Elder Cai righted Atticus, gripping his shoulders and steadying him. “Son?”
Desert night wind warmed Atticus’ face. A distant coyote bayed. Somewhere down below the tower the buzzard’s cawing could still be heard. He forced himself to look at his mentor. “Master.”
Elder Cai held his gaze. “Do you understand the gravity of what has happened?”
“Rourn would not abandon us to the fate of the coming Beast.” He pulled away and gave Elder Cai his back. His voice cracked into a broken whisper. “He would not.”
“Things are not as they seem.”
“Rourn is dead.” Atticus whirled to face the Elder. “It seems very clear.”
Elder Cai reached inside his robe and retrieved a black leather-bound book.
Atticus took it and opened the cover. An inscription:
Where I go, you shall not come.
Where I lead, you will follow.
~Rourn
The leather felt cold in Atticus’ hands. With a slam, he snapped the book closed. “Rourn’s journal?”
Elder Cai nodded.
“You carry this on your person?” Atticus glanced at the last spot Rourn had stood and back at his mentor. “What prompted you here at this hour?”
“Isn’t the answer obvious?”
Heart racing, Atticus gripped the journal tightly in one hand and balled his other hand into a trembling fist. “I don’t understand any of this!”
“I knew of Rourn’s plan,” Elder Cai said in a matter-of-fact tone. “That is why I am here now. To council you.”
Rourn had betrayed the Order and so had Elder Cai. Atticus tilted his head back. His gaze challenged the stars above until he fell to his knees. As if he’d summoned ancient powers, Atticus unleashed a thunderous roar that echoed across the vast desert.
Even the buzzard shrieked and fled on tilted wings.
The Elder gripped Atticus’ arm and helped him to his feet. He nodded at the journal in Atticus’ hand. “Seek wisdom in its pages.” He sipped from a canteen hung from his neck, the source from which his mentor often sought wisdom.
“What could the words of a dead man offer?”
“Rourn’s death was unfortunate, but necessary. Soon, you too shall learn the fate of us all hinges upon his sacrifice.”
With a scoff, Atticus said, “And what of the much revered adage of the High Templars, Alone you shall ascend, together we shall fall? If Rourn is to perish then should I as well?” He set a foot onto the ledge and stared down at Rourn’s body. His twin…one of the great warriors had jumped without a moment’s hesitation.
Could I do the same? I swore to follow my brother to the end of the worlds and into Hell.
Elder Cai clicked his hornbeam staff on the stone tile. “Cease this foolishness!”
A gust of wind tossed Atticus’ long red hair into a flurry. The wind heaved his boots from beneath him. Atticus fell with his face planted on the stone battlement. Gritty sediment bit at his lips.
Elder Cai stood over him, his staff pressed in the middle of Atticus’ back. “Do not be selfish. It is unbecoming of a Paladin knight, especially of a Twin.”
Atticus pushed off the ground, into a kneeling position. He leaned back on his haunches and sighed.
Elder Cai said, “The ancient adage you speak of is nothing more than a tale given to naive cadets and jaded knights.”
Atticus looked up at him. “Nothing but a farce?”
“Being a warrior of the Order of Abel is not as glorious as some would have future knights to believe. You are due to graduate and become a Selector in the ranks of great warriors. The time for meaningless slogans is long past.”
Atticus stood. Absently, he brushed grit from his robe. He bowed his head. “What must I do?”
Elder Cai turned. His robe fluttered as he strode toward the mechanical lift. “Preparations are to be made. Midnight oil is to be burned.” He opened the brass door and beckoned Atticus inside.
The lift smelled dry and musky, like a tomb ripe with a most recent death.
From his flask, Elder Cai gulped more brandy. He extended his hand, offering the spirit to Atticus.
Atticus exhaled and took the canteen. The pungent liquid burned a stringent trail from his tongue to his abdomen. He spat on the floor of the lift and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “Blazing ghost! It does take like sun-roasted bile.”
“That is the freshest muscadine brandy Old Lady Ebben has to offer.”
“How can you be so indifferent about Rourn’s death?” Atticus spat the words just as he had the brandy. “Are you without heart?”
Had a curse diseased the entire compound? Was it that vile gypsy Ebben who had soured the mind and heart of all? When the lift reached the ground would he discover that he was the only Paladin who maintained any semblance of lucidity?
“In due time, my young pupil, the mysteries of this universe will reveal the answers you seek.”
Atticus stared unblinking at the copper walls, listening to the rhythmic clang of the steel chain. He felt a thousand miles from all life, floating in a vast emptiness, a quiet void.
As junior cadets, he and Rourn had chased imaginary goblins. During the heat of one July, with wooden swords, they had slayed the ice dragon, M’nastacarra of the Chilltalon Brood. That same summer they had taken a swim in Gypsy Creek where Atticus became smitten by a pretty laundry maiden. Rourn had torn him from the brink of hormone-driven madness. It was the season Rourn taught him a skill that all young men must master.
The lift clamored to a stop.
Around the curve of the stone tower, Rourn’s lifeless corpse awaited them. A woman knelt by his head and gently turned Rourn onto his back.
Atticus caught a glimpse of the bloody mask upon his face. Body tangled. Eyes wide open. Lips split and busted. Crimson blood oozed from his nose and parted mouth. Rourn did not wear death well.
Atticus looked to the left where Prefect Cauldrick strode toward them, his gait wide and swift.
When the Prefect stopped before them, Elder Cai and Atticus gave a half bow.
“What insanity is this!” Cauldrick bellowed. “A demonic creature has defeated a Twin?” He narrowed eyes at Elder Cai. “What do you know of this?”
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of a mighty warrior and friend.”
“Not a mighty warrior,” Cauldrick screeched. “The mighty Satican Prince. A Twin warrior, prophesied to save us all. And he’s not lost. He is dead! Rayden Cai, you miserable drunk, he is dead!”
Elder Cai shook his head. “One Twin remains.” He lifted his chin at Atticus.
Prefect Cauldrick threw up his hands and looked at Atticus, as if to ask if he followed this logic.
Atticus glanced over his shoulder at Rourn’s body and back at Prefect Cauldrick. Unable to find words, he deadpanned at Elder Cai.
“What good is only one Twin? The duality has been shattered. We have lost this great battle before it has even begun!”
Elder Cai firmly planted his staff on the ground, narrowing his eyes at the Prefect. “Rourn was no Twin.”
“You blaspheme?” Cauldrick gritted his teeth. “I shall have your status of Elder revoked! And cast you out into the Pit of Punishment for such an atrocious declaration.”
Elder Cai kept his silence.
“And what do you have to say about Ortho’s prophecies?” Cauldrick asked. “Atticus cannot defeat the Beast alone.”
“He will not face the Beast alone.” A bitter smile curled Elder Cai’s thin lips. “And with regards to the ancient mage, it saddens me greatly that anyone would take heed with regard to anything the mage professes. He is ripe with senility and has been for a decade.” Cai tapped his staff on the ground. Sparks skipped from the tip and along the desert sand. “Fools of the Templar Court! Lift the ignorant veil that is so proficient at blinding you to the blatant.” With his staff, he gestured toward Atticus. “Alive and well is your precious Twin and you all will come to know soon that he is not to carry this burden alone.”
“Madness!” Prefect Cauldrick’s face flushed with crimson. “How could you know such things without having consorted with devils?”
“The other genuine Twin will be revealed...in short time.”
Four healers rushed past, robes red as blood. They knelt around Rourn, checking vitals, as if they had not already concluded the Twin was no more.
“On what authority do you proclaim this lunacy?” Cauldrick asked.
With the hook of his staff dangling from his wrist, and his arms over his head, Cai cast his wide-open eyes skyward and proclaimed, “By the authority of the Dark Trinity!”
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