| |
“Can you see it?” Abigail asked. “I know your vision is clouded. It’s about a mile that way. If you look—”
“Can I see it? It’s ... I can’t even ... it’s bigger than the entire golden city.”
Memories of the day at the pond flooded his mind—like it was yesterday. The vividness of the recollections sparked hope. Maybe now he could remember before the pond. His family. He squeezed his eyes closed and strained to recall the last time he saw his parents. He would trade anything for a single clear image. But the pond stood as an iron gate, barring passage of any memory from the other side.
He opened his eyes and pondered the awesome structure. It was huge, yes, but not so large as to be visible from the lowlands. How had he seen it from the pond?
Surrounding the mansion—he could hardly continue to call it a cottage—stood hundreds of smaller buildings. Some were ornate, with opulent decorations and impressive architecture—not as impressive as the buildings in the city, but similar in style. Some were even gold in color. The ones closest to the cottage were the least remarkable, built mostly with wood.
“Are those the banquet halls?” Adam could see the answer on their faces. All three wore the type of smile he could imagine on his own face if he ever found his way home.
Abigail touched Adam’s arm and stopped walking. She pointed to an area just north of the cottage. “You can’t see our hall from here, but it’s on the top of that hill—there. It has such an amazing view of the cottage!”
“That’s why we chose that location,” Watson added as the group resumed walking. “Every week we all gather there to observe the cottage.”
“Why would you do that? I thought you could enter the cottage itself.”
“We enjoy individualized exploration of the cottage daily,” Watson explained. “But many of the most beautiful colors are not immediately apparent. So on the first day of each week we gather, and as we dine, the banquet servers, who study the cottage daily, point out colors we could not see on our own.”
Kailyn stopped short. “Shhh, I hear something.”
In an instant, Watson and Abigail struck a defensive stance, Watson facing the uphill side and Abigail the path behind. Adam peered down the hill and strained to hear.
Finally, he heard it. A faint moan. “Down there,” he said, pointing to a clump of pines just below the path.
They descended to the trees and Kailyn called out, “Is someone there?”
“Help,” came the barely audible reply.
The obvious pain in the faltering voice turned Adam’s stomach. It sounded as though death itself were crying out.
Kailyn slid down the steep bank to the lower side of a large boulder. “I found him,” she called. “Down here!”
Abigail was already making her way to Kailyn, half sliding as the loose ground gave way beneath her feet.
Watson stood above and continued to scan the perimeter.
Adam started downward and quickly realized that keeping upright was not as easy as Abigail made it look. Grabbing branches, stones, and saplings to keep from tumbling out of control, he ungracefully slipped and scuffed his way down.
Arriving at the boulder, he found that Watson had followed right behind him.
After working their way to the bottom side of the boulder, the sight of a brutalized figure brought a lump to Adam’s throat. The man’s right eye had swollen shut, most of his teeth were gone, and patches of his hair had been torn out. His nose was smashed to one side, and an astonishing amount of blood soaked his clothes.
“What happened to you?” Abigail asked tenderly, bending down close to him.
His one good eye rolled back, his face vacant.
Adam stepped back and whispered to Watson. “I’ll be surprised if this man survives another hour.”
Abigail turned to Adam. “Can you carry him?”
Adam looked up toward the trail. “Up that?”
“He’ll die if he stays here,” Kailyn said.
Adam stroked his chin. Bigger and more muscular than Watson, he was the logical choice. But it would be a challenge to make it back up alone, let alone with a man on his back.
“I’ll do it,” Watson said. He knelt, lifted the man to his shoulder, and began the climb. Adam tried to help but needed both his hands to keep himself from sliding back. He scrambled but couldn’t catch up to Watson, who ascended with little difficulty and was the first to reach the path.
“You’re stronger than you look,” Adam said between gasps as he arrived at the path.
“I suspect it was the strength of another,” Watson said. “A guardian, perhaps.”
“A guardian?”
“They’re invisible to us,” Kailyn explained. “But they can engage the physical world—just like the warriors. The Ruler assigns them to protect us and help us when we need it.”
*****
Sol, Watson’s guardian, had only used one hand to steady Watson and push him up the hill. His other still clutched his sword. Below lay three warriors, all gravely wounded and regretting the decision to engage Sol.
*****
Watson found a flat, grassy spot and gently laid the wiry young man against a tree. They gave him some water and bound up his wounds the best they could.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I thought I would die down there.”
“You nearly did,” Kailyn answered. “But I’m so glad you didn’t. It would be a horrible thing for a man to die without ever meeting the only one who can give life.”
Kailyn really does have a one-track mind, Adam thought.
“I’m Kailyn.”
“Levi Lamar.” He attempted to shake her hand but winced and gave up the effort.
The movement of his arm pulled his sleeve up, exposing a wide gold band on his wrist. Adam leaned over and pulled Levi’s other sleeve, revealing the matching band. There was no mistaking them. They were the bands Adam had received from George.
“Where did you get these?” Adam demanded.
Levi looked up with a flash of defiant anger. But then the pained look of resignation returned.
“Stole ‘em,” he said. “Took ‘em from a house in the city.” His eyes dropped to the ground and he added softly, “I’ve stolen ... I’ve ... done a lot of things.”
Adam’s face grew hot. The man who murdered George and took everything lay before him. Hatred boiled deep in Adam. If the others weren’t here, I would snuff out what little life this piece of garbage has left.
Adam wanted to know what Levi did with the maps, but he didn’t want Levi to have the satisfaction of knowing it was Adam’s house he had robbed.
“Who did this to you?” Watson asked.
“I had it coming. I snaked a bag of fruit from a guy, and he and his friends caught up to me. I think he might have let me go if I would have told him where I’d stashed it. But I didn’t. Instead, I made a crack about his wife. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“What did you do with the fruit?” Adam asked.
“Hid it down that way,” he said, pointing with his chin, then flinched at a stab of pain. “But I don’t want it. Honestly, I’m sick of running after fruit. I’m sick of it all.”
Watson and Abigail exchanged a hopeful smile. Kailyn beamed. Levi said something else, but Adam wasn’t listening. He was lost in thought: That must be the bag I saw at the downed tree. I knew I smelled something.
His stomach growled. He knew he should be concerned about more important things—like learning the truth about why his friend was murdered. But try as he may, his mind could not be diverted from its fantasies about the fruit in that little bag.
Levi groaned as he slid the gold bands off his wrists. “I don’t want these either. Obviously they aren’t doing me any good. Not even my arms have healed.”
They fell to the ground and one rolled until Adam stopped it with his foot. He felt a slight burn through his shoe.
“Take ‘em,” Levi said, looking up at Adam.
Watson replied, “They aren’t yours to give, Levi. Nor are they yours to discard. You must return them to their owner.”
Levi stared at Watson like a cow at a new gate.
Of course he’s confused, Adam thought. He doesn’t have a moral fiber in his being.
Abigail knelt before Levi and opened her pack. As she dug around, jealousy boiled in Adam. Is she going to show the same kindness to this monster that she showed me?
She placed a cottage piece in Levi’s hand.
“Read it,” she prompted. “It’s from the Ruler.”
Levi struggled to focus, then read aloud. “Turn to me. I have crushed you to pieces, but I will heal you.” He closed his fingers around the piece, and color returned to his face.
Watson plucked the cuffs from the dirt and placed them back on Levi’s wrists. “We will camp here for the night,” he announced. “Tomorrow is banquet day. In the morning, we will all go down to the hall and enjoy a much-needed feast.”
Then he turned to set up camp. Walking past Adam, he leaned down and whispered, “Don’t worry about Levi. The Ruler knows of his crimes, and Levi will have to stand before him.”
Adam glared at Levi. If I let him live that long.