Warlocks Index – Previous Chapter
The speed at which rumours and exaggerations can spread within a town would make a common cough embarrassed. Trying to piece together the events leading up to Tobus entering the academy grounds required a fair bit of cross referencing and fact checking. Thankfully, that was the concerns of others as I had been taken into a room deep within the Academy and kept under guard. I was kept there for some time with very little to distract me, so the image of a bloody Tobus, standing in the arches of the academy gates, face twisted into something frightening, only to then collapse, flowed through my mind like a flywheel.
I could barely recall the commotion that erupted after, other than being grabbed by someone uniformed and roughly directed away from the main entrance hall. Toa Freyah had seemed to be pleading with the ones that dragged me along yet the ringing in my ears made understanding impossible. I was just too stunned to really connect with anything happening around me.
To avoid dwelling on the disturbing images, I tried to rationalise my current circumstances. I was either being placed here for protection, or suspicion. It was more likely the latter. I had brought Tobus in, and the circumstances of his arrival were fraught with concerns. Then he appears to have made his way to the academy, taken out the gate guards, before threatening Toa Freyah.
This was finally verified by Billtak when he visited, on instructions of the Toa Masters. It was then I learned of the other distressing actions that Tobus had committed. It had been Talish that had called for my incarceration. A call had been made for Graciul to be found and brought to the Academy also. He had been with the wagon and had cooperated with the city guards. Where he was now, Billtak did not know.
So we sat opposite each other, with a guard just outside the open door. Distant voices, sharp and punctuated with concern or fear, were the only sounds. I tried looking at Billtak several times, but an irrational sense of shame held my gaze to the floor. I had brought, unwittingly or not, death to the city.
How had I not seen it? Because the Tobus I had known had never shown anything like the things I had just seen and heard. Tobus was a young man, like many other within a small village, mischievous, simple, and experienced in farming. The man that had stood before him earlier that day was familiar in only that they shared a similar face. I could only assume that something traumatic had happened during his absence, and possible abduction, but what one would have to go through to produce this, I couldn’t imagine.
Yet one thing screamed incoherently at me that something was wrong, and my assessment was incorrect. Tobus had quite clearly called Toa Freyah Mother, which was simply not possible. I knew Tobus’s parents well. I had been present for some of Tobus’s developing years, yet my addled mind was unable to make any connections. I was unwheeled.
Billtak made a soft grunt, then cleared his throat. “This isn’t your fault.” His voice was a husky, almost whispered, grumble.
I finally looked up and looked him in the eyes. “Yes it is. At least partly. I brought him here, and the circumstances that brought him to me are…” I briefly struggled for words. “Concerning.”
“You rescued a member of your flock. They were wounded. You brought them here. You did nothing wrong.” Billtak leaned forward trying to press the point.
“You make it sound too simple. There’s more going on and I should have seen something.” While Billtak was right, seen simply, I did what seemed natural. Yet with all that had gone on before, the missing kids, I should have been more alert. The mental hammer of shame only pounded harder, and I could feel the pain form behind my eyes.
I inhaled deeply, trying to calm the brewing storm. “I may have done nothing wrong, but there was more that I could have done right. I was distracted and that is on me. Tobus was a clear danger and I let familiarity over-rule…” I let it trail as I struggled with words, then leaned forward attempting a different approach. “I cannot control what happens to me. I can only take responsibility for the choices I make in response. I made a choice to treat Tobus as the young man I knew even though I could see he was changed, traumatised, and abused, and now I must make better choices. One of those is to accept my part, learn from it, and face whatever comes next.”
Billtak took a moment to consider my words, clearly struggling with his own concerns. “Yet what happened to Tobus, and what he did is not your fault.” His insistence was touching, even he had missed the point.
“This isn’t about blame or fault. This is about responsibility.” I reached over a placed a hand on Billtak’s knee. “There is someone out there, a brother, like us, who has made their choices. They are playing a new game with his own rules. We need to be ready to deal with him. We can’t afford to be caught off-guard again, because next time it could be worse. We do that by taking responsibility for that which we have control over.”
I did not get a chance to see if Billtak understood my words. There was a growing commotion outside the door. I looked in time Toa Freyah appear as the door swung open. I could see at least one of the other masters beyond, one hand on the shoulder of the guard and in whispered conversation.
Toa Freyah looked annoyed. “Master Juth. The guard have called for you to be arrested on suspicion of aiding a terrorist.” Billtak drew in a short sharp breath. I had already anticipated this possibility. “However, we have arranged instead for you to be removed from the city.” She turned and carefully closed the door, then motioned to Billtak who hurriedly stood offering his chair to her, which she took with typical grace.
“The guard see this as a banishment. I, I mean we, see this as sending you out to find out more about our adversary. It is not an ideal situation, but you will be the only one able to leave the academy for a while. The guard have also decided that all the masters are at risk and they are locking down the city for the foreseeable.”
Billtak muttered something unintelligible from the corner where he now stood. Toa Freyah glanced in his direction. “We are also working the finer details of that. I would prefer to not send you alone, and we proceed with what we have. Right now, you are the only option, but before you go, we will need to talk in more suitable conditions.” As she rose from the chair, it had the appearance of levitating. “Master Billtak, you will return to the academy and submit to the guard’s protection for now.”
With that, she motioned to me to follow, and I followed her out into the hall beyond. She instructed the guard to escort Billtak back to the academy, then she and the other 2 Toa Masters lead me away.
Reflection of a Ham 