I directed him to Alathaya and Trissa’s room and tried the door. It was not locked. Trying to keep an eye on the Scavenger in the hall, I had a quick look around the room. No intruder there. Trissa woke first and gave a yelp, which instantly had Alathaya sitting up in bed. They looked at me round-eyed. While keeping my blade pointing threateningly at him in the hall, I quickly explained why I had burst into their room. “I found this thing searching my room. Last time they did it, all they left behind was their stench, but I realised that last time, it was not only my room that was searched, but Brant’s room as well.”
Alathaya grabbed her dagger and we made our way further down the hall to Seran’s room. I had to keep Trissa from storming in unarmed, but when I threw the door open, there was no one in the room but Seran. He sat up with a gasp and had his whip in his hand before I could blink. “Come quickly.” I did not wait for his response, but rushed out of the room. Thankfully, he did not ask questions, but jumped out of bed and hurried after us.
I heard the scuffle before we were at Tas’ door. “Seran, keep this thing under control!”
He gave a tight nod and I ran ahead slamming the door open. Tas was wrestling with another Scavenger and his sword was lying a few feet away from them on the floor. “Get clear Tas!”
I stormed in and Tas jumped away from him. I swiped my blade towards its neck and stopped a hair from its throat. “Stay still if you do not wish to die.” It froze in place.
“Seran, bring the other one in here!” He marched it in and stood it next to the other. “This is not the first visit I have had from one of these. Brant and I had our rooms searched a while ago.” I explained to an out of breath Tas. I glanced at Alathaya. “Your house had also been searched by one of them.” I looked back intently at the two in front of me. “My question is, what are they looking for?”
The one I had found in my room was mumbling incoherently gesturing wildly with its hands. It opened its mouth wide and pointed inside it. Peering in from a distance – I did not even want to imagine what its breath would be like – I saw that it had no tongue.
The other Scavenger laughed raucously. “You see even in life, he was a snivelling blabbermouth… so they removed his tongue so he couldn’t betray us in this life.” He slurred his words as though his tongue was three times its normal size.
“You serve the Master of the Dark.” Alathaya said this with a voice full of loathing, but the talkative one bowed with a mocking sneer on his face.
“Of course. He will grant us restoration if we serve him well and loyally,” he said simply.
Without knowing what these creatures wanted or what they feared, it was very difficult to threaten them. His statement though, gave me a glimpse of his hopes. “That is if you survive to receive restoration.”
He swivelled his eyes back to me. His mouth pulled down in one corner. “I doubt very much that you are a cold blooded killer, boy.”
I kept my face smooth. “I guess we will soon find out.” I looked him up and down. “Besides, killing something that should by all rights, already be dead, is hardly killing.” Fear flickered in the mute’s eyes.
“Tas, light those candles over there.” I gestured to the two fat candles sitting on his bedside table. He took out his tinderbox and soon the candles flickered to life. I looked back at the prisoners. “Now, I expect full cooperation or there will be consequences.”
That raucous laugh rumbled through the room again. “You mean to burn us with a candle?”
I ignored his question. “What are you looking for?” They both sat with their mouths closed tightly. The mute seemed to be on the point of bursting. Looking at him, I asked, “Can you write?” He shook his head miserably. I looked down at his hands. He only had one finger left on each hand. No drawing then either. “That is a shame.”
I looked back at the other one while keeping my face perfectly smooth and calm. He did seem in much better shape than his associate did. True, he was missing an eye, but the rest of him seemed pretty much intact. I idly wondered how he had died. “You on the other hand do not have the luxury of an excuse, so answer my question.”
His smile only broadened. Shaking my head in mock disappointment, I picked up Tas’ dagger. Sighing, I drew a minute amount of heat from the candle into the blade and pointed it at the second Scavenger. He cocked his head, showing curiosity rather than fear. I pushed the heat towards him and it hit him in the chest. It was only enough to prick him, sting a bit, to let him know what I could do to him.
His face contorted in surprise and anger. He rubbed furiously at his chest, but that mocking smile was back. “Clever trick, but I think you should have just used the candle. I hardly felt that.”
I smiled sardonically at him. “That was only a taster. I was oh, so very careful, not to hurt you. Next time I will not be so careful. Now, I ask again, what are you looking for?”
He folded his arms across his chest in defiance. This time I drew in double the energy I did before. I held it in the tip of the dagger, making it take on a faint red glow. When he kept his silence, I pushed the heat to his neck. He jumped when it struck, but kept his silence. My stomach was twisting and whirling at what I was doing. Twisted One or no, this was torture. It continued for a while. Trissa and even Alathaya stepped out of the room after their protests and suggestions of alternative ways to make them talk, fell on deaf ears.
I was getting frustrated. I knew I had to keep my equanimity, because if I did this out of a desire to hurt, I would be just as bad as them. I had burnt them both several times, but the only thing I had learnt was that they do not bleed, but their flesh does burn. A sickly smell hung in the air. I held up the glowing tip of the dagger, the two scavengers looked at it with fear and hatred.
A shimmering caught my eye. It was the barest disturbance in the air behind them. I gasped as, in a single heartbeat, I saw the shape of a man reach up and slash their throats and then disappear out of the window. His appearance had left a bright afterimage in my vision and I blinked furiously to clear it. The two lay on the floor, their heads severed. I looked down at the blade in my hand. When I had lost my focus, the heat had spread through the blade and was dissipating.
“What was that?” Tas asked as he stared bewildered at the two beheaded figures.
“I don’t know, but I think the more pertinent question would be why did they not kill us and leave the Scavengers?” I answered.
Alathaya poked her head through the door and sucked in a deep breath between her teeth. “Did you really need to kill them? Could we not have used them instead?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t me. Something came in through the window and assassinated them.”
She let go of her breath in relief. I might have imagined it, but it still seemed that she was looking at me differently than she had the day before.
A shrill shriek came from the door as Trissa popped her head around the corner. Alathaya quickly calmed and more importantly, quietened her down.
“What are we doing with those?” Tas gestured to the bodies.
I looked at them a moment. “We are going to need to make a fire in your hearth.”
Horror crossed Alathaya’s face. “You cannot burn them in the room!”
I smiled sickly at her. “Do not worry. I am not going to put them on the hearth.” Her eyebrows rose.
Tas kindled the fire and I added double again the wood he had on it. Once the fire was blazing, I took a deep breath. I focused my Navitas on the fire then drew the heat into my blade. “I think you all should leave the room. Just in case it goes wrong.”
They did not need asking twice and scurried out, closing the door behind them. I drew as much of the heat as I could and in one massive burst threw it at one of the bodies. One moment I was looking at the body, steeling myself for the fire that could erupt, the next moment, he was simply gone. All that remained was a heap of ash on the floor and motes floating through the air. I released my pent up breath in a rush of relief. I started to draw
heat from the fire again, or tried to. Perplexed I turned around. The fire had gone out completely. I walked over to it and built it up again. It held no heat whatsoever as though it had been days since it was last lit.
As I set about relighting the fire, Tas peeked in the door tentatively. His eyes went wide when he saw what remained on the floor. “I assume it is safe to come back in?”
I gave a tight nod and he came in followed by Seran. With Navitas focused, I could still faintly smell burnt flesh. My stomach wanted to heave, but I forced myself to quell it. He sat down on the bed and watched me stoke the fire.
Once the fire was ready, I again drew as much of its heat as I could into Sunder and sent it as a raging torrent into the second body. Tas clapped me on the shoulder. “That is incredible! I almost wish we had another one so we could do it again!”
I could not bring myself to laugh along with him. My stomach twisted violently. “I need some fresh air.” I pushed past him.
Trissa and Alathaya were waiting in the hallway still and I could feel their eyes boring into my back as I walked past them.
Outside, I sucked in deep breaths of cool night air. Slowly my stomach settled, but I stayed out for a long while staring up at the stars. I was startled when Alathaya came up behind me. I had been so deep in thought that I had not heard her approach. I clenched my jaw, waiting for her scathing words about sinking to the enemy’s level or something about keeping your integrity. I looked at her with hard eyes steeling myself for it.
She took me by the shoulders and turned me so we were facing each other. She looked into my eyes for a moment as if searching, a small frown creasing her brow. Then she pulled me into a tight hug. She put her hand on the back of my head and ran her fingers through my hair. “You did what you had to do.”
I felt hot tears prick my eyes and run down my cheeks. She held me for a long time.
CHAPTER 15 – Surprise
We both knew we would not be able to get any more sleep so we stayed outside sitting on the grass and watched as the sun rose. Finally, we went inside and had a quick breakfast with Trissa, Seran and Tas joining us. I was glad when no one said anything about the night’s events. No one said much of anything and it seemed we were all equally eager to put this behind us.
We bought a few extra supplies before setting off. That evening, Markai joined us. I have news about Magtisanya. Beratus, my brother, has reached their meeting place. He was surprised there were so few of them, but more arrive each day. His advice is that the sooner we can reach it, the easier everything will be. It was good to know that Beratus was there and keeping us informed, but I already knew we had to move as quickly as possible.
We rode hard, but I was still surprised when we reached Warrendil in six days; it was a small village. The man who had given us directions must have thought we were riding oxen instead of horses. It was late afternoon when we arrived and the streets were busy. Trissa was staring at every boy Dhillion’s age. She was unconsciously running a hand through her hair every few seconds and chewing on her bottom lip. “Before you have no hair, or bottom lip for that matter, left, shall we go and find an inn? We can put our things down and make some inquiries.” Her eyes never left the street in front of her, but she mumbled her assent.
Trissa tried to pull us into the first place she saw, but Alathaya persuaded her that a place that had guard at the door was probably not a good place to stay. However, as we made our way around the town, I realised that most every establishment here had the same. After taking our horses around to their stables, we walked into the Fair Lady inn. They too had a burly man standing at the door. He eyed us all carefully as we entered, but did not say a word to us.
In the common room, the innkeeper came bustling over to us and greeted us with a friendly smile. He was a tall, lanky man with a smattering of grey in his dark hair. “Welcome. Will you be requiring rooms for the night?”
We nodded and he led us up the stairs chattering away in such a happy, carefree manner that it made me all the more curious about all the guards.
We stored our bags away in the rooms before going back into the common room. We sat down and ordered some ale. I had to restrain Trissa from running outside calling for Dhillion every few seconds. She sat staring at the door as though expecting him to come strolling in at any moment. After our drinks arrived, I waved over the innkeeper. He came, but this time his smile was a bit nervous. “I do hope everything is to your liking.”
I smiled affably at him. ”All is well. I was just hoping you could point me in the right direction. Some time ago, my parents travelled through here and stayed with a lovely couple. When they heard that we were going to be passing, they insisted we greet them and pass on their best wishes. Their names are Thopher and Raminda Windle.” I said their names carefully and gave a sheepish smile. “My mother had me repeat that a few hundred times to make sure I get the names right! Do you know where they live?”
He looked at me dubiously. “Lovely couple you say?” He shook his head and my heart sank. “I would call them anything but that, I think! But, yes I do happen to know where those two are.”
I had to fight to control my face. I could see Trissa from the corner of my eye and she seemed ready to run out of the door. Tears glistened in her eyes. He gave me directions to their house, it did not sound far away. I smiled appreciatively. “Thank you very much.” He bustled away again, his carefree grin back in place.
We finished our drinks and casually walked out. The guard at the door may as well have been carved of stone for the reaction he gave to our departure. We hurried along the narrow roads and up the hill the innkeeper had described. Rounding a corner, I saw the house with the big spiderleaf tree in front of it.
I halted everyone and turned to face them. “If they see us coming up the road, all of us together, they may not open the door. Trissa, they may yet recognise you, so you will need to stay back at first.”
A quiet word from Seran halted her angry protests. I looked at him gratefully.
“Alathaya, you and I will go ahead, the rest of you, follow once we are at the door, do not come straight to the house, but be close enough if we have need of you. Of course, we might need Trissa to confirm if it is Dhillion,” I instructed.
I looked at them all to make sure that we were all agreed, and then Alathaya and I started making our way up the rest of the hill. I had donned my cloak at the inn, for the sole purpose of covering Sunder. I wrapped the cloak tighter around me just to be sure that they would not see it.
I knocked on the stout wooden door. After another knock, a man came to the door. He opened it a crack and peered out at us. His bushy brows pulled down into an angry frown. “I do not purchase any wares at my front door. If I need anything I go to the market!”
I smiled and Alathaya said sweetly. “Excuse the bother, sir. We are not selling anything. Are you Master Windle?”
He looked her up and down before giving a tight nod. The deep frown still creased his brow.
“Our parents passed through here a while back and they stayed with you a couple of nights. They simply wanted us to pass on their best wishes,” she continued, her voice dripping honey.
He snorted at her words, but opened the door a fraction more. “You have the wrong of it. We do not have visitors and…” he was halted mid-sentence by a voice coming from behind him.
I tried to look past him, but he was still filling the opening. I could not quite catch what was being said to him. When he looked back at us, his face was completely blank. His eyes almost seemed glazed and in a monotonous tone he said, “Please do come in for tea. I have been rude.” He stepped to the side and opened the door all the way. We looked at each other dubiously, but walked inside.
He led us into the kitchen where a boy sat with his back turned to us. For a moment, heat started flashing in my chest, before he turned and looked at us curiously, but there was something more than curiosity glinting in those dark eyes. I tried to see whether he resembled Trissa. I sup
posed that his mouth had the same up-twist at the corners; he also had the same copper tones to his hair. If not his appearance, that brief flash of heat was enough to convince me that we had the right boy.
Thopher was busying himself with putting the kettle over the fire and brewing the tea.
“Please, sit,” the boy said and gestured to the chairs.
I sat down across from him. “I heard you say that your parents came past here?” He did not wait for an answer before continuing. “You do not look like siblings. I can usually tell. I think that is because the people I live with are not really my family.”
I saw the man give a reflexive jerk, but he did not say anything and he did not pause with making the tea.
“Is that so? Where is your real family then?” I saw that spark that I could not quite name quickly replace a glimmer of sadness in his eyes.
He shrugged. “I know my parents are dead, but I do not know about my sister. I could not make them let her stay.”
Again, the man jerked. This time he turned from what he was doing and started moving towards the boy. He was opening his mouth to say something when the boy spoke. “Thopher, the tea is not yet done. You should finish preparing it, my guests are waiting.” The man obediently turned back to the kettle and continued what he was doing.
I looked at Alathaya and saw concern in her eyes.
“Where is Raminda?” She kept her voice soft and soothing.
He shrugged again. “I asked her to get me some things from the market. I suspect she must still be busy with that.”
She smiled at him, but it looked brittle. “What is your name?” Her hand was half across the table as if reaching to take his.
Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One Page 30