Tear: To Seek Amnesty

[Edvar alGiven]

The Stone of Tear was an imposing structure. Even more imposing than the Aes Daishar Palace in Kandor. As big as a mountain he thought. As he walked along the wide road that lead to the imposing structure, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose slightly at the smell of salt in the air. He recognized the smell from the time he had spent in Saldaea, near the Worlds End. That was the Aryth Ocean though. This was further south than he had ever been before. He had come by boat all the way down the Erinin from Arafel when he had heard of the amnesty.

 

He put his idle thoughts aside as he approached the gates of the Stone. Two guards stood at the entrance and he walked right up to them, trying not to feel to overwhelmed by the size of the fortress and the gravity of the situation he was putting himself into. "I have come for the Lord Dragons Amnesty." he said quietly. Years of keeping it secret made it difficult to say it even though he had made sure no one else was close enough to hear.

 

The guards exchanged an amused glance before the one on the left answered "Go on in, any servant can direct you were you need to go."

 

He walked through the open gates and past a room with more guards, wearing the black and gold uniforms of the Defenders in it and reached an intersecting hallway. Looking down each hall, he shrugged and turned right, heading down that way. After only a few minutes, he ran into a servant and stopped him, asking directions of the man. The man went slightly pale when he learned where he intended to go. After a moment, he replied "If you would follow me good sir, I will take you where you need to go." He followed the serving man down another corridor and up several flight of stairs. Then he was led through a maze of corridors and though he tried to remember where he was, he quickly became lost in the maze of passages. Finally though, he was led to a door where the servant bowed to him and made a quick retreat.

 

Taking a deep breath and gathering himself, he knocked on the door and opened it after hearing a gruff reply from inside. A man in a black coat sat behing a desk writing furiously. He was an older man, Murandian probably, and he had the look of a clerk about him with those spectacles on. He wore a silver sword pin on one collar and a gold and red creature on the other, the same creature that was on the banner that flew above the fortress. He closed the door behind him and stood silently as the man scribbled away.

 

After a moment though, the man set his quill down and folded his hands on the desk, studying him. "What can I do for you young man?" he said after a moment. His mouthed opened to reply, but nothing came out at first. Finally, he managed to say "I.....I'm here for the amnesty." He looked down for a moment, then met the mans gaze firmly and said "I can channel."

 

The man's eyebrows rose slightly as he said "Can you now? We don't get too many that already can. Go ahead and seize it for me then. Don't do anything with it, just seize it." He nodded and emptied himself of emotion, assuming the Void, or the ko'di as they called it in the borderlands. He reached out for the sickly light that loomed in the emptiness. The Power filled him and he struggled to hold on as he sought the his balance on the tides of fire and filth. When he had, only a few seconds later, he waited until the man nodded, and then released it. His stomach curdled slightly as the taint remained after he let go and he quickly suppressed the protest from his midsection.

 

The clerk stood from behind the desk and motioned for him to wait as he went into another room. After a moment, he returned with another man, roughly his own age and short, with slightly tilted eyes marking him as a Saldaean. This man only had the silver sword on the collar of his black coat. It must be a mark of rank or something. he thought. The new man eyed him a moment before ordering him to follow. So, he followed the man out of the room and down the corridor to another room close by. They entered and he looked around, confused. It was an empty room. He started to ask what in the Light was going on when he felt a sense of menace coming from the man. He can channel too! he thought. Then he shook his head. Of course he could, the man had probably come for the amnesty as well, he should have expected that there would be others here. It was just strange, he had never met another man who could channel.

 

Suddenly, light blazed into being in the center of the room and he jumped in surprise. It was a line, taller than he was and it seemed to rotate and widen at the same time. After getting over his initial shock, he studied it curiously. It seemed to be a doorway of sorts, but it opened into a forest. He looked at the Saldaean nervously and the man motioned exasperatedly for him to step through. He turned to look at the opening again and steeled his nerves. Carefully avoiding the edges of.....whatever it was, he stepped through.