The Caste Marked

by Mariah Esterly

  Rian looked into the room, obviously curious. “Is everything alright? We heard raised voices.” If he noticed how Serra was staring at her hand in awe he didn’t say anything.

  Reks smiled. “Everything’s fine. We were just coming to join you, weren’t we, Serra?”

  Serra looked up, startled. “What? Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, about that. I just needed Reks' opinion on something. But we’re done now. I hope there’s still plenty of food left.” She followed them across the hall.

  Chapter 12

  SERRA

  Vaughn and Sylvan looked up as they entered, curiosity plain on their faces. She had no intention of telling them what she and Reks had talked about. Not for the moment. Not until she knew more about what was going on.

  She was in shock. She had somehow not only mimicked Reks’ Caste Mark, her whole hand had changed to be an exact replica of his. Serra had no idea how or why, but it had happened.

  She was still shaking from it.

  Serra tried not to stare at her hand while she ate, but found her eyes wandering to it far more than it should have. She prayed that no one noticed while they discussed the plan for the night.

  “I think we should split up into at least two groups and canvas the city.” Vaughn suggested.

  “I agree. We’ll be able to cover more ground that way.” Reks said, his voice slightly muffled by the huge bite of bread he’d just taken. Serra was jealous of his ability to act normal. She felt anything but.

  Thistle tinkled from her position by Serra’s plate and Sylvan translated for her. “Thistle says she can call other Pixies to help with the canvassing. If they see or hear anything they’ll let us know where.”

  “Tell them to keep their noses open, too. The smell of this creature is overwhelming. They’ll most likely smell it before they see it.” Rian said, pushing his plate away and leaning back in his chair.

  Sylvan pulled a map of the city out of her saddle bags. “According to the pattern he usually takes from the lower classes first and then his last two are from wealthier families. Hunter was the first so at least the next two will most likely be in Lower Norwood.” She pointed to a section on the map. Serra leaned her head to get a better view. The area that the Dryad indicated primarily consisted of large buildings that no doubt contained several single room apartments.

  Vaughn leaned over. “Rian, Serra and I will take the south side. You and Reks can take the north.”

  Serra wanted to refuse the proposed groupings. She felt much more comfortable with Reks than with anyone else, but she reasoned that as the least experienced fighter, it was probably better for her to hunt with the two companions rather than just one. Serra gave her consent as everyone else around the table nodded.

  By the time that Reks and Serra had finished eating hundreds of tiny pixies had shown up, showering the room with light and a high tinkling sound. Thistle would provide Serra, Rian and Vaughn a connection to the rest of the pixies, while her first son, Dandelion would travel with Reks and Sylvan.

  Sylvan, unable to hold a disguise for long, dressed in a long cape with a hood that would cover her hair and most of her face. If they passed anyone she would only need to tuck her chin into her chest and no one would be able to see her true features.

  They gathered what weapons they had and headed out to the city. The pixies dispersed to their sections of the city, to wait and watch, while the five travelers and their tiny companions walked to their halves of Lower Norwood. Serra wasn’t exactly sure how they were supposed to find the Creature. Norwood was almost as big as Malvern’s Ward and Serra who had lived there her whole life had not been down every street. She supposed it helped that the area where the Creature should strike, according to Sylvan’s pattern, was only about half of the city.

  But what if the Creature broke its pattern again and kidnapped a child from the area of Norwood where the upper class lived? Would they be able to do anything all the way down in Lowtown?

  Serra sincerely doubted it. However, she remained quiet as the group stole through the shadows to linger near the center of their sides of Lower Norwood. It would help no one if the only thing she offered to this expedition was opposition to every move they made.

  As they walked Rian kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He had done it perhaps ten times when Serra finally drew to a halt. “What?”

  Rian looked startled. “What? What do you mean?”

  “You keep looking at me like this,” she copied his glance. “Is there something you want to say to me?”

  He sighed. “I just want you to be careful around Reks. He’s helping us but for his own gain. If the kidnappings continue his position as Thief Lord is threatened. His motivations are… hazy. If the kidnappings persist it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to continue his reign.”

  That brought Serra up short. “You don’t think he might genuinely care about the welfare of the children? About getting them back to their families?”

  “He’s the leader of a band of thieves and cutthroats.” He sighed. “He’s a great help during fights, but I hope that you won’t trust him with anything more important than knife throwing lessons.”

  She had been thinking the same thing only hours ago, before she had shown him her newly minted Caste Mark. Had she done the wrong thing in trusting Reks?

  “I hate to break up the discussion on whether or not Reks is trustworthy,” Vaughn cut in. “But we shouldn’t remain stationary. We have a better chance of catching the Creature if we’re moving.”

  Serra followed along, her staff tapping the ground with every other step she took. If what Rian said was true, then she had indeed picked the worst person in the group to confide in. If Reks only cared about his position as Thief Lord then he could try to use Serra’s ability to his advantage.

  Thistle, partially hidden by the wide collar of Serra’s jacket, reached out a tiny hand and gently patted her cheek as if in sympathy. Serra smiled at the Pixie for the effort.

  Mentally kicking herself for her mistake, Serra trotted along behind Vaughn and Rian hoping they would find the Creature and end the madness that night.

  They did not find the Creature that night. Nor the next. Serra was beginning to lose hope. What if while they were lingering in Norwood the Creature was off in a different town or even a different county taking children. Since the Creature knew that they were onto him, wasn’t it possible that he would take precautions against being tracked again?

  But Thistle’s kin had not reported anything in any of the other counties.

  The horrible thought occurred to Serra that maybe the Creature was gone, had given up finding children in Iperia and was now in a different country, perhaps Tournesol in the North or Roza to the West on the other side of the Sidonia Wood.

  That was a possibility that Serra refused to think about too long.

  They spent their days sleeping. The servants of the inn would pass meaningful looks to each other when the five of them would come stumbling in just after dawn and order breakfast. No doubt they thought the group of them had been in the taverns until they had been kicked out.

  Serra ignored their pernicious looks, mostly because she was too exhausted to do much else. Had she been working at her normal mental capacity she would have flounced over to them and asked them, sweetly of course, if they had something they wanted to say to her and her companions, but she was so exhausted that she couldn’t summon the energy to play lady.

  Serra had seen little of Reks during this time. Whether on purpose or accident, she only saw him when they were preparing to go out for the night. Rian insisted on keeping the same hunting parties and so Serra had very little occasion to speak to him about her newfound ability.

  Three days after they had arrived in Norwood, Serra, Rian, Vaughn and Thistle were walking streets that were now familiar to Serra. The drunks and whores who lined the roads were beginning to recognize them, often drawing attention to the three people who tried to walk along unnoticed.

  A
s the hour grew late, even the whores turned in for the night, grumbling about wasted time. Serra yawned and shook herself trying to remain awake and alert. But three nights of too little sleep in a row were beginning to take its toll.

  She paused and leaned against the brick wall of a nearby building. Vaughn and Rian continued forward, unaware that she had paused to rest for just a moment. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

  Thistle perched in her usual spot on Serra’s shoulder began to tinkle, sounding angry. No doubt reminding her that Serra needed to keep up with the others. “Alright, Thistle, alright. I’m moving.”

  Serra heaved herself away from the wall, just as the stench hit her. She looked around, sniffing. She had smelled this before, though it was fainter then. She nearly vomited, forcing water to her eyes, as a wave of the odor washed over her.

  Serra had smelled this in Eva’s room the morning after she had disappeared.

  She turned eyes blurry with tears to where her companions walked. They were so far away that she could just make out their shapes in the shadows.

  Puckering her lips, she let out a loud whistle.

  They turned and began running back to her.

  A blow fell heavy on the back of her head, knocking her to the ground, but not unconscious. She heard her staff clatter to the ground off to her left. She rolled to her feet and sprinted in its direction. Rough hands grabbed her from behind, spun her around.

  She nearly screamed upon seeing her attacker. Black watery eyes looked at her from folds of stitched together grey rotting flesh. Its grey white hair hung in clumps around half his face. The other half of its scalp looked like it had been cut off and hadn’t been sewn back on. Its lips had been sewn together, allowing it to only make muffled moans.

  Serra was knocked to the side as Vaughn forced his way between them, engaging the Creature’s attention. Rian circled around behind it waiting for his chance to strike.

  For an instant, Serra thought they might finish it, especially if Reks and Sylvan showed up. The Creature was no match for five fighters. But as she watched another creature materialized out of the shadows behind Rian.

  “Rian!” she shouted in warning. He swung around just time to block a blow from the heavy sword that the second creature carried.

  Serra scrambled across the cobblestones to where her staff was waiting. Her fingers closed around the wood, just as third attacker came toward her. She stood up, braced her feet as Vaughn had shown her.

  The creature held a sword in its rotting hand. She would have to avoid any direct contact between her wooden staff and the blade. She swung the staff and caught the creature on the side of its head. The blow seemed to fall on it as ineffectual as rain would fall on Serra. She swung again and again, loosening the stitches on its face, but still it advanced on her. When he was close enough to touch her, Serra dodged to the side and spun around behind him.

  It turned slowly, unconcerned and as she thrust the blunt end of the staff toward the creature’s face it grabbed the staff and used it to pull her closer to it. Serra let go of the wood, but it was too late, the Creature had its hands on her shoulders and was pulling her closer to it. Unsure of what exactly it meant to do to her, Serra struggled. Her fists flew, battering the grey face. But still he drew her ever closer.

  “Serra! Down!”

  Serra immediately let her weight pull her downwards, going limp in the Creature’s hands. She slid to the ground just as three throwing knives appeared in her attacker’s chest. As she rolled away she caught a glimpse of Sylvan and Reks.

  Reks ran forward, his face expressionless as he engaged the creature, slashing at it with his knives. Serra stood anxious to help.

  Sylvan was a few yards away firing her bow. All three of the attackers had several arrows sticking out of them at odd angles, but not one of them appeared to mind. Vaughn was bleeding from a wound on his upper arm, and blood trickled from a gash on Rian’s forehead.

  She watched as hundreds of Pixies swarmed into the area, covering Rian’s attacker from head to foot in glowing light. There was a pause, the space of a breath, and then the Creature simply wasn’t there anymore.

  Had the pixies killed it? Or had it merely disappeared as they had seen on do before?

  Pain seared Serra’s left shoulder, hot and deep. It stole her breath. She spun. A fourth creature, or was it the one Rian had been fighting? was advancing on her a sword the tip stained red in its hand. She stumbled back, clutching at the wound on her shoulder, feeling blood spurt from beneath her fingers to roll down her arm.

  She looked around. Every one of her companions were engaged in battle. It looked as though they were losing. Despair overwhelmed her. All they had wanted was to help people, to get back their loved ones. What good was it if they died now?

  The creature came toward her. Pressure from the pain in Serra’s shoulder was building inside her. She felt it pound in her head with each beat of her heart. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she stumbled in her retreat from the creature.

  A high-pitched screaming filled her ears as the pressure overwhelmed her. A flash of light blinded her and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. The screaming grew louder. And darkness engulfed her. She felt something brush against her and she opened her mouth to cry out but she made no sound.

  Serra dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. She heard someone coughing to her right, but was still blinded by the flash of light. She blinked several times and was greeted by the sight of wood planked floors and Vaughn. He had his eyes squeezed tight as coughs wracked his body.

  She lifted her cheek from the wood and looked around. Somehow, they had left the Creatures in Lower Norwood and returned to Serra and Sylvan’s room at the inn.

  She heard movement behind her and struggled to rise. Had the creatures followed them? A stabbing pain in her shoulder forced her to remain on the floor. Vaughn crawled over to her.

  “Does anyone know what happened?” She heard Rian ask.

  Vaughn shook his head as he applied pressure to Serra’s shoulder. “Lie still,” he said when she tried to sit up again. Sylvan appeared above her and pushed Vaughn’s hands away. The Dryad seemed to have made it through the altercation with only a few cuts. The benefit of fighting with a bow.

  “Let’s see what we have here.” She probed the wound in Serra’s shoulder, making her gasp in pain as her world went white. “Well, it could be a lot worse.”

  “Where’s Reks?” Serra asked. “Did Reks make it back?” The thought that he hadn’t come with them, that he was still back with the creatures made her heart stop.

  There was a scuffling sound and moments later she felt a gloved hand on hers. Serra relaxed.

  “Vaughn, bring me my saddle bag.” Sylvan ordered. Vaughn did as he was bid. While Sylvan rifled through her bag, finally coming up with a stout blue pot.

  “I’m sorry.” Serra said. “I should have tried harder. They got away.”

  Reks' fingers tightened on hers while the other hastened to tell her it wasn’t her fault.

  “There were four of them, Serra. None of us could have known that.”

  “And they had weapons. The one we faced before was unarmed.”

  “Still.” Serra let the word linger as Sylvan smeared a thick lotion onto a bandage. She set this aside and reached for a red bottle.

  “Serra. I’m going to pour a little of this onto your shoulder, okay? It’s going to hurt a bit, but it will clean the wound.”

  Serra nodded. But to keep her mind off the pain that she knew was coming, she commented, “The Creatures remind me of something I read about in a book once.” Sylvan tipped the jar and fresh pain roared through Serra. She fought to keep awake. Moments later a soothing coolness began to spread through her. She opened her eyes to see that Sylvan was bandaging her shoulder.

  “What did you say?” asked Rian.

  “What?” She tried to get her mind to focus. “Oh, the book. It was a book of fairytales that Eva’s nanny used to read to
us. Valaine and the Death Muxins.”

  Rian leaned back on his heels. “Of course! I knew they reminded me of something. That’s what it is. The Death Muxins.”

  Vaughn and Reks helped Serra to get up and sit in one of the chairs as Sylvan asked, “What are death muxins?”

  Reks answered her. “It’s a fairytale about Valaine Barkridge, a mage who was obsessed with her magic. She felt that the people born with magic were somehow worthier than those born without. She devoted her adult life to gaining power over the non-magic humans. One of her ways of doing this was to use her magic to bring men back from the dead, the death muxins.”

  “But the plan backfired against her. The dead began to remember their lives and their loved ones. They revolted against Valaine Barkridge and she was ultimately destroyed by her creations.” Rian finished for Reks.

  Sylvan had moved on to Vaughn. Serra heard his quick intake of breath as she poured the potion from the red bottle on his arm. Reks sat in the chair next to Serra, his legs stretched out in front of him.

  “The problem is that it’s just a story,” he said.

  “Correction, it was just a story. Someone has decided to make it a reality.” Serra said, adjusting herself slightly.

  “Why is someone using death muxins to kidnap children?” asked Vaughn, his arm now bandaged.

  No one had an answer.

  “Well, if that’s what they are, it makes sense that they were unaffected by our weapons. They’re already dead.”

  “There is a good side to this, you know.” Sylvan said, her brow furrowed in concentration as she pushed Rian’s hair back from his forehead. “There are only fifty mages in Iperia.” She used a cloth and daubed some of the potion onto Rian’s cut. “Of the fifty, perhaps five could do magic such as this.”

  Vaughn was nodding. “That’s right. Whoever is doing this would have to be a very powerful mage. We’ve just eliminated everyone but those five mages as the culprit.”

  Serra didn’t want to point out that it could be a mage from Roza or Tournesol. This was the first glimpse of hope they’d really had. If they could track down the one mage who was taking the children then they would be able to stop this thing at its source. “So,” she said. “All we need to do is visit these five mages and discover which one is bringing the dead back to life.”