by Will Bly
Ithial moved around, gathering up supplies. His time with Merlane came to an end. There were no reasons in front of him pointing at a beneficial future. Ithial knew his future lay with the Scroll of Shadows. Faced with the choice of being a poor traveling assistant or the first man with unending magic, the choice came simple. He had to try, do whatever it took, to get ahead. This would be his first regrettable step toward achieving his goal. The first of many, he was sure. He could carry the burden. And if, for some reason, he became inconsolable in guilt or some other moral premise, he would make it up to himself once he gained his power. But only then, and not before.
“Good bye, old man. From whom I’ve learned so much.” He blew out the candle and left in darkness.
Chapter 7: A Modest Proposal
“Help! Help me! Please!”
Farah looked on nervously as the desperate man groveled and clutched at Irulen’s feet. The wizard appeared unimpressed, but the man continued his yammering.
“I’m in danger. They are coming for me, chasing me down this road. I was with some friends, and we were waylaid. I’m the only one left.” The man clutched at Irulen’s cloak. “Please.”
Irulen stepped to the side and began to walk. Farah stared a hole into the wizard’s back. He hesitated as if feeling the heat from her glare.
“We can’t just leave him here,” she said.
Irulen spoke without turning. “If they attack us, then I’ll do something about it. If they don’t, then it isn’t our business. We can’t get caught up helping every needy person in the world—we’d never make it past a single town.”
The man whimpered.
Farah grabbed Merek by the hand and pulled him to follow Irulen. Merek imitated the man as he walked past, frowning his lips and squinting his eyes in feigned desperation.
Irulen reached a hand back and signaled everyone to stop walking. “Besides, bandits often use people like this to lure you in. Who’s to say he isn’t setting us up?”
Farah looked ahead past Irulen. A shadowy figure stood in the path.
The stranger spoke with a sultry yet firm voice. “That man is mine.”
“Oh?” Irulen asked and signaled to the wretched traveler. “This man here?”
“He’s a wanted thief and rapist.”
Farah moved to Irulen’s side. A smile danced across his face as he regarded the person in front of him who in turn countered his smile with an icy glare. Farah couldn’t believe their luck.
“So I’m guessing he’s worth a pretty penny, then, isn’t he...” Irulen paused. “...Katrina?”
“That isn’t my name, you’ll have to keep guessing.”
Farah felt stupid. If she hadn’t been so sheepish, she would have noticed, like Irulen did, that it was Kay who stood before them. And we’re in between her and her quarry.
“What’s this? Do you know each other?” The man sniffled behind them. Farah turned to see the man holding Merek upright, a knife to the boy’s throat.
“Well,” Irulen said, glancing towards at Kay’s bounty. “We call her Kay after the first letter of her real name, the one she has never revealed.” Irulen turned and looked her in the eye. “Not even if she gets to know you.”
Kay scoffed. “Look, he’s my catch. I had to go through a bunch of his friends to ferret him out.”
“He said multiple people attacked them on the road.”
“Multiple bolts, perhaps. But not multiple people.”
Merek struggled in the man’s grasp, heedless of the danger.
“What’s wrong with you, boy?” the man growled.
“He’s a cloudwalker. He doesn’t understand,” Farah offered and shrank back into herself.
The desperate man flung an accusing finger with his free hand. “That… that witch! She just started shooting at us! Harvesting us like livestock, she did!”
“I gave them an opportunity to put down their arms, as required by commonly accepted laws of these lands.”
“Like hell she did!”
Irulen whirled on the man. “Silence!”
The thief cringed. His knife-wielding hand shook. A slight trickle of blood escaped Merek’s neck. The man appeared desperate. Desperate and unpredictable. What are these two doing, treating Merek’s life so casually?
“I‘m not about to debate ethics and law.” The wizard spoke matter-of-factly. “Truth is, I don’t care how many of your friends this woman sent to earth nor how she went about doing the business.” Irulen turned again to Kay, who stood still as stone. “There is, however, a compromise that needs to be made.”
Kay shifted ever so subtly in her stance. “What do you mean, wizard?”
“Wizard?” The criminal’s eyes widened as he loosened his hold on Merek, who in turn relaxed. “Wiz—”
Irulen shut the man up with an intense stare. “The thing is, dear Kay, this man seems to be in my custody. You may have been chasing him, surely, but it wasn’t you that captured him, unfortunately.” Irulen spoke a bit louder than necessary, his chest puffed. Farah thought he looked like a proper rooster.
“What game lurks behind those eyes of yours?” Kay crossed her arms and thrust her chin up.
“A share of the profits and your help in recovering Quinn. That’s my offer.”
Kay scoffed again. “Are you serious? After the things you said to me, blamed me for?”
“Do you really want to live in the memories of yesterday?”
Kay clenched her fists, stormed up to Irulen, and punched him square in the face. His ass hit the floor. Farah had to admit he probably deserved it.
Irulen shook his head and brought his hands to his face. “Ow!”
Kay stood over him as he staggered to his feet. “I don’t want to hear about how that hurts three days from now.” She menaced him with a clenched fist.
A red trickle fell from Irulen’s nose. He pinched it with his right hand to stop the bleeding and tilted his head back.
The thief used the commotion to his advantage, already off into the trees.
“He’s getting away!” Farah alerted the others.
Kay spit on the ground and reached over her back. Almost instantly her crossbow was out, nocked, and aimed. It took all Irulen could do to get out of the way. Farah held Merek to the side. Kay let a bolt loose. It was a remarkably long shot, and the man zig-zagged as he ran. Like magic, the bolt found him, lancing the muscle of his thigh and popping through the other side. He keeled over screaming in agony.
“Looks like you have damaged goods,” Irulen remarked.
“No matter,” Kay said as she pressed passed him.
Irulen lifted his free hand in Kay’s direction. It hovered in the air for a moment, then fell limply to his side. The moment of hesitation startled Farah. Irulen clearly, for a moment at least, intended to use his magic.
Kay didn’t spare a glance back as she moved to secure her catch.
◆◆◆
As night settled in upon them, the group decided to tie the scoundrel—Leofrick—to a tree. Two rabbits roasted over an open flame. Every so often a drip of its juices dropped onto the fire and turned to steam. Merek sat rocking and humming, a droning sort of hum, one lacking any real melody.
Irulen sighed at the silence. Four tents were set up in the clearing. I’ll be alone tonight. Kay refused to even look at him, and Farah wouldn’t stop looking at him—reading me like a damn book. He knew what had to be done to fix both of their gazes. He sighed again and begrudgingly complied.
“All right,” he started, pausing as Kay’s eyes met his. “Kay, I’m sorry.”
Something between a scoff and laugh escaped her mouth. “For what?”
He scraped his top teeth over his bottom lip. “Everything, for everything. I screwed up. I blamed you for things… things that were my fault. Quinn...”
The fire reflected in her eyes. “You’re right that you blamed me for things that weren’t my fault, but you are wrong about your responsibility. You did nothing wrong, either. What happened between us came nat
ural. You didn’t try to hurt Quinn, nor did you plan on Ithial abducting him.” She paused.
Leofrick rustled around his place against the tree. “Go on.” His neck was craned toward Kay, his eyes wide with attention. The scoundrel cringed as Kay turned on him. He remained silent as she turned back to Irulen.
The wizard opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.
“I still have more to say. Yes, you could have been more honest with him, but you were trying to protect him best you could. But he’s an adult, and he’s strong, and you didn’t give him enough credit.”
“Making me feel a lot better.”
She continued, “You screwed up, but only in a way that everyone has. We’ve all told lies in the name of doing good, and we’ve all blamed other people for our screw-ups. You blamed me, and I didn’t deserve it.”
Yeah, like you never led him on. Irulen shook his head, stifling the thought. “No, you certainly did not.”
Farah spoke up. “We should head south again. Not to make things right, but simply to help a friend, even if he never wants to see anyone again.”
Irulen scratched his head. “You really think he’s still alive?”
“Yes.”
Irulen turned to Kay.
She nodded her agreement. “A man like Ithial keeps his leverage close.”
Farah continued, “And if he turned Quinn, I’m sure we would have seen him by now, dangled in front of us like a lure.”
“Like Lynette.” Irulen frowned.
“Yes, like Lynette.”
Leofrick’s feet ruffling on the leaves caught Irulen’s attention. The robber once again craned forward. “A friend of yours is hostage, you say? Sounds like you might need stealth, and stealth happens to be a skill of mine—a chief skill in fact.”
Kay once again menaced the man with her eyes. Irulen thought he heard her hiss.
“Now, now, hear me out,” he stammered. “I can help you, if you are heading south especially.”
It was Farah who engaged him. “How?”
“Well, if your friend is imprisoned, I can help spring him.”
Kay looked to Farah and Irulen. “I don’t see how he’d be more useful than myself in such a situation. Particularly since this stealthy man was caught. He’d make about as good a thief as the halfling from the old myths. The one tasked with stealing that gem from a dragon.”
“I take exception to that! I was only caught once! And it was because I took the fall for someone—a girl.”
“How noble,” Irulen said with a dry voice.
“No, really, she appreciated the danger and exhilaration of my lifestyle and wanted to try it for herself. Townsfolk began closing in on her. I took responsibility and high-tailed it out.”
Kay yawned in the man’s direction. “You are likely better at weaving stories than you are at actual thievery.”
“A silver tongue may be one of my skills, yes, but I am truly the best robber you’ll ever meet. I’ll take you to my southern cache to prove it.”
Kay rose and stepped toward the man.
He pulled his head back and spoke hurriedly. “It’s yours, I’ll give it to you. All of it. For my freedom. Much more than my bounty’s worth.”
Kay stopped a footstep from him and turned back towards the others, apparently reading the interest on their faces. She backed off.
Irulen signaled with his hand. “Go on, Leolick.”
“It’s Leofrick, but my friends call me Leo.”
“You have no friends at this fire, but I’ll call you Leo just the same since it’s shorter and less effort, now talk.”
Leo licked his lips, the tip of his tongue traced his small mustache and the skinny beard running from his lip to the bottom of his chin. “First off, and it is not a demand, simply a humble request, a plea for mercy really... Could you fetch my satchel, the one you took from me?” Irulen saw Kay fidgeting, likely weighing which form of violence to use against the poor wretch. He knew she didn’t have the patience or interest for stuff like this.
Leo regarded Kay and spoke more softly, as if his voice walked on eggshells. “It’s just that, I have this pain from being run through with an arrow—”
“A bolt,” Kay corrected him.
“A bolt, yes, and I’m something of an herbalist. I carry herbs, mostly medicinal in some form or fashion. And pipes to smoke them. I have this eye condition, you see, and I need to smoke one of my specific blends for it. Plus, there is the pain...”
“Sure, sure.” Irulen stood and stretched his legs. He walked around the fire, fished about where Kay sat, and came up with the satchel in question. He opened it up and sifted through it.
“Do you deal in potions or tonics?” Irulen asked. The supply of Quinn’s tonic had recently run dry, and an urge began to permeate Irulen’s blood.
Leo shook his head. “Naw, I’m not a true apothecary, nor do I deal in the hard stuff. Just stuff that grows from the earth. I harvest and gather, I do not produce. You can have yourself a puff if you’d like.”
“Yeah, maybe, if you partake first.” Irulen tossed the bag, and the thief caught it with his bound hands.
Leo shrugged and grinned as he pulled a tied-off bag of fabric from his satchel. He worked it loose and reached in. “Aha!” He lifted a nugget of dried herb to his nose and sniffed it deeply. He crumbled the nugget into the pipe and used his thumb to pack it down.
“Just one more favor, if you’d be so kind, could you just take one of these lighting sticks here and hold ‘em to the fire. They are chiseled from a special kind of Rowan tree, one that spares the smoker the smoky taste, leaving only the sweet, smooth flavor of the herb itself.”
Irulen stooped and grabbed one of the slender, incense-sized sticks from the ruffian’s hand. “You are quite the salesman, aren’t you?”
Leo smiled and nodded. “Yes, between my charisma and quality product, I do well for myself.”
Irulen heard Kay lament audibly behind him. “Then why steal?”
“For me, it’s a sport and a way to lash out at those who’ve wronged me. To be honest, I’ve never been good at handling confrontation through words or force.”
“But you said yourself you’re a smooth talker.”
“At getting out of confrontations, not winning them. To win, I steal.”
“How heroic,” Farah said and rolled her eyes.
“Maybe not inherently, but it could be—what I do. I’ve stolen, but I’ve also given.”
Farah laughed. “Sounds like some folk tale I’ve heard about a man who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.”
“Well, no, really, I keep plenty for myself.” He inhaled his pipe and offered it to Irulen.
The wizard shrugged and took it. The guy was too honest for a crook, he seemed almost trustworthy. All the more reason to keep an eye on him. Still… Irulen inhaled, and smoke singed his throat, sworled in his lungs, then evacuated through his nose. The effect came on surprisingly quick, like a feather dusting the top of his brain. Irulen felt instantly more receptive to the man.
The outsider winked. “It’s good, right?”
Irulen handed the pipe back, and Leo continued speaking. “What I do does help keep things even, sure, but it doesn’t balance rich and poor, it balances the smug and the smote—those who are arrogant and those who enable such arrogance.”
Kay scoffed. “And I thought Irulen was a philosopher.” She looked at the wizard, “I’m going to wet the bushes, would you like me to search out a shovel for all the shit he’s spewing?”
Irulen raised his eyebrows at her Quinn-esque remark. Compensating for his absence? “No, thank you.” He said and turned back in Leo’s direction. He looked him in the eyes. “There is, however, the matter of your cache.”
◆◆◆
Farah wringed her hands. She looked from the sober faces of Irulen and Kay to across the fire. There, off to the side of Merek and below the perch of Max, sat Leofrick. He caught her gaze, winked, and waved at her with bound hands.
She turned from him to the inner circle at hand.
Kay spoke with a stone face. “I don’t trust him.”
Irulen put his hands in front of him with his palms out. “I might not trust his intentions, but I trust that the opportunity is real enough. He’s a robber, but there’s nothing worth a damn on his person. His stuff is stashed somewhere, of that I am sure.”
“Is it worth more than the fifty silver bounty, though?”
“Five hundred silver’s worth, by his reckoning. He’s likely exaggerating, but anywhere over two hundred silver would be well worth the chance.”
“A week of travel will offer many opportunities to escape.”
“Well, if he does, you’ll catch him again, won’t you?”
Kay groaned at Irulen’s reasoning.
He laughed. “Look, not that his bounty isn’t a high sum, but if he does escape—really makes it passed us somehow—I wouldn’t sweat it.”
“Easy for you to say. I’ll agree if you pay his bounty.”
“I will if he escapes, how’s that?”
“Now. You buy him now and assume the risk. And if he escapes, you’ll pay the cost of our travel from here to there.”
Irulen threw his hands in the air. “Is this punishment or something?”
Kay shrugged.
Irulen turned to Farah. “What do you think?”
Farah’s thoughts streamed through her mouth. “I think he’s meant to be a part of it all, somehow.”
Irulen and Kay looked at her with puzzled faces.
“Is this your fate thing again?” Irulen asked.
Kay shot in behind him. “Can’t you think rationally for once?”
Farah rolled her lips and released them. “I have a solution. A rational one.” She breathed deeply and looked at Kay. “Irulen will pay you the bounty—”
He made to speak. “But—”
Farah put a finger in the air to silence him. “He’ll pay the bounty. However, the bounty will be refunded to him if and when we find the stash. Before splitting the findings. This way, if the man escapes, Kay is compensated and if the stash is real, Irulen is happy.”
Irulen and Kay looked at each other with raised eyebrows.