Kendry frisked Elion, running her hands up and down his arms and torso. Elion cringed away from the onslaught, but she persisted, roughly groping his pockets. She found the Starholder pendant around Elion’s neck, lifting it out from under his shirt.
“Ahh, that’s pretty!” she said. “Where’d you find it? Stolen?”
She ripped the pendant from Elion’s neck, the paperclip unbending and slipping free.
“Hey,” Elion protested. “That’s mine!”
The woman laughed, her rotund form jiggling. “As much yours as it is mine. Tell me, did you kill the owner or were they already dead when you found it?”
“Who are you people?” Elion asked. “What gives you the right—”
Kendry laughed. “We’re the NKT Defense Force,” she said. “And as far as the right… I’d say it’s the guns. Yeah, we have guns, and there’s more of us than of you.”
She continued her frisk. Elion noticed the star-inside-a-circle symbol stenciled onto their attacker’s clothing, the same one that Keyla had pointed out as Alandar’s Beacon and the symbol of New Kairn Tol. Kendry found the lump in Elion’s pocket; his Aurelian Tear. Plunging her rough hand into his pocket, she recovered the gemstone. Elion grimaced at the intrusion.
“My lucky day!” she declared, admiring the gem. “You two are a great catch! And these guns, they’re nice.”
She moved on from Elion and searched Keyla, roughly. Finding nothing she considered worth taking, she jerked the chain, pulling Elion and Keyla to their feet.
“Come on,” Kendry said with a wave, tugging at the chain. Elion and Keyla stumbled along.
“Where are you taking us?” Keyla asked, voice shaking.
“New Kairn Tol,” their captor replied, pulling harder on the chain. “Now shut up and walk.” The other flunkies filed in behind, still shouldering rifles.
“You don’t need to chain us up,” Keyla said. “We were trying to go to New Kairn Tol anyway.”
Kendry laughed. “Why, so you could steal from us? The chains are staying on.”
“We’re looking for a woman called Selna,” Keyla said. “Selna Aerden. Do you know her?”
The woman stopped, turned slowly. “That’s enough talking from both of you. Perhaps you don’t understand what’s going on here, so let me spell it out for you. My name is Kendry. You belong to me. You do what I tell you. And you don’t complain about it.”
“But what did we do?” Elion asked.
“Trespassing on NKT land!” Kendry shouted. “You scavengers think you can just pick over the bones of these buildings. Not any more. And especially not when there’s an army out there.”
She faced Elion and peered at him suspiciously.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you? The army? The explosions? Maybe that’s where you got these nice weapons from.”
“I don’t know anything,” Elion said.
“Hmm, maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Sure seems suspicious though, y’all poking around where you shouldn’t be. Well, the Judge will get the truth out of you. First he’s going to create some Bondholds. Then you’ll answer my questions. And after that, I’ll decide what to do with you. I don’t really have openings in the Defense Force, so I’ll probably set you to work in the acid pit. You’ll earn me some cends working down there.”
“Slaves?” Keyla protested, astonished.
“Owned,” Kendry corrected her. “You’ll be owned. And you’ll be quiet, like my other owned.” She gestured to the other members of her group, walking quietly with blank looks on their faces. None of them met Kendry’s eyes.
“There is no slavery in New Kairn Tol!”
Kendry laughed at them, her body quivering with mirth. “No slaves in NKT,” she repeated, still laughing. “Maybe not, but there are *owned*! Now shut up!” She sighed and muttered, half to herself, “I can’t wait until you have to obey. Now move, we don’t have all day!”
They quietly followed the strange woman who held them captive. Her silent companions patrolled along behind, not speaking at all. Once Keyla tried to whisper to Elion, but Kendry screamed at them and jerked the chain harshly, so they stayed silent.
Elion thought about fighting back. He could armor up, possibly yank the chains away from their captors, and then run off. But he didn’t have his knife, and without that, he had no way to break free. He was stronger in his Ascended state, but not strong enough to snap chains.
Besides, they still had guns, and Keyla didn’t have the same protections available to her. If he started fighting, she could get caught in the crossfire. He didn’t want to risk that. And they had been planning to head to New Kairn Tol anyway, so this wasn’t that bad.
Elion caught sight of Snickers’ prison-chest behind him. Two men carried it between them, and Snickers occasionally let out a mournful yowl. Elion tried reaching out for his knife, hoping to summon it. He could sense it still, in the distance, but the blade refused to form in his hand.
Intriguingly, the knife seemed to have moved. As they approached New Kairn Tol, Elion felt it more strongly, as though it was closer. As he focused on it he thought he could detect the direction of the blade.
They marched along the main road. Where there once would have been a massive road leading through the center of the city, now all that remained were patches of asphalt and concrete. In a few places Elion noted rusted out rails running along the ground.
Patches of grass and small shrubs grew in many of the cracks, though most of the dirt lay barren.
Despite their imprisonment, Elion felt a sense of relief. Cool evening air washed over him as the sun set, a weight lifted from his shoulders as they had escaped the oppressive closeness of the underground tunnels.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
When they reached the front gate in the wall, Kendry hollered up to the guards atop it. One of them waived down at her then disappeared. A rumble of machinery, and then the gate slid aside. They passed through, and the streets of New Kairn Tol unfolded before them.
Keyla twisted, looking back at the mechanism that operated the gate as they passed through. Gears turned and hydraulic arms pushed the gate back into place. She slowed as she walked, until the chains pulled her forward. Elion smiled to himself. *Keyla would get distracted by a cool machine.*
Buildings rose around them, structures part ruin, part new construction of reclaimed materials. People moved along the streets, more people than Elion had ever seen in one place on Kylios. Kendry marched them down the middle of the road, proudly, though nobody seemed to notice or care.
Elion easily picked out other groups of owned on the streets. About one in five people wore the same dull uniform as Kendry’s squad.
Arachnatronics constructed with large flat beds amidst their legs transported cargo along the streets. A train of them passed by, each toting dozens of lime green barrels. Praxis translated the symbols on the machines for Elion.
> << Hazard >>
One building stood out, ahead on the right hand side of the street. Unlike the other buildings on the street, it was crafted of chiseled stone. The windows were mosaics of color, glowing from within. Pieces of colored glass or plastic were arranged into stained glass representations of a sunrise. Or a sunset, depending on how you looked at it.
A pair of people walked onto the front steps; a man and a woman. Despite the dim evening light, Elion recognized Venya immediately. Her long pale legs, wreathed in her flowing black gown, stood out against the dark stone of the building. She spoke intensely with the man.
He stood a head taller than Venya, despite the tall heels she wore. Broad shouldered and bronze skinned, he reminded Elion of a pro wrestler or an MMA fighter. The man wore his long white hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a black cloak tumbled over his shoulders.
“Prator,” Keyla muttered under her breath. “That’s Prator.”
Elion stared at the man, trying to imagine him in Aterfel, leading away half the town. Venya gestured angrily, and Prator held up his hands in a soothing gesture.
“Venya too,” Elion whispered back. “Keep your head down.”
Elion forced himself to bow his head, hoping that Venya would not notice them as they approached.
Kendry led them close enough for Elion to hear Venya speaking.
“—late shipments. This is top priority,” she snapped. Then she turned storming away down the steps, heels clicking with each step. Prator watched Venya as she descended the stairs, then turned and walked back into the building. When Venya reached the bottom of the steps, she gestured with her wand, and a swirling purple knot of ribbons folded around her, twisting in on itself and disappearing with a crack.
Elion breathed, relieved to have avoided detection. Kendry led them to a building across the street from Prator’s building. The structure was low, with narrow windows, and had a bland, corporate vibe. Only a single story tall, it sported a flat brick facade, with crumbling mortar and worn corners.
*Looks like it’s been here for a long time.*
Kendry pushed the door open and pulled Elion and Keyla inside. All her goons remained out on the street, except the one carrying Snickers in his box, and the one carrying all of Keyla and Elion’s belongings.
“Judgy!” Kendry called. “I’ve got some more work for you!”
They stood in a waiting room. The sub ceiling was missing tiles, and some were water-stained brown. A pair of chairs sat at one side of the room. The air was ripe with the smell of mildew.
A short, balding man emerged from a back room. He wore a red cloak, embroidered with silver chains.
“Oh, hi Kendry,” he said, waving. He didn’t even look at Elion and Keyla. “Bring ‘em back. I’m pretty busy you know but—”
“Awe, Judgy,” Kendry said. “You still owe me from—”
“I know, I know, let’s just make it fast. Prator’s going mad about *her*.”
“Causing trouble still?”
“I just can’t figure out the binding, and it’s driving me nuts. And Prator is desperate to know if she’s connected to something larger.”
“Not my problem who Prator wants to sleep with,” Kendry said. “But if you ask me, he shouldn’t have chosen someone so crazy.”
The man shrugged. “Shouldn’t matter with a proper binding. Anyways let’s get this over with.”
“Just do my new little pets and I’ll be out of you hair,” Kendry said. “It’s been too long since you had me over.”
The man grimaced at this. “After what you did to my bed…” he muttered, but Kendry pretended not to notice.
He led them all back through the building, past heavy, reinforced doors. A woman screamed and pounded loudly on one of the doors as they passed. An empty tray lay on the floor, near a slot at the bottom of the door.
They reached an open door, and the man showed them into a drab, cinderblock room. Small windows on one wall, blocked by grates, were the only light source. The walls had once been painted white, but now appeared dull, grey and grimy. No furniture adorned the room.
Kendry pushed Elion and Keyla to the far side of the room, and directed her goons to pile their belongings in a heap in the middle. She dismissed the goons and closed the door, folding her arms and watching.
The man Kendry called ‘Judgy’ inspected Elion and Keyla more closely. He muttered to himself, and stole a few glances in Kendry’s direction.
“This is all their stuff?” he asked, gesturing at the pile made up of Keyla’s backpack, two rifles, and Snickers’ box.
“That’s it,” Kendry said.
The man closed his eyes. Red energy swirled around him, casting the room with a crimson hue. The light formed the shape of a closed eye on the man’s forehead. It opened. Keyla gasped.
“A Red Judge,” she whispered to Elion. “He’ll help us, he’s sworn to defend justice.”
“Kendry,” the judge muttered, walking to her, his eyes still closed. The third, magical eye swept the room, scanning every object. “You forgot to include a few things.” He reached out and fished around in Kendry’s pocket.
“Hands off me,” Kendry snapped, but made no move to resist.
Bortim plucked Elion’s starholder pendant from one of Kendry’s pockets, and retrieved the Tear from another. He made an inquiring face at her.
“I just forgot about those things,” she grumbled.
“You can leave now, Kendry,” the Red Judge said. “I’ll have them out to you when they’re ready. Might take me a bit to do both of them.” He held up the Tear, holding it in front of the glowing red eye in his forehead and examining it. “This’ll do as payment,” he said, pocketing the gem.
Kendry snarled.
“Ask them if they know anything about the army,” she said, then left the room.
The Red Judge turned to Elion and Keyla, his third eye glaring, darting around furiously.
“You’re a Red Judge,” Keyla said.
“I am,” the man replied, turning his third eye to stare into Keyla’s face. “Bortim at your service.”
“We’ve been unjustly taken,” Keyla said. “Captured against our will.”
“I guessed as much,” Bortim said, opening his real eyes.
“You’ll help us?” Keyla raised her chained hands toward the man. “It wouldn’t be right to leave us chained and in her power.”
Bortim barked a laugh, turning to dig through the backpack. “When I’m done we’ll take off your chains,” he said. “But Kendry will do what she likes with you. Probably work you to death in the Acid Pit.”
“But you’re a Red Judge,” Keyla protested. “Sworn to justice, loyalty, and integrity?”
Now Bortim really laughed, his oversized gut shaking as he rested his hands on his knees.
“What’s so funny?” Elion asked Keyla. She shrugged.
Bortim regained his composure and turned back to face Keyla. “Ever walked outside miss? Ever met a real Binder? Didn’t think so. You’ve been reading too many fairy stories. Let me guess, after you let me go, you want me to place an unbreakable bond of loyalty on you and your boyfriend?” Bortim chuckled like he’d made a good joke.
Elion blushed, and Keyla scowled.
“No such luck, I’m afraid,” Bortim said. “I’m less of a judge, and more of a lawyer anyways. Everyone always tries to formulate their own orders and they end up contradicting themselves. Then I have to come sort things out.”
He grabbed the handkerchief Keyla wore around her upper arm. She tried to resist, but the manacles restricted her.
Bortim grinned, undoing the knot and shaking it out, holding the kerchief in front of his third eye. “This will do,” he said, his smile turning malicious. “This will do.”
