In Harmony We Trust, Ryan Matthew Harker [rooftoppers .txt] 📗

/> Absinthe’s headlong flight was abruptly brought up short by the appearance of a zombie directly in front of her. The creature gave an evil hiss and sprang on her. She released a roar that seemed far too big for a person of her size, grabbed the creature and flung it like a rag doll into the nearest tree before she started running again.
I can do this, she thought. I can get away. But then she was surrounded on all sides by zombies and all of her hopes were for nothing. She was trapped.
“You gave us quite a chase.” Absinthe turned to see the Archmagi Florencii standing outside the ring of her captors.
“Damn you!” Absinthe spat, breathing hard from her mad dash for freedom.
“No my dear, I am one of the blessed,” the Archmagi told her with the patience a mother has for a disobedient child. “Now come along. I’m sure your friends will want to know you’re safe.”
The zombies herded her along behind the Archmagi who led the way back to where the unnatural caravan waited. When they reached it the zombies threw her back into the wheeled cage that for the last few days she had shared with Candlelite.
“Abbie!” Candlelite squeezed her tight. “Don’t worry darling it was a good try.”
“I was so close!” she sobbed.
“I know you were,” he comforted her. “I know you were.”
The two of them had traveled with Florencii and her zombies for nearly a week now. They had been separated from their friends immediately after meeting up with the caravan and had not seen Jeshux or the others since being deposited in the rolling cage. Absinthe’s escape and subsequent recapture followed the erroneous relocking of the cage door by one of the zombies after it had been opened to deposit their meal. The creature had shut the door after leaving a broken wooden bowl full of a foul smelling slop on the cage floor and then failed to properly secure the catch afterwards.
Candlelite was on constant guard for any discrepancies and spotted the error directly after the creature’s departure. He wasted no time in contriving a distraction which enabled Absinthe to slip past the guards. She had made her way through the camp and into the woods before anyone noticed her disappearance and raised the alarm. Unfortunately her passage through the forest was anything but discreet and she had been easy enough to track, her recapture inevitable.
“What’re we going to do now?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” Candlelite confessed. “Something will happen though. Everything happens for a good reason even if we can’t see why when it’s happening.” He squeezed her gently.
“Promise?” she asked.
“I promise,” he promised her as he stared into her eyes intently.
Although both of them knew he was making a vow he had no way of keeping each took comfort in the nearness of the other and for the moment anyway, thing’s were good.


“Ah Jeshux. Thank you for joining me,” Florencii smiled warmly as the Commander General entered her tent flanked by two of her Zombie followers.
“It’s not like I had much choice,” Jeshux said sourly.
Florencii sighed deeply as she took the seat opposite him. “Very well Jeshux, I see you plan to make this difficult. Go ahead if you must.”
“Do you blame me Florencii?” Jeshux asked surprised. “How long have we known each other, three hundred- three hundred and fifty years? When did you start living in this fantasy land of yours?”
“Three hundred fifty-two years,” she answered fondly. “Do you remember when we met?”
“Of course. How could I forget?” he told her. “And don’t change the subject.”
“It was just before you split with Zakeriah to start up that mercenary outfit of yours,” Florencii reminisced, pretending she did not hear him.
“You make it sound like the mercenaries are some kind of phase or something.”
“Yes, well, perhaps it is,” she replied sadly and then smiled quickly. “Zakeriah had just promoted you to Commander General. You were so proud of yourself, strutting around in your new uniform with all of its ribbons and medals. You looked quite handsome.”
Jeshux found himself smiling despite the present circumstances. Memories danced through his head and he said, “If I recall it was at the royal ball that we first met. The one Zakeriah and the queen held to celebrate my new position.”
“That’s right,” Florencii affirmed.
“It seemed like everyone in the world had been invited.” Jeshux voice took on a dreamy quality and his eyes had a faraway look. “And out of everyone, you stood out as the most beautiful woman there.”
Florencii blushed and murmured quietly, “And after dinner you came straight over and asked me to dance.”
“You dance quite well. Ah, those were the days,” he told her. And then reality crashed back in. “Damnit Florencii, what the hell’s going on here? Why are you doing this?”
“Because Jeshux, whether you are willing to admit it or not, Harmony is the future. And to survive that future a person’s going to need power. I have power.” Her face took on a contorted expression, one filled with pain. “Unfortunately that power came with a price and now it’s time to pay that price.”
“But you don’t have to do this,” Jeshux pleaded with her. “I don’t agree with your actions but what’s done is done. You’re a good person Florencii, a person that at one time I might have spent the rest of my life with. Let us go. Please. Bring your unholy army to Zakeriah, side it with ours and let’s destroy the evil that Harmony represents forever!”
While he had talked he had leaned across the table and taken both of her hands in his, now Florencii moved hers and said in wonder, “Jeshux, how can you be so naïve? Harmony cannot be defeated. He’s already consumed one world and perverted its people to his will. He’s even stronger now than he was then. Did you know that he recovered Earth’s magic and although still primitive it proved to be stronger than our own?”
“I suspected as much,” he acknowledged. “But what of the prophecy? You have, right here in this camp, the harbingers of Harmony’s destruction and AnEerth’s salvation. Candlelite and Absinthe can save us but they are not just characters in a story! They need guidance, they need our help! Have you deviated so far down the corridor of darkness that you’ve lost sight of the light?”
“No,” Florencii told him firmly. “It’s you who have lost sight! You have become so blinded by hope, the misguided hope that these two anomalies can be them of whom the prophecy spoke, that you cannot see the facts.”
“And just what are the facts?” Jeshux asked levelly.
“The facts are that Harmony is the most powerful sorcerer in two worlds. If he were to be defeated it would have to be by a greater sorcery, of which none exists, and not by two wet behind the ears, shape shifting children.”
“That’s where you’re wrong Florencii,” Jeshux declared with conviction.
“For all of our sakes I hope you’re right Jeshux,” she confided. “But people do not survive on hope alone and I plan on surviving.”
Two zombies walked in carrying two covered trays, brought them to the table and placed them between the Archmagi and the Commander General.
“But let’s end this debate for now,” Florencii suggested. “It’s getting us nowhere and if you’re willing, I would like that we at least pretend peace so that we may enjoy one last meal together as friends.”
It was Jeshux turn to sigh and he said graciously, “I’d like that.” Then he poured wine from a flagon into two glasses and handed one to the Archmagi. He lifted his and proposed, “To the good times and the hope of more to come.”
“To the good times,” Florencii echoed as she lifted her glass.
And together they drank.


“But why has Harmony ceased firing?” Nefarious asked suspiciously.
“I do not know,” Zakeriah said. “And frankly I do not care. This is exactly the opportunity we need and I expect to make full use of it.”
“But he could start firing at any second,” Nefarious pointed out. “What if it he does and the shields are down?”
“Then I suppose we will all meet our makers a little sooner than if we had sat here and done nothing,” the king told him grimly.
As soon as he realized that Harmony’s canon had ceased its seemingly endless barrage Zakeriah had jumped to his feet and rushed from the room to find his chief advisor so that they might take advantage of the Dark Lord’s sudden charity. And now that he had found Nefarious not only was he not ready to make the teleportation attempt but he was dragging his feet and possibly wasting what could only be called a godsend.
“But shouldn’t we wait until the canon starts firing…?”
Zakeriah did not give him a chance to finish but rose up to full height and said with all of the kingly authority that he could muster, “No we should not. And if you say ‘but’ one more time instead of doing your job after I tell you to do something then I will find someone who will, bring you up on charges of treason and have you hanged.”
Nefarious opened his mouth to say something but again the king spoke, “I would strongly suggest that you think before you speak.”
Nefarious shut his mouth. He could see the iron look of determination in his lord’s eyes and finally he bowed and said, “Yes, my liege. I can have everything ready in ten minutes. Fifteen tops. I’m sorry but that’s as fast as I can do it.”
“Very well then, I suggest you get to it.”
Nefarious bowed again and said, “We’ll be assembled on the moon tower.” Then he left.
The moon tower was the tallest spire of the Dirsellian Palace and had an open top. It was located off of the royal observatory and was used by people from all over AnEerth as the ideal spot to view the stars in that hemisphere.
The king took off in the direction of the tower and hoped that fifteen minutes would not be too long. It had taken him at least that long to find Nefarious and get him to cooperate. He admitted to himself that the man had a good point and it would be very bad indeed if Harmony started the bombardment again while the shields were down.
Seven minutes later Zakeriah entered the moon tower and promptly three minutes after that Nefarious entered with two other individuals who trailed fifty other people behind them. Thankfully the towers gigantic size was easily able to accommodate all of these people comfortably.
“What is this circus?” Zakeriah growled as Nefarious approached him with the two others.
“Your highness, this is Jirseka and Pwami,” Nefarious introduced the two. “They are currently the two most talented teleporters we have among us.”
Jirseka was a small woman with graying hair. She reached out and shook the king’s hand. “It’s a pleasure my lord.”
“Likewise,” Zakeriah replied eagerly.
“Highness,” Pwami greeted with a curt bow. He was also short, with the features and accent of the people from the highlands of the eastern continent.
The king returned his bow. “Welcome,” he said in the man’s native tongue.
Pwami looked surprised but did not question the king’s ability to speak his language.
Zakeriah asked, “And the rest of these people?” He gestured towards the others who had separated into two groups, one consisting of forty people while the other was made up of the remaining ten.
“The support teams,” Nefarious explained. “No one magician of any caliber is talented enough to transport so many people over long distances alone.”
“Of course,” Zakeriah said. “That’s why you