ellinor
Explorer
16x02
Twiggy had imagined how this would go—they’d stop the heresy and return to the High Pass estate, where they’d get to see Lady Oroko Cho and her husband-to-be happily wed; they’d celebrate and rest; they’d experience the gratitude of the Estate . . .
But those things were not to be. Kawazu had a significant head-start to Cauldron, and knew the roads. He could not be allowed to reach the Priesthood in Cauldron. If he did, he’d be outside the reach of the law, and the Tide—who had not only perpetrated the heresy in High Pass, but had also burned the Alirrian Temple in Lord’s Edge—would score a victory. The party had no choice but to catch him before he reached the gates of Cauldron. Lady Cho was well-guarded by a capable force; they’d have to assume that she could protect herself.
They pressed on.
The road crisscrossed the terraced hills—following the easiest path, but not the most direct one. As she rode, Twiggy watched the edges of the path glide by. She was tired, and the grassy patterns were mesmerizing, unvarying . . . until they weren’t. There: a small path of disturbed grass trailed away from the road. It had been trodden recently, and as Twiggy followed it with her eyes, she could see that it cut across the fields and over a hill. Twiggy pictured the road ahead in her mind, recalling the path by which they’d come from Cauldron—“A shortcut!” she realized, calling it out to the group. From the disturbed grass, Twiggy suspected Kawazu had taken it; but if he hadn’t, perhaps they’d gain some time. At least, she thought, they wouldn’t lose any.
The path was rougher going than the road, but the group pushed their horses hard. As they crested the hill, horses panting, Twiggy recognized the road below. Just ahead, past a small stand of trees, was the spot where they had met the peasant, Hideki, whose daughter was executed for defying the Tide’s heretical ritual. Perhaps they’d meet Hideki again, Twiggy thought, so they’d be able to tell him that they’d succeeded—that no others would be subjected to the ritual, and that he’d be receiving reparations. It won’t bring his daughter back, Twiggy thought, but it’s something…
And there, standing on the road, is a man who looks like Hideki, she noted, with pleasure. Then they passed the trees, and the rest of the roadway stretched out below them. Twiggy’s mind struggled to absorb what she saw there. Hideki, and a hundred other peasants. Wait, what are they holding? Pitchforks? Sharpened branches? Is that… are they…
“Hey, look,” Kormick said. “An angry mob.”
Indeed, it was an angry mob. Led by Hideki.
Before approaching, the party huddled to map out a strategy. The only way forward was through the crowd, which was blocking the road. The terrain wouldn’t allow them around—and even if they tried, the mob would follow. But they had no wish to hurt the peasants. Perhaps the peasants just didn’t understand that the matter had been resolved in their favor?
The party approached the mob. “Hideki—” Tavi yelled, but before he could finish, Hideki shouted, “these are the ones! They allowed this to happen!”
And a hundred angry peasants roared out in unison.
“But we didn’t allow—“ Savina began, but Tavi interrupted her with a terse “I know!” He concentrated for a moment, and rose off the ground. When he was above the surging mob, he yelled louder than Twiggy had ever heard him yell. “We have stopped the heresy and are pursuing the culprit! Let us through!”
For a moment, some of the peasants near Tavi seemed to waver. Nyoko assumed the confident air of an Adept—the air that every Adept could wear as a benefit of station—and stared down at them. She nudged her horse forward, and rode into the mob.
“For our daughters!” Hideki shouted.
And with that, the crowd surged forward. With screaming intensity, the peasants dragged Nyoko from her horse, threw her to the ground, and began kicking her. It was frightening.
Arden rose in her stirrups. “In Kettenek’s name, this is madness! Hideki, the Tide has stopped! We are on your side!” It was as if she could read Twiggy’s mind.
“Liar!” Hideki yelled. Then he egged on the crowd with his hoe. “Get them!”
But we helped them! Twiggy repeated to herself over and over. Why are they doing this?.
These people choose to spend all day in the fields, covered in dirt, Acorn observed. And you expect them to make sense?
Yes! Twiggy thought back. Unless, of course, someone else is making them act like— She quickly studied the crowd again with this new insight in mind, looking for the telltale signs of magical manipulation.
She found it. Everywhere. Especially on Hideki.
“Wait!,” she called out to the others. “The crowd has been angered by magic. We won’t be able to change their minds!”
“So we fight our way through,” Tavi replied, his tone resigned.
“But we don’t hurt them,” Savina insisted. “They’ve been through too much already.”
Mena drove her horse forward toward the crowd engulfing Nyoko. “Take your hands off her!” Mena’s armor whispered and screamed an echo of her words, and the peasants recoiled away, forming a path to Nyoko. Nyoko rolled and somersaulted, grabbed Mena’s horse, and pulled herself up. Arden reared her horse back, frightening some of the nearby peasants, but others grabbed the hem of her tunic and pulled her to the ground. She scrambled, but was unable to reach her horse’s reins.
“Get out of our way!” Savina commanded, her voice ringing with divine power. The peasants before her parted—a few of them ran toward the hills—and Mena and Savina surged forward into the crowd. “Arden! Here!” Savina reached down and grabbed Arden’s arm and pulled her up. The slave was badly bruised, almost limp; Twiggy thought Savina must have reached her just in time. Kormick followed behind, twirling his warhammers. For the most part, the peasants backed away from the Justicar, but they closed in behind him, surrounding the three horses on all sides.
Twiggy concentrated and cast, sending the image of a massive fire into—she hoped—the minds of all the peasants. They backed away, frightened, clearing a path through the crowd. Tavi held out his hand to his sister. “Rose, with me.” He brandished his green flame blade, and they rode their horses into the gap. Twiggy followed, but the spell had required too much concentration. She couldn’t ride and cast at the same time. As the others rode by, the peasants rushed forward and pulled her down onto the wet road. They began kicking, tearing at her dress, pushing her into the mud… The mud caked on her glasses and pressed into her eyes. It was impossible to see—it was barely possible to breathe. Every time she wiped her eyes, there was another dirty foot, pushing her head down.
Twiggy looked up again. Everyone else had made it to the other side. She was stuck, her horse yards away, surrounded. The world began to fade. Twiggy’s face sank into the mud…
And Tavi’s sword suddenly thunked, point first, into the mud beside her and burst into flame.
The peasants panicked, scrambling away from this new terror, again opening a path through the crowd.
“Twiggy!” Rose called out, and she whistled a sharp, shrill note …
And Twiggy’s horse galloped into the gap, charging toward the party. Without thinking, Twiggy reached up, grabbed desperately for something, anything…
She caught a stirrup.
Pain seared through her wrist, and her arm felt like it was being wrenched out of her shoulder. She was dragged along the muddy road, slamming into the ground again and again. The breath was knocked from her lungs. Her head slammed against a rock.
Chelesta! Chelesta! Stay awake, Chelest— Acorn screamed in her head. And that was the last thing Twiggy heard.
Twiggy had imagined how this would go—they’d stop the heresy and return to the High Pass estate, where they’d get to see Lady Oroko Cho and her husband-to-be happily wed; they’d celebrate and rest; they’d experience the gratitude of the Estate . . .
But those things were not to be. Kawazu had a significant head-start to Cauldron, and knew the roads. He could not be allowed to reach the Priesthood in Cauldron. If he did, he’d be outside the reach of the law, and the Tide—who had not only perpetrated the heresy in High Pass, but had also burned the Alirrian Temple in Lord’s Edge—would score a victory. The party had no choice but to catch him before he reached the gates of Cauldron. Lady Cho was well-guarded by a capable force; they’d have to assume that she could protect herself.
They pressed on.
The road crisscrossed the terraced hills—following the easiest path, but not the most direct one. As she rode, Twiggy watched the edges of the path glide by. She was tired, and the grassy patterns were mesmerizing, unvarying . . . until they weren’t. There: a small path of disturbed grass trailed away from the road. It had been trodden recently, and as Twiggy followed it with her eyes, she could see that it cut across the fields and over a hill. Twiggy pictured the road ahead in her mind, recalling the path by which they’d come from Cauldron—“A shortcut!” she realized, calling it out to the group. From the disturbed grass, Twiggy suspected Kawazu had taken it; but if he hadn’t, perhaps they’d gain some time. At least, she thought, they wouldn’t lose any.
The path was rougher going than the road, but the group pushed their horses hard. As they crested the hill, horses panting, Twiggy recognized the road below. Just ahead, past a small stand of trees, was the spot where they had met the peasant, Hideki, whose daughter was executed for defying the Tide’s heretical ritual. Perhaps they’d meet Hideki again, Twiggy thought, so they’d be able to tell him that they’d succeeded—that no others would be subjected to the ritual, and that he’d be receiving reparations. It won’t bring his daughter back, Twiggy thought, but it’s something…
And there, standing on the road, is a man who looks like Hideki, she noted, with pleasure. Then they passed the trees, and the rest of the roadway stretched out below them. Twiggy’s mind struggled to absorb what she saw there. Hideki, and a hundred other peasants. Wait, what are they holding? Pitchforks? Sharpened branches? Is that… are they…
“Hey, look,” Kormick said. “An angry mob.”
Indeed, it was an angry mob. Led by Hideki.
Before approaching, the party huddled to map out a strategy. The only way forward was through the crowd, which was blocking the road. The terrain wouldn’t allow them around—and even if they tried, the mob would follow. But they had no wish to hurt the peasants. Perhaps the peasants just didn’t understand that the matter had been resolved in their favor?
The party approached the mob. “Hideki—” Tavi yelled, but before he could finish, Hideki shouted, “these are the ones! They allowed this to happen!”
And a hundred angry peasants roared out in unison.
“But we didn’t allow—“ Savina began, but Tavi interrupted her with a terse “I know!” He concentrated for a moment, and rose off the ground. When he was above the surging mob, he yelled louder than Twiggy had ever heard him yell. “We have stopped the heresy and are pursuing the culprit! Let us through!”
For a moment, some of the peasants near Tavi seemed to waver. Nyoko assumed the confident air of an Adept—the air that every Adept could wear as a benefit of station—and stared down at them. She nudged her horse forward, and rode into the mob.
“For our daughters!” Hideki shouted.
And with that, the crowd surged forward. With screaming intensity, the peasants dragged Nyoko from her horse, threw her to the ground, and began kicking her. It was frightening.
Arden rose in her stirrups. “In Kettenek’s name, this is madness! Hideki, the Tide has stopped! We are on your side!” It was as if she could read Twiggy’s mind.
“Liar!” Hideki yelled. Then he egged on the crowd with his hoe. “Get them!”
But we helped them! Twiggy repeated to herself over and over. Why are they doing this?.
These people choose to spend all day in the fields, covered in dirt, Acorn observed. And you expect them to make sense?
Yes! Twiggy thought back. Unless, of course, someone else is making them act like— She quickly studied the crowd again with this new insight in mind, looking for the telltale signs of magical manipulation.
She found it. Everywhere. Especially on Hideki.
“Wait!,” she called out to the others. “The crowd has been angered by magic. We won’t be able to change their minds!”
“So we fight our way through,” Tavi replied, his tone resigned.
“But we don’t hurt them,” Savina insisted. “They’ve been through too much already.”
Mena drove her horse forward toward the crowd engulfing Nyoko. “Take your hands off her!” Mena’s armor whispered and screamed an echo of her words, and the peasants recoiled away, forming a path to Nyoko. Nyoko rolled and somersaulted, grabbed Mena’s horse, and pulled herself up. Arden reared her horse back, frightening some of the nearby peasants, but others grabbed the hem of her tunic and pulled her to the ground. She scrambled, but was unable to reach her horse’s reins.
“Get out of our way!” Savina commanded, her voice ringing with divine power. The peasants before her parted—a few of them ran toward the hills—and Mena and Savina surged forward into the crowd. “Arden! Here!” Savina reached down and grabbed Arden’s arm and pulled her up. The slave was badly bruised, almost limp; Twiggy thought Savina must have reached her just in time. Kormick followed behind, twirling his warhammers. For the most part, the peasants backed away from the Justicar, but they closed in behind him, surrounding the three horses on all sides.
Twiggy concentrated and cast, sending the image of a massive fire into—she hoped—the minds of all the peasants. They backed away, frightened, clearing a path through the crowd. Tavi held out his hand to his sister. “Rose, with me.” He brandished his green flame blade, and they rode their horses into the gap. Twiggy followed, but the spell had required too much concentration. She couldn’t ride and cast at the same time. As the others rode by, the peasants rushed forward and pulled her down onto the wet road. They began kicking, tearing at her dress, pushing her into the mud… The mud caked on her glasses and pressed into her eyes. It was impossible to see—it was barely possible to breathe. Every time she wiped her eyes, there was another dirty foot, pushing her head down.
Twiggy looked up again. Everyone else had made it to the other side. She was stuck, her horse yards away, surrounded. The world began to fade. Twiggy’s face sank into the mud…
And Tavi’s sword suddenly thunked, point first, into the mud beside her and burst into flame.
The peasants panicked, scrambling away from this new terror, again opening a path through the crowd.
“Twiggy!” Rose called out, and she whistled a sharp, shrill note …
And Twiggy’s horse galloped into the gap, charging toward the party. Without thinking, Twiggy reached up, grabbed desperately for something, anything…
She caught a stirrup.
Pain seared through her wrist, and her arm felt like it was being wrenched out of her shoulder. She was dragged along the muddy road, slamming into the ground again and again. The breath was knocked from her lungs. Her head slammed against a rock.
Chelesta! Chelesta! Stay awake, Chelest— Acorn screamed in her head. And that was the last thing Twiggy heard.
