Binary

Chapter Nine: The Crystal Tower

Rain tethered the horse and looked around at the shantytown that was now formed at the base of the tower. It was constructed mostly of tents and wagons, and some lean-tos. None of it had been here a few months ago, of that he was sure. There were also more people than there had ever been when he had lived here.

He looked up at the tower. There was more than enough room for all the people out here, but Rain had a feeling that the only people who got to live in there were Felix's closest friends.

"Rain?"

The voice was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. He spun around and saw a young boy with curly dark hair and big black eyes, which were rapidly filling up with tears.

"By Charollette's benevolence, is that really you Rain?" the kid whimpered.

"Hi Zed," said Rain, smiling. He grunted as Zed ran up and hugged him.

"They told us you were a gonner, meft to bleed out in the dunes," cried Zed.

"They certainly tried," Rain said, "Zed... What the hell happened here?"

Zed broke from him and glanced fearfully at the tower, then at the robbers that were standing about. A few were watching him with eager eyes.

"Come on, we shouldn't talk out here."

Rain followed Zed back to a large tent that had been turned into some sort of kitchen. In the center of it was a cauldron cooking over a fire. Pots and pans were hanging all around, and on one wall, over a counter were herbs drying on a rack. There was a seating area out front with large tables under an awning, and Zed checked it to make sure it was empty before closing his window on it.

"Everything fell apart as soon as you were gone Rain," Zed said, "Felix started hiring people. New people, everyone that would sign up, everyone that looked like they could hold a knife. I think some of them were from that old gang that he used to run with. The one from the Forest Zone."

"I see that..."

"These people aren't like us, Rain," Zed said, "when Tyler was in charge, he had a vision, and a special way of making people see it. This bunch though, they don't care much for vision. They don't care about anything; they just want a fat pile of gold; I've seen them cut each other's throat for almost nothing."

Rain sat down heavily on a short wooden crate while Zed threw some herbs into the cauldron and tasted it. He grabbed a large wooden spoon and started stirring the pot.

"Where is the old gang, Zed? I don't recognize a single face out there."

Zed stopped stirring and didn't look up for a minute.

"They're gone, Rain," he said, "Felix doesn't care for insubordination, thinks he's a damned king, sitting up there in the Crystal Tower all day, making the rest of us live out here in the dirt. These people around here, they think he's a king too."

"They're dead?" Rain said in disbelief.

"A lot of 'em," said Zed, as he began cutting up some potatoes, "some of them got out, just rode off into the night. They keep a tighter eye on me though, they don't like the idea of getting a new cook apparently... I don't even know what happens anymore, no one tells me anything here."

"Do you know anything about Edgestone?" asked Rain.

"I haven't been there in a while," Zed said, "they don't even let me leave the camp, Felix says if I try to run, he'll send someone after me. I'm not like you or the others, I wouldn't know how to shake them, they'd cut my throat before I got out of the canyons."

"The town's gone Zed."

Zed stopped cutting and looked up at Rain.

"Gone? What town?"