When the sun rose, they were all awake. Promising an entire horde of ghost that you would leave at sun rise was not something you broke. So they were awake, cleaning up behind themselves. Rolling up the blankets, cleaning what little food they ate and bringing the horse together.
Stretching her arms above her head Alison went to her brother, floating happily. She touched his face lightly and tilted his head back and forth. “Hm. Something’s different.”
“Because I’ve been messing with it. Small tweaks here and there.”
She gasped slightly and grinned wide, a smile that almost took over her face. “You’ve been getting the hang of it?”
He held his hand up, thumb and fore finger not far away. “A tiny bit. I’m getting there.” He said glancing away then meeting her eyes.
“Alright. Let’s not get killed by angry ghost.” Vincent said taking the handlebars of Blaze’s reins.
Alison took her spot-on Blaze’s back, the horse seemingly glad to see her awake. He turned to look at her and brush his muzzle against her face. She giggled stroking his face and turned to look at her brother who was smiling at her. She nodded at him and then felt Vincent get on behind her.
Morrigan mounted Eaergo, pulling Alistair on behind him. She looked at him for a moment and smiled. “You did good work last night. Prevented what could have been a dangerous situation.”
He looked embarrassed and glanced down. “Couldn’t have done it without my sister.”
“I believe you sell yourself short. Far too short.”
The four of them left the village behind, going toward the sun. As they rode, Alistair looked over his shoulder and he saw the same ghost girl. She was on the edge of the village staring and watching them go. He waved at her and the girl after some time raised her hand and waved back at him. As they trotted forward Morrigan pulled them up to the same side of Vincent.
She glanced at him then forward, “Where are we going next?”
“If we keep going east, we’ll run into the capital. No one’s trying to go there. Death sentence for nearly all of us. So we’re going south. One of the smaller cities is there. A trade city more than anything else. We’ll be able to blend in there and maybe get some information. Though I have to ask, can either of you two sense anything. We are in Sanctum territory now.”
They exchanged glances from across their horses but each twin closed their eyes. Their breathing slowed as they tried to sense. Let the magic flow around them and try to touch something else out there. Morrigan twitched and Blaze shifted slightly but that was just from being in proximity.
However, when they opened their eyes there was a collective shake of the head. “I can’t sense anything.” Alistair said.
“Me either. Nothing palatable at least.”
“What do you mean?” Alistair asked.
“This land feels weak. Like magic should be here but it’s restrained.” She frowned and rubbed her temples. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like something should be here, under the surface, but I can’t reach it. Like when you have an itch and the skin is numb.”
“Well if that’s the case then let’s just keep traveling.” Vincent said reaching down into the saddle bag and getting his map out. He handed it to Alison as he steered Blaze. “What’s the closest stopping point?” he asked.
She unrolled the map slowly, looking at it. She found where they were after a few seconds of scanning and dragged her fingers across the map slowly. She touched three spots lightly. “Any of these. Two of them are villages. I don’t know what this third one is.”
He looked over her shoulder and laughed lightly. “That’s an outpost. One of the Rogue’s. At least it was when we put it up. If it’s even still standing is up for debate to be honest.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It would take us about three or four days if we push it.”
“We have no need to over extend ourselves,” Morrigan said looking toward the sky. “The day is young.”
“Then let’s go.” He said urging Blaze to start running. The horse threw his head back as the breeze blew past them.
The ride was quiet for them all. The more they ran the more grass started to crop up around them. The empty plains all around them just rolling into the distance. The sun was passing over head, elongating shadows and the breeze rolling over them cooling the intense rays.
The feeling of Blaze underneath her was something she had started to get used to. She’d been riding on his back like this for a few days now but she was getting comfortable with it. At least being a passenger. She wasn’t sure she’d be good riding and guiding the horse.
Alison looked at Vincent over her shoulder. He was riding well, gently guiding and directing Blaze but he didn’t look like he was all there. The way he looked off in the distance he was in his own head. “Vince.”
He blinked, startled and glanced down at her. “What is it?”
“Alistair told me about what happened to you. In the village.”
He made a face and groaned. “Yeah that wasn’t my best moment. Not a great moment in general to be honest.”
“I get that much. But what happened to you. For real? They had to carry you out and you looked hypnotized. That’s the way my brother described it.”
“That’s a word for it.”
“Then what’s the right word for it? What happened to you?”
He didn’t respond as he worked over the memory of what happened. Or rather the memory of the memory. Shivering he sighed. “The spirits were a piece of work. They forced me into my own memories but warped them a bit. Changed the order in which they happened. Changed some of the stuff that happened.”
“What memory did they pull you into?”
He frowned harder as they rode. He pulled on the handlebars turning Blaze to the right slightly. They went down a gentle decline and he leaned back to comfortably deal with the change in elevation. “They made me remember the reason I left the Sanctum. Not something I even remotely wanted to go back to it.”
She frowned hard in response to that and looked ahead of them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think the memory was that painful.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t know. Now you do. Kinda.”
“You don’t have to get more specific than that.”
He shrugged. “I might. Might be worth you all knowing. Just in case we run into someone from my past while in the Sanctum.”
She nodded as they continued to ride. She stared forward watching the world change in front of them. The trees becoming more and more prevalent. There were clumps of trees in the distance that were turning into larger forest. In some ways, it reminded her of home except this had less gloomy cloud coverage.
With their leisurely travel it was easy to lose track of the days. It couldn’t have been that much past early morning when she looked toward the main road. They weren’t that far off the main road but they had been purposely avoiding it for the most part. There was a man shouting and waving toward them. Tilting her head, she tapped Vincent’s leg but he was already looking.
There was a train of caravans. Each one with two horses and two drivers. There were some children running around on the path itself, laughing and making noise There were even three dogs running around with them barking happily. The four of them slowed down to watch. “What do you think? Wanna go over and talk to them?” he asked.
“It can’t hurt.” Morrigan said. “It would be a nice distraction.”
“Alison! Alison look! It’s a puppy!”
“Three puppies!” she shouted back. “We have to go!”
She pushed at Blaze’s side and looked at Vincent. He looked back at her and slowly rolled his eyes but steered his mount that way. Padding along they came up aside the lead car and Vincent smiled at the man. They were riding a much slower pace than before.
“Hello strangers. Enjoying the fine weather of the Sanctum?” He asked with a chuckle.
“Enjoying it yes. We’re just riding for the time being. Going toward the trading city.” Vincent said.
“Oh Verakruk. This is the right time of year.” He said and smiled. “We’re actually traveling away from a city. Just come back from restocking our stores.”
“Are you traders?” Morrigan asked looked at them.
“Yes we are. Well sort of. Merchants really. We bring wares and goods to the villages that can’t afford to go to the big cities. We’re all from small villages.” He slapped his forehead and chuckled softly. “Where are my manners. My name is Nile. Pleasure.”
“Vincent. That’s Morrigan and the twins Alistair and Alison.”
They waved and grunted in greeting. One of the dogs started running straight up their horses, running between their legs. Alistair looked wide eyed as the dogs barked coming closer to them. He slowly pushed off Eaergo and landed with a slight stumble but crouched immediately to pet the larger sheep dog who was very eager for a fresh set of hands to touch and play with.
Alison watched and pouted at her brother who caught her gaze. He stood quickly and ran toward them, walking quickly. “Come here sis. The dogs want to play with you too.” Vince let go of Blaze’s reins as they maneuver her out of the saddle. Subtly she floated to make the process easier for them.
She crouched on the ground and the dog and another ran over to them as she smiled. Vincent watched them for a moment but turned back to Nile. “What do you sell? To the villages I mean?”
“Oh just odds and ends. Tool from the cities, some pretty clothes if they’re inclined. Occasionally weapons, though that’s more rare.”
“Do you have any weapons now?” Vincent asked.
Nile rubbed his jaw slowly, thinking perhaps over his inventory or perhaps over why these strangers were asking about his wares. ”Are you looking to trade?”
Vincent shrugged his shoulders in thought as he glanced at Blaze and then looked to Morrigan. “What do you think? Think the kids could use something to defend themselves?”
“They can defend themselves well enough.”
“Yes but what about the times when they can’t defend themselves?”
She paused at the mention of that and he had a point. “Do either of them know how to wield a blade?”
“We can teach them if we have to.” He said.
She nodded. “Fair enough.”
He turned back to the merchant who watched their conversation with some curiosity. “I need towards for those two.” He pointed toward the twins. “As we travel, we need to make sure they can defend themselves. The country side has gotten more dangerous.”
Nile frowned but gave a short nod. “Unfortunately, I understand that. We’ve had our own run in with bandits occasionally. Tim and his brothers thankfully are good at defending us.”
He stood up slowly and walked into the back of the caravan. There was shuffling around, slight moving around of boxes and light grunts. There was a loud grating sound which made the both of them look at one another.
He came back with two swords. Both very different from one another. One a short sword, barely the same length of his arm. It was more akin to a knife then a real sword. The other was huge, almost as long as him. It was unwieldly to drag let alone to wield.
“I’m sorry but this is all that I have in the name of swords.” He said. Handing the smaller sword to him. Vincent looked it over, feeling its weight and giving it some quick practice swings. He handed it over to Morrigan and she did the same.
“It’s a fine blade. Especially for her.” She said.
The twin in question was laughing on the ground with all three dogs running around with them, and four children dancing around as they played with the dogs. They were very eager to tell the twins about themselves, names, hobbies and things they liked. They were more than happy to laugh.
Alison looked up smiling at Morrigan who returned the gesture if for only a moment. Turning back to face Nile she nodded. “This is a good one. We shall take it.”
“Can I see the other one?” Vincent asked motioning to the great sword.
Nile did his best to lift it, holding it from the hilt and the blade. Passing it along to Vincent, the weapon wasn’t that heavy. Instead it was just a long blade. He couldn’t even imagine trying to swing something like this comfortably. “It’s a great sword,” Nile said. “Meant to cut through armor and shields alike. Difficult for most grown men to wield.”
“That’s absurd,” Morrigan said looking at Vincent. “Neither of those two is going to be swinging that around.”
“Well maybe not Alison. But Alistair can.”
She raised her eyebrow but it dawned on her. “He can’t pull that off for that long. He can barely keep it for a few minutes.”
“Well he wants to change that, doesn’t he? This might give him motivation. Push come to shove it’s an investment.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anymore. So, he took that as agreement. “We’ll take them.” Vincent reached toward his own pouch. “Uh, how much can I pay you for?”
“How about ten silvers.”
Vincent glanced at him and thought it over, rolling the coins between his fingers. He swore to himself and instead pulled out a single coin. “Here. Take this. Don’t try to change my mind. Just enjoy some kindness from strangers.” He placed the gold coin into Nile’s palm.
The man blinked slowly and then shook his head. “These blades, they aren’t even worth this kind of quality.”
“As I said. Kindness from strangers.” He gave the shorter sword to Morrigan and then strapped the larger blade to Blaze’s side as safely as he could.
“At least let me give you the sheathes for each of them.”
“Thank you. Alistair! Alison!” He shouted over his shoulder and turned Blaze slowly. “Come on. We’ve got to keep going.”
“Nooo.” Alison whined holding up one of the sheep dogs whose tail was wagging furiously.
“Come on. Both of you.” He said leading the horse back over to them. “Nice meeting you Niles. Hope you and your people have safe travels.”
He smiled at him. “Thank you Vincent. Father smile upon you.”
Alistair lifted his sister onto Blaze’s back and made sure she was settled before climbing onto Eaergo’s back. “Ready?” Morrigan asked and Alistair nodded. Alison was still pouting which Alistair laughed at her for but she nodded. So they took off down the road leaving the train behind them.
“So, you got us swords?” Alistair asked as Morrigan passed the short sword to him.
“We’re in Sanctum territory.” Vincent said. “And if we get into some kind of fight, I’d rather you guys use those instead of magic.”
Alison looked up at Vincent and shook her head. “That’s all well and good but did you forget that as a swordswoman I would be ineffective.”
“What do you mean? I’m sure you could learn just as well as your brother.”
“Yes, but I don’t have working legs remember? Can’t even form a decent stance.”
Vincent paused for a moment and she gave him a look with a laugh. “Okay yes I may have over looked that.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Learn to fight on horseback maybe?”
She chuckled softly and shrugged her shoulders. “I could do that. I do like Blaze a lot.” She said patting his neck.
“We can figure it out once we’re at the outpost.” Morrigan said simply. “If it’s manned by your people, they’ll tolerate a mage more so than other place out here.”
“Morrigan has a point,” Vincent said as he leaned into Blaze’s back. “Come on. Let’s get going.” He spurred Blaze onward much faster and they took off.
Another day passed and they were enjoying a brisker pace. They only slowed down for a few minutes to eat from their rations but continued on.
Eaergo grunted at Morrigan, throwing his head into the air. She looked at the horse as it turned its head toward her. She stared into those dark eyes and scowled slightly. “I’m aware.”
“Aware of what?” Alistair asked from behind her.
She looked behind her before spurring the horse faster. “Eaergo isn’t used to being in the real world this often. I’ll have to send him back soon and get a new horse.”
“Not used to this world?”
She shook her head. “My home, the castle where the people of Cerise reside, is hidden away as I told you. That place isn’t like this one. We have several horses there but being away from my Queen’s presence can cause some side effects. One of them is just the fact that Eaergo will be less than a regular horse. I’ll have to send him back for at least a day and then I can call him back.”
Alistair frowned. “That’ll slow us down a lot.”
“Not necessarily. I can simply call a different horse. Hoping another horse isn’t being taken right now. I doubt that would be the case but it could happen.” She said, mildly musing to herself.
“I think I would like to come to Cerise.” Alistair said much to the shock of Morrigan. She turned to look at him then.
“Why?” she said her eyes narrowing, a coldness entering her voice.
He held his hands up slightly losing his balance for a moment and then wrapping his arms around her waist quickly. “I just, want to see what this place is like. It’s so different from our world. Different rules, different people.” He frowned hard.
She looked down at him and then shook her head. “My home isn’t a place for you to go. Violent. Dangerous. Unpitying.”
“That doesn’t sound much different from the world that we’re in right now.”
She didn’t have a response for that. Because she knew he was right in that regard. But he was also wrong because she knew that that world wasn’t for someone like him. Maybe she was wrong for seeing him only as so young, but that didn’t change how she saw him presently. The families would use him and there was no guarantee that the Queen would give him her favor.
But as she continued to think about it she was a Sanguiknight. She had pull. If she wanted to, she could protect him as much as her position would allow. The thought of bringing him with her was an odd one but not wholly unpleasant.
“I’ll consider it.” She said finally to the satisfaction of the twin at her back.
She shook her head as she let a smile form on her lips. The smile didn’t stay for long because her eyes narrowed and a scowl formed on her lips. Her gaze locked on the sky in front of them before it bled to red and she shouted to her partners. “Vincent! Move! Weave!”
Blaze veered to the side and the ground exploded where he once was. Dirt, grass chunks, and smoke blew into the sky and fell over each of them. She guided Eaergo around it covering her face.
She turned her crimson gaze in the direction of the explosion and saw a flash of light. She yanked on the reins of her horse and the ground exploded seconds after they had moved. “What’s happening?” Alistair asked from her back.
“We’re under attack.”
“Who’s attacking us?” Alistair asked fighting the panic in his voice.
She scowled as she stared back at the direction of the attack. About two miles off they stood in formation in dull red armor. At least two dozen of them, weapons drawn and standing at attention. There were three others with some mild decoration. One holding a black flag with a red armored fist within it. The other had their arms in the air, waving back and forth slowly and palms glowing orange.
“Norians.” She said looking at Alistair. “They’ve got a mage on their side!”
Morrigan jerked on the reins and pulled them in another direction to avoid the fire ball. “We need to take down that mage before anything.” Alistair said as he reached toward the horse’s saddle bag and drawing the new sword they’d traded.
“With them firing on us like this we won’t get close enough. Not to mention the soldiers will stop us cold.” Morrigan said with a harsh scowl.
“We’re not in too bad of a spot.” Alistair said as he looked over beyond her. He saw Vincent and Alison weaving across the plain. For a second, he stared at them and his sister glanced back at him. Cupping his mouth, he pointed at them, “They have a mage! We’re going to charge at them! Blow them up and keep their attention!”
They were too far away for her to hear him easily but her eyes glowed. She nodded at her brother and turned to face the row of soldiers. She raised her hands immediately and they glowed to life.
“Whoa there,” Vincent said shielding his eyes. “What’s the plan here Alison?”
“The plan is for us to give support to my brother and Morrigan. So, keep Blaze going the right way and leave the distracting to me.”
“Wakes up from a long nap and gets bossy.”
But he did as she asked grabbing the handlebars and kicked them forward quickly. His eyes narrowed and had to focus on not the mage but on the sky and air in front of them. Because seconds later he saw the speck of fire barreling toward them. It was spiraling straight down and he jerked them out of the path as the flame exploded just a few dozen feet away from them.
Alison lowered her hands and pointed at the row of soldiers and this was when things got strange. His clothes and hair rose, floating on end. His clothes acting as if there was an updraft underneath and around him. Her hands flashed with light and a spear of ice just materialized out of the air and barreled straight toward the Norians. It took everything he had to keep Blaze from bucking in shock.
The mage lowered their hands, facing the ice spear. It collided with dozens of feet away and exploded. Shards of ice exploded out of the ground going around them with a bright flash of light. Vincent covered his eyes for a moment as he steered Blaze directly around that. For a second, he caught the flash of silver that ran past them.
Morrigan and Alistair sprinted forward on Eaergo. They had a new plan which required Alistair be in front, holding the reins. Morrigan was behind him both swords in hands. Her vision was dark red, the katana bloody and her rapier extended. She narrowed her eyes as the horse trotted forward.
“Keep him steady.” She said and the tone of her voice, that warped alien sound, made him shudder. “I’m taking my chance now.”
“Make it quick. Thirty seconds and then I’m circling back around to grab you.”
“By that time, it’ll be wrapped up.”
“I can’t tell if it’s over confidence when you talk like that.”
They were barreling right at the row and the soldiers changed their ranks. They lowered their swords and pointed at the horse riders. The commander shouted something to each of them about their position. She chuckled and then jumped off the horses back as Alistair steered with a hard turn.
She floated in the air for just a moment before coming down deep within their ranks her katana slashing through the armor as if it weren’t there. Her rapier came up immediately to deflect a swing while her katana swung with a viciousness of a starving beast. Two bodies hit the ground her sword gleaming with new blood.
Each of the soldiers shouted in a panic, taking steps back but quickly moving to surround her. They pointed their swords at her, raising their shields as well. A defensive position that was good at keeping some out but even better at keeping her in. The fact that her vision swam red was good. It kept her focused as she raised, she held her blades spread out and raised her gaze going back and forth for each of the soldiers.
“Kill her!” the commander shouted drawing a huge sword form his hip.
The Norians didn’t know fear. They knew orders and there was no clearer and order than that. Eight of them lunged forward thrusting their swords like a trap in a paranoid king’s castle. She dropped low to the ground, crouching underneath each blade. She flicked her wrist and swung the katana the blood growing and cutting the legs from under them.
Ignoring the cries of pain, she stepped toward the sudden opening and faced another row of shields and swords. What made it worse were the ones to the sides of her were ready to swing again. She raised her sword locking the thin rapier blade between each of them with a grunt.
For a second, she looked past all of them. Through the row of soldiers and toward her actual target. The mage who had retreated away from them but was still casting whatever spells mages used. Without him this would be too easy and too easy was better than any other type of struggle they could have.
She tweaked the trigger of her rapier and the blade sank down. Setting down against the barrel, the trigger popped back against her fingers. Before she could pull the trigger she heard a gunshot that startled a few soldiers. They may not have recoiled like weaker men but they were unsettled. Just a moment’s hesitation to process what happened. She didn’t waste this chance.
Thrusting her hand upward her blade broke the deadlock between them and she ran toward the row of shields. Leaping toward it she stepped off the row of shields and flipped over them. While in the air she saw the smoking barrel of Vincent’s gun as he passed. Smirking she pointed her rapier at the mage who’s back was still to her.
She narrowed her eyes through the red haze and raised the blade. She pulled the trigger and watched the bullet pierce the man through the back of the head. He crumbled to the ground in a heap and she crashed to the ground with a roll. She rolled and turned to face the Norians crossing her blades at them.
“Morrigan we’re backing off!” Alistair shouted. She glanced over her shoulder and watched him riding toward her. She scowled but nodded remembering the agreement. She flipped and sheathed the bloody katana back to its home. The red haze faded away and she raised that hand.
Alistair passed by and grabbed her hand lifting her off the ground. She moved with the momentum sitting at his back. She looked over their shoulder at the swath of soldiers tried to stop them. They rode away just in time for Vincent to ride directly behind them going straight toward the arranged soldiers.
“Do your thing sis!” Alistair shouted watching her go, then added. “Just be careful.”
Alison’s hands glowed, her hair and their clothes raising with a huge updraft. She smiled and thrust both her hands forward sending a biting wave of ice forward. They hunkered down, lowering their shields for some sort of protection but the ice didn’t care. It blasted them back into the air or on the ground as the ice covered their bodies.
They rode past and hearing the screams of the soldiers as they were encased. A macabre artistic display. Vincent stared at them with the same grim look he always did but as the glow in Alison’s eyes faded, she frowned and then looked away from it. She was looking
They went around them quickly and joined up with the rest of the group. “Well that was eventful.” Vincent said glancing at the pair of them. Alison was looking at her own hands and then showed them to Alistair. No veins or residual glow.
“Yes it was. But I’d rather we make it to the outpost before night fall. That fight is going to grab some attention that we don’t want.” Morrigan said. “So maybe we are in a rush now.”
Vincent nodded. “I’m with that as well. Though I wish I could have had a chance to fight. I still don’t have the hang of this gun yet.” He was pouting slightly and no one was giving him the time of day on that matter “Fine fine. Come on follow me.”
Pushing Blaze forward he spurred the horse onward and they left their battlefield behind. Morrigan brought Eaergo up beside him. They rode for the greater part of the day, the sun slowly crawling across the sky as they went.
The Harlequin Library 