by Bruce Sentar
“Cherry?” The dryad held out her hand to Dar, full of cherries. He looked into her hopeful face, picking a cherry up with a dry look that she completely ignored, keeping to her innocent act.
Chewing the treat for a moment to think, Dar used the moment to try to strategize. The whole ordeal felt contrived, like there was a predetermined ending to all of this.
“Two men were scared off, uninjured by my spirit while under my care. As you can see, Cherry is pretty much harmless. Now that I’m looking to buy a house in the city, I’ll give her tree a nice home so this won’t happen again.”
The wizard who had been silent this whole time rose to his feet, showing off an odd assortment of clothes. Dar could see the blurry dao characters among many of them. “I think in a time such as this, the spirit and new wizard would benefit from tutelage and experience.”
Everyone in the room turned to him, giving his words a weight that Dar didn’t think felt right given how he was dressed.
“What form would this take?” the magistrate hedged.
“The wizard and his spirit would join some of the city’s wizards for training, and when the next devil wave comes, they will fight for the city. Some training and a service for the community should work to repair the damage they’ve done and to prevent it in the future.” The wizard pulled back his hood, allowing Dar to finally get a good look at him.
The wizard was pale with messy hair in desperate need of either being lopped off or painfully disentangled. His face held forgotten stubble and his clothes looked slept in.
Dar was used to the most powerful people being well dressed and groomed, but this ragged man seemed to have the greatest respect in the room.
The magistrate nodded slowly. “It does make sense that he’s a new wizard and could use some coaching.” He looked between Dar and the wizard.
“Does this satisfy you two?” The wizard redirected his gaze to the two men that had tried to take Cherry’s tree.
“Of course.” They both nodded happily, seeming eager to do the wizard’s will.
Dar sighed. The whole thing felt contrived with the purpose of bringing him to be trained. Was this just how they forced people into the fold, or had he just been an accidental target?
“Really, you just need to learn how to work with your spirit. We can help you with that. Let me show you an example.” The wizard turned back to the other lump of cloak that was his spirit. “Come stand in front of the two gentlemen, spirit.”
The spirit with bright purple hair, apparently not even given a name, walked forward to the two thieves. “Yes, Golum.”
“Spirit, I want you to stand there and let them take your token,” the Wizard Golum commanded.
Both thieves stepped forward confidently, taking a silver medallion off the spirit and hoisting it away from the spirit with his lips only twitching.
“Sit,” Golum commanded.
The spirit sat like a dog though he looked bored.
“Go ahead. Do anything you want to him; he won’t even flinch. I’ve trained him quite well. Found him when he was just a fresh spirit,” Golum said with a clinical edge as if he was talking about training a dog.
“No thanks. I’ve seen enough of this circus.” Dar was done here.
The lips of several of the men in the room twitched at Dar's reply.
The wizard’s eyes narrowed. “You need more help than I originally thought. I do hope you learn a thing or two during your training. Meet me tomorrow, noon, outside the courthouse. We’ll make sure that the magistrate is aware of your training.”
At his cue, the magistrate knocked firmly with his gavel. “Wizard Darius, you’ve been sentenced to being trained in how to manage your spirit. Training will end when the court believes you’ve reached proficiency. Until then, do not travel the streets with your spirit. You are also sentenced to service as part of the city’s militia in the event of an attack.” He smacked his gavel with a finality.
The wizard grinned across the room at Dar in a way that twisted knots in his stomach.
The two thieves looked satisfied, sharing expectant looks between them. Dar had a feeling they had a nice payday coming for this. They may not have targeted him specifically, but they knew what they were doing with the cart. This was all part of some bigger scheme.
Beyond the point of frustration, Dar looked to Cherry, who was still staring at him innocently. He already knew that he wouldn’t treat her like the other wizard wanted. That was a line he wasn’t willing to cross. But that meant they needed to find a way to stall or fake this. He couldn’t see another way through it, but he hoped Cherry had some ideas.
Shaking his head, he took Cherry by the hand and stepped out of the courtroom feeling the weight of the wizard’s glare on his back.
Chapter 20
Now that he had a frame of reference for a wizard, Dar re-scanned the area around the courthouse as he and Cherry left the building. He spotted a number of them lingering around the courthouse, and each and every one of them had a dull looking spirit or demon at their side.
“Come on.” He pulled Cherry along, desperately wanting to get out of there. The place disgusted him.
“Cherry?” she offered Dar more of the fruit, but her face didn’t hold the fake, innocent cheer.
She was old, and he knew she would have had experience with things worse than what they’d been through. But it didn’t stop her from still feeling pain at watching somebody that looked like her be beaten down and take it.
He wanted to talk to her, but they weren’t somewhere they could have that conversation. And he wasn’t supposed to walk around with her. So that left them Margret’s manor.
He squeezed Cherry’s hand’s tight and took one of the fruits. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. We’ll figure this out.”
Cherry nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. She relaxed slightly, but he could tell she was still on edge.
Dar wanted to flip this all upside down on its head, but he’d burn his relationship with the city in the process. At least, right now he needed the city to build himself up to fight the devils. That notion was losing ground though as he walked away from the magistrates feeling there was more twisted politics in Bellhaven than he wanted to get involved in.
Cherry made a small noise, and he realized that he had been squeezing her hand during his thoughts. Releasing it with an apologetic look, he took a closer look at Cherry, realizing that it was more than just wanting to protect her. He cared for her, and as more than just a friend. It wasn’t where he and Sasha were, but there was something in her that called to him.
She looked up at him, clearly curious what was on his mind. Her small button nose and large eyes made her look so innocent, but there was a wisdom in her eyes that promised so much more depth. All of that mixed with her vibrant green hair and bright red inviting lips made her look utterly exotic.
“You’re staring,” she said with a quirk of her lips.
Dar focused back on where they were going, kicking himself for getting so distracted. For all he knew, there could be another ‘incident’ set up for him if he was careless. Keeping Cherry safe was the immediate priority.
They walked back to the manor in companionable silence. When they stepped through the gates and Cherry saw her tree, she leapt forward and hugged the tree.
Sasha looked a bit miffed at Cherry, who had completely ignored her, not muttering a word of thanks.
Walking up to Sasha, Dar wrapped his arms around the soft witch and kissed the top of her head.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Not great, if I’m honest. I’m glad you stayed back.” He held her at arm’s length and searched her expression. She was concerned.
Sitting down, he started going through the events at the courthouse and how he believed the whole ordeal was manufactured, though not targeting them. It seemed like they had been targeting the inn, or at least that was his best guess based on the events.
Pausing, he dug into the
part that had bothered him the most in the entire thing. “Is that what wizards normally do to those that bind themselves to a wizard? They make them become nothing more than pets?”
“Dar, we aren’t human. If I hadn’t spent so much time with them and Cherry wasn’t so old, it would be very obvious we don’t think like humans.” Sasha turned to look at Cherry, and Dar's eyes followed.
Cherry was carefully inspecting her tree and pruning a few of the branches that had decided to grow awkwardly. “Huh?”
“That spirit. Have you seen something like that before?” he asked.
The dryad started to shake her head and hesitated. “Yes, but not often. He got the spirit young and tied it up with dozens of oaths, then conditioned them to be like that. They are fresh into the world like hapless children, very easy to mold.”
“They didn’t look like they’d been physically abused.” Dar scratched his chin, remembering the spirit. It had looked frail, but healthy. It hadn’t flinched like it was used to being hit.
“Wait. That wizard wants you to do the same to Cherry?!” Sasha exclaimed.
Nodding, he grimaced at the thought. “I can’t figure out how to play this. Apparently, my sentence won’t be over until they decide I’m sufficiently trained, but there’s no way I’m ever doing that to Cherry. I took an oath as well, and I meant it.”
He looked to Cherry, locking eyes with her and making sure she could see the meaning in his words. “We need to fake it or something for the time being. I don’t know if we can just cut free from the town before tomorrow.”
She matched his look of distaste. “We could always try and avoid them.”
“That would just play into their hands more. I have a feeling it would only take a few days before we were arrested again and they’d escalate everything, maybe even try to take you from me. Right now, they seem more interested in having us fight devils.”
Both girls nodded at that.
“It seems they are having more problems with devils recently,” Sasha added. “And if that’s the case, then you are worth more to them fighting than you are barred or executed.”
“Gee, that makes me feel good,” Dar sighed.
Sasha shrugged. “You’d be dead if they wanted it. They’re unlikely to waste time locking either of you up. Neither of you have connections in the town that would make much noise.”
“Right. Okay. So, what do we do now?” Dar said it more to himself, trying to puzzle through this mess. The city was becoming less appealing by the minute while the idea of untamed wilderness was growing on him.
Even if he faked his way through working with the wizard, he’d either have to keep up the act indefinitely, or he’d have to leave. And it was only a matter of time until they’d ask him to do something that would give up the farce.
He considered another town, but that meant another trek like what they’d just done, although likely even further since this was the closest town. He also had no reason to think it would be any different in those towns.
He ground his palm into his face.
“It’s okay, Dar.” Sasha laid a hand on his arm. “We’ll figure this out with Cherry.”
“It isn’t just Cherry. Given what they are trying, you’ll be a target sooner or later. And I can’t just sit around here and watch what they are doing to you and others like you. I have a feeling this place is going to get really unwelcoming, really fast.”
“Then what do you want to do? I’ll follow,” Sasha said, firmly sitting down on Cherry’s cart and watching him.
He nodded, shocked at the complete faith she put in him as the head of their little household. She trusted him to lead.
Thinking back, for his entire life, he had fought for the little guy, the vulnerable and picked on. Now he may have an opportunity to do something about it, and he certainly wasn’t going to use all his energy protecting these assholes.
Breathing out, he considered his options. “How hard would it be to head to another city in this territory?”
“Without all of the villagers to slow us down… a month to make it to the next major city. But based on what we’ve seen, the countryside is getting more dangerous by the minute. There may not be towns to stop over in.”
“That was about what I was expecting… Are there any towns that are spirit-friendly?” he asked.
Both girls gave him an odd look. “What do you mean by spirit-friendly?” Cherry asked.
“You know, a place where you aren’t stuffed into the inn at the edge of the slums or where you are treated better. A place where they’re as accepting as that inn was when we had first walked in.”
They looked at each other and shrugged. “It has been better outside the city.”
“Are there any cities run by spirits?” he asked.
Cherry snorted, stopping herself from laughing when he glared. “That’s just funny. Before humans, we often lived in the woods, or caves. Humans are the ones that started building cities and towns. The ancient races never congregated like this, sure maybe small tribes, but they only built what they needed and left well enough alone.”
“Okay, so... what if we built one? A town, maybe one day a city that spirits and demons ran.” He smiled, starting to get excited at the idea forming in the back of his head.
Cherry looked down at the ground thoughtfully. “Huh, have spirits build a town? I suppose it could work. It would be nice to have our own place.”
Dar nodded encouragingly. “We can build it. Your dao of wood would make many simple things a lot easier. I’m sure we could find more than a few other spirits interested in joining us!”
“But Dar, we’d need all sorts of craftsmen,” Sasha suggested slowly, clearly not wanting to dampen his excitement, just brainstorming. Her eyes held a clear glint of hope even as she said it.
Dar was already nodding. “We’ll gather some of them before we leave. With all the towns that ended up here recently, there has to be an abundance of craftsmen looking for some space. And I can do a wide array of jobs.” His head started whirling with thoughts and ideas. “If we brought a number of them, we might even be able to do a lot of enchanting, make things easier.”
Cherry nodded along with him, but he could tell she still had reservations. Once he asked, she explained her concern. “We’ll still end up in some human’s domain, which means they are going to try and exert pressure. Then there’s the White or another celestial demon that we’d have to answer to.”
Dar dipped his head thinking about that. “If we could get this started, can we go to the White like one of the city’s would, and ask for her blessing and an enchantment?”
“Yes, I guess there would be nothing stopping us,” Cherry said thoughtfully. “But it still doesn’t stop a human city from trying to exert themselves on us. We’d be easy targets at first.”
“If the devils are causing as much trouble as they seem to be, then we’d have time to establish ourselves, make fortifications. Taking their forces away from the city would weaken them too much if an attack came.” He didn’t know that for sure, but he thought it was a real likelihood.
“We’ll need lists of what we are going to need,” Cherry said, cracking a smile. “You always were an optimist. The spark that ignited waves of flame.”
The way Cherry said it covered him in goosebumps. He was reminded of all the weight that Lilith had placed on his shoulders, and instead of inspiring him, it made him start to second guess himself.
They had come to the town to gather resources and gain the strength to fight the demons, but he just didn’t see a way for him to grow in the current environment. He’d spend all his time in a lie that made him sick to his stomach.
“You’re questioning yourself, aren’t you?” Sasha broke his thoughts. “Your brow always pinches like this when you do.” She used her fingers and pushed a wrinkle in her forehead.
“He does, doesn’t he?” Cherry grinned.
“Are we running away from a problem? If I’m to fight the devils, shoul
d I stay here and work with the city?” he asked.
Cherry paused thoughtfully. “Sometimes you have to throw out a ruined meal and start again. If you put rotten vegetables in a stew, you just can’t fix it. I think… no. I know that what they did to that spirit is a rotten vegetable. Dar, if you are right and they are trying to catch the rest of the spirits and do the same to them, this city is beyond saving.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right. We’ll do it better.”
“We’ll do it as a family.” Sasha laid her hand on his. Cherry put hers on top and gave Dar a look that dared him to not include her as part of his growing family.
He smiled back. “As a family.”
Sasha clapped her hands, already shifting into planning mode. “Okay, so first we need to find Marcie’s parents. Her father is a blacksmith.”
Dar nodded. “I met him, and he seems like a good man.”
Cherry looked confused. “I thought this was a community for non-humans.”
“No, this is a community built by everyone, but a safe place for those that walk the dao.” He looked between the two, making sure they understood what he was saying. When they agreed, he sighed internally.
Then he braced for what he knew would be a more contentious discussion. “Cherry will need to stay here while we go around and do some recruiting.”
“Like hell I am.” She crossed her arms and pouted.
“You remember what the magistrate said, you are banned from walking the city till you are ‘trained’.” He air quoted that last word. Even saying the word in the context of her being a mindless drone made him uncomfortable.
“I’ll be fine.” Cherry waved away his concern.
“What about your tree?” he asked, looking at the unwieldy thing. He did not want to cart it around, especially since it was now an easy target for anybody looking to punish them.
She glared at the thing like it was an anchor and took a deep breath. “Let’s move it somewhere safe for now.”
