have angered a large group of very determined people!" Gregory the carpenter shouted while other people yelled with approval.

"WE are a large group of angry people!" Evalynn, the florist, shouted back, with an equally large group of people yelling their approval. "We need to send The Order a message that they can't waltz into any town, burn down libraries, and kill people!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Mr. Roberts yelled, "This isn't another group of bandits; this is The Order, the Law of the North. These guys don't just come back with a few more people and some fire. This is serious!" With this, the whole meeting broke into a shouting match with the Mayor and his Council shouting for order. People were getting close to brawling while some were chanting and singing as a group above the rest.

The doors to the meeting hall slammed open and several candles on the walls providing light blew out. A single figure was standing at the center of the doorway. He was a slender man with a book tucked under his arm.

"Jacob, what are you doing here? I thought we told you to never come back to these meetings?" Mayor Cash asked the question on everyone's mind.

"I dug this book out of the rubble of the library." Jacob said, his voice gravelly and scratchy. "I know what we must do."

---

After Amy had scared off The Order, she collapsed into a pile in the middle of the streets. Doris and a few other people had pulled her away into the Inn. There they laid her down on a bed, brought her water, first aid supplies, and food; however, by the time she was in the door, she had passed out.

"She looks feverish," one person said.

"My Gods! What does magic do to a person?" another one said.

"I'm going to check up on Page." Doris said as she stepped out of the room. Page was fine, besides being tired and in bed all the time. The candle on the wall had twisted into a corkscrew shape, and there was a bird sitting on the windowsill singing a tune from a famous play. Besides that, everything was normal, if not a little tense.

---

With the next morning, little had changed; Page was still in bed, Amy was still unconscious, and the town was still on edge. As people got out of their beds and the sun rose in the sky, a sound not unlike a metronome made of thunder rumbled from the northern road. Around the bend in the road marched soldiers, over 200 men and women in shining silver armor, holding halbreds, hammers and shields, or rapiers and standards. On horses rode heavily armored knights shouting the words of Palas-Homonay and each one had a faint halo of light above their heads. Each soldier, even their horses, were marching in time with the beating of a drum by a boy wearing white robes. Each standard displayed a woman in various positions of power.

The Order had returned.

People shut the doors and shutters and cowered in fear inside their houses while The Order marched into town. They stomped onto the village green, flattening flower gardens and shattering benches. As one they halted and the beat stopped. This was followed by a moment of silence; The Order soldiers held perfectly still as though they were platinum statues. The commander, distinguished by his gold trim, gave a curt shout. The soldiers broke formation and quickly went from house to house, flinging open or smashing down doors, dragging people into the streets. Several stormed into the Inn while Doris was looking out the window at a group pulling the fisherman and his wife and child out of their home. Two soldiers grabbed her by the shirt and arms and without so much as a grunt lifted her off the ground, pulled her outside, and flung her to the dirt.

The Man with golden trim rode his horse beside Doris, lifted his helmet off his head, and exposed his pure white eyes to her. Even though the day was clear and sunny, his eyes shone like beacons through the dead of night. They were impossible to ignore, and Doris found herself pulled into them, unable to break his gaze. He spoke quietly, almost gently to her, but with the force of a parent softly scolding a child.

"Where is the sorcerer, child?"

For a moment, Doris wanted to tell him all about Amy on the second floor, and with Page one room over. She wanted to tell him everything; every secret, whisper, and lie she had ever told to another person. She felt compelled. But that would betray the sweet innocent child, she said to herself."I don't know what you are talking about!" Doris cried as she struggled to look away.

"I'll ask you one more time, little one; where is the magic user?" he said, this time with ice in his voice.

"I'm telling you, I don't know! I've never seen any magic users here!"

"I can tell when you lie, I can see the shadow of the untrue around you, you fool. Nothing is hidden from my gaze! Take this one into custody."

He turns on his horse to address the rest of the town.

"For every 5 minutes that the witch child does not show herself, we will kill one person closest to her age." Then turning back to Doris for a moment, "I reckon she is about 16 or so, yes?"

Some soldiers pull the mayor's daughter and the fisherman's son from the crowd, hitting them on the back of the legs to drop them to their knees, a barrel chested man holding a massive hammer steps forth chuckling at the crying children.

Their parents are screaming for the man to stop this foolishness, yelling at Doris to tell the truth, weeping, praying, begging. Nothing perturbs the Commander, who sits silently, ignoring the pleas of the townsfolk, tapping his finger on his shield.

Several moments pass while soldiers pull the last of the people from their homes. Finally the Commander says, "298, 299, 300! Well, she has shown herself to be not only an abomination, but also a coward!" He nods to the large man standing over the children, who then lifts his massive hammer with a grunt. It gleams, shinning brightly with a polished shine. The fisherman's son raises his hands to cover his head. Down comes the massive heft of the hammer onto the back of the child. He is crushed in an instant, blood splattering the shinny armor of the executor, and his mother and father screaming in dismay. Doris stands in shock, unable to move, mouth agape with disgust and horror.

From the doorway of the Inn, a tiny figure shouts "NO!" so loudly, it shatters a window and causes a few shingles to fall off nearby buildings. Everyone in the area stops and looks in the direction of the sound. Page is sitting and looking out at the grisly scene; tears streaming down her face. The commander, glances over casually at a few soldiers and says, "Collect that child for me."
They quickly walk over and one of them says in a firm voice, "In the name of Palas-Homonay, come with me! Now!"
Page looks up with fire in her eyes, clenching her teeth and balling her fists she goes to push him away. The first soldier is flung back 60 feet into the stone wall of a building across the, where he lands head first into the corner; his head is split open and blood and gray matter is spilled onto the ground. The second soldier pauses in shock. Page whips her head at him and he is tossed head over heels through the brick wall of the Inn.

As Page stands up, around her dirt and rocks are tossed up into the air, where they hang for a moment and then drop back to the ground. With tears streaming down her face and teeth bared, she glares at the Commander, who regards her with curiosity rather than fear, unlike many of the other soldiers. He shouts an order to seven of the soldiers, who standing above other townsfolk, to charge at the girl. They do so with hammers raised, and polearms ready to run her through. Page raises her hands close to her body in front of her, then thrust outward. Five of the soldiers are tossed like rag dolls into the air and slammed into the ground harshly. Metal twists, bones break, and soldiers scream in agony, arms and legs are twisted at horrible angles where their are no joints. The last two soldiers don't stop, but continue charging, aiming to bash the brains out of this sorcerer. She raises her hands into fists aimed at the nearest soldier. He screams, falls to his knees, and starts ripping his armor off. Steam comes billowing out of his chestplate and as he starts undoing that, he starts screaming as the armor becomes red hot, and melts into him. Flames start flickering out of him and he burst completely into red and orange flame.
The last soldier is within striking distance of Page, when he stops instantly in his tracks. He drops his hammer and his shield as he is lifted off the ground. Page stands with her hands open, palms out, pointing all her fingers at his chest. With a yell, she whips her hands to the sides, and simultaneously, he is ripped in half, armor, flesh, and bone; she rends him from neck to groin, showering the surrounding area in a coating of blood.
All around people stand in shock and silence. The Commander glares at her with fury etched into every crease and wrinkle on his face."Kill that abomination, NOW!" He roars and over a hundred soldiers jump to get the first blow. Page, turns and flees down the road with the thunder of a small army chasing her, she rounds the corner, and as the soldiers come around, they see an empty street.

---

Disoriented and scared, Page follows where her feet take her, not thinking about what happened, why everything smells foul , and who is holding her hand, pulling her through the alley into the woods. She wiped her eyes on the last clean spot on her sleeve and looked up. Andrew Penn was holding her hand, and pushing his way through brush, deeper into the woods.