The Calamity: Chapter 6

After the raid, they took what they could. Crates that weren’t broken, stained with ash or blood and actually valuable. Most of the silks managed to be safe, there was some raw steel and even food. When asked where all of these supplies were going none of the carriage drivers would say.

With the loot secure, whatever wounds they had bandaged. They didn’t have any casualties except a few horses but those were replaceable from the raid. They grouped together, Boss on one his black horses the other riding up beside him. He raised his giant sword to heavens.

“The Sanctum thought that they would be protected by their faith. They were wrong! When the Rogues set their sights on a target, that target falls!” The Rogues roared in agreement. His horse stepped back quickly and turned toward the hostages of the moment.

There were six carriage drivers who were left over from the fighting. None of the knights had survived the fighting either battling to the death or fleeing and abandoning the supply train entirely.

Boss road over to the carriage drivers lowering his sword to level at them. “We may be Rogues but we’re the free people for a reason.” He said looking at them, measuring his gaze on each driver one at a time. “No kings. No queens. Just choices. So, the choice rest on your shoulders. Do you value your life over your country or are you loyal to the end?”

The carriage drivers were a mixed bag of fear and defiance. To them they were killers and looters. Vincent stared at them and knew that position. A long time ago he used to think that they were heartless murderers who prayed on innocent people.

“The great Father will punish you for this!”

“I just want to see my family again.”

“My wife is with child. She can’t raise them alone.”

“I knew taking this type of job would be the death of me.”

“Just get it over with.”

“My Lord please forgive me for my transgressions. When I face you I hope to receive your mercy.”

Boss couldn’t help but smirk as they all made their pleas their voices overlapping constantly with one another in a cacophony of words. But the choice he was going to make for them had already been decided. He turned his sword around and slammed it into the ground.

“You’re all free to go. We will give you a horse and a little coin. Start a new life or return to your old. That’s up to you.”

He turned grabbing the sword and lifting it up and motioning toward one of the Rogue’s to untie them dropping coins at their feet. Another Rogue led some horses to them. This was the tradition of the Rogues that was rarely talked about. Kill the fighters, don’t chase the people who surrender and let the drivers or passengers go.

The Rogues went their separate ways then. Vincent left Lionel behind at the previous town to collect Samuel. Monica had another job to do. So, with nothing left to do he started riding back to the Free City separate from the main group. The ride itself was something that he enjoyed, gave him time to think. For some reason focusing he kept thinking of the woman from the drunken night.

Though she had punched him right in the face, and he deserved it, she was a woman he’d never met before. Not like that. He’d seen most people in this world. He’d met the farmers who lived within the Sanctum, kind people who worked hard their who lives. He’d crossed swords with the Norian soldiers with their black armor and their cold efficiency or lust for battle. He’d seen the oppressed people who paid taxes to the Norians to keep themselves alive and had been preached and cursed at by the priest and rulers of the Sanctum.

The free people came from all of these kingdoms and more. People who abandoned their homes, their families, and their beliefs. The Free City didn’t care where you came from. You could be the Speaker of the Sanctum or the lowliest peasant who cleaned the barn house. As long as you were willing to live by their rules. Not every one of the free people were bandits and raiders. Some continued to be farmers, traders, smiths and other so called ‘honest’ work.

But that woman had been different. She had been a warrior that wasn’t anything like the three major kingdoms. The way she spoke, the way she carried herself, and the weapon she carried. He’d made many maps and seen many things in this world but none of those places matched her.

Vincent kept his hands on Blaze’s neck as he let the horse lead him. He knew that the Free City was far away from where he had been. The supply train that raided was deep in Sanctum territory and the Free City was in between the Sanctum and Norian territory. At least two to three days ride away but for some reason the ride never felt long.  

The grass had been freshly rained on. He couldn’t tell the difference considering how dark it was right now. Shaking his head, he continued riding forward with the stars to his back. Riding like this he often felt like he wasn’t riding alone. Not just Blaze but another presence beside him. It made the riding easier.

But on the edge of the horizon he could just barely see the light. The morning was going to come soon. He placed a hand over his eyes to look ahead and realized that he was farther away then he thought.

Drawing the revolver, he reloaded it slowly and marveled. A rifle that was portable, easy to carry and easy to reload. It didn’t pack nearly the same punch but at least it hadn’t blown up in his face. Being a guinee pig for Samuel was paying off.

Reaching into the saddlebag he unrolled a map slowly across Blaze’s neck. It had marked the major points on the continent. The map was as big as the continent as it was. It highlighted the Norian territory, the territory of the Sanctum and everything in between. There were rough lines around them that showed just how wide their sphere of influence was.

There were notes of abandoned cities, mining towns, and the rumored Bloody Kingdom in the north. He didn’t believe it existed but he marked it on his map regardless. On the edge of Sanctum control were several towns travelers could rely on to. It was between the kingdoms, in a small amount of empty space that was important. The Free City. A truly neutral home that neither kingdom had managed to capture or interfere with. Its borders were respected.

He dragged his finger from roughly where the raid had been to the town he’d been at the previous night. Tracing his finger through the town he’d been he pointed at likely where the next rest town was.

Blaze padded forward slowly, throwing his head up.  Vincent glanced at the horse and the horse turned to stare back for a few seconds much to the confusion of his rider. “What do you want?” he asked staring at the creature.

The horse turned to the side and stared. Vincent followed the horses gaze and saw the strange sight of a pair of kids on the ground. They looked like they might have been dead and the grass around them was entirely dry unlike the rest of it around them. “Alright, what’s that?” He asked spurring the horse forward gently.

Dead people in the road or in the fields wasn’t an uncommon situation. People died to animals, monsters, other roving bands of bandits all the time. Not to mention accidents and sickness. It was actually pretty easy to die if you weren’t paying well enough attention.

As Blaze approached, he saw immediately that they were twins. An even bigger rarity in these parks. Sliding off the saddle he walked toward them slowly hand on his sword and the other on the revolver. Mainly because he could also be the one being tricked right now. But as he got closer to them he was pretty sure that this wasn’t a trick.

Approaching one of the girls he nudged her with the toe of his shoe. She didn’t respond. Frowning he did it again, this time somewhere on the chest. They flinched at the contact and rolled away quickly. Glancing from the girl with longer hair to the other he arched his eyebrow.

He crouched down in front of the shorter haired girl. He was reaching out to her when his hand hit something solid. It was like when he dealt with the mage earlier. Some sort of barrier. Seconds later a blaring noise sounded startling him so bad he jumped backwards. Almost immediately the other girl jumped to her feet.

Eyes wide she didn’t find the source of the sound. Instead her eyes focused in on Vincent. She lunged at him fast like a whip. Shocked at the sudden aggression he barely got his sword out in time to ward off the sudden claws coming at him. She got a good strike at him, slashing across his chest before he could get a good block in. What the hell were these two girls?

He kept getting knicked by hits that he knew he was blocking. It was like the attacks were coming from places that he couldn’t see but he knew that something was wrong with the situation. “I hate fighting mages.” He grunted under his breath.

Stepping back, he blocked and cut back and forth trying to keep pace. He blocked a strike and stepped forward not back this time. The claw swipe missed him as he shouldered into her. Going aggressive in the middle of a fight was always the best way to mess up your opponent and she was definitely no exception.

Capitalizing on her surprise he stuck his leg out and tripped her onto her back. Quickly stepping forward he brought out the revolver and pointed it at her face. But he then froze because something in his mind told him he was on death’s door.

Raising his head slowly his eyes were wide because he saw the blue glow from the other girl’s hands and eyes. She was floating a few feet off the ground. “Get away from my brother!”

He glanced down at the girl under his foot and frowned. “What brother?”

“Me you asshole,” the girl below him said and he blinked slowly. Glancing back and forth between them he thought they were crazy but you didn’t argue with a mage when they were ready to set you on fire.

“Alright. I’m stepping away. Not gonna shoot you. You’re not gonna set me on fire?”

The mage nodded slowly and he did exactly as he said. He took a step backwards pulling his gun back. He was quickly thinking about what he could actually pull off in this situation. If he surprised the mage he could maybe kill her but that was a big maybe. A maybe he wasn’t eager to try.

The girl, or boy, beneath him got to his feet slowly. Rubbing his neck slowly he glared at Vincent before walking back to stand in front of his sister. Both of them were shorter than him by at least a few inches. Maybe half a foot. The claws that he’d been attacking with had been his own nails and for the first time Vincent noticed the shape of his arms. They were long, almost to his knees.

Vincent watched, with some level of disgust, as the arms shrunk before his eyes. Muscles and bones shrinking underneath the skin before it. Shuddering he looked at the pair of them. “I had it covered sis.”

“You totally did not.”

“I could have. I had some tricks up my sleeves.” He folded his arms and glanced at Vincent. “What do you want?”

“Nothing. Passing through. Saw you two on the ground. Thought you were dead. Clearly I was mistaken.” He said holding an empty hand towards them.

The brother rolled his eyes. “What if we were dead?”

He shrugged. “Check to see if you had anything worth taking. The dead don’t need possessions.”

“So, what are you. A looter or some kind of bandit?” The sister asked.

“Looter on occasion. I’m better than a bandit. I’m a Rogue, a member of the gang of the Free City.”

The twins looked at each other suddenly and then focused on him with a gleam in their eyes. The sister floated forward speaking excitedly, “You’re from the Free City? Like actually from the city itself?”

Surprised by this he nodded slowly. “Yeah. Why?”

“We’re trying to go there. We’re close we know that much but we lost our map.” The brother explained. “Can you take us there?”

That was not a strange request. Often times there were people, seeking sanctuary. Most people would do it on their own, stumbling into the city through determination. But every once in a while, you could luck into someone like him. An actual factual guide.

Sheathing his sword and holstering his gun, he shrugged his shoulders. “Just follow behind me. I was going home anyway.” Vincent started walking toward Blaze, the horse meeting him in the middle.  “Do either of you have a horse?”

“Nope. What you see is what we’ve got.” The sister said motioning to the pair.

Vincent turned to stare at them. “You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

“Where are you two from? Originally.”

The sister floated to her brother’s back before doing some weird type of climbing to get onto his back. He carried her forward and said, “We’re from Noria. One of the outlying villages. Conscription was starting. Our grandmothers told us to leave or else we’d be turned into soldiers.”

Vincent nodded slowly with a dark scowl on his face. “Bolstering their army. Fucking warmongers.”

The brother nodded, “Pretty much.”

The three of them started walking together aiming for one of the rest towns. “Were you heading toward Nuel?”

“Yeah. We were going to make it there over the night but got caught in a storm. We took cover through it and I guess we fell asleep.” The sister looked embarrassed as she glanced down at her brother.

“Living dangerously. Especially at night.”

She made a face, “We had it covered. Traps and alarms.”

Vince shook his head at the pair of them. “You have names?”

“My names Alistair. My sister is Alison.”

“I’m Vincent. And my horse is Blaze.” He snorted in response to his name. Alistair smiled at the horse holding his hand out. Blaze looked at the hand then nudge it with his nose. The trio began to walk, Blaze’s canter much slower to accommodate the pair on foot.

It was a silent walk that concluded with them walking into the town. The dirt paths of the town showed how to get around as much as possible. The homes were actually taller up, at least several floors on each and squashed together tightly. The deeper they went the older the buildings looked. Some falling apart and others just showing the wear of time along with vines along the sides. This was the closest to a city that they would have out here away from the center kingdoms.

There were some sign pos and after almost an hour they were able to find an inn. The problem hadn’t been finding an open inn with rooms but finding one with a stables. Blaze was tied to a post in front of the inn while the sun started to make its presence known outside.

Shouldering the door open Vincent walked in with the others. There was a young woman at the front desk. Her eyes were drooping and he wondered if it was from a long night or an early morning. The girl turned to look at the three of them and blinked slowly. Her cheeks were rounder and hair a frizzy bronze though there had been effort to comb it.

“Hey. I need a room. At least two beds.”

She looked at the three of them then turned around going to the wall of hooks. There were not that many keys remaining. She counted through them slowly and then returned with nothing and shook her head. “No mo’ rooms with two beds. Just one room beds left.”

Vincent swore under his breath and nodded. “Fine. I have a horse outside, can you take care of him?”

She gave a quick nod, the idea of an animal seeming to draw her interest more than actually selling a room. “It’ll cost you five and a half.”

“Five and a half? For what? We’re only getting one bed.”

“Sorry sir it’s because you’ve got such a big party and a horse.” She said shyly at his outburst. Rubbing a hand across his face slowly he nodded and reached into his pouch. Before he could put the coins on the table Alison reached out and took his hand.

“We’ve got it.” She said simply as her brother placed the coins on the counter and taking the key. He glanced at the girl at the counter before shrugging and following the twins. Who was he to question whoever was willing to pay for the room and board. Following the number, they went to the second floor.

The room was small with a tiny window. A bed was against the wall with fresh sheets and a stool in the corner. Vincent went toward the bed pressing on it slowly then nodded. “Take the bed. I’m going to make sure that Blaze is taken care of.” They nodded toward him as he walked outside.

The stables smelled like horse shit which was expected. The ground was covered in loose hay. He swore he saw a few other animals hanging around, like cats and birds. There were several other horses in the stables already but none reacted to him coming and going. He walked toward Blaze who was already tied to a proper post and even had a snack.

Stroking the flank of the horse he smiled lightly. The horse turned to look at him with tired equestrian eyes and he nodded. “I know buddy. Just came to check on you. You okay?” The horse nudged him with his muzzle and he smiled. “Get some rest. We’ve got a group to work with now.”