The Necklace: The Trial Realm

Chapter Thirty Four: Back And Talking

"Where the heck have you guys been?" I ask after hours have passed and Bryn, Max, and Opall finally all come back.

"How is he?" Bryn asks, twirling her hair nervously and not making eye contact.

"The successfully removed the bullet and patched him up. He was half a centimeter from going through an artery and bleeding out." I tell them, shaking my head and thanking the gods we were lucky this time. "He lost a ton of blood and he's lucky we got him here when we did."

"I'm glad he is alright, Mal." Opall squeezes my arm, giving me a half smile.

"What's the matter with you guy-." I start to say just before the building shakes around us and a whole herd of people come running up the hallway shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Let us go!" They chant and I startle, turning to my friends.

"What in hell is going on?" I gasp.

My chest clenches waiting for a response and it's Maxum that finally steps up to tell me the truth. "They're rioting."

My jaw might as well be on the floor. "What do you mean they're rioting?" I snap. "People have been attacked, shot, and killed, and they're rioting?" My voice rises an octave. "How is this happening? Why?"

"I don't understand it entirely either, Mali, but they are." Max tells me. "People are pissed. The more they hear about the lies and how we aren't going to become immortal anymore, the more they get riled up."

"I've heard so many people talking about leaving." Bryn nods, her giant red irises nervous. "I'm scared what's going to happen if this continues."

As she says it a new stampede of people blast through the hall whistling and shouting as loud as they can't chanting that same awful phrase. "Let us go!"

Where do they want to go? Home? After everything they'd just leave? The worst part is, these aren't just Newbs rioting in the halls of The Hub. It's the Custodes. People I've seen every day at training or at lunch, eating and talking like everything is fine, and now because they don't get to be Gods they're throwing a fit and marching in the halls with demands to be let go. What about the oaths they took? What about the realm? I can't believe this is all really happening here like this.

"There's so many of them." Opall shakes her head, then turns to me. "We're supposed to be having a meeting with everyone, but there are so many that refuse to listen anymore. They just keep saying they were lied to and they want to leave."

"They can't." I throw up my arms. "They're Custodes, defenders of the realm, they have jobs."

"I know, but not everyone thinks like you." Bryn quips. "I'd like to think people would be more like you, but even I'll admit that I'm angry about this too. I was happy at home. I had a good life and friends and a family. I left it all behind for this, to be more. Now I'm not. I feel duped just like they do."

Her word sink in slowly and I have to readjust my thinking. Yes, people deserve to be mad, but to this point?

"I'm sorry, Brynlynn." I tell her. "But we've got to move past this."

"I'm trying to." She says. "And over time maybe I will, maybe so will all of them, but we're all going to need time to straighten this all out in our minds."

"Time might be the one thing we don't have though." I whisper, thinking of all of the missions that aren't being carried out because of the attacks. Now there will be twice as many left to fester with a bunch of rioters and ditchers. "When is the meeting?"