Artwork by N. R. Eccles-Smith
Their Mind and Matter – Chapter 1
Call upon the world, and it will always send its finest misfortune. Cry out to fate, and it will ever take its time. Let destiny choose your path, and you’ll only ever get what you need. Desire something new, and all three of these things may just come at once.
This is the story of a boy and girl who both wished for far too much. Fate, destiny, the world or whatever forces they were guided by took their wishes, and gave them exactly what they wanted–a new beginning.
It’s so warm here, compared to home.
Shame we can’t go for a swim with this boat moving so fast.
And, you know, the chains.
That’s true.
I wish we’d been more careful.
I know, me too. We shouldn’t fight any more.
I ag– what’s that sound?
Something’s grinding against the ship.
Casimir, did you see that? Out the window–it’s huge!
Stay close to me, Valeska, we’ll be fine…
The sound of lapping waves and whipping wind rung in Casimir’s ears like someone was playing a single note on a flute directly next to him. It hurt and stung, but wasn’t the only thing that hurt. He wanted to look, to make sure what he felt wasn’t real, but the harsh sunlight burned his eyes even as they were closed. The heat wasn’t so bad, but a grating sensation ran across his skin. He decided that the sand must be tearing its way over his exposed body in the harsh wind. A sudden loud squawk made him raise his head, finally opening his eyes. He squinted, took in that he sat on a beach beside a little seagull, then roared as pain took him like a hundred lashes across his back. Something, or several things, had found themselves a comfortable resting place in the flesh of his lower back and left arm.
This was such a mistake. Why? Why did he insist on all of this? What amount of love with her could compare to–
‘Valeska?’ he muttered weakly. Where was she? He searched about himself. The broad yellow beach stretched ever onwards in either direction and angry white water of the ocean crashed beyond its reaches. Where the land continued, dry and cracked ground eventually took the place of the sand–a wasteland.
‘Ee!’ The strange little seagull reminded him that it was still beside him. It shuffled its feet and lifted its beak.
‘I don’t have food.’ Casimir tried to get to his feet, but whatever was in his back held him down. He must have been too weak to move any more. Maybe this was the end, after all. Casimir felt a tightness in his chest as he thought only of his end at the hands of a dry beach and a strange little seagull. He turned to the tiny beast, thought about eating it, and instead offered it a smile. ‘You’re my last friend, little one. If you could, would you find a certain beautiful woman for me? You can’t miss her, she has the palest of skin, but her eyes are like the bright summer sky. Her hair is like the mighty red sands from stories Tri’squenan children are told, and her figure is like the most graceful of elves. If you can find her, tell her that I will never forget my promise, even in the embrace of death.’ He reached into his mouth, and felt for something hard in his gum. Weakly, he drew it out, as the taste of metal stung his tongue. He held a small multicoloured gem to the seagull, and gestured for it to take the offering.
The strange creature eyed the gem, then this strange man, then the gem again. It didn’t take the object, and instead took to the air, leaving Casimir alone.
‘I guess that’s it, then,’ he muttered to himself. He spoke a curse in the language of his home, then let his head lull, darkness taking him.
Lying in a small shelter made of driftwood and backed onto a large rock, Valeska had her arm over her eyes, weeping. She muttered to herself about her stupidity, how right her family was and why she was so useless. She wished she had just not spoken to that happy young man in her hometown’s square, and ignored his remark about her beauty. From the moment they met, Casimir made her believe in false tales of eternal happiness. That love could truly outlast all hatred and the past… even her past.
‘You lied, Casimir,’ she muttered into her arm. Struggling with this despair, she considered giving up her search for the boy she loved. After all, it seemed he was no more than bad luck so far.
Very few situations could be worse than being stranded on some unknown beach made of dry dirt and coarse sand with nobody nearby to help you. But the last few weeks had somehow been far more horrible than this. The beach wasn’t a paradise, but at least Valeska didn’t have the shouts of slavedrivers burning down her neck every next minute.
With that bit of scarcely optimistic thinking in mind, she forced herself to stand. Brushing away any dirt that had added to her already filthy sackcloth, Valeska sought out the sun’s position. It rested some five fingers from the distant land beyond the beach, if she stood with the water to her left. This told her absolutely nothing, as she had next to no experience with travel and survival in the wilds, but she at least felt like she was trying. Next, she listened and felt. Hearing the distant seagull squawk, only one, and feeling the wind billowing past her gave her a sense that there must be seagulls nearby, and it was very windy.
‘Argh!’ Valeska kicked the ground, sending a spray of loose sand about. ‘Why?’ she muttered, heat rising in her head, hot as a smithy’s furnace. Why? This isn’t fair. I’m always in unfair situations. She considered lying in the shelter again, and just sleeping this whole thing off. If she slept long enough, surely it would all just go away. Oh, why couldn’t her powers make her smarter? All she could do was run.
‘Squee!’ That lone seagull’s cry rung out, once again. It made its first appearance some hundreds of meters away, as it crested a small area of jagged rocks that cut off that end of the beach. ‘Ee!’ it called.
Valeska considered throwing a rock at the seagull. I wonder if it would fall quickly, or if–wait, stop this nonsense. Suddenly caught in a battle of her own morality toward seagulls, Valeska lost sight of the creature.
She shook her head at herself, choosing to postpone the seagull monologue until she was in a better situation. She scanned her surroundings, wondering whether it would be wiser to seek food first, or attempt to find Casimir. The latter could hurt a lot, if her fear came true–it was the worst possible outcome. The last thing she needed was to find him broken and dead. The former was always a good option, as she hadn’t eaten properly since leaving home.
Voices.
Valeska honed in on the barricade of loose rocks that lined the side of the beach, thin leafed plants sprouting between them. Above the stones awaited more land, but somewhere amongst them, those voices chattered.
‘Ee!’ The seagull sat mere meters away from Valeska. She cocked her head sideways at it, glaring it down with every ounce of frustration that the creature had earned itself.
‘Go away.’ Valeska made for the rocky wall, which slowly revealed an opening amongst its many boulders. She prayed that out of the several possible people that waited there, she would hear Casimir’s tuneful voice. Oh, how she longed to hear him say her name with that alluring husk in his tone.
She arrived by the little cavern’s entry, and listened. Nerves rocked her, but hope kept her head lifted.
‘This is the worst!’ a feminine voice cried. ‘Why is it that I must deal with all these unfair situations?’
Valeska let some breath hiss between her teeth. I feel you, friend.
‘With all due respect, Taius,’ began another voice, ‘should we not be trying to work out what to do next?’
No! Valeska’s skin prickled. Images of a blood-soaked ship deck filled her mind, accompanied by the sounds of pronged whips lashing. The unified crying, oh, it was like some twisted choir. She could handle not knowing where Casimir was just yet, but if that person was still alive, the nightmare wasn’t over. Of all the ghoul-souled, heartless and evil people that could be here, it had to be the very humanoid trafficker who caused all of this.
‘Squee!’ cried the seagull once again. This time, it was perched directly above the cave’s entrance.
‘What are you d–’ Valeska covered her own mouth.
‘Did you hear that, ma’am?’
‘What?’
‘I’ll go have a look.’
Valeska ran. She threw one foot in front of the other, not thinking or worrying about the stones that cut her feet, or the dirt that filled the little wounds. She reached for that well in the back of her mind, the one that let her run as fast as the wind. White mist seeped from her skin, like steam from a hot bath. Her mind emptied of all thoughts, letting her body propel her into a frantic escape that was the only thing with meaning to her. This was the power she and her love shared–a power she never comprehended, but appreciated greatly at times like this. She capered alongside that wall of rocks which cut off the beach. Diving into the water, Valeska swam with the few ounces of strength left within her.
The dividing wall had a second beach on the other side, which drew Valeska back towards it. In her haste, she gasped for air, her lungs burning hot like she had swallowed a flame. She spat out the horrid taste of salt water, then her feet returned to the mixture of dirt and fine sand making up this new beach. She stumbled to her knees, wiping the foam and spittle from her mouth in disgust. Those voices had disappeared, hopefully meaning that they never even gave chase or saw her in the first place.
‘Ee, ee!’ came the cry of the last creature she wanted to hear right now.
She glared at the bird, then decided in that moment how she felt about seagulls. A nicely sized rock was embedded in the dirt, and Valeska plucked it like a fresh vegetable. ‘Go.’ She flung the stone at the gull, but it missed. She picked up another rock.
‘Squee!’ the seagull screamed. It made a run for it as Valeska threw stone after stone.
‘Beach rat, whistle head, flea infested ball of feathers!’ Every single stone missed, due to the combined states of weakness and hysterics poisoning Valeska. She wanted to cry, but now would just be embarrassing. Something smoky marred her vision for no more than a moment, making her falter. She blinked and it was gone. Strange, her power hadn’t done that before.
The bird finally stopped its waddling and took flight. Only, it landed a short distance away on the top of some wooden structure. It was a long timber pole, one of the smaller masts, probably from the very ship she’d arrived on. Torn sails lay wrapped about it and tattered across the beach. Many more splintered pieces of timber lay thrown about, covering the beach like trees in a forest.
‘Ee,’ the seagull squawked quietly. Its head bowed, it tottered along the mast until it reached the very end, where something was attached to the splintered and spear-like end.
Valeska took a moment to consider the severity of the damage, and counted herself lucky to have nothing more than a few sore spots on her arms. Then, she recognised the thing attached to the mast.
‘No!’ Valeska screamed. She ran to the mast’s end, and couldn’t stop her crying this time. There lay a young half-blooded halfling man, too stout but a couple of feet short of human. He had long black hair that currently lay in a mess over his sweet rounded face and tanned skin that looked unnaturally shiny in the bright sun. Casimir rested there, sharp wooden splinters impaling him from behind in his lower left abdomen, shoulder and hand. He laid as still as the shipwreck pieces about him, head lulled to the side and free hand lying open on the sand, something resting in the palm. His ragged clothing had been torn, leaving him exposed and degraded.
Valeska shakily rent some of the sail’s already ruined skin into a piece big enough to cover her love, then laid it over him like she was putting him into bed. With the sail covering his wounds, he really did look like he was just sleeping upright.
Valeska broke into wails choked by tears. ‘Why, Casimir?! Why?!’ She fell to her face and hammered the dirt with her fist. ‘This isn’t fair! This isn’t right!’ she screamed. Her voice broke, carrying into the air and splitting it into shards of wind and shrieks.
Casimir had been far too good for the world to treat him like this. Sure, he was careless sometimes and had a tendency to get into a lot of trouble, but he never had a single ill intention or ulterior motive. Whether it was the time that Casimir somehow got a whole restaurant sick by helping in their kitchens, or the very day he helped Valeska escape her family, he only ever had the best in mind. He wanted nothing more than for the two of them to have an adventure together.
Amongst her wails, Valeska noticed that the seagull had landed by her. She didn’t care what it did anymore–the stupid beast had led her straight to her greatest nightmare. This couldn’t get any worse.
A hand touched Valeska’s head. She jolted backwards, falling onto her side. Towering over her was a leonfolk woman, standing on two legs like Valeska, but with the face of a lioness. Green and brown robes wrapped about her, giving her an air of nobility, or maybe she was some sort of religious leader.
‘Child, do not fear.’ The lioness reached into a hefty woven reed bag at her side, and began drawing out strange materials.
Where did she come fr–oh. Valeska suddenly felt a little guilty, as the last white feathers fell off the lioness.
‘There are many who have passed away on this beach in the last day,’ the lioness explained with a slight growl in her tone. ‘It is such a horrible tragedy.’
Valeska sat in silence, trying to hold back her sobs from making her feel foolish any further. She caught sight of Casimir’s body again, and the rolling tears tickled her face once more.
‘But I can save one.’ The lioness drew a strange cloth from within her bag, and from within that, a small and clear diamond. ‘That one must have only died recently, and requires something very valuable to heal. With my opportunities so limited, I needed to be sure that saving this man would mean something to someone else. So, I sought you.’ She gently placed a paw behind Casimir’s back and began to pull him away from the mast. Wincing, she managed to draw him off the spikes and laid him wrapped in the sails.
Blood lay on those ghastly spears of wood and filtered through the sail slowly. The leonfolk woman held the sparkling diamond over the body, and she took a drawn-out breath. A hum passed between her lips as she ran a clawed thumb over a smooth side of the diamond.
Valeska had no words. Surely this woman couldn’t be suggesting that she would bring Casimir back to life? However, Valeska had no reason to doubt her, and honestly felt she should at least give the leonfolk a chance after throwing rocks at her. A tiny spark of hope lit within her, cooling the terrible burning in her chest.
‘Young man,’ the leonfolk woman began, ‘do not pass just yet, you have much to be done in your life.’ She gave Valeska a gentle smile. ‘And someone needs you.’ With that, she held the diamond directly over Casimir’s body, and it shone brightly like a tiny star in her hand. The gem burst like a firecracker, turning into glittering dust that rained down upon Casimir’s body. It rested over him, then vanished as it touched his face and the blanket covering him.
For a time, that moment at least felt beautiful enough to warrant Valeska’s sudden feeling of peace. Even if Casimir never reawakened, she could let go of him with the final memories of him being quite spectacular. However, the healing was undeniably successful. It worked so well, in fact, that the result took both Valeska and the leonfolk woman by surprise.
‘Wow!’ Casimir’s eyes that were once closed for his eternal sleep sprung open as he shot to his feet, then he curled over, clutching his gut with a groan.
‘Casimir!’ Valeska leapt over him and drew him into her arms. She pulled him tight and those tear trails filled once more. I mustn’t blame him for this ever again.
‘Ow,’ Casimir muttered. Valeska quickly released him, realising that he was alive, but still injured. Gaping wounds blotted his left side and arm with blood–his hand not looking to have a normal shape, and shoulder simply hanging at his side.
‘Let me help,’ the leonfolk woman said with a grumble at the back of her throat. ‘He’s not safe, yet.’ She laid a paw smeared with some sort of ground herb on the back of Casimir’s shoulder. He sighed with relief, as the hole in the shoulder closed slightly. There was a popping noise as the healing continued, the healer moving her paw to his side.
‘Thank you so much…’ Valeska realised she had never even introduced herself after all the kindness this figure showed.
‘Shathmin,’ the healer said with a toothy smile.
‘I am Valeska, and this is Casimir.’
‘A pleasure to meet you both.’ Shathmin placed the sail around Casimir again, finishing up her magic. She rustled Casimir’s hair, her paw nearly encompassing his head entirely. ‘Count yourself blessed, young man. You have a strong woman in your life who isn’t afraid to fight.’ Shathmin winked at Valeska, who shied away at the thought of her rock throwing incident. The lioness reached into her bag, drawing out two individual dried berries. ‘Here, these will help any loss of strength.’
Valeska looked at the slightly distasteful looking black berry with uncertainty, but Casimir’s was gone the moment it was in his hand. Seeing no adverse effects to his health, Valeska ate hers. She nodded, allowing a surprised expression to cross her face. It was sweet, but the taste barely lasted a moment in her mouth.
‘Can you tell me,’ Shathmin began, ‘how it is your ship came to be wrec–’
‘There! Told you I heard something!’ a voice trilled across the beach. Its source was a rough looking firbolg man, tall with grey skin standing atop the wall of rocks that cut off the beach. He pointed out to the group with a crooked smile. Rising beside him came three other figures, the most commanding amongst them being an elven woman with a hardened and expressionless gaze. At first, Valeska didn’t recognise them, but knew the woman’s short black hair with shaven sides, and how those emerald green eyes waxed dull, like nothing meant anything to her.
‘Is–did… Taius?’ Casimir sat upright, trying his hardest to fight the very obvious pain that still seized him.
Taius held her hand out towards Valeska in particular. Wounds split Taius’ olive skin, with no bindings to dress them. ‘I will not return to our master empty handed. Stay where you are.’ She made for them, hurrying down the rocky incline.
‘Run!’ Valeska grabbed Casimir by the hand and dragged him along behind her, the sail tearing off him.
‘Ow, ow!’ Casimir cried. A large pair of paws scooped him up, as Shathmin ran alongside Valeska.
‘I will ask my questions later.’ Shathmin smiled at Casimir as he tried to cover himself with his one good hand. She lifted her face toward a hill overlooking the far end of the beach. There, something tall and thin loomed against the blue sky. ‘We will run to my home. Even if they follow us there, we will be protected.’
With that, they ran on and on. It didn’t take much for Valeska to feel the burning sensation tear its way from her feet and into her legs. Weakness and desire for rest called out to her, but she refused to falter. She could hear the pounding of the pursuers’ feet and the unsheathing of weaponry. If she just kept running, she’d be alright. After all, both she and Casimir were very good at running–they were practically the fastest from their homeland.
Finally, they arrived at the base of a sandy dune, where grass grew on its top. That tall object turned out to be some sort of pillar, casting its shadow across a broken shale path. Shathmin took to the shattered walkway, leading Valeska down its winding trail.
A backdrop of dry earth beheld the image of a single great structure–a ruin. This stone building appeared to be scarcely holding together, lifted by chipped pillars and walls riddled with cracks. Despite its untrustworthy architecture, Shathmin didn’t hesitate to scale its staircase and vanish into the arched door.
Valeska, having come so far, stopped before the great building. She looked back, and found the pursuers closing in. They crested the sand dune and trod over the slate path with heavy boots. Their leader, Taius, smiled. That was terrifying in itself. The only reason that woman smiled was when she caught a slave trying to stand up to her. She charged with two sabres hanging at her side. Those weapons looked the cleanest Valeska had ever seen them. Normally, they would be crusted with old blood. Taius must have been waiting for a chance like this.
‘Get inside!’ Shathmin snatched Valeska up by the collar and dragged her through the entryway. She threw the girl to the floor rather roughly, but there was worry in the lioness’ eyes. ‘You must try listening to me, when I say we will be safe here.’
Valeska heaved herself to her feet, following Shathmin deeper into the ruins. The enormous room they stood in had several great pillars on either side, and great etchings were carved into the walls, depicting images of great titans in battle. One of these titans, much larger than the rest, had various runic symbols covering its arms and legs. All other titans near it seemed to be cowering beneath its might as it stood with its arms raised high.
‘How are we supposed to be safe, here?’ Valeska asked, keenly eying Casimir as Shathmin placed him on the floor.
‘You do not recognise the design of these ruins?’ Shathmin asked.
‘We aren’t entirely familiar with this country’s history.’ Casimir propped his back against one of the pillars, clutching that left arm and still trying to cover himself.
Shathmin threw a simple cloak to him to cover himself with. ‘This is called a Ruin of the Catalyst, a monument to the titans who once waged war in the names of the beings known as Patriarch and Matriarch. They are famous here in Hophreda’an.’
Valeska sought out Casimir’s gaze, nearly ready to cry once more.
‘So, we made it,’ Casimir said with a crooked smile. ‘Just in time to be killed by slave traders.’
‘Not so.’ Shathmin lifted a paw to the entrance. ‘Don’t you see? They have yet to enter.’ That much was true, Taius and her crew were merely moments behind them, but there wasn’t any sign of the barbarians. ‘They fear the guardian.’
Casimir raised his brow, searching to his left and right. He exchanged a shrug with Valeska before asking, ‘what guardian?’
Shathmin guided their eyes to a large pile of rubble, ruin and dirt. ‘Every one of these ruins is protected by a guardian. They are mighty beings, but this one was defeated some weeks ago by a small group of fighters. That same group retreated after trying to delve deeper into the ruins in hopes of gaining the treasure, as the deeper you go, the greater the challenges.’ She crouched beside Casimir, and inspected his wounds further. ‘As I’d hoped, our pursuers respect the stories of adventurers meeting their ends at the hands of these glamim. They will not enter, assuming that we have perished.’ She lifted a paw toward the back of the room, pointing out a place where a staircase led into the floor. ‘Just do not go there, unless you wish to be dragged to the depths by the true terrors that lie in wait.’
Though Casimir seemed to take comfort in that knowledge, Valeska shook with a sudden realization. ‘Then you’ve led us to a corner with no way out,’ Valeska said, grinding her jaw. ‘You don’t know the nature of the woman who pursues us.’
And as if to respond to Valeska’s words, a set of heavy footsteps entered the room. Taius Citna lifted her blade toward Valeska, shaking her head with a click of her tongue.
‘Poor runaways. Thought you could hide here?’ She twirled her second blade with unnecessary finesse. ‘The guardian would have stopped you before you had even reached the stairs, were it here.’ Her eyes flicked to the pile of rubble, and her lips curled upwards. There was a momentary spark of light in her eye, just enough to reveal her excitement.
‘You… can’t–you won’t take us again!’ Valeska cried. She backed away slowly as Taius advanced upon her with glee.
‘You lost the ability to make that choice when you stupidly boarded my ship!’ Taius brought her first blade down upon Valeska, and that was where Valeska’s old life finally came to its end.
She wasn’t entirely sure what happened in that last moment, but Valeska definitely felt the blade meet its mark. However, there was no cut or bloodshed. Her eyes hazed over with steam, blurring her vision. That same steam turned to a dark and smoky black.
‘What!?’ Taius cried.
Valeska’s eyes cleared up, and she finally caught a glimpse of Taius’ contorted face, grimacing with anger and confusion.
‘Do you feel the flow of particles?’ a voice whispered into Valeska’s ear. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew exactly what feeling the voice meant. ‘You have a power in you much like my own. Use your cunning and wit to attain victory, for that has always been your strength.’
Valeska’s weight lessened, and the shadowy smoke from before wrapped around her, creating an outline of black on her skin. In the reflection of Taius’ blades, Valeska saw her own eyes, glowing with bright red pupils.
Taius’ crew came rushing into the ruins, weapons drawn and eyes on the girl with the glowing eyes. They didn’t get far, as Casimir had made it to his feet, and Shathmin had a staff drawn.
‘Eyes on me, gentlemen,’ Casimir stated as his own eyes glowed with purple pupils. A red aura encompassed him, giving him the strength to stand at full height again. ‘I have a bad habit of breaking things, and I do it very well.’
Valeska only had enough time to see her love stumble into a dash for his foes, the rest of what happened to him was a blur, as she focused on the vile slave collector before her. She felt a sensation within her wrists that felt like someone was grabbing hold of them and yanking her forward, urging her to fight. With this new energy coursing through her, exciting her, she decided to use what abilities she knew best–running.
Pivoting on her heel, Valeska ran for the far back end of the ruins. The familiar sensation of fresh air filling her lungs let her know that she could still do what she had always done. Her feet moved too fast to control properly, and so she came to a tripping halt. She caught herself upon her fall, used that downwards momentum to roll forward, then swivelled back to her feet. All the while, she could feel the very vibrations of Taius’ heavy footsteps. She had made it to the back wall and eyed that staircase, the same one Shathmin had warned her about. At the very base of the stairs was a sheer drop into the dark. That was the answer to this fight, but how to fool Taius.
‘Be still!’ the slavedriver commanded.
‘Come, then!’ Recalling some of her combat training, Valeska took a low stance, centring her weight and readying her hands for whatever her opponent could throw at her. With that, she took the moment to try and calculate how exactly she was to get Taius down the staircase without risking it herself. She still had time to move in front of it to use herself as bait, but she didn’t feel that confident.
Think Valeska, think. Then, her mind opened. That same energy that allowed her to run swiftly felt like it was prying the mist away from her mind. Not the adrenaline nor fear clouded her thoughts. She could practically see it–the way to victory. Barely a moment of real time had passed in all of her musings. Thank you, strange new power.
Valeska eyed the sword swinging down upon her again, but did not flinch this time. She sent her hands up to meet the blade, striking its flat with the back of one wrist. Just that gentle nudge put Taius off course by a small margin, and opened her body up to almost anything Valeska could throw at her–and boy, did Valeska throw something.
She placed her other hand on Taius’ shoulder, then vaulted over the woman, sending her hammering into the stone wall. Valeska landed, and swung a leg beneath the slave collector, sending her straight to the floor.
For that moment, Valeska almost felt tempted to continue the beat down on this horrible person, but instead stuck to her plan. She grabbed the woman’s collar and threw her to the staircase. With a loud grunt and clatter of her blade, Taius rolled down and fell toward the shadows below, but not before giving Valeska one last fearful look. She mouthed the words sky death sav–. Valeska felt some guilt rise as she took satisfaction in seeing those horrified eyes on such a person, but it was soon over.
Across the room, a loud whack signalled the end of the fight for Casimir and Shathmin. The firbolg fighter slumped onto his face.
‘You are a clean fighter, for someone who bragged about causing destruction.’ Shathmin patted Casimir’s good shoulder.
‘I’m just not as good at fighting as Valeska.’ Casimir heaved a few heavy breaths, and the red mist about him dissipated. He turned to Valeska, who was approaching slowly and gently embraced her. He buried his face into her shoulder, revealing the little bit of blood tainting his dark hair. His breaths felt sharp and shallow upon her skin, but far better than none at all.
‘Where did the woman go?’ Shathmin asked, scanning the room with keen eyes. Suddenly, her face twisted to that of someone who had just seen a thousand deaths. ‘You didn’t thr–’
‘Argh!’ The screams of Taius called out from the stairs at the back of the room. And within the span of a few seconds, those cries halted.
Casimir slowly lifted his head up to gaze at Valeska. He said, ‘well, that was a little dark.’
‘I told you that it was not safe down there,’ Shathmin growled. The way her back arched reminded Valeska of one of her family’s cats when it met a stray.
‘I’m sorry,’ Valeska said with a tremor in her voice. ‘I just felt I had to end it quickly. Besides, that woman has sent hundreds, or even thousands to be tortured by other horrible people.’ She slowly lowered herself to the floor with Casimir in her arms.
‘If that is true,’ Shathmin said with hesitation. ‘I guess Hophreda’an is a little safer, now. Her death still could have been handled more quickly.’ Shathmin picked up the three other unconscious figures from the floor, and walked them out of the ruins, allowing Valeska a moment alone with Casimir.
First, she kissed him, then she said, ‘so, running isn’t the only thing we can do.’ She rested her fingers on his cheek and gently brushed some stray hairs away.
‘So it seems.’ Casimir nestled into her and sighed. ‘I’m so sorry, for everything.’
Valeska shook her head, a little angrily. ‘Don’t apologise. We’re here, now. We just need to move on with our lives. We don’t have money any more, and I doubt these dry lands will give us an opportunity to live off them.’
‘Also, I hear it’s against the law in this country to build anything without proper documentation.’ Casimir found Valeska’s other hand and threaded his working fingers through hers. ‘Maybe Shathmin has a suggestion.’
‘Maybe.’ Valeska fell deep into thought. So much for finding a quiet life.
‘Or maybe,’ Casimir began with a curled lip, ‘fate will give us an opportunity to live new lives.’
Valeska didn’t respond this time–she doubted his words more than anything, right now. The last time he spoke of fate, they fell into Taius’ hands.
Please, she thought, send me a sign that all this is right or wrong–any will do. I just need to know!
•••
And so, her sign came–a whole team of signs. They strode through the dry landscapes of northern Hophreda’an, each armed with weapons of their choosing. Their leader, a burly fellow known as a gordlenan, gripped the pommel of the weapon strapped to his back–a single edged greatsword with a runic inscription on one side. He wore simple two-piece robes that had the designs and tastes of the orient–Gadroth. His stern gaze set him apart from the other, happier, folk beside him. With his arm raised, he revealed the tattoo beneath his arm that depicted a word and number, crossed out with a bold black line. That tattoo alone said far too much, but was the key to everything.
Trafficker 5, stated the tattoo.