Part 2 Chapter 5

CHAPTER 14

 

 

A

fter seeing the dark clouds and the storm it brings Harke finds the first safe place he can, at first he thinks of going into a cave he spots while searching but decides against it, thinking his target is farther ahead and wants to be close to him. The safe haven he does find turns out to be a small one-room house made from weak stone and a roof of twigs and straw, with a barn several yards from it. He hitches the horse he is riding, and then walks inside the house. Inside the house the kitchen is the first part of the room he is in as he enters. There are a few pots and pans on a shelf next to a fireplace. On the other side there is a dining table with three wooden chairs and to the left of that is a lounge chair that looks old and slightly torn. It is while he is looking around that he sees what Harke believes to be the owner of this house: an old but heavy looking man that obviously been using his muscles a lot in his long life, a farmer is Harke’s guess. The man is asleep on a bed made from hay, which looks comfortable to him but not so much to Harke. Not wanting to hurt the farmer Harke sneaks back out and decides to head for the barn. The barn is bigger than the house and looks cleaner but Harke finds no place comfortable to rest, there are stacks of hay but most are near the few horses within and those that aren’t  are so small that whenever he lays down on them they crunch down until he can feel the floor beneath them. He looks up and finds hay stacks on the level above but when he climbs up he discovers that there aren’t enough of them to make anything close to a comfortable bed. He decides to make the most of it and bundles them together, and finds it slightly more comfortable.

  Although he hates the fact that he lost his target some time ago he feels that if he leaves the barn early enough once the storm passes he might catch up to them and finally be able to kill his target.

  He doesn’t know what to do with Trugaime since she has failed and therefore is unable to return with him, and he knows that he cannot kill her either. He is grateful she isn’t part of the contract, if she is then he would not know what to do. And also... he loves her, she is family, he enjoyed watching her grow up with the rest of younger Cultist children and he remembers the times he used to watch her train.

  Within minutes of lying down, thinking of what he will do tomorrow, and listening to the rain crash onto the barn roof and the wind scream around him in alternating levels of volume, he falls deeply asleep.

  The next day he wakes still in the barn but now lying face-down. He lifts his face spits out straws of hay sticking out of his mouth and stands.  He is still as he listens for any sounds that may be of interest to him: the farmer in the one-room house for instance, but he hears only the horses below him. He climbs down, still listening closely for signs of anyone approaching, then leaves the barn quickly. He goes back to the house where his horse still is, unhitches it, then gets on it and rides it away fast, no longer careful of anyone watching.

  He travels along the pathway at a slightly quicker pace but then stops. He feels something is wrong so he searches the trees around him, there doesn’t seem to be anyone following him but still that feeling persist. Thinking maybe he is further behind Olraym than he originally thought he nudges the horse to move quickly but still the feeling of something being wrong is there in his mind. He stops again and decides it may have been something he saw or heard before so he searches his memory: he remembers loosing Olraym and Trugaime some time yesterday before the threat of the storm, but he knows they would have had to find good shelter just like him and cannot remember any other place worth hiding in. Then he remembers the cave: thinking of heading inside but stopping as he believes better of it. How can I be so stupid? They must have stopped in there’. He looks around then spots a set of thick trees close together and surrounded by bushes just off the road. He gets off his horse and leads her further away until he can no longer see the road. He ties the horse to a tree then walks back to his newfound hiding spot.

 

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Trugaime has not made a sound for at least ten minutes �" from what Olraym can tell anyway �" and she doesn’t look as if she is going to for some time. Since hearing where they are going she has looked at Olraym as if he is a creature of nightmares, but so far has not tried to run. Thinking she is in some sort of shock he is wary of trying anything in case it makes her worse, but is concerned that she may not get out of it. He opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates, closes his mouth and looks away outside. The rain is as heavy as ever.

  “Why?” Trugaime suddenly asks, her voice a whisper in the loud rain. Olraym is shocked by her unexpected question and doesn’t reply for a while. He looks back over to her and appears to be eye-to-eye with her.

  “Why what?” her face hardens without looking away, and Olraym is afraid she will try to kill him again.

  “Why Divinwood?” her voice is hard like her face, but she doesn’t move from her side of the fire.

  Olraym isn’t sure how much he wants to explain to her. Too much, even though true, can make him seem insane to her, but too little can make him look as if he is keeping a big secret.

  In the end he tells her enough: the dreams he has had since returning to Tov’ra, the hooded woman saying ‘change’, and the fact of constantly seeing his mother and sister dead. When it comes to his last nightmare in Divinwood he leaves out her being there, believing that it would make things worse if he tells her she is in his dreams.

  By the time he finishes she looks better, possibly believing him, but still looks scared of going near Divinwood. He hears another thunder strike and jumps, forgetting the storm outside and when he looks outside he finds the horses already asleep.

  “We need rest, there is still a lot more to go and I wanna get there as soon as possible.”

  She nods at this then falls back, Olraym is about to rush to her thinking she has fainted or worse when he realises that she did it intentionally and stays seated. Moments later he too falls back and quickly falls asleep for the night. It is a dreamless sleep.

  The following morning the two of them wake up within minutes of each other, for Olraym it was a good deep sleep but one look at Trugaime and he knows the same isn’t true for Trugaime: her eyes are red and to Olraym they seem heavy, her hair is all over the place and she looks like she is barely there with him.

  While wanting to get moving as soon as they are ready since the storm seems to have passed, but he doesn’t want to leave with her looking so bad. She is about to fall back down but is able to stop herself in time. She blinks several times and shakes her head, which seems to help her but not by much. While watching her as she tries to stand, which takes some time since she is so tired and the shackles are still on her, he gets up himself and packs away the blankets, then takes out two loafs of bread and two apples from a different sack.

  He hands her an apple and a loaf of bread, she takes them nods a ‘thank-you’ and begins eating the bread first. By the time they are both finished eating Trugaime looks a lot better in Olraym’s eyes. She doesn’t seem groggy and her eyes don’t look red anymore, she in fact looks more alert.

  Olraym drags his feet from side to side, destroying the now dead fire, making it hard to tell that they were there. He knows that the Cult is still after him, he sees Trugaime nod; she knows it too. He then unties the horses from the rocks and they are about to get onto their horses when Olraym suddenly takes out the key to the shackles and takes them off her.

  The look she gives him is different than before; the time before it was a shocked ‘are-you-insane’ look, this time, while still a shocked look, it is more of a ‘what-doe-he-want-in-return’ kind of look. Olraym sees the look and gives her a look in return that tells her she doesn’t have to do anything.  She still gives him that look as he walks back to the horses, she has the chains and shackles in her hands. She looks at them for a moment then lets them slide out of hands onto the rocks on the ground in an elongated clang that distresses the horses. 

  With the horses now untied from the spikey rock Olraym leads them out of the cave, they put up a fight at first, they still fear the now-gone storm but Olraym gently calms them. He talks soothingly and shows them that the outside is silent, devoid of any thunder.

  Five minutes after getting the horses out of the cave Olraym and Trugaime are riding them away, all their belongings packed and any evidence of their stay in the cave is gone. Trugaime feels much better without the metal constricting her; she feels the newfound freedom as she stretches her arms around her. Though she is glad to be rid of them she takes the shackles with her reasoning that if they are being followed it would be wise not to leave them there. Olraym agrees from the start before her argument for them was even made. Still, she is not wearing them anymore and has no intension of feeling that cold steel on her arms and legs ever again.

  This freedom makes her feel as if a weight is lifted and gives her a feeling of great pleasure. But these feelings are short-lived as she remembers who put those shackles on her and where they are going. She knows why since he told her but that doesn’t mean she likes it. In fact it makes it worse. Strange dreams, people in green patterned robes, mysterious messages? ‘These are not normal things’ Trugaime rations, though the more she thinks about this it becomes more of a silent shout in her head.

  Whatever is happening, it must be something big.

  The two don’t talk to each other for a time; just listen to the trees rustle as an occasional breeze moves through them, the breeze sometimes comes out of the trees and lightly caresses them on the cheek, and as Trugaime closes her eyes to enjoy it she hears the rhythmic trot of the horses’ hooves slapping the path. To Trugaime this reminds her of her life in the Cult. The constant moving, the beautiful sounds of the outdoors and the calming felling that comes with being with people she knows and loves. She still misses that life and probably always will, though she can never tell that to anyone, but she can never go back. These thoughts almost make her tear up but she controls herself before it goes too far.

  For Olraym this reminds him of his time in the Tervunmal Islands. While it was constantly dangerous on the Islands it was to Olraym enjoyable. He found himself at home there strange as that sounds to him. While the peaceful days on the Islands were fine and good, the fights he would find himself in with brutes and thieves who didn’t know and thought him trouble or an easy mark were more calming to him. He hates getting into fights but enjoys them when they happen. This is the real reason he left Tov’ra many years ago: he is ashamed for being this way, his parents, and his father especially, would have shunned him for being this way. They believe in peace above anything else.

   The two are so enamoured in their memories that they fail to see Harke as he hides in bushes they are slowly getting closer to.  They fail to hear the rustling sound he makes as he gets into position. While riding closer Trugaime gets a few feet ahead of Olraym, still not noticing Harke. Olraym doesn’t mind thinking she is not going to try and escape when he hears a loud noise sounding next to him. Before he can turn to find out what made the noise something large jumps at him and forces him, Olraym, and his attacker off the horse and onto the ground in a loud sickening thud.

  Olraym yelps, more in surprise than pain, momentarily forgets the years of practice and training and forgets what he should do to defend himself.

  This strange sort of amnesia lasts only a few seconds only allowing his attacker to give a single punch with his right fist at Olraym’s jaw, a modest blow, but nothing too damaging. The strange amnesia disappears as quickly as it came and as the attacker attempts a second strike and Olraym grabs hold of his arm, they struggle for a second then Olraym rolls them both over, separating the two.

  When the two stand up several feet from each other Trugaime finally sees who it is and instantly recognises him. It is Harke, a fellow Starlight Cultist and, more importantly, he is family. This is something she feared she may have to do since she and Olraym set off: choose a side. But how can she? On one side is a man she has tried to kill, she is not sure how she feels about him and she has known him less than a month. On the other is a man she has known for all of her life, she considers him one of the best parts of her family.

  Even though Olraym has all these points stacked against himself in Trugaime’s mind there is one for him: if Trugaime helps Harke and kills Olraym she still will not be welcome back, Harke may even be forced to kill her too and she knows that though he may hesitate, it won’t be for long. After careful, all be it rushed, consideration she makes her decision.

  Harke takes several more swings at Olraym, all of which are either blocked or dodged, and then he takes out a blade. Olraym has prepared for this after Trugaime first attacked him so he unsheathes his own blade. The two blades are about the same size in length but Harke’s blade is sleeker, has a greater weight distribution to it. A blade made for killing. Where are Olraym’s is thicker and heavier, a useful blade but used only by those who are well trained or are just stupid and think any blade will do. Lucky Olraym is trained.

  With a blade in hand Harke swipes and slashes at Olraym forcing him to back away. Olraym is able to gain some footing but due to Harke’s incessant attacking is unable to keep it for long or use it. While backing away Olraym trips over and falls off the path, he feels a sharp pain in his blade wielding arm and it takes some of his strength to make sure he doesn’t drop it. Harke, feeling triumphant, is about to plunge his blade into Olraym when he suddenly feels a sharp kick to the side of his head and he too falls to the ground. He growls in pain and the ager of knowing someone has taken away what may be his best chance at his target. His eyes begin seeing double and he blinks a few times hoping it would fix itself.

  Both Harke and Olraym look up at Harke’s attacker, both with a mixture of shock and surprise. They both stare as Trugaime, now off her horse as well, glares down at Harke. She is breathing heavily; she is surprised by her own decision but feels it to be the right one.

  When Harke’s eyes see clearer he finds her arm pointing down at him at chest level, attached to that arm is her small crossbow with a poison dart loaded in he raises his hands in a pose of surrender. He then finds her arm is shaking but not enough to warrant any surprise attempts.

  “What the f**k are you doing?” shouts Harke. He is about to get up but Trugaime moves her arm further up pointing her crossbow at his head, he quickly stops moving. He reconsiders surprising her, thinking her shaking may be enough to get her, but he is unsure so he stays still, thinking it all over, frozen in a moment of indecision.

  She breathes deeply which stops the shaking making
Harke’s decision for him and she nods at Olraym, who stands and rushes to their two horses.

  “What I need to do,” is her reply, her voice faltering but still strong.

  Olraym climbs atop one then grabs the other horses’ reins and brings both closer to Trugaime. She doesn’t move for a while then lowers the arm and climbs onto her own horse. The two then speedily ride away, Olraym first then, after giving a final look to Harke and hesitating a little, Trugaime follows.

  Harke stays on the ground and watches them leave. Once they are out of sight and he is unable to hear them he quickly gets to his feet though he feels he waited too long. He rushes to his horse, now hating himself for tying so far away. He unties her and rushes back to the path, having to pull hard to get the horse to keep up with him. He rushes getting on the horse, so much so that he falters and retires and falters again several times before he gets on properly.

  When he does get on properly he doesn’t care about a slow start just orders his horse to go as fast as he can then holds on tight hoping he won’t fall off.

  He again loses sight of them which just makes him angrier, ‘how can she choose that boy over her own people, over me?’ this goes through his head constantly, making him loose his concentration.

  He comes up to a sharp blind corner and charges through it unaware until it is too late that at the end of the corner the road suddenly dips down. He can feel himself falling forward while the horse still charges on.  He knocks his chin on the horse’s head and bites his tongue and feels blood, and then he falls to the side and grabs onto something for dear life, which happens to be the horse’s mane. The horse comes to a dead stop, squeals in pain and rears on its’ hind legs. This new position makes Harke fall at a weird angle and he falls on his back almost injuring his neck. Pain shoots all through him and though it may be his imagination he thinks he hears bones in his left shoulder crack. He tries to move, to get up, but stops when the pain worsens, so he groans in pain and resigns himself to just lie still for a moment.

  His shoulder is definitely broken.

  The horse finally drops down onto her four legs and shakes her neck, shuffles about, and waits for Harke. She may be new to him but she is well trained.

  After looking around him with as little movement as possible, but unfortunately still enough to give him more shots of pain, he feels blackness come over him and he faints. Before he does he hears his horse make noises again and he believes he hears someone, or something, come closer to him.