The Broken Ones

Chapter 14:1 -Beroal

-Why would she do that? Soi looked Nibbles in the eye, still floating above ground in Ana’s garden Soi felt as he was trapped in a spider web of confusion and lots of unanswered questions.
-I was going to tell you, Nibbles smiled back to him. -Keep in mind that Ana did not want you to know this. To quote her “the less he knows the better”. Now, I don’t agree with her which is why I’m telling you this. There are two reasons to why Ana didn’t want you to escort her to Beroal. First off, the council meeting, their great interest in you. Don’t you find this odd?
-Yes… but isn’t that because Ana has never had a guard before, so to speak of.
-But wasn’t it the revelation of your name that created the greatest reaction?
-I suppose so.
Soi had considered the whole meeting a bit bizarre and brushed it off as strange broken behaviour.
-Yes, brokens don’t act or think like you non-brokens. But keep in mind that we don’t particular care about people like you. Now, why would the council even look at you, even if you are Ana’s guard, you’re still just a guard? Is there anything that makes you special, Soi?
Nibbles gave Soi a meaningful glance and waited patiently for Soi to get it.
-I’m the Spring Saviour, Soi said and realisation daunted him.
-Exactly. You can, with your water, heal injured people, for instance brokens. That gift could be used for good to heal people on the brink of death or… it could be used bad. A competitive broken could eliminate potential broken rival in their struggle for power.
Soi remembered his and Ana’s short conversation after their journey down the mountains.
-What if it healed me?
-Not one drop, Ana.
-You don’t know that, it might take away my powers, and I really need them now.
-Now, where did the council send Ana? Nibbles’ voice interrupted Soi’s train of thoughts.
-To Beroal, Soi answered.
-And who did they want her to bring with her?
-Me.
-And who is waiting for Ana in Beroal.
-Jack.
-Precisely. Reason number two. Jack, the Academy’s new chairman, a very competitive man who loves power. It is also a man Ana truly detest and loath. A man even I detest and loath, Nibbles threw out his arms dramatically and smiled to Soi.
-She fears him, Ana fears Jack, Soi stated and thought back on her strong reaction to the mentioning of Jack’s name.
-Yes, she does, based on her instincts. Nibbles stopped smiling. -Jack’s a dangerous man and is not to be trusted. If the council knows about the Spring Saviour you can be sure Jack knows as well. How he knows is a mystery.
-Then why did Ana go to Beroal if she fears Jack?
-Ana had to go, she’s under order. Jack’s tried to befriend her for years, she is after all the most powerful broken living and Jack loves power. She’ll be in his grip.
For a second time reality daunted Soi.
-It’s a trap, he whispered anxiously.
-It’s a sacrifice. She went to Beroal to protect you, to claim that you were killed by the monsters on her way here. If Jack believes you’re dead you are safe, which is Ana’s only wish, Nibbles voice was dead serious and saddened.
-We have to stop her. You have to let me go! I don’t care if you’re protecting me or not, we have to save her, Soi moved and tried to break free from the spell that held him in the air.
-And we’re going to. Nibbles rose from his position and at the same moment Soi fell to the ground. -I agreed to protect you as it is fun but I won’t do it in exchange for Ana’s life. Seeing her sacrifice herself isn’t fun, it’s sad, he said through gritted teeth.

By dark the two of them left Ana’s mansion concealed by the night and dark capes. Nibbles explained that to hide the truth from the Academy that Ana wasn’t even bringing Soi with her the whole group, Ana, Jagger, Haz and Ard, which had left earlier that morning had covered themselves in dark capes so their faces couldn’t be seen. He could actually be one of them. Soi smiled at Nibbles description and thought of how Ana had always preferred capes and how he now shared her opinion. What did bother Soi was that the group had taken his black mare with them so the Academy would be under the pretense that Soi actually was with them. That left Soi without a horse. He had to sit behind Nibbles on his roan stallion.
They left the Academy without being stopped, not that stopping people were the normal procedure of the Academy but Soi had felt some anxiety whether they would be stopped anyway. On the outside of the walls of the Academy City Soi could breathe normally. Surrounding him was a world full of colours, even if it only were the colour of sun burnt grass and a blue sky and the grey mountains in the distance. At least it was more colours than inside the Academy, though Soi would miss Ana’s garden. The garden had reminded him of home, of Spring Island.
-How long will it take to travel to Beroal? Soi asked Nibbles to get his mind of his family.
-It took us four or five days to cross the plains to the Academy… my estimation is that it’ll take us fifteen days and the other should be at least one day ahead of us.
-More than two weeks?! But on our journey to the Academy we were hunted by monsters, which sped of the travel. Did you include that in your estimation?
-No, since I don’t think we’ll be attacked anymore. But I promise I’ll try to keep up the speed anyway, Nibbles winked with his one eye.
Nibbles kept his promise and they travelled each day at a steady pace as long as the sun hung in the sky. By nightfall the two stopped and made a small fire to make their meal over. One night after a dire meal Nibbles hung a kettle over the fading fire to warm some tea. Soi couldn’t understand where Nibbles kept all his packing, he had never seen that kettle before and when he looked around their camp it was filled with a lot of things Soi never had seen before. Among Nibbles scattered belongings was the box with the flute.
-This is just a normal flute, isn’t it? Soi asked with his eyebrows furrowed skeptical.
-Yes, Nibbles answered amused. –Can you play?
-Some. My father taught me. He was a lot better than me though.
-Well, I can’t play it at all, Nibbles shrugged his shoulders. -It’s yours if you want it.
-I don’t know.
-It would be a nice twist of fate if you took it.
Nibbles held out the box to Soi and reluctantly Soi accepted it. He took out the flute and put it by his lips. Immediately a little melody came to him which he begun to play, it was a melody his father had taught him a long time ago. When he had followed the melody’s rhythms and tones to the end he put down the flute.
-How are we going to save Ana? He asked quietly with his eyes fixed on the flute.
-I don’t know. It’ll be hard. It’s only you and me, Nibbles answered.
Soi didn’t like the doubt wavering in Nibbles voice but he could understand it very well. The same doubt made volts inside of his heart every time the night sky fell meaning they were one day closer to Beroal than the day before. So far Nibbles prediction about the monsters had been correct which made Soi more worried for each night. The still hadn’t come up with a plan to save Ana. Nibbles had said from the start that he didn’t need to worry about Jagger, Haz and Ard. They would disappear into the city when they arrived in Beroal. Ana, on the other hand, would go straight to the Academy’s headquarters in Beroal and there she would be surrounded by loyal followers of the chairman and it would be almost impossible to get her out. For Soi, a non-broken, it would be impossible and even with Nibbles by his side the odds weren’t in their favour.
Soi sighed and tried to think of something else. He turned the flute in his hands.
-Why did you agree to transport the flute? He asked Nibbles.
-As I said, it seemed fun… Nibbles shrugged his shoulders and smiled weakly.
-Why would they let you? I mean, you and Ana are friends, why would they…
-The closer we are the greater is the betrayal. Maybe they thought I really was on their side. But I’m on my own fun side, Nibbles smiled widely.

To be continued...
By J.L.Frick