CHAPTER XXII
The next day Kaitlin got word from her sister that they were going to Evensguard and the news worried them, but the Shadow Ranger told them to wait until they were all ready to move on to the Prison of Articus.
Bell met with Hallorn to fill him in and he in turn met with the Honn, Wesper and Solper to arrange citywide activities that would keep the City Guards occupied. It was a tense few days for the five of them, not knowing how the attack on Evensguard Castle would go. There was, Connor realised, a good chance of the Quest being over here and now.
If the others failed and were captured or killed, he didn’t know if they could continue. The whole thing was just too big for him to think about, realising now that at every step one failure could mean failure to the whole Quest. And that, he now realised, meant trouble for not just the four worlds, but Earth as well. If they could not shut the Portal then Earth would get dragged into a war. He had always assumed that he and Dylan could just walk away, go back home, but now he knew that wasn’t the case. Nothing would ever be the same again.
He wanted to talk to Kaitlin about it, but she was preoccupied with her own worries about her sister.
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Dylan and Lucas were out exploring the city together, it was the first time for both of them and they were impressed by the smart clothes people wore, suits with high collars for the men and big dresses with all kinds of flowers and decorations on them for the women.
“I don’t know how these women do it,” Lucas commented.
“What do you mean?”
“Well those dresses must weigh more than a stuffed rolin.”
“What’s a rolin?”
“It’s a kind of pig. When it eats it eats so much it can’t move. They are good eating, if you can carry one.”
“I can’t believe the flying carriages, how do they do it?”
“I’m not sure, something about a stone that can carry magic. You put it in the carriage and it does that.”
“Like a battery?”
“What’s a battery?”
“It’s a small, er, thing that has, I dunno, I guess electricity in it and you put it in other things to make them work.”
“Sounds about right,” Lucas shrugged.
“What’s that?” Dylan asked as they reached a great square in the heart of the city. In the middle of it were big white walls.
“That’s the King’s Palace, I suppose. Inside those big walls.”
“It’s huge.”
“Oh, you bet. And well-guarded.”
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“Don’t you think it’s weird that you were all involved in the Yokum Rebellion somehow?” Connor asked over dinner.
“Everybody was involved,” Kaitlin said.
“But were they? Absolutely everybody?”
“Well, no, but a lot of people fought.”
“What are you thinking?” Bell asked him.
“I dunno, I keep thinking back to what Thunderground said about me not understanding who was on the Quest with us and it not being a coincidence.”
“You think someone has gathered us together?” Lucas asked. “I don’t know anyone who could, unless you mean the Righteous.”
“You’re right, I just think it’s weird that you all fought in the Yokum Rebellion and everyone we meet seems to know someone.”
“Like Hallorn and Bell,” Kaitlin said.
“Exactly and Mattaeus and d’Gaz.”
“I thought it odd that when we questioned going to the pirate, Mattaeus didn’t speak up that he knew him,” Lucas added.
“Do not try to fathom the Shadow Ranger,” Bell said. “and worry not about it Guardian, Btolomy told us to find the Twin Magicians and they told us to find d’Gaz, it is not a mystery, nor the work of the Righteous. And as for Hallorn, that was mere good coincidence.”
“I guess,” Connor nodded.
“Tomorrow night,” Kaitlin suddenly said.
“What?” Bell asked.
“They are going to storm the castle tomorrow night.”
“I will find Hallorn,” he replied, got up and left in a hurry.
%%%
Lucas, Bell, Kaitlin, Conner and Dylan rode through the night. Even now the storming of Evensguard castle could be happening; there was no word from Alura.
Everything had been set with Hallorn the night before and he had reported that Thunderground was in the city. That made Dylan feel happier, he liked Thunderground, trusted him to be able to get things done even though he wasn’t himself sure what the plan was.
It got so complicated that he got lost, but he knew they were riding to meet the others and go on to the Prison of Articus. He didn’t know how they were going to get into a prison and he wasn’t sure that anyone else knew either. It seemed to him that if it were that easy, people would have broken the True King out long ago.
Maybe it was Mattaeus, the Shadow Ranger, who had a plan or a trick, but again how come he had never tried? Dylan felt a little sick in his stomach thinking about it and was afraid to ask anyone in case they really didn’t have a plan. He looked around him as the moonlit fields hurried by and tried to stay calm.
Bell wasn’t feeling much better, he too had no clue as to the plan; the Shadow Ranger had simply stated that this is what they had to do and had never shared exactly how they were going to do it. If it was that easy how come no one had tried before? Maybe they had, he didn’t hear much in the woods of Thalm.
But then if they had tried, they must have failed so he preferred to think that no one had ever tried. And why not? It was difficult to raise an army here, it is difficult to get people to stand up and fight the oppressors. If we win it is all good, but what if we fail? Then we will die; no I prefer just to keep a low profile and get on with the life that I have. That is how people everywhere are. But now that there is a chance, now that the Fifth Worlders are here, I suppose there is the hope, the chance to believe, that we need.
All the hope in the Five Worlds wasn’t going to help storming a prison, but he tried not think about that.