Follow: Book 1 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Three: A Town in Chaos

The Northern sun was on the verge of setting when Gerardo and Rein entered Cair. Their first order of business was to search for a place to spend the night. Gerardo dwelled on second thoughts as he scanned the crumbling buildings of a town lost to battle. He recalled overhearing plans of an attack here, the neighboring town of Vann, and the Xer base located on the outskirts, and it appeared as though such plans had taken place.

The townsfolk were scattered about the rubble, panicked and maniacal. As many of them looted demolished buildings, some cleaned up spills and debris while others sobbed hysterically over the damage. Gerardo and Rein cautiously meandered along the grimy streets with an aching desire to leave as soon as possible.

“It might be better if we search for lodging elsewhere,” Gerardo suggested.

“Agreed.”

Rein found it an eerie coincidence how much this town reminded her of the horrid dream she had suffered the night before. She sat hunched over on Gerardo’s shoulder as he dodged the townsfolk with their injured farm animals and damaged carts.

A crash sounded on their right, snatching their attention to a grocery that had scarcely survived the invasion at all. A filthy, hairy man flailed around atop a mess of broken crates and squashed fruit. He continued to shout obscenities at whoever had left them there as he repeatedly failed to lift himself from the mess. A second, larger man scrambled out of the grocery, swearing up a storm as he roughly hauled the intruder off of the produce and splintered wood. He then proceeded to shove the man away, slapping him left and right to encourage him to move faster.

“You blind fool! Aren’t you even watching where you’re going? You can’t be running about these streets like a child playing some game! Get on with you! Away! Now!”

Then Rein’s eyes fell onto the shop to the left of the grocery, and her body stiffened when she recognized it: an apothecary selling pixie corpses along with an abundance of methods of exterminating them. The bodies of many of her kind dangled in the window in a show of pride. They had been killed in creative ways; sealed up in jars, squashed beneath excessive weight, thrown against walls, poisoned, sliced in half, chopped into tiny pieces, the methods were endless. The most horrifying part of it all was that they were a perfect match to the silhouettes in the apothecary window she had dreamt about the night before.

A scream escaped Rein’s throat and she hid her face in Gerardo’s greasy hair, praying for the shop to disappear. Her sudden panic startled Gerardo. The townsfolk close by turned their heads to the sound, even the grocer who was still trying to shoo the delirious man away. What everyone saw was an Xer soldier with a pixie on his shoulder and they whispered about this peculiar picture to each other, either confused or suspicious—perhaps both. Pixies may have been small, but they didn’t have quiet, high-pitched voices. They could be easily mistaken for a much larger creature if they were not seen, as their voices were averaged-pitched, big voices.

Gerardo nervously glanced around at the growing crowd. He cocked his head toward Rein and scolded her in a whisper. “Rein, what do you think—”

Then he spotted the gruesome figures in the window of the tiny shop and immediately empathized with Rein.

“It’s alright,” he assured. “We’re almost out of here.”

Gerardo walked on and continued his pursuit for the nearest exit out of Cair. The townsfolk scowled at him and the bright, shining thing on his shoulder. Spiteful? Suspicious? Disgusted?

The town line was in Gerardo’s sight when an officer stepped into his path. “Are you unaware that pixies are rodents here? Pests.”

Gerardo observed the model of masculinity before him. He didn’t understand foreign ranks in law enforcement, but clearly this officer had to be at least close to the top of the chain of command, or he wouldn’t have been draped in the silver-blue cape, as capes symbolized authority in all three empires. If Gerardo hadn’t been fighting soldiers of the People for the past few years, he may have mistaken this officer for an Xer as he was covered from head to toe in leather and steel. However, while the breastplates of soldiers mimicked a defined chest and abdomen, this officer’s plate was simply engraved with intricate swirls and vines.

“As a matter of fact I was unaware, sir,” Gerardo confirmed for the officer. “Fortunately, I’m headed out of town now, so we won’t be much of a problem for you.”

He moved to continue onward, but the officer prevented him from leaving. “What business do you have in associating yourself with one of their kind?”

“She’s my pet, Sir,” Gerardo replied smoothly.

“Really? Why is it not secured then?”

“She’s trained.”

“Trained?” the officer chuckled. “You expect me to believe that?” Gerardo didn’t answer. “Nevertheless, pixies are illegal in the empire. You should know this, soldier.”

“My apologies, Officer,” Gerardo replied. “I was, in fact, unaware of this law. As soon as the war is ended, I will be rid of her.”

Gerardo tried to step around the officer, who held out his hand to stop him once more. “You don’t understand. The moment one of those things enters town, I must take it into custody.”

“As in to the exterminator?” Gerardo asked. “I just saw it back there a bit. The one with the dead sprite creatures in the window, correct?”

Gerardo could hear Rein’s heavy panting in his ear as she hid behind his right shoulder. He met the officer’s eyes, recognizing the hate which burned in them. He was used to that glare; everyone looked at him this way. It was likely the officer was more after an excuse to fight or arrest Gerardo, than he was interested in the pixie.

“Just hand it over,” the officer insisted.

The tension between them rapidly thickened.

“Allow me to set her free,” Gerardo offered. “She won’t bother anyone anymore.”

“Listen, Soldier. We have zero tolerance here in Cair.” There was a hint of frustration in the officer’s voice now. “Either hand the thing over, or I’ll take you with it.”

Rein stretched her hand to a dagger she kept in her right stocking and slowly removed it. There was no way the matter would end peacefully at this point.

“I’m not giving you my pixie, sir,” Gerardo assured. “I’m willing to negotiate—”

The officer drew his sword and extended it to Gerardo’s neck, causing him to stumble back a couple steps. The shining tip of the blade forced Gerardo’s chin up so to make it clear which of the two possessed all the power. Gerardo felt the point tickle his stubble and thought for a moment the officer was sure to cut into his flesh. He strived to keep calm and watched for his opponent’s next move.

“I wasn’t bluffing, Soldier.” The warning almost came out as a growl.

“I’m curious, why would an officer threaten a soldier with his sword?” Gerardo asked.

“Perhaps he’s willing to bet that he has more experience with the sword than the soldier does.”

Rein eyed the end of the weapon intently, watching with a prayer that it wouldn’t penetrate Gerardo’s neck. The doubled edged blade was nearly invisible on each end, making it difficult to decipher exactly how close Gerardo was to death. Rein searched her mind for the best excuse to give Mira as to why Gerardo was killed before he could make it to the palace. It wasn’t really her fault, was it?

“I’ve survived the Stone War this long,” Gerardo informed the officer. “Are you sure you’re more experienced?”

The officer thrust his sword forward, but Gerardo fell back just in time to survive the attack. He quickly found himself in the mud with a wounded throat. Rein had a good fall herself but was unhurt, and she managed to crawl back behind Gerardo’s shoulder. Hearty laughter arose from the crowd around them.

“Give me the pixie or I’ll end you right now,” the officer threatened with the tip of his sword sitting on Gerardo’s wound. “Then what will you do?”

“Nothing, you will have given the pixie a chance to escape,” Gerardo answered, unfazed by the near-decapitation.

“You’re a stupid boy,” spat the officer. “You wanted to negotiate, this is my offer. Either I kill you and take the pixie, or I take the pixie and you live.”

Gerardo knew he could easily win a sword-fight against this officer, but it would bring him too much attention and word might reach the palace before he did. He tried frantically to devise a plan out of this.

Fed up, the officer jerked the blade to his right, cutting a slit instead of a hole into Gerardo’s throat. Gerardo cried out from the unexpected sting and grabbed his neck. It burned at his touch. He held his hand out in front of him. Blood. He felt it slowly crawl down his neck, tickling his skin. It wasn’t long before the officer’s sword was back in the wound.

“I’m not going to kill you right away, Soldier,” the officer said. “This is your final warning.”

Gerardo knew the officer was being completely serious. In fact, he was surprised he had been given so many opportunities to do the officer’s bidding willingly. He could only think of one last course of action to save the pixie.

“Fly away Rein, I can’t do much more,” he whispered.

“If she flies away, you’re dead.”

Gerardo remained silent. Rein froze in fear.

The officer’s gaze shot to Rein, and he stretched his hand toward her. “Come here, or I will kill him.”

“Just fly away, Rein,” said Gerardo.

“You need to go save that soldier,” Rein whispered so the officer couldn’t hear.

She tucked her knife back into her stocking, inhaled a bout of courage, and reluctantly flew over to the officer. Gerardo watched helplessly as Rein was snatched from the air.

The officer glared at him. “Fool.”

He brought his sword down, but Gerardo rolled out of the way. He was on his feet in seconds with his own sword drawn. The two exchanged merely a couple of blows before Gerardo disarmed his opponent. The officer was stunned to find his weapon in the dirt and Gerardo’s at his throat in less than a minute. How had the tables turned so fast?

Gerardo glanced at Rein. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, telling him to just leave. He swallowed his guilt and glared at the officer.

“Take your prize and leave me to my business.”

Gerardo hesitated for a moment with one last pitiful glance to Rein, then reluctantly walked away. Once he had disappeared through the thick crowd of bemused onlookers, the officer picked up his sword and carried Rein to the shop she had dreaded so immensely in her nightmare.