The Shadow of Death

by Timothy Smith

  Would they have believed me? If I told them what I’d seen? Maybe if I just told them, would Mommy, and Daddy still be alive? Would this have ever happened?

  Aside from the snapping of twigs and dried leaves underneath, Cherise's crying was the only sound that could be heard, as the three were trudging through the forest floor. Looking back to Cherise occasionally, Ira wanted to do something for her, but felt completely helpless to do so. After all, what words of comfort could he possibly say that could make what happened alright, or to lessen the burden when he himself could only see loss in what transpired? All three of the children were now orphaned, their families and friends lost to them in less than a single hour’s time. No food or water on hand, with nothing more than a future filled with uncertainty, as they pressed on.

  A few hours passed and Cherise showed no signs of her crying coming to an end anytime soon. And already on edge at their whole situation, Ira could hardly stand it any longer.

  Ira: "Will you just stop it?!" He exclaimed, turning around to Cherise.

  Stern faced, Theo stood between him, and his little sister, without so much as saying a word. Irritated at Theo’s intervention, Ira continued to berate the two.

  Ira: "Why are you standing in my way? It’s not like any amount of crying is going to bring them back!" He perhaps said out of his own frustrated helplessness of the situation, but immediately finding himself regretting it.

  Knowing how heartless he must’ve sounded, Ira looked down in shame for a few seconds.

  Ira: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He said softly as a heartfelt apology.

  But after giving the situation a few seconds of thought further, Ira clenched his fist before looking up again with a fierce determination in his eyes.

  Ira: "Just you wait! One day I'm going to make the Aelaans pay for what they've done. They’ve taken everything from us, and one day I intend to return the favor!" Finding no disagreement with what Ira said, and with an embittered look on his face, Theo gave only a slight nod in return.

  After seeing that Theo had so readily agreed to his intentions, Ira grinned before turning forward to continue leading the others ahead.

  What is that? Am I just imagining things?

  It was slight, but through her clouded eyes and the dark of night, Cherise could see a faint distortion at the backs of both Theo and Ira, like a small fog that yearned to be something more.

  It can’t be, can it?!

  In a sudden fright, Cherise backed away from Theo as they continued walking. The whole ordeal was unnoticed by the others, and the unsettling anxiety she felt from what she witnessed was hers alone. And in the dark of night, she kept what she’d seen to herself, as the group in general continued stumbling across the forest floor. After all, even with what she saw, it’s not like Cherise would ever have any intention in the slightest of abandoning them. Nor did the young girl really have a choice. But wearier than ever, Cherise kept some distance from the others. With an uneasy realization, she now knew that whatever foul events had been transpiring, the others were also susceptible to it.

  ────────

  The glow of their town had finally vanished from their sight, with only the small refracted light of the moons’ lingered to guide their way. It was through an aggravating amount of stumbling, tripping, and hitting every single stray branch did Ira have enough. Looking for an excuse to stop, it wasn't much later that he noticed a small clearing in the woods besides a small stream.

  Ira: "We'll stop here for tonight. In the morning we’ll start making our way west. I know there’s a town in the area. Hopefully we’ll run across it.” The uncertainty in Ira’s comment betrayed the confidence in the tone of his voice.

  Feeling the need chime in, Cherise said.

  Cherise: “I still have my map with me. My dad even drew the closest town on the map for me.” She said while pulling out a rolled-up map from her clothing.

  Bringing a sigh of relief to Ira, he extended his hand and accepted her map. It wasn’t very detailed by any stretch of the margin, but Nolan’s markings were remarkably helpful under the circumstances.

  Ira: “I’m sure glad you had this on you.” He said gratefully before squinting his eyes to get a better look at the map, using the faint hint of moonlight.

  Ira: “Merchant’s pass, huh? So that’s what they call it.-“ He said curiously before gesturing to the town on the map, “-We can make it to in a couple of days if we keep heading northwest. In the meantime, we need to try and get as much rest as we can for now. There's going to be a lot of walking ahead of us." And without any disagreement, that’s exactly what they tried to do.

  Trying to make do with what little they had, the children were laying down besides one another for warmth on the cold forest floor. To say the least, especially with all that transpired, each of them found it even more than difficult to sleep under such circumstances. As if their bodies had wills of their own, with intentions to protect the children from their recent memories, with tear stained eyes, the three fell into a long peaceful slumbers.

  The following morning, all three of the children awoke to the suns light piercing through the openings between the trees. Soon after getting a drink from the stream, they set out on their journey. The children continued through the forest the entire time on their way to Merchant’s pass. It was to the their great misfortune that the most direct route to the town was a straight shot through the strenuous incline, passing through the heart of the heavily wooded mountains.

  Trying to keep as positive an outlook on the situation as she could, Cherise thought it wasn’t all bad. The forest had plenty of its fair share of streams, so their small band wouldn’t be thirsty for very long at any given point. Also, Ira mostly was right about what kind of plants were edible on their way, mostly. But the occasional stomach ache was a small price to pay for eating any edible food at all. Nevertheless, what little food Ira found was hardly enough, and the children were famished after several days of walking. The cold weather proved to be a blessing and a curse, both helping the children’s strenuous journey become more bearable, but at the same time making their attempts to sleep painfully difficult in the bitter cold woodlands. In time, and throughout discipline on their trek, the children finally came to the outskirts of the small town of Merchant’s pass.

  ────────

  The town of Merchant’s pass nestled itself on the slope of a mountains, which still ascended even further to the northern skies. Tightly nudged together on the side of every street, the town had wooden buildings with many roads to do business, but only one of the roads was stone paved, and it appeared to lead directly through to the heart of the town. Now finding the town or anything for that matter to rekindle their hope, almost simultaneously, the children’s pale expressions had changed to hopeful smiles at first sight of Merchant’s pass. With their quest now completed, Ira returned Cherise’s map to her.

  Ira: “Thanks Cherise. Since we’re where we need to be, it looks like we won’t be needing this map any longer.”

  Cherise: "Finally, we can find someone who can help us! And get some real food!" She said earnestly meaning no particular offense to Ira.

  He silently agreed well enough, knowing that something other than wild mushrooms or plants would be a nice change of pace. As the three approached the edge of the town, Ira yelled out.

  Ira: "We need help! Our village was attacked by the Empire!... We need food and shelter!" After giving it a few seconds, surprisingly, the three didn't hear any response.

  The town seemed to be relatively empty as the children started walking further down the road. As they continued making their way through the town’s main road, the three were becoming unsettled as they still managed to see no one. All the while, Ira kept continually pleading out loud for any response.

  Making their way down the road, with the recent difficulties they’d endured, the children almost felt lucky when they finally saw that the town actually had some residents. Just ahe
ad in the in the town’s main square, the place was buzzing with talk of folk, and merchant’s handling their trades. All three were relieved at the sight of townspeople before Ira ran towards the strangers. Once he was comfortably close enough for those in the square to hear, he pleaded.

  Ira: "Please help us! Our village was destroyed by the Aelaans! We have no place to go."

  The strangers looked at Ira with surprise, but without so much as a word, shortly thereafter, they turned their gazes away before continuing to go on about their business. Astonished that the townspeople simply acted as if he wasn’t there, Ira became dismayed.

  Ira: "What’re you doing?... Come on, this isn’t funny. Why are you all pretending like we're not even here?!"

  The only response he got from all the townsfolk were all roughly the same, ongoing averted eyes, as they continued about their own business. Some even going so far as to walk on by, pretending they didn't take catch notice of the children at their corner of their eyes. The three were distraught as they looked on with amazement at the indifference of the townspeople, who were so blatantly ignoring their pleas for help. Cherise looked at both Ira and Theo in disbelief.

  Cherise: "How could they? Are they really not going to help us?" Just as surprised, the others didn’t know how to respond to her question, and with an ever-saddening look, she began to ask the stranger herself.

  Cherise: "Please, we need food and water. We haven’t had anything but a few wild plants to eat in days!” Her luck was no better.

  Cherise: “Will no one help us?" She asked to no one in particular, after the continued lack of responses from the townspeople, now finding herself in the dead center of the town’s square.

  Their indifference and lack of remorse proved to be more than Ira could take.

  Ira: "HEY!! How can you all just ignore us?! What kind of people are you?! How can you all be so heartless?!" He practically yelled with disgust, loud enough frustration for everyone around to hear

  Visibly annoyed at Ira’s remarks, some of the townspeople looked back at the young boy only briefly, before averting their gazes once more. Some of them even sneered in contempt at the young visitor, offended by being reprimanded by a newcomer to their town, and a child at that.

  One of the townsfolk in the bustling square had been getting a good look at Ira, and afterward deliberately started talking loud enough for the others in the square to hear as he said, "Couldn't help but notice by the way our guest here looks, but it appears that this one here is from the Toride clan! Isn't that right?" The man said, gesturing to Ira, only giving a slight pause between his words, somewhat expecting a now nervous Ira to give a telling sign to confirm his suspicions to the crowd.

  Seeing Ira’s nervousness, the man continued speaking loudly to the boy, mainly for the purposes of getting the attention of the crowd around them, "If what you said is true boy, then I can't help but wonder if it was your very presence at your village that had something to do with their fate. Tell me, why than should we harbor you here in our town when the same fate could also befall us!?" The man said while pointing his finger accusingly at the young visitor.

  After the crowd around heard what the man had to say, they now started to look Ira over from a distance. Their gazes turned into condemning glares, as they whispered amongst themselves as to how to handle the newly arrived children in their town, especially the child from the Toride Clan. Realizing the situation was slowly escalating to becoming openly hostile, Ira tugged at Cherise to follow his lead.

  Ira: "We need to get out of here, now!" He whispered before guiding her away from the center of the town square.

  Backing away from the crowds with the siblings following shortly behind him, Ira ran off.

  ────────

  Before long, it was clear that no one bothered in pursuing them. But just to be on the safe side, Ira led the others into a narrow alleyway in a separate section of the town. After seeing the others were hiding safely in the alley behind him, Ira then punched the side of a building in frustration.

  Ira: "How could they?! They not only refused to help us, but they even went so far to start planning against us! They’re the worst kind of people!" After being able to vent his anger, Ira slowly gave in to despair, as he continued to speak through a trembling voice.

  Ira: "Why won’t they help us? Haven't we faced enough already?" He said while looking away from the others, trying his best to hold back his pitiful state for their sake.

  As soon as Ira finished speaking, Cherise's stomach groaned from hunger. It was certainly an unneeded reminder for the others that they needed food. Straightening himself out, Ira looked back at Cherise with determination.

  Ira: "You two stay here." He said before turning back towards the street and leaving.

  ────────

  Heading back down the road leading towards the town square, Ira was now alone when he spotted a fruit cart nearby. And as if on cue, just after seeing the food made his stomach groan. His hunger urging him on, Ira slowly made his approach to the food cart that was attended by a middle-aged man, who was completely unaware of young boy.

  Taking the opportunity of the man being blissfully unaware of his presence, Ira greedily snatched several fruit in his arms, and in his haste he dropped one to the ground. The sound of the fruit dropping is what got the cart owners attention.

  The man look over the side of his cart, and saw the little thief, before exclaiming in an instant fury, “Hey, what are you doing?!”

  After the cart owner said this, Ira immediately started running off with what fruit he managed to keep in hand.

  After seeing Ira bolt off, the cart owner exclaimed, “Nobody steals from me! Get back here!” The man said furiously, as started pursuing the child.

  Ira was running desperately as fast as he could, but he was worn out from the malnourishment over the past few days. Rapidly the distance was closing between the two. And while clinging to the food in hand, Ira looked back before losing his footing, and tripping on one of the roads paved stones. With him on the ground, it was easy for the heated cart owner to catch up, and stand ominously over him.

  And giving no regard to the young boy’s age, the cart owner started beating Ira senseless while exclaiming, "Thought you were going to steal from me, huh?! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

  The hot tempered man said while kicking the boy, and feeling the need to add in some colorful language that Ira was too young to even understand.

  The man continued to beat the poor boy far beyond the weight of his crime for several minutes. With Ira beaten, and groaning on the ground the cart owner picked up the stolen merchandise that laid beside him. Still annoyed, he spit on Ira before giving leaving him with one last spiteful kick to his stomach, before finally taking his leave.

  Increasingly worried over Ira’s prolonged absence, the two siblings went out to find Ira. They saw him lying on the ground from a distance, before Cherise ran up to him. Seeing the badly beaten condition that Ira was in, Cherise began frantically asking him questions.

  Cherise: “Ira! Are you okay? Who could’ve done this?!” She said while getting down to her knees to look over Ira's fresh bruises.

  While Cherise was asking questions, and looking over his body, with the exception of his groaning, Ira offered little to no response.

  Not knowing what to do next, Cherise and Theo decided to gently grab ahold of Ira, before they began pulling him towards the entrance of another alleyway close by.

  With Ira resting his head on Cherise’s lap, the children were completely uncertain of what to do now, as they helplessly waited. As the time passed by, there’d be the occasional passerby that’d walk by, with all of them, each and every single one of them, simply ignoring the children’s presence altogether. Quietly despairing to themselves at the situation they were in, once a gentle snowfall started to come down on the town, the children slowly began to lose all hope.

  CHAPTER 8 – HOPE

  Ho
urs had passed since the three were first huddled closely together in their new alleyway. Adding new difficulties to their predicament, during this same time, the snow gradually started to fall down harder. Aside from their thirst and hunger, the children now had to worry about staying warm. With Ira still somewhat incapacitated, Cherise turned to her brother.

  Cherise: "What are we supposed to do now? We can’t just stay here. We’ll freeze." Her question was given no answer in return from Theo, whose eyes almost seemed lifeless, as if he had already accepted their fate.

  Distracted by everything that had happened since the attack on their village, it had just now occurred to Cherise, that Theo had not spoken a single word since they first departed their home. Even with the excuse of the recent turmoil upending her life, Cherise was both amazed and ashamed at herself for just now realizing his condition.

  Not knowing what words to say to Theo next, Cherise looked down at Ira. Still injured and lying on her lap, she offered him what little comfort she could, brushing off any new snowfall that landed on him.

  Ira was in no condition to guide them in his current state, and the children simply waited together anxiously for someone to help. With no other options readily available on their minds, the children just waited and hoped for something, anything that might help save them from their current situation.

  CHAPTER 9 – STRANGER

  It was not a short while later, that a hooded man wearing a white robe came into their sight. The man was holding onto a large metal staff, with an enlarged top, which had an extravagant design. The strange man was leading his ox pulled cart as he came down the street, coming ever closer to the children’s alleyway.

  Cherise found it peculiar by the way the man used his overly decorated staff, as it appeared he was using it merely as a walking stick. In addition, even though the man’s face was covered, Cherise knew that he was far too young, and physically capable to possibly need any assistance walking.