Scouring Majula

by Matthew Satterlee

  "I'm surprised anyone in this village has the alertness to kill a monster," L.L. said. She headed for the stairs. "I'm going to bed. Let's hope our friends outside aren't so far gone they'll let monsters trample us in our sleep."

  Brendon followed her. "Don't go anywhere alone," he said, looking back over his shoulder. "If the people we saw earlier are normal, I'd hate to see what comes out at night."

  "I'll go find us a room," Tear told Ellen. "Hopefully we don't have to sleep on the floor again."

  Ellen almost followed her, she was exhausted and there was no part of the village she cared to visit except its bedrooms, but Sycamore grabbed her shoulder and held her back.

  "Well now hold on just a minute," he said. "And you too." He grabbed Alice. "I'm sure the village has calmed down a lot since earlier. How would you like to go look for your friend?" He glanced at Ellen. "We'll need you to keep us safe just in case a monster does show up. My magic isn't any good in a crowded place like this, and she's losing her power."

  Ellen eyed him. Sycamore had never shown any interest in finding Alice's friend before. He hadn't shown much interest in anything, except finding someplace safe from monsters. What was he really after?

  Alice was eyeing him too. She was probably just as suspicious. "The chief said he left already," she said.

  "But you've been outside the village," Sycamore said. "There's nothing out there. He might've come back here to wait for you."

  "Well..." Alice pondered. "I'll go, but only if Ellen comes with us."

  Ellen looked towards the stairs. She wanted to sleep, but she also wanted to earn Alice's trust. There were plenty of opportunities for the former and very few for the latter. "Okay," she said.

  "Perfect!" Sycamore said, a sly smile on his face. "We'll check the north entrance first, then we'll stop by some... choice establishments I saw earlier."

  Ellen groaned. Maybe Sycamore had some interest in finding Alice's friend, but he obviously had another agenda, and she'd fallen right into his trap.

  Chapter 9

  It was nighttime when Ellen left the visitor center. Lanterns attached to poles lining the pristine road lit up some areas, but whoever was in charge of maintaining them had skipped dozens, leaving two thirds of the village masked in darkness.

  The villagers didn't seem to mind. They continued to shamble around the village as if nothing was wrong.

  The north entrance was a short walk away. The village ended right beside the forest of pink leaves, but the pristine road continued off into the darkness.

  Ellen stayed near the light and scanned the area outside the village. There was nothing to see, only a few pink tress followed by darkness, and even less to hear, except for the soft flicker of flames from nearby lanterns.

  Alice grabbed a lantern and moved so far down the road she disappeared, then returned a minute later, a sad look on her face.

  "He's not here," she mumbled.

  "This was a long shot to begin with," Ellen said, "but we know he's alive, and we know he's close by. We'll find him soon."

  She'd tried her best to sound encouraging, but Alice still looked as gloomy as ever.

  "That's a bummer," Sycamore called out. He stood several yards back, well within the village's safe borders. "I saw a couple places earlier we might find him. These are adult only places, so you two will need to stick close to me."

  Already she was weary of where he might lead her, but Ellen followed along anyway.

  He brought her to a tavern. A man beside the front door eyed her as she entered, and Alice too, but he looked so dazed and delirious a monster could walk up to him and all he would do was yawn then scratch himself.

  The people inside the tavern were the same. Some were asleep on their tables, and the rest looked like they might pass out any minute now.

  Sycamore claimed an empty table near the middle of the tavern. Ellen sat down on a bench across from him, and Alice took the seat beside her.

  "Just sit tight for a little bit," Sycamore said. "Places like this are a hub of information. If we find someone who looks alive, we'll ask them if they know anything about your friend."

  An older waiter stopped by. "Drinks," he mumbled as he set down three mugs full of a dark orange liquid.

  Sycamore said: "These two really shouldn't be-"

  The waiter wandered off.

  "I'm not sure what currency you use here, but we don't have-" Sycamore shrugged, then took a sip from his mug. "Drink up if you'd like, but remember we're leaving early tomorrow."

  Ellen pushed her mug away. Her visit to the Monad Fortress's tavern was still fresh in her memory. One drink had sent her on a wild adventure full of confusion, shame and embarrassment. Remembering that night caused her face to heat up.

  "I'm guessing this isn't your first time inside a tavern," Sycamore said mockingly. "Did you drink a bit too much and embarrass yourself?"

  "I-it wasn't like that," Ellen lied, and Sycamore snickered.

  Her face cooled down when she saw Alice gulping down her drink. There was no way she didn't remember that incident from the fortress. She had to be feeling very brave.

  Sycamore took another sip from his mug. "Even with the people here acting the way they are, this isn't such a bad place. It's a shame we're leaving so soon."

  Ellen eyed him. Was he just making conversation, or was he hinting at something?

  "I bet you want-" Alice hiccupped. "I bet you want to stay here."

  "Is it that obvious?" Sycamore smiled. "I'm not cut out for this kind of adventuring. Not only am I not adding anything to the team, I'm also using up all your food and water and not giving anything back. Taking out that mysterious stone we found in the castle was the only useful thing I've done since we met, but I'm sure Brendon or L.L. could've done that themselves."

  Sadness welled up inside Ellen's chest. Their group had only been together a short while, and he was already writing himself off. "You've helped me more than you realize," she said, remembering Amadeo's castle. "Back in the cathedral-"

  Sycamore's face twisted with horror. "I don't want to talk about that! If I had known how you were going to use my explosives, I never would've created a single one."

  "Sorry," Ellen said. She'd never once considered how much of a toll it must've taken on him to have watched her kill herself using one of his explosive barrels. It must've taken a toll on everyone, she realized now. How could she have been so oblivious?

  Sycamore shrugged. "I shouldn't complain. The only reason I escaped from that one awful hole in the ground-what was it called again? The Brazen Dimension? If you hadn't cleared an escape route for me I probably would've died in that dump. I still owe you for that."

  "You don't owe me anything," Ellen blurted out, perhaps too loud. But despite her outburst, not a single person looked her way. "And you don't have to stay with us if you don't want to."

  Sycamore looked away. For a moment he simply stared off into space and drummed his fingers on the table. "I'll think about it. I kind of like the idea of helping you find these old friends of yours you keep telling us about, but I really can't stand monsters. I can't kill them without hurting myself and everyone around me. If we ever get into a fight, I'll probably end up hiding in the back while you do all the hard work."

  That was probably how their battles would play out, his explosives could not tell friends from enemies, but Ellen still felt bad for him. There were plenty of ways he could help that didn't involve summoning bombs.

  An awful thought crossed her mind. Were the others really interested in helping her, or were they simply following her due to some misguided sense of guilt? She had no way to know. Only after their grief became too much to bear would their true feelings surface.

  She eyed her mug. Despite her previous experience with tavern drinks, she suddenly felt very thirsty.

  Alice swiped the mug away. "I'll drink it if you don't want it."

  "You might want to slow down a bit," Sycamore warned. "I know you're worried about your f
riend, but that stuff isn't going to help."

  His warning fell on deaf ears. Alice started gulping down the second mug.

  "Is this why you brought us out here?" Ellen said. "Because you wanted to tell us you were thinking about leaving?"

  Sycamore smiled. "Hardly. I wasn't planning on bringing any of that up, but she blindsided me." He looked to the front entrance. "Something's going to happen in a minute. I need you to play along with everything I say."

  As if given a queue, two young women entered the tavern. Neither looked very alive or alert, until Sycamore jumped in front of them and blocked their path.

  "Can you ladies spare a moment?" he asked. "My daughters and I are new to this village and we'd really appreciate it if you could answer a few questions for us."

  Ellen groaned quietly to herself. Had he really just claimed that her and Alice were his daughters?

  Much to her dismay, both women agreed to help. Sycamore urged them to take a seat then sat down in between them.

  "Wow, you have twin daughters," one of the women said. "Is the mother-"

  Sycamore shook his head. "It's a tragic story. But talking about it helps me cope with the grief, so if you don't mind, I'll just-"

  He cleared his throat then started his story. There had once been a woman he loved, and she'd given him twin daughters. But the woman, whose name he conspicuously didn't mention, lost her life when a horde of monsters attacked their home, and ever since then he'd been raising his daughters alone.

  Ellen wanted to out him, but after the grievances Sycamore had aired earlier, she couldn't stay mad at him for long, so she sat silently and nodded along with his lies. She had to bear them alone; Alice had fallen asleep with her face down on the table.

  After finishing his story about his lost lover, Sycamore went on to explain how he was currently lodged in the visitor center, which was packed so full of people he couldn't find a spot to sit much less lie down.

  "My sister and I own one of the larger houses in the village," one of the women said. "You can stay with us tonight if you'd like. We have plenty of space."

  "That's perfect!" Sycamore said giddily. "I spent the whole day traveling and I'm beat. Why don't we head there now?"

  "What about your daughters?" one of the women asked.

  "They have a nice room back in the visitor's center," Sycamore said. "They're already settled in and not looking to move tonight. Isn't that right?"

  Ellen managed a nod before Sycamore took off out the door. The two women left with him.

  "I knew he didn't care about helping me," Alice muttered. "He was just using us."

  "He did try to help," Ellen reminded her, but she couldn't deny that Sycamore had used them.

  Alice stood up and headed for the front door. She moved slowly, and wobbled back and forth with each step she took. "Let's go home," she mumbled.

  She made it halfway to the entrance then collapsed to her knees, standing up again only after Ellen grabbed her wrist and started pulling her forward.

  Even with her help Alice couldn't walk in a straight line. It felt like she was leading around an overgrown, helpless child. At least the tavern's other visitors were too lost in their sickness to notice either of them.

  Outside, Alice stumbled over every single bump in the road. She seemed to be going out of her way to hit them.

  "Why do I have to lose my power," Alice grumbled. "You're the evil one. It should be you suffering, not me."

  "Don't say things like," Ellen said. "We agreed to be friends, remember?"

  Alice shot her a bitter glare, but she didn't object. Ellen responded with a smile.

  A man stepped in her path. "Excuse me," he said, his voice very formal. He was dressed formal as well. He wore tan slacks and a white button up shirt with a vest over it, and he was young, probably the youngest villager she'd seen so far. He could not be more than two or three years older than her.

  More importantly, he looked alert and awake. "You don't seem sick at all," Ellen said.

  He startled. "You shouldn't mention the sickness," he said quietly. "Before he was taken by it himself, my father used to punish anyone who brought it up."

  "Who's your father?"

  "He's the village chief. You met him earlier, no?"

  Ellen swallowed a gasp. Had the chief's son come out here to meet her specifically, or was this all just a coincidence? Either way, she didn't mind his company. He was tall for someone his age, unlike herself, and he had a faint aura of authority surrounding him, compelling her to stay put despite the baggage she had in tow. "Do you need anything?" she asked.

  "He probably wants to see your underwear," Alice said.

  Ellen seized up. Even if that was true, she shouldn't be blurting it out so readily.

  "She'll show her underwear to anyone who asks," Alice added. "It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, she doesn't care. And if you tell her you like her hair, she'll even let you take them off!"

  "Stop saying things like that," Ellen warned. She jammed her nails into Alice's wrist in hopes of shutting her up, but Alice didn't seem to notice. "We were at the tavern earlier," she told the chief's son, who looked embarrassed. "She had too much to drink."

  "I-I see," he stammered. "Well, I didn't come here to see your, um... never mind." His formal tone returned. "You're planning to leave the village soon, right? I wanted to give you a warning. The northern road leads to an especially dangerous region. We call it the Majula Frontier. That's where the real evil in this dimension lurks. We tried to stop your companion from leaving, but he ignored us. He said that someone who has seen the things he's seen could not be stopped by simple forest monsters."

  Alice giggled so hard she almost lost her balance. "That sounds like him."

  "But he's just one man," the chief's son added, "and there's no telling what he'll find up there. I hate to say this, but I don't think you're going to find him alive."

  He sounded confident about his conclusion, but Alice continued to giggle. "It's the monsters you should be worried about, not Amadeo."

  "If you believe he's still alive then I won't stop you." The chief's son looked to Ellen. "Once you finish searching for your companion, will you consider coming back to this village? I'm sure you'd enjoying living here, and I know I'd enjoy having you here."

  He wanted more than just for her to stay in the village, that was very obvious now.

  For a moment Ellen considered taking his offer. There was something about the way his stiff dress clothes squeezed the muscles around his abdomen and arms, especially his arms, that made it hard for her to take her eyes off him. Plus he was the chief's son. He might end up taking over for his father someday. She'd never thought about what it might be like to have someone with that sort of authority for a friend. The idea was appealing.

  "I can't," Ellen mumbled.

  "Is it the sickness?" the chief's son asked. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. It takes a long time for it to effect anyone our age, plus everyone I talk to says it gives them a nice, relaxed feeling, almost like they're dreaming."

  Maybe their sickness made them feel good, but she couldn't imagine herself wandering the streets like a zombie. She didn't want to imagine it. In fact, she hated the idea.

  "I have something important I need to do before I can think about finding a new home," Ellen said.

  The chief's son took a step back. "When you're finished, will you consider coming back here?"

  He should be saying if she's ever finished rather than when, but regardless, Ellen answered: "Okay."

  The chief's son wished her a pleasant night then left.

  "I told you he wanted to see your underwear," Alice said. "You should've let him. He's a lot better looking than the last three weirdoes you attracted."

  Ellen eyed her. "Who's the third?" There was Barry, who she'd met back in the Monad Fortress, and then there was the girl Ludendi had introduced her to, but she couldn't think of anyone else she'd had any sort of romantic involvement with.
>
  Alice looked surprised. "You had me fooled."

  She hoped Alice wasn't talking about Tear, because Tear was her friend and nothing more. "Let's go back to the visitor center," Ellen said. "We're leaving tomorrow-"

  Alice jerked free from her grasp. Both her hands shot towards her pants, then she dropped to her knees, her face clenched up tight as if she was in pain.

  "What's wrong?" Ellen asked.

  Everything became clear when she heard the sound of liquid flowing. Then came an unpleasant odor.

  Ellen averted her eyes. "You're embarrassing," she said with a sigh.

  "It's not my fault," Alice argued. "Why did you let me take your drink? You should've stopped me!"

  Ellen ignored her. There was no sense in arguing with someone in her state. At least the area was deserted. Nobody would see the mess Alice had made of herself.

  "I-I'm finished now," Alice said after a moment. "Can you help me up?"

  She reached forward with one hand, but fearing what it might be covered with, Ellen dodged backwards away from her.

  Alice frowned. "Will you help me if I give you this?"

  She reached into one of her tunic pockets and pulled out a small brown pouch tied shut with a yellow cord. Something inside rattled as it moved.

  Ellen took the pouch, untied the cord and peered inside.

  It was full of coins; silver coins with crude heads carved into them.

  "Those are the coins you earned from the Fortress Brigade," Alice said. "I found them scattered around my castle's cathedral."

  Ellen couldn't speak. These were the coins she'd once kept in her pocket to help her remember her friends. She'd assumed they were gone forever, yet here they were again.

  "For a while I was thinking about pretending to be you and stealing your friends, and I figured those coins would help me convince them I was you, but I have my own friends now. I don't need yours-"

  Ellen stuffed the pouch into her pocket then dropped to her knees and hugged Alice tight. "Thank you," she said.

  Her eyes became damp. Alice might still hate her, but she wouldn't trade her for anything.