Wanderling's Choice

by D C McLaughlin

  She heard him come up behind her and stop.

  "I had to do something with the bodies, not just leave them here for the crows to pick at."

  "Bodies," repeated Rhi. "They're bodies now. Just bodies."

  The tone of her voice frightened Shayne. He took hold of her arms.

  "Come, lass. You've no need to tarry here. Let's get you back to the fire and get some warm food into you."

  He helped her back to her feet. Numbly she allowed him to guide her back to camp. He sat her down on a stump nearest the fire and wrapped her cloak around her because she had gone white with shock.

  "Rhi? Say something, lass."

  She finally spoke through trembling lips.

  "I've never killed anyone before," she said in a whisper. "Chickens, ducks, rabbits to eat when we were hungry. But never another person."

  Shayne busied himself spooning thick stew into a bowl for her.

  "You had to, lass. He was going to rape and kill you. You had to do it," he reasoned.

  "And you. You killed four men in the blink of an eye. Ended four lives as if it was nothing."

  "It wasn't nothing!" Shayne almost snapped at her. "I was defending you. They would have killed you."

  Then he grew quiet and thoughtful.

  "But still. It's never 'nothing' when you kill a person. Whether they deserve it or not. It's never nothing."

  Rhi's haunted eyes searched his face. Her voice was soft and distant.

  "Yes, I know. I'm not questioning it had to be done."

  She turned to him.

  "Were those the first men you've ever killed? Or have there been more?"

  This question brought him up cold.

  "No. There have been other incidents like this. I have killed before."

  They held each other's eyes.

  "Was it always…justified?" she asked.

  His eyes dropped in shame.

  "So I have told myself."

  He gave her a grim look. She was treading into areas of his life he did not want to talk about. He was still not sure he wanted to open the gates and let her in.

  Rhi stared back into the flames of the fire.

  "How do you get used to it, deal with it? The fact you robbed another human being of its life-force? How do you make peace with it?"

  Shayne waited until her eyes met his.

  "You don't. Not ever. You just try not to think about it."

  He stirred his bowl of stew as if he had suddenly lost his appetite.

  Rhi looked in the direction of the graves.

  "Will they be angry ghosts? Because of how they died?" she asked.

  "No," he replied in a firm voice.

  She looked back at him confused.

  The expression on his face was one of grim confidence.

  "I will do a ritual tonight. My people have this thing we do for the spirits of dead adversaries. It takes their anger away and makes them rest peaceful."

  She cocked her head at him like a curious dog.

  "Do you always do this ritual?"

  He sniffed.

  "Well yeah! Bad things happen if I don't!"

  Rhi looked at the stew in her bowl and stirred it. She took her first bite. "Someday you must tell me about your kinfolk."

  Shayne smiled and the gloomy atmosphere lifted a bit. "Oh, I plan on it." He replied.

  She did not look at him again. "You will disappear again soon," she said.

  "What?"

  "You can disappear. I've seen it. You will do so again. When will you disappear this time?"

  He was silent for a long time.

  "Not until you're healed enough to travel. I promise," he assured.

  She sniffed.

  "It is dangerous to make promises. They get you into trouble," she said in a voice devoid of all emotion.

  "I'm well aware of the trouble promises can cause. I will not leave you unless you are safe. Then I'll open the cage door and set you free."

  She nodded and said nothing.

  NO MAN'S LAND

  Four days later he did leave her. Rhi rolled out of her bedroll to find the camp eerily quiet. He had taken the dead robber's horses and left. There was a pack of food left on a large flat rock.

  Beside the pack, underneath a smaller stone was a note. As she unfolded it, a silver chain spilled out. She picked it up and inspected it closely. It was a thickly braided chain of a style she had never seen before. But she knew no horse trader could afford a chain of such expense. A rich merchant perhaps or an aristocrat would have the means to purchase such a costly item but not a mere seller of horses.

  She knew immediately what the chain was for. All this time she had worn the medallion on a simple leather strap, one she had replaced many times over the years. She removed the medallion and took it off the leather and replaced it with the silver chain. The silver felt cool and light against her skin in spite of its thickness.

  She turned her attention to the note. It was very short and to the point.

  "I am sorry to leave you in such a secretive way as this, like a thief in the night. But the road calls me and I am compelled to follow. I take the memory of you with me. I beg you to be more careful in your travels. The world is a wide and dangerous place at times. You know this better now. But should you ever be in a dark place again, you have only to call my name and I will appear. Please be careful and look after yourself and Falcon well. We will meet again. When I cannot say. But I am certain of it. I eagerly look forward to that day.

  Farewell."

  He had signed his name with the drawing of a feather.

  She crumpled the letter. She was silent and still for a long while. She looked down the trail of hoof prints which led away from her camp. Her emotions were all jumbled. She felt angry and sad all at once and her chest felt tight.

  She turned about and saw Falcon was watching her quietly as if he knew what she was thinking. He looked in the direction of the nearby road and then back to her. He too wanted to be back on the road.

  She sighed and set her jaw resolutely.

  "Come on, Falcon," she said. "Time to travel again."

  They traveled for four days before they ran into another living soul.

  They came to an intersection of the roads. The signpost was old and worn and Rhi could barely read the letters. The one sign pointed back and gave the name of the town she had left the robbers in. The other arm of the sign couldn't be read because the letters were so worn.

  But a tinker happened to be coming the other way in his cart. He was an old man with a long beard and was followed by a scruffy dog. Rhi waved for him to stop. The pots and pans clanged as the tinker halted his rig next to her and his dog barked at them.

  "What kingdom is that way?" she asked. "I can't read the sign."

  The old tinker turned to look the way she pointed and squinted back at her.

  "You can't read the sign 'cause there ain't no realm. Not anymore."

  Rhi frowned.

  "What happened? Do you know?"

  The tinker laughed.

  "Sure'n everybody local here knows what happened to it. But you're not local, I take it."

  Rhi shrugged and her expression prodded him to continue.

  "Time was there used to the great kingdom of Guthra. But not anymore. No one lives there now."

  "But why? It looks like a beautiful country from here," she said.

  "Oh it was and still is. Beautiful and blasted. Rich and cursed at all once. A dragon lord rules that land now. No one lives there but the dead. And if you enter, your family and friends will never see you again. The dragon does not like trespassers on his land. If you're smart, you'll turn around and go back. Then you'll live long enough to have grandchildren like me."

  Rhi thought for a moment rolling her eyes.

  "Go back? To the land of lecherous men? Never! If you give me a choice between one dragon and a town full of rude men, I'll take the dragon any day!"

  The tinker shrugged.

  "It's your funera
l. I wouldn't set my pinky toe on the dragon's land if you ask me."

  He snapped the reins on his mule's back and drove on.

  "When the dragon comes to devour you, don't say I didn't warn you!"

  The cart clattered on and the dog barked at her as they drove away.

  Rhi took a deep breath and urged Falcon onward into the dragon's kingdom.

  They rode at a steady pace that day and saw no other person. In fact they saw not another living thing all day, not a bird or a rabbit or even a butterfly. The land was eerily quiet except for the sound of the wind.

  The countryside was beautiful; rugged and green with sweeping hills and mountains dotted with little hamlets and woodlands and gurgling streams and rivers. But every house she came to was abandoned…only the weeds and vines grew there.

  As the sun dipped lower, she searched for a place to make camp.

  She finally found a little clearing next to a burbling brook, wreathed by jagged rocks jutting out of the soil. She made a small fire and began to cook some food. She shook out her bedroll and prepared to spend the night there. The night was very cold and she wrapped herself tight in her cloak.

  Falcon was grazing at the stream-bed when he suddenly whipped his head up and snorted.

  Rhi jumped to attention and snapped her short sword out of its sheath.

  A hooded figure stood just outside of the fire's light next to the jagged rocks. He seemed to have just melted out of the cold mist.

  He stepped into the dancing fire's light and stopped. He removed his hood. He was a tall and incredibly handsome man. His hair was jet black and he was dressed in very fine clothes so Rhi assumed he was some sort of duke or somebody of great importance or rank. He wore an expensive and highly decorated sword on his hip.

  His eyes were strange. They flashed in the dim dancing light so Rhi could not tell what color they actually were.

  His expression was not a friendly one.

  "What are you doing here?" he demanded curtly.

  "Uh, making camp and cooking dinner."

  He scowled at her.

  "Do not be flippant with me! You are trespassing here. You must leave now!"

  Rhi tried to calm him down and reason with him.

  "Easy now. I'm sorry if I insulted you. I'm just passing through. I'll be gone soon enough."

  "It's dangerous here. You need to leave, leave NOW!"

  Rhi sighed.

  "Look, I'm tired. I've ridden all day long and I'm hungry. I just need some food and some rest and I will gladly be on my way out of here."

  The man put his hood back up and stepping backwards, once again melted into the shadows.

  "You'll be dead!"

  ***

  She awoke the next morning convinced it was all a bad dream caused by the old tinker's words and an active imagination while she slept. She rolled out of her bedroll, put the kettle on for tea and made breakfast. While it cooked she brushed and braided her long locks. After breakfast she doused the fire and saddled up Falcon.

  The country steadily grew more lush and beautiful as they traveled. And the hamlets and scattered farms were still empty and abandoned.

  She was going to stop for lunch in the center of a small village. But as she rode into the town square, she saw a sight which left her heart cold.

  In front of Falcon's hooves were the sun-bleached bones of a small family. Their clothes were still hanging on their bones in weathered tatters. The woman's hair still clung in blonde patches to her skull and she hugged the bones of a small baby to her dead chest. The father was slightly ahead of them, lying face down his arms outstretched. They seem to have died as they were fleeing from some horrible enemy.

  Rhi decided to press on and have her lunch elsewhere.

  She stopped two hours later in a small field of abandoned wheat. A harsh crag of rock reared its rocky head above them not very far away and its peak looked like the rough hewn sculpture of a dragon.

  She gazed at it for a long moment and shook her head. She thought this must be where people got the idea this vale was haunted by a dragon, from a great peak of rock, carved by nature, which looked like a dragon's head.

  She shook her head and turned back to her meal. When she finished, she glanced back to the rocky peak and froze. Slowly she stood up, gazing intently at the rock face.

  The dragon's head shape was gone. Now it was just a smooth outcrop of granite softened by the harsh winds.

  Her skin prickled and she shivered although the day was warm.

  She quickly packed up her belongings and rode away from the rocky crag.

  She made her way at a much more brisk pace. Her eyes were constantly searching her surroundings for anything that wasn't quite right. Beautiful as this vale was, it was beginning to feel creepy to her.

  She came across a small cottage with an attached stable right before sunset. She searched the grounds thoroughly but found no sign of another person, living or dead, not even graves for those who might have lived there. The roof was halfway caved in from neglect but there was enough dry area underneath the part which was still good for her and Falcon to rest comfortably for one night. There were storm clouds rolling in and Rhi could smell the rain that would soon arrive. She settled Falcon into the stable and began to collect deadfall for a fire. If it did rain hard she would need a fire.

  Just as the last light was fading from the night, Rhi straightened. She tried to bend the kinks out of her back and that was when she saw it.

  Far off in the distance, against the dark clouds of the sky, a great, black shape soared. Its bat-like wings were enormous and they were attached to a snake-like body.

  Rhi snatched up her firewood and bolted for the hidden recesses of the cottage.

  The old tales were true. There was a dragon in the vale!

  She huddled in the farthest, driest corner of the cottage and tried to be very still. She thought long and hard about the wisdom of lighting a fire this night. Rain or no rain, it was going to be a very chilly, raw evening. She wondered if dragons could fly in the rain.

  She finally decided to chance it. That and her fingers and toes were already nearly frozen. Shivering half from cold, half from apprehension, she built a small fire in the fireplace.

  She thought about the warning the tinker had given her. She thought about the skeletons of the poor family she had encountered earlier that day. She thought about the dragon stone she had seen and the dragon in the sky just now. Had she really seen it or were her eyes playing tricks with her? And she wondered about the disturbing dream she had had the night before. Was it really a dream?

  Wrapped up in her woolen cloak, poking the fire to keep it alive enough to heat her, she finally nodded off.

  Her senses awakened her later that night. It was raining; a nice, soft gentle rain with lightning and thunder in the distance.

  She shook herself, added another log to the fire and stabbed at it with a stick to wake it up enough to put out more heat.

  Then the lightning flashed and she knew she was no longer alone in the cottage. She pinched herself to make sure she was awake this time. Slowly she turned around.

  The man from the night before stood in the doorway to the cottage. He stepped inside and removed his rain soaked hood. He looked around at her meager surroundings.

  "Are you moving in now?" he asked with some heat.

  She was almost relieved to see a person and not a dragon standing there. She cleared her throat.

  "Excuse me, but your kingdom is a large one. It will take me more than one day to cross it. But I assure you I am on my way out of it."

  He frowned at her.

  "Are all people from your land as thick as you? You are trespassing! You need to leave now. Period."

  She took a deep breath and once again tried to reason with him.

  "I am sorry for the intrusion, really I am," she said.

  Her apology seemed to startle him.

  "But the weather outside is awful. Please come sit with me and I will s
hare what food I have. It won't be fancy but it will be hot. Please, sir."

  He didn't seem to know how to respond to her apology or invitation.

  "It's dangerous here. You need to leave before something bad happens to you."

  "I will leave," she assured him. "Tomorrow morning when the rain has stopped. Now come and eat with me."

  He shook his head and stepped back away from her.

  "You'll be dead," he repeated.

  There was another flash of lightning and he was gone.

  ***

  She spent a very cold and fitful night in the cottage, tormented by strange dreams and a fire which didn't seem to want to catch. She finally gave up on it.

  In the morning she ate a cold breakfast and packed her supplies as quickly as possible. Luckily the rain had stopped just before dawn. She saddled and bridled Falcon and they were on their way again.

  Rhi half loved this kingdom and half wanted to never see it again. So she pushed Falcon on with as much speed as she dared.

  Their way took them steadily downward, off the mountain slopes and into the wide valley beyond. Here there were more farmlands and even more cottages. But like all the others, there was still no sign of any people.

  The nice thing about being in the valley was that the weather improved. It got much warmer to the point that Rhi actually had to stop and pack away her cloak and change into her lightest summer attire. She had braided her hair in a long, reddish brown plait down her back to keep her cooler. She ate a quick meal and was on her way again, eager to put as many miles between her nighttime stops.

  Around mid-afternoon she came to a surprising sight. Falcon climbed the crest of a small hill and she halted him.

  Off in the distance, on a small rise of ground, surrounded by a large city was a white castle.

  Its sides glistened like alabaster as if the whitewash was fresh and had yet to dry and it glistened, shining wetly in the sun. No vines crawled on its sides, its roofs were not caved in. Of all the habitations which surrounded it, it seemed to be the only thing which was well tended and looked after.

  And soaring in the sky above it, like some gigantic bird of prey, floated an immense red, golden dragon. It made two passes around the castle and then landed lightly on the highest parapet. It swung its great head in her direction. It was so far away Rhi could not see its great eyes glittering at her. But she knew it could see her.