Cruelty of the State

The ride back to Korben was quiet. Everyone was exhausted, but beyond that, they had catastrophically failed in their mission. They had retrieved the cargo they came for and escaped with their lives, but returned without the person they swore to protect. Kurri can’t even move. He leans against a side rail of the train cart, watching the wispy clouds move away from the moons above them. Perra sits down next to him, silently melting into the night’s atmosphere alongside him.

He loses himself in the metal clatter of their wheels against the track, harmonizing with the constant song of the cicadas. Once the moons are shining down on them, the trees all across the mountainside come alive with the pale green glow of the lightning bugs and star beetles and halfmoon moths. While Kurri breathes free in the cool mountain air, where could Nisho be now? Far above them in some metal cage inside a flying metal prison.

The passage of time becomes unreal until he feels them starting to slow down. This breaks him from his trance, and he looks up. They are passing through Korben. He hasn’t seen it by night before--so empty, quiet and peaceful, no sentinels visible in its streets.

The cart comes to a stop near the eastern edge of town.

“The sents were probably called back to White Ash in a hurry, but they’ll be back when they don’t find us there. We better be quick,” Razha says.

“Krev, go get your cart from its hiding spot, if it’s still there, and we’ll transfer our cargo as quick as possible,” Elliv says.

“I will go report to Tollin at the temple,” Kalen says.

“Yeah. You’re right. We can’t leave him in the dark,” Razha says.

Perra follows her. “We better go with her, Kurri, they could need medical attention in the clinic.”

“Oh, right, okay.” He stands up, his body feeling numb from the hours of shaky riding on the rails. He follows Kalen and Perra back into town.

“Are y’all doing okay?” Kalen says.

“No, not at all,” Kurri says. “I was responsible for protecting Nisho, and now he’s in the enemy’s hands, I completely failed him.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered who was on the escort team,” Kalen says. “They outmaneuvered us. We can’t beat ourselves up too much. We are lucky to have escaped ourselves after all.” She tries to distance herself emotionally, but the anguish in her voice is clear.

“Focus on the present, Kurri, if you can,” Perra says.

At the top of the steps, as they approach the dome of white stone, something seems wrong. The garden gate is swinging open in the wind. It’s always been shut before. Kurri passes under the wooden arch and crosses the dead garden. The remains of the plants are scattered about, and mud is splattered across the stone walkway.

Once they ascend the steps onto the porch, they see the notice nailed to the temple doors, marked with the sign of a winged sword over the world, the seal of the Kogaku Defense Force.

Kalen rips the paper off and reads it. “They have Tollin,” Kalen says.

“No!” Kurri says.

“Fuck!” Perra says.

“They must have raided the place while we were gone,” Kalen says, reading further. “It says a man was arrested for deviancy, providing aid to terrorists, and operating an unlicensed medical facility.”

“We have to tell the others,” Perra says.

“The patients!” Kurri says, running for the temple doors.

Kalen opens them. For the first time Kurri has ever seen, the sanctuary of the Thean temple is dark. Kalen strikes a match and finds one of the oil lamps near the entrance. Inside the sanctuary is much like outside. The dim light reveals curtains and beds lying broken and scattered across the floor, water buckets overturned. There is nobody inside to greet them.

“They’re...gone!” Kurri says.

“The notice says they are being transported to receive ‘proper medical care,’” Kalen says.

“What does that mean?!” Perra says.

“Most likely, they’ll be taken to a blight ward...to become experimental subjects,” Kurri says. The faces of his patients flash through his mind.

“Look at this.” Kalen kneels down next to a rusty stain of dried blood splattered on the white tile.

Kurri takes a deep breath and slowly approaches to take a look. “It’s not a lot of blood, not likely that whoever lost this died from it.”

“Tollin put up a fight, though,” Perra says.

“The inner sanctum,” Kalen says, hurrying to the back of the room. The doors are shut, and when she tries to pull the handle, it is still locked. She breathes out heavily. “No sign of forced entry. I guess Nisho was right that there are some lines even monsters won’t cross.”

The scene around Kurri doesn’t feel real, like a nightmare he can’t awaken from. He feels unsteady on his feet, like he will pass out any moment. He loses his balance, but Perra catches him and holds him up with his arm around his waist.

“What do we do?” Kurri says, clutching his holy symbol tight.

“We can’t linger here. But we’ll have to get these weapons into the workers’ hands one way or another,” Kalen says.

“What about Tollin?! All he ever did was take care of people! He wasn’t even involved in any of this!” Kurri says.

Kalen looks into his eyes. “There is nothing we can do for him anymore.” She walks past him toward the exit. “And there will be many more to come. The enemy is without mercy.”