The Last Refuge

by L. A. Blackburn

  “Something follows us,” said Isha.

  For the past few hours, she had seen shapes moving in the shadows behind them. Elhan understood and motioned for silence.

  “Up ahead is a way station for travelers,” Elhan said. “I’ve maintained it for some time at no small cost.”

  Before long, they rode to a clearing outside a small hut and all were glad to see it. The guards quickly went to work gathering firewood and securing the area. One of them called for Elhan as he pointed to the ground around the hut, littered with bones both animal and human.

  “Giants?” asked the guard.

  The warden knelt down and picking up a bone, turned it over in his hands, looking closely at the markings on it.

  “I thought the accord after the last Giant War forbade them from eating people,” said Dodie.

  “It did,” said Elhan as he stood and tossed the bone from him. “These weren’t eaten by giants. We need to double the watch tonight.”

  The group gathered around the central clearing where Agabus held the glow-tome. In the center of the area, several stones gathered around the skeletal remains of two people and a horse.

  “Prowlers,” said Isha. “Only they can be this filthy.”

  After burying the remains, they started a fire and set posts around the camp.

  “Nathan,” Elhan said. “You have first watch.”

  He was actually glad since every time he went to sleep his nightmares returned. “Stay close to the warmth, but don’t stare directly at the fire, it robs you of night-sight.”

  “Do I need a weapon?” Nathan asked.

  Elhan smiled and after asking one of the guards for a dagger, handed it to Nathan.

  “That’s the business end,” chuckled Elhan, pointing to the blade-tip. “Don’t cut yourself.”

  Nathan took a sour expression as he snatched the knife from warden’s hand.

  “Is this all I get?” he asked, looking rather disappointed. Dodie sat nearby, polishing an apple he brought for a snack.

  “Be careful what you wish for lad,” chuckled Dodie admiring his apple.

  Isha moved to the center of the firelight, then, pointing to a nearby tree-stump, she drew a knife from her belt and then snatched the apple from Dodie’s fist. Throwing the apple at the stump with one hand, she immediately hurled the blade with the other, pinning the apple to the stump dead center in one fluid motion. This show of skill couldn’t help but astonish the guards and make them more than a little uneasy.

  “Never underestimate the size of the weapon,” she said, putting her face devilishly close to his and then swaggered off to tend to the horses.

  Nathan stood speechless as the portly Tractmaster sat for a moment staring in wonder at his skewered apple.

  “I’m glad she’s in our group,” Dodie said. “But I truly intended to eat that.”

  Suddenly, an outcropping of boulders caught Nathan’s attention and curiosity brought him closer for examination. He found massive carvings of incredible workmanship put in place by some method he couldn’t imagine. Each glyph had seamless perfection with sides as smooth as glass.

  “Marvelous aren’t they?” Isha said. She came to his side and put her hand on his shoulder.

  “Yes they are. I’ve seen something like them where I’m from, but nothing quite this remarkable,” he said.

  “Silly child tales say that many years ago a great people lived here. There were no forests then, only a large beautiful city. It is said that they were very wise in many ways but eventually quit the ways of their god and went their own way,” she said.

  “So where are they now?” he asked.

  “As the tale goes, their god gave them over to their own desire and they destroyed themselves,” she said. “It’s a pathetic story. I have heard that Elhan’s mother descended from the few that left the city to continue to follow their god and that the forest grew here as a warning to others.”

  Nathan saw the sadness in her eyes.

  “Do you believe it’s true?” Nathan asked.

  “I believe in this,” she said as she pulled a knife from her belt. “This keeps me safe.”

  “My people believe in God and so did my friend who was killed,” said Nathan.

  “What about you?” She asked.

  “Yes,” he hesitated. “Yes, I do.”

  “Why would your God allow your friend to be killed?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Sometimes it’s hard to see how good can come of anything. But I believe it will,” he whispered. “What do you know of my people?”

  “The Fair Folk?” she asked. “There are not many outside the Eldritch Kingdoms that would ever dare to speak of the Fair Folk out loud. They have spies in all places and are masters at going unnoticed. Somehow, when anyone mentions them, they appear and never in a good mood.”

  “The bandit in the cave said I was ‘Mag Mell’,” he replied.

  “Mag Mellian?” she question, looking so closely at his features he flushed with embarrassment. “I can see some Mag Mell in you perhaps. The major Eldritch Kingdoms are the Aos Si of the Cerulean Queen, the Mag Mell of the Starlight Realm and the Tuatha Danann of the Crimson Crown. The Eldritch and Formorians have been mortal enemies for centuries.”

  “Do you ever miss your people?”

  “The Formorians?” she questioned. “I hadn’t really thought about it. In many ways, they are much like the people who lived here. But they are harsh, wild, unyielding and prize only the strength that comes from battle. That is why so many unwanted children are given to them. They said I was found on a barren rock in the Kedemoth Forest, alone and dying. My birth parents are still unknown to me, but it was the Formorians who made me who I am. Sometimes, I desperately wish to be like other women, but I’ve done…seen…horrible things. Things I can’t un-see.”

  “I want to do terrible things myself,” he said as he clinched his fists.

  “Revenge never heals, I’ve seen it,” she said. “I’ve seen the faces of the people I contracted with when I bring them the trophy of my work. There is no happiness, no joy – they only cry and know that the killer is dead. They are not grateful for my service, but simply pay me and tell me to leave. Even though they deem justice has been done, they are never happy.”

  “Happiness,” he snapped. “The man who treated me as a son, the only person who gave me a father’s love was killed for a blasted book. Where is the justice in that?”

  “You’re right,” she said.

  Nathan was caught off guard by her reaction and it struck him to the core.

  “I’m a killer. And thanks to the demon you sent away, I can remember each and every person I’ve killed. I see the faces of each one as they breathed their last in hideous fear. But you are too much of an ass to realize that it’s not too late for you, you don’t have those faces to haunt you for the rest of your life,” she added.

  Isha threw her cloak around her and trudged back to the campfire, dropping down on a stone near the open flames, her hood pulled over her head to hide her face.

  “Come now, girl, have something to eat,” said Dodie. “I am not a bad cook when I have the opportunity and this may be the only opportunity.”

  It was dinner so she snatched a plate of food and ate in awkward silence leaving Nathan to his thoughts. After they ate, everyone agreed that Dodie’s cooking skills were fantastic.

  “That was wonderful,” said Agabus, patting his stomach.

  “Agreed,” Elhan said. “I’ve had none better.”

  “It would be nice to have some entertainment after a good meal,” complained Agabus.

  “I prepared the meal, who will prepare some entertainment,” asked Dodie.

  Suddenly, a melody filled the air with a tune fresh as a spring breeze. The song came from Nathan in a tongue unknown to them, but it didn’t seem to matter because it lost none of its beauty. He rarely sang, particularly in front of anyone, and yet, this land pulled something from his heart. It was something primary, basic
and demanded to be set free. The melody flowed through the air taking them through rolling hills, lush forests of green and transported them to a land of amber sunsets over distant hills. They could almost hear the wind moving from the sea. Nathan became strangely homesick when it stopped.

  “That song makes me long for the fields of home,” Dodie said. “And reminds me of a gentler time.”

  “Thank you,” Elhan said. “You have a true gift.”

  Nathan looked around the camp for Isha and then something appeared odd to him. He scanned the area in alarm as the others became silently alert.

  “Something’s wrong, this doesn’t feel right,” said Nathan. “Where are the guards?”

  Reacting to the young Seer’s question, Dodie jumped to his feet and scanned the area to find all but two of the guards missing.

  “Elhan,” blurted Dodie.

  “I see it too. Those men wouldn’t have left their posts willingly,” said Elhan.

  Taking a torch from the fire, he went to the positions of the missing guards. Blood soaked the turf where the first man stood and trailed off toward the forest. He ran back toward the fire as fast as he could, but before he could warn them the area came alive with screaming attackers.

  “Prowlers!”

  The group formed a circle with their backs to the fire. The horses reared, flashing sharp hoofs to their attackers and fending off grabbing hands. Nathan pulled the dagger from his belt and made a ready defense. Isha moved through the shadows, disarming attackers and killing them with their own weapons, but there were just too many. Incredibly, Eldar Agabus stepped into the middle of the roaring campfire, but did not appear to burn as he knelt with a book in hand, bowing his head in concentration.

  His voice echoed in an ancient language sending lightening flashing from a clear night sky, striking attackers on the right and left. Flames from the fire shot out in all directions, passing the defender and consuming the baffled attackers where they stood. Dodie took a satchel filled with bundles of tracts from one of the horses and, after a quick word, heaved it into the thick of the advancing enemy. Each missive exploded upon contact with the ground sending the enemy sprawling in all directions. The prowlers wore animal skins and attacked with crude clubs, flint knives and axes. They fought with a fury Nathan had never seen, ignoring pain and injury as though no amount of damage mattered. One prowler grabbed Nathan from behind accidentally making contact with the star-cloth in his shirt. The man screamed, fell to the ground as though struck and violently convulsed before turning into a pile of salt at the his feet.

  Unexpectedly, Nathan took a club blow to the side of his head from another prowler sending him sprawling to the ground.

  “Run...run,” cried Elhan. Nathan looked at him through a daze. “This is no time for heroics. Run, blast it!”

  Shocked by the suggestion but understanding the warden’s order, he began swinging his knife to make a path to the horses. Dodie was there ahead of him, bleeding from several gashes in his scalp but mounted and ready to ride.

  “Jump on,” Dodie said as he fought to get the horse near Nathan. The young Seer suddenly noticed the star-cloth wasn’t in his shirt and began scrambling around on the ground in a panic looking for it.

  “I can’t leave without the cloth,” said Nathan.

  “You can’t read it if you’re dead,” Dodie shouted over the sound of the battle.

  Tucking the dagger in his belt, Nathan lunged for the saddle but was unbalanced by the grabbing hands of a prowler. Dodie began galloping with all his might sending prowlers to their deaths under the crushing hoofs of his steed. They both plunged into the darkness of the forest with Nathan desperately trying to hang on. The jolting motion of the horse prevented him from getting anything but a partial grip on the saddle. When he finally managed to balance himself, the horse suddenly stopped short, sending him flying head-over-heels into a mud bank.

  “What are you doing?” Nathan yelled.

  He regretted his outburst after finally seeing the sad state Dodie was in. The Tractmaster’s cloths were ripped and blood ran into his eyes from the cuts on his head. However, the worst of it was the mud-bog the portly Tractmaster had fallen into.

  “Run...,” he gasped.

  “I won’t leave you like this,” Nathan said.

  “Run, I say. I’ll be fine, so shut up and leave,” Dodie huffed.

  “I can’t, not again, I just can’t,” he cried.

  “The Eternal will preserve me, whatever the outcome. Now go,” Dodie yelled.

  With that, Nathan ran as fast as his feet could carry him but in his haste he chose his direction poorly, running headlong deeper into the woods. He hated leaving his friends but thought he might lead some of them away to die with him in the forest. The bog clung to his feet, making it almost impossible to progress with any speed as the weight of the mud pulled at his legs. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and then had a strange feeling that he had been there before.

  This is the place his nightmares had taken him and the realization sent his heart into a beating frenzy as his sweat ran cold with panic. He jumped to his feet and began running wildly through the trees as his eyes caught motion on both sides closing in on him. He ran harder but his legs were too weighted with mud and ooze to help him travel any faster. The eyes began gaining on him. Exhausted, Nathan began stumbling and crawling through the mud and when he could go no further. He crawled to a nearby tree and propped himself up, hoping to meet his fate face-to-face.

  “I knew something would be chasing me. Something always does,” Nathan gasped. “Come on then.”

  “It’s not what you think,” said the voice as a small, willowy man stepped into the moonlight wearing green and brown garb that blended perfectly to the surroundings. Nathan’s eyes grew wide with fright as he took a knife from his belt.

  “Stay back,” he gasped, noticing that his visitor’s ears were pointed as his.

  “Watch your tongue, boy,” said the stranger. “I’ve come from Mag Mel, and don’t take well to insults. I came to see for myself if my cousin broke our Eldritch tradition by marrying a mortal. Now lower your knife, or I’ll peel it from your grip and use it on you.”

  Nathan, too exhausted to resist, complied with the stranger’s request. The man agilely approached him and examined his face and ears.

  “Stop,” he demanded. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s as I feared, you’re a blended piece of trash. The Crystal Queen will be furious,” said the stranger. “More than likely, she’ll want you dead. However, if you want to beg for your life, you can present yourself to her since you still have that right. Maybe she’ll be merciful. That is, providing you survive what happens next.”

  “What do you mean?” Nathan started.

  But as suddenly as he came, the mysterious man turned and disappeared into the surrounding darkness.

  “Wait, I don’t understand,” called Nathan.

  Almost immediately, a white-clad man with fierce red eyes of the demon-mist emerged from the darkness. He stopped, shook his head and smiled a hideous grin for a moment.

  “Found you,” he said in a voice that sounded more like wheezing than speech.

  “I’ve mud in my ears,” said Nathan. “Come a bit closer.”

  “I’m too strong for you now,” the man wheezed. “There will be no exorcisms today.”

  “You’re the demon that left Isha, aren’t you? You give me that same sickening feeling and I see you’ve a much uglier host,” said Nathan.

  “Squeal as you like,” grinned the stalker. “But I’m not alone in here.”

  Nathan labored to his knees, feebly swinging with the knife but was easily countered. He made a feeble lunge but his attacker effortlessly dodged, slapping him senseless to the ground.

  Stepping on the back of Nathan’s knife-hand, the white-clad man casually reached down and took his knife, striking Nathan across the head and sending him sprawling into unconsciousness.

  Thirteen />
  “Tearing Down…”

  Earlier, during the attack, Isha saw Nathan grab the saddle hoping to hold on long enough to get away. The onslaught was relentless for as soon as she killed one, another took its place and each demon-possessed with the strength of three. One of the horses on the wagon fell and died yet the savages still senselessly pounded the dead body as though vengeance depended on it. There appeared to be no end to them. Suddenly, a shout from the edge of the camp came and the prowlers stopped for a moment as though listening, but quickly renewed their attack. Then, a yell of retreat was given and they began retreating into the darkness of the forest. When the attack finally relented, Isha and Elhan fell where they stood with exhaustion.

  “What happened?” said Isha. “They had us but then retreated.”

  “I’m not sure,” said Elhan gripping his axes. Then, taking a small flask from his belt, he handed it to Isha. “Drink this. It will give you strength.”

  Isha took a small drink and then handed it to Agabus who did the same. They passed the flask around until it was empty. Elhan walked into the forest with the remainder of the group covering his advance. After a few minutes, they came upon Dodie who was up to his neck in mud.

  “It’s too late,” said Dodie. “I’m down too deep for you to get hold of me and there is no place to stand even if you could.”

  “Stop your bellowing Dodie. Do you mean to tell me you really want us to leave you there?” Agabus said.

  Dodie thought for a moment, “Okay, get me out.”

  Elhan put out his hand and took Dodie’s arm and pulling slowly he began to rise from the ooze an inch at a time. The companions took a rope from one of the packs and pulled till little-by-little Dodie emerged. He wiped himself off with effort but could not free himself from all of the mud.