by Billy Wong
It had been investigating his last prophecy which led him to this perilous situation. In trying to find out more about the cause of the Old World's fall, a powerful demon Rose and Finn's children were supposedly destined to revive, he'd stumbled upon a mysterious group who worshiped that creature. Though he had known they must be crazy, he still believed they would know more about the thing than most, and thus continued to pry.
Eventually he had been caught spying by one of these men as he dressed himself, and cornered by the half-naked warrior left with no choice but to fight. Somehow, he'd killed his attacker by flinging a sack into his face, then running him through the torso. Very lucky, considering he had little skill with a blade. Inside the man's pack, he'd found an invitation to a gathering at what turned out to be this building in the central Kayland city of Seil. Even though Rose and Finn had been too far away to ask for help, he could have gone to the authorities, but had been afraid he would get in trouble over the death he'd caused. So here he was alone... He hoped he didn't look too suspiciously awkward in the unfamiliar gear he wore. It was almost the right size, but he had never worn armor before, and knew his movements were not those of an experienced warrior.
Remaining still now that he could see the leader, glad his helm hid the nervous sweat pouring down his face, Evan waited. The extremely large man, whose armor plates' coloration alternated between the standard dark blue and a shining silver, began to talk in a furious voice. Apparently, a group of the blue-clad warriors—who collectively called themselves The Lost—had been defeated and slain nearby, and their comrades met now to discuss how to avenge them.
The speaker revealed to Evan's mild surprise that Rose and Finn had been two of those responsible, and realizing his friends were in danger he tried to listen carefully to the proposed plans of attack. Unfortunately, he was rather unfamiliar with the place names of Kayland, and so many of the specifics were lost on him. But that would prove to hardly be his biggest worry, because he was soon assigned to join one group of Lost. For now, outnumbered as he was, he didn't dare attempt to escape. Before he knew it, he was on the road with his secret enemies, heavy cloaks hiding their distinctive blue armor, and trapped in quite the predicament.
#
"It is pretty annoying that we have to run around all over the country," Rose admitted while they rode south.
Finn shrugged. "Yeah, but it's a good workout for us and our horses. Besides, we're finally alone."
Taking in his meaning, Rose smiled. "It's going to be a good couple nights."
"Indeed. Let's enjoy this while we can!"
Taking full advantage of Justin's absence during camp time, the couple reached Gelby too soon for their preference. At the sight of the duke's large, heavily fortified castle atop a high hill, Finn said, "Now that looks more like the home of the type of person to join a secret society of brutal murderers."
"This place looks worse than Prince Wilner's castle," she agreed. "Even that's not quite so full of arrow slits, nor is it sitting all by itself on a hill. But let's not jump to conclusions, since he did most likely inherit it from his ancestors."
"True, that."
They approached, and one of the two men-at-arms stationed above the heavy iron gates asked suspiciously, "Who goes there?!"
Okay, if they were going to use that kind of tone... Rose summoned forth her best authoritative voice. "Rose Agen, Knight Protector of Kayland, and Finn Nost, Mage Protector of Kayland!" Honorary titles, but being granted by the crown, they commanded fair respect. "We're here to see the Duke, and it's urgent!"
The guards' faces as they hurried to let them in made the couple laugh. "I half expected them to shoot us full of arrows before you could even say who we were," Finn remarked.
"Not like they might not still do it when we confront the Duke."
Entering the supposed noble's dwelling, they observed that even their own mess of a tower had more comforting decoration than this cold, stark tyrant of a fortress. Staring as they walked down a hall at a line of closeable arrow slits they had seen from outside, Finn said, "Whoever built this place must have had a lot of enemies."
"Yeah, or was paranoid."
Servants guided the couple to the duke's quarters. They were somewhat surprised by the youth of the blond man who welcomed them into an incongruously opulent bedroom where soft, thick carpet squished under their feet. "Greetings, great warriors. How may I help you?"
Finn stared daggers into his eyes. "Tell us about your secret organization."
The high-voiced young man recoiled. "What secret organization?"
He seemed surprised enough for Rose to think he wasn't lying, unless he was a great actor, but Finn pressed him. "Why did Lord Steel have this book sent to you, Duke?" He raised Leland's copy of Path of the Lost and wiggled it with a contemptuous sneer.
"I'm no duke yet, not while my father is alive. I'm just holding things down while he's away."
Then why hadn't the guards said so? They were looking for the master of the house, not his ignorant son. "And do you know where your father went?" Rose asked. It would be devastating if he told and his father died for it, but they couldn't spare him that pain if the duke truly was part of such a dangerous group...
"He said he was going hunting with friends, but it's been awfully long—I think he must have gone far away."
Hunting? Rose didn't like the sound of that. She thought of how the victims they'd seen had been treated worse than animals. Obviously making the same association, Finn growled, "Did he say where?"
Realizing the trouble his father must be in, the youth began to turn pale. "No..."
Rose persisted. "Did you see which direction he went?"
"If you want to see him so badly, why don't you just wait for him here?"
"It can't wait." It would be awkward if the duke turned out to be innocent, but...
"W-what do you want with him?"
"To talk," she said truthfully enough. They did need to question him, whether or not violence happened after.
"He went east, all right?"
Their initial encounter had been near Hullel, in central Kayland. Wait, could the duke have been one of the men they fought, and already be dead? "When did he leave?"
"A week ago," he replied, which was a good while after the defeat of that group. Maybe he had gone in reaction to their destruction.
"Thank you." Rose and Finn departed, leaving the duke's frightened and bewildered son, who might shortly be the new duke, behind. Holding Finn's hand as they walked downhill towards where they'd left their mounts, she mused sadly, "Why do people who do such vile things have children who'll be left to suffer when they get their just desserts? It's cruel of them."
"They don't have them expecting to ever pay for their crimes, I'd wager."
"In most cases sure, but given the ideas put forth in that book... I think these just don't care." Rose just wished there was some way to spare their enemies' blameless families. She and Finn must have destroyed so many undeserving lives when they killed evil men, because even evil men supported kin... "Why do people have to be evil..?"
Finn hugged her great shoulders and ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to comfort her. "Yeah, I don't like it either. But that's life. Even if it'll hurt their families, somebody's got to stop them from hurting others more."
"I know. It just makes me feel worse when I see the innocents who need suffer for their punishment up close like this." Meeting Frederic's son reminded her of when Mani, wife to one of her greatest enemies, had come north two thousand miles from her homeland to try and save her husband Joghra by steering him off his doomed path. For all that good-hearted woman's efforts, Joghra had forced Rose to kill him in the end, and yet Mani left without even a grudge against her for defending herself... She hated when people wouldn't give up their wrongful ways for the sake of those who loved and desperately needed them.
"There's nothing to be done about it," Finn said, "except hope those unfortunate bystanders can find a d
ecent future in spite of their relatives' folly."
He was right, no matter how much Rose desired otherwise. "We're going to make sure our kids never stray too far from the proper path, right?"
Finn took a deep breath. "We might have to partially retire to be home enough to teach them."
He could be right there as well. They were away far too often. "Derrick usually takes care of them, though, and right now my mom is. They should be decent teachers of morals, don't you think?"
"Rose, you are a terrible mother." That was a quip she was used to making about herself, and probably a truthful one.
"What makes me that much worse a mother than you are a father, when you're usually out there with me? Just because I'm a woman and supposed to stay home?" More seriously, she added, "Besides, I try my best..."
"At everything, and I love you for it. Though there isn't much I don't love about you."
He even loved her scars, which represented her "indestructible beauty"—a term stolen from former romantic rival Count Brandon of Resnick—in his words. She kissed him as they reached the tree to which they'd tied their horses. Remembering how unappreciative of his love she'd been just a few weeks ago while distraught with guilt, she said, "And I love you more than words could ever describe. Don't ever forget that."
"Of course I won't, Rose. You still saved my life with your guts hanging out that time, after all!"
#
Evan arrived in Dunwal at night, and his heart beat faster as he realized an end to his infiltration of the enemy drew near, one way or another. To his great relief, none of his five Lost squadmates had personally known the man whose armor he wore. He'd been able to pass as his victim thus far by only talking when spoken to, and giving cryptic responses to questions he feared to try and answer. Now, he might soon see his friends again. He just hoped they didn't kill him before he could reveal himself.
He found it strange The Lost would only send six men to go after Rose and Finn, but supposed that could be for any number of reasons. They headed to an inn, where he presumed the warriors were supposed to be staying, and he pictured in his head how he would help them. He'd just make too much noise on purpose when his group tried to sneak up on the sleeping couple, and hope the others didn't recognize his betrayal for what it was. So when they stopped before a particular room, he ran forward with a loud scream and kicked in the door. To his shock, neither Rose nor Finn were inside, only an unfamiliar curly-haired blond man. Uh oh. He'd been counting on the couple's strength to save him from his companions' wrath, and as he heard suspicious whispers behind him, Evan wondered how the hell he was going to get out of this one.
Praying that his ally of necessity wouldn't decide to stab him in the back, he spun and skewered a surprised Lost through the ribs, desperate to reduce the odds against him before fighting began in earnest. The man hugged himself and fell dying, but it was still four on two, and his sword skill left much to be desired...
He managed to parry one blow from a furious Lost. Then the curly-haired man, understanding Evan to be on his side, dropped his attacker with a ringing blow to the helm and hurled a thin dirk he produced seemingly out of nowhere through the visor. But the next Lost knocked the sword from his hand with a blocked swing of a heavy club. Evan saved him in return, distracting his opponent with a slash at the face which glanced off the helm.
Quickly retrieving his blade, curly-hair cut their opponent's leg out from underneath him. He fell howling, not dead but in too much pain to be an immediate threat. The two sides were evenly matched in numbers now, and Evan backpedaled from one opponent as his ally dueled with the other. The Lost punched Evan hard, scraping the inside of his cheek against his teeth, and he fell tasting blood. A sword glinted in the candlelight as it rose over him. He cringed, but blocked with a nearby chair it thunked into, the tip piercing through the seat. Evan pushed The Lost away with a kick and only got a moment of respite as he came on again. His heart raced as he wondered how much longer he could last, then suddenly his foe stiffened around a blade stuck into his back and collapsed.
"Why did you betray your friends?" Evan's ally asked while he finished off the man he'd hamstrung before and wiped his sword clean. "Did you feel guilty about your vile deeds? I suppose I have to thank you for helping me. Thank you, and I'll put in a good word to get you a lighter sentence if possible."
"I'm not one of them!" he said when he'd caught his breath. "I was just pretending to be!"
The man looked dubiously at him. "So who are you?"
He removed his helmet. "I don't know if you'd know me, but I'm a friend of Rose the Iron Flower and her husband Finn. I was kind of hoping I would find them here, but I guess not."
"As a matter of fact, I'm waiting here for them. Might have to move though, considering what just happened. My name is Justin, by the way." Justin studied Evan's face. "Hey, I've seen you before... as a drawing. You're the prophet Evan, aren't you?"
"Yes..."
"Then you're the man I've been looking for."
The words unnerved him. "You're looking for me? Why?" He suspected he knew the answer, but hoped he was wrong...
He was right. "Prince Victor wants to see you. He believes your skills will do good things for Kayland."
Hadn't enough suffering been caused by his prophecies? "I won't go! I don't want to be a seer anymore, after the people I've hurt doing it!"
Justin looked a bit confused at his reluctance to use his gifts. Then his eyes narrowed, and he mused, "If you tell this to Rose and Finn, they're not going to let me take you back, are they? Their loyalties have always been to their personal relationships first and country second. I'll just have to take you away before they come back, then."
Raising his hands in supplication, Evan said, "No, please don't do this... I just saved your life, didn't I?"
The other man, who had begun raising his sword again, hesitated and sighed. "I suppose you did. But I still have to fulfil my duty. Victor's proposal is hardly evil, and I think you should listen to what he has to say before dismissing it. Besides, I've been wanting to do something against Rose's wishes." He said her name with disdain, and Evan frowned. How could anyone who knew her hate Rose? She was one of the best people he'd ever met.
"What do you begrudge her? She only tries to help everyone she can."
"Everyone?" Justin snarled. "She let my family die!"
Evan's jaw dropped in disbelief. Justin said it with such conviction, but it couldn't be true. It would be so uncharacteristic of her to ignore the plight of people he assumed hadn't been her enemies... As he pondered what might have happened, Justin stepped forward, swinging the flat of his blade at his head. Just aware enough to react, Evan blocked with a forearm that the blow numbed. But his defense availed him nothing; Justin followed up with a punch which stunned him, and as he reeled, a hilt smashed into his head and dropped him straight into darkness.
Chapter 3
"What the hell happened?" Finn demanded. He and Rose had returned to the inn in Dunwal to find two constables raiding their room, which was littered with the bodies of men dressed just like the ones in central Kayland. "And where is Justin?"
"We haven't seen anyone," the long-haired older constable replied, "but there were two sets of tracks leading out of here, one which appears to come from a man being dragged. I presume whoever was left after he killed these five took your friend."
Rose put a hand to her forehead. "They must have been after us, and now he's either captured or killed. Poor Justin, was he right to hate me? If he's dead and his spirit could talk to us, I bet he'd blame me for his own death too..."
"Maybe," Finn said, "but he'd be wrong considering they would have come after him too. He killed his share of the blue butchers, remember?"
"Only because I heard and went after them."
"And if you didn't, we wouldn't have saved those four people. So do you think that wasn't worth it?"
"Three people," she corrected him. "The girl didn't make it. But yeah, we did
the best thing we could have. So let's keep doing that, and find Justin."
That was more the attitude Finn liked to see in his wife. "Do the tracks lead anywhere?" he asked the constable who'd spoken before.
"We tried to follow them, but lost the trail pretty quickly. The crowds in the streets of a city like this don't help."
"Maybe he took him wherever they meet up," Rose suggested.
"Likely, but the problem is knowing where that meeting place is."
Suddenly, the younger constable said, "Hey, this one's alive!" He knelt beside a fallen man with a deep wound in his back, who had begun to moan in pain and writhe pathetically on the ground. Before anyone could act Finn stomped on his hand, mangling it, and he screamed.
"Relax," Finn said to the staring constables while twisting one of the man's broken fingers around, "just my classic interrogation technique. You can ask any questions you want when I'm finished."
Not keen on watching even villains suffer, Rose excused herself from the room. She came back after the cries had stopped, and the prisoner lay still. "So did you kill him?"
"Not just yet, but he isn't going to be walking or wielding a weapon anytime soon." He spotted what looked to be a speck of vomit she had failed to wipe off her chin and blinked. "What's wrong with you, Rose? I know you're softer than me, but I didn't think you were such a wimp as to puke over hearing a little torture. How many people have you gutted and dismembered in battle?"
She blushed. "I don't know! Maybe the damage to my body really is catching up to me, and I am getting older..."
"That sounds like an excuse to me. You're twenty-four."
"Maybe... I could be at the age where I start to get more mellow, though."
He rolled his eyes. "You're always mellow. Never seen you lose your lunch so easily over nothing, though. I'd say to man up, but as long you don't have to stop in battle to vomit, it shouldn't be a problem. Not that I'd want you to actually be a man, though."