The Longest Day

“Quiet!” a man Tahni could only assume was the town leader called out when the square was finally filled. People stood shoulder-to-shoulder and pressed tight against one another in order to fit into the space. It surprised Tahni how many people actually lived in this town—there must have been at least three times as many people as there were in Greengrove.

“These men arrived in our town this morning carrying urgent news,” the town leader continued, addressing the crowd. “I have heard what they have to say, and encourage you all to listen. No forceful action will be taken and each and every one of you is free to do as you wish, however this matter is not one to take lightly and I strongly advise that you heed this warning.”

He fell silent for a moment, watching the crowd, then turned, gave a single nod to one of the men in the black uniforms, and stepped down to allow the man to take his place before the mass of people.

“In three weeks’ time, on the summer solstice—the longest day of the year—this world will fall, and each of you will fall with it. Unless, that is, you join us,” the man said, his voice ringing out over the gathered townsfolk.

Horrified gasps travelled through the crowd. Fear spread from one person to the next, almost like smoke, the way it twisted its fingers softly around each of them, catching the breath in their throats.

Tahni couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She realised now that these were Slay’s men, dressed in their battle uniforms, and come to frighten these people into joining them in their new world.

“We offer you safety and protection from the destruction of the world you live in now,” the man continued. “We offer you solace and comfort for the things you may lose. But we also offer a new world in which you will thrive alongside us. This world, my friends, is crumbling beneath your feet, and there is not much time left for those of you who might choose to stay here, where you are.”
Heads swivelled as people whispered anxiously to one another.

“We do not mean to alarm you by saying this; simply to warn you so that you have the chance to take action to save yourselves, your children, your loved ones…” he trailed off, letting his words sink in.
“Some of you may not believe us. We know we cannot offer proof of what we claim. We ask you, though, if you are willing to risk everything on the chance that we have come here to lie to you. We ask you if you are willing to risk everything on the chance that we have made this up to fool you, though I can’t imagine the reasoning behind such a notion. What do we have to gain from this?” he asked, waiting for an answer, though none came. “Nothing. We stand to gain nothing but the knowledge that because of us, some of you will not be dead come the solstice.

“We do not expect you to make your decision quickly. In a week, we will return and those of you who choose to join us are free do so. We will take you to our camp until the solstice, and then you will join us where it’s safe.”

“How? How can you protect us if the world is falling to pieces, as you say?” someone in the crowd called out. Several more people murmured their agreements, demanding an explanation.

As the crowd grew louder, the man raised his hands, palms forward, to hush them. When it was quiet enough, he spoke again.

“It would take a great deal of explaining to tell you how we can keep you safe with us. And even if we could explain, very few of you would believe us. Because of that, it would be far easier to show you, rather than tell you. That is what we plan to do, should you join us and choose life over death. Of course, as your town leader said, no one will be forced into anything. You may choose to stay here, or you may choose to come with us. If you choose to come with us—and so see for yourselves how we can protect you—but you still find it difficult to believe what we are saying, then you will be free to leave us again and return to your homes. All we can ask of you is that you give us a chance—for your own sakes,” the man said.

Tahni glanced around the mass of people, trying to gauge their reactions to the whole ordeal. With a sinking feeling in her gut, she saw that Jaylen’s face, among so many others, held nothing but shock and terror.

They would follow these men to the mountains when they returned in a week. They would walk straight into the trap Slay had set for them; they would walk straight into his grasp. And he would not let them leave again like this man claimed. He would enslave them, Tahni was certain of that.

After all, a new world requires as many people as possible, and Slay would surely need labourers.

The man addressing the crowd now clasped his hands together, repeated once more that he hoped they would make the right decision, inclined his head, and stepped down to rejoin the rest of Slay’s men. A moment later, the town leader addressed the people of Greybridge again.

“Please do not make your decisions in haste. Take time to think about what you believe is best for yourselves and your families. Those of you who wish to leave, be ready in one week. Until then, I ask you all to please do your best to stay calm.”

With that, he stepped down once again, and the crowd dispersed.

“What in all Heavens was that about?” Jaylen murmured, almost to himself, it seemed. His mouth hung open slightly and his eyes were wider than usual. He, like the rest of the town’s people, was in shock.

“I don’t know,” Vita lied, her face unreadable.

“I… What are you going to do now? Will you stay here and wait for them to come back, or are you still going to leave?”

“We need to keep moving,” Vita told him resolutely.

“Are you sure? Those guys looked pretty serious. Maybe you should stay…”

Vita and Tahni locked eyes. “No,” Vita said, turning back to Jaylen. “We can’t. It’s not an option for us.”

He seemed unsure, but after a moment he nodded, bit his lip, and spoke. “Okay. We’ll go and get your horses and then I’ll find my parents.”

With that, the three of them moved off toward the stables again, arriving quickly. Jaylen led the way to the stalls Claire and Belle waited in at the far end of the stables, struggling to unlock them with trembling hands. The man’s speech had shaken him badly.

Tahni heard the soft scuff of a boot behind them and spun.

One of Slay’s black-clad men stood at the entrance to the stables.

“Vita,” she hissed, catching her friend’s wrist in her hand and jerking her chin towards the man now advancing on them.

Vita looked up, saw him, and pulled Tahni back by the wrist she still held. “Get behind me. You can’t fight with your ribs,” she ordered.

Jaylen looked up when he heard Vita speak, his brow furrowing at the sight of the man approaching.

“What—“

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Vita Augur and the prophecy’s victim,” the man taunted, ignoring Jaylen.

“Vita, how does he know your name?” Tahni whispered.

“I have to admit, I didn’t expect it to be so easy to find you. Lord Slay’s first attempt on your lives didn’t go particularly well, but still, I assumed you would be more careful now. It appears I was mistaken.”

Vita stayed silent, staring the man down as she focused on her gifts, willing him to hear towns people approaching so he wouldn’t be able to attack lest he get caught in the act.

A crease appeared between her brows a moment later, though, when he didn’t seem even the slightest bit perturbed.

“It won’t work, Seer,” he leered, guessing at what she was trying to do. “Lord Slay’s sorcerer made sure of that. Every man who leaves our camp will be protected from your magic. You can’t protect yourselves now.”

Vita’s mouth twisted and she started backing up, pushing Tahni and Jaylen back with her.

“What in all Heavens is going on?” Jaylen whispered to them, but neither one did so much as look in his direction.

After a few more steps, Tahni, Vita, and Jaylen found themselves pressed against the back wall of the stables, Tahni clenching her teeth hard when she hit it as pain shot through her ribcage.

The man continued forward.

Tahni looked quickly to his waist, her breath catching in her throat when she saw that he carried a sword.

What happened next, however, was the last thing she expected.

The man unclipped the belt from his waist, smirking smugly, and dropped it to the ground, his sword falling with it.

“I’m going to kill you with my bare hands, Seer. You and your little friends. And I’m going to enjoy every second of it,” he spat. “And when you die, Lord Slay will know it was me. I will be the man who allowed him to carry out his plan without you getting in his way. I will be the man who protected him from the prophecy that spoke of his failure. And you have no idea how I will be rewarded for th—”

Without any warning, Vita leapt forward, closing the space between them and drawing her fist back to punch the man square in the face.

Caught by surprise, he didn’t have time to deflect the blow. The crack of Vita’s knuckles against his jaw was all Tahni heard as she stood and watched, helpless.

Jaylen had been in almost a daze up until then, desperately trying to comprehend what was going on but unable to do so. Vita’s blow, however, seemed to snap him back into reality, and he rushed forward just as the man moved to strike back.

Jaylen jumped in front of Vita a second too late. The man’s fist collided with her gut, knocking the wind out of her and leaving her doubled over and retching, her white blonde hair falling down around her face.

Before the man could turn to attack Jaylen though, his legs were kicked out from under him and he was sprawled out on his back. Jaylen straddled him on the ground, his fists pounding into the man’s face over and over. Blood sprayed from his mouth and stained Jaylen’s knuckles red, but it did nothing to stop him.

“Jaylen!” Tahni cried. “Jaylen, stop!”

A moment later, Vita managed to compose herself—though her stomach ached something awful—and she focused on using her gifts again. Only this time, she wasn’t using them on the man. This time, she was using them on Jaylen.

He pulled one fist back to strike the black-clad man again, but caught himself before he could. His body trembled with each rise and fall of his chest, and suddenly he was scampering off the man as fast as he possibly could.

“What have I done? What in all Heavens have I done?!” he sputtered, his face contorting as he stared down at his bloody knuckles.

“Jaylen,” Vita said, trying to catch his attention. “Jaylen, it’s okay. He’s not dead. It’s okay.”

He didn’t seem to hear her.

“Jaylen!” she repeated, grasping his jaw in one hand and forcing his eyes up to hers. “It’s okay. He’s okay. You imagined it. You didn’t kill him.”

“What?!” Tahni gasped loudly. “Vita, did you… Did you make him think he murdered him?!”

Vita turned to look at her, still holding Jaylen’s face. “I didn’t have a choice, Tahni. You saw what he was doing. If I hadn’t stopped him…”

Tahni didn’t want to admit it, but she knew Vita was right. Jaylen wasn’t in a good state of mind—not after that town meeting—and she feared that if Vita hadn’t stepped in and used her powers, he may have ended up actually killing the man, as he thought he did.

“W—What have I… What have I done… What have I done…” he repeated again, choking back sobs as tears slid down his cheeks.

“Sit down, Jaylen. You need to sit down,” Tahni murmured as comfortingly as she could, stepping forward and gently taking his arm. She led him a short ways away from the man—still lying on the ground with blood oozing down his face—and pulled him to the ground. He followed without a struggle.

“Breathe,” Tahni told him. “In and out. Just breathe.”

He nodded unsteadily, trying his best to do as she said and focusing on her the warmth of her hand as it rubbed slow circles on his back.

Tahni and Vita shared a look as they waited for him to calm.

It took a short while, but his breathing steadied eventually, and his trembling died down, although it didn’t disappear completely.

“What’s going on? Why did that man attack you? Why was he talking about a prophecy? And what… What did you mean when you said Vita made me think I murdered him?” As he spoke, his voice shook slightly, cracking when he mentioned murder.

“I don’t think now is the right time to explain all of that to you, Jaylen,” Vita murmured.

“Now is the perfect time!” he exclaimed, fingers digging into the dirt beside him.

“Okay,” Tahni said. “Okay.” She touched his shoulder lightly, looking to Vita.

“We have to tell him either way,” she said. “Whether we do it now or later, he still needs to know. I don’t see the point in waiting.”

Vita crossed her arms and gave Tahni a hard stare. She stared right back.

“Fine,” Vita huffed, giving in. “Tell him now, but do it quickly. We need to leave before any of Slay’s other men find us.”

Tahni nodded in understanding and turned back to Jaylen with earnest eyes.