Alcingeria Chapter Fifteen: Departure

The Scorpions depart Ignacio's cabin in search of civilization. They run into two odd men who point them in the direction of the province Vulrock.

Chapter Fifteen Departure: When all four of us were outside Ignacio’s cabin, we took in the scenery around us. We were in a forest. Trees were very common and they were densely packed together in most areas. The sound of crickets and other insects filled the air and the smell of moss and wet leaves hung on the air. I spotted the place where I had been standing when I passed out from Ignacio’s poisoned food and water.

            “Which way do we go?” Macalister asked.

We all looked around. There was nothing to give us an incentive as to where we were, so we had to go on a hunch.

            “Anyone care to take a wild guess?” Asked Robert.

Don raised his hand and pointed a finger to our left.

            “I suppose that way is as good as any.” Don pointed out.

Don began walking in the direction that he indicated. I walked after him. Robert followed me and Macalister brought up the rear. I looked up to the sun. It was past its apex in the sky and was starting to descend towards the horizon. I estimated that it was at least four hours past noon. The trees passed in a slow haze of green as we walked by them.

            “Let us hope that luck is with us. If we don’t find a town before dark, we will go another night hungry.” Macalister said.

            “Yes. We can get a meal in the next town and we can find out where we’re, like we already said. From there we can decide what to do next.” Robert told him.

            Upon another mention of food, I noticed that my stomach was aching with hunger. Macalister was right. We had to find a town before dark.

            “Redmond, you and Don were talking about the stories that your fathers told you as children. You also said that there could be other supernatural creatures in Alcingeria.” Robert said.

            “Well, yes. Why?” I asked.

            “What other creatures do you think could be in the world?” Asked Robert.

I recited what I said to Don earlier.

            “Well, in the stories my father told me there were angels, demons, vampires, fairies, sorcerers and all sorts of other creatures.” I said.

            “Yes, my father told me of similar creatures when I was a boy.” Macalister said.

Don look to Robert.

            “Did your father ever tell you stories?” Don asked.

Robert’s shoulders sagged.

            “Not commonly, no. He would sometimes tell me a bedtime story, but I can’t recall most of them. The ones that I can remember included lycans.” Robert said.

Lycans? The word seemed familiar. Perhaps my father told me of such stories as well?

            “What are lycans?” Macalister asked.

            “Well, lycans are creatures who have the appearance of a man, but during the full moon they assume the forms of large wolves.” Robert explained.

            “That sounds like a load of crap to me.” Macalister remarked.

            “Well, vampires would have seemed like a load of crap to you a few days ago. Now that you have seen one and know that they’re real, your opinion has changed, correct?” Robert asked.

            “Yes, of course my opinion has changed.” Macalister said. 

“Well since vampires are real, that could mean that the other supernatural creatures of Alcingeria are real, too.” Robert said.

Macalister nodded slowly.

            “I understand. We can’t look at the world the same way that we once did. We must open our eyes and see what we failed to before.” Macalister said.

Wow. Those were surprisingly wise words for someone of Macalister’s… Intelligence level.

            “Well, I’m impressed. Those are wise words.” Don said.

Macalister smiled in appreciation.

            “He’s right. We can’t view the world as normal people. We must keep an eye out for vampires and whatever else is out there.” I said.

            “We don’t know what else is out there, how will we keep an eye out for something that we have no knowledge of?” Macalister asked.

            “We must always be on guard and on the lookout for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. If we stay sharp, we’re bound to find something eventually.” Robert told us.

Upon hearing Robert say ‘stay sharp’ I instinctively looked around. The forest that we were in grew thicker as we walked on. As we walked deeper and deeper we had to swerve more and more often to avoid hitting trees. I looked up at the sun. It had sunk towards the horizon more since we started talking. The sky took on the color of the early stages of twilight. Just then, I heard a voice. It belonged to a male and the voice was quite loud. I could make out the words;

            “Hey! I got one!” The male voice said.

There was a thud sound as well as the sound of boots crunching over leaves.

            “Would you keep it down! What if there are people nearby?” Asked a second male voice in a quieter tone.

            “Are you mad? No one would be out in this part of the forest. We’re only a kilometer or two from that vampire’s cabin!” The first voice said.

            “It does not matter. We have what we came for so let us go back to Vulrock. Queen Yuka will have our heads if we don’t have this brought to her by nightfall.” The second voice said anxiously.

I looked to the others. They had their heads inclined towards the voices as well.

            “What should we do?” I asked.

            “We should ask them if they can lead us to Vulrock. There will be food at Vulrock.” Macalister said.

            “I agree with Macalister. We have no idea where we’re and we need food.” Don said.

            “Very well.” Robert said.

Don began walking towards the place where the voices were coming from. I followed Don while Robert and Macalister stayed put. After walking a few feet I saw them. There were two men, both burly and muscular looking and they were both over six feet tall. They both wore matching brown leather sleeveless shirts. One of them was slightly taller than the other. The taller one had a musket slung over his shoulder with a leather strap. They both had their backs to us, looking at a small burlap sack that was tied shut at their feet. They were about fifteen feet away from Don and I. I decided to call out.

            “Excuse me!” I called out.

In a flash, the taller man got the musket off of his shoulder, spun around and aimed the musket at Don and I. His friend turned around to face us as well.

            “Who are you?” Called the taller man, the one with the musket.

Don and I put out hands to the sky, my flintlock was still in my hand.

            “Relax! We’re not hostile. We merely wish to accompany you to Vulrock. We’re lost and don’t know where we’re.” Don called.

I saw the taller man lower the musket slightly. He seemed a little more relaxed than he had been a few seconds ago. Good thing Don was very charismatic.

The taller man leaned over slightly to talk to his friend, his eyes didn’t leave Don and I. After a few seconds, the taller man brought his full attention to Don and I.

            “You may not accompany us to Vulrock!” He called out.

Confusion and dismay set in. Why would he not let us accompany them to Vulrock?

            “What? Why not?” Don called out.

Just then, the burlap sack at the men’s feet that I had noticed earlier moved.

            “What is in the bag?” I asked, gesturing to the burlap sack with my chin while keeping my hands up.

The taller man with the musket snapped his gaze downward to the bag. It moved as he did so. He kicked the bag and it stopped moving.

            “None of your business! Go back the way you came or I’ll shoot!” The taller man said, aiming his musket at us.

            “Hey, hey! There is no need for aggression! All we want is to find our way back to civilization. If we can’t follow you to Vulrock, can you direct us there?” Don asked.

The taller man looked to his friend. He turned his gaze back to Don and I and his friend whispered something in his ear. When he was done, the taller man looked back to us.

            “Very well. The border of Vulrock is a few kilometers away from here. To get there you head straight in this direction.” The man gestured behind him.

            “You will come to Vulrock eventually. However after my friend and I have gone, you must wait half an hour after we have vanished from sight or you will be shot, understand?” The man said.

            “We will be shot? How come?” I asked, a little bit of fear showed in my voice.

The taller man shrugged.

            “It’s nothing personal, see. We don’t know you so we can’t trust you to get close to our score.” The shorter man said while pointing to the burlap sack that lay on the ground.

What could possibly be inside that burlap sack that’s so important to them? It had moved earlier. Could it have been an animal? Were those men poachers? I didn’t hear a gunshot from the man’s musket go off so he didn’t shoot an animal. They had caught it in that bag. If they were out here to capture animals in bags and not shoot them, what did they need the musket for?

            “I understand. Thank you!” Don called.

            “Be careful, aye? These woods are dangerous come nightfall!” The shorter man called.

With that said, the taller man grabbed the burlap sack from the ground, turned around and started walking in the direction that he said Vulrock was. His friend followed him. Pretty soon they had vanished from sight.

            “What do you think the man meant when he said ‘these woods are dangerous come nightfall’?” Don asked.

            “I don’t know. Perhaps they know of vampires as well?” I asked.

            “Possibly. Anyway, let us go find Macalister and Robert. We must wait half an hour before we may continue.” Don said.

Don then walked back to where we left Macalister and Robert. We found them standing with dumbfounded expressions. Don explained what had happened.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Interesting chapter. The setting alone of being lost searching for town was good, and the altercation between the group and the two men raised my eyebrows. Can't help but wonder what's in that bag. xD

It seems like they're unsure whether the two men know about vampires, even though they said something about being near the vampire's cabin. This is the only thing I found confusing, though it's reasonable to assume they didn't hear it and that was meant for the reader. No spelling errors that I noted. Good work!

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you very much! I will review your work later tonight after I'm done studying for exams!