Chapter 21

It was all unlike anything he had dealt with before. It was not like war. Even a city under siege knew where to look for danger, whether it be the enemy camped outside or the stones and fire they hurled. But here the enemy was both invisible and everywhere. He could feel it coming...almost like a deer smelling a predator on the wind.

He reminded himself to make sure that they were prepared for more injuries tonight. Bentz and his supporters had made themselves all but eager targets. Things would get bad for them first. He wondered how many of them would be alive by morning. He was not optimistic for them.

His mood was not uplifting when Avern came out.

"Oh, good. You're still here," the mayor said.

"I was thinking...reviewing."

"I was thinking, too. We could really use more supplies. Mary's inn in particular is past capacity and understocked. But Lloyd Marks usually had a well-stocked cellar. What kind of chance is there that some of it is salvageable."

"We will not know until we look, but it is worth checking. Come, if we find anything I will have Lynna send people to carry it."

Lynna, he projected to her, your father and I are going to Lloyd Marks' to check for supplies stashed in the cellar there. If anyone needs one of us, let me know.

Alright, came her reply.

"Lynna will let us know if anything happens while we are away," he said, stepping off the porch.

"That's difficult to get used to," Avern said, moving in alongside as they walked down the road.

"What is?" Agmar suspected he already knew what the man would say, but decided to humor the man's desire for conversation.

"You being able to have an entire conversation with my daughter even if she's nowhwere nearby."

"It helps that she is receptive to it."

"What do you mean?"

"From what I can tell, she has been reading people unconsciously all along. Not their thoughts, but their emotions. Women tend to use magic more empathically to begin with. Lynna is very open to hearing others around her, even if she is not meaning to. She may not have a lot of power under normal circumstances, but her empathy would be an asset if she were to train properly. She has the potential to be a very skilled healer." He waited, leaving the sentence out there to see what Avern's reaction would be.

"You're suggesting I ought to send her somewhere for training?"

"I am suggesting she could benefit from training. Or, rather, that magic is a gift that should not be wasted when it can be used to help others. I was once taught that it is my duty to use it thus. But then, I have always had strong abilities. Lynna already has a natural empathic instinct and a desire to help others. In other lands, where magic is accepted, she would already have been sought out and trained. Here, she has had to hide herself. I sense a part of her that is relieved at no longer having to hide what she can do."

There was a long silence as the two men walked, made heavier by the low, echoed sound of the wind racing between the buildings and rustling through the trees. In contrast to the dark, unlit houses and the empty streets, there was one building that seemed to glow with light and sound ahead of them. People milled about on the lawn in front of it and on the steps leading to the front door. The walls were painted white, enhancing the glowing effect from the lit lanterns inside. Agmar pointed towards it.

"We should stop and let them know to put out those lanterns and any other fires. Perhaps we can have someone else spread the word on that as well."

"The schoolhouse? Yes, good idea," The mayor replied, nodding.

It seemed like a big schoolhouse for the size of the town. It was not just a single-room structure, but rather was a sprawling building two floors tall. It had a main rectangular center with stubby wings off the corners lending it an odd, tall roofline.

"Odd structure. How many students can a town this size have at one time?"

"I think the peak was just over two hundred, of different ages, of course. Even then the building was far from full."

"So why do you have such a large building for it?" The question elicited a chuckle from Avern, who seemed to slip into tour-guide mode effortlessly.

"About eight years ago a wealthy minor lord came through and decided we should have a 'proper' church. He had some legal document made that gave him title to land, brought in a construction crew, and got started." They stopped outside, loitering a moment while Avern finished his story.

"He was about half finished when he got involved in some political scandal. Everything was rendered null and void. It was left alone for several months before the existing schoolhouse burned. Someone suggested using this building--it was like thumbing our noses at the nobleman. He was a pompous ass anyway. So the town banded together and finished it as a more useful thing."

"We do use it for other things as well, mind you," he continued. "Would seem a waste if we didn't. There's dances held there during the spring and fall festivals, for example, and some people like to have their weddings there so that it doesn't get rained out. Sometimes those happen at an inn or someone's house as well though. And now and again we've been known to hold a town meeting there. Last year there was a rash of burglaries and we held a meeting about it. Turned out it was a couple of kids who'd come in with a caravan that was new to us. I didn't want everyone placing blame on their neighbors while we figured out who the culprit was though."

"Sounds as if we should be holding our meetings here." Agmar replied, not having realized that they were equipped for such a thing.

"That'd be fine if it were just the people in town," Avern replied, waving and smiling at someone as they headed up towards the steps, "but with the people in from outlying areas and the crews in off the ships we couldn't fit them all in the large central room anyway. I suppose we could have it in the yard, but everyone can see me if I'm up on the porch at the Surf and Sleep. It seemed the best place at the time, and an easy location for Margaret to set up too. There's no mattresses handy here, although there is a very small kitchen and it does have its own well and pump. That comes in handy for the weddings. There's Mr. Tarrence."

Avern led the way across a large foyer with windows looking in on a large room normally filled with desks and a slightly higher area at the front where a larger desk sat slightly elevated as it looked over the others. The desks themselves were stacked against one wall, pushed out of the way to make room for a carpet of blankets and bedrolls spread out across the floor. Agmar recognized the schoolteacher, who was dressed exactly as he had been that morning when Lynna had addressed him in the crowd. Somehow he still looked pressed and tidy, as he waved a thin baton back and forth in front of a group of singing children, guiding them along. The room was filled with adults and children alike, most of whom were watching the children sing with smiles on their faces. Agmar felt a stab of worry as he saw how calm and relaxed so many of them seemed to be. I won't be able to protect them all...

People murmured hellos at Avern as they passed, a few of them stopping him to wish him well or even hug him. One or two of them even wished Agmar well, which caught him slightly off guard after having felt so much resistance from the townsfolk so far. The mood in this building was relaxed and easy. He saw more smiles than looks of worry.

Should I be worried? Are they too complacent? Or is this where their strength lies? He found himself torn between encouraging this to continue and reminding them to be cautious and not forget the dangers that loomed over them right now.

The song that the children were singing was one that told a tale of a knight who had rescued a king's daughter from an enemy's castle and then romantically stole her away for himself despite the king's objections, as the girl and knight had fallen in love. He knew the song and its tale, and had heard it sung in many different languages. The same thought popped into his head as it always did when he heard the song - but do they realize what happened after the two ran off together? He doubted any bard had formed that into a song. Agmar had been to the area where the song originated, and had spoken to the very king who had disapproved. The couple had made it to the sea, and taken passage on a cargo ship that was seized by pirates less than a week away from shore, and the two were killed. He doubted that any bard would ever rewrite the song to include that ending.

They waited for the song to end, moving off to one side where the schoolteacher noticed them and gave a nod of understanding. While they stood there, Agmar saw Captain Syred Allder in the room. Avern saw him as well, and waved for him to join them. Syred greeted them both before leaning against the wall in a practiced gesture, his hand looking casually comfortable resting on the hilt of his sword. Agmar found himself wondering what the man's story really was. A cursory glance at the decoration on the scabbard and hilt suggested that the sword itself might have very few equals in the world, yet the clothes and attitude the man wore fit in well with the simple townsfolk around him.

The song ended and the room seemed to thunder momentarily with the applause and good-natured cheering of the people in the room. Mr. Tarrence told the children to take a break and then announced it to the crowd and conversation and laughter filled the room as children and adults alike burst into action, moving and talking all at once. The schoolteacher picked up his sheet music and dropped it and the baton on his desk as he headed over to join the three of them by the wall.

"Hello, Avern," Mr. Tarrence said upon reaching them, "Hello, Mr. Agmar."

"Just Agmar, please," Agnar smiled at the schoolmaster, who did look more at ease after.

"So is there some news that brings you here, or are you just stopping by to see how things are going?" A small crowd was starting to form around them. Faces were questioning and curious, but at least still friendly.

Agmar looked around, noting both lit lanterns in glass enclosures and open candles lit all around the large space. He reached out with his mind, feeling for the dark energy. The evil's attention seemed to be somewhere else for the moment.

"Actually," Agmar began, "there is. There has been a problem at the Surf and Sleep, and we wanted to warn others of the danger."

"Certainly, what happened?" The schoolmaster seemed to be accepting Agmar's authority, looking to him at the moment perhaps more so than looking at the mayor.

"The evil's ability to manipulate fire is greater than expected. The cook fire at the inn reached out of the fireplace and burned several people. Some clear across the room. We are warning everyone to extinguish all fires."

Mr. Tarrence looked around the room, "We have a lot of little flames here, don't we?"

"Indeed."

"It will be rather dark tonight without them. How can we ensure anyone's safety if we cannot see?" asked the alarmed-looking schoolmaster. The assembled crowd, still growing, mimicked his look of concern.

"The larger the flame is to begin with the more the evil can do with it. A single candle within a completely enclosed lantern should be safe enough. Someone should always be minding it, however," he suggested.

"Perhaps a washtub nearby with water and blankets in it would be a good precaution," Avern offered. "Water for fires, wet blankets for anyone who might catch fire...Even if we can't prevent everything we can be as prepared as possible."

"I would remove the oil lanterns entirely," Agmar added. "And any oil or other highly flammable substance should be moved to somewhere away from any flame. Cook fires should also be put out. I'd have to say that enclosed candles that are attended to would be the only safe source of light."

"Have you spread the word to other locations?" Syred asked.

"They know at the Surf and Sleep, since that's where the fire went out of control," Avern explained, "but we hadn't really thought out which lighting might still be allowable, so they will still need to be warned about oil lanterns, more than likely. We haven't had the chance to tell the people at Mary's or the people holed up in the Greyton warehouse. Bentz's group doesn't know yet either. We should try and warn them, even if they refuse to listen. I understand they've holed up in warehouse C of the ones Bentz holds the title to. It's the biggest of the ones he owns."

"Why don't I spread the word for you then?" Syred suggested. "You certainly wouldn't be well received with Bentz's group, and I'm sure you have plenty on your hands."

"Actually, thank you Syred, I'd appreciate it if you did. We've got another task to look into relating to food supply at the moment. Speaking of which, how well are you stocked for food here Terrance?"

"Actually, we're not too bad off. Nearly every person who came here knew they needed to bring food since this isn't an inn. We ought to have enough to get through, and most of it is bread, jarred goods, or jerky. We'll have to ration it some, but Wilma Anders has taken charge of the kitchen for us and seems to have things well in hand in organizing it all."

"Good. It looks as if you have things together here. You will let me know if you need assistance?"

"Of course Avern. The main trouble I foresee is keeping all the children awake. The adults know what they need to do for the most part, but we're trying not to panic the children. Some of the younger ones have been getting irritable already for lack of naps. We've started spiking their juice with small doses of coffee to help. I hope it doesn't stunt their growth, but it seems like the lesser of two evils."

"I can assure you, Mr. Tarrence, that the idea of coffee stunting the growth of a child is mostly just an old wives tale," Agmar said. "A small amount will not harm them in any way. Just remember that if any do fall asleep, they will need to be bound for their own protection and the protection of others. That goes for adults as well. Just remind anyone that resists of what happened to Stott Jacobs. I'm sure no one wants to wake up afterwards to the memory of killing their loved ones."

He saw the schoolteacher gulp at that.

"Of course. I'll... yes." He nodded emphatically. "Rope was brought by earlier. I'm sure it will be plenty."

"Good," Avern nodded. "We should be on our way then. If anyone needs us, Syred, we'll be over at the site where Lloyd's used to be. There may be food supplies in the cellar, if it's still intact. If so, we'll need to organize a carrying crew to take it to the two inns and possibly Greyton warehouse too, depending on how they are stocked. Although I suspect we'll find that people brought food to that location as well. The inns are filled with more of the ship crews than anything, so there wasn't much brought in by them. Those lists you gave me earlier have been really handy, thank you." He gave the schoolteacher a smile.

"Don't thank me, it was your daughter's idea. I just did the writing," he said, smiling back. "Also, we've been thinking that we could just ring the big bell in the tower if there's an emergency here. You can hear it from most locations in town."

"That would be very useful," Agmar said. Maybe there's a little hope for these people after all, he thought quietly to himself. They seem to be finally taking the initiative at least.

There was a round of goodbyes before Avern and Agmar headed back out of the building. As they departed, Agmar saw the schoolteacher started giving some of the older boys the job of collecting the oil lanterns, and Syred headed out in a different direction, to warn others to put out their fires. Agmar found himself feeling slightly reassured by the situation at the schoolhouse, and hoped they could maintain the feeling of calm and order that they had managed. He felt a little calmer himself, having seen it.

They were both quiet on the walk to the shattered tavern. Agmar felt a little more reassured, and Avern looked that way as well. The wind had picked up some, but so far it still felt like natural wind. The clouds, on the other hand, carried more than their share of darkness. He noted that Avern was pointedly looking around, and not up.

The sight of the ruins took some of the optimism away from Agmar. He still felt like he had failed here. Even a wizard can not be everywhere at once. Yet there were people concentrated in five places around town. What will the price of failure be next time?

The rubble did not look promising. The larger timbers had been moved and piled, but there was still debris strewn around. The tavern had had a stone foundation, which was still intact, and parts of the timber ground floor had more or less survived. He could see where he had been standing when it had all ended. Some areas of the cellar beneath looked to have collapsed, but perhaps half of it looked intact.

Avern led him to an outside door. "Locked, but if you can open it that's probably safer than trying to climb down through the rubble," Avern said.

Instead of answering, Agmar extended his hand towards the padlock and focused on it. The hand gesture was completely unnecessary, but it would serve to let the mayor know that he was not being ignored.

He felt within the lock with his mind, feeling out the moving pins. He massaged them into place, feeling them clearing the stops that prevented the lock's inner core from turning. The core turned and the lock popped open.

"Easier than breaking it," he said with a shrug.

"Yes, well, it's tricks like that that will make the merchants uneasy. I wouldn't recommend showing that to anyone else." Avern chuckled as he pulled the lock out of its loop and then bent back the iron bar that had been held behind it on the loop. He pulled the door open with a loud creak and peered into the darkness.

"I suppose we ought to run and get one of those enclosed cand--" Avern began.

Agmar cut his sentence short by focusing energy into the palm of his hand, manipulating the air above it until it formed into a glowing ball of white light about as wide as his hand was.

"I think this will be a bit better," he said, smiling at Avern's slightly awed look.

"Now that is a nice trick!" Avern said enthusiastically. "Perhaps you should lead the way then."

"Of course." Agmar kept his amusement to himself as he moved down the steps leading into the cellar. He could feel the darkness being amplified by the evil, and moved slowly. "Stay close, Avern."

"Right." The mayor's footsteps were close behind, making loud scuffling noises on the stone as they descended.

Agmar swung his hand gently back and forth, surveying the boxes, bags, and barrels while keeping a simple but unyeilding reign on his little ball of light to stop it from disappating back into the air from whence he'd drawn it. It hummed slightly in his hand as the energy it was made of fought against the unatural state it had been forced into.

"By all that's holy, look at this! You'd think the man planned to hole up in here himself for a while!" Avern moved over to one area that was uncluttered from debris and pointed to a stack of boxes. "These are all stuff we could use."

Agmar drew the light closer and leaned in to get a better look at the writing on the sides of the boxes. They listed preserved meat jerky, crackers, pickles, and an assortment of other goods easily stored for long periods of time. He noticed bags of grain lying nearby on the floor, next to a huge pile of bagged peanuts. Some of the goods seemed to continue into areas where the floor above had collapsed in, and the two men peered in to see if they could tell how much more there really was.

Agmar focused, boosting his eyesight magically to help him see into the debris with more clarity. As he read some of the writing on the boxes aloud, for Avern's benefit, he suddenly felt the darkness shift unaturally behind him, as if it was shielding something, preventing Agmar from detecting it. A chill ran down his spine and the hairs on his arms felt as if they were standing on end.

"Avern, look out!" he said, suddenly straightening up with the intent to turn and see what was behind them. But the evil had bought enough time, and Agmar felt a knife slip between the vertebrae in his back before he had a chance to move. Dropping all other spells, he drew up a shield that deflected the knife back out of him, but the damage had been done. His body gave way beneath him, lurching backwards as it continued the moment he had started when straightening up and starting to turn. He lay on his back, focusing his energy between staying conscious and placing a barrier between himself and the attacker. He only hoped that Avern was also behind the barrier.

There was a sparking electricity that lit up the room as the knife struck the barrier and drew a shimmering line down it, and Agmar saw Lloyd Marks' scowling face in the glow. He noticed that somehow the knife Marks held was drawing a black line, creating an opening in the barrier. Once it was big enough, the barrier collapsed altogether, suddenly shimmering into non-existance. Just before it fell, he saw Marks' eyes, coated with a thin red film. Then cellar was blanketed in darkness once more, and he could hear struggling in the darkness.

"LYNNA!" he screamed across the town with his mind. He felt as if his entire body had gone numb. He couldn't move his body with any physical means. He heard the mayor cry out in pain and tried to focus with his mind, to feel out the room around him to see where Avern was. He clamped his focus down around his own fear and recreated the light from before, rising it out of his motionless hand and into the air so he could try and see with his eyes as well. The light was weaker than the one before, and wobbled drunkenly in the air, as he continued to use most of his energy to keep himself conscious. Though his body felt nothing, his head screamed in pain at the effort.

He knew he had to keep very still, but he could hear a struggle. He couldn't see what was going on directly without turning his head. The wound was only a couple vertebrae down from the base of his neck. It had been unthinkably close to instant death. If he moved wrong, it still could become so.

He was having trouble focusing outside of himself. There was grunting and groaning from off to his left. He could feel that Avern and Lloyd were grappling each other, rolling around and contesting for control of the knife. Avern was determined but Lloyd clearly had more strength than he should.

He was getting weaker, light headed. It was the room, and not his little light, that was getting dim and wobbly. He realized he wasn't breathing. His heart was still beating, pounding away, desperate for air that his lungs were not getting. His chest was not rising and falling. The margin between calm and panick shrank to almost nothing.

His light sputtered out as he used all the concentration he could muster to move his chest magically. Avern groaned in frustration as the light went out. Agmar tried to call out but he could not focus enough to push the air hard enough with his mind.

He heard Avern cry out once more. I can't help you, he thought into Avern's mind. He forced himself to bring back the light, losing grip on his breathing again. It seemed like long minutes before he was able to cause breathing while still keeping the light up.

Footsteps rushed down the entrance steps. Agmar saw Syred Allder with sword in hand. There were others with him as well.

"Avern!"

By this point Avern and Lloyd were standing, and Syred charged. Agmar was not able to see it all, but was mostly able to see Lloyd take multiple fatal sword blows before finally falling to the fifth.

He heard Syred swearing as he wiped his blade and slid it back into the scabbard.

"Jeff, Steve, get this body out of here. Eric, get some pressure on Avern's wounds. Slow the bleeding as best you can. Avern, concentrate on keeping awake, help is on its way." Syred moved over and knelt down over Agmar. To Agmar's relief, the man looked him over, but didn't touch anything yet. Agmar could see that the man had taken a slash across the chest, although it didn't look deep.

"Agmar, where are you hurt exactly? Talk to me."

Can't talk. Agmar was finding that even the simple act of sending words into another person's mind was difficult, and he used as few as possible. Back wound. Don't move me.

"I understand," Syred nodded, worry showing on his face. "Stay with us now. I sent someone to make sure Lynna was on her way, although I think the whole town heard you call her. I'm sure she'll be here in just a moment. Just -- focus -- or whatever it is you need to do."

The next few minutes felt like hours, as Agmar worked to stay conscious, continue breathing, and keep the light from going out. As it was, the light started to brighten and dim in time to his breathing. He found that he could use energy to lift his chest and breathe inward and then let gravity exhale for him. A short distance away, he heard Avern groaning in pain but he knew he couldn't afford to reach out and check how badly the mayor was injured. Near the stairs he heard people moving around, carrying Lloyd Marks' body out of the cellar.

How did I miss this coming? he thought angrily to himself. What the hell is this evil we're fighting that it was able to shield its approach like that? He realized that he had felt an empty space behind him before it had happened. That there had suddenly been nothing there, where normally he could just about feel the movement of the very air around him. He swore inwardly, reprimanding himself for not staying more alert. He felt the air around himself, carefully using as little energy as possible. As he did, he suddenly felt the same feeling of nothingness all around him, low to the ground. He was quite sure the hairs on his arms had risen again, even if he couldn't feel it.

Look out! Something's here! he warned mentally, trying to reach everyone there in the cellar with him. He tried to brighten the light some, hoping that it would help Syred see what was happening. He saw the man's face go white.

"Get Avern out of here. NOW!" The man suddenly threw himself over Agmar, trying to shield him without jostling him too much. The movement sent bolts of sheer pain raking across Agmar's mind and body and he heard himself scream both audibly and mentally. The light went out entirely again as Agmar turned his magic entirely inward to keep himself breathing and awake. It was harder to push his chest to inhale with Syred's weight on top of him, but in the darkness he heard the reason why. Syred pulled his cloak over their heads as hundreds of rats swarmed over them and started biting. He thought he heard the Mayor moaning in pain, but his voice seemed farther away than it had been before.

Syred had his teeth clenched, and Agmar could hear them grinding slightly. To his credit, the man hardly moved as the rats clawed and chewed at him, but every small grunting twitch the man made sent Agmar through another shocking jolt of pain. The blackness under the cloak was starting to turn a fuzzy gray at the edges of his vision. The sounds of the scuffling and squeaking of the frenzied rats was almost deafening.

"NO!" Lynna's voice seemed to shatter the darkness. He felt her drawing on the dark energy in the room, and mentally he could almost see it leaping towards her, like a moth to a flame, knowing she was about to do something violent. Her worry and anger was enhanced and amplified. When she shoved against the rats, he felt himself and Syred shoved some as well, and another round of pain washed across him as she sent every rat in the room smashing against the walls hard enough that they stuck and smeared instead of just bouncing back down to the floor. Syred crawled off of Agmar and lay on the floor beside him, breathing shallowly.

"The wound is in his back. I think you'd better hurry. He said he shouldn't be moved." Syred's voice was shaking as he spoke.

Lynna knelt down over Agmar, and he could see in her eyes that she was struggling to manage the amount of energy she had drawn to herself in destroying the rats. The room had an eerie glow to it, as the amount of magical energy displaced into the rats themselves lit up their corpses with a reddish light. He felt Lynna reaching into him mentally, and instinctively placed a barrier around his mind. A look of confusion fell over her face, and she withdrew.

"I can't see how to fix it," she said, looking panicked. "Agmar, you have to let me in. The wound connects to your mind too and I don't think I can fix it if I can't see where the pathways lead."

He focused carefully on keeping himself breathing, while meticulously dropping all the barriers he normally had up in his mind, including the one he'd just raised without meaning to, allowing her access to everything and anything within. He lay there feeling more naked than any lack of clothes could have ever made him feel, and more helpless than he had ever felt in his life, as he allowed the young woman total admittance into his mind so that she could heal him.