"You could say that ... Where I come from, those things don't exist," Katie remarked.
He motioned for Edward and Katie to take a seat on the fur in front of the fireplace before he sat down in the aging chair beside it. Taking a deep breath, like he was about to tell a story, he pulled out a pipe and began to fill it with something he kept in his pocket. "I believe that for every living, breathing animal in the world, there is a mechanical one that looks almost identical." Pausing, he replaced the pouch in his pocket and withdrew a slim, silver object that looked Katie like some sort of futuristic lighter. As he rotated the object in his hand until it was vertical, the bottom tip began to glow a fierce shade of red. Touching it to the tobacco-like stuff he had packed in his pipe, a puff of smoke immediately rose in the air. Curiously tilting her head, Katie watched as he turned the object so that it was horizontal and the glowing tip went dark. That is so cool! Absently, he reached over and tapped the strange lighter on the edge of the fireplace to knock off the charred bits of tobacco before replacing it in his pocket.
Taking a long drag from his pipe, he exhaled a plume of the sweet smelling smoke. With a thin smile on his face, he picked up his story where he had left off. "For every type of living animal I have seen in my years, I have also seen at least one that looked like the same critter, only in mechanical form. Most of them seem pretty much harmless, but there are some I wouldn't dare get close to. For whatever reason, the mechanized versions always seem to be significantly larger than the flesh bearing ones." Leaning forward, his voice a conspiratorial whisper, he stated, "I've heard rumors, too. Somewhere deep underground, there is a place where people are enslaved and forced to build these creatures. Or, so I have heard."
"Why in the world would anyone want to create such things?" Katie frowned.
"Young lady ... I couldn't begin to tell you that. The only thing I know for certain is that these mechanical creatures seem to be much more intelligent than their flesh and blood counterparts. I dare say, I get the impression that they are designed with evil intentions. I've never seen more than one of them at a time, but the ones I have come across seem to stare at you, as if somewhere inside its head it is calculating if you are a threat to it or not. Let me just say this. Seeing one of those things by itself would cause me to hesitate until it went on its way, but if there were more than one ... I think I would be afraid of my life coming to a screeching halt. Especially after hearing your tale of the rats you've encountered."
"I'm surprised that I've never heard a story like this before," Edward admitted. "I have lived my entire life in the city of Elysia, and it wasn't until just recently that the first of these foul creatures was spotted there."
"I apologize if I have frightened you folks with my tale, but it seemed necessary to tell after hearing what you've been through," the man said remorsefully.
"Think nothing of it, my good man. It is far better to be informed of potential hazards, than to blindly blunder into a situation like we did just hours ago," Edward confessed.
"True," he admitted. "Perhaps we could change the subject now? Would you fine folks honor my home and stay for a meal before you move on?"
"That is a generous offer, my friend. I would not dare to even think of dishonoring such a gracious gesture," Edward stated.
"It's not much, but there are some furs in the corner over there. You could spread them out and get some rest while I prepare the meal," he said, smiling and pointing to the jumbled heap of furs.
"That sounds like a splendid idea. Thank you, sir." Nodding in appreciation, Edward rose from his seat by the fireplace and crossed the room. A few minutes later, he had turned the stack of furs into the tidy-looking semblance of a bed. Both he and Katie reclined on their backs. Though their minds were still reeling from the old man's story, they quickly dozed off.
Before she knew it, the aroma permeating the small dwelling caused her stomach to rumble. Katie swiftly ascended to consciousness and her belly protested loudly, as if she hadn't eaten in a week. "That smells really good!" Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat up.
Hearing her voice, Edward sat up with a startled, groggy expression on his face and glanced her way. "What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, silly." She laughed. "I just woke up positively ravenous from the smell of the food cooking."
"Oh, okay. I must have been dreaming. I could have sworn I heard you calling for help."
"Nope ... that part was definitely a dream."
"Ah, you folks are awake," the old man remarked, hearing their voices and glancing over his shoulder at them. "I hope you are hungry." Smiling, he turned his attention back to the pot on the stove.
"I'm so hungry I could eat a—" Katie stopped herself from finishing. Tears began to leak from her eyes as she realized that she had been about to say 'horse'.
"Eat a what? Hey, what's with the water works?" Edward reached over and gently brushed the tears from her cheeks.
"Never mind. I need to find a new expression," she replied sadly.
Standing by the stove, the old man dipped his ladle into the pot and started to fill three, good-sized wooden bowls. Placing each on the nearby table, he turned to them and smiled. "Come and get it while it's still hot."
Rising to his feet, Edward helped Katie up from the floor and they crossed the room, where each of them grabbed a bowl from the table. The old man took his and sat down in his rocker, while Katie and Edward took their food back to where they sat earlier by the fireplace. The aroma from the rising steam in their bowls smelled so good, they didn't bother with testing the taste to see if they would like it. Shoveling a large spoonful into her mouth, Katie's cheeks puffed out like a squirrel with a prized nut. Seeing this, Edward nearly spit the food in his mouth all over her as he suppressed a laugh.
Quickly, he swallowed the remaining food in his mouth before it ended up in Katie's lap, absently wiping his chin on his sleeve. "This is rather tasty! What is it?"
"A little of this and a little of that." The old man chuckled. "Mostly stuff from my garden, but I added some venison to it that I brought back from Haven."
Still chewing an enormous mouthful of food, Katie gave him the thumbs up of approval.
"I'm glad you folks like it. I also prepared a small gift for your travels."
"You didn't need to do that," Edward protested.
"Nonsense! It was the least I could do to thank you for the pleasant company. It's only a small sack of vegetables from my garden, but I thought it would help. Food is pretty scarce between here and Haven."
Emptying their bowls, Katie and Edward rose and headed toward the front door, intending to rinse them in the nearby stream.
"Where are you folks going with those?"
"I was going to clean them before we head out," Edward replied.
"It's a nice gesture and all, but I'll take care of them in a bit. Just set them on the table, please."
"It is the least we can do to show how much we appreciate your hospitality," Edward insisted.
Giving up, the old man waved them off. After rinsing their bowls they returned to the house, meeting the man at the door. "Safe journey to you both," he stated solemnly, exchanging his sack of goods for the bowls in their hands.
"May you live long and harvest endless bounties." Edward bowed respectfully before turning to the north, deciding they would follow the wheel ruts of the old man's cart for the time being.
Chapter 35
Now that the moons of Desolace were near their peak in the sky, George found his travel through the woods much easier. By no means was the forest dense, which allowed sufficient light to filter through the foliage for him to confidently navigate his steed. The earlier breeze was almost nonexistent now, feeling more like sporadic puffs of breath. The scent of smoke still lingered in the air, the odor becoming stronger with each step of his mechanical companion.
Breaking through the edge of the forest an hour later, he saw a small town nestled in the valley, slightly downhill from his
position. A mountain range loomed in the background, dominating the horizon from one side to the other. In the town below, twinkles of light shined from some of the houses. Judging by the size and inconsistent flicker of their luminescence, George guessed that they were likely lanterns or candles set close to the windows. As late as it was, he thought most of the town's residents would be fast asleep.
Calculating the distance from where he sat to the slumbering city below, he figured it would take him a half an hour to get there on foot. It should give me plenty of time to use the cover of darkness and do what I need to. As George dismounted the horse he gave it a quick pat on the neck, forgetting for a moment that the beast was a machine. In the near silence of the night, a sudden whirring noise erupted behind him. At first he had dismissed the sound, thinking it was more of the lawnmower-like creatures he had seen earlier, but as the commotion abruptly ended he turned his attention from the town. Taking a step backward in shock, George saw that the chest of his steed had opened, revealing a hollow cavity almost big enough to crawl into. After waiting for a few tense seconds, as if something would spring from the hole, he hesitantly stuck his hand inside the opening.
As he felt around, George began to pull different objects from within the cavity. Inspecting the items in the moonlight, he saw that there was a long coil of rope, which appeared to be fifty to one hundred feet long, some thick pieces of cloth, several pairs of leather cuffs, and a generous supply of what could only be described as leather dog collars. Spreading the bounty on the ground before him, he smiled. Everything I need to drag a small harem around behind me. The Black Knight sure knows how to make a guy happy.
Better supplied than he could have hoped for, George picked up a piece of cloth and a pair of the cuffs. Strolling down the hill to see what the town had to offer, he surveyed his surroundings. When he reached the bottom of the slope the tall grass began to taper off, becoming a mixture of soft dirt and clumps of weedy vegetation. Small herds of animals milled around aimlessly. To his right there were two distinct groups: one of pigs, and the other sheep. To his left, a large herd of cows appeared to be sleeping. For a few brief moments, George considered tipping one over, but dismissed the idea. No sense in taking a chance of alerting anyone to my presence for something so immature.
Walking amongst the dwellings of the town's inhabitants, he heard the sound of a door creaking open. Stopping in his tracks, George knelt down near the back of a house to make himself less visible. After a couple of seconds, he saw someone strolling from the rear of their home toward a secondary structure resembling an outhouse. From his current distance he couldn't tell if the person was male or female. What he saw of the individual's clothing didn't help, either. It looked to be a gown or a robe they were wearing, the light color of which made it glaringly white in the moonlight.
Once the figure disappeared inside the structure, George moved quietly toward it. Crouching down beside the outhouse, he listened for any indication that the person inside may have heard him. He didn't have to wait for very long for the individual to come out. The door swung open after a minute and a dark-haired woman stepped out, casually returning to her house. Springing from the shadows, George locked his right arm around her throat, clamping his left hand over her mouth simultaneously. Depleted of oxygen, the woman was quickly rendered unconscious.
Securing her hands behind her back with the cuffs he had tucked into his belt, he wrapped the scrap of cloth firmly around her head and made sure it was well seated in her mouth. Bending down, he hefted her limp body onto his shoulder and headed back to where his horse stood waiting. It was hard to believe he had been this lucky. After all, he had only come down to scout out the town and instead was blessed with his first capture in this world.
Cresting the top of the incline, he lay the woman on the ground behind the horse and surveyed his remaining supplies. Picking up one of the collars, he tucked it into his belt and grabbed the long coil of rope. As he walked over to his steed, George spotted a large metal ring in its mechanical hide that he could feed one end of the rope into. After passing one end through the ring and tying it off with a slip knot, he placed the remainder of the coil on the ground next to the unconscious woman. Pulling the collar from his belt, he knelt down beside her and gently lifted her head off the grass, slipping the band of leather around her throat. Once it was securely fastened, he began the tedious process of feeding the rest of the rope through the ring on her collar, knotting it off with a tight square knot.
Glancing at the remaining length of rope lying on the ground, George surmised that he could probably lead close to a dozen people before he ran out of room. Providing, of course, the town below him could withstand such a dramatic loss of population before realizing something strange was going on. In order to pull it off, George figured he had two days at the most. Guards and patrols would be inevitable before long. Turning his gaze toward the sky, he noticed that one of the moons had disappeared behind the mountains and the other was just starting to touch them. It would be too risky to push my luck by going for another capture tonight. I'll wait until the sun is up and pretend I'm just a traveler looking for supplies. That way, I can properly scout the town while everyone is awake and see if there's anything to warrant further interest here.
Chapter 36
Once the sun went down, Amber reappeared and began to lead Edward and Katie away from the faint wheel ruts they had been following. If Edward's sense of direction was right, she was steering them toward the stream they had encountered near the shack earlier.
"I think we should keep heading toward Haven," Edward suggested, realizing they were no longer on the path. Without even a hint of hesitation, Amber continued to lead them further from the trail.
"Maybe she senses some sort of trouble ahead and is trying to keep us out of danger. I doubt she would lead us astray without a good reason," Katie stated.
"You're probably right." Edward sighed. "I just had my hopes up for getting to town soon. So many things have gone wrong on our trip and we can't rely on this sack of vegetables to get by. We need supplies. Losing my horse was bad enough, but I noticed we no longer have the bow I gave you, either. You must have set it down somewhere and forgotten to pick it back up. I can't fault you for that, though, because you weren't exactly used to carrying it around with you. I thought that when we reached Haven, we would have an opportunity to get another bow, and possibly a new horse. It would certainly make traveling easier."
"How the hell are we going to get another horse? It's not like either of us has any money to buy one, and I hardly think we could barter off vegetables for one."
"There is always a way," he replied confidently. "Most small towns have birds that are trained to carry messages. We could send word to the elders of Elysia, asking them to send a rider to Haven to pay whatever fee was necessary for the items we need."
Smacking herself in the forehead as if she were an idiot, Katie laughed. "Why didn't I think of that? Even though I agree with your reasoning for going to Haven, I think that following Amber is the more prudent choice right now. She's never steered me wrong as long as I've known her."
Sighing in frustration because he was somehow sure of Katie's reasoning, Edward continued walking in silence. After a short time, they emerged from the trees at the edge of the stream. Off in the distance, a mournful howl pierced the quiet of the night. It seemed to emanate from somewhere behind them, perhaps near Haven itself. Within moments, the single, lonely howl was answered by a chorus of others. Katie glanced nervously at Edward. The cacophony told her that there was likely a large pack of wolves on their trail, signaling one another to coordinate an attack.
Sensing danger, Amber began moving again. Skirting the stream, she led them further north to divert their course around the wolves. As Katie glanced across the moving waters on their trek she noticed that the once sloping hills on the other side were growing in size, evolving into the craggy start of a mountain range. The landscape was changing over there, too,
becoming more strewn with jagged boulders. Nervously, she gazed into the shadows on the opposite bank of the stream, half expecting some hidden beast to come rushing toward them.
A thin patch of clouds floated across the sky, temporarily blotting out the moonlight. In the distance, the wolves began their chorus again. This time, it seemed more like it was coming from their left, as if the pack were attempting to flank them. Maybe we'll be lucky and get around them unnoticed, Katie thought hopefully.
Carefully following Amber's glow through the darkness, the light of which provided barely enough illumination to keep them from tripping over ground debris, Edward and Katie stopped abruptly. With a spectral hand, Amber pointed at something on the opposite shore. Standing beside the ghost, they squinted to see what had caught her attention. As they were about to shrug their shoulders in frustration, the cloud cover shifted, allowing the unobscured moonlight to shine down on them. It took nearly a full minute for them to realize what Amber was pointing at. On the other side of the stream—twenty or thirty feet above them—was a large, dark shape, which appeared to be a cave. If indeed it was, Katie imagined that based on the size of the opening it would likely be the den of an enormous bear.
Floating across the stream, Amber waited on the opposite shore for them to make their way over. Hoping the water wasn't too deep, Edward glanced at Katie, raising his hands slightly and shrugging his shoulders, as if to say 'you only live once'. He loosened the cloth belt that held his robe closed and removed the garment. Standing in front of Katie, naked except for his boots, he watched her shield her eyes from his pasty white skin.
"I'm blind!" Striking a dramatic pose, Katie struggled to contain her laugher. "I see why your name is Edward the White!"
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