Chapter 6: In the City

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Cy and April were walking down the street, almost to the store, when a powerful explosion shook the ground. She gave Cy a frightened look, and he said, "That sounded close."

 

A few minutes later, when they turned the corner of the street where Jepp's store was located they came upon a scene of pandemonium. Smoke billowed from the windows of a burning building. It was Jepp's store. People were yelling and running about. Some carried water buckets while others had axes and shovels. Somewhere in the distance a small bell tolled insistently, summoning the city's volunteers to fight the fire.

 

Cy told April, "Wait here." and ran toward the store to look for Jepp. At that moment Jepp staggered into view from an alley that ran beside the store. Cy ran over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders and asked, "What happened?"

 

Jepp looked up and recognized Cy through a fog of pain, then he began to cough. Cy put his arm around Jepp and led him over to where April stood waiting.

 

"Here, sit down, Jepp," Cy said as he helped Jepp sit down on the sidewalk that ran the length of the street. Cy knelt, took off his pack and pulled out his water pouch. He handed it to Jepp and told him to drink.

 

More fire fighters had arrived, and the fire had been put out. The crowd that had gathered began to dissipate as people drifted back to their lives, talking among themselves about the danger of the fire.

 

The store wasn't important to Cy at that moment as he looked up at April and said, "We have to get him to a doctor."

 

"There was a doctor's office back on the main street. I saw a sign," April offered.

 

Cy looked at Jepp and asked, "Can you make it?"

 

Jepp struggled to rise, and said, "It's nothing," but a spasm of pain forced him back down. After a second try Jepp stood and looked at the damage the fire had done. Then, with Cy's help, he turned and walked away from the ruined store. They both knew there was nothing they could do there now that couldn't wait.

 

The doctor was an old friend of Cy’s parents, but he wasn’t in his office when they got there. At their insistent knocking and the sight of Jepp's condition, the old doctor didn’t hesitate before ushering them into his office. "What happened to you, sonny?" the doctor asked Jepp.

 

"He's been in an explosion and fire at my store," said Cy.

 

The doctor nodded and began examining Jepp. Checking him over with gentle, efficient hands, the doctor discovered two cracked ribs but no other major injuries. He applied salve to Jepp's many scrapes and cuts and deftly wrapped and taped his chest. Opening a cabinet, the doctor removed a glass jar. With a little water he poured into a small glass he mixed a small amount of powder from the jar and gave it to Jepp.

 

"Drink it," the doctor said. "It will help you heal faster."

 

"Make him take it easy for a few days," the doctor told Cy as he took the empty glass from Jepp and said, "see that you do what Cy tells you."

 

Jepp nodded and thanked the doctor. Cy said, "I don't have any money on me, but I'll come back tomorrow to pay you."

 

The doctor shook his head and told him, "Cy, you're going to need everything you've got to get back on your feet."

 

He looked at Cy with an ironic smile and continued, "I do what I do because I want to help others. If I can't help out someone who has been hit by hard times, I wouldn't be much of a doctor, now then, would I?"

 

Cy grabbed the doctor's hand and shook it. Then he said to the doctor, "You're a good man, sir. The world would be better off with more like you."

 

"Glad to be of service," replied the doctor as he patted Cy on the back. "Glad to be of service."

 

Cy left the doctor's office with Jepp leaning on him for support. April was beside Cy as they walked down the street, headed for Jepp's house. Jepp's wife, Cara, would be frantic, but she nurse him back to health. Jepp looked at Cy and said, "They were after the Runestone, but they didn’t get it."

 

"What?" Cy exclaimed. "How did anyone know it was there? You and I were the only ones who knew you had it."

 

Jepp looked at Cy and replied, "Morella. It had to be."

 

Morella was a powder that, when rubbed into the eyes, allowed a man to see the emanations of runic energy. A sundry goods store like Jepp's wouldn't carry such an item. It could only be obtained from certain less than reputable sources.

 

"Then somebody knew the stone was in the city and somehow tracked it down," Cy mused, then asked, "Have you had any strangers come into the store recently? Is it still safely hidden?"

 

“I have it with me, now,” answered Jepp.

 

Before Jepp could say more April tugged on Cy's sleeve and whispered to him, "I think we're being followed."

 

Cy resisted the urge to look back over his shoulder. Instead he asked April, "Can you tell me how many and what they look like?"

 

April described the men, two of them, trailing behind Cy and his friends. One tall, and muscular, the other shorter and slighter of build, both were dressed in ankle-length black robes with scarlet sashes belted around their waists. The smaller man carried a black cane. The cane was capped by a silver head that flashed in the afternoon sun as the man walked.

 

Cy and Jepp knew what the black robes meant. The Obsidian Order was well known to him. A loose assemblage of thieves, assassins and lawless men, the Order was responsible for most of the crime that took place in Marntz and the surrounding regions. They were known to commit any act, no matter how heinous, that would earn them a profit. Tales of ritual killings were told. All the stories were bloody, terrible and mostly true.

 

In a low voice Cy told Jepp, "I want you and April to go to your house while I deal with those two behind us. Here's what we'll do."

 

After hearing the plan Cy laid out, Jepp started to argue but thought better of it when he saw the look on Cy's face. Jepp knew that look well. He had only seen it a couple of times since he had known Cy, but those times were enough to convince him. He was not about to debate the subject, and April offered no argument.

 

As her part of the plan, April turned around and, for a few steps, walked backwards ahead of Cy and Jepp. She laughed a merry, playful laugh then turned back around and started walking beside Jepp. After a few more steps, Cy stopped and knelt down as if adjusting his boot. That was the signal they had agreed upon. April and Jepp continued walking.

 

Still kneeling, Cy shifted from one knee to the other, as if adjust his other boot. After a few seconds, he slowly stood up and stretched, looking over his shoulder so that he had a glimpse of the two men following. He had no doubt they were of the Order. The look on their faces alone would have marked them. They had the look of heartless, humorless men, prone to violence and skilled in its art. Cy had met others like them before.

 

No one had come forward to tell of it. No one had said anything, but Cy knew what had happened. He remembered the looks on the doomed men's faces, the sheer terror that had been in their eyes at the moment of their deaths. He remembered, in precise, vivid detail, each and every one of them.

 

Cy bent forward again and straightened the cuff on his pants leg. Looking up, he saw that April and Jepp were halfway down the block, walking faster than before. He yelled, "Hey," and, as they had agreed, April and Jepp began to run... away from Cy.

 

Cy started to run after them but stopped after a few steps and turned around. By that time the would-be assailants had closed the distance between them. Cy looked at the two men and smiled. As the big man moved closer to him, Cy moved away from him. The man with the cane spoke, "We just want to talk to you."

 

Cy looked directly at him and said, "What could we possibly have to discuss?"

 

The small man snarled and nodded to his companion. The big man reached out for Cy and, in a flash, Cy's world went opaque then transparent, and, fleetingly, Cy thought to himself, "Here we go again."

 

No one saw the men of the Order die; it all happened too fast. One moment the two confronted Cy as he stopped in the street, the next, in less time than it took them to blink, Cy had vanished like a wisp of vapor. Then, both of them were falling to the ground, already dead, their bodies stripped of clothes and skin, their muscles flayed to the bone.

 

Cy didn't stop moving until he was half a block from Jepp's house. The fear and horror written on the two men's faces was etched in Cy's memory alongside the others of the Order who had unwisely challenged him. The memories were a reminder to Cy of what he fought against, a warning to not become like those men, consumed by the lure of great power.

 

"That's the key," Cy thought to himself. "I possess the power. I will never let the power possess me."

 

Stopping at the corner near Jepp's house, Cy breathed deeply for a minute before moving again. As he neared the house Cy felt his temples throbbing, the first twinge of a headache coming on. The transformation Cy had undergone when confronting the men of the Obsidian Order had left him mentally drained.

 

The headache arrived like a dark storm, a pressure front of excruciating pain that came howling into his brain, driving Cy to his knees on the street corner. The darkness threatened to engulf him and pull him down into unconsciousness.

 

Slowly the first wave of pain passed, and Cy made it to his feet. Hoping he could reach Jepp's house before the second wave came, he staggered down the street, palms pressed against his temples in a vain attempt to ward off the inevitable. Cy walked through the gate and up to Jepp's door before the assault began. He stumbled and fell against the door. The noise startled Cara and April as they tended Jepp's injuries. "That must be Cy," Cara said quietly.

 

Jepp stood up and turned toward the door as Cara opened it. When she did a half-conscious Cy fell through the open doorway. "Cy," screamed April and started to run toward him.

 

Jepp caught her by the arm and said, "Wait. Let Cara take care of him. She knows what to do."

 

"What are you saying," April asked as she looked up at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

 

Jepp looked into her eyes and hesitated a long moment before deciding to tell her about Cy.

 

Cara helped Cy to sit against the wall and then closed the door. She fetched a glass of water and some salt and honey to put into it. From her pocket she withdrew a small leather pouch. She opened the pouch, and a pinch of green powder from it went into the glass as well.

 

Kneeling down beside Cy, Cara helped him drink. His hands were shaking so badly that much of the water spilled down his shirt, but he managed to swallow a few mouthfuls. The pain of the second wave had almost subsided, but the third wave was yet to come, and it was always the worst of all.

 

Jepp steered April the far side of the room, doing his best to obstruct April's view of Cy, blocking her in an attempt to keep her from seeing what Jepp knew would come.

 

"April, look at me," Jepp said forcefully. "Look at me."

 

She turned to look at Jepp. The look in his eyes startled her, the intensity in them like a magnet attracting her attention. Jepp hesitated, then spoke in a low voice.

 

"There's something you need to know, about Cy," Jepp said softly.

 

April leaned away from Jepp as if trying to get a better focus on him. "What do you mean?" she asked again.

 

Jepp pulled up a chair and said to her, "Maybe you had better sit down. This may take a while."