Chapter 9—Shanaledge

Rory allowed me to access his memories, well the ones he wanted me to see anyway. I was taken back to a place that looked Medieval, but the technology everyone possessed was astounding. Some little huts and cabins surrounded the city, while all the buildings inside the city were made of stone. The sky was nothing like I had seen before; it was a dark, rich blue that contained a purple hue. There were two big bright moons, one close and the other at a further distance. The trees and other foliage emitted a soft green glow. Everything in Shanaledge was absolutely breathtaking.

Everyone here is telepathic, so we had to learn from an early age to keep certain things blocked. If we didn’t, then everyone would know every intimate detail of each other’s lives. We have to learn to block out thoughts as well as shield ourselves from other people’s thoughts. Rory’s voice echoed in my head. Everything, and everyone, is different here. With all of us having the gift of telepathy, some were given other more unique gifts combined with this one. Some of us were able to travel to different realms, that’s how I was able to find you. In Shanaledge, we can feel our soulmates around. There is a sort of pull between us that makes us come together. Everyone in this dimension has the ability, but not everyone can find their soulmate.

I watched everything play out. During the day people worked, school-aged children learned, and younger children played outside with their mothers. Everyone worked for their keep; there was no place for monetary value or gain here. Whatever skill a person excelled in, whatever they were interested in or wanted to provide to their society was accepted and they were granted access to whatever they desired. If you were an excellent fighter, you joined the king's guard to become a soldier. If you were exceptional at hunting, you hunted food for everyone. If you were great at math and creativity, you became an architect. And say a person did not help out society, they were not given anything and had to hunt for their food, build their own place to live, etc. There was plenty of everything because greed was eliminated by this way of life, and somehow it worked.

By night, the whole community gathered together to socialize and party. The atmosphere of the place was truly intoxicating. The brick-laid streets were lit up, fireworks were displayed, and there were at least ten buffet tables that were filled from one end to the other with any food imaginable. Because of the drunken parties, of course, the king’s soldiers would have to be on duty to continue peace.

In the back of the city, stood an enormous castle where the royal family lived. The king or queen had always been hand-selected from the royal lineage when they were still children. By this point in a child’s life, it is easy to tell whether they will be benevolent leaders or dictators.

The king, of Rory’s time, was the kindest of all the royal family. He would host a dinner every night for all his subjects, which he would call his fellow townspeople because he thought the word “subjects” was a harsh term. This was mainly for the people who did not want to spend their nights outside with fireworks or wanted a change of scenery that night. King Aldwyn and Queen Naomi had two children, Prince Delwyn and Princess Phebe, who all socialized and acquainted themselves with their people. The king was a portly man with a brown beard that had started to gray and very kind blue eyes. His wife was a beautiful soul with long blonde hair that reached the small of her back and styled with many braids. She had red, rosy lips with a very thin frame. She also looked to be a few years; maybe ten years younger than the king. The prince was around ten years old, had short brown hair, and inherited his father’s kind blue eyes. The little princess could not have been older than seven and looked stunningly like her mother.

Everyone would meet in the dining hall which was straight across from the entrance. The dining hall was huge, containing no less than one hundred tables with benches that could seat fifty people at one table. The stone walls contained fireplaces every few yards away from each other. The windows were a bit high, making it difficult to look outside but providing excellent sunlight and natural light into the room. Of course, it is usually dark by the time guests arrived so the gas lanterns that hung in a line across the ceiling, and the ones on the walls were lit, creating an inviting and peaceful ambiance.

Rory was a warrior, a soldier for the king's guard because of how well he fought. In training, he surpassed many of his comrades in hand-to-hand combat, and with weapons, such as swords, as well as long-ranged weapons, such as throwing knives and archery. He was named the first soldier to climb the ranks from the complete bottom to second in command. Asher was with Rory’s training class making a powerful friend and competitor.

We had shared a lot of the same interests and would often compete with one another for fun. Rory’s voice rang in my ears again. We constantly made each other better this way, excelling quicker.

The scene changed from a completely magical place to a courtyard with training dummies and targets. There was a man that Rory was particularly focused on. The man was scrawny, not one that you would necessarily expect to be training with the king's guard. He looked peculiar, which everyone seemed to think him odd because everyone was staring at him. A little blush washed over his face as he realized everyone was staring at him.

One day, Asher and I were holding a training session for new soldiers…Silas was there. He wasn’t very good at anything we threw at him—except, he had the most powerful telepathic abilities that anyone had ever seen. Silas was the thin, small guy that everyone had been staring at! I reported this to King Aldwyn who told us that his ability could prove useful. The king wasn’t completely sure what Silas would be able to do for the king's guard or soldiers at this time. He could eventually become a great communicator for times of war, which was a rare occurrence back then.

There was a narrow stairwell in the hallway to the right of the dining hall in the castle that led to the barracks where the soldiers rested. There were rows of cots in this room with matching chests at the foot of them for that soldier’s assigned personal belongings. At the end of the barracks was a door that led to an excluded area; no one outside the castle could access it because there was a mountain that stood behind the castle. This is where the courtyard for the soldier’s training was located.

Another staircase next to this one moved down behind and under the castle. This is where the cells were, which were rarely filled with people. Sometimes people would be in here, mostly because of their behavior at night when they were drunk.

The stone steps to the left, before entering the dining hall led to another corridor with numerous rooms. On this floor, the people who took care of the royal family lived. Maids, cooks, and those who tend to the king all inhabited the rooms on this floor. Across from these rooms was a gigantic library that held very old books, with very little shelf space in the back to hold new ones. The shelves ran from ceiling to floor, some built of wood while others were built into the walls.

Further down this corridor, there was another flight of stairs where the royal family lived. There were about ten rooms on this floor; a study for the king, a playroom, a schoolroom for their children, three of them were for the royal family, another room was specifically only for the queen, and the rest were for guests, from other towns. There was also a passage to a beautiful garden for the queen and children. Not many visitors were permitted to roam around here.

The whole castle was decorated with, what looked to be expensive finery. Gigantic dark red and dark blue-purple patterned rugs ran the whole length of the halls. There were finely crafted vases in the corners that contained beautiful flowers, such as hydrangeas, daffodils, lilies, roses, and tulips. There was also an assortment of objects in the foyer before you walked into the dining hall, which contained objects of the royals’ ancestors. Paintings filled the corridors, mostly they portrayed ancestors, but some were of the best soldiers, friends, and some were paintings of scenery.

Silas wasn’t a handsome man from Rory’s memory. He was about 5’ 5” and had dark blue eyes that reminded me of the ocean, and he wore his light brown hair with white highlights pulled back away from his slender face.

Silas was by far the most private out of all the people on the guard. He spent many hours in the library, reading and learning as much as he could about different realms, architecture, cooking; he just enjoyed learning. He was a very quiet person. Many felt that he was ‘odd,’ but they never excluded him from anything.

What I was witnessing suddenly changed, from looking at Silas, watching him read books and train to a fast-paced recollection from different days, all containing Silas.

Now I was in a room with a desk, the King standing before me with Asher and Rory standing adjacent to him. The room had a fire roaring in the fireplace, a distressed look playing on the King’s face. About a year or two later, Asher and I were called on by King Aldwyn. We stood before him in his study awaiting our orders.

“I know both of you have been watching and trying to socialize with Silas,” the King began. “Do you both know of anything that he has been planning?” he inquired while closely watching Rory and Asher’s every move.

“No, sir,” Rory responded with an expression of confusion.

“No, sir,” Asher replied equally confused by this question.

King Aldwyn sat back in his chair with a sigh of relief. “Good…good…I’m glad you both are spared from it. However…I must ask you both to now go find him and bring him to me. He went to stay with his aunt in a little cottage just outside the city,” he said before getting up. “Make sure he is properly detained. I cannot risk him hurting anyone.”

“Sir,” Rory started, “what is it that we are to charge him for? What has he done?”

The king turned around fighting to hold back rage by Rory’s inquiries. “Treason…” he finally stated with his jaw clenched. “Now bring him to my quarters immediately!”

“Yes, sir!” Asher and Rory answered in unison.

They walked down the corridor, down the first flight of stairs, then the next until they were out of the castle. Rory wanted to be away from the king before he and Asher started talking.

“Treason?” Asher asked in absolute confusion. “How could he possibly be arrested for treason?”

“I’m not sure, but you know the king wouldn’t take action unless he was sure. He must have had others spying on him to obtain the information he needed.”

“But we see him every day. It did not seem like he was up to anything,” Asher replied skeptically. His face betrayed his emotion as he fought not to question the king’s motives.

Rory did not say anything in response. They walked side by side down the dark streets that were starting to fill with residents partying. The trees illuminated the streets with a green glow while the gas lamps made the visibility better. When the group of people started to become more spread out as they walked past the party, Asher began again, “Do you think it could be possible that the king may be going senile?”

Rory smiled. “I don’t think he is that old.”

“What do you think he could have possibly done to be called on for treason?”

“I don’t know?”

The duo walked the meandering path to the outskirts of the city. There were no gas lamps here to light their way—only the beautiful glowing trees. Rory and Asher passed by many huts and cottages on their way to collect Silas.

He must have lived deep in the woods because soon they weren’t walking on a path anymore. If there was one, then it was overgrown and not well managed by those who lived out here. Most of the people this far out of the way usually do not contribute to the town. They mostly want to stay to themselves; not be bothered. Rory’s voice spoke to me.

Deep in the forest, behind many overgrown weeds and plants, there sat a very small cottage. The trees that surrounded the immediate vicinity of the house were dead, with no green light emitting from them. It was as if the very life or magic had been drained from them. The cottage didn’t look big enough to house many people; not even two. From the outside, the front door was placed in the center of the rectangular face, one window on either side stood about three feet from the door. Some stairs contained four steps, that reached the front door. They were so narrow and uneven that only one person could climb. It was a house meant for one person, two max, but it appeared that as many as five people lived here.

Rory walked up the steps, knocked at the door, and walked back down to stand with Asher. They waited in silence, listening to the footsteps within the small house. The door opened with a noisome creak.

“Yes?” a monotonous tone greeted the two guards.

“Silas, we were sent by the king to bring you in for questioning,” Rory’s voice sternly said, echoing in the quietness.

“Questioning or arresting?” he asked defensively, pulling the door closed behind him. His shoulders squared as annoyance filled his face.

“We have orders to arrest you on the count of treason,” Rory explained.

“Treason?” Silas replied with a laugh.

“Please come with us,” Asher broke in. “Maybe we can have all of this taken care of and you can be back home for supper.”

Silas only laughed at Asher’s lament. “You two are complete fools. If the ‘king,’” he said with disgust, “wishes to see me, then he only need come.”

Rory and Asher were taken aback by this statement.

“Silas, come peacefully, or we are authorized to use force,” Rory stated.

“I’d love to see you try.” A smirk of amusement spread across his face.

Rory became more than angry by Silas’ statement. Suddenly, Silas crumbled to his knees with his hands covering his ears and a pained expression on his face. Sounds of pain and anguish escaped his mouth, as Rory glared at him, never breaking eye contact. He somehow was hurting Silas through telepathic means.

“Rory, I think that’s enough,” Asher said while shackling Silas. “Rory, that’s enough!” he demanded.

Finally, he stopped, never breaking his gaze from Silas while saying in a stern voice, “Don’t EVER challenge me.”

Silas remained laughing hysterically on the ground with his hands restrained.

“Jeez, Rory, you really didn’t have to do that. You could have killed him! What did you do?” Asher responded while bringing Silas to his feet.

“I only overloaded his mind with a series of images and several high-frequency sounds,” he replied coolly. “Besides, it made our jobs a whole hell of a lot easier.”

The three journeyed back to the festive town with Silas giggling excessively the whole time. He didn’t even stop when they were standing before the king.

“What is this?” King Aldwyn asked, pointing to the giggling Silas who sat on his knees.

“I think Rory went overboard with his use of ‘lethal force’ order,” Asher responded half-humorously.

The king grunted before asking Asher to leave. “Rory, you wait by the door. I have questions for this man, but I think he may be staying in the dungeons tonight.”

Rory obeyed his order, only able to hear murmurs of the king’s voice and the hysterical laughter from Silas. After a few minutes, the king’s voice became louder as rage began to fill within him. His words became indistinguishable, and he began to speaking quickly. “Rory!” the king finally yelled for him to enter the room. “Bring this fool to the dungeon where he may rot until he loosens his lips!”

This statement shocked Rory. “Yes, sir,” he replied with a sense of trouble.

The king was furious, but even at his most cross, the king would never make you suffer without food.

“You are no king! You are the traitor, Aldwyn!” Silas began screaming as Rory picked him to his feet. “The other realms! That’s where the truth lies! Your rule means nothing!”

“Wait, Rory!” the king demanded as he walked up to Silas. He placed his thumbs on Silas’s forehead and his fingers around the back of his head. There was a blinding flash of white light that spread through the room. Silas now lay unconscious on the floor.

The king took away Silas’s ability to go to different realms. The king is the only person allowed to be taught to do this, which is why the right person is carefully selected from the royal family. King Aldwyn never used this ability before, not many kings had to use this ability. There was only one king before him that had to use this on a subject. Even though the king took away this one power, he felt guilty for doing so, but it needed to be done.

Silas stayed in the dungeons for weeks without so much as giving the king the information he needed. Every week, the king took another power away from Silas with the promise of returning them if and when he decided to cooperate. But Silas never did, until the only thing he was left with was his telepathy. The king refused to take this ability away because it was an ability that we are all born with. He thought that if he took that away, then he might as well have killed Silas. Unfortunately, this choice had grave consequences.

As Rory spoke to me, I watched what seemed like every day of Silas in the dungeons, refusing to eat his meals. He had become paranoid, verging on insane. I had to watch over him a few times; witnessing his deterioration. As time went on, things in Shanaledge had become very restless. People started arguing in the streets, the parties that once filled every night with the happy celebration were now filled with brawls. The people that we once swore to protect were now, one by one beginning to hate us and started revolting. Even with Silas locked up underneath the castle, he was influencing the people to become disobedient. He made them paranoid that the king was unjust and traitorous.

Weeks had gone by, and the chambers filled with many weak-willed people. Some of them were friends of Rory’s and fellow guardsmen who had tried, unsuccessfully to kill the king. Everyone was starting to lose hope.

Many of the townsfolk started to band together against the rebels that Silas created. Some were accepted as guardsmen while others resorted to going rogue because they weren’t guardsmen material.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Our society had crumbled every hour Silas was locked up. There were many times when King Aldwyn had brought him for questioning, pleading for this madness to end, but Silas's only response was laughter.

Months later, we were informed of malicious intent. Many of the townspeople were coming that night to free Silas and kill the royals. Every guardsman was called to hold them off. We couldn’t just go into the city and start questioning or using deadly force because then it would have elevated the situation by validating Silas’s corruption. So we waited for them to arrive, but what happened was something completely different than what I could have ever expected…

“Rory, go fight with your comrades. I shall stay here in my chamber…Stay with them, protect them, but try not to die,” the king ordered.

I found this request to be odd. The king never just stayed in his quarters in a time of war. He was always there fighting alongside his men to personally resolve the issue at hand.

“But, sir,” Rory began, “I think my skills would be better suited to your needs.”

The king only wore a sad smile. “Go now, Rory. Defend your people.”

Rory obeyed, leaving the room, though his heart weighed heavy, knowing something was wrong. Something would happen to the king. As he started to walk away, the king slowly said, in a reminiscent tone, “You have always been a great warrior Rory, a true friend, and fiercely loyal…I am grateful to have found a guard—a man—like you.” The king closed the door behind Rory before anything more could be said.

Rage started to consume Rory because he knew he would be better off protecting the king, but he would need to help his comrades to keep the rioting townspeople at bay. He could not be in two places at once.

As Rory was contemplating his options, he noticed Asher coming his way. “Asher, guard the king’s door in case some of these angry villagers get in,” he demanded, still walking down the corridor.

“But I’m supposed to stay up high,” He was ordered to do this for his great archery skills. “I am told to keep them away at a distance.”

“Well, your orders have changed,” Rory stated coldly as his fiery gaze caught Asher’s eyes.

“Alright, man,” Asher replied as confusion took over his face. “Just calm down, dude.”

Asher walked to his new position as Rory followed the stairwells until he was outside the dining hall. The beautiful city that once stood here was now bleak and scary. Soldiers were lined at the front of the castle, some with their weapons unsheathed. There were archers lined on the roof and other high places with arrows knocked for the invaders.

The mob stood angrily twelve feet away with their make-shift weapons and raised torches. Everyone in the crowd was screaming and yelling at the soldiers. What they were saying was unintelligible as they screamed their chants in an uncoordinated fashion.

Rory stood before the soldiers. “We are here to keep peace and to not allow these misguided citizens into the castle nor near the royal family.” His stern voice rang out as it resonated with the soldiers. “We are ordered to use whatever force deemed necessary, but injury or death is to be avoided unless there is no other choice for your safety and comrades. Are we clear on our orders?”

“Yes, sir!” the soldiers sang in unison.

Just as the king's guard finished their acknowledgment, the rioters decided to charge. There were definitely more of them than there were of soldiers.

Rory’s bravery shown through at this moment as he took down many of the criminals while helping his fellow comrades stay alive. Until there was a commotion that broke his focus coming from the castle.

He left his fellow soldiers' sides quickly to see what was going on inside.

Prisoners had been set loose as they destroyed everything within the castle. The dining hall was ablaze, chairs and tables damaged, and almost perished from flames. The stairwells leading up to the king were ransacked, paintings demolished, and it looked as though someone bombed the hallway with debris and pieces of stone missing.

Rory hurried as fast as he could to the king, but when he reached the door, he heard a few voices inside, mostly muffled. He readied his weapon and barged through the door.

“Unhand the king!” Rory demanded waiting for Silas to set the king free.

The king stood on his knees, arms wrapped behind his body. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. He looked at Rory giving him a slight nod and just in a few brief instances he was dead.

“No!” Rory cried, running over to the dying king.

Silas remained, laughing at his successful plan.

Rory was holding the king, watching the life drain slowly from his eyes. King Aldwyn motioned for Rory to come closer.

He obeyed, moving his ear to the king’s mouth.

In his last breath, he whispered, “Follow him…Even if he is not worth it…Follow his leadership, and then you can find yourself where you belong and…take…him…down…” A gasp left the king’s body, and he now lay motionless on the floor.

After this day…everything in Shanaledge had changed…