“Listen!” I called out, using my powers to modulate my voice over the crowd.
“Most of you know me. I’m Luke Alexus—I was called Vlakas in the Legion. I’m Earth Mageia. You know my brother, Elex, by the name Kataramenos.”
All eyes turned toward me, some of them beginning to lose the wariness.
“They told you we died in Machi, but they lied! Elex and I escaped to a country named Illyria. It’s a place where Mageia are free! They are equal citizens.”
“Yeah, right,” someone yelled in disbelief the darkness.
“Itisright,” I said. “We came back, and we’re here to rescue you, to free you and take you to Illyria.”
“Why?” I heard a voice call from the crowd, a man stepping forward. I dimly remembered him. “Why would you risk coming back for us?”
“Dris, right? Water Mageia?” he nodded, though he seemed surprised that I recognized him. “I remember you. You joined one ofjoint sessions and taught me how to keep from falling on my ass every time someone threw ice under my feet.”
He chuckled.
“Yeah, I remember that, Vlakas. And you taught me how to roll and land without breaking a leg,” he responded. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here, or what happened to you after the Machi. This could just be some complicated Elusian test. Maybe they just want to see if we’re loyal.”
More and more Mageia poured through the hallways into the courtyard.
“I can’t prove a negative. Some things you need to take on faith. Illyria is fighting Alexandria with everything it has, but they need our help. I’ve been in the capital city of Illyria for the last few weeks. You’ve heard the rumors: Alexandria is running out of Mageia. We rescued a fifteen-year-old boy from the House of Eros tonight. You’ve all seen them sending kids younger and younger to the Machi. They’re getting desperate.”
Maia jumped up next to me.
“You know me! I was the Fire Mageia leader until they decided I was more trouble than I was worth and sent me the House of Eros three days ago. Luke and Kat— sorry, Elex—” she said, looking over her shoulder at my brother. “They rescued me from the House, along with about a dozen other of us that had been sent there. You need to trust them!”
“We won’t force anyone!” I shouted as folks began muttering. “We want your help, but it’s your choice to stay or not. It’s your choice what you do with yourselves in Illyria.”
“They’ll just Suppress us!” another voice called out. “We’ll all die anyway!”
“No!” I called out. “They can’t Suppress us anymore, not as long as a Tesseris Mageia is around.”
“Tesseris Mageia? That’s a legend!” someone called out.
“Is it? Explain this then! You all know I’m an Earth Mageia!” Elex called, spreading his arms out, allowing the glowing rings of power to circle his forearms as the wind lifted him into the air. Fire and water glowed around him as he held himself aloft.
I did the same, though I used Earth to lift me higher instead of Air. I still wasn’t that good at using Air.
“There’s a lot more to it than just this, but we can protect you from Suppression!” I yelled. As if on cue, the captured guards began floating into courtyard, their eyes wide and muffles exclamations sounding throughout the area.
I had to admit, I was a little impressed at my own handiwork. Each guard was imprisoned by a stone or metal cage that kept them trapped. When they spied us some of them obviously started to use their Suppression on us. The pain was sharp and immediate, and I saw those Mageia nearest to us begin to wince and fall to their knees, but a sound like the crack of lightning made the ground rumble and my brother lit up like a Christmas tree. Suddenly the Suppression disappeared and the eyes of the Mageia around us went wide with wonder, finally seeming to believe us.
“Whatever you’re going to do, you better do it fast,” my brother hissed at me as he sank back to earth. Countering Suppression was hard, especially when there were this many in one place.
“Okay, so Mageia, if you want your freedom, head down the tunnel. Hel will ask you two questions. Don’t try to lie to him, he’ll know. Answer his questions then head down,” I yelled. “No retreat!”
No one said anything for a moment, then Dris stepped forward.
“No surrender!” he called out.
After a moment the rest of the crowd began taking up the chant.
“No surrender! No surrender!” I heard thundered back at me.
The Mageia began moving quickly. I had expected chaos, but if nothing else our years in the Legion had taught us how to move large numbers of people quickly. We only lost two more Mageia as they went through the line.
“What about them?” I heard one of the last Mageia say, pointing at the guards. There was a murderous gleam in his eye and I saw him call Fire to his palms. “I want to roast them!”
