The Dark Covenant

THE MYSTERIOUS VISIT

The crowd was having a blast. The team on the podium did their best to comically re-create the events in a way they saw fit to entertain the crowd. Most of them did not notice Alicia's departure, some never knew she was amongst the crowd to begin with. 

Only those that bumped shoulders with her as she trampled her way out of the crowd recognized her presence. Otherwise the show went on and acts after acts were filled with gags. 

Reene almost lost his footing as he tracked down Alicia. He was constantly being shoved back as he collided shoulder to shoulder with the people he was trying to make a way through. As he reached the edge pf the crowd he caught a glimpse of Alicia riding off into the darkness. 

ROYAL REPUBLIC IN NORTH ANGUS. 

Leave us alone, I need to have a private talk with the lieutenant. Lora waved away the guards statued at the door after a momentary exchange of glares with his brother. The 

Guards nodded in response and walked away towards the hall at the opposite end of the room where Jrue and Lora were. 

She gave the door a soft shove and it slid across the wooden door making uncanny sounds as it clicked with the door frame, trapping the two inside the sulfurous room, which seemed odd considering it was a season when the climate dropped temperatures to freezing. 

“It has been five years Jrue! Enough with this games, we need to start now.”

Jrue leaned on the rotten windows as he stared at the slaves beneath, dragging blocks of stones with their bare hands ridden with boils and flesh peeling off of their palms. His eyelids rolled down, for a moment he seemed deep in thought. Lora grew impatient, she needed a response and she needed it quickly 

“You dont seen to grasp the magnitude of the consequences of our actions if this fails do you?” Jrue answered. 

Lora’s face deformed as if she smelled something revolting. Her words were laced with anger when she replied. 

“Of course I do. Do you think I havent considered the outcome! I am well prepared for what is to come if it fails. But now Im not so sure if you are.” 

“The chances of failure far outweigh the chances of success, and even if we succeed the victory will be bitter sweet, you know that. You know one of us is going to end up really hurt, or worse.”

Lora walked closer to him and rested her hand on his shoulder. He was still watching the fold of slaves working their lives away. 

“This is my plan Jrue, if it fails I'm ready to face the consequences on my own. Trust me on this.” 

“What about the other prisoners?” 

“Leave them to me. I will find a way to convince them. All you need to worry about is setting up the stage, do things right on your side and I’ll do things right on mine and I promise there's nothing that will go wrong, promise!”

“Okay. On the next moon, Ladzgery Tyndale will not be able to use his soul magic. That is the day we begin the coup d'etat.” 

SALS VILLAGE IN DISTRICT DARK 

Alicia tried hard to keep her gaze locked on the convoluted road, the floating tears blurred her sight, if it were not for her trusty steed she would have crashed into some shrubs a while ago. Behind her she could faintly hear Reenes voice calling her, for a slight moment she saw a dim flash of blue light cut across her vision then disappear as quickly as it appeared. She wished the path would constringe her and swallow her out of existence. She knew the villagers’ play was all for gags but she didnt know why it got to her. 

As she approached the last stretch of gravel to her house she leaped off her horse and trusted her jelly feet to lead her home. Pebbles broke under her fierce stomps as she approached her house. She wiped off her tears so that her mother couldn’t see her sorry state. She already made her cry enough and could not afford one more breakdown from her mother again. Reene was gaining on her, it was obvious to tell since the echoes of him crying her name out became louder and clearer. 

As she approached the door it surprisingly swung open, revealing her mother standing, gripping the door handle tightly. A rush of adrenaline flooded her in an instant. She almost jumped back onto the gravel. The last time she left her mother she was bed-ridden, unable to flex a finger. Her arms became numb and her body involuntarily shivered due to the overflow of adrenaline. A mix of happiness, dread and confusion concocted inside her core, igniting her spirit. Tears she cleared her face of a while ago splashed over her cheeks again, uncontrollably. 

“Mom?!” 

“Oh honey! Thank you so much!”

“For what?” She said.. confused and happy at the same time.

“For sending that nice young man to cure me.”

Alicia retracted, pulling her hands back and ruining a perfectly good hug. For some reason an uncomfortable feeling clawed her stomach. She felt a constriction in her throat when she attempted to speak. 

“A young man?! When did he come here mother? What did he look like?” 

Reene arrived panting, which was ironic since the hoarse he rode was perfectly fine after doing all the running yet he had his tongue out. His throat had dried up over his numerous attempts of calling out Alicias name at the top of his lungs. As he hoped off his horse he diagnosed the situation and figured it was not the time for him to intrude, although a stubborn voice in him wanted to. 

“The young tall man you sent, a gifted? How could you not remember him?” 

“Did you see his face mother? Did you!!!”

Martha scratched her scalp, trying to remember. 

“I dont think so, it is night time, you know and my sight is not that good at night. But he came in through the front door. He said you gave him the key. We sat for a while in my room and we talked...” 

“What did he sound like mother!!!”

 Alicia interrupted, she hadn't even noticed gripping her mothers arms. 

“Oh my what is it with you and all of this questions!” Martha asked, all those questions were sending her brain into overtime as she tried hard to fabricate the fading memories and put them together in an effort to give Alicia the answers she was demanding. 

“Just answer them mother and I will tell you why.” 

“Okay fine, he had a deep voice, not too deep. And it striked me as odd but he did sound like he had just woken up and...” 

“He had a lazy voice!!!”

“Yes exactly! A lazy voice! So you do remember sending someone. And I am not sure what kind of light gift he had but it had a distinct aura, it was a color...” 

“Blue!”

 Alicia finished her mothers sentence for her. She looked back at Reene who also hit with the same sudden discernment. Alicias eyes lit aflame. Her dancing spirit suddenly raged in wrath, she remembered the blue flash of light she saw when she was on her way back home. She jumped back on the porch of her house and rushed for her sword.

Before sinking into the darkness past the door frame, she turned back. Anger dominated her emotional arousal and she barked at Reene. 

“Go back to the market and order every guard to surround the village immediately! What are you waiting for go! Now!!!”