The Regenerates (4 page)

“If you wanted to make sure Kayn doesn’t become Grand Magistrate, wouldn’t it be easier to just kill him?” said Ven. He choked in horror at what he had just suggested.

The man looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. “I’m really starting to like you, kid. But you misunderstand. I’m not trying to end his life.”

“What are you trying to do, then?”

“That’s not your business, I’m afraid. Besides, it’s got nothing to do with your friend, so it shouldn’t bother you.”

Ven frowned. “What was that back there, anyway? In Council Hall. You could have defended yourself. Why didn’t you?”

The man looked troubled. “I prefer to let events unfold as they are meant to.”

“Meaning what?”

“Now isn’t the time to be interrogating me, don’t you think? Do we have a deal or not?”

Ven fell silent. Stealing the Magistrate’s Dagger was as bad as having Kayn assassinated. Following his father’s death, the Elders’ Council had entrusted the sacred object to Kayn for safekeeping as a test to determine his worthiness to become Grand Magistrate in his father’s place. Ven knew how seriously Kayn took his job. Since his incompetent older brother, Klaus, wasn’t fit to be a leader, Kayn was the natural heir. The dagger was a spoil of Cor’s most famous war and contained a sacred power that kept Cor safe.

He wanted to vomit. None of this was supposed to be happening. Coralie’s sentencing, sneaking into prison. He hated it. No matter what he chose, his life wouldn’t be the same anymore.

“I–” he began, but no more words came out. His mind was spinning. What should he do? If he was caught, his mother would get in trouble, too. But if he did nothing, Coralie would die.

The man reached through the bars of the prison cell and placed a hand on Ven’s shoulder.

“I’m not a tyrant. I’m not planning to take over Cor, nor do I mean any of you any harm. I have a job to do, and it’s in Cor’s best interests. I need the Magistrate’s Dagger. There is a history behind it that you would never imagine.”

Ven’s insides were screaming in protest. “What were you planning on doing if I hadn’t come down here? How were you going to steal it in the first place?”

The look on the man’s face sent a shiver down Ven’s spine. “I was going to do something drastic.”

Ven closed his eyes. Time was running short and he couldn’t stay much longer. He thought of Coralie being hung in front of him. Bile rose in his throat.

A sudden, unfamiliar exhilaration began to spread through him. “I’ll do it.”

The man looked straight into Ven’s eyes. “Kid, I give you my word. By helping me, you will have saved Cor from an unspeakable terror.”

“Whatever.” Ven stared at the ground. “Just tell me what to do.”

“What’s your name?” the man asked. Ven looked at him, suddenly overcome with dizziness and craving sleep.

“It’s Ven,” he said, in a voice that didn’t sound like his own.

“My name is Markis,” the man replied.

I
t was as though Ven had become a puppet. Abolition Day was the next morning, and since his meeting with the prisoner named Markis, he had done nothing but run through their arranged plan in his head a hundred times. He was only vaguely aware of everything happening around him. He walked right past Hans and Florentine as they waved at him in the hall, and ate only the leftovers that his mother brought upstairs from the banquet room. He even passed Kayn a few times, and smiled politely as he fought back a powerful urge to lunge at him.

He had worked everything out with his mother beforehand. He told her he would be missing the sentencing and of course, she agreed. As planned, he would steal the Magistrate’s Dagger from Kayn’s throne the morning of the ceremony while everyone was assembled outside and then release Markis from prison. After that, Markis had told him to wait by the south entrance to the Drudger Quadrant. Markis would cause a diversion and lead Coralie and the other Sentenced to Ven’s location, where they would travel underground via the sewage system outside Cor’s gates to freedom. After everything had died down, Markis would meet them outside and arrange for them to be evacuated to a refugee camp until further action could be taken.

The only downside to this plan, assuming it worked, was that Ven would have next to no time to say goodbye to Coralie. While he was relieved beyond belief that she wasn’t going to die and could start a new life with her parents, life in Cor wouldn’t be the same without her.

But Ven had no time to get sentimental. Stealing the dagger itself was going to be a daunting task. It helped that no one would suspect him, and that the throne room would be mostly empty. But the dagger couldn’t be popped out of the back of the throne simply by some pushing and shoving. Sealing it to the back was a black stone slab that would only come loose when a certain ancient Coran symbol was etched on its surface, a symbol that Ven had to memorize in secret. To Ven’s frustration, Markis refused to disclose how he knew the symbol in the first place.

“I will tell you one secret, though,” he said. “I used to live in Cor, many years ago. I am no stranger to this place.”

Despite all the questions he had, Ven couldn’t have cared less who this man was and what he wanted. All he cared about was saving Coralie and her parents, and Markis had agreed to help him. That’s all Ven needed to hear.

“We’ve decided not to go to the ceremony either, Ven,” said Florentine later that day. She seemed less like her usual, boisterous self. “We’re going to stay in our rooms and not come out till it’s over.”

Ven felt a surge of affection for her. Despite her spunkiness, Florentine was a good friend. He decided that if things ever got back to normal, he would be nicer to her. He gave her a genuine smile and hugged her. “Thanks, Flor. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Florentine blushed.

As the hours ticked by, Ven felt more and more nervous. There was too much going on in the palace to run things over again with Markis now. He would have to wait till late in the night. At random moments, he was hit with waves of fear. So much could go wrong. A single slip-up meant the end for him, Coralie, and his mother. He did his best to dismiss these worries. They wouldn’t help him in the slightest.

Finally, it began to get dark. As Ven stared out his window watching the sun set, he got a blurry glimpse of his reflection. His brown hair, which was usually neat and groomed, was unkempt and his clothes were rumpled. It was almost as though a different person was looking back at him. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and his face was pale from lack of food. He figured it wouldn’t help to be fatigued, not with a very important task ahead of him. He finished the plate of leftovers his mother had left for him and spent the next few hours pacing. His mother came to check up on him several times, but eventually she fell asleep.

Finally, as the sky began to turn a deep blue, Ven snuck into his mother’s room, stole her set of keys once more and crept quietly out the door. The journey down to the underground prison seemed to take longer than usual. When he had reached the end of the dark, narrow crawlspace, he tiptoed to Markis’ cell and peered inside.

“You’re a bit early,” said Markis.

“I want to run things over one more time.”

“Not having cold feet, are you?” Markis laughed.

Ven said nothing. He was in no mood to be humorous.

“Relax, it’ll be alright,” said Markis. “Have you memorized the symbol? Remember, it has to be exact or it won’t work.”

“Yes, I’ve got it.”

“Excellent. Oh, and no matter what happens, don’t stop to watch the diversion. You need to be in the Drudger Quadrant as fast as you can after you’ve given me the dagger and released me.”

Ven looked at him in disbelief. “Why the hell would I stop to watch the diversion?”

“I can promise you, you’ll want to,” Markis said.

Ven was still puzzled, but he didn’t ask any more questions. “Where do I go after they’ve entered the tunnel?”

“Stay at the entrance and wait for my signal. After that, make your way back to the palace during the commotion and do not be seen, no matter what.”

“Right.” Ven paused for a moment, then looked at Markis. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to watch Coralie die.”

Markis smiled. “I should be the one thanking you.”

“You said you used to live in Cor a long time ago,” said Ven. “What Quadrant were you from? Why did you leave?”

Markis looked deep in thought. “I guess you could say I had an epiphany, kind of like you. As for my Quadrant, I was a Drudger. Lived in the worst part of it, too.”

Ven wasn’t sure whether to ask him anything else about his history. He decided against it.

“You are a fortunate kid, Ven. Be grateful for what you have, because it can be taken from you in an instant. I’m sure you believe me, because it took all of three days for your life to go from very peaceful to very turbulent.”

“I know.”

“You’d best get going soon,” said Markis. “It’s almost time.”

The palace was almost empty. Ven was in Council Hall, his heart beating so fast he was almost afraid someone would hear it. A few soldiers lingered outside in the corridor pacing. He tried to look as nonchalant as he could. His face was incredibly warm and try as he might, he couldn’t stop his eyes from darting around him every few seconds or whenever he heard a noise.

He walked up to Kayn’s golden throne. Taking one more glance behind him, he hurried to the other side of it and ran his hand over the black stone slab. It was so out of place, like an imperfection on a smooth, beautiful surface. He placed his finger on the slab and traced the symbol that Markis had shown him, feeling very stupid. For a second he thought Markis had tricked him, but a moment later, the stone slab fizzled and disappeared. Ven’s heart stopped. There, resting on a marble stand inside a revealed compartment, was the Magistrate’s Dagger.

Ven glanced around him, sick with nervousness. He gingerly picked up the dagger, trying to keep his hands steady. It was a wondrous piece of craftsmanship. The blade was blood-red and waved. The end of it was sharp and jagged, and the hilt was charcoal black. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the blade was etched with the same symbol he had used to reveal the hidden space.

Ven tucked the dagger away inside his jacket and rushed as fast as he could down to the prison. As he ran past the open windows, he could see the crowd assembling in Stratum Square. At the center, an elevated platform housed four nooses, and behind it stood a lineup of people, all bound and heads bowed. Ven had no time to try and spot Coralie in the line. He sped up and did not stop until he had reached the familiar crawlspace and wormed his way into the prison. Fumbling with the set of keys, he unlocked Markis’ cell as well as the chains binding his arms and legs.

“Here,” said Ven, handing Markis with the dagger.

Markis’ face lit up like a child opening a birthday present. “Ven,” he closed his fist tightly around it, “you have my utmost gratitude. I promise, I will make sure your friend and her family make it to safety if it’s the last thing I do. Now hurry.”

Ven nodded and rushed back out the crawlspace. He would have to use an alternate means of exit to get to the Drudger Quadrant. The palace was so large that even in all the years he had lived here, he hadn’t explored every space. He pulled out the blueprint he had kept with him and searched it till he found the right exit.

He took a deep breath. The worst of it was over. Markis had the dagger, and Ven had managed to steal it without getting caught. Now all he could do was leave the biggest job to Markis.

When he finally made it outside, the noise of the crowd was deafening. Even as he weaved in between the houses and crossed the massive stone bridges connecting the Quadrants, Ven could hear Kayn addressing the crowd through a microphone, his voice echoing.

“–Finally arrived, the day we have been waiting for all year,” his voice boomed. “Today, we celebrate the eradication of yet another group of individuals who have threatened Cor’s peace and order. I thank all of you who have come forward and brought these wrongdoers to justice. You represent our magnificent city, and today is in honor of you–”

Ven refused to listen anymore. He continued towards the end of the Highborn Quadrant, staying as close to the edge as possible and ducking behind every landmark, statue and fountain. He had almost reached the entrance of a narrow alleyway when a deafening explosion made him stop. Ven held on to the wall to keep from falling as the ground shook. He wheeled around and the sight before him left him rooted to the spot, unable to believe what he was seeing.

A monstrous creature had landed in the center of Stratum Square, a creature so large that even from this distance Ven could see almost all of it. Screams of terror erupted from the crowd. The creature was jet black and skeletal in appearance, its demonic face twisted horribly. Its back was hunched over and as it turned, its spine was visible through waxy skin stretched tight. Its extremely long arms dangled at its sides, fingers long and stretched. The creature’s eyes glowed green. It glanced around till its gaze fell upon the platform containing the nooses.

Ven suddenly remembered Markis’ warning to him not to linger, and forced himself away from the terrifying scene. He hoped that Markis had the common sense to make sure the monster didn’t hurt anyone. As he ran, he stole a quick glance behind him. Stratum Square was covered in smoke. All he could see now was the creature’s great black head.

Ven sped up. The air began to feel dank and stale and the sudden appearance of tin-roofed slums, foul smells and broken windows meant that he had reached the Drudger Quadrant. It was very quiet here, yet he could still faintly make out bangs, crashes, and the sound of blaster bullets. He looked down at his clothes and realized how conspicuous he was. He tore off his jacket and flung it into a garbage can, gently closing the lid behind him.

He scrambled around, looking for the hidden entrance Markis had told him about till at last, he found it, nestled behind an abandoned convenience store. He pushed a pile of boxes out of the way to reveal a door leading underground that resembled the entrance to a storage cellar. As he pulled it open, a short drop down revealed a large, empty space with a single wooden box in the corner. With a jolt of fear he thought he had found the wrong place. He dropped down and felt the earthy surface, but it was solid. Had Markis forgotten to tell him something?