The Rift in the Domain- The Auranos Stories Book 2

Chapter 8 - Cavebrook Hijinks

Abigail

The next morning, I got up and practically bounced down to breakfast, having had the best night of sleep I'd had in a long time. Beds are incredibly underrated.

Zina was last to come downstairs, where we discussed our plans over complementary oatmeal and eggs.

"Let's split up," I suggested, cracking my knuckles. But Kaian gave me a death look, so I stopped. "Let's find some strategic points in town and make a little noise. What do you say?"

"Well, we should not split up entirely," Reinon cautioned. "If we run into trouble it's better to be with someone else, don't you think?"

"We do have the spirits, and we'll cover more ground if we split into smaller groups," I added.

"I'm with Reinon," Urtam advised. "However strong our spirits may be..."

We are strong, Jalakoro told me with a twinge of sarcasm. Very. I mean lifting-mountains strong.

"I'm sure," I snorted into my oatmeal.

"... I don't think we want to take any more chances. This is already a huge risk," Urtam finished.

We agreed, dividing into teams of two. Zina and I would wander the streets to cover as much ground as we could, Urtam and Reinon would take the town square, and Lykar and Kaian would be in charge of the area around the park. The panthers could stay behind in the stables- they'd earned the day off. We also agreed that the spirits would have to stay out of things unless it got dangerous. Cavebrook didn't need to know that the most powerful spirits in Lagokia were riding around in our backpacks.

We'll still be here, Krivos said. We'll just keep out of the way.

"Excellent," Lykar said. "Let's get started."

Zina and I were the 'fun' team. She would bounce around shouting enthusiastically about treason, while I'd stand and translate her diatribe for passerby. Honestly, we didn't care much about getting support yet- we just wanted to cause a scene.

Reinon and Urtam, I was later told, held signs in the town square, and Kaian and Lykar started discussions about the possibility of rebellion with any who were willing to talk. They gathered a lot of information, actually- the biggest grievances were still taxes and corruption, as Zina said it they had been when she'd grown up there.

"Taxes are insane," she explained to me during a lunch break. "But they're only half the problem. The other half is that if you don't pay them your kids get scooped up in the middle of the night. Or, if you're lucky, you get arrested."

"So what about corruption?" I asked.

"What we gathered was that the officials operate almost solely on bribes," Lykar explained. He and Kaian had met up with us near the outskirts of town, where Zina had been shouting obscenities into a rich neighborhood for most of the morning.

"Well duh," Zina said. "The Domain has two things to offer. A couple people and a bit of loose change. Power comes from having control over those two things- as much as you can get your hands on. If you're a government official, you're halfway there."

"That's cynical," I said, looking at Zina strangely. She'd been acting differently ever since we'd arrived in Cavebrook.

She squirmed. "It's not all bad. That 'couple of people' are generally some of the best you'll ever meet." She paused. "Generally."

"I think we should get back to causing a scene," Lykar said, standing up and getting ready to go.

"Oh, please," I rolled my eyes. "You really think you two Lagokian buttercups can wreak more havoc than a Dominion and an American? That's not going to happen."

Kaian, vastly unaware of American stereotypes, rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."

I looked at Zina, who looked back at me.

"That almost sounded like a challenge," she said. "Luckily I don't stoop to such juvenile hijinks."

"So immature," I sighed, shaking my head as if disappointed. "We ought to back to work, wouldn't you say?"

"Let's," Zina agreed with a devilish smile.