by G S Santos
One of the soldiers, the old Mihail with his smallpox-worn face and long blonde hair, yelled and kicked him in the stomach. Suddenly, his body stood motionless, mouth and eyes open, blood spilling from his mouth.
"What the hell is this?" Pavel shouted.
Valadi came over from the bushes. "What happened?"
"A spy," said Pavel.
Valadi knelt next to him, his hair flowing in the wind, and a grimace of disgust. He narrowed his eyes, then lifted his mouth open. "Dead. The disgusting man killed himself. He did not want to talk. But the other one must be around! Find the man!"
The other soldier carried the device in his hand, long and metallic. "And now. How do you make this work? Sorceress!"
Adelphine took trembling steps forward.
"You know how to use this?"
Adelphine shook her head. In less than a second, a sword was pointing at her neck. She swallowed. "I don’t! And I do not know anything!" she cried.
The soldier lowered the sword then turned around and yelled until the veins of his neck popped. "Where is the other one? Where is the other bastard?"
Adelphine could not believe what she had seen. Wilthers? That grumpy old man was a spy? What about Klaus... Was he also a traitor?
Valadi talked to his men in Navgarodian. Adelphine gasped. Were they talking about her? Yes. She heard the word, vedma, that meant witch. Were they going to accuse her as well?
She took a step back, willing to run away.
Pavel turned to Adelphine. "You stay here!" he shouted, pointing the sword at her. Adelphine felt herself enveloped in darkness. She looked both ways. Then she looked at Tristan's tent.
Pavel rushed toward her. "Did you know anything about this?"
Adelphine shook her head. "No... I had no idea. I swear!"
"Do you know where the other one is? Did he say anything to you?"
"I stayed with Tristan, I have not talked to him since the morning, and he never mentioned anything like this… I never suspected him, I swear!
"Are you sure!" Pavel yelled in her face.
Adelphine felt her eyes moisten. "Yes... I do not know anything... I think he told me something that would go very well, nothing more."
"Who?"
"Klaus."
Valadi repeated his instructions, and the men dispersed while Pavel remained in camp, his sword drawn, and keeping Adelphine next to him.
After some time, the soldiers returned with burning torches in their hands. Klaus was nowhere to be seen.
All of a sudden, one of the men rushed to Adelphine. He caught her wrist before she could run, then pulled her closer, as if to threaten. He stood behind her. Suddenly, Adelphine felt his arms wrap around her neck and the cold blade of his knife press against her skin. A knife again? This wasn’t funny anymore.
"Now, witch," the man pressed his mouth against her ear. He also trembled. "Tell us where he is or I’ll slice your throat, you traitoress."
Pavel looked at her. "Speak, Adelphine. Do not make this any more difficult."
"I do not know!" Adelphine moaned.
Mihail gritted his teeth. "You can tell us. You, talk to the spirits! Let them tell us!" Mihail scowled.
"I cannot... I cannot," she moaned.
"Speak, sorceress! We're going to forgive you for your life if you help us. Understand that we do not know what is happening. These armies might be surrounding us already. Tell us where that vermin is... Tell us, or we'll do the same to you!"
Adelphine tried to breathe deeply, and the tears now flowed like a waterfall. She closed her eyes. Her legs trembled.
"Speak, sorceress!" Valadi shouted.
Adelphine thought for a moment. Could she just tell them any lie, send them away, and then try to run away? How far would she go? Would Magzas help her? What if she didn’t?
Suddenly, a scream tore through the air. Mihail exhaled. His arm released Adelphine, and he fell on the ground with a metallic sound for his armor plate. Adelphine turned and saw Tristan’s naked torso. His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot, his legs tense. He removed the knife from Mihail’s nape.
"You too!" Pavel shouted as he glanced at him.
Tristan lunged at another of the varganians, knife held in hand forward. The man reached for his sword a second too late, as Tristan’s knife pierced his eye.
"Do not touch her!" Tristan screamed.
He looked at Pavel.
Pavel drew his sword and took a fighting stance. "You are an animal! Stop right now if you want to be forgiven."
Tristan straightened. Valadi jumped on his back and put his arm in his neck. Both fell to the ground. Tristan struggled to get him off, as Valadi´s sword encircled him. Valadi pressed inward to Tristan’s neck.
"You are a traitor too!" Pavel shouted.
"What are you talking about?" said Tristan. He pulled his head away from Valadi's arm and released himself. He stood up, knife in hand.
"Let’s get him!" Pavel shouted. "We’ll get him to talk."
Valadi gasped. Tristan's knife was stuck in his abdomen. He moaned and blood began to flow down, as his eyes went white.
Pavel took a step back. "What are you doing?"
Tristan looked at his hands and at Adelphine. She wiped away her tears.
Suddenly, a crossbow arrow pierced Tristan's chest. He stepped back and his eyes sank.
Adelphine felt her soul escape.
Tristan fell to the floor on his knees, eyes raised and wide open. Then he looked at Adelphine, with the look of a lost child. Adelphine screamed as he collapsed on his back, arms outstretched. She reached for him and held him.
"What was that…?" Pavel said, looking around, as if searching for the one who fired the shot.
Valadi, on his knees, tore the knife from his torso. Another arrow tore through the air like lightning and struck his neck, piercing it. He fell on his stomach, blood spilling from his mouth. Another arrow sank into Pavel's armor. He took a deep breath, struggling to survive, and then collapsed on his back.
Adelphine wanted to wake up from that nightmare. Her eyes were fixed on Tristan's body, his sad eyes and pale lips.
She crawled over and placed her hands on his chest.
"Tristan… No. Please! Talk to me!"
His mouth seemed to release a last sweet and soft breath. His eyes were open. She felt the skin of his face, which seemed to cool as life abandoned him.
"Please, Tristan, talk to me. Look at me. Please, don’t leave me now. Don’t leave me alone now!"
Was this really happening?
Dead. Tristan, the man who had changed her life and promised her dreams. He was gone, along with her hopes.
"Tristan! Tristan!" She lay on his chest, her cheek against his frozen neck. She wished the earth would swallow her along with him. She fixed her eyes on Tristan's. The tears flowed like a river.
Where was he going? Was he a spirit now? Would she see him again?
She felt a void in her heart, much deeper than the love she had felt before. And she felt that she had never loved anyone in such a way. She had never felt so much desire and so much fire inside, so much tenderness and care for anyone.
Adelphine drowned in tears. Tristan, get me out of here. Take me with you.
She shut her eyes and imagined the arrow going through her chest. She wanted it. She wanted to leave along with him.
But she could only hear heavy boots striding behind her. She hugged her body tighter and looked up.
Klaus stood before her, his brow curled and a smoking crossbow in hand.
"Kill me," she whispered.
Klaus leaned over her and grabbed her by the hair. Adelphine screamed as he pulled her up.
He looked at her. "I'm not going to kill you," he whispered, his eyes red with anger.
Adelphine turned her back, kicked him in the groin, and ran into the woods. Before long, she had fallen to the ground and Klaus was breathing on top of her, holding her wrists.
"Let me out!" Adelphine shouted.
Adelphine looked away.
"I need your help. Your land needs you," he said.
Adelphine jumped and pulled Klaus off, turned, and started crawling. Klaus grabbed her ankles and pulled her back.
"Stop resisting! I will not hurt you." Adelphine could not move with Klaus' body holding her arms. "It’s about the Three Kings of the West! They want to eradicate these Eastern barbarians. We want to make our kingdom stronger! Don’t you wish you had everything you ever wanted?"
"You killed Tristan! You killed them all! How could you?"
"I have done it for our great kings. Even your king Jogälion! These Navgarodian barbarians are or sworn enemies. A sleeping giant lying down on an unexplored treasure. We know they are waiting to attack us all the time, we need this blue gold, and we need it now!"
"So it was all a... a...?"
"You should be happy to serve your great king!"
"No, no, no. You killed Tristan."
"He deserved it."
"Let me go!"
"That man had no loyalty to anyone but himself. It did not suit to keep him alive."
Adelphine gritted her teeth. Tristan was a man with deep loyalty, but not ignoble kings. He had defended her against his own employers. He had a deeper sense of justice, she knew. He was loyal to her and to his own heart.
"I'll tell you the truth because it's too late. I am not a man of science. Not at all. I am an elite soldier trained in the Brightlands. All this is a mission. A mine full of blue gold! Don’t you know the great value it has? In a few days, this place will be full of soldiers of our beloved kings. From your glorious commonwealth kingdom of Lecia-Ladania! The men of Wodania will be here! And of the glorious Brightlands. We will take this land by force. And you will guide us to new lands, to new treasures and eternal victory!"
Adelphine felt the tears flow like a waterfall. Suddenly, Klaus's hands grabbed her wrists, and carried them back. Adelphine moaned in pain. He tied her wrists while she writhed like a fish. Then, he tied her ankles.
Adelphine grunted and turned her body like a pancake in a pan. "Let me go, damn you!"
"I cannot let you go if you behave so badly."
"Let me, damn, you cannot force me! Look what you have done!"
Adelphine turned on her body. Meanwhile, Klaus stood up and walked toward the tent. He lifted one of the winecloths and swallowed a mouthful of wine. Adelphine tried in vain to break the ropes, until she gave up, tired and panting. She lowered her head and whispered one of the spells of anger, but nothing happened. She hit her head against the ground. Maybe, after all, so-called magic was only a big scam.
Adelphine turned to look at the sky. Maybe it was worth doing one last test. She looked at the stars and asked why they had disappointed her so much. Everything seemed to be on track. In fact, things had never gone so well in her life until the time when Wilthers and Klaus turned out to be conspirators.
They had ruined her life. They had taken Tristan away. She had barely met him weeks ago, but in her life she had never met anyone like him, and she had never felt anything like that in her heart.
"Magzas! Come here! Help me! Magzas!"
The forest responded with darkness and silence. Those mysterious trees, no matter how many spirits they had, seemed to have no interest in helping her. Why? Why had heaven, destiny, the gods, even that old Lakmé, Goddess of Fate, or those who were handling the ropes, deceived her that way? They had given her something and they had taken it from her the same day, without asking.
The sky seemed to be lost, the clouds darkened and enveloped her.
Suddenly, cold drops of rain began to fall on her cheeks. It was raining, and the wind whipped the branches like an executioner. Adelphine rolled on the floor.
The bonfire kept dancing, and Klaus drank until the last drop of wine and threw the winecloth next to the fire. Then he jumped up and brought that metal tripod a few steps in front of Adelphine and pinned it to the ground. It was connected to the clay vessel. There was a noise like someone blowing into a flute.
"What is that?" she asked.
"It's a weapon. The men of Wodania have worked on it for centuries. And now there are hundreds of spies listening to our transmission, each transmitting until we reach the king himself! Our king is coming!"
"Spies? It means that…"
"Yes, the bandits. They are bandits, you know, but we pay them to keep things that way in this part of Navgarod. Wait, they've already heard me... Let's see. I'm Klaus Walf. Do you hear me?"
From the noise, a voice distinguished itself, at times interrupted by a noise like the current of a river. The voice spoke the Western language, but with a strong oriental accent.
"I'm listening, I'm the Moose of the Hills."
"I have the sorceress," Klaus said.
"All right."
"Pass the message. Let the king know. They are all dead. You must come as soon as possible."
"Well, we'll be taking care of the mine soon. We wait for the payment."
"They will," said Klaus. "There will be gold for everyone. There will be enough for you to buy all the slaves that you want."
While Klaus was talking, Adelphine noticed a figure move behind him. It looked like a cloak floating in the wind, muted by the static of Klaus' machine. He was crouching, his hand on his ribs, as if each step caused him a deep pain until he stood behind Klaus. He looked like a broad tree covering the body of a child. His sword was drawn, which shone like a mirror under the clouded moon.
Drops of blood splashed on Adelphine’s face.
Klaus fell silent as his head rolled over the grass.
Chapter XXI:
A Twist of Fate
A shadow marched with a long sword in hand, with blood staining the bright blade. The moonlight revealed the face of the one who wielded it... It was Pavel. Adelphine was frozen, the tears already dry on her sticky face.
She lay on the ground. Her mind still did not grasp what was happening. Maybe it was all a dream. Pavel looked at her and called her with a sign; then he seemed to notice that she was tied. He approached, and then stuck the sword in the ground.
"You did not know anything about that plot, did you?" Pavel asked furiously.
"How would I know?" Adelphine answered desperately. "I came to do my work and to leave, I had no idea about this! I have a crippled brother to support, I do not have time for conspiracies and stupid things!"
Pavel narrowed his eyes. He seemed to try to mitigate his pain. "If I let you go, do you promise that you will not run away?"
"And where do you want me to go, to look for the bandits?" She frowned and clenched her teeth.
"You promise?"
"Promise me that you will not hurt me or take me to prison!"
"And what would be the use of that?"
Adelphine lowered her head and put her cheek against the grass. "I do not know what is best." Part of her wanted to sink into death forever. Join Tristan. Maybe he was there, in spirit, waiting for her. But no matter how big her pain was, she could not leave Kaunas alone.
"I promise I will not leave. As if I had anywhere to go."
"I promise not to hurt you," he said, reaching out and cutting the ropes with his sword. Adelphine released herself, relieved, and sat down. Her arms hurt.
"Let's see." Pavel fell to his knees and gasped. “Help me with the armor."
Adelphine nodded and untied his breastplate. It fell to the ground with a heavy noise. Blood stained half of his silk shirt, with chainmail underneath. Adelphine yanked it off, along with the rest of the arrow. He screamed like a tortured man. In his abdomen, there was a hole as big as a prune, from which all the blood flowed out.
"Help me," Pavel said, gasping for breath. Adelphine nodded.
/> "You should get some rest."
He agreed in silence.
Adelphine frowned, brought some of the pantry bandages along with medicinal plants, and prepared Pavel's recovery.
"Rest," she said.
Pavel gave a few more laps between things. The horses were nowhere to be found. They would have let go, or maybe Klaus had let them go.
The sun was rising over the horizon, the ashes were in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by dead bodies. The sight of the corpses ruined the scenery. Especially that of Tristan. Adelphine avoided looking, but when she did, her mind was blank. Maybe deep down, he concentrated on a world beyond, the world of spirits, which she wished existed.
And where was Magzas? She still did not appear. Maybe she already knew what would have happened. Adelphine would not blame her if she did not want to get anywhere near that scene.
Pavel stood up, took a shovel, and stuck it in the middle of the clearing. He lifted it up, full of pale earth and grass. Then he gritted his teeth and cursed in Navgarodian. "Sorceress. Help me dig a hole for the bodies."
Adelphine stared at him, then she nodded. She took another shovel from the equipment and struck the hard earth, smashed the ground, the roots of the bushes and the grown grass. She dug with all her strength until her arms and back ached like never before.
After a few hours of sweat filling their skins, they had a relatively large gap.
"All of them in one hole?" Adelphine asked, as if the act were offensive.
Pavel looked at the hole, then looked at Adelphine. "You’re not that bad at this… Well, this will be for my comrades. And then I'll ask them to take the bodies to the city, where they deserve it. The body of the conspirators do not deserve to be buried."
Adelphine looked at the head of Klaus, who had not yet moved from the ground. It was a terrible spectacle. It lay on the floor with a strangely content expression, his earing intact, and his eyes white. She felt a chill run down her back.
"Pavel," Adelphine said. "I want to bury Tristan."
Pavel approached her. He threw the shovel to the ground. "Are you going to dig it yourself?"
