Free The New Order by Sean Fay Wolfe Page A

won his bet against Kat that Bob would win, and not during the sparring tournament. Stan found it difficult to think of anything else. It was as if the players in the crowd were on a TV that Stan wasn’t really watching.
    Stan kept telling himself he wanted to contact Sally for the sake of intelligence on the impending attack. Really, though, the reason was that he wanted nothing more in the world than to hear her voice again. Perhaps, although it seemed impossible, they could discover some way that Sally might rejoin Elementia.
    â€œAnd now, ladies and gentlemen,” boomed Archie’s deep voice, cutting through Stan’s thoughts like a knife, “President Stan2012 will take the stage for the reenactment of the great battle between himself and the tyrannical King Kev.”
    Stan sighed. This was perhaps his least favorite part of the ceremonies, yet, for some reason, it tended to be one of the most popular. Although the people of the republic had been loud and rambunctious in the ceremonies all day, theloudest cacophony of cheers and praises rang out now, as Stan climbed the stairs up to the imitation bridge that had been constructed at the center of the park.
    The reenactment had only been added last Elementia Day. Blackraven had suggested that it was fitting that the people of Elementia celebrate how their beloved republic came to be, and that Stan himself should play his own part in the play. Stan was still determined to give his people the show they loved, despite how uncomfortable it made him to relive the deaths of his friends.
    He looked down the bridge at the actor dressed now as King Kev. It was a different actor this month, Stan noted. Although it was impossible to tell two players with the same skin apart at a glance, it was possible to tell by truly examining their eyes. Every player’s eyes had a unique gleam to them.
    Stan, who had earlier been adorned in diamond armor with two iron axes strapped to his back just as they had been the day he had challenged King Kev, drew one of these axes now. The king’s eyebrow twitched, as scripted, and Stan charged down the stone bridge toward the King Kev doppelgänger. The king’s sword was drawn, as was necessary, and, at the right point, Stan threw the axe at the actor’s head. The actor dive-rolled to the side and was then supposed to raise his diamond sword to counter the downward blow from Stan’s axe.
    Instead, the actor thrust the sword upward into the handle of Stan’s axe and gave it a sharp twist, sending Stan’s weapon spiraling to the side, just as the Avery actor grabbed Stan from behind in a full nelson and raised his own diamond sword to Stan’s throat.
    There was a horrified silence in the crowd for a moment, before screams began to erupt. All throughout the crowd, figures were buttoning on black tunics and pulling on black caps. They held blue-gray Potions of Slowness in their hands. Stan, even with his limited movement, could see that the black figures had enough radius to neutralize the entire crowd of thousands if need be.
    The King Kev actor picked up Stan’s axe, attached it to his belt, and then picked up his own sword. The instant it touched his hand, the sword darkened to black to match the tunic and cap the actor had pulled on. The King Kev actor cleared his throat, and spoke. “My name is Emerick, corporal of the Noctem Alliance. My agents and I have captured and taken your president hostage. As such, I now claim this city in the name of the Noctem Alliance and its leader, Lord Tenebris.”
    And through the stunned silence of the crowd around the imitation bridge, all the black figures gave the same unanimous cry that had haunted Stan’s nightmares.
    â€œVIVA LA NOCTEM!”

CHAPTER 7 THE COUP
    W ith the sword held against his neck, Stan could barely breathe, let alone turn his head to see the looks of terror on his citizens’ faces. Stan willed himself not to panic. He