by Travis Bughi
“Wait,” Emily said with a stutter. “That’s it?”
She hesitated, but Talvorn did not and pulled her up easily. As he let go, she stumbled on weak legs to get her footing, but continued to stare at the angel, waiting for his response.
“This is it for me, I’m afraid,” he replied. “But for you, Emily, this is only the beginning.”
Chapter 7
Talvorn took them up the stairs and out into the streets, where he set Gavin down and put a massive hand on Emily’s shoulder, completely engulfing it—his hand touched the top of her arm while still making contact with her neck.
“I must help . . . Ephron escape,” Talvorn said. “You know where . . . to find me.”
Emily nodded, and the minotaur headed back inside. His bulky body disappeared into the darkness, and the enveloping silence of the night swept over them.
“Well, what do we do now?” Abe asked.
Before Emily could respond, something completely unexpected occurred. Mariam burst into tears, falling to her knees in uncontrollable sobs and cries. She buried her face in her hands, yet still the tears ran through her fingers. Her breath became a tormented, ragged thing where she sucked in air as fast as she could between sobs.
Emily and Abe fell to the ground and threw their arms around her.
“Mother! What’s wrong?” Emily begged.
“What’s going on?” Abe asked.
Mariam cried out and heaved a heavy breath before losing all control.
“Mother!” Emily pleaded.
“What’s wrong?” Abe begged.
Mariam’s sobs did not subside, but somehow, through her tears and the chokehold of her emotions, she was able to grasp her voice and push back the tide just long enough to vent out her frustrations.
“It’s all my fault!” she cried, her voice chopping in between gasps for air. “I did this. It’s my fault Nicholas ran away. I was only trying to protect you!”
Emily and Abe exchanged confused glances, but they were interrupted as Mariam wrapped an arm around each of their necks and pulled them in. They hugged her back, unsure of what else to do. Neither had seen this much emotion out of their mother.
“The angel was talking to me.” Mariam sobbed. “I was only trying to protect you, but instead I just hurt you. I should have taught you to live, to fight, not just to survive. It’s my fault! It’s all my fault!”
“Mother,” Abe whispered and patted a soothing hand on her head.
“It’s okay.” Emily held Mariam tight.
Mariam’s wet cheeks were pressed against her children, and Emily was crying, too.
“If I hadn’t tried to stop you three, then Nicholas wouldn’t have run away.” Mariam was whispering now, her sobs slowing. “I could be watching over him as he grew into the warrior he wanted to be, but no. Instead, I forced him to run off just so he could get what he wanted. My Nicholas, I’m so sorry.”
Mariam sobbed and cried, pulling Emily and Abe in even tighter as she did so. They exchanged awkward glances throughout the ordeal, unable to comprehend and unsure of how to handle the flood of emotions from the woman who had so rarely in her life showed more than a trickle. Their mother, the rock, was a thing of putty now.
Meanwhile, Adelpha did her best to look away. She, too, was shocked and nervous. The amazon queen scanned up and down the alleys, stared at buildings, and even stopped to check on Gavin in her attempts to sidestep the strange occurrence. In this regard, her efforts were rewarded as Gavin moaned when she gave him a quick shake.
“Ugh,” Gavin said and then coughed. “Ooohhh, my head. Why does my head hurt?”
Mariam cut off her tears, choked back the remaining sobs, and released her death grip on Emily and Abe. The two children stood back up, and Mariam joined them, keeping her face turned away to hide her red eyes and tear-soaked face. Emily stepped over to Gavin.
“Emily?” he said as he cracked open one eye. “You made it. What happened?”
“We’ll have to explain later,” Emily said softly, putting a gentle hand to Gavin’s head, “but for now, we need a place to hide. Can you help?”
“Heh.” Gavin smiled. “Yes. Yes, I can.”
* * *
Gavin had recovered enough that he could walk at a decent pace unassisted. He’d still lost a lot of blood, but his wound was gone without even a scar. He obviously noticed that, but Emily was thankful when he didn’t ask why or how. She had a feeling that he already knew.
The knight led them through the quiet city streets on the outskirts of town where small shack homes, owned by those citizens of Lucifan who didn’t have much to their name, were the norm, and Emily knew that if her family had grown up in Lucifan, she would have lived here. At first, Emily thought Gavin was going to lead them out of it, but it soon became obvious his safe place was amongst the poor of the city. Despite being nearly unconscious throughout the journey to the minotaur building, it didn’t take long for Gavin to get his bearings. He looked from one street to the next until he led them to a tiny square with a neglected fountain in its center. Gavin walked up to it and reached a hand into the water.
“Pardon me,” he said to Emily and the others. “This will only take a second.”
He used the water to wash away some of the dried blood from his stomach, before taking off his vest and turning his tunic around so the bloody cut was at his back. Then he put his vest back on and buttoned it up.
The whole time he did this, the others watched quietly; however, none came to the deserted little clearing amongst homes. Emily took a moment to inspect Gavin. She had to clear an aching feeling in her gut.
“Do you want to know what happened?” she asked.
She was hesitant. She didn’t really know how or what she’d have to explain, yet pretending that nothing had occurred would do Gavin a grave dishonor. There was no way she was going to disobey Ephron’s request to keep his existence a secret, but somehow ignoring the knight didn’t seem like any better of an option. She’d lie to him if she had to, but she wouldn’t shut him out.
Gavin didn’t respond while he adjusted his clothes, trying his best hide his disheveled appearance.
“No,” Gavin replied, causing Emily to sigh in relief, “I don’t think I do.”
He left it at that, and so did she. Her question revealed that she was not maliciously withholding information, and his reply conveyed that he had already known that. The tension evaporated.
“Let’s leave.” He said to the others.
Gavin took off back into the dark streets, and his allies followed. They sprinted around a few turns and homes until they reached one particularly large house. It was quite a bit larger than the rest, and looked to be in better shape. All the cheap homes on Lucifan’s outer rim were made of wood, but this one had a few fresh planks here and there.
“This is it,” Gavin said. “You can lay low here. Just stay quiet.”
Adelpha, Abe and Mariam nodded.
“Is this your home?” Emily asked.
“If I ever had one, Miss Stout,” Gavin replied, “then this would be it.”
Gavin held his hand out to stop them from approaching too closely and continued on a few more paces until he reached the door. Caution filled his every stride, and Emily reacted instinctively, crouching low and putting her hand to her bow. She wondered at her actions but then understood. Why would Gavin be approaching a safe place with such apprehension? It was as if he dreaded what was coming.
The knight stepped up to the wooden door and gave it the lightest of knocks. Then he hopped back and waited at full attention, tilting his head slightly back as he did so. A few moments later, the door burst open, slamming back on its hinges. Emily jumped in surprise and fully expected a minotaur to stride through the entrance. But her eyes popped open further when the only thing to emerge was a little gnome.
The gnome was tiny, even for her race, barely as tall as Gavin’s waist, but she could have been a colossus by the way she carried herself. Her hips and face w
ere wide and thick. She wore spectacles, which were pushed all the way down a thin nose and appeared to be just moments away from falling to the ground. Her short hair was tied back and covered with a cloth. That, along with her dress and apron, made her look like a homely baker.
She was furious.
“Shaw! What are you doing?” she demanded. “You’ll wake the children! You know better.”
The little gnome reached a tiny hand up to the knight, and to Emily’s complete shock, Gavin bent down so the little creature could grab his ear. She pulled on it, lips pursed in anger, and Gavin gritted his teeth in pain.
“I’m sorry, Madam Sweeney.” He grunted as his head was jerked about. “But my friends, they need a place to stay for the night.”
Gavin motioned with his hand towards Adelpha, Emily, Abe and Mariam, who were watching this ordeal with mouths wide open. Emily hoped her mother wasn’t getting ideas. Madam Sweeney glanced over to see the four poor souls standing on the darkened street. Her face changed instantly. She went from enraged mother to concerned parent in an instant. Strangely, it was an entirely honest change of emotion.
“Oh,” the gnome replied, letting go of the knight’s ear and clasping her hands together in sorrow. “Oh, you poor dears. Why didn’t you say something sooner, Shaw? Please, come inside. I’ll warm you all up a pot of tea.”
Madam Sweeney stepped aside and ushered them in with her hand. Emily and the others hesitated, but they relented soon enough when Gavin, rubbing his ear, led the way. The gnome closed the door behind them. They stood in the hall, unsure where to go, but Madam Sweeney hobbled past them to lead the way.
“You poor things.” She tisked. “Well, don’t you worry now. Any friend of Gavin’s is family in this house! Please, please, come in and sit down.”
Her big hips swayed back and forth as she took them a short distance to a sitting room. She motioned towards the clustering of ragged furniture that was arranged into a makeshift circle. The furniture was far past its useful lifetime, and when Emily sat on one of the couches, it creaked so loudly that she stood back up again.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, dear,” Madam Sweeney said. “It won’t break.”
Emily sat back down again, this time a bit more slowly. She hoped this would make the creaking quieter, but, instead, it just made it last longer. Abe followed shortly, also attempting to sit slowly, but produced the same results as his sister. Mariam and Adelpha took note and sat down quickly.
“Aren’t you going to take a seat, Shaw?” the gnome said to Gavin, who was still standing near the entrance. “Oh! I just noticed your shirt. It’s backwards, dear! Don’t tell me you’ve been out to the taverns again.”
“Guilty as charged.” Gavin shrugged, then glanced at Emily and smirked.
Madam Sweeney gave an exasperated sigh but did not press the subject further. She turned to her new guests, instead, and clasped her hands together once more.
“Oh yes!” she said. “Tea? Tea, anyone? Oh, what am I saying? I’ll just go get a pot started.”
She turned to leave, and Emily stood up to get the gnome’s attention.
“Um, Madam Sweeney?” she piped up.
“What is it, dear?”
“I do not wish to be rude,” Emily said, using her ‘when talking to minotaurs’ manners, “but it’s late, and my family and friends are really tired. Is it possible we could save the tea until the morning once we’ve had some rest? It would be most appreciated.”
At first Madam Sweeney appeared hurt by the request, but then a moment of consideration passed, and the gnome realized that it was indeed late and her newly arrived guests did indeed look tired. She pursed her lips once more and then nodded slowly.
“Why of course,” she replied. “I’m so sorry to keep you up. You must be exhausted! Here, let me show you to one of our open rooms.”
“Erh.” Gavin stifled a cough. “I’m sorry, but I must be leaving now. I have friends who will come looking for me if I don’t get back to them.”
His words sounded like a statement, but how he directed them at the gnome turned them into a question. Madam Sweeney took it as such as well, and she stared hard at Gavin like he had just asked her to forgive all the sins of Lucifan.
“Oh fine,” Madam Sweeney finally replied.
“Thank you.” Gavin sighed and then turned to Emily. “I’ll see you in the morning. Get a good night’s sleep.”
Their eyes lingered on each other before Gavin left, and Madam Sweeney led Emily and the others to their room. It was dark in the hallways with the only illumination coming from a single candle carried by the gnome. They were led past several open doorways until Madam Sweeney stopped at one of them. Inside, they found blankets, mattresses, and a few beds lined up into rows on either side. As with the other rooms, this room had no door.
There were only three beds, so Adelpha volunteered to sleep on the floor. The moment she did, though, Abe volunteered instead and insisted Adelpha take the bed. At first, the amazon queen declined the offer, but a bit of insistence from Abe won her over. Emily, barely noticing the conversation, laid her head down on the decaying pillow to get some much needed rest.
She was just about to pass out when Adelpha whispered at her.
“Hey,” she said. “So what’s the plan now?”
“Same as it always was,” Emily muttered. “Find Heliena and stop her.”
“Any better idea on how to do that?” Adelpha pressed.
“Yes,” Emily smiled from under the covers, “we’re going vampire hunting.”
Chapter 8
Emily slept like a rock, but the morning brought a hustle of activity, and her suspicions were confirmed—Gavin had brought them to an orphanage, and Madam Sweeney was its keeper.
The first child Emily and the others met was a five-year-old boy with dirty red hair. He came shouting down the halls, screaming at the top of his lungs for everyone to wake up. As he reached the end of their hall, Adelpha threw an expertly aimed pillow at the open doorway, timing it perfectly. The cloth smacked the unprepared kid in the face and made him stumble as well as stop yelling.
“Shut it!” Adelpha yelled back. “People are sleeping, you stupid little boy!”
The boy, visually shocked and appalled, started to sob and then cried as he ran off.
“Adelpha,” Emily scolded her with a look.
“What? You weren’t annoyed by that?”
Madam Sweeney came next, and at first Emily thought it was to berate the amazon queen, but it turned out to be an apology. Little Clyde, it seemed, was only doing his duty—waking everyone up. Breakfast was to be served soon, and there were chores to do. Moments later, the orphanage was alive with movement. Heavy running and loud conversations echoed up and down the halls as young voices reverberated from every corner.
“I don’t think you have enough pillows,” Abe said jokingly to Adelpha as the group rose from their beds.
Adelpha responded by throwing a pillow at the gunslinger, who laughed and swatted it away.
As Emily exited the room, the rest of the residents were already awake and moving. The children were as young as four and as old as fifteen, just about the same age as Emily’s brother, Nicholas. Not all of them were human, either. There were a few gnomes, more than a couple leprechauns, one minotaur and, to Emily’s surprise, an ogre. They were busy running from one room to the next, sweeping halls, making their beds, and handing out damp cloths, which they used to wipe their faces clean.
The older ones were directing traffic as they helped, keeping the younger ones from getting too distracted, with Madam Sweeney overseeing everything as she waddled up and down the halls. Although scarcely taller than the youngest of them, she gathered respect about her like a master of her craft. The children listened to and obeyed her, and what was more, they absolutely adored her.
And how could they not? She cheered and encouraged them, and dished out punishment fairly without malice. Even the young ogre, who seemed to be struggling with
the most mundane of tasks, smiled a broken-toothed grin as Madam Sweeney patted his purple head on the way by. The only real trouble the old gnome had today was that she had to take extra care to keep the orphanage focused. Abe, the mighty gunslinger complete with leather cape, wide-brimmed hat, and shining six-shooters, gathered more ah’s and oh’s than an angel before a crowd of worshippers. Emily saw so many mouths hanging wide open that she began to chuckle and count how long it took before they closed them. Despite Abe’s best efforts to conceal himself, his presence continued to spawn hushed discussion. However, Emily was rather amazed at the restraint the new admirers were showing. She expected Abe to be assaulted with questions, but the children held their tongues. They even managed to finish their chores and head to a large dining room for breakfast.
Madam Sweeney stood at the entrance of it, breaking off chunks of bread from large loaves and pouring cups of water. The children waited patiently—at least as patiently as children can between playful shoving and constant talking—before getting their food and sitting in what chairs were available. A few even shared seats with each other by only claiming a part of it. Altogether, Emily was very impressed. It was like watching her own childhood with her mother, only if she’d had about twenty more siblings, and if Mariam had been sweeter and less strict.
Once all the children were eating, Madam Sweeney joined her new guests and eagerly engaged them in conversation.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked.
Adelpha scowled and opened her mouth, but snapped it shut when Emily’s elbow bit into her ribs.
“Yes, thank you, Madam Sweeney,” Emily smiled. “I must say you run a very organized orphanage.”
“Oh, why thank you, dear,” the little gnome waved her hand to brush off the compliment. “But really, the children here are all just little darlings. I take them off the streets when I can, or sometimes they come to me on their own, and they are all just so happy to have a home that I really don’t have to do anything.”
