Sunset of Lantonne

by Jim Galford

  Despite the woman’s tone, Ilarra finally felt like there was some hope. Motioning for Raeln to follow her, she made her way to the edge of Lantonne’s outer city and skirted around northward until they reached the road that had led them into the city hours earlier. By that point, the sky had begun to darken, making Ilarra wonder if they might make it as far as the village before it was completely dark.

  It took them almost another hour to get fully out of the city proper and far enough out that Ilarra felt they were actually making headway. Soon after, she began to realize that, with night beginning to fall, there were no lights in the direction of the smaller village they were headed toward. Raeln would likely be able to see even in the dark night, but she would be blind within half an hour.

  “Raeln,” she began, slowing to a stop in the middle of the road, “do we go on, or go back? I’m not sure this was a good idea.”

  The wolf wildling squinted in the direction they had been going, apparently understanding why she was asking. Turning back, he stared at the lights of Lantonne behind them. That was when Ilarra realized that they were past the halfway point between the two locations, putting them far closer to the village than the city. If a decision about where to go had to be made, she should have made it long before.

  Shrugging, Raeln took the lead, heading toward the village somewhere in the distance. He kept glancing back at Ilarra as he walked, making sure she never fell more than a few steps behind. Luckily, the white portions of his fur, as well as his off-white loose clothing, made it relatively easy to see him, even as the light faded away behind the mountains to the west. Eventually, even that was not enough and Raeln took Ilarra’s hand, putting it on his tail to allow her to follow him more easily.

  By the time they reached the first buildings, Ilarra had to keep her hand on Raeln to have any idea where he was. She only knew they had reached the buildings because Raeln walked up onto a wooden porch and then helped Ilarra find her footing. She had given little thought to the new moon rising faintly, but its lack of illumination made the journey all the more difficult.

  “Can you see anything?” Ilarra asked and immediately felt stupid, realizing in the dark she could not see Raeln’s head move. She had no clue what his answer would be and guessed that he was giving her a look like she was stupid.

  Leading her by the hand, Raeln brought her to a stop in front of what Ilarra thought to be a wooden door. The lack of lights from within made her wonder if they had arrived too late and might be turned away yet again.

  Raising her hand overhead, Ilarra closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting her mind tug together strands of magic that flowed through the world around her. As the magic took shape, she felt her hand warm, and when she opened her eyes, the area was brightly lit, as though her hand had become a torch.

  Raeln glowered at her, cocking an eyebrow as he nodded toward her hand.

  “I have to concentrate the whole time,” she explained sheepishly. “It wouldn’t have lasted the whole walk. The moment I got tired or tripped, it would have vanished.”

  Giving a soft “hrumph,” Raeln turned and banged on the old wooden door. The sound echoed, but there was no answer.

  They stood on the porch for several minutes, Ilarra looking out into the darkness for any sign of a nearby building having lights or movement, while Raeln’s ears swiveled around, searching for sounds.

  Finally, Raeln seemed to give up on politeness and gave the door a firm tug. With a creak, the entire thing came off the frame, hanging oddly from his hand on the handle. Raeln winced a little and carefully set aside the door and leaned into the building.

  A second later, Raeln pulled his head back outside and shrugged at Ilarra. Waving her inside, he picked back up the door.

  “We can’t just go in someone else’s house…” she objected, but stopped when Raeln gave her an annoyed glare.

  Obediently slipping into the dark house, Ilarra realized why Raeln was so willing to intrude. The place was abandoned. In the dim light of her hand’s magic, she could see a few broken tables slid up against the far wall of the large common area, as though the place had once been a small tavern or inn. Steps at one side led to upstairs rooms and the ones she could see were missing their doors and remained dark and quiet as she walked into the main room.

  Coming in behind her, Raeln took a moment to rest the door back on its frame and then picked up the few items he had managed to spare from Lantonne’s thieves. After looking around the room briefly, he went up the stairs, apparently picking a random room to disappear into.

  Ilarra hurriedly followed Raeln, not really wanting to be left alone in the old building. She sincerely doubted there was much to fear so close to Lantonne, but had no desire to risk herself in the dark. It was probably foolish, but an instinctual fear of what might be hiding sped her steps and got her to the room Raeln had gone into that much quicker.

  If the main room had been sparsely furnished, the bedrooms put it to shame. Two broken beds lay at odd angles where their legs had either splintered or actually fallen through rotted spots in the floorboards.

  When Ilarra entered, Raeln was prodding at the floor with his bare paws, making sure it was solid. Soon satisfied, he motioned for her to enter as he slid their bags into one corner of the room near a grouping of collapsed cabinets. He followed her, wincing and treading carefully when his paws caused the floorboards to creak loudly.

  Ilarra unrolled her only blanket and sat down on it in the middle of the room. Looking around again, she wondered just how long the place had been abandoned.

  “Raeln?” she asked as her guardian was sitting down in front of the open door. “Has anyone been here recently?”

  Sniffing, Raeln shook his head, but Ilarra could tell by his expression that he was not entirely sure..

  “So we’re safe for now.”

  Raeln gave her a skeptical stare and finished situating himself in front of the door, sitting cross-legged and facing out toward the main room.

  “You always think we’re in danger.”

  Raeln nodded and closed his eyes.

  That would be the end of even trying to converse, Ilarra knew. When Raeln closed his eyes, he rarely was truly asleep but would rest quietly until she was ready to move on. Any sound would snap him awake, but he would not respond to her questions further, though she guessed he still heard what she was saying. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to make her stop talking, but she had no good way to scold him for doing so.

  Ilarra released her concentration on the magical glow and her hand faded away slowly, making the room pitch black.

  Laying down, Ilarra tried to sleep for a long time. Each time her mind was willing to drift, a pop or creak of the old wooden building would startle her. She eventually grew accustomed to it and fell asleep.

  Her dreams that night were filled with worries about what her father would say when he found out that the tower of magic had turned her away.

  *

  Early the next morning—far earlier than Ilarra really would have wished—she woke with Raeln’s massive hand clamped over her mouth and jaw. She choked as she came to, having to shove at Raeln’s hand to move it off of her nose so that she could at least breathe. He refused to budge at first, but quickly seemed to realize that he was suffocating Ilarra and adjusted his grip, though he kept her mouth held shut.

  Once she could think clearly and breathe through her nose, Ilarra focused on Raeln, then the room around them for some sign of what was happening. It did not take her long at all to realize that the once-quiet place was far noisier than she remembered.

  Shouts and clattering sounds like someone was dragging furniture echoed through the structure. With each new crash of something being tossed about, Raeln snarled more openly, watching the doorway while he kept one hand on Ilarra’s face. He wanted to go out there, but he would not leave her alone.

  Ilarra yanked Raeln’s hand away and sat up, grabbing what she felt was most essential among her belongings as swif
tly as she could manage. Meanwhile, Raeln shifted closer to the door, where he could intercept anything coming in but not be seen from downstairs. Into Ilarra’s small backpack went her notes on magic, a pack with some food, and a waterskin. The rest would have to wait until they could find out what was happening.

  A loud creak from a loose board near the doorway made Ilarra freeze. She could practically feel Raeln tense behind her. He had not made that noise.

  Easing her pack onto her shoulder, Ilarra slowly got her sandaled feet under her, ready to run if Raeln gave her the signal. Instead, he had a hand held up toward her, warning her to stay where she was. Never would she argue with Raeln when it came to safety. Likely, he would try to clear a path for her to run if things came to violence.

  Seconds passed and the edge of an axe appeared in the doorway, though the wielder stopped just out of view. Whoever it was backed away suddenly and Ilarra heard a rush of more feet pounding up the stairs, stopping somewhere nearby.

  “Show yourselves,” came a growling voice from the hall. “I’m guessing one elf and one big dog. We don’t want a fight…but you’ll both die if you don’t come out right now. None of us are in the mood to negotiate.”

  Raeln motioned for Ilarra to relax and then stood slowly. He took a slow breath before stepping fully into the doorway. The whole time, he kept his hands visible to whoever was out there, making sure they did not think he meant to attack first. Showing that he had no weapons was probably reassuring to the people outside, but after years with Raeln, Ilarra knew that he was likely just as dangerous without them.

  “Stay right there, big guy,” the same voice from outside ordered as someone shoved Raeln back a step to clear the door. “Check the room. We need to know what we’re dealing with. Play nice and no one gets hurt.”

  Though Raeln moved aside for the newcomers, Ilarra saw him adjust his footing, bracing himself to fight. He was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but preparing to kill them all if he had to.

  Coming around Raeln, two red fox wildlings in battered leather-and-chain armor hurried into the room, carrying shields and short axes. The man and woman pair had dried blood in patches across their clothing but moved with the stubborn determination of trained warriors. Both gave Ilarra a quick look and began searching the room for anything or anyone else. Apparently not finding whatever they were looking for, the two wildlings went back out into the hallway.

  “Alright,” came the first voice again. “Both of you come out and downstairs. Our pack-leader may want to talk with you.”

  Raeln gestured Ilarra to his side and she obeyed, following close behind him as he led the way out of the room. The speaker for the foxes coaxed them out, repeatedly telling them that they would be fine and not to worry. When she reached the door, she could see an older fox male waiting at the edge of the door, watching them carefully.

  As they left the room, Ilarra found herself quickly flanked by three foxes on one side and the two that had entered the room previously on her left. The man who had been speaking was one of the three and the only one of the foxes not heavily armored or carrying a weapon. Unlike the rest, he was dressed in a robe of heavy fabric that had seen better days, looking as though he had run halfway across Eldvar without rest. The wildling’s jaw sat at a funny angle, as though it had been broken badly at some time in the past.

  “Downstairs…now,” the spokesperson told them, moving aside and gesturing toward the stairs. “Please hurry.”

  Playing the part of obedient servant, Raeln helped Ilarra past the foxes, keeping them from getting too close to her. The whole time, he kept his eyes down like he was deferring to Ilarra, though she knew he was using the guise to watch the foxes. Whether they bought into his behavior or not, she could not be certain.

  Once they passed the foxes and made for the stairs, the five strangers closed behind them, making sure that Raeln and Ilarra could not go back up the steps.

  Ilarra could immediately see what the noise had been earlier. Whereas the main room had been mostly clear during their arrival, it now had been fortified heavily by the foxes. The tables had been lined up on their sides at the bottom of the steps in rows that appeared to be intended for use as barricades. Stacks of weapons, ranging from axes to spears, had been set up at each row of tables, giving defenders fresh weaponry if they were forced to fall back.

  Despite all the preparation, Ilarra only saw three more fox wildlings downstairs, and they appeared less ready for battle than their fellows who were escorting Raeln and Ilarra. Those three were badly bloodied and tending to their wounds in a hurry. The wounds were fresh.

  Leading the way down the stairs, Ilarra tried to smile at one of the fox men at the bottom floor, but he gave her a nervous stare, before looking away. The other two appeared too scared to even glance in her direction. Whatever was happening had terrified and hurt these people, which made Ilarra more scared than she had been at the surprise of them being there in the first place. She then noticed another fox, lying off to one side of the room in a pool of blood, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Sit,” the spokesman ordered once they had gotten into the middle of the main room, past the flipped tables.

  Smoothing her dress as she sat down, Ilarra made a point of not looking at Raeln, who knelt beside her. She knew full well he could spring into an attack from that position, despite appearing entirely relaxed.

  From upstairs in the first room at the top of the steps, Ilarra heard soft words being spoken, then the quiet sobs of a scared child. Before she could wonder at it, another wildling came from that room, this one with grey fur and a bearing that told her he was no stranger to combat. In that man, she saw no fear, only readiness and determination. There were no children to be seen, so Ilarra dismissed what she thought she had heard as absurd. No one would bring children when they were clearly prepared for war.

  “What’s the situation?” the grey fox asked, grabbing a spear from where it rested beside the stairs. “And why are these two still here?”

  “Wanted to know what you want done with them,” the red who had spoken to them up to that point answered. “Kill them?”

  Raeln’s hands moved from being folded in his lap to resting on his thighs.

  “No,” the grey fox told the red, shaking his head. “These aren’t our lands and we don’t get to make those decisions. They haven’t attacked, so we send them on their way.”

  “Pack-leader…”

  “I gave my orders. Question me again and I’ll send you with them as a pelt.”

  Nodding nervously, the spokesperson came back to Raeln and Ilarra.

  “Insrin is being generous today,” the red fox told them, gesturing toward the door. “Leave quickly. I recommend running.”

  Raeln hopped onto his feet immediately, offering a hand to Ilarra. Ignoring a challenging growl from one of the foxes, he grabbed Ilarra’s arm as he turned to move toward the door. He practically dragged her at a near-run the whole way until they stood in the sun-drenched grass and dirt road in front of the building.

  “What was that about?” Ilarra asked, but Raeln held up a hand to silence her.

  Nervously, Ilarra followed Raeln’s stare.

  Spread across the entire dimly lit pre-dawn horizon, stumbling humanoid shapes were marching toward them like an army far larger than Ilarra thought possible. Clouds of rising dust around them told of thousands more behind them.

  As shocking as the vast army was, it was what followed them that made Ilarra’s heart sink. Towering a hundred feet or more above the ground were gleaming metal creatures—golems, she realized, thinking through her studies—that were driving the army straight toward Ilarra and Raeln.

  Unlike Ilarra, Raeln did not hesitate or panic. He scooped Ilarra up in his arms and began running directly away from the approaching army.

  Situated as she was, Ilarra finally got a good view of the little village they were moving through. Whereas she had initially thought it to be an outlying portion of Lantonne, s
he now saw that it had once been some kind of mining village. No more than a hundred feet off to her left, she saw the drop-off of a surface mine, with roads going all directions from its edge. Either the mine had been abandoned along with the village, or Lantonne had changed their methods of mining, leaving the village to rot away.

  Raeln ran from one building to the next, eyeing each for something that he could not communicate to Ilarra, nor would he take the time to try. Finally, as they neared the southern edge of the village with the army already entering the northern portion and the ground shaking with the footfalls of the golems, he stopped and put Ilarra back on her own feet.

  Kneeling at the side of a squat stone structure, Raeln grabbed the handles of a pair of metal doors set into the base of the building. Whether it was a fruit cellar or a storm shelter, Ilarra could not care less. It was the sturdiest set of doors she had seen yet and that was likely what had caught Raeln’s eye.

  Growling as he strained to break the thick layer of rust on the lock, Raeln braced his feet against the frame of the doors and pulled until Ilarra could see his muscles trembling through both fur and clothing. With a deafening crack, the lock shattered, and Raeln tumbled over backwards as the doors were flung open.

  Ilarra grabbed Raeln’s hand and helped him scramble back to his feet and down the steep steps into the cellar. Rotted wooden handrails on either side of the steps gave Ilarra something to guide her, though Raeln ripped one rail off as soon as he had gotten in past the cellar’s entrance. Once they were far enough down that they could see nothing further, Raeln reached back and pulled the metal doors shut, and Ilarra heard the sounds of him wedging the broken rail into the handles, sealing them in.

  For the rest of the day—and possibly the night, for all Ilarra could tell—they huddled at the foot of the stairs as thousands of creatures stampeded overhead. Occasionally, she heard the creak and ground-shaking crash of the golems, though they seemed not to come completely into the village, unlike the army.