Eilinland- Through the Wall

by Bailey Davenport

  “Sure,” she answered.

  They pushed through the lively onlookers and up to the stranger.

  “Hello,” said Gillio. “My name is Gillio and this is Rheen.”

  “Davick,” said the stranger, smiling and shaking each of their hands. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Where are you from?” asked Gillio.

  “Vree. And you?”

  “We’re from the south,” Gillio answered.

  Rheen felt uncomfortable for a moment for not correcting him, but her anxiety at the mention of Vree quickly overwhelmed the guilt.

  Davick gave a sigh of relief. “You’re exactly the people I wanted to talk to! I came here on rumors that warriors from the south come to this place to help when there is trouble, and I was hoping against hope that you would be here.”

  “What’s the trouble?” asked Gillio.

  “I’m here on behalf of a couple whose daughter was kidnapped. She’s one of several people who have disappeared in the past few weeks in the area. Can you help?”

  **********

  “I haven’t actually known them for very long,” Davick told Bierno, Aenin, Gillio, and Rheen. Bierno had just finished winning his game, and now they were all gathered at a quiet table in the corner of the room to hear Davick’s story. “I was walking down the road two days ago when I saw a couple frantically talking to one of their neighbors. I went over to see what was going on and they told me that their daughter went missing the night before.”

  “So you’ve never seen the girl before?” asked Bierno.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Do you know anything about what she looks like or how old she is?”

  “They told me she’s eleven years old. The parents both had light hair and skin, so I assume she does as well.”

  Bierno, Aenin, and Gillio exchanged a meaningful glance. This fit the description of the girl in their vision.

  “Does anyone have any idea where she might be?” asked Bierno.

  “Not that I am aware of,” answered Davick, “but the couple might have more to tell you. I told them what I’d heard about warriors coming from the south and offered to see if I could find you. They were very grateful and eager that I should set out at once and bring you back to them if I had any success.”

  “We’ll ride out with you at first light,” said Bierno. “Rheen, you will need to inform Jekka of our plans to ride to Vree in the morning. We should probably all head to our rooms now and get some sleep.”

  They all rose from the table and went their separate ways to their own rooms. Rheen walked into the room she shared with Jekka to find her journaling again.

  “There have been some developments,” announced Rheen. Jekka stopped writing and looked up. “We travel to Vree in the morning.”

  “Good,” said Jekka. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone to straighten out some evil in Vree.”

  Rheen changed her clothes and climbed into bed. She listened to the scratching of Jekka’s pen on the top bunk while thinking about what her own journal would say tonight if she had one.

  “Well, we’re going to Vree,” she began. “It seems like my best option will be to travel with them to the city and then slip out of everyone’s detection: Rundyl, the sniws, and the warriors. It might all be for the better actually. Things weren’t going like I’d imagined in the City of Eilin. I was already toying with the thought of going back to Vree before all of this happened. My life wasn’t the greatest there, but it was far better than the monotonous life I had in the City or the difficult situation I’m in now.”

  Working all of that out in her head made her feel somewhat better, but she still had worries that she didn’t write out in her imaginary journal. Deep down, she was afraid that it really was impossible to slip out of Rundyl’s detection at this point, and if she tried to escape her current situation, she would just be leaving the protection of the warriors and be hunted down by the sniws and torn to pieces. Also, she had been away from Vree for years now, and she wasn’t sure if she would find the familiar people and places how she’d left them.

  The sound of Jekka’s pen stopped and the candle was blown out overhead. Rheen slipped into a restless sleep full of unsettling dreams that she couldn’t remember in the morning.

  **********

  The company of six rode as quickly as the horses could manage for most of the next day. They rode first through a forest and then out into a barren wasteland where they could see the towers of Vree off in the distance. It was like a huge black mountain sticking up above the dry, cracked ground and brush. The clouds were darkest above it making it look like the great city was the source of the darkness that spread through all of Northern Eilin.

  “I’m glad we’re getting closer to saving the girl,” said Gillio to Rheen who rode close by, “but it’s hard to travel into Vree and not feel hopeless. We could spend several lifetimes there and still not right all that is wrong.”

  Rheen just stared at the city, deep in thought. It did look dismal from this perspective, and the idea that they were riding in to save a kidnapped girl did not help to make the city any more welcoming. She started questioning whether or not the plan she’d come up with the night before was really a good idea. She found herself missing the bright, rich, beautiful landscape of the south.

  “How long have you been doing this?” Davick’s voice interrupted her thoughts. He had dropped back to where she and Gillio were riding and his question was directed at Gillio.

  “It’s been a few years,” Gillio answered. “I’m the newest in the group, although Jekka only joined two years before I did. We each went through training for this and our time at the school overlapped for a while. She started before me and didn’t take as long to finish though – hence the two years head start.”

  “So Rheen has been doing this longer than you both?” asked Davick. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

  “Oh, no,” said Gillio, “she’s not…”

  “I ended up on this trip under complicated circumstances,” cut in Rheen. “I’ve never been on an expedition like this before, and I’m not trained like they are, either.”

  “Oh, I see,” said Davick. “You’re an adventurer then who seized an opportunity to see new places and try new things.”

  Rheen laughed. “In a way, yes. I guess this all did start with seizing an opportunity.”

  “If by opportunity you mean a loaf of bread that didn’t belong to you,” Gillio quipped.

  Davick raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You stole a loaf of bread?”

  Rheen shrugged. “I had to eat.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you,” said Davick. “You come across as so meek and innocent.”

  Rheen laughed again. “It’s hard to tell if you’re being serious.”

  “Completely,” said Davick, though the humorous glint in his eyes said otherwise. “Tell me what happened. This sounds like a good story.”

  “I was caught stealing a loaf of bread,” said Rheen. “Then I was taken in to a sort of trial where it was decided I would come on this trip, but it wasn’t really explained why. Gillio was at the trial, so that might have had something to do with it.”

  “I’m surprised you had to steal to eat down there,” said Davick. “I was under the impression that everything was kind of perfect in the south and nobody went hungry.”

  “I used to think so too, but I guess we were wrong,” said Rheen. “That wasn’t the first time I had to steal to survive.”

  “It is unfortunate,” said Gillio. “Even though corruption has much less power south of the wall, things still aren’t perfect. I had no idea, Rheen. I would have…”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “You didn’t know.”

  Davick cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Well,” he said, “I’m glad things all worked out the way they did and that you’re all here. It has been a pleasure getting to know you so far.”

  “Likewise,” said Rheen cheerfully.

&nb
sp; Davick shot her a quick smile and then rode ahead to catch up with Bierno who he had been talking with earlier. Rheen and Gillio rode along in silence.

  As they neared the city that evening, they started to see homesteads on either side of the road more and more frequently. They were only a few miles outside of the city borders when a man came running from his home on the right side of the road.

  “Hello!” he yelled, waving his arms in the air. They all reined in their horses. “Would you help an old man in need? My horse is lame and my wagon was just stolen!”

  “Stolen?” asked Bierno. “Just now?”

  “You better believe it!” he said in a rushed and agitated manner. “A little scoundrel comes knocking at my door about half an hour ago. She’s short and has black hair. She laughs and says she was on her way to a farm down the road and her shoelace broke and now her shoe is flopping around. I look down and sure enough, her shoe is flopping all around so I take her back to the barn to get her all fixed up nice with some old twine to hold her shoe together. It took a good, long time because she was always saying this one was too short and that one was too long, this one wouldn’t fit through the holes and that one was too thin and frail. We finally got her all set and I was feeling good-like for helping someone and then she thanks me, walks to the front of the house, gets in my wagon where a bunch of other scoundrels are waiting behind a set of horses I’ve never seen, and they all go thundering down the road. With my horse being lame I couldn’t ride out to catch them, so I’ve been waiting for someone to come along and give me a lift to town where I could report this, and here you are!”

  “I’m so sorry to hear,” said Bierno. “If they left less than an hour ago and they’re pulling a cart, there is a chance we could overtake them before they reach the city or get too far from the main road. We’re headed into town and would gladly report the incident for you as well, providing we don’t catch them first.”

  “I would appreciate that very much!” said the farmer.

  At once, the six riders sped off at a full gallop. After ten or fifteen minutes, a wagon was in view. As the riders closed the gap, they saw a short, young woman with black hair sitting in the back. She saw them coming and shouted something to two young men who were driving the cart. They turned to look and then smacked the horses up into a gallop. Gillio and Aenin, whose horses were both athletic and had the benefit of longer legs, pulled out ahead of the others and continued to gain on the wagon. When they had almost reached it, the three passengers bailed out, realizing they would be caught if they stayed. They rolled off into a field and then bolted for the woods. Aenin continued after the runaway wagon and Davick followed along to give him a hand while the others chased the thieves towards the woods. Their quarry had made it into the woods on the far side of the field by the time they reached them and were no longer in sight.

  “We’ll split up,” said Bierno. “Yell if you see anything.”

  They all dismounted because the underbrush was too thick for the horses and ran in different directions. Rheen cut over to the left where she thought she heard a twig break. She picked her way through the clearest areas in the underbrush, and suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind: one around her waist and the other clasped over her mouth. The hands pulled her down into the brush and then loosened, allowing her to turn around.

  “Rove! What on earth are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “Well, it’s nice to see you, too,” he said pulling her into a hug. “I think the question, doll, is what are you doing here? And where have you been for the past few years? We thought you got kidnapped or something.”

  “Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I didn’t really get the chance to tell you I was leaving. Kenn, Jess!” She turned to the other two people who were crouched with them in the underbrush nearby and gave them both quick hugs.

  “Shh, I think they’re getting closer,” said Rove. “Who are they, anyway?”

  “Friends,” said Rheen.

  Rove raised an eyebrow.

  “Well this is awkward,” giggled Jess.

  “In that case,” said Rove, “why don’t you do us all a favor and go back over there and tell them we’re not here. We’ll catch up with you later in Vree. You are coming into the city, aren’t you?”

  Rheen nodded.

  “We’ll see you soon then,” said Rove, and then he, along with Kenn and Jess, crawled silently through the brush. Rheen got up and walked in the other direction and soon met up with Bierno.

  “Any luck?” he asked.

  “Nope, not here,” said Rheen. “You?”

  “No sign of them that way, either.”

  Gillio and Jekka soon came from the woods from two other directions.

  “I didn’t see anyone,” said Gillio.

  “As much as it pains me to say so, it looks like they gave us the slip,” said Jekka.

  “I guess all we can do at this point is return the wagon to its owner and make for the closest inn,” said Bierno. “We should hurry. The shadows are already getting long.”

  **********

  The wagon episode put them behind schedule, so the riders didn’t make it into the city until after dark. Davick led them through dark streets lined with shabby buildings and figures lurking in the shadows. Garbage littered the streets and when they finally put their horses up at the stables, Jekka expressed concern about them being stolen.

  “No worries,” said the old man in charge with a smile. “Plenty of people come in here to steal horses, but I’ve been running this joint for sixty years and not one of them has succeeded.”

  The inn was just across the street and only a few doors down. It was quite a contrast to the inn they had stayed at the past two nights. Although it was set up in a similar way, with a tavern on the lowest level and rooms on the floors above, the atmosphere was entirely different. The last crowd had certainly been boisterous, but they were at least good-natured. This crowd was the kind could be expected to produce a lot of brawls due mostly to the combination of alcohol abuse and the presence of several women who walked around scantily dressed.

  “I’ll be as quick as I can,” said Bierno as he pushed his way over to the counter to reserve rooms.

  “I’m going to head home now,” Davick told the others. “I’ll catch up with you here first thing in the morning.”

  Conversing was limited to what could be shouted over the din of the room, so everyone simply shouted or waved goodbye as he left. Shortly after that, one of the more audacious women came stumbling over to them and unexpectedly threw her arm around Gillio’s shoulders.

  “And another drink to the handsome stranger!” she shouted as she brought the mug in her right hand up into the air and then down to her lips. Several men in the room who were watching let out a ‘hurrah’ and took another drink as well. Gillio stood uncomfortably until Jekka stepped in and forcefully removed the woman’s arm from its resting place.

  “Let go of me!” the woman shouted.

  Rheen wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Jekka look as annoyed as she did when she escorted the tipsy woman to a nearby barstool. Rheen could barely hear the woman still talking to Jekka about ten feet away.

  “You jealous or something? Well, I hate to break it to you, darlin’, but you’re gonna have to try a little harder if you wanna be any competition to me, even if he is your sweetheart.”

  Jekka’s jaw dropped and she looked back at the others in astonishment. Gillio’s face was red, Rheen was choking back laughter, and Aenin just shrugged, holding up his hands to communicate that he did not want to get involved. To Jekka’s relief, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard and dull expression on his face came over and grabbed the woman’s arm.

  “What’re ya’ doin’?” he slurred. “Come back over ‘ere.”

  He pulled her back into the mob of people, but not before she shot a wink back at Gillio.

  Bierno came back from reserving their rooms shortly after that. “What happened here?” he asked, noticing
Gillio’s red face and Jekka’s scowl.

  “It would seem Gillio has acquired an admirer,” said Aenin.

  “Two if you’re counting Jekka,” said Rheen with a laugh.

  “Only someone as drunk as she was would have assumed anything like that,” said Jekka, not at all amused.

  “I see,” said Bierno. “I think I can guess generally what happened or as much as I care to, anyway. Here are our room keys. We’re up on the third floor and at the back of the building.”

  They walked through a door to their right and stepped carefully up three flights of a rickety stairway and then all the way to the end of a dim, smelly hallway. They had the two rooms at the very end on the right and the left.

  “Lock your doors, keep a sharp eye out, you know the drill,” said Bierno.

  With that, they split up: Bierno, Gillio, and Aenin taking the room on the right while Jekka and Rheen took the room on the left.

  The rooms each had a small window overlooking the next street which was partially illuminated with yellowed street lamps. The staggered lights created little islands of light amidst eerie blackness. The sight was unsettling. Rheen walked up to the window, hoping to find curtains she could close to block it out, but there were none.

  “That’s Vree for you,” said Jekka, walking up next to her and looking down at the dismal scene below.

  Rheen nodded slowly. “Jekka, can I ask you something?”

  “As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with what happened downstairs. I am not sweet on Gillio, for the record.”

  “No, of course not,” said Rheen. “I just had questions about what you told me yesterday, after… you know.”

  “The sniw,” said Jekka.

  “Yeah,” said Rheen. “You said when someone is detected by Rundyl, he doesn’t let up until they pick a side or are killed. What if someone just falls back out of his detection?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Jekka. “From what I’ve seen, it seems like those who try either end up being his puppet anyway even if they think they’ve outsmarted him, or they get hunted down and killed because he deems them to be too far gone for him to manipulate.”