Nodus Tollens

By Kimberly Price

Andrew’s father, Control, is the leader of a horrible, ruthless kingdom known as Sora and has taken control over almost everything and everyone. With the magic races hiding, still trying to recover from the war, it seems like nothing can stop him. Only a small rebel kingdom known as Lierra seems to stand in the way. Control trusts his son to infiltrate Lierra, instructing him to send back information and to kill one of Lierra’s leaders, a shaman named Gerard. Control trusts that Andrew’s own magic will be enough to get him through this mission, but once Andrew arrives, he finds himself fighting an enemy he wasn’t prepared for: himself. He is unable to stop himself from falling in love with the people, the kingdom, and to his own shock, the one person in the world he shouldn’t be falling in love with. Now, Andrew is faced with a decision. Does he return to his father, to a life of hatred and abuse, to save the kingdom and the people he’s grown to care for? Or does he stay and fight alongside his new friends, risking the destruction of the kingdom by doing so?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646289769

Book preview

Chapter One

Ihave been walking through these woods for days. Am I ever going to run into these damned soldiers?

I sigh, stepping over yet another fallen tree. There was a storm recently, a bad one. The kind that knocks over half the forest. Luckily for me, it happened a few days before I decided to venture out here. The only way I am ever going to find these people is by walking around various villages and towns, hoping that I will get lucky and find them on one of their outings.

It’s definitely not one of the smartest plans, but it’s the only one I can think of that doesn’t involve blowing my cover. Their kingdom is hidden by an extremely powerful cloaking spell; the only way to find it is to have someone show you the way. Sure, there are other ways to find the place that don’t involve trudging through the woods, angrily beating away spiderwebs and branches, but almost all of them would draw suspicion to me. They can’t know who I am.

My plan is to infiltrate their kingdom and learn as much as I can about how they operate. Besides all the information I could potentially bring back to my father, I’d also have the key to defeating them: their location. If we could find them, we could kill them easily. They would be dead already if it wasn’t for that damn cloaking spell. We have the manpower, and we have the magic, but we can’t kill someone that we can’t find.

My father wants every little detail I can find on them, though, before we attack them so that he can play with them a little bit. If I know him, he’ll waste months smoking them out and trying to destroy their will to go on. I think it’s a waste of time myself. This kingdom poses little threat to us. Still, I can’t exactly tell my father no. So here I am, trudging around the land, trying to find the one town that these rebels will just happen to be in.

I’ve already visited three towns and found nothing. I’ve been telling people that I am an escapee, fleeing the Sora soldiers and hoping to bring information that will help Lierra win the war. So far, everyone has believed me. There were a few suspicious old men, but that doesn’t matter. I’m foolish to think they won’t be suspicious of me in the beginning. The plan is to gain their trust within seven months and return to my father without them ever knowing who I really am. My father wants me to kill one of their leaders, a man named Gerard, as well, but it’s not necessary. If I do, it will just be a little bonus for him.

I hear branches snapping a few feet to my right and turn, raising my hands in defense. A brown head looks up at me and freezes, its eyes wide. It’s just a deer. I relax and lower my hands, scaring the deer and causing it to run away. I wish that I could have watched it a little longer. I’m becoming bored with this forest; if I don’t find these rebels soon, I might go crazy. It’s sad that I’ve had to resort to watching animals for entertainment.

I hear more branches and turn, expecting another deer, but this time it’s a person looking back at me. He’s wearing an obviously homemade camouflage shirt and very dirty brown pants. It looks like he has mud in his hair, and from the smell coming off him, he’s covered himself in some sort of animal piss. He lowers the shotgun he was aiming in frustration, swearing while he does. He must have been about to shoot the deer I just scared off.

Goddamn idiots, always getting in the way, he mutters to himself as he slings his shotgun over his shoulder, obviously not caring whether I heard him or not.

Which way is town? I ask, ignoring his irritation toward me. He jerks his head to the left, the direction I was already going, continuing to mutter to himself as he starts to walk off after the deer. I watch him for a few seconds, waiting until he’s gone, before continuing toward town. It’s good to know the people are just as friendly around here as they are at Sora.

The town is closer than I thought it would be; I only walk for half an hour before coming across more people as they enter and leave the town. The town is small and dirty, as most towns these days are. There are people scurrying in every direction; some are doing chores, others are picking through shops, but most are just wandering through the streets doing nothing in particular. The children are the only ones smiling, running around, and playing with whatever happens to catch their eye. Their clothes aren’t exactly rags but are still frayed, stained, and sad-looking. This is just another forlorn little town still hoping to avoid Sora’s grasp.

As I walk, studying my surroundings carefully, I try to listen to the people around me as they talk to each other. I’m trying to find any indication that the men I’m looking for are here. I walk around town, forcing myself to go up and down every single street, before the word Lierra finally hits my ears and I stop dead in my tracks. I spin around, trying to figure out who it was that I heard talking. The street is crowded, but there’s a group of men standing several feet away that seem deep in discussion. I listen to them for a moment, trying to determine if it was one of them that I overheard. After a few seconds, I decide that it was one of those men, one with a deep, reverberating voice. This could be the group I’m looking for, but it could also be a group of people trying to find their way into the kingdom as well. Either way, listening in seems like a good idea.

I walk toward them, avoiding making eye contact, and station myself a few feet away while pretending to be looking at the junk for sale at a shop. I want to watch them for a little while before I approach them. The more I figure out about them and who they are, the better. If they’re who I’m looking for, that’s good. But even if they’re just another group of people trying to get to Lierra, they could still have useful information. Who knows? I may even offer to help them find their way there.

I just think we should avoid it this time. After the storm, there’s bound to have been all kinds of rockslides through there, one of them says. This soldier is a middle-aged black male with a shaved head. He’s very muscular, with large, broad shoulders. He’s also tall; not the tallest man I’ve ever seen, but he has to be well over six feet.

But it’s the shortest way back! And with all the parts we’ve gathered, I don’t think it’s smart to go the longer way, Bobby, one of the others responds. This man looks a little younger than the other, with shoulder-length black hair and pale skin. He’s skinny, but I can still see very defined muscles on his arms underneath his shirtsleeves. He’s not as tall as the other man, but he’s not the shortest of the group either.

What do you think, Gerard? the original man, Bobby, asks. I freeze at the mention of that name. Gerard is the unofficial leader of Lierra and, from what we’ve come to understand, the leader of their little scavenging group. Lierra is run in a very unusual way; instead of having a king, one ruler, they run a little assembly that makes all the decisions and rules together. Gerard is one of the members of this assembly, but it seems as if everyone at Lierra looks to him the most.

He’s also the one my father wants me to kill.

This is definitely the group that I’m looking for.

I think Jake’s right. We need to be careful after that storm, and we need these parts. We can’t risk losing them or running into any Soran soldiers, Gerard answers. He seems to be about the same age as Bobby, but with slightly longer black hair that has a blond streak in it. It’s not as long as Jake’s, but it’s not as short as the other men’s, either. I also notice a small yet very noticeable scar running along his pale skin from the edge of his mouth across his left cheek, ending somewhere behind his hair. Despite the scar and the strange streak in his hair, there’s still a sense of attractiveness to him that the others seem to lack.

Bobby shakes his head, looking defeated. Jake smirks a little, obviously enjoying the fact that he just won whatever argument they were having. The other soldier, an older-looking man with a red crew cut and an array of freckles across his face, starts speaking to Gerard, too quietly for me to hear. Gerard looks up and turns in my direction.

Do you need some help? he asks.

Shit. They noticed me. I want to scream at myself for being so careless as I cross the short distance toward them. The watch me carefully as I approach, as unsure of me as I am of them. They look anxious, but not as if they feel threatened by me, which is good. They mostly just seem curious.

Sorry, I was just making sure you were who I was looking for, I answer as Gerard looks me up and down suspiciously. Maybe we should talk somewhere more private.

About what? I pause, trying to decide the best way to deliver my story. They need to trust me, and everything I do later, every word I speak, will be based upon this first lie.

I used to be a soldier with the Sora, I start, and their hands go instinctively toward their holsters while I continue, but I escaped, and have been looking for you. I’d like to help you, and I understand why you would be suspicious, but I promise it’s the truth. I’m sure there are things I would be able to tell you that would help you in your attempts to bring them down.

Gerard doesn’t answer. He seems to be thinking over what I said, looking me over once again. He’s trying to decide if my story seems possible. The others don’t say or do anything while they wait for his decision. Finally, he nods at me.

Let’s go somewhere more private. I nod and begin to follow him as he walks. Bobby walks beside him, while the other two linger behind us. They wait a few seconds before following, flanking me as if I’m suddenly going to start attacking them. Gerard leads us a couple of buildings down to what must be the inn they’re staying at. We walk inside, and the lighting is so dark it takes my eyes a second to adjust. Gerard pauses a second, as well, before continuing his walk toward the stairs. This place is just as dirty and cramped as the rest of the town, with only a couple of seats and tables around. There is a busty redheaded woman behind the counter who pays us no attention as we pass.

We walk up a couple of flights of stairs to the third and final floor of the inn. We go all the way to the end of the hall before Gerard and Bobby enter the last door. I follow them in as Jake, and the unnamed soldier close the door behind us. They stay standing in front of it, alert, as if they’re guarding the only exit. I look around; other than a couple of bags sitting on the floor and the fact that there is a bed, this room looks just like the main room downstairs.

Okay, Gerard says, sitting down on the bed. "Start from the beginning. Don’t skip anything." He clasps his hands together, leaning on them and watching me as I sit down in the chair Bobby has stationed across from him.

All right. I lean back, pausing for a second to run over the main parts of my lie before speaking. My name is Andrew. I used to be a soldier for the Sora. I escaped a couple of weeks ago—

How did you escape? Gerard interrupts. I grin a little; he’s precise. I doubt any detail will escape him.

"I was a commanding officer for a while until I purposefully messed up guarding a prisoner. He escaped and they, well, punished me." I lift up my shirt just enough to reveal a little of the wound on my stomach. My father graciously cut me in order for my lie to look more believable. It’s not the worst wound I’ve ever had, but he didn’t exactly hold back either. As Gerard looks at it, I notice his expression change, just a little, before he quickly hides it again.

You let the prisoner escape so that they would derank you? Bobby asks from behind me. I nod.

Yes. My superior put me on wall duty. He said after a couple of months I could go back to helping guard the prisoners and leading search parties, but that wasn’t my plan. After I got put on wall duty, I waited about three days before leaving. I pretended to be checking the perimeter, but instead I grabbed the bag I had stashed there earlier and I ran.

But you don’t have this bag now? Gerard asks. I smile again; it looks like I was right. No detail is going to escape him.

No. I lost it when I entered the first town I ran into. Someone noticed the symbol on it and thought I was with the Sora. A group of men chased me out of town, and one of them grabbed my bag as I ran and I lost it. This actually is true. I had brought clothes and supplies with me when I left, but those men had taken them from me.

Okay. Gerard nods. Go on.

Ever since I escaped, I’ve been hopping from town to town, trying to find you. I want to help you defeat them so that we can all live in peace again. Like I said, I was a commanding officer. I know I have some sort of information that could help you.

Gerard doesn’t say anything. He just watches me a second before motioning to Bobby.

This is Bobby. That’s Jake and Adrian, he says, motioning toward each man in order. I had already figured out all their names but Adrian’s. I look around at him and he nods, giving me a small wave while Gerard continues talking, Why don’t you wait downstairs while we talk?

I nod, standing up and heading for the door. Jake and Adrian move out of my way as I leave. I shut the door behind me and walk as slowly as possible down the hall, hoping to pick up a part of their conversation as I go, but they’re speaking too quietly. Eventually I make my way down the stairs and back into the cramped lobby area. I sit on a moth-eaten chair and look at my surroundings. There’s nobody else in the lobby; even the redheaded woman behind the counter has gone. Other than the one or two other chairs and a small table, there isn’t really anything to look at.

After a couple of minutes, the front door opens, just a crack, but nobody walks in. The table is hiding my view, so I lean around it to see what’s going on. As I look, a big, wet, sloppy tongue runs all the way up my face. I jump back as a small, raggedy-looking dog barks happily at his successful attack. I laugh a little; it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a dog that was actually happy to see you. All the dogs at Sora are trained attack dogs that won’t even let you get close enough to put a leash on them.

The dog jumps in my lap. I consider pushing him down, but he looks so happy just sitting there, licking my hand and wagging his tail that I don’t. I pet his head as he rolls onto his side, looking at me with a big, stupid smile. I rub the exposed part of his belly, and his tail wags even faster. He looks like a mutt; there’s no obvious breed that pops into my head. Not even his coloring suggests any particular kind of dog; he’s brown with a couple of black spots and has medium-length, shaggy fur. He’s dirty, and there’s so many fleas and ticks on him it’s hard to tell which spots are fur and which are bugs. I pull a couple of them off and throw them on the floor.

What’s your name? I ask him. He wags his tail harder and rolls back onto his stomach. He barks, waving his paws to try to get me to keep petting him. I think I’ll call you Mutt, I say, smiling as he barks in agreement. Wanna wait here with me? He barks in agreement and I laugh, pulling another large tick off his ear. Okay, then.

I continue petting him and occasionally pulling bugs off him as I wait for someone to come and get me. After about fifteen minutes, the soldier named Jake finally comes down the stairs. I stand, and Mutt jumps out of my lap, barking and wagging his tail excitedly. Jake sees him and smiles, laughing.

You make a friend? Jake asks.

Yeah, I guess I did. I look down at Mutt; he’s sitting next to me and watching me with that same stupid look on his face. I shake my head and look back at Jake. So?

Come with me, he says, motioning with his head back toward the stairs. I start to follow him, but Mutt is right on my heels.

Stay, I say. Mutt sits, whining loudly. I wait a second before taking a couple of steps forward. He barks and gets up, following me. I stop walking again, and he sits, wagging his tail slowly as he stares at me. Jake laughs as he watches us.

Just let him come. I think he likes you, he says, starting to head up the stairs. I sigh, following him as Mutt stays close on my heels.

When we get back to the room, Gerard is still sitting on the bed, but the other two have taken seats in the corner of the room. I don’t remember there being these many chairs in here, but I guess they just took them from a different room. I sit back in my original seat across from Gerard as Mutt lies down on my feet. Gerard grins at him but doesn’t say anything about it.

So? What did you decide? I ask. Gerard bites his lip, leaning on his hands again.

We’ve decided to take you with us. To Lierra. Like you said, we could use some help, and you have information that we could use. But we do have certain rules when it comes to living there. He stops, looking at Mutt and not at me.

Like what? I ask. He won’t look at me, and neither will Jake, who is standing right beside him. Gerard sighs, scratching his head.

Well, we can’t let just anyone in, no matter what their story may be. Now we’re not saying you’re a liar. He pauses, looking at me from the corner of his eye. But really, we wouldn’t know if you were, would we?

So what do you do? How do you decide who gets to come in? I ask him. Mutt must have fallen asleep because he starts quietly snoring from his spot on my feet. It seems to relieve a little of the tension in the room; Gerard’s shoulders relax as he looks at Mutt, chuckling.

Well, one of the members of our council is a shaman. I am one, too, but I’m still in training, so I’m pretty much useless. He lets out a small, uncomfortable laugh. Everyone who wants to move into the kingdom he does this sort of…search on. He starts to look anxious again.

What kind of search? We’ve interrogated many citizens who’ve lived in Lierra, but I’ve never heard of any search. Maybe they implemented it recently, or maybe the ones we’ve interrogated just refused to tell us about it. Either way, it’s news to me.

Well, he sort of…searches their minds. He speaks slowly, as if he’s uncomfortable talking about it. I don’t really agree with it, but it is the best way to make sure no one gets in that could be a threat to us, he adds quickly, finally looking me in the eyes. He takes a deep breath before speaking again. Basically, he’ll read your mind to make sure that what you’ve told us is the truth. It doesn’t hurt or anything, but if you’re hiding anything from us, he’ll know.

I almost laugh at him, but I hold it in the best I can. Read my mind? That’s foolish. The last person who tried to read my mind ended up on the floor, writhing in pain as I turned his own magic against him. No one is strong enough to read my mind unless I let them, except for my father. Tricking this shaman will be too easy. All I have to do is let him into my mind and feed him false memories. It’s not difficult, and he won’t have any idea that I’m doing it.

I quickly hide my amusement; I don’t want them to realize what I’m thinking. I need to seem willing but not too willing to go through with it. I need the perfect balance to avoid suspicion. All I’ll need to do is make my memories match my lie when I’m searched, and everything will be fine. This changes nothing.

That sounds fine with me, I answer. Gerard’s eyes widen in shock.

Really? I nod, grinning a little bit. Why? he asks, looking at me with confusion. No one has ever agreed to it that easily, even the ones who didn’t have anything to hide. It’s a huge invasion of privacy.

I know, but it’s not like I didn’t go through worse with the Sora. Besides, when he searches my mind, all he’ll see is how much they’ve done to me. If anything, it should prove even more how much I hate them. He nods again. He still looks worried, but he seems to accept it. After a brief pause, he speaks again.

We’ll be leaving tomorrow. It’ll take a couple of days to get from here to Lierra, but we’ll get you a pack with supplies in it since you lost yours. He looks at Jake. Do you want to take Bobby and go ask Sasha downstairs where to get clothes?

Sure. He grabs his bag from the floor next to the bed and follows Bobby to the door. They leave, shutting the door behind them and waking Mutt up from his nap. He barks, watching the door for a second. Realizing it’s safe, he lies back down and starts to snore again within a matter of seconds.

Are you bringing him? Gerard asks, smiling a little. Because if you do, you’ll have to give him a bath first. I laugh, looking down at Mutt.

Yeah, he’s a dirtbag, isn’t he? I respond, making Gerard laugh again. He points to the door at the opposite end of the room.

The water pressure is shit, but you should be able to get you and him cleaned up a little bit. We’ll figure out the sleeping arrangements while you shower. I nod and pick up Mutt, waking him up again. He licks me as his tail picks up speed, shaking a clump of dirt off and onto the floor.

I carry him into the bathroom and shut the door. I don’t know why this dog likes me so much, but I might as well carry him around for a while. It’s obvious by the way his ribs are showing that no one here is taking care of him. I’ll never understand why people abandon or neglect animals, especially ones as sweet as this dog is.

I start to fill up the tub, which is just as small and dirty as the rest of the inn. Mutt whines, seeming to realize the horror that he’s about to face. I laugh at him; he isn’t wagging his tail as fast anymore, and he’s looking at the tub with a scared, nasty look in his eye. He must have experienced at least one bath before in his life. Once the water gets high enough, I stick him in and pour a little soap on his back. He whines, looking at me with big, sad eyes.

Don’t give me that look, you’re the one covered in bugs and dirt. He whines again, licking my hand. I smile at him, wondering how in the world he found his way into the inn and why he decided that he liked me.

I wonder what my father would say when if I brought him back with me?

Chapter Two

When I exit the bathroom, only slightly cleaner than when I had entered it, I notice that they’ve laid a few slightly tattered blankets and a pillow on the ground at the foot of the bed. Gerard is looking out the window at something when Mutt barks, startling him. Gerard looks up as Mutt proceeds to roll all over the blankets on the ground. He must have realized that they put those there for us.

Well, he looks a little better, Gerard says, smiling a little.

I got all the ticks off him. That’s an improvement, at least, I respond, Mutt barking in agreement. He stands up and starts to fluff the pillow. I’m worried he’s going to put a hole in it, so I pick him up as Gerard laughs.

What’s his name? he asks.

What? Mutt’s grabbed hold of my hair and is chewing it. I’m distracted, trying to get it back from him. After struggling for a few seconds, I put him back down on the blankets, giving up. He starts to fluff the pillow again in victory.

His name? Gerard repeats as he crosses the room to sit on the bed. He leans down and pets Mutt as he settles in on the freshly fluffed pillow.

I don’t know, I shrug I’ve just been calling him Mutt. I don’t think he belongs to anybody; he ran up to me when I was waiting downstairs and then he followed me up here. Gerard grins and shakes his head. He’s silent for a few seconds before he stands again. He walks over to the corner of the room next to the bed and picks up a worn-out backpack. There are a couple of small holes in it, and some of the seams are exposed. As Gerard picks it up, I’m worried the seams are going to split on it.

This is what they were able to find. It’s not amazing, but it should hold up until we get back to Lierra, he explains as he tosses the bag to me. I catch it and sit on the bed. Opening it, I see a little of everything: a reusable water bottle, some packs of crackers, a couple of unmarked tin cans that probably hold some sort of food, and a bundle of clothes complete with a pair of socks. I don’t take the clothes out. I don’t really care what they look like or if they fit because I’ll probably never put them on, but I appreciate the thought.

I assume that I’m sharing the bed with Mutt? I ask, making Gerard chuckle.

Yeah, if he lets you, he answers, sitting down on the bed next to me. Originally, Jake was going to stay in here with me, but he decided to stay with Bobby and Adrian since their room actually has two beds.

I don’t have to ask why he has me sleeping in here with him instead of with the other two. He wants to keep an eye on me, and since this room is small, he can’t have Jake and I both staying in here, so he kicked Jake out. I kind of wish that I had listened in on the conversation a little before I got in the shower. Why do I only manage to have good ideas when they’re no longer useful?

After a brief, awkward pause, Gerard stands up and heads toward the bathroom.

You should go to sleep. I’m gonna hit the shower. Night. I nod at him as he closes the door. After a couple of seconds, I hear the water turn on. I sigh, lying down on the makeshift bed. Mutt scoots over just enough for me to lay my head down next to him. After a few seconds, he starts to snore. I grin, stroking his head. I begin to run over my plan again, thinking of everything that I’ve learned so far.

The members of their little scavenging group are Jake, Bobby, Adrian, and Gerard. Unless they left someone behind at Lierra, that should be it. They have a powerful shaman on their council, one that’s powerful enough to read people’s minds. Gerard is in charge of the group and is one of the most respected members of the council. He is also a shaman, although he admitted he is still in training, which means he’s probably not that old.

Shamans have this weird ability, or trait I guess, that makes them, or should I say us, age slowly. I really don’t know if we even have a set lifespan, since most of us live until we get killed or get sick enough to die. Because of this little trait, we usually appear to be much younger than we actually are. I’ve mostly stopped counting, but I know I’m somewhere in my thirties. However, I’ve been told that I don’t look older than twenty-five. I don’t know exactly how old my father is, but I know he has to be far up there in years. He only looks forty or fifty. I don’t know how old Gerard is, but since he’s still in training, he’s probably actually as old as he looks. I’d say twenty-five or twenty-six. He can’t be older than thirty, for sure.

I hear the water cut off and roll over, shutting my eyes. I want to avoid any more awkward conversation, so I pretend to be asleep. After a couple of minutes, I hear the door open. He waits a few seconds, probably trying to figure out if I’m really asleep before I hear him walk toward the bed. The mattress squeaks as he lies on it, making Mutt snort and wake up. After a couple of seconds, he falls right back to sleep, though, and I start to wonder if that’s all this dog is going to be good for. All he’s done so far is sleep.

Over the next few minutes, I hear Gerard shift and turn, trying to get comfortable. Eventually, he stops moving, but I’m not sure if he’s actually asleep or not. I decide to wait a little longer before getting up, just to make sure. I could wait to see if he starts snoring, but Mutt’s snoring is so loud, I don’t know if I’ll even hear it.

After what feels like ten minutes, I open my eyes. I can’t see him over the bed, so I slowly look up. He’s not snoring, but his eyes are darting back and forth under his eyelids, indicating that he is indeed asleep. I stand up slowly, trying not to wake him or Mutt, and move toward the window. I wait a few more seconds to make sure Mutt doesn’t wake up before turning the latch. I start to ease it upward, trying to go slow enough so it doesn’t squeak. It makes a small noise when I get it about a quarter of the way up, and I pause, waiting to see if they’ll wake up. After a few more seconds, I continue to ease it upward.

It takes a couple of minutes to get the window open, but I manage not to wake either of them. I stick my head out it and look up; there’s no easy way to climb to the roof. I think for a second before deciding just to go for it. I grab hold of the top of the window and swing my body out. Once I get my feet positioned, I close the window, leaving it open a small crack. I start to climb my way up slowly, silently thanking whoever built this place for not knowing how to line up the bricks. Some of them stick out just enough to use as holds as I climb the couple of feet up to the roof.

I swing myself up onto the roof and look around. There’s no one up here but a couple of pigeons. I wasn’t really expecting anyone to be up here, but it’s still nice to see that the roof is empty. One of the pigeons hops a little farther away from me as I sit down, leaning against the broken air duct.

I’m not really a