A Measure of Disorder (14 page)

Brandon surveyed the ground far below and saw he was leaving the
Lodir’naie
forest behind. He began a slow descent to the west, following the same river they had when they left Crank’s village.

This flight had proved smoother and easier than his first trip. He had stopped briefly to the north of the forest to hunt and rest the previous day. He flew much faster now than he had before.

A few hours later, he was within sight of the western mountain range where he and the class had first arrived. Crank’s village was just a few miles east of those mountains. That time seemed long ago to Brandon, even though it had been only a few weeks. So much had changed in such a short span.

The afternoon sun was bright in his eyes, but a dark spot on the ground ahead drew his attention. He focused on it and realized it was smoke, and it was coming from the village.

He angled north, intending to circle the area and have a good look before landing.

Brandon glided in and details became visible. Several plumes of smoke rose from the earthen mounds of the small community. The fires had burnt themselves out for the most part. He banked left and looked for movement. He saw a few charred bodies but the area seemed deserted.

Worried for his friends, Brandon didn’t waste any more time aloft. He landed heavily near where the box had been that powered the village’s defenses. In its place was a small crater and the grass surrounding it was charred black.

The smell of smoke and burnt flesh assaulted his nostrils and he snorted reflexively. The bodies he could see were all too small to be his friends, so he investigated further.

Using his large, taloned arms, he dug through the ruined mounds, searching for anything that might give him an idea of what had happened to his friends. He found a few more small bodies, along with furniture and tools, but no evidence of Mike or Scott. He called their names several times with no response.

Growing frustrated, he widened his search, and noticed a large number of tracks headed away from the village to the northwest. The tracks were too big to be village residents,
probably the attackers heading home after their victory
,
he guessed.

It was growing dark, but he didn’t want to chance losing this one lead. Brandon leapt up and his wings churned the air. He followed the tracks toward the mountains.

He passed over the lake where they had arrived, and picked up the trail again off the northern shore. Soon after, he saw the lights of a few campfires in a clearing of trees.

Brandon judged there to be twenty or twenty-five
Gobinstratstorai
in the camp. He could have killed them all easily, but he needed information.

He banked and dove, breaking his speed at the last second with several strong strokes from his wings, and landed at the edge of the clearing.

The blasts of air knocked over those closest to him and sent the others scurrying for cover. He allowed them time to recover before speaking. “I’m not here to attack you, I just need to ask you some questions.”

The
Gobinstratstorai
looked at him warily, but eventually crawled out of their hiding places to stand uneasily before him. Nearly all were the smaller versions, standing four to five feet in height. Only a couple were the larger, more muscular types, like Kim. They wore dirty brown clothing of rough linen. Except for one in the back he noticed with a torn and slightly faded floral print dress.

Brandon pointed with a claw to the figure in the dress. “You, where did you get that?”

She stepped forward and faced him with a scowl. “That’s none of your business!”

The voice was gravelly, but still familiar. “Mrs. Minch?” Brandon asked astounded. “Is that you?”

Her eyes narrowed and glared at him. “How do you know me? Who are you?”

Brandon laughed, he couldn’t help himself, and she glared even more. “It’s Brandon, Mrs. Minch. I’m Brandon.”

One of the large
Gobinstratstorai
to his right gasped. “Brandon?” it said in a deeper version of Mike’s voice.

Brandon laughed again and reunions began all around. One of the smaller
Gobinstratstorai
turned out to be Scott. He had found his friends, not as he’d expected, but he’d found them nonetheless.

Slowly, as night descended, they caught each other up on the events of the past few weeks.

The
Nomenstrastenai
of Crank’s home had taken care of the four of them — Mike, Scott, Mrs. Minch, and Deena — and nursed their wounds for several days after Brandon and the others had left for
Seren’naie
. Then the changes began to occur in the four of them, and the villagers got worried. They were kept sedated. They woke only to be fed and sedated again.

As the changes continued, the three — Mike, Scott, and Mrs. Minch — found themselves bound hand and foot when they woke for feedings. Deena was left alone since she was becoming
Faerstrastenai
,
and the residents didn’t see her as a threat. Mrs. Minch became increasingly angry because of their condition — she blamed the transformations on the villagers — and they had forced Carrie to go with the main group instead of staying with her. Mike and Scott didn’t know what to make of the changes and were fearful of them, as well as what the
Nomenstrastenai
might do to them.

Days passed. Deena shrank to a tiny size and grew small wings. They only saw her occasionally after her wings were strong enough to allow her to fly.

Mrs. Minch had begun to hear whispers, she said, about that time. Eventually, she realized they were coming from invisible creatures in and around the village. Spirits, they called themselves, and they were trapped by the
Nomenstrastenai
and forced to do their bidding. One in particular was a spirit of fire, held inside the box that powered the defense field.

Then, the remains of the
Gobinstratstorai
group that had attacked the class outside of
Lodir’naie
returned, licking their wounds. On their way past, they scouted the village and saw three of their brethren — Mike, Scott, and Mrs. Minch, whose transformations were complete — were being held captive by the
Nomenstrastenai
. This infuriated them and they laid siege to the small community.

Crank’s people were beside themselves by this point, arguing about what to do with the three of them, and how to handle the group of angry
Gobinstratstorai
outside their homes. They had stopped trying to keep the three sedated and Mrs. Minch used the time to learn more from the spirits, including how to undo the bindings that kept the spirits under the control of the village.

Two nights ago, she had successfully released the spirit trapped in the defense mechanism. It had exploded in fiery wrath, and the
Gobinstratstorai
had seen their opportunity for revenge. Brandon had seen the deadly aftermath.

“And good riddance I say.” Mrs. Minch spat. “They shouldn’t have separated Carrie from me. Now I may never find her!”

Brandon tried to calm her down. “Well, we know where they were headed, and I bet Mogritas can help.” Brandon then relayed his story.

“This is all so crazy,” Scott said afterward.

Brandon sighed. “I’m going to go hunt and get some rest. I’ll come back in the morning and we can be on our way.”

The
Gobinstratstorai
leader stepped up to him and spoke. “Great One, please don’t take our
Strodin’i
away from us.”

“Your what?”

“Our
Strodin’i
. One who talks to spirits. Our clan has not had one in generations. With her, we can become powerful again.” His eyes gleamed.

“Well, the way I see it,” Brandon replied, “it’s pretty much up to her — but enough for now, we’ll talk more tomorrow, I’m tired and hungry.” With that, Brandon leapt into the air and flew away from the camp.

Brandon had found a small herd of deer not far off and had eaten well. He slept longer than he’d intended and didn’t wake until midmorning.

He flew back to the camp and found everyone waiting for him.

“Sorry I’m late,” Brandon said sheepishly. “I slept in.”

Mrs. Minch looked up at him with her large ears and greenish skin. “The clan wants to go with us. I am evidently very important to them.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Brandon asked.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t care. I just want someplace with a real bed and a good hot meal. And a bath.” She wrinkled her nose as she said the last.

“Okay.” Brandon turned to the clan leader. “I can’t carry all of you — three more at most, besides my friends. So decide who will ride and the rest can start walking.”

The
Gobinstratstorai
talked amongst themselves briefly, then the leader and two others stepped forward.

“All right,” Brandon announced. “Let’s get moving. Climb aboard.” He bent down to allow them to get on.

Once everyone was settled, he yelled, “Hang on!” and heaved himself up, flapping his wings as hard as possible. Once he had altitude, he relaxed and found a good air current to ride with little effort.

Funny as it seemed, he was looking forward to getting back to his cave. He wanted to show Mogritas his discovery of the library. Brandon was sure Mogritas would be able to read what was there. Maybe he could find out more about the dragons and their abilities. The illusory wall in his cave fascinated him — did a dragon make it? Would he be able to perform magic like that? These thoughts filled his head as he carried his passengers east, back to the castle, and home.

Alisha was
so
bored!

She had spent a couple of days in her quarters resting, but that had quickly grown tedious. She had listened to every song in her considerable play list on her MP3 player, and had done and redone her hair as many times as she could stand. Meals had been brought to her rooms, and they were good, though she really only picked at them in boredom. Finally, she had decided to go out and explore, since she’d evidently been forgotten.

The castle was enormous. Mazes of passageways led to countless towers and other buildings. She had gotten lost frequently and had to be escorted back to her quarters by some servant or guard. Still, she had continued her explorations, having nothing else to pass the time.

She hadn’t seen any of her companions in days, weeks possibly — she had lost track — when she’d stumbled upon a huge greenhouse. The roof was made of glass or some kind of crystal, and was filled with all kinds of fruit and vegetable plants. Inside it was warm and humid.

Alisha was turning to leave when she saw a small, familiar figure to her right.

“Maggie?” she asked tentatively.

The
Faerstrastenai
looked up and saw Alisha, a smile spreading across her face. “Alisha! Where have you been?”

Alisha walked over, not wanting to appear
too
happy to see her, though she was thrilled to find someone she could actually
talk
to. “Stuck in my room for days on end. What are you doing?”

Maggie indicated the plant in front of her. “Turns out I can talk to plants … sort of. It’s weird, but anyway, I can help them grow, so they put me to work here in the gardens.”

“Talk to plants, huh?” Alisha was unimpressed,
what a worthless ability!
“Have you seen any of the others?”

Maggie didn’t seem to notice Alisha’s disdain; she never had. “Oh, yeah,” she replied. “Um, let’s see… Vic is out somewhere helping with the herds of goats I think.” Maggie blushed. “He’s actually kinda cute now, I was thinking of asking him out, seeing we’re the same size and all —”

Alisha cut Maggie off before she could get going. “Have you seen anyone else?”

Maggie took the interruption in stride. “Hm … Yeah, Will, Todd and Kim went off with the guards to do … well, you know, guard stuff.”

That made sense,
Alisha supposed. “What about Lori, or Zoe?”

Maggie paused again, thinking. “No, I haven’t seen them since we got here. Brandon either, or Mr. Kain. I wonder what happened to them?”

Maggie had never really paid attention to the world around her.
All the changes haven’t affected her personality, or her brain,
Alisha thought.

“I don’t know,” Alisha replied. “Brandon was probably too big to fit inside the castle anywhere. But I’d like to know what happened to Lori and Zoe.”
Mr. Kain too, for that matter.
“Where do you sleep?” Alisha asked.

“Oh, there’s a tree there in the middle of the greenhouse that we all sleep in. We spend most of our time here — it’s kinda hard to go very far with these tiny legs,” Maggie said, blushing.

“I see,” Alisha said and smiled. “Well, I’ll try to find my way back down here so we can visit more some time.”

Maggie beamed. “That would be great!”

Alisha had left then to continue her wanderings. Mogritas, it seemed, had put most of them to work in one fashion or another. Alisha grew more determined to find Lori, Zoe and Mr. Kain.

She thought she had explored most of the fortress, but thinking further in her rooms that night, she admitted she had avoided places with lots of guards. Assuming Mogritas was keeping Mr. Kain, at least, under guard, areas where guards hung out were likely candidates for finding him. She couldn’t think of any reason to keep Lori or Zoe under guard, but since she hadn’t found them anywhere else, it seemed the only possibility.

The next morning Alisha ate the breakfast that had been left in her room before she got up — she still wondered how they slipped in and out so quietly. Then she wrapped some food up in a napkin and put it, and a bottle of water, in a shoulder bag. She wanted to be prepared for an extended outing.

She traveled down what were now familiar passageways to what she considered the ground floor, ground being relative since they were hundreds of feet above the valley. No one challenged her; most of the servants were accustomed to her presence in the castle halls.

Alisha stepped into a large courtyard.
Gobinstratstorai
were everywhere: sparring, doing calisthenics, practicing with bows and arrows, and other martial activities. It looked like an army readying for war more than castle guards training to keep themselves fit. Alisha was staggered by the number of troops. She estimated there were five hundred or more. Certainly more than was necessary to keep an eye on the fortress, even as big as it was.

She saw a group to her left that were practicing hand to hand combat and she heard a familiar voice. Will was instructing them in wrestling techniques. Alisha watched Will demonstrate a hold, then his students paired up and tried it. Will walked around to each, making corrections and suggestions as they practiced.

After a few minutes, he called for a break and his charges went to a basin nearby to get a drink and cool off. Alisha caught Will’s attention and beckoned him over.

“Hey Alisha, what’s up?” Will smiled at her with a mouthful of sharp teeth. His large nose and ears did little, however, to make him look menacing.

“Not much,” she replied, smiling back. “Just out getting some fresh air, and thought I’d see what you guys were up to.”

“Well, Mogritas’s guards never really trained in hand to hand or wrestling, so the captain decided to have me teach some of them what I know,” Will explained. “It seems to be going pretty well. They learn fast.”

“I see,” Alisha said and smiled again, this time adding some of her power to it. “Have you seen Lori or Zoe lately? I’ve been looking for them.”

Will paused, then said, “They were taken to detention, um … basically the dungeon.”

Alisha frowned. “How come?”

“Mogritas said they might be dangerous.”

Alisha focused on his eyes. “Can you take me there?”

Will looked as if he wanted to tell her ‘no’ but hesitated. Then he said, “Sure, why not? Just let me take care of these guys, one sec.”

Will turned away and gathered his students, talking briefly with them. Shortly, they nodded and saluted him with their right fist over their hearts and collected their things. Will jogged back over to Alisha.

“Okay, I sent them over to archery practice. I’ll take you down to see Lori and Zoe.”

“Thank you,” Alisha said softly. “You’re such a gentleman.”

Will colored from the attention and led her to the south, around the edge of the huge practice grounds. They were largely ignored except for a few comradely greetings to Will as they moved through the training troops.

They came to an archway, flanked by guards. Will waved at them and they passed through into a dark hallway. Will led her slowly while their eyes adjusted. There were several doorways on either side of the hall, and at the end was a formidable metal and stone door. This too had guards, looking bored with their unglamorous duty.

The guard on the left challenged Will. “Where are you taking her?”

“Down to see a couple of the guests,” Will answered.

“Does Lord Mogritas know?”

“No,” Will replied, “but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Then he added, “What’s she going to do?” indicating Alisha.

Alisha flashed her brightest smile at the guard and did her best to add some power to it while still maintaining her hold on Will.

The guard hesitated, then relented. “All right, but just a few minutes, no more.”

“Yep, we’ll be quick,” Will promised. “I have to get back to training anyway.”

The guard nodded and pulled a set of keys from his belt and unlocked the massive door. He pushed it open with some effort, enough for Will and Alisha to pass through. Torches placed in brackets every twenty feet or so lit the hallway well enough to see. A staircase descended about fifty feet from the door, which the guard had closed. No other exits were visible.

Alisha shuddered at the thought of being locked in, but she took a bit of strength from Will and forced herself to relax. They moved carefully down the stairs, Alisha thought perhaps three floors worth, and came to another door. This one was barred on their side and not guarded. Will grunted as he pushed the bar up, then opened the door for Alisha.

Another hallway and more torches greeted them, but this time several doors lined the hall on both sides. The smell of unwashed bodies assaulted her nose and she paused to catch her breath.

Will brushed past her. “This way,” he said.

Alisha followed him halfway down the hall to one of the doors on the left.

A small, barred window was placed just above her eye level in the door. She rose up on her tiptoes and peered inside. Hanging from a chain attached to the ceiling, was a glass or crystal globe, maybe a foot in diameter. Within the globe, was a cloth wick, immersed in oil. The wick was lit by a small flame. Alisha could see nothing else in the cell.

She turned to look at Will questioningly. “I don’t see anything.”

“Yeah, not much to see, I know.” Will shook his head. “That’s Zoe, or what’s left of her anyway.”

Alisha looked back in the room and gasped in surprise.

Will continued, “She turned into a
festri’i
, one of those fire spirit things that the guys at the forest were talking about. Mogritas keeps her here so she won’t harm anyone.”

Alisha lowered herself and turned back to Will. “Why would she hurt anyone?”

Will shrugged. “I guess it’s just their nature to burn things, they don’t have any control over it. That’s what Mogritas told us anyway.”

Alisha looked him in the eyes. “Us, who?”

“Me, Todd, and Kim. He explained it to us when he asked us to join the guard force.”

Alisha fumed at this.
They get explanations while I sit in my room by myself.
Will got a look of concern on his face and she did her best to calm down. “So where is Lori?” she asked him.

He led her to the next cell. The door was different from the others. Instead of bars in the small window, it was covered with transparent crystal. It had also been mortared shut. Alisha got up on her toes again and looked in the window. The room inside was completely bare.

Will explained as she examined the cell. “Lori turned into an air spirit —
venti’i
,
Mogritas called it. He says she’s still in there, but we can’t see her because she’s just air.”

Alisha was shocked. Transformations into other people or even beasts she could sort of understand, but changing into fire, and air?

She collected herself again and asked Will, “So, we can’t even talk to them?”

Will shook his head. “No, Mogritas said there used to be people who could communicate with the spirits, but they all died out over the years.”

“Mogritas is a liar.”

Startled, Alisha turned at the voice from behind her. Mr. Kain looked at them from the window of the cell door across from Lori’s. Dark circles shadowed his eyes and his face was gaunt.

Mr. Kain continued, “I wondered what had happened to you Alisha. I’m glad to see you are doing well,” he said, sneering at her.

“What did they do to you?” Alisha asked, still trying to gather her thoughts.

Mr. Kain laughed, but it ended in a cough. “Well, when they aren’t busy neglecting me, Mogritas asks me questions about Earth and how we arrived here.” He coughed again. “He seems to think I know how it happened or that I did it somehow. He’s crazy Alisha, don’t trust him.”

“You’re just mad he didn’t think you were as important as the rest of us to ask you to join him,” Will snarled at him.

Will’s reaction surprised her further, and she could feel it was real. Will felt loyalty to Mogritas — gratitude. Alisha could understand obeying him out of fear, but Will seemed to genuinely like Mogritas, even admire him.

“Oh he wants me to join him,” Mr. Kain said, “but he knows I see through his pretty words to the beast inside. He’s evil. And thank you, Alisha, for dragging me into this,” he finished sarcastically.

Alisha’s face grew hot. “You wanted to be with me. Everyone does.”

“Jealousy is the ugliest of beasts.”

They jumped at the new voice. Mogritas had silently moved into the hall behind them, blocking the exit. Will gaped, then snapped a salute, fist across his heart.

“Will, I’m disappointed at this breach in protocol,” Mogritas said calmly.

Will looked down, ashamed. “I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” he said icily.

Alisha stepped forward. “It’s my fault, I asked him to show me where Lori and Zoe were.”

Mogritas turned his gaze to her. “Yes, I have no doubt of that. And that’s why I won’t punish Will for his actions, for I know they are not truly his own.”

Alisha colored, embarrassed. She concentrated and disconnected herself from Will.

He blinked and looked around. “How did I get down here?”

Mogritas placed a hand on Will’s shoulder. “It’s no trouble my boy,” he said, smiling. “Why don’t you run along and get back to your training?”

Will saluted him again. “Yes, sir!” He hurried down the hallway and up the stairs.

Mogritas turned to Alisha. “As for you young lady, I suppose I have not been paying enough attention to you. You have ambitions and desires, and I have been neglecting them.”

Alisha simply stared at him, unwilling to say anything that might endanger herself.

“Mr. Kain here seeks to turn you against me. Personally, I think he is jealous of you, Alisha, and your power over him. He is upset that you discovered his secret desires about you.”

Mr. Kain kicked his cell door violently. “That’s a lie!”

Mogritas shook his head. “It’s a pity, really. You understand, my dear, why I cannot allow him to roam the castle … like you? He would be a hazard, not only to himself, but to the people who live here under my protection.”