The Darkman 5
Getting the kids to the secret rendezvous point was a lot easier than keeping them there. Once the excitement of the escape wore off, KiNa had a group of groggy, cranky and whining children on his hands. Some of them were plain out scared and wanted nothing more than to put as much distance between them and the Darkman’s cellar. He tried to explain over and over again that they needed to wait for Master SoYa to get there before going anywhere else.
Eventually came the questions of authority.
“Who put you in charge?” grumbled one of the boys.
“Yeah! Why should we take orders from you?” demanded another.
“That’s right,” Roh stepped forward. “I’m the oldest here. I’m going to be calling the shots!”
As the other children started to rally around Roh, KiNa knew he had to take drastic action to keep the operation together. Pulling his hood back further from around his face, he dispelled the illusion that kept him concealed.
“Guys! Wait! Look, it’s me!” the boy exclaimed. “It’s KiNa!”
Roh froze staring at the other boy as if he was looking at a ghost, “KiNa? How… how is that possible?”
Puddle stumbled over, showing the first sign of real interest, “Wait! YOU were Friz? We thought you were dead!”
KiNa laughed, “I’m fine! In fact, I’m better than fine. That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
“How did you do that?” asked another boy who seemed to recognize him. “You looked different.”
“It was a disguise,” the boy tried to explain. “I’m a spy and I’m here to help you guys get away from Darkman. My teacher, Master SoYa, is going to bust him tonight for everything he’s doing.”
The other kids just stared at him with wide eyes. Some of them seemed to understand what he was telling them. Others spazzed out at the word “spy.” Yet others were about to fall asleep right there in the alley.
“So all this has been a plan?” Roh tried to piece it together. “You came back to help us?”
“That’s right! Just wait! We’re about to go somewhere awesome,” KiNa encouraged the children to gather around him. Then, to pass the time, the boy began to tell them all about his adventures… how he met Master SoYa, about the secret tree house base and the Ingway. And the things they discovered about the Darkman.
The ones old enough to understand seemed troubled at the thought that the Manor was behind what the Darkman was doing. Knowing that the entity that was supposed to keep everyone safe was engaging in purchasing children for dirty work around the city made them all the more frightened.
“Master SoYa is going to fight it,” KiNa told them, trying to reassure them. “I’m helping him. If you come with us, you can help him, too.”
“Really?” asked Puddle.
“Well, you have to promise to keep it all a secret,” the boy nodded. “You probably have to learn stuff like how to read and things. But he’s a good teacher. You’ll like him a lot.”
“Is he nice?” one little girl asked.
“Yeah. A LOT nicer than the Darkman. I promise,” KiNa said.
“Where is he?” Roh peered into the darkness.
“He’s working on the other part of the plan,” the boy answered, trying not to look worried. This was taking a lot longer than KiNa imagined. “We just have to be patient and wait for him to come. That’s our part in the plan. We have a long trip tonight, so everyone should rest right now.”
This seemed to pacify the children for the time being. Many of them curled up side by side, using the dark cloaks as blankets and pillows. Roh and Puddle acted as lookouts from the far ends of the alleys and KiNa made sure that none of the other children strayed from the meeting place.
The boy didn’t know what time it was when Roh called an alert, “KiNa! There’s a guard coming!”
“Guard? What do you mean?” KiNa scrambled up, rushing towards where Roh was hiding behind a stack of crates. Squinting out across the dark streets, he could see someone dressed in the familiar outfit of the Manorite guard making a patrol.
Roh cursed under his breath, crouching lower behind the crates. “If he finds us, we’re cooked. You know that, right?”
KiNa narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to find us. I’ll take care of him.”
“What are you going to do?” the boy stared at him.
“Just watch,” he replied, standing up from his spot, getting ready for a bit of creative mind magery.
“I hope this isn’t like that time you tried to pick that guy’s pockets,” Puddle murmured, wandering over to watch in interest.
“That was different,” KiNa grit his teeth. Then he stepped out of the alley into the street. He could feel the threat of the situation pounding in his ears at the thought that all their hard work and planning could be washed away by a single snoopy guard.
Digging back into his training, the first thing the boy did was attempt to throw up an area illusion to make it seem like there was nothing in the alley behind him. Most of the time, a direct mind suggestion was enough to get what KiNa wanted out of someone else. Just in case that went sour and the guard happened to look into the alley, he wanted to make sure there was nothing suspicious there for him to see.
The boy began to work his mind suggestions, softly at first, then with more strength as the walking shadow approached them.
There’s nothing here. There is no need to walk in this direction. Turn and go the other way. There’s nothing here…
KiNa held his breath as the sound of the footsteps echoed closer and closer. He could hear the worried sounds of the boys behind him, which caused him to redouble his efforts. Fighting to remain calm, even in the face of fear, he continued to send out the suggestions towards the approaching guard. But the guard did not change his course.
Nothing here. Please… please turn the other way… please don’t come over here…
Suddenly, a familiar voice came back to him, speaking softly in his mind.
~An illusion and mind suggestion. Well done, KiNa.~
“Huh?” the boy froze, breaking off in mid-suggestion.
~You forgot the first lesson, though.~
The guard stepped forward, pulling up the helm visor. Master SoYa’s tired face shown from within the metal, looking awful strange to the boy, “Make sure you identify your target before you try to work mind magic. You never know who you’re going to get otherwise.”
“Master SoYa!” the boy almost squeaked in relief. The other children stirred, watching from behind the crates as KiNa rushed over to him.
“Everyone is here and safe?” the man asked.
“Yes. We’re all here,” the boy wrinkled his nose. “Why are you wearing that?”
“It’s easier to lead the guard to an arrest if they think you’re their superior,” Master SoYa laughed, then began to unbuckle some of the armor. It was only then that KiNa noticed many of the pieces didn’t fit him really well, and weren’t strapped on properly to begin with.
“So you dressed up like a guard?” KiNa stared at the man. It was hard to think of it… the humble-seeming teacher taking a suit of armor, walking in and commanding other guards to make an arrest. “Did it work?”
“It worked,” Master SoYa told him with a tired smile. He looked at the huddling children with a soft expression, “I found guards who had no idea what was going on. It appeared some of them were in on this, and some of them were not. We conducted an arrest.”
“He won’t come to look for us anymore?” one little girl asked with wide eyes.
“We took the Darkman in and I wrote the detailed report myself,” the man told them. “The Manor may find a way to get him released, but I have a feeling they’re not going to bother. Not after he botched this job so badly.”
“What about the girl? The one the Darkman was taking to the Manor tonight?” KiNa asked quietly.
Master SoYa gave a concerned look, then took the boy by the shoulder, away from the other children. His voice was low, “She escaped before I could stop her. I’d like to find her, though. Conduct some searches through the city.”
“No problem,” KiNa nodded with a frown. “I can find anyone, Master SoYa.”
“She may not be as easy to find as you think,” the man warned him.
“Why not?”
“I’m fairly sure she’s a mind mage,” he said.
“What? HER?” the boy frowned. “She didn’t feel like one!”
Master SoYa smiled slightly, “That’s because she knows how to hide it already. You can bet if she knows how to hide that, she knows how to slip under detection magic, too.”
“I knew she was trouble,” KiNa muttered.
“We’ll worry about that in the morning,” the man straightened slowly and looked at the waiting faces. “We have a lot to do tonight.”
“Are you Master SoYa?” Puddle asked, blinking.
“KiNa told you about me?” the teacher arched his eyebrow.
Some of the children nodded.
“Is it true you’re a hero?”
“W-what?” Master SoYa half laughed, taken off guard by the question. “Well, I don’t know about that. I guess that’s something you have to decide for yourself.”
Then the man reached down into one of the crates and pulled out a long rope. KiNa remembered helping fashion the rope. It was strange with many small loops along the length. Only then did the boy realize what it was going to be used for.
“I know many of you are tired,” the man said, issuing the rope between the children, giving each one a loop to hold on to. “But if we are going to get to the forest, we have to travel now. There’s too many of us to escape notice traveling by day. If we all stick together and hold on to this rope, we’ll get there safely.”
A few of the children gave frightened look, clutching the rope tightly.
“I know… I know… it’s dark. But trust me, I’ll keep you safe,” Master SoYa told them. “I have a light that will travel with us.”
Then he pulled out his staff and showed the children how the stone on the end of it lit up. It was a trick that KiNa liked to see, despite having seen it over and over again. This seemed to ease some fears, though there was still a feeling of nervousness.
“Think of it as an adventure,” KiNa encouraged, trying to help.
“Oh, go adventure yourself,” Puddle huffed at him.
Some of the children laughed a little at that. It was a good sound to hear.
“Okay, are we ready?” Master SoYa whispered to them. “We have to be very quiet until we reach the edge of the city.”
A few nodded.
“All right. Hold on to the rope. Don’t let go, and follow me. Before you know it, we’ll be safe and you can sleep and eat,” the man stepped out of the alley with a wary look.
KiNa watched from the back of the group as the children began to file out, one by one. He didn’t know what was going to happen, whether things would be easy or hard. All he knew was that they had won their freedom, and now would all have a new home far away from the city lights, in the safety of the waiting forest.