Phantom Dawn continues today with Chapter 12, and it certainly looks like things are coming to a head with this tale.
The editing work continues and its slow. What I thought was a simple find + replace job had turned to a completely new Chapter almost. The ending will still be the same but how I get there...yeah, a lot more effort than I realised. At least the next few should be a simple task of word alteration here and there...till I have to create another new chapter. Fun and games here!
Away from that though, let's check in with Brennan and Riz...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Now that's what I call a close encounter! Wonder what Riz did to upset them, probably wouldn't be a short list...
Another experimental issue, and editing aside (one day I'll take a straight photograph) I don't think it turned out too bad.
Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn Chapter 12
We're in the final arc of the Novella now. I've been going backwards and forwards about where the end should be. Certainly I can add a lot more on this first part but I'm wary of it overstaying it's welcome.
I think my best bet is to just stick with my plans to finish this one soon, and then revisit things if I choose to self publish it later. Till then though, I'll continue as I have.
Phantom Dawn Chapter Index
Chapter 12
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Chapter 12: Tension
Rose was still feeling a bit bewildered over how she felt. The town was up in arms, feeling like they had won a great victory over Finch. She made her way through the jubilant crowd, and located Neal. People were coming up to him and shaking his hand, acting as if he had some part to play in the proceedings. The folk were listening to him as he made it clear that this was all Kurz’s doing, and didn’t answer the question of if he agreed with it or not.
“Excuse me,” Rose said, having to push her way through the crowd. Neal saw her at this point, and made his way to her.
“Neal, please, I need to talk to you,” Rose pleaded, wanting to find someone who would listen to her.
“Let’s go back inside, this is not the place for any sort of conversation,” Neal replied and led her back inside the building, though the noise from outside was still coming through the walls.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as he took a seat at the table, gesturing to Rose to sit opposite, like they had done before.
“I need to find where they took Mason. He was talking about something that Finch was planning, something he wanted to avoid.”
“Something Mason wanted to avoid?” Unlike when Kurz said it earlier, Neal sounded more curious than accusatory.
“He didn’t go into details, but he made it sound like he was attacking you to try and avoid whatever it was that Finch was planning. I can’t explain it, but I think he was being honest with it,” Rose really didn’t know how to explain it, there was a feeling deep within her that confirmed it.
“Mason had always been an odd one, he had all of Finch’s armoury at his disposal, but never did anything with it. He preferred intimidation methods, only resorting to fighting when it was either a fight he knew he could win or if there was no other way. I knew my activities would have been causing Mason, and by extension, Finch a headache. I expected a retaliation like today, and had been expecting it for several months now. I was beginning to believe Mason was letting it slide, and maybe he was till Finch got involved."
“I tried talking to Kurz about this, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I think we need to know more about what Mason meant,” Rose explained, and Neal nodded along, listening intently.
“I know where they would have taken him,” he said after a moment. “There’s an old jail around here. It hadn’t been used since Finch took over, as his men kept the ‘peace’. We’ll go and have a chat with Mason.”
The pair exited the building and Neal led Rose through the streets which looked more alive than ever. Rose looked at the faces of those she passed, and those of the people still in the ramshackle buildings looking out. She understood that they must have felt a great relief in what had happened, but it made her feel uneasy with everything that had happened to them till this point, the atmosphere of fear that Finch had instilled in order to get what he wanted. She wasn’t blind to the fact that Mason had been his enforcer, that was the pretense when she beat him up herself. Still, there was a pull on her consciousness, telling her that he needed to be listened to, and that as happy as people were currently, the fight was not over yet.
Rose had been so lost in her thoughts that she almost bumped into Neal when he stopped at their destination.
“Are you really sure about this?” He asked her, thinking that absent mindedness was linked to who they were about to question.
“Yes, I think what Mason knows is important for everyone in this town, and it needs to be heard,” Rose replied.
“Let’s go in then, I don’t expect any issue with them letting us see him. They’ll be more surprised than anything else.”
Inside, the jail already gave off a different tone than the other buildings. While most others had been put together out of wood, or what other materials were close at hand. This place was built with stone, using the foundations of whatever had been there previously in better times. This lent the jail a sense of strength, that no matter who was inside it, they weren’t escaping its confines. There wasn’t a lot of space though, there was a desk where a guard was clearly supposed to be sitting, and then there were two cells separated off from each other. Mason sat with his head hung low, with barely any free space between him and the bars.. He didn’t say anything as Neal and Rose approached the cell.
“Is there no one else here? I know it’s been a while since the town had anything resembling a guard, but I assumed the person who brought you in here would have stuck around,” Neal said, taking great care to speak as neutral as possible.
“No, I’m the only idiot in here,” Mason reluctantly said, keeping his head down low. “The people who dragged me here locked me in and then left just as quickly. I think they said about someone coming back later, but whatever, there might not even be a later.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” Rose said softly. On hearing her voice, Mason’s head shot up, making it look like he was about to give himself whiplash.
“Y-you came to see me?” he stammered. “Why?”
“Because I want to know what you know. You were telling me something before they came and took you away. What was it? What’s the danger you know about?” Rose asked, taking a step forward to the cell. Neal went to stop her but she waved his concerns away.
“I will listen,” she added.
Mason stood up, making it clear about the height difference between the pair.
“I could just grab you and try to bargain my way out of this,” Mason suggested, though when he spoke, he didn’t look directly at her.
“I don’t think you would. Not least because of what happened before.”
“Hah, you’re right…I’ve got nothing to defend myself with there,” Mason chuckled.
“Will you tell me then? Maybe together we can prevent whatever Finch is planning.”
“Are you seriously going to believe what he’s got to say?” Kurz said loudly, entering the jail. “Folks told me they saw you heading this way, didn’t believe it was to talk to this piece of trash.”
“Kurz, I brought Rose here because she believes that Mason has something important to say. Maybe we should close our mouths and open our ears for it,” Neal suggested, but got rebuked from Kurz for his trouble.
“He’s a snake that works for an even bigger snake! You’d be a fool to believe in anything he’s got to say! He’d sell out his parents if it would save his life!” Kurz gestured in Mason’s direction as he argued with his grandfather.
“Would have to know who they were to do that,” Mason said to himself, his voice quiet, almost hiding what he wanted. He caught Rose looking at him though, and he realised that she’d most definitely heard it. “Ah, it doesn't matter anyway.”
“If people are in danger, please tell us what you know,” Rose repeated, speaking over Kurz.
“He’s going to lie to you! He’s just another thug who loves to make other people feel small so that they feel big! He doesn’t care about what happens to us, or what we’ve been through! How could he! None of that happened to him!” Kurz shouted, incensed at the very thought of listening to something he had to say.
“I’ve not been through your experiences,” Rose said. “Does that mean I don’t care?” she asked, turning to look at Kurz. “I know I’ve not been here long, barely a few days for all that my memories tell me. Yet, I care about the people I’ve met so far. Your grandfather, Mason, and even you, Kurz. I can’t explain it fully, perhaps I’ll never be able to, but it is how I feel. It’s because of this, I don’t want anything to happen to the people in this town. Mason here knows something and I intend to find out what it is, and if it’s within my power, put a stop to it.”
Faced with her sudden outburst, Kurz didn’t have a lot to say. Mason, on the other hand, was taken aback by her declaration. He steaded himself, wiping away the tears that were forming at the corner of his eyes, then cleared his throat.
“I attacked you to try and get you all to leave. If I’d done that, then I thought maybe Finch would go back on his plans,” he explained.
“What plans?” Neal questioned.
“Finch no longer wants this town, but he wants the land it sits on. The people are also collateral to this.”
“Wait, you mean he doesn’t want the buildings or the people?” Rose said, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
“No, he wants them gone completely. He wants to raze the entire town to the ground so he can build something new, and fill it with those he can keep on a short leash,” Mason looked away again. He didn’t know why, but a deep sense of shame fell on him.
“How?” Rose reached through the bars and placed a hand on Mason’s arm. “How would he do something like that?”
“Would it be with an army? A hundred or so men?” Neal further asked.
“As if you’re both believing this. He only wants to pass the blame on so we let him go! Grandad, did you forget everything that his guy has done?” Kurz interrupted once more. “He’s never told the truth in his life.”
“He has,” Rose corrected him.
“Oh? When?”
“Right now, for starters. This is the danger that we need to prevent.”
“And how do you know that he’s telling the truth?”
“I just do. Kurz, I know you don’t want to believe in him. I can’t begin to imagine what has happened with the pair of you, but please believe me.”
“I…” Kurz lost the words he was going to say, instead he cursed himself and walked off so that he stood next to Neal. “...Fine, if you want to hear it, let him speak.”
“Thank you Kurz,” Rose smiled at him, and Kurz did his best to make it look like it didn’t bother him.
Clearing his throat again, bringing the attention back to him, Mason continued.
“No, he won’t use soldiers for this job, not if he doesn’t have to. He’ll probably assign the job to his number one man, and let him handle it.”
“And who is that?” Rose pressed him to continue.
Mason bit his lip, and anxiously looked out of the window, fearful that he was going to see something there.
“A man called Eros. Though, I never thought of him as much of a man, but a monster…He was the guy Finch trotted out if he wanted to put the fear of god in you.”
“Eros…” Kurz muttered, spitting at the name, what he said next surprised everyone. “Where can I find him?”
“You won’t have to look hard, he’ll probably be here already. Wait, you want to take him on? Did you get a big head from taking me out or summit?” Mason let out a little laugh. “This guy, he’s a professional, he doesn’t talk, he just straight up kills you if that’s what he wants to do!”
“Do you have any idea on what this Eros will do?” Rose spoke up again. “If we act now, we can stop him.”
“No idea on that, though, Eros often travels light and has a knack for making use of what’s around him to do the job. If I had to bet, I’d say he was already here…”
The little girl known as Cecily was merrily bouncing a ball along. She was happy because all of the adults around her were happy. She didn’t know the reason, that didn’t matter to her. What caught her attention was the strangely dressed man standing next to the Heaven’s Rod. He ran a hand over it, as if looking for something on its surface. Without a care in the world, she ran up to him, curious as to what he was doing.
“Excuse me mista! What ya doing?” she asked innocently.
The stranger cast strange eyes over her, she’d never seen ones that looked like his before, the pupil being split into three circles.
“What am I doing? Heh, straight to the point aren’t ya?” the man laughed, turning back to the Heaven’s Rod. “What I’m doing is fixing someone else’s problem. Which I do a lot of. Because people like making mistakes.” He smiled, though the girl was unnerved by the fact that his teeth were pointed. “Ah! Here we go.” The man touched something, and a slot opened up. He then turned his back on Cecily, obscuring her view, but there was a change in the Heaven’s Rod, The green lines that criss-crossed its surface started to flicker, and the structure wobbled.
“What did you do?” A hint of fear entered the child’s voice, her mother had made it extremely clear how important the Heaven’s Rods were, and why no one should play with them.
The man didn’t say anything, he just started walking away, leaving Cecily to gaze back at the Heaven’s Rod…
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Yup, he's definitely not doing anything good there.
Well, that's all for this week,
Till next time...
Keep on writing
Peter James Martin
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