Spiderhunter (Ages of Argainen Book 1)

by Robe

  “Turtle! Turtle, get away from those girls and tend to the bar!” the bartender shouted. “I do not pay you to flirt!” A handsome young man with golden hair gave one final grin to the women he was entertaining, and he left to tend to the customers.

  “So… what brings ya back to Abelenst?” the bartender asked, turning to Auric.

  “Actually, I was hoping we could have a bit of privacy,” Auric said. “I have some questions to ask, if you don’t mind.”

  “Very good, we’ll ‘ave a chat in my room,” the bartender said, and with a gesture of his hand, which looked more like a misshapen, pink squash, he began leading the way down a side hallway.

  Auric felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see Ziem, still trying to hide his face. “I’ll be outside. I’m going to have a look around.” Auric nodded and watched the boy flee from The Solid Coin before following the bartender.

  After welcoming them into a small back room, the tavern owner strode behind a desk and plunked down, gesturing for them to sit. As there were only a few seats, the group awkwardly arranged themselves in the cramped space, and Dalk shut the door to prevent prying ears.

  “Now, before you ask me anythin’, I ‘ave to know if you’ve turned to the side of the peace officers,” the bartender said very seriously. He held the stern look on his soft-looking face for a moment or two, and then he boomed in laughter, causing Auric to laugh alongside him. The others exchanged looks.

  “My friends, this is Tolsien,” Auric said. “He’s an old acquaintance of mine, and he knows more about the people who come and go in Abelenst than anyone else. He can be trusted. Tols, this is Veese, Joan, Dalk, Reon, and you seem to already know Kandon.”

  “Pleasant to be meetin’ all of ya. It’s a grand time to be livin’!” Tolsien replied. “Now, about this business you ‘ave. It mus’ be importan’, or you wouldn’t be travelin’ in nombers.”

  “It is, Tols,” Auric replied. “Someone has wronged us very badly, and we believe he intends to do the same to others.”

  “You’ve been conned?” Tolsien frowned. “That doesn’ sound like 1omething’ that would ‘appen to you.”

  “He is a strange being, and he is very dangerous. He’s young, average height with dark hair and a pointed, shaven face. When he walks, it’s as if he belongs to a superior race, and every time we’ve seen him, he’s acted as if he had some important mission to attend to. Has anyone entered Abelenst in the past several days, particularly someone coming from the Western Barrier?”

  “Hmm,” Tolsien hummed, rubbing a hand over his chin. “Sounds a bit like one ‘a them Docking Guild ‘igh bloods. There ‘ave been some newcomers, but mostly urchin types, hopin’ at a life greater. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who you described, but I’ll keep my eyes open.”

  “Thank you, Tols,” Auric said. “That would be much appreciated. We’re going to be staying in Abelenst for a few days and need board.”

  “Well, that is of no concern. We ‘ave rooms to spare ‘ere, jus’ down the ‘all there. Everybody around ‘ere lives in town these days. ‘Ard to rent out rooms, honest. An’ the supply is good. The fishers ‘ave been ‘aving a particularly decent ‘aul this year. They say the fish is practically leapin’ out of the water!”

  “That is good to know, thank you, Tols.” Auric stood and faced his companions. “You can go and rest, if you like. I’m going to catch up with Tols here and fill in the details of our story. Do not worry, he is trustworthy.”

  They nodded, and Dalk led as the group walked the hallway to find available quarters. After collecting Ziem, they stripped themselves of their gear, and some of them bathed in the washrooms, which they were pleasantly surprised had plumbing advanced enough for hot water. It was a great relief to forget their troubles and relax in a warm bath. Dalk stated that he was off to fetch dinner for them, and he left.

  The pack Veese carried dropped to the floor as the forester eyed the contraption before him. Taking in a deep breath, he stepped forward. The thought of asking one of the others for help crossed his mind, and he even looked back at the door he’d closed moments before. He was able to hear the voices of his companions through the gap at the bottom.

  With a shake of his head, Veese turned back and reached for one of the two valves. Upon twisting it, a stream of water began pouring from the adjacent of the pair of spouts beneath, and Veese’s eyes went wide. He’d been told about such machines before by the occasional passing traveler, but he figured they were just tales.

  As he watched, he realized the metal tub wasn’t filling up; all of the water was spiraling away into a drain beneath the spout. Also drawing his gaze was a chain trailing out of the opening with something round attached to the end of it. Guessing its purpose, Veese leaned forward and slid the stopper into place to block the drain, causing the water to begin pooling. There was something satisfying about it, but he refused to be captivated.

  This bath would do.

  Taking a step back, Veese began to undress, and then his eyes locked onto the second valve over the second spigot. Throwing care to the wind, the forester reached out and twisted the valve. In no time, water was pouring from the second faucet, and Veese was about to dismiss the whole thing before thinking a second time. Using a single finger, he swished through the water of the first spout and found it rather chilly. With a humph, he moved his finger under the second stream and was startled, quickly dragging it away.

  For more than a moment he eyed the two valves suspiciously, unsure what could possibly be causing the water of the second faucet to be scalding hot. Veese was bringing his hand up to shut the hot tap off when a jolt of pain went through his ankle, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward into the tub. His hand plunged into the collected water to stop his tumble, and as he felt the combination of the hot and cold water together, a tingle, accompied by a wave of goosebumps, went up his arm.

  In that instant, Veese decided not to shut off the hot water.

  “So, you’re staying with us, then?” Joan asked Kandon as she approached him from behind, her hair still wet from her recent bath. He’d taken his hat off and had his muddy, booted feet resting on the table in the middle of the dorm. Upon noticing Joan was talking to him, the tracker lowered his shoes to the floor and sat up straight.

  He shuffled uncomfortably as he pondered the question. “I figured I was part of the group now, since I know the story.”

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Joan said, smiling as she did so. “We’ll welcome your aide. It would be comforting to have you ready at the call.”

  “I need to thank the two of you properly,” said a voice behind them, and the pair turned to see Reon had approached. “You saved my life and the lives of everyone else in this group, and that is not something I take lightly. So… thank you. And I hope someday I can repay the debt.”

  “You would have done the same for us, Reon. Think little of it. We’re a team, all of us,” Joan responded. Reon bowed his head before walking away.

  “He’s nice,” Kandon said once Reon was across the room with Veese and Ziem, out of earshot. “He’s not like the others, so cold and veiled.”

  “We’ve been through some trying things,” Joan said. “Even so, I still feel like I know you better than most of them. One day, we’ll be able to relax and get to know one another.”

  “There’s another room,” Kandon said, a sly look appearing on his face. “Why don’t we get to know one another right now, just the two of us?”

  “Because this is the first chance I’ve had to relax, and I’m starving,” Joan replied simply.

  Kandon chuckled, and Dalk reentered the room with a big box, steaming with the delicious smell of roasted fish. “Dinner,” he announced.

  The group crowded around the meal, one or two of them crying out in joy. Within the box were two rows packed with cooked fish, all seasoned up with spices and herbs. There was more fish than a group of six should be capable of consuming, but by the time Auric returned, there was barel
y his portion remaining.

  “Dalk, you didn’t have to feed us all,” Auric said, but he was shoving bites of roasted sea food into his mouth almost before the words had left it.

  “I have plenty of gold. There is no reason not to indulge,” Dalk replied as he lay on a cushioned piece of furniture, too content to overdo it with another bite.

  “Thank you,” Auric said, and he brought his meal to a table where Joan, Kandon, and a very clean Veese sat.

  “You never mentioned having been to Rathelstat before,” Joan said, “let alone the place we were headed to.”

  “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up,” Auric said between bites. “I’m not exactly well connected here. I don’t know my way around very well. It’s been a while.”

  “What did you tell the bartender?” Kandon asked.

  “Told him what we know. He may be able to help us,” Auric replied.

  “Are you sure that was a good idea?” Veese asked.

  “He’ll be able to keep an eye on things, especially if he’s looking out for particularly unnatural occurrences,” Auric stated. “He’s a good man, and a good person to have on our side.”

  “He comes off as idiotic,” Veese said.

  “He’s sharper than he looks,” Auric countered. “Trust me on this.”

  Joan and Veese exchanged looks. “There’s another unresolved matter we have to talk about, Auric,” Joan said.

  Auric gestured for her to keep talking as he chewed.

  “It’s about Ziem,” she said in a hushed tone.

  “Ah,” Auric said.

  “Do you really think it’s for the best to have a wanted criminal lurking around with us?” Joan asked. “I doubt anyone really wants to be alone with him after that. I know I sure don’t want to be.”

  “It really doesn’t change anything,” Auric said.

  “This matter needs addressing,” Veese said. “If we are to cooperate, it is unwise to mingle with those who are unwanted.”

  “Look,” Auric began, “he’s gone out of his way to help us. He knows what we know, and if we get rid of him, then there’s always the possibility he won’t take it so kindly. He’s young and easily influenced. It’s clear he wants to stay with us, or he would have disappeared a long time ago. Surely he wouldn’t have traveled back to where people know his face, endangering himself to try to help us, unless he believed in this cause.”

  “How can you say that?” Joan asked, looking at Auric in frustration. “You don’t even know what he’s done.”

  “What he’s accused of doing,” Auric corrected her, “and if my vote counts, Ziem will be staying with us.”

  “At least make him explain his actions,” Joan insisted. “Make him tell us his story, and I won’t say another word about it.”

  “Alright,” Auric said agitatedly. He finished the last bite of his fish and turned in his chair to face the others. “Ziem.”

  Ziem looked up from where he sat next to Reon, just out of earshot of their quiet conversatoin “Yes?” he asked nervously.

  Auric beckoned for him to come over. As he crossed the room, Dalk sat up to watch, and Reon changed seats to see what was going on. Auric wiped his mouth with a cloth and spoke, “The group has expressed concern about your past. We think it would be best if you tell us how you got to the Cursed Forest, from the beginning.”

  13

  “I grew up in Tesremin, one town over from here,” Ziem began. He looked very out of place standing at the center of attention, and his feet shuffled as he spoke. “My parents barely raised me. My father was a self-serving boar with a wild temper, and my mother scarcer than the stars during the day. Father was fond of his drinks, and one night, not long ago, he returned home with a girl. They flirted, but she refused him… I don’t know how he got her to accompany him in the first place. He probably slipped something in her ale. I heard a struggle and ran to find him… strangling her. I tried to stop him, to save her, but he was too strong. He killed her, and when he turned to me… I ran. A friend took me in until my father claimed it was me who had murdered the girl. My face started appearing on wanted posters, so my friend helped me escape Tesremin unnoticed. I was fleeing Rathelstat, trying to reach the other side of Lon Gairdas when we met in the Cursed Forest… You know the rest.”

  When Ziem finished, his audience was silent as they looked at one another. Joan appeared uneasy, and Dalk seemed skeptical. Auric’s face wasn’t readable, and when the others turned to him, they were unsure if he believed the story or not.

  “I would never hurt another person unless I had to,” Ziem pleaded. “My father is a careless man, surely someone could attest to seeing the girl leave the pub with him, should it be asked!”

  Still, the party seemed undecided. There were a few seconds of silence before Reon spoke, “Well, I don’t think he’s a liar.”

  “Many criminals have blamed their upbringing before,” Dalk said. “It doesn’t make them any less guilty.”

  “But Ziem is one of us!” Reon said. “He’s been one of us since that moment at the temple.”

  “Ziem’s story sounds fabricated to me,” Dalk said.

  “The New World is at risk if we throw him out!” Reon said.

  “Because we would be helpless without him, a potential murderer, at our side?” Dalk asked. “I hardly see how we are at more risk if we leave him.”

  “Well, we can’t drive him away,” Joan said. “We owe him too much to act on such a chance.”

  “There is more at stake than Ziem’s wellness,” Veese interjected. “If we fail our mission, all of the New World shall be ruined.”

  “But look how far we’ve made it with him…” Joan countered, her tune having changed since the previous time the topic was discussed. “Could we have survived Argain’s attack in the forest if Ziem hadn’t held him off?”

  “We were weak and taken by surprise,” Dalk said. “We have luck to thank that we made it out of that alive.”

  “And should Argain manage to trick us again?” Joan cried, standing up from her seat. “What if he sets another trap, or he’s masquerading around in a disguise. What if you fall ill again and the only one who can help you is Ziem?”

  “May I speak?” Kandon asked through the raised voices, and the party quieted to let him talk. “Why are you still here, Ziem? Clearly, you see how much trouble your presence is causing. Wouldn’t it be easier and safer to just walk away?”

  “I stay because I believe this cause is worth fighting for, even if that fighting is with my friends,” Ziem replied meekly.

  The group remained silent, each of them considering Ziem’s words. Joan recomposed herself and sat again. Reon was staring at his shoes while Dalk looked onward uncertainly, and Veese sat back in his chair. Auric turned to look at Kandon and saw him smirking contently with himself. A few moments passed, and Auric became aware that everyone seemed to be waiting for his say.

  “What if,” Auric began, “Ziem is lying, and he did commit this crime? Do you consider him a bad person? An untrustworthy person? Based on everything we’ve learned about Ziem, is he so much worse than we are to the extent we’re willing to cast him aside? His story didn’t matter to me because I didn’t care what he’d done before. I already know he’s willing to put his life at risk to help us. I vote that Ziem stays.”

  “So do I,” Reon said.

  “Do I get a vote?” Kandon asked.

  “Ziem stays,” Joan said.

  Dalk sighed. “Very well. I suppose if you all wish it, Ziem can remain.”

  “Then there is no objection?” Auric asked as he looked at his companions. After seeing Veese give a slight nod of his head, he said, “Make yourself comfortable, Ziem. I think we’re all friends again.”

  Thunder rumbled in the distance as a figure walked across a field, approaching the Great Windmill of Abelenst. The massive blades turned slowly through the darkness of the night, towering over the farmland it shadowed. A large stable stretched onward before the figure, and a
small house sat a ways away from it.

  Argain stopped and surveyed the area by starlight, and then he closed his eyes and felt for the presence of that which he sought. He is here, he thought to himself, and the being continued onward. He reached the stable and followed the perimeter around to the other side. As he passed a torch affixed to the wall, he lifted it from its hold and tossed it to a pile of hay resting against the wooden structure, instantly causing the tinder to ignite. Its crackling increased as Argain continued into the stable, not stopping to watch the consequences of his action.

  Two men, brothers, were standing at the other end of the building, brushing down the animals after their day’s toil. They were both young, although one was significantly older and less wild, as made obvious by his brother’s babbling to him while he worked in silence. Argain stepped into the shadows before they were alerted to the fire on the exterior wall and watched as they ran past, never seeing him.

  “Go back in, cut the animals loose!” one of the men cried, and in a moment, the younger brother returned. He dashed past Argain and began untying the livestocks’s binds, smacking them roughly on their rears as they bolted away from the quickly spreading fire. Argain narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the boy as he hurried along, and when he had freed the last horse from its restraints, Argain confirmed that this was the one he searched for.

  As the boy double-checked each stall, Argain approached from behind. The fire had proceeded to well within the stable by now, and its flames devoured the straw ceiling. The youngster turned and was startled for only a moment before Argain’s hand struck out and clamped around the his throat. In an instant, the boy was dead, and Argain let him slide to the ground before centering himself to feed on his victim’s energy. He closed his eyes and pulled from the corpse what he desired, and upon claiming the power within the dead boy, he eased. Opening his eyes, he turned to see the other man had returned and had been watching him. The human’s eyes grew wide, but he was frozen in shock. Behind him, a support beam in the ceiling snapped, and a burning chunk of wood came down. It smashed into the older brother from behind, pinning him.