Dark Healer (An Empire Falls Book 1)

by Harry Leighton

  “A welcome to you too,” the boss replied, as the newcomers walked briskly to where crates were being sorted.

  “Sorry boss. We thought the rebels had him.”

  “Why would the rebels, assuming they exist and aren’t a product of your limited imaginations, want a warehouse hand?”

  “Ah,” and the one-eyed man leaned in conspiratorially, “the rebels don’t want the emperor, the empire, or nothing. And we happen to be the most loyal people in the city.”

  The merchant nodded, keeping his sighing contempt hidden. “Well don’t get taken then, I need you here.”

  “Oh don’t worry about that, the watch are after them, they’ll give them a right kicking. They’ll really rough the fuckers up. Might hang a few too.”

  “I see, well please keep your bloodthirst in check and leave things to the watch.”

  The merchant continued walking through to his office, leaving the thin man to be interrogated. As he opened, went inside, and shut the door, he found his son standing at the desk looking at the ledgers. He was ashamed that he did a double take, as he always did, because his son was so short it looked like he was sitting down.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “Yes,” the son replied.

  Ears like a hawk that boy. “Are they right? Is that what the watch are saying? These missing people are being taken by rebels against the throne?”

  His boy stood upright, and scratched his light beard. “Those are the rumours. No one knows for sure. The watch, well, they won’t admit to something they don’t seem to be able to solve.”

  Moore, the elder man turned, and looked out over his domain through the open shutter. There were rebels alright, although no one with any sense talked about them. And people were being taken by someone. But together? Was there something else going on? And did it matter if his workforce were increasingly becoming obsessed by it?

  *****

  The five of them sat around a table in a tavern nearby, nursing ales.

  “Did we do the right thing?” Alia said.

  “We're still on the hunt if that's what you mean,” Jonas replied.

  “I've not got a good feeling about him. Strikes me as somewhat over promoted,” Zedek said.

  “Probably nepotism,” Daeholf said.

  “What?” Alia said.

  “Very common amongst officials,” Trimas clarified.

  “Old boys’ network,” Daeholf said dismissively.

  “Indeed,” Trimas said.

  “A general though,” Alia said

  “General my arse,” Trimas snorted.

  “What do you mean?” Alia said.

  “In his case it's an honorific at best. Might even be self styled,” Trimas said.

  “Head of the city guard though,” Alia noted

  “What there is of them. They're no legion,” Daeholf said.

  “What makes you say that?” Zedek said curiously.

  “Did you see the state of the garrison compound?” Daeholf replied.

  “Was a bit empty, yes,” Zedek admitted.

  “Would have held ten thousand men,” Daeholf said.

  “Though somewhat cosily…” Trimas put in.

  “There's probably only a quarter of that there and I'll bet they're amateurs. If they're anything like their 'general' anyway,” Daeholf said.

  “So what's the guard 'general' doing getting involved in everyday watch details?” Alia said.

  “This isn't everyday…” Jonas noted.

  “Regardless, it seems a strange setup they have here,” Alia said.

  “Can't argue with that,” Trimas said.

  “What does that mean for us then?” Zedek said.

  “Well on the plus side, we've done what we came to do and it got much higher exposure than we expected,” Alia said.

  “But…” Zedek said.

  “Don't have much confidence they'll find Marlen though,” Alia finished.

  “So we're still looking?” Zedek said.

  “Yes,” Jonas stated.

  “Good,” Zedek said.

  “Where do we start?” Alia said.

  “For me, the city,” Daeholf said. “The trail so far has pointed to him being here, or at least nearby, so let’s start central and work outwards.”

  “I think it’s more likely he’ll be out of town,” Jonas said. “But I’d like to rule out him being under our noses before we move on, so the city first makes sense.”

  “We could do with a bit of a re-stock anyway,” Trimas said.

  “And an up-to-date map before we start looking wouldn’t hurt either,” Zedek said.

  *****

  In truth, there wasn’t much of a crowd. Perhaps fifty people had come to the gate of this town, almost all friends and family of the watch members who now came past. The organisation didn’t march beyond the odd ceremonial function, so the group rippled back and forth as they adjusted their speeds and found their own spaces. They still wore their usual leather armour, carried their clubs at their waists, but their families could see with a pride blind to the mismatch how knives and the swords of the few ex-soldiers were being worn now, how the watch had scrounged up helmets and even a coat of mail on one old soldier who was probably much younger than the metal rings. As the group reached the gate there was a small cheer, and then the watch passed through into a world that was partly alien to them: the country.

  “Playing at soldiers,” Daeholf sighed, one of the only four people watching this departure who weren’t related to the men and women just leaving.

  “It’s a start,” Jonas replied, pleased to see the government taking this seriously enough to mobilise every watch member they could and send half out searching.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Trimas explained, “he’s an old soldier. He wants to see things ordered and prepared.”

  “Says the old commander riding at the back.”

  “Fair point.”

  “If you two can stop reminiscing long enough we can go and have breakfast.”

  Trimas and Daeholf nodded at each other in support of Jonas’ suggestion, and so they turned and followed him and Alia back through the town, into their lodgings and up to the counter.

  “What have you got that won’t kill us?” Alia asked.

  The barkeep looked at her, decided all four of them looked lethal enough to not start protesting to, and decided he needed to give this place a clean if he was going to start getting better customers than whatever these travellers were.

  “Like eggs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Eggs coming up.”

  Trimas leaned forward. “For five please.”

  “Yes,” Jonas began, “where is Zedek?”

  “He’s gone to get a map,” Daeholf explained.

  “At this time of day?”

  Trimas laughed. “Zedek is to maps what I am to women.”

  “A fleeting moment which they’ll long regret?”

  Trimas looked to Alia, who finished by smiling, and then turned back Daeholf. “She’s better at this than you are.”

  “He’ll be here soon enough with a chart.”

  In the end, the eggs arrived just as Zedek did, and he came through the door, parchment in hand, clearly looking unhappy.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You would think, would you not, that a mapmaker would be happy of some help.”

  The four already seated began to smile. “Help?”

  “Yes, I woke him to purchase this map, and I immediately noticed some errors in the charts he had for sale, so I tried to help him, give him the corrections. He wasn’t happy. Tried to throw me out.”

  “Zedek,” Daeholf began, “what makes you think an esteemed professional who has spent years collecting and combining information wants to listen to a random customer at this hour of the day?”

  “But they weren’t right.”

  “Sit down,” Jonas said, waving an expansive hand, “and have some eggs.”

  “That is a map in your han
d, right, and not some document expelling us,” Daeholf asked.

  “It’s a map,” and Zedek pinned it open on the table with their plates. “We are here,” Zedek said, pointing to a town in one corner, “we are here, and…”

  “We can read Zedek.”

  “Oh, yes, sorry Alia, and here is the point we found that three-armed man.”

  Jonas tilted his head to better look. “That’s a large area to look in, but I can already see some targets.”

  “Do you think he’s in the city?” Everyone looked at Trimas. “Just a thought. It was better than the first thing I was going to say, which was what sort of bird do you think these eggs came from?”

  “We’ll be lucky if it was a bird, we’re not in your palace now.”

  “I didn’t grow up in a palace. It was a very practical building.”

  “Fortress then.”

  “Spot on.”

  “Well you’ve seen the hut I grew up in.”

  “Also a practical building.”

  “About the size of your privy.”

  “What sort of bounty do you think they’ll set?” Alia pondered out loud to try and get things back on track.

  “Always the business-minded one,” Daeholf commented.

  Jonas opened his mouth, but decided against saying it, then went on a different tack. “Might not be a bounty, I think the watch want this arrest for themselves.”

  *****

  “Do we all know what we’re doing?”

  The command was given gruffly, from a man whose voice was already wearing out he’d used it so much on their march up here.

  “Yes sir,” everyone replied, perfectly in time.

  This wasn’t enough for the sergeant, who thought he detected a weak link in the body of men and women he had with him. They were all armed, this time with spears and a few swords as well as their usual issue clubs. But you couldn’t issue backbone, and he felt one was missing.

  Marching over to a man whose armour was worn a little too tight, he repeated, “Do we all know what we’re doing?”

  “Checking this mine and the miners for, er, irregularities, sir.”

  “Technically correct, but where’s your fire? Where’s your authority? We are checking this mine, and we are going to tear it apart to see if our quarry is here. We are not ‘checking this mine and the miners’, we are rooting out the enemy and stamping out filth!” He ended with his spittle landing on the man’s cheeks.

  “Right, follow me,” and the armoured watch turned and began marching around the rising turn of the road. They’d been able to hear the noise of the mine and see smoke rising, but only now did they see the workings, including the forbidding entrances down inside. Men with blackened fences were helping half-blind pit ponies pull wagons of ore out, piles were forming and being moved, three women sat preparing a stew, and no one turned to the sound of marching with a smile on their face.

  As the watch came close a thin man who stood out because his face and clothes were clean of the dust, came over with a sheaf of papers in his hand.

  “How can I help you?” he asked cordially.

  “Everyone out of the mine now, and lined up.”

  “Sorry?” The foreman regarded the sergeant in confusion.

  “Everyone out. We are here to search your mine, and your miners.”

  “What for?”

  “That’s our business. Come on, get moving.”

  “Line them up?” The foreman was growing increasingly worried and it came through in his voice. When the miners behind heard this they came over and stood behind their boss.

  “You say empty the mine?” one barked.

  “Yes,” the sergeant shot back.

  “Costs us money. We’re paid by the wagon.”

  “Everyone, and I mean fucking everyone, better get out of that mine now and line up.”

  “You keep saying line up, what exactly do you mean?”

  The sergeant shook his head at the foreman. “We need to examine the men. To see if they’re normal.”

  “Normal?”

  “We’re looking for fucking three-armed bastards, so get every one of those fuckers out of that mine!”

  “Or what?”

  In the background someone muttered “Three arms?”

  “Or you’ll all be on a charge.” But at this his voice faded, as he heard men enter into the mine calling their fellows with urgency. That was it, that was more like it.

  But the sergeant had missed what was really happening, and as the miners near the top of the workings came running out they didn’t line up. No, they formed a large semi-circle facing the watch.

  “I said line up.”

  “Why’s he saying that?”

  “Looking for some monsters. Think we have monsters in there.”

  “He can search while we work then.”

  “Nah, he thinks we’re the monsters.”

  The eyes of the miners turned to the watch, who were the only people legally allowed to be armed in this situation. But the latter suddenly felt their authority challenged, and were increasingly keen to show their power.

  The sergeant considered drawing his sword, but that would invite a brawl. A deadly brawl. Clubs maybe? Not yet. He’d have to keep shouting, and make these dirty bastards do what they were told.

  *****

  They'd spent the rest of the day scouring the city for evidence of Marlen, but conscious of alerting him to their presence, they had been very careful with their questioning and turned up little. Either Marlen was adept at hiding or he wasn't based in the city itself. Following a frustrated night's sleep, they'd spent time poring over Zedek's map, trying to pare down the list of possible locations.

  They’d settled on the village of Walbrook as the first place to check out after a debate that had taken up much of the morning. The village had an abandoned lumber camp nearby that was a promising possibility and was only a couple of hours ride from the city.

  “After what we saw yesterday, I’m starting to have more reservations,” Daeholf said as they rode along the country road.

  “The watchmen?” Zedek said.

  “They’re not the highest standard certainly,” Trimas said.

  “So what are we expecting them to do? What happens if one of their ‘gangs’ does come across Marlen?” Daeholf said.

  “Gangs?” Jonas said.

  “Squad maybe too strong a term for them,” Daeholf clarified.

  “Snob,” Trimas said.

  “And you don’t agree?” Daeholf said with a hint of mock-challenge.

  Trimas thought about it for a second. “Gangs it is,” he said.

  “Setting aside the term,” Jonas said, “I think we’re hoping that they smoke Marlen out.”

  “What then?” Alia said curiously.

  “We deal with him,” Jonas said.

  “I thought we agreed we needed help?” Zedek said.

  “Us and the best of the guard,” Jonas amended.

  “I think that the best we can hope for is that we’re there when whichever ‘squad’ comes across Marlen and that they distract him enough for us to take him down,” Daeholf said.

  “The best?” Zedek said.

  “If we’re not there, I can see a lot of people dying,” Daeholf concluded.

  “Maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas after all then,” Alia said.

  “Much as I hate to admit it, we were having trouble finding him ourselves,” Jonas said. “And the extra bodies around us when we do certainly won’t hurt.”

  “Bodies?” Zedek said, somewhat sensitively.

  “Poor choice of words,” Jonas conceded. “Of course they will be welcome allies.”

  Trimas snorted. Zedek glanced at him then shook his head.

  “Conflict isn’t a nice place,” Trimas said.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the callousness with which leaders can commit other men to battle,” Zedek said.

  “Callous? No. Detached and pragmatic? Certainly,” Trimas said.


  “Call it what you want,” Zedek said. “Amounts to the same thing.”

  “Not sure it does,” Trimas said. “It becomes a numbers game. Some die so that more can live. Someone has to make the decisions for the greater good.”

  “But what gives the leaders the right to make those decisions?” Zedek said.

  “That’s a whole ’nother subject,” Daeholf said. “Speaking as someone who has been forced to carry out idiotic orders in battle,” he added.

  “I think we may be getting side tracked,” Alia said. “What’s the plan for today when we get there?”

  “Ride up and ask about healers, I suppose,” Daeholf said. “Unless anyone has any better ideas?”

  “It’s a simple plan,” Trimas said. “I like it.”

  “We’re probably not going to get too many chances to question villagers before word starts spreading that the watch are out in force looking for someone or something so let’s make the best of this,” Jonas said.

  “Do you know what the watch have been told to look for?” Zedek said.

  “Strange dissidents was the term I think,” Trimas said.

  “One way of putting it,” Jonas said.

  They rounded a bend in the road.

  “Damn,” Daeholf said, pulling his horse to a halt.

  They all saw the group of watchmen standing awkwardly at the entrance to the village. An entrance that appeared to be blocked.

  “What’s going on?” Trimas said.

  “Watch got here first,” Daeholf said.

  “I can see that,” Trimas said acidly.

  Daeholf studied the scene. “Road appears to be blocked by a tree trunk and is guarded by two farmers.”

  “Looks to me like the watch could easily get around the trunk,” Alia said.

  “Yeah,” Daeholf said. “I think the barrier is symbolic as much as anything else though.”

  “Why? Why aren’t the watch pushing past?” Alia said.

  “I think they’ll be trying to avoid trouble,” Jonas said.

  “What do we do then?” Zedek said.

  “I doubt us riding up on horses is going to get us in either,” Jonas said. “And even if we do, they’re going to be suspicious of strangers asking questions.”

  “Suggestions?” Alia said.

  “What can you see, Daeholf?” Jonas said. “Your eyes are better than mine.”