Fall of the Rightful King

Chapter Fifteen

Even from outside the building, I could hear the angry shouts and someone leading the crowd with a passionate speech. The room was standing room only when I arrived. The main room was packed, and there was something wrong with it. I couldn’t figure out what. Up at the front, I saw a tall, clean-cut man in a suit addressing the crowd. To either side stood these metal giants. They were at least eight feet high and covered in glowing purple lines and symbols. They didn't look like robots - there were no hard lines or bolts anywhere on them. Everything looked very organic, just made of metal. They had no faces, only two blazing purple eyes set vertically.

Well, he had my attention.

The man up front was in the middle of his speech. He had a hard face, and even his words felt violent. "And what did they give you? Lots of empty words and politician's promises? It's almost surprising to see Manuel stoop this low. I mean, look at yourselves! Alexander's changed, what, 90% of the world by now? The rest of us that are still human don't have much longer either. We'll be changed within a few days!"

I looked around the room again and finally realized what had been bugging me. Except for the speaker and me, there wasn’t another human anywhere in the room. A few griffons, sure, and the odd minotaur in a corner. But everyone else was a pony. I suddenly felt extremely conspicuous.

"But what's the Order offered you? Have they healed anyone yet? No? How about given you reasons as to why Alexander's not dead yet? Are they moving after him? Does anyone even know?

"The Order of Saint Augustine was set up three hundred years ago, promising to protect people against magic and save the world from it. But all they've done in that time is take out a few minor spellcasters, while practically paving the way for megalomaniacs and monsters. I'll tell you why they're so vague about Alexander, and I'll tell you why they're not doing anything to fight that son of a bitch. That son of a bitch is their founder."

I heard murmurs and even a few shouts from the crowd. My jaw actually dropped.

"Yes, you heard me!" he said. "The Order has all these rules about what kinds of magic are permitted and what aren't, all put there by Alexander. And even when he revealed his true colors, look how many kept following him! That idiot Manuel is so stuck with tradition he can't even see that his idol's a liar.

"I'll tell you the truth about magic. Magic is ineptly forcing your will on the universe, and when you push, it pushes back. That's why we need to stop them. Now, I can't tell you that I can make you human again. I can't even keep myself human for too much longer. I can't fix your bodies or this fucked up mess Alexander's put you in. But I can point you to the sons of bitches who did this to you! And I can give you the tools you need to make them pay! Show those cowards what happens when they try to step all over you! Take back your world! Take back your lives!"

The roar was deafening. I turned around and moved as quickly as I dared. There was no way I was getting help from that guy or his crowd. I had no idea he was starting a freaking revolution. My mind was spinning as I walked. Why the hell hadn't I been honest with Erin from the beginning? I'd be home right now instead of next to a whole lot of angry ponies.

I reached the door and left the building. No sooner had I left the building than an honest-to-God snake girl stopped me. She was a green snake from the waist down, had four arms, fangs, and slitted pupils. Oh, and a gun. I should probably mention the gun.

"Hold on, Nick," she said. "Maaaaaaaaaster wants to talk to you."

Shit. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there. She wasn't pointing the gun at me, but her eyes never left me. Could I overpower her? Knock the gun out of her hands before she could fire? I looked down her body. Hell, how long was that tail? Fifteen, twenty feet? She caught me staring and smiled. Suddenly, she reared up and quickly moved her powerful coils around my legs and arms. I instinctively tried to push against them as they wrapped around me, but they might as well have been made of iron.

The snake girl slowly lowered herself until her face was in front of me and smiled, showing her fangs.

"Ok," I squeaked. "I'll wait."

"Oh, you're no fun!" she said, and flicked out her forked tongue. "At least tryyyyyyyyyyy to put up a fight. I like it when my prey wrigg-"

"Risa!" someone yelled from behind. It sounded like the guy who'd been speaking. "Don't eat the poor kid, let him breathe."

She immediately let me go. I mean, it was so fast I nearly fell over.

"Sorry about that, Risa gets playful when she's hungry. Name's Derek Vicars, Mr. Espinoza, but I'll call you Nick."

It took me a moment to register the hand he'd stretched out towards me. I shook it, looking him in the eye, noticing his two golem bodyguards standing a few feet behind.

"So, you're the golden boy," he said. "Actually, that's Alexander, isn't it?" he chuckled.

I was still far too stunned to reply.

"Ah, that'll make more sense if you meet him. So. You were talking to the big boss. Señor Garcia himself. Sure is a friendly politician, isn't he? Says a lot of pretty words, doesn't do anything. I'll bet you wanted to know why you're so important and why the hell you've still got your fingers."

"Can you help my friends?" I asked. "Can you help me?"

"Can I help you? Nick, Nick, Nick, were you even listening? Of course I can help you. You see, Alexander's got all kinds of secrets locked up in that tower of his. Have you seen the tower? Gaudy place. Can't believe the news isn't all over it, but I guess Alex isn't very press-friendly. Anyway, last time I got to talk to Al, I picked up a few secrets from this old book he had just lying around. He wouldn't even miss it, but that book, Nick, got me these guys," he said, pointing behind him. "I've got lot of workers, Nick, and they're not exactly from around here. That little book taught me how to borrow them and put them to work.

"Now you're thinking, 'what's this devilishly handsome bastard talking about? What's it got to do with me?' And I'll tell you, Nicky boy! Alexander's lived for a few hundred years. Never been specific as to when he was born, but I can guarantee you it’s been a few centuries. You can't live that long without some serious healing. I guarantee you, Nick, that if you and I bust in there, we'll find the keys to life itself. Imagine that! Fixing yourself up before you kick the bucket, magicking your friends into being people again, it'd be wonderful!

"Now, no, it's not going to be easy. Alexander is opening a portal to a completely different world. This isn't like what I do, pulling across a few things to work for me - this is both ways, and there will be no way to control access. Guy's a God-damned idiot to think-"

I held up a hand. "Stop. I get why you're doing this whole routine with me. But do you really think I'll be able to get healed with what Alexander has?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "All I'm saying, Nick, is that you'd be stupid to not work with us."

Risa started to slither past us, planting a lingering kiss on Derek's cheek, and winking at me. "There are a lot of advantages."

"What happened to 'we need to destroy all magic?'" I asked.

Derek threw his arms in the air. "Kid, I'd kiss the pope's ring and then stab him if it'd get me far enough ahead. These people are pissed right the hell off. All I did was tell them what they wanted to hear. The question you need to be asking isn't 'What does Derek want,' it should be 'What can I get out of working with him?' And I've already shown you a little of what we've got."

I did not trust him in the slightest. I think he could tell, since he sighed and pulled out a piece of paper. He drew a few lines on it and showed it to me. The symbol was a straight, vertical line, with two shorter lines to either side of it. The lines on the side angled inward about halfway down, going straight into the center. It was a little like a pitchfork.

"Look. Let me give you a gift. Call it a show of good faith. This little thing is something Alexander banned from the very beginning. Now this isn't the actual symbol - when you draw this for real, cut off the side lines before they touch the middle one. If someone's using magic on you, draw this on them and it'll short out their magic." He put the paper away. "Apparently people used this to take down wizards in the old days, and I mean the really old days. The way they used it, it'd take away the magic from whole groups of wizards at a time. And it was permanent."

He shrugged. "Truth is, you don't have the strength they did, so it won't be a big area, and it won't be permanent. If you have to use it, get out of there as soon as you've cast it."

The doors slammed open behind him and people started to pour out, angry and shouting. Derek smiled at me.

"My people await! You might want to go home now. And if you live anywhere close... maybe go to a hotel."