The Duelist

by Eric Vall

  “Right!” Jenner said and clapped his hands together as he seemed to come to a decision. Then he turned smartly on his heels and began to lead the way out of the entrance hall. “I bet you both are famished. Arvid finally finished the stew, just in time before the Night Fast. Not a moment too soon, too, the slow blundering porack.”

  Zoie and I followed him as we exchanged amused glances.

  “Why didn’t you warn me about him?” I whispered to her as Jenner kept muttering darkly to himself.

  “You’re not afraid of wee little Jenner, are you?” Zoie teased, and some of the good humor from earlier was still dancing on her blushing lips. “You are his master now, so he’ll do whatever you say.”

  “Has he ever whacked you with that riding crop thing?” I poked her in her exposed side.

  “No, of course not! Jenner is harmless.” Zoie danced away from my questing fingers, and I was delighted to discover she might be ticklish. “In fact, he is one of the few people I’ve met since I got to Nata Isle who has shown me the most kindness.”

  “Well, hopefully I can change that,” I said, and I couldn’t resist poking her one more time.

  She hissed and swiped at my hand, and suddenly, we were play-fighting like children until Jenner’s voice snapped us out of it.

  “Mr. Alex, and Ms. Zoie, the kitchen is this way,” he said with a flat expression on his stern face.

  It was so at odds with his cute stature and big fluffy ears that I had to stifle another round of juvenile laughter. I saw Zoie bite her lip to hide her own small grin, and I cleared my throat.

  Jenner eyed us both like a disappointed parent would do to their squabbling children in the supermarket.

  “Sorry, Jenner,” I said once I had myself under control and grabbed Zoie’s hand. “We’re ready, lead on.”

  “Ahem, yes,” Zoie said as she instantly composed herself way better than I just did. “Lead on, Jenner.”

  Jenner narrowed his gaze and wouldn’t look away from us even when we started all walking again, and I counted at least ten weird backward steps before he finally faced forward again.

  “He’s gonna take a bit of getting used to,” I whispered to Zoie.

  My new wife smiled gently, but then something seemed to dawn on her as she slowed to a stop.

  “I’m sorry about your family, Alex,” she said and squeezed my hand.

  “That’s okay,” I told her and squeezed back. “There aren’t any memories to miss them by.”

  “Still,” she said as we started walking again, “I only knew my parents for a short time, and even though most of the memories have faded, there is still an empty space inside that I wished was filled sometimes.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” I murmured and let her words settle over me.

  We followed Jenner the rest of the way in contented silence after that.

  I’d admit, the exhaustion was really getting to me at this point, and I was glad to have a couple of guides. The corridor walls were all barren and looked the same, and there really weren’t any statues, antique vases, or furniture to mark the passages. There might have been a staircase or three, but I wasn’t really paying close attention. I was mainly focused on placing one foot in front of the other until we passed through a courtyard and into the kitchen at last.

  “Arvid!” Jenner called out as he burst through the swinging doors. “Dish us all up some stew while most of us are still young.”

  A tall man with a shaggy brown pelt shot through with streaks of white blinked awake from where he was sleeping. He was hunched over with his arms folded and his head down on the simple wooden table in the center of the kitchen. Given the grooves in the surface where his big sloth-like claws rested, this must have been his favorite napping place.

  “Ohhh?” the sloth-man said as he rose slowly and scratched his head, and he stretched each vowel to the max. “Whooo--”

  “Yes, yes, we have a new Asher,” Jenner said and set about filling four goblets full of wine from a clay pitcher on the work counter. He needed a step stool to reach, and I had to fight another grin. “Let’s save all that for another time, hm, Arvi?”

  Arvid gave another slow blink and nodded before he shuffled to a big fireplace where a large pot hung over the crackling flames. Then he stirred the contents a few times before making his slow way over to where the bowls were kept near the sink.

  “Sit, Alex,” Zoie said and guided me to sit on one of the bench seats at the table with her.

  I did so and groaned as my aching feet were finally relieved from the stress they’d been under. They throbbed along with my pulse, especially the foot I used to hack down Dagmar, and they were sore to the point where I considered just chopping them both off with that mean looking cleaver hanging on the wall.

  Man, I would kill for an ibuprofen right about now.

  Instead, I made due with a large swallow of the wine Jenner put down in front of me. It tasted like straight vinegar, but at the same time it was heaven.

  The stew, when Arvid finally got around to serving all of us, was even better.

  Big chunks of tender meat swam in a rich gravy seasoned with something that reminded me of garlic and rosemary. I looked above us at the bundles of herbs hung upside down from the ceiling in various stages of drying, but none of them looked familiar.

  “What is this?” I asked after my fifth or sixth spoonful.

  “Porack stew with verna berries and ash-root,” Jenner said and slurped something that looked like a potato into his mouth.

  “It’s delicious,” I directed to Arvid as I sopped up the rest of the gravy with a hunk of bread. “My compliments to the chef.”

  “I did tell you,” Zoie said as she brought her own spoon elegantly up to her lips.

  “You did,” I replied and licked my thumb. “I’m gonna need about two more bowls of that.”

  Arvid only smiled a slow smile and got up to get more stew.

  When I finished my last bowl of food, it was like the whole of today’s events came crashing down on me. Was it really only this morning that I woke up on the deserted island? Or, wait. Last night? Leary’s felt like years ago, now.

  It wasn’t until I sensed cool fingers brushing away the hair from my brow that I realized I’d pulled an Arvid and dozed off at the table.

  “Alex,” Zoie beckoned me awake with her serene voice.

  “Timeissit?” I slurred.

  “Time for rest,” she said and helped me up to my feet, but I hissed in pain when I had to stand on my bruised soles once more, so Zoie maneuvered my arm over her shoulders. “Here. Lean on me.”

  “That helps, thanks,” I said and leaned into her side. Then I looked around the kitchen and noticed we were alone. “Where are Jenner and Arvid?”

  “Jenner went to prepare your rooms, and Arvid went to bring the poracks in for the night,” she explained.

  “Night?” I looked out the window in confusion. The sun was still high in the sky the same as it had been since I got here.

  “It’s Sun Day,” she said. “This is the longest day of the year, and the sun won’t set for a few more hours. I’ll explain more to you later.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled and shuffled along with her out of the kitchen and back through the courtyard.

  Somehow, Zoie managed to get me up two flights of stairs and into a room that must have been in one of the towers due to its circular design. Just like the rest of the manor, it was underwhelming in decoration, but it was more than fine because the only thing I required was a bed and some heavy drapes to block the light, and this room had both, so I was set.

  “There are clean linens and a few clothes in the wardrobe,” Zoie said as she helped me sit on the side of the large four-poster bed. Then she indicated a curtained archway next to a large fireplace. “And there is a bathing room just through there.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I gazed up at her.

  “You’re welcome,” she replied. “Sleep well.”

  “Wait, don�
��t go,” I protested and grabbed her hand. “Stay.”

  Zoie stiffened, and her hand went wooden in my grasp. “I don’t--”

  “Just to sleep!” I hurried to add. “I know you have your mourning thing.”

  “Mourning Rite,” she corrected.

  “Yeah, that,” I said.

  “I…” Zoie said and then trailed off. She looked uncomfortable, so I took my hand back.

  “That’s okay,” I said and rubbed my sweaty palm against my thigh. “You don’t have to ever explain with me.”

  “Alex…” she murmured and bit her lip.

  “No, really,” I said and stood up one more time so I could level with her.

  Zoie had her face down, however, and there was that little furrow in between her eyebrows.

  I was starting to recognize this look of hers as being unique to when she was grappling with something she didn’t know how to put into words, so I tilted her chin up with my finger so she could see the sincerity written on my face.

  Her eyes shifted away from mine, and she pulled back.

  I tried not to let the rejection sting too much, but I understood the situation from her perspective.

  It wasn’t even about the sex, not really.

  Yes, I would love to take her to bed right now, no questions asked. I would love to spread her out on the sheets and remove each article of her skimpy clothing piece by piece until every inch of her satiny skin was revealed to me…

  But more than all that, there was something so comforting about just holding her soft body against me and smelling the warm scent of her. She made everything feel more like home than home ever was, and for a moment, that empty space she was talking about? Well, for a moment it didn’t feel so empty when she was around.

  “I should wait for the Lord Asher’s summons,” Zoie said and put more distance between us.

  “Oh, right,” I said and rubbed the back of my neck. “That party thing?”

  “Yes,” she muttered.

  “Okay, then.” I sat back down on the side of the bed. “Goodnight, I guess.”

  “Goodnight,” Zoie said. She hovered by the door, and for a moment I thought she was going to say something else, but she didn’t. Instead, she let the door close softly behind her.

  I sighed and looked around the empty room. What I really needed was to put this day behind me and to get some sleep, so I shucked off my dirty shirt and let it crumple to the floor as I laid back against the comfortable mattress.

  The second my head hit the pillow, I was out.

  Dreams came and went in a blur of kaleidoscope color and sound, and it only seemed like seconds before I was being roughly shaken back to consciousness.

  “Mr. Alex!” Jenner’s voice pierced through the fog.

  “Wha?” I said and bolted upright in the bed, but the little koala-man continued to pull at my wrist and practically dragged me to the floor. “I’m up, what’s going on?”

  Before he could answer, a deafening rumble tore through the air and made the manor house shake. Mortar dust rained down on us from above, and I could feel the ground roll under my feet. It was a similar sensation to what I felt on that rotating island, and I held on to one of the bed’s four posts so I wouldn’t fall.

  As soon as it started, everything stopped, and an eerie stillness permeated the air. The hair stood right up on the back of my neck, and Jenner’s ears trembled and twitched. He turned to me with all of the color washed out of his face and then ran over to the window on the far wall of the room.

  I followed close behind as he tore open the drapes, and my jaw dropped.

  Night had finally come to Nata Isle, but with it came a blood-red moon that turned the once-idyllic grounds of the estate into something hostile and terrifying.

  From somewhere not too far off in the distance, a low howl rose over the trees.

  “They’re back!” Jenner gasped. “Nooooo!”

  And before I could ask what he meant, a bolt of lightning exploded on the grounds somewhere near where the pasture was, and all hell broke loose.

  Chapter 4

  The lightning strike immediately sparked a fire in the pasture, and both Jenner and I stumbled back from the window.

  “Oh, Mercedes be!” Jenner yelled and snapped back into action.

  “Jenner, what the fuck is going on?” I shouted as the koala-man grabbed my wrist again with his surprisingly strong grip.

  “The moon is red, Asher Brightwood,” he barked over his shoulder as he dragged me through the dimly lit corridors. “It’s time to show you deserve that pretty rock around your neck.”

  I looked down at the Duelist Stone bouncing against my bare chest as I followed Jenner down a long staircase.

  In the darkness, the Stone glowed with soft white light, and all along the passage the wall mounted sconces glowed with the same light as I passed by. Once we got to the bottom of the stairs, light from more of those stone fixtures on the walls flooded the space to reveal a weapons cache stacked to the gills with fine swords, melee weapons, and anything else a person could think of that could kill, maim, or cause serious damage. It was impressive.

  “Wait, I thought you were taking me to Zoie,” I said as I spun around and looked everywhere for her familiar form. “Where is Zoie, Jenner? Tell me what’s going on!”

  Jenner stopped in the middle of gathering random pieces of clothing, armor, and whatever weapons were left in the depleted cache, and he dropped a double-sided axe almost bigger than he was and stared at me.

  I was beginning to recognize this type of look. It was the look I usually got when I did or said something that basically advertised with a neon sign that I was Not From Here.

  Before Jenner could answer, another low rumble roiled under our feet, and the howling rang out even louder now that we were underground.

  “There’s no time!” Jenner said and leapt back into his frenzy as he started pulling things over my head at a breakneck pace. Things like a scratchy tunic-type shirt followed by a bulky chest plate.

  “Jenner,” I tried again, but he cut me off.

  “Zoie should be making her usual rounds surveying your estate,” the small gray whirlwind continued as he slammed a helmet onto my head. “By now, she will probably be by the eastern field. Put these on.”

  Jenner dropped a sturdy pair of leather boots in front of me.

  Halle-fucking-lujah.

  I wasted no time pulling them on. The boots were a little big and looked like they hadn’t been worn in a while, but the leather was broken in, and the soles were flexible.

  Jenner then picked up a sword from the dusty ground and shoved it into my hands. He frowned a moment later and adjusted my awkward grip. When he seemed satisfied enough, he dragged me yet again to the back of the chamber where another set of stairs led up and out to the north side of the manor.

  Even though the sun blazed so hot and dry during the day, the night had a chill in the air that reminded me of the cold damp common for late autumn. I shuddered in my ill-fitting armor, and my breath ghosted out in front of my face.

  “Take the path through the gardens and follow it to the right,” Jenner said as he jogged ahead of me. “Go down the hill and past the chapel. The bridge to the east fields will be on your left.”

  “Okay, but what about you?” I asked as he adjusted my grip on the sword again.

  “I have to go help Arvid with the poracks and try to put out that fire before it spreads,” he said and pushed me from behind. “Hurry, now. And, Mr. Alex?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “If you see a demon, kill it, or at least try not to die,” he deadpanned.

  “Wait, kill it?” I gasped. “With what?”

  Jenner just gave me a flat look and gestured to the sword.

  “Yeah…” I grimaced and shrugged.

  It was probably a bad time to tell him I had no fucking idea what I was doing.

  “Go, Alex! You are an Asher!” He gave me another shove, and I stumbled toward the steps t
hat led down into a stone garden. Then he was off running back through the manor to get to the southern pasture as quickly as he could.

  It wasn’t until I was running down the path when I remembered I never asked what a demon looked like.

  “I’m guessing if it looks like a monster, kill it,” I muttered to myself, and I ran down the hill with my eyes peeled wide.

  The red light from the moon cast angular shadows that played tricks on my eyes, and the world was silent in an unnatural way. As I ran along the stream, I noticed even the rushing water was muted as if it, too, was trying to be quiet.

  The noises that were present were deep and distant, and they sounded like explosions similar to when the lightning struck the pasture.

  I glanced up for any gathering clouds in case there was more lightning, but the sky was clear.

  The blood moon was suspended dead in a sea of black without any stars behind it, as if someone had just stuck it up there with Scotch tape. It looked fake and sickly, and I couldn’t bring myself to stare at it for very long.

  Then another howl rang out from somewhere behind me. It sounded close.

  Too close.

  I kept my head down and ran faster.

  Eventually, I flew past the modest chapel Jenner told me about, and I picked up my speed even more. I wanted to call out for Zoie, but just like the stream, I figured it would be better to make as little noise as possible.

  I almost didn’t see the stone bridge on the left, and if it wasn’t for the sharp yowling cry that echoed ahead of me, I would have completely blown by where the bridge was hidden by overgrown weeds.

  I skidded, banked left, and ran across the bridge to the east fields.

  “Argh!” came the sound of her voice again, and my blood turned icy with fear.

  “Zoie,” I said breathlessly.

  She was in trouble, and I needed to get to her, so I pushed myself harder.

  Suddenly, the path I was on forked in two different directions, and a sign post pointed the way to two different fields. The path labeled “Upper” snaked uphill to the left in a series of switchbacks, and the one marked “Lower” traveled down and to the right.