Shadow's end

Chapter 7: The Voice

Rasocren was standing in the grand hallway leading to the Council's Gallery, a great platform overlooking the central plaza of the city that was mainly used to give public announcements (uniquely used by the Council, of course). Nervously, the Councilman of Knowledge rubbed his hands and a light sweat broke across his forehead as doubts swam through his head. What if things didn't go according to plan? What if the voice (whom Rasocren feared and detested oh so very much) was right? What if the people did reject him and his proposal? No, thought Rasocren, doing his best to regain his courage, This will not fail. It cannot or all this time will have been spent for nothing. After all, he had spent half a year preparing for this moment, training, controlling the voice and building his arguments. No. It would work, he was growing increasingly certain of it and not even the voice could convince him otherwise, much less the Council (at least, that was what Rasocren thought for the time being). He took a deep breath and walked out onto the Gallery, where, a crowd had gathered for his speech. By his estimate, the majority of the city had gathered in the plaza below (unbeknownst to him, the entire city had received word of the event and was now standing in the plaza). This is better than anticipated, thought Rasocren, pleased, My informants have done a better job of spreading the word than I thought. This will not fail, I guarantee it. Without even realizing it, Rasocren had that last thought directed to the voice, who remained silent. For the past few weeks now, it had remained silent and Rasocren was glad to have his thoughts back to himself. Controlling it had not been an easy task, often having to excuse himself from Council meetings so he could let it out and get a hold on it once more (it often had many rude and loud objections to make about certain movements on which both he and it strongly disagreed on). Now, however, he could think clearly without having to worry about it jumping in and taking over especially when he had tasks to do that were as important as the one about to transpire. Over the moderate and civilized murmur of voices emanating from the crowd, Rasocren cleared his throat and said "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Shad'raa, Oruq Beh mabehkahd qicvan rhhodeghbog ujdrafehd? ". The use of the Shadraic language always had the people of the Shad'raa alert and attentive to the one who spoke it, especially since it was becoming increasingly rare among them for one to speak it fluently (although understanding the language was of no issue to any of them). The crowd quieted down and listened attentively to the sixth Councilman. "Today you are gathered here by my whim and mine alone". A murmur rose from the crowd but they were quickly back to listening as Rasocren continued "The Council never would have permitted me to speak to you today had they not been off on diplomatic business elsewhere. I shall tell you why they would silence me. They would do so because what I must tell on this day is a truth that they do not want you, my fellow Shad'raa, to know. A truth that, six months ago, when I had presented it to them, they were too blind to accept it and called it the ravings of a madman". If Rasocren thought the crowd had been silent before, they were even more silent than ever, their attention now intensely focused on him. "As Councilman of Knowledge, I have been tasked with reading, studying and caring for the secret knowledge within the Great Library of the Council. Within that treasure trove of knowledge, I found one book in particular that spoke out to me. It was entitled R'odash the betrayer and I must tell you brothers and sisters that I was surprised to find within, the writings of this man. What he wrote of may seem mad and I will admit that I was very skeptical about what he had to say at first but, believe me when I say that, he was no madman. I have tested and lived firsthand what he has theorized in his writings and found that he spoke the truth!". More murmuring to this, louder this time and Rasocren heard someone ask "What exactly did he write about?!". He spoke once more and the crowd quieted down again to their intense attentive state. "He has written about what the Council has come to call the dark side of the Shad'raa." Immediately, the crowd burst in a roar of outrage. "BUT!!" cried Rasocren, silencing the crowd "Everything the Council has told you about this supposed dark side was a lie. It is not some residual spell left over from the Darkness! It is the true nature of the Shad'raa. What you have been told for centuries was evil is actually the aspect of the Shad'raa was meant to be! We were made and conceived to be dark! But this is not a bad thing to be! You may be thinking of telling me about the countless deaths and gruesome murders caused by those who embraced their dark nature. To that I tell you, they would never have happened in the first place had we not been forced to repress this nature to begin with!! Let me give an example to those who still do not understand my meaning. Our true nature is like emotions. The more you repress it and bottle it up within you, the more pressure builds up until you explode! You cannot stop it from happening unless you've let it out to start with!". The crowd was at first confused but Rasocren could feel them slowly coming to where he wanted them. Things are going perfectly, he thought, highly satisfied with himself. "The Council, were they here, would vehemently try to tell you that even if you let it out at the start, you would never be able to control it and to that I say FOOLS!!!! I am living proof that it is indeed possible to embrace your true nature and control it all at once!!! Behold!!". At that moment, purple flames erupted from his hands and died down into small wicks at the tips of his fingers which were held up in front of him for all to see. "This is the first ability to surface once you begin to embrace your inner perfection. I have possessed it for over seven months now and I have yet to lose control of myself or harbor any murderous intentions to anyone! If anything, my fellow Shad'raa, I have felt nothing but strength and vitality coursing through me and it only grows stronger by the day". Increasingly approving murmurs started to rise through the crowd. Rasocren could see that the people were gobbling it up, even his lies. True he did feel a strong urge to kill and heightened agressivity but he was able to control it and vent it out in private so it wouldn't burst (practice what you preach was a favourite saying of Rasocren's and one he always followed). Yes things were going to plan. Yes, Rasocren would succeed and the people would be better off for it. Oh, how awfully wrong he was.