After arriving at the town of Kalen Maddie had been joined by hundreds more Imps and knowing this was where she had first arrived wanted nothing more than to find Tumbledown and get back home.
“They just keep on coming Dylan, where are they coming from?”
“Once the story of how we walked out of Juvi spread and that we were heading for the Capital it was inevitable that they would come.”
“This is where I met Lana; I hope that she is ok?”
“We have to work out a route to the City I propose that we go through Mulan, Trood, Roana, and Hillda then Diverton that should give us maximum exposure and allow many more Imps to join us.”
“How far from the Capital is Diverton?”
“Just a day’s march and Jerome’s village of Fermar is not that far away so it will give him an opportunity to join us if he so desires.”
“Why would he not want to join us Dylan?”
“Because I think this may have gotten a lot bigger than he expected and him being a politician he will join whichever side he thinks will gain him the most advantage.”
“You have a very low opinion of a man that you met for such a brief time.”
“Jerome maybe an Imp but he is no different than my father and those that surround him. I recognise his ambition and believe me when I say that his goal is not to help the Imps but to help himself.”
Maddie could not really argue as she had not really warmed to Jerome after he had wanted to leave Lana to die in the woods but she also knew that Dylan would have probably made the same decision.
“You know this place and I don’t so if that is the route you think best then we will take it. Do you think we will meet much resistance?”
“Not until we get to the Capital my father let us walk out of Juvi and I cannot think that he would set the StatePol on us. I think he will want a showdown between the Imps and Cadets on the streets of the City to show the superiority of the Academies over the rejects descending on the Capital.”
“You think of all these people as rejects and yet we have come this far together, surely you cannot deny their courage and commitment at this stage?”
“Rejects, outcasts, Imps it doesn’t matter what you call them and I have never denied their courage but I do know that unless we have the numbers when we get to the Capital then we will be defeated by the Cadets.”
“If we do increase our army to the numbers we need and beat the Cads what do you think will happen then?”
Dylan looked a little lost after Maddie asked this question but tried to answer it honestly.
“My father can be a very ruthless man and if he feels cornered then he might just utilise the StatePol who are well trained and heavily armed.”
“He would order the slaughter of thousands of innocent children?”
There was a long pause from Dylan before he reluctantly gave Maddie her answer.
“To preserve the present order my father would give that order and he will not consider us innocent children but enemies of the State and he will have no problem in executing us as such.”
Maddie was beginning to think this march to the Capital to be a futile gesture that would get them all killed.
“It doesn’t sound like there is a good outcome here for us maybe we should think again about going up against the Cads?”
“It is too late there is no turning back now and there is also a small chance that the Chancellor will intervene, she is the only one with the power to stop my father.”
Maddie had heard precious little about this Chancellor and wanted to know more.
“If she has the power to stop him then why has she not done so up until now?”
“Because my father is strong and has kept order for decades. Chancellor Berghoff relies on his strength and trusts his judgement in all matters of discipline.”
“If that is the case why would she go against him now?”
“Because if we defeat the Cadets that will prove that my father has failed and I don’t think she will want the streets of the Capital littered with the dead bodies of children.”
A gamble thought Maddie they were taking a desperate gamble.
“I am not sure that I can lead these children into what could be certain death.”
“There is nothing certain in this life and I am sure that there is nothing certain about them going to their death. Anyway as I have said there is no turning back so it is onwards to Mulan tomorrow.”
In the following days they marched through villages and towns only to be received with a fantastic reception.
In the villages of Mulan and Trood they were cheered on by what seemed to be every member of those communities. When they reached the larger town of Hilda it was the same, its occupants lined the streets to show their support and cheer the name of Maddison.
“These people really want us to change things?”
Maddie was not saying this to anyone in particular but Jinn was the one to try to explain his thoughts to her.
“They want things to change but they are afraid to do anything against the State.”
“They look like ordinary people to me the same as I would see back home.”
Dylan joined in the conversation as they continued to march through the town.
“Jinn is right they may want better lives but they lack the courage to do anything about that.”
“They are supporting us, giving us food and cheering us on don’t you think that shows a certain amount of courage?”
“These people maybe citizens but they are still just one step up from Imps, like the outlying Academies they are starved of resources and considered less important than those that inhabit the capital or the garrison towns.”
Maddie was determined to be positive and take heart from the attitude of the people they encountered.
“I don’t care what you say Dylan these people care and more and more join us every day.”
“Yes we are growing all the time but if you notice not one citizen has actually had the courage to join us although I will admit that we have gained a few hundred Cadets or so along the way.”
It was true some Cads had joined the march causing some friction at first until Maddie had intervened.
“We will reach Diverton this evening and it will be different there so we will camp on the outskirts and March through it in daylight.”
Maddie was keen to get to the Capital as soon as possible so questioned Dylan’s idea.
“Why not just walk straight into Diverton like we have every other town and village that we have come to so far?”
“Diverton is a garrison town and we will not receive such a warm welcome there.”
“I don’t know what you mean by garrison town so can you please just tell me why Diverton is so different?”
“Diverton is one of four garrison towns that surround the Capital and they each house the State police. They are there to protect the Capital and like those in the Capital they enjoy privileges that those around them do not.”
Maddie was outraged at the idea of going near such a place.
“Then why the hell are we even contemplating going there in the first place? We should be making a large detour around the place and not walking freely into such a dangerous town.”
“We are close enough to Diverton already that they know we are here and Hilda will have been in communication with them, do not make the mistake that everyone we encounter is on our side no matter how loud they cheer your name.”
Dylan was right thought Maddie she was beginning to think that the whole of the population of Velaria was giving her their support.
“Do you think that the police in Diverton will attempt to stop us?”
“If they are ordered to stop us then they will not attempt to do so they will definitely stop us.”
Maddie thought there must be another way.
“Then we need to rethink our strategy and find another way through to the Capital or we will have come this far
for nothing.”
Dylan felt like a father explaining the facts to an innocent child.
“They could have stopped us at any point if they had a mind to, they could have stopped us at Juvi, and they could have stopped us from entering any town or village after that. They want us to enter the Capital or at least my father wants us to.”
“Do you know why?”
“I suspect he wants to humiliate us by having a few thousand Cadets defeat us it would serve his purpose to show that a small force of his Cadets can overcome incredible odds.”
Maddie had not heard anything to her liking from Dylan and it must have showed.
“Don’t worry Maddison we will win we have thousands of Imps and we are willing to fight for what we deserve.”
Jinn was a certainly a lot more positive about their outcome than Maddie was.
By the time they were approaching Diverton it was dark and Dylan gave the order to make camp.
“When we march through tomorrow keep your head up and say nothing Maddie but don’t show any fear.”
“I will lead us through so don’t worry about me Dylan, I have gotten us this far haven’t I?”
Maddie might as well have been asking the question of herself as it went unanswered.
“Tomorrow will be just like every other town Maddie so don’t listen to him.”
Jinn could not have been more wrong, the march through Diverton was completely different and the silence of their reception unnerved Maddie.
On the streets there were groups of men in black uniforms with peaked caps and blue armbands that had DPRV written in white letters on them. The uniforms in themselves were intimidating enough but what really scared Maddie was that they all had holsters across their waist and what looked like machine pistols casually slung across their shoulders.
“My advice Maddie is not to look any of the police directly in the eye.”
Dylan and his advice thought Maddie well he could shove it.
“They look as though they are laughing at us, MADDISON, MADDISON, MADDISON.”
Maddie was the first to chant her name defiantly then Jinn and then everyone began to chant until you could hear nothing else above their mantra.
“Are you crazy Maddie? Why would you do that are you trying to provoke them?”
Maddie was not really listening to Dylan she was too busy scanning for police to glare at.
“We are all crazy and like you said they won’t do anything without being ordered to.”
“That is no reason to antagonise them it only takes one of them to lose their cool and we are finished.”
Maddie could see some sense in what Dylan was saying but did not want to listen.
“What are you doing now?”
Maddie had halted in the middle of the street where the biggest concentration of police were loitering and was annoyed by their amused expressions.
“I am going to say something to these people.”
“Please just move us along Maddie I don’t think this is a good idea.”
If not for Jinn’s urgent plea Maddie would have walked up to a group of what she considered to be grinning goons and told them a thing or two.
“Ok Jinn we can go.”
Jinn started chanting Maddison as they set off and was thankful that they made it through Diverton without any further interruption.
“What the hell do you think you were doing back there? You could have gotten us all killed.”
Maddie did not know how to answer Dylan’s question as she could not even explain her actions to herself.
“We got through that is all that matters and I would be grateful if you would stop questioning me and remember whose name they chant, it is me that they follow and not you.”
Dylan was really angry now and looked as though he wanted to throttle Maddie.
“If you deliberately put us in danger again Maddie I will not be responsible for my actions and I won’t tell you again how important getting Lissa back is too me so do not put our mission in jeopardy again.”
Maddie could see the frustration that was consuming Dylan and knew that if he did not need her to get Lissa back he would not have been able to control his temper.
“Now that we are past Diverton I assume our next stop is the Capital?”
“Yes.”
Maddie understood that Dylan was having trouble holding him-self back but she needed more than one word answers from him.
“Dylan we are close now so I need you to put your hatred of me to one side and help me get where we need to be to rescue our friends.”
Dylan could barely hide the contempt he felt for Maddie at that moment.
“Lissa is more than a friend to me and though you seem unwilling to admit it John is not just a friend to you.”
Maddie could not deny that she had feelings for John but she could not really define what those feeling were.
“I know that you love Lissa and you will do anything to get her back now prove that by helping me get to the Capital.”
The thought of being reunited with Lissa was enough to bring Dylan back to some semblance of normality.
“Yes you are right we are very close and so is Fermar and I think it would be wise to get word to Jerome so that he can join us.”
Maddie thought this a wonderful idea as she wanted desperately to have news of how Lana was.
“I will go.”
Jinn was quick to volunteer and Maddie wanted to say yes but somehow she did not think him up to the task.
“Are you sure Jinn? You have never been there before and I don’t want you to get lost.”
Dylan came up with a solution that was to satisfy both Jinn and Maddie.
“I will draw the boy a map and we can send someone with him to watch his back.”
The question was who else could they send? They were surrounded by Imps and yet they knew little or nothing about them and they needed someone they could trust.
“George is here and I am sure she would want to come see Lana with me.”
Maddie was shocked that Jinn would know George was there and she did not.
“Why have you not told me that George was here Jinn?”
“She asked me not to make a fuss and she did not want to be treated any differently than anyone else who joined us.”
Maddie was a little annoyed at this but for some reason felt enormous pride in the girl.
“Did anyone else from the camp make it here?”
Jinn’s growing dislike of Dylan prevented him from answering him.
“Jinn answer Dylan did anyone else from the camp join us.”
“Just about all of them are here and they are all happy to march with you Maddison.”
Dylan was feeling a little pushed out as he ordered Jinn to find George.
“It’s ok Jinn we need to find her and I would love to see her again.”
Maddie was genuinely looking forward to seeing her friend and the sooner she sent her off to Fermar with Jinn the sooner she would have news of Lana.
“George I should be very cross with you not coming to me as soon as you arrived.”
The seemingly embarrassed girl looked down at the floor as Maddie spoke to her.
“I am sorry Maddison but I did not want to bother you.”
Maddie found her-self-giving George the biggest hug ever and could not think why.
“Has Jinn told you what we need you to do George?”
“Yes Dylan you want us to go to Fermar and tell them that you are here so they can join us.”
Maddie knew that was the mission but she wanted to remind George that she needed news of Lana.
“Yes George that is correct but I also want news of what has happened to Lana that is very important, you understand?”
It was plain to see that George understood and that she wanted to know if Lana was alive or dead as badly as Maddie did.
“I am sorry George I know that Lana is your friend too and yours Jinn, I know that you care about her as much as I d
o.”
It was Dylan that sent them on their way with directions and a hastily drawn map.