The Dawning of Power

Chapter 18

There is permanence in every action and inaction; each is a choice and cannot be undone. -Enoch Giest

"We were just working at the base there," a man said. "Then the whole rock face got unstable and collapsed on us."

A crowd gathered after all the men were pulled from the rubble. Women and young people, who had been nearby preparing lunch for the workers, now tended the wounded. All other eyes were drawn to the glowing curves of Istra's dress.

Catrin moved to stand before it, and she turned to face the crowd, pulling her hood down as she did. "Many of you know me; others may only know of me," she said. "I'm Catrin Volker, and this land is my home. I mean no one any harm. I only want us all to be safe. Right now we are not. What you see is part of a Statue of Terhilian, and it's an immediate threat."

"What can we do?" someone shouted from the crowd.

"I believe I know a way to neutralize the statue," Catrin said. "It will be dangerous to everyone nearby. Please take the children back to Lowerton. I wouldn't want them to be endangered or frightened." Women gathered the children, and soon only adults remained. Catrin wondered a moment that she, Chase, and the others were now adults, but that thought was driven out by what lay ahead. "I'm going to attempt to drain the negative core, but I need more rock cleared away. Here. We need to expose the base."

Despite the danger of another rockslide, men worked feverishly to clear the stone away from the statue, and Catrin waited, drowning in frustration. She couldn't leave the statue behind. She could get killed south of the Wall; then there would be no one left to destroy the statue. It was too dangerous to use her powers to remove the rock since she might set off the statue in the process. With tears in her eyes, she knew she had to choose the needs of her people over her desperate desire to save her father; she had to wait.

When a large, squared corner became exposed, Catrin rushed in to run her senses over it. Her staff in one hand and Koe in the other, she opened herself to the flow, and energy surged through her. With effort, she moderated the flow and kept her balance. Like the others, this statue had positive and negative cores kept apart by a thin layer of insulating material. Remembering how the positive charge had overwhelmed her with its energy, Catrin quailed. Barabas had attacked the negative charge, and she decided to do the same.

Using her staff to establish physical contact with the statue, her fingers resting in the grooves created the last time she attempted to destroy one of these statues, she reached out to the negative core. Slowly her flow of energy penetrated the crystal-like stone that made up the statue and, as it drew close, there was an enormous pop and a flash of light. In the next instant, Catrin was drawn to the statue like nails to a lodestone. Irresistible force pulled her closer until her flesh pressed painfully against stone, and she thought she might be crushed.

The negative core ravaged her with its insatiable appetite for energy, and she felt herself slowly being drained of life. Drawing from her staff and Koe alike, she did what she could to satisfy the core, but still it demanded more. It all happened so fast, Catrin could hardly catch up. Prios reached her side and latched on to her, trying to pull her away. Then, in what must have been an effort to help, he sent his own energy surging through her. Just as it had done with her, the negative core greedily pulled him closer.

With Prios now pressing against her, also trapped, Catrin felt certain she would die. Slowly, though, something was happening to the negative core. The outer edges were beginning to break down, and the deterioration began to take place more rapidly. Drawing a ragged breath, Catrin used every energy source around her, and some in the crowd were shocked to find themselves suddenly hurtling toward the statue. With the last of her will, Catrin flooded the negative core with a positive charge, and the chain reaction reached a white-hot zenith before it vanished without a sound.

Those drawn from the crowd caught themselves before they collided with Catrin and Prios, and everything grew very silent. Catrin did her best to remain standing, but Prios fell backward, still gripping her, and she fell. Prios grunted as she landed on him, and she rolled away. For a moment she rested. Her body had been drained, and it quivered with weakness. Standing was impossible, and speech was difficult, but she managed to grunt Benjin's name.

"I'm here, li'l miss. I'm here."

"Carry me. South."

Between a pair of oversized guards, Wendel sat, waiting for his fate to be decided. As soon as the red snow had begun to fall, fear spread. Edling had pounced on the opportunity, and Wendel went from peacemaker to traitor in a matter of moments. They said Catrin was back on the Godfist, but he didn't believe them. It was all just a ploy to be rid of him. Jensen had been right.

"In an act of cowardice and indifferent malice," Master Edling said, addressing the other members of the council, "Wendel Volker and his daughter, Catrin, have inflicted our home with a blood scourge. We had hoped the memory of its creation had been lost to time, but the Herald has found a way. You see it all around you. What further proof could you require?"

Master Edling sat, looking smug. Wendel looked at the other council members, but none of them would meet his eyes, and he knew he'd already lost.

A blurred, red and brown landscape slid by, and Catrin tried to get her eyes to focus. After some squinting and eye rubbing, she saw that she was on a sled, Prios beside her. Four large men pulled the sled, and Catrin sat up too quickly, causing her vision to swim and her head to ache. Then she saw Benjin and Chase, who both called for a halt when they saw she was awake.

"How're you feeling?" Benjin asked.

"Better," she said, but she feared the truth was obvious: her body was drained and needed rest.

"We're nearly to Lowerton."

Propping herself up with the blankets and pillows loaded on the sled, Catrin watched as Lowerton came into view. Again word had preceded them, and the roadway was lined with people, only this time there was no fear. Here were the people who knew her best, and they waited in silent tribute, each holding a candle. Catrin wiped her tears as the first few faces slid by. Some she knew, others she didn't, but she finally felt she was home. Around the gentle bend awaited a sight Catrin could not have expected. There, standing taller and wider than any other building she'd seen and constructed out of six huge shafts of greatoak, stood a building with a weathered and chipped sign hanging above its double doors. Even through her tears, Catrin could read it: The Watering Hole.

From the double doors charged two women, their hair flying in the wind as they hoisted their dresses and ran. "Miss Mariss, Miss Bryson," Catrin said as she tried to stand, but her legs refused to support her. Seeing Strom rush to his mother's arms made Catrin's heart ache; it was a sweet ache, but it made her yearn for her own reunion. A moment later, Osbourne's parents arrived at a run. His mother lifted him from the ground and refused to let go. "Stay," Catrin said to Strom as his eyes met hers. "You and Osbourne belong here. I couldn't take you from your parents now. Please. Stay. Live happy lives."

Both Strom and Osbourne seemed torn, but they came to see her truth, and they waved a long good-bye as the sled began moving once again. "Come back to us," Strom shouted.

Farther along, a man stood in the middle of the roadway, his hands on his hips. Chase shouted as soon as he saw his father. He ran ahead and embraced Jensen.

Catrin watched with joy and envy. "Hello, Uncle Jensen!"

"There's my girl," he said as he crouched down by the now stopped sled. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, but I have to find my father. He's in danger."

Jensen put his arm around Chase, who now knelt by his side. "I'm sorry, Cat. I didn't want him to go. He thought he'd be safe, but I've been so worried. Can you be certain he's in danger?"

"I'm as certain in this as I've ever been in anything. I have to save him."

"That's good enough for me," Jensen said. "I'll gather those trained to fight, and we'll go get your dad."

"No," Catrin said. "I need to take Edling by surprise. Benjin, Prios, and I will make our way there by stealth. You, Chase, and everyone else stay here. If we don't return, it'll be up to you to keep these people safe."

Jensen took Chase by the arm and led him away, but Chase stopped and turned. "I can't stay here. Not now. Not after everything we've been through. I'd never forgive myself."

Catrin wanted to protest, but the look of pride on Uncle Jensen's face kept her from saying anything more. She hoped she could keep him safe.

Cruel light poured into the cell, and Wendel shielded his eyes with his hand. Silhouetted in the doorway, his guards waited, and he knew better than to keep them waiting long. Already his bruises and injuries made it difficult for him to walk.

Into the council room they led him, and he was brought to the seat of the accused, a place he'd never thought he would find himself, especially not accused of the highest crime. It seemed a horrible dream. None of this could be real. If only he could wake.

"On the charge of treason, how do you find Wendel Volker?" asked Constable Fredin.

"Guilty," Master Edling said.

"Innocent," Master Jarvis said, despite the glares he received.

"Innocent," Humbry Milson said.

Master Edling looked as if he would explode, but then a guard burst into the room, breathing hard.

He came to Master Edling and went one knee. "An urgent message, sir."

Master Edling's eyes went wide with feigned surprise and fear. He passed the message to the other members of the council and waited.

"I request a new vote," Humbry said, his voice trembling.

"No!" Wendel cried out.

"On the charge of treason, how do you find Wendel Volker?"

"Guilty," Master Edling said.

"Guilty," Humbry said.

"Innocent," Master Jarvis said. One more guilty vote would condemn Wendel to death, and he waited without wanting to hear. He wanted so much to wake.

"Guilty," Baker Hollis said.

On the floor lay the discarded message.

The Herald is coming for you.

Crouched in the snow behind a mighty elm, Catrin waited. Downhill stood a rudimentary guardhouse, and smoke poured from the small hole in the roof that served as a chimney. Occasional conversation drifted on the wind, and Catrin felt some remorse. Despite their differences, Carter and Chad were her countrymen, and she truly meant them no harm. Scaring them was simply the easiest way she could think of to get to her father. Nothing would stand in her way.

From the far side of the guardhouse, where Benjin, Chase, and Prios crouched, Benjin gave the signal. With a deep breath, Catrin prepared herself. Still feeling drained, she relied heavily of her staff and Koe as she drew a trickle of energy. "I know you're in there," she said, her voice amplified just enough to give it a chilling effect.

Shuffling could be heard from within. "Who's out there," Carter asked, his high-pitched voice laced with fear.

"You knew I would come for you," Catrin said. "Both of you."

"You best just be gone," Chad said, "or we'll come out there after you."

"A threat?" Catrin asked as she drew more power and stepped out from behind the tree. Wisps of blue lightning rolled across her fingers, and she moved her hands in elaborate patterns, trails of light streaming from her fingertips. Speaking words she remembered from books in High Script, she did her best to sound like a wizard of legend, incanting some horrific spell.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Chad challenged, but his aura reeked of fear, and Catrin gave the signal.

"Then you will die!" she shouted, throwing her hands back. Both Chad's and Carter's eyes flew wide as her energy began to reach out for them like fingers of death. Horrified, they watched and never saw Benjin, Chase, and Prios coming. In an instant, it was over. Both Carter and Chad were tied, gagged, and left to sit by their fire.

Benjin even tossed a bit more wood on the fire. "Someone should find them before they freeze t'death." Before he left, though, he removed the short sword and scabbard from Chad's belt. Chase took Carter's sword then helped Catrin over the Wall. Benjin helped ease her down the other side. Even that slight exertion taxed her body and her will. Each step was a challenge, and she weaved as they hiked through the trees.

"We need to rest," Chase said.

"I'm fine," Catrin said. "We need to keep moving."

"Passed out or dead, you'll be of no use to anyone, Cat," Chase said. "Take a short nap at the very least. Please."

He's right.

Catrin cast Prios a scathing glance, but then she let herself admit that they were right. No matter how much she wanted to move forward, she was in no condition to travel, let alone fight. Prios was in nearly the same condition, and she could sense his own inner struggle. "Carry us," Catrin begged.

Benjin nodded in submission.

Chase shook his head. "Better than nothing, I suppose." Chase lifted Catrin easily, and she settled herself so her weight was balanced across his shoulders. It was far from comfortable, but sleep claimed her before Chase had taken three steps.

As her head leaned back, resting against the snow, Catrin's eyes flew open. Not far away, she heard a distinct and undeniable sound: a feed bucket being slammed against barn walls. In an instant her senses collided. Sound, smell, and even the shadows told her the same thing: she was home. She was not just on the Godfist; this was her farm, her home, and the light streaming from around the barn doors told of a new occupant. Suppressed rage, kept sealed away for so long, suddenly burst forth with its fullest fury. Her breath coming in ragged gasps, she sat up. Benjin, Chase, and Prios crouched nearby, listening and watching.

Crawling at first, Catrin pulled herself forward; then she stood. Slowly and unsteadily, she walked to where they were hiding.

"I'm going in there," she said as she swayed on her feet.

"Get down," Benjin whispered through his teeth. "He's just about done pickin' hooves. We wait until he puts the horse in a stall. Then we go in."

Catrin waited, but she remained standing, certain that if she sat down, she'd not rise again. Through the crack between the doors, she could see only the man's legs as he walked the horse into a stall. Benjin leaped up and Chase matched his stride. Quickly but quietly, they rushed to the barn doors. While the man was still in the stall, they slipped inside. Catrin walked a meandering course behind them, dizzy but more determined than ever. Prios guided her to the barn door, and she slipped inside.

"Just come out real slow," Benjin said, wielding only his belt knife. The man slowly stuck his head out of the stall, and his eyes grew wide when he saw Benjin. When his eyes reached Catrin, he took a step back. She recognized him.

"Easy, Gunder," Benjin said as he sheathed his knife.

"They said you were coming," Gunder said as he trembled. "I didn't believe them."

"We're your friends," Benjin said.

"Yes," Gunder said, still looking terrified. "Yes, we are friends. I… caught your mare for you. And… and… you saved my pig that time it got caught in the fence! You remember, don't you?"

"Yes, Gunder, I remember. We're friends."

"Oh, thank you," Gunder said. "Thank you for understanding."

"Why are you here?" Catrin asked, her fury unabated.

"The Masters keep horses here," Gunder said, his eyes cast low. "I'm to care for 'em."

Catrin's anger could find no target. This man was her friend. Once again she made herself stuff the rage down inside, deep in her gut where she could contain it.

"What's the news on the treaties?" Benjin asked.

Gunder looked from Benjin to Catrin. "I'm so sorry," he said. "There'll be no treaty. The blood scourge, as they're calling it, has everyone scared out of their wits. It gives the Masters power since only they know the will of the gods."

"What about Wendel?"

"Charged with treason," Gunder said in a low voice. "I'm so sorry. He's to be executed tomorrow. I thought he had a chance. The council argued for days, but when they heard you were comin', fear won again."

His words were like a punch in the stomach, and Catrin reeled. Could it be that she was bringing about her vision by her very attempts to stop it?

"Where?" Benjin growled.

"The Masterhouse."

"Boil Edling in grease," Benjin said. "We'll never even get close. They know we're coming."

"They do," Gunder said, "but they won't be expectin' you to look like a wine barrel."

In the darkness, Catrin tried to anticipate the next bump; already she was covered in bruises. It seemed like days since they left the cold caves, bound for the Masterhouse. Gunder would make his delivery of wine, cheese, and meat as scheduled, and Catrin could only hope his wagon would not be thoroughly searched. The hole, through which she had her only access to fresh air, seemed terribly small from inside the barrel, but she could see through it. When she wasn't gulping for air, she watched the landscape slide by.

The sound of hooves and wagon wheels on wood echoed around her, and Catrin watched as they crossed over one of the many small streams that ran through the lowlands. As the wagon turned, Catrin got a clear view of the countryside. Seeing the Masterhouse in the distance knotted her guts, though she was struck by how much smaller it was than she remembered it. Somehow, her travels across such vast distances had forever changed her perception of the world. Life had been so much easier when her world had extended only as far as the top of the lake. Now everything was different.

As Gunder drove the wagon into the line at the guardhouse, Catrin began to tremble and sweat. Time moved slowly, and she thought she might never get out of the barrel. The wood slats seemed to move ever closer, constricting her like a giant snake. Her face pressed against the wood, she sucked air through the hole and tried to calm herself.

"Delivery for the banquet," she heard Gunder say.

Closing her eyes, she held her breath. Only when the wagon began rolling did she draw another breath. Gunder angled toward the kitchen service entrance, and Catrin watched as a flurry of servants prepared for a gathering, even as crowds of people were already arriving. The Masters would treat her father's execution as a banquet, a reason for celebration! Barely able to contain her anger, Catrin ran her fingers over Koe, the feel of him giving her comfort. Outside the barrel, hidden in the straw, her staff awaited, and she missed the feel of it in her hands. Afraid someone might recognize it, she had covered the heel and much of the shaft with mud. It was a poor disguise, but it was the best that she could do.

When the wagon stopped, Catrin waited, her inner tension mounting. Servants unloaded the cheese and other supplies, and she knew they would come for the wine soon. A gentle knock was her cue, and she carefully pushed the lid open and to the side before crawling out. Benjin emerged from his barrel a moment later, his face a mask of pain, but he made no sound. Bruised and cramped, Catrin understood his pain, and she stood as quickly as she could. Chase and Prios soon joined them.

Moving with increasing haste, she pulled her staff from the straw. Benjin and Chase were ready with their borrowed swords.

"That's all I can do," Gunder said. "They'll know you're here soon-one way or 'nother. You'd best do whatever ya can now. I need to be away from here before I'm found out. I'll see you north o' the Wall." Without another word, Gunder walked away, looking as if nothing were amiss.

Catrin envied his ability to mask emotion. She jumped at the sound of servants returning, but then there was big uproar from the great covered terrace that stood as the Masterhouse's main entrance. There, a crowd gathered. This was not an expectant crowd, ready for feast and revelry. There was sadness in the air, and something far more horrible in Catrin's perception: acceptance. These people did not want to see her father put to death, but none would stand up to stop it, perhaps believing themselves powerless.

Before the servants could return, Catrin pulled her hood up and walked hunched over, as if in need of the staff to support her. Benjin kept his eyes low, and they did their best to blend in with the crowd. Chase and Prios stayed separate but nearby. When finally Catrin got a glimpse of those on the terrace, she saw a pair of meaty guards holding her father, who hung between them, a haunted look in his eyes. He looked so much older than Catrin remembered, and her rage returned. He could not defend himself, and these cowards would take him from her.

Fate left her no more time to contemplate, for she saw a servant rush up to Master Edling. After the servant whispered in his ear, Master Edling ran his eyes over the crowd, searching for her. Despite nagging fears, Catrin knew she had no more time to waste. This was her last chance for salvation. As she cast back her hood, she threw her arms wide. Holding her staff high, she opened herself to the flow. In her weakened state, the flood of energy nearly washed her away, but she bit her lip and made herself endure. Benjin raised his head and drew his sword, a look of pessimistic determination on his face, as if he fought a battle he knew he would lose.

Angry, red plasma crawled over Catrin's hands and arms, and the crowd parted, rolling away like rippling water from around a tossed stone. Before her, Catrin saw her father, his guards, the Masters, and the members of the council. For a moment the sight of Baker Hollis, the man who had killed her mother and aunt, distracted her. He had stolen from her the most precious things, and now he stood in accusation of her father. A growl escaped her throat as she approached.

Master Edling watched and smiled. "Come, Miss Volker. Join your father!"

For an instant, Catrin hesitated. She sensed no fear from Master Edling, and her instincts shouted in warning. Fear poured from every other soul present but not Edling; he was like a stone. Step after step, Catrin drew closer to him and to her father.

When Wendel heard her name, he raised his tired eyes and screamed. "No! Get away from here, Cat. I don't want you to see this!"

Catrin longed to embrace him, but she turned her gaze to Edling as if she could bore holes in him with her eyes.

"Go ahead. Run away," Master Edling said, standing behind a lectern of stone. "Spend the rest of your life trying to picture it in your mind, all the while knowing you left him to die."

"Lies!" Wendel shouted, and one of the guards cuffed him on the back of the head. Catrin lashed out at the guard; a rope of lightning and fire sent him flying backward, and he landed in a smoking heap. Again Edling smiled, and Catrin gathered all her fury and rage. Determined to incinerate him, she launched her attack. Quicker than she would have thought him capable of, Master Edling ducked down, picked something up, and thrust it in front of him. The object was like nothing Catrin had ever seen. The size of a melon but with a pocked surface, it looked metallic, and it drew Catrin's energy just as the statue's negative core had done.

With a thunderous crack, her energy exploded over the stone yet was utterly absorbed, and the stone demanded more. Her energy rushed out of her body like a draining flood, and she knew there would soon be none left; she would die.

Use my energy.

At her side, Prios waited, but Catrin knew it would not be enough. He would only become a slave to the stone, and Catrin could not allow that. "Attack the building," she said through gritted teeth. "Don't get close to Edling's stone."

Rolling forward, Prios surprised everyone as he leaped into the air. Spinning as he flew, he unleashed a rapid series of short energy bursts. Looking like balls of pure fire, they slammed into the tops of the columns that supported the terrace roof with concussive force. Chunks of the roof began to fall even as the flagstone shook.

"Kill the prisoner!" Master Edling shouted above the din.

"No!" Catrin wailed, driven to her knees by sadness and weariness.

I'm coming.

More like an expression of emotion than exact words, Catrin felt the message.

In a moment that would forever remain clear in her memory, one of the guards surrounding her father drew his sword. Reaching back, he gritted his teeth as he prepared to thrust, but then he was suddenly cast into shadow, twisters of dust and dirt rolling through the air. With a triumphant cry, Kyrien grabbed Wendel in one claw and used the other to send Master Edling tumbling over backward. Like rolling thunder, each flap of his wings sent people sprawling. Grabbing a shocked Benjin in his free claw, Kyrien turned on his wingtip and soared back into the sky.

"No!" Wendel screamed as he disappeared into the clouds. "Catrin!"