by P. G. Thomas
They both stopped arguing when they heard John and Gingaar scream. Having been visiting the other Earth Mothers, they were now standing at the intersection of the two streets. After talking to a young runner, they ran towards the center of the town. The young lad, one of the watch runners, ran over to Ramy, and out of breath, he exclaimed, “The Earth Mother is dead.” The words shocked them both, but before they could ask, the lad added, “the one with the long dark hair with the purple in it.”
Panry’s heart stopped. Turning, he ran into the house, whistling like a fire truck to a nine-alarm blaze. Lauren was not in the backyard, so he called out to the Earth Guard, “‘Find Earth Mother!” He ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time. The Earth Guards and the Ironhouse brothers, not understanding the call, began to search the house. Panry crested the last stair at the top flight, moving so fast that he bounced off the walls, and running down to Lauren’s room, he threw his body against the closed door with such force, that both it and his shoulder shattered.
Lying on the bed, curled up in a ball beside Logan, was Lauren. She reached up, wiped the sleep out of her eyes, as Panry collapsed on the floor in pain, both smiling and crying at the same time. He tried to whistle that all was clear, but because the pain was so great, he was unable to, so Logan called for help, which shortly filled the room and hall.
Being the last to arrive, Ramy carefully weaved his way through all of the drawn weapons, “Earth Mother, Lauren. How are you feeling?”
“Fine? Did I miss something?” asked Lauren.
“I am uncertain right now,” replied Ramy. He then knelt down beside Panry, “It has a handle you know?”
Between pursed lips and pained breathing, Panry advised, “It does not,” and then he pulled the door handle out from under his side.
After Ramy had helped Panry up, he looked to Lauren, “Earth Mother, could you please get dressed? I think I could use your help investigating a death.”
“Who’s”
“Right now I have no idea, as I thought it was yours, but now, who knows? When this is done, please talk to the mayors for me. I need a raise and a vacation, a really, really long paid vacation.”
Panry was sitting up, holding his shoulder, “Erust, to the Earth Mothers house you shall go. Report what happens and bring back berries for my pain. Careel, go get a carriage. Aaro, Bor, your brothers out front, rein them in and cool their tempers before they explode, like a forge with heat too long.”
“What happened?” asked Lauren.
“Earth Mother, I do not know,” replied Panry. “Confusion flows like a broken ale keg. We need to seal it before it drowns all.”
Lauren looked around, “Where’s John, Ryan, Eric, and Zack?”
“Eric and Zack were watching Korg. John went with Gingaar to visit the Earth Mothers. No idea on where Ryan is,” replied Logan.
“Everybody, out of my room, now! Get sick for a few days, and everything goes to Hell.” Lauren pushed everybody out of her room, “Couldn’t give me a few days of rest. I look like crap,” and as the door closed, she continued to mutter to herself.
Logan waited outside of her room until she had made herself presentable, though she still wore Ryan’s hoodie. He then walked her downstairs to the waiting coach with her staff in hand. The dwarves outside had heard the news, and they looked at Lauren like she was a spirit that had come back into their world.
As they rode in the carriage, Ramy looked at Panry, “If no crime was committed this night, I would greatly appreciate it if it would stay that way.”
“I am curious, like you, of what shall happen this night.”
When the carriage stopped, Erust jumped on the side, advising all that the Earth Mothers were healthy, and that he had updated them. Nur also entered the carriage, and although still weak, she administered plants to dull Panry’s sharp pains.
With the street to Pintar’s crowded when they turned onto it, the dwarves moved to the front, carving out a path for the carriage. As people entered the front of Pintar’s, those inside were then ushered out the back. When the carriage pulled to the front of the inn, the dwarves pushed back the crowd, so that the carriage occupants could exit it.
On the steps sat Gingaar and John, crying uncontrollably. John looked up, “They killed her Panry! Lauren is dead! I don’t know how, but she’s dead! Kill Korg for me, Eric won’t! Kill the bastard, make it slow, but kill him!”
Before Lauren stepped out of the carriage, she had pulled the hood from Ryan’s hoodie over her head, and it being four sizes too large, covered her face in a shadow. The group from the carriage entered the inn, and on the opposite side of the dining hall stood Korg. Displayed at the far end of the inn, the lifeless body of Lauren, her arms folded across her chest, her face pale.
Korg started his speech over, “The Earth Mothers I brought with me have identified this Earth Mother to be the plague source. While she was partially immune to its effects, it multiplied in her. Everyone she spoke to or touched is now infected. She came to us today, realizing that we spoke the truth, begging us to cure her. She saw the light of our truth too late, and now she is with Mother. With the plague in her too long, the cure was delivered too late. We tried to save her, but the damage was too great. It does break my heart to see her lie there, but since now that the plague source is no more, it will no longer spread, and we can cure the rest. If she had come to us sooner, listened to the Earth Mothers, we could have saved her. The plague caused her delusions to be great, but maybe in the final hours, Mother did reach her, telling her to trust the Royal House, but it was too late.” Bending his head forward, he brought his hands up to his heart, “A moment of silence, please.”
As the rest bowed their heads, Logan walked over to the corpse of Lauren, “I don’t understand.”
Korg looked up, “I am sorry for your loss.”
“No,” he pointed, “That’s my sister. Who’s this?”
Lauren stepped away from Panry, as she had been supporting his pained walk, which hid her tri-wood staff behind him. As she pulled back the hood, her eyes were no longer lifeless or hollow.
The crowd went quiet when voices filled the room. However, the source was the corpse of Lauren at the far end of the room, but nobody was talking.
“Sub Commander Haile, come in here.”
“What is it Fertus? Fertus the failure!”
Everybody in the room recognized the voice of Korg.
“She came to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She came to me, asking about the plague and the cure.”
“I do not believe it. Is she dead?”
“Yes. There was a knock on my door. When I opened it, she was standing there, and her question was simple. Can I cure her? I said yes and invited her in. I knew her Earth Guard would be searching for her, and I knew you wanted to be here, but I had to act. She asked if I could prove that she had the plague, so I took a blood sample, added the test agent, and the blood turned black. It always does with that coloring. She was distraught, upset. She asked if I could cure her. I stammered over my response, being delirious with joy. I could not believe your words were so effective with her. I knew the poison on those stones would help, but there was no sign of it. I gave her a small amount of sedative to make her easier to manage, so she was unable to run away. Then I strapped her to a chair and gave her the cure.”
“The cure?”
“The cure to end life, I gave her death. The poison is undetectable. I know you wanted to be here when she died: to see the torment, the pain, the agony. However, I was afraid those damn elves would show up and stop everything.”
“You did well, Fertus. You did very well. The death, describe it to me.”
“I was expecting it to be more. She should have withered in agonizing pain. Instead, seizures racked her body and blood flowed out of her ears. I had stuffed a gag in her mouth, but she never screamed like the others had. The poison may be old, having lost some of its potency, but it was enough.”
“So the Thorn is finally dead. When I first saw her, I thought the reports were wrong, and it was so easy to convince these backwater idiots. I am Korg, your friend. Please lick my boots until your tongues bleed, and they did. I have never met such a gullible and trusting group like these midlanders. Can’t they think for themselves?”
“Maybe children that now go to school with full bellies will sing praise every morning to you?”
“That was a good one. I thought of it on the voyage down here, and they almost felt sorry for us. Now we need to round up the rest of her group and cure them also. When I first heard the Royal House suggest using the plague hoax, I never imagined it would work so well.”
The voice of Fertus trembled when it spoke, “They will make you a full Commander now. Your rewards will be great. They may even give you the Bright Coast to rule instead of this backwater swamp.”
“What of you, friend Fertus?”
“So many here to torture, to test new poisons on….”
The room went quiet.
All eyes shifted from Korg to Lauren. Trying to back up, he bumped into Eric. When he looked down, Zack, the wolf, looked up.
Unzipping the hoodie, Lauren handed it to Panry. Ignoring Korg, she walked over to Fern, “Do you still have those stones you tested me with?” Fern nodded. Lauren called to Pintar’s wife, “Seven glasses of water, please.” When Panry whistled, Earth Guards quietly walked into the inn, surrounding Korg and Fertus. When Lauren had the water, she asked Fern to show her the stones, which she emptied out onto the tray. “Please select one for me.” Fern picked one from the middle, handing it to Lauren, “Please tell the people of the test.”
“Earth Mother will put the stone in her mouth, and after a few minutes, she will spit it into a glass of water. If the water does not change color, it means there is no plague. If there are signs of plague, the water will discolor, becoming un-pure.”
Lauren nodded, “When I spit the stone into the glass the first time, what happened?”
“The water turned black, Earth Mother.”
“What did that mean?”
“That we had found the source of the plague.”
“Please, hand me a glass of water.” After Lauren had repeated the procedure, spitting the stone into the glass, the water remained clear. She turned to Fern, “Please perform the test.”
Fern did so, and when she spit the stone into the glass, the water turned gray, and the crowd gasped.
“Mother is sorry for what you’ve had to endure,” advised Lauren. “Would you like to hear her voice again?”
“Yes,” replied Fern, wiping away tears.
“Grasp my staff.” Lauren leaned forward, kissed Fern on the forehead, “Mother does bless you. Please, do the test again.” Duplicating the test, the water remained clear this time. Lauren then repeated the process with Page, which ended with the blessing. “Where is the third Earth Mother?”
Fern pointed to Korg, “That bastard strangled her in front of me. He took her pins and gave them to me. He told me to order all of the Earth Mothers to go to the south port town, but he would have killed you before you reached it.”
Lauren held out her hand, “Please, give me the pins that were not bequeathed to you.”
After Fern had removed nine pins from her shirt, Page handed five pins to her. Taking them, she placed them in her pocket. “He is no longer your concern.” She turned and faced Pintar’s wife, “I have been drinking water for what seems like a thousand years, yet my thirst isn’t satisfied. There’s still much that I thirst for, but right now, I would like a pleasant drink. What would you recommend?”
“We have a beautiful spiced multi-fruit cider just in, which has a rich fragrance, with a hearty, full-bodied taste. Not a suggestion I would recommend for an average customer, but I think you would like it, Earth Mother.”
Lauren turned to Fern and Page, “The Royal House has fed you full of foul lies. Would you like to join me?” They both nodded. “Two bottles, please.” When Pintar’s wife brought over the tray with the bottles and three glasses, Lauren handed one of the glasses back to her, “I’m not feeling much like a lady this night.” Biting into the cork, she spit it out, taking a large drink from the bottle, “A very good choice. Compared to the water that I’ve been drinking, this is nectar. Is it dwarf distilled?” Pintar’s wife nodded, “The depth of dwarf knowledge is only understood in the liquids they mine. This night your inn is filled, so please encourage your guests to get comfortable. Drinks are on me, and I’ll settle tomorrow.” Lauren turned to Eric, “Our other two guests may also need refreshments this night, but I don’t think their pallet would appreciate this fine liquid. Buried in the backyard, there is a container filled with a more appropriate liquid. Can you please bring them a pitcher of a liquid they are more accustomed to?” The absence of Eric may have generated thoughts from Korg and Fertus to run, but the presence of Zack and the Earth Guards quickly suppressed those desperate thoughts. Lauren looked around the room, “I was just wondering? Did everybody hear the words, ‘the Royal House suggested using the plague hoax?’ It was like music to my ears.” Everybody nodded. Lauren walked over to the corpse of Lauren, “I never knew in death I would look so good.” She reached down, touched her dead forehead, “Rise.”
When the corpse of Lauren sat up, the room gasped.
“It’s about time,” advised Lauren.
The Lauren who held the staff answered, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to make the first move?”
“They are twin born?” asked Korg.
Logan answered, “Why doesn’t anybody see that? Yes, we’re twins.”
The conversation between the two Laurens continued.
“I would’ve raised you sooner, but my hips aren’t that wide.”
“It’s the dress, not my hips.”
“Then you need a new tailor.”
“I needed one with big pockets.”
“For John’s cell phone?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he’s out front. Go give it back to him, and tell him we’re okay. Poor guy is crying like a little girl.”
“You could at least say thanks.”
“We’ll talk later. I’m not happy with you.”
“You mean you.”
“Just go.”
Lauren stormed across the back of the inn, “Try and help a friend out. Thanks. NO. Do this. Go there. We’ll talk later.” Lauren stopped, turned, and faced the Lauren holding the tri-wood staff, “I already know we won’t talk later.”
As Lauren watched Lauren storm out of the inn, she looked at Panry, “I’m not that bad, am I?”
“I think one exaggerates. I just do not know which one,” but before Panry could confirm his worst nightmare, that there were two Laurens, John, Gingaar, and Ryan walked back into the bar.
Ryan had to hold John and Gingaar back, who were wiping tears of joy away. Eric walked in from the back, placing two mugs and a pitcher from the septic tank in front of Korg and Fertus.
Lauren looked at them, “If you’re thirsty, please help yourselves. There’s more if you need it, and I feel confident that you’ll find the contents similar to what you forced others to swallow.”
Neither Korg nor Fertus reached for a glass.
“Please, select a glass of water and a stone for Fertus,” requested Lauren.
Fern did as asked, placing both in front of the healer. While he was scared, he knew there was no plague, and that he was immune to the poison on the stones. Placing the rock in his mouth, he swished it around before spitting it into the glass. The water turned black.
“Poor Fertus, it looks like you’re the source of the plague.”
Ryan walked over, “When I was with our good healer, he gave me an injection of this, and said it would cure the plague.” He was holding a syringe that he had withdrawn from his body when outside. “Should I try to heal him?”
“Would you like to be healed?” asked Lauren.
Fertus shook his h
ead.
“Poor fellow, the plague clouds his judgment. You’re positive he said it was the cure?”
Ryan nodded.
Lauren knew the truth needed to be exposed, and that the resolution to some lies never ended well, especially for those who spoke them. “Then it must work. Please cure the gentle healer.”
Grabbing his hand, Ryan bent it downwards, exposing the veins inside of Fertus’s elbow, and then injected the contents of the needle.
As Fertus’s face began to twitch, his body began convulsing. Falling to the floor, his arms and legs began to thrash, his breathing became labored, and then horror filled screams roared from him. With his breathing turning to quick gasps, the thrashing intensified, the spasms multiplied, and then Fertus stopped. The crowd gasped, horrified at the exposed lies.
“I guess that’s what he meant by withering, agonizing pain. Why would Korg take satisfaction in watching that?” asked Ryan.
“Sick bastard?” responded Lauren.
“Must be.”
Walking to the middle of the room, she pulled up a chair, stepped on it, and then sat on the table, resting her tri-wood staff beside her. She looked at Pintar’s wife, “Has everybody been served?” Pintar’s wife nodded. “So ladies and gentlemen, elf, dwarf, and midlander. It’s that time of the night for our special guest, Korg. I would ask for a round of applause, but I’m sure the room would remain silent.” Lifting her head, she looked at Korg, and he saw the fire that burnt in her eyes: the power, the anger, the rage. He realized too late that she was not a little girl, that she was vengeance sent by Mother.
“Should I call you Korg, Sub Commander Haile, or insufferable prick? Let’s go with the first.” Lauren took a drink of the multi-fruit cider, “Korg, Korg, Korg. Where should we start? Earth Mother, please select a stone and a glass of water for him.” Fern placed both in front of him. “Why don’t we start with the plague test? You’re familiar with it.”
Korg remained motionless.
“Eric, please place the stone in his mouth.”