Rise and Fall

CHAPTER 2 - Jude

Jude felt like he couldn’t breathe.

How? How were they supposed to fight the dead… and why? Did this world have some kind of zombie infestation, maybe?

Brilliant. In one day, Jude had been kidnapped, his eyes had turned yellow and he’d been told that dead people were going to attack.
He leaned against the wall, trying to physically and mentally stabilise himself, but wound up sliding to the ground, gasping for air. The other students weren’t faring any better. Some of them screamed. Others looked like they were going to faint. One girl laughed half-heartedly, like she hadn’t lost hope that this was all one big joke.

Magister Cordelia rolled her wide green eyes - she’d clearly seen this all before.
‘Two hundred years ago, the continent of Ebril was at war. Thodour, a kingdom west of here, was experiencing a resource shortage, and so they demanded help from our kingdom, Othia. Even then, we had fertile land and a thriving mining industry, so much so that we were known as the Land of Silver. However, Thodourians had been incredibly cruel to our people in the past, so our then-queen Calissa refused to help. Thodour’s king decided to take our resources by force.’

‘What’s this got to do with anything?’ one boy called out.
‘A lot, actually. One of the bloodiest battles was the Siege of Elkenmire, when Thodour tried to take this exact stronghold.’
‘Did they?’ A young girl’s grey eyes were wide.
Cordelia pursed her lips. ‘There’s a reason this place is known as the Unbreakable Fort.’
‘Oh.’

‘This was not a victory that our people celebrate. Over twenty thousand people were killed. Every Othian soldier who’d been outside the fort was cut down. Our archers fired almost every arrow in our supply. Thanks to the resource shortage, many in both sides starved to death. In the end, we actually held our fire to let the survivors retreat.’
‘That’s nice of you.’
‘Stop interrupting! As if the horrific casualties weren’t enough, the dead soldiers came back. You see, ghosts…’
‘Ghosts?’
‘What did I JUST SAY about interrupting?'
Magister Cordelia reminded Jude of his old teachers.

'Ghosts are souls that don’t want to go to the Underworld. Sometimes this is out of fear, but usually it's because they have unfinished business in our world. In order to leave, they must either have their wish fulfilled or accept that it won't be. The warriors who died in the Siege of Elkenmire will do neither. The Thodourians want to make up for their losses by killing us off. Our fellow Othians are angry that we’ve made peace, and want to slay anyone associated with Thodour. And because there are so many angry spirits coming back here, it’s thinning the veil between the worlds. Other ghosts are rising, too.’

Jude felt sick. ‘We… we’re killing them again?’
‘Sort of. Ghost can’t die. They can be dispelled with fire, direct sunlight, or enchanted weapons. But until they give up and go to the Underworld, those poor people will keep coming back again and again. So we need you to defend the Clylalt Plains.’

Jude’s head was spinning. ‘I’m sorry… can you explain where everything is again?’

Magister Cordelia sighed dramatically. ‘We are in Elkenmire Stronghold, which is a fort within the Clylalt Plains. The Clylalt Plains are an area in Othia. Othia is a kingdom within Ebril. Got it?’
‘No.’
‘Then never mind. You’ll have lessons on this, as well as how our economy and ecosystems work, and how to speak our native language. My job is just showing you around and teaching you how to fight ghosts.’

She opened the door. ‘Follow me.’

Nervously, the group formed a line behind Cordelia and walked with her down a dark corridor, up a staircase and into a vast dining hall. As Jude looked across the room, he could see mostly young adults, but there were also clusters of other teenagers dressed in the same white robes he wore. They were led by other mentors and all spoke different languages. The two largest groups appeared to be the Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking groups.

‘Magister Cordelia!’

Two women and a man sprinted over to Jude’s new mentor, grinning. The woman at the front stretched out a pale arm and shook hands with Cordelia excitedly.

‘You’re back! I forgot that you’d be coming back today!’
‘I trust you managed without me?’
‘Oh, yeah, of course. Well, we missed you, but most of us did fine.’
‘Most of us?’
‘Y-yeah…’ The woman whispered something to Cordelia. Jude could just make out what she said.

‘We’ll talk later. We don’t want the recruits getting scared.’
Jude frowned. Something bad had obviously happened while Cordelia was away. Something the woman didn’t want them to know about.

Cordelia smiled at the group. ‘Can you stay put for a few minutes?’
The recruits nodded hesitantly. She walked away to talk to the others, and one boy tapped Jude on the shoulder.

‘This is all pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?’
Jude tried to ignore the boy’s red eyes.
‘Yeah. But it's kinda disappointing, too. My parents talked up my new school so much, I was actually looking forward to attending. Apparently all the classrooms had microwaves and toastie-makers, and there was a pool that…’
‘Are you Australian? Your accent sounds Australian.’
‘Um, yeah. I live just outside Melbourne.’
‘Oh. I don’t really know where that is,' the other boy admitted. ‘I don’t think I know any Australian cities aside from Sydney.’

Jude gritted his teeth. ‘Of course you don’t.’
‘I’m sorry… but then again, you probably haven’t heard of Madison.’
‘Madison who?’
‘No, just Madison. It’s a city. I live there. Or used to, anyway… I don’t think we’ll be going back.’

Jude swallowed. He hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense. If Elkenmire Stronghold or Othia or whatever needed them, then they probably wouldn’t be so keen on letting them go home.
The red-eyed boy smiled. ‘I’m Riley, anyway. I wonder if we’ll get to talk to the other groups? I can speak Japanese, and some Spanish, so…’
Jude shrugged. ‘Not sure. And by the way, Melbourne is a thousand times better than Sydney.'

After a few minutes, Magister Cordelia returned to the group.
'Who were you talking to?' Riley asked.
'Former students of mine.'

Jude frowned at a grey-haired man. 'Some of them look a lot older than you.'
Cordelia glanced down nervously. 'Don't tell them that. Anyhow, sorry for the delay. I am meant to show you around - you'll get to see the library, your assigned dormitories and the training room. But first, who'd like to see some ghosts?'
The group gasped and muttered to each other. There were a few hesitant "Yes"es and uncertain "No"s before Jude spoke up.

'Yeah, sure.'
Cordelia smiled at him. 'Brilliant! Just know that if you get too frightened, I can ask them to leave. The ones that live within the stronghold are friendly - well, mostly.'
She beckoned to them as she headed down a narrow hallway.

'The first thing you need to know about ghosts is that they are never, ever safe. All of them want something from the mortal world - revenge, proof that they died, a second chance - and will stop at nothing to get it. And since they can reform, they'll come back and hunt down whoever angers them, so avoid attacking unless you are certain they are hostile.'

She opened a door and led them into a small room. Jude looked around, and his jaw dropped.

The room was filled with people, but they looked… odd. Not only were most of them dressed in armour or wielding weapons, they were surrounded by a wispy fog, and the colours of their hair and skin seemed faded. Like someone had tried to erase them. Their eyes were hollow and mournful, and their feet didn't quite touch the ground.

Ghosts.

One of the ghosts - a girl around Jude’s age - opened her mouth as though to talk, but let out a horrific, high-pitched screech.