Go For Stories

The next morning, he was up with the sun. At this stage of the season, there was no sleeping once the sun rose. He grabbed his bag on the way down the stairs and looked around the house. There was no sign of his parents, so he headed out of the front door and into the village, assuming they were out on Order business.

The village was already abuzz with people going about their daily tasks. The smell of bread wafted through the air, signalling that the bakers had been working for hours. Shop owners had opened their doors and stood about outside, waiting for customers. V’esen strolled through the town, greeting familiar faces as he passed. He had no time to stop and chat, though, as he was now on a very important mission; Caral had surely heard that he was back and would be waiting for him.

He had made his way into an area where the atmosphere was even hotter than before. The buildings stood close together, looming over him with their dark windows. This was an area of the village that most knew about, but few dared to enter. At least, those with any sense avoided the place.

V’esen whistled as he walked. This was his base, his soul. This is where he worked towards the future of his people. He turned a corner and the inn came into view. It was a two-storey structure, built from dark wood. The Empty Flagon was a place for people who needed an escape, a chance to forget the persecution of the Natural Order and to catch up with friends of like mind. While it appeared seedy from the outside, it was a place of celebration, where music was played loud and often.

He wandered into the inn and was instantly greeted by Gygyn, a short, fat convert to the Order. Having fled the sovereignty, he started the business as a convenient way to make allies and provide a hiding place for his family and himself.

“V’esen!” he bellowed. “I haven’t seen you in here since you were a babe.”

He shook V’esen’s hand and pulled him in for a hug.

“You always did have a knack for exaggeration, old friend,” said V’esen.

“Well, I have practised it for centuries.”

V’esen released his friend. “There you go again. You couldn’t be much more than ninety years old.”

“Yeah, okay, leave off, I get it,” he said, rubbing the ever-expanding bald spot on his head. “I assume you’re here for Caral?”

“As always.” He nodded. “It’s quiet in here today,” he remarked. The bar stools stood empty in a neat row and the table’s were unusually free of sleeping patrons.

Gygyn groaned. “It’s the Earl’s men. They’ve been harassing the farms, so nobody has anything to spare on pointless drinking. Come on,” he said, leading V’esen into the back room.

He closed the door and crossed to a bookcase against the wall. He grabbed one side and gestured for V’esen to get the other. With a grunt, they heaved it out of the way, revealing a cavity behind. Gygyn tapped on the wall with his knuckles.

“Caral, it’s me. Don’t shoot.”

They moved through the hole in the wall and into a room lit by lamps fixed to the wall. Shelves were bolted anywhere with room to spare, holding old trinkets and weapons of differing sorts: swords, goblets, shields. Caral sat on a crate at the end of the room; bow in hand, ready to fire.

“What are you doing, Gygyn? I’m busy.”

Her blue eyes glowed as she saw V’esen. She loosed the arrow without warning. He leaped to the side, just in time for it to soar past and imbed itself into the wall.

“You’re getting slow,” she said, throwing the bow to the floor.

“You’ve been practising,” he countered.

“I got sick of missing you,” she said with a self satisfied look.

V’esen smiled as he watched her face. Her high cheekbones and straight hair gave her a severe look, but her smile gave away her true nature. Her head bore a black strip of cloth to keep the hair from her eyes. V’esen threw his bag at Gygyn, ran across the room and wrapped her in a tight embrace, knocking over the crate and almost tumbling to the floor in the process. He planted a kiss on her forehead as she struggled to free herself from his grip.

“Alright, alright. Get off.”

He let her go and bent over to pick up the crate. Straw fell all over the floor as he did so.

“What’s all this for?” he asked.

“Oh, I was thinking it would be nice to keep a certain helm free from harm while we find a place to store it. You know, the helm that I assume you just threw across a room in order to smother some poor girl.”

“Now now, you’re a woman and you know it.”

“You did get the helm, right?” she asked, ignoring his comment. Her eyes were glued to the bag that Gygyn now held as he frowned at the arrow in his wall, picking at it with his finger.

“See for yourself,” said V’esen.

Caral went to the innkeeper and held out her hand. ‘May I?’

“Huh?” Gygyn shook his head as if to wake himself and looked at Caral. “Of course,” he said, handing her the bag.

She opened the drawstring with fumbling fingers and reached in. Whipping the bag across the room, she held the helmet with tender hands and a tear in her eye. She ran a finger down the nasal guard and across the cheek wings.

“It’s beautiful. I never thought it would be so crimson. I thought that was myth. What metal is this?”

“None that I’ve ever seen,” said Gygyn. “What are we going to do with it now that we have it?”

“Keep it safe until we’re rid of the Earl.”

“Is that all?” This irked V’esen. “It was safe before I stole it. If we aren’t doing anything with it, why did I even risk my life to get the stupid thing?”

“Because,” Caral stroked his face with her hand, “before now it was safe in the hands of a corrupt and greedy dictatorship. Now it is safe in the hands of an easy-going, nature loving people who worship gods of the weather elements and not gods of war and suffering. Now, we know that it won’t be damaged when we rise up to protect our people. Now, you can say you were the first Order member to hold this priceless artefact in generations.”

She placed the helm in the crate and scooped up the straw that had fallen onto the floor, scattering it over the prize. Placing a wooden lid on top of the crate, she hammered a number of nails into it. In the small space the sound reverberated around V’esen’s head.

“There. That should keep it safe for a while. Let’s get out of here.”

Gygyn stepped out of the way to let V’esen and Caral through before following them out, snuffing the lamps as he went. As the two men pushed the bookcase back into place, V’esen looked at Caral.

“One of these days, you’re going to tell me how you normally get in and out of that room by yourself.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” she said, “there are some things that even a couple shouldn’t share with each other.”

Gygyn nudged the shelf to make sure it was firmly in place and grunted. “What about the poor innkeeper that allows you to stay here free of charge?”

Caral looked at him. “There are definitely things we should keep secret from each other.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “I’ve got work to do. Besides, I could have customers waiting! Good to see you again, V’esen.”

He nodded and left the couple to themselves. Caral stared at V’esen’s face.

“Your claws are glowing. You must have had fun getting the helm.”

V’esen reached up to his cheek. His marks were warm and slightly raised; they did that when he got excited.

“I don’t think it’s the helm,” he said.

“I see. Maybe we should go somewhere a little less private before something happens that we both regret.”

As they left the building, V’esen looked at Caral.

“Are you proud of me?”

Without breaking her stride, she gave him a kiss and slapped him on the rear. “So proud. How did you find it?”

“What, after months of searching, infiltrating, and bribing, you mean?” He gave a chuckle. “I got desperate and asked a random Pyresman that I passed. He told me that he heard the Pyre Leader in the Northern quadrant had it. It was that simple … I cried that night.”

“Oh, you poor baby. Who’d have thought when I first met you that you’d turn into such an emotionally strong and independent person?”

V’esen stopped in his tracks. Her mention of their first meeting reminded him of the vision in the forest. How could he have forgotten that?

“So, Caral…”

“What is it?”

“My mission wasn’t completely without incident.”

“Go on.”

“Well, aside from making friends with a herd of oxen, I had a bit of an … episode, after I got away. A pain hit me and it felt like my head was stuck between a couple of horned-cats.”

“The big kind or the little kind?”

“The little kind.”

Caral grimaced. “That’s the worst kind.”

“Tell me about it. It’s okay; it didn’t last too long before I passed out. Anyway, when I came to I was in the Marad’r Forest. I was in my own body but, I don’t know, I couldn’t control myself anymore. I was running somewhere, but I didn’t know where. I ended up at an old castle.”

“A castle? In the Marad’r?”

“Yeah. I know, it doesn’t make sense; I’ve been through every section of that forest, but never once have I seen even a stone from a castle, but it was there. It was real. Don’t ask me how, I just know it.” He walked away from Caral, who followed straight after. Despite the season, he had a sudden chill to his body and wanted to get out of the shadows of the buildings. “I was in the castle, Caral, and I saw, I saw my death.”

“Your what?!” She gripped his arm tight and spun in front of him.

“I was in a room and a man stepped out of the shadows. He had a sword and he took my head. I didn’t stand a chance.”

He gently removed Caral’s hand from his arm and stepped into the village square. The sun had an instant uplifting effect on him. He smiled.

“It’s okay,’ he said, ‘I know it can’t have been real.”

“You’re not going to go looking for that castle, are you?”

V’esen grinned at her. “You are beautiful in the sunlight, you know that?”

“You’re dodging.”

“Of course I’m dodging, I know you don’t want me to do what I’m going to do. It doesn’t change how lovely you look outside …” He sidled up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “or inside; dressed in rags; under blankets …”

“Don’t go, V’esen.” She took his hand and placed it on his own hip. “It could be dangerous.”

“It’s always dangerous, yet I always go anyway. I’ll be fine. I need to know what I saw and whether it was true.”

Tears welled in Caral’s eyes. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but you always see the truth.” She sighed. “I could stop you, but I won’t. If you need to do it, it is your choice. But know that I will be waiting right here for you.”

He wiped the drops from her eyes and held her face.

“This time was different, I know it. Besides,” he bounced back and raised his fists, “do you really think you could stop me?”

Caral looked around at the crowded square.

“Oh, we’re doing this here, are we?”

V’esen nodded.

“Well, okay.” Caral raised her fists, took a step back and lowered herself into a deep stance. V’esen surged forward, throwing a kick at her lead leg. She lifted her leg over the kick and struck out with her fist. V’esen swayed to the side, spun around her arm and looped his hand over her shoulder, attempting to lock her arm. By the time his hand came down, Caral was already behind him. She kicked him in the back, shunting him out of reach.

He pushed his hair out of his eyes and turned to face her. They circled each other. By now they had the crowd’s attention, who cheered the couple on. The villagers knew V’esen and Caral well enough to know this wasn’t serious. V’esen had to admit, he quite enjoyed the ovation they received. It had been a while.

This time Caral attacked, shooting a fist at his face, He grabbed her wrist and twisted, flipping her onto her back and striking at her chest. Rolling to the side, she kicked upwards. She looped her foot around his neck and dragged him to the ground with her. He wrapped his hand around her throat and pulled her backwards, preparing for the final stroke.

It never landed. V’esen couldn’t say how, but she had slipped his grip and ended up behind him. She pushed his face into the dirt with an arm around his neck. He writhed, attempting to escape, but to no avail.

“Do you yield?” asked Caral, with a breathy laugh.

“Never,” said V’esen.

“Very well,” she said and let him up. “Be warned; next time I won’t go so easy on you.”

“I look forward to it.” As he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off, he noticed that the villagers had grown bored and wandered off. There was nothing left to see. “We’ve lost our audience.”

“Your audience. Look, V’esen, I have some things to do and I probably won’t see you before you go. Promise me you’ll be careful. Promise me if you sense danger, you’ll turn around, come back, and forget the whole thing.”

“Fine, I’ll come back.”

“No,” Caral stared him dead in the eyes, “promise.”

“Okay, okay, I promise I’ll come back.”

“That’s better.” She pulled him close and gave him a long kiss on the lips. As she drew back, V’esen stumbled forward. “I love you.”

“I love you, Caral,” he said as she walked back into the dark street.

With a sigh, he turned and crossed the square, unsure of what to do now. He’d only just returned to the village and would love a rest, but the vision had got to him. More than he desired a break, he needed to find out what it meant for his future. He figured he would gather supplies for the journey and head out before nightfall. His parents would be almost as disappointed as Caral, but this was something he had to do.

“Ho, V’esen!” A voice came to him from down the road.

He turned to see the source of the call. It was Haver, his childhood friend. He waved at V’esen with a smile, looking identical to the last time V’esen had seen him: green eyes, blond hair and a sharp chin, all on top of a muscular body.

“Haver, do you still live around here?”

“Ever since I was a drink too many in my mother’s hand. I didn’t expect to see you back here. I guess the Earl’s men missed you again.”

V’esen nodded. “As always. I gave them a good chance this time, but you know the Pyres; all structure and no imagination. They didn’t see me coming. Or leaving.”

Haver frowned. “You are far too lucky, V’esen. One day you won’t be and that will be the end of the Order as we know it.”

“Settle down. I’m not that important. A few trinkets do not make a rebellion solid.”

“You know that’s not true. By bringing back our artefacts, you give the Order hope. With that, they’ll continue to fight to the bitter end against the Earl’s forces. Even now, your parents are discussing with the council about what can be done to preserve the Natural Order.

“All I know is that this all has to stop. So many people are dying out there. We’re lucky here. One day the Earl will decide he has given us too much slack and pull the rope tight around our throats. So many people will die when that happens. You need to survive, V’esen.”

“I’ll be fine,” he responded, feigning a confidence he didn’t feel. What if his vision came true? Was he as important as Haver thought?

“Maybe,” said Haver. “I saw your little skirmish with Caral over there. You’re good V’esen, but you’re not great. She shouldn’t have been able to slip past you like that.”

V’esen smirked. “She’s quick, friend, very quick.”

“That’s not the problem. It’s this.” He reached out and flicked the fringe covering the left side of his face. “It gets in your way and obscures your vision. You’re only half a fighter, V’esen. Get rid of the fringe and you could be unstoppable.”

V’esen held his hand to his face. “I need the fringe, it keeps me hidden.”

“Allow yourself to see the world for what it is. You’ll be surprised by what you find. Anyway, as always, it was fun watching you two entertain the masses. What are your plans for now?”

“I’m heading out again tonight.”

“So soon?”

He nodded. “I’ve got something to do. Something personal this time.”

“Well, when you come back, let me know how it all went. I look forward to hearing about it.”

“I look forward to telling you.” He shook Haver by the hand and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m off to get some supplies before I leave. Have fun.”

As he walked away, Haver called out. “When are you going to get your own place and move away from your parents?”

“Just as soon as I can stay here for longer than a day,” he called out over his shoulder.

He hoped that day would be soon.