Solomon's Exile

by James Maxstadt

  “Well, Florian,” Jediah said, returning to his chair. “It seems that one of your own has made it so that we can’t simply ask Solomon to help us out of the goodness of his heart. And knowing him, he might have done exactly that. Now, we need to bring him back. Surely you can see that.”

  “No,” Florian said, his eyes studying the floor in front of him. “No, Jediah. I cannot, will not, do this.”

  “Come on…” Jediah began, but Florian surged to his feet.

  “She was my daughter! My daughter, Jediah! Do you understand that? Do you know how that feels? Of course, you don’t! And now you ask me to pardon the man responsible for…”

  But this time, it was Florian who was interrupted. A servant rushed in, dressed in the deep green of House Whispering Pines. “My lord…” he began, but stopped when he saw Jediah and the others in the room.

  “Speak, man,” Florian spat.

  “But, my lord, what I have to say is…”

  “I said to speak.”

  “Yes, lord. There’s been an attack. A minor house, Rustling Elms.”

  “An attack?” Jediah said, turning to the man. “What kind of attack?”

  “We don’t know yet, lord. The bodies were seen, but no one has gone near the place.”

  “Bodies? More than one? And what do you mean no one has gone near?”

  “More than one, yes, lord. And no one has dared to enter the compound. There’s something there, something dreadful.” He shivered as he said this, and Shireen could easily see the anguish in his face.

  “Alright,” Florian said. “Enough. We’ll get to the bottom of it. Go and collect yourself.”

  Jediah turned to Shireen and Orlando. “Go. Find out what happened and report back here. Quickly.”

  “You too, Thaddeus,” Florian said.

  “Me?” his cousin objected. “Why would I…?”

  “Because, I want my own pair of eyes there as well, and I trust yours. Is that enough of a reason?”

  “Of course, cousin,” Thaddeus sighed.

  CHAPTER 14

  For only the second time in his life, Solomon visited a hospital. This time however, it was to save the life of his friend, one of the only ones that he had. He had carried Ed inside, and passed him off to an orderly who knew who Ed was. Then he had returned to the waiting room and sat with Lacy.

  They didn’t speak, only sat, side by side and waited. After what seemed like a very long time, Maggie entered, and ran to them.

  “What happened?” she asked, her voice full of the tears that she was holding back. “Is Ed alright?”

  “We don’t know,” Lacy said. “He was at my place, and he and Solomon here went into the woods. Going after something they heard, I guess. I heard Daisy yelp and went looking, but by the time I found them, all I found was Solomon carrying Ed.”

  Maggie turned to Solomon. “What was it? What happened to him?”

  Solomon looked at the distraught woman and knew that he couldn’t tell her the truth. His memories were still spotty, but he remembered some of what he had once known about Soul Gaunts. He knew that there was little to no chance that Ed would return. The Gaunt had sucked out a part of his very soul, and with it, a lot of what had made Ed who he was.

  “I don’t know,” he finally said, not able to meet Maggie’s stare. “I didn’t see it. Daisy ran after something. We heard her yelp, and I took off. I guess I was faster than him. Then, I heard him scream, from behind me…”

  Maggie’s fingers found his chin, and turned his head so that he looked down at her.

  “Tell me,” she said again.

  “He was lying there, in the leaves, staring into the dark. I didn’t know what to do, so I picked him up. I thought maybe if I could get him back to Lacy’s.”

  “You picked up Ed?” Maggie said.

  “Yeah, I guess it was the adrenaline, or whatever they say.”

  “I guess so. I’m going to go see him now.”

  Maggie turned away and went to the nurse’s station. Solomon watched her go, his thoughts in turmoil. Should he have told her what really happened? There was a part of him that wanted to, but he also didn’t want to dash any hope that she had. Over the next several days, Ed would get worse before he got better. He would slip away to the very edge of death before he stabilized. And Maggie would need her hope to be able to survive the ordeal. As much as it pained him to lie to someone who had been so good to him, he believed that it was a kindness.

  “You’re full of it, you know,” Lacy said, quietly.

  “I know. I had no choice.”

  He returned to his seat.

  “Now what?” Lacy asked. “Are you just going to sit here?”

  “What else can I do?”

  “You can start by answering some questions. Come on.”

  She grabbed Solomon’s hand and pulled him to his feet. He didn’t protest as she led him to the cafeteria, got two cups of horrible coffee and found a table in the corner. The place was fairly deserted at that time of night, so they were able to talk quietly without being overheard.

  “Now,” Lacy said when they were settled, “you can tell me exactly what’s going on. What was that thing? I only know that it was the same thing that got me. And who, or what, are you?”

  “Me? I’m a…”

  “Spare me. There’s something you should know about me, Solomon. I’m a very practical person. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about you, and that dog of yours. Something that’s unreal. So spill. What is it? Are you an alien?”

  Solomon smiled in spite of himself, remembering having had the same thought when he first awoke in that alley. “No,” he said. “I’m not an alien. But I don’t think the truth is going to sound any less strange.”

  “No surprise there. Keep going.”

  “My name really is Solomon, and Daisy really is named Daisy, apparently. But I didn’t know her until a few days ago, and she’s not really my dog. She’s more like a friend.”

  “Sure, you and every other person with a Lassie fixation think your dog is your friend. That’s still not telling me anything.”

  Solomon took a deep breath, and looked Lacy in the eyes. “I’m not from here. Not from this earth at all, I mean. I’m from a place called the Greenweald, but I was exiled from there several days ago. Until last night, I didn’t have any memory of the place, but when the Soul Gaunt touched me, it brought some of my memories back.”

  “Uh huh. And I’m supposed to believe that, more than thinking the…what did you call it? A Soul Gaunt? Whatever that means. That that thing scrambled your brain the way it did Eds?”

  “That would make more sense, I have to admit. But no. Look at me Lacy, you know I’m not making this up.”

  Solomon watched her watch him. Her eyes searched his, moving back and forth between them. Her brow was furrowed, and he could see the conflict within her. Not wanting to believe what she found that she was.

  “Ridiculous,” she finally muttered, dropping her eyes and taking a sip of her coffee. Solomon stayed quiet, letting her process what she was feeling.

  “Fine,” she finally said. “Let’s say I believe you. Why did you get exiled from this other place? Are you like a criminal?”

  “I guess you could say that. I failed in my duty. That was enough.”

  “Failed in your duty to do what?”

  Now it was Solomon’s turn to fall quiet. He took a sip of his own coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste. “I failed to protect someone important. And because of me, she died.” His voice hitched on the last word, and he sipped at his coffee again to hide his embarrassment.

  “Who was she?” Lacy asked, but her voice had softened. Solomon couldn’t answer, not at the moment. His throat felt thick and closed up. “Never mind,” Lacy said, “we can come back to that later. Right now, maybe we should talk more about Ed?”

  Solomon nodded, and Lacy reached across the table to pat his hand. “So then tell me. You said that thing was called a Soul…what was
it?”

  “Gaunt.”

  “Right. A Soul Gaunt. So, what is that exactly? Not like we have them around here…or at least we didn’t.”

  “They’re a story to frighten children who won’t go to bed when they’re supposed to. Most of the Folk in the Greenweald don’t even think they’re real, but they are. There are few of us who have actually seen one, let alone lived to tell the tale.”

  “Like a bogeyman for you guys. But they’re obviously real. So what are they?”

  “No one knows for sure what they really are, spirit or flesh. They can suck the soul from a body, simply by grabbing hold. The damage is usually…irreversible. Your arm still hurts, right? I hate to say it, but it probably always will. It killed something within you when it grabbed you. If it had kept going…”

  “Wait,” Lacy said. “Are you telling me that Ed isn’t going to get any better?”

  Solomon had feared that Lacy would pick up on that right away. She was obviously too smart for the comment to have passed her by. He sighed. “No. I don’t think he will. But I didn’t have the heart to say that to Maggie.”

  Lacy sank back, her hands wrapped tightly around her coffee mug. She stared at Solomon, then let her gaze wander around the room. Her eyes glistened for a moment, before the tears slowly poured over and ran down her cheeks. She didn’t sob, or wail, she just sat quietly and let the tears flow.

  “Then why am I alive?” she asked after a few minutes had passed.

  “It let you go. I don’t know why. For some reason, it got interrupted and wasn’t able to finish with you.”

  “Luke,” Lacy said. “It had to have been. No one else was around.”

  “It could have been. There’s a connection between Luke and the Gaunt that I can’t figure out. It’s not like anything I’ve heard of before.”

  “Then how do we kill this thing?” Lacy’s voice had taken on an edge of anger. “I’m not a violent person usually, but this thing hurt me, hurt Ed, and has Luke. Unless you’re going to tell me it has some other use, then I want it dead.”

  “Well, that takes some doing. Only one has ever been killed that I know of.”

  “Who killed it, then? How do we talk to them?”

  “You are. I killed one, long ago.”

  “Then let’s go! Let’s get rid of this thing!”

  Solomon smiled slightly. He had no doubt that Lacy would rise from the table, drive to her home and take off into the dark woods after it. Despite her obvious fear and hurt arm, she was ready to do battle.

  “It’s not that easy, Lacy. I only managed to do it because I had something to use against it. I know this will sound absurd to you, but I had a sword. A special one. Even with that, I barely made it. The battle almost killed me, too.”

  “But it didn’t get your soul?”

  “No, but that’s not their only weapons. They have sharp claws, and they’re strong and fast. And they can use actual weapons as well. They’re smart, Lacy. They’re not like animals.”

  “Then we need your magic sword, or whatever it is.” A hitching laugh escaped from her. “I can’t believe I just said that. This can’t all be real.”

  “I know it’s a lot,” Solomon said. “I’m surprised you’re taking it this well, to be honest.”

  “I don’t know that I am. I think I’m so angry, and worried about Ed, that I haven’t let it sink in yet. Give me time. But while I’m still in this weird place, let’s go get your sword and finish this thing off.”

  “Well, that's a problem. See, I don’t remember where it is.”

  “What? How do you forget where you put a magic sword?” She actually laughed this time. “This is insane.”

  “I guess taking my memories was part of my punishment. For whatever reason, the Gaunt’s touch brought some of them back to me, but not all of them. There’s all sorts of things I don’t remember…” He fell quiet, trying to rack his brain for things that he didn’t know.

  “What if I get a gun and shoot the damn thing?” Lacy said suddenly.

  “I don’t think it will work. Most weapons pass right through them somehow. I would imagine that a bullet would too.”

  “Then we have no choice. We need to get your sword, which I’m guessing isn’t around here.”

  “No,” Solomon said. “Until my exile, I had never been to this earth. It’s somewhere in the Greenweald. That much, I’m sure of.”

  “So we go to the Greenweald. How do we get there?”

  Solomon spread his hands and shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s why they could exile me here.”

  They fell silent, Lacy looking down at the table in front of her, her coffee cup still held between her hands. Solomon took a sip of his, and set the rapidly cooling drink on the table.

  “Let me go think for a while,” he said. “Maybe more will come to me. Besides, I need to go get Daisy.”

  “Oh my God! Daisy! I forgot about her!”

  “It’s okay,” Solomon reached over to pat her hand. “She’s fine. She’s a Hunting Hound, and even a Soul Gaunt would have a hard time catching her if she didn’t want it to. But still, I need to head back.”

  “I’ll drive you. But let’s stop in and say goodbye to Maggie first.”

  “Wait. What about the police? Won’t they want to talk to us?”

  “Oh, I’m sure they will. But if they’re not here yet, they can find us out at my place. I’m not hiding from them.”

  “Fair enough. But, I’m not sure what to tell them.”

  “Come on,” Lacy said, rising to her feet. “We can work that out on the way.”

  CHAPTER 15

  As Lacy drove through the early morning hours, she kept studying the overly tall, thin man in the passenger seat, and going over the things he had said. It was insane. This guy had shown up in town, and was suddenly a “friend” of Ed’s, and everyone accepted it. How did they know that he wasn’t some sort of scam artist, or worse, that he didn’t have something to do with the attack on both her and Ed?

  But she did trust him. She didn’t know why, but there was an almost palpable aura about him that made you think he was on the level. That every word he said was true. And it wasn’t a slimy, used-car salesman type of feeling, like he was convincing you of something. It was a genuine, this-is-the-truth, kind of feeling.

  Which only made the whole thing more odd. Of course, considering that she actually had been attacked by this Soul Gaunt thing, it might be easier for her to believe than for others. But that same instant trust that Solomon generated seemed to affect everyone. She glanced at him again, saw that he was watching the dark world outside the window pass by, and hoped that he was truly as good as he appeared to be.

  “Hey,” she said, breaking the silence, “so, not to bring up a sore subject, but if we’re going to be in this together, then I should know some more, right? Like, what’s this about failing in your duty stuff? And about you killing one of these things before?”

  Solomon looked over at her, his expression unreadable. “We shouldn’t be in this together, Lacy. A Soul Gaunt is…. horrible. By any definition of the word. I’ll go after it.”

  “You really think I’m going to let that happen? It’s got Luke. He may have been a pretty messed-up guy at times, but he was my messed-up guy. I’m going too. End of story.”

  “Okay,” Solomon said, but she could hear the amusement in his voice. Was he laughing at her?

  “It’s not funny!” she said.

  “I’m not laughing at you, Lacy, I promise. The exact opposite. You impress the hell out of me, to tell you the truth. It’s not everyone, be they Folk or human, who would willingly go back into the forest knowing that a Soul Gaunt was around, and what it was capable of.”

  “Oh. Well. Thanks then, I guess.”

  She felt a flush of pride when Solomon praised her. She glanced over at him again, unsure of her feelings. There was an attraction there, of course. Solomon was tall, strong, and very good-looking. But the attraction wasn’t sexual, or even r
omantic. There was no thought in her mind of trying to bed him, or of settling down with him. Instead, it was more that you wanted to be near him, in his circle, and part of his life. You wanted him to think well of you, and be the type of person that he would want around him. To be a better person, in short. It was a weird, disturbing feeling, and Lacy wasn’t entirely sure that she liked it.

  But there was also no fighting it. Unless she was actively thinking about it, striving against it almost, it just was.

  “Anyway,” she said, shoving those thoughts to the side. “I still need to know more. So which will it be? Fight with the Soul Gaunt, or failure of duty, whatever that means.”

  She heard him sigh. “Neither are pleasant memories, and both are somewhat incomplete. Which one would you like to hear about first?”

  Lacy considered for a moment. “Tell me about this failure of duty thing. The Soul Gaunt can wait for now. I know you need the sword for that anyway.”

  Solomon stayed quiet, gazing out into the pre-dawn darkness. Lacy was about to prod him, when he started to talk.

  “I loved her. Loved her more than I thought it was possible to ever love anything. But I shouldn’t have. She was above me. My station, I mean. She was the daughter of a Head of House. Whispering Pines to be exact. And I was a soldier, or a scout, or whatever my House needed me to be at the time. I lived to serve, always had.

  “But Florian, the Head of House Whispering Pines, decided that his daughter Celia needed a protector. She was head-strong, and didn’t want to listen to her father, anymore that I imagine young people here want to listen to their parents. So she went where Florian told her not to go, and associated with people that he forbid her to talk to, things like that. Finally, he realized that he couldn’t control her, so he thought to keep her safe instead.”

  He stopped talking, and Lacy saw him look down at his hands. The expression on his face was almost one of accusation, as if he were blaming his own appendages for their failure.