A Creature of War, Book 6, CH05

The city called Fort Worth was nothing like the one he’d been to back before the world changed. It had been so large it spread as far as the eye could see. This was smaller, much smaller. From the tree he stood in, he could all the way to the other side; the tall stone wall going around it in a shape that followed the contour of the landscape. 
The roofs of buildings were visible, as was the temple on the northern side, and castle on the south. From east to west a wide avenue cut the city in half, from one gate in the wall to the other. Against the wall furthest from where he stood, between the temple and the western gate, there was a large building with ample space and its own wall.
LRK climbs down. “How certain are you that’s where the Keepers keep them?”
“It’s what my contact here said. She’s sent messages about what’s happening here for most of the year.”
“And you trust her?”
Kamdy nodded. “She has no love for the Celeste.”
“And she’s expecting us?” LRK asked instead of commenting on how a common dislike was not a solid basis for trust, that Kamdy had saved her life or not.
“So long as Jonah made it, she will. The two of them will be at the Silent Scream Inn.”
LRK tilted an ear as he followed Kamdy. “That’s an ominous name.”
“You’ve never been here during the summer’s high heat. This sounds comes from everywhere, but it’s like nothing makes it, and he pierces the mind.”
LRK tried to recall what it was that made the sound. He’d known it, he was confident, some insect, but as with so many little details, he’d forgotten this one.
The main road leading to the eastern gate had grooves cut into it from all the carts traveling to and from the city. Even if this was winter, the farmers could still grow certain plants this far south. One of the other reasons LRK did his best to travel south when the weather turned cold. The availability of fresh food.
They mixed with the other travelers before the gate and one of the bored guards came to attention when his gaze fell on LRK. He walked through the people and stopped before LRK.
“Name?” the guard asked. He was a bear, large, more because of his gut than muscles.
“Kal,” LRK replied. It’s what he’d told Kamdy to call him.
“Where are you from, Kal?”
“Sturmguard.”
“Is there a problem, sir?” Kamdy asked.
The bear looked him over. “You can go in. Everyone else can start moving.” He Escorted LRK off the road and looked at the hyena by the gate. “Go get it.”
Kamdy exchanged a worried glance with LRK, who shrugged.
“Do you know your letters?” the bear asked, as the hyena returned with a rolled parchment.
“I do.”
“Write your name in the dirt.”
With a shrug LRK write Kal of Sturmguard at his feet. The guard motioned him away and took the parchment, unrolled it and crouched to look from it to the writing in the dirt. LRK moved until he could see the parchment.
The drawing of a lynx’s face looked surprisingly like his, with the name ‘Rak of Souldburg’ written beneath it. Antoinette had a good memory and skill with the quill to have produced this.
Kamdy saw it and his worries increased, but LRK shook his head, nodding to the travelers. This was not the place to do anything.
The bear and hyena spoke in soft tones until the bear stood.
“But it’s not the right name,” the hyena said.
“I don’t care,” the bear replied, pointing at the picture. “That’s him. The Keepers can figure it out. Get a unit out to escort him to the temple.”
LRK cursed silently. One or two guards he could handle, but he couldn’t afford to have that many people around him. He felt within the wall where the hyena was headed and found people there, as well a water and fires; braziers or cooking fires. He made them flare.
The screams caught everyone's attention, followed by ‘fire!’
The bear ran after the hyena and LRK joined the crowd, who walked through the gate. Inside, he broke away from them and went for the alleys.
“What was that about?” Kamdy said. “That looked like you.”
“That was a reminder of my own stupidity.” He’d know it would make her try harder to catch him, but he hadn’t expected her to send pictures.
“The name said Rak, you said your name was Kal. I can read.”
LRK shrugged. “It was the one I used then. It’s the one I use now.”
“How do they know what you look like?”
With a sigh, LRK told him about his conversation with Antoinette, the templed he destroyed afterward, putting her name on the message. Kamdy looked at him in horror when he was done.
“I’m not some story hero,” LRK said. “I screw up, just like you. Just like Darleen was quick to point out when we met. I let my pride get the better of me, then my anger.”
“But why would you do that? Tell her it’s you.”
“I don’t know. I told you, pride, anger. Learn from it. When you go to war, keep your emotions out of it. They will only screw things up for you. She looked normal, then I thought she was the worse kind of monster.”
“Is she?”
LRK shook his head. “She’s a person, Kamdy, like you, like me. It’s the rare one that’s really a monster. She probably didn’t even know what the jaguar was doing to those two acolytes, but I was too angry to care. But in doing that, I am now the monster in her mind. Not just some hypothetical demon she needs to catch, but the one that sat before her and mocked her.”
Kamdy looked at him, disbelief and worry in his eyes.
“I told you, I’m not a story hero. No one is. I can bet that if you were to meet that Kamdy whose name you’ve borrowed, she wouldn’t like what the stories make her to be. Always remember that, because the moment you start believing you’re the hero of the stories people tell, you’re going to get a lot of people killed.”
“But you’re…”
“Right now I’m Kal, before that I was Rak. Before that I was someone else.”
“A father.”
LRK’s heart tightened, and he nodded.
“But who are you? What’s your name?”
“I don’t have one,” LRK sighed.
Kamdy snorted. “Everyone had a name. Even if you use a different one.”
“How did you get your name?” They were out of the alleys now and the sun shone on them again, warming LRK.
“My parents gave it to me.”
LRK nodded. “You need to be born to have one.”
“Well, yes, clearly.” Kamdy eyed him, took a step away, knocking into someone and getting cursed out. He lowered his voice, looking around at all the people. “Are you saying you weren’t born?”
LRK didn’t answer. What could he say?
Kamdy stepped next to him and kept his voice low. “Doesn’t that mean the Keepers are right? That you’re really…” he eyed LRK with worry.
“The fact I’m different doesn’t make me a monster. It doesn’t mean I want to destroy this world. It just means I’m different. It’s no different than your red hair makes you different from someone with black, or brown hair, or you being human makes you different from a Furrian.”
“But the things you can do.”
LRK nodded. “That’s part of it. But I’m not the only one. Where do you think stories like those of Kamdy come from? Those heroes of legends?”
“Are you?”
LRK chuckled. “No. As far as I know, there’s never been stories written about me. Plenty of reports and scientific papers, but no stories. After this, it might change, but there aren’t any yet.”
They walked in silence, Kamdy guiding him and occasionally asking for direction. “Why did you tell me?”
“Because you asked.”
“You could have lied. You could have said Rak was your name, and you changed it so they couldn’t find you. You didn’t have to tell me all this.”
LRK tried to figure out why he’d done it. Kamdy was right, he could have lied. The man had no way of checking anything he said. “Loneliness,” he said, as it was what made the most sense. “There used to be many more like me. My family, of sort. No by birth,” she said as Kamdy opened his mouth. “We’re all different species and abilities. But we were still family. We went our separate ways a long time ago. For a variety of reasons, and since my son died. I’ve felt more alone than before.”
They reached Divide Road, and Kamdy had to ask for direction before they got moving again.
“You’ve known I was different,” LRK continued. “You haven’t said anything, but every time I say something odd you’ve looked at me. I guess I figured that you wouldn’t run to the Keepers if I told you.” He sighed. “I’ve missed having someone to talk with. Someone with whom I don’t have to watch every little thing I say. I’m not human so it can’t be explained away with me being a wizard.”
Kamdy stayed silent until a wooden sign with an open mouth in the process of screaming became visible. He grabbed LRK’s arm and stopped.
“You speak of ‘a long time ago,’ as if you were there. You spoke of Kamdy as if she was real, someone you knew. How can someone live that long?”
LRK searched the human’s eyes. He didn’t see fear or worry in them, but curiosity. Maybe he should have lied. LRK had the sense Kamdy would be asking him a lot of questions. That was better than having to watch what he said, wasn’t it? And if the human let something slip? He’d have to make sure he understood the danger the answers represented.
“I don’t know how. I didn’t even know I would. None of us did. We just kept on living, and avoiding getting killed.” He motioned to the sign. “That’s the Inn?”
Kamdy nodded.
“I’ll answer whatever question you have, but once we’ve dealt with his situation. For now, I’m Kal of Strumguard, leader of the rebellion against the Celeste.” LRK sighed. “Savior of the oppressed.”
“Hero of stories,” Kamdy added.
“I better start learning to accept that, aren’t I?”
* * * * *
“There’s a wall all around it,” the rat said as she motioned. LRK, her, and Kamdy were on a roof, looking it over. She paced as she spoke, twisting her hands nervously. “The city wall forms the back, and when they added this, they had a wizard melt the two together.”
“How many wizards in the city?” LRK ask. “Can we expect them to join in the defense of the prison?”
The rat stopped and looked at him. “They’re wizards. What would they do? Destroy everything?” She started pacing again. “There’s only a handful in the city. The king likes to watch them work their creations, from a safe distance.”
LRK indicated the only gate. “How many guards if we storm it?”
“Way more than you can count? A lot more than that.”
“How thick is the wall?” he asked, a reflex, as he felt for it. Guards walked the top of it.
“Very thick.”
Twenty feet. Very thick indeed.
Looking around, he noticed someone on a distant rooftop looking at the wall. He felt for them, wondering why someone else might be looking over it too, and was surprised at what he sensed. He hurried down from the roof.
“There’s only two ways to get in,” Kamdy said, following LRK down and through the alley. “Through the gate, or over the wall. If we manage that, then the only way out is if the prisoners help us.”
“How come there are so many prisoners here?” LRK asked to keep them from questioning where he was going in such a hurry. “The city can’t have that many possessed.”
“They aren’t all from the city,” the rat answered, panting. “The king’s father proclaimed, years ago, that he wanted the accused to be properly tried. And that only the city’s Keepers could do it. So the towns send them here.”
LRK felt the woman run off, and he cursed. She’d noticed him. She kept to the roofs, leaping over the alleyways and streets. He couldn’t catch up to her with them in tow.
“Kamdy?”
“Yes?” the human was panting.
“You two stay here. I’ll be back.” He spent up, unconcerned about being noticed. This was too important. He wished he could call out to her, but she wouldn’t hear. He could slow her, even stop her, but he knew from experience that angering her wasn’t a good idea.
And he wouldn’t reach her from the ground. Someone was bound to call the guard on him for running faster than a horse could. He turned into an alley and gathered air ahead of him, compacting it. When his feet stepped on it he let it explode and went up, almost tipping head over tail. He flayed as he used the wind to steady himself and landed in a tumble. He was out of practice with this.
When he did it again to reach a higher roof, there was less gesticulation involved. With no one to watch, he sped up even more. It wasn’t often he got to run like this. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it for very long.
“CM stop!” He yelled.
She stopped and turned, crouching, ready for a fight. Her cloak settled around her covering her like a poncho.
He stopped and raised his hands. “It’s me.”
“El?” she asked, frowning.
“Yes,” he smiled. “How are—”
She leaped on him with a roar, right arm extended, claws out. He was on his back, blocking her arm. “Where is he?” she growled.
“Who?” even without the telekinesis, CM was strong. Stronger than he was, her hand moved closer to his face.
“Who do you think? That asshole lover of yours.”
LRK shoved her off him with a gust of wind. She pirouetted in the air and landed gracefully, her cloak flapping around her, exposing her left arm, held tightly against her body before settling down.
“I haven’t seen Vee in decades,” he said, getting to his feet.
“Don’t lie to me,” she spat and ran at him. “You two are inseparable.”
He caught her arm, spun and tripped her. He had her face down on the roof, arm against her back, holding her in place. “CM, calm down. What is this about? Why do you need to find Vee?”
She screamed and LRK flew back, but didn’t fall down. She held him up telekinetically. She stood and glared at him as his arms and legs were pulled in opposite directions. He bit back the scream of pain.
“Need him?” she asked with more hate than LRK had ever heard from her. “The only thing I want from that bastard is to rip his insides out.”
“CM, stop!” he screamed, then pain distorted the words.
“Where is he?” she yelled. “Where is he staying?”
“I don’t know!”
“Liar.”
The pain intensified. “I left him!” he yelled through his scream, only certain he’d said the words when the pain stopped. He was still floating, but she no longer pulled him in all direction.
“You’re lying.”
He shook his head, catching his breath. “I got tired of the senseless killing. I asked him to come with me, but he likes it too much.”
“But you love him,” she said in disbelief. “Other than Eek and Bear, the only place I’ve seen anyone more in love than the two of you was on TV.”
“I do love him. But I can’t stand him anymore. He gets angry so easily, and the killing makes him happy.” LRK shuddered at the memory of what he’d watched Vee do. “You should have seen the glee on his face when he tortured people. I didn’t know him anymore. So I left.” His feet touched the ground.
“How long?”
He shrugged. “Three, four decades? You try keeping time nowadays.” He studied her. She looked thinner than he remembered. “Why are you angry at him?”
She pulled the cloak off her left arm. “He did this to me.” She wasn’t holding her arm against her body. It was deformed that way, twisted, shriveled and brittle looking.
“Why did you seek him out? You know how pissed he is. He still thinks of you as a deserter. All of you. It’s been centuries and when he’s really angry, it’s your names he uses as curses. Were you looking to die?”
He flew back, and this time came crashing down on the next roof. “You think it was for me?” she floated over the gap and landed as he stood. “You think there’s anything that could ever happen to me that would make me seek out that monster?”
LRK winced. He wanted to defend Vee, but her arm was a reminder of what he’d become. “Then why?”
She took something from her belt. “My daughter.” It was a doll, LRK realized, old and in need of repairs. “I was hoping he could help her. I was ready to beg. I’d have rejoined if that’s what he’d required, but he laughed.” Her tone became dark. “He laughed at my Sunflower. He said I’d gotten exactly what I deserved. I lost it and attacked him.” She indicated her arm. “He did that in return. Promised that if he felt any kind of pressure, if I used my telekinesis on him, he’d hurt her. So I let him leave.”
LRK had a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, is she…?”
“She’s alive.” She sighed. “She wasn’t sick or dying, that isn’t why I went to him.” She nodded toward the prison, still in view from this high roof. “She’s in there.”
“Why? What do the Keepers want with her?” he paused, remembering Leo. “Does she have powers?”
She growled, glaring at the prison. “That isn’t why she was brought here.”
“You’re planning on ripping the roof off and rescuing her.”
She nodded.
“Please don’t.”
She transferred the glare to him, and he had to fight the urge to back away. He’d seen tanks explode under the force of that anger.
“If you think I’m going to let my Sunflower suffer because of some misguided need to prot—”
“No, that’s not it. CM, I’d never be that cruel, not to her, not to anyone. You know me better than that.”
“I used to.”
LRK looked away. He deserved that. If he’d been the lynx she’d known, he wouldn’t have stuck with Vee for so long. He’d have forced the bull to leave. He’d have done something to help him. He would have found a way to save Leo.
“I’m working on breaking everyone out of the prison.”
She studied him. “When did you become such a hero? Rescuing the lot of them is a far cry from being a soldier and protecting people.”
He chuckled. “You sound like Vee.”
“Don’t you fucking compare me to him.” The telekinetic shove had him skid back a dozen feet. “I am nothing like him.”
“Fine. This isn’t about saving them, not really. They’re going to die. They know it. No one who’s accused survives, so I’m hoping they’re going to be willing to help me destroy the church of the Celeste.”
She stared at him. “The church? You are going… it’s you? You’re the idiot who’s been destroying temples? Killing Keepers? Riling them up? Are you insane?”
LRK shrugged. “Who knows? I avoid asking myself the question because I’m not sure I’m going to like the answer. I could use your help. I could use the great hero Kamdy at my side.”
She looked up and sighed. “I hate those stories. I’m not her anymore,” she told LRK. “Even back then I wasn’t her. They made her up from a few things I did, blew them all out of proportions. All I’m doing is rescuing my Sunflower, then we’re disappearing. I won’t have anything to do with this war of yours. You do understand that’s what you’re doing here, right? Going to war?”
LRK nodded. “That’s why I need them. I need soldiers.”
“So you can send them to their death while you get satisfaction?”
“No!” He looked away from her glare. “Yes, some will die. It’s war, but I’m not going to be like the Brass, back then. I’m not going to hide in my bunker while they fight. I’m going to be on the front line with them.”
“How very brave of you,” she said with derision.
“Damn it, CM! I’m trying to do the right thing here! I’m trying to be better than our superiors were to us.”
She snorted. “And when things don’t go your way? When you storm their citadel and the Celeste’s army are there, waiting for you? When they are better armed, better prepared? Are you going to stay on the front lines, to die with the rest of your soldiers?”
“What do you want me to say, CM?” he replied in exasperation. “That I’m perfect? That I won’t get scared in the middle of the night and run off? That I won’t break? You know I can’t. I can break, I have broken. You saw how I was when the world change. It took me a century before I felt like myself again. Years more, before the elements responded to my commands like they used to. Maybe this is going to break me again. I can’t know that. But I’m not going to let that possibility stop me from doing the right thing.”
“If I had used of both my hands I’d clap,” she said dryly, “that was such a moving speech.”
He sighed. “Fine, you think I’m an idiot. You think I’m throwing myself off a cliff and you don’t want to be part of that. Okay, it’s not my place to judge you.” He motioned to the prison. “But what about here? This one time? If I promise to get your daughter out, will you help me?”
She looked at the doll in her hand. “What would I have to do?”
LRK went over his options. Having her level of power changed the equation, but he had to be careful. While she could rip the roof off the prison, it wouldn’t help the prisoner escape, and for them to follow him afterward, they needed to know he was the one leading the rescue.
“Could you keep the guards off my back?”
She snorted.
“Okay, not one of my smarter question. Would you do it, though? I can force my way in, but while I’m getting the prisoners and your daughter out, they’re going to amass their forces and if they are on us, I won’t be able to take them out the back.”
She looked at the compound. “There is no gate in the back.”
“When have you known a stone wall to stop me?”
She looked at him speculatively. “The last time we talked, you didn’t say anything about being that strong again.”
“I didn’t know.” He shrugged. “Fighting Vee’s wars never required that I push myself. Destroying the temples got me to understand what I can do. Making a hole in that till be easy.”
She nodded. “I’ll keep the guards off your back.”
“Good, with your help, getting everyone out will be easier, and you’ll be reunited with your daughter.”
“Two things.” She handed him the doll. “Her name is Peppermint. You’re going to need her, so Sunflower knows you’re a friend.”
Holding it, LRK saw the reason it looked old was that it was made of rags. It barely looked humanoid, but the wear on it had a sense of comfort. Something a child would hold close. Alaine’s mother had made such a doll for her and Leo.
“What name does she use for you? CM? Kamdy? How will I let her know I’m there to take her back to you?”
“I’m just Mommy to her.”
He didn’t comment. “How will I recognize her? I expect she isn’t going to be the only tiger there. How old is she?”
“She’s fourteen.” She paused. “Finding her will be easy, just look for the one everyone keeps away from.”
He looked at the doll and frowned. This was a child’s doll, not a teen. He searched CM’s face. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing that matters,” she snapped. “You’ll know her when you see her, and she’d going to recognize Peppermint.”
He nodded. “What’s the other thing?”
“Be the last person to leave. The moment you step outside the prison, I am destroying it. I will not let them use it again.”
“Okay. Let’s get back then. I have a room you can use, and we can work on the tact—”
“No. You tell me when and where and I’ll be there, but I am not going anywhere with you.”
“CM, you know how this works. How many battles have we fought together? We all need to coordinate.”
“I’m not fighting with you,” she growled. “I’m going to be standing on that wall, holding the guards back. I don’t care what else you do in there. Dance a waltz for all you want. Just get my daughter out.”
How long did he need? If he didn’t have to worry about the guards, all he needed was to gather his people and force his way in. No need for anything elaborate.
“Two days. The second bell after sunrise is when I’ll start the attack.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good.” He turned to head to the roof’s ledge. “I’ll get my people ready.”
He was yanked up and brought back before the tigress. “I want to make one last thing clear, El. If this is some sort of ploy you and that lover of yours have arranged; if you’re doing this because you think you can use her against me, I promise there will not be enough—” she gasped and staggered back.
LRK got control over his anger and brought her temperature back to normal. “Don’t you ever accuse me of planning on using a child to hurt you or anyone. The Keeper’s murdered my son. If you think I’d ever stoop to using children, then you’re the one who’s changed.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I didn’t know.”
“I don’t need your sorrow. I need you to do your job.” He turned his back to her and dropped off the edge. Making a cushion of air to catch him. He looked up, and she watched him before walking away.
He felt for Kamdy, and rejoined them, the rat fretting in the alley where he’d left them. She looked at him suspiciously.
“Where did you go?” Kamdy asked. “You just ran off.”
“I found someone who is going to help. With her, this is going to be easier.”
“Who?” the rat asked, her suspicion audible now.
LRK shook his head. “Not out here. You need to find us a place where everyone can gather without attracting attention. We have two days to plan the attack.”
“There’s no way we can plan an infiltration in two days,” Kamdy said.
LRK smiled. “Oh, we’re not infiltrating anything. We are going to kick that gate down.”
* * * * *
There were eighteen people with him. Kamdy had introduced those who joined them while they waited for the second bell, but LRK hadn’t memorized their names. Too many of them would die. He didn’t want to be burdened with knowing them. 
Once Kamdy confirmed they were all there, LRK gave his instructions, only for Kamdy to argue with him. Kal didn’t have to lead the charge. Bertrand had a device to remove the door. A news that had surprised the wizard. Kal was too important to be in the lead.
Reluctantly, he agreed to have Kamdy lead, but remained ready to handle the door, if Bertrand didn’t. The wizard had done nothing during the trip to the city to indicate there was any sanity left. He wasn’t the raving lunatic Kal had dealt with, but he was a wizard.
Bertrand was still searching his pockets when the bell rang, but with a prod from Kamdy he ran for the door, and once he pulled something from another pocket screamed like a madman. Kal noticed the concerned looks his people exchanged, but on Kamdy’s order, everyone ran after the wizard.
Bertrand didn’t stop running, or screaming, and Kal thought the only thing that would happen was the wizard knocking himself unconscious as he ran into a solid door. Kal considered letting that happen. It would show Kamdy wizards shouldn’t be relied on, but ten feet from the door, something happened to it.
The shudder was quick, and Kal felt it in his bones more than saw it. As if everything had vibrated. He’d felt something like that, a long time ago, when Rod had hit him with a vibrational blast, but the wizard had his hand extended before him, not back toward Kal.
The shudder came again, and this time, with it, the door bowed inwardly. Kal thought he could see light through it, as if the door had been made of slivers of wood, instead of planks, and Bertrand was pulling each one apart. As he thought that, the door bowed again, and exploded.
A new bell rang, louder, deeper. 
The alarm.
The courtyard was five hundred yards deep. Ample space for the guards to take their position before any escaping prisoners reached the gate, but their reflex was to expect an escape from the prison, not a group breaking in.
By the time the first guard was out of the garrison, Kal and his people were a third of the way there. He saw the worried look Finn and Kamdy exchanged, the suspicion when Finn looked at the lynx, but they kept running.
Kal had told them that once they controlled the prison, once the prisoners were with them, it would be simple to deal with the guards.
He hadn’t understood his reluctance to tell them about CM. Kamdy had glanced at him when he hadn’t mentioned the mysterious person he’d said would help, but hadn’t brought it up. He didn’t understand until he looked over his shoulder to get an estimate of their numbers and saw her standing on the wall, over the gate.
He hadn’t believed she would come.
He didn’t have time for the shame that was building. He should have trusted her. She was a sister in arm, she’d saved his life in multiple battles, but she’d changed. So had he. He’d seen the best man he knew turn into a monster. And CM had deserted. He hadn’t realized until now that action had seeped deep in him and affected how he saw her.
Even with her daughter in the middle of this, he hadn’t believed she would help him.
By the time he reached the prison, the door was shards on the floor inside. The guards at the door were unconscious. His men were fighting with the others. Bertrand stood before a metal door, searching his pockets.
Kamdy hadn’t been able to give them details about the layout of the prison, or that the doors were entirely made of metal. Whatever Bertrand had used on the wooden doors didn’t work on metal.
“Bertrand, don’t waste your time with metal doors. Look for wooden ones, I’ll handled these.”
The wizard looked offended, but he ran off, taking a large rock from a pocket and hitting a guard in the back of the head with it before petting it and putting it back in.
Metals were beyond his control. They were from the earth, but not of it. Even extracting it was more about getting the earth around the metal to push them out than him moving it. Unrefined metals had enough earth in them for him to do small things, but even if the process wasn’t what it had been before the world changed, it removed enough for him to be incapable to do anything to this metal door.
Of course, the metal door had been set in a stone wall.
“Anyone who can pick locks get to it!” he yelled. A surprising numbers of people the Keepers claimed were demons had criminal skills. “The rest of you make sure the guards are dealt with!”
“Did you just send Bertrand looking for wooden doors?” Finn asked. “You didn’t have to send him to waste his time, he’s useful in a fight.”
“I saw how valuable that wizard is in fights, remember?” the stone at the back of the head incident aside, Bertrand had spent most of the battles busy searching through his chest or his pockets. “And there has to be at least one wooden door in here. Magnetism is too common a power for those people to be locked behind a door like this.”
“Magne—what?”
“Manipulating metals.” There were enough impurities he could tell the shape of the door, and that it and the stone were touching. It had to be near impossible to pull open. “Once he frees them, at least one should be strong enough to help take these doors out.” He felt further along the wall, up and around. He couldn’t tell if it was poor workmanship, or intentional, but the ceiling was made of stone slabs the size of the rooms and barely held onto the support walls. One good earthquake and the ceilings would come crashing down.
Which meant he had to be careful how it removed this door. As he made stone flow around the hinges someone yelled in joy and a door ground open. If they followed their instructions they would get everyone at the back of the prison. If CM did her part, no guards would be able to make it there.
He cursed himself for still doubting her. She was here. She would help, if not for him, for her daughter.
They’d all become selfish over the centuries. At least he could count on that as motivation.
He pushed Finn aside, grabbed the side of the door and pulled on it until it fell. When his ears stopped ringing he yelled, “everyone out!” and motioned them toward the back of the prison.
Kamdy was next to him, blocking the way to the closer front door. “Why use locks? Why not just put a bar on the doors?”
“Too easy for a telekinetic to remove that, even a weak one.”
“Tele-huh?” Finn asked.
“Moving objects with their minds.” Kal moved with the prisoners until he reached another door. “The only telekinetic I’ve known who could move something they don’t see didn’t have any precision. They’d destroy the workings of a lock and ensure they’d never get out.”
“Why didn’t they just take the door out then?” Finn asked.
The question made LRK realize everything in the building of the prison had been intentional. “They wedged the doors in tight against the stone. Any telekinetic strong enough to rip a door out and not bring the ceiling down on them was strong enough not to be captured.”
He opened the door, directed the prisoners to the back. When he joined them Kamdy stayed behind to direct them, but Finn remained at Kal’s side. In the next cell Darleen and a man who’d joined them this morning were trying to get an older man to stand, but he fought them.
“What’s going on?” he asked, entering the cell to get out of the flow of traffic.
“He doesn’t want to leave,” the jackal answered.
“Leave him, I’ll deal with it.”
“But.” She looked ready to protest but the man with her grabbed her arm.
“Stay here,” he told Finn. When he was sure the human wouldn’t argue Kal entered. crossed it, and crouched next to the man. He looked fit enough. And the anger in the man’s eyes told him he had strength
He kept his voice soft enough no one at the door would hear him. “You can’t stay here. Once we leave the prison is going to be brought down. It’s going to kill you.”
“Do I look like I care?”
“Whatever you did, you don’t deserve what’s coming.”
“Get out of here!” the man yelled in anger.
Kal watched him, looked for any doubts, but the man was determined. He left, pushing Finn out of the cell.
“You’re leaving him there?” the human said.
Kal looked back. “I told him what’s coming. He doesn’t care. I don’t have the time to convince him. We have more important things to do.”
“I thought you were here to save them?” Finn growled.
“You can’t save someone who decided he deserves this. You want to argue with him, you go ahead, but if you aren’t out of here before I am, you aren’t going to like what happens.”
Finn glared at him. “And what is going to happen?”
Kal shook his head. If he told him, he was going to have a fight on his hand.
“Kamdy made you sound like you were a hero out of a story. You shouldn’t leave him—”
“I’ve said it before, I’m no hero. This isn’t a story, it’s war. People die in wars, people are left behind. I’m not happy about it, but that reality. If you can’t accept that, you might as well go in that cell with that man and wait for the end.”
“How many people are you planning on leaving behind like him?”
“As few as possible,” Kal growled.
“I don’t trust you.”
“Yeah, I know, and frankly I don’t care. You can glare at me all you want, but if you’re not joining him, we have more important things to do than stand here arguing. There’s no telling when the guards are going to get in.”
Finn glared at him and Kal thought he heard the grinding of teeth even through the surrounding chaos. With a snarl the man turned and went to help the others.
He went from room to room, making sure they were empty. The rat who’d pointed out the prison to him and Kamdy stopped him from entering one.
“Don’t go in there,” she said. “There’s a demon, a real one.” She shuddered.
Kal looked around her, searched the dark cell, and saw the form huddled in a corner. “What did he do?”
“Do? Nothing.” Hysteria tinted her voice. “But there’s something wrong with it. You can see it.”
Kal sent her to help the others and entered the cell.
His eyes adjusted to the dark by the time he crouched before them. A Furrian with their knees pulled to them, tiger, and after she shifted, a woman.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Kal, who are you?”
She looked at him and he stifled the gasp. No wonder the rat had thought she was a demon. Her head was larger than normal, her eyes too small, too wide apart, her muzzle too narrow to be on a tigress’s face. She lowered her head to her knees again.
No wonder CM said he’d know her daughter when he’d see her. “Hello, you must be Sunflower.”
She glanced at him. “Hello,” she whispered.
“I’m a friend of your mommy. She asked me to take you out of here.” He reached for her, but she flinched away. “I’m here to help you.”
She shook her head. “Strangers are bad people, mommy said.”
Kal wasn’t sure she was whispering. He thought it was how her voice sounded, and how she spoke felt off. Like the words should come from a much younger child.
He took the doll out of the pouch. “Your mommy said this was yours. Its name is Peppermint, right?”
Her eyes lit up. “Her,” she whispered. “She’d my friend, and her name is Peppermint. Is she your friend too?”
She looked like the teen CM said she was, but Leo had been five or six when he spoke this way. This was why she’d gone to Vee. This was what had made her desperate enough to risk the bull’s anger. And Vee had laughed.
For the first time in his life, Kal hated the bull. How could he look at this young tigress and laugh? What had he become that he saw her and didn’t feel pity? Didn’t want to do all he could to help her? What kind of man would let this child suffer just to punish her mother?
“I don’t really know her. Your mommy asked me to bring her to you, and to take you out of here.”
“Is mommy here?”
“Outside. She’s helping us.”
“Mommy keeps the bad men away.”
Kal smiled. “Yes, I expect that’s what she’s doing right now.”
Tentatively, she reached for the doll, and Kal let it go. She brought it to her too narrow nose and breathed it in.
When he offered her his hand again, she took it. He helped her up, and as far as he could tell, there was nothing else wrong with her. She was dirty, but so was everyone else.
Finn was talking with the rat when Kal exited the cell. The human glanced at them and recoiled. “What is that?”
“Take it back in,” the rat said, backing away.
The young tigress’ hand tightened on Kal’s and she hid behind him.
“Her name is Sunflower, she’s leaving with us.” He kept his tone light for her benefit, but he glared at them. To the rat he said, “go help the other., I’m going to go through the cells again. I want to make sure we’re not leaving anyone behind who wants to leave.”
She ran off.
“Fell free to go with her,” he told Finn.
The human eyes the tigress. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
Kal heard what Finn left unsaid.
She kept hold of his hand as he checked each cell. At the one with the older man, he made the offer again and was spat at. Sunflower recoiled as far as she could without letting go. He was the only one still alive in the cells. Some had been trampled in the rush, but most had been dead for some time; the bodies pushed against the walls.
At the back, the door was gone. He could barely make out the splinters in the dirt on each side, where two bodies looked like they had been mashed, but not by fists. Their limbs were bent in too many unnatural angles. He suspected Bernard had done this to them, but had he intended to kill them? The wizard hadn’t shown homicidal tendencies, yet.
Kal motioned for Finn to exit.
“If you think I’m letting you at my back, you might—”
Kal grabbed the man’s arm and launched him outside, then followed him. “I don’t have any patience left for your attitude. I gave you an order, and I had a reason.”
Except the building didn’t come down.
Kal turned, holding Sunflower against him. He felt for her on the other side, but she was no longer there. Had she been attacked? Did she need help? He expanded his senses, but before he’d reached a few hundred meters around him, a roar came from within the prison.
Not the sound of stone, the roar of people. Looking through the doorway, he saw the mass approach on the other side. The guards entering the prison to reach them. 
The action made no sense to him. They should go around it to reach them, going through the building funneled them. He heard Finn unsheath his sword. Kal did the same. It would only take half a dozen bodies to block the door. 
But before the guards reached it, they hit an invisible wall. Instead of turning back, the kept pressing against it, the men behind them continuing to push.
Sunflower hide her face in his side when one of them was crushed against the wall, and Kal understood what was going on.
“No!” he yelled in the air. He tried to step toward the prison but he was held in place. “CM! Stop! You can’t do this!”
The pressure was enough against the guards that their bodies were flattening; crushed. He shook in anger and felt for her, but she was either too far away, or among so many other bodies he couldn’t tell her apart.
He felt the stone move down and he put his will against it. He felt the stones crack as if they were his bones, but he kept pushing back. He didn’t want her to commit this kind of atrocity. She’d come to save her daughter, not to be a monster.
More stones cracked, the sound reverberating across the courtyard. He was failing. No matter how strong he was, she was stronger. He could affect mountains, render them flat, but she could lift them in the air and send them crashing down. He screamed as he fell to a knee and the building became a flat stone.
He felt cloth against his cheeks. Sunflower was holding her doll there, absorbing his tears. “Do you need her? She’ll make you happy again.”
He shook his head, fighting the urge to scream at her. She hadn’t done this. It was her mother he was angry with.
The gasps told him she was approaching. He stood.
“Mommy!” Sunflower yelled and ran toward the landing tigress. CM hugged her. Rubbed her cheeks against hers.
“Hello my beautiful Sunflower, how are you?”
She showed her the doll. “Peppermint made things better!”
CM smiled. “She always does.”
“How could you do that?” Kal asked, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. Sunflower hid behind her mother.
“It’s nothing more than what they deserved,” CM replied flatly.
“They were just guards! They have nothing to do with any of this!”
“Nothing?”
Kal was pulled to her and held eye to eye.
“Who do you think took my Sunflower from me?” she asked in a tone so sweet Kal tried to wriggle back. “They came in the night, stole her while I was away.”
“Because the Kee—” His mouth clamped itself shut. He glared at her.
“The Keepers aren’t behind every evil in this world, El. All they showed when they saw her was sadness. You think she’s the only one who is like this? The science that kept it from happening doesn’t exist anymore. It was the guards, only them.”
He motioned to the slab and found his mouth was his again. “It wasn’t all of them!”
She canted her head. “Oh? And was each and every Keeper you’ve killed involved in the death of your son? You’re no more a hero than I am, El. You’ve probably killed more people than I have.”
“It’s not—” he clamped his mouth shut as his ears burned in shame. He took control of himself, shoved that as deep as he could and glared at her. “They’re maintaining a system that allows it to happen. That lets other children be got to the fire. I’m doing that for them!”
She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Keep telling yourself that. You’re no better than that lover of yours. You’ll use any reason to kill.” She snorted. “At least I don’t lie to myself about why I do it. They took my Sunflower. They paid. It’s over. When are you going to have enough this time?”
“Get out,” Kal growled. “Get out before I do something I’ll regret.
“You think you can—”
“Don’t push me, CM. You have a daughter to think of. I’m in no mood for you to belittle what I’m going, and you’re getting close to making me want to see which one of us is ultimately more powerful.”
The tigress watched him, amused. She pushed him away, and by the time he’d roll back to his feet, she was in the air, Sunflower held against her.
“I better never see you again, CM,” he said under his breath, “because without your daughter to protect, I am going to make you pay for what you did here.”
“Was that—” 
“No,” Kal cut Kamdy off.
“But… She held the guards off, right? Just like—”
“That’s just a story,” Kal snapped. He headed for the city wall and the entire section crumbled under his anger. “Let’s get out of here before more guards show up.”
* * * * *
They traveled through the forest until dark. Someone, not Bertrand, made a clearing by making the trees die and rot away. People made fires and Kal was too tired to point out guards might see them. He hadn’t felt anyone follow them, and everyone was tired. There were so many people that fires stretched among the trees.
He didn’t sleep in spite of the exhaustion. He kept his senses extended, just in case. He didn’t feel guards come, but he felt people leave under the cover of the night. By his estimation, when there was enough light to see by, a quarter of the prisoner had left.
He had the rest gather in the clearing. It was a tight fit, and he climbed a tree so he would be seen.
“Anyone here who has family that will take them back,” he said, falling back on centuries of giving orders, “go back to them. Take them and go somewhere no one knows you. That goes for anyone else here who has no interest in making the Keepers pay for what they would have done to you, for what they did to countless people. You are free, go where you want and live your life.”
He stayed silent as people left. He didn’t want anyone here to stay because they felt they owed him. Their freedom didn’t come with a price.
After an hour, the exodus seemed to stop, and he had somewhere around half the people left. He’d lose more, he knew. Possible before the day ended. These though they wanted to make the Keepers pay, but they didn’t understand how it would happen, what it would cost them. Once he explained, they wouldn’t be willing.
And it was fine, this was only the start of his army. With them he would free more people the Keepers falsely imprisoned. And with each rescue he’d gain more soldiers. By the time he reached Asgoreth, his army would be able to take on anyone, even the Celeste himself, if he existed.