The council room wasn't gloomy anymore. Now, it was buzzing with a crazy mix of anger and fear. What Elias said hit everyone hard. The idea of another Scribe, a kid no less, being dragged in chains to the Prime Chroma's corruption was a horrible thought for everyone there. It felt like a personal attack on their most important job: protecting the last bits of their kind.
We can't be sure it's not a trap, Orin, the elder with a mossy green aura, said. Usually, his voice was calm, but now it was tight with worry. It's too risky. Going into the middle of the Greying Lands, right up to the Obsidian Spire, is like suicide. He's trying to trick us.
Of course, it's a trap! Lyra snapped, her voice cutting through the room. The scar on her face seemed to glow with anger. She stood up, her good hand on the table, her purple aura bright. But what else can we do? Just watch while he turns another kid's soul into a weapon? Let another Finn be created when we could have stopped it? That's not an option. That's giving up.
She looked around the room, daring anyone to disagree. He thinks we'll be careful. He thinks we'll think about the odds and stay hidden. So, we'll do the opposite. We'll hit him like a surprise attack.
And who's going to do that? Orin shot back. We don't have many fighters left. Our best are hurt or dead. And the boy isn't ready. He pointed at me, and everyone stared at me, with a mix of hope and worry.
I stayed quiet, listening. The silent scream of the captured Scribe was constantly bugging me. It felt desperate and scared, like a bird caught in a trap. It felt familiar, like my own lonely childhood, but way worse.
Ready or not, he's our best bet Elias said unexpectedly. He opened his eyes, and they looked certain. He faced a Null-Gorge and a Captain and didn't break. He's dealing with the weight of our dead and he's still standing. He is ready.
He looked at me. But this isn't going to be stealth. Not fully. So, your training in making a quiet space is important now. It won't be for hiding. It will be a weapon. It will be like space with muted Chroma which means no communication, no senses, no power. Sort of like an anvil so we can break their trap.
The plan was wild, risky, and based on speed, surprise, and something the Prime Chroma wasn't counting on: me.
We would take a small, skilled team which was Lyra, myself, and two others for their skills. Kael will be the forger due to his unbreakable will and ability of the color red and direct force. Anya, was good at sneaking in undetected.
We wouldn't slowly go through the Greying Lands. We would use some forgotten paths - some dangerous shortcuts that even the Ash-Singers avoided. It was a rough move that Elias could only open for a bit. We'd show up deep within the messed-up area, close to the Obsidian Spire.
We weren't going to attack the Spire. We were going to stop the convoy carrying the kid. We'd hit them fast. I will use my silence to make chaos, free the Scribe, and leave before the Prime Chroma's forces got to us.
The plan had a ton of ways to fail. It depended on my wide-area power working under stress. It depended on the convoy taking the route we guessed. It depended on luck.
As the council broke up, Elias pulled me aside.
You feel the child's fear, he said.
I nodded, with the psychic whimper bothering me inside. I can't feel anything else.
Good, he said. Remember that. That is what will guide you to them when everything else fails. But you have to control it. Don't let their fear get to you. You have to be calm. You're not just saving a body, Kaelen. You're saving a mind that's about to break. You could be the only thing that can calm them down.
The next day was a mix of crazy preparations. Kael gave me new armor. A shoulder pad made from a weird gray metal that was neutral. Siphon-shard, he said, as he put it on. It will help you focus. A lens for your power. It felt heavy, a lot of responsibility.
Anya, didn't verbally communicate. She just grabbed some pouches of dust and shadow stones. But I was more worried about her silence than I would be if she verbally communicated about my doubts.
Lyra was intense. She drilled me on the plan, the hand signals, and when I would use the silence.
The field, Kaelen, she said. How big can you make it? How long can you hold it?
I don't know, I answered. I haven't ever done it before.
Then deal with it under stress, she said. There is absolutely no choice. That kid and your people rely on your discovery of hidden strength..
I went to the amphitheater one last time. I didn't try to make a bubble. I just sat in the middle of everything, feeling the pad on my shoulder.
I reached for the child's scream. I let it consume me, not panicking, but focusing. This was the purpose. To stop this terror from happening to someone else.
I didn't force my power. It came from that purpose. A gentle mist of stillness.
The Chroma softened. The symphony became distant, muffled. A quiet sphere shimmered around me, maybe ten feet big. It was shaky, but it was there. For a minute, I sat in quiet, with everything else muted.
When I stopped, I was sweaty and tired. But I was smiling. It was real.
The time arrived. We were at the edge, the four of us.
Elias stood before the rock face. The trip is weird. It will feel like dying. Keep your head. He touched the rock, opening a hole with disoriented energy.
Go! Lyra yelled.
We fell into the mess.
It was worse than dying. There was no light, no sound, no Chroma. Just twisting tension. My soul felt ripped. I locked onto the terrified Scribe. It was my anchor.
When I'd had enough, we had reached our destination.
The air was cold, smelling of ash. The sky was twilight.
We were now in the Greying Lands.
The area was bad. The Chroma was a ghost here. I could feel sad echoes such as greenness and blue being pulled towards a point on the horizon.
The Obsidian Spire.
Not a tower of stone, but zero. A void. The scream of the Scribe was a painful needle pointing at it.
We were in a narrow canyon, hidden by the energy of the rift. Anya just went into the shaded area. Lyra and Kael took spots, listening.
Report, Lyra whispered.
Anya's voice was barely audible. Convoy. Guarded. The kid is in the middle. A Captain leads them.
A Captain from the coast?
Positions, Lyra said. We attack at the narrows ahead. Kael, attack from the front. Anya, free the child. Kaelen, she told me. Kael explodes, then you put silence in the canyon. Mute them. Blind them.
We slipped through the shadows. The pull of the Spire dragged. We arrived at the choke point and took our positions, looking down at the convoy.
The Ash-Singers moved. The wagons were cages. I looked at the middle, and felt panic.
This was real.
Kael had a war hammer. He closed his eyes, showing his intentions. Kael was gathering his will.
Lyra waved downward.
Kael released while falling.
His hammer was aimed at the ground. No explosion of fire, but pure shocking force.
The lead wagon crashed. Ash-Singers flew.
KAELEN! Lyra screamed.
Here we go,
I found the image of child. I felt the lens on my shoulder. I poured my power.
And the sounds quieted.
The explosion gone. The shouts stopped. Everything still. A dome of gray covered the canyon.
Chroma was muted. The Ash-Singers were lost with no power. They were blind and mute in the essence.
I was really being drained. I was holding this nothing and the pain hurt so badly.
Kael was using force, breaking armor. Anya moved to open the cage.
The Captain suddenly woke up. But he was in chaos because there was no Chroma. Since he had experience, he grabbed his void-blade.
The Captain! said I.
Lyra jumped from the canyon. Her rod had a beam, which was an object of pure thought. It stunned the Captain, and let Kael get the hit he needed.
Anya opened the cage. She reached into the space.
That is when it happened.
A spark with resistance. A power wanted to push my resistance from the cage.
The captive Scribe!
Their wild power was pushing. Their fear was creating chaos inside my silence.
Blood trickled from my nose. The sphere flickered.
Hurry! I yelled.
Anya half dragged, half carried the kid.
That did it. That spark let someone from the Obsidian Spire know.
It wasn't just a Captain. It was vaster or colder. A wave of nullification counter-attacked. Our time was up.
Fall back! Lyra yelled. To the gateway!
Kael used his hammer to make dust, then ran. Anya carried the Scribe towards Lyra, who was opening the rift.
I had trouble because of the pressure form the Spire was so bad.
The rift tore open.
Kaelen, now! Lyra shouted.
I pushed my force like a beam and all of the Ash-Singers could not see and I did not force it.
The sound and Chroma suddenly rushed back. I fell back.
I saw Anya and the kid enter into the portal. Lyra was at the edge, protecting from the Captain.
Lyra! I yelled.
Go! she said.
Kael pushed me into the portal, I was tumbling through emptiness - but I thought of Lyra standing against evil. We had the child. But it was a close win.