The Shattered Soul

The People's Secret

Chapter Six – The People’s Secret

                The path ahead was not all too interesting. Between them and the fort lay a lake of pure beauty around the woodlands. This lay roughly three quarters of the way down, and this would be reached late in the day. The woodland they were riding through was protected by the Fort. Preserved to avoid the deforestation of the valley. The waters ran down to the sea and the trotting horses trotted atop of bridges and around bodies of water. Nothing appeared more dense than the woods within the valley. Every tree along their path had been marked with a code, a few letters and then a number. It was important to retain the land the way that it was however was it was not for was what the couple now gazed upon.

 They sat on top of the hill, legs hanging down off the front of the carriage and watched as something strange was happening. Towards the south they noticed something that was definitely off. The fort was dramatically closer to the river Dinmond and hence closer to the castle. The two upon the last hill could see all the locations on the other side of the river. To the left they saw the Castle metro, peering right the village and volcano Dermo, continuing the north castle of Hashtosho and then finally the castle Hotla, which recently had been destroyed and was now rebuilding. The strange thing about these castles was that they were covered in a black liquidly smoke.

They stopped at the top and saw to the south east a black wall. It sparked and shined. They could just about make out what was coming out of it. An army was marching down the hill and to the bay. After a few moments ships begun to sail off and a very faint but real sound of an alarm bell entered their ears. Another few moments passed and they did not move nor blink as the bay was covered in the black liquid like the castles appeared to be. After it was finished and they saw nothing new for a minute or two they turned to each other and continued down the road making haste.

“I feel we’ll know what that is when we get to the fort....” Jaro pointed out to Cherrie, they were going rather quickly down the hill and continuing through the deep woods. Cherrie felt tired and lay down in the back.

The second sun set like a petal on water, and Cherrie begun to hear the conversation taking place at the front of the carriage. She did not hear every word but soon came into a state of lucidness and could not completely go back to sleep.

“I’m not your enemy Jaro” Hershi almost aggressively pointed out to Jaro.

“I know you alone are not to blame. I just never felt like crying in the village. I never felt so bad that I couldn’t hold it together. Lord knows what Cherrie is going through right now...” Jaro explained back at Hershi his tone more reassuring than Hershi

“You were going to the Fort before... this just sped it along” Hershi attempted to lighten the situation and shift the blame off himself however proved in effective.

“We only left because by now we were used to it. We’ve moved four times and something bad has happened in each one. We moved back home and nothing. Nothing for a good 2 years, and then everything changed” Jaro purred his past on to Hershi, Cherrie then sleepily sat up.

“It does not excuse the Circle Horde from what they did” Cherrie pointed out to them sitting up. Her hair pushed back.

“Do you know who the circle horde are? I mean really... not just the word around” Hershi asked her turning back, his voice seemed equivocal.

“They destroy towns, castles, forts, anything in their way.” Cherrie reiterated the views and items she knew as fact to Hershi

“The Circle Horde have little choice. When I went to the underworld, speak of the circle horde was that the people they kill do not die.” Hershi explained to them remembering a conversation whilst he waited outside of a masters room when he died.

“What happens to them then?” Jaro butted into their conversation.

“They become part of their army... following them around. Obeying orders.” Hershi explained to them. His fires burned a dark blue.

“Why? I mean why go around gathering more of an army?” Cherrie asked him, at this point she had put her dress back on and decided to get up.

“Why does anyone form an army?” Hershi begun, he then looked at Jaro who had no idea, then at Cherrie who had little idea. “A revolution.” Hershi completed his question. Up ahead the river started to get wider.

“The lake is up ahead we should rest there before completing the last leg of the journey.” Jaro pointed out to them, sure enough the lake begun to appear through the trees.

The carriage passed a set of trees and the lake revelled. It appeared large with trees around the edges. In the centre an island however with no trees. Instead of a tree on the island a set of pipes leading from the centre to the north. These glowed green.

Jaro parked the carriage closer to the lake and let the horses off. They walked down to the lake for a drink as Jaro helped Cherrie off the carriage. They looked over at the lake and then over to the pipe. It drew their attention no matter how hard they looked at other wildlife visiting the lake. Jaro and Cherrie held hands and stood at the edge of the lake.

“Where does the pipe go?” Cherrie asked, although the both of them had a good guess of where it was leading to they begun to walk around the lake. For there was a secret that anyone new to the planet would not understand, something which the people did not speak of. The leaders must agree to it or be burned alive and quickly became the most hated item in the land. For they were walking around what was known as a Maria well, which was a natural flood of Magic energy used. When a spell is cast the energy is absorbed by the ground and eventually makes it’s way into a well where it can be collected.

Villages across the planet upon the wells use a very high level of defence such as invisibility and indestructibleness. It is the only barrier protecting them and stopping a repeat of so many lakes turning out as this one. For when Jaro and Cherrie followed the pipe they could see the reason. FINCE energy, created and shipped by a group known as The Order was the purest and strongest form of energy. It could be absorbed by anyone with no training and could boost you to a level 21 student within mere minutes. However it was non-recyclable as earthly magic. It had to be mined out of the planet in metal containers and reactors like the one Cherrie and Jaro were looking at.

They were almost speechless. Looking down on the metal and populated water they were peering down at. The two symbols which they both hated slapped on the side of every caster, bridge and pipe. The first black text ‘F.I.N.C.E’, nobody even knew what it stood for it was just a name. The second the picture of a man wearing a trilby hat shaded in dark colours with ‘The Order’ below it. Few even remember when The Order came about and begun to change and shape the world with their power but they do remember the wars against them. Even when it was another castle against them the people fort until they could no more but their army too strong. Not a single blade could pierce their armour, Not an arrow threw their head could kill them and Not a spell could defeat them. They quickly became the undefeated enemy.

Jaro and Cherrie could not look at the reactor for long and turned back to the lake which should have looked like the pure beauty it once did. However with a large pipe gaping out of the centre one does not associate beauty with such things. Jaro did not need the lake however, lying in the carriage, a lantern just outside he was happy enough to look at his lover beside him sleep. He may had thought that Cherrie wouldn’t cope without him, truth was Jaro could not cope without her.

The Sun’s rose for one of the longest days of the year, and as it beamed down into the carriage it did not wake Jaro. For he was already awake, and the only eyes the sun did awake was Cherrie’s. She woke up rather roughly and saw Jaro and Hershi riding the carriage. The both of them heard the sound of metal scuffing against plastic and the shrieking of what was the front curtain. She got dressed into the clothes she brought from the Inn and pulled the certain back with a piece of bread in her hands. Butter in the middle and sat between Jaro and Hershi. She offered a piece to Jaro as the horses trotted into the open Eastern gate of the fort.