The Girl with the Scar (Dark Connection Saga Book 1)

by Stadler, William

  Being thrown into a pit of crocodiles would have been better than this. She would not have to wait an entire night to die, and it would not have cost her anything. Who knew death could be so expensive? Two king’s silver could have bought her an entire duck, which would have been much better than having her last breaths be filled with the scent of urine and stale tobacco. She sighed and followed Stasis into her wooden coffin.

  Inside, the house was decorated better than Eva imagined. A circular table sat in the center, large enough to seat three, and a burlap tablecloth hung like a loose fitting dress down to the floor. The stale tobacco scent came from a tobacco rack that hung by the fireplace, and two bookshelves were placed on the right wall, holding nothing but bowls, cups, and knickknacks.

  One bed occupied the left wall, and it was made up neatly with a blue blanket that waved as the wind blew in from the chimney. The fire cracked, shooting smoke outside, but Eva was not amused. A decorated coffin had the same purpose as a raggedy one, to bury the dead.

  Not sure how to react, she stepped back to the door, waiting for an invitation from the woman who motioned for them to sit at the table. The woman pulled one cup off the shelf, and then she reached for two more, but she glanced back at Eva slyly and chose two different mugs instead, which she placed on the table.

  “Have some tea with me, won’t you?” the woman said in the same aggressive tone. She wasn’t asking. She was demanding.

  “Of course,” Eva replied, taking her seat in the worn, wooden chair. Her sleek squeaked as she sat, and she stared into the cup as the lady poured boiling liquid into the three mugs.

  As the ripples inside of the cup settled, Eva spotted a thick slime that swirled around in the center, and then the woman said the thing that Eva dreaded most.

  “Drink up.”

  More like throw up, Eva thought. She picked up the hot liquid, keeping her lips sealed, and stared at the woman over the brim.

  Stasis stuck her finger in hers and guzzled it down, but Eva was a bit more cautious. What did this woman intend to do?

  The black mass inside of the cup had vanished, leaving behind the dull smell of earthy herbs. Eva set the cup on the table, unable to stomach the drink.

  “What seems to be the problem?”

  “I’m not at all thirsty, madam,” Eva replied, with the same sugary tone that she had taken with Jahn.

  Still standing, the woman replied, “It’s rather rude not to indulge in the hospitality of your hosts.”

  Eva looked at Stasis, and Stasis nodded to her. Without thinking, she swallowed the tea as Stasis had done, only she spewed it out, spraying the liquid towards the flame. Her tongue was on fire. Watching Stasis chug hers down, Eva had forgotten how hot the tea was.

  The woman pursed her lips and wiped up the mess. “That’s rude too, you know?” She shook a decrepit finger at Eva. “The name’s Kingi. Don’t bother telling me yours. You’ll both be gone by morning.”

  Gone? Was that a hidden message that Eva was supposed to decipher? Not able to submit to death so easily anymore, Eva spoke out of turn. “What was that black mass that I saw disappear in my tea?”

  The woman looked confused, and then she showed her lonely teeth that swung loosely from her gums. “That was sugar, missy.”

  Not convinced, Eva retorted, “Sugar’s white.”

  “Not if you smoke it over a fire, missy. You have a lot to learn, starting with your manners.”

  Eva looked into her cup, mouth still scorched from the hot tea, unable to taste anything from her seared taste buds. “Why’d you stick your finger in yours?” she asked Stasis, intending to expose Kingi’s malfeasance.

  “It was scalding hot. I cooled it down with the Essence.”

  Humiliated, Eva took a few more sips, trying to erase her ungrateful attitude. The hut didn’t seem so uncanny any longer, and if it did, it was a much pleasanter coffin than she had first imagined.

  Relieved, she sipped some more of her tea, and she could taste the smoky sweetness of the herbs, even though it was faint on her burned tongue.

  Watching Eva take a few more swallows without Kingi’s coercion made the woman nod in approval. “Now I’m sure you have questions for an old hag like myself.”

  The more she talked, the more the threat of the invisible knife that she had to Eva’s throat seemed to disappear.

  Stasis pushed her cup aside, and for a moment, Eva saw her lips twitch like she thought the tea was gross. “We’re trying to find Wolf. Have you heard anything of his whereabouts?” Stasis asked.

  “I’ve heard,” Kingi said, sipping the edge of her mug. “He’s gone up north, not far from here, to a small village called High Oaks.”

  “How can you be sure?” Eva asked sharply.

  Stasis cut her eyes at Eva, and Kingi shook her finger again. “Nothing good can come of a tongue as quick as yours.”

  What had she done but ask a question? Who was this woman anyway, and why should they listen to her? Feeling the need to vindicate herself, Eva almost spoke in her own defense, but Stasis’s piercing eyes told Eva to pull back. Eva obeyed.

  “Your assistance has been quite helpful,” Stasis replied, covering up Eva’s rudeness.

  Kingi nodded stiffly, taking a few more sips of her tea. The fire blazed behind her. “You two must be exhausted. I don’t have much, but what I do have is yours. Besides, passing the night on the floor will be better than resting in the marsh.”

  Eva could not dispute that, and her body was already losing its focus as the sleep caught up with her. She swallowed another disgusting mouthful of the tea, which was now beginning to cool, just to placate the woman but loathing every bit of it.

  From outside, a few flashes lit up the night like lightning, but there was no thunder to precede it. Eva turned back, staring out the closed shutters that had once watched her as she had approached the hut. Another flash pulsed.

  Eva jumped up from her chair and backed up to the fireplace, knees trembling, the warmth of the fire heating her legs. “Gods, it’s coming for me….”

  “What?” Stasis asked, rising from her seat, keeping her hand near the dagger on her hip.

  A high-pitched scream screeched from beyond the front door, and a cloud of blue smoke seeped into the hut, screeching like metal on metal, menacing claws extending from its hands. The apparition’s hair whipped back and forth, and the azure light overpowered the orange glare of the flame.

  Kingi stumbled out of her chair, edging towards her bed, eyes fixed on the apparition. “What sort of treachery have your invited into my home?” she asked with a hallow voice.

  The apparition raised its talon and aimed it Eva. Eva pressed her back into the wall where the knots of the wood were jutted out and jammed into her back.

  “Girl...scar….” The voice ebbed, peaked, and retreated as the spirit hovered to her.

  Eva dropped to her knees. “What do you want with me!”

  “Blood….” The spirit’s voice seemed external, as if the sound was spoken from the four walls of the cabin but channeled through the lips of the ghost.

  The apparition grabbed Eva’s throat, each finger curling around her neck, and the tips of the claws jabbed into her skin. Drips of red liquid trickled down Eva’s flesh.

  Eva wanted to scream, but it came out as a whimper. Where was Wolf or Edward? Her thoughts struck against the sides of her cranium in jarring flashes.

  From underneath the spirit, a host of lifeless entities emerged from the floor. Not fully surfacing through to the natural realm, the spirits were pale white. Chains rattled in their hands. Eva’s fear escalated to the scream that she had tried before.

  The sound of beastly moans rumbled in the hut as the spirits cast the chains over the Haunt, dragging the spiritual chain links across the wooden floor. The Haunt screeched and jerked its hand from Eva’s throat, tearing at the chain with its claws, shredding the bindings.

  Eva fell to her face and grabbed her neck, pushing breaths through her separated li
ps. She scrambled against the corner of the cabin, not daring to stand as the Haunt shrieked. The apparitions summoned more chains, binding the Haunt until it thudded against the floor. In a powerful war cry, the apparitions roared and yanked the Haunt though the ground, disappearing.

  Eva gasped, the sound of which seemed nearly delayed due to the chaos that she had somehow survived. Then came the panic. Violent trembles assaulted her. The fire burst into an unquenchable blaze, still contained by the fireplace.

  An invisible force slammed Eva against the wall. Nausea trampled her, but the expected seizure did not come. She picked herself up, afraid, looking back at the corner of the hut where she had been, but then the episode settled.

  The fire shrank back to a calm crackle, and the decorated hut that had been disturbed, had returned to the unthreatening cabin that Eva had accepted after some persuasion.

  Paralyzed with fear, Eva glanced frantically around the room, waiting for an explanation that no one was capable to give. Where had the apparitions come from, and why was the Haunt still after her? What did it want? A quick death would have been much desired over the chaotic not knowing that tormented her.

  Stasis rushed to Eva and dabbed Eva’s neck with a rough towel that she snatched from one of the shelves. Her leather squeaked from her movements. Kingi sat herself on her bed, fidgeting with her fingers, bottom lip stuttering as she fumbled around for what she might say.

  Stasis grabbed Eva's cheeks, and looked over her face. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

  Eva breathed mechanically, body feeling weak, and a knot formed in the back of her head where she had been slammed against the wall. “Worse,” she said. “I’m terrified.”

  CHAPTER 10

  THE TWO

  The morning had come, and Eva and Stasis had already begun their journey to High Oaks. The marsh was no easier to slosh through than the night before with open views of the horizon that should have been breathtaking, but they brought only disappointment. It taunted Eva, reminding her that the damp, endless flat extended out to lands that she had not seen before, places she had never wanted to go.

  Solid knots in her back from sleeping on the hard floor twisted as she trudged along in the black heels, feeling like someone was grinding the sharp point of a knuckle in her side.

  Stasis kept quiet as they made their way through the cold, but the sleek had rejected the chill much better than Eva first assumed.

  Eva’s thoughts clung to the night before, and the fear of the Haunt stalked her, and what were those other ghosts? Where had they come from? Were they helping her, or did they want to run her through as well? The threat of death had never been so near to Eva, and the closer it came, the less bearable she felt it would be.

  The swamp made traveling a chore. Eva almost had to yank her foot out of the grime with every step. Unexpectedly, the question that lay stagnant within her came to the surface. “What were those things, the ones that came?”

  “Spirits from the nether places.” Stasis kept her eyes forward, squinting.

  “Even the Haunt?”

  Stasis halted and turned to Eva, grabbing her shoulders with both hands. “How do you know that name? Did you send that spirit!” Stasis looked into Eva’s eyes, cautiously trying find something that wasn’t there. Stasis’s thumbs dug into Eva’s arms, and Eva leaned back, trying to escape.

  “Jevar told me,” Eva let out. “Let me go!” She snatched away, but Stasis was already releasing her.

  “What did he say?” Stasis asked.

  “He says that it’s looking for me.”

  “Did he say why?”

  Eva shook her head quickly, wrapping herself in her arms.

  Disappointed, Stasis started back north. Eva followed more hesitantly now, not sure if she could trust this woman. What did Stasis want from her? The subtle sweetness that Stasis once had seemed to bleed away. Afraid of pestering Stasis any more, Eva kept to herself, pushing the once stagnant question back down into her depths, though it still slid idly in her mind.

  After nearly a month of travel, they arrived at High Oaks, following the dirt road into the village. Eva’s body felt spent from the journey. Her muscles were sore and bruised, and the boots no longer felt like sheep’s wool on her feet.

  Stasis must have traveled this trail often because of how well she knew the territory. She knew which plants to eat and which ones to avoid. She knew when take reprieve and when to push on, how to find food, and when to take shelter.

  The oak trees were nothing like the green ashes that grew in the Green Planes. Their branches reached to the sky like tentacles. No leaves extended from the limbs, as they had all fallen off, leaving rotted, broken-shelled acorns in the dead grass, covered by the solid soil from the change of the season.

  The path cut through the town and bent to left, leading to the village square. An elegant water well sat in the center, probably built by a mason. The stones were carved neatly, and the pail that lowered into the well was designed with shimmering iron.

  People hollered and squealed and laughed and cackled at the tops of their voices, telling stories of their accolades. Ornate nobles trod through the stone-laid streets, hands hoisted on their swords, not patrolling, but displaying their wealth.

  Two-story log cabins surrounded the square, each with porches and columns to hold up their roofs.

  High Oaks made Eva feel low and worthless. She could hear the nobles’ coins clanging against their thighs as they watched the people having their meaningless conversations. The townspeople stared at Eva, mostly with disgust or disappointment.

  She just wanted to find Wolf and get out. Smiling, hoping she appeared polite, she tilted her head slightly to Stasis. “I don’t like it here.”

  In the same whisper, Stasis replied. “Neither do I.”

  A nobleman gradually made his way past Eva, keeping his eyes on the well as his metal-tipped boots clanged against the stones. Eva glanced at Stasis, and before Stasis could stop her, Eva blurted out to the man. “We’re looking for White Wolf.”

  The man’s foot landed against another stone, and then his neck turned towards her, thick black hair tossed down his back. Without moving his head, his eyes analyzed each part of her, and his thin lip curled in disgust.

  “I do not answer to the likes of you.”

  Eva kept her eyes on the man, not willing to allow his position to intimidate her. Instead, she clothed herself in that same conjured grin that she had given to Jahn. “Sir, I did not intend to annoy you, but my…” she paused and let her tongue slide over the word, “sister and I came a long way, as far away as Green Planes.”

  “Green Planes?” he asked, now interested in what she was saying. “Where the last raid occurred?”

  “Her mother was killed, and her brother has gone off to war with the Strikers,” Stasis said.

  With his red wool gloves, the man rubbed his smooth chin that dented at the crest. “Raiders and Strikers. Strikers and Raiders. Their hunger for blood seems unquenchable,” he sneered. “Are you intending to join the Strikers?” he asked Eva, stern-faced.

  “No.” She shook her head quickly. “They’ve caused me enough grief.”

  The nobleman looked the two of them over, squinting, like they were not telling him everything. “And you?” he asked Stasis. “Do you have Striker dealings?”

  “I’m a Water Walker.”

  The man’s eyes lit up like the morning. “My…my apologies, madam.” He stepped back and bowed with a swift head nod. “Wolf went into the building to the east, just across the square.” He pointed to a location beyond the well.

  Stasis nodded and nudged Eva along, leaving the man behind, who was now nearly sweating in the cold of the morning.

  “What was that about?” Eva asked.

  “Getting answers.”

  “But his entire face altered.”

  “Water Walkers deserve our respect. We have given up our own lives to bring life to everyone else.”

  They stepped onto the p
orch of the cabin that the nobleman had directed them to. The wooden door was beige like the color of a tree without its bark. Its frame was polished to a shine. Stasis knocked.

  After a moment that seemed that it would not end, the door opened, and heavy fumes of smoke seeped outside, hovering around Jahn, the man Eva despised.

  “Madam Genie, how delightful it is to see you,” Jahn said, wooden pipe lodged in his cheek and gray beret tilting to the side, exposing his hair that looked like blades of grass covered in snow.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, not wanting to stir up the man who held her secret loosely against his chest, ready to let it fly away at any time.

  “You know the Kibitzer?” Stasis asked.

  “Of course she does,” he winked, beckoning them inside as he turned away.

  Stasis followed him, but Eva stood still, barely moving, afraid that if she entered, she might provoke him to reveal her, and if she left, he might do the same. Her foot touched the threshold, and she sighed, entering.

  The cabin’s interior was as well kept as the exterior, wearing a bronze chandelier that held over a dozen lit candles, too high for a man to light without support. Bear hides and the head of a leopard decorated the walls, and stairs climbed behind the chimney to the second floor.

  “Have a seat, Madam Genie,” Jahn offered, as he sat at the long table in front of the fire.

  Eva obeyed, loathing the caution that her mother had taken with this viper for so many years, but now the burden was her own. If she dropped her guard, she would surely be bitten.

  Four guards stood near the doorway, watching in silence. Iron shoulder guards hung over their arms, and they each wore a sword on their hip.

  “Who is this lovely lady who you have brought with you all this long way?” Jahn asked, looking at Stasis.

  Her voice bowed before him. “I’m Stasis, Kibitzer.”

  “Ah, Stasis, what a lovely name for a lovely dame, though your hair is an awful mess. You should take more care of your appearance, madam.”

  “Yes, Kibitzer. Sorry, Kibitzer.”

  Stasis’s submission made Eva hate Jahn even more. “That’s rude,” Eva said, in only a mutter.