by Jack Porter
When the bucket hit resistance with a distant splash, I almost cried in relief. It became heavy as it filled with water, and then I tugged it back up, hand over hand, my bruised body trembling with the effort.
The liquid in the bucket shimmered dully in the red ambient light, and I realized that the sky was lighter. Morning must be coming. Quickly, I tipped the vessel to my lips, and the first taste of cold water was the most delicious one I’d ever had. It chilled me to the bone, and I felt it slide all the way down my esophagus.
Feeling greedy, I dumped some over my hot head, desperate for relief from the dry heat.
And then, the water turned thick in my mouth, and now tasted coppery. Disgusted, I spit it out onto the ground.
It had turned red, too, like blood. And it wasn’t from my split lip, which was still swollen but not bleeding.
Blood. I had drunk blood, was dripping with it.
This really must be some sort of Hell, for where else would cold water turn to blood?
Stomach roiling, I heaved, and the liquid came up red blood, too, leaving more of that vile taste in my mouth. I wanted to wash it out, but there was nothing to do it with. My shit-covered tunic was now also covered in blood, with not a clean patch on it.
Throwing down the bucket, I fell onto the dirt, rolling around in it to get the stink and the filth off.
It only helped a little, but as I sat up to look at myself, an arrow sank into the ground between my legs with a terrifying thwump.
5
Scrambling backward, I saw the stable woman running toward me from the barn, nocking another arrow onto her string. The red hair flowing about her face added to the impression of a wild woman.
“You just tried to castrate me!” I yelled, furious. My voice came out all parched and raspy, and a bit higher than I would have liked.
“I missed,” she called. “Won’t happen again.”
Jumping to my feet, I watched her sight and aim. Then she loosed another arrow at me, and I dove to the side, landing in a roll before getting to my feet once more. As I ran to the fence, I heard her curse, and a glance back showed her grab the arrow out of the ground for another shot. She didn’t have enough arrows to keep shooting.
I leaped for the fence, climbing it for all I was worth, grateful for my time spent rock-climbing and the muscle memory that came with it. Another arrow whistled past my ear as I jumped down the other side.
Except instead of climbing down on the side of the road, I had exited the paddock on the wrong side of the yard and somehow pinned myself between it and the house.
“Shit,” I whispered, looking around for something to defend myself with. There was no exit here except back through the paddock, giving the crazy bitch with the bow another excellent shot at me. She didn’t seem to be a good archer, but I didn’t want to take my chances that she would accidentally hit me.
Seeing a rope coiled on a peg on the fence, I ran for it and grabbed it just as the stable woman rounded the corner and nocked another arrow. I threw the end of the rope at her, hoping to throw off her aim. But she had already loosed the arrow. The coil of rope caught it and stopped it mid-flight. I couldn’t believe my luck, and she didn’t seem to have another one on her.
For a moment, we watched the arrow fall to the ground between us. Then, at the same time, we lunged for it. I couldn’t do anything with it except stop her from shooting me, but it was better than her getting hold of it.
We reached it together, her fingernails scrabbling on the back of my hand as my fingers closed over the arrow a split second before hers. Out of reflex, I elbowed her in the face. She took the hit like a champ and lashed back at me. Grabbing her arms, I forced her back but dropped the arrow in our scuffle. She kicked and tried to bite me, and damn, she was strong, but I finally used my bigger body to my advantage and forced her down to the ground.
And then I sat on her stomach, holding her arms down with my knees. If she’d been a man, I would have kicked her ass just like I had that man at the bar last night.
But she was a woman, and although I’d already hit her once, I didn’t plan on doing it again.
“Get off of me, man!” she yelled, her breasts heaving up and down from her effort.
“Shut up!” I hissed.
“You’ll pay for this.”
“I just wanted water,” I croaked. In the barn, I had thought the stable woman’s scars made her ugly. But up close, they added a kind of allure and charm. A tribute to the grit that resided inside as well as out, I supposed.
To my surprise, she laughed. “Only a fool drinks water directly from the well without sanctifying it first.”
“I guess I’m a fool then. I didn’t know.”
She shoved my leg, trying to make me move, but I wasn’t going to budge. I believed her earlier about that dagger and my tongue. “So how do I sanctify the water?” I asked.
“Like I’d tell you!” she said as she continued struggling.
“Then we have a problem because I’m not going to get up until you tell me what I want to know.”
She scoffed. “You stink like horse shit. Why were you rolling around in my stable, anyway?”
“Someone dumped me there after they threw me in the river.”
She stopped struggling. “What river?”
“The Hudson, I think, but there’s no telling at this point. It was a large body of water.”
“There’s no river in Hell,” she said with a suspicious look at me. “At least, not one you could have been brought from. It’s at least a thousand leagues away.”
“Well, then how did I end up in your barn? I distinctly remember being beaten up and dumped in the river.”
She made an odd noise in her throat as if she was gagging. “Small wonder.”
“Are you going to help me or not?” I asked, feeling irritable and impatient. And still so damn thirsty.
“What I should do is have you hauled before the High Priestess’ Council and have your tongue cut out and fed to—”
“—your pigs. I remember. What’s your name?”
“Sarina. And yours, man?”
“Jon. Are you going to give me water?”
Her eyes narrowed into slits. “I will never yield.”
I sighed. “Then we’ll be here a very long time.”
“You don’t mean it. You can’t stay here forever.”
“I bet I’m more comfortable than you. Although you’re a bit bony, Sarina.”
“I am a stable maiden to the High Priestess, not meant to be soft but strong and able to fight.”
“I believe you. You fight like a man. Take a hit like one, too. By the way, I don’t usually go around hitting women.”
At this, Sarina wrinkled her nose as if I’d insulted her. “And why not?”
“Because they’re the weaker sex and all that.”
Her nostrils flared. “Who has been telling these lies?”
“Shit, don’t get upset again. It’s just an old-fashioned expression. I shouldn’t have said it. I don’t think that way, really, but when it comes to fighting, my only experience is with men. I guess you could say I meant it as a compliment.”
“Men are the weaker sex,” she insisted. “Everyone knows it.”
“Okay. Again, my apologies.” It didn’t make sense for me to apologize while I was literally sitting on top of her, so I said, “Listen, Sarina, I’m going to get up, and I’m going to take that arrow with me. We don’t have to be friends, but I’d like it very much if you didn’t skewer me or feed my tongue to the pigs or any other such violence.”
Sarina struggled a bit more, but her face was turning a little blue. Finally, she said, “I don’t make any promises. Why don’t you kill me already?”
6
“I definitely don’t want to kill you. And I don’t want you to kill me, either.” I reached over to pick up the arrow, taking a firm grasp on it before standing to my feet. Sarina stood quickly, propelling herself off the ground like a racehorse out of the ga
te. Thinking that she’d spotted another weapon, I glanced around frantically, but all she did was back away out of arm’s reach. Then, she leaned over, her hands on her knees, her eyes still on me while she caught her breath.
“Water?” I asked.
She nodded toward the stone house. “There, in a pail beside the door.”
I hurried to it, barely able to keep my eyes on her while I scooped water into one hand. It tasted terrible, like it had been mixed with dirt. But I scooped more and more until it dribbled down my chin and ran into my tunic, and thankfully, it never turned to blood. The entire time, Sarina stood watching me with a smirk on her face.
Finally, after some minutes, my thirst was somewhat quenched, and I sank onto the step in relief with the arrow still clutched in my right hand. The sky had lightened considerably, and the stable and surrounding houses were visible without a lantern. Sarina walked cautiously up to the door, still wearing that knowing smile.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“That was the water I washed with last night.”
She laughed softly, but I didn’t care. Not really. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t care if it was her toilet water, as long as it had gotten rid of that terrible burning in the back of my throat.
“I could use a bath,” I said.
“You could,” she agreed, “but not here.”
“Where can I get one?”
Sarina shrugged. “You shouldn’t worry about it. A man like you will be dead by the end of the day.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.”
“We do not take kindly to strangers or trespassers. Especially those who stink like shit and piss and blood. If the townspeople don’t take offense and kill you, the wild beasts will when we throw you out.”
“Then why don’t you just kill me now?” I asked, holding my arms out. I didn’t actually mean it, but the thought occurred to me that if I was already dead, it couldn’t get any worse, could it?
Sarina scowled. “Do not mock me. If I spare your life now, it is only because the goddess allows it.”
“Okay.” Uncertain what to say from here, I asked, “When is dawn?”
“It happened while you were sitting on me.”
I smirked, unable to help myself. “That sounds like we were doing something naughty.”
She looked puzzled. “Naughty like a child? Why is that funny?”
“I…” I began, then shook my head. “Never mind.”
Sarina leaned over and plucked the arrow out of my hand. “This is as much light as you’ll get. Now, I’m going to find my bow, and by the time I nock this arrow, you better be gone, or I really will kill you.”
I stood. “You missed before.”
Sarina laughed. “I was playing with you before. Been a while since I had a good laugh. But you’re too smelly for anything else, so now that you’ve amused me, I suggest you get out of town. You have until I count to three. One.”
“I guess the goddess is done playing with me too, then?” I asked, feeling irritated once again. I should have kept sitting on her.
Sarina backed away, scanning the ground for her bow. Seeing it lying near a fence post, she made her way toward it. “Two,” she said.
Seeing that I’d outstayed my welcome, I jogged back to the fence and climbed over it, wincing at the pain in my bruised and battered body. I could have tried to force my way through her house, but something about the confidence with which she had picked up the bow told me that she hadn’t been lying about the way she could handle it.
“Three,” she called.
I launched myself over the second paddock fence and darted behind the stable. The zing of a bowstring and the thump of an arrow told me she had missed again. I didn’t wait for her to try once more and ran away from the stable.
Sarina laughed, and I heard it all the way down the street.
7
This strange land unnerved me. If only I hadn’t offended Sarina right away, maybe I could have had an ally.
Asshole—that’s what I was.
Sighing, I walked down the road in the opposite direction of the mountains. The sky was still a deep red in that direction, and the rocky crags were black. Not a place I wanted to go without food, water, or knowledge.
The thirst returned, and as the first people began walking down the road in the light of day, I realized I was in deep, deep shit. Sarina hadn’t been lying. Every look the villagers gave me was one of distrust. No one nodded. Most frowned even when I walked on the opposite side of the narrow road.
I had no water, no food, no shelter, and no fucking clue where I was. I thought about going back to Sarina and begging, but I was too proud for that, even then, so I kept walking, hoping to find an opportunity to do something, anything.
My head still ached, my ribs throbbed, and I was covered in blood and feces. No wonder people stared and looked away. I really needed to find an inn or somewhere to bathe. This village should have something, right? There would be travelers here.
Or would there? If I were traveling, I don’t know that a place called Hell would be first on my list.
Then again, maybe it would. I smiled wryly. It sounded exactly like somewhere I would visit just for the hell of it.
Bad puns aside, I was getting nowhere fast and had no plan.
I passed a couple of signs, but they were written in a language I didn’t know, furthering my suspicion that I was possibly dreaming the worst nightmare anyone had ever dreamed.
Or maybe I was in a coma.
No way was I in Hell.
I mean, I’d gotten into a few fights, lied a few times, but throughout my life, I’d been a decent guy, hadn’t I?
I did notice something interesting as I passed other people. The women often rode horses, and many of them wore armor like Sarina or even better. Not too out of place, considering the location, I suppose, but what really gave me pause were the men. They were often dressed like peasants or in fine clothes that weren’t meant for fighting. And, when a man and a woman walked together, the man always walked a step or so behind the woman, following her lead.
It was… a bit unsettling, but I couldn’t decide what about it bothered me.
Shrugging it off, I decided that I would never find an inn unless I asked. Already, I had found the edge of town. A stone wall surrounded the village, but the gates stood open for anyone to come and go as they wished. Sarina had mentioned wild beasts. Was the wall to keep them out? Or raiders? Or something else? Also, what good was the wall if the gates were left open?
I watched passersby for a minute before approaching a man walking beside a woman riding a horse. He wore a plain tunic and trousers like me.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m looking for the nearest inn or hostel.”
He looked at me as if afraid. The woman turned her horse so that it bumped into me, and I staggered to the side.
“I do the talking in this family,” she said. “What do you want?”
“Umm…” I obviously didn’t know the correct thing to say in a social situation like this, so I took a step back from them and looked at the woman instead of the man. “I’m looking for a place to get a bath and a meal.”
She laughed, and the man grinned as if they were in on some private joke.
“The nearest inn is twenty leagues away in the next village,” the woman said, still smiling unpleasantly. “You’ll never make it on foot.”
“Why not?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how far a league was, but I thought I could make twenty if I didn’t die of thirst on the way.
“Because the slavers would snatch you up before you got a league out of town,” the woman answered. “The only way to avoid them is on horseback, and even then, your chances are slim.”
“Don’t forget the wild beasts,” the man added helpfully. He exchanged another flirty look with the woman.
“Slavers? Who are they?” I asked.
“How did you get here if not by horse?” the woman asked, her eyes narrowing. Her h
orse pranced and tossed its head as if sensing its mistress’ sudden mistrust.
I held up my hands to show I wasn’t armed. “It’s a long story, but I was kidnapped and dumped here.”
The man laughed and addressed the woman. “Even the slavers didn’t want him. It’s because he stinks like shit.”
She smiled but didn’t take her eyes off me. “Yes, my love. But I don’t know why not.” Her gaze was scrutinizing, taking in my tall nature and solid build. “What is your trade?”
“I’m a computer programmer,” I said. “Or I was. I don’t see much technology around here.”
She frowned. “Are you insulting me with nonsense?”
Her horse’s ears perked up, and her hand went to the sword at her hip.
“Easy,” I said. “No nonsense. I’m not sure what happened. Like I said, I was kidnapped. I came from a different place.”
Her face darkened further. “From the mountain? Only wraiths come from the mountain.”
I shook my head. “Not from the mountain. From another city entirely. Another world, even. And I don’t know anything about wraiths.”
She was silent a moment, then, “From the world beyond the portal? The realm of men?”
My heart beat a little faster. “There’s a portal? Where?”
“If you came from the portal,” she explained as though talking to a small child, “then you also journeyed through the Wraith King’s territory, through the Black Mountains. And if you came out alive, then you are no friend to us.” She drew her sword, which sang softly as it was unsheathed. The man moved around to the other side of the horse.
Seeing that once again I had out-stayed my welcome, I backed away, right out of the open gates, which opened onto a plain of dust and dry fields. Glancing around, I saw that there were no more people around. More ash floated through the air.
I had nowhere to hide.
“Wait,” I said, thinking of how to get out of this one. “I swear I’m no enemy. I just don’t know anything about this place.” By this time, I had put some distance between myself and the woman, whose countenance had grown dark and fierce.
