Chapter 170 Laddie

Her logical mind had assessed the situation of things, and she had surmised that there was no getting out of there alive. Quaid was clearly bent on destroying Xzavier, and by extension, anyone who was close to him. There had been no way out, absolutely none! And yet, here she was, comfortably on the run in the belly of a deathly metallic contraption. Of course she didn't understand it. No one did. But one thing she was certain of was her new found respect for Xzavier.

Suddenly, all the legends and stories flying around about him started to make sense. Of all his exploits, this was perhaps the most daring, and she was priviledged to have a firsthand experience of the whole thing. Babara's mind shot far ahead into the future and concluded that when she would tell this story to others, she had to be prepared to be called crazy, or a liar, or even a an attention seeker. Of course she didn't think she would ever bring herself to blame them.

She herself had sat through it all, and she could scarcely bring herself to acknowledge the fact that this had all happened in the first place. Xzavier was truly something else. Babara had seen it, she was still seeing it. As she sat in the backseat of the two man leopard 2 A7 tank, she couldn't help but feel a sick longing for Xzavier in that moment. If for some reason Xzavier decided to take her in that small cramped space, Babara knew that she wouldn't be able to say no to him.

Meanwhile, having successfully pulled out of the governor's estate, Xzavier had also successfully changed the location of the battleground. He was now headed towards the city center with Dale's goons still on his tail like a swarm of flies he couldn't shake off.

At that very moment, just as Xzavier steadily made his way towards the main city, Quaid sat in his study with a brooding look. The governor was truly a cold man. He had heard both of his children desperately knocking on his door, desperately in need of their father's counsel and reassurance. But he had coldly ignored them, making it seem like he was unavailable, despite the fact that he was very much present.

From his perspective, Earlene and Cadence weren't all that important right now. He couldn't possibly bear their whining and puppy-like looks right now. This was a moment that called for his complete and absolute attention. The governor simply didn't have the luxury of being distracted, so he ignored them until they went away. It wasn't like they were in any real danger anyway. They could handle themselves. As long as none of them went outside, he was content with that.

Quaid found himself in a fix. He hadn't anticipated the fact that his Xzavier problem would escalate so quickly. Seated in his throne like chair, and with a stony expression on his face, Quaid brooded in his study. But even though he very much felt alone, the fact was he wasn't by himself. Seated by his side was Laddie. The senior mage didn't just carry that title for nothing. The old man was actually the most powerful mage in the entire Victoria City. He had maintained a low profile over the last couple of years due to a lot of reasons. But tonight, it seemed like his services were about to be called upon.

Both men were quiet. But both men knew what had to be done. Quaid had a problem. He was reluctant to unleash Laddie upon Xzavier for some personal reasons. It wasn't like he was holding back for any cowardly reason, but it was because he knew that deploying a top mage like Laddie would only mean that he had openly acknowledged Xzavier as a real threat. While this was a superficial reason, it was actually a pretty big deal to the egocentric governor!

Quaid was always thinking about how things made him seem in the eyes of others. It was the politician in him. He simply couldn't shake of the optics he would create by sending the top mage into battle. The implications to the people and the army would be that the government was desperate to wrap this up. It was bad press, and it definitely didn't look good.

Laddie interrupted the governor's train of thought.

"We both know what needs to be done here Quaid. That boy needs to be stopped. He's heading for the city right now even as we speak!"

Quaid answered calmly; "I know this already old man."

"Then what's the hold up? All I need is your word and it will be done."

Quaid was liking this idea less and less. He could sense the thirst for glory in the old man's voice. It wasn't hard for him to tell that Laddie was eager to go all out against Xzavier. This was actually a good thing, except it posed one problem for Quaid.

After giving it much thought, reluctantly, Quaid finally gave the order;

"Fine. But I want to make myself clear Laddie- Xzavier must be captured alive! His corpse is of no use to me!" He reiterated again for posterity sake; "Use whatever means necessary, but he must be captired alive!"

Laddie said nothing. He wasn't thrilled about this constraint. Hearing about Xzavier's assault had made him strangely giddy with excitement. He had been curious as to what it would be like to face Xzavier. His own magic skills were stellar, but he also acknowledged Xzavier's own capabilities and strange ways. The old man knew that this would be the showdown of the century. The part about not killing Xzavier was cumbersome, but he had received his orders already.

Without a word, Laddie disappeared into thin air. Quaid sighed. This was going to be a pretty long night, he could feel it already.

Mean while, across the hallway, right around the turn in the children's wing of the mansion, Earlene paced up and down furiously in her bedroom. The young girl was mad. Never in her life had she ever been restrained by a guard before. Even the daring ones who had tried to keep her from escaping her lessons never prevailed against her will. In the end, she always got her way. And yet, as the lady of the house, as the daughter of the governor, she had been denied access to the outside world.

It was insane! It wasn't like she had actually wanted to go out before. In fact she did not want to. But now that she found out that she wasn't allowed to, she was consumed with the thought of going outside to explore. This was the bane of adolescence- a childish rebellion that was pointless and baseless.

But it wasn't all horomones. Sitting there, trapped in her room by her father's orders, she heard the sounds of battle in the distance, and she couldn't help but become worried. Judging by the distance and acoustics, she surmisssed that the battle was moving further and further away from the grounds. This didn't put her mind at ease at all. As she thought of Adalia and her father, Earlene began to worry frantically. She hoped with all her heart that they were okay.

Much like Earlene and Cadence, the worrisome sounds of explosions and battles in the city center caused a lot of concern in the hearts of the nearby residents. The commotion came along with a certain panic that no one could understand or explain. What was happening? They wondered? Were they under attack? All these questions pounded their way through the minds of the masses. Fortunately, Dale had been prudent enough to forestall this problem.

Before there could be a pandemonium or a case of mass hysteria in the city, The Silver Knight deployed a fresh set of soldiers to the townspeople, charging them with the task of keeping the city calm, and ensuring order prevailed above chaos. The unit quickly spread through the streets of the city, marching briskly and cautioning the citizens to remain indoors. Just as Dale had anticipated, a group of recalcitrants had already banded together, waiting for the perfect moment to take advantage of the dissension.

They were quickly suppressed by this wing of the army.

Having handled the problem of nosy/worrisome civilians, Dale could now focus on the issue at hand. His main problem remained Xzavier's mobility. He had to stop him from moving forward! And he had to do it now! Dale hurriedly glossed over the map of the city and saw that the path Xzavier was headed towards was a densely packed part of town. It seemed like he was purposely heading in that direction because he knew the tight terrain wouldn't favor any coordinated attack from his men.

Dale had to think fast and act even faster! He had severely underestimated Xzavier's capabilities, and even now, it was clear that Xzavier was thinking several moves ahead. Dale's ego didn't want to feel the shame of being left behind, so he thought out a way to counter Xzavier's strategy. This new plan filled him with a fresh dose of hope. So, he jerked up his head and began to bark orders again.

"Lieutenant!"

"Yes commander sir!"

"Take a group of fifty demolition experts, and run up ahead...line up on fifty sixth street and Adjallon crescent, and blow up all the buildings there! Understood?"

The lieutenant didn't need to understand, an order was an order. So he simply chorused a; "Yes commander sir!"

"Good! I want the entire expanse of space in front of the rebel to be completely blocked by the rubble from the building you razed down. Got it?"

"Sir, what about the civilians inside?"