Scarlett went from villager to villager inquiring about the men who attacked. The most common answers were that they had ridden west. Scarlett looked up at the sunset and began to run across the plains. She soon found wagon tracks leading her and after the sun had set the trail continued into a nearby grove of trees.
There was light coming from a small clearing and Scarlett happened upon them. A band of twenty men all wearing pirate garb. It was too many for her to handle and so she waited. Soon one of the men left the others to relieve himself against a tree. Scarlett snuck up behind him and pointed her lance against the back of his neck. He froze in fear. “You will answer my questions or I will pierce you to this tree,”“Y-y-yes,” he stammered,“I’m looking for a Red Sword, burly, white beard, scar across one eye,”“You speak of Garnell?”“And where is Garnell?”“Dead, no one knows how, they found him dead at an inn, stabbed as it were,”“There was a girl with him, small thing no older than nine years,”“I don’t know of such a girl,”“Liar! Where is she!?”“I don’t know,” the man cried, “I swear miss, I don’t.”Scarlett didn’t want to believe him, but seeing him cry made her wonder. She knocked him across the head and he fell limp. She knew trying to interrogate more men would get her caught so she made her way back to the others.Alex and James were resting in a small hut where they’d been offered shelter. “What did you find?” Alex asked as she entered,“The man we’re searching for is dead, killed in his bed,”“And Isabelle?” James asked with concern,“I’m not sure, I couldn’t get an answer,”“Then let’s all go, take on those scallywags,” James stood up,“I agree,” said Alex , “We must find her,”“There are twenty men, even we’re not that powerful,”“You underestimate our resolve,” Alex said, “Those brigands will answer for their crimes, not only here, but anywhere they have been.”Scarlett was hesitant, but decided not to argue. She led the way while Ruby stayed behind in the hut. They reached the grove and Scarlett led them to the pirate she’d encountered.They surrounded the camp with James and Scarlett hiding in nearby trees. Alex calmly entered the clearing with his weapons drawn. “What have we here?” asked the lead rogue,“A dead man I’d say,” answered another,“Surrender and you will not be harmed,” Alex said, “I only have questions,”“Get him men!”James emerged from his place and struck down three men without resistance. Scarlett then rained arrows on a few more. Alex took on the remainders both bashing with his shield and striking with his sword. With the help of James soon all the underlings were dead or wounded. The leader stood unscathed and Alex grabbed him by the collar. He lifted him up against a tree holding him there with little effort. “I want information!” he shouted,“Yes, yes of course,” whimpered the man,“Garnell, what do you know!?”“He’s dead, murdered in his bed,”“By whom!?”“No one knows,”“Then what do you know! I’m searching for a girl that was with him,”“All I know is there were a child’s footprints in the blood, that’s all I know!”“Only a child’s?”“Yes, no one knows what happened, they found him dead and footprints leading outside, but they disappeared along the road.”Alex dropped the man to the ground. “Where was this?”“Not far from here, across the hills to the east and at the base of the slope, the village there.”Without a word the three began to run towards the east. Their adrenaline pumped as they climbed the hills and reached the top. On the other side near the foot of the slopes a small village was tucked away. In haste they descended through the night with nothing to deter them from their task.When they reached the village inn they entered and walked to the desk. “I demand to see the innkeeper,” Alex said to the woman behind the counter, “I’m sorry, but he is asleep if you’d—““Then wake him, I care not for the consequences!”The woman began to tremble from Alex ’s aggressive tone, “Yes sir,” she quivered and headed upstairs to the master’s suite. When she returned alone she seemed to be in dread. “He says to not disturb—“ Alex didn’t wait for her to finish. He rushed past her and up the stairs. He pounded on the door with his large fist waking the entire inn.“What!” yelled a man from the other side,“It is urgent I speak with you!” Alex shouted,“It will wait until morning!”Alex kicked the door in and drew his sword. “This will not wait!”“Guards! Help!”Alex lifted the blade at the man. “I need answers and it would suit you well to answer them swiftly,”“Y-yes, w-whatever you need,”“A man was murdered here, what do you know?”“Aye there was a death,”“Was there a child with him?”“Aye, a young child,”“Where did she go?” Alex began to give threatening jabs,“I am not sure sir,” the man cowered against the wall, “There were footprints leading outside, but there was no witness to her departure,”“No one? Do you not have a vendor at your counter through the night,”“Yes, but she was occupied with the screams of a dying man, the child must have slipped by her gaze,”“Or she had been taken,” Alex again made threatening motions,“I would not know,” he cried, “I was asleep and did not see the child, please leave me be,”Alex glared at the innkeeper as he sheathed his sword. “If I find you in any falsehood there will be dire consequences,”“I have not lied sir, please oh please let me be.”Alex turned around and exited the room. He met up with James and Scarlett who were scouring for any possible clues that might have been left. The footprints had been cleaned since the night of the murder and no trail was there to find.“I’m sorry my friend,” James lowered his head, “I have nothing to go on,”“And there’s been too much traffic along the road for me to track a child’s footsteps,” said Scarlett,Alex ’s expression scared the both of them. He slammed both fists on a nearby post causing the entire inn to shake as he gave out a yell of frustration. “We’ll find her!” he shouted, “I swear to you Isabelle, we will find you!”James looked to Scarlett, but she too had no thought on how to comfort Alex . They left the inn with an awkward silence about them. James walked alongside Scarlett with his arm around her shoulders.“Are you alright?” he asked,“No, would you be?”“Of course not, what with our dear Isabelle out there alone in this cruel world it makes my heart shudder with ache.”Scarlett stopped walking causing James to halt as well. Alex continued up the hill ignoring them. She buried her face in James ’s shoulder and began to cry. James was unsure what to do. He’d never seen her cry before, even when wounded she would scarcely draw a tear. He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in close. She did the same. “Why must terrible things happen to the innocent?” she wept,“I wouldn’t know,”“Please tell me anything, something that will bring peace to my soul,”“If I had the power to bring peace at this time I would have long used it by now, I believe our only option is to do as we’re doing now.”The two sat down on the slope and Scarlett continued weeping while sitting on James ’s lap. He too began to feel his eyes burn with emotion. He laid back upon the grass and stared into the sky wondering if Isabelle would be doing the same at that very moment. He wasn’t sure how long he stared before he fell asleep, but he was jostled awake by a sniffing fox.He shooed it away and looked into the sky again. It was dawn and a light rain was beginning to fall. He felt weight upon his chest and noticed Scarlett was sleeping soundly against him. His left arm was wrapped around her with her hands upon his shoulders. He wasn’t sure how he felt, but the feeling was nice. Her warmth was calming and for a moment he began to stroke her hair. She woke up and noticed the position she was in, but didn’t seem to mind. “How long did we sleep?” she asked,“It must have been a few hours,”“Where’s Alex ,”“My guess is back at the burnt village with Ruby,”“Then we should make haste, they’ll most certainly be wondering where we are.”Scarlett pushed herself off and stood up. She brushed herself off and pulled out her cloak to shield her from the rain. James did the same and together they began walking up the hill. They were close together and a few times their hands would brush against the other. James decided he would take a chance and he grabbed her hand lightly. Without stopping she seemed to hesitate for just a moment before taking it with a light squeeze.James stopped and caused her to turn and face him. Both were thinking it and now they could see it in the other’s eyes. James took the back of her head and pulled it forward for a kiss. There lips met and the warm soft touch filled them with compassion and warmth.When they parted Scarlett blushed and James gave a crooked smile. They took hands again and continued their walk up the hill.James ’s eyes suddenly opened as he heard a wolf howl. Scarlett felt him shudder and she too was now awake. The two sat up and James thought he saw a shadow move.“What?”“Something’s out there,” he whispered,Through the darkness of the forest Scarlett could see slight movement in her peripheral. She signaled for James to follow her lead. She slowly reached for her bow and an arrow. Another twig snapped and Scarlett shot her arrow into the shadows. A deep howl came from the beast as it turned and ran.James tried to chase it, but it was large and faster than he was. Eventually the pounding footsteps faded and James stopped his chase. He returned to the campsite where Scarlett was explaining to Alex and Ruby.“It seemed like some sort of beast, without any light I couldn’t get a good look,”“What about you James ?” Alex asked, “Did you see it?”“No, but it’s steps were loud and heavy, it must be gargantuan,”“Well there’s no need to worry, it’s wounded and shouldn’t return tonig
“No, as Alex insists we must carry our own weight, but since you need to repay me somehow this will suffice,”“You would trust me with money?”“I would, unless I have a reason not to?”“No, I shall guard it with my life!”“Well should it come to that you can drop it, gold has no worth next to the value of a human soul,”Franklyn was about to cry again, but wiped his eyes and felt a burning sensation in his heart. “So do you have any friends?” Ruby asked,“No, I’ve never had a friend, only mother who... died,” Franklyn said the word and noticed he didn’t feel the need to weep at the mentioning of her. “How come I don’t cry?” he asked,“I would reason,” James said, “Until now you’ve been alone, in longing for someone’s love, thus for you the memory of losing the only precious soul who dared show you compassion was too much to bear, but now, amongst friends who share our compassion, you no longer feel the loneliness and thus lessening the sting of loss,”Franklyn began to cry again. “W
“Master Morrick wants us on guard during this war,”“On guard against Thane you mean?”“No, against our King, he has threatened many times to seize our harvests for his soldiers, but we know it is unjust and against our laws,”“Could you withstand an army?” Alex asked,“No, but the extra show of guard might persuade otherwise,”“Indeed, so who’s working the field?”“We have a few new hands since we last met,” Jacob then looked at the troupe of four behind Alex , “Friends?”“They are,”“Then they are welcome,” Jacob signaled to the guard on the other side of the gate and it began to open.The five of them entered and Morrick himself greeted them. “Alex !” he shouted and hugged him. Alex returned the hug and beckoned the others to follow. “So what brings you here?”“This young one,” he said motioning to Ruby, “She needs a place to live and knows a good day’s work,”“Have we been liberating slaves in our travels?” Morrick asked with a smile,“Not all, just her,”“So what else have you
“I would not worry friend,” Alex said, “So long as we keep our wits about us, we can overcome a few lowly bandits,”James took a breath and pulled Scarlett onto his lap to hold her tight. “What would I do without you two?” he asked,“Well,” Alex said, “You’d be missing an arm,”“And a woman to call your own,” Scarlett smiled, “So probably dead or in prison by now,”James smiled and nodded his agreement. “So when shall we leave,” he asked Alex ,“We can leave in the morning, that is if you think you can arise early enough,”“We’ll be up,” James said, “I’ll be sad to leave such a soft bed behind though,”Scarlett agreed. Once their break was over they again went to the field until it was dark and Morrick called everyone in for the night. They had a feast celebrating their newest workers Franklyn and Ruby.“So where will you go now?” Jacob asked Alex ,“I’ve been told to visit the capitol of Thane,”“I do wish you well in your travels,” Jacob then handed him a sack that jingled as i
“Bayle, it’s a relief to see you well,”“Have you returned to fight for Korryn?” she asked cautiously,“No, I have returned of my own business, had I known that madness had befallen all in these lands I might have stayed away longer,”“Then what brings you here?”“Hold, who shouted first?” he asked looking for the man who’d called out. The man stepped out and a series of emotions and mixed thoughts flooded Alex . “Isaac!?”Isaac smiled, “It’s been a long-time Alex ,”Alex pushed past the guards and gave his old friend a hug, “I thought you were dead!” he cried,“I almost was, but that can wait, you seem to be urgent,”“I am, I was told Bayle was taken hostage,”“Then there is much for us to discuss,” Isaac motioned for the guards to lower their weapons, “Come, we’ll have your things brought to one of the guest halls.”Isaac led them through the gates and towards the main entrance. Every guard they passed saluted Isaac which Alex found to be an oddity. The group went to a room with
They started walking forward again leading them through the open countryside for hours. After reaching the top of a tall hill they spotted their friend walking below in an open prairie. Bayle was about to yell out to him, but James stopped her. “It seems he doesn’t want our company, let us follow but keep scarce,”They waited until Alex was a fair distance away before continuing. Since they knew his destination keeping pace was no concern. “So how did you two meet Alex ?” Bayle asked while climbing some boulders,“Well he and I met a little more than one year ago,” said James , “I stole everything he owned, yet he not only forgave me, but helped me pay my debts through labor,”“I met Alex and this fool in a forest, James was caught in one of my traps. After inviting them around my fire I was captured by knights and taken to prison for not paying proper taxes,”“Yes Alex and I worked for the coin in order to release her, she’s been a tag-a-long ever since,”“Tag-a-long?” Scarlett
He soon heard another climbing and turned to see Alex carrying a new bundle of boards towards him. The two worked tirelessly both soaked to the bone. Neither said a word and after the last crack was sealed they both climbed down.They entered and both Scarlett and Bayle quickly gathered them around the fire and handed them blankets so they might dry themselves. James looked at Alex through the firelight and saw no smile upon his face, but sorrow wasn’t all he saw either. His eyes showed reflection as his friend stared into the flames; lost in his replaying memories.Bayle who sat to Alex ’s right gently took his left hand with both of her own without looking or saying a word. Scarlett took James ’s. Other than the crackle of the fire the deserted inn stood silent as four weary wanderers for once had no other place to be.“Where to?” James asked as the four of them started their final leave of Korryn.“I don’t know,” said Alex , “Before, I took joy in my travels, yet now the fields
Alex had dealt with this many times before and knew that Bayle would be just fine. She was a natural fighter and like many of Korryn’s warriors would cope with her actions.Alex , James and Scarlett gathered and locked the live bandits in the carriage and James climbed to the driver seat. Scarlett climbed next to him while Alex and Bayle held onto the back. “This might get a bit bumpy,” James shouted as he drove the carriage out of the grove. The many exposed roots and uneven terrain lifted and dropped the carriage over and over as though trying to shake its riders off. For a moment Bayle lost her grip and began to fall.Alex in a flash grabbed her by the back of her blouse long enough for her to get another grip. Bayle knew Alex was strong, it came with the territory of knighthood, but his grip was statuesque; unmovable. Once they were on the main road Alex let her go. The ride was now smooth and enjoyable as Bayle stared into the passing scenery. Her daze was short-lived how
Feeling his back pockets, Alex told him, “Well come with me, we drops down to Bank of Montreal. I needs a bit of air, and a smoke maybe.”The door to Jimi Jak's opened, sound blowing out to the street for a moment or two and then gone, muffled inside. Alex lit his cigarette while he and Staunch went down the steps, which were now soaked in beer, streaks of blood, and littered with smoked down cigarettes butts from a successful, savage night. The Bank of Montreal only across the road from the bar, they crossed over once cars whizzed past.Nobody was inside the bank's ATM lobby. Alex passed Staunch the rest of his smoke before heading up towards the doors.“Not sure which one'll work,” Alex said thumbing through a handful of stolen debit and credit cards. “Might be a few minutes.”Alex went in to the bank machine and Staunch stood alone, drunk, in the dead of night. Occasionally, a car passed, a sound of laughter from the bar flew on the breeze, and a short time Staunch actual
Inside, the wood stove crackled nice and hot. The evening outside, even in summertime, cooled enough to put a chill in the bones. Brian and tom sat at a medium-sized kitchen table; they'd just finished off a good feed of minced moose burgers and deep-fried home fries. Don cooked a lot of things, but the boys loved their late night lunches – usually the same every time, burgers and fries or moose sausage and fries. As they relaxed in their chairs, Don brought them each a glass of ginger-ale, and a good portion of liquor for himself. The boys drank their pop and Don got his kit: one cigarette rolled, and a joint, as well.“Gimme a smoke,” Brian said, hand out.“Yeah, right,” laughed Don. “I ain't that nice, boy.”Brian laughed and Don lit his smoke.“That was wicked grub, Don,” Tommy told him. “Thanks again. Was friggin' starved.”“Today's been a long one,” said Brian.Between puffs of smoke, Don asked, “What'd you two shits get up to all day?”The boys looked nervous at one another, sl
The majority of the poor girl's murder only came back to him by way of time. Once months went by, the nauseating days of his freedom stretching on, and on, he pieced together several images from the night he first made death; him, the craftsman, making death by hand. Her throat bulged under a tight grip of his clenching fists. She tried to grab him, poke at his eyes, but the force of his hands clamping into her skin and taking the breath out of her heaving lungs kept him safe from any real damage, save a couple scratches. He did not actually orgasm; all the same, his penis shot up erect and stiff like a great monolith against her and he pressed it to her, putting the entire weight of his body down on hers, crushing the clutching bits of life from her flailing, pathetic existence still trying to hold to this world.From the start, he made a fine and thorough killer, an efficient machine created for the sole purpose of killing. Her body would never be found; it still sits buried, rotted
He lived on a decent cul-de-sac in Grand Falls, down near the river. Out back of the house sat a spacious garage separate by a large concrete pad, itself leading up into the long driveway. In the garage he had a nice spot for all his woodworking equipment: table saw, bench, racks of drills, hammers, handsaws, wrenches, and plenty of storage space for fresh wood and the like. At the back of the garage stood a door, behind the door, a room, and in that room were secrets. Locked away with only him and the stale air of the garage's workshop, those secrets grew, multiplied like mould in the dark, and he had a place where his wife would not disturb him; she left him to his business, and without her knowledge his rotten secrets, only coming out when he wanted her there. The man even installed a state-of-the-art security system for the entire property, including the garage, which came with intercoms; often, he would simply call his wife on the intercom to let her know it was fine to bring him
Back over under the Canopy and its branchy cover, Tommy and Brian stopped in an inlet of trees and alder bush. They were scared. Still, the boys were beyond determined to be done with the whole situation. Only trouble was neither of them, with all their heart, wanted to relinquish their hold on the money, those pieces of jewelry, all of that. Even as all the trouble of the world might perilously be wavering only inches above their heads, like one of those cartoons were an anvil hangs on a thread about the coyote's head, all Brian or Tom managed to see were the endless possibilities the contents of that bag could provide them; the images of a future path different than their own dominated them, overthrew those young and impressionable minds.“We could just toss the duffel bag in the woods someplace,” Brian remarked; half sure of himself, half kidding himself.The look gave his friend spoke enough on its own.“This is fucked up.”“We can't just get rid of it – not now,” Tom told him.“Y
Then, Staunch saw the wide birch shooting up near the lake's edge. His heart pumped in short bursts, rapid, and then short, slow again; a combination of nervous fear and the traces of meth still beating around in his brain. Alex stepped ahead of Staunch, who straddled behind wanting to stay but needing to follow. The hole sat only feet away now, closer with each and every stumble. Any minute now they would be right upon it. Stopped for a breath, frozen even in the pulsing rays of daylight, Staunch collected his emotions, his swollen and frayed nerves like wounded and exposed electrical wires, and he caught up to Alex . The two men stepped in around the birch alongside one another, with its hollowed middle, and Alex knelt, no words, at the edge of a roughly bore hole in the muggy earth; a hole where once they deposited all their stolen goods, a hole now empty, void.“Why'd you push me in the fuckin' trees like that?”“I just told ya,” Brian said, “there were people comin' and I di
The car parked a few lengths away from them. Two men got out of the driver and passenger sides; they looked normal mostly. One man – tall, tattooed and fairly muscular, the type who spends his free time lifting weights and self-obsessing over the tone of their muscles, bronzed and starved to death – went to the trunk, as the other – smaller, not much, than the other, and with the look of still being in high school due to his teenage way of dressing, but donning a cane in one hand, limping considerably and aching from an obvious back injury – looked to be moving slowly towards Alex and Staunch. They both walked towards the waiting Firebird.Staunch and Alex each got out and greeted the men.The smaller one extended a hand. “You Alex ?” He shook Alex 's hand. Turning to Staunch he asked, “And that must make you – what's it – Stench?”Alex cackled a dry couching laugh. “It's Staunch, actually.”“Shit, sorry.”Staunch looked calm, but underneath a volcano boiled, bubbled fierce in
Brian understood. He knew now, and along really, what Tommy felt wasn't a mental illness, a real delusion making him paranoid and insane; they both felt it, in different ways. It was the yearning for a new and different life instead of the shit existence they'd both experience up until now. While Brian and Tommy tried to create their own identities and shape the future of their lives, no matter how savagely they fought to do so, they were and always would be inhibited by the families which gave them life, shackled to a dirty destiny. Their parents each were destructive and heartless people; more concerned with their own lives and failed expectations and schemes than bothering to worry about the tiny, lonely humans they created from thin air, leaving them to grow into ungardened plants with no discernible paths ahead of them aside from anguish, despair, torment, and days on this wretched earth long and hard as the road to Hell.This gauntlet of living is what truly made Tommy lie and c
Brian decided it best to save his breath for the walk out from the station, especially considering Tommy planned to dig in three different places all around the area. He kept seeing more money, enough to dive into like Scrooge McDuck, and the thought made everything else fade away.But Brian's conscience, the well of his soul, wouldn't let him rest comfortably. He knew letting Tommy's delusion go on was risky; for days on days now, near a week, Tom has talked of nothing aside from the treasure, pirates, and all the like, and it slowly consumed his sanity, each day that passed. He kept on letting Tom pursue the dream of a legend that most likely was not true, in the slightest, and his spying conscience eyed him, judging, and made him feel as if his entire body were slowly being torn into quarters, drawn by horses, his every fibre wrenched in pain. Yet nothing stopped Brian. He certainly made no real efforts to curb Tommy's lust for treasure hunting.He went on watching Tom, who took hi